MUSIC 17, APR8 (week two)

Logistics check in

Revisit course resources. Syllabus, course page(assignments posted, detailed schedule), TritonEd(assignments turned in, redundant assignment postings, somereadings posted)

Reminder: policy on listening IDs. Highlighted songs on coursepage are the listening ID materials.

Everyone got the quiz done? Don't worry if you missedit...there are many more, today for example.

Paper #1, due Apr 15. Guidelines

Remember to bring your laptop to section -- there will bewriting assignments in section, announced in section only.

Week 2 (Apr 8) -- Beginnings of Hip Hop

1. Review/complete last week's materials

2. NYC in the 1970s

3. Hip Hop DJ practice: Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash

4. Rap and the recording industry: Hip Hop as a practice vs. HipHop as a recorded music

Kool Moe Dee vs. Lovebug Starski, NYE 1981

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5, "Superrapin" 1979

5. Listening: Funky 4 + 1, Spoonie Gee and the Treacherous 3,The Sequence, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5, AfrikaBambaataa

New York in 1970sWords to know: "Stagflation," "Neoliberalism," "austerity,""NYC fiscal crisis"

Tax base expands to the suburbs. Leaves mostly the elderly,ethnic minorities, and immigrants in the city centers.

1970s global recession, energy and oil crisis (precipitated bythe Iranian Revolution and the Yom Kippur War)

New York's "style" of municipal governance.Large welfare system, municipal hospitals, free universitysystem! (until fairly recently: 1976...)

Tax base can no longer sustain these expenses. Looks toother sources of revenue: Federal Government, and, crucially,the Banking sector (private, capitalist).

Banks buy up lots of municipal bonds. In other words, the city,a public entity, owes LOTS of money to private banks.

The Famous Headline from Oct 30, 1975

What does it mean?No federal bail out for NYC

Ford and cabinet convinced that the city had brought itsproblems on itself (through social programs, profligatespending).

"Bankruptcy was thus a just punishment for its sins, anecessary lesson in how the city should change to moveforward." (Philips-Fein, p. 2)

The imposition of "austerity." This means that social services(fire, schools, police, demolishing burned out buildings, etc)are cut so that the city can service its debt, much of which isheld by financial capital (wall street).

Some Results for life in NYC

"Urban Blight"

"White Flight" to the suburbs

mass relocations within the city due to slum clearing, highwayconstruction. Robert Moses.

Influx of heroin during the Vietnam War, see McCoy, ThePolitics of Heroin in Southeast Asia: CIA Complicity in theGlobal Drug Trade, Lawrence Hill Books, 1972

"Ghetto" takes on its ominous connotation (originally a word forthe Jewish section of Venice). "urban" and "inner city" come tomean "black" and "poor."

Films depicting urban decay in NYCTaxi Driver, 1976

The Panic in Needle Park, 1971

The Taking of Pelham 123, 1974

Fort Apache, The Bronx, 1981

Remake, ugh, of a John Wayne film from 1948 aboutfending off hordes of native americans

Documentary about NYC in 1977

West Side Highway Collapse, 1973

Robert Moses, master builder, wielder of the"meat ax"

Public official in charge of major construction and urbandevelopment projects in NYC until the 1980s

Cross Bronx Expressway, Lincoln Center, Co-Op City, etc

"When you operate in an overbuilt metropolis, you have to cutyour way through with a meat ax."

Who gets chopped up by that ax?

"eminent domain abuse," "slum clearing"

Lincoln Center

Contemporary defaults

San Bernardino, 2012

Detroit, 2013

Stockton, 2012

Greece - famous Austerity measures

Puerto Rico - Atlantic Monthly, Austerity in Puerto Rico Article

Close reading, William J. Sales, "New York City: Prototype ofthe Urban Crisis," The Black Scholar, Vol. 7, No. 3, THECRISIS OF THE CITIES (November 1975)

Gangs in the South Bronx

South Bronx was hit worst.

"The Bronx is Burning" -- epidemic of arson (insurance fraud)in uninhabited buildings

Gangs are both forms of self-support and sometimes justcriminal organizations thriving in a lawless environment.

By 1973, estimated 315 groups and 20,000 members

Distinctive fashion, style, culture

Savage Nomads

Young Lords

Graffiti

Greek graphein "to write" --> italian graffito, "little etchings" -->plural graffiti

PHASE 2, Taki 183, MODE 2, many others

Chalfant and Prigoff, Spraycan Art, and Subway Art

Graffiti in fine art world

Important to note that, before Hip Hop music had any realvisibility, some graffiti artists had already crossed over to thefine art world. E.g. Lee Quiñones, Rammellzee and Futura.

Also a younger generation of gallery artists, influenced bygraffiti style: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and KennyScharf

Basquiat, "speaks for itself", 1982

Haring, Untitled, 1981 (marker on refrigerator door)

Parties

The origins of hip hop are generally located in the street andclub parties in Brooklyn, Queens and then Bronx in the 1970s

Most influential DJs: DJ Hollywood, Grandmaster Flowers, DJKool Herc, Grandwizard Theodore, Grandmaster Flash, AfrikaBambaataa.

Influence of the Jamaican Soundsystem. Kool Herc, forexample, was Jamaican, played lots of Reggae records.

Parties

Documentary on early DJs

DJs organized the parties, but came with crews of dancers andMCs. Entourage.

Musical focus on the "break" (possible origin of "breakdancing")

DJs -- Herc and Flash

Like Disco DJs, hip hop DJs focused on extending records toaccomodate longer dance times. Especially the rhythmicbreakdowns, which they played most.

DJ Kool Herc went between two records as a way of extendingthe break. Video of Kool Herc

DJs -- Herc and Flash

Grandmaster flash adds headphones, which makes it easier tomake cuts cleaner, keep tempo consistent.

Scratching, supposedly initiated by Grandwizard Theodore.

Also, use the crossfader in creative ways.

Grandmaster Flash for MTV

Grandmaster Flash in Wild Style

Differences between DJs in the South Bronx vs.Other DJs

1. Emphasize just the "breaks," just the "good parts" of a track

2. Break dancing vs. partnered dancing

3. Smaller, less lucrative venues for SB DJs

4. Outdoor parties, all ages vs. 21-and-up clubs of Brooklyn,Manhattan, Queens

5. Informal attire vs. formal

All these differences are decisive for the formation of a distinct HipHop culture.

(Ewoodzie, Joseph C. "South Bronx DJs vs. Other DJs." In BreakBeats in the Bronx: Rediscovering Hip-Hop's Early Years, 51-78.CHAPEL HILL: University of North Carolina Press, 2017.)

Early rap and the recording industry

As we have seen, rap is a practice evolved from a variety ofother cultural streams. It was not made for records, whichaccommodate 22 minutes per side!

Early rappers didn't have any sense that they'd sell their musicon vinyl, or anything else.

Nevertheless, some entrepreneurs spotted something potentiallucrative:

Sylvia Robinson of Sugarhill Records

Bobby Robinson of Enjoy! Records

Paul Winley of Winley Records

These are all African American veteran labels

Early rap records are sometimes real rappers from theemerging scene, but sometimes "novelty" cash-ins.

Sugar Hill Who??

Grandmaster Flash:

Sugar Hill Gang, Rapper's Delight, 1979

Original Full Version

Rap Genius, with commentary verified by Jeff Chang himself!

Sort of "fake," in that it's just a bunch of friends of the SugarHill record label who were not really involved in the scene.

Official Video

What's that sample???

"not a test?"

12 minutes plus...is that long or short?

The Sample is, of course, Chic's "Good Times" ...but actually, it's not a sample. It's studio musicians playing themusic of Chic. Humans imitating turntables!

What is hip hop?

One answer is embedded in this title: Steven Hager, Hip Hop:The Illustrated History of Break Dancing, Rap Music, andGraffiti, 1984

That is, it was a confluence of things. It happened at parties, inreal life, with face-to-face interactions.

It wasn't a recording, and it wasn't necessarily poetry either.

What is going on in the transition from broadly conceived,aesthetically integrated practice to 33mm single? (a lot)

Kool Moe Dee vs. Busy Bee, 1981

full recording

This is Busy Bee looking back on this classic recording ofhimself.

Busy Bee:

1. Clap your hands. Shout outs to places (manhattan in thehouse)

2. Clap you hands. Who’s been to restaurants? (“Burger King?White Castle?” “Blimpies?” What is it???, people answer,"nathans?" "burger king?")

3. Drugs (“cocaine crew in the house? "Blow? Blow?")

4. Clap your hands! Zodiac sign (“what zodiac sign is gettin’ themost cash money?” “is it Cancer? What about Pisces?Aquarius?”)

5. Little Nooney???

6. Who’s getting money?

Lyrics. End participation.

Then, more call-response.

1. Where’s that place we work it out?

2. Sex (“Say I like it! Say I love it!”)

3. SCREAM! (note the way the beat drops out)

4. If you know how to do the jiggy love, scream, then do it.

5. If you love your mama, say it’s like that.

6. If you’re ready for ‘82 … gettin money in '82

7. Ends with “what’s my name???” (answers "busy bee!")

End particiaption . Bawidabaw...lyrics again.

Then more, "where's that place we work it out?"

Winds down... "Scream!" Signs off.

Kool Moe Dee

Note we've already been listening for approx 5 minutes. Kool moe dee annouced by the host.

1. Kool mo Dee, without any beat, speaking, rhyming. DJ issetting up, KMD is filling time, but rhyming while doing it!

2. "DJ lee you think you got it together? (Sunshine answerswith scratch noises – cf. The Dozens in Blues)"

3. “hold on busy bee, I don’t mean to be bold, but put that baw-wit-da-baw bullshit on hold”

4. personal disses, busy bee audibly pissed -- “if you was money,man, you’d be counterfeit”

5. Classic lines: "every time I hear it, I throw a fit, party after party, the same oldshit. Record after record, rhyme after rhyme, always wannaknow your zodiac sign."

6. (inaudible...) "right on the spot! how can I take a title that youain't got?"

7. Real MC contests vs. "celebrity contests," where it's "all set upbefore we come in"

8. “too hot to trot” – note the semi-improvised deployment ofsemi-prepared material. Important analogy to “licks” in jazzmusic.

9. The verse climaxes – beat drops out, KMD holds tempoeffectively. Conspicuous virtuosity.

Activity: rap as performance vs. rap in therecording industry

Turn to your neighbor, learn their name, and discuss:

Are these two recordings (bootleg vs. Sugar Hill Gang) the sameart form? What are the differences, and what are the similarities?Can this comparison tell us anything about how hip hop functionstoday? (think of examples)

documentary footage about this battle note -- Kool Moe Dee distinguishes himself as having "poetic value"rather than being able to make a party happen

the rise of lyrically focused rap, "black CNN" (Chuck D of PublicEnemy)

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,Superrapin', 1979

Superrappin' Recording

This recording is Flash's reluctant acceptance of the recordingindustry.

Crucial to imagine the live performance this would be imitating.Chang does a good job of this, p. 133.

Note "beat box going...and....and...and...and..."

Chang: "In the original routine, the Furious Five would pauseand point to Grandmaster Flash as he banged out frenetic fillson his electronic drum machine. But on the record, Flash isMIA."

Like Rapper's Delight, this recording has studio playersrecreating a record that Flash would have spun live. WholeDarn Family, Seven Minutes of Funk

Which is sampled by Jay-Z and and Foxy Brown, Ain' noN****

Funky 4 + 1 “Rappin and Rocking the House”

Rappin and Rockin the House, 1979

Funky Four Plus one Live at the Kitchen

First "real" rap record, in that these were real staples of theSouth Bronx Scene

Somewhat closer to the practice of the clubs ... how?

Spoonie Gee “Spoonin’ Rap”

Spoonie Gee, Spoonin Rap, 1979, Rap Genius transcription

Larger narratives rather than one liners -- much more likecontemporary rap.

He's rapping on the break of this Patty Duke track

Treacherous Three “New Rap Language”

The Treacherous Three were probably the most accomplishedearly MC crew: Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine and SpoonieGee (later Special K). Remember these from Kool Moe Deevs. Lovebug Starski, discussed earlier.

This song was the B-side of “Spoonin’ Rap” and is notable forthe dexterity and speed of the rapping: essentially they’regoing at twice the speed of anything we’ve heard so far.

New Rap Language, 1980

The Sequence, with Spoonie Gee: Monster Jam

Monster Jam, 1980

An early attempt at a crossover hit, pairing Spoonie Gee (fromthe teacherous three) with the R and B sound of TheSequence, an all-women trio from North Carolina.

What's that "sample??"

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, TheMessage

The Message

Socially conscious lyrics!

Speaks to living conditions in 1970s NYC

Grandmaster Flash is credited, but most of the work isGrandmaster Melle Mel

Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force,"Planet Rock"

Planet Rock Video

Note Zulu Nation -- you've read about this in Chang

Draws heavily on the Afro-Futurist sensibility of George Clintonand Sun Ra

It's built with the music of German electro group, Kraftwerk:Numbers and Trans Europe Express