Storytelling 2

    Storytelling in Hip-Hop is used by artists to better convey their message of a song. Three of the top storytellers in Hip-Hop history are: 1)  Slick Rick, 2) Ice Cube, and 3) KRS-1. 

    One of Slick Rick's most prominent storytelling songs is "Children's Story." Two examples of Ice Cube's storytelling are "It Was A Good Day" and "True To The Game." KRS-1's best example of storytelling is "Love's Gonna Get Cha."

    Storytelling in Hip-Hop has been less prevalent over the last couple of years. Most modern Hip-Hop artists write songs about having a lot of money, doing a lot of drugs, and having a lot of sex. One modern Hip-Hop artist that includes storytelling in many of his songs, who is also my favorite artist ever, is Tech N9ne. 

    Tech N9ne has a few songs that are like a lot of modern Hip-Hop, where he talks about drinking and sex, but for the most part, Tech N9ne's songs aren't typically about that, and he never talks about doing any sort of drugs. Tech N9ne was influenced by many old school Hip-Hop artists, such as Slick Rick, Public Enemy, N.W.A., and Biggie Smalls. Most of Tech N9ne's storytelling songs are about stories of his personal life, such as the song "Mama Nem." 

    "Mama Nem" tells the story about Tech N9ne's life as he grew up and how his mother and the rest of his family were always there for him. Tech N9ne also has another storytelling song about his personal life titled "Last Sad Song." After the intro to "Last Sad Song," Tech N9ne's first verse is mainly about how his mother has been diagnosed with leukemia and how the fact that she has cancer is tearing him apart, but he plans on getting away from the sadness that he has put into his music as a result of the darkness he has been living in from that situation.

   Tech N9ne also has a storytelling song about his fan base. The name of that song is "F.A.N.S. (Forever Accepting N9ne's Soul)." The beginning of the song talks about how Tech N9ne came up in the Hip-Hop world and got famous. He talks about how his fans are the reason he got famous and how he did tours around the world because of their support and he thanks them for it.

Storytelling in Hip Hop

Storytelling is the epitome of Hip-Hop. When an artist tells a story in a song, it gives a visual to the message the are trying to convey. Nearly all artist have had a song where they tell a story, but Slick Rick is by far the pioneer and master of storytelling.

If you were to look up 'storytelling' in the Hip Hop Dictionary, the song "Children's Story" would be the example given. The two songs below are also well known story songs by Slick Rick, the first being "La Di Da Di" featuring Doug E. Fresh, the second being "Women Lose Weight" (The version I posted is a mix/mashup with the song "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon).

The form of storytelling in rap peaked during the late 80's and early 90's. Storytelling songs are usually catchy and have a wide audience. Notable artist that adopted this style are Big Daddy Kane,  The Notorious B.I.G., Eminem, Ice Cube, A Tribe Called Quest, and Tupac. The list goes on and on. Posted below is a song by A Tribe Called Quest called "I Left My Wallet In El Segundo"

In the past decade, storytelling in Hip Hop has kinda died down. Artist these days have more-so adopted the mafioso style of rap, trying to one-up each other. One of my favorite artist, however, has brought back the original form of storytelling in my opinion. That artist would be Kendrick Lamar. He raps about his life experiences in a very visual way. Although he may be relatively new in the world of Hip Hop, I speculate that he is really going to bring back storytelling in Hip Hop. Posted below are two songs of his that I feel really capture the old school form of storytelling.

Make It Matter 2

"George Bush doesn't care about black people"

                                                                                                                    - Kanye West

As radical as Kanye's declaration at the time during a fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina was, it represented what hip-hop is all about. 

Hip Hop has always been political and has gone hand in hand with whatever situation was in the news and media. it's an art form and a way for a rapper to express themselves about how they feel about what's going on in the country and sometimes the world.The lyrics of songs like "The Message" by Grand Master Flash & The Furious 5 spoke of the experiences of living in a disadvantaged situation.   

                                                                                 "The Message"- Grand Master Flash & The Furious 5

in the 1980s, rappers began focusing their politico rhymes on the people in office. President Ronald Regan first began getting mentioned because of his need to cut programs that were helping inner city communities and widening the social gap in America. Many rappers from Scarface to Pusha T blame Reagan in music for many ills and problems in their communities.  

Scarface: “Reagan never planned for us to rise.” 

— Pusha T: “The Ronald Reagan era was a tough time and a detrimental time to the black community,” especially due to the “Cocaine Ronald gave us.” 

Over the years, hip hop has gone from hating the president- and vise versa- to dining with the president.

During the 2008 presidential election, many hip hop artists and supporters declared Barack Obama the first hip hop president. He unlike the men before him didn't shun and criticize rap music. in fact, Diddy and Jay-z publicly endorsed and campaigned for him. we suddenly started hearing more uplifting political songs, that embraced the new president. "My President" by Young Jeezy was just the first of many songs and mixtapes that celebrated the first black president. The influence of hip-hop played a big role in electing Obama into office. who would have thought even five years ago, the president of the united states would have Jay-z and Lil Wayne on his iPod. 

                                           "My President"- Young Jeezy featuring Nas        

of course when you think of political rap, you have to include the highly influential rap group Public Enemy. The group, led by Chuck D had hard hitting lyrics that called out the problems of the country and made its listeners conscience of whats really going on.   

                                                          "Fight The Power"- Public Enemy

 like Tupac who was raised by a mother who was a former Black Panther was able to connect with his audience by putting out party music but had a political side; also releasing tracks that spoke of whats really going on. You can hear a message also in artists like The Roots, Nas, Talib Kweli and Common.  Lauryn Hill also rapped on issues and more specifically the "miseducation" of the educational system. although he doesn’t do it as often anymore, Kanye West's music would often have a message. just take a listen to his first album "College Dropout" and notice the subjects he speaks on such as religion, minimum wage labor, prejudice and struggle.

 "We Don't Care"- Kanye West

Although hip-hop is seemingly going deeper and deeper into this party and strip club music phase, it still has a powerful voice that demands to be heard in today's political climate.

Make it Matter

Click here to follow along with lyrics!

Immortal Technique – Young Lords Lyrics 

At first, upon hearing this song, it comes off as an "all-over-the-place" style of lyricism. Immortal Technique (Felipe Andres Coronel), is infamous in the Hip Hop underworld for his activism in humanitarian rights and being an iconic figure in the underground revolution against corrupt governments, religion, poverty, and racism.
Felipe Andres Coronel, as well as those featured in this song, are perfect examples of "bad nigg*s"
Immortal Technique's style is definitely that of one that opposes the societal norms and exhibits it's own unique perspective on the world through the eyes of the oppressed in Hip-Hop's underground. The lyrics of the song below are bursting at the seams with the critique of political injustices that our government sweeps under the rug. These eye-opening revelations of injustices encourage his audience to take part in the activism of their once-submissive-but no-longer regime. Have a look at a few of the references Immortal Technique makes in this song.

"I survived the Cointelpro assassinations

AIDS epidemic crack era fractured a nation

The interpretation of American democracy

Is best exemplified in its foreign policy dichotomy

I live a double-life of political philosophy

But revolution follows me, the struggle for equality"

                         

- Immortal Technique

And as for language, there is a prominent blend of Black English with hints of Spanish words and phrases that have assimilated into this specific subcategory of Hip Hop. Pumpkin Head (Robert Diaz) also comes from a latino background, specifically, in Park Slope area of Brooklyn NYC, not far from where Immortal Technique himself grew up. The homogenous compatibilities of Ebonics and Spanish language give way to a new hybrid lyricism of raw power (i.e Bad Nigg*s) and the integration of spanish influence appeals to a new audience, Puerto Rican Black Americans. 

In this one sentence we see elements of Black English, humanitarianism, spanish influence, and the breakdown of society's unjust acceptance of racial inequality.

     "I came to my senses, un esclavo no soy, that is not my past, I came to know me and my people, redbrown and black, helped me paint the future"

                                                              - Immortal Technique
                                                   (Spanish Translation: I am not a slave)

The purpose of Immortal Technique's lyrics are a beckoning to his audiences for activism and social justice. While the mafioso flow of bragging is still present in most of his songs there is a distinct line drawn that distinguishes him from other Hip Hop lyricists. The acknowledgement of this barrier sets Immortal Technique apart from those  conditioned to materialistic possessions defining success. This unique outlook is what has preserved his style and message allowing him to exhibit an assortment of various styles that are still within the extreme humanitarian ideals and values that form the structure of Felipe Coronel's unchanged stance toward the government and moral dilemmas of the contemporary world.
                                     

"Unidos por fin! We seize the time, free at last, learn to love, live to fight, not just for me, but for others, teach the new blood, and live for freedom!"

                                                           - Immortal Technique

Song: Young Lords
Artist: Immortal Technique featuring Pumpkin Head
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOX02fpsIc4

Make it New: Sampling & Authorship

Make it New: Sampling & Authorship

In today’s music industry people are constantly trying to find a new sound to grab people’s attention and become the next big thing. There’s always something new that is being created, or something new that just hasn't been heard. One way people, artists, and record labels are attracting new people is through sampling. Sampling can take a classic beat or song and make it even more entertaining. Super Mash Bros tends to sample bits of popular music making a whole new song with clips that are mixed together. Sampling in simple terms is when a part of a song is taken and is reused as an instrument or sound recording in a whole new song. 

The big question is; are they actually making it new when they sample music? What about authorship? Sampling seems like it should or would be illegal in most cases, and most of the time it is illegal because artists won’t sample the music legally. Sampling is a very tricky thing because it can really screw a producer or artist over if they do not do it correctly.

Here are some guidelines to legally sampling music from the website

http://www.indeproducer.com/2012/03/what-is-copyright-clearing-samples-for.html :

“ "Sample clearance" refers to the process of getting permission from the owners of the copyrighted music. Sampling music requires two sample clearances: 

·                     Clearance from the copyright owner of the SONG -- typically the music publisher

·                     Clearance from the copyright owner of the MASTER RECORDING -- typically the recording company

Find the Music Publisher 

In order to get these sample clearances; you will first need to find the copyright owners of the song and master recording. The music publisher is typically the easiest to find; so, start there. Performing rights organizations, like Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) or the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), collect money for public performances of artists' music. Therefore, these organizations are a good place to locate the publisher. 

So chances are, you are probably sampling illegally. However, you more than likely have no chance at all at contacting the publisher, nor the record label. You also have a good chance of never getting caught using that sample. So it is a double-edged sword if you ask me. The bottom line is, a law is a law and what you may be doing in your music is illegal. ”

 

 Although it is illegal to take a beat or part of a song if the original artist claimed authorship, there are times where an artist will obtain authorship for a song but won’t specify exactly what they want to copyright.

According to http://www.musiccopyrightnow.com/How-To-Copyright-Songs-Authorship.html , in order to copyright your music correctly you must,

“ First, define the nature of your Authorship. This is not particularly hard, but most song copyright information sources on the net gloss over or ignore this important subject.

You write and record a song - that's great. What do you own? What are you the author of? What parts of "your" authorship are exclusively yours?

In most cases, there are four parts of a musical work in which you can have an authorship interest:

1. The Music

2. The Lyrics

3. The Performance session where the song is RECORDED

tion and/or Engineering of the Recording

The last two, recording and production are curious. Read on to discover how to copyright songs AND keep the engineer and the studio from obtaining authorship interests in your work. Don't unwittingly give away interests in your work.

Let's say you come up with some great tunes and dynamic lyrics. Next you assemble some musicians and run down to your local studio so the world can hear your work.

What have you got?

Parts 1 and 2 above, the music and lyrics, are the underlying work. Those are yours and you can Register your copyright interest.

Parts 3 and 4, studio performances and engineering, relate to something defined by the U.S. Copyright Act as a "sound recording". A copyright interest in sound recordings can be Registered, just like the underlying work.

The guy you asked to come to the studio to play bass and the engineer you asked to twist the knobs may have authorship interests in that sound recording of "your" song. It's not the end of the world, because they have no right to Register a copyright in the underlying work. And, if you've Registered your work, you can shut them down and make them pay dearly if they use your song without permission and/or without paying for a license. But why give them any piece of your copyright? ”

In conclusion, new music has to be very careful with both sampling and getting authorship. Gaining authorship for a song is quite the process, and you have to make sure to specify when gaining authorship what exactly you want to have control over. Also, when artists sample music they have to be really careful they do it legally or don’t get caught. Many artists and producers often get sued for using other artist’s music without permission. Vanilla Ice actually sampled the beat from “Under Pressure” in his hit song “Ice Ice Baby”, but Vanilla Ice never gave credit to Queen and David Bowie until confronted years later. This is a perfect example of sampling incorrectly and not making it new!

The Hip Hop Matrix

As exciting as "Hip Hop Matrix" sounds, it's not rappers literally dodging bullets or fighting off machines to save humanity.

What is the Hip Hop matrix you may ask? To understand what it is, you must first understand where the term came from.

Much like Hip Hop itself, the "Hip Hop Matrix" wasn't just invented out of thin air, it is a product of its predecessors: The Blues Matrix.

By definition of a  Houston A. Baker, Jr. (a noted African-American literary critic) a matrix is:

"... a point of ceaseless input and output, a web of intersecting, crisscrossing impulses always in productive transit." (Baker, 4)"

Mr. Baker also defines Blues as:

"... a mediational site where familiar antinomies are resolved (or dissolved) in the office of adequate cultural understanding" (Baker, 5

So, a Blues Matrix is an a mediational site where familiar antinomies are resolved (or dissolved) in the office of adequate cultural understanding in a point of ceaseless input and output, a web of intersecting, crisscrossing impulses always in productive transit.

In layman's terms, the Blues Matrix is an ever evolving tool used to understand things within "blues" culture.

For example, my girlfriend is a psychology major, so she's always learning these nonsense things about the brain and tries to explain it to me. I sit there and nod in agreement with the occasional "Wow, that's cool" or "That's interesting. So it finally dawned on her to try to explain it to me in terms that I'd understand: music terms. She'd explain psychology using words like sticatto and fermatta in lieu of synapse and acetylcholine. BAM! Band Matrix. I'm pretty sure many of you reading have translated things for other people in this fashion.

Switching gears back to Hip Hop, just to reiterate, what is the Hip Hop Matrix? An ever evolving tool used to understand things within "Hip Hop" culture. Now, this makes more sense.

Houston Baker said in his book, Blues, Ideology, and Afro-American Literature, that he the Blues Matrix (as a"vernacular trope") has a huge impact in the study of American literature, criticism, and culture.

So what we get drunk? So what we don't sleep? We're just having fun; We don't care who sees. So what we go out? That's how it's supposed to be; Living young and wild and free. (YOUNG, WILD & FREE LYRICS - WIZ KHALIFA)

Lets rewind. Way back to the Roaring 20's. Back when alcohol was prohibited. 1925. Cue in an old school Wiz Khalifa named Dorothy Ellingston. She was the pinnacle of living young, wild and free. At the age of 16, she was already in night clubs, had fake IDs, was sleeping with men, and drinking faux alcohol. She had that familiar YOLO mentality, "Clubbing hard, fucking [wo]men, ain't much to do" (The motto -Drake) wasn't that far off from a typical night for this jazz baby.

Besides her fast lane lifestyle, she was shallower than a kiddie pool. She didn't care about what anyone thought of her. She only cared about what was in her cup and who she was sleeping with that night. Hell, she even kept a notebook listing all her sexual encounters, judging them on their appearance and performance.

Psychologist claimed she only acted out because she genuinely enjoyed being bad. They also noted that she had sex solely to feel good. She was cray.

As you would've already figured, her parents didn't like her YOLO-ness. Dorothy hated her mom like snails hate salt since she was all up in her face about what she doing and grounding her for breaking the law. Seems pretty fair, in my opinion.

Finally, one day Dorothy snapped. Her mom, as usual, was telling her how much if a disgrace she was and telling her to get a job. Dorothy left the room, returned and shot her twice in the back of the head. Yep. Just like that Dorothy was free to YOLO her life away, and that she did. After shooting her mom, she left that night to a jazz club and danced for the entire night.

"She went dancing. She was the life of the party... She danced for twelve hours straight... She wasn't concerned about the future. She wasn't even concerned about the past. She was concerned about the now." (James R. Smith Deadly Women: Parents Peril)

She was later arrested and confessed to the murder of her mother, but coroner didn't believe she did it. It was imposible for a sixteen year old girl to commit a crime like that. Why? Because it was never heard of that someone would kill their own mom. This was the first time ever matricide was reported. The press didn't buy her confession. They reported that Jazz music lead Dorothy to kill her mom. The press named that culture: Jazzmania.

"...people got their blood worked up; they got excited; they lost thier inhibitions and it felt like affected thier psyche and that they actually... became insane." (James Smith, Deadly Women: Parents Peril)

In August of 1925, she is found guilty of 1st degree murder of her mother and sent to San Quinton prison. She later then "changed" in prison. She preached to kids to not live like her.

"She advised kids to obey their parents, learn trade, not ride in fast automobiles with people." (Paul Prexter, Deadly Women: Parents Peril)

As crazy as that sounds, translated into the the Hip Hop Matrix, that person may strike you as familiar.

50 Cent! What? How? Crazy right?

You can find me in the club, bottle full of bubLook mami, I got the X if you into takin' drugsI'm into havin' sex, I ain't into makin' loveSo come gimme a hug, if you're into gettin' rubbed (In the Club, 50 Cent)

Sounds similar to our Jazz baby, right? 50 cent was about selling and heroin and cocaine (http://crime.about.com/od/famousdiduno/ig/celebrity_mugshots/50-Cent.htm) and even chose to rename himself as "50 Cent" as a metaphor for change. (http://www.daveyd.com/interview50cent.html). Now, sort of like our Jazz baby, 50 Cent is a philanthropist. His non-profit organization "G-Unity" provides grants to other non-profit organizations whose focuses are to improve the quality of life for low-income communities.

There is one point in particular that jumps out at me in his Houston Baker's book. He says:

"... a blues matrix (as a vernacular trope for American cultural explanation in general) posses enourmous force for the study of literature, criticism, and culture." (Baker 14)

Hopefully many of you reading this can apply your own matrixes for explaining things in your life.






Bibliography
"50 Cent." About.com Crime / Punishment. About.com, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.
Baker, Houston A., Jr. Blues, Ideology, and Afro-American Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1984. Print.
Cheng, Cheri. "Interview W/ 50 Cent." Interview W/ 50 Cent. Davey D's Hip Hop Corners, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2013.
Mohr, Marie. "Deadly Women: Parents Peril." YouTube. YouTube, 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 14 Jan. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pOIWUVSTvQ>.