What's the Word?

This is really embarrassing. And old. And I gave my informative speech on hip hop during sophmore year while everyone else gave their case on abortion or the fast food industry. 

I kept all the spelling mistakes. Here it goes…

Lately,  hip-hop has gotten back to it’s roots, back to the sounds of the “ Boogie Down Bronx” where it all started. Hip- hop started out with the struggle and self expression.For a time, rappers departed from that simplicity to drum-kit sounds, death of the DJ, money, arrogance and vulgarity.The further artists moved from the grass-roots uprising the worse the music got. Art is never about money.  Though rapping did start out as a competition between local disc jockeys bragging about how fly their dj’s were; it was more of a friendly competition. So here’s my omage, my time line, of hip hop and what it always was. From the first one’s to make it big, to the newer artists getting hip-hop back on track.

Old School

Clique as it may be, Run DMC and the Beastie Boys are most definitly my favorite “old-school” groups.

 Run DMC started the super-star power of hip hop.  There’s something to be said about how Run and DMC just flowed together. Each had the perfect timing and knew when to bounce off each other. 

“Peter Piper” has to be the song that shows their talents off the best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzuZtOvzoQ8

If you compare head to head Jam Master Jay, and Mix Master Mike, I have to say that Mix Master Mike always wins in my book. Each both had their talents, but Run-DMC was a lot more about the rapping than the music I always felt. Run and DMC were a lot stronger in their rhymes than the Beastie Boys, because the Beastie Boys never were rappers in the first place.

The Beastie Boys started out as a punk band, and through Rick Rubin became the three man rap group we know of today. What makes the Beastie Boys in my mind slightly better than DMC was because of the music they used.  Coming from being a punk band, they were musicians first, rappers later. The sampling Mix Master Mike used was genius, and still is to this day.  What makes them unique in their flow is that in the early years it was all about going to parties and just having fun. Their lyrics were silly,a nd kind of just put together rhymes. It all goes back to how hip-hop started at house parties or black parties because people were too poor.

Here are my favorites

“ Hey Ladies”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy5iQubfV5s&feature=av2e

“ Shake Your Rump”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS0Ew3qKql8&feature=av2e

“Brass Monkey”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBbQyXZvkbA&feature=av2n

For a more 90’s OG kind of vibe, A Tribe Called Quest did something completely new with the genre.  They were a mix of jazz influences and  a laid-back, thought out flow.

The song that is essential to any old-school playlist that’s usually introduced to you by your older sib

“ Can I Kick It?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbDFS6cg1AI

You can’t mention influential hip-hop without having the “East Coast” “ West Coast” rivalry when the 90’s brought about “gangter rap”.  Back to the struggle that started it all, some of the greatest artists came out from that time.

Notorious  B.I.G

His lyrics explains the struggle, the rise from having to deal for money to fame.

“Juicy”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsT8FaZnzdE

“Hypnotize”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RVE_5NRS5k

Tupac Shakur

Though not played frequently, I feel like there can’t be a mention of Biggie without Tupac. They were the most influential rappers at the time.

“ Only God Can Judge Me”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=padvnsLUhUM

On the subject of the 90’s I think the perfect transition from that old-school flow to now has to be Jay-Z.

“ Big Pimpin”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnoI7Be4VZk

New School

The last few years have really brought on such a change to the hip-hop scene.  Artists started sampling off beat indie songs , 

There’s this window that i always look through each day in my kitchen door that perfectly captures the house across. It’s like looking at this snapshot, like time freezing for that moment of the day where I take note to look through the window. 

And every day the light’s a bit different, the shadows more or less dramatic than the day before. The angles of the house in relation to the rectangular window never change, and i guess that’s why it always looks like a picture to me. The warmth changes, there’ll be snow sometimes hanging off the roof. Sometimes there’s light coming from inside the house beaming back into ours. 

Today the house looked soaked from all the rain, but that light was still there. I guess the sun manages to shine down on that house at the same angle every day too. 

It’s beautiful really. I like consistency, even if the outside environment changes. That window will always just capture the house across in the same place. Crop it out just so. You have to notice all the little things or youll miss out!

gotta keep it real yah know?