The History OfHip Hop
Nowadays if you ask most people to give a definition of "rap", they're likely to state that it's the reciting of rhymes to the best of music. It's a form of expression that finds its roots imbedded deep within ancient African culture and oral tradition. Throughout history here in America there has always been some form of verbal acrobatics or jousting involving rhymes within the Afro-American community. Signifying, testifying, Shining of the Titanic, the Dozens, school yard rhymes, prison 'jail house' rhymes and double Dutch jump rope' rhymes are some of the names and ways that various forms of rap have manifested.
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Why Should Color Matter?
I have received numerous e-mails, phone calls, etc, about Eminem and the debate over his meteoric rise to stardom. Here is my viewpoint. Please feel free to reprint this in your magazine, mass e-mail, newsletter, whatever as it is meant to provoke thought and discussion. I hope you will read it and think on the points and please write back with your insights:
The Eminem debate has become tiring and useless to the hip-hop community. The fact is that Eminem is white. Another fact is that he will benefit from his color. So what? Neither of these circumstances are of Eminem's choosing and he could not change either if he decided to try. It is a sad statement to the American condition that color still matters. It is an even sadder statement to the condition of the hip-hop community that we cannot see past this societal conditioning even as we universally acknowledge its presence.
Eminem benefits from his color. However, understand that black artists have benefitted from their color for years in terms of record sales. How many fake gangsters, pimps, and hustlers have we heard on records that went multi-platinum. If a white artist were behind the same records they wouldn't have sold five copies. For instance, if Snoop Dogg were white, "Doggystyle" wouldn't have sold. The reason behind this is that it is somehow accepted as authentic when a black artist speaks of the trials and tribulations of an inner-city gangster, even if that artist has never set foot within the confines of an American metropolis. To my mind, this is tenfold more disturbing then the fact that Eminem is lauded as the great white emcee.
Why do we accept the manner in which black artists are given universal credibility as urban story-tellers? Are all blacks poor? Are all blacks gangsters? Are all blacks pimps, hustlers, con-artists, living in the dirtiests slums, prepared to sell their mama for a rock, urban dwellers? If not, then why do we accept any black artist who tells these tales as authentic. If these presuppositions are untrue for the large majority of black Americans then we should be incensed that these stereotypes are accepted as given fact as black artists consistently put them on records. Unfortunately, no one argues that these fake gangsters are benefitting from their skin-color. They are consistently applauded for keeping it real, or telling it how it is, even by people living hundred of miles from the nearest urban center who have no idea what it's like to grow up in an American city.
Eminem has and will continue to cross-over to an alternative, suburban white community that has always played spectator to the largely urban black phenomenon of hip-hop. True, these kids have emulated, imitated, duplicated, and replicated hip-hop culture in the process diluting and mutating its meaning. The cause behind this is that they have never been allowed to participate on a large scale in order to develop an adequate understanding of the foundations of hip-hop culture. In the same way blacks universally rallied to Jackie Robinson, even if they didn't like baseball, because he represented their opportunity to participate in something that had been denied them. Eminem makes white suburban participation in hip-hop possible and these kids, who genuinely love the music, will latch onto his music and his image like no previous suburban hip-hop icon.
Eminem will also benefit from the same mindset that allows white people who hate hip-hop to have Cypress Hill and The Beastie Boys programmed in their CD player. These people don't understand and never will understand the important cultural role of hip-hop because hip-hop music, or music in general, does not hold the cultural importance to the majority of suburban kids (black, white, etc.) that it does to inner-city blacks, whites, and latinos. Hip-hop is an urban form of expression. It is predominantly a black form of expression, but don't mistake predominantly to mean solely. As those who were there at the beginning will tell you there were whites and latinos at those early block parties as well as blacks.
What disturbs me the most is that we have become so obsessed with Eminem's skin-color that we have largely ignored the greater issue of why skin-color matters in hip-hop. Why do we care about the color of our favorite or least-favorite MC's skin? If Eminem is a dope MC, as he was called almost without dissent before he blew-up, then why do we now all of a sudden take exception to his skin-color? Eminem is not guilty of stealing or copying a culture. His skill demonstrates his sincere appreciation for the art-form of MCing. His skill reflects the hours upon hours of practice and work he has put into being an MC. If you take offense to his content then you have to take equal offense to the multitude of black artists who have similar if not more offensive content. I know a young music director at an underground station in Atlanta who has refused to play Eminem's music while at the same time seeing no contradiction in playing Mobb Deep, Noreaga, Jay Z, (insert your favorite thug-rapper here), etc. Do her motives reflect her sincere consciousness and concern for the content of her programming or do they reflect a deeply embedded bigotry which she probably doesn't even fully comprehend?
Unfortunately, Eminem is being treated to the same types of blind bigotry that pioneering blacks such as Jackie Robinson, Joe Lewis, The Tuskeegee Airmen, etc. were shown. The people concentrating so intensely on Eminem's color are feeding the hatred, bigotry, and racism, that hip-hop at its best destroys. The reason hip-hop was able to weaken the gang culture of New York prevalent at its onset was precisely because it was all-inclusive. Hip-hop embraced people and that is why people of all races flocked to it.
Urban black youth played the predominant role in the creation and development of hip-hop. That is a wonderful and historically noteworthy achievement, but you cannot logically conclude that since blacks created hip-hop, blacks should be the sole keepers and producers of hip-hop. By that thinking, we would have no Michael Jordan, Willie Mays, Joe Lewis, Muhammed Ali, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, etc., etc., etc. Follow my meaning...A white man invented basketball and yet Michael Jordan perfected it. A white man invented baseball and yet Willie Mays played it to a level seldom reached before or since. A white man invented boxing and yet Muhammed Ali can legitimately call himself "The Greatest". A white man invented the system of justice in the United States and yet Thurgood Marshall stands as one of the most accomplished Supreme Court justices in history. A white man invented the bus and yet Rosa Parks shook a nation with her refusal to move on that bus. Applying the same standard to hip-hop, we see that there is considerable room in hip-hop for the contributions of people from all nationalities, races, and cultures.
I personally have grown to dislike Eminem's lyrics. I recognize that he is a very skilled MC, but for the same reasons that I cannot watch a whole episode of Jerry Springer I cannot listen to Eminem's whole album and enjoy the experience. Personally, this is because I have gotten older and am no longer so enamored with the gruesome, the outrageous, or the outlandish. In addition, it is because I have grown much more conscious and spiritual over the past year or two. I do not personally listen to a great many emcees whom others load with accolades. Jay Z, Noreaga, Black Rob, most of Nas' material, No Limit, Cash Money, Cage, etc., etc., etc. have joined Eminem on the list of artists who I don't listen to at home. I don't care for these artists music for a variety of reasons, but none of them have to do with their skin. Can you say the same
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Black Culture & Hip-Hop:One & the Same?
People seem to attribute Hip-Hop's success among the masses due to the assumed fact that Hip-Hop is black culture. It's a mistake that I can understand, since most of the faces one sees involved in Hip-Hop seem to be of African-American descent. But then again, when you watch the television, you don't see much Hip-Hop, or even rap. Only BET and MTV will play rap videos, and it's not like they've got real Hip-Hop on these two channels twenty-four- seven. So, when the casual observer walks along the "Rap/Hip-Hop/R&B" section of their local branch of Camelot, Sam Goody, or K-Mart, all they seem to see are black faces. Therefore, it's only natural for the casual observer to think that Hip-Hop is black culture.
I'm here today to challenge this myth. And that's precisely what it is: a false myth. Sure, most of the exposed rap artists and emcees out there are African-American, but what about the DJs? What about the graff writers out there? What about the b-boys and b-girls out there? What about all the people who respect the culture and follow it and love it? What about the people who contribute to Hip-Hop magazines and newsletters? What about all the people who read that damn shit? If one could count all those people, one could easily see that Hip-Hop isn't black culture. Rather, Hip-Hop is a part of black culture and Hop's universal, dammit! It's fuckin' universal because members of practically every society out there's rockin' to this shit!! I wouldn't be surprised if some X-Files case out in the cosmos is listening to some Invisible Skratch Piklz right now.
It didn't start out as black culture, either, because Hip-Hop has always been its own culture. Let me say that shit again, just in case you didn't catch that. Hip-Hop has always been its own culture. Not all of the fathers and godfathers of Hip-Hop were African-American. The original breakers were black and hispanic. The first graff writer, Taki, was Greek. Speaking of graff, Seen isn't black. I could go on and on, but it would be quite long and boring, so I'll just stop here with my point that Hip-Hop was composed of different races, different ethnic groups, different styles, and different cultures. Hip-Hop still is composed of all these things, as well as different age groups, different nationalities, and straight up different people.
So can you see why people into Hip-Hop aren't "acting black"? Can you see why people need to know the truth rather than spread the myth? African- American culture is different from Hip-Hop, although the two do have a relation. Asian-American culture is different from Hip-Hop, although the two do have a relation. Hispanic-American culture.... etc. You know what I'm trying to say. Hip-Hop is its own culture, so don't mix it with any other. Peace to all my Hip-Hop brothers and sisters. Support Hip-Hop unity.
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How Do We Treat Our WomenWithin Hip Hop?
The other week the Bay Area was treated to what was shapin' up to be one of the hypest concerts of the year.. Redman was comin' to town....and last time he rolled through things were off the hook. There was a lot of promotion surrounding the show... Lots of ticket giveaways...There was even a whole weekend dedicated to spotlighting the Redman Show... One of the things that struck me most was the number of women clamoring for tickets.. I'm not talking hoochie mommas or hip hop groupies... I'm talking regular everyday intelligent, good looking women who you would never think were into hip hop were making plans to go see Redman...
The show for the most part was energetic.. Redman proved to be a charismatic character on stage...However, there was something undermining the show...Everywhere I looked I saw women being disrespected... It was something you probably wouldn't have noticed on the surface.. but if you were with a woman or you actually took time to speak to one during the show you would've most likely seen what is rapidly becoming a disturbing trend.. Women were being grabbed and consistently accosted.. I happen to run into two women who stopped to chat with me and for the next 15 minutes everyone who walked by made it a point to grab their asses or poke some other body part.. It didn't matter that I was standing there talking with them.. It could've been my girl or my sister or in this case two listeners.. Brothas didn't care.. they were brazen and would just come and disrespect... Some would lean over and whisper in their ears right in front of me.. 'Baby let me get that number.. you don't need to be around him..'.. Others would just simply let their hand linger and rub across their body.. either their chest or ass... Neither one of these women were provacatively dressed.. One had a sun dress.. the other had a pants outfit.. No one's breasts were hanging out and they weren't teasing no one.. They were just two attractive sisters who were finding themselves being touched... Guys seemed to have a definite mean spiritness about them..
As a guy I questioned my manhood.. Was it me? Was I some sort of wimp that this disrespect was happening? I wanted to say something... but noticed a lot of guys were in groups... An these groups seemed to be itching for a fight.. A lopsided altercation was likely to definitely occur... And to be honest since I was rolling solo.. I wasn't quite prepared to be boxin' over someone who I barely knew...But it left me disturbed...I came to later find out that some of the perpetrators of these antics were fellow Bay Area rappers... some of who are supposed to be positive and all about keeping things real and positive... I noticed certain Bay Area record promoters... who clearly understand how much of a thin line hip hop performances are on.. yet they were out there poking and grabbing women and thinking things were funny.. I even saw one of our beloved 49er football players jump the fence and act ill... Yes, some of the guys were drunk.. But others just seemed to be on a mission.. and that mission was to make some one feel like crap.. .. Call it what you will but to me.. it's a new day and time folks and that night the Redman show reaffirmed the old adage a lot of us over the years have begun to adhere to.. 'Never bring your girl to a hip hop show.. if you do it's gonna be nothing but drama.'
This whole harassment thing has not been limited to the Redman Show... As I began to speak to women about this I'm finding this trend has been on the rise...Its been happening everywhere.. It was going on during the Eryakah Badu concert.., during the Juneteenth Festivals.. and numerous other large gatherings.. The thing that really hit home occurred the other week when the Pirate DJs held one of their famous 'Cream Of Beat' parties.. These underground gigs are the ultimate of hip hop jams.. They're known for being packed and pretty safe...People come from miles around to hear djs Mind Motion, Rolo 1-3, Joe Quixx and Ivan get loose on the turn tables and set things off. Very rarely are there any problems...I mean the Cream Of Beat gigs are the type of functions where folks who are really into music just go to groove. There's no dress code to stifle your style.. No oppressive security mad dogging and man handling folks.. These Pirate DJ gigs have long been the type of jams where a lot of females would roll solo because it had that type of positive vibe...
This particular Saturday seemed to be no different.. There was a line around the block to get in.. A couple hundred people were turned away..and the music was going on.. But there was a mean spirited under current in the air... Women were being touched and grabbed all night..Brothas were literally on some other stuff that night... they were going off...One male decided to take things to another level by actually taking his clothes off while dancing on a crowded stage.. He then started masturbating.. The look on his face was like.. 'I don't give a fuck what y'all bitches think.' You could tell he was trying to shock the women in the crowd...It was a while before security was able to stop him..
A trip to the ladies room or a walk around the club was like walking the gauntlet... As a male who attended with two female friends both I and they found it nerve racking because of all the touching and grabbin'.. As I walked with my friends through the club, I found myself making eye contact with each guy I passed while trying to watch everyone's hands as I walked through the crowd from one place to the other... Most seemed to get the hint and showed a little respect... But the respect was more toward me and not the women... Their mindset was bent on grabbing any female ass that walked by.. and inspite of my watchful eyes.. I saw as I passed through one group of guys after another.. there would be some bold bastard reaching out to cop a feel... If I stepped away to get a drink brothas would take it upon themselves to aggressively ask for the phone number...An uninvited arm would be placed around the shoulder.. and any sort of denial to either dance or come up with a phone number would be met with anger... Sometimes this anger would result in an insulting 'Fuck you bitch' type remark... other times it would result in a tighter squeeze around the neck or a hard tug on the arm.. I'm unfortunately hearing more and more stories about beat downs being handed out to those who refuse to come correct...
Two months ago during hip hop night at a Castro Valley Nite club a young woman was shot in the nose from a disgruntled male who she had refused to dance with... In another incident during a recent Uncle Luke Show in San Jose fools decided to tear the clothing off a female concert goer..This is unfortunately an increasing phenomenon...If females 'get out of hand' and 'don't respond accordingly' there's a good possibility she may find her clothing being torn off her body. During last year's 'riot' after an Oakland Dogg Pound concert several women found themselves victimized in this manner. Another patron who was intoxicated was gang banged in a rest room.. In fact this same thing happened several times during the last visit by Tha Dogg Pound.. If guys don't get their way.. If your not providing the type of attention they seek.. a female may find her clothing being torn right off her body... This sort of thing is then greeted by lots of gleeful laughter..
The other day I was talking with two young women... Sony(18) and Christina (17) about this topic.. Sony who happens to be sister to Sway who is one of the host of the internationally syndicated Wake Up Show,.... explained how several of her friends on more then one accassion have had guns pulled on them while resisting the advances of aggressive young men.. Sony noted that such events were not uncommon especially for a lot of kids her age who live ine projects.. She ssemed very unemotional and detached from this whole saga.. Sony also noted how when things get too far out of hand, that women have to be able and willing to physically confront those who step too roughly.. She talked about how her and her two girlfriends had to administer a 'beat down' to this guy who decided to punch her because she refused his advances... 'This is just the way it is'.. she explained non-chalantly..
Her and Christina, noted that they usually keep guys at bay by learning how to be clever and use psychology on a lot of guys.. In one instance a guy kept insisting on getting a phone number, inspite of Sony informing him that she had a boyfriend.. Finally, Sony charmingly noted if sahe his girlfriend.. she would never disrespect him by giving out her number to another guy... Hence she was just extending that same respect.. In this case the guy got the hint.. But not every female will be as clever as a Sony and her friend..
Going back to the Redman show..I noted some of the on stage antics of both Redman and the opening act the Alkaholiks... Both groups encouraged 'bitches' to take off their tops and expose themselves.. Both acts help set a tone that I think made it ripe for men to run around grabbin' women... Don't get me wrong I'm not some Delores Tucker type blaming all our social ills on hip hop...but right now.. I'm hearing a type of music and seeing a culture that seemingly goes out of its way to insult and degrade members of the opposite sex...There's no denying that hip hop has a major influence and we need to recognize this and help use this music and culture to bring about some sort of positive change...Keep in mind to a large degree hip hop like other forms of music has always been a barometer in which one can gage the current social climate.The significant aspect about hip hop is its rawness.. It's always straight with no camaflaging chasers..In other words you get a pretty clear view as to what's happening on certain social, political and economic fronts...
So what is the current social, political and economic climate and why is there so much disrespect going on?...Is this a Bay Area thing.. or a Cali thing? .. Or is it a generational thing..Is all this a result of gangsta rap? I'm not sure if its something that seems to be happening only with the brothas or is it crossing all ethnic lines ? Are there outside forces at work trying to create a division within the sexes..? ... I'm not even quite sure as to how this whole issue can be resolved...
In my opinion there seems to be a lot of anger directed females. I think a lot of it has to do with issues of power and control.. A lot of women who are growing up in todays hip hop generation are beginning to flip the script and adopt some of the scandalous ways that have long been associated with men.. In other words women are becoming players and macks too... More and more females are creeping with the same type of callousness and recklessness of their male counterparts..At the same time you have more and more men who finding themselves less confident and less sure themselves..as they are finding themselves being played just as often as women are...A lot of the fellas are findin' they can't take it and as a result are getting physical in an attempt to keep women in check.. All this is being reflected in the hip hop music we listen to.
I recall 8 years ago there was a rapper named Wanda Dee who to me was a precursor to the 'I'm a female playa' personas donned by Lil Kim and Foxy Brown..Wanda too me was unique in the sense that she was the first female I had ever seen within hip hop really play on her sexuality..Wanda was signed to Tuff City records which at the time was home to Mark The 45 King and Lakim Shabazz. In her single 'To The Bone' she boldly invites men to come 'divide her and slide into her'. Her cover depicted her wearing a tight leopard skin body suit and some scantly dressed muscle men standing behind her...I should add that Wanda was very attractive..During one of her first performances in New York.. she was literally booed off the stage as folks threw pennies at her.. People apparently weren't with the whole sexual thing..I recalled hearing comments to the effect that she was ruining hip hop by going in that direction..Nowadays a Lil Kim gets major props for wearing that same leopard skin outfit in posters while squatting. People show up to her concerts and have no problem watching her take her clothes off... 8 years ago she may have gotten booed off the stage...
I don't wanna get too side tracked with the whole Wanda Dee thing.. but what is interesting is that while Wanda was unceremoniously booed off stage.. the hip hop community never booed Luke or any of the numerous 'pimps, 'playas' and 'mack' types who were starting to emerge at that time. It unfortunately was one of the many contradictions and double standards that exist both within hip hop and society at large...It's ok for men to be overtly sexual but not ok for women... It's also ok for men to play the field and run all sorts of control games with females.. but lets not flip the script... A man is a true playa who posses major 'G' skills if he's able to manipulate sexual favors from females.. A woman on the other hand is a scandalous gold diggin' ho if she does the same thing. The fact that the 'playa', 'pimp' persona is accepted and considered credible on a street level is bad enough... What's been lost is the ability to accept rejection and to humbly deal with a defeat.. After all in the 90s everyone appears to be about playing games... and with game playing there are winners and losers.. It just seems like when a lot of men start to lose... they resort to violence.. It's not within their scope of 'manhood' to not have some sort of control over their female counterparts.
So today you have hip hop music that brazenly shows disdain for members of the opposite sex.. Men school folks on the scandalous ways of women and women show you how to work a male dominated system.. Outside the music arena you have a bunch of guys who are quite willing to knock out your teeth for not giving up a phone number or not agreeing to dance... If there some other forces at work some one please school me... 'cause I wanna see what we need to do to reverse this disturbing trend...
I'm not a psychologist or anything like that...But something seems to be dreadfully wrong when we within hip hop can justify and celebrate anti-social behavior all in the name of keepin' it real and boosting one's credibility. Something seems dreadfully wrong when positivity is all about being soft and preachy while negativity is all about being rough,rugged and authentic.. I'm not saying hip hop is the sole reason why there seems to be an increase in women being accosted..But as I said before it's had an influence...and we have to be honest as to what degree.. We have to be honest about our role as artists, consumers and industry folks... As a consumer we make a decision to by pass something positive to relish in some negative nonsense.. As artists we make decision to write about gats,guns, bitches and hos as opposed to societal and spiritual upliftment.. As industry folks we make decision not to sign, write about or play artists who are all about being positive.. Now I realize there are all sorts of economic justifications and lots of nicely packaged socio-political excuses for us moving in certain directions. All this boils down to individual actions and accountability.When Redman or the Alkaholiks are performing at a concert as they did the other week and they yell for 'all bitches to take off their shirts' We ideally should all consider the impact and the effect they have. Yeah, there are folks who will say 'hey it's just entertainment'. There are others who will conviently hide behind the reasoning that 'not all women are bitches' etc. There are others who will say that they are mature enough to listen to such talk and not act upon it.
If we follow that line of thinking then let's keep that in mind the next time some white boy wants to start yelling racial slurs... Remember we can all placate ourselves by saying... not all blacks are niggers... and not all jews are kikes, not all Latinos are spics and not all Asians are chinks etc... And also lets also keep in mind that if some ugly stereotype gets depicted on tv or comes across some other form of mass media..let it slide.. because after all, we should not fear anyone acting upon it or even believing it.. I think you get the point.
Because I'm in the music industry, I'm faced with the constant struggle of economics influencing the course of action we take. It's real easy to be idealistic and to put forth noble philosophies until it's you paying the bills.. And trust me that's real.. When one has a family to raise and you're no longer 18 years old with your whole life in front of you... principles and values get compromised quick.. That 'bitch and ho' record doesn't sound like such a bad idea when you got bills to pay or a job to keep. Let's face it.. sex and violence sells.. but it does not prevent us from striving to put forth alternative messages to hopefully balance things out... It doesn't prevent us all from planting seeds of positivity... and it doesn't prevent us from all trying to help bring about a conducive atmosphere for positive social change.
Of course economics is determined by supply and demand...Hence each of us have a hand and a say so as to why things are the way they are within hip hop..Folks will easily step over the new Vanilla Ice lp and say he's not about keepin' it real... While at the same time they'll financially support through a tape purchase some artist who is all about slappin' hos and knockin' 'niggas' out.. All of us are responsible for helping create that demand. because we support the supply..
Here's the bottom line in all that I'm saying.. Right now there's a problem within the hip hop generation.. Guys are beatin' down women at an alarming rate after being 'rejected'. Guys are becoming more and more disrespectful and showing a disdain for females.. We need to ideally figure out why and what we can all do to help turn this around.. Yes, there are lots of social and economic conditions that are helping shape this destructive behavior... And I'm saying certain facets of our hip hop culture are a part of the problem and could with a little bit of commitment and willingness to change be a part of the solution.My question is what's it gonna take? A better KRS-One album? A slicker Public Enemy video? What should each of us be doing?...cause things seem to be getting out of hand and look to be getting worse. There's an old saying that basically goes.. 'You can tell a lot about a society by the way it treats its women'.. Right now hip hop is treatin' it's women like crap.. Those of us reading this article may not be doing the actual slappin' of women but we're directly and indirectly supporting an environment, myself included, that allows this to continue. So I'm pushing the envelop and calling for a discussion.. what can we do to flip the script on this dreadful situation?
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Hip Hop And Funk..
When all is finally said and done , there will be quite a few things that folks will be able to say about hip hop music. First it was born out of the African American community and in many ways has managed to serve the role of the modern day griot. It has managed to be a reflection and statement of who we are and what we were about and like the West African griot who was charged with passing along the village history, customs and mores through songs and narratives [African Oral Tradition], hip hop has also managed to link generations and keep some of customs and mores alive..especially on the music tip.Folks may recall how rappers brought artists like James Brown and Donald Byrd back into the forefront of Black music during the mid 80s when their music was freely sampled in every which way, shape and form by literally hordes of artists. Back then folks may recall the commonly expressed sentiment that many ascribed too.."
if it wasn't for the rap artists James Brown would be unknown to the younger generation." And to a large degree there was a lot of truth in that statement, after all, at that time Black radio wasn't aggressively promoting a format in which they would highlight "classic" artists like Brown while maintaining their appeal to younger listeners... The result was many young white listeners being able tell you all about pop icons like the Beatles and Elvis while artists like Brown were relatively unknown to the young Black listener, at least until hip hop came along. It"s important to note all this because another facet about hip hop is that it allowed folks and still allows folks to build upon their musical past... The Brown sampling phenomenom in the mid-late 80s was the result of younger people reflecting their musical past. Most of the artist putting out records at this time were from New York and James Brown was not only an artist that mom and dad grooved to, but it was an artist that their older brothers and sisters grooved to in the late 70s when block parties were common place and hip hop was still in its embryo stages... The break beats that could be found within the grooves of James Brown records were the sounds that really set off these early hip hop jams.
So what does all this have to do with p-funk and its relationship to hip hop? Well one of the great things about hip hop is that it has always been an easily accessible form of expression with each participant being able to bring into the fold their own experiences and musical background So while brothers back east during the late 80s were building off their musical experiences involving James Brown and hip hop culture dating back to the late 70s, brothers out west who were just starting to release hip hop records were bringing a whole other set of musical experiences to the table. Much of it centered around artists like George Clinton, Bootsy Collins George Duke and Roger & Zapp to name a few. Simply put, brothers out west brought p-funk to the hip hop round table. Now upon reading this there are a lot of folks who are immediately gonna reach back into time and point to the p-funk style hip hop music of EPMD, especially since they dropped the '88 classic tune "You Gots To Chill" which looped the now infamous "More Bounce To The Ounce" beat. Many rap fans consider this jam to be the first record to incorporate a p-funk. sample. In addition, these same rap fans may be quick to point out that cuts like "Knee Deep" and "More Bounce To The Ounce" were staple items in a b-boy's record crates. Back in the days, many a dj cut up these tracks while an emcee flowed. And while it's safe to say that Erik & Parrish earned their spot in the history books with "You Gots To Chill", they weren't the first to utilize music from the p-funk treasure chests... In addition, EPMD's usage didn't reflect the special relation and love the San Francisco / Oakland Bay Area had for funk.
Ricky Vincent better known as the Uhuru Maggot is a Bay Area music historian who earned his stripes during the 80s for his radio work on KALX, UC Berkeley's college station... and can now be heard every Friday on KPFA 94.1 FM... Vincent has not only chronolized funk music through his History Of Funk radio shows, but he has written his doctorate thesis on the genre..and has now just penned a book for St Martin's Press with an intro from George Clinton himself. This work will undoubtly be a definitive and comprehensive work on this facet of Black music... In a recent interview where Vincent was asked about the Bay Area's love for funk and its relationship to hip hop, he broke things down and explained that there has always been a deep seeded love affair with -funk ..He noted that George Clinton has always claimed there was something 'heavy' about the Bay Area funkateers.. Vincent noted that so involved was that relationship that Clinton recorded part of his live album "P-Funk Earth Tour" right here at the Oakland Coliseum.
Nowadays if you ask most people to give a definition of "rap", they're likely to state that it's the reciting of rhymes to the best of music. It's a form of expression that finds its roots imbedded deep within ancient African culture and oral tradition. Throughout history here in America there has always been some form of verbal acrobatics or jousting involving rhymes within the Afro-American community. Signifying, testifying, Shining of the Titanic, the Dozens, school yard rhymes, prison 'jail house' rhymes and double Dutch jump rope' rhymes are some of the names and ways that various forms of rap have manifested.
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Why Should Color Matter?
I have received numerous e-mails, phone calls, etc, about Eminem and the debate over his meteoric rise to stardom. Here is my viewpoint. Please feel free to reprint this in your magazine, mass e-mail, newsletter, whatever as it is meant to provoke thought and discussion. I hope you will read it and think on the points and please write back with your insights:
The Eminem debate has become tiring and useless to the hip-hop community. The fact is that Eminem is white. Another fact is that he will benefit from his color. So what? Neither of these circumstances are of Eminem's choosing and he could not change either if he decided to try. It is a sad statement to the American condition that color still matters. It is an even sadder statement to the condition of the hip-hop community that we cannot see past this societal conditioning even as we universally acknowledge its presence.
Eminem benefits from his color. However, understand that black artists have benefitted from their color for years in terms of record sales. How many fake gangsters, pimps, and hustlers have we heard on records that went multi-platinum. If a white artist were behind the same records they wouldn't have sold five copies. For instance, if Snoop Dogg were white, "Doggystyle" wouldn't have sold. The reason behind this is that it is somehow accepted as authentic when a black artist speaks of the trials and tribulations of an inner-city gangster, even if that artist has never set foot within the confines of an American metropolis. To my mind, this is tenfold more disturbing then the fact that Eminem is lauded as the great white emcee.
Why do we accept the manner in which black artists are given universal credibility as urban story-tellers? Are all blacks poor? Are all blacks gangsters? Are all blacks pimps, hustlers, con-artists, living in the dirtiests slums, prepared to sell their mama for a rock, urban dwellers? If not, then why do we accept any black artist who tells these tales as authentic. If these presuppositions are untrue for the large majority of black Americans then we should be incensed that these stereotypes are accepted as given fact as black artists consistently put them on records. Unfortunately, no one argues that these fake gangsters are benefitting from their skin-color. They are consistently applauded for keeping it real, or telling it how it is, even by people living hundred of miles from the nearest urban center who have no idea what it's like to grow up in an American city.
Eminem has and will continue to cross-over to an alternative, suburban white community that has always played spectator to the largely urban black phenomenon of hip-hop. True, these kids have emulated, imitated, duplicated, and replicated hip-hop culture in the process diluting and mutating its meaning. The cause behind this is that they have never been allowed to participate on a large scale in order to develop an adequate understanding of the foundations of hip-hop culture. In the same way blacks universally rallied to Jackie Robinson, even if they didn't like baseball, because he represented their opportunity to participate in something that had been denied them. Eminem makes white suburban participation in hip-hop possible and these kids, who genuinely love the music, will latch onto his music and his image like no previous suburban hip-hop icon.
Eminem will also benefit from the same mindset that allows white people who hate hip-hop to have Cypress Hill and The Beastie Boys programmed in their CD player. These people don't understand and never will understand the important cultural role of hip-hop because hip-hop music, or music in general, does not hold the cultural importance to the majority of suburban kids (black, white, etc.) that it does to inner-city blacks, whites, and latinos. Hip-hop is an urban form of expression. It is predominantly a black form of expression, but don't mistake predominantly to mean solely. As those who were there at the beginning will tell you there were whites and latinos at those early block parties as well as blacks.
What disturbs me the most is that we have become so obsessed with Eminem's skin-color that we have largely ignored the greater issue of why skin-color matters in hip-hop. Why do we care about the color of our favorite or least-favorite MC's skin? If Eminem is a dope MC, as he was called almost without dissent before he blew-up, then why do we now all of a sudden take exception to his skin-color? Eminem is not guilty of stealing or copying a culture. His skill demonstrates his sincere appreciation for the art-form of MCing. His skill reflects the hours upon hours of practice and work he has put into being an MC. If you take offense to his content then you have to take equal offense to the multitude of black artists who have similar if not more offensive content. I know a young music director at an underground station in Atlanta who has refused to play Eminem's music while at the same time seeing no contradiction in playing Mobb Deep, Noreaga, Jay Z, (insert your favorite thug-rapper here), etc. Do her motives reflect her sincere consciousness and concern for the content of her programming or do they reflect a deeply embedded bigotry which she probably doesn't even fully comprehend?
Unfortunately, Eminem is being treated to the same types of blind bigotry that pioneering blacks such as Jackie Robinson, Joe Lewis, The Tuskeegee Airmen, etc. were shown. The people concentrating so intensely on Eminem's color are feeding the hatred, bigotry, and racism, that hip-hop at its best destroys. The reason hip-hop was able to weaken the gang culture of New York prevalent at its onset was precisely because it was all-inclusive. Hip-hop embraced people and that is why people of all races flocked to it.
Urban black youth played the predominant role in the creation and development of hip-hop. That is a wonderful and historically noteworthy achievement, but you cannot logically conclude that since blacks created hip-hop, blacks should be the sole keepers and producers of hip-hop. By that thinking, we would have no Michael Jordan, Willie Mays, Joe Lewis, Muhammed Ali, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, etc., etc., etc. Follow my meaning...A white man invented basketball and yet Michael Jordan perfected it. A white man invented baseball and yet Willie Mays played it to a level seldom reached before or since. A white man invented boxing and yet Muhammed Ali can legitimately call himself "The Greatest". A white man invented the system of justice in the United States and yet Thurgood Marshall stands as one of the most accomplished Supreme Court justices in history. A white man invented the bus and yet Rosa Parks shook a nation with her refusal to move on that bus. Applying the same standard to hip-hop, we see that there is considerable room in hip-hop for the contributions of people from all nationalities, races, and cultures.
I personally have grown to dislike Eminem's lyrics. I recognize that he is a very skilled MC, but for the same reasons that I cannot watch a whole episode of Jerry Springer I cannot listen to Eminem's whole album and enjoy the experience. Personally, this is because I have gotten older and am no longer so enamored with the gruesome, the outrageous, or the outlandish. In addition, it is because I have grown much more conscious and spiritual over the past year or two. I do not personally listen to a great many emcees whom others load with accolades. Jay Z, Noreaga, Black Rob, most of Nas' material, No Limit, Cash Money, Cage, etc., etc., etc. have joined Eminem on the list of artists who I don't listen to at home. I don't care for these artists music for a variety of reasons, but none of them have to do with their skin. Can you say the same
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Black Culture & Hip-Hop:One & the Same?
People seem to attribute Hip-Hop's success among the masses due to the assumed fact that Hip-Hop is black culture. It's a mistake that I can understand, since most of the faces one sees involved in Hip-Hop seem to be of African-American descent. But then again, when you watch the television, you don't see much Hip-Hop, or even rap. Only BET and MTV will play rap videos, and it's not like they've got real Hip-Hop on these two channels twenty-four- seven. So, when the casual observer walks along the "Rap/Hip-Hop/R&B" section of their local branch of Camelot, Sam Goody, or K-Mart, all they seem to see are black faces. Therefore, it's only natural for the casual observer to think that Hip-Hop is black culture.
I'm here today to challenge this myth. And that's precisely what it is: a false myth. Sure, most of the exposed rap artists and emcees out there are African-American, but what about the DJs? What about the graff writers out there? What about the b-boys and b-girls out there? What about all the people who respect the culture and follow it and love it? What about the people who contribute to Hip-Hop magazines and newsletters? What about all the people who read that damn shit? If one could count all those people, one could easily see that Hip-Hop isn't black culture. Rather, Hip-Hop is a part of black culture and Hop's universal, dammit! It's fuckin' universal because members of practically every society out there's rockin' to this shit!! I wouldn't be surprised if some X-Files case out in the cosmos is listening to some Invisible Skratch Piklz right now.
It didn't start out as black culture, either, because Hip-Hop has always been its own culture. Let me say that shit again, just in case you didn't catch that. Hip-Hop has always been its own culture. Not all of the fathers and godfathers of Hip-Hop were African-American. The original breakers were black and hispanic. The first graff writer, Taki, was Greek. Speaking of graff, Seen isn't black. I could go on and on, but it would be quite long and boring, so I'll just stop here with my point that Hip-Hop was composed of different races, different ethnic groups, different styles, and different cultures. Hip-Hop still is composed of all these things, as well as different age groups, different nationalities, and straight up different people.
So can you see why people into Hip-Hop aren't "acting black"? Can you see why people need to know the truth rather than spread the myth? African- American culture is different from Hip-Hop, although the two do have a relation. Asian-American culture is different from Hip-Hop, although the two do have a relation. Hispanic-American culture.... etc. You know what I'm trying to say. Hip-Hop is its own culture, so don't mix it with any other. Peace to all my Hip-Hop brothers and sisters. Support Hip-Hop unity.
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How Do We Treat Our WomenWithin Hip Hop?
The other week the Bay Area was treated to what was shapin' up to be one of the hypest concerts of the year.. Redman was comin' to town....and last time he rolled through things were off the hook. There was a lot of promotion surrounding the show... Lots of ticket giveaways...There was even a whole weekend dedicated to spotlighting the Redman Show... One of the things that struck me most was the number of women clamoring for tickets.. I'm not talking hoochie mommas or hip hop groupies... I'm talking regular everyday intelligent, good looking women who you would never think were into hip hop were making plans to go see Redman...
The show for the most part was energetic.. Redman proved to be a charismatic character on stage...However, there was something undermining the show...Everywhere I looked I saw women being disrespected... It was something you probably wouldn't have noticed on the surface.. but if you were with a woman or you actually took time to speak to one during the show you would've most likely seen what is rapidly becoming a disturbing trend.. Women were being grabbed and consistently accosted.. I happen to run into two women who stopped to chat with me and for the next 15 minutes everyone who walked by made it a point to grab their asses or poke some other body part.. It didn't matter that I was standing there talking with them.. It could've been my girl or my sister or in this case two listeners.. Brothas didn't care.. they were brazen and would just come and disrespect... Some would lean over and whisper in their ears right in front of me.. 'Baby let me get that number.. you don't need to be around him..'.. Others would just simply let their hand linger and rub across their body.. either their chest or ass... Neither one of these women were provacatively dressed.. One had a sun dress.. the other had a pants outfit.. No one's breasts were hanging out and they weren't teasing no one.. They were just two attractive sisters who were finding themselves being touched... Guys seemed to have a definite mean spiritness about them..
As a guy I questioned my manhood.. Was it me? Was I some sort of wimp that this disrespect was happening? I wanted to say something... but noticed a lot of guys were in groups... An these groups seemed to be itching for a fight.. A lopsided altercation was likely to definitely occur... And to be honest since I was rolling solo.. I wasn't quite prepared to be boxin' over someone who I barely knew...But it left me disturbed...I came to later find out that some of the perpetrators of these antics were fellow Bay Area rappers... some of who are supposed to be positive and all about keeping things real and positive... I noticed certain Bay Area record promoters... who clearly understand how much of a thin line hip hop performances are on.. yet they were out there poking and grabbing women and thinking things were funny.. I even saw one of our beloved 49er football players jump the fence and act ill... Yes, some of the guys were drunk.. But others just seemed to be on a mission.. and that mission was to make some one feel like crap.. .. Call it what you will but to me.. it's a new day and time folks and that night the Redman show reaffirmed the old adage a lot of us over the years have begun to adhere to.. 'Never bring your girl to a hip hop show.. if you do it's gonna be nothing but drama.'
This whole harassment thing has not been limited to the Redman Show... As I began to speak to women about this I'm finding this trend has been on the rise...Its been happening everywhere.. It was going on during the Eryakah Badu concert.., during the Juneteenth Festivals.. and numerous other large gatherings.. The thing that really hit home occurred the other week when the Pirate DJs held one of their famous 'Cream Of Beat' parties.. These underground gigs are the ultimate of hip hop jams.. They're known for being packed and pretty safe...People come from miles around to hear djs Mind Motion, Rolo 1-3, Joe Quixx and Ivan get loose on the turn tables and set things off. Very rarely are there any problems...I mean the Cream Of Beat gigs are the type of functions where folks who are really into music just go to groove. There's no dress code to stifle your style.. No oppressive security mad dogging and man handling folks.. These Pirate DJ gigs have long been the type of jams where a lot of females would roll solo because it had that type of positive vibe...
This particular Saturday seemed to be no different.. There was a line around the block to get in.. A couple hundred people were turned away..and the music was going on.. But there was a mean spirited under current in the air... Women were being touched and grabbed all night..Brothas were literally on some other stuff that night... they were going off...One male decided to take things to another level by actually taking his clothes off while dancing on a crowded stage.. He then started masturbating.. The look on his face was like.. 'I don't give a fuck what y'all bitches think.' You could tell he was trying to shock the women in the crowd...It was a while before security was able to stop him..
A trip to the ladies room or a walk around the club was like walking the gauntlet... As a male who attended with two female friends both I and they found it nerve racking because of all the touching and grabbin'.. As I walked with my friends through the club, I found myself making eye contact with each guy I passed while trying to watch everyone's hands as I walked through the crowd from one place to the other... Most seemed to get the hint and showed a little respect... But the respect was more toward me and not the women... Their mindset was bent on grabbing any female ass that walked by.. and inspite of my watchful eyes.. I saw as I passed through one group of guys after another.. there would be some bold bastard reaching out to cop a feel... If I stepped away to get a drink brothas would take it upon themselves to aggressively ask for the phone number...An uninvited arm would be placed around the shoulder.. and any sort of denial to either dance or come up with a phone number would be met with anger... Sometimes this anger would result in an insulting 'Fuck you bitch' type remark... other times it would result in a tighter squeeze around the neck or a hard tug on the arm.. I'm unfortunately hearing more and more stories about beat downs being handed out to those who refuse to come correct...
Two months ago during hip hop night at a Castro Valley Nite club a young woman was shot in the nose from a disgruntled male who she had refused to dance with... In another incident during a recent Uncle Luke Show in San Jose fools decided to tear the clothing off a female concert goer..This is unfortunately an increasing phenomenon...If females 'get out of hand' and 'don't respond accordingly' there's a good possibility she may find her clothing being torn off her body. During last year's 'riot' after an Oakland Dogg Pound concert several women found themselves victimized in this manner. Another patron who was intoxicated was gang banged in a rest room.. In fact this same thing happened several times during the last visit by Tha Dogg Pound.. If guys don't get their way.. If your not providing the type of attention they seek.. a female may find her clothing being torn right off her body... This sort of thing is then greeted by lots of gleeful laughter..
The other day I was talking with two young women... Sony(18) and Christina (17) about this topic.. Sony who happens to be sister to Sway who is one of the host of the internationally syndicated Wake Up Show,.... explained how several of her friends on more then one accassion have had guns pulled on them while resisting the advances of aggressive young men.. Sony noted that such events were not uncommon especially for a lot of kids her age who live ine projects.. She ssemed very unemotional and detached from this whole saga.. Sony also noted how when things get too far out of hand, that women have to be able and willing to physically confront those who step too roughly.. She talked about how her and her two girlfriends had to administer a 'beat down' to this guy who decided to punch her because she refused his advances... 'This is just the way it is'.. she explained non-chalantly..
Her and Christina, noted that they usually keep guys at bay by learning how to be clever and use psychology on a lot of guys.. In one instance a guy kept insisting on getting a phone number, inspite of Sony informing him that she had a boyfriend.. Finally, Sony charmingly noted if sahe his girlfriend.. she would never disrespect him by giving out her number to another guy... Hence she was just extending that same respect.. In this case the guy got the hint.. But not every female will be as clever as a Sony and her friend..
Going back to the Redman show..I noted some of the on stage antics of both Redman and the opening act the Alkaholiks... Both groups encouraged 'bitches' to take off their tops and expose themselves.. Both acts help set a tone that I think made it ripe for men to run around grabbin' women... Don't get me wrong I'm not some Delores Tucker type blaming all our social ills on hip hop...but right now.. I'm hearing a type of music and seeing a culture that seemingly goes out of its way to insult and degrade members of the opposite sex...There's no denying that hip hop has a major influence and we need to recognize this and help use this music and culture to bring about some sort of positive change...Keep in mind to a large degree hip hop like other forms of music has always been a barometer in which one can gage the current social climate.The significant aspect about hip hop is its rawness.. It's always straight with no camaflaging chasers..In other words you get a pretty clear view as to what's happening on certain social, political and economic fronts...
So what is the current social, political and economic climate and why is there so much disrespect going on?...Is this a Bay Area thing.. or a Cali thing? .. Or is it a generational thing..Is all this a result of gangsta rap? I'm not sure if its something that seems to be happening only with the brothas or is it crossing all ethnic lines ? Are there outside forces at work trying to create a division within the sexes..? ... I'm not even quite sure as to how this whole issue can be resolved...
In my opinion there seems to be a lot of anger directed females. I think a lot of it has to do with issues of power and control.. A lot of women who are growing up in todays hip hop generation are beginning to flip the script and adopt some of the scandalous ways that have long been associated with men.. In other words women are becoming players and macks too... More and more females are creeping with the same type of callousness and recklessness of their male counterparts..At the same time you have more and more men who finding themselves less confident and less sure themselves..as they are finding themselves being played just as often as women are...A lot of the fellas are findin' they can't take it and as a result are getting physical in an attempt to keep women in check.. All this is being reflected in the hip hop music we listen to.
I recall 8 years ago there was a rapper named Wanda Dee who to me was a precursor to the 'I'm a female playa' personas donned by Lil Kim and Foxy Brown..Wanda too me was unique in the sense that she was the first female I had ever seen within hip hop really play on her sexuality..Wanda was signed to Tuff City records which at the time was home to Mark The 45 King and Lakim Shabazz. In her single 'To The Bone' she boldly invites men to come 'divide her and slide into her'. Her cover depicted her wearing a tight leopard skin body suit and some scantly dressed muscle men standing behind her...I should add that Wanda was very attractive..During one of her first performances in New York.. she was literally booed off the stage as folks threw pennies at her.. People apparently weren't with the whole sexual thing..I recalled hearing comments to the effect that she was ruining hip hop by going in that direction..Nowadays a Lil Kim gets major props for wearing that same leopard skin outfit in posters while squatting. People show up to her concerts and have no problem watching her take her clothes off... 8 years ago she may have gotten booed off the stage...
I don't wanna get too side tracked with the whole Wanda Dee thing.. but what is interesting is that while Wanda was unceremoniously booed off stage.. the hip hop community never booed Luke or any of the numerous 'pimps, 'playas' and 'mack' types who were starting to emerge at that time. It unfortunately was one of the many contradictions and double standards that exist both within hip hop and society at large...It's ok for men to be overtly sexual but not ok for women... It's also ok for men to play the field and run all sorts of control games with females.. but lets not flip the script... A man is a true playa who posses major 'G' skills if he's able to manipulate sexual favors from females.. A woman on the other hand is a scandalous gold diggin' ho if she does the same thing. The fact that the 'playa', 'pimp' persona is accepted and considered credible on a street level is bad enough... What's been lost is the ability to accept rejection and to humbly deal with a defeat.. After all in the 90s everyone appears to be about playing games... and with game playing there are winners and losers.. It just seems like when a lot of men start to lose... they resort to violence.. It's not within their scope of 'manhood' to not have some sort of control over their female counterparts.
So today you have hip hop music that brazenly shows disdain for members of the opposite sex.. Men school folks on the scandalous ways of women and women show you how to work a male dominated system.. Outside the music arena you have a bunch of guys who are quite willing to knock out your teeth for not giving up a phone number or not agreeing to dance... If there some other forces at work some one please school me... 'cause I wanna see what we need to do to reverse this disturbing trend...
I'm not a psychologist or anything like that...But something seems to be dreadfully wrong when we within hip hop can justify and celebrate anti-social behavior all in the name of keepin' it real and boosting one's credibility. Something seems dreadfully wrong when positivity is all about being soft and preachy while negativity is all about being rough,rugged and authentic.. I'm not saying hip hop is the sole reason why there seems to be an increase in women being accosted..But as I said before it's had an influence...and we have to be honest as to what degree.. We have to be honest about our role as artists, consumers and industry folks... As a consumer we make a decision to by pass something positive to relish in some negative nonsense.. As artists we make decision to write about gats,guns, bitches and hos as opposed to societal and spiritual upliftment.. As industry folks we make decision not to sign, write about or play artists who are all about being positive.. Now I realize there are all sorts of economic justifications and lots of nicely packaged socio-political excuses for us moving in certain directions. All this boils down to individual actions and accountability.When Redman or the Alkaholiks are performing at a concert as they did the other week and they yell for 'all bitches to take off their shirts' We ideally should all consider the impact and the effect they have. Yeah, there are folks who will say 'hey it's just entertainment'. There are others who will conviently hide behind the reasoning that 'not all women are bitches' etc. There are others who will say that they are mature enough to listen to such talk and not act upon it.
If we follow that line of thinking then let's keep that in mind the next time some white boy wants to start yelling racial slurs... Remember we can all placate ourselves by saying... not all blacks are niggers... and not all jews are kikes, not all Latinos are spics and not all Asians are chinks etc... And also lets also keep in mind that if some ugly stereotype gets depicted on tv or comes across some other form of mass media..let it slide.. because after all, we should not fear anyone acting upon it or even believing it.. I think you get the point.
Because I'm in the music industry, I'm faced with the constant struggle of economics influencing the course of action we take. It's real easy to be idealistic and to put forth noble philosophies until it's you paying the bills.. And trust me that's real.. When one has a family to raise and you're no longer 18 years old with your whole life in front of you... principles and values get compromised quick.. That 'bitch and ho' record doesn't sound like such a bad idea when you got bills to pay or a job to keep. Let's face it.. sex and violence sells.. but it does not prevent us from striving to put forth alternative messages to hopefully balance things out... It doesn't prevent us all from planting seeds of positivity... and it doesn't prevent us from all trying to help bring about a conducive atmosphere for positive social change.
Of course economics is determined by supply and demand...Hence each of us have a hand and a say so as to why things are the way they are within hip hop..Folks will easily step over the new Vanilla Ice lp and say he's not about keepin' it real... While at the same time they'll financially support through a tape purchase some artist who is all about slappin' hos and knockin' 'niggas' out.. All of us are responsible for helping create that demand. because we support the supply..
Here's the bottom line in all that I'm saying.. Right now there's a problem within the hip hop generation.. Guys are beatin' down women at an alarming rate after being 'rejected'. Guys are becoming more and more disrespectful and showing a disdain for females.. We need to ideally figure out why and what we can all do to help turn this around.. Yes, there are lots of social and economic conditions that are helping shape this destructive behavior... And I'm saying certain facets of our hip hop culture are a part of the problem and could with a little bit of commitment and willingness to change be a part of the solution.My question is what's it gonna take? A better KRS-One album? A slicker Public Enemy video? What should each of us be doing?...cause things seem to be getting out of hand and look to be getting worse. There's an old saying that basically goes.. 'You can tell a lot about a society by the way it treats its women'.. Right now hip hop is treatin' it's women like crap.. Those of us reading this article may not be doing the actual slappin' of women but we're directly and indirectly supporting an environment, myself included, that allows this to continue. So I'm pushing the envelop and calling for a discussion.. what can we do to flip the script on this dreadful situation?
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Hip Hop And Funk..
When all is finally said and done , there will be quite a few things that folks will be able to say about hip hop music. First it was born out of the African American community and in many ways has managed to serve the role of the modern day griot. It has managed to be a reflection and statement of who we are and what we were about and like the West African griot who was charged with passing along the village history, customs and mores through songs and narratives [African Oral Tradition], hip hop has also managed to link generations and keep some of customs and mores alive..especially on the music tip.Folks may recall how rappers brought artists like James Brown and Donald Byrd back into the forefront of Black music during the mid 80s when their music was freely sampled in every which way, shape and form by literally hordes of artists. Back then folks may recall the commonly expressed sentiment that many ascribed too.."
if it wasn't for the rap artists James Brown would be unknown to the younger generation." And to a large degree there was a lot of truth in that statement, after all, at that time Black radio wasn't aggressively promoting a format in which they would highlight "classic" artists like Brown while maintaining their appeal to younger listeners... The result was many young white listeners being able tell you all about pop icons like the Beatles and Elvis while artists like Brown were relatively unknown to the young Black listener, at least until hip hop came along. It"s important to note all this because another facet about hip hop is that it allowed folks and still allows folks to build upon their musical past... The Brown sampling phenomenom in the mid-late 80s was the result of younger people reflecting their musical past. Most of the artist putting out records at this time were from New York and James Brown was not only an artist that mom and dad grooved to, but it was an artist that their older brothers and sisters grooved to in the late 70s when block parties were common place and hip hop was still in its embryo stages... The break beats that could be found within the grooves of James Brown records were the sounds that really set off these early hip hop jams.
So what does all this have to do with p-funk and its relationship to hip hop? Well one of the great things about hip hop is that it has always been an easily accessible form of expression with each participant being able to bring into the fold their own experiences and musical background So while brothers back east during the late 80s were building off their musical experiences involving James Brown and hip hop culture dating back to the late 70s, brothers out west who were just starting to release hip hop records were bringing a whole other set of musical experiences to the table. Much of it centered around artists like George Clinton, Bootsy Collins George Duke and Roger & Zapp to name a few. Simply put, brothers out west brought p-funk to the hip hop round table. Now upon reading this there are a lot of folks who are immediately gonna reach back into time and point to the p-funk style hip hop music of EPMD, especially since they dropped the '88 classic tune "You Gots To Chill" which looped the now infamous "More Bounce To The Ounce" beat. Many rap fans consider this jam to be the first record to incorporate a p-funk. sample. In addition, these same rap fans may be quick to point out that cuts like "Knee Deep" and "More Bounce To The Ounce" were staple items in a b-boy's record crates. Back in the days, many a dj cut up these tracks while an emcee flowed. And while it's safe to say that Erik & Parrish earned their spot in the history books with "You Gots To Chill", they weren't the first to utilize music from the p-funk treasure chests... In addition, EPMD's usage didn't reflect the special relation and love the San Francisco / Oakland Bay Area had for funk.
Ricky Vincent better known as the Uhuru Maggot is a Bay Area music historian who earned his stripes during the 80s for his radio work on KALX, UC Berkeley's college station... and can now be heard every Friday on KPFA 94.1 FM... Vincent has not only chronolized funk music through his History Of Funk radio shows, but he has written his doctorate thesis on the genre..and has now just penned a book for St Martin's Press with an intro from George Clinton himself. This work will undoubtly be a definitive and comprehensive work on this facet of Black music... In a recent interview where Vincent was asked about the Bay Area's love for funk and its relationship to hip hop, he broke things down and explained that there has always been a deep seeded love affair with -funk ..He noted that George Clinton has always claimed there was something 'heavy' about the Bay Area funkateers.. Vincent noted that so involved was that relationship that Clinton recorded part of his live album "P-Funk Earth Tour" right here at the Oakland Coliseum.
