Songwriting is not an essential part of becoming a singer but well recommended for those who enjoy a challenge. Anyone can write lyrics, wether they are suitable material for performance or commercially viable is irrelevant and there are plenty of open mic nights where you can try out your masterpiece! Successful Self-Contained artists (Singer/Songwriters) like Carole King are still able to continue their singing careers when other performers 'commercial life' has been overtaken by the latest craze. So what do you need to write a song?:-Technical Training may not be a necessity but all songwriters who wish to write seriously should gain as much experience and knowledge as possible. Courses in Music Theory, Harmony, Sight Singing, Rhythm, Understanding Poetry and playing an Instrument will all help you become a better Composer and Lyricist.Supplies:-Pad of Paper for Notes & Writing LyricsMusic Manuscript Books or PaperPencils & ErasersCassette or Minidisc Recorder - keep this with you at all times & use it to hum, sing or play your ideas for later review.Short Cassettes - for recording individual Completed songsLong Cassettes - for leaving to run whilst creatingPortable File or Folders to keep work in progress portableReference Books - A Rhyming Dictionary, Dictionary, Thesaurus & Guinness Book of Hit Singles are essentialInstrument - Most songwriters play an instrument, piano, guitar, keyboard, organ etc.,Pitch Pipe - If you do not play an instrument this aids in finding the songs pitch.Splash out on a copy of Music Week Directory costs about £40.00 UK and Ireland and £45 in mainland Europe although there are several similar publications providing music industry contact addresses like White Book, Showcall. Every songwriter has their own method, some 'hear' parts or the whole song in their minds, others use a hook or melody line to help envisage the words and many lyricists collaborate with composers and musicians to produce the finished article. There are no 'set rules' on how you write songs but there are various tried and trusted methods of producing a viable song for performance and recording.Concept:- Decide the type, style and a brief outline of what you want the song to say.Title:- Which may or may not be used in the song but should give an indication of the Theme or ConceptLyrics/Music:- Wether you prefer to start with the lyrics or the music, the lyrics should provide the listener with a picture of the theme or tale. Once you have completed the first section repeat using different lyrics then examine your song to see if it requires a 'Bridge' (This is a section that differs from the verse). It can be a 'Hook' line, a 'Chorus' or an 'Instrumental' Break.Now you have the basics of a song you need to think about the arrangement which can be in a variety of formats depending on the type of musical style. Most songs have a beginning (Intro), middle (Song Verses plus Choruses) and an ending (Sharp stop, Fade Out).Popular songs tend to work to a Format i.e., Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Instrumental Break, Verse, Chorus, Chorus, End, but each style of song has its own format and if you are considering writing for a variety of performers it is worth listening to a wide range of material to get a general idea of the format before proceeding.For commercial purposes songs are expected to fit into 3 or 4 minutes although music beds, film & television themes, adverts etc., are written to the clients time specifications and some spectacular songs have managed to sneak in at longer lengths like 'Telegraph Road' by Dire Straits which is rarely broadcast in it's entirety. Time constraints are limited to airplay, competitions, showcases and television appearances but should also be taken into account when writing for submission to publishing and record companies. Always Copyright your material before live performance or submitting your work to ANYONE. Unsure about Royalties? Click Here for an explaination. Need more advice and tips? Browse the Songwriting Articles written by successful songwriters, A & R and other professional music industry personnel or check out the Songwriting Books and songwriting competitions sections.
Songwriting Tools
Handy online tools to aid in song and lyric creation with sites providing tips and advice on songwriting are listed below. For those seeking to improve their songwriting/composing skills there are several short courses and workshops available. Lyricmaker 1.2It's a small, very simple and free program that finds all the rhymes to a word in the dictionary and helps you write poems, song lyrics, etc. Current version can find words in english and spanish. Version 1.2 is DOS based. 768K Freeware Windows (all). Rhymei.exe V.1.23 for windows 95/98/NTAn application for songwriters. Type any word and click Rhyme - it will find rhyming words for you! Right Click & Save As on the link to download Rhyme 946kb FREEWARE - or visit their site AnalogX and check out our 'Free DOWNLOADS' for more great free music software. Lyricist v2.2The ultimate songwriting tool provides online file copyright, chord charting and editing, chord wizard, programmable text styles, database storage, album categorization, spell checker, thesaurus, rhyming dictionary, file export, email and media file launch and multi document interface. This commercial software is available for PC & Mac and retails for $39.95 plus shipping. Anagram Engine at Wordsmith.orgEnter a word or phrase and discover the anagram! Dictionary.comOnline dictionaries, thesaurus, translator and free software that works with their sites. Diction DomainProvides extensive information about language diction for singing. Contains a database of links to websites, books and other resources for singers and singing teachers. Tons of language resources - a must visit site! Rhyme ZoneOnline Ryming Dictionary & Thesaurus Music Theory for SongwritersIllustrated introduction to harmonic structure. Rogets Thesaurus OnlineStuck for a word or meaning? Enter a word into the search engine and it will produce a list of words with similar meanings. Rec Music Makers Songwriting FaqsProvides tons of answers to questions for new songwriters. They also have a discussion group where you can discuss problems, meet new people and find collaborators. Silver Cat Songwriting ChecklistThe following items represent a comprehensive listing of song characteristics which apply to most country, pop/rock and adult type songs
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Rock music
Rock music is a form of popular music with a prominent vocal melody accompanied by guitar, drums, and bass. Many styles of rock music also use keyboard instruments such as organ, piano, or synthesizers. Other instruments sometimes utilized in rock include harmonica, violin, flute, banjo and less common stringed instruments such as mandolin and sitar. Rock music usually has a strong back beat, and often revolves around guitar, either electric or acoustic.
Rock music has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll and rockabilly, which evolved from blues, country music and other influences. According to All Music Guide, "In its purest form, Rock & Roll has three chords, a strong, insistent back beat, and a catchy melody. Early rock & roll drew from a variety of sources, primarily blues, R&B, and country, but also gospel, traditional pop, jazz, and folk. All of these influences combined in a simple, blues-based song structure that was fast, danceable, and catchy."[1]
In the late 1960s, rock music was blended with folk music to create folk rock, blues to create blues rock and with jazz, to create jazz-rock fusion, and without a time signature to create psychedelic rock. In the 1970s, rock incorporated influences from soul, funk, and latin music. Also in the 1970s, rock developed a number of subgenres, such as soft rock, heavy metal, hard rock, progressive rock, and punk rock. Rock subgenres that emerged in the 1980s included synth-rock, hardcore punk and alternative rock. In the 1990s, rock subgenres included grunge, Britpop, indie rock, and nu metal.
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Soft rock
Rock music had a short-lived "bubble gum pop" era, of soft rock, including groups such as The Partridge Family, The Cowsills, The Osmonds, and The Archies. Other bands or artists added more orchestration and created a popular genre known as soft rock. Performers included Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, Olivia Newton-John, and Eric Carmen, and groups such as Bread, The Carpenters, Electric Light Orchestra, England Dan & John Ford Coley, and Tina Turner
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Hard rock and heavy metal
A second wave of British and American rock bands became popular during the late 1960s to the 1970s, with groups that were more steeped in American blues music than their more pop-oriented predecessors. Bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest, Status Quo, Aerosmith, Queen, Black Sabbath, and Uriah Heep played highly amplified, guitar-driven hard rock that would come to be known as heavy metal. Heavy metal languished into obscurity in the late 1970s. A few bands including Kiss, Queen, Black Sabbath,AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith maintained large followings and there were occasional mainstream hits such as Blue Öyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) the Reaper". Music critics overwhelmingly disliked the genre. This began to change in 1978 following the release of Van Halen's eponymous, self-titled debut album. The album helped to usher in an era of high-energy rock and roll, based out of Los Angeles, California
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New Wave
Punk rock attracted devotees from the art and collegiate world and soon bands sporting a more literate, arty approach, such as the Talking Heads, and Devo began to infiltrate the punk scene; in some quarters the description New Wave began to be used to differentiate these less overtly punk bands.
If punk rock was a social and musical phenomenon, it garnered little in the way of record sales (small specialty labels such as Stiff Records had released much of the punk music to date) or American radio airplay, as the radio scene continued to be dominated by mainstream formats such as disco and album-oriented rock. Record executives, who had been mostly mystified by the punk movement, recognized the potential of the more accessible New Wave acts and began aggressively signing and marketing any band that could claim a remote connection to punk or New Wave. Many of these bands, such as The Cars and the Go-Go's were essentially pop bands dressed up in New Wave regalia; others, including the Police and the Pretenders managed to parlay the boost of the New Wave movement into long-lived and artistically lauded careers.
Between 1982 and 1985, influenced by Kraftwerk and Gary Numan, New Wave went in the direction of such New Romantics as Duran Duran, A Flock of Seagulls, Psychedelic Furs, Talk Talk and the Eurythmics, sometimes using the synthesizer to replace all other instruments. This period coincided with the rise of MTV and led to a great deal of exposure for this brand of synth-pop. Some rock bands reinvented themselves and profited too from MTV's airplay, for instance Golden Earring, who had a second round of success with "Twilight Zone", but in general the times of guitar-oriented rock were over. Although many "Greatest of New Wave" collections feature popular songs from this era, New Wave more properly refers to the earlier "skinny tie" rock bands such as the Knack or Blondie.
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Instrumental rock
Instrumental rock was also popularised during this period with Joe Satriani's release of Surfing with the Alien. Many guitarists, feeling constrained by the style of music performed by their respective bands, began releasing solo albums that showcased their guitar skills. Guitarists such as George Lynch, Steve Vai, Tony MacAlpine, Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Morse have all greatly contributed to the genre
Rock music has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll and rockabilly, which evolved from blues, country music and other influences. According to All Music Guide, "In its purest form, Rock & Roll has three chords, a strong, insistent back beat, and a catchy melody. Early rock & roll drew from a variety of sources, primarily blues, R&B, and country, but also gospel, traditional pop, jazz, and folk. All of these influences combined in a simple, blues-based song structure that was fast, danceable, and catchy."[1]
In the late 1960s, rock music was blended with folk music to create folk rock, blues to create blues rock and with jazz, to create jazz-rock fusion, and without a time signature to create psychedelic rock. In the 1970s, rock incorporated influences from soul, funk, and latin music. Also in the 1970s, rock developed a number of subgenres, such as soft rock, heavy metal, hard rock, progressive rock, and punk rock. Rock subgenres that emerged in the 1980s included synth-rock, hardcore punk and alternative rock. In the 1990s, rock subgenres included grunge, Britpop, indie rock, and nu metal.
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Soft rock
Rock music had a short-lived "bubble gum pop" era, of soft rock, including groups such as The Partridge Family, The Cowsills, The Osmonds, and The Archies. Other bands or artists added more orchestration and created a popular genre known as soft rock. Performers included Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, Olivia Newton-John, and Eric Carmen, and groups such as Bread, The Carpenters, Electric Light Orchestra, England Dan & John Ford Coley, and Tina Turner
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Hard rock and heavy metal
A second wave of British and American rock bands became popular during the late 1960s to the 1970s, with groups that were more steeped in American blues music than their more pop-oriented predecessors. Bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest, Status Quo, Aerosmith, Queen, Black Sabbath, and Uriah Heep played highly amplified, guitar-driven hard rock that would come to be known as heavy metal. Heavy metal languished into obscurity in the late 1970s. A few bands including Kiss, Queen, Black Sabbath,AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith maintained large followings and there were occasional mainstream hits such as Blue Öyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) the Reaper". Music critics overwhelmingly disliked the genre. This began to change in 1978 following the release of Van Halen's eponymous, self-titled debut album. The album helped to usher in an era of high-energy rock and roll, based out of Los Angeles, California
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Wave
Punk rock attracted devotees from the art and collegiate world and soon bands sporting a more literate, arty approach, such as the Talking Heads, and Devo began to infiltrate the punk scene; in some quarters the description New Wave began to be used to differentiate these less overtly punk bands.
If punk rock was a social and musical phenomenon, it garnered little in the way of record sales (small specialty labels such as Stiff Records had released much of the punk music to date) or American radio airplay, as the radio scene continued to be dominated by mainstream formats such as disco and album-oriented rock. Record executives, who had been mostly mystified by the punk movement, recognized the potential of the more accessible New Wave acts and began aggressively signing and marketing any band that could claim a remote connection to punk or New Wave. Many of these bands, such as The Cars and the Go-Go's were essentially pop bands dressed up in New Wave regalia; others, including the Police and the Pretenders managed to parlay the boost of the New Wave movement into long-lived and artistically lauded careers.
Between 1982 and 1985, influenced by Kraftwerk and Gary Numan, New Wave went in the direction of such New Romantics as Duran Duran, A Flock of Seagulls, Psychedelic Furs, Talk Talk and the Eurythmics, sometimes using the synthesizer to replace all other instruments. This period coincided with the rise of MTV and led to a great deal of exposure for this brand of synth-pop. Some rock bands reinvented themselves and profited too from MTV's airplay, for instance Golden Earring, who had a second round of success with "Twilight Zone", but in general the times of guitar-oriented rock were over. Although many "Greatest of New Wave" collections feature popular songs from this era, New Wave more properly refers to the earlier "skinny tie" rock bands such as the Knack or Blondie.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instrumental rock
Instrumental rock was also popularised during this period with Joe Satriani's release of Surfing with the Alien. Many guitarists, feeling constrained by the style of music performed by their respective bands, began releasing solo albums that showcased their guitar skills. Guitarists such as George Lynch, Steve Vai, Tony MacAlpine, Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Morse have all greatly contributed to the genre
Pop Music
Pop music (or "pop") is a subgenre of contemporary popular music that typically has a dance-along and happy rhythm or beat, simple melodies and a repeating structure. Pop song lyrics are often emotional, commonly relating to love, loss, emotion, or dancing.
Pop music is distinguished from classical (or art music) and from folk music[1]. Pop songs are often written by professional songwriters, and performed and popularized by singers, as opposed to other popular music genres, such as rock and hip hop, where performers tend to write their own songs.
Pop is distributed by major record companies as part of a global music market through mass marketing through radio, television.In the recorded music era, the single (a single song) and the album (a collection of songs) are the usual methods of distributing pop music. Pop has been distributed in many formats included vinyl records, cassette tapes, compact discs, and Internet downloads. Pop music is arguably the world's biggest music genre
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History
Blues women such as Bessie Smith, Mamie Smith, Alberta Hunter, Ida Cox, Victoria Spivey and many others were among the first to record popular music in the United States. Their music came to be marketed as race records and made Columbia Records millions. Evidence of their success as popular music artists could be found in the New York Times on advertisement columns of Columbia Records. These advertisements were entitled, "Out Today" where they would advertise the titles and prices of best-selling music such as: Dance Music, Popular Songs, Minstrels, Hawaiian Duets, Scotch Songs, and Symphony and Concert Selections. [2] Blues songs were always categorized as "Popular Music" in these columns. Also, Blues women sold many records, which reflects their popularity. As LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka points out, "Mamie Smith's, "Crazy Blues" sold 8,000 copies a week for months, and Victoria Spivey's "Black Snake Blues" sold 150,000 copies in one year (Jones 100). [3] and Bessie Smith's Gulf Coast Blues sold almost 1,000,000 copies!
American communities (for example: electric guitar Blues in Chicago and Texas), and Country coming also from "hillbilly music" of poor folk, white and black (Sun Records in Tennessee), which blended to become Rockabilly. The most important ingredient in early Rock n' Roll was, however, the type of Jump blues / R&B led by Louis Jordan who occasionally broke through into the pop charts. The music later on was mixed with gospel handclaps, boogie woogie and larger emphasis on backbeat, by artists such as The Treniers, which created Rock 'n' Roll. The rise of the crying and emotional singers in the late 1940s such as Mario Lanza began the pop music vocal styles
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Did Britney Spears make a bad album, or do her universally panned media blunders sabotage her success?
On October 30th Britney Spears’ latest attempt at a career comeback was met with resistance with opening week sales of her 5th studio album entitled Blackout coming in at approximately 290,000 total units (according to a Nielsen Soundscan chart release to Billboard.com).
Were Opening Week Sales Legitimate?
While some would not consider 290,000 units a failure, the common knowledge fact that most record labels personally purchase thousands of copies of their artists’ albums in an attempt to gain a #1 debut on music charts such as Billboard's Top 200 should be taken into account. Even the efforts of Britney’s die-hard fans at Breatheheavy and MySpace websites to support Ms. Spears by purchasing multiple copies of the album from different sources (so that each sale would count as an individual unit); should be considered. Britney’s self-proclaimed biggest fan Chris Crocker was personally seen in x17 video purchasing approximately 20 copies of Blackout (10 for himself and 10 to distribute to the homeless). It makes you wonder how many of the sales were genuine and how many were from those trying to manipulate the system.
Music versus Personal Drama
Reviewing this album created an interesting dilemma. In order to be objective, Britney’s personal dramatics had to be left out of the equation. However, since some of the songs on the album reflect her personal issues, her personal life was inevitably considered. The truth is, for every positive on the album, there were two negatives. A song like “Break The Ice” mixed an urban pop beat with a catchy melody (sung by her backup singers) was countered by a song like “Hot As Ice” which had Britney singing in a childish, whining voice while referring to herself as a “living legend” and unfortunately did nothing but add to the speculation that she refuses to accept the fact that she is not 16 anymore. Similar sentiments could be made about “Heaven and Earth” whose 80’s style production sounded really out of place among the other urban dance songs.
Superficial Pieces of Britney
Another song like “Piece of Me” had Britney’s voice shrouded by semi-fun, studio-created robot vocals and was more along the lines of what she needed to do to make this album work for her. But songs like “Radar” which showcased her minimal vocal talent and “Get Naked (I Got A Plan)" -- which had a male vocalist singing a nerve-grating rubber band twang while Britney sang the deeply intuitive lyrics “get naked” over and over again -- didn’t quite step up to par.
Is Blackout enough to resurrect the career of a troubled pop star? Read more about the albums' overall production and Britney's chance of success in: Blackout Stalls a Career Comeback
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modern pop music
In the 2000s, pop music chart-toppers included Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson and Ashlee Simpson. Robbie Williams recorded the biggest sales worldwide for a male artist. Well established artists who continued to have success include Madonna, , Mariah Carey, Usher Raymond, Kylie Minogue and Michael Jackson.
Hannah Montana also known as Miley Cyrus
Other trends included Teen pop singers such as Disney Channel stars like The Cheetah Girls and Ashley Tisdale. Pop punk acts such as Simple Plan and Fall Out Boy have become increasingly popular, as well as pop rock, with acts such as P!nk, Avril Lavigne. A new present star that is selling out of tickets is Hannah Montana, otherwise known as Miley Cyrus.
The popular American reality program American Idol has produced many successful Pop artists, most notably Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Katharine McPhee, Chris Daughtry, Elliott Yamin, Jordin Sparks, and country pop artists Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler. In Latin America, multi-platinum pop group RBD has achieved a great commercial success becoming the best-selling Latin act on the 2000s. R&B and pop music blended in music from Nelly Furtado, Rihanna, JoJo and the Pussycat Dolls
Pop music is distinguished from classical (or art music) and from folk music[1]. Pop songs are often written by professional songwriters, and performed and popularized by singers, as opposed to other popular music genres, such as rock and hip hop, where performers tend to write their own songs.
Pop is distributed by major record companies as part of a global music market through mass marketing through radio, television.In the recorded music era, the single (a single song) and the album (a collection of songs) are the usual methods of distributing pop music. Pop has been distributed in many formats included vinyl records, cassette tapes, compact discs, and Internet downloads. Pop music is arguably the world's biggest music genre
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
History
Blues women such as Bessie Smith, Mamie Smith, Alberta Hunter, Ida Cox, Victoria Spivey and many others were among the first to record popular music in the United States. Their music came to be marketed as race records and made Columbia Records millions. Evidence of their success as popular music artists could be found in the New York Times on advertisement columns of Columbia Records. These advertisements were entitled, "Out Today" where they would advertise the titles and prices of best-selling music such as: Dance Music, Popular Songs, Minstrels, Hawaiian Duets, Scotch Songs, and Symphony and Concert Selections. [2] Blues songs were always categorized as "Popular Music" in these columns. Also, Blues women sold many records, which reflects their popularity. As LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka points out, "Mamie Smith's, "Crazy Blues" sold 8,000 copies a week for months, and Victoria Spivey's "Black Snake Blues" sold 150,000 copies in one year (Jones 100). [3] and Bessie Smith's Gulf Coast Blues sold almost 1,000,000 copies!
American communities (for example: electric guitar Blues in Chicago and Texas), and Country coming also from "hillbilly music" of poor folk, white and black (Sun Records in Tennessee), which blended to become Rockabilly. The most important ingredient in early Rock n' Roll was, however, the type of Jump blues / R&B led by Louis Jordan who occasionally broke through into the pop charts. The music later on was mixed with gospel handclaps, boogie woogie and larger emphasis on backbeat, by artists such as The Treniers, which created Rock 'n' Roll. The rise of the crying and emotional singers in the late 1940s such as Mario Lanza began the pop music vocal styles
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did Britney Spears make a bad album, or do her universally panned media blunders sabotage her success?
On October 30th Britney Spears’ latest attempt at a career comeback was met with resistance with opening week sales of her 5th studio album entitled Blackout coming in at approximately 290,000 total units (according to a Nielsen Soundscan chart release to Billboard.com).
Were Opening Week Sales Legitimate?
While some would not consider 290,000 units a failure, the common knowledge fact that most record labels personally purchase thousands of copies of their artists’ albums in an attempt to gain a #1 debut on music charts such as Billboard's Top 200 should be taken into account. Even the efforts of Britney’s die-hard fans at Breatheheavy and MySpace websites to support Ms. Spears by purchasing multiple copies of the album from different sources (so that each sale would count as an individual unit); should be considered. Britney’s self-proclaimed biggest fan Chris Crocker was personally seen in x17 video purchasing approximately 20 copies of Blackout (10 for himself and 10 to distribute to the homeless). It makes you wonder how many of the sales were genuine and how many were from those trying to manipulate the system.
Music versus Personal Drama
Reviewing this album created an interesting dilemma. In order to be objective, Britney’s personal dramatics had to be left out of the equation. However, since some of the songs on the album reflect her personal issues, her personal life was inevitably considered. The truth is, for every positive on the album, there were two negatives. A song like “Break The Ice” mixed an urban pop beat with a catchy melody (sung by her backup singers) was countered by a song like “Hot As Ice” which had Britney singing in a childish, whining voice while referring to herself as a “living legend” and unfortunately did nothing but add to the speculation that she refuses to accept the fact that she is not 16 anymore. Similar sentiments could be made about “Heaven and Earth” whose 80’s style production sounded really out of place among the other urban dance songs.
Superficial Pieces of Britney
Another song like “Piece of Me” had Britney’s voice shrouded by semi-fun, studio-created robot vocals and was more along the lines of what she needed to do to make this album work for her. But songs like “Radar” which showcased her minimal vocal talent and “Get Naked (I Got A Plan)" -- which had a male vocalist singing a nerve-grating rubber band twang while Britney sang the deeply intuitive lyrics “get naked” over and over again -- didn’t quite step up to par.
Is Blackout enough to resurrect the career of a troubled pop star? Read more about the albums' overall production and Britney's chance of success in: Blackout Stalls a Career Comeback
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
modern pop music
In the 2000s, pop music chart-toppers included Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson and Ashlee Simpson. Robbie Williams recorded the biggest sales worldwide for a male artist. Well established artists who continued to have success include Madonna, , Mariah Carey, Usher Raymond, Kylie Minogue and Michael Jackson.
Hannah Montana also known as Miley Cyrus
Other trends included Teen pop singers such as Disney Channel stars like The Cheetah Girls and Ashley Tisdale. Pop punk acts such as Simple Plan and Fall Out Boy have become increasingly popular, as well as pop rock, with acts such as P!nk, Avril Lavigne. A new present star that is selling out of tickets is Hannah Montana, otherwise known as Miley Cyrus.
The popular American reality program American Idol has produced many successful Pop artists, most notably Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Katharine McPhee, Chris Daughtry, Elliott Yamin, Jordin Sparks, and country pop artists Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler. In Latin America, multi-platinum pop group RBD has achieved a great commercial success becoming the best-selling Latin act on the 2000s. R&B and pop music blended in music from Nelly Furtado, Rihanna, JoJo and the Pussycat Dolls
Folk music
Bhavageete
Bhavageete (literally 'emotion poetry') is a form of expressionist poetry and light music. Notable Bhavageete performers include P. Kalinga Rao, Mysore Ananthaswamy, C. Aswath, Shimoga Subbanna, Archana Udupa, Raju Ananthaswamy etc
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Dandiya
Dandiya is a form of dance-oriented folk music that has also been adapted for pop music worldwide. The present musical style is derived from the traditional musical accompaniment to the folk dance of Dandiya called by the same name, dandiya. (DANDIYA means small sticks and are used in place of swords to train and practice martial art in form of dance by tribal in interior Gujarat in India. it is believed to be in practice since the days when Lord Krishna migrated from Mathura to Dwaraka.
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Rajasthan
Rajasthani has a very diverse cultural collection of musician castes, including Langas, Sapera, Bhopa, Jogi and Manganiyar. Rajasthan Diary quotes it as a soulful, full-throated music with Harmonious diversity. The haunting melody of Rajasthan evokes from a variety of delightfully primitive looking instruments. The stringed variety include the Sarangi, Rawanhattha, Kamayacha, Morsing and Ektara.Percussion instruments come in all shapes and sizes from the huge Nagaras and Dhols to the tiny Damrus. The Daf and Chang are a big favourite of the Holi (the festival of colours) revellers. Flutes and bagpipers come in local flavours such as Shehnai, Poongi, Algoza, Tarpi, Been and Bankia.
The essence of Rajasthani Music is derived from the creative symphony of string instruments, percussion instruments and wind instruments accompanied by melodious renditions of folk singers. It enjoys a respectable presence in bollywood(Indian Film Fratenity) Music as well.
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Qawwali
Qawwali is a Sufi form of devotional music based on the principles of Hindustani classical. It is performed with one or two lead singers, several chorus singers, harmonium, tabla, and dholak
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Lavani
Lavani is a popular folk form of Maharashtra. Traditionally, the songs are sung by female artistes, but male artistes may occasionally sing Lavanis. The dance format associated with Lavani is known as Tamasha.
Bhavageete (literally 'emotion poetry') is a form of expressionist poetry and light music. Notable Bhavageete performers include P. Kalinga Rao, Mysore Ananthaswamy, C. Aswath, Shimoga Subbanna, Archana Udupa, Raju Ananthaswamy etc
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dandiya
Dandiya is a form of dance-oriented folk music that has also been adapted for pop music worldwide. The present musical style is derived from the traditional musical accompaniment to the folk dance of Dandiya called by the same name, dandiya. (DANDIYA means small sticks and are used in place of swords to train and practice martial art in form of dance by tribal in interior Gujarat in India. it is believed to be in practice since the days when Lord Krishna migrated from Mathura to Dwaraka.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rajasthan
Rajasthani has a very diverse cultural collection of musician castes, including Langas, Sapera, Bhopa, Jogi and Manganiyar. Rajasthan Diary quotes it as a soulful, full-throated music with Harmonious diversity. The haunting melody of Rajasthan evokes from a variety of delightfully primitive looking instruments. The stringed variety include the Sarangi, Rawanhattha, Kamayacha, Morsing and Ektara.Percussion instruments come in all shapes and sizes from the huge Nagaras and Dhols to the tiny Damrus. The Daf and Chang are a big favourite of the Holi (the festival of colours) revellers. Flutes and bagpipers come in local flavours such as Shehnai, Poongi, Algoza, Tarpi, Been and Bankia.
The essence of Rajasthani Music is derived from the creative symphony of string instruments, percussion instruments and wind instruments accompanied by melodious renditions of folk singers. It enjoys a respectable presence in bollywood(Indian Film Fratenity) Music as well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Qawwali
Qawwali is a Sufi form of devotional music based on the principles of Hindustani classical. It is performed with one or two lead singers, several chorus singers, harmonium, tabla, and dholak
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lavani
Lavani is a popular folk form of Maharashtra. Traditionally, the songs are sung by female artistes, but male artistes may occasionally sing Lavanis. The dance format associated with Lavani is known as Tamasha.
Hip Hop Articles
The History OfHip Hop
Nowadays if you ask most people to give a definition of "rap", they're likely to state that it's the reciting of rhymes to the best of music. It's a form of expression that finds its roots imbedded deep within ancient African culture and oral tradition. Throughout history here in America there has always been some form of verbal acrobatics or jousting involving rhymes within the Afro-American community. Signifying, testifying, Shining of the Titanic, the Dozens, school yard rhymes, prison 'jail house' rhymes and double Dutch jump rope' rhymes are some of the names and ways that various forms of rap have manifested.
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Why Should Color Matter?
I have received numerous e-mails, phone calls, etc, about Eminem and the debate over his meteoric rise to stardom. Here is my viewpoint. Please feel free to reprint this in your magazine, mass e-mail, newsletter, whatever as it is meant to provoke thought and discussion. I hope you will read it and think on the points and please write back with your insights:
The Eminem debate has become tiring and useless to the hip-hop community. The fact is that Eminem is white. Another fact is that he will benefit from his color. So what? Neither of these circumstances are of Eminem's choosing and he could not change either if he decided to try. It is a sad statement to the American condition that color still matters. It is an even sadder statement to the condition of the hip-hop community that we cannot see past this societal conditioning even as we universally acknowledge its presence.
Eminem benefits from his color. However, understand that black artists have benefitted from their color for years in terms of record sales. How many fake gangsters, pimps, and hustlers have we heard on records that went multi-platinum. If a white artist were behind the same records they wouldn't have sold five copies. For instance, if Snoop Dogg were white, "Doggystyle" wouldn't have sold. The reason behind this is that it is somehow accepted as authentic when a black artist speaks of the trials and tribulations of an inner-city gangster, even if that artist has never set foot within the confines of an American metropolis. To my mind, this is tenfold more disturbing then the fact that Eminem is lauded as the great white emcee.
Why do we accept the manner in which black artists are given universal credibility as urban story-tellers? Are all blacks poor? Are all blacks gangsters? Are all blacks pimps, hustlers, con-artists, living in the dirtiests slums, prepared to sell their mama for a rock, urban dwellers? If not, then why do we accept any black artist who tells these tales as authentic. If these presuppositions are untrue for the large majority of black Americans then we should be incensed that these stereotypes are accepted as given fact as black artists consistently put them on records. Unfortunately, no one argues that these fake gangsters are benefitting from their skin-color. They are consistently applauded for keeping it real, or telling it how it is, even by people living hundred of miles from the nearest urban center who have no idea what it's like to grow up in an American city.
Eminem has and will continue to cross-over to an alternative, suburban white community that has always played spectator to the largely urban black phenomenon of hip-hop. True, these kids have emulated, imitated, duplicated, and replicated hip-hop culture in the process diluting and mutating its meaning. The cause behind this is that they have never been allowed to participate on a large scale in order to develop an adequate understanding of the foundations of hip-hop culture. In the same way blacks universally rallied to Jackie Robinson, even if they didn't like baseball, because he represented their opportunity to participate in something that had been denied them. Eminem makes white suburban participation in hip-hop possible and these kids, who genuinely love the music, will latch onto his music and his image like no previous suburban hip-hop icon.
Eminem will also benefit from the same mindset that allows white people who hate hip-hop to have Cypress Hill and The Beastie Boys programmed in their CD player. These people don't understand and never will understand the important cultural role of hip-hop because hip-hop music, or music in general, does not hold the cultural importance to the majority of suburban kids (black, white, etc.) that it does to inner-city blacks, whites, and latinos. Hip-hop is an urban form of expression. It is predominantly a black form of expression, but don't mistake predominantly to mean solely. As those who were there at the beginning will tell you there were whites and latinos at those early block parties as well as blacks.
What disturbs me the most is that we have become so obsessed with Eminem's skin-color that we have largely ignored the greater issue of why skin-color matters in hip-hop. Why do we care about the color of our favorite or least-favorite MC's skin? If Eminem is a dope MC, as he was called almost without dissent before he blew-up, then why do we now all of a sudden take exception to his skin-color? Eminem is not guilty of stealing or copying a culture. His skill demonstrates his sincere appreciation for the art-form of MCing. His skill reflects the hours upon hours of practice and work he has put into being an MC. If you take offense to his content then you have to take equal offense to the multitude of black artists who have similar if not more offensive content. I know a young music director at an underground station in Atlanta who has refused to play Eminem's music while at the same time seeing no contradiction in playing Mobb Deep, Noreaga, Jay Z, (insert your favorite thug-rapper here), etc. Do her motives reflect her sincere consciousness and concern for the content of her programming or do they reflect a deeply embedded bigotry which she probably doesn't even fully comprehend?
Unfortunately, Eminem is being treated to the same types of blind bigotry that pioneering blacks such as Jackie Robinson, Joe Lewis, The Tuskeegee Airmen, etc. were shown. The people concentrating so intensely on Eminem's color are feeding the hatred, bigotry, and racism, that hip-hop at its best destroys. The reason hip-hop was able to weaken the gang culture of New York prevalent at its onset was precisely because it was all-inclusive. Hip-hop embraced people and that is why people of all races flocked to it.
Urban black youth played the predominant role in the creation and development of hip-hop. That is a wonderful and historically noteworthy achievement, but you cannot logically conclude that since blacks created hip-hop, blacks should be the sole keepers and producers of hip-hop. By that thinking, we would have no Michael Jordan, Willie Mays, Joe Lewis, Muhammed Ali, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, etc., etc., etc. Follow my meaning...A white man invented basketball and yet Michael Jordan perfected it. A white man invented baseball and yet Willie Mays played it to a level seldom reached before or since. A white man invented boxing and yet Muhammed Ali can legitimately call himself "The Greatest". A white man invented the system of justice in the United States and yet Thurgood Marshall stands as one of the most accomplished Supreme Court justices in history. A white man invented the bus and yet Rosa Parks shook a nation with her refusal to move on that bus. Applying the same standard to hip-hop, we see that there is considerable room in hip-hop for the contributions of people from all nationalities, races, and cultures.
I personally have grown to dislike Eminem's lyrics. I recognize that he is a very skilled MC, but for the same reasons that I cannot watch a whole episode of Jerry Springer I cannot listen to Eminem's whole album and enjoy the experience. Personally, this is because I have gotten older and am no longer so enamored with the gruesome, the outrageous, or the outlandish. In addition, it is because I have grown much more conscious and spiritual over the past year or two. I do not personally listen to a great many emcees whom others load with accolades. Jay Z, Noreaga, Black Rob, most of Nas' material, No Limit, Cash Money, Cage, etc., etc., etc. have joined Eminem on the list of artists who I don't listen to at home. I don't care for these artists music for a variety of reasons, but none of them have to do with their skin. Can you say the same
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Black Culture & Hip-Hop:One & the Same?
People seem to attribute Hip-Hop's success among the masses due to the assumed fact that Hip-Hop is black culture. It's a mistake that I can understand, since most of the faces one sees involved in Hip-Hop seem to be of African-American descent. But then again, when you watch the television, you don't see much Hip-Hop, or even rap. Only BET and MTV will play rap videos, and it's not like they've got real Hip-Hop on these two channels twenty-four- seven. So, when the casual observer walks along the "Rap/Hip-Hop/R&B" section of their local branch of Camelot, Sam Goody, or K-Mart, all they seem to see are black faces. Therefore, it's only natural for the casual observer to think that Hip-Hop is black culture.
I'm here today to challenge this myth. And that's precisely what it is: a false myth. Sure, most of the exposed rap artists and emcees out there are African-American, but what about the DJs? What about the graff writers out there? What about the b-boys and b-girls out there? What about all the people who respect the culture and follow it and love it? What about the people who contribute to Hip-Hop magazines and newsletters? What about all the people who read that damn shit? If one could count all those people, one could easily see that Hip-Hop isn't black culture. Rather, Hip-Hop is a part of black culture and Hop's universal, dammit! It's fuckin' universal because members of practically every society out there's rockin' to this shit!! I wouldn't be surprised if some X-Files case out in the cosmos is listening to some Invisible Skratch Piklz right now.
It didn't start out as black culture, either, because Hip-Hop has always been its own culture. Let me say that shit again, just in case you didn't catch that. Hip-Hop has always been its own culture. Not all of the fathers and godfathers of Hip-Hop were African-American. The original breakers were black and hispanic. The first graff writer, Taki, was Greek. Speaking of graff, Seen isn't black. I could go on and on, but it would be quite long and boring, so I'll just stop here with my point that Hip-Hop was composed of different races, different ethnic groups, different styles, and different cultures. Hip-Hop still is composed of all these things, as well as different age groups, different nationalities, and straight up different people.
So can you see why people into Hip-Hop aren't "acting black"? Can you see why people need to know the truth rather than spread the myth? African- American culture is different from Hip-Hop, although the two do have a relation. Asian-American culture is different from Hip-Hop, although the two do have a relation. Hispanic-American culture.... etc. You know what I'm trying to say. Hip-Hop is its own culture, so don't mix it with any other. Peace to all my Hip-Hop brothers and sisters. Support Hip-Hop unity.
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How Do We Treat Our WomenWithin Hip Hop?
The other week the Bay Area was treated to what was shapin' up to be one of the hypest concerts of the year.. Redman was comin' to town....and last time he rolled through things were off the hook. There was a lot of promotion surrounding the show... Lots of ticket giveaways...There was even a whole weekend dedicated to spotlighting the Redman Show... One of the things that struck me most was the number of women clamoring for tickets.. I'm not talking hoochie mommas or hip hop groupies... I'm talking regular everyday intelligent, good looking women who you would never think were into hip hop were making plans to go see Redman...
The show for the most part was energetic.. Redman proved to be a charismatic character on stage...However, there was something undermining the show...Everywhere I looked I saw women being disrespected... It was something you probably wouldn't have noticed on the surface.. but if you were with a woman or you actually took time to speak to one during the show you would've most likely seen what is rapidly becoming a disturbing trend.. Women were being grabbed and consistently accosted.. I happen to run into two women who stopped to chat with me and for the next 15 minutes everyone who walked by made it a point to grab their asses or poke some other body part.. It didn't matter that I was standing there talking with them.. It could've been my girl or my sister or in this case two listeners.. Brothas didn't care.. they were brazen and would just come and disrespect... Some would lean over and whisper in their ears right in front of me.. 'Baby let me get that number.. you don't need to be around him..'.. Others would just simply let their hand linger and rub across their body.. either their chest or ass... Neither one of these women were provacatively dressed.. One had a sun dress.. the other had a pants outfit.. No one's breasts were hanging out and they weren't teasing no one.. They were just two attractive sisters who were finding themselves being touched... Guys seemed to have a definite mean spiritness about them..
As a guy I questioned my manhood.. Was it me? Was I some sort of wimp that this disrespect was happening? I wanted to say something... but noticed a lot of guys were in groups... An these groups seemed to be itching for a fight.. A lopsided altercation was likely to definitely occur... And to be honest since I was rolling solo.. I wasn't quite prepared to be boxin' over someone who I barely knew...But it left me disturbed...I came to later find out that some of the perpetrators of these antics were fellow Bay Area rappers... some of who are supposed to be positive and all about keeping things real and positive... I noticed certain Bay Area record promoters... who clearly understand how much of a thin line hip hop performances are on.. yet they were out there poking and grabbing women and thinking things were funny.. I even saw one of our beloved 49er football players jump the fence and act ill... Yes, some of the guys were drunk.. But others just seemed to be on a mission.. and that mission was to make some one feel like crap.. .. Call it what you will but to me.. it's a new day and time folks and that night the Redman show reaffirmed the old adage a lot of us over the years have begun to adhere to.. 'Never bring your girl to a hip hop show.. if you do it's gonna be nothing but drama.'
This whole harassment thing has not been limited to the Redman Show... As I began to speak to women about this I'm finding this trend has been on the rise...Its been happening everywhere.. It was going on during the Eryakah Badu concert.., during the Juneteenth Festivals.. and numerous other large gatherings.. The thing that really hit home occurred the other week when the Pirate DJs held one of their famous 'Cream Of Beat' parties.. These underground gigs are the ultimate of hip hop jams.. They're known for being packed and pretty safe...People come from miles around to hear djs Mind Motion, Rolo 1-3, Joe Quixx and Ivan get loose on the turn tables and set things off. Very rarely are there any problems...I mean the Cream Of Beat gigs are the type of functions where folks who are really into music just go to groove. There's no dress code to stifle your style.. No oppressive security mad dogging and man handling folks.. These Pirate DJ gigs have long been the type of jams where a lot of females would roll solo because it had that type of positive vibe...
This particular Saturday seemed to be no different.. There was a line around the block to get in.. A couple hundred people were turned away..and the music was going on.. But there was a mean spirited under current in the air... Women were being touched and grabbed all night..Brothas were literally on some other stuff that night... they were going off...One male decided to take things to another level by actually taking his clothes off while dancing on a crowded stage.. He then started masturbating.. The look on his face was like.. 'I don't give a fuck what y'all bitches think.' You could tell he was trying to shock the women in the crowd...It was a while before security was able to stop him..
A trip to the ladies room or a walk around the club was like walking the gauntlet... As a male who attended with two female friends both I and they found it nerve racking because of all the touching and grabbin'.. As I walked with my friends through the club, I found myself making eye contact with each guy I passed while trying to watch everyone's hands as I walked through the crowd from one place to the other... Most seemed to get the hint and showed a little respect... But the respect was more toward me and not the women... Their mindset was bent on grabbing any female ass that walked by.. and inspite of my watchful eyes.. I saw as I passed through one group of guys after another.. there would be some bold bastard reaching out to cop a feel... If I stepped away to get a drink brothas would take it upon themselves to aggressively ask for the phone number...An uninvited arm would be placed around the shoulder.. and any sort of denial to either dance or come up with a phone number would be met with anger... Sometimes this anger would result in an insulting 'Fuck you bitch' type remark... other times it would result in a tighter squeeze around the neck or a hard tug on the arm.. I'm unfortunately hearing more and more stories about beat downs being handed out to those who refuse to come correct...
Two months ago during hip hop night at a Castro Valley Nite club a young woman was shot in the nose from a disgruntled male who she had refused to dance with... In another incident during a recent Uncle Luke Show in San Jose fools decided to tear the clothing off a female concert goer..This is unfortunately an increasing phenomenon...If females 'get out of hand' and 'don't respond accordingly' there's a good possibility she may find her clothing being torn off her body. During last year's 'riot' after an Oakland Dogg Pound concert several women found themselves victimized in this manner. Another patron who was intoxicated was gang banged in a rest room.. In fact this same thing happened several times during the last visit by Tha Dogg Pound.. If guys don't get their way.. If your not providing the type of attention they seek.. a female may find her clothing being torn right off her body... This sort of thing is then greeted by lots of gleeful laughter..
The other day I was talking with two young women... Sony(18) and Christina (17) about this topic.. Sony who happens to be sister to Sway who is one of the host of the internationally syndicated Wake Up Show,.... explained how several of her friends on more then one accassion have had guns pulled on them while resisting the advances of aggressive young men.. Sony noted that such events were not uncommon especially for a lot of kids her age who live ine projects.. She ssemed very unemotional and detached from this whole saga.. Sony also noted how when things get too far out of hand, that women have to be able and willing to physically confront those who step too roughly.. She talked about how her and her two girlfriends had to administer a 'beat down' to this guy who decided to punch her because she refused his advances... 'This is just the way it is'.. she explained non-chalantly..
Her and Christina, noted that they usually keep guys at bay by learning how to be clever and use psychology on a lot of guys.. In one instance a guy kept insisting on getting a phone number, inspite of Sony informing him that she had a boyfriend.. Finally, Sony charmingly noted if sahe his girlfriend.. she would never disrespect him by giving out her number to another guy... Hence she was just extending that same respect.. In this case the guy got the hint.. But not every female will be as clever as a Sony and her friend..
Going back to the Redman show..I noted some of the on stage antics of both Redman and the opening act the Alkaholiks... Both groups encouraged 'bitches' to take off their tops and expose themselves.. Both acts help set a tone that I think made it ripe for men to run around grabbin' women... Don't get me wrong I'm not some Delores Tucker type blaming all our social ills on hip hop...but right now.. I'm hearing a type of music and seeing a culture that seemingly goes out of its way to insult and degrade members of the opposite sex...There's no denying that hip hop has a major influence and we need to recognize this and help use this music and culture to bring about some sort of positive change...Keep in mind to a large degree hip hop like other forms of music has always been a barometer in which one can gage the current social climate.The significant aspect about hip hop is its rawness.. It's always straight with no camaflaging chasers..In other words you get a pretty clear view as to what's happening on certain social, political and economic fronts...
So what is the current social, political and economic climate and why is there so much disrespect going on?...Is this a Bay Area thing.. or a Cali thing? .. Or is it a generational thing..Is all this a result of gangsta rap? I'm not sure if its something that seems to be happening only with the brothas or is it crossing all ethnic lines ? Are there outside forces at work trying to create a division within the sexes..? ... I'm not even quite sure as to how this whole issue can be resolved...
In my opinion there seems to be a lot of anger directed females. I think a lot of it has to do with issues of power and control.. A lot of women who are growing up in todays hip hop generation are beginning to flip the script and adopt some of the scandalous ways that have long been associated with men.. In other words women are becoming players and macks too... More and more females are creeping with the same type of callousness and recklessness of their male counterparts..At the same time you have more and more men who finding themselves less confident and less sure themselves..as they are finding themselves being played just as often as women are...A lot of the fellas are findin' they can't take it and as a result are getting physical in an attempt to keep women in check.. All this is being reflected in the hip hop music we listen to.
I recall 8 years ago there was a rapper named Wanda Dee who to me was a precursor to the 'I'm a female playa' personas donned by Lil Kim and Foxy Brown..Wanda too me was unique in the sense that she was the first female I had ever seen within hip hop really play on her sexuality..Wanda was signed to Tuff City records which at the time was home to Mark The 45 King and Lakim Shabazz. In her single 'To The Bone' she boldly invites men to come 'divide her and slide into her'. Her cover depicted her wearing a tight leopard skin body suit and some scantly dressed muscle men standing behind her...I should add that Wanda was very attractive..During one of her first performances in New York.. she was literally booed off the stage as folks threw pennies at her.. People apparently weren't with the whole sexual thing..I recalled hearing comments to the effect that she was ruining hip hop by going in that direction..Nowadays a Lil Kim gets major props for wearing that same leopard skin outfit in posters while squatting. People show up to her concerts and have no problem watching her take her clothes off... 8 years ago she may have gotten booed off the stage...
I don't wanna get too side tracked with the whole Wanda Dee thing.. but what is interesting is that while Wanda was unceremoniously booed off stage.. the hip hop community never booed Luke or any of the numerous 'pimps, 'playas' and 'mack' types who were starting to emerge at that time. It unfortunately was one of the many contradictions and double standards that exist both within hip hop and society at large...It's ok for men to be overtly sexual but not ok for women... It's also ok for men to play the field and run all sorts of control games with females.. but lets not flip the script... A man is a true playa who posses major 'G' skills if he's able to manipulate sexual favors from females.. A woman on the other hand is a scandalous gold diggin' ho if she does the same thing. The fact that the 'playa', 'pimp' persona is accepted and considered credible on a street level is bad enough... What's been lost is the ability to accept rejection and to humbly deal with a defeat.. After all in the 90s everyone appears to be about playing games... and with game playing there are winners and losers.. It just seems like when a lot of men start to lose... they resort to violence.. It's not within their scope of 'manhood' to not have some sort of control over their female counterparts.
So today you have hip hop music that brazenly shows disdain for members of the opposite sex.. Men school folks on the scandalous ways of women and women show you how to work a male dominated system.. Outside the music arena you have a bunch of guys who are quite willing to knock out your teeth for not giving up a phone number or not agreeing to dance... If there some other forces at work some one please school me... 'cause I wanna see what we need to do to reverse this disturbing trend...
I'm not a psychologist or anything like that...But something seems to be dreadfully wrong when we within hip hop can justify and celebrate anti-social behavior all in the name of keepin' it real and boosting one's credibility. Something seems dreadfully wrong when positivity is all about being soft and preachy while negativity is all about being rough,rugged and authentic.. I'm not saying hip hop is the sole reason why there seems to be an increase in women being accosted..But as I said before it's had an influence...and we have to be honest as to what degree.. We have to be honest about our role as artists, consumers and industry folks... As a consumer we make a decision to by pass something positive to relish in some negative nonsense.. As artists we make decision to write about gats,guns, bitches and hos as opposed to societal and spiritual upliftment.. As industry folks we make decision not to sign, write about or play artists who are all about being positive.. Now I realize there are all sorts of economic justifications and lots of nicely packaged socio-political excuses for us moving in certain directions. All this boils down to individual actions and accountability.When Redman or the Alkaholiks are performing at a concert as they did the other week and they yell for 'all bitches to take off their shirts' We ideally should all consider the impact and the effect they have. Yeah, there are folks who will say 'hey it's just entertainment'. There are others who will conviently hide behind the reasoning that 'not all women are bitches' etc. There are others who will say that they are mature enough to listen to such talk and not act upon it.
If we follow that line of thinking then let's keep that in mind the next time some white boy wants to start yelling racial slurs... Remember we can all placate ourselves by saying... not all blacks are niggers... and not all jews are kikes, not all Latinos are spics and not all Asians are chinks etc... And also lets also keep in mind that if some ugly stereotype gets depicted on tv or comes across some other form of mass media..let it slide.. because after all, we should not fear anyone acting upon it or even believing it.. I think you get the point.
Because I'm in the music industry, I'm faced with the constant struggle of economics influencing the course of action we take. It's real easy to be idealistic and to put forth noble philosophies until it's you paying the bills.. And trust me that's real.. When one has a family to raise and you're no longer 18 years old with your whole life in front of you... principles and values get compromised quick.. That 'bitch and ho' record doesn't sound like such a bad idea when you got bills to pay or a job to keep. Let's face it.. sex and violence sells.. but it does not prevent us from striving to put forth alternative messages to hopefully balance things out... It doesn't prevent us all from planting seeds of positivity... and it doesn't prevent us from all trying to help bring about a conducive atmosphere for positive social change.
Of course economics is determined by supply and demand...Hence each of us have a hand and a say so as to why things are the way they are within hip hop..Folks will easily step over the new Vanilla Ice lp and say he's not about keepin' it real... While at the same time they'll financially support through a tape purchase some artist who is all about slappin' hos and knockin' 'niggas' out.. All of us are responsible for helping create that demand. because we support the supply..
Here's the bottom line in all that I'm saying.. Right now there's a problem within the hip hop generation.. Guys are beatin' down women at an alarming rate after being 'rejected'. Guys are becoming more and more disrespectful and showing a disdain for females.. We need to ideally figure out why and what we can all do to help turn this around.. Yes, there are lots of social and economic conditions that are helping shape this destructive behavior... And I'm saying certain facets of our hip hop culture are a part of the problem and could with a little bit of commitment and willingness to change be a part of the solution.My question is what's it gonna take? A better KRS-One album? A slicker Public Enemy video? What should each of us be doing?...cause things seem to be getting out of hand and look to be getting worse. There's an old saying that basically goes.. 'You can tell a lot about a society by the way it treats its women'.. Right now hip hop is treatin' it's women like crap.. Those of us reading this article may not be doing the actual slappin' of women but we're directly and indirectly supporting an environment, myself included, that allows this to continue. So I'm pushing the envelop and calling for a discussion.. what can we do to flip the script on this dreadful situation?
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Hip Hop And Funk..
When all is finally said and done , there will be quite a few things that folks will be able to say about hip hop music. First it was born out of the African American community and in many ways has managed to serve the role of the modern day griot. It has managed to be a reflection and statement of who we are and what we were about and like the West African griot who was charged with passing along the village history, customs and mores through songs and narratives [African Oral Tradition], hip hop has also managed to link generations and keep some of customs and mores alive..especially on the music tip.Folks may recall how rappers brought artists like James Brown and Donald Byrd back into the forefront of Black music during the mid 80s when their music was freely sampled in every which way, shape and form by literally hordes of artists. Back then folks may recall the commonly expressed sentiment that many ascribed too.."
if it wasn't for the rap artists James Brown would be unknown to the younger generation." And to a large degree there was a lot of truth in that statement, after all, at that time Black radio wasn't aggressively promoting a format in which they would highlight "classic" artists like Brown while maintaining their appeal to younger listeners... The result was many young white listeners being able tell you all about pop icons like the Beatles and Elvis while artists like Brown were relatively unknown to the young Black listener, at least until hip hop came along. It"s important to note all this because another facet about hip hop is that it allowed folks and still allows folks to build upon their musical past... The Brown sampling phenomenom in the mid-late 80s was the result of younger people reflecting their musical past. Most of the artist putting out records at this time were from New York and James Brown was not only an artist that mom and dad grooved to, but it was an artist that their older brothers and sisters grooved to in the late 70s when block parties were common place and hip hop was still in its embryo stages... The break beats that could be found within the grooves of James Brown records were the sounds that really set off these early hip hop jams.
So what does all this have to do with p-funk and its relationship to hip hop? Well one of the great things about hip hop is that it has always been an easily accessible form of expression with each participant being able to bring into the fold their own experiences and musical background So while brothers back east during the late 80s were building off their musical experiences involving James Brown and hip hop culture dating back to the late 70s, brothers out west who were just starting to release hip hop records were bringing a whole other set of musical experiences to the table. Much of it centered around artists like George Clinton, Bootsy Collins George Duke and Roger & Zapp to name a few. Simply put, brothers out west brought p-funk to the hip hop round table. Now upon reading this there are a lot of folks who are immediately gonna reach back into time and point to the p-funk style hip hop music of EPMD, especially since they dropped the '88 classic tune "You Gots To Chill" which looped the now infamous "More Bounce To The Ounce" beat. Many rap fans consider this jam to be the first record to incorporate a p-funk. sample. In addition, these same rap fans may be quick to point out that cuts like "Knee Deep" and "More Bounce To The Ounce" were staple items in a b-boy's record crates. Back in the days, many a dj cut up these tracks while an emcee flowed. And while it's safe to say that Erik & Parrish earned their spot in the history books with "You Gots To Chill", they weren't the first to utilize music from the p-funk treasure chests... In addition, EPMD's usage didn't reflect the special relation and love the San Francisco / Oakland Bay Area had for funk.
Ricky Vincent better known as the Uhuru Maggot is a Bay Area music historian who earned his stripes during the 80s for his radio work on KALX, UC Berkeley's college station... and can now be heard every Friday on KPFA 94.1 FM... Vincent has not only chronolized funk music through his History Of Funk radio shows, but he has written his doctorate thesis on the genre..and has now just penned a book for St Martin's Press with an intro from George Clinton himself. This work will undoubtly be a definitive and comprehensive work on this facet of Black music... In a recent interview where Vincent was asked about the Bay Area's love for funk and its relationship to hip hop, he broke things down and explained that there has always been a deep seeded love affair with -funk ..He noted that George Clinton has always claimed there was something 'heavy' about the Bay Area funkateers.. Vincent noted that so involved was that relationship that Clinton recorded part of his live album "P-Funk Earth Tour" right here at the Oakland Coliseum.
Nowadays if you ask most people to give a definition of "rap", they're likely to state that it's the reciting of rhymes to the best of music. It's a form of expression that finds its roots imbedded deep within ancient African culture and oral tradition. Throughout history here in America there has always been some form of verbal acrobatics or jousting involving rhymes within the Afro-American community. Signifying, testifying, Shining of the Titanic, the Dozens, school yard rhymes, prison 'jail house' rhymes and double Dutch jump rope' rhymes are some of the names and ways that various forms of rap have manifested.
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Why Should Color Matter?
I have received numerous e-mails, phone calls, etc, about Eminem and the debate over his meteoric rise to stardom. Here is my viewpoint. Please feel free to reprint this in your magazine, mass e-mail, newsletter, whatever as it is meant to provoke thought and discussion. I hope you will read it and think on the points and please write back with your insights:
The Eminem debate has become tiring and useless to the hip-hop community. The fact is that Eminem is white. Another fact is that he will benefit from his color. So what? Neither of these circumstances are of Eminem's choosing and he could not change either if he decided to try. It is a sad statement to the American condition that color still matters. It is an even sadder statement to the condition of the hip-hop community that we cannot see past this societal conditioning even as we universally acknowledge its presence.
Eminem benefits from his color. However, understand that black artists have benefitted from their color for years in terms of record sales. How many fake gangsters, pimps, and hustlers have we heard on records that went multi-platinum. If a white artist were behind the same records they wouldn't have sold five copies. For instance, if Snoop Dogg were white, "Doggystyle" wouldn't have sold. The reason behind this is that it is somehow accepted as authentic when a black artist speaks of the trials and tribulations of an inner-city gangster, even if that artist has never set foot within the confines of an American metropolis. To my mind, this is tenfold more disturbing then the fact that Eminem is lauded as the great white emcee.
Why do we accept the manner in which black artists are given universal credibility as urban story-tellers? Are all blacks poor? Are all blacks gangsters? Are all blacks pimps, hustlers, con-artists, living in the dirtiests slums, prepared to sell their mama for a rock, urban dwellers? If not, then why do we accept any black artist who tells these tales as authentic. If these presuppositions are untrue for the large majority of black Americans then we should be incensed that these stereotypes are accepted as given fact as black artists consistently put them on records. Unfortunately, no one argues that these fake gangsters are benefitting from their skin-color. They are consistently applauded for keeping it real, or telling it how it is, even by people living hundred of miles from the nearest urban center who have no idea what it's like to grow up in an American city.
Eminem has and will continue to cross-over to an alternative, suburban white community that has always played spectator to the largely urban black phenomenon of hip-hop. True, these kids have emulated, imitated, duplicated, and replicated hip-hop culture in the process diluting and mutating its meaning. The cause behind this is that they have never been allowed to participate on a large scale in order to develop an adequate understanding of the foundations of hip-hop culture. In the same way blacks universally rallied to Jackie Robinson, even if they didn't like baseball, because he represented their opportunity to participate in something that had been denied them. Eminem makes white suburban participation in hip-hop possible and these kids, who genuinely love the music, will latch onto his music and his image like no previous suburban hip-hop icon.
Eminem will also benefit from the same mindset that allows white people who hate hip-hop to have Cypress Hill and The Beastie Boys programmed in their CD player. These people don't understand and never will understand the important cultural role of hip-hop because hip-hop music, or music in general, does not hold the cultural importance to the majority of suburban kids (black, white, etc.) that it does to inner-city blacks, whites, and latinos. Hip-hop is an urban form of expression. It is predominantly a black form of expression, but don't mistake predominantly to mean solely. As those who were there at the beginning will tell you there were whites and latinos at those early block parties as well as blacks.
What disturbs me the most is that we have become so obsessed with Eminem's skin-color that we have largely ignored the greater issue of why skin-color matters in hip-hop. Why do we care about the color of our favorite or least-favorite MC's skin? If Eminem is a dope MC, as he was called almost without dissent before he blew-up, then why do we now all of a sudden take exception to his skin-color? Eminem is not guilty of stealing or copying a culture. His skill demonstrates his sincere appreciation for the art-form of MCing. His skill reflects the hours upon hours of practice and work he has put into being an MC. If you take offense to his content then you have to take equal offense to the multitude of black artists who have similar if not more offensive content. I know a young music director at an underground station in Atlanta who has refused to play Eminem's music while at the same time seeing no contradiction in playing Mobb Deep, Noreaga, Jay Z, (insert your favorite thug-rapper here), etc. Do her motives reflect her sincere consciousness and concern for the content of her programming or do they reflect a deeply embedded bigotry which she probably doesn't even fully comprehend?
Unfortunately, Eminem is being treated to the same types of blind bigotry that pioneering blacks such as Jackie Robinson, Joe Lewis, The Tuskeegee Airmen, etc. were shown. The people concentrating so intensely on Eminem's color are feeding the hatred, bigotry, and racism, that hip-hop at its best destroys. The reason hip-hop was able to weaken the gang culture of New York prevalent at its onset was precisely because it was all-inclusive. Hip-hop embraced people and that is why people of all races flocked to it.
Urban black youth played the predominant role in the creation and development of hip-hop. That is a wonderful and historically noteworthy achievement, but you cannot logically conclude that since blacks created hip-hop, blacks should be the sole keepers and producers of hip-hop. By that thinking, we would have no Michael Jordan, Willie Mays, Joe Lewis, Muhammed Ali, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, etc., etc., etc. Follow my meaning...A white man invented basketball and yet Michael Jordan perfected it. A white man invented baseball and yet Willie Mays played it to a level seldom reached before or since. A white man invented boxing and yet Muhammed Ali can legitimately call himself "The Greatest". A white man invented the system of justice in the United States and yet Thurgood Marshall stands as one of the most accomplished Supreme Court justices in history. A white man invented the bus and yet Rosa Parks shook a nation with her refusal to move on that bus. Applying the same standard to hip-hop, we see that there is considerable room in hip-hop for the contributions of people from all nationalities, races, and cultures.
I personally have grown to dislike Eminem's lyrics. I recognize that he is a very skilled MC, but for the same reasons that I cannot watch a whole episode of Jerry Springer I cannot listen to Eminem's whole album and enjoy the experience. Personally, this is because I have gotten older and am no longer so enamored with the gruesome, the outrageous, or the outlandish. In addition, it is because I have grown much more conscious and spiritual over the past year or two. I do not personally listen to a great many emcees whom others load with accolades. Jay Z, Noreaga, Black Rob, most of Nas' material, No Limit, Cash Money, Cage, etc., etc., etc. have joined Eminem on the list of artists who I don't listen to at home. I don't care for these artists music for a variety of reasons, but none of them have to do with their skin. Can you say the same
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Black Culture & Hip-Hop:One & the Same?
People seem to attribute Hip-Hop's success among the masses due to the assumed fact that Hip-Hop is black culture. It's a mistake that I can understand, since most of the faces one sees involved in Hip-Hop seem to be of African-American descent. But then again, when you watch the television, you don't see much Hip-Hop, or even rap. Only BET and MTV will play rap videos, and it's not like they've got real Hip-Hop on these two channels twenty-four- seven. So, when the casual observer walks along the "Rap/Hip-Hop/R&B" section of their local branch of Camelot, Sam Goody, or K-Mart, all they seem to see are black faces. Therefore, it's only natural for the casual observer to think that Hip-Hop is black culture.
I'm here today to challenge this myth. And that's precisely what it is: a false myth. Sure, most of the exposed rap artists and emcees out there are African-American, but what about the DJs? What about the graff writers out there? What about the b-boys and b-girls out there? What about all the people who respect the culture and follow it and love it? What about the people who contribute to Hip-Hop magazines and newsletters? What about all the people who read that damn shit? If one could count all those people, one could easily see that Hip-Hop isn't black culture. Rather, Hip-Hop is a part of black culture and Hop's universal, dammit! It's fuckin' universal because members of practically every society out there's rockin' to this shit!! I wouldn't be surprised if some X-Files case out in the cosmos is listening to some Invisible Skratch Piklz right now.
It didn't start out as black culture, either, because Hip-Hop has always been its own culture. Let me say that shit again, just in case you didn't catch that. Hip-Hop has always been its own culture. Not all of the fathers and godfathers of Hip-Hop were African-American. The original breakers were black and hispanic. The first graff writer, Taki, was Greek. Speaking of graff, Seen isn't black. I could go on and on, but it would be quite long and boring, so I'll just stop here with my point that Hip-Hop was composed of different races, different ethnic groups, different styles, and different cultures. Hip-Hop still is composed of all these things, as well as different age groups, different nationalities, and straight up different people.
So can you see why people into Hip-Hop aren't "acting black"? Can you see why people need to know the truth rather than spread the myth? African- American culture is different from Hip-Hop, although the two do have a relation. Asian-American culture is different from Hip-Hop, although the two do have a relation. Hispanic-American culture.... etc. You know what I'm trying to say. Hip-Hop is its own culture, so don't mix it with any other. Peace to all my Hip-Hop brothers and sisters. Support Hip-Hop unity.
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How Do We Treat Our WomenWithin Hip Hop?
The other week the Bay Area was treated to what was shapin' up to be one of the hypest concerts of the year.. Redman was comin' to town....and last time he rolled through things were off the hook. There was a lot of promotion surrounding the show... Lots of ticket giveaways...There was even a whole weekend dedicated to spotlighting the Redman Show... One of the things that struck me most was the number of women clamoring for tickets.. I'm not talking hoochie mommas or hip hop groupies... I'm talking regular everyday intelligent, good looking women who you would never think were into hip hop were making plans to go see Redman...
The show for the most part was energetic.. Redman proved to be a charismatic character on stage...However, there was something undermining the show...Everywhere I looked I saw women being disrespected... It was something you probably wouldn't have noticed on the surface.. but if you were with a woman or you actually took time to speak to one during the show you would've most likely seen what is rapidly becoming a disturbing trend.. Women were being grabbed and consistently accosted.. I happen to run into two women who stopped to chat with me and for the next 15 minutes everyone who walked by made it a point to grab their asses or poke some other body part.. It didn't matter that I was standing there talking with them.. It could've been my girl or my sister or in this case two listeners.. Brothas didn't care.. they were brazen and would just come and disrespect... Some would lean over and whisper in their ears right in front of me.. 'Baby let me get that number.. you don't need to be around him..'.. Others would just simply let their hand linger and rub across their body.. either their chest or ass... Neither one of these women were provacatively dressed.. One had a sun dress.. the other had a pants outfit.. No one's breasts were hanging out and they weren't teasing no one.. They were just two attractive sisters who were finding themselves being touched... Guys seemed to have a definite mean spiritness about them..
As a guy I questioned my manhood.. Was it me? Was I some sort of wimp that this disrespect was happening? I wanted to say something... but noticed a lot of guys were in groups... An these groups seemed to be itching for a fight.. A lopsided altercation was likely to definitely occur... And to be honest since I was rolling solo.. I wasn't quite prepared to be boxin' over someone who I barely knew...But it left me disturbed...I came to later find out that some of the perpetrators of these antics were fellow Bay Area rappers... some of who are supposed to be positive and all about keeping things real and positive... I noticed certain Bay Area record promoters... who clearly understand how much of a thin line hip hop performances are on.. yet they were out there poking and grabbing women and thinking things were funny.. I even saw one of our beloved 49er football players jump the fence and act ill... Yes, some of the guys were drunk.. But others just seemed to be on a mission.. and that mission was to make some one feel like crap.. .. Call it what you will but to me.. it's a new day and time folks and that night the Redman show reaffirmed the old adage a lot of us over the years have begun to adhere to.. 'Never bring your girl to a hip hop show.. if you do it's gonna be nothing but drama.'
This whole harassment thing has not been limited to the Redman Show... As I began to speak to women about this I'm finding this trend has been on the rise...Its been happening everywhere.. It was going on during the Eryakah Badu concert.., during the Juneteenth Festivals.. and numerous other large gatherings.. The thing that really hit home occurred the other week when the Pirate DJs held one of their famous 'Cream Of Beat' parties.. These underground gigs are the ultimate of hip hop jams.. They're known for being packed and pretty safe...People come from miles around to hear djs Mind Motion, Rolo 1-3, Joe Quixx and Ivan get loose on the turn tables and set things off. Very rarely are there any problems...I mean the Cream Of Beat gigs are the type of functions where folks who are really into music just go to groove. There's no dress code to stifle your style.. No oppressive security mad dogging and man handling folks.. These Pirate DJ gigs have long been the type of jams where a lot of females would roll solo because it had that type of positive vibe...
This particular Saturday seemed to be no different.. There was a line around the block to get in.. A couple hundred people were turned away..and the music was going on.. But there was a mean spirited under current in the air... Women were being touched and grabbed all night..Brothas were literally on some other stuff that night... they were going off...One male decided to take things to another level by actually taking his clothes off while dancing on a crowded stage.. He then started masturbating.. The look on his face was like.. 'I don't give a fuck what y'all bitches think.' You could tell he was trying to shock the women in the crowd...It was a while before security was able to stop him..
A trip to the ladies room or a walk around the club was like walking the gauntlet... As a male who attended with two female friends both I and they found it nerve racking because of all the touching and grabbin'.. As I walked with my friends through the club, I found myself making eye contact with each guy I passed while trying to watch everyone's hands as I walked through the crowd from one place to the other... Most seemed to get the hint and showed a little respect... But the respect was more toward me and not the women... Their mindset was bent on grabbing any female ass that walked by.. and inspite of my watchful eyes.. I saw as I passed through one group of guys after another.. there would be some bold bastard reaching out to cop a feel... If I stepped away to get a drink brothas would take it upon themselves to aggressively ask for the phone number...An uninvited arm would be placed around the shoulder.. and any sort of denial to either dance or come up with a phone number would be met with anger... Sometimes this anger would result in an insulting 'Fuck you bitch' type remark... other times it would result in a tighter squeeze around the neck or a hard tug on the arm.. I'm unfortunately hearing more and more stories about beat downs being handed out to those who refuse to come correct...
Two months ago during hip hop night at a Castro Valley Nite club a young woman was shot in the nose from a disgruntled male who she had refused to dance with... In another incident during a recent Uncle Luke Show in San Jose fools decided to tear the clothing off a female concert goer..This is unfortunately an increasing phenomenon...If females 'get out of hand' and 'don't respond accordingly' there's a good possibility she may find her clothing being torn off her body. During last year's 'riot' after an Oakland Dogg Pound concert several women found themselves victimized in this manner. Another patron who was intoxicated was gang banged in a rest room.. In fact this same thing happened several times during the last visit by Tha Dogg Pound.. If guys don't get their way.. If your not providing the type of attention they seek.. a female may find her clothing being torn right off her body... This sort of thing is then greeted by lots of gleeful laughter..
The other day I was talking with two young women... Sony(18) and Christina (17) about this topic.. Sony who happens to be sister to Sway who is one of the host of the internationally syndicated Wake Up Show,.... explained how several of her friends on more then one accassion have had guns pulled on them while resisting the advances of aggressive young men.. Sony noted that such events were not uncommon especially for a lot of kids her age who live ine projects.. She ssemed very unemotional and detached from this whole saga.. Sony also noted how when things get too far out of hand, that women have to be able and willing to physically confront those who step too roughly.. She talked about how her and her two girlfriends had to administer a 'beat down' to this guy who decided to punch her because she refused his advances... 'This is just the way it is'.. she explained non-chalantly..
Her and Christina, noted that they usually keep guys at bay by learning how to be clever and use psychology on a lot of guys.. In one instance a guy kept insisting on getting a phone number, inspite of Sony informing him that she had a boyfriend.. Finally, Sony charmingly noted if sahe his girlfriend.. she would never disrespect him by giving out her number to another guy... Hence she was just extending that same respect.. In this case the guy got the hint.. But not every female will be as clever as a Sony and her friend..
Going back to the Redman show..I noted some of the on stage antics of both Redman and the opening act the Alkaholiks... Both groups encouraged 'bitches' to take off their tops and expose themselves.. Both acts help set a tone that I think made it ripe for men to run around grabbin' women... Don't get me wrong I'm not some Delores Tucker type blaming all our social ills on hip hop...but right now.. I'm hearing a type of music and seeing a culture that seemingly goes out of its way to insult and degrade members of the opposite sex...There's no denying that hip hop has a major influence and we need to recognize this and help use this music and culture to bring about some sort of positive change...Keep in mind to a large degree hip hop like other forms of music has always been a barometer in which one can gage the current social climate.The significant aspect about hip hop is its rawness.. It's always straight with no camaflaging chasers..In other words you get a pretty clear view as to what's happening on certain social, political and economic fronts...
So what is the current social, political and economic climate and why is there so much disrespect going on?...Is this a Bay Area thing.. or a Cali thing? .. Or is it a generational thing..Is all this a result of gangsta rap? I'm not sure if its something that seems to be happening only with the brothas or is it crossing all ethnic lines ? Are there outside forces at work trying to create a division within the sexes..? ... I'm not even quite sure as to how this whole issue can be resolved...
In my opinion there seems to be a lot of anger directed females. I think a lot of it has to do with issues of power and control.. A lot of women who are growing up in todays hip hop generation are beginning to flip the script and adopt some of the scandalous ways that have long been associated with men.. In other words women are becoming players and macks too... More and more females are creeping with the same type of callousness and recklessness of their male counterparts..At the same time you have more and more men who finding themselves less confident and less sure themselves..as they are finding themselves being played just as often as women are...A lot of the fellas are findin' they can't take it and as a result are getting physical in an attempt to keep women in check.. All this is being reflected in the hip hop music we listen to.
I recall 8 years ago there was a rapper named Wanda Dee who to me was a precursor to the 'I'm a female playa' personas donned by Lil Kim and Foxy Brown..Wanda too me was unique in the sense that she was the first female I had ever seen within hip hop really play on her sexuality..Wanda was signed to Tuff City records which at the time was home to Mark The 45 King and Lakim Shabazz. In her single 'To The Bone' she boldly invites men to come 'divide her and slide into her'. Her cover depicted her wearing a tight leopard skin body suit and some scantly dressed muscle men standing behind her...I should add that Wanda was very attractive..During one of her first performances in New York.. she was literally booed off the stage as folks threw pennies at her.. People apparently weren't with the whole sexual thing..I recalled hearing comments to the effect that she was ruining hip hop by going in that direction..Nowadays a Lil Kim gets major props for wearing that same leopard skin outfit in posters while squatting. People show up to her concerts and have no problem watching her take her clothes off... 8 years ago she may have gotten booed off the stage...
I don't wanna get too side tracked with the whole Wanda Dee thing.. but what is interesting is that while Wanda was unceremoniously booed off stage.. the hip hop community never booed Luke or any of the numerous 'pimps, 'playas' and 'mack' types who were starting to emerge at that time. It unfortunately was one of the many contradictions and double standards that exist both within hip hop and society at large...It's ok for men to be overtly sexual but not ok for women... It's also ok for men to play the field and run all sorts of control games with females.. but lets not flip the script... A man is a true playa who posses major 'G' skills if he's able to manipulate sexual favors from females.. A woman on the other hand is a scandalous gold diggin' ho if she does the same thing. The fact that the 'playa', 'pimp' persona is accepted and considered credible on a street level is bad enough... What's been lost is the ability to accept rejection and to humbly deal with a defeat.. After all in the 90s everyone appears to be about playing games... and with game playing there are winners and losers.. It just seems like when a lot of men start to lose... they resort to violence.. It's not within their scope of 'manhood' to not have some sort of control over their female counterparts.
So today you have hip hop music that brazenly shows disdain for members of the opposite sex.. Men school folks on the scandalous ways of women and women show you how to work a male dominated system.. Outside the music arena you have a bunch of guys who are quite willing to knock out your teeth for not giving up a phone number or not agreeing to dance... If there some other forces at work some one please school me... 'cause I wanna see what we need to do to reverse this disturbing trend...
I'm not a psychologist or anything like that...But something seems to be dreadfully wrong when we within hip hop can justify and celebrate anti-social behavior all in the name of keepin' it real and boosting one's credibility. Something seems dreadfully wrong when positivity is all about being soft and preachy while negativity is all about being rough,rugged and authentic.. I'm not saying hip hop is the sole reason why there seems to be an increase in women being accosted..But as I said before it's had an influence...and we have to be honest as to what degree.. We have to be honest about our role as artists, consumers and industry folks... As a consumer we make a decision to by pass something positive to relish in some negative nonsense.. As artists we make decision to write about gats,guns, bitches and hos as opposed to societal and spiritual upliftment.. As industry folks we make decision not to sign, write about or play artists who are all about being positive.. Now I realize there are all sorts of economic justifications and lots of nicely packaged socio-political excuses for us moving in certain directions. All this boils down to individual actions and accountability.When Redman or the Alkaholiks are performing at a concert as they did the other week and they yell for 'all bitches to take off their shirts' We ideally should all consider the impact and the effect they have. Yeah, there are folks who will say 'hey it's just entertainment'. There are others who will conviently hide behind the reasoning that 'not all women are bitches' etc. There are others who will say that they are mature enough to listen to such talk and not act upon it.
If we follow that line of thinking then let's keep that in mind the next time some white boy wants to start yelling racial slurs... Remember we can all placate ourselves by saying... not all blacks are niggers... and not all jews are kikes, not all Latinos are spics and not all Asians are chinks etc... And also lets also keep in mind that if some ugly stereotype gets depicted on tv or comes across some other form of mass media..let it slide.. because after all, we should not fear anyone acting upon it or even believing it.. I think you get the point.
Because I'm in the music industry, I'm faced with the constant struggle of economics influencing the course of action we take. It's real easy to be idealistic and to put forth noble philosophies until it's you paying the bills.. And trust me that's real.. When one has a family to raise and you're no longer 18 years old with your whole life in front of you... principles and values get compromised quick.. That 'bitch and ho' record doesn't sound like such a bad idea when you got bills to pay or a job to keep. Let's face it.. sex and violence sells.. but it does not prevent us from striving to put forth alternative messages to hopefully balance things out... It doesn't prevent us all from planting seeds of positivity... and it doesn't prevent us from all trying to help bring about a conducive atmosphere for positive social change.
Of course economics is determined by supply and demand...Hence each of us have a hand and a say so as to why things are the way they are within hip hop..Folks will easily step over the new Vanilla Ice lp and say he's not about keepin' it real... While at the same time they'll financially support through a tape purchase some artist who is all about slappin' hos and knockin' 'niggas' out.. All of us are responsible for helping create that demand. because we support the supply..
Here's the bottom line in all that I'm saying.. Right now there's a problem within the hip hop generation.. Guys are beatin' down women at an alarming rate after being 'rejected'. Guys are becoming more and more disrespectful and showing a disdain for females.. We need to ideally figure out why and what we can all do to help turn this around.. Yes, there are lots of social and economic conditions that are helping shape this destructive behavior... And I'm saying certain facets of our hip hop culture are a part of the problem and could with a little bit of commitment and willingness to change be a part of the solution.My question is what's it gonna take? A better KRS-One album? A slicker Public Enemy video? What should each of us be doing?...cause things seem to be getting out of hand and look to be getting worse. There's an old saying that basically goes.. 'You can tell a lot about a society by the way it treats its women'.. Right now hip hop is treatin' it's women like crap.. Those of us reading this article may not be doing the actual slappin' of women but we're directly and indirectly supporting an environment, myself included, that allows this to continue. So I'm pushing the envelop and calling for a discussion.. what can we do to flip the script on this dreadful situation?
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Hip Hop And Funk..
When all is finally said and done , there will be quite a few things that folks will be able to say about hip hop music. First it was born out of the African American community and in many ways has managed to serve the role of the modern day griot. It has managed to be a reflection and statement of who we are and what we were about and like the West African griot who was charged with passing along the village history, customs and mores through songs and narratives [African Oral Tradition], hip hop has also managed to link generations and keep some of customs and mores alive..especially on the music tip.Folks may recall how rappers brought artists like James Brown and Donald Byrd back into the forefront of Black music during the mid 80s when their music was freely sampled in every which way, shape and form by literally hordes of artists. Back then folks may recall the commonly expressed sentiment that many ascribed too.."
if it wasn't for the rap artists James Brown would be unknown to the younger generation." And to a large degree there was a lot of truth in that statement, after all, at that time Black radio wasn't aggressively promoting a format in which they would highlight "classic" artists like Brown while maintaining their appeal to younger listeners... The result was many young white listeners being able tell you all about pop icons like the Beatles and Elvis while artists like Brown were relatively unknown to the young Black listener, at least until hip hop came along. It"s important to note all this because another facet about hip hop is that it allowed folks and still allows folks to build upon their musical past... The Brown sampling phenomenom in the mid-late 80s was the result of younger people reflecting their musical past. Most of the artist putting out records at this time were from New York and James Brown was not only an artist that mom and dad grooved to, but it was an artist that their older brothers and sisters grooved to in the late 70s when block parties were common place and hip hop was still in its embryo stages... The break beats that could be found within the grooves of James Brown records were the sounds that really set off these early hip hop jams.
So what does all this have to do with p-funk and its relationship to hip hop? Well one of the great things about hip hop is that it has always been an easily accessible form of expression with each participant being able to bring into the fold their own experiences and musical background So while brothers back east during the late 80s were building off their musical experiences involving James Brown and hip hop culture dating back to the late 70s, brothers out west who were just starting to release hip hop records were bringing a whole other set of musical experiences to the table. Much of it centered around artists like George Clinton, Bootsy Collins George Duke and Roger & Zapp to name a few. Simply put, brothers out west brought p-funk to the hip hop round table. Now upon reading this there are a lot of folks who are immediately gonna reach back into time and point to the p-funk style hip hop music of EPMD, especially since they dropped the '88 classic tune "You Gots To Chill" which looped the now infamous "More Bounce To The Ounce" beat. Many rap fans consider this jam to be the first record to incorporate a p-funk. sample. In addition, these same rap fans may be quick to point out that cuts like "Knee Deep" and "More Bounce To The Ounce" were staple items in a b-boy's record crates. Back in the days, many a dj cut up these tracks while an emcee flowed. And while it's safe to say that Erik & Parrish earned their spot in the history books with "You Gots To Chill", they weren't the first to utilize music from the p-funk treasure chests... In addition, EPMD's usage didn't reflect the special relation and love the San Francisco / Oakland Bay Area had for funk.
Ricky Vincent better known as the Uhuru Maggot is a Bay Area music historian who earned his stripes during the 80s for his radio work on KALX, UC Berkeley's college station... and can now be heard every Friday on KPFA 94.1 FM... Vincent has not only chronolized funk music through his History Of Funk radio shows, but he has written his doctorate thesis on the genre..and has now just penned a book for St Martin's Press with an intro from George Clinton himself. This work will undoubtly be a definitive and comprehensive work on this facet of Black music... In a recent interview where Vincent was asked about the Bay Area's love for funk and its relationship to hip hop, he broke things down and explained that there has always been a deep seeded love affair with -funk ..He noted that George Clinton has always claimed there was something 'heavy' about the Bay Area funkateers.. Vincent noted that so involved was that relationship that Clinton recorded part of his live album "P-Funk Earth Tour" right here at the Oakland Coliseum.
Michael Jackson
New Michael Jackson Album To Be Slightly Black Eyed Peas-y
There's a saying that goes "nothing is certain but death and taxes," but to that we say 'pah!' Surely the real saying is "nothing is certain but death, taxes and Michael Jackson never releasing an album when he says he will".
Because for the last five or so years, Michael Jackson has been constantly making promises about bringing out all kinds on confusing music but nothing ever materialises from them. But this time perhaps Michael Jackson really is going to be releasing a new album soon - he's been recording some songs with Will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas at his new home in Ireland, according to reports. And we don't know about you, but we're using this intervening time to fully steel our minds against the prospect of listening to Michael Jackson sing a song about his "humps."
Michael Jackson's last album - or at least Michael Jackson's last album that wasn't yet another lazily-compiled Greatest Hits repackage - came out in 2001. It's been quite a ride for Michael Jackson since then, with highlights including getting sued by his ex-wife, getting sued by his vet, making giraffes slosh about in blood jacuzzis and that whole child molesting thing. It's long been on Michael Jackson's mind to get over these events by making a musical comeback, but how?
The Michael Jackson Hurricane Katrina single never got off the ground nor, sadly, did the Michael Jackson album of duets with the Pope. Then there was the nonexistent Michael Jackson/ Westlife collaboration, but that's something we're less bothered about. But what about a new Michael Jackson album proper? At first Michael was recording an album with a Bahrain record label - and moonlighting on 50 Cent mixtapes - but that deal fell through, and we thought that any hope of a new Michael Jackson album died with it.
How wrong we were. Now it transpires that, days before he makes his first public appearance in Britain for years, Michael Jackson has been slaving away working on new tracks with Will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas, as FemaleFirst reports:
The eccentric singer invited the rapper-producer to join him in a recording studio in Ireland to work on some tracks for the forthcoming LP. Jackson, 48, told TV show Access Hollywood: "I like what he is doing and thought it would be interesting to collaborate or just see how the chemistry worked. I think he's doing wonderful, innovative, positive, great music."… Jackson said: "I am always writing a potpourri of music. I want to give the world escapism through the wonder of great music and to reach the masses."
It'd be deeply foolish of us to try and second guess the music that is created when two musical masterminds like Michael Jackson and Will.i.am hit each other head on, but we suspect that any new Michael Jackson performances will see him singing over the top of the Reservoir Dogs theme-tune for a while and then pissing all down his pants.
There's a saying that goes "nothing is certain but death and taxes," but to that we say 'pah!' Surely the real saying is "nothing is certain but death, taxes and Michael Jackson never releasing an album when he says he will".
Because for the last five or so years, Michael Jackson has been constantly making promises about bringing out all kinds on confusing music but nothing ever materialises from them. But this time perhaps Michael Jackson really is going to be releasing a new album soon - he's been recording some songs with Will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas at his new home in Ireland, according to reports. And we don't know about you, but we're using this intervening time to fully steel our minds against the prospect of listening to Michael Jackson sing a song about his "humps."
Michael Jackson's last album - or at least Michael Jackson's last album that wasn't yet another lazily-compiled Greatest Hits repackage - came out in 2001. It's been quite a ride for Michael Jackson since then, with highlights including getting sued by his ex-wife, getting sued by his vet, making giraffes slosh about in blood jacuzzis and that whole child molesting thing. It's long been on Michael Jackson's mind to get over these events by making a musical comeback, but how?
The Michael Jackson Hurricane Katrina single never got off the ground nor, sadly, did the Michael Jackson album of duets with the Pope. Then there was the nonexistent Michael Jackson/ Westlife collaboration, but that's something we're less bothered about. But what about a new Michael Jackson album proper? At first Michael was recording an album with a Bahrain record label - and moonlighting on 50 Cent mixtapes - but that deal fell through, and we thought that any hope of a new Michael Jackson album died with it.
How wrong we were. Now it transpires that, days before he makes his first public appearance in Britain for years, Michael Jackson has been slaving away working on new tracks with Will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas, as FemaleFirst reports:
The eccentric singer invited the rapper-producer to join him in a recording studio in Ireland to work on some tracks for the forthcoming LP. Jackson, 48, told TV show Access Hollywood: "I like what he is doing and thought it would be interesting to collaborate or just see how the chemistry worked. I think he's doing wonderful, innovative, positive, great music."… Jackson said: "I am always writing a potpourri of music. I want to give the world escapism through the wonder of great music and to reach the masses."
It'd be deeply foolish of us to try and second guess the music that is created when two musical masterminds like Michael Jackson and Will.i.am hit each other head on, but we suspect that any new Michael Jackson performances will see him singing over the top of the Reservoir Dogs theme-tune for a while and then pissing all down his pants.
Atif Aslam
Tell us about your involvement in Kalyug and how it came through?
Atif Aslam:It was because of Mahesh Bhatt. He had already used my song in his movie, Zeher and he had heard 'Aadat' before. So he was inclined to it in his next film. He invited me over and I went to record it in one of the best studios in India.
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But the version you recorded for the movie was in complete contrast to the original one. What do you have to say about that?
Atif Aslam: One has to understand that the Indian market caters to a completely different audience. This is why changes are made to the songs, which are used in a Bollywood movie. They have a market for filmi music, which has a different sound and is nothing like our pop music. Pakistan has its own market. We appreciate pop music and that's why our pop industry is bigger. The lyrics and the melody of 'Aadat' had to be changed – in the original version there is no chorus but in the Kalyug version, there is. Now you see that it's a big hit already and if I hadn't done it, it wouldn't have been a hit
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The soundtrack has the original version of 'Aadat' as well, why is it there then?
Atif Aslam: No one listens to that version. Everyone listens to the version I recorded. Just to save them from controversy, they wrote, 'music by Jal and singer Atif Aslam'. As I said, they have a different taste in music and that's what they like. I also wanted to test my talents as a playback singer and this is another reason I went ahead to record the song. Various music directors have listened to it and they have all appreciated it.
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But you are representing Bollywood when you sing for them. Don't you think that you should have an upper hand when it comes to music, as it is your music?
Atif Aslam: In a country like Pakistan, there is very little exposure for a singer, and we all want to venture into a bigger market. India is that market for us. The media coverage, the presence and publicity is all on a global scale there. By the grace of God I had an offer from there and at that point in time, I was just 22 years old. Do you think a twenty two year old kid who has just started his music career would say no to a big Bollywood producer who is offering him to include his song in the movie? Isn't this an honour?
-----What do you think is the difference between Indian market as compared to Pakistani market?
Gohar Mumtaz Bollywood films and their music dominates the Indian market. But at the same time, they don't have a pop industry. On the other hand, our pop music is explosive, melodious and distinct. And even though, filmi music will always have a bigger share in the Indian market, Pakistani pop music is finding it's way there
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What about your new album?
Gohar Mumtaz We're working on it. Soon we're going to go into studios and hopefully sometime, this year, our new album will be out, which will be bigger and better than Aadat.
Atif Aslam:It was because of Mahesh Bhatt. He had already used my song in his movie, Zeher and he had heard 'Aadat' before. So he was inclined to it in his next film. He invited me over and I went to record it in one of the best studios in India.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But the version you recorded for the movie was in complete contrast to the original one. What do you have to say about that?
Atif Aslam: One has to understand that the Indian market caters to a completely different audience. This is why changes are made to the songs, which are used in a Bollywood movie. They have a market for filmi music, which has a different sound and is nothing like our pop music. Pakistan has its own market. We appreciate pop music and that's why our pop industry is bigger. The lyrics and the melody of 'Aadat' had to be changed – in the original version there is no chorus but in the Kalyug version, there is. Now you see that it's a big hit already and if I hadn't done it, it wouldn't have been a hit
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The soundtrack has the original version of 'Aadat' as well, why is it there then?
Atif Aslam: No one listens to that version. Everyone listens to the version I recorded. Just to save them from controversy, they wrote, 'music by Jal and singer Atif Aslam'. As I said, they have a different taste in music and that's what they like. I also wanted to test my talents as a playback singer and this is another reason I went ahead to record the song. Various music directors have listened to it and they have all appreciated it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But you are representing Bollywood when you sing for them. Don't you think that you should have an upper hand when it comes to music, as it is your music?
Atif Aslam: In a country like Pakistan, there is very little exposure for a singer, and we all want to venture into a bigger market. India is that market for us. The media coverage, the presence and publicity is all on a global scale there. By the grace of God I had an offer from there and at that point in time, I was just 22 years old. Do you think a twenty two year old kid who has just started his music career would say no to a big Bollywood producer who is offering him to include his song in the movie? Isn't this an honour?
-----What do you think is the difference between Indian market as compared to Pakistani market?
Gohar Mumtaz Bollywood films and their music dominates the Indian market. But at the same time, they don't have a pop industry. On the other hand, our pop music is explosive, melodious and distinct. And even though, filmi music will always have a bigger share in the Indian market, Pakistani pop music is finding it's way there
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What about your new album?
Gohar Mumtaz We're working on it. Soon we're going to go into studios and hopefully sometime, this year, our new album will be out, which will be bigger and better than Aadat.
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