Hip-Hop 2
Tim G. Wagner (v134lskm@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu)
Wed, 23 Aug 1995 03:15:37 -0400
>Giles Bowkett wrote:
>
>"I think the degree to which white people co-opt hip-hop will determine
>how quickly rap fades from importance in the lives of black people, who
>historically have created new musical genres more or less every decade."
>
>
>First of all, a quick glance at popular music of the last few years shows
>that hip hop has very little left that has not been co-opted. If its cross
>genre usages of late aren't indications of that I don't know what is.
>By trying to be egalitarian in your statment, you only succeed in once
>more relegating black folks to the role of acting in reaction to white
>culture. I highly doubt that hip hop will cease to be important to the
>current generation of blacks simply as an act of spite on their
>part towards whites. If anything the embracing of all that declairs
>itself "true" or "rule" no matter how flimsy and uninspired the content,
>will do much more to disconnect the black community from hip hop's creative
>center. This can be contributed to a self imposed ignorance on the part of
>the community, a process which at its core has little to do with whites.
>
>Second, Hip hop was never a jazzy redress of disco. Groups like the
>Sugarhill Gang existed as record labels marketable version of what was going
>on in
>the street. Hip Hop music was born of the cut & mix culture pioneered
>by the likes of Bambatta, Kool Herc, etc., and If anything is a dscendant
>of Jamacia's sound system phenomenon.
>
>Lastly, hip hop music was never made of fixed parts and could be said to
>be the only music form able to boast such a claim. Its evolution has
>grown to
>encompass live instruments as well as the producer/DJ medium. It, by
>nature cannibalizes sounds and makes them it's own. For many the term hip
>hop has lost its esoteric value, hence using it no longer separates them
>from the overground masses. However, I feel that hip hop as an art form
>still has validity and in fact never lost it. Due to over application of
>the term in the popular context some may feel that many of the artists in
>the various new "experimental" genres are not making hip hop. If this
>the case, so be it. Then, let it be said that by this definition these
>artist not making hip hop, but, what hip hop used to be!
>
>
>Respectfully,
>
>Craig Willingham
Amen. Also, by this, some of the best "AJ" we all love, in essence is HipHop.
I think I remember Chris Parker (KRS-1) saying something about this at a
lecture once - Hip-Hop isn't just rap, sometimes it's simply an attitude
you take towards crafting a piece of music.
> It, by
>nature cannibalizes sounds and makes them it's own.
That's great.
Tim From Buffalo
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