The Southern Mothers - Olafur Eliasson (A Milli Remix)
Wow! These guys' lyrical inventiveness is quite impressive. And I've certainly never encountered so many sexual references in defense of public art.
You might want to check Gothamist for background on Olafur Eliasson. Most of the other art and architecture references are closer to common knowledge.
I wish more music videos had subtitles. I think they're meant as a joke here but I like them for their own sake.
The duo, The Southern Mothers, have at least one other video, Tracy Letts, playing off 99 Problems and focused on playwright Tracy Letts. Not bad but you can see they really stepped up their game with Olafur Eliasson.
Jon Carmanica makes the case for Gym Class Heroes as a band that is ""crossing under" and gaining credibility in the world of rap.
We'll see how much further their singles driven progress takes them into the realm of urban media but it seems more likely that the majority of these rap/rock hybrids, spanning the gamut from 90s style "heavy" rap/rock to Schwayze's gentle blends, are going to affect the rock landscape much more dramatically than the urban landscape and give rappers new opportunities in new arenas.
Here's a new Nerdcore tv spot for G4tv from MC Lars whose vocal stylings are what I had considered typical of nerdcore and why I haven't been so into the genre.
MC Frontalot for G4tv
MC Frontalot is also a big name in nerdcore and I've checked him out before but, though he sounds related to MC Lars if you listen without watching, this spot reminds me more of musicians that crossed over into performance art like Klaus Nomi whose excessive self-presentation is a particularly strong part of the act.
YTCracker for G4tv
I don't think I'd checked out YTCracker before and he comes across as the most "normal" rapper of these three. Juxtaposing them suggests that they're more connected by themes and beats than by vocal styles.
Given that the folks at GPtv are saying that Del the Funky Homosapien is next in the series and describing him as the "overlord of nerdcore", the nerdcore genre is starting to look and sound a lot more interesting.
Though reggaeton never melded with hip hop it wasn't for lack of trying on Daddy Yankee's part. His career continues with a starring role in Talento De Barrio which he also coproduced as well as featuring on the soundtrack.
I've been gathering links to hipster rap coverage as these colorful new players have made their appearance, for better or for worse, in the hip hop blogosphere.
If you've written something on the hipster phenomenon, please drop a link in the comments.
And if you care to share your definition of hipster, cause every one I've read to date kind of sucks, that will be especially appreciated.
All contributions will be considered for my upcoming post, Hipster Rap: Parade Music for Gangsta's Funeral.
Update: You can define hipster or hipster rap and we'll see what kind of overlap happens.
Here's a fascinating blog post from a while back on the business of Ghana's Hiplife, a combination of their Highlife genre and hip hop, with some interesting similarities to business here: These days, the biggest names in hiplife are making more money from product endorsement deals than record sales.
For more on Hiplife see The Hiplife Complex by thursdayborn who described his project: While living in Ghana, West Africa last year, I spent most of my time chasing around rappers, producers, engineers, fans, DJs, and anyone else involved in the local hip-hop movement. Clutching a DV camcorder and microphone, I pounded the pavement of Accra, Ghana's sprawling capital, from top to bottom reaching out to a huge variety of participants in this vital, evolving complex. The culmination of a unique combination of factors (eg socio-economic, politico-historic, and technological advances), hiplife represents the next step in both the development of African popular expression and a more than 400-year diasporic dialogue.
Tha Interrogation - Auditions for ego trip's (White) Rapper Show
There are a number of interesting developments regarding white people and hip hop getting media attention but the one getting the most attention, ego trip's (White Rapper) Show, is probably the least important, though it may be the most successful as entertainment.
I'm not saying that the White Rapper Show isn't big news for the Ego Trip crew and I'm not saying that it isn't decent television. In fact, I'm glad that some good white rappers are getting a little extra attention as a byproduct.
But I am saying that there doesn't seem to be much new in the (White) Rapper concept other than being the first reality show organized around the idea. And, since rapper is the last job category in hip hop for which the idea of a white man getting the job is most likely a joke, there doesn't seem to much more that can be done with it except, maybe, a situation comedy featuring a crew of white rappers trying to make it in Harlem.
Nerdcore Rising Teaser
I've been much more interested of late in two developments involving whites in hip hop that stand out from the (White) Rapper theme partly because they aren't trying to gain acceptance in rap but are building their own scenes and fan bases - nerdcore, a geek rap phenomenon that's been building since at least 2000, and glam rap, currently claimed by Mickey Avalon with many precedents.
Nerdcore got a big plug recently in Newsweek and is the subject of two indie documentaries, Nerdcore Rising and Nerdcore For Life.
Nerdcore For Life Trailer
What I didn't at first get about nerdcore is that it's not a parody of hip hop, at least that's what some of these folks maintain. Once that idea sunk in, it helped me recognize that something stronger than white people making fun of themselves by pretending to be rappers is going on here.
I'll be honest, I can't really stand to listen to a whole nerdcore track. They're just hard to take. But that doesn't matter, the point is that nerdcore appears to be an authentic representation of a subculture that's going to do its thing regardless of what the so-called hip hop community thinks. Whether it can blow up beyond its subculture remains to be seen, but it's steadily growing and there are all sorts of ways nerdcore rappers can have an impact without being a major movement.
Mickey Avalon Movie Trailer
Mickey Avalon has worked the glam rap concept all the way to an Interscope deal and I think its going to cause a lot of cognitive dissonance if he really does make it. As much as writers will focus on his relationship to hip hop, in many ways it's rock that establishes most of the aesthetic base for his act and it will be various permutations of pop and rock fans who dig rap that will make him a big star or not.
Mickey Avalon f/Dirt Nasty & Andre Legacy - My Dick [Live]
My first reaction upon encountering Mickey Avalon in the media was to think, "how will hip hop respond to this?" But the reality is that it really doesn't matter. Avalon can blow up without ever being accepted by the world of rap, a world that is simply too homophobic to ever accept Mickey Avalon.
The thing is, (white) rappers are always in danger of becoming novelty acts. Nerdcore and glam rap would be novely acts within hip hop but the fact that they operate mostly outside of the traditional world of hip hop allows them to set their own terms and build their own audience without the resistance of purist and pop traditions.
And if some of these cats blow up with toy beats, they certainly wouldn't be the first.
Disclaimer: Depending on who you ask, Clyde Smith is a white man in hip hop, a white man blogging about hip hop and/or a white man taking hip hop for everything he can. But, however you look at it, I'm white.
My friend and associate Adisa Banjoko was featured on the cover of last Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle for an article entitled 9/11: Five years later / TYPECASTING MUSLIMS AS A RACE by Matthai Chakko Kuruvila. The article is a portrait of Muslims in the Bay Area who stand as counter-evidence to the monolithic stereotypes many Americans have of Muslims.
Chronicle Photo of Adisa Banjoko by Eric Luse
Adisa also recently hosted a panel on Hyphy at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club featuring Mistah FAB, Tamara Palmer, Traxamillion & Eric Arnold. If you want to get past the mainstream media portrayals of hyphy, check out the audio for an hour of real talk on the matter.
Michael Miraflor declares the Pack's Got My Vans On to be the "summer single of the year" which, to be perfectly frank, was a surprising reminder that New York hip hop bloggers can write about successful artists from other regions without having to question their own status.
Miraflor also makes a telling point about why hyphy may not be taking off like many in the Bay had hoped:
If I were a label head, I would NOT have had E-40 introduce the Hyphy Movement to the rest of the country. Yes, 40 water is a Bay Area legend, but outside of California his credibility takes a hit. No disrespect, but dude must be pushing 45 years old and does not look like the Bay kids whose culture and style he is supposedly reflecting and perpetuating. Hyphy needs something younger, more authentic and representative.... like The Pack.
Although I can understand why e-40 got pushed first, his age, his shifting identity, and his odd mixture of respect for and dismissal of hyphy kids undermines the role of spokesperson. Eric K. Arnold's hyphy article for Vibe's July issue reveals 40's perspective on ghostriding and similar automotive stunts that are similar to his comments on the newness of hyphy more generally:
According to 40, the only thing that's new is the extra enthusiasm the younger generation brings to the scene. "Now they're on top of the hood, they're on top of the trunk, and they're on top of the roof. And, you know, they got all the doors open. But it ain't really nothing new; it's just new to the world."
While it's true that elements of hyphy may have a variety of precedents, youth movements tend to operate under the shared perception that what they are doing is totally new and without precedent. So E-40's statements aren't conducive to becoming a champion of hyphy. What 40 doesn't seem to understand is that the newness in contemporary youth trends and movements often reveals itself in how received culture is taken, remixed and renewed via unexpected combinations and juxtapositions, a process that cannot simply be reduced to variations on the same old thing.
In any case, comparing the Pack's video for Got My Vans On at the start of this post to E-40's Tell Me When To Go which follows, it's quite clear that the Pack's video displays youth movement energy while E-40's makes a strong regional statement, further support that the Pack might be the ones to break hyphy in ways that recent attempts by the music/media industrial complex couldn''t manufacture.
Too $hort, another older figure who's pushing hyphy, seems much more clued in to what members of various older generations can do to help the spread of hyphy. As he told Tamara Palmer while referring to himself in the third person:
I think 40 and Too $hort are going to endorse it, and I think that if 40 or Too $hort tried to take it to the masses we’re almost just like perpetrating a little bit. . . It shoulda been Mac Dre to be the one bringing it to the masses, but his life was cut short. I think it’s on the next generation. Me and 40, all we can do is help. It’s an endorsement, that’s all. 'Cause me and him sat around and talked about the youngsters and how much our songs influenced them, but me and 40 don’t jump out of cars and ghost ride the whip and go stupid hanging out of windows. We don’t do that s**t. Somebody who does that needs to lead it. Mac Dre did that stuff. Keak da Sneak does that stuff. Mistah F.A.B. does that stuff. They need to lead the moment. 40 and me just need to be the Bay Area ambassadors we are, just stayin up on the throne or whatever and just overlook the masses and just say, "Handle your business." I’m trying to be a guiding light.
Obviously, it's not like Too $hort thinks any less of himself than does E-40, he just generally seems to understand the larger game much better than most folks and he also knows that he can benefit from hyphy without having to act like the kids are just following in his footsteps.
Since I opened with a reference to a current New York cliche, I think it's fitting to close with Too $hort's response to the typical Bay Area complaint that everybody else in rap music steals from the Bay:
I’m really not condoning all these Bay Area muhf**kers running around talkin’ bout, “Man, they’re stealing from us, they’re stealing from us!” Steal it back muhf**ker, s**t! Quit complaining!
Matt, author of HoustonSoReal, writes about and shares photos from his experiences traveling to Norway for a music festival. If you read much of Matt's blog, you'll realize he's open to and supportive of all kinds of rappers, though he's definitely boosting Texas. Plus, he often posts these lengthy photo essays along with his tales so it's a little like dropping into a scene from afar. In this case, prefaced by shots from a trip to the beach with his kids!
Matt's the kind of guy you'd want on your side if you were trying to break in the States, particularly in the nation of Texas. But, after a very late show with a small crowd, Matt found that some of the grime artists he had played regularly on his radio show just weren't interested.
Outside of Dizzee Rascal and Lady Sovereign, the grime cats really do not know how to do it man. Musically they are top notch, breaking new ground and forging new sounds. Business wise, they have no chance in hell. Like Kano, ultra talented, lyrical, attractive, complete package type of guy. Try to get a call back from his management if you are anybody but Fader or Vice. Impossible. Try to book him, he wants a grip of money to come to a city where 3 people know about him and one of those three people is really motivated and wants to break him. This is from experience here. I want to break this sound in the US but it's impossible.
Note that Matt had already been trying to help these guys build. This isn't like me trying to talk to some CEO at a big conference and feeling dissed. This is someone who could and would really help these guys.
I say all this because after the show I went to meet these cats. . . Yo for real, every one of them shined me. Motherf*cker I don't care if you are pissed. If someone is reaching out to you and complimenting your art at least say hello and shake hands. Don't just nod and walk off like you are... man don't get me started but I have to say it, these dudes showed me what I already knew man. They got all the talent in the world but the biz ain't there. I heard it from a lot of people before.
I have played Bruza a lot on my radio show. I tried to tell him that, but he was just not interested. He was just like "Yeah mate great." And walked off. Sorry bro, I'm a fan and will remain a fan, but sh*t man. You need some lessons in respecting your fans. All y'all. Cuz I was wide f*ckin' open and you killed my high.
I'm glad to hear that Matt's got positive regard for Lady Sovereign because I dig her and support her whenever possible. I'm actually really interested in the whole phenomenon, but if the day comes when Kano or Bruza's pr folks are reaching out, what's the first thing I'll be remembering?
On Friday the Chicago Trib's Greg Kot previewed Chicago Rocks, an event that happened over the weekend featuring numerous Chicago rappers including Lupe Fiasco, who has some interesting comments: I didn't record in New York, I recorded in Chicago, for a reason . . . I'm meant to tell the Chicago experience. But it was a fight, it was a battle. . . . But if I can't be me, it's not worth doing.
However, I'm bringing it up because the organizers, the Molemen production team, are very clear about the fact that their show represents the diversity of hip hop in Chicago, not the Chicago sound that major labels are hoping to find in the wake of Kanye West's superstardom, roll up into a package and market to eager fans.
This topic emerged during a conversation with the Molemen's Edward "Panik" Zamudio and Juvenal "PNS" Robles: "The question for the corporations is, `How do we package that and sell it to the rest of America?'" PNS asks.
The two producers look at each other and laugh.
"And some of the corporations never will get it," PNS says. "That's why with some of them we say, `You need to do your homework first. Otherwise, don't bother. This isn't for you.'"
Perhaps that kind of corporate thinking is part of the reason Lupe says about the industry: That whole world is terrible . . . I hate the music business. I hate it.
Indie Music Promotion blogger Bob Baker commends "post-punk laptop rap" artist MC Lars for marketing himself to the iGeneration by "tapping into (and rapping about) a current event or trend" and for "creating a new musical category".
Though I don't think it will "change [the] music industry forever", I do think the attempt to create an Urban Inspirational genre is an interesting one, based on the press release alone.
Tomorrow there will be a press conference in Nashville to "announce a new music and entertainment genre titled “URBAN INSPIRATIONAL™”." Note the trademark, though no such trademark is currently registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office. Of course, it may be in process.
According to the release: URBAN INSPIRATIONAL is the new cutting edge branding and positioning of the musical genre designed to appeal to a broad mainstream audience while providing content containing positive and clean messaging. The new URBAN INSPIRATIONAL genre presents a counter culture and relevant alternative to the violence, racism and sexism currently found in a large amount of today’s music aimed at the Generation XY Cusp demographic.
In addition, URBAN INSPIRATIONAL also provides an accurate categorization for a strong and significant portion of today’s music and entertainment, creating new global sales and marketing opportunities for the large cross-section of music and entertainment that currently does not receive the appropriate wide reaching exposure.
Attendees include Salt of Salt-N-Pepa and MC Hammer, both of whom I could see benefiting from such an initiative. I also think this might appeal to Baby Boomers and am unsure of the Gen X & Y focus unless that is to appeal to marketers.
The creation of the Urban Inspirational genre may seem like an artificial maneuver but it's exactly the kind of thing one needs to work within the current framework of the music industry, especially in relationship to radio/tv and marketing.
It's also a maneuver that folks into "Conscious Hip Hop" could have done if they didn't tend to have such deep disdain for any such moves that could bring them into the mainstream or allow them to have a stronger niche via business acumen. Of course, that's an ongoing difficulty for purists attempting to function in a market economy. But perhaps some will find their way into the Urban Inspirational genre to positive effect.
Urban Inspirational should be able to benefit from the growing Holy Hip Hop movement without being limited by the gospel label or by an adherence to a particular religious perspective, though my best bet is that this will be a strongly Christian influenced genre, whether or not the lyrics reveal that influence.
What's also being announced (by default) is the creation of the Urban Inspiration Trade Association (URBINTA) which, one assumes, will provide coordination and a focal point for the development of Urban Inspirational music as a marketing force.
However, it's my duty to point out that having the official website online would be a good thing at this point in time. Even a simple landing page with contact information, which GoDaddy offers their registrants for free along with something they call a Quick Blog, seems like a rather obvious thing to do, since right now all they have is a generic GoDaddy "Coming Soon!" page.
If E-40 and other hyphy types out of the Bay aren't able to seize the moment, for once it won't be due to lack of promotional support or media coverage. Even the strength of crunk is behind them with the involvement of Lil Jon. In addition to the first video for Tell Me When to Go, that both encapsulates one view of the hyphy scene and is an infectious single for those susceptible to such things (me included), Warner has some interesting additions to the campaign.
Obviously responding to the fact that hyphy's a little "different", Warner's showing they've got somebody smart on board by creating a cultural introduction called Hype on Hyphy, that will be available on dvd, as well as E-40's Dictionary Book of Slang, Vol. 1, that will come from Warner Books. I'm not so sure about the multi-volume approach to a slang dictionary, but this campaign is certainly a testament to what a big media company can do when using resources from across divisions.
One obstacle that E-40 may face is his proliferation of aka's. I've always questioned what was up with the thousand and one names that so many rappers seem to have because I think that's almost always a serious branding mistake. In the case of E-40, who hasn't exactly been in the national spotlight in a while, the fact that we're getting hit with all of his monikers all at once is rather confusing.
From the press release: On iTunes, 40 Bellafonte was at the helm of "Bay Area Hyphy Movement" feature, where 40 picked artists to be featured with for week of release. In the coming months 40 Water will be on the cover of Rime, Murder Dog, and XLR8R.
I'd actually heard these (there are many more) and was still momentarily confused, even with the inclusion of the 40. Tamara Palmer starts off her SF Weekly profile of E-40 with a discussion of his many names: Earl Stevens II is E-40, except when he's not. Sometimes they call him Dr. Scrill or E-Feezy or Forty Water. Pimpy E was his first alias, the one he took in seventh grade. There is also E-40 Fonzarelli (later upgraded to E-40 Belafonte), Earl "Jack Yo Slacks" Stevens (for when he's executive-producing something), Tom Fedi & Da Batch Breakers, Mr. Flamboyant, the Mail Man, and T.K.A. -- that's "Tycoon Known As" -- Charlie Hu$tle. In certain circles, he is known as the "Ambassador of the Bay" and the "King of Slang." In others, like that of 18-year-old producer Earl Stevens III, himself referred to as Droop-E, E-40 is often called "Pops."
What would be cool would be a poster with a different thizz face for each of E-40's names!
[Note to self: Stop giving this stuff away on your blog and start bootlegging it in the Bay!!!]
On the other hand, this nuttiness fits a man who's now the standard bearer for hyphy, which is pretty darn nutty from everything I've seen and heard.
With the second issue of Latino Hip Hop and Reggaeton focused BRIDGEZ Magazine on the way, Publisher Charlie Nunez and Editor-In-Chief Ariel Gonzalez talked with HipHopDX about the magazine, their involvement in the Cuervoton contest and their plans for a BRIDGEZ dvd.
Over at Holla at a Scholar!!, Adisa Banjoko has an audio post about a call he got from a rep who works with a major label and writes for a trend setter magazine. The rep had included a Bay Area rapper on a list of hyphy artists who was decidedly not hyphy. The rep asks Adisa, "If he's not hyphy, what is he?"
After explaining that the guy was "just another dope rapper from the Bay," he was asked for a definition of hyphy. This question pretty much ended the conversation because Adisa immediately recognized that the sharks are smelling blood and if they want his consultation, he should be getting paid.
It quickly becomes a rant but Adisa makes multiple great points. People are going to try to make money off hyphy without knowing what it is, will be signing artists who aren't hyphy and say they are and may well end up destroying the hyphy movement when people take major label mistaken impressions as representing the real deal.
By the way, if you need a hyphy consultant, Adisa Banjoko would be a good choice. He looks mean in his pictures and sounds nutty on his blog but that's as much about self expression in the world of hip hop as anything else. He's a smart funny guy who could save you a lot of pain, from knowing which Bay artist has his personal business together to knowing who's hyphy and who's not.
ProHipHop states the obvious: Look for a hyphy feeding frenzy from the majors and lots of newly created hyphy artists that were just so gangsta last week.
[Disclaimer: Adisa's my friend and someone with whom I work on various projects. Few can make both lists because I can be both difficult and demanding. Better yet, we're always schooling each other and it's rare for someone to take me to school.]
For the upcoming release of My Ghetto Report Card, E-40 has hooked up with MySpace for a marketing campaign at a time when hyphy and Bay Area hip hop seem to be ready to blow (or not, no disrespect intended).
A recent press release details the promotional partnership of E-40 and MySpace that includes o ffline promotions: Not only is E-40 making MySpace history as the first hip hop artist
to have his video prominently featured on the Music & Videos pages,
but MySpace also has exclusive access to the hip hop legend. MySpace
will debut an exclusive video interview, host an exclusive album
listening party, and launch a fly-away contest where contestants can
enter to win tickets to New York to meet with E-40 and executive
producer of the album, Lil" Jon for the album listening party.
Well, Barry Manilow's topping the Billboard 200 album chart and most of the rest of the top 10 is a battleground for classical and R&B acts.
Eminem's Curtain Call is at no. 7 but that's about it for hip hop excitement. Guess we'll just have to wait till next week's report reflecting the release of Dem Franchize Boyz' On Top Of Our Game.
On the other hand, since snap music is really a singles/ringtone phenomenon, the album may not have the impact Dem Franchize Boyz would like. In fact, though D4L's Laffy Taffy broke one week digital download records, their album Down 4 Life did ok without being anything special.
Although Dem Franchize Boyz member Pimpin' thinks that they'll beat out D4L's sales due to the fact that "people recognize" that they're the "originators", respecting someone's place in history has never assured decent album sales.
Kelefa Sanneh took a closer look last month in the NY Times at D4L's singles/album dichotomy and pondered the place of digital downloads.
I think the Paid Dues indie rap festival that Murs is organizing with Guerilla Union suggests some interesting possibilities for building underground hip hop. The event will take place March 11th in San Bernardino, California with such acts as Aesop Rock, Living Legends, El-P, Chingo Bling and Felt, the combo of Murs, Slug and Ant.
Murs said he was inspired by being on the Vans Warped Tour a few years back:
"I thought it would be great to do something similar for our fans -- something outdoors during the day and at a great price, making it a refreshing change for our die-hard fans who are used to seeing us in the dark dank nightclubs. . . At the same time, it's a great and inexpensive introduction to live hip-hop for the young fans."
Since the acts slated for Paid Dues mostly fit the indie rock/hip hop crossover demographic, that's captured my attention in the past, offering them in an indie rock stamped setting is a logical way to build. Although it may just be a one-off, the idea of a similar summer tour suggests a great way to take acts like those on Definitive Jux and Rhymesayers to a higher level of visibility and popularity.
Guerilla Union previously organized Cypress Hill's Smoke Out and Rock the Bells Festival and plans to organize a Wu-Tang Festival of the 36 Chambers in the fall.
In case you didn't know, Little Brother, including producer 9th Wonder, is one of those hip hop groups that's going to change the world. Or something like that. At the very least they're bringing some old school values to the game and their recent signing to Atlantic seems like a sign of progress. I can see why 50 Cent's scared by Kanye West's success. Kanye represents a coming change in hip hop and I think acts like Little Brother are going to be an important part of that change. I also feel that way about Bavu Blakes.
To take advantage of this turn of events, I've updated relevant parts of NC Hip Hop Online with even more links related to: Little Brother - Phonte, Big Pooh and 9th Wonder The Justus League - Including The Away Team, Cesar Comanche and L.E.G.A.C.Y. Supastition - He's loosely affiliated with The Justus League though not really a member, as I understand it.
I've also done a review of Cesar Comanche's Squirrel and the Aces which is kind of rare for me these days. Comanche is a member of The Justus League, as is Little Brother, and a lot of those cats are putting out albums right now. I've added their recent or upcoming releases to the NC Hip Hop Online pages linked above.
I grew up in Raleigh, NC, by the way and, though I've never met any of these guys, I'm glad to see them making things happen.
A recent piece at Wired News about grime rappers and cellphones emphasizes the creative uses and misuses of mobile communication. Sometimes described as a Casio sound, grime beats often have a toy music quality that fits cellphone technology rather well.
The Wired piece describes the phenomenon of grime cyphers conducted around speaker phones, some with mp3 capabilities:
"Instrumental music is downloaded from sites like Rewind and transferred to the phone via Bluetooth or infrared. Friends hang out outside, 'spitting in groups around the streets . . . They wave their arm in front of themselves, like they are telling off a small child,' [music producer Joelle] Reefer wrote in an e-mail, describing the dance style currently in fashion on the U.K. garage scene. 'Shaping and pointing their fingers to resemble guns, (they) start to spit/rap in synchronization one after the other, spitting a 16- or a 32-bar rhyme.'"
Cellphones are used in other ways as well. For example, MC Shystie's manager Justin Stennett says that she "uses her phone 'like a laptop.' She writes lyrics using text messaging, and often uses the voice recorder on the phone. When she's finished working in the studio, she takes tracks with her as MP3 files on her phone."
Of course, some of this cellphone usage is simply a creative outcome of the growing presence of mobile tech in every facet of daily life. Yet the current limits of mobile communication seem especially suited to the practitioners of grime. Grime mc Lady Sovereign describes her use of the Internet to share bits of her tracks in a way that suggests an affinity to cellphone music:
"I used to use little cheap computer microphones and record 30 seconds of me doing a few lyrics . . . I'd send them to random people that I didn't know and they'd send them on, and so on."
In many ways, grime's use of technology presents a scenario that a good cyberpunk author might have written a few years back presenting an example of the development of technoculture in the near future. I just wonder what's going to happen as grime producers get real budgets. I'm also looking forward to the chopped and screwed version of the grime compilation Run The Road which, by the way, convinced me that grime can go mainstream in the U.S., but that's a story for another post.
Rock continues its embrace of hip hop as the Stones invite Black Eyed Peas to be an opening act on their upcoming (out the mausoleum) tour and Neal Young mentions he digs hip hop as he receives a Founders Award from ASCAP. Plus, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (I hate that name) recently recorded a track with Kool Keith.
Brian Jarvis discusses why he thinks country and hip hop aren't that far apart, especially with the emergence of Cowboy Troy.
Nice piece on country rapper Cowboy Troy, who's becoming the first black country music artist since Charlie Pride to do a variety of things, including performing at last year's Country Music Association Awards.
Apparently Faith Evans is currently under the influence of country music.
You know, I've had a strong feeling for quite some time that Country Rap is going to be a very big thing, but I hadn't considered the R&B connection, even though the historical ties are much stronger.
Performers at last night's Billboard Latin Music Awards included reggaeton star Daddy Yankee, who was joined by P. Diddy for the finale, and hip hop act Crooked Stylo. Daddy Yankee won for best reggaeton album, a new award, and Akwid was honored for rap/hip-hop album of the year. Here's the complete list of winners.
P. Diddy was a late addition to the list of presenters and joined Pitbull for the occasion, probably because, as reported in the Miami Herald, P. Diddy and Pitbull have cofounded a label. According to Puffy, the new label Bad Boy Latino will be "about half Latin rap artists, as well as Latin soul and tropical music", however no artists have been signed. Pitbull's got a lot more going on including writing a column for the NBA's bilingual website and endorsing Reebok's 305 sneaker line.
South Florida's Sun-Sentinel recently did a piece on Hispanic-urban or hurban artists plus a mini-profile of select artists in preparation for the Billboard Latin Music Conference & Awards events.
The Libertad Music Festival 2005 is the first in a planned annual series of summer tours featuring Latin hip hop artists and executive produced by Fat Joe, whose album All Or Nothing is now slated for a June 14th release. As the press releases states, "Libertad 2005 will not only promote up-and-coming Latin Hip Hop artists, but will also help consumer brands connect further with Latino youth . . . as the preferences and choices of Hispanics shift from the minority to the majority."
This Latin hip hop thing is going to be bigger than the both of us, ese!
I'm in the middle of a big project that I have to complete then I'm planning on sleeping, a novel thought! So ProHipHop will be a bit delayed.
The syrup reference relates to the increasing attention paid to the influence of DJ Screw, the late Houston producer who introduced the practice of slowing down all or sections of songs as a remixing technique that produces an otherworldly effect that some consider an aesthetic equivalent of the effects of drinking cough syrup that contains codeine. Actually, people usually just mention the cough syrup but my general understanding without having checked out the scene directly is that it's usually mixed with soda, candy and alcohol in a disturbing sounding concoction called lean or syzzurp.
I doubt that the Jolly Rancher or Sprite folks will be aiming for any product placement on Mike Jones videos but keep an eye peeled for soda bottles being waved around in videos like it was Cristal. By the way, I'm about halfway through the low-budget documentary about DJ Screw and the Screwed Up Click, Soldiers United for Cash, that was recently released on dvd. It's got some interesting stories and the opening gives you a nice sense of the fact that Houston, like much of East Texas, really is part of the South.
Checking out the interviews with DJ Screw just got me more interested and I'll follow up later with the story he tells of how he started selling mixtapes. Screwed Up Records & Tapes is now online and you can track the influence through the many new Hip Hop Albums that follow the initial release with a chopped, screwed and/or slowed version. I'm looking forward to checking out more early stuff but, for now, I'm just happy seeing this unique aesthetic hitting the national stage. However, I don't expect syzzurp mixer to be rolled out nationally for at least another year or two.
My rap/rock coverage is typically fairly slim at ProHipHop because there's only so much one man can do but a couple of items caught my eye today.
Producer Dallas Austin is currently working on Korn's next album which will include a track featuring The Game. Actually, Austin has a lot of other interesting stuff going on, including projects from his label Rowdy, his film production company Rowdy Films and a possible reality tv show inspired by the movie Drumline.
Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit discusses their next album featuring the return of guitarist Wes Borland. He also claims that Rage Against The Machine was a big inspiration for this album.
You probably don't know, but I'm a huge Rage Against The Machine fan and have all their major releases. I was so sorry they broke up because they did such amazing work together and, except for occasional projects by Zach de la Rocha and political statements by Tom Morello, just don't seem to be doing much of interest these days. I dig Korn but haven't kept up with them very closely. However, I'd be happy to forget the existence of Fred Durst and Limp Bizkit and find it disturbing to hear him citing RATM though I'm not surprised that he separates their amazing sound from their leftist message.
Pitchfork has an insightful interview with Diplo, a Philly dj who first won attention for his involvement with Hollertronix. Diplo's fascination for new sounds has led him to the dirty south, UK grime and Brazilian Baile funk and often to the sources for material not otherwise available.
Diplo discusses doing a hip hop mixtape with M.I.A. that was mishandled by her U.S. label. He also discusses some of the flak he's gotten as a white guy who follows his ear rather than any particular scene's guidelines. Diplo's interesting in his own right but also because white artists are becoming a real presence in hip hop as djs and producers in a way that runs far deeper than their fairly limited success as mcs.
Pitchfork also recently ran a brief intro to UK grime via influential recordings.
Sasha Frere-Jones discusses the UK grime scene including Wiley, Ears, Kano and Lady Sovereign. He describes the genre quite nicely:
"Grime emerged from the rave culture of the late nineteen-nineties, and will sound to most Americans like hip-hop performed by m.c.s with English accents and really fast raps. . . grime sounds as if it had been made for a boxing gym, one where the fighters have a lot of punching to do but not much room to move."
Sam Chennault presents a mini-history of the Bay Area's Quannum Project label with roots in Davis, CA and Soulsides that connects such figures as Lyrics Born, Lateef, Gift of Gab, DJ Shadow and Jeff Chang. Immediate feedback was provided by Jeff Chang.
I've long been fascinated by the diversity of folks involved in hip hop, a diversity that continues to increase. This diversity includes multiple ethnicities, nationalities and religious perspectives both in the U.S. and abroad.
Chinese rappers Hi-Bomb placed a demo online that eventually earned them a contract with EMI.
The French Institute of Agadir, a city in Morocco, will co-produce a hip hop cd as part of the 3 year program in support of the development of hip hop. GTZ, a German organization, is funding the Hip-Hop Music and Message Canvas 2005 that will lead to an album of Ugandan hip hop.
Zionist rapper Subliminal is currently on tour in the U.S. and Canada while Hassidic reggae rapper Matisyahu will release his debut album April 19 on JDub Records with a distribution partnership with Or Music.
Phil Fuemana, the "Godfather of South Auckland" who passed early last week, was commemorated by many who were grateful for his contributions to rap music in New Zealand.
Faith Outreach Church in Clarksville, Tennessee offers gospel rapper One a "family away from home." Cash Hollistah, formerly a member of Mass Reality, is leaving Kansas to take his Christian rap to Atlanta.
Sudanese rapper Emmanuel Jal was forced to join the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army at the age of 8 with whom he fought for 4 years. Now he's rapping for peace in Kenya where his single Gua is making him a star. By contrast, Faheem Khan isn't interested in charting. He simply wants to reach Islamic youth by distributing his cds for free in South Africa.
Reggaeton, a genre of music born in Puerto Rico, is described in the San Jose Mercury News (reg req) as a "mixture of Spanish rap, dancehall reggae and Latin rhythms spiked by the rebellious flavor of hip hop." This increasingly popular musical form is now making its way through the Latino centers of the U.S. via the radio, in clubs and, increasingly, through live shows. San Antonio's DJ Papote discusses the popularity of reggaeton on the dance floor.
The Miami Herald recently profiled Daddy Yankee (reg req) who says that he and other street artists created reggaeton when they began to "mix hip-hop with Spanish [language] reggae" to create a Puerto Rican version of gangsta rap. However, Jordan Levin points out that as reggaeton has become more mainstream, it's "moved away from violent street sagas and toward tales of women and partying." Daddy Yankee guests on N.O.R.E.'s single Oye Mi Canto, which has done extremely well in the States, but Daddy Yankee's own Gasolina has also become an important single.
As recently reported, Universal's new Urban Latin label Machete Music hopes to capitalize on the growing popularity of reggaeton.
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