Stories have always been compelling to me. I believe it's why I'm more attracted to some rappers rather than others. TuPac Shakur has always been my favorite HH artist because I saw him as a master storyteller - a griot if you will. In this unit, we've learned the importance of the story as well elements of that story from braggadocio to call and response. Furthermore, we examined the components of "genius" within the HH artistic aesthetic. It's more than the lyrical story, it's the graffiti, the dancing, fashion, performances, technology, and the sound - the amalgamation of it all. Out of those we've discussed, which component resonated the most with you, and why?
Due: Fri., 2/16/18 by the beginning of class.
The performance aspect of Hip Hop resonated the most with me primarily because of how incredible it is to think that original DJs and emcees didn't even care to be seen by the crowd. This contrasts so much with the grandeur that one would expect from a Hip Hop concert today, from the lighting to sound engineering to even 3D effects.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8d0EwE6BP8 This video is a clip from Kanye's Saint Pablo tour. It's not as creative effect-wise as some other concerts, but his positioning is still noteworthy. He's on an elevated platform that almost makes the scene feel religious, like the people in the crowd are his followers. Such an incredible evolution in style from the beginning years of Hip Hop.
The component that resonates the most with me would be graffiti. I love the fact that graffiti celebrates one's unique style and it somehow goes well with the music. At the time of the rise of the Zulu Nation, everyone including DJs, MCs and break dancers all partook in tagging and participating in graffiti art. In a way, it's the visual version of hip hop music especially by those who are very immersed in the hip hop culture. Those that are not into the culture consider graffiti as vandalism, destroying private property and a component of rebellion. They may think this but that doesn't take away the fact that graffiti has inspired many and is everywhere including clothes ,shoes , art galleries and album covers. For example, Brooklyn rapper JUST-Ice debut album cover "Back To The Old School" released in 1986 is very much inspired by graffiti. Back in the day, a powerful album cover could make or break whether you would purchase it or not. They were judged on visual impact and relevance but of course, it all comes down to someone's personal taste. All in all, graffiti is a main component of hip hop and it is time to embrace it as the inspiration that it is. https://img.discogs.com/sZH6SMzSrSJbPeAf6335aENYRTE=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-56036-1314701243.jpeg.jpg
ReplyDelete-Brandy Jones
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ReplyDeleteGraffiti would be the component that resonates the most with me. I see graffiti as a beautifully artistic way that not only expresses Hip Hop culture but also communicates to a wide range of people. It is a visual representation of having a “voice”. There is a message that the artist is conveying behind graffiti and a story behind each work. I remember when I was younger and the first time I saw graffiti was on the side of a very tall building. It was so amazing to see. The only thing that came to my mind was "how in the world were they able to get up there?". As astonished as I was, I now come to realize that graffiti is everywhere. Graffiti has been seen on trains, busses, album covers of rap artists, on sides of buildings, in fashion and it allows someone who only wants to be heard feel important. Although some people may view it as a way to deface public property, others, as well as myself, view graffiti as a visual inspiration that produces an art form of creativity and expression. Below is a short clip of how impactful graffiti is to so many people.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQkmkKjET4U&feature=youtu.be
-Vaniya Tisdale
The performance aspect is what resonates with me most. Performances and music videos are often only times that artists get the opportunity to actually show their audience what they mean in their music. It evokes so much more, by not only allowing us to hear the music and interpret it for ourselves, where as in performances, we finally get to see the artists opinion. By use of graphic screens, props, clothes and choreography we get to see how the music made them feel. Though not a hiphop performance, the attached video shows us the power of a performance and how the song is perfectly translated to allow you to visually see emotion. Beyonce, who is singing an angelic, soft, yet passionate and emotional song about how her husband cheated on her. While her performances are usually full of flash, excitement and flare, we see in this performance she was humbled. Her clothing reflected the tempo of the song, soft, pure, vulnerable. She did not move from her seated position, showing us the pain and disbelief she felt in the words that she sang. Performances allow the artist to show us how the songs made them feel and can often draw us closer to that artist when we see the creativity, passion and effort they put into a performance. It makes us feel like they care about us.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItnSS69KG3c
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ReplyDeleteThe lyrical aspect of HH is what resonates with me the most. From the beginning of me getting exposed to HH music, I was always interested in what the rapper or emcee was saying versus anything else. With the very first recorded rap group, Sugarhill gang, they had a message behind their raps. In Rapper's Delight, each of the rappers rapped about many things like what they are doing, bragging about them being the best, getting all the women, and even how good the beat is making you want to dance. Then rappers started to switch to putting political messages behind their music, for example, Public Enemy. We talked about how HH reaches the masses and it was smart to put political messages within the music. The message will get people aware of specific issues that are going on within the community. In Public Enemy's song Fight the Power, he said,"most of my heroes don't appear on stamps, sample a look back you look and find nothing but rednecks." From the beginning of time even till this day, we as black people struggle with the correct representation of us. Also, how black people have contributed so much in American history but many young black children don't even know it. Fast forward to now, many artist use their rapping abilities as a coping mechanism to speak on their personal issues and having a hard life. One of my favorite rappers Meek Mill talks about his struggles growing up in the inner city. I relate to him because we both share the struggle of growing up in the inner city and wanting to strive for more. The lyrical aspect is so important to me because it gives me motivation, hope, and it lets me know that other people are going through what I am going through. The lyrical aspect helps us as people to connect with each other. It also can unite and uplift the community.
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ReplyDeleteThe component of hip hop that resonates with me the most is performance. I am very much a visual person, and one of my most favorite things is the go to concerts. I feel that in music videos and performances we get to see what the artist is really trying to portray opposed to conjuring up our own ideas. I really connected to the discussion on closed and open narratives because, out of all the concerts I have been to, I never really took into consideration their goal or script. At Lil Yachty's concert I saw how they had opening acts and the order that they played different songs. It makes since, because they want to get you warmed up and save the best songs until the end. He also brought out Lil Uzi, Quavo, and 21 Savage which got the crowd even more lit. Another reason that performance is so important to hip hop is because it gives fans the opportunity to connect with the artist. It is the time where you actually get to see, experience, and literally feel the music through you. One of the most memorable performances I have ever seen was from Chance the Rapper in Atlanta. He did not bring out any guests, but I had heard about how great he was in performance. It wasn't until the actual performance that I witnessed his stage presence, the technology, and the sound that came from every member of his team. The orange, pink, and purple of "Acid Rap" filled the stage and the feelings that flooded through my body were unmatched. It's this feeling that gets people, like myself, to pay big bucks to be in "the pit" to see their favorite artist perform.
ReplyDeleteThe component of Hip Hop originating out of the Bronx in a time of economic and societal decline resonated with me the most. Reading about these perilous times is one thing but to actually view and hear from "survivors" of this time in films such as, Rubble Kings, is another. The fact that the individuals that are now recognized as creators or pioneers of Hip Hop had no prior knowledge or technical skills to create the music or sound amazed me.The fact that the former gangs banded together became crews and big contributors to older and modern day Hip Hop also played a big part. I was so drawn to this part because from the standpoint of an individual looking down on the city it seemed as if nothing good would prosper, but as TuPac said, "a rose grew out of the concrete. it grew out of that." To me a revolution growing out of commotion and a city that was counted out by its very own ascends the barriers of beautiful. Also, seeing the continuously changing but stagnant nature of Hip Hop also amazed me. In this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrqDFDEJMmU) the top Hip- Hop songs from 1979 until 2017 were displayed. It was intriguing to see not only in this video but in our class discussions how old music is sampled or just reused to make a "new" song with many never realizing. For example, Drake sampled Aaliyah and R. Kelly's At Your Best (you are love) in his song Unforgettable and without knowledge of 90's and early 2000's r&b one would never know.
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ReplyDeleteThe sound resonates with me the most. I grew up being someone who was always involved with something musically, so I naturally attract to music, and most of the time it's upbeat and something that will get me to bop a little bit, and Hip Hop usually does it for me, whether old or new. Hip Hop is a mash up of different music and how they create the beats and sounds constantly amazes me (especially when we look back at how it started). While watching Beat Street, I was constantly amazed by Kenny's artistic abilities and how he was able to mix up different types of music and form something so clever. Making music is never easy, you can have a sound(s) in your head but actually CREATING those sounds is the hard part, and people fail to realize that. The music aspect of Hip-Hop is a major part of it. Music can make or break something. When we looked back at those commercials, we noticed how bland the Black Panther Commercial would have been without Hip Hop music. There is nothing that they could have added that would have properly fit the commercial like Hip Hop did. Hip-Hop music is constantly changing, but still in making music, a lot of old-music is reused (even if it's just from older Hip-Hop music) and is modified. There's "tradition" in a sense. Overall, I feel as if music is the KEY to truly making a song great.
ReplyDeleteThe component of dancing resonated with me the most. The social, economical and political standpoint is a major component that contributed to the creation of dance. Nonetheless, the world of dancing wouldn't have transpired without the significance of music. I'd like to think of music as the artistic vision and foundation for any and every cultural expression through movement. Without a blank canvas, art cannot exist. The origins Hip Hop became the new wave, uniting forces and generating multiculturalism throughout the world. As urban styles of rapping and singing turned into a powerful act of storytelling from personal or shared experiences, dancing rapidly grew. People of different social and ethnic backgrounds intertwined in clubs, parties, cyphers, etc. Break Dancing, and street dancing was the manifestation of expression derived from music and vocality. In the documentary "Rubble Kings", we learn how the heroic gang: "The Ghetto Brothers" transformed the South Bronx back into a harmonious and peaceful community in the early 1970s. Benjamin Mendez as one of the lead brothers and vocalist, created a musical group to spread love and tranquility. Mendez also partook in hosting parties and social gatherings to bring rivaling gang members together, and this is where dancing evolved. The joint act of Hip Hop and dance became revolutionary to the rise of 21st century, it's cultural legacy shall live on. In this short video clip dance youtube.com/watch?v=uubH2ikgJPI (Evolution of Dance: the 80's to Now) you can really see the drastic components of style, technique and movement.
ReplyDeleteWhat resonates with me the most is the lyricism and storytelling within Hip-Hop music. From the very beginning, when discussing Dr. G and how she celebrated the beauty of the black tongue and nommo being the power of the word, I have always been intrigued to figure out what she meant. When looking at the rap battles of Chyna vs. Ms. Fit and Charlie Clips vs. T-Rex, I caught a slight glimpse of what nommo actually meant. Seeing these people tell a story through their bars and tearing into one another using words alone, showed the power that their words conveyed. Paying attention to the emceeing and rapping I understood that they were the voice of not only hip hop, but the voice of the black people. In a smaller setting, emceeing had the power to bring people together and keep the partying rocking. When looking at when hip-hop became rap like N.W.A., it changed the game and brought about an uprising within the community using only their music, which shows how much power it really had. Fast-forwarding to the Black Thought freestyle, I began to see what Dr. G was referring to about the beauty of the black tongue. Black Thought's lyricism and ability to put together words that flowed together and told a story was truly amazing. The way he was able to paint images in my mind and create metaphors that made you think about what he was actually saying was incredible. We continue to see this today with rappers like Kendrick Lamar and J Cole. On Kendrick Lamar's third album To Pimp A Butterfly, one of the most iconic storytelling songs is "How much a Dollar Cost" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1qdnWpgOfo). It tells the tale of how Kendrick is faced with a decision on giving a homeless man a dollar or not. As simple as it may sound, it actually goes into a deeper meaning about greed and selfishness within himself and all of society. To think that lyricism such as this originated from emcee's telling people to, "put their hands in the air and wave them like they just don't care" is an almost unbelievable story.
ReplyDeleteOf all the many different components that make up the Hip Hop culture, the technology is a feature that I would like to bring to the forefront. Many of the inhabiatants of the Bronx did not have a solid--if any--education but they were able to create new devices and techniques that were revolutionize the music industry. Many people neglect to think about the improvements that were made on the turn tables, techniques, and even electronics. The success of hip hop could not have been possible with the innovation in technology. For example, "Beat Street" showed that im promptu parties required the borrowing of electricity from electric poles. This is no small task. The correct voltage and a good understanding of electricity was needed to configure wires to electric poles. Improper connection of wires could cause fires and outages that were dangerous. Additionally, Netflix's Hip Hop Evolution showed that different systems would be created based off of scraps left around. Innovation through technology was important. Even with the rudimentary technology, turntables, speakers, and even lights were mastered as tools to make Hip Hop's sound. In the link below you can see how Grand Master Flash uses the table like it is second nature. Without the use of modern computers he makes great mixes and emphasizes the get down portion of records. The technique with technology is nothing easy to master and obviously requires lots of practice.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD7gsNbRv08
One component on hip hop that resonated with me the most is the depth behind the music and dance. Senior year of high school the theme of our competition dance theme was old school hip hop. It makes me ashamed to think about how we thought throwing on windbreakers and dancing to a couple of chart topping hip hop songs from the 80's and 90's. These old school songs and dance moves, in addition to a new peace interest, brought a dying Black and Latino communities back to life. If we had understood more hip hop history I feel as if not only would some of our non-black team members be able to get into it, but the team as a whole would have understood that our movements told a story. I didn't know that gangs turned into dance crews and fighting was replaced with battle rocking. I also never knew how involved the Latin community was in the creation of hip hop even though you can clearly hear the Latin influences in early hip hop songs. In this video the pioneers of the rock steady crew (crazy legs, mr. freeze, and doze) talk about how they new nothing about hip hop but were still able to express themselves by indulging themselves in the hip hop environment. This video would help them understand that Hip hop isn't just a black thing, but the most interactive version of storytelling there is.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0gFCiGQbBs
The component of Hip-Hop that resonates the most with me is the visual aspect of Hip-Hop. Even though graffiti was where Hip-Hop started it's visual aspect, the visuals that I am referring to are the visuals that can be found in everything from commercials to television and runways. Hip-Hop is not only a musical genre, it is a culture with slang, fashion, dance, attitude, etc. Hip-Hop has become a sort of lifestyle or movement that encompasses various forms of self-expression. It started with music, graffiti, and break-dancing, which fused and intertwined together and then expanded. Hip-Hop is now almost synonymous with Black culture and urban life and impacts things such as how many speak and dress. I was always aware that "Hip-Hop sells", which is why many marketing techniques use Hip-Hop artists' to endorse their products or services and why they use Hip-Hop or rap background music, but when we watched the Sprite commercials in class I realized how far Hip-Hop reaches in media, marketing, and it's overall impact and power. The growth of and worldwide recognition of Hip-Hop has allowed for a "look" to form around Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop's "look" and visuals are not limited to graffiti, it is now in fashion and media. New York Undercover was a show in the 90's that embraced Hip-Hop culture and music in its production, to its success. The show did not make a distinction between Hip-Hop and urban and Hip-Hop and Black. The music in the show was Hip-Hop and rap and their characters dressed in fashion inspired by Hip-Hop. There's an episode of Unsung Hollywood that describes how New York Undercover saw its success by blending Hip-Hop music and culture in to the essence of the show. The video describes the heavy Hip-Hop influence in the show and describes it as an "urban, Hip-Hop cop...drama". This shows how Hip-Hop's visual aspect has expanded well beyond graffiti and in to fashion and television.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZjhURBJqMs