All Time Best - Hip-Hop 101

(Visit my blog at www.twit-akw.blogspot.com to see all the embedded music videos)

Okay, a friend of mine posted the following comment on Facebook:

"I do not consider rap, a type of music. And I think that sampling in rap music should be illegal, because they always pick the good songs and then ruin them. Example: Coldplay ft. Jay-Z - Lost!"
--Laura S.

I, being a long time hip-hop fan, pretty much blasted her ass in a classic, beautiful, long, angry, ranting comment, which I will not recreate here. The gist of my rant was that although it is okay to not like hip-hip/rap, it's damn irresponsible to dismiss it as an art form. Frankly, her comment really pissed me off.

A couple of days later, I cooled off a bit and remembered the following bit of advice from good ol' Jay-Z:

"A wise man once told me don't argue with fools,
'cause people from a distance can't tell who is who"
--Jay-Z, Takeover

And I realized that I showed a fair amount of ignorance by blasting poor little Laura in my rant. I also realized that her comment was made more out of innocence, 'cause somehow, she missed out the last thirty years of some of the best music in the world. Living out in the boondocks will do that to ya.

Thus in an effort to educate young Laura S., I present the following history lesson, sort of like a primer, that one may use to gain a new appreciation (and maybe even respect) of the art form known as: hip-hop.

10) Sugarhill Gang, "Rapper's Delight"

Once upon a time, way back in the Year of Our Lord 1979, Debbie Harry from the rock group Blondie and Niles Rodgers from the disco group Chic, went out to a New York club to view a "hip-hop" and break-dancing event. The DJ at the event started playing the breakdown section of Chic's "Good Times". A spunky little rapper named Fab Five Freddy started freestyling to the song, and was quickly joined by his crew, known as the Sugarhill Gang. Debbie was so impressed by the rapper's skills she wrote the song "Rapture", describing the event. The Sugarhill Gang went on to record "Rapper's Delight", outright sampling Niles's song. Niles was pissed at first, but when the song became the first hip-hop song to top the music charts, he acknowledged that the song was "as innovative and important" to the music world as "Good Times".



This song is roundly considered the first song to popularize hip-hop in the United States.


9) Aerosmith and Run DMC, "Walk This Way"

Back in the day, hip-hop was Black and heavy metal was White and never the twain would meet. Black people disdained heavy metal and white folks wouldn't listen to "that rap crap". Then one day, heavy metal bad boys, Aerosmith, joined ranks with old-school hip-hop ambassadors, Run DMC, and with a little help from uber-producer Rick Rubin (remember that name my friends) created this wonderful little ditty:

Visit this link to see the video.

The fan's response? Well, rock boys from Aerosmith's home town, Boston, threatened to set fire to any radio station that would dare play the song. Some black folks thought Run DMC was selling out. But, eventually, cooler heads prevailed, and both black and white were forever joined in eternal, musical harmony.

8) Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff, "Parent's Just Don't Understand"

The first hip-hop song to win a Grammy Award. No swearing either.

Visit this link to see the video.

I wonder what ever happened to that Fresh Prince fellow...

7) Beastie Boys, "Paul Revere"

In 1986, the Religious Right began to worry about the effect that "Black music" was having on the nation's youth. Then along came the Beastie Boys.

Holy shit...



Remember that Rick Rubin guy. He produced the song.

6) Queen Latifah, "U.N.I.T.Y."

If you were wondering if there were any lady hip-hoppers, I invite you to Wikipedia and YouTube the following names: Roxanne Shante, Monie Love, MC Lyte, (Toronto's own) Michie Mee, Missy Elliot, the amazing Lauren Hill, Salt n' Pepa, (who added a lot of much needed female flava to the scene) and the First Queen of Hip-Hop:

Visit this link to see the video.

5) Public Enemy, "Fight the Power"

In the late '80's and early '90's, the hip-hop scene was full of Black Consciousness. The son's and daughters of the '60's revolution discovered that hip-hop was a powerful medium through which one could inspire a political movement within the Black Community. Chuck D from the group Public Enemy called hip-hop, "the Black man's CNN".



These brother's just didn't play! Public Enemy blasted on the scene and almost single-handedly moved the progress of Black people ahead five years.

4) MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice.

And these two motherfuckers set us back fifteen years.





3) Notorious B.I.G and Tupac Shakur
Known for being both profane and profound, Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur were two of the best rappers in recent memory. Their bitter feud and the resulting murders were tragedies that threatened the foundations of rap music. In both life and death, they represented a crucial turning point for the hip-hop culture. They would set the standard against which all future rappers would be measured.



2) The Alternative Hip Hop Scene

After the debacle of the so-called East Coast/West Coast feud, and the death of Tupac and Biggie, hip-hop diversified. There was the commercial side of rap music, which promoted a free-spending, material and misogynistic lifestyle to urban and suburban youth. And then there was an alternative, underground scene, where creativity flourished almost in secret. The proponents underground scene pumped new lifeblood into hip-hop. Some of key players of the scene include (but are not limited to):

• The Native Tongues (A Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, Black Sheep, Leaders of the New School. etc.)
• Philadelphia's Roots Crew
• Dead Presidents
• Mos Def
• Talib Kweli
• Erykah Badu;
  
• Jurassic 5; and
  
• Outkast

These people were responsible for bringing hip-hop back from the brink. In 2004, comedian Dave Chappelle brought some of they key players together for a once-in-a-lifetime concert, which was documented in the movie Dave Chappelle's Block Party. This is hip-hop's graduating class, y'all, and this movie is a must-see for any true hip-hop fan.



1) Hip-Hop's Refugee's

The term "hip-hop" is more than just term for a type of music. Hip-hop is cultural movement, with very specific codes and mores. Hip-hop has a world-wide following, and it's proponents use every aspect of this movement to express them selves. You can tell a hip-hopper by the way they speak, what they read, the way they dress, the way they conduct business. The art form surrounds us, and it pervades our lives in may unseen ways. Barack Obama could rightly be called the first Hip-Hop President, because he, like many of us, grew up immersed in the culture. But, even more profound, is the fact that hip-hop's world wide ambassadors have taken up the challenge of moving the art form into the new century. Some of these ambassadors are:

• Cypress Hill
• The 'Fugees
• The Black Eyed Peas
• DJ Q-Bert
• MC Solaar
• Dilated Peoples
• Matisyahu

The newest kid on the scene is Toronto's (by way of Somalia) K'naan, who's new album dropped just yesterday. Check him out kid:



So Laura, there's your starter lesson. Go forth, young one, because the journey of a thousand steps.... blah, blah, blah....

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden

(Visit http://www.twit-akw.blogspot.com/ to see the videos embedded in this blog.)

I'm a sucker for love stories. In my opinion there is a very big difference between a love story and a "girly flick". Love stories are complex and varied. They can be about falling in love, falling out of love, unrequited love, obsessive love. When Harry Met Sally is about romantic love. The Terminator is about redemptive love. Aliens is about parental love. Kill Bill is about destructive love. It all good to me.

Girly flicks are generally about superficial love. Some may have the semblance of complexity, but if you think about it, the main characters tend to be more archetypes rather fully fleshed entities. Maid in Manhattan, Pretty Woman, and The Princess Diaries are all examples of girly flicks. And they have their place. They are like potato chips thoroughly enjoyable, but the are ersatz, wafer thin confections that are ultimately unhealthy if ingested in large amounts.

I've watched a couple of love stories lately, and had some thoughts about them.

Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008, dir. Woody Allen)

Cinefiles tend to praise Woody Allen films but I generally find them hard to like. Technically they are great, the cinematography is amazing, but it's the stories that put me off. He leans towards love stories, but his depictions of love is very difficult, almost too real for my taste. Vicky Christina Barcelona is a great example. Like other Woody Allen movies, it's a love story between beautiful, creative and artistic, but ultimately selfish, people.



Javier Bardem is really the best part of this movie. God, what man wouldn't love to have his confidence and charm. Who else could get away with proposing a three way just after introducing himself to two beautiful women, and have them seriously entertain the idea. The man is just plain sexy. Too bad the other actors weren't as appealing. I found Vicky (played by Rebecca Hall) too remote, Christina (played by Scarlett Johansson) too annoying and Maria (played by Penelope Cruz) just plain psycho. Of the three female lead characters, Penelope Cruz was by far, the better actor, but I don't know if that was an Academy Award worthy role.

In all, I thought the movie was just okay, but it confirmed my opinion that Woody Allen films are just not my cup of tea.

Normal, (2003, dir. Jane Anderson)



I could write a synopsis about this movie, but I think the trailer explains it much better.



You would be surprised how sweet and funny this movie is. It has such a great heart and really romantic performances from Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Lange. It's about the healing power of love, and how it can help transcend certain boundaries. It's less about transsexualism and more about asking your family to accept who you really are. I highly recommend it.

Watch "Men's Night Out"

Okay, I'm on the record for having some hesitation to Zack Snyder directing The Watchmen, based on his previous comic book to film adaptation of 300, which was visually stunning, but the acting was pretty hambone.

The Watchmen comic is like, the Rosetta Stone of modern comics, and it was notoriously hard to adapt into film. Terry Gilliam, Darren Aranofsky and Paul Greengrass tried it, and subsequently abandoned it. At one point, Robin Williams was named as a possible Rorschach, and Keanu Reeves was named as a possible Dr. Manhattan. Despite all these big names, the movie remained in development hell for quite a while, which may not have been a bad thing for long-time fans of the graphic novel. It just seemed like the whole movie was a bit out of Zack Snyder's league.


But, the viral marketing campaign has got me re-thinking my original position a bit. It's obvious that Snyder takes the import of the whole undertaking seriously, and has immersed himself in the world of The Watchmen. Take for instance this film clip:



I really dig the whole cheap-o, classroom filmstrip feel. It also is a creative way to evoke the Macarthy Era-like paranoia, which is a key theme of the graphic novel. Also the way Rorschach is captured in a way that reminds us that infamous Sasquatch-sighting shot is genius.

This news clip is also pretty cool:



Also the movie's production company issues an 8-bit video game where you can fight as one of the Minutemen against Moloch and his henchmen. It's a nifty little link, and a fun way to add a bit more depth to the Watchmen universe. The link is provided here

A faithful recreation of The Watchmen's alternate reality, a reality where Nixon is King and God is blue, goes a long way of making me think this may be the first film adaption of an Alan Moore work that doesn't suck. I'm willing to gamble the price of a movie ticket, and I'm hoping my homies are willing to gamble with me.



So, in March, I would like to plan the Watch-"Men's Night Out" for all the Dad's. You've got 17 day's 'til the movie's release (March 6, 2009), so you have ample time to alert the wives. Opening night is going to be at biatch, so let's plan for a matinee on opening weekend, either Saturday or Sunday March 7th or 8th (makes it easier on the wives too).

Shoot me an email if you are interested (Eric, you gotta let me know when you guys coming to visit so that you can participate). Cheers