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The hardest working DJ in NYC speaks. You have a witness down under Brother
Marv.
-----Original Message-----
From: DJQoolMarv@AOL.COM [mailto:DJQoolMarv@AOL.COM]
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2002 5:24 AM
To: jentelligent@yahoo.com; acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
Subject: Re: Negative music.../ Positive Solutions
In a message dated 05/29/2002 5:37:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
jentelligent@yahoo.com writes:
He then looked at me in
disgust like I expected he would. That's a common
reaction I get. He was shocked to see me as black man
listening something besides Mystikal or Camron. It's
frustrating how much mind control radio and TV has on
the masses. Has anyone had a similar experience?
-Chris Jentile
Sparked by my man Chris, this is a rant, by the way, good to see dialogue
flying again on this list.
That reaction is a result of many layers ranging from the blatant payola
between the deep pocket major labels and commercial radio to the
never-ending saga of the low self esteem of the poor and working class that
is hammered every second of everyday with misguided images of success being
related to perpetual promiscuous casual sex and drugs with many and the
ownership of everything that is pointless to really moving ahead in life
i.e., excessive jewelry and high-end automobiles with car notes the size of
some people's mortgages.
"Ghetto fabulous" is perhaps one of the most sickening terms that could have
ever come out of the stagnant Hip Hop & R&B scheme. I mean let's break it
down. Once upon a time, people who lived in ghettos had one main
objective...work to get out of the ghetto. You had to try and work harder
because you weren't making much to save but you had to save what you
could...if it took you 3 jobs to afford an apartment in a better
neighborhood, it was worth it. Better schools, quiet clean streets,
whatever, but the aim was to get there and out of the ghetto. Now, the
ghetto, as told through people who move out as soon as they are platinum, is
this great place full of these honorable men called thugs and women who have
the distinction of shaking their ass the fastest to be alluring enough to be
one of the thugs many bitches, who then will be subjected to countless bouts
of infidelity (thus many trips to the OB/GYN for STD or pregnancy tests),
smackd! owns, and marked with the scarlet G...for the goldigger at home
taking care of the thug's kids).
Stay with me please.
Hip Hop music was once the most authentic and sometimes painfully honest
forms of music ever. Hip Hop was truly the voice of the voiceless, Chuck D
coined it Black America's CNN. I know what your are thinking, now I'll go
off into a rant about P.E., BPD, Tribe, and conscious lyrics. It is not
just about that, it was about the diversity and the freedom to be exactly
who you are. When I mentioned painfully honest, I think about how I cringed
when I heard what N.W.A stood for, but eventually gave them a listen...and
no I didn't love them after listening to them because their experience
wasn't my experience...but it was their experience and how they lived life.
Young music fans do not the choice or opportunity to make that distinction
anymore. For to many reasons to write about, in the last 10 years, Hip Hop
has dulled into an homogenized product for mass consumption. Consider this,
Hip Hop (commercial) is the music of choice for 10 years olds now. The
worst forms of it the better. I recently DJed a Bar Mitzvah for a friend of
my wife's family and I believe that that's the 13th birthday celebration.
The music of choice as sent to me as a playlist...Nelly, Jay-Z, P Diddy,
J-Lo, Fabulous, Mystical, Ashanti (with her shameless obvious sample of
another obvious sample), and so on. These artists are regarded, going by
the request of these kids, with the likes of Shaggy, Little Bow Wow and the
Who Let The Dogs Out group. Gimmicky and silly enough for children is the
underlying theme, although these artist would never admit or even realize
that that is what their music has become.
Flip the scene to a New York City popular buppie (black urban professional
25-35 year-old crowd...aka the group that will symbolize what black people
have come to in this country since the civil rights movement - yes, we are
(I'm 32) the first generation born into life in America without segregation
and overt racism to contend with). You might imagine a group of
sophisticated well learned college graduates, might be bored with the
playlist of 10 year olds but in reality, it is the same playlist. I'm the
first of 2 DJs at a pretty nice party with an outdoor setting that faces the
sunset. My job as per the promoters is to play that "cool-out shit like
acid-jazz and all that different shit" to the corporate ghetto fabulous
crowd. I'm into because here is a chance to be part of the solution and
drop everything on them from 4 Hero to Mr. Scruff, from Jurassic 5 to Mos
Def, from Jill Scott to Spacek...you all know what I mean.
Now imagine people looking up to me with impatient rolling eyes, what are
you playing and can you pick it up shrugs, and worst of all people not even
nodding their heads or tapping their feet. For the context, I'm black, and
I know that my people once upon a time, danced to Jazz music, vigorously. I
watch my own people sit still to music that is truly an extension of our
entire musical experience...jazz, soul, blues, hip hop, disco, etc. I watch
my own people come at me one by one to ask me when am I going to play some
hip hop as De La Soul is cranking the system. I have to plead with
aggressive requesters who are so upset that they haven't heard Jay-Z's voice
for five minutes, that I'm a DJ with my own style, I have great records to
play for you...please let me play them for you because radio or your
friendly neighborhood regurgitating radio hits DJ will not play them. I ask
them to let me offer them a different experience, one that feels like ! New
York City 10 year's ago when the crowd hardly had a clue what the DJ was
playing, and that made the party exciting, different, and worth going to.
Please let me show you how different music is energizing and you'll leave
here feeling like you were somewhere special because the music took you to
unfamiliar but soulful funky places.
Now imagine the blank stare, and then the response of..."but you still going
to play some Hip Hop right?" I used to get all worked up but now I feel
like it is my duty to explain what I'm doing and to defend difference,
diversity, and my own individual approach. As the dumbfounded requester
walks back to tell their people's how much I suck, I'm tempted to say "no,
YOU suck, but what's the point of that? I'd rather keep smacking them in
the head with the best of all the different genres I play...I try not to
give them any room to blame the music, but blame me for not playing what
they are used to. I can take that heat because some people do come around.
I'll even take 2 or 3 out of 200, because those 2 or 3 have friends and they
will leave that night with something special in their heads that they will
want to share with their friends and family...it happens all the time. It
is rocky soil but you must still plant seeds.
Chris, keep offering up those headphones, people don't like different, but
that they surely know what's different and that stays in their head.
One of my funniest encounters was with a guy who truly calls himself Rugged,
a true thugged-out cat that worked Def Jam's Street teams in New York. He
came to a gig, and folks this does happen, he gave me a Ja Rule single, and
then stood next to me for a while. I thought that he was checking out the
party but he was actually waiting for me to play his record. So I told him
that Ja Rule doesn't really mix well with Eddie Kendricks and that I'd be
playing more soul classics stuff for the remainder of my set (of course the
commercial DJ was up next for the late crowd...which I also explained to
him). Now these are guys that strong-armed New York into it's homogenized
state by doing just what they do, intimidating you into playing their tune
by implying that you will not get anymore free vinyl if you don't. Much to
Rugged's dismay, I didn't care if I was dropped from Def Jam's list and I
was not going to drop the (uncredited) Stevie Wonder rip-off o! f Ja Rule's
"Living It Up" in the middle of my classics set...but, keeping in mind that
this shouldn't be a standoff, I gave Rugged a couple of my mixed CDs that
had stuff like, Roots Manuva, 23 Skidoo, LTJ Bukem, Attica Blues, and the
Silent Poets on it.
People, even Rugged was converted as he know wants every mixed CD that I do
and has even propositioned me about promoting them.
So that is my rant and positive solution. Pointing out the problem is
practically the ethos of American existence now so I shamelessly admit that
I'm on the "point out the solution" bandwagon. All of you listers out
there, please burn those CDs of you favorite joints, songs you feel that
deserve to be heard and give them to that Hot 97, Z-100, K-Rock 92 listening
coworker of yours. Chances are they will dig at least some of the tunes and
start your dialogue with them about what else they may be into. It's all
great to be part of the exclusive community that reads Straight No Chaser
religiously, but I feel greater when I can share the new music that I've
discovered with people who seem disinterested in anything that they haven't
heard on the radio. Enjoying something new is a natural human instinct so
you have hone in on that urge for newness and provide some nourishment.
If you made it here thanks for reading this and what do you think?
EZ
Qool DJ Marv
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<DIV><SPAN class=532352522-29052002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>The
hardest working DJ in NYC speaks. You have a witness down under Brother
Marv. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=532352522-29052002></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
DJQoolMarv@AOL.COM [mailto:DJQoolMarv@AOL.COM] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, May
30, 2002 5:24 AM<BR><B>To:</B> jentelligent@yahoo.com;
acid-jazz@ucsd.edu<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: Negative music.../ Positive
Solutions<BR><BR></DIV></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT
color=#400040 size=2>In a message dated 05/29/2002 5:37:46 AM Eastern Daylight
Time, jentelligent@yahoo.com writes:<BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"
TYPE="CITE">He then looked at me in<BR>disgust like I expected he
would. That's a common<BR>reaction I get. He was shocked to see me as
black man<BR>listening something besides Mystikal or Camron.
It's<BR>frustrating how much mind control radio and TV has on<BR>the masses.
Has anyone had a similar experience?<BR><BR>-Chris
Jentile<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Arial color=#400040 size=2
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR>Sparked by my man Chris, this is a rant, by the way,
good to see dialogue flying again on this list.<BR><BR>That reaction is a
result of many layers ranging from the blatant payola between the deep pocket
major labels and commercial radio to the never-ending saga of the low self
esteem of the poor and working class that is hammered every second of everyday
with misguided images of success being related to perpetual promiscuous casual
sex and drugs with many and the ownership of everything that is pointless to
really moving ahead in life i.e., excessive jewelry and high-end automobiles
with car notes the size of some people's mortgages.<BR><BR>"Ghetto fabulous"
is perhaps one of the most sickening terms that could have ever come out of
the stagnant Hip Hop & R&B scheme. I mean let's break it
down. Once upon a time, people who lived in ghettos had one main
objective...work to get out of the ghetto. You had to try and work
harder because you weren't making much to save but you had to save what you
could...if it took you 3 jobs to afford an apartment in a better neighborhood,
it was worth it. Better schools, quiet clean streets, whatever, but the
aim was to get there and out of the ghetto. Now, the ghetto, as told
through people who move out as soon as they are platinum, is this great place
full of these honorable men called thugs and women who have the distinction of
shaking their ass the fastest to be alluring enough to be one of the thugs
many bitches, who then will be subjected to countless bouts of infidelity
(thus many trips to the OB/GYN for STD or pregnancy tests), smackd! owns, and
marked with the scarlet G...for the goldigger at home taking care of the
thug's kids).<BR><BR>Stay with me please.<BR><BR>Hip Hop music was once the
most authentic and sometimes painfully honest forms of music ever. Hip
Hop was truly the voice of the voiceless, Chuck D coined it Black America's
CNN. I know what your are thinking, now I'll go off into a rant about
P.E., BPD, Tribe, and conscious lyrics. It is not just about that, it
was about the diversity and the freedom to be exactly who you are. When
I mentioned painfully honest, I think about how I cringed when I heard what
N.W.A stood for, but eventually gave them a listen...and no I didn't love them
after listening to them because their experience wasn't my experience...but it
was their experience and how they lived life.<BR><BR>Young music fans do not
the choice or opportunity to make that distinction anymore. For to many
reasons to write about, in the last 10 years, Hip Hop has dulled into an
homogenized product for mass consumption. Consider this, Hip Hop
(commercial) is the music of choice for 10 years olds now. The worst
forms of it the better. I recently DJed a Bar Mitzvah for a friend of my
wife's family and I believe that that's the 13th birthday celebration.
The music of choice as sent to me as a playlist...Nelly, Jay-Z, P Diddy, J-Lo,
Fabulous, Mystical, Ashanti (with her shameless obvious sample of another
obvious sample), and so on. These artists are regarded, going by the
request of these kids, with the likes of Shaggy, Little Bow Wow and the Who
Let The Dogs Out group. Gimmicky and silly enough for children is the
underlying theme, although these artist would never admit or even realize that
that is what their music has become.<BR><BR>Flip the scene to a New York City
popular buppie (black urban professional 25-35 year-old crowd...aka the group
that will symbolize what black people have come to in this country since the
civil rights movement - yes, we are (I'm 32) the first generation born into
life in America without segregation and overt racism to contend with).
You might imagine a group of sophisticated well learned college graduates,
might be bored with the playlist of 10 year olds but in reality, it is the
same playlist. I'm the first of 2 DJs at a pretty nice party with an
outdoor setting that faces the sunset. My job as per the promoters is to
play that "cool-out shit like acid-jazz and all that different shit" to the
corporate ghetto fabulous crowd. I'm into because here is a chance to be
part of the solution and drop everything on them from 4 Hero to Mr. Scruff,
from Jurassic 5 to Mos Def, from Jill Scott to Spacek...you all know what I
mean.<BR><BR>Now imagine people looking up to me with impatient rolling eyes,
what are you playing and can you pick it up shrugs, and worst of all people
not even nodding their heads or tapping their feet. For the context, I'm
black, and I know that my people once upon a time, danced to Jazz music,
vigorously. I watch my own people sit still to music that is truly an
extension of our entire musical experience...jazz, soul, blues, hip hop,
disco, etc. I watch my own people come at me one by one to ask me when
am I going to play some hip hop as De La Soul is cranking the system. I
have to plead with aggressive requesters who are so upset that they haven't
heard Jay-Z's voice for five minutes, that I'm a DJ with my own style, I have
great records to play for you...please let me play them for you because radio
or your friendly neighborhood regurgitating radio hits DJ will not play
them. I ask them to let me offer them a different experience, one that
feels like ! New York City 10 year's ago when the crowd hardly had a clue what
the DJ was playing, and that made the party exciting, different, and worth
going to. Please let me show you how different music is energizing and
you'll leave here feeling like you were somewhere special because the music
took you to unfamiliar but soulful funky places.<BR><BR>Now imagine the blank
stare, and then the response of..."but you still going to play some Hip Hop
right?" I used to get all worked up but now I feel like it is my duty to
explain what I'm doing and to defend difference, diversity, and my own
individual approach. As the dumbfounded requester walks back to tell
their people's how much I suck, I'm tempted to say "no, YOU suck, but what's
the point of that? I'd rather keep smacking them in the head with the
best of all the different genres I play...I try not to give them any room to
blame the music, but blame me for not playing what they are used to. I
can take that heat because some people do come around. I'll even take 2 or 3
out of 200, because those 2 or 3 have friends and they will leave that night
with something special in their heads that they will want to share with their
friends and family...it happens all the time. It is rocky soil but you
must still plant seeds. <BR><BR>Chris, keep offering up those
headphones, people don't like different, but that they surely know what's
different and that stays in their head.<BR><BR>One of my funniest encounters
was with a guy who truly calls himself Rugged, a true thugged-out cat that
worked Def Jam's Street teams in New York. He came to a gig, and folks
this does happen, he gave me a Ja Rule single, and then stood next to me for a
while. I thought that he was checking out the party but he was actually
waiting for me to play his record. So I told him that Ja Rule doesn't
really mix well with Eddie Kendricks and that I'd be playing more soul
classics stuff for the remainder of my set (of course the commercial DJ was up
next for the late crowd...which I also explained to him). Now these are
guys that strong-armed New York into it's homogenized state by doing just what
they do, intimidating you into playing their tune by implying that you will
not get anymore free vinyl if you don't. Much to Rugged's dismay, I
didn't care if I was dropped from Def Jam's list and I was not going to drop
the (uncredited) Stevie Wonder rip-off o! f Ja Rule's "Living It Up" in the
middle of my classics set...but, keeping in mind that this shouldn't be a
standoff, I gave Rugged a couple of my mixed CDs that had stuff like, Roots
Manuva, 23 Skidoo, LTJ Bukem, Attica Blues, and the Silent Poets on it.
<BR><BR>People, even Rugged was converted as he know wants every mixed CD that
I do and has even propositioned me about promoting them.<BR><BR>So that is my
rant and positive solution. Pointing out the problem is practically the
ethos of American existence now so I shamelessly admit that I'm on the "point
out the solution" bandwagon. All of you listers out there, please burn
those CDs of you favorite joints, songs you feel that deserve to be heard and
give them to that Hot 97, Z-100, K-Rock 92 listening coworker of yours.
Chances are they will dig at least some of the tunes and start your dialogue
with them about what else they may be into. It's all great to be part of
the exclusive community that reads Straight No Chaser religiously, but I feel
greater when I can share the new music that I've discovered with people who
seem disinterested in anything that they haven't heard on the radio.
Enjoying something new is a natural human instinct so you have hone in on that
urge for newness and provide some nourishment.<BR><BR>If you made it here
thanks for reading this and what do you think?<BR><BR>EZ<BR><BR>Qool DJ Marv
</FONT></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
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