Article: The Music In Me: Rap of History Backwards The

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As someone that came up during hip hop's dance party beginnings in NY, through its ripples to this coast, taking on and transformed by local cultures, styles, dances, and fashion along its way, while influencing all points in between, it is a bit sad to see the depth of ignorance of this true American art form, hidden behind the angry posts. I have to think this is what the moldy figs used to say about that degenerate druggie Charlie Parker.

 

For my part, I don't understand bluegrass because it's not my culture, but I'd never go so far as to say it's not music (though the twang may hurt my ears). Just move along if it doesn't speak to you.

 

By the way, how would one explain the Hamilton phenomenon if rapping wasn't legit? 

 

Lastly, Rex Harrison was the first white rapper in a movie lead (My Fair Lady). Decades before Eminem.

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16 minutes ago, DaQi said:

Ha ha, I think you are all wrong. Rap was invented two thousand years ago in China. When I lived in China I encountered a traditional style of music where the performer uses clappers to create a beat box style of rhythm and then proceeds to rap to it. Particularly popular in Shandong province this has been around for two thousand years. Not sure how it made the jump to become an African American protest music in the early 70s.

 

Shaolin monks also had "The Worm" a few centuries before break dancing crews. Perhaps examples of convergent evolution?

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Maybe you should look up The Roots... only been on TV for a few years now. 

Like any other music genre, do your homework, follow the crumbs from one song you like, and they may lead you to other acts beyond the gangsta rap that seems to stick around as representative of a genre, even though they're so 2000s.

Oh and while gangsta rap had its day, maybe you should also look up Digable Planets, who were the antithesis of the gangsta sub genre.

There's a lot out there if you want to inform yourselves.

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Hip hop, rappers, avant garde jazz, street cred, African polyrhythmic cred, pan-cultural philosophy cred: Steve Coleman and the Five Elements. Two rappers in fact. All the musicians in the band could teach a master course in polyrhythms. With Steve, you start with all those ingredients as a base, you shake it up, you get real, and floor it.

Miles Davis tried it, Steve extended it.

De La Soul. Try to say any of their rhymes were "nursery rhymes". Oh, and they and the rest of the Native Tongues freely mixed in jazz, and Tribe even had real musicians the caliber of Ron Carter play on their albums.

You don't have to like it, but real musicians consider it music. Can we please move on?

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Doo Bop is an easy target: Not jazz enough for dyed-in-the-wool Miles fans, and not hard enough to be real hip hop. Straight up: He picked the wrong hip hop producer. It's a one-off and tough to consider within the rest of Miles' catalog. Remember Jazzmatazz? It had all the right stuff, but was also weak as hell. Watered down hip hop that you can't dance to... what's the point?

 

Instead, try some of the other musicians I mentioned earlier, if you want a true challenge to the arguments you've built up and can't let go of, relevant or not.

 

Try Robert Glasper. Tell me he doesn't have jazz chops. The hip hop on his Black Radio series is real enough to offend any haters in this thread. Really, you might bust a blood vessel cuz it's real rappers and real jazz musicians, all killer no filler.

 

I've tried to shine a light, but now I'm out. Time for me to say: Act like ya know.

 

P.S. All this is making me rip all my hip hop CDs and buy tickets to DJ Premier's show with The Badder Band this weekend. Look Premo up if you don't know who he is.

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2 hours ago, findog3103 said:

 

Many comments in this thread have my wondering "what?!" 

 

I wonder whether we shouldn't just call it what it is, and make this thread a monologue at this point? Give up on hearing anyone else's point of view or musical values, there is just One True Path with regards to rap.

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Is anyone else needing more clarification on DRB100's point of view on rap, Ebonics, urban youth culture, music theory and education?

I think this horse has been beaten dead for weeks. Weeks.

(I would make a reference to white horse, but it may start him up all over again.)

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Hmm, the least informed person on a subject still won't let go of the mic and allow others to share their thoughts.

Done here. @DRB100, you're the first person I'll be adding to my ignore list. Hate to do this, but you can't seem to stop digging yourself into the same hole which is bound to collapse on you.

Word to the wise: step out of your sheltered universe and listen to people. Listening allows you to integrate new information, which is the foundation of learning new things. Being able to continue learning gives you perspective that makes you an interesting conversationalist, and opens up the world to more possibilities not imaginable from the sheltered, limited perspective you now hold.

Good luck. It's a less threatening world out there once you take your blinders off, in fact, it's beautiful out here.