Re: Spearhead/ UK hip Hop attitudes
saddassa aramchek
Fri, 05 Dec 1997 13:13:58 PST
Dear List:
This is to respectfuly disagree with Kurt:
Fist off I love UK Hip hopI own 12' by Mc Ni, London Posse, Darkman 3
12" plus his full lenght. In addition, i own the La Haine soundtrack and
I am always striving to find the fresh, the different ,so as to amaze
friends an other tapemakers. i was simply responding to a lot of things
i read in mags like The Touch and HHc (both Uk) on the topic why does Uk
hip hop suck. Many observers give your answer. i think that can cause
problems when you combine talking about the local lifestyle with being
'aware" this leads to british kids whining about Racism in the U.K. and
Thactherism in order to Anglicize the Whole P.E. Krs -1 vibe. I dont
doubt that Aboriginals are opressed in Australia or that there is racism
in Britain. However for some kid to whipp up a sense of grievance so as
to emulate but localize a particular type of conscious rap is fake.
Then consider that U.S. fans dont care about U.S conscious rap let alone
this foreign stuff and it aint gonna fly stateside. I think that it
would be better to make song about "Party and Bullshit" which has a
universal appeal especially as foriegn sales count more to acts in the
Uk and elseware than to the U.S. where Too Short can go platinum
without coming East of the Mississippi or south of The Mason -Dixon.
Line . Which is to say that Too short doesnt sell in N.Y. the capitol
of Hip-hop and he "dont care."
From: Kurt Iveson <kiveson@coombs.anu.edu.au
>
>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
>
>
>
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