Thursday, April 30, 2015
Senegal Hip Hop: "We are the voice of the voiceless"
"We are the voices of the voiceless," says the rapper known as Ngoom Doom, half of Rawu Street, "For us that is hip-hop."
The rappers — and their fans — have their roots in Futa Toora, a once-fertile stretch of land along the Senegal River, some 150 miles from Dakar and not far from the Sahara Desert. Since the 1980s, rainfall has been steadily decreasing in this region. Many of the farmers along the river moved to the capital in search of a better life. They settled in sandy lots just outside the city, crowding into cement houses in walled compounds with their extended families and their goats.
In the neighborhood of Guediawaye, people cope with blackouts and flooding from the poor drainage. The children of the migrants grew up seeing their parents struggle and soon were struggling themselves. There aren't enough jobs for the new generation.
Hip-hop gives the men a way to express their frustrations. They spit their anger into microphones and shout their lyrics into the sea of the audience.
"Same cats, same dogs / same electoral promises / it's only two years and we're already fed up." That's the lyrics to "Diogoufi," which means "nothing has changed" in the local Wolof language. It's written by the group Keur Gui — Wolof for "home."
read the rest here
The rappers — and their fans — have their roots in Futa Toora, a once-fertile stretch of land along the Senegal River, some 150 miles from Dakar and not far from the Sahara Desert. Since the 1980s, rainfall has been steadily decreasing in this region. Many of the farmers along the river moved to the capital in search of a better life. They settled in sandy lots just outside the city, crowding into cement houses in walled compounds with their extended families and their goats.
In the neighborhood of Guediawaye, people cope with blackouts and flooding from the poor drainage. The children of the migrants grew up seeing their parents struggle and soon were struggling themselves. There aren't enough jobs for the new generation.
Hip-hop gives the men a way to express their frustrations. They spit their anger into microphones and shout their lyrics into the sea of the audience.
"Same cats, same dogs / same electoral promises / it's only two years and we're already fed up." That's the lyrics to "Diogoufi," which means "nothing has changed" in the local Wolof language. It's written by the group Keur Gui — Wolof for "home."
read the rest here
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
from @TalibKweli
RT @lawgirl93: @TalibKweli @iloanya1 @brandersen631 pic.twitter.com/ugBwTrcbeN
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) April 28, 2015
RT @ForTheByrdz: Funny, ppl think the few who resort 2 violence reflect the entire movement but dont think cops who kill represent all cops
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) April 27, 2015
Brutality BEEN a problem. We been screaming it for decades. It's just now a hot topic cuz we all have cameras & these cops getting filmed.
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) April 26, 2015
@TalibKweli @justinwedes This should have made the front page ofThe #BaltimoreSun #FreddieGray pic.twitter.com/7gBYy5QaET
— Sickflo (@sickflo100mad) April 26, 2015
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Monday, April 27, 2015
Jada Pinkett Smith on Hilary Clinton
On April 18, Jada Pinkett Smith penned a facebook post on race, gender, and Hilary Clinton's run for POTUS:
source
Race vs GenderHillary Clinton is running for President. When Hillary made her announcement, I was more confused and...
Posted by Jada Pinkett Smith on Saturday, April 18, 2015
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Sunday, April 26, 2015
Friday, April 24, 2015
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Hank Shocklee from the Bomb Squad
"I had a ridiculous record collection. And I wanted to prove that it was the records that inspired me. Because ... I understand scales and musical arrangements and that stuff but I didn't have — I was not a player. I'm not going to pick up a bass or a guitar or keys and I'm going to, you know, put some virtuoso stuff down. That's not going to happen. But what I do have is a turntable and records. And so I just want to create this collage, almost like a Romare Bearden kind of a painting."
read here
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Graffiti Busters
"The story is this: One person wrote a name to show he was there. Another person was threatened enough by the declaration of existence that he painted over his name. The splotch of paint that covers the name becomes a tag itself. It sits on the wall and testifies to the presence of two people. One person is a so-called criminal, one person is a so-called activist, and both are equal in their need to be recognized. One person has fame but faces jail; one person gets support and accolades from the community but wants fame. The wall could care less about either of them; It just gets fatter with paint."
read the rest here
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Friday, April 17, 2015
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Palestine and Hip Hop
"While solidarity has been steadily growing, the language of hip-hop has
served as a bridge between communities. Hip-hop has grown immensely in
Palestine among marginalized youth on both sides of the "Green Line,"
while honoring the pioneers and grassroots beginnings of the genre. Like
the kids who founded hip-hop in the South Bronx, whose neighborhoods
were destroyed by gentrification, completely isolated from resources,
abandoned by the government yet scrutinized by law enforcement,
Palestinian rappers express the same resistance. They utilize hip-hop to
promote community, self-expression and to protest environmental
violence and second-class citizenship."
read the rest here
read the rest here
Museum of the City of New York: Hip Hop Revolution
Hip-Hop Revolution: Photographs by Janette Beckman, Joe Conzo, and Martha Cooper. April 1 - Sept. 13, 2015
Hip-Hop Revolution presents more than 80 photographs taken
between 1977 and 1990 by three preeminent New York-based
photographers—Janette Beckman, Joe Conzo, and Martha Cooper—who
documented hip hop from its pioneering days through its emergence into
mainstream popular culture.
Hip-hop culture, incorporating such elements as DJing, rapping, and breaking (dancing), was born on the streets of New York City in the 1970s and grew to have a global impact on music, dance, and fashion. The exhibition showcases the experiences of each photographer during these seminal years, as DJs, MCs, and b-boys (breakdancers) were continually innovating, developing new forms of self-expression. The work of these photographers—featuring early figures Afrika Bambaata, Kool Herc, and Cold Crush Brothers, breakers (or b-boys) like Rock Steady Crew, and breakout acts such as Run DMC and the Beastie Boys—form a broad survey of a movement that is indelibly linked to New York City and still has a resounding influence today.
source
Hip-hop culture, incorporating such elements as DJing, rapping, and breaking (dancing), was born on the streets of New York City in the 1970s and grew to have a global impact on music, dance, and fashion. The exhibition showcases the experiences of each photographer during these seminal years, as DJs, MCs, and b-boys (breakdancers) were continually innovating, developing new forms of self-expression. The work of these photographers—featuring early figures Afrika Bambaata, Kool Herc, and Cold Crush Brothers, breakers (or b-boys) like Rock Steady Crew, and breakout acts such as Run DMC and the Beastie Boys—form a broad survey of a movement that is indelibly linked to New York City and still has a resounding influence today.
source
April 10, 1990: Fear of a Black Planet
The revolutionary album was released and changed the world of music on this day in 1990.
April 10, 1990 was the release date of a cornerstone in hip hop music: Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet. Still known as one of the most empowering albums of its time, the album was written during a pivotal era both in America and music: the Golden Age of Hip Hop.
Preceding the time where samples required clearance and approval to be used in sample-based music, the album is layered heavily with elements providing space and depth to levels of complexity previously unheard. Fear of a Black Planet‘s production team, The Bomb Squad, worked tirelessly to bring their signature sound to the album. As Rolling Stone’s Christopher Weingarten said in an interview late last year with leading Public Enemy MC Chuck D, it was one of the…
source
April 10, 1990 was the release date of a cornerstone in hip hop music: Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet. Still known as one of the most empowering albums of its time, the album was written during a pivotal era both in America and music: the Golden Age of Hip Hop.
Preceding the time where samples required clearance and approval to be used in sample-based music, the album is layered heavily with elements providing space and depth to levels of complexity previously unheard. Fear of a Black Planet‘s production team, The Bomb Squad, worked tirelessly to bring their signature sound to the album. As Rolling Stone’s Christopher Weingarten said in an interview late last year with leading Public Enemy MC Chuck D, it was one of the…
“most sonically adventurous and politically stirring records of all time.”
source
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