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The history of rap music
The history of rap music
Rap music history
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The Pharcyde is an alternative rap quartet from South Central Los Angeles founded by MCs/producers: Tre "Slimkid" Hardson, Derrick "Fatlip" Stewart, Emandu “Imani” Wilcox, and Romye "Booty Brown" Robinson (AllMusic). In the late 1980s, Hardson, Robinson, and Wilcox worked together as dancers and choreographers in the Los Angeles underground club circuit (AllMusic). Stewart joined the group in 1990 and under the guidance of a high school music teacher they gained knowledge of the recording process and the music industry (AllMusic). The Pharcyde “maintained a willfully weird vision” with their music in contrast to a large number of West Coast rappers in this time period that focused primarily on the “gangsta’ rap” image (The Pharcyde). In 1991, the group signed a record deal with Delicious Vinyl and released their debut album Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde (AllMusic). They released their second album, LabCabInCalifornia in 1994 and although it did not reach gold status as their first album had, the single “Drop” produced an innovative music video.
The song opens with the line, “mmm… drop!” a sound sample from “The New Style” by the Beastie Boys (The Daily Beast). Similar to the Beastie Boys in performance technique, The Pharcyde has the uncommon ability to blend self-deprecating humor and intelligence with their music (AllMusic). In addition to being a major influence on thier sound, The Pharcyde followed the Beastie Boys’ lead when they picked a the director for their music video. Spike Jonze is best known as the director of the feature films Being John Malkovich (1999), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), and Her (2013) (IMDb). However, he has also had a prolific career directing music videos for a multitude of artists including (but...
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...s: “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” by Jack Johnson, “The Scientist” by Coldplay, and “Me, Myself, and I” by Beyoncé. If imitation is in fact the highest form of flattery, then The Pharcyde should be very proud of their contribution to the music industry and the history of the music video.
Works Cited
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"The Pharcyde - Drop." YouTube. YouTube, 28 May 2007. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
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Stern, Marlow. "Spike Jonze’s 13 Best Music Videos: Beastie Boys, Kanye West, Fatboy Slim, and More." The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Watkins, S. Craig. 2005. Hip hop matters: politics, pop culture, and the struggle for the soul of a movement. Boston: Beacon Press.
Hip-Hop became characterized by an aggressive tone marked by graphic descriptions of the harshness and diversity of inner-city life. Primarily a medium of popular entertainment, hip-hop also conveys the more serious voices of youth in the black community. Though the approaches of rappers became more varied in the latter half of the 1980s, message hip-hop remained a viable form for addressing the problems faced by the black community and means to solve those problems. The voices of "message" hip...
Conventionally, there are more than twenty derivatives of Hip-Hop. The Hip-Hop style which is the most familiar to the world is known as “conversational rap” (Higgins, 2013). This form consists of the artist using a conversational method of rapping where they appear to be telling a story or holding a personal discourse. Conversational Rap is utilized by many of the industry’s current juggernauts. Some of the artists which use this style of rap are: Drake, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and Wiz Khalifa. It is universal to understand that Hip-Hop is indiscriminative. In his article Hip-Hop Judaica: The Politics of Representin ' Heebster Heritage, Judah Cohen observes that “Rap music, on the other hand, is anti-classical, a UN-friendly music with dozens upon dozens of subgenres to accommodate and account for the full range of experiences that make up the human condition—irrespective of one 's race, gender, age or geography.” (Cohen,14). Moreover, Hip-Hop/Rap’s most problematic form is known as “Gangster Rap”. This form of Hip-Hop/ Rap is understood to be the turning point in the world of Hip-Hop culture. The “thug life” movement within Gangster Rap started with rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur, known as 2pac. In her article titled “East Coast/ West Coast Rivalry, Yvonne Bynoe states that throughout the 1990’s, 2pac and New
His analysis of the video and song seem more akin to a movie critic’s review of the next Quentin Tarantino film. He comments, “the video...is daring, provocative, traumatizing, cynical,... and to many, a work of genius.” This jarring examination seems relatively out of place for a song in the number one spot on the radio. One could attribute this simply to shock value, but Molanphy sees (or hears) something more when he acknowledges, “When you focus on [the] music, you gradually adjust to what initially makes it so jarring, particularly the lurch from the the sweet, acoustic Afrobeat intro to the droning, brooding chorus.” Incidentally, the song is much more than Gambino’s “cri de coeur” as Molanphy puts it, as it stands alone as a legitimate piece of hip-hop music. Paired with the video, the dark commentary does not seem so out of place when you recognize the history of rap music and its influences. He recognizes this best when he uses ethos to increase his
"West, Kanye." UXL Newsmakers, vol. 5-6. Ed. Rebecca Valentine, Kelle S. Sisung, and Carol Brennan. Vol. 6. Detroit: UXL, 2006. 459-467. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
Underground hip-hop is filled with groups such as The Pharcyde, The Roots, Jigmastas, and Jurassic 5 who use live instruments to not only enhance their lyrical talents, but also to give audiences a great show. All four of these groups are dedicated to preserving hip-hop culture. Emcees battle to prove they are iller, Djs do the same thing, and breakers, break dancers, poppers, whatever you want to call them, continue the tradition of mixing their dance art form of popping, locking and spinning using the music to help create different techniques.
George covers much familiar ground: how B-beats became hip hop; how technology changed popular music, which helped to create new technologies; how professional basketball was influenced by hip hop styles; how gangsta rap emerged out of the crack epidemic of the 1980s; how many elements of hip hop culture managed to celebrate, and/or condemn black-on-black violence; how that black-on-black violence was somewhat encouraged by white people scheming on black males to show their foolishness, which often created a huge mess; and finally, how hip hop used and continues to use its art to express black frustration and ambition to blacks while, at the same time, refering that frustration and ambition to millions of whites.
...a concept that we take for granted and probably always will. In prisons, you get one telephone call. Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” music video starring herself and Beyonc֢é Knowles takes an extreme take on prison life, sexuality, and the importance of that one telephone call. It debuted in 2010 as one of the most controversial music videos of all time and is compared to movies because of the way it was directed and it’s length [9:32 minutes].
It features many guest appearances but the main artists on the album are Lil Wayne, Lloyd, Drake, Tyga, Nicki Minaj, Gudda Gudda, and Jae Millz. Majority of my favorite rappers are featured on this album. It is one of the biggest rap collaboration CDs of all time! The lead single “BedRock” by Young Money also happens to be one of my favorite songs. I absolutely love the word play and creativity all the artists use in this song. Metaphor after metaphor is used to paint a picture in your mind in every song. I listened to this CD over and over in the car when I was 16. The whole album is filled with great energy and a lot of
He did multiple interviews from celebrities to regular civilians. He created this film because he had a love for hip hop but was an activist. There was an interview on the video from Spelman College regarding the protest of the misogynistic video of Rapper Nelly, who is seen swiping a credit card in a girl’s buttocks in his music video “Tip Drill”. Rapper Nelly never commented but canceled plans to hold the bone marrow drive at Spelman. He then goes on to show BET’s Spring Fling in Daytona Florida. It was disgusting to see men lusting after women, touching women who did not want to be touched. In the interview with one young man he justified his actions by saying “look how they dress.” The objectification of women in hip hop has taught young men to view women as sex objects for their own
"The 10 Best Songs Produced By Kanye West." Rap Dose RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
Jeffries, M. P. (2011). Thug Life: Race, Gender, and the Meaning of Hip-hop. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
The Chainsmokers recently released interesting news about their new single, Sick Boy. The new song is a big change for the pop duo that are known for their electronic dance music. Their new release takes their fans for a walk on the dark side. The duo consist of Alex Pall and Drew Taggart, who are former music producers. Surprisingly, the duo are relatively new to the music charts. They first hit the charts back in 2015 with Roses. The team followed up that hit with several more hits. Now, the pressure is on to match their earlier success.
"40 Years on from the Party Where Hip Hop Was Born." BBC Culture. N.p., 9 Aug. 2013. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Feminist.com 15 March 2014.Feminist.com Hicks, Jeffrey National Center.org December 2013.national center.org 15 March 2014 National Center.org Idolator.com/ hip-hop master rankers 15 March 2014. Idolator.com. Meara, Paul.Complex.com. June 2012 Complex.com 15 March 2014 Complex.com Dave, Miranda. Springer:‘’ Rap and Hip-Hop Genres Today’’ April 2004.