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Is Bruno Mars a Culture Vulture? No, He is Not!

March 20, 2018 By

So as of late, there has been a lot of discussion around singer Bruno Mars and some folks insisting that he is guilty of cultural appropriation.

The definition of this term Cultural Appropriation means: the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture

Bruno also borrows heavily from singers Michael Jackson and James Brown who without question have major footprints on lots of popular music. Jackson popularized dance styles that he got from the streets here in Cali while James was the unintended blueprint for a variety of genres most notably Hip Hop. Those of us who are old enough will recall James was not too keen on folks sampling his music and not giving him credit and even said so in a couple of songs. We won’t even get into the dance steps that many borrowed which are now part of Hip Hop key dance moves.

Back in the days, folks said that James Brown, Sly Stone, George Clinton, and others who were being sampled should be happy. In fact, they should be thanking Hip Hop for bringing back to life a sound and style that had essentially been dead.

Artists like Daddy O, lead emcee for Stetsasonic laid out that argument excellently in a song called ‘Talking All That Jazz’…


In the case of Bruno Mars its crystal clear that he clearly understands the roots of the music genres that have influenced him. In fact, he probably knows it better than most. It’s also crystal clear that he has profusely given credit to the originators of the sounds he uses.

Here’s the larger point, when folks accuse Bruno Mars of cultural appropriation, they are basically saying ‘dude is ‘Not Black‘ and he’s getting over doing Black music’. Now we can get into a long discussion about who is Black and who isn’t from a Diasporic perspective. Don’t Puerto Ricans have African blood in their veins? Are they not part of the diaspora? But for some, no matter what is said or proven folks are gonna fall back on the notion that Black music is being exploited and thus Bruno should be the target of their anger.

What’s interesting is that while folks will focus all their attention on Bruno, they will remain silent and even compliant with the real exploiters and cultural appropriators of Black music. We can start with the many of the major record labels who got generations of young, easily influenced and naive artists to sign away their copyrights and publishing. If you really peel back the onion there are lots of stories of Black artists being forced to give away their creations.. This is a sordid history that’s been outlined in a variety of books like:
‘Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business’, by Fredric Dannen. Another one is ‘An Autobiography of Black Jazz‘ by Dempsey J Travis. ‘Death of Rhythm and Blues’ by Nelson George outlines this exploitative relationship as does ‘Blackout: My 40 Years in the Music Business’ by Paul Porter.

This sordid history of exploitation has been spoken about very publicly by everyone from Prince to Michael Jackson to Ice Cube to Gza… The list is long. The stories are detailed and really show the depth of cultural exploitation and appropriation within the music industry. The stories detail the unapologetic boldness and epitomize the notion of someone Not Giving zero f–ks which is an attitude that’s alive and well today within those corporate structures. These entertainment conglomerates are the ones who really ‘cake’ off Black music.

Bruno Mars dancing like Michael Jackson or using a Teddy Riley-inspired beat is him paying homage. What’s exploitation is corporate music outlets from the IHeart Radios of the world (formerly Clear Channel to the Viacom’s) that peddle a particular type of narrowcasted musical Blackness that is steeped in harmful and demeaning stereotypes that nets these corporations billions while having us collectively looking like savage baboons.
It gets really insidious when those executives and gatekeepers will invest millions of marketing dollars and define these negative expressions and market them as ‘Authentic Black Culture‘.

That’s cultural exploitation and it’s rooted in the legacy of Blackface minstrelsy where white actors donned Blackface and adopted stereotypical speech patterns and Black mannerisms and entertained millions. Black face was the country’s biggest form of entertainment for over 100 years.

This industry really took off when Black actors desperate for money, fame and economic opportunity started wearing Blackface and enhancing those negative stereotypes. These Black minstrels were marketed to white audiences as authentic. They were the equivalent of a certain type of heavily promoted artists who today are advertised as ‘keeping it real and being ‘true to the streets’.

Filed Under: Essential Hip Hop Articles, Feature Tagged With: , ,

Breakdown FM: MC Hammer-The Vindication Interview

June 6, 2013 By

Many of us within Hip Hop have severely underestimated MC Hammer and now we’re coming to see that he was light years ahead of the curve in terms of how one should approach business and even approach music.

In pt1 we go over several key facets about Hammer’s career that he should be vindicated for including him being among the first rapper’s to spark endorsement deals. He gives a serious breakdown about how folks made fun of him and wanted to ban him from Hip Hop only to turn around years later and seek these revenue streams now that they realize the music business can be extremely shady when it comes to getting paid. Hammer takes us deep by talking about how major record labels are now hijacking artists and attaching themselves to some of the lucrative endorsement deals that are being offered today.

We also talk about Hammer and his brother Louis being years ahead of artists in terms of getting clothing lines. Many did not know that the pair had a substantial stake in Troop Outfits. He and his brother were smart and actually opened up 30-40 Troop stores around the country and had the foresight to get them placed in popular locations and key malls. Just as the business was starting to really take off, Hammer and his brother found themselves the victims of what many consider corporate sabotage.

Nasty rumors circulated around the country that Troop was owned by the Ku Klux Klan, when in fact Hammer, LL Cool J and Fat Joe were all owners. Outlets like MTV and urban radio did nothing to dispel those rumors and within a year of these nasty rumors Troop folded. Many speculate that it was rival clothing company like Addidas that was behind the rumors, but of course that was never proven. Many just speculated since they were the dominant urban clothing outfit at that time.

In this interview we spoke to Hammer about him being the first to put out Gospel Hip Hop on vinyl. Today we all praise Kanye West for the hit song ‘Jesus Walks’, but many overlook the fact that Hammer came on the scene using the moniker Holy Ghost Boy. His first song which was actually a demo cut passed around via cassette tape was a cut called ‘The Word’.

MC Hammer Feel My Power

MC Hammer Feel My Power

On his first LP ‘Feel My Power’ which was released independently in 1987-88, he had a dope hip hop gospel song called ‘Son of a King’. In our interview Hammer talks about his connection to the church and how he has struggled over the years with his own contradictions and spiritual beliefs. Also in this portion of our interview with MC Hammer, he gets deep about the connection between Hip Hop and spirituality.

We also have a lengthy discussion about the connection between Hip Hop and Funk. For those who don’t know, Hammer used to tour with a huge band that included the original horn section from Earth Wind & Fire.

He goes into great detail about the history of west coast Hip Hop and how it emerged from the funk era. Hammer talks about how the Bay Area was the home of the Live Band and how every Black kid in the hood had a funk band. These bands were the equivalent to the early Hip Hop crews back East in terms of being the major platform for cultural expression by folks in the hood. Hammer talks at length about the early dance scene and the significant role it played in the development of west coast Hip Hop.

MC Hammer and Michael jacksonHe talks about some of the early dance crews and dance styles. He also talks about how Michael Jackson used to come up to the Bay Area and get hipped to dance styles he would later incorporate in his shows. The most famous dance that Jackson got from the Bay Area was the robot.

Hammer also talks at length about New York City and why he did a song like ‘Turn this Mutha Out’. He talks about the irresponsibility of the Hip Hop press and how they tried to twist things for the general public. He talks about his friendship with Hip Hop pioneer Mele-Mel’. He also talks about the time he went up to the Latin Quarters by himself and got busy on stage right before Ultramagnetic performed. He noted that DJ Red Alert gave him a messed up introduction.

Listen to pt 1 of this MC Hammer Interview on Breakdown FM

Download BreakdownFM-MCHammer pt1 Intv

MC Hammer-The Vindication Interview pt2
East Oakland Street Life, Prisons, Police Helicopters, Cointelpro & Eazy E

MC Hammer Bay AreaIn pt2 of our one on one with MC Hammer, he let’s us know about his connection to the streets. Folks outside the Bay Area saw the genie pants and the typewriter walk dance and figured Hammer was some sort of softy who could and should be dismissed. Folks in Oakland knew otherwise. Hammer was and is no joke. His old crew, the High Street Bank Boys were more than notorious. Hammer talks at length about the types of steps he took to pull his home boys away from street life and the challenges it presented. His actions by default became a full scale prison to work program. He explained how it was this sort of activity that eventually led to him going bankrupt.

Hammer spoke at length how the police along with some outside enemies tried to undermine his efforts and spread a nasty rumor about him buying OPD a police helicopter. He emphatically refutes the claim and talked about the type of corruptions that had gone on within the police department and how many officers were upset because he was providing opportunities for guys they wanted to see locked up.

We spoke at length about Cointelpro and how many of the other independent movements including Luke in Miami, James Prince in Houston and Eazy E in LA all saw themselves under fire at the same time. He spoke about the early attempts these young black entrepreneurs made to consolidate their resources and create a major distribution channel. It was at that point that the helicopter rumors surfaced and Luke came under fire for obscene material. James Prince and Rap-A-Lot records became the object of a federal investigation. Hammer gets deep with this aspect.. Lastly he talks about his close friendship with Eazy E and how the two had a lot in common because of their street background..

Listen to pt 2 of this MC Hammer Interview on Breakdown FM

Download BreakdownFM-MCHammer pt2 Intv

MC Hammer-The Vindication Interview pt3
The Hustle-The Music Biz-The Hyphy Movement and 2Pac

MC Hammer leather5In our final installment, we talk with MC Hammer about the city he reps and loves Oakland. He talks about the vibe of the city and the type of independent hustle-do for self mentality embraced by its residents Hammer also gives us a lot of insight about the music biz. Anybody trying to make it in the industry needs to hear what Hammer is saying with regards to this..

We also talk about the then current Hyphy Movement. Hammer gives a breakdown on this as well as updating us on his own new projects. We conclude our conversation with Hammer telling us about his friendship with 2Pac and they types of political ambitions the pair had planned out.

Listen to pt 3 of this MC Hammer Interview on Breakdown FM

Download BreakdownFM-MCHammer pt3 Intv

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Filed Under: Artist Interviews, Breakdown FM Interviews, Essential Hip Hop Articles, Hip Hop Articles 2006, Hip Hop History, June '06 Articles Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Connection Between Hip Hop, New Wave and Punk

February 6, 2013 By

Davey DThis past Monday, Spinderella of Salt-N-Pepa, Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park and myself among others, participated in a panel discussion at UCLA that focused on the business workings and current state of Hip Hop. Before we launched into Q&A from the audience all of us were asked ‘What CD we were listening to in our ride?’ The audience seemed a bit surprised when I mentioned that in my CD deck was the 1981 album ‘JuJu’ by new wave/punk act Siouxsie & the Banshees. Songs like ‘Spellbound, ‘Monitor’ and ‘Into the Light’ brought back fond memories. More importantly the whole early new wave/punk scene was a very much apart of my early Hip Hop experience.

For those who wish to walk down memory lane, how could we forget when New Wave/Punk acts like Thomas Dolby, Tom Tom Club, The Clash, Blondie, The Thompson Twins, The Police, Depeche Mode, Human League, Tears for Fears and David Bowie to name a few were regularly heard within Hip Hop circles especially in many of our ‘hoods’.

No offense to Run DMC, who are often sighted as the first Hip Hop group to merge Rock and Rap, when we really go back and look at what was happening in the late 70s early 80s, we’ll find that there was an often under reported important conversation and cultural exchange that was taking place with hardcore b-boys from the South Bronx and the disenfranchised rebellious New Wave/Punk kids in downtown Manhattan on the Lower Eastside and in the Village.

It really began when acts like Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash who were just starting to record records were starting to be invited to perform at some key downtown spots like the Mudclub or the Roxy which was frequented by punk/new wave kids. The parallels between the hardcore Hip Hoppers from the Bronx and the Rebellious Punk Kids soon became obvious. Both groups had reacted organically to a stale, formulaic music industry that was serving the public watered down disco and arena rock. The Blacks and Puerto Ricans in the Bronx embraced the classic James Brown Soul and Funk music of Sly and the Family Stone and developed Hip Hop, while their Lower Eastside white counterparts got into the British import punk and new wave.

Debbie Harry

Debbie Harry

People like Bambaataa, Fab 5 Freddy, Debbie Harry of Blondie and British New Wave icon Malcolm McClaren would wind up being key figures in Hip Hop’s first cross cultural exchange. The B-Boys from the Bronx would get nice gigs at the Punk/New Wave spots while the punk crowd would literally be granted safe passage to Bronx River or the PAL up in the Bronx. It’s important to note that this was not a natural occurrence which has often been erroneously stated, especially with the white kids coming up to the Bronx. It was a deliberate attempt on the parts of folks who had mutual respect and vision to build with one another.

When you look back into time you’ll find that both the early Hip Hop and Punk/New Wave groups equally influenced each other. This admiration was reflected in Blondie’s pivotal song ‘Rapture’ where lead singer Debby Harry after being escorted up to a B-Boy party at the PAL club where Grandmaster Flash was playing gave props to Fab 5 Freddy as well as Flash who blew her away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHCdS7O248g

Soon after you had people like Malcolm McClaren teaming up with 5 Percent cats like the World Famous Supreme Team who hosted a radio show to do songs like Buffalo Gals (which was named after a London clothing store-not the size of woman’s butts), ‘Hey DJ’ and ‘Hobo Scratch’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DeTR8n7eTU

History will show that others like the punk rock group known as the Beastie Boys would start to embrace rap and put out songs like Cookiepuss and go on to become Hip Hop’s first meaningful white act.

Pioneering groups like the Cold Crush Brothers would release songs like ‘Punk Rock Rap’ while Flash and his crew did songs like new wave influenced songs like ‘Scorpio’. Bambaataa himself would go onto to form a group called Time Zone and would record a huge song called ‘World Destruction’ with punk icon Johnny Rotten.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPHDQLuZaGo

Thomas Dolby

Thomas Dolby

The whole time this was happening between the years 1979-1984, you saw the musical walls of segregation come down as artists from both genres would become familiar to both audiences. In other words during the early 80s you would hear Thomas Dolby’s ‘Blinded Me With Science’, David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’, Devo’s ‘Let It Whip’ or Tom Tom Club’s ‘Genius of Love’ not only being played on urban radio, but also at popular Hip Hop night spots where playing them would help set off the party.

It was amazing to hear the types of early reactions to last year’s Mobb Deep hit song ‘Got It Twisted’. First, many younger folks had no idea that they had sampled the main riff that gave the song its entire flavor from Dolby’s ‘Blinded Me with Science’. When it was revealed, the reaction ranged from ‘Who in the heck is Thomas Dolby’? to ‘Wow, Mobb Deep is so adventurous, groundbreaking and experimental for going there and sampling a rock act’. For some the Thomas Dolby connection was strange for others who fondly remember those early days, what Mobb Deep did was a natural fit.

More importantly we need to remember that it was Thomas Dolby who actually stepped up and produced Whodini‘s first record ‘Magic Wand‘.In fact we need to also shout out folks like Trevor Horn and Rick Rubin who stepped over from the world of New Wave and Punk and got down on the production tip within Hip Hop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9fjN5lUgYo

We also need to keep in mind that these few examples I mentioned are just around the early Hip Hop scene in New York. If you go back and look at what was happening 300 miles away in California you will find similar exchanges between the early emerging Hip Hop community and the new wave punk sects. In places like Los Angeles where racial segregation is more pronounced and ethnic groups are really removed from one another, to see the early Ska and punk scenes make their way to early Hip Hop clubs and eventually see it reflected in the music with folks coming from places like South Central is significant.

Uncle Jamm's Army

Uncle Jamm’s Army

If anyone remembers back in the days when KDAY was jumping off in LA, then you know it was not usual to hear a Thompson Twins song or a Clash song being mixed and cut up by the famed Mixmasters at that time. It was not out of place to go to an Uncle Jamm’s Army set at the old Coliseum and here some of those aforementioned new wave groups. And of course Hip Hop was not out of place in those New Wave Punk clubs.

Today in the age of music industry consolidation and corporate radio owning multiple stations in a market has resulted in what is best described as music segregation. Industry proponents would argue and say its niche marketing, but really it isn’t. You have a group of ‘experts’ who sit around a table and devise elaborate marketing plans which run along the lines of station X owned by company A will go after Latino women 18-34 and will play a particular style of music with very little room for deviation. Station Y, also owned by that same company will go after older white men 25-54 and will also embrace a particular music genre.

This process goes all the way down the line until there are no more stations for the company to play with. The end results are a series of unintended consequences, some of which I touched upon in a previous column where I asked ‘When is Old School Too Old to Play’ as well as what I would call increased music segregation. Sure we can look at recent examples like Fred Durst and Limp Bizkit doing songs with Method Man or the upcoming Coachella Music Festival or a Warp Tour where there will be a healthy dose of rock and rap acts. However, the cultural exchange seems to be very one sided at best and contrived and forced at worse.

hip_hop_is_punk-rock-finalIt’s one sided in the sense that you have rock oriented outlets with a predominantly white audience embracing Hip Hop. Yes, you can tune into a radio station like KROQ and hear rap alongside the usual rock offerings and lastly we have all the mash up projects, with the most noticeable being Collision Course with Linkin Park and Jay-Z. However, you will not see similar attempts in many urban outlets that target African American audiences. Yes believe it or not groups like Linkin Park as popular as they are are still relatively unknown in many Black circles where BET and commercial radio are the main conduits to things outside the community. I’m not sure what needs to be done to change that or if it even needs to be changed.

I guess I just yearn for the days when the Hip Hop and Punk and New Wave communities were known to each other and me, a Black kid from the Boogie Down Bronx, mentioning I like Siouxsie & the Banshees or the Split Endz is not met with shock and surprise because I defy a stereotype but with approvals or moans because everyone in the room has strong opinions about my choice of groups.

written by Davey D May 2005
Filed Under: 2013 Daily News, archive articles, Essential Hip Hop Articles, Hip Hop History Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Day in the Bronx: Remembering the Black Spades & Their Connection to Hip Hop

January 28, 2013 By

Karate Charlie & Bam Bam

Karate Charlie & Bam Bam

The notorious Black Spades was once the largest and most feared gang in New York City. Hailing from the Bronx, the Spades had as their warlord, Hip Hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. They were the precursors to Hip Hop.. We caught up with many of the members including original leader Bam Bam who gave Bambaataa his name. We spoke with Hip Hop legend Popmaster Fabel who is finishing up a documentary on early gang culture called ‘The Apache line’. We also hear from Karate Charlie who was the President of the Ghetto Brothers which was another large street organization highlighted in Jeff Chang’s book ‘Cant Stop Wont Stop’..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nwsdYU4yKM

We talk with Hip Hop legend Popmaster Fabel who talks to us about the important role early gang culture played in bringing Hip Hop to life. We also talk about how pop culture is exploiting gang life and leading people astray. Fabel explained that early Hip Hop got people out of the gangs.. Today’s rap music gets people into them..

We hear an impassioned Bam Bam, original leader of the Black Spades speaking to young gang bangers in New York, Crips, Bloods, Latin Kings etc and explaining the direction they should really be taking.. powerful words..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGYTeRUWK5k

Popmaster Fabel

Popmaster Fabel

At the 40th Anniversary of the Black Spades we see Bam Bam, original leader of the Black Spades re-uniting and talking with Karate Charlie of the Ghetto brothers. They talk about how the two gangs merged together to stop the Hells Angels from coming into the Bronx.

We chop it up with Popmaster Fabel about his new documentary The Apache Line from gangs to Hip Hop.. We also talk to him about the current move to try and pit Black against Brown.. Fabel gives a history of why that happens and talks about how the gangs came together.

We also speak with Karate Charlie who is featured in Fabel’s documentary about the legacy of the Ghetto Brothers. He talks about how the Black Spades the Ghetto Brothers united and became a family. He also talked about how they protected the community against the police… Charlie also explains how he taught martial arts throughout the community and had Ghetto Brothers patrol the subway years before the Guardian Angels under Curtis Sliwa came into being..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ufPt8g617I

Charlie Rock Original Zulu King

Charlie Rock Original Zulu King

We caught up with original B-Boy and Zulu Charlie Rock who hails from the 22cd division of the Black Spades up on Gun Hill road in the Bronx.. He talks about how the Black Spades evolved and became the Zulu Nation..He talks about Disco King Mario and the founding Spade chapters at Bronxdale Housing project which was known as Chuck City…

He also talks about how the early gangs were organized and became targets to corrupt police.. He talks about how three members, Wildman, Soulski and Meathead Ron were murdered by police. He noted that because the Black Spades were organized many of them were targeted by the police who tried to break them up and shrink their numbers…

Charlie Rock also talks about how New York was segregated and runs down all the racial unrest and white gangs the Black Spades and later Zulu Nation had to fight.. He talks about the Golden Guineas and the Ministers up in Parkchester.. He talks about the White Assassins and the White Angels..

Rock also explained how the police used to work in concert with some of these white gangs to try and defeat the Black Spades which was the largest gang in NY.. He talks about how the police hung him over a rooftop and threatened to kill him..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycREFrL6-RA

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News, Essential Hip Hop Articles, Essential videos to peep, Hip Hop History, Hip Hop Pioneers Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

An Open Letter to Hip Hop from Afrika Bambaataa

January 13, 2013 By

afrika-bambaataa-pointPEACE AND BLESSING TO All of Our Family of Warriors, Thinkers and Leaders:

Hope your are in the best of Health and your families. I was sent your e-mail by the Zulu-staff . I have been living in Europe for the past couple of months and been waking as many up to what we’re, doing in the states cause in some places they have the same problems with radio,especially the ones that copy The United States formats or programming of music. Then there are those specials stations that do have a balance of Ma’at on the airwaves and you hear it all.

One thing that did bother me is that these so called Rap /Hip Hop radio stations here in some parts of Germany, France, Estonia, Croatia, Spain and even good old Great Britain underground play alot of the rap records with cursing. Their excuse is the people do not know the language anyway and my answer to them is, that is bull and you DJ’s know there are many that do know some type of English and many of your are playing the curse version cause your think that makes your hardcore and down with the tuff side of what your think the United States Hip Hop/Rap is all about. That your all are helping with the conspiracy to mess up minds all over the world. After I got finish with some of these so called Hip Hop/ Music show host ,you know they could not wait to get me out of their radio stations. Especially some of the jive ones who think they know it all about Hip Hop/Funk/Soul/Rock/Latin/Soca/Jazz/House/Techno in England and other places to many to name.

You can feel the phony in all of them and their are a very few I can say who really do not know what their doing but there are the rest of them that exactly know what they are doing to the airwaves. Guess what! their are many and I mean many over here in Europe who are also tired of their radio stations that play the same music over and over again,as well as their media of television. Also Family The NWO is getting in full swing here and Mr. Tony Blair of the United Kingdom (England) is talking strong now about their Smart cards that are coming and if he is speaking strong now about it, you know their children of the UK= USA will be following to.

Family there is so much work to be done that it is disgrace-full to see with all this chaos all over the world going on,all the problems in MaMa Afrika, In India, The States and South America with crazy things happening in Europe to and those of us that do have the serious knowledge, we know what is really going on and have to prepare now if we are to survive the onslaught that is coming. All the things I have been talking for years is on the move right before us and if you hear what brother Phil Valentine, Bobby Hemit,and many of the Meta physical community of higher learning have been dropping, it is about to get super serious. The people’s mind set all over this Great Planet is jacked up and the programming of these radio and T.V shows is playing a super big role to destroy Human mentality to think and to reason. If we can not get a movement of Humans to try and change the programming of these radio and T.V. stations which is just one step of many ,then we have some serious reactions of hell that will be all over this Earth.

I would like for your if you can and whomever else to put a list of solutions that we can put together with others on a cross the board scale that all states even other countries can follow in letting people know what can they do to help change the situations of programming of Radio and Television. We want to put as many things out with flyers to give out to all that will come out in November for The Meeting of The Mind, The Balance Of Ma’at. We are going for two days to address this situation and with these papers of solutions we are calling on everyone to be accountable to what is going on in their respected Cities, Towns, States, Countries to move into action cause if they do nothing ,Then They Deserve What They Get. Also we need to reach out to many Leaders, Thinkers, Activist, Religious Heads, Movers, Actionist to represent and come out with solutions to this event for Hip Hop History Month and to all that are doing something to make change, we must push, salute and help back to the fullest our support. Stop the Killing of the Mind.

I will be back soon. If Allah willing, but you can start speaking to Brother Yoda, Dr. Shaka (zulustaff@earthlink.net) and to whomever else for we can make a movement more successful. We all have been speaking, fighting, teaching,s truggling, winning some for a moment, losing some but keep on pushing to keep what we know is right to do.

As I said many times before The Lucerferians are on the move and the Armies of Almighty RA/Allah/Jah/Yaweh/Elohim/Anu/Theos/Shango/Zeus/Oden and whatever else people want to call the Supreme Force must Rise or The Empire will Strike Back to bring Hell all over This planet so called Earth.

May The Supreme Force Bless Us All and keep Us All Always Protected against All our Enemies.

Peace ,Unity, Love, Freedom or Death, Justice
The Spirit Of Professor X Lives On

Afrika Bambaataa
The Amen Ra of Universal Hip Hop Culture
Each One Teach One,Feed One,Help One,Live as One,Leave all Egos in the Garbage
Save Planet Earth

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

 

Filed Under: 2008 Daily news, archive articles, Essential Hip Hop Articles Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Editorial: Stop Calling These Imposters Hip Hop

January 12, 2013 By

STOP CALLING THESE IMPOSTERS HIP HOP ARTISTS,

they do not do or cover all its elements of the hip hop culture

Emile YxThis version of Hip Hop that the worlds media promotes globally, is a strange sissified version of its true self. It consists of middle-class fakers acting like gangsters, so-called hardcore rappers, so-called underground heads and so-called superstars killing each other, while the white controlled global media celebrates. Who are these imposters?

Hip Hop is the MC (not rapper), DJ or turntablists, B-boys or B-girls (not breakdancers), Writer (not graffiti artists), BeatBoxer and students of Knowledge of Self. These according to the founders of the culture are the main elements of the culture. Now you have world media calling EMINEN, 50cents and the rest of the multi-nationally backed “rappers”, the upholders of HIP HOP CULTURE. Excuse me, but do they b-boy, write, MC and DJ ? HELL NO! so why do we perpetuate these lies. They have no right to call what our ancestors created and gave as a voice for the people, whatever the hell they wish to call it. Strangely enough we just allow this bullshit to continue without any protest. We even reduce ourselves to speak their names and titles they named what we do. Hip Hop elders have not been approached in their research about the culture, they just named things as they wished. We sit in front of the TV and hear them spread these lies to the world and accept this powerless position they have put us in. I HAVE HAD ENOUGH. It is time to set the record straight. These titles that make up the HIP HOP CULTURE are titles that practitioners of writing, MCing, B-boying, DJing, Beatboxing earn and no just given to anyone. It is something that is earned with time, dedication, research and sacrifice. Nowadays everyone is a rapper and maybe they are right, because an MC earns that reputation for skill as well as ability to be the “master of the ceremony” (Where the name MC comes from by the way). Many of these rappers are studio rappers that have no stage, microphone or crowd/ audience control skills.

Afrika Bambaataa & Kool Herc

Afrika Bambaataa & Kool Herc

A true MC or Hip Hop head would not lie to the audience about fake bling, bling that he or she does not have, especially knowing how many youths are listening to them on the radio and watching them on the TV. A true B-boy or Hip Hopper learns the history of the culture and gives respect to those who have gone before. Those like Afrika Bambaataa, Kool DJ Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore, MC Cowboy, the Rock Steady Crew, The Nigga Twins, Pop Masters Fabel, Phase 2 and Mr Wiggles to name but a few who contributed to the REAL HIP HOP culture.

There are also hip hop histories in countries around the world and those contributions by those individuals have to be given the credit that they deserve. This new mentality of forgetting the past as quickly as a new song hits the number 1 spot on radio or MTV, is a global mentality. This eliminates respect for elders and those that pave the way. It also separates the younger practitioners from those who have experience and who could help them not repeat the mistakes that they have made before these young kids who are now earning millions. It is my opinion that it is for this very reason that the gap between the elders and next generation are made bigger by record companies and the entertainment industry. Their intention is to keep these younger artists as blind to the realities of the industry as possible. EXPERIENCE CAN NOT BE DOWNLOADED.

Aerosoul Art Do you think that classical music lovers would allow the world media to call their music “Screeching noise” or simply rename it whatever they wish, without putting up a fight ? I think the arrogance of the world media is because HIP HOP is considered a black sub-culture or street culture. Even the usage of the prefix “sub”, implies something that is lesser than or under what might be considered cultural. Think about it a bit more. We name it b-boying/ b-girling, they rename it breakdance, we name it writing, they rename it graffiti, we name it MCing and they rename it rapping. It is an insult to our creative ability. They control the media and thus feel that they have the power to name whatever they wish and get away with it. Like Michael Jackson being called Wacko Jacko, this is like calling us “Nigger”and “Kaffer” all over again. We internalize the lies they feed us and start to believe what they call us. Attached to the medias version of hip hop are gangs, profanity and violence. The REAL HIP HOP is a powerful tool globally bringing youth together and enlightening them to their true selves. REAL HIP HOP is educating youth, fighting AIDS, exchanging cultures, breaking down racism, protesting against global dictators.

I do this call out to all defenders of the TRUE HIP HOP CULTURE to use the correct terminology and free our culture from their verbal enslavement of it. Only once we do this will we be able to regain the financial control of this multi-billion dollar industry that they have almost taken complete control of. I know that everywhere in the world there are true soldiers of the REAL HIP HOP. Like Mr Devious, from South Africa, who was prepared to die for what hip hop has taught US. In the USA is the Universal Zulu Nation, Eazy Roc and Asia One that started the B-Boy Summit, also from the USA is Poe One and Cros One from the Freestyle Sessions event, in Germany is Storm and Swift of Battle Squad, also in Germany is Thomas of Battle of the Year, in Japan is Dance Machine, in Spain is Kapi, in Holland is Timski, in New Zealand is Norman, in South Africa is myself Emile of Black Noise, we have brothers in Brazil, Mexico, Sweden, France, Denmark, Zimbabwe, Australia and every other country on this planet. We are many my brothers and sisters and our voice can never be silenced, but we have to RE-IGNITE THE FIRE OF TRUE HIP HOP REVOLUTION. We have to insist that MTV Awards and Grammy Awards remove the false labeling of the best Hip Hop Artist, until they are willing to call up a group that have writers, DJs, MCs, B-boys, etc.

I hope that you will forward these thoughts to all those concerned with HIP HOP getting the respect it deserves.And hopefully we will enlighten more youth to the REAL HIP HOP and not the FAKE one that is spread MTV and other media.

Yours in the REVOLUTIONARY HIP HOP
Change must come
Emile YX?
Black Noise (South Africa)

Sept 2008

Filed Under: Editorial, Essential Hip Hop Articles Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Hip Hop Has Always Been Political

January 26, 2012 By

Whenever we talk about Hip Hop and Politics it’s always done from the standpoint with us going to the ballot box as the ultimate goal. Don’t get me wrong, voting and participating in the electoral arena are important, but Hip Hop is so much bigger and so is politics.

For many of us politics is more than us voting for a particular candidate or having a catchy slogan that everyone chants at a rally. At its core, politics is about Empowerment. It’s the social, economic and political control of our communities with voting and political education being among the important steps we take to reach that goal.

Hip Hop is more than a ‘Hot 16‘, ‘fresh new gear‘ or ‘swagger devoid of substance‘. At the end of the day Hip Hop like politics is also about Empowerment. It’s about giving voice to the voiceless and helping remove both ourselves and the community from a position of being maligned and irrelevant with respect to the larger society. Like voting, knowledge and understanding of self and our communities is critical.

It’s important for us to have a firm understanding about the political and social conditions that existed at the dawn of Hip Hop’s birth in the early 70s. It’s important to note that our communities were under serious attack and the expressions associated with Hip Hop was one way in which we responded and ultimately coped.

The pioneers to this culture came up seeing how the FBI under the leadership of J Edgar Hoover and his Cointelpro Program, went all out to destroy the symbols of resistance and liberation from earlier generations including; Malcolm X who was killed, Martin Luther King who was killed and the Black Panther Party which was destroyed with many of its members jailed. Among those incarcerated during the dawning of Hip Hop was Afeni Shakur and the mother of Tupac. She along with her Panther comrades known as the New York 21. were jailed in 1971 while she was pregnant with Pac.

Also part of Hoover’s Cointelpro  Program was to have his agents focus on Black Culture. He had his agents learn everything they could so they could control and disrupt the Black community. The FBI went all out to try and undermine the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s. Many feel the FBI kept aspects of its program alive to undermine aspects of Hip Hop which emerged in the aftermath of BAM. Below is a former FBI agent named Darthhard Perry speaking about the significance of Black culture and how the FBI sought to undermine it. I would urge people to watch the entire video, but the part that pertains to culture starts at 1hr 20 minutes into the video..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHnUFpCeGxQ

The Free Speech and Anti-War Movements were under attack with then President Nixon declaring an all out war on radical youth. Hippies and Yippies were two components of youth culture caught up in the cross hairs as were Black and Brown organizations like SNCC, the Young Lords and the Brown Berets.

During Hip Hop’s dawning, New York City was enduring serious financial hardship as it teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. That calamity was avoided when city leaders decided to keep the cops, the firemen and garbage workers and instead fired 15 thousand school teachers leaving many of us without after-school programs, extracurricular classes like music and art and our overall education, shortchanged on many levels.

All this was exasperated by greedy landlords in the South Bronx who were burning down tenement buildings almost every other day and collecting the insurance money. Their actions put an already stressed community into an economic tail spin as the Bronx became the worldwide symbol of urban decay.

While all this was going on, the NYPD seemingly working in tandem with President Nixon’s War on Youth had launched an all out war on the gangs that were starting to emerge in the Bronx. They even had a special gang division who were just as brutal back in the days as they are now. Compounding this war by the police, was the fact that many Black and Brown gangs formed because they found themselves under attack by what was known as white greaser gangs who didn’t take too kindly to the Bronx neighborhoods expanding its Black and Puerto Rican populations. Hence there was serious racial tension.

It was in this climate that Hip Hop emerged.

Charlie (Cholly) Rock an original Zulu Nation member and former Black Spade which was the largest gang in New York gives a run down of the political and social climate at the dawning of Hip Hop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycREFrL6-RA

The Spirit of Resistence: Hip Hop Has Always Been Political

Resistance-It’s a facet in Hip Hop that is not fully appreciated and reflected upon.

So again let me repeat… Hip Hop is resistance…It was us fighting back, standing up to and flipping the script on oppressive forces. Bottom line Hip Hop was always POLITICAL.

Afrika Bambaataa

It was political when Afrika Bambaataa a former Black Spade warlord while attending Stevenson High School in the Bronx sought to escape gang life and formed the Organization which he later turned into the Mighty Zulu Nation. This was Hip Hop’s first organization which had among its goals to be a youth movement.

It was political when you went to hear Bambaataa spin at a park jam and he would rock Malcolm X speeches over break beats, reminding us what our political ideology should be.

It was political when Bam took the name ‘Zulu’ for his new organization after being inspired by the movie of the same name that depicted the South African Zulus fighting European colonizers. As the Zulu Nation grew, Bambaataa sought to instill pride and bring out the best positive attributes from the people around him. He did this by referring to Zulu members as ‘Kings’ and ‘Queens’. Bam once told me he did this to help raise people’s self esteem with the hopes that they would live up to the lofty titles he bestowed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL1YntDNRHo

It was political when Bambaataa and other artists including Kurtis Blow, Kool Herc, Mele-Mel, Run DMC and the Fat Boys all participated in the Artist United Against Apartheid project where they recorded several songs for the Sun City album. Later Bambaattaa would tour Europe doing concerts to raise money for the ANC (African National Congress).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joYTCwNMdq8

What was even more remarkable and definitely ‘political’ about Afrika Bambaataa who was dubbed the Master of Records, was his goal to turn his former gang comrades into a positive force. Bam has often remarked how and he and others would spend lots of time working and building with folks. He said it took a ‘whole lot of meetings and whole lot of patience‘ but eventually folks grew and got it together.

When he started touring Bam took many of the folks from his Bronx River neighborhood with him. He gave them jobs as roadies or as security. He did whatever it took to get them into new environments to help expand their horizons. He was essentially doing a prison to work program years before the city was doing one. If that isn’t political I don’t know what is..

Years later we would see a number of other Hip Hop artists, most notably MC Hammer a former High Street Bank Boy out of Oakland, do similar things. Hammer spent hundreds of thousands of dollars creating jobs within his company in to help facilitate the transition friends and people in his neighborhood would have to make when returning home from the pen.

Hammer took his desire to transform lives to another level when he approached local Bay Area urban radio station KMEL in the early 90s and convinced them to let him air a radio show he created called Street Soldiers. The show was designed to give folks who were ‘in the life’ (gangs drugs etc) an opportunity to get out. Gang members would call in and talk about the challenges they were facing and get feedback from their peers and community experts who would help them turn their lives around. Hammer hosted the show for the first several months and then turned it over to current hosts Joe Marshall and Margret Norris of the Omega Boys club.

The Geto Boys

In a similar vein we have the Geto Boys out of Houston. Everyone is familiar with many of their politically charged rap songs that dealt with everything from crooked police to shady DEA Agents to a President and his quest for war. We’re also familiar with the fact that Willie D used to do a political talk show on Houston radio.

However, what many people didn’t know was that the GB spent quite a bit of money paying legal fees and other court costs trying to get innocent people out of jail. Bushwick Bill and Scarface talked about this in great detail a few years ago when they came on our daily Hard Knock Radio show to protest the state of Texas executing Shaka Sankofa. If I recall correctly, Bushwick said they spent at least 200-250 thousand dollars in their efforts. That was another example of Hip Hop’s spirit of resistence.

Hip Hop Has Always Addressed Electoral Politics

Melle-Mel recorded a song called ‘Jesse’ praising Rev Jesse Jackson-It one of the earliest rap songs encouraging folks to Get Out and Vote

Moving into the arena of the Ballot Box, Hip Hop has been a participant in some form or fashion going all the way back to 1984 when Melle-Mel of Grand Master Flash & the Furious 5 recorded a song called ‘Jesse’ which highlighted Reverand Jesse Jackson‘s historic run for the White House. The song also encouraged everyone to ‘Get out and Vote‘ while at the same time taking then President Ronald Reagan to task for the economic harm he was causing poor people around the country.

See Ronald Reagan speaking on TV, smiling like everything’s fine and dandy
Sounded real good when he tried to give a pep talk to over 30 million poor people like me
How can we say we got to stick it out when his belly is full and his future is sunny?
I don’t need his jive advice but I sure do need his jive time money
The dream is a nightmare in disguise (Let’s talk about Jesse)
Red tape and lies fill your for spacious skies (Let’s talk about Jesse)
But don’t think that DC just did it first (Let’s talk about Jesse)
There’s a lot of DC’s all over this universe (His name is Jesse)

Later in the song, Melle-Mel smashes on the former President for his initial refusal to meet with Jesse Jackson after he offered to go to Syria and help secure the release of Navy Lt. Robert O. Goodman Jr. who was being hostage after his plane was shot down when he ‘accidently’ flew into their airspace. Ironically even though the song was popular in clubs and at rallies, many urban station never played the record. Jackson himself, told me he didn’t hear the record until the some 10 years after it was recorded. Talk about a disconnect between generations. Below is a video of a live performance of this song that’s damn near been erased from history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3IsCfMB0rk

In 1988 Luther Campbell aka Uncle Luke of the 2 Live Crew teamed up with one of his artists Anquette to back former US Attorney General Janet Reno who at the time was a Dade County (Miami) District Attorney vying for another term.

Anquette did this incredible James Brown inspired song called Janet Reno where she praised Reno for her legal prowess and for going after dead beat dads. The song helped Reno win the election which in turn angered her opponent a lawyer by the name of Jack Thompson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROZllkxVshM

Janet Reno

Janet Reno

Thompson sought revenge on Campbell and launched a campaign where he pressured officials throughout the state including Governor Bob Martinez and Broward County sheriff Nick Navarro to go after the 2 live Crew for violating state obscenity laws. Eventually Navarro won a ruling that deemed the group’s album As Nasty As They Wanna Be as obscene.

Local record store owners were warned not to sell the album or they would be arrested. Many shop owners protested but didn’t dare test Navarro. Things came to a head when 2 of the 2 Live Crew members were arrested for performing songs off the album. This is turn set off a huge legal firestorm around first amendment rights.

Campbell, fought this case all the way to the Supreme Court where Harvard Professor Henry Louis ‘Skip’ Gates testified on behalf of the 2Live Crew. He noted that the salacious material they recorded was rooted in the oral/song traditions of African-Americans. The ruling of obscenity were overturned. Again, all this legal drama was caused by Luke’s subversive efforts and Anquette’s song which help turn the tide in an election.

Now we could do an entire book on Hip Hop and Elections where we’d have to cover everyone from Diddy‘s Vote or Die efforts to Russell Simmons Hip Hop Summit Action Network to the Hip Hop Political Conventions that took place in 04, 06 and 08.

We’d also have to talk about the formation of Hip Hop Congress and the work they do on campuses around the country, the introduction of Rap Sessions and the political town halls they hold around the country, The League of Young Voters who put out Hip Hop oriented voting guides and recently has been doing work around the census and we’d have to cover Washington based Hip Hop Caucus that routinely engages elected officials on Capitol Hill and did the Respect My Vote Campaign in 08.

Below is a video of Diddy during his Vote or Die campaign speaking to a young Barack Obama in 2004 who at the time was running for US Senate in Illinois. In this interview Diddy predicts Obama would one day be President.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqzZWkMtz68

We would also have to talk about the recent victory of artist/activist Ras Baraka to the City Council in Newark. He used to serve as deputy mayor. We’d have to talk about the Honorable George Martinez who is currently serving as cultural Envoy, Hip-Hop Ambassador at U.S. State Department. Prior to him serving that position well known Brooklyn based freestyle artist Toni Blackman was this country’s Hip Hop Ambassador. I believe Martinez who also once served on the New York State Democratic Committee is currently running for Congress in NY’s 12th district.

Also running for Congressional office is author/ activist Kevin Powell. This is his second attempt and from the looks of things he stands a really good chance of beating the 28 year incumbent Edolphus Towns. The battle ground is in New York’s 10th district in Brooklyn. Below is an interview with him speaking on his run. It starts about 1:50 into the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMUL14RujC4

Lastly we’d have to talk about Dr Jared Ball out of Maryland who is best known for his political mix tapes ‘Freemix radio‘ ran for Green Party nomination for president in in 2008 and long time activist Rosa Clemente who made history by securing the vice presidential nomination for the Green Party. She and former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney had their name on the ballots in all 50 states and garnered impressive numbers even though their historic bid was overshadowed by Barack Obama’s historic run for the White House which definitely brought out and politicized many in the Hip Hop generation.

Below is Rosa’s acceptance speech for the Green  Party nomination at the Green Party Convention which was held in Chicago. She starts off by playing a song from Chicago natives Rebel Diaz. On stage with her is TJ Crawford who convened the National Hip Hop Political Convention two years earlier in Chicago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzXB98dp9xM

From Paris to Brazil Fear of a Politicized Hip Hop

Never in our wildest dreams did marginalized Black and Brown ghetto youth living in the South Bronx, one of the poorest most dilapidated regions of the country ever think this culture of music, dance and oratory expressions we call Hip Hop would mean so much to so many people all over the world. From the slums of Nairobi, Kenya to the streets of Paris, France to the favelas in Rio, Brazil to the hoods in Detroit, to the streets in Gaza, Hip Hop’s presence is not only felt, but has been a driving cultural force in resistance movements especially amongst the young, poor and oppressed. Much of this was inspired by seminal artists like Public Enemy, KRS-One, dead prez , X-Clan and 2Pac to name a few who embodied this spirit of resistance.

For those who think this is far-fetched, think back to 2005 when Paris erupted in riots and over 200 French politicians signed a petition calling for legal action against Hip Hop acts and their aggressive lyrics which they said incited the riots. Acts like Monsieur R and Sniper became the main targets and were actually brought up on charges and faced lawsuits because of their songs that encouraged resistance to the police and government oppression.

In fact, Monsieur R was facing 3 years in jail for his song FranSSe, not because he had topless white women rubbing against the French flag, who symbolized how France was a ‘slut’, but because the song talked about French colonizing various parts of Africa and he dissed Napoleon and Charles de Gaulle and threatened to pee on them. He was charged with offending public decency. Luckily he beat the case. Below is a link to the video of the song..

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4ru9h

Although there were no government petitions signed, in the late 80s, the FBI’s assistant director Milt Ahlerich saw fit to shoot off a letter to Priority Records expressing outrage over the song ‘Fuck tha Police’ which was put out by NWA. In the letter he noted that “advocating violence and assault is wrong and we in the law enforcement community take exception to such action“. Over the years NWA found themselves not being allowed to perform that song at many of the venues because of police pressure. The one time they did in Detroit, 20 plain clothes officers rushed the stage to shut the group down.

MV Bill is an artist we should all know

Several years ago in 2004 a corporate MTV-like 2 day Hip Hop festival called Hip Hop Manifest featuring Snoop and Ja Rule was boycotted by a coalition of Brazilian artists including the enormously popular MV Bill who stated in a Stress magazine article “The organizers are not interested in our issues, or what we rhyme about, they just want to buy our legitimacy, and I have a moral commitment to uphold the history that has created hip-hop. I pity the black man who sells our history for a price.”

What was at stake was these corporate media promoters refused to reinvest the profits into the poor communities in the area and lower ticket prices to make the event more accessible. Many of the Brazilian artists gave up hefty paychecks and a chance to get a serious international spotlight, but they felt strongly about the issue and held their ground. They also put a call out to Snoop and Ja Rule and other American rappers to recognize the injustice they were fighting and invited them to come to spend time in the poor communities.

“We cannot allow ourselves to be seen simply as idols. Ever since I began creating hip hop, my dream was to show Black people that we could be free and break the shackles.” Snoop, isn’t this beautiful?”, is the question Sao Paulo rap star LF posted to Snoop in an open letter.

Below is a video from MV Bill showing what life is like in the Favelas and the child soldiers that guard them…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhKyMtd0sfQ

M-1 of dead prez who recently went to Gaza always represents for the people

These are just a few of the dozens of examples that could easily be cited to show the resistence and political nature within Hip Hop. From the anti-police brutality albums, put together by artists like Mos Def and Talib Kweli, to the legendary voter registration rallies in Harlem once put on by Sista Souljah to the Stop the Violence Movement started by KRS-One, to the Orphanage recently opened by Immortal Technique in Afghanistan to M1 of dead prez making a trip to Gaza to the anti-police brutality work done by groups like One Hood in Pittsburgh or Hip Hop Against Police Brutality in Texas, to Knaan having his song Raise the Flag be used in the World Cup to Invincible and Finale using their song Locust to make a full-fledge documentary about gentrification in Detroit, Hip Hop doesn’t give lip service to politics.

From the anti-war efforts put forth by numerous artists (over 200 songs have been recorded at last count) to the efforts around the Jena 6 with artists like Jasiri X doing a theme song. tireless work put forth by artists like David Banner, Nelly, and others in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to the recent efforts put forth by artists like Wyclef Jean, NY Oil, Mystic and many others to help bring relief to victims of the earthquake in Haiti, Hip Hop artists have proven to be responsive. Pick a subject, Immigration, Domestic Violence, Gulf Oil Spill, you name it and Hip Hop has and is there. The reason being that there are always people in our communities who will resist and are down to fight for freedom no matter what.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4P6v3pGGmI

Currently, Hip Hop’s biggest challenge is to resist all the attempts to dilute and redirect its potential to spark meaningful social and political change in the face of oppression. This especially true for Hip Hop that makes its way into corporate backed mainstream enclaves. The corporate agenda is to reduce Hip Hop down to a meaningless disposable song and to reduce politics to a voting over catchy phrase or sensationalistic headlines and scandal.

It’s no mistake that much of what I’ve written about has not been highlighted, celebrated, shown on TV or played on the radio. It’s not because people won’t find these acts interesting, newsworthy or popular. The end game is to lessen the influence of an artist and dumb down the audience so game can be run on us. That game of course is to sell us product and complacent ideology. The end game is to get Hip Hop to be used as a tool to drive consumerism vs activism and make the music and our people disposable entities to be discarded or conquered.

Return to Davey D’s Hip hop Corner

Filed Under: Essential Hip Hop Articles, Feature Tagged With: , , ,

Op Ed: Common vs Drake? Hip-Hop beef needs a funeral and a proper burial

January 9, 2012 By

Common vs Drake? Hip-Hop beef needs a funeral and a proper burial
by Brother Jesse Muhammad

Brother Jesse

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to pay our last respects to a ‘friend’ that has been dear to many musical artists, fans and readers….that ‘friend’ is HIP-HOP BEEF.”

What forward-moving purpose does Hip-Hop beef serve? Can someone please educate me? I was a little thrown aback by the recent beef that spread quickly throughout the Internet and radio shows involving Common and Drake. Frankly, I found it pretty weak for Common, an artist I respect, to engage in such nonsense.

He supposedly took shots at Drake in his song “Sweet” from his newly released album The Dreamer, The Believer. I wasn’t impressed with the song; too much cursing. I wasn’t that impressed with the album either (I’m still listening to it though to see if my opinion will change). And now it continues with Drake supposedly clapping back in the song “Rich Forever” and as expected Common getting in more lyrical jabs in the song “Stay Schemin.”

Drake

No, I’m not siding with Drake. I don’t even listen to him much at all. I got his album along with Nikki Minaj’s just to see what all the hype was about. They didn’t move me. I just think they are doing an excellent job of mastering their moment.

Getting back to the eulogy for Hip-Hop Beef: I love Hip-Hop culture and trust me I’ve enjoyed true lyrical battles in our history but this mudslinging, name-calling, backbiting, buffoonery and randomly picking out other artists just for the heck of it has outlived its usefulness and has become a destructive force. The new trend now is grown men and women using Twitter to take shots instead of sitting down in person to solve our problems. I even read where Young Jeezy said one of his friends was killed due to an exchange of words on Twitter.

When it comes to Hip-Hop, I always sit and wonder who calculates when a beef should start? Who should be targeted? How long it should last? What dirt should be unveiled? Do some artists start beef to make up for poor record sales? Are they thirsting that bad for publicity? Is their marketing and lyrical engine that weak that they need to start a beef to save their careers? If an artist has millions already, why waste time attacking people? Is it out of greed? Is there really a winner in a beef?

Nobody in Hip-Hop can deny that The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has been the most critical in putting an end to a lot of the beef in the genre. Back in 1997, Min. Farrakhan gathered a group of Hip-Hop artists at his home in Chicago to call a truce between East Coast and West Coast rappers. In attendance included Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Common (his name was Common Sense then), Tha Dogg Pound, Willie D, Fat Joe and more.

In 2001, Min. Farrakhan was the keynote speaker at the Hip-Hop Summit in New York hosted by Russell Simmons.”Every time you use your rap song against another rapper and the magazines publish your words, the people that love you then turn on the people that you have spoken against. Then, the one you spoke against speaks back against you and his group becomes inflamed against you. When you are a rapper and you understand your leadership role, you must understand that, with leadership comes responsibility. You did not ask for it. It is imposed on you, but you now have to accept responsibility that you have never accepted,” Min. Farrakhan said to the packed room.

He added, “Your potential to change reality is so great that, if you learned the skill of words and how to use words; if you learned how to say what it is you want to say, but say it in a way that gains universal respect, then the rap would evolve to an art form that will never be replaced. It will evolve to be that form that will set the stage for the next phase of its evolution.”

In 2003, Min. Farrakhan sat down with Ja Rule in the midst of his heated feud with 50 Cent. In his conversation with Ja Rule, which aired on MTV and BET, Min. Farrakhan told Ja Rule not to give in to the pressure of his listeners who wanted him to keep dissing 50 Cent but rather “teach them that there’s more to life than beef.

“A war is about to come down on the rap community. When you and 50 throw down, it goes all the way down into the streets. The media takes the beef between you and 50 and they play it, they jam it, they keep it going. Why would they keep something going that could produce bloodshed? There is a bigger plot here, Ja, and this is what I want you and 50 and our hip-hop brothers and sisters to see,” said Min. Farrakhan.

Where would Hip-Hop be if they had fully implemented the guidance of this wise man? As for the beef, let’s throw some dirt on the coffin and pay our last respects.

(Brother Jesse Muhammad is a staff writer for The Final Call Newspaper and an award-winning blogger. Follow him on Twitter @BrotherJesse)

Peep article Here: http://jessemuhammad.blogs.finalcall.com/2012/01/common-vs-drake-hip-hop-beef-needs.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk9oRpAZEGc

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News, Commentary, Essential Hip Hop Articles Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Hip Hop Loses a Key West Coast Pioneer.. RIP Roger Clayton of Uncle Jamms Army

October 11, 2010 By

 

RIP Roger Clayton

 

Just got word this morning that yesterday one of the key architects  and pillars for West Coast Hip Hop passed away.. We’re talking about Roger Clayton aka Mr Prinze of the pioneering legendary crew Uncle Jamms Army. This is the 4th pioneering figure the West Coast has lost in the past few years. It was just last week folks buried Danny ‘Fut’ James who ran the influential Impact Record pool dating back to 1982. We lost Michael Mixxing Moore and  Skeeter Rabbit within a month of each other 2 years ago. We also lost Mixmaster Spade. Here in the Bay we just lost Mr Fantastic aka Melvin to a heart attack. It’s a shame that these important figures were never honored before their passing outside of LA.

Losing Clayton is major. It like losing one of NY’s main architects for this culture. It would be like NY losing Afrika Bambaataa.. Not only did Clayton and Uncle Jamms Army bring a unique West Coast sound and style to the game, because they were also party promoters who did those legendary dances at the LA Sports Arena, they were also responsible for turning LA folks onto the emerging rap from NY..They used to also bring out acts like Run DMC, Kurtis Blow and LL Cool J to name a few..

One of the things I think has never truly been appreciated and acknowledged about West Coast Hip Hop was the Mobile DJ Culture that was its cornerstone.. Many like to think that folks out here picked up the game from New York. Such is not the case. Cats were hustling and doing jams with massive sound systems all throughout the 70s.. from LA to the Bay it was not usual to see DJ crews with comic book cartoon like names. In the case of Uncle Jamms Army they were inspired by Parliament and George Clinton.. Their roots were funk music and the crew included legendary folks like Bobcat, Egyptian Lover, DJ Pooh. Battle Cat, Joe Coooly, Chris the Glove, Alonzo Williams and the groups only female member Silky D. Before Uncle Jamms Army  there was an earlier crew formed in 1978 called Unique Dreams Entertainment which included Clayton and childhood friend Gid Martin.

These cats early one were known for rocking 4 turntables at a time and mixing records flawlessly while executing what eventually became known as LA’s fast scratch. Uncle Jamms army proceeded the Beat Junkies, KDAY Mixmasters and other better known West Coast DJ Crews.. These were the architects.

As Clayton’s partner Egyptian Lover once explained to me, they had been listening to Prince, Kraftwerk and Parliament and that’s what got them off and running.. Later on they came upon what was cracking in New York and naturally incorporated it and upheld it..The fact that Uncle Jamms Army was able to pull off these massive parties from all over a gang infested city and keep the peace needs to be celebrated the same way we look at the early Kool Herc and Bambaataa parties as being able to do the same thing..

The fact that Clayton and Fut died within a month of each other should not be lost of folks.. Fut with his record pool was main reason  folks in LA introduced to music from all over.. Fut was the supplier, Clayton was the presenter.They will be missed..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kLY747G1pQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3IGJAVtMZQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s0V4YnKhFk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y3rUl7KAjc

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Filed Under: 2010 Daily News, Essential Hip Hop Articles, Essential videos to peep Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Breakdown FM w/ Davey D on ADP #6: This Thing Called House

January 21, 2010 By

Press HERE to listen to Breakdown FM Show #6

Breakdown FM w/ Davey D on All Day Play Radio #6

This Thing Called House

http://www.alldayplay.fm/episodes/breakdown-fm-w-davey-d-all-day-play-radio-6-this-thing-called-house

It’s been a while since I had a chance to dig into the crates and spin one of my favorite genres of music House, NY Club and Latin Fresstyle.. Yes, I go back to the days when what has now has all been labeled House was actual broken up into several genres.. NYC Club, Chicago House and of course Latin Freestyle. It wasn’t a terratorial thing where folks were beefing ala East vs West in Hip Hop, but simply a reflection of the iconic deejays and communities that helped brings these respective genres into the forefront. Weather it was Chicago deejays like Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Bad Boy Bill and all those legendary cats that got down on WGCI as the Hot Mix 5 or Larry Levan ala Paradise Garage, Timmy Regisford who rocked late nights on WBLS, Dave Morales from 1018, Todd Terry, Latin Rascals, Shep Petibone and scores of others out of NY…House, club and all its spinoffs as was Hip Hop which were emerging around the same time in the mid-late 70s were rooted in a desire to move away from repetitive, formulaic disco and do something that took it back to basics.

The House and Club music I came to know and love was always more soulful, had gospel-like vocals, driving baselines and as it evolved was steeped in deejay culture and production. Listen to some of the Todd Terry joints and you can see House/ Club and Hip Hop are all cousins.

Back in the days when I was doing mix shows on KMEL.. I manned the 2 am-3 am slot..I caught the crowds as they were leaving out of nightclubs. Hip Hop heads were headed home while House heads were headed to after parties.. My speciality was combining the two genres in my mixes.. That’s not such an usual thing today and in many parts of the country but back in the early 90s, it was usual for a Bay Area crowd..House and Club for a New Yorker went hand in hand. House and Hip Hop in the Bay were foreign until people like DJ Dedan and Themba and everyone else folks that used to rock the Birdcage in Oakland came along props to them ’cause they broke major ground. Prior to that iconic deejays like Dave Moss, Neon Leon, Doc Martin, Mind Motion and his older brother were flipping the two genres back in the mid to late 80s..

Anyway enough of the history lessons.. Here’s the mix for today. Enjoy.. Lemme know what you think. There are some classics joints in there

-Davey D-

01-Soul II Soul ‘Keep on Moving’

02-Brooklyn Funk Essentials ‘We Got to Come Together’

03-Todd Terry ‘Made By The Man Called Todd’

04-Jestofunk ‘I’m Gonna love You’

05-Souls of Mischief ’93 to Infinity’

06-Mantronix ‘Do You Want My Love?’

07-George Clinton ‘Funked Up’

08-Cold Cut w/ Junior Reed ‘Jane Stop This Crazy Thing’

09-Trouble Funk ‘Trouble Funk Express’

10-In Too Deep ‘Last Nighta DJ PSaved My Life’

11-Nitro Delux ‘Lets Get Brutal’

12-Jomanda ‘If You Want It’

13-Masters C&J ‘Face It’

14-Bonesbreaks ‘Acid beats’

15-Carol Townsend ‘991/2’

16-Inner City ‘That’s The Way Love Is’

17-KC Flight ‘Summertime’

18-Al Naafysh ‘Chateau Vie’

19-Will To Power ‘Dading Away’

20-Midnight Fantasy w/ Nadia ‘is it me or Is It her’

21-Todd Terry ‘Bilah Bilah’

22-Deep Forest ‘Lullaby’

23-Ralph Rosario w/ Xavier Gold ‘You used to Hold Me’

24-Strafe ‘Set it Off’

25-Jive Rhythm Trax -‘Jive Beat 122’

26-Man Parrish ‘Hip Hop Be Bop’

27-Inner City “big Funn’

28-Labtekwon ‘Break It Down’

29-Meltdown ‘Feel Sweet’

30-Paul Johnson ‘Precious Johnson’

31-House 2 House ‘House Theory’

32-2 Puerto Ricans, A Blackman & a Dominican ‘Do It Properly’

33-Bonesbreaks ‘Barcadi Beats 151’

34-J-Boogie w/ Lunar Heights ‘Inferno’

35-Jennifer Johns ‘Heavy….. Jungalistic’

36-Todd Terry ‘Scat Cat’

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Essential Hip Hop Articles
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