Album: Chrome Children (various artists)
Monkey Suite
Just a quick post for Wednesday. And by Wednesday I mean Thursday morning. Natch. My fingers are still bleeding from Tuesday's conversation. Speaking of which, many thanks to everyone who is taking an interest in this blog! It's fun to have these sorts of conversations, even if it means that my wife and kids go largely ignored for hours at a time...
And so hip-hop barely registered on my cultural radar for over a decade, until at my local used record store I stumbled across Gil-Scott Heron (The Revolution Will Not Be Televised). This -- which, incidentally, was released in 1975, several years before Sugar Hill Gang popularized rap -- was something completely different. I had come to equate the genre with either guns-n-hoes bullshit or nauseatingly repetitive celebrations of bling; Heron was of a different class altogether. Over jazz-fed beats, he rapped about stuff that actually meant something to me. There was nothing caricatured about him or his music, which felt fresh, vibrant, and alive. Today, some commentators hear in Heron the very origins of hip-hop, despite its obvious beatnik-y references.
I started to explore the genre in earnest after that, moving through the politically charged Public Enemy (Fight the Power) to the flower-child playfulness of De La Soul (The Magic Number) to the bud-inspired Cypress Hill (Insane in the Membrane) to the Michael Franti-led Spearhead (Hole in a Bucket), and I soon realized that hip-hop was more than it first appeared. And the more I listened to artists like this, the more I began to appreciate the subtler differences in the genre.
Hip-hop is a collaboration of an MC, who write and raps the lyrics, and a DJ, who provides the samples and manipulates the beats. But it's not quite as simple as that. Some rappers are very monotonous, rhyming strictly in time with the beat, ending every phrase on the fourth beat of every bar. Needless to say, this is boring as fuck. The way in which the rap is delivered is referred to as the "flow," and the best MCs change the flow in accordance to the needs of the song. Further, the DJ plays an integral role, as the samples, and their manipulation, enhance and amplify the text. The very best hip-hop is a marriage of an MC with subtle flow and a creative, open-minded, and musically-astute DJ.
Madvillain is one such marriage. The MC is MF DOOM, a so-called "underground" rapper known for his aversion to the spotlight. He always raps with a mask on, so as to conceal his identity. The DJ is Madlib, one of the most critically acclaimed producers of the last decade. DOOM's lyricism is notable, featuring playful and subtle wordplay, impressionistic imagery, and creative rhyming. Madlib's beats are equally interesting. When was the last time you heard an Accordion in hip-hop?
I think a good introduction to the hip-hop genre is Madlib's Shades of Blue album, which is an album Madlib remixed and there are heavy jazz and funk elements to it that may make the transition into the world of hip-hop easier for those who are not yet able to appreciate the genre. It is also the album that most people think brought Madlib into the spotlight as a DJ.
ReplyDeleteYeah a very cool album, definitely. From a more populist standpoint I would also recommend the crossover albums Paul's Boutique (Beastie Boys) and Stankonia (Outkast) as safe places to kick start a love of hip-hop.
ReplyDeleteAlso be aware that one of the monikers of MF DOOM is Viktor Vaughn. Put two and two together and there is a reference to the Fantastic Four villain, Victor Von Doom, which I find hilarious coming from an MC.
ReplyDeleteGood hip-hop primer! Tho' it's still not on my radar (generation gap and all), I've often thought that early mainstrean "raps" such as Walk This Way (Areosmith 1975) and Rapture (Blondie 1980)were ripoffs from the clubs that these artists likely frequented to do some "musical anthropology" and inject life into their own music. This is much like Elvis and Pat Boone covering R&B acts in the 50s and the Stones and Yardbirds covering Delta Blues in the 60s so that it would get airplay on "mainstream" a.m. radio. Once introduced to the generes the listening public then wanted to hear the originators of the music. Run DMC's cover/collaboration with Areosmith in 1986 is an example bring the two musical cultures back together
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! DOOM has a love of cartoon, for sure. In some of his videos he is portrayed as a cartoon villain, but I hadn't made the Victor von Doom connection before. Damn that cat is cool.
ReplyDeleteLeslie, that's an interesting observation. With respect to Blondie I'm sure that you're on to something. Indeed there's not that much difference between Debbie Harry's rap in Heart of Glass and Rapper's Delight -- both chanted in 4/4 time over a disco beat -- and as an integral part of the downtown New York CBGB scene in the late 70s/early 80s she must have been aware of rap's growing popularity. As for Aerosmith, I'm not so sure that rap, even in its most incipient forms, influenced Walk This Way. Steven Tyler sings much of the melodic line on a single pitch, but this practice is not all that unusual in rock and blues music. Having said that, the song certainly lends itself well to a rap interpretation, and the collaboration between Run DMC and Aerosmith is seen by many as the single most important moment in bringing rap to a mainstream audience.
ReplyDeleteYour point about "musical anthropology" is also interesting. In my opinion, the entirety of the rock canon can be traced back to the Delta Blues; in this sense, any contemporary popular musician might be said to be "standing on the shoulders of giants." But you're absolutely right that some (Elvis, the Stones etc) put their full weight on those shoulders; others tread more lightly.
Also, David, have you listened to any KMD (Kausing Much Damage). It's the group that essentially started the career of MF DOOM, who was known as Zev Love X at that time. His younger brother DJ Subroc was also in the group, but died in a car accident in '93.
ReplyDeleteDude, you're on the top of your game. Haven't listened to KMD but will certainly give it a go.
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