source
Monday, November 30, 2015
M.I.A. - Borders
"M.I.A. expressed why the plight of the refugees is a personal topic for her. "I want to dedicate this video to my uncle Bala, my icon and role model," she wrote. "One of the first Tamil migrants to come to the U.K. in the 60s who went to inspire so many people as a creative, daring man with so much swag that everything I do doesn't even touch his sides. Thank you for helping my family come to England and taking us out of Sri Lanka and saving us. Everything I became was to say thank you to you!"
Friday, November 27, 2015
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Guardian interview with Immortal Technique
Felipe Andres Coronel, aka Immortal Technique,
is more than just an underground hip-hop legend – he's an activist,
humanitarian and a revolutionist. Born in Peru and raised in Harlem, New
York, the 34-year-old has struck a chord with those seeking an
alternative voice in hip-hop. He represents a thorn in the side of the
mainstream with his messages about class struggle, religion, government
and institutional racism.
Where does the anger in your music come from?
I think it's righteous fury. If someone shot your mother you'd be angry, right? But would you be wrong for being angry? No. I've heard people criticise me for the most ridiculous things, calling my music abrasive. If you're troubled by the words I speak, then you should probably hang yourself because the world is going to tear you apart or is too real for you to accept. I'm not offended by fuck, shit, pussy, dick, motherfucker. You know what I'm offended by? I'm offended by seeing a child in Gaza who has had his skin burned off by white phosphorus. I'm offended by seeing the graves of civilians that are there because they are the "collateral damage" of a drone strike in Afghanistan or Pakistan. I'm offended when I see people perverting Christianity, Islam or Judaism for their own political purposes so they can justify taking land or killing people in the name of something.
Your lyrics contain a lot of religious messages. What does religion mean to you and do you follow a faith?
If I told people I was a Muslim, people wouldn't say: "Wow, that's wonderful you've found inner peace in your life by embracing Islam." They'd ask: "What type of Muslim are you? Are you one of them fucking Wahabbi, Sunnite, Salafi psycho-niggas? Are you down with Hezbollah and them?" If I told people I was Jewish, they'd ask: "Do you support Israel and do you support the colonisation of Palestine?" It's irrelevant whether you call yourself a Christian, Muslim or Jew because if you don't reflect that in your life, you aren't that at all. I have always been hounded by people about it; people try and pry it out of me. I believe in God and have a faith that's very personal to me. That faith is between me and God. We have polarised religion, rather than it being a personal reflection of your relationship with God and how you communicate with God. I'd rather be friends with a good atheist than a bad religious person. Your religion is suppose to ennoble you, but if all it makes you do is become contemptuous of other people, or make you say other people are going to hell, your religion has failed you, or rather, you have failed your religion.
read the full interview here
Where does the anger in your music come from?
I think it's righteous fury. If someone shot your mother you'd be angry, right? But would you be wrong for being angry? No. I've heard people criticise me for the most ridiculous things, calling my music abrasive. If you're troubled by the words I speak, then you should probably hang yourself because the world is going to tear you apart or is too real for you to accept. I'm not offended by fuck, shit, pussy, dick, motherfucker. You know what I'm offended by? I'm offended by seeing a child in Gaza who has had his skin burned off by white phosphorus. I'm offended by seeing the graves of civilians that are there because they are the "collateral damage" of a drone strike in Afghanistan or Pakistan. I'm offended when I see people perverting Christianity, Islam or Judaism for their own political purposes so they can justify taking land or killing people in the name of something.
Your lyrics contain a lot of religious messages. What does religion mean to you and do you follow a faith?
If I told people I was a Muslim, people wouldn't say: "Wow, that's wonderful you've found inner peace in your life by embracing Islam." They'd ask: "What type of Muslim are you? Are you one of them fucking Wahabbi, Sunnite, Salafi psycho-niggas? Are you down with Hezbollah and them?" If I told people I was Jewish, they'd ask: "Do you support Israel and do you support the colonisation of Palestine?" It's irrelevant whether you call yourself a Christian, Muslim or Jew because if you don't reflect that in your life, you aren't that at all. I have always been hounded by people about it; people try and pry it out of me. I believe in God and have a faith that's very personal to me. That faith is between me and God. We have polarised religion, rather than it being a personal reflection of your relationship with God and how you communicate with God. I'd rather be friends with a good atheist than a bad religious person. Your religion is suppose to ennoble you, but if all it makes you do is become contemptuous of other people, or make you say other people are going to hell, your religion has failed you, or rather, you have failed your religion.
read the full interview here
Hip Hop and Capitalism
"Gangsta Rap burst forth in its nascent form in the late 1980's in the
heart of Los Angeles. To comprehend how this subgenre of rap developed,
however, the
ruthless conditions which originally produced the gang epidemic must be
recognized. Institutionalized racial segregation, economic deprivation,
and social
degradation, enforced by hegemonic government and business structures,
had historically plagued communities of color in the area and produced a
distinct
history which would give rise in the 1980's to a prodigious spike in
gang activity and violence. Historically marginalized groups would be
pitted against
one another in despondent economic conditions and forced to compete
amongst themselves for the paltry scraps that fell from society's table.
Government
departments, banking agencies, and the real estate industry would play
into the game of get-rich-quick racial segregation. Redlining, the
practice of
denying or increasing costs of housing and insurance to economically
segregate communities along racial lines, played a fundamental role in
the homogenous
racial composition of west coast urban areas. In 1938, the Federal
Housing Administration released an underwriting manual which all lenders
were forced to
read, explaining that areas should be investigated in order to
determine "the probability of the location being invaded" by
"incompatible racial and social
groups" and, more importantly, that for a "neighborhood is to retain
stability" it must "be occupied by the same social and racial classes"
because a
change in these would lead to "instability and a decline in values." [1] Some
entrepreneurs "figured out how to hustle racial fear" [2]
by buying at
low prices from whites fleeing their homes and selling to blacks at
prices significantly higher than market level. This effectively kept
blacks and whites
segregated into different neighborhoods."
read the rest here
read the rest here
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Hip Hop and Resistance in Ferguson
"The critique of hip hop should not come as a surprise. While we are
used to it coming from right wing conservative factions and many times
while we understand that criticisms aimed at hip come from blacks
steeped in politics of respectability, these critiques came from within
the hip hop community itself. I argue that this in and of itself is not a
bad thing because in order to hold the community accountable for its
own actions or inactions, one must hold each other compassionate
accountability.
However, I also maintain that criticizing hip hop is also a default position for many of us in society–that to blame hip hop for action or in action, for good, bad, or anything in between; to blame hip hop for just existing at times, is the problem. It negates the need to further analyze and see issues and problems that go way beyond the surface. Moreover, as exemplified here, it also negates what hip hop did and continues to do in Ferguson and beyond."
read full article here at Rhetoric, Race & Religion
However, I also maintain that criticizing hip hop is also a default position for many of us in society–that to blame hip hop for action or in action, for good, bad, or anything in between; to blame hip hop for just existing at times, is the problem. It negates the need to further analyze and see issues and problems that go way beyond the surface. Moreover, as exemplified here, it also negates what hip hop did and continues to do in Ferguson and beyond."
read full article here at Rhetoric, Race & Religion
Dance Crews in Music Videos; Bringing hip hop back together
I've noticed that YG, an entertainment company in Korea, has been collaborating with dance choreographer Parris Goebel in a few music videos. I have to admit, I like the incorporation of dance crews. They add a certain charisma that is absent in many hip hop music videos - at least at the populist level - and provide a certain edge that so many try to mimic.
At a social level, what this does is to bring the music (which has detached itself from the other elements of hip hop - dance crews, djs, graffiti artists - due to capitalist pressures of the industry) back to re-merging with the aspects of hip hop culture that has been marginalized in the mainstream.
From an artistic/aesthetic point of view, despite its capitalizing aspects, I applaud this move of bringing dance crews back into the manifold of visible hip hop. And Parris Goebel is certainly one of the best out there to collaborate with - if you need additional evidence I suggest you check out her megacrew 'Royal Family'.
In this sense, I would like to see the mainstream further incorporate the djs (the backbone of hip hop) and the graffiti artists. The MCs have taken so much of the pie in the visible eye of the public of what constitutes hip hop that it is about time that they've started to bring the diversity of hip hop culture along. The industry has fragmented the culture and it is a welcome sight to see the culture beginning to dictate the industry; hip hop needs to take back the modes of production and pay homage to the people that keep it alive.
*the two examples are, of course, mainstream examples that are within the modes of reproducing capitalist moralities. Nonetheless, I think there is something to be said about the social and aesthetics
At a social level, what this does is to bring the music (which has detached itself from the other elements of hip hop - dance crews, djs, graffiti artists - due to capitalist pressures of the industry) back to re-merging with the aspects of hip hop culture that has been marginalized in the mainstream.
From an artistic/aesthetic point of view, despite its capitalizing aspects, I applaud this move of bringing dance crews back into the manifold of visible hip hop. And Parris Goebel is certainly one of the best out there to collaborate with - if you need additional evidence I suggest you check out her megacrew 'Royal Family'.
In this sense, I would like to see the mainstream further incorporate the djs (the backbone of hip hop) and the graffiti artists. The MCs have taken so much of the pie in the visible eye of the public of what constitutes hip hop that it is about time that they've started to bring the diversity of hip hop culture along. The industry has fragmented the culture and it is a welcome sight to see the culture beginning to dictate the industry; hip hop needs to take back the modes of production and pay homage to the people that keep it alive.
*the two examples are, of course, mainstream examples that are within the modes of reproducing capitalist moralities. Nonetheless, I think there is something to be said about the social and aesthetics
Monday, November 23, 2015
Chicago Footwork - Meet the Era (documentary)
"The music was for the dance," Chief Manny, a footwork dancer from the South Side of the city, told THUMP. "When I hear footwork, I can't not be thinking about dancing. So it's kind of weird that everyone loves this stuff around the world but doesn't know or interact with dancing origins of it on the ground in Chicago."
In Meet The Era, a new THUMP-produced documentary by Wills Glasspiegel, we meet a group of talented young people determined to preserve and push footwork culture forward in Chicago and beyond. Co-founded in 2014 by South Side native Litebulb, now 25, The Era brings together some of the city's finest battle dancers—including Chief Manny himself, as well as P-Top, Steelo, and Dempsey—all young Chicagoans spreading the message that footwork is an art form that brings music and dance together. "Please don't forget who's out there sweating blood and tears every day and giving their everything just for the music and moment itself," Bulb implores. "We bring those tracks to life."
read more here
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Friday, November 20, 2015
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Friday, November 13, 2015
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Afrika Bambaataa to receive lifetime achievement award
"Afrika Bambaataa, the godfather of hip-hop, will be acknowledged for all he’s done for the culture and music. The founding member of the Universal Zulu Nation is set to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Global Spin Awards, which take place on Nov. 17 at the PlayStation Theater in New York City.
Afrika Bambaataa’s vital role in developing hip-hop and bringing it to an audience outside of its humble origins make him a natural choice for the Global Spin Awards, a ceremony which honors DJs from both the past and present. The Bronx DJ is credited with coining the term hip-hop, at least its first published interview form that is, and played an instrumental role in it becoming a global phenomenon.
Afrika Bambaataa released the now iconic single “Planet Rock” with his group the Soulsonic Force in 1982. The song not only made a mark in hip-hop, but also helped establish the electro funk subgenre. Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force would later release Planet Rock: The Album, one of the seminal albums in hip-hop’s early days. Be it his music or the work he’s done with the Zulu Nation, Bambaataa’s legacy in hip-hop is unparalleled."
source
Afrika Bambaataa’s vital role in developing hip-hop and bringing it to an audience outside of its humble origins make him a natural choice for the Global Spin Awards, a ceremony which honors DJs from both the past and present. The Bronx DJ is credited with coining the term hip-hop, at least its first published interview form that is, and played an instrumental role in it becoming a global phenomenon.
Afrika Bambaataa released the now iconic single “Planet Rock” with his group the Soulsonic Force in 1982. The song not only made a mark in hip-hop, but also helped establish the electro funk subgenre. Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force would later release Planet Rock: The Album, one of the seminal albums in hip-hop’s early days. Be it his music or the work he’s done with the Zulu Nation, Bambaataa’s legacy in hip-hop is unparalleled."
source
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
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