The Microphone Files

Black Eyed Peas Head Guinness Celebrations

2009-05-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

By Richard Smirke, Manchester (as posted on billboard.biz)

Black Eyed Peas top an international bill of artists set to honor the 250th anniversary of Guinness.It was announced today (May 13) that the Grammy Award-winning act will perform in Asia on Sept. 24 as part of Guinness' global anniversary celebrations, which will simultaneously see 24-hours of live music and festivities take place in various cities around the world including New York, Lagos, Yaoundé, Kuala Lumpur and the spiritual home of Guinness, Dublin.The country where Black Eyed Peas will be performing is yet to be confirmed, with a full international programme to be announced at a later date. Acts currently confirmed to play at the Dublin leg on Sept. 24 include Estelle, Kasabian, Noah & the Whale, the Wombats, the Enemy, Soul II Soul, the Undertones, D'Banj, Reverend & the Makers, Mongrel, Mystery Jets, Johnny Flynn and DJ and producer David Holmes, with further artists to be announced.Dublin's St. James Gate Brewery, where Guinness has long been produced, will be transformed into a live music studio for the event and host a series of performances for an audience of 2,000 guests. "2009 marks a very special milestone for the Guinness brand, from 1759 when Arthur [Guinness] signed the 9,000 year lease on the St. James's Gate brewery to today, where Guinness is a truly global brand, enjoyed in 150 countries around the world," said spokesman Brian Duffy. "Guinness is a brand that evokes heritage, passion and quality, which has attributed to the success of this much loved beer."At 17.59 local time on Sept. 24, artists and consumers around the world are encouraged to raise a Guinness in a global toast to Arthur Guinness. Celebrities participating in the toast will include Bob Geldof, Guy Ritchie, Carson Daly, Jerry Hall and model Sophie Dahl.

Raekwon Gushes That ‘The Wait Is Finally Over’ For Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2

2009-05-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

Ready to give his worldwide following what they’ve been waiting for, the Wu-Tang Clan’s rhyme slinger extraordinaire Raekwon is set to return this summer with Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2.

Raekwon, whose 1995 platinum classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx was universally hailed as a rap classic and has sold more than 1.1 million units in the US, according to Nielsen Soundscan, has signed a distribution deal with EMI Label Services for his ICEH20 Records label to release Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 in the US and Canada later this summer. EMI Label Services will also provide Raekwon with additional radio promotion support and licensing and synchronization services.

“The wait is finally over,” Raekwon says. “Words cannot describe how extremely happy I am to work with EMI Music to put out my album.”

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 buzz single and video “The New Wu” features fellow Wu-Tang Clan members Method Man and Ghostface Killah and is getting mixshow airplay at radio stations across the country, including Hot 97 in New York. The album features a spectacular line-up of guest appearances and producers: The RZA, Dr. Dre, J Dilla, The Wu-Tang Clan, Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes, Bun B and The Game, among others.

"We are thrilled to have a chance to work with the legendary Raekwon,” said Dominic Pandiscia, Senior Vice President and General Manager, EMI Label Services. “He has had a massive impact on the history of Hip Hop and Urban music overall. Everyone at EMI is excited to be working on this record and continuing his legacy.”

Rap fans were mesmerized by Raekwon’s distinctive brand of street slanguistics when he emerged as a member of the Wu-Tang Clan. The Staten Island, New York rap group’s debut album, 1993’s Enter The Wu-Tang Clan (36 Chambers), was a landmark collection that introduced the group’s signature blend of kung-fu inspired reality rap. Raekwon established himself as a solo star in 1995 with the release of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. The mafia minded album, which peaked at No. 2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album chart, unfolded like a cinematic crime caper, with such imaginative songs as “Criminology,” “Incarcerated Scarfaces” and “Ice Cream” propelling the album to platinum status.

Raekwon’s second album, 1999’s Immobilarity, was certified gold. To date, Raekwon has career sales of more than 1.6 million units in the US, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

Now, with the impending release of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2, Raekwon is ready to release his second masterpiece. “It’s been a long time coming,” he says, “and I’ve put my blood, sweat and tears into making this classic album for my fans.”

BIZZY BONE & B-REAL GET BIZZY ON “UNITE THE MIC” TOUR

2009-05-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

Between them, B-Real (Cypress Hill) and Bizzy Bone (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony) have sold over 40 million records as the leaders of their respective and storied groups. This spring both will join forces and “Unite The Mic” over the course of their historic 17-date tour.

As a founding member of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Bizzy Bone has been awarded numerous awards (ASCAP, Soul Train, American Music Award, NAACP, etc) and a Grammy Award in 1999 for the smash hit “Tha Crossroads” from Bone Thugs E 1999 Eternal LP which has since been certified 4X Platinum. Though Bone Thugs-N-Harmony has carved out a niche as one of Hip-Hop’s top selling groups (they have sold over 25 million LP’s worldwide in their storied career), Bizzy has also gone onto launch a very successful solo career as well. His latest CD is due out this summer on Sumerian Records.

Likewise, Cypress Hill has sold over 18 Million LP’s worldwide over the course of their almost two decade long run as one of Hip-Hop’s trailblazing and top selling groups, replete with monster singles and their popular multi-lingual, rap/rock mashup’s that have rocked music festivals (Woodstock, Lollapolooza, Smokin Grooves, Rock The Bells, etc) and fans of all genres worldwide. Most recent, B-Real released his solo-debut, Smoke N Mirrors (2009 Duck Down Records) which is powered by the smash single “Fire” featuring Damian Marley.

Bizzy Bone & B-Real “Unite The Mic” Tour Dates:

Fri 6/5- Anaheim, CA- The Grove of Anaheim
Sat 6/6- San Diego, CA- Brick By Brick
Sun 6-7- Bakersfield, CA- Stramler Park (Outdoors)
Tues 6/9- Seattle, WA- Studio Seven
Wed 6/10- Spokane, WA- Knitting Factory
Thu 6/11- Missoula, MT- Wilma Theater
Fri 6/12- Boise, ID- Knitting Factory
Sat 6/13- Salt Lake City, UT- Murray Theatre
Sun 6/14- Boulder, CO- Fox Theatre
Mon 6/15- Edgewood, CO Gothic Theatre
Wed 6/17- Tulsa, OK- Flytrap
Fri 6/19- San Antonio, TX- White Rabbit
Sat 6/20- Dallas, TX- The Max
Sun 6/21- Lubbock, TX- Cactus Courtyard
Mon 6/22- Albuquerque, NM- Sunshine Theater
Sat 7/25- Scottsdale, AZ- Venue of Scottsdale
Fri 9/4 – Hollywood, CA – Key Club

Naledge Constructs Musical Art with "Chicago Picasso"

2009-05-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

"Chicago Picasso" Mix CD, Hosted by Mick Boogie, RTC & DJ Timbuck2, In Stores June 30th on Duck Down Records featuring Double-O, Bun B, Rhymefest, Mickey Factz and Jay Electronica

Naledge, 1/2 of the hip-hop group Kidz In The Hall, is readying his mix CD masterpiece, "Chicago Picasso." Crafted on the streets of the CHI, and encompassing his storied journey over the past couple of years as Naledge helped establish the brand of Kidz In The Hall, he unveils a unique perspective to his hometown. "I wanted to show all aspects of Chicago, not just one sound. For a long time we've seen a specific side of Chicago Rap, but this mix cd provides new perspective."

"Chicago Picasso" contains 20 original tracks by Naledge featuring appearances by Bun B, Chip Tha Ripper, Jay Electronica, Mickey Factz, Mick Luter, Rhymefest, Carlita Durand, Curren$y, J Ivy, Russoul, Doe Boy, GLC & Fooch.

Naledge explains "the point of the mixtape was to open the vault and let the fans in on the wealth of solo material that I have recorded. I look at this mixtape more as a collection of art that I have made over time. Each song is its own original statement and with the help of Timbuck2 and RTC we have made the thoughts behind each of the songs more cohesive."

Naledge goes on to describe collaborations on the Mix CD that truly hit home; "I have worked with some of the most creative people in my city, many of which I have known since childhood and that made this project all that more personal. That includes visual artists, poets, singers and emcees. People included in this proect who aren't from Chicago were either from my time living in St. Louis, or they were people I met recording Kidz In The Hall's "In Crowd" in New York City."

Production on the album includes music by: Double-O, Tha Bizness, Picnic Tyme, Sa Ra Creative Partners, FDNY, Xcel, Analogic, Black Spade, SC, MStacks, Nez & Rio.

Chicago Picasso, with its blended transitions from song to song, flows effortlessly. Naledge proclaims "I wouldn't call this a mixtape so much as an exhibit...hence the name Chicago Picasso. The same way Pablo Picasso created a commissioned statue that has sat downtown in Chicago for years of interpretation; I want this mixtape to float the same way."

Diddy Releases New Smash "Diddy Bop"

2009-05-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

On May 2nd, mogul Diddy, released his highly anticipated record "Diddy Bop", a record he's says is" for the DJs and the street ". for the DJs and the street Miami, FL (PRWEB) April 26, 2009 -- Sean Combs "Diddy" released his new record in dramatic fashion yesterday on HOT 97 in New York City, during the DJ Envy mix. Later that evening Diddy announced the world release of the record on the web at P Twitty TV (http://www.youtube.com/user/ptwittytv). The P Twitty TV video is a montage of Diddy and Bad Boy videos. The "Unofficial Video" has gotten over 7,500 plays in a matter of hours, numerous versions of the video are appearing all over You Tube (www.youtube.com), including a track also featuring Yung Joc. Comments like"Diddys back", "dope, love it" and "I'm diddy boppin" are all over the web. Diddy has also announced the "Official Video"and dance coming soon. The record was co-written and features local Miami artist Xplicit (www.xplicithiphop.com) on the hook of the song, the record was produced by Isaac Opus.

From the Outside In: White Contributions to Early Hip-Hop

2009-02-16T20:29:00.000-08:00

Hip-Hop music is an art form that started in the deepest recesses of black culture. From the gutted out streets of the South Bronx to the adoration of millions of fans worldwide, Hip-Hop has truly exceeded anyone’s initial ideas of what the art form would turn out to be. While even the most casual of Hip-Hop’s observers realize that the culture was founded by black people, about black people and for black people, what is not often chronicled are the early contributions of white people in the growth of the music.

Blondie

The earliest foray into rap music by a white artist was the 1981 hit “Rapture” by the New Wave/Punk Rock group Blondie. The group’s lead singer, Debbie Harry, often liked to hang out at various nightclubs to explore the latest and most cutting edge sounds on the music scene. It was during one of these excursions that she became exposed to rap music. Harry met Fab Five Freddy, and the two struck up a friendship. Freddy took Harry to a P.A.L. show of Grandmaster Flash in the Spring of 1980, which she mentions in the “Rapture” song.

Whether intentional or not, Blondie helped spread Hip-Hop by broadening its fan base. Before “Rapture”, most white people had never heard rap music.

Malcolm McLaren

McLaren was the manager of the punk rock band, The Sex Pistols, in the 1970s.
Malcolm McLaren stumbled upon the sounds of Hip-Hop during a trip to Harlem while promoting Bow Wow Wow, one of the groups he was managing at the time. McLaren happened upon a block party that Afika Bambaataa was Djing. Hearing Bambaataa rock was an extraordinary moment for McLaren. He instantly loved the energy of Hip-Hop. He would later say he always thought Hip-Hop was the black Punk Rock.

Intrigued by the art form, McLaren recorded his debut album Duck Rock, which featured the single “Buffalo Gals”, which would become a Hip-Hop classic. The song featured See Divine the Mastermind and Justice Allah the Superstar, who were dj’s on WHBI radio in New York City. The duo would record under the name “The World’s Famous Supreme Team,” and who go on to record two other notable song s with McLaren, “Hey DJ” and “World Famous”.

Trevor Horn

Trevor Horn, a white British Pop music record producer, was the producer of Malcolm McLaren’s Duck Rock album. He was the man behind the sound of “Buffalo Gals”. He also produced “Double Dutch” (1982), and “World Famous” for McLaren in 1983. Horn was also the head of the group Art of Noise, who later went on to record another Hip-Hop break dance anthem, Beat Box.

Rick Rubin

As a kid, Rubin loved hard rock music. Rubin still lists AC/DC’s Highway to Hell album as one of his favorite records. While in high school, Rubin got his first taste of Hip-Hop music through his black classmates. He quickly became fascinated with the music.

While attending New York University, Rubin collaborated with T.La Rock and DJ Jazzy Jay and produced their single “Its Yours”. The song would become a Hip-Hop classic. Rubin’s next project was with a sixteen year old LL Cool J. Rubin produced LL’s first single “I Need a Beat”. The single sold well, so Rubin then produced LL’s debut album Radio. The album went platinum and sparked Cool J’s legendary career. Rubin then went on the produce the Beastie Boys album Licensed to Ill, and Run-DMC’s Raising Hell album, both in 1986.

Rubin’s idea to fuse Rock and Rap music was tremendous. MTV, which largely ignored rap music, began to play rap songs in its regular rotation. Rap’s core demographics began to change, and the genre became solidified as a profitable form of music.

The Beastie Boys

Formed in 1981, The Beastie (Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Internal Excellence) Boys used a background in Punk Rock music to form their own style of Hip-Hop music. The group switched to performing Hip-Hop under the influence of producer Rick Rubin. At the time, Hip-hop was considered Black inner-city music. With the emergence of The Beastie boys, rap music became more multicultural. White kids from the suburbs suddenly began to take to the music and it showed in the spike in record sales.

With the success of their LP Licensed to Ill, The Beastie Boys became pioneers of the music genre. Licensed to Ill was the first rap album to reach #1 on the Billboard album list. Licensed to Ill also became the best selling rap album of the 1980’s. They helped break down cultural barriers to bring rap music mainstream recognition. Their success helped to open up rap to a wider audience across America and abroad.

Although their next album, Paul’s Boutique, did not measure up to the success of Licensed to Ill, it met much critical acclaim. Paul’s Boutique took the art of sampling to the next level. Produced by the Dust Brothers, the album used over 100 samples and is listed by many as one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums of all time.

The Beastie Boys have had a lasting affect on pop culture. The group, which is one of the longest tenured rap groups in history, are still recording and performing today. They have influenced other rapcore groups such as Limp Bizkit and Korn. The group members, Mike D (Michael Diamond), MCA (Adam Yauch) and King Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) also brought a Rock and Roll party atmosphere to Hip-Hop with their music.
Most importantly, The Beastie Boys presence helped make Hip-Hop legitimate in the eyes of young white music consumers and gave Hip-Hop its first exposure to mainstream audiences.

Charlie Ahearn

Ahern was the filmmaker who captured the early days of Hip-Hop on film in the groundbreaking movie “Wild Style”. Wild Style became an instant Hip-Hop classic and is the earliest documentary of the Hip-Hop Movement’s history.

Aaron Fuch

Aaron Fuch is the owner of Tuff City Records. Fuch started out as a trade journalist and editor for Cash Box magazine.

Tuff City released records by artists such as Spoonie Gee, Davy DMX, and The Cold Crush Brothers. In addition to owning the label, Fuch also is credited as the Executive Producer for “The Big Beat” by Spoonie Gee, Producer for Spoonie Gee’s “The Godfather”, and the Producer for the early rap classic “Fresh, Wild, Fly, and Bold” by The Cold Crush Brothers.

Paul McKasty

Paul McKasty, known to the Hip-Hop world as Paul C., was a producer and engineer. Paul C. may in fact be the most influential producer that you never heard of, but to industry insiders he left his mark on the sound of Hip-Hop long after he has gone.

Paul C. was the engineer for the Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rudd hits “Girls I Got Em Locked” and “Do the James.” Paul C. was the man behind the hard, crisp sample of The Honey Drippers “Impeach the President”. In addition to being the Engineer for several of their songs, Paul C. also produced the group’s hit “I Gotta Good Thing.”

Paul C. worked at Studio 1212 in Jamaica, Queens, New York as a studio engineer. He mastered the SP-12 drum machine, which was the ultimate recording tool for Hip-Hop music at the time. He started the art of “chopping “ and “panning” drums in Hip-Hop, and producers Pete Rock and Large Professor have emulated his technique.

He worked with Ultramagnetic MC’s on their Critical Beatdown album, and was an integral part of the development of the groups’ musical sound. For that album, he produced “Give the Drummer Some”, which is known for its hard pounding drum track.

He also worked on Organized Konfusion early in their career. He produced several of the group’s early demos.

Although not credited for his work, Paul C. also worked on several tracks on the Let The Rhythm Hit Em album. He is acknowledged as the force behind the tracks “In the Ghetto”, “Run For Cover”, and the album’s title track, “Let the Rhythm Hit Em.”

Perhaps one of Paul C’s most lasting contributions to Hip-Hop is that he was the mentor to Large Professor. He taught Large Professor how to use the SP-12 drum machine and also introduced him to the art of “chopping” and “panning” drums.

Dave Ogrin

Dave Ogrin is an Engineer who worked on some early Hip-Hop classics. Ogrin produced “Fresh” by the Fresh 3 MC’s (1984), “Sex Machine” by the Fat Boys (1986). He was the Engineer for several important early rap songs such as “Biters in the City” by the Fantasy Three (1983), “Fast Life/A.M. P.M.” by Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde (1984), and “Here Comes That Beat” by Pumpkin and the All-Stars (1984). Ogrin also was the Engineer of Fat Boys, the first album by The Fat Boys.

Tom Silverman

Tom Silverman started in the music business after he graduated from Colby College. He and a friend started a newsletter for DJs called “Disco News” in 1978. While publishing the newsletter, Silverman was able to gain first hand knowledge about the music business.

After meeting Afrika Bambaataa, Silverman decided to start Tommy Boy Records. The first single of the label was “Having Fun” by Cotton Candy, a group whom Bambaataa brought to Silverman’s attention. The single made enough money to release a second single “Jazzy Sensation.” The song was recorded and released in two different versions, one by Afrika Bambaataa & the Jazzy 5, and the other by th Kryptic Krew. “Jazzy Sensation” sold 35,000 copies and gave Silverman enough cash flow to release “Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force. The single sold more than 620,000 copies.

Tommy Boy Records went on to become the home of other successful groups such as The Force MDs, Stetsasonic, Queen Latifah, De La Soul, Naughty By Nature, Digital Underground, and House of Pain.

Bill Adler

Bill Adler was a New York City journalist in the early 1980s. After doing an interview with Kurtis Blow, Adler met Russell Simmons. Simmons hired Adler as the Director of Publicity for Def Jam Records. During his time with Def Jam and Rush Management Adler worked with mega groups like Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, EPMD, LL Cool J, Whodini, Kurtis Blow, De La Soul, Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince and Run-DMC.

The Maturation of the Hip-Hop Vote

2009-01-28T01:15:00.000-08:00

Black people in America have a long history of being marginalized and muted by the larger society. Often screaming to be acknowledged but rarely heard, many blacks had given up on the political system, believing that it was never intended to represent people of African descent.

The power elite, now more than ever, rules America. Power rests in the hands of a small group of individuals in society. Most Americans, regardless of color, do not have access to the power network and are therefore among the powerless. African-Americans have never been allowed access to the power structure of America.

When it came to gaining the right to vote, Blacks did not have a friend in “The Great Emancipator.” Even as the Civil War was ending and President Lincoln was developing his Reconstruction plan, his plan excluded Blacks from participation in voting and holding office. Lincoln stated plainly that he was not in favor of giving Blacks citizenship. Even in Lincoln’s final speech, given four days before his death, Lincoln said that he preferred that only the very intelligent and the Union soldiers who were Black should be given the right to vote.

Things looked as though they were making a promising turn for African-Americans in the political arena during the Reconstruction era. With the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed Blacks the right to vote, Blacks began the process of political mobilization to take advantage of their newly granted right to enfranchisement. Under federal military occupation of the South over 700,000 Blacks were added to the voting rolls. This allowed numerous African-Americans to be elected Senators and Representatives. The “Force Bills” of 1870-71 provided for federal troops to protect Black voters at the polls.

Even during this unprecedented time of enfranchisement for Blacks, many obstacles were placed in their path to voting rights. Clandestine white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the White Brotherhood, the Pale Faces, and the Knights of the White Camellia used fear and intimidation to keep African-Americans from voting. In addition, Black Codes were enacted to restrict African-American civil rights. The Black Codes reduced Blacks to a state of pseudo-freedom. With the Black Codes firmly entrenched in the South, Blacks were bound to a life without political rights and restricted social and legal possibilities.

The progressive times unfortunately did not last long. By 1876, Black supporters in Congress, most notably Senator Charles Sumner and Representative Thaddeus Stevens, had passed away leaving a vacuum of civil rights champions within the Republican Party to support the rights of Black people. Shortly afterwards, the Republican Party began to abandon African-Americans. The election of 1876, between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden, provided the perfect opportunity for the party to sever its ties and they took full advantage of it. The results of the election had Democrat Samuel J. Tilden winning the popular vote, but there were disputes over the accuracy of electoral votes several southern and western states. In 1877, in order to settle the dispute over who would be the new American president, the two parties agreed upon the Compromise of 1877.

In the Compromise, Blacks were the only ones who were compromised. Hayes would be awarded the presidency and in return, federal troops would be withdrawn from the South and Southerners would be awarded more federal jobs. Hayes obliged to the compromise, which effectively ended military protection for Blacks in the South and returned the Southern Blacks to a state of virtual slavery.

The presidential election of 1932 marked the first time that African-Americans overwhelmingly decided to jump party lines and voted for Democratic candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt instead of their traditional backing of the Republican Party. This was seen as a major shift in political ideology because since the Civil War, Blacks had seen the Republican Party as the emancipation party and they remained loyal to the memory of the years gone past. In truth however, after the Compromise of 1877 Blacks did not have a political party that had their best interest in mind. The Republican Party embraced a new agenda, while the Democrats would like nothing more than to keep their old agenda, which was to strip Blacks of their rights and keep them in a state of bondage. In backing Roosevelt, African-Americans pledged a “vote for bread and butter instead of for the memory of Abraham Lincoln.”

Before the 2008 Election, it was easy to argue that utilizing the right to vote does not improve the status of Blacks in American society because the candidates of the major political parties do not share African-Americans needs and interests at heart. Both parties have pimped Black votes in the past without benefiting the Black community in the end. The trail of broken promises has left its footprints on the concrete leading out of the Black community.

With the prospect of having an African-American president, black voters turned out in record numbers at the polls. According to a CNN Exit Poll for 2008, Black voters comprised 13 percent of turnout on Election Day. Obama won 96 percent of the Black vote.

Obama’s ability to connect with young voters was a significant asset in his campaign. Obama utilized social networking websites to attract young voters. He attracted two million "friends" on Facebook, and he drew 90 million viewers to his video presentations on YouTube.

There were 6.3 million African-American citizens and 5.6 million citizens age 18-29 during the election. According to CIRCLE, the leading monitor of youth voting trends in the United States, of the 44 million total citizens 18-29 years old in the US, around 23 million voted on November 4, an increase of around 3.4 million as compared with 2004. Of that 23 million, 16 million of them voted for Obama. At least 52 percent of eligible voters under 30 participated in the election, up from 48 percent in 2004. In addition, forty-five percent of 18-to-29 years-old African-American voters and 61 percent of 18-to-29 year-old Latino voters cast their ballots for the first time during the election.

Hip-Hop proved it had the ability to influence people to register to vote during the 2004 election. P-Diddy (Citizen’s Change) and Russell Simmons (Hip-Hop Summit) utilized their influence to urge young Americans to vote. The Vote or Die campaign helped to draw an increase of 4.6 million 18-30 year old voters in 2004. More than 1.2 million young people registered to vote through the Rock the Vote campaign. The Hip-Hop Caucus held massive voter registration drives. All of these organizations helped to increase the youth vote in that election.

Hip-Hop came out in mass support for Obama during the 2008 election. Artists such as Common, Jay-Z, Nas, Kayne West, T.I., and Bow Wow, as well as record executives Russell Simmons, P-Diddy, and Kevin Liles all publicly endorsed Obama. The election also marked the first time rap artists Young Jeezy, Busta Rhymes, Nas, Juelz Santana, Jin, Soulja Boy Tell’em, T.I. and Maino cast a vote.

The social significance of the Hip-Hop generation’s voter turnout is enormous. For the first time, young people have definitive proof that their vote counts and the knowledge of this fact can help to galvanize the youth vote for future elections. Black people also have the statistics that prove that when we come out in masses to vote, we can make a difference. Future Presidential candidates will have to learn to communicate and connect with the youth voters utilizing the numerous technological resources that young people use in their daily lives. Meanwhile, the 2008 election has also marked the coming-of-age of the Hip-Hop vote, and if we can band together in a political coalition, we can force future candidates to address the needs of our community in their campaign agenda.

The Rise of West Indian Culture and Influence on Brooklyn Hip-Hop

2009-01-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hip-Hop music is an outgrowth of the rhythms and toasting traditions of Reggae music. The large Carribean communities in boroughs of New York brought with them the musical stylings of the Islands that they emigrated from. The borough that had the largest concentration of West Indian immigrants was Brooklyn, and Brooklyn Hip-Hop artists benefitted greatly from the influence of Reggae music.

The influx of West Indians into the United States is based, in part, in the Post World War II Immigration laws of Britain. A labor shortage after World War II led many employers to recruit job candidates from former British colonies. By 1948, Britain passed the Nationality Act, which offered British citizenship to all subjects of its colonial Empire. This led to an influx of immigrants into Britain, which included many from the West Indies.

Britain’s economy grew stronger after World War II, with the national income almost doubling by the end of the war. Which the British economy thriving, many Jamaicans migrated to Britain for economic reasons.

The democratic-socialist government of Michael Manley halted the economic growth of Jamaica, stopping its push toward industrialization. While the country tried to decide whether to push forward with industrialization or remain an agricultural society, the economy faltered. Without a distribution of wealth, many Jamaicans were left without access to property. In 1961, the year before independence, 10 percent of the population owned 64 percent of the land and this pattern continued to grow in the 1970s. The standard of living declined due to economic inflation and low salaries. By 1975, unemployment rates in Jamaicans hovered around 25%. The poor economic conditions led to the exodus of nearly half of all Jamaican professional from the island. During this period, Jamaica suffered from a "brain drain," losing perhaps as much as 40% of its middle class.

The mass migration began in the 1960s, after the US government relaxed the strict quota laws that restricted the movement of non-Western Europeans into the United States in 1965. The 1965 Hart-Celler Immigration Reform Act changed the U.S. immigration policy and, inadvertently, opened the way for a surge in immigration from the Caribbean. During the mid to later 1970s, a wave of Jamaican immigrants flooded into New York. This was initiated mostly by the tightening of British immigration laws in the mid 1960s.

As the Caribbean migration to the United States progressed, many migrants settled in large urban settings with the majority settling in New York and Florida. The boroughs of New York became the biggest recipient of West Indian immigrants, which Brooklyn being the largest of all. It was in this setting where the Reggae movement and the Hip-Hop movement meshed and grew together.

Clive Campbell a.k.a Kool Herc, Hip-Hop’s acknowledged founding father, was born in Jamaica on April 16, 1955 and emigrated to the Bronx in 1967. It was Herc’s knowledge of Reggae music that led to his incorporation of breakbeats into the hip-hop scene. Jamaican records are recorded with dub versions, which is an instrumental version of the song. Herc knew that the instrumental break, or rhythm section of a song was the part that people liked to dance to, so he mixed two copies of the same record together to extend the break. So the Jamaican influence of Hip-Hop was evident from the very infantile stages of the music’s roots.

Hip-hop and reggae have a lot in common. Both developed out of a poverty stricken environment. Both created a counter-culture movement that was influenced by the environment it grew out of. Both grew to embrace social maladies that were outgrowths of the social conditions that they were formed in, i.e. drugs, sexual exploitation and violence. Both forms of music were able to grow without a true infrastructure during its infancy, and because of this, they both relied on the underground networks of music sharing and street marketing. Reggae music and Hip-Hop grew in the streets. DJ’s spread the music throughout communities using their mobile sound systems. Both benefited from a mixtape type of music sharing that helped spread the music from community to community.

While many prominent Hip-Hop artists such as KRS-One, Heavy D, and The Fugees have been heavily influenced by Reggae music, the influence of Reggae music on Brooklyn Hip-Hop is also quite evident. Whereas Hip-Hop artists from the Bronx clearly acknowledge the Reggae roots of the music, nowhere is it more apparent in the sound than in Brooklyn. Brooklyn rap artists such as The Notorious B.I.G., Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, Shyne, Busta Rhymes, Mos Def, Chubb Rock, Jeru tha Damaja and Special Ed all displayed heavy Reggae influences in their music. Hip-Hop owes a huge debt of gratitude to Reggae music, and nowhere has the contribution of Reggae music to the genre been more apparent than the borough of Brooklyn.

The Big Sell Out: The Embrace of Conformity in Hip-Hop

2009-01-23T23:14:00.000-08:00

Society is filled with individuals who conform to the rule of the majority. Many would rather transform their actions to fall in line with the collective masses than to exercise their individualistic beliefs. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once wrote that we live in a modern world where everyone seems to crave the anesthetizing security of being identified with the majority. It appears that nowhere is this more apparent than in today’s Hip-hop music.

It appears that long gone are the days of the golden era of Hip-hop when the music was as diverse as the artists who recorded it. We can categorize the differences in the ways that the music moved us: the party grooves of Doug E. Fresh and Heavy D; the socially conscious philosophies of Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions; the hypnotic lyrical flow of Rakim and Big Daddy Kane; the funny storytelling rhymes of Bizmarkie and Slick Rick; and the juxtaposed feminine perspective of Salt-N-Pepa and MC Lyte.

Today the music has regressed into complete lyrical anomie. The majority of artists embrace a counter-culture of norms and ideals. Artists promote violence as a vice to be glorified and yet lack the maturity to accept responsibility for its effect on our community. By no means do I blame the artists for the social ills that they write about, America’s demons are rooted much deeper than the Hip-hop culture, but it is negligible to perpetuate criminality and sell it as art.

In truth, many rap artists who write about criminality, drugs, and pimpin’ do not participate in the lifestyle that they claim to embrace. The decision to conform with the view of the masses is dictated by record sales and the pressure to produce profits. Artists often jump on what is currently selling and abandon personal ideals and beliefs in order to be accepted by the masses. Many choose to follow comfort rather than conviction. Hip-Hop music is a sound that is heavily influenced by the inner-city streets and artists feel an obligation to “keep it real”, which ultimately means to keep the identity of one’s behavior, attitude and sound in tune with that of the streets. During the mid to late ‘80s, Black power, pride and self-awareness dominated the rap music landscape. Essentially, it became cool to have Black pride and it was the “in” thing to rhyme about. Being Black was “keepin’ it real.” With the rise of NWA in the late ‘80s, the gangster mentality took center stage and thus became the focal point of the industry.

African-American men have traditionally been emasculated by a society that says that in order to be respected as a man you must have money, power, and status, and yet, the power structure plays the gatekeeper that blocks his access to those same ideals. Alienated and frustrated, young Black men thus become fixated on attaining these ideals with a “by any means necessary” type of zeal. This has led to high rates of incarceration of Black males. Perhaps, for African-American males the biggest effect of conforming to the dominant society’s values and image of success can be measured by what has to be sacrificed in order to attain it.

The stereotype of the uneducated rapper has been overplayed in our society. The reality is that there are many rap artists who have college degrees, or at least have some level of college education. But until we stop conforming to the stereotype of what a rapper is suppose to be, we will continue to undervalue our worth to the Hip-Hop community, and thus limit the opportunity to take the art form to the next level.

A Call to Action

2009-01-23T22:33:00.000-08:00

What gives us the right to be mediocre? Everyone has reason or purpose for his or her existence. We should strive for excellence, so that if we miss our mark, we still wind up being extraordinary. We cannot allow ourselves to embrace the banality of mediocrity. Our children have to get beyond the mind-set that being smart is un-cool. We need to challenge ourselves to raise the bar of achievement. According to a 2008 report prepared by the Federal Project in Education Research Center, almost half of all public high school students in the fifty largest cities in the US fail to graduate. The national high school graduation rate is only 70 percent. Through the promise of our newly elected President, I hope that our youth become motivated to seek higher ground and raise their level of academic achievement.

I am proud of President Barack Obama and what his achievement means to the greater African-American community, but we need to hold him, as well as ourselves, accountable for what we do from this day forward. Will we press to re-commit ourselves to serving the greater good of our community, or will we follow a path of recalcitrance and ignore our responsibility to be productive members of our society?

We can no longer afford to be detached from the responsibility for our own personal actions and the affect it has on the greater community. Without accountability we cannot have order, and without order we have anarchy. Our communities have been victimized by anarchic behavior due to the lack of accountability at every level of our society. We cannot glorify street life and then not accept a level of responsibility for its actions. It is time for our music to stop reporting the problems of our society and begin offering solutions.

Although we have lost much do to the brutal effects of racism, does seems as though we are beginning to redeem the time. It took over 400 years to end slavery in the US, an additional 100 years to gain civil rights, and only an additional 40 years to get an African-American elected as President. As we move forward, what will be our enduring legacy from this day on? We have officially run out of excuses for a lack of progress. We can no longer blame “The Man” for our shortcomings because the headman in charge is one of us.

Hip-Hop now stands in a position to take the lead in pushing a new agenda among our youth and being the vote of change in our communities. In its ability to influence young people to vote, Hip-Hop has proven that it has the ability to affect change and lead people to positive outcomes. Let’s begin to take that initiative to ebb the tide of hopelessness and advocate the virtue of social progress.

President Obama and the Hip-Hop Nation

2009-01-23T20:27:00.001-08:00

With the Inauguration of President Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, America is indeed entering a new phase of its history. The stench of the dirty laundry of its racist past has wafted from the beginning of the African slave trade into the 21st century. The thought of America electing an African-American as president was unimaginable fifty years ago, unthinkable twenty years ago, and improbable ten years ago. President Obama's appeal has reached across gender, racial, generational, and party lines. During the election, Obama scored big with the Hip-Hop generation voters. His "Change" campaign slogan appeared to galvanize the masses and invigorate the youth. But what effect will his presidency have on the Hip-Hop Nation?

Hip-Hop music at its core has always seen the world through a political and social lens. Songs like Fearless Four’s “Problems of the World Today”, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message”, Run-DMC’s “It’s Like That” and Divine Sounds’ “What People Do For Money” all addressed social issues that ate at the core of the African-American community, while artists like Public Enemy, Paris and KRS-ONE wrote songs that spoke from a political perspective. Now we have elected a President who has a political agenda that focuses primarily on re-knitting the social fabric of our society. How will the Hip-Hop community respond to the social paradigm shift? Will we begin to see artists move toward recording more positive and uplifting social commentary? Some have called Hip-Hop the “Black CNN” because of its ability to speak on the ills of our society. But why is our music so unevenly represented toward negativity?

How will the Black Hip-Hop community embrace President Obama during his presidency? Will Hip-Hop give him a “ghetto pass card” or will he be subject to the same scrutinty that other president’s that have preceded him has been subjected to? Obama will be in a very precarious situation. There will be many who will scrutinize every move he makes. They will keep score of every failed objective or slow reform. Nowhere will this be more prominent than outside of the black community. But with many members of the African-American community hanging our hopes on his success, how will we handle his perceived failures? While it is important that we hold the President accountable for his actions while in office, it is equally important that we begin to hold ourselves accountable for our actions from this day forward. As African-American men, it is our mandate that we uphold a higher standard of social responsibility for the benefit of our children.

What will President Obama’s lasting legacy be in the hip-hop culture? Will young African-American males begin to emulate the image of our president instead of the image of a street hustler? We need to recognize that being black is not a singular ideology. Being educated, wearing a business suit, and speaking proper English do not make us less black. Using the same criteria as a barometer for blackness, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, Stokley Carmichael, Medgar Evers and many other leaders of the civil rights movement would not be considered black enough by the same standards.

I look forward to the maturation of Hip-Hop music, and while we revel in the thrill of the present, let us begin to pave the way for a new consciousness for tomorrow. In order for us to bring about change we must first change our mindset. So let us be the change that we seek in our society.

…I Voted For Shirley Chisholm

2007-08-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

Although Hip-Hop can be traced back to the early 1970’s, 1980 is the year most people recognize as the emergence of the phenomenon, the start of the Ronald Reagan administration. Thus, many have called Reagan the first Hip-Hop President. Reagan’s legacy in Hip-Hop music is unquestionable because the policies implemented in his two-term presidency, and the effects they had on minority communities, created an atmosphere in the inner cities that birthed some of the most controversial music in American history.

During the Reagan presidency, social programs and policies that were created to aid the urban poor were severely cut, leaving underprivileged minorities without much needed federal assistance. The economic program that Reagan introduced, known as Reaganomics, drastically increased the gulf between the rich and the poor and wreaked havoc on Black and Hispanic communities.

Reaganomics

The administration’s policies deepened the worst economic recession since
World War II. By the end of Reagan’s presidency, the United States was more than $1.5 trillion deeper in debt than when he first took office.

Reaganomics, the economic policy of the Reagan Administration, centered around the belief that if tax breaks and incentives were given to the rich, that it would loosen up the economy by increased spending and create more jobs for the American people. This was in essence a reapplication of the trickle down theory, or supply-side economics. The problem with this theory is that the jobs and money never trickled down to the rest of society. According to the Statistical Abstract of the United States for 1986, the number of people living below the poverty level rose almost every year from 1981 to 1992. Many people were divided about Reaganomics. Before George H.W. Bush became Reagan’s running mate, he called Reagan’s economic policies “Voodoo Economics.”

While the national unemployment rate rose into double digits, no place in America felt the effects worse than the Black and Hispanic communities. By 1986, over 30 percent of the Black population had an income below the official poverty level, which was more than three times the rate as Whites. By 1990, more than one out of every four Black men between the ages of 24 and 54 were out of work. Overall, the Black unemployment rate was two–and-a-half times higher than White unemployment. Without prospects for employment, reduced access to federal aid, and a presidential administration that seemed ambivalent to both issues, inner city communities became primed for volatility.

Although the tax breaks and incentives that the Reagan Administration created were for all Americans, the benefits were clearly felt by the middle-class and upper-class communities. Meanwhile, the divide between the rich and the poor widened.

Reagan and the Drug Epidemic

It is within the realm of the drug trade that President Reagan may have made his most significant contribution to the industry of Hip-Hop. The effects of Reaganomics on lower middle class communities led to an increase in deviant behaviors. Sociologist Robert Merton developed the strain theory to explain what happens when society socializes individuals to strive for cultural goals, i.e. material possessions, but denies large segments of the population access to achieve these goals. One of the ways that people respond to denied access is to seek to attain these goals through deviant behavior. Without having legitimate access to the “socially acceptable” ways of achieving material possessions, large numbers of young minorities sought to achieve these institutional means through illegitimate methods. With diminished prospects of becoming successful in the boardroom via the ghetto, many young Blacks and Latinos took to the streets to pursue the American dream.

By the beginning of Reagan’s second term in office, crack and cocaine sales in urban cities became immensely profitable. The emergence of drug trafficking in the inner cities also produced a need for gun proliferation. Whereas many assault weapons were previously unaffordable and thus unattainable, drug dealers could now illegally purchase arms quickly on the streets. The burgeoning crack game and rampant dispersion of firearms became a recipe for disaster in Black and Hispanic communities.

Crime rates soared as turf wars ensued over who controlled the right to sell drugs in urban neighborhoods. Citizens became hostages in their own homes during the hostile takeover of entire communities. Drug addicts committed crimes of desperation in order to acquire money to attain drugs. Amazingly, the government did not respond to the rise in crimes caused by crack until law enforcement agents became victims of violent crimes. In an attempt to stem rising crime rates from crack sales, stiffer penalties were handed out in crack possession cases. Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 and 1988, which set a 100:1 ratio between powder cocaine and crack cocaine.

The acts levied a mandatory minimum 10-year-sentence without parole for dealing 5,000 grams or more of cocaine and a 5-year-minimum sentence dealing 500 grams or more of cocaine. However, the sentence for dealing crack was much stiffer, because Congress believed that crack was much more addictive, and thus more dangerous, than cocaine. A person convicted of selling 5 grams of crack got the same 5-year-minimum sentence as a person convicted of selling 500 grams of powder, and a person convicted of selling 50 grams of crack received the same 10-year-minimum sentence as a person convicted of selling 5 kilos of cocaine.

Simple possession of any quantity of powder cocaine is considered a misdemeanor, which receives a maximum punishment of one year in prison. Simple possession of crack is considered a felony punishable by a five-year mandatory sentence.

Since it was more likely that an African-American would be caught in possession of crack than cocaine, many people in the African-American community complained that Blacks were being unfairly targeted with harsher penalties.

Inner-city police departments intensified their efforts to combat drug dealing within their sphere of patrol by doing drug sweeps and profiling young African-American and Hispanic men. Meanwhile, the CIA intentionally allowed drugs to enter the United States to aid their foreign affairs. When Los Angeles Drug King Ricky Ross was arrested and tried for drug trafficking, he testified at his trial that the CIA was supplying him with the drugs.

Dennis Dayle, former chief of an elite DEA enforcement unit stated that in almost all of his investigations over his 30 year professional history, the major targets turned out to be working for the CIA.[i]

Reagan and the Iran-Contra Scandal

Reagan’s biggest scandal may have also been the most costly to the African-American community. In 1987, Congress began to investigate the Reagan Administration to determine if they had been selling arms to Iran and using the proceeds to assist the Contras in Nicaragua. The Contras were an anti-communist guerilla organization in Nicaragua. The Reagan Administration saw helping the Contras necessary in order to keep communism out of the Americas. The problem the Reagan Administration had was that selling arms to Iran and funding the Contras was in direct violation of the Boland Amendment passed by Congress in response to human rights abuses by the Contras.

During the Reagan Administration, the CIA allowed drug traffic to accelerate into the United States in order to appease foreign allies in countries such as Panama, Columbia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Haiti, and Afghanistan. Unfortunately for Reagan, cracks in the drug dealing system exposed a leak to the American public. During the Iran-Contra Scandal, much of the funding that the Contras received came via large shipments of cocaine coming into the U.S. using U.S. government aircraft and U.S. military facilities.[ii]

Gary Webb, a reporter for the San Jose Mercury News, broke the story of the CIA involvement in drug trafficking in 1986. His article, which alleged that CIA and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agents and informants sold drugs to Crips and Bloods gang members in Los Angeles during the 1980’s, caused a furor to rise up in the African-American community.

Senator John Kerry led congressional hearings which produced the Kerry Committee Report. In the report, the committee found that the U.S. State Department had financed drug traffickers, and that individuals who had supported the Contras were involved in drug trafficking.[iii]

Reagan and the Rise of Hip-Hop Music

Hip-Hop music has always been a vehicle for social commentary. Though songs during the early days of the art form were usually about partying and having fun, there was also a sense of social consciousness within the music. Artists like Kurtis Blow (The Breaks), Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (The Message, White Lines), The Fearless Four (Problems of the World Today) and Run-DMC (It’s Like That) created songs that spoke about social conditions in American society. With the institution of Reagan’s social policies, the plight of the Black and Hispanic lower class, and the rise of the illicit crack epidemic, the social conditions of America’s urban societies began to influence the sound of Hip-Hop music. Hip-Hop was the sound of the streets, so as violence took over the streets, it also took over the music. The music captured the violent images that defined a violent society. Rap artists began to focus their lyrics on discussing the elements that shaped their surroundings: drugs, sex and violence.

Sociologically, the adverse effect of racism on African-American males has led to a negative image of self in many young black males. White males, who control the power structure of the country, have defined the image of manhood in American society. Being a man means to be a good provider for your family and taking care of responsibilities. White men have served as gatekeepers to the access of economic opportunities in America. Blacks have been subject to racism in America for over 400 years, with extreme psychological damage being charged to African-American men.

Without access to economic resources, African-American men have reduced opportunities to provide for their families, which cause emasculation and a negative self-image. Finding the road to success blocked through traditional means, some young Black men seek success through the road less traveled. Masculinity thus gets measured in acts of bravado, promiscuity, and procreation. These themes were brought to world focus through the mediums of radio and television.

Many young inner-city males do not see education as the vehicle through which success can be attained. Instead, many view the road to success being traveled through sports, Hip-Hop, or drugs. Those are the only means through which many envision receiving money, power, and respect, which have traditionally been the three things Black men in America have been denied.

With the choice of pursuing illegal methods to attain these ideals, large numbers of African-American males wind up spending time incarcerated. Since African-Americans are targeted more aggressively for drug related crimes, they are more likely to be arrested and convicted for these types of crimes. After incarceration, the already diminished prospects for gainful employment decrease drastically. With conventional means to success blocked, ex-convicts saw Hip-Hop as the only way to earn a legal living doing something that they understand and, in return, embraced them for who they are.

The Reagan Administration gave birth to the rise of “Gangsta Rap” in that it sowed economic depression into the inner-cities by under funding significant social programs. This created an environment in inner-city communities which led to the social conditions that set the atmosphere for “Gangsta Rap.” “Gangsta Rap” music was rap songs which gave an account of the negative, destructive behaviors which took place on ghetto streets spoken of in first person form.
Hip-Hop music gave a voice to the socially mute. As small independent rap record labels began to forge distribution deals with major record labels, rap music started to gain a larger audience. Whereas drugs, violence, unemployment, poverty and other malignant social issues were once seen as inner-city minority maladies that could be ignored as long as it didn’t affect the rest of society, Hip-Hop music brought it to the attention of mainstream society. Suddenly America became appalled by the disturbing images that were filtering into their homes through their children via the inner-city conduit of rap music.

The effects of Reagan’s Administration were felt long after his presidency ended. The Bush Administration tried to pick up where the Reagan Administration left off. It was the social and economic conditions that the Reagan Administration created and left in South Central Los Angeles which set the stage for the infamous destruction that took place during the 1992 Rodney King verdict riots. During his campaign against Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Presidential election, Reagan asked Americans if they were better off then than they were before Carter took office. Many voters made a personal assessment and decided that they weren’t and voted for Reagan. Amazingly, if many African-Americans living under Reagan’s leadership were asked the same question, they would overwhelmingly make the same personal assessment. From unemployment, to cut social programs, to drugs, African-American communities felt the brunt of the fall-out from Reaganomics. It is possible that Reagan didn’t care much about how his policies affected African-Americans since he never received overwhelming voter support from the community. In retrospect, perhaps Biz Markie summed up Black voter attitudes toward Reagan in his 1986 song “Nobody Beats the Biz” by stating bluntly, “Reagan is the Prez, but I voted for Shirley Chisholm.”

[i] Scott, Peter Dale & Marshall, Johnathan. Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America. Berkeley: U. of CA Press, 1991, pp x-xi.
[ii] Cockburn, Alexander & St. Clair, Jeffrey. Whiteout, The CIA, Drugs and the Press. New York:Verso 1998.
[iii] Ibid

Slick Rick: The Enigmatic Ruler of the Hip-Hop Nation

2007-08-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

“Fresh Dressed Like a Million Bucks…,” I can still hear it in my head like it came out yesterday. After hearing Slick Rick rhyme for the first time, I almost immediately sensed that Hip-Hop would be moving in a new direction. After seeing Slick Rick perform for the first time, I knew that my assessment was correct.

Slick Rick, Hip-Hop’s premier storyteller, has the ability to weave the art of storytelling into the fabric of Hip-Hop. He is also one of the few MC’s who has been able to successfully tell stories from both the humorous and serious perspectives.

Slick Rick can also lay claim to being Hip-Hop’s first metrosexual superstar. Slick Rick introduced the concept of being clean and meticulously dressed to the Hop-Hop world when he released “La Di Da Di” with his partner Doug E. Fresh back in 1985. “La Di Da Di” was also a Hip-Hop phenomenon because of its meteoric rise in popularity. The song was bootlegged during a live show performance that made its way around the tri-state area without the benefit of radio airplay.

Already established as a star with the very successful 12” single “The Show” and its B-Side “La Di Da Di”, Slick Rick flipped Hip-Hop upside down with the release of his solo album The Great Adventures of Slick Rick in 1988. The Album became an instant classic in the Hip-Hop community. It is acknowledged among the greatest Hip-Hop albums of all time. The album featured some of Hip-Hop’s greatest hits including “Children’s Story”, “Mona Lisa”, “Teenage Love”, and “Hey Young World”.

Hard times soon saddled the burgeoning rap star’s career, as Slick Rick was imprisoned in 1990 and served 3 years for shooting his cousin, whom Rick says was attempting to extort money from him. Slick Rick’s Hip-Hop status was cemented during this time period. Five years away from the Hip-Hop spotlight would normally be the death knell for most rappers careers, but Rick was able to comeback and still maintained his immense popularity.

Although Slick Rick has been facing a long battle with the INS, who arrested the rapper in June 2002 after returning to the U.S. from performing on a cruise ship, and is threatened with possible deportation, he still maintains widespread popularity. He is still one of the most talented and respected artists in Hip-Hop history, and his family, friends and fans remain hopeful that the Ruler can continue to reign in the U.S.

Divine Sounds: The Emergence of Brooklyn

2007-08-14T19:45:00.001-07:00

While the Bronx and Harlem were bubbling with activity in the early days of Hip-Hop, Brooklyn was doing its thing with much less fanfare. There were crews that were representing the elements of Hip-Hop, but under the radar of many of the crews who were beginning to branch out into the record business. Brooklyn would finally get its voice through a group out of Bed-Stuy known as Divine Sounds.

Divine Sounds (DJ Mike Music, Shelton D, and Disco Ritchie) formed in the late 1970s. The group’s music had a funk-inspired sound. Early groups from the Brooklyn area were influenced by the sound of funk music. Brooklyn was the home of groups like B.T.Express, Crown Heights Affair, and Ready Made Family. By 1984, they released their biggest hit song “What People Do For Money” on Specific Records. The song had a catchy hook and took hold on New York radio. The song stayed in rotation for over six weeks, which was a major feat for a rap song during that time. On the B-side to the single were “Changes” and “Do or Die Bed-Stuy”. “Do or Die Bed-Stuy” had a real street feel to it that, in my opinion, captured the vibe of Brooklyn.

Divine Sounds was one of the first Hip-Hop groups from Brooklyn to release a record. They paved the way for other Brooklyn artists such as Big Daddy Kane, Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G., AZ and M.O.P..

Cold Crush Brothers

2007-08-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

The Cold Crush Brothers were undoubtedly one of the most talented Hip-Hop groups of all time. Formed in the Bronx, New York in 1978, the Cold Crush (Charlie Chase, DJ Tony Tone, Easy AD, J.D.L., Almighty KG, and Grandmaster Caz) utilized strong emceeing skills, harmonies, and a great stage presence to form their show routines, which usually led to victories in rap battles.

It was groups like the Cold Crush Brothers who created the mix tape market as they received worldwide fame and notoriety through the sale of their underground live performances.

The Cold Crush forced groups to step their skills up to another level. They had a very strong reputation for creating great routines and performing with strong showmanship, and never allowed that image to be tarnished.

The Cold Crush Brothers recorded several singles throughout the early 1980s, including “Punk Rock Rap” and “Fresh, Wild, Fly & Bold”. “Punk Rock Rap” was historic for two reasons. First, it was the first record to use Hip-Hop and rock music together. Secondly, because it was recorded on Tuff City Records and distributed by CBS Records, it was the first time an independent Hip-Hop label and a major record company worked together.

“Fresh, Wild, Fly & Bold” was a certified street anthem. The song was the Cold Crush’s best selling recording. With the recording, the Cold Crush took in-your-face bravado up a few notches.

While the Cold Crush Brothers never attained sales figures that matched their talent level, the crew was legendary on the streets. Many of the most respected lyricists of all time fully acknowledge Grandmaster Caz as one of their greatest influences. Caz is known as one of the greatest of the early MC’s. Caz was never compensated on one of his biggest contributions to Hip-Hop history.

Part time club bouncer and Caz’ former manager, Big Bank Hank, caught the attention of Joey Robinson (son of Sylvia Robinson, founder of Sugar Hill Records) while he rapped over a tape of Caz’s lyrics. Robinson offered Hank a position in a group he was forming called the Sugar Hill Gang. Hank, in need of lyrics since he wasn’t an MC, went to Caz and asked for material. Caz told Hank to take what he wanted from his prized rhyme book. Hank went on to record Caz’s lyrics on the breakout Hip-Hop hit “Rapper’s Delight”.

The Cold Crush Brothers are recognized as one of the elite groups of the founding days of hip-hop. They were fearless battlers who intimidated many groups just by their mere presence. It was their sound, along with groups like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five that carried hip-hop through its early days and laid the foundation which future groups would build upon.

The Beastie Boys: The Integration of Hip-Hop

2007-08-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

Within its thirty-year existence, Hip-Hop has grown from its humble beginnings in the rugged streets of the South Bronx, New York to being one of the foremost disseminators of Pop culture across the world. Black and Latino youth created the phenomena and it slowly proliferated throughout the New York Metropolitan area. However, Hip-Hop was slow to have a major effect outside of the Tri-state area. That would all changed by 1985 when three Jewish-American white kids from New York City would help inject Hip-Hop into the bloodstream of American culture.

Formed in 1981, The Beastie (Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Internal Excellence) Boys used a background in Punk Rock music to form their own style of Hip-Hop music. The group switched to performing Hip-Hop under the influence of producer Rick Rubin. At the time, Hip-hop was considered Black inner-city music. With the emergence of The Beastie boys, rap music became more multicultural. White kids from the suburbs suddenly began to take to the music and it showed in the spike in record sales.

With the success of their LP Licensed to Ill, The Beastie Boys became pioneers of the music genre. Licensed to Ill was the first rap album to reach #1 on the Billboard album list. Licensed to Ill also became the best selling rap album of the 1980’s. They helped break down cultural barriers to bring rap music mainstream recognition. Their success helped to open up rap to a wider audience across America and abroad.

Although their next album, Paul’s Boutique, did not measure up to the success of Licensed to Ill, it met much critical acclaim. Paul’s Boutique took the art of sampling to the next level. Produced by the Dust Brothers, the album used over 100 samples and is listed by many as one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums of all time.

The Beastie Boys have had a lasting affect on pop culture. The group, which is one of the longest tenured rap groups in history, are still recording and performing today. They have influenced other rapcore groups such as Limp Bizkit and Korn. The group members, Mike D (Michael Diamond), MCA (Adam Yauch) and King Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) also brought a Rock and Roll party atmosphere to Hip-Hop with their music.
Most importantly, The Beastie Boys presence helped make Hip-Hop legitimate in the eyes of young white music consumers and gave Hip-Hop its first exposure to mainstream audiences.

The Impact of Paid in Full on Hip-Hop History

2007-08-14T19:39:00.001-07:00

Although never fully embraced by mainstream acclaim, Eric B and Rakim are undoubtedly one of the most influential Hip-hop groups of all time. By 1986, Hip-Hop had already left an indelible mark on mainstream culture. Movies like Wild Style and Beat Street exposed the world to Graffiti Art, Breakdancing and the art of scratching, while rapping became the most visible and recognized form of the culture. The Fresh Fest Tours featuring groups like Run-DMC, Whodini and the Fat Boys branched out across the US to indoctrinate new fans to the music. The sound of Hip-Hop was punctuated by hard drum machine beats and loud, near screaming rhymes. It was in the same year that this Hip-Hop duo would create a sound that would change the tone of the genre forever.

Hip-Hop listeners were introduced to the group in 1985 when they released the 12” single “Eric B for President” and its B-Side companion “My Melody” on the independent label Zakia Records. The impact that the songs had was felt immediately. Rakim’s cold impenetrable monotone flow combined with his intricate rhyme patterns caught everyone off-guard. The single had people buzzing over the sound, but most were left unprepared for what they would hear when the album dropped in 1986.

By the time “I know you Got Soul” was released as the second single from the LP, everyone knew that this group had something that was groundbreaking. Eric B’s production utilized hard bass drum kicks in conjunction with funky soul samples from artists such as James Brown, Bobby Byrd, and Jimmy Castor. Meanwhile, Rakim’s mesmerizing delivery literally changed the sound of Hip-Hop music. Almost immediately, MCs began to change the way they delivered rhymes. Yelling over beats to emphasize rhymes was replaced by cool, laid back vocal intonations. With the flair of a jazz musician, Rakim used style to reinvent the art of the rhyme.

Eric B and Rakim symbolized the dividing line between the sound of the legendary originators of the music and the new sound of the up-and-coming artists of the mid to late 1980’s. On the Hip-Hop timeline, era can be identified as before Eric B and Rakim and after. In fact, coincidence or not, the market for the new sound created by the arrival of Paid in Full became the death knell for legendary groups like The Cold Crush Brothers, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Fearless Four, and the Crash Crew.

One of the most telling stories about how outside of the box Rakim’s style was in recording “My Melody”. Eric B and Rakim recorded “Eric B for President” and “My Melody” at producer Marley Marl’s home studio. During the recording of “My Melody”, Marley Marl and MC Shan, who was present, kept trying to get Rakim to rhyme harder and louder like all the other rappers of the time period, but Rakim wouldn’t change his style. Later on, a retrospective MC Shan admitted that they didn’t realize they were witnessing the future of Hip-Hop.

Paid in Full has withstood the test of time and is without question still one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums of all time. Eric B and Rakim were artists who were ahead of their time. Rakim’s effect on Hip-Hop can be felt by the sheer number of MCs who say that they have been influenced by his work. Twenty years after the release of Paid in Full the songs still whip party-goers into frenzies when they are played, and make grown men revert back into adolescent boys reminiscing on the first time they heard the future.

Salt-N-Pepa

2007-08-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

Salt (Cheryl James) and Pepa (Sandra Denton) formed the rap group Salt-N-Pepa, one of the most successful female Hip-Hop and Pop groups of all time. From their humble beginnings working at a Sears in New York, they went on to record platinum records and pave the way for a new generation of female MCs.

The group was formed in 1985, when co-worker Hurby “Love Bug” Azor asked them to help him with a student project by recording an answer record to Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew’s hit “The Show”. During that time, the way women were introduced into Hip-Hop was by recording “answer” records to male groups’ hit songs. The result was the 12” single “The Showstopper”, which was released on Pop Arts Records. While the song never became a hit, it introduced the group, recording under the name Super Nature”, to the Hip-Hop scene. The group’s original DJ, Spinderella (Pamela Green) left the group before the group recorded their second album and was replaced by the new Spinderella (Deidre “Dee Dee” Roper.) Later the group changed their name to Salt-N-Pepa and signed with Next Plateau Records. It was with Next Plateau that the group began to soar.
They had the ability to rock hard enough to hang with the guys in the industry, yet connect with their female base of supporters. They were able to combine strong lyrical delivery with sex appeal, thus keeping their femininity in the testosterone dominated Hip-Hop genre. Salt-N-Pepa helped create a platform for women to be heard in Hip-Hop.

Crash Crew

2007-08-14T19:22:00.001-07:00

The Crash Crew was one of the most electrifying groups of the early Hip-Hop era. The six member crew (EK Mike C, Reggie Reg, La Shu Bee, G-Man, Barry Bistro, and DJ Daryl C (R.I.P.)) was also one of the earliest Hip-Hop groups to form outside of the Bronx, NY.

The Crash Crew formed in 1977, in the Harlem section of the Lincoln Projects on 135th and 5th Ave. The crew used harmony in their routines, which were usually derived from television theme songs, and created rhymes around the melodies. They played a big part in Hip-Hop’s successful transition from performing in local parks and community centers, to recording records and doing shows around the U.S.

Some of their hit songs include “High Powered Rap” (which Jay-Z used on his song “Girls, Girls, Girls” without giving the Crash Crew proper credit), “On the Radio”, “We Are Known as Emcees”, and “Breaking Bells”.

By releasing their 12” single, “High Powered Rap”, independently on Mike and Dave Records, the group became one of the earliest Hip-Hop groups to release and distribute a record on their own indie label.

RUN-DMC: Global Ambassadors of Hip-Hop

2007-08-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

In the history of Hip-Hop music, no group has had a greater impact on its growth than Run-DMC. Run-DMC changed the way Hip-Hop music was made and marketed. Before the group’s emergence, Hip-Hop was a single’s driven industry. No one made rap albums, and because of this, no one was really sure if rap music could be marketed in an album form. Under the leadership and guidance of rap promoter Russell Simmons and producer Rick Rubin, Run-DMC became the biggest name rap group of their era.

The group Run-DMC consisted of Run (Joseph Simmons, Russell Simmons younger brother), DMC (Daryl McDaniels), and their DJ Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell, R.I.P.). Before the group took off, rap artists’ performance wardrobes looked like they robbed Rick James’ fashion designer. Tight leather pants, boots, studded black leather gloves, and fake fur shawls were the look of the day. When Run-DMC hit the scene they instantly changed the dress code. Fedora hats, Adidas sneakers, no shoelaces, Lee Jeans, and three quarter length leather jackets became their signature style of dress.

Run-DMC hit the streets hard with their first single “Sucker MC’s” and the B-side single “It’s Like That”. Both songs became instant hits, and both songs had a lasting impact on Hip-Hop. “Sucker MC’s” immediately became a street anthem; the booming bass drum beat dominated boom boxes through the Tri-State area. It seemed like every urban teenager knew all the lyrics to the song and it was the biggest body mover in the park jams and block parties of the summer of 1984. Meanwhile, “It’s Like That” became one of the earliest Hip-Hop songs to incorporate a Rock bass line to its melody. The innovative style laid the groundwork for future Run-DMC Rock music forays such as “Rock Box”, “Walk This Way” and “Mary, Mary.”

By 1986, Run-DMC had already become one of the biggest groups in Hip-Hop, and that year they released an album that would push them into the elite stratosphere of superstardom. The LP, Raising Hell became the highest selling rap album in history to that point. Raising Hell featured “Walk This Way”, a song recorded with Rock group Aerosmith that propelled the album over the top, and Run-DMC, into the Rock market. With the success of Raising Hell, Run-DMC was able to achieve widespread mainstream appeal.

Run-DMC’s Hip-Hop legacy speaks of all of the doors they helped open for future rap groups. They were one of the earliest rap groups to be in heavy rotation on MTV. “Walk This Way” became the first rap song to make the Top 10 on Billboard’s singles charts. They were the first rap group to record platinum and multi-platinum albums, and they were also the first rap group to appear of the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. In addition, they helped make Hip-Hop music marketable to corporate America. With their promotion of Adidas via the song “My Adidas”, they became the first rap group to sign a sneaker deal. Today’s rap artists owe gratitude to groups like Run-DMC who paved the way for Hip-Hop to be embraced across the world.

Pumpkin: Hip-Hop's First Super Producer

2007-08-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

Hip-Hop listeners have always been entranced by the beat. The beat is the foundation of the soundtrack to our lives. It is the key element to the sound that made us brave long bus and train rides into hostile territories in search of the perfect beat. One of the early progenitors of the magnetic Hip-Hop beat was Producer Pumpkin (R.I.P.).

Pumpkin was Hip-Hop’s first super producer. He was known as the King of the Beat and Hip-Hop’s original funky drummer. Pumpkin was the drummer and lead musical arranger in Enjoy Records studio band. He also was a label producer for Profile Records. Pumpkin was a pro on live and synthesized drum kits. He mastered the use of the Linn Drum machine. Through his body of work, he became one of the most prolific producers in early Hip-Hop recordings. He produced songs like “Yvette” by the Cold Crush Brothers, "Put That Head Out" by Funkmaster Wizard Wiz, and “Here Comes That Beat” by Pumpkin and the Profile All-Stars. He also co-produced “Fresh, Fly, Wild, & Bold” by the Cold Crush Brothers.

Pumpkin also created the music for such old school classics as “Country Rock and Rap” by The Disco Four, “Rappin’ and Rockin’ the House” by Funky Four Plus One More, “Love Rap” by Spoonie Gee, “The Body Rock” by the Treacherous Three, “It’s Magic” and “Rockin’ It” by the Fearless Four, “Throwdown” and “School Beats” by the Disco Four, and most of all the early hip-hop songs recorded on Enjoy Records.

He is probably best known for his 1984 hit song “Here Comes That Beat”, featuring the Profile All-Stars. The Profile All-Stars included groups like Dr Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, The Fresh 3 MCs, and The Disco Four.

Pumpkin was a creative musical genius who played multiple instruments. Sadly, Pumpkin never received his deserved recognition. His name is almost all but forgotten when the best Hip-Hop producers are mentioned. However, Pumpkin was one of the most important musical figures in the early days of Hip-Hop recordings. He was a key creative force behind the sound of Hip-Hop during the early 1980s. Hip-Hop lost a true pioneer when he succumbed to Pneumonia, but his legacy lives on deeply entrenched in the sound of the early Hip-Hop classics.

Hip-Hop and the Looking Glass Self

2007-08-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

In the 1880's, Charles Horton Cooley, a sociologist, developed a theory of the Looking Glass Self in order to explain how humans develop the ability to view themselves from an outsider's perspective. Through this outside perspective, we define our concept of self, based on our interpretation of how others see us.

In American society, black men have traditionally been viewed as simple-minded, violent, oversexed miscreants who would rather hustle or live off of the system than to earn a legitimate living. America has always painted a negative portrait of the African-American male. Black men are often denied proper access to cultural goals, i.e. material possessions, by legitimate means due to racism and class status.

Over the years, Hip-Hop has developed into a subculture with influential effects on the dominant culture. The image of the cool, super-masculine black male deviant as rap artist has saturated the Hip-Hop genre. In fact, a rap artists street credibility and respect in the game is often measured by his criminal rap sheet, length of incarceration, and/or the number of times he has survived sustaining bullet wounds.

According to Cooley's Looking Glass Theory, we imagine how we appear to others around us, we interpret their reaction to us (whether positive or negative), and then we develop a self-concept based on the feelings or ideas we have about ourselves. This self-concept can be positive or negative. Individuals are products of their social inflluences, and since most Hip-Hop artists come from tough inner-city environments, many have constructed their rap persona around the images that pervade their surroundings. Thus, they see themselves through the lens that the dominant society views them with. Therefore, if a young black male believes that society looks at him with fear because he is perceived to be a threat, he may internalize that perception and take ownership of it. Since black males have traditionally been emasculated by society, the young male may enjoy this sense of power and inherit this self-conception of himself.

In The Presentation of Self In Everyday Life, Erving Goffman says that when an individual presents himself before others his performance will incorporate the values of the community or society (p35). In this case, the community or society whose values are being incorporated is the Hip-Hop community. No male wants to be viewed as soft in front of his peers, so it becomes important for an artist to conform to the imagery of gangsters or machismo to save face in front of others.

Goffman notes that people have front stage and backstage behaviors. The front stage is the public or shared experiences, while the backstage is the private behavior. The front stage is the act, or the image we want others to see us as. Men rarely care to expose their frailties, emotional scars, and financial difficulties with others. Men have been trained that these personal limitations are signs of weekness, so they see it as being advantageous to conceal them from public view. These behaviors are only appropriate in the backstage setting when no one is watching. People put on masks to conceal themselves. Goffman states that the mask is our truer self, the self that we would like to be (pg 19).

Many young African-American males use a facade of cool posturing in order to mask internalized feelings of fear, insecurity and inferiority. In their book Cool Pose, authors Richard Majors and Janet Mancini Billson express their belief that cool pose helps to explain the fact African-American males die earlier and faster than white males; are more deeply involved in criminal and delinquent activities; are more apt to drop out of school and are suspended more frequently than white children; and have more volatile relationships with woman (pg 2)

Hip-Hop artists have mastered the art of cool posture in front of the media and in music videos. The tough thug image that is pervasive in many Hip-Hop groups is an example of the front stage behavior. It is the image that they want others to associate them with in order to increase their street credibility. Meanwhile, many live completely different lives in their backstage setting. Many are family men, loving to their wives and children, who run or fund community organizations for children, and give philanthropically to charities, far from the villainous behaviors displayed to the public. While some rap artists have been involved in gang activity and drug dealing, others have simply written about the lifestyle they observed from a front row seat.

The violent imagery of Hip-Hop cannot totally be blamed on the irresponsibility of the artists. Often what is displayed is reactionary behavior toward a repressive society, which has historically marginalized and emasculated Black males and blocked the pathways to traditional means of expressing manhood and masculinity for African-American males. However, Hip-Hop has to face itself and, in the reflection of its looking glass self, determine the image it will embrace in its future.