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Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Week 1- Introduction to Hip-Hop in Popular Culture
This week, we were introduced to the four elements of Hip-hop ( MCing, Breaking, Graffiti and Djing), Hip-hop's relationship to Blackness/African American culture,and the ways in which different regions of the United States shape the sounds of Hip-hop music. As you blog on the key words this week (blackness and Hip-hop Regional sounds, think about the ways that Hip-hop complicates how we understand blackness. How are Hip-hop's regional sounds shaped by blackness? How do space, race and place intersect in the production of Hip-hop sounds and flows?
(Blogger left this in draft and did not publish the prompt. Apologies for the confusion.)
(Blogger left this in draft and did not publish the prompt. Apologies for the confusion.)
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Blackness is the solidarity between individuals of the same or similar cultural or racial backgrounds encompassing a cohesive “black identity”. The idea of blackness stems from the belief that a shared heritage would unite the people into a group best fit to organize against racial, political, and social oppression. Blackness is a term based on unification within the black community, and has recently become a topic of interest because of the development of post-blackness, a group which has many critics. Post-blackness has come under scrutiny because this generation has be described as “one that takes for granted what they fought for: equal rights, integration, middle-class status, affirmative action and political power.”
ReplyDeleteRegional sounds of hip hop relates to the difference in hip hop across borders in the United States. The sounds may vary across the country from south, north, east, or west, but so too does the culture and style. Each coast represents a unique sound which varies in terms of emphasis, rhythm, wordplay, and metaphors. Each of the sounds is characterized by the encompassed blackness in each different area. For example, East Coast hip hop is characterized by gritty house party beats, while sounds from the west coast are most famously known for the gangsta rap subgenre. The identities of each coasts’ encompasses a unique reflection of “blackness” from the respective areas’.
(Sorry about my poor English skill, there might be many grammar and spelling mistakes) As a Chinese, I never heard about the word “Blackness” before. I am not sure if this word appears in any rap songs (because I rarely focus on the lyrics when the first time I listen to a song or watch a freestyle battle, all I care about is flow and beats or something like that, at this point, I’m not a “real” Hip-hop fan). After today’s lecture I think blackness is kind of power and attitude.
ReplyDeleteMany rappers such as Jay-z or 50 are from ghetto, they sold drugs in their early life for living. However, being a drug dealer or “Hustler” is dangerous and illegal. Like one of my favorite Hip-hop duos Binary Star said: people should hustle legally (which means being a rapper and selling CD), at this point, I think blackness means getting out of the poor living conditions by people’s effort and talent, which is a power and attitude or lifestyle. Many people might think blackness is only for African American, but I think that is for everybody who holds this power and attitude. Just like mainstream white rapper Eminem and Underground white rapper Milkbone , they also represent blackness. There is no color line in hip-hop, and blackness is a huge part of hip-hop, which makes hip-hop beyond the rhymes and lyrics and melody.
Regional sounds
The first two rappers I knew in my life were Talib Kweli and Ghostface killah. Both of them are from east-coast. It made me start listening to some east coast rappers like Jay-z, Nas, Biggie, Big L and many groups like Wu-tang, Boot Camp Clip and M.O.P. I think the rappers from east coast always stress where they are from and shout to the people who are living in their hometown. Just like Nas and Mobb Deep mentioned “Queens Bridge” many times in their song, and Jay-z and Skyzoo always shout to Brooklyn. I think east-coast rapper got very nice flow like BIG, Big L, Big Pun and Fat Joe , and very strong lyrics like Kweli and Nas (Even though I cannot understand what they say when I’m listening, sometimes I still figure out what the lyrics mean by dictionary or urban dictionary.com or rap genius.com or something like that). East coast rap also got something hardcore, like M.O.P, Jedi Mind Tricks and so on.
I think in early years the west-coast rap was kind of soft, like many G-funk rap songs which was produced by Dr.Dre (such as Nuthin’ but a G thang by Dre and Snoop, Dippin By KingTee), and many rap songs got soft flow like snoop’s songs. Gangs is always the main topic in west coast rap, you could always see the people from Blood or Crips talking gangster thing with their gestures. Pac and Game always talk about gangster thing by strong lyrics. N.W.A was famous in China because their “ F the police” song, west-coast rapper got many political opinions like other rappers who are from other places such Public Enemy, Immortal Technique.
I think Mid-west rap is complicated( I mean mixed); They got nice flow and unique opinion like Eminem,Tech 9 or strong lyrics like Lupe Fiasco, Elzhi.
Blackness & Hip-Hop Regional Sounds
ReplyDeleteBy Chris Ramirez
Blackness can be defined as the sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, political embodied and/or theatrical expression of life experiences of people of African descent.
In the United States, I think that the definition above is how many view or would define blackness. I happen to think that Hip-Hop does fall into the category of blackness. It is created by African-Americans for African-Americans. Many rappers say that their records are for the streets, the hood, but many White Americans purchase the music. Blackness seems to be indicative of all people of African descent, but I tend to see it more tuned towards African-Americans that are descendants of Colonial slaves in early America.
Regional sounds in Hip-Hop are very distinct. Each of them has their own respected forefathers and their own sound of Hip-Hop. The regions are Mid-West, West coast, East coast, & the South. The West coast is synonymous with “Gangster Rap”. Dealing mostly with gang violence, police brutality and weed. The West coast sound derives from funk-filled samples produced by Hip-Hop legendary producer Dr. Dre.
The East Coast, making its claim as the birthplace of Hip-Hop, has a rich history with many different sounds i.e Rock, Soul. It prides itself on disc jockey scratches, crowd moving samples and just being from New York. The South is just as rich in history as the East, but is differentiated by southern dialects, drawls and overall slower, bass heavy songs that fill the clubs. Their slang is undeniable and key to their distinction in Hip-Hop.
The Mid-West is special because there are remnants of each surrounding region. “Foe Tha Love of $” is a good example of sampling the West Coast. It was co-produced by West Coast legend Eazy-E, but with fast flow of Bone Thugz that is unique to the Mid–West Sound. Tech N9ne, a Kansas City native, is also a rapper who has adopted the fast flow. The Chicago style tends to be more East coast. Common and Kanye use many soul filled samples with the 808 beat machine that is nostalgic to early 90’s boom bap era.
Blackness is a lifestyle. It is an attitude and a way you present yourself to others. It affects how you talk, how you dress, and other ways you act. Although many think of African-Americans when speaking about blackness it really can refer to all kinds of people who share the same feelings of being in an urban society and experiencing the trials that come with being oppressed. The Founders of hip-hop from the article “Hip-hop’s Founding Father’s Speak the Truth” spoke to blackness’ effect on hip-hop. All of those guys came from very little and used music as a way to express themselves. They would throw block parties that would last for hours during the day and through the night. These block parties would give the founders a way to escape the oppression they faced by allowing them to express their blackness a new way. This newfound expression eventually led to what is now hip-hop.
ReplyDeleteHip-hop regional sounds are the distinct sounds that separate different regions of hip-hop artists. The distinctness of the sound and style come from the difference in blackness of the artists in the region. Each region has a different culture, which helps form the blackness of those living there. An example that we talked about in lecture is that southern hip-hop tends to be slower and more relaxed. I think that this can be attributed the overall attitude and culture in the south which tends to be easy going and relaxed. Southern hip-hop also encompasses more bass then other hip-hop and the music is heavier. Just as the southern blackness and hip-hop are influenced by its surrounding culture so are the other hip-hop regions in the United States.
The idea of ‘blackness’ seemingly becomes much more complicated and harder to dissect because as hip hop as grown in scope and popularity, so has the population of those who subscribe to the ideals and the culture associated with hip hop. Riley says that “Blackness, black culture, and black life have never been easily identifiable” due to black slaves coming from all parts of Africa, which all occupy their own spaces in black culture. In hip-hop, being ‘black’ didn’t necessarily mean that one had to be of African decent. Blackness in hip-hop is much more cultural and family oriented, much more concerned with the “us and them” mentality than necessarily with race. Blackness has the ability to include African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Whites, etc. as long as they are in tune with the culture at large.
ReplyDeleteEach regional sound of hip-hop has their own image of blackness as well. To be black in those specific regions involves following certain regional codes, regional slang and styles of dress. Even just to identify with a certain region of hip hop, whether or not you may be from that specific region, gives you an “in” into that culture that others may not have access to. To be part of the black culture of a specific region, one must also subscribe to the kind of music that the region is producing. To go against the home, the neighborhood, the “brothers” and “sisters” of your region is not something that is usually found in a culture of blackness.
Blackness is sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, political embodied and/or theatrical expression of life experiences of people of African descent in Africa and the African Diaspora. These expressions are always shaped by gender and class status. Blackness and Hip-Hop for me are not the same and are not even in the same category. For example Hip-Hop has a long history of people who helped create it that were either not of African decent or African Americans as said in class. One big group that comes to my mind is Beastie Boys. A group of white men who created a Hip-Hop band using turntables and electronic sounds during the 80’s. I am not saying that Hip-Hop is white, black, yellow, or green I am simply saying that it is all of ours. No one race creates music genres rather music genres are created by society at-large. Particularly Hip-Hop which is, like blackness, an expression of peoples feelings towards their current economic or socioeconomic conditions.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, Hip-Hop has transformed greatly since it left the street corner’s of Harlem and has dissolved itself into the other regions of America. For example, there are four main regions that claim their own particular sound of Hip-Hop. The first being the birthplace of Hip-Hop, the East coast. The East coast is home to the Notorious BIG and more modern rappers like ASAP Rocky, Jay-Z, and many others. The next is the East coasts bitter rival the West coast. Well they aren't really rivals anymore but they once were. The West coast boasts styles like Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and others. The third region is the dirty south. The south is my particular favorite region of music choice which is famous for it slower beats and heavy bass songs which sound great in a car with proper sub-woofers. Last but not least is the Mid-West which is home of famous artists like Nelly, Wiz Khalifa, and Tech N9NE. The Mid-West was hard for me to describe because you go from a crazy rapper like Tech to a smoking-all-day rapper like Wiz Khalifa. Oh and lets not forget Kanye West who is from Chicago. In the end dialects, attitudes, current economic situations and many other elements have all helped shape Hip-Hop according to the region it is in.
As we learned in class Hip-hop started in New York in the Bronx. The government paid little attention to urban poverty, and its population shifts between the 1940s-1970s (in which Hip-hop began). Hip-hop started as a response to the lack of opportunity (meaning social and economical resources) for individual and community advancement. People felt as if they were not being recognized as important citizens whose contributions were important to the dominant American culture. These same issues were occurring throughout different regions in the United States, and as tapes and people moved the messages reached broader audiences. Hip-hop encompasses experiences and contributions of numerous racial, ethnic, gender and national groups and many of these groups can identify with the music’s social and political messages of self-identification, overcoming obstacles and achieving success. As Hip-hop moved from New York to various places across the United States different regional sounds were produced. In lecture Hip-hop’s regional sounds were defined as specific Hip-hop music and/or culture (dance, art, music, theater, etc) produced in a particular region that is shaped by the artist’s racial and ethnic identity as well as the social and economic status, and social norms. The East Coast can include New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, the West Coast can include Los Angeles, and Oakland, the Mid-West can include Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City, and Ohio, and the South can include Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Memphis, and Miami. If we look at the South for example, we have to ask ourselves what sets the South apart regionally on a normal speaking basis? Their dialect, they tend to use a lot of diphthongs, their fluency or speed of talking is normally a lot slower (flow), and the slang or idiomatic speech that they use is different (for example Paul Wall using “y’all” in “About Us”) to name a few things. The music can also make regional references like Paul Wall does with Texas in “They Don’t Know”. It is almost as if not only have individual artists’ regions made an influence on them and their music but they artists use their regions to influence the music itself.
ReplyDeletePrior to moving to America, the word “blackness” meant nothing to me because I didn’t see any form of separation based on race. The reason why I use the term ‘separation’ is because I personally associate separation with blackness. Whether it is by race, attitude, style or appearance, blackness in my opinion, is a way in which a group of people have chosen to separate themselves from others. African Americans are a group mostly associated with the term blackness; the reason being that history itself has helped incorporate the “black identity” as a part of blackness. Although blackness is an expression of life experiences of people with African descent, it is often associated with a form of lifestyle and this is seen a lot in hip hop. A lot of hip-hop artists incorporate their life experience in their music and some audiences expect the same story based on their idea of blackness. Blackness has become a form of lifestyle in hip hop because if your race, appearance, or style does not fit the status quo then it devalues you. Hip hop complicates our understanding of blackness because it emphasizes the stereotype associated with blackness, which includes the idea of being a “thug” or growing up in the ghetto without education.
ReplyDeleteRegional sounds have always had influence on hip hop because our differences are reflected in our experiences which are ultimately reflected in our music. Each region has its own way of life, language, style and economic struggle. The space and place a person lives can affect the kind of hip hop sound they produce because, once again, each region differs. Language from each region is different and that might result in two meanings to the same message. Race also plays a part in the production of hip hop music because every ethnicity faces its own form of oppression, more so in the past than now.
After the lector and the readings I think that the definition of blackness can be interpreted by whom you ask. Maybe I am wrong but I think that it can’t be pinpointed into one description because there are so many ways of looking at it. In one way it might be described as a lifestyle, the way you act, dress, sound, the people you spend your time with, etc. The only problem with this is then you have to define each of these to be a specific thing but there are not specific answers. I think this is part of it but I think it’s so much more. I think it has to do with attitude and what the individual whose blackness is being looked at, thinks about themselves. Blackness is not just relevant to African Americans but to other’s who are black but may not be from Africa but the Caribbean or somewhere else and other’s who are not black at all. Like in Robin Kelley’s article, even if they are from Africa they don’t always see themselves as African but as “Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa, Kongo, Bambara, Mende, Mandinga, etc” (Kelley, 2). Blackness needs to be defined based on the individual and/or group, and once again maybe I am completely wrong but this is what I am gathering and interpretting.
ReplyDeleteRegional Sounds in hip-hop is something that I never really thought about before. I knew it existed, I knew about the war between the east coast and I knew that there was southern rap because I listend to artists like Ludacris who refrenced the south a lot, atleast from what I can remember it’s been awhile since I’ve listened to him. I could always tell the difference in sound but I never put two and two together that they were based on regions. It makes sense because each region has it’s own different culture, it’s own set of issues that they are dealing with and they have their own lifestyles. The southern lifestyle is more chill and relaxed and that is something that we heard when we listened to Birdman’s So Fresh in class.
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ReplyDeleteHip-hop has a complicated relationship with the term ‘blackness’, or the African American culture. ‘Blackness’ can be defined as: a sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, political, embodied and/or theatrical expression of the life experiences of the people of the African descent & Diaspora. In the U.S. we tend to associate the word black with African Americans. I think Hip-Hop artists and their music expressed ‘blackness’ through a specific: language, styles of self-adornment and embodied gestures. As a result, a stereotype of being ‘black’ has been created.
ReplyDeleteHip-hop regional sounds can be defined as: specific hip-hop music and/or culture produced in a particular region that is shaped by the artist’s racial and ethnic identity. It originated in New York and moved across the U.S. producing different sounds in each region. The hip-hop culture differed in each region for reasons like: lacks of opportunity, overt & institutionalism racism and police brutality, and not being recognized as important citizens whose contributors are important to the dominant American culture. Space, race and place intersect the production of Hip-hop sounds and flows of each region. Artists create their work with what they’re given, which was usually very little. Also they used hip-hop to express any social, political or economic factors that create racial identities in the U.S. For example one region’s main issue may be drug addictions, and another may be social inequality. These issues determine the sounds & lyrics in hip-hop music.
Bradley McDougald
ReplyDeleteWhen discussing the term “Blackness” in relation to hip-hop one must consider whether hip-hop defines the culture or if the culture defines hip-hop. Personally, I believe that hip-hop results from a particular culture. In my opinion, the oppression of black people dating back to the slave days is what has made hip-hop. In class we discussed how rappers of all generations has used hip-hop music to voice their struggle of being black in America. Without the hardships and oppression that black people went through then hip-hop music would not be the same because there would be no struggle or since of coming from nothing to something for so many young African Americans to appreciate.
The term ‘Blackness’ is defined as the, “… sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, political embodied and/ or theatrical expression of life experiences of people of African descent in Africa and the African Diaspora” (Persley 2012). This definition proves my prior point of culture defining hip-hop because without the experiences faced by African Americans then there would be no such term. In the hip-hop genre artists usually earn their street credit and fan approval from talking about the daily struggles of simply being black. For example, in the Jay-Z hard knock song he discussed how he went from standing on the same corners selling the same dope as his fans, to driving the hottest cars in New York. He shot the video for the song in the hood doing ordinary things to show that he has all this money and fame but he is still the same old Jay- Z from the hood. Artists always try to present themselves as the same common person they were when they started out. The difference is that now they are that same person but on TV with a lot more money. If they do not portray themselves this way they will lose their “blackness” as well as a majority of their fan base.
Hip-hop, of course, started in the boroughs of New York City but has migrated throughout the US and throughout the world. Each region of the US specifically has a different sound and, more importantly, a different message it is attempting to tell. Mainstream music (songs on the radio) generally has the same message about money, cars, clothes, and sexy women. On the other hand, each regions underground sound is much different and is usually the real identity of that region. For example, in the South (Houston) talks more about riding candy painted cars sitting on swings (rims) drinking drank (promethazine). This is popular in Houston and to down south states but does not get the same appreciation in other regions such as the Midwest. This is the beauty of hip-hop regional sounds because not only does hip-hop speak directly to its listener, but also it even speaks to the fans of a particular area who live and do the same things as the artist MCing
Blackness is closely related to hip hop because it is dominated by African Americans, setting the standards for how other African Americans are suppose to behave. Where I’m from many African Americans consider latinos as one of their own because they sometimes go through the same hardships that African Americans go through. According to Nelson George story, in his interview a man name Bam says “When we say Blacks we mean all our Puerto Rican or Dominican brothers” (p. 49). Blackness could be considered as its own sub-culture. Majority of blackness around the U.S. may have common trends, but depending where you are from the style of sound changes. For example, being from the south, most southern music is slow, with a calm, cool, and collected feel to it then when you go up north or to the east coast, southerners would consider their style of sound to be fast and more upbeat.
ReplyDeleteYou have defined blackness as the "sonic, oral, visual, stylistic, artistic, social, political embodied and/ or theatrical expression of life experiences of people of African descent in Africa and the African Diaspora". Hip hop has complicated the way I personally understand blackness. I grew up in a white town with music and television being my only exposure to black culture. So, growing up I felt like the black population was pitted against the white population because of lyrics in rap music and other social medias. Even though regionally hip hop has different themes from the west coast to midwest to the east coast the messages is all similar. It wasn't till I moved to Kansas (where there is much larger black culture than where I'm from) that I started to understand that these were just stereotypes being pushed through the media. This is why I feel hip hop skews the view of blackness because it fuels the fire of stereotypes and although the artists express the troubles and hardships of being black in America I think they also put up boundaries around themselves, and not just between whites and blacks but between all other races and social classes as well.
ReplyDeleteRegional Sounds
I have very little knowledge on hip hop, but in my opinion the east coast is more lyric heavy than the other regions, now I'm talking about domination of the song not the meaning of the lyrics, a good example of this is Notorious B.I.G. his songs and songs like this there is a ton of talking with a steady beat in the background. The south I think has a lot of heavy bass with slower lyrics. The west coast is almost a music genre of its own because, in my opinion, such a large Hispanic influence. The west coast hip hop has a lot of different instruments used like violins in Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" The Midwest is complicated because I believe they are almost a melting pot of all the others. My best example of this is tech n9ne. He uses heavy base a lot of piano and there are times in his songs where he raps very fast.
It seems to me that the term "blackness" can harness multiple definitions depending upon where you are or who you talk to. When I was in high school, I (being white) was a minority. The school I went to had a large majority of African American students, faculty, and staff- and many of my friends were black. Although I can't speak for my fellow former Topeka High students, I can guess that ones definition of "blackness" would have been formed within the context of family upbringing, emersion to black culture, family history, and the culture of the society in which one grew up. I think “blackness” has a lot to do with how one represents themselves within the context of their culture. Culture can determine the way an individual speaks, dresses, wears their hair, etc. I think that these definitions, just like style, speech, and culture, are shaped, in large-part, by what part of the country an individual is from.
ReplyDeleteThis is also true with hip-hop. Different regions of the country have long produced different styles and sounds within hip-hop. Where an MC is from can determine their flow, sound, and style- among other things. It seems to me that this is a common bond that hip-hop shares with “blackness”. “Blackness”, like hip-hop, is shaped by culture- and culture, like hip-hop, is largely shaped by region. The culture of “blackness” and the culture of hip-hop are deeply intertwined which, in my opinion, isn’t something that will soon change.