Conscious Rap and the Global Cypher” Personal Statement

“Conscious rap and the Global Cypher” Personal Statement

When I was three, my father featured me on a hip-hop, jazz and funk-infused song he was working on at time, titled “Listen and Learn.” For my musical introduction my role was to chant the phrase “y’all not ready.” After the recording session, my father sampled my voice and looped it beneath the track bed. When I recently asked him about the content of the song’s meaning, he explained the song was meant to be a father-to-son conversation that speaks to personal obstacles and failures and how I should go about overcoming the obstacles and avoiding the failures. The song also served as reminder for me to persevere and never give up; by having me saying “y’all not ready" he expressed his feelings about my future opponents and my coming of age.

He prophesized that I’m going to grow to become someone that you all are not ready for!

In the same year that I was first invited into the cypher (see my project statement for more details), my father gave me an Mp3 player for Christmas along with

11 discographies of some of soul’s, blue’s and hip-hop’s greatest. He explained to me that I needed to submerge myself in these genres and understand the foundation. Even at nine-years-old, I developed a love for Blues and hip-hop music; everyday, on my way to school, I would recite the likes of Eric B. & Rakiem, Public Enemy, Run DMC etc. This music resonated with me and motivated me to be a more conscious, soulful and

1 educated individual. The meanings behind their song material made me feel empowered and hyper-aware of my surroundings.

In sixth grade my teachers allowed me to explore my music interests and artistic creativity through course assignments. I ended that year having produced a CD, my own experimental musical project, “School House Rocks,” a compilation of songs dedicated to the core classes I was taking at the time. In between songs, I inserted sampled snippets from Disney’s “School House Rock!” and playful conversations between my father and me. While this project provided me creative space to gain a first-hand experience in music production and lyric writing it also was a pivotal moment in showing me that what I had was valued by my teachers and my peers and it was important enough to invest in. They allowed me to interrupt lesson plans and use rap to communicate what I knew.

During high school, I participated in an entirely youth-operated radio show named True Star Radio. The show had a weekly Sunday time slot on Chicago’s premiere urban radio station, Power 92.3 FM. These opportunities greatly affected my relationship with music; I became interested in the exportation of music and its various outlets. More importantly, I grew more curious about the role that audiences played in the expansion of music genres. I ultimately became hyper aware of where we were getting this music from. I wondered whether the success of certain music genres was dependent on the type of people that music mostly spoke to, and the ways those audiences and individuals responded to this music. What social, expressive or political messages are encoded in the various genres? In developing this interest, I also began

2 questioning how various hip-hop and R&B artists were challenging or falling into the status quo.

During my teenage years, the rap form “drill music“ had become popularized. I was immediately disgusted by this subgenre of rap, after realizing how the music glorified hyper-masculinity, gun violence, and the commitment of federal crimes as the everyday norm. For me, this brand of music was particularly troubling because I was brought up under the “conscious music” rap tradition and alongside musical talents whose music focuses on creating awareness and imparting knowledge; these rappers traditionally decry violence, discrimination, and other societal ailments and express the frustrations of living in oppressive societies. Drill music awakened a drive in me to not only create more empowerment-based music -, but also to create music that combated destructive masculine habits, gun violence, and criminal activity.

I lived in a two-flat building that was literally half home and half professional studio, with my father and ten uncles, so I was surrounded by the sounds of underground Chicago musicians making conscious rap music. However, it was drill music that awakened the conscious artist within me, and encouraged me to revisit my old musical interest as a way to start exploring my own artistry. During my freshman year in college I co-hosted a radio show on Carleton’s KRLX 88.1 FM and led a live hip-hop, jazz, soul and country fusion group—both named Ashantology.

Over a three-year time span the group has become a prominent band on campus. Since forming we have won Battle of the Bands, performed at Spring Concert, and we created four professionally produced videos that accompanied our musical

3 projects. More important than any of the honors or projects, the band has helped me understand that form and content were keys for me.

Even with the moderate performing success, the response to the fusion music I experimented with in Minnesota did not quite resonate the same way with crowds in

Chicago. The different signifiers that my band tapped into did not reflect the style

Chicagoans had come to recognize. I couldn’t figure out where the message was being missed. I sought to constantly expand my knowledge and practice of music theoretically, culturally and technically. My interest in looking at music form and content was ignited, and as a result, I decided to use it as the organizing principle for my Watson project.

Contemporary works from scholars looking at world music, like Terry Miller and

Andrew Sharahri, primarily focus on the economic success and commercial reception of genres that incorporate hip-hop musical elements. I take issue with this because there is not enough attention being paid to actual form and content relationships—what meaning is the artist attempting to convey when a record is being produced?

Additionally, not much consideration goes to how our technologically advanced digital age, and ever-growing, tech-savvy generation has changed the music production and sharing processes.

Artists practicing hip-hop traditions shared throughout world music are embracing experimentation and changing the direction in which their traditions are headed. Ideally, my Watson will provide a platform for an exchange of musical understandings and practices between me and all of the individuals, groups and organizations I intend to work with. I want to share my experiences with them and I

4 want to know how their experiences with hip-hop have been different, as well as how their perceptions of hip-hop vary across geographical, genre and cultural divides.

Questions I hope to probe are: Is there a common underlying and identifiable principle about using hip-hop practices and rap as a musical tool? How are producers and writers utilizing production methods to create meaning within their music? How are artists handling the complexity of music while simultaneously expressing themselves through it? By using hip-hop as a template for understanding rap’s influence and how it contributes to the reconceiving of world music, I hope to answer these questions and others that will surely arise.

In following rap into different music traditions, I will also be continuing my own personal journey to redefine my own music and myself. My Watson will enable me to witness musicians first hand as they create new sounds, and begin to discover how and why the back end of a musical process matters in understanding the art form in totality.

Instead of participating from a third-party perspective I will be able discover the musical and cultural ethos from the perspective of those closest to it.

Though my Watson will give me the opportunity to deeply explore the intricacies of music production and expansion on an international level, I understand that I will also be challenged in a multitude of ways. Since I will not have the immediate comfort of family, classmates, or faculty, I will be forced to stay out of my comfort zone. I foresee being confronted with various obstacles that include finding people to connect with, both on a social level and for my project, and navigating language barriers.

5 Ultimately, I refuse to let fear of rejection or exploration stand in the way of me carrying out my Watson project. I believe that any lover of music can quickly find common ground. While I am assembling a list of contacts, I know I will also be able to find musicians via word of mouth, musical venues, live performances, and any of the many social media sites. Although not being able to speak the language of some of the musicians may present complications, I don’t think that communication will be difficult, as I believe that I can use the “universal language” to convey my musical enthusiasm.

Walking away from my Watson, I hope to be more equipped to expand the understanding of and access to alternative forms of music among communities across the World, especially in the U.S.

6 Project Proposal

“Conscious rap and the Global Cypher” Proposal

It was my turn to go! Admittedly, I was not quite ready, I was only nine at time, but the cypher (an open freestyle rapping exercise) had begun and my ten uncles waited in circle formation, as it was my time to partake. To step into the cypher is to tell your story and demonstrate your uniqueness. This act made me realize that I wanted to participate, and the desire has continued to this day. After a few years of participating in many more cyphers and other recorded music projects with my father and uncles, my style developed and matured; I was eventually invited to join their musical collective—

Usual Suspectz—in 2007 when the group traveled cross-country on its third annual summer college tour. This early exposure laid the foundation for every music-related endeavor I’ve pursued since then.

During my Watson year, I hope to continue to connect with music producers, those who may work mainly in studios and are behind the scenes of the music-making process, and rappers who write the lyrical content. To do this, I will search out music writers, collectives, and community organizations to hear and learn about the intended meanings behind their music; and I will be exposed to a variety of writing techniques, individual methodologies, and production approaches. During this time, I also plan to discover some of the “undiscovered” musicians in each country who have yet to become well known for their efforts in experimentation.

I plan to attend music concerts, local musical events, and home studio music sessions. It is in these places where I’m likely to identify and connect with the

7 progressive thinking music makers. After connecting with these artists, I intend to establish relationships with them and any other accompanying producers or affiliate organizations they may be associated with. From this, I hope to encounter new ideas, new music, and become more aware of how others combine form and content to create meaning through rap.

After consistent encounters and interactions with music makers, I plan to establish working musical relationships with the musicians I meet. I want to collaborate with some of the innovative musicians and hybridizers I get to know and draw upon our common interest in music production and cross-fertilization; when applicable, I will apply my own rap style, rooted in the Chicago “conscious rap” tradition and its accompanying production techniques, to these new musics. Essentially, I will step into the global cypher—the place where all musical makers can join and demonstrate their uniqueness in a creative space.

My project will take place from August 2015 to August 2016. I plan to spend approximately four months in Brazil, France, and Australia. There are many musical traditions arising in these countries that all fall on a continuum of hip-hop; some of these traditions integrate core hip hop elements, and others are dependent on rap by definition and others incorporate it more as an accessory. Artists in these countries that specialize in these musical forms are not always traditional hip-hop artists, but their works are heavily embedded with many hip-hop based elements such as emceeing, breakdancing and djing. In Brazil, mangue has yielded great international recognition as well as raï in France, and indie rap in Australia. By situating my Watson project in these

8 countries, I will have the opportunity to connect and collaborate with forward-thinking musicians, and come to understand the ways in which they create, perform and export their music. In encountering different musical traditions and participating with the artist

I will be enriched, excited, puzzled, and challenged!

Brazil, Rio

In Brazil, the city of Rio de Jeneiro has a vibrant musical scene. The richness of the city’s music is grounded in the combination of Cuban, Afro, and Puerto Rican cultural and musical influences while also incorporating the contemporary styles of westernized and localized-based rap forms. Mangue in particular is a popularized regional form of music that blends elements of rap, techno, psychedelic rock, and other folk styles. As a result of this infusion of various musical styles, there is great reflexivity within mangue song lyrics that often addresses recent cultural shifts that have impacted the youth living in modernized Brazil.

The reception of this relatively new music style by Brazilians has been mixed, since certain Brazilian artists share a preference for classical Brazilian music that is often without outside musical influences. However, music groups like Defella are able to attract fans from local crowds in Rio for incorporating innovative trends in their music and pushing the limits of familiar conventions. To immerse myself in the communities of innovative and contemporary Brazilian artists, I will connect with musicians like the members in Defella, who use their music as a tool to expand the genre of world music. I believe that this type of fusion-based music is the future of the global music community,

9 and understanding how this blending of music forms helps to expand and establish alternative music genres will be at the core of my Watson project.

France, Lille

Similar to the mangue music tradition, raï rap, which is based in France, also heavily depends on the influences of folk, pop, funk-beats and reggae rhythms.

However, raï is a devotional style. In this music genre, samples of well-known sound bites from religious leaders are woven throughout songs and combined with multi- layered music mixes. The majority of songs created within this genre seek to educate and bring awareness about social issues such as Islamphobia. The music artists and producers cultivate conscious awakening by creating multi-targeted, club friendly, up- beat, danceable, music that blends hip-hop, techno, Indian soundtracks, African chants, reggae, and Middle Eastern rhythmic patterns.

I plan to identify and work with raï artists and groups, such as “FunDaMental”.

This group is often compared to the renowned Hip Hop music group, Public Enemy, because of its raw, rebellious lyrical content and stylistic choices. FunDaMental inserts

Asian and Islamic concerns into its anti-racist centered music. Their work assists in facilitating unity amongst minorities between Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities.

Additionally, French, Arabic, and English are used interchangeably in raï music. They utilize various languages as a means to convey their social conscious messages. At the core of raï music, it is a form that aims to represent experiences and voices of those feeling oppressed by society.

10 While in France, I also hope to work with organizations such as SOS Racisme. The organization utilizes different media forms to inform and empower youth by providing them with outlets for creative expression.

Sydney, Australia

Exposure to rap and hip-hop in Sydney occurs through TV, Radio, and other various forms of mass media. Also, musicians there have held tightly onto influences of classic African American hip-hop music; as a result, their content addresses more serious political topics and psychological insights. However, when these artists use rap as a music medium, the original content of their music becomes different and creates a distinct Australian hip-hop sound called indie rap. This music form is also an infusion of reggae, acid jazz, funk, techno and electronic music, and indie rap artists and producers typically speak to the voice and original values of hip-hop by incorporating music samples from older influential artist in their music.

While in Sydney, I will connect with the indie hip-hop artists and producers, such a

“Dialectrix” whose music is contributing to and furthering the world music trend, while also embracing an underground sound and attitude that is true to their own roots. I will also work with various Australian production organizations such as, DJ Warehouse. This is an independent production training facility that coordinates community-based educational hip-hop projects that bring artists and music instructors from around the region to create, lead, and support musical projects.

11 Throughout my time in Brazil, France, and Australia, I will be blogging about and video recording the artists I meet. I want to capture and share my experiences about learning about the multitude of rap and hip-hop cultures and music genres making headway all across the world. With my blog and videos I hope to give people the chance to not only travel with me, but also bear witness to the insights I acquire throughout my

Watson. After my Watson year, I hope to teach one day as a professor in global music and start my own production and talent development center for youth and young adults. I intend to share my experience with my students so that they learn how hip-hop and rap is created, altered, and circulated across the world and show them how they can also be contributors to this global cypher.

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