Contexts for hip-hop culture Contexts for hip-hop culture • Mid-late 1970s: Carter aggressively deregulates and reforms labor law, beginning a long “neo-liberal” phase of the U.S. economy • 1980: former California governor Ronald Reagan wins the presidency ‣ on a wave of reaction against 70s cynicism & moral ambiguity - promised to make “America great again” ‣ preached small government = divestment from urban public housing projects Kool DJ Herc (1955-) Kool DJ Herc (1955-) • Born in Jamaica, raised in Jamaican NYC exposed to Reggae, Ska, and Dub • Began spinning records in the mid-70s at neighborhood block parties, gym dances, dance clubs, and public parks. • Noticed that his audiences responded energetically to the rhythm “breaks” on funk and salsa records • Originated “break-beat DJ-ing”: use of 2 records to create a perpetual break beat by switching back and forth between the turntables Reggae and the Genesis of Hip-Hop • IN HIP-HOP: The DJ-MC collaboration = appropriating commercial music for new purposes ‣ Jamaica, 1970s: “sound-system” shows require few resources, express rude-boy gang identity - Bronx, 1980s: "boombox"/ “ghetto blaster” culture, block parties express neighborhood identity ‣ Jamaica, 1970s: appropriated background music sets stage/tone for political speech - Bronx, 1980s: Afrika Bambaataa preaches African- American solidarity with "Zulu Nation in the Bronx" Contexts for hip-hop culture • Wave of deregulation 1980-1982 ‣ “Reaganomics” = California-style economy on Wall Street ‣ 1981: recording industry: “big three” market share doubles (40% -> 80%) ‣ exploding value of radio and TV ads • Cassette technology (1979-1990s) empowers consumers ‣ boomboxes, walkmen --> music more portable, personal ‣ unrestricted copying; “mix-tapes” = haven for consumer re-appropriation and redistribution of pop culture ‣ Expansion of U.S. culture in USSR & developing nations Contexts for hip-hop culture Conion Technisonic TC-999, popularized by L.L. Cool J’s 1986 appearance on American Bandstand Contexts for hip-hop culture Sony Walkman WM-2, the best-selling model in 1981, with plastic battery case and belt clip. Contexts for hip-hop culture Contexts for hip-hop culture • SOUTH BRONX: 1977-78 cuts in public services, breakdown of inner-city infrastructure • Capitalist/Collectivist Tension in Urban African- American response ‣ Capitalist: Search for individual wealth and security = promise of cultural liberation - easy/profitable drug market - protecting a market share through militarization ‣ vs. Collectivist: search for social space, community identity. - Autonomous, self-reliant groups - Replace failed institutions (police, traditional families, employers, and the welfare state) Contexts for hip-hop culture • Marcus Pohlman, ed. Capitalism vs. Collectivism: 1945 to the present. African American Political Thought, Vol. 4 (New York: Routledge, 2002) Grandmaster Flash (1958-) • Refined Kool Herc’s approach by adopting the headphone mixing techniques of disco DJ • Helped popularize “backspinning” and “scratching” practices --> key elements of hip hop’s sonic signature even after the music largely went digital ‣ extended the use of turntables as “talking” instruments --> echoes blues musicians adaptations of the guitar Grandmaster Flash ‣ helped elevate technological (Joseph Saddler, b. 1958 in virtuosity as a critical component of Barbados) hip-hop Elements of Hip-hop culture 1.The DJ: a musician appropriating (or re-appropriating) recorded music, to manipulate beats and other samples 2.The MC: a speaker, rapping (mixing an amplified voice rhythmically with dance music), representing group identity. 3.Graffers: visual expressions of group identity, claiming neighborhood territory 4.B-Boying/Breakdancing: athletic representational dance ‣ contrast planned ensemble dancing / planned or improvised “solos” 5.KNOWLEDGE [coined later by Grand Master Flash]: ‣ all other elements require this “core” as a foundation and a goal Elements of Hip-hop culture • Hip-hop culture was forged by African American and Caribbean American youth in New York City in search of “alternative identity formation and social status” (Rose 1994, 34) “I’m wearing my suede Pumas. I got the whole thing with my Gazelle spectacle frames and Kangol hat with my gold watch going on. In short, I’m fresh. In this community, I can win. Now, if I step out of this community dressed like this, not only will I be thrown up against the wall and asked what drugs I got, but I also can’t get a job and I’m ridiculed in school. So this community, the block parties, was an escape” -KRS-ONE Elements of Hip-hop culture Afrika Bambaataa (1960-) • A prominent South Bronx street gang leader in the early 1970s • Mid -1970s: pilgrimage to Africa, transformed by exposure to Zulu culture • Founded "Zulu Nation" in NYC, focused on community building • Developed reputation as pioneering DJ and crew leader in the 1980s, calling the music “electro-funk”--> adapted imagery and performance practices of P-Funk to “nation- building” Afrika Bambaataa • Used samples from diverse sources including (Kevin Donovan, b. 1960 Euro-Disco bands like Kraftwerk on tracks in the Bronx) like “Planet Rock” (1982) Roots of Rap Music: The Old School • Innovative DJs increasingly attracted large and excited crowds, but tended to draw their attention away from dancing --> MCs were added to hype the crowds and keep people moving • Kool Herc was one of the first DJs to rhyme phrases over the “breakbeats” produced on his turntables. • Early influential MCs included Melle Mel and Kid Creole, both of whom joined with Flash in Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five ‣ “rapping” derived from a tradition of verbal performance called “toasting,” a form of poetic storytelling with roots in the trickster tales of West Africa ‣ MCs updated this approach by adapting the aggressive vocal- patterning of James Brown. Roots of Rap Music: The Old School • Until the release of the Sugar Hill Gang’s 12-inch single “Rapper’s Delight” (1979) hip-hop music was a largely a local phenomenon ‣ provided the first indication of rap’s potential crossover appeal (#4 R&B, #36 Pop) ‣ popularized the use of the term “rapper” as an equivalent for “MC” • Unexpected crossover success paved the way for hip hop’s commercial breakthrough in the mid-late 80s Afrika Bambaataa • "New York...was losing the funk. Back in the early 70s there existed a heavy funk sound. Parliament would come to town and pack Madison Square Garden. Sly & the Family Stone would come in and pack the Garden as did James Brown. Some of the NY radio stations weren't into Sly and James anymore...." -Afrika Bambaataa, in an interview with Davey D, 1991. • On white rappers: "Everybody thinks this is somehow a new thing with Vanilla Ice and the Beastie Boys. But it was the punk rockers and new wavers that were the first of all white people to accept this music. They were bringing me down to the punk rock clubs to mix. You used to see punk rockers come up to jam at the hardcore black and Hispanic neighborhoods." Def Jam Records • Rick Rubin (on right) from Brooklyn suburb; “DIY” punk producer as teen • Age 19: his band Hose opened for the Meat Puppets, Hüsker Dü, and the Butthole Surfers. • 1983: Rubin studies beat-juggling and scratching with "Zulu Nation" DJs. • With then-concert promoter Russell Simmons (on left), Rubin starts "Def Jam Records", signs artists T La Rock and LL Cool J. Def Jam Records • Russell Simmons (Queens): in early 80s, concert promoter, wanted to bring hip-hop to a larger market. • DJ Joseph Simmons (brother): member of Run D.M.C. • 1983: Def Jam signs punk band "Beastie Boys" (w/ Rubin as member) ‣ Rubin convinces them to switch to rap ‣ fires only female member. • "Beastie Boys" to open for Madonna's Virgin tour. Beasties & Madonna on tour ‘83-84 • Madonna and the Beastie Boys slashed by the critics: ‣ "singing out of tune and out of rhythm" ‣ "their image has completely overshadowed their music." ‣ Madonna "stole" Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean,' behaved like a brat. Beasties & Madonna on tour ‘83-84 • Critical failure, audience success: ‣ White artists, playing to suburban white audiences but produced by African-Americans [Madonna produced by R&B Reggie Lucas]. ‣ Enigma for baby-boom parents: "our children aren't rebels. They're just apathetic beasts, slackers, and trashy sex-objects." Madonna and David Lee Roth Hugo Mistry from Mark Andrews from Chicago Tribune the New York Times (1984): "Like a Virgin (1984): is self-conscious “David Lee Roth sinks campiness ... a series to new lows in sexual of hot dance tracks, depravity” attention-grabbing lyrics and steamy Andrew Fionan from videos." the LA Times (1985): "Music was clearly “Every time David Lee ancillary ... a trashy sex Roth grabs his crotch, queen pulling out all her I hear the music die a moves." Variety (1985) little more.” SEE NEXT SLIDE Madonna and David Lee Roth Hugo Mistry from Mark Andrews from Chicago Tribune the New York Times (1984): "Like a Virgin (1986): is self-conscious “David Lee Roth sinks campiness ... a series to new lows in sexual of hot dance tracks, depravity” attention-grabbing lyrics and steamy Andrew Fionan from videos." the LA Times (1986): "Music was clearly “Every time David Lee ancillary ... a trashy sex Roth grabs his crotch, queen pulling out all her I hear the music die a moves." Variety (1985) little more.” NO ONE SAID THIS.