I agree, I think Spearhead is great, they are one of the most inovative
bands, around. Calling them just a Hip Hop band is not listening to their
Home Cd, or any of their singles.
Mark
"No man can be truly free whose liberty is dependent upon the thought,
feeling, and action of others, and who has himself no means in his own hands
for guarding, protecting, defending, and maintaining that liberty."
(Frederick Douglass - "Life and Times of Frederick Douglass")
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
www.lp.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Kurt Iveson <kiveson@coombs.anu.edu.au>
To: acid-jazz@UCSD.EDU <acid-jazz@UCSD.EDU>
Date: Thursday, December 04, 1997 6:47 PM
Subject: Re: Spearhead/ UK hip Hop attitudes
>Hi y'all....
>
>saddassa aramchek wrote:
>
>>Spearheads status in the States: They are not well liked They dont have
>>any sales but they get all this press ,to this point, for being
>>positive and playing with live instro's and Michael Franti is
>>Multiracial.....etc. Actually ,he is a lousy rapper. In fact he tried to
>>do what the Fugees and the Roots Did. The difference these two bigger-
>>selling groups arent as positive and political AND THEY have More
>>TALENT. I have a UK ep with "Positivity" on it . It had a good beat but
>>the subject matter and rap flows are seriously wack!!
>
>>This
>>brings up something about the UK hip hop scene. The Uk never got over
>>86-87 when Hip hop exploded and is still looking for rappers in that
>>vein. Even the rap groups in the Uk try to come with that style which
>>only hampers their ability to get U.S. acceptance. Speatrhead is
>>like Living Colour they get credit for what they stand for not for
>>executing.
>
>This kind of attitude really frustrates me ... from my perspective down
>here in Australia at least, it seems that the problem is that people in
>America (in general ... most of the people on this list are *exceptions* to
>the sweeping generalisation that is to follow...) *only wanna hear hip hop
>that sounds American*. Hip hop in an English accent, a French accent, an
>Australian accent? Forget it! If there wasn't so much American cultural
>imperialism in the music industry, then maybe so many people from other
>places wouldn't be trying to sound American, and maybe those who stay true
>to their local roots (which, after all, is one of the great aspects of hip
>hop .. that it fosters local expression) would actually get heard in
>America once in a while instead of being ignored. (Of course, the reason
>many people have turned to big beat and turned away from lyricism is tied
>up with this issue, but that's another post.)
>
>On this tip, Franti is one of the few big names in hip hop that actually
>makes a conscious effort to embrace hip hop as a global, rather than US,
>style. When he's toured here he's done benefits for Aboriginal community
>radio stations and all sorts of other shit like inviting locals onto the
>mic to freestyle with him. He actually *embraces* the diversity of
>voices/accents/localities in what he does. In this respect, here he is
>"executing" something that many US hip hop artists claim they "stand
>for"...
>
>Peace
>
>..Kurt
>
>
>