What I have learned

Well seeing that I don't really know much about hip hop, though I am learning a lot from this class I thought I would take this time to blog on what I have learned. Well starting from the beginning back on the first day of class I was so overwhelmed by the discussion about hip hop being a way of life and it being real. When I first heard that I thought there is no way music can be a way of life. But I went into this class knowing that I didn't know much more than a few hip hop artists and their songs, but I was going to go in with an open mind and hoping to learn a lot more. Having that attitude has helped a lot after the first day when M-Money expanded more on the hip hop being real and a way of life by the clothes you wear and the life you live it started to make more sense. One thing that I have talked about before is that hip hop music tells it as it is. I can't say that I really knew that before this class, because to be honest with you I don't really understand many words in hip hop songs. It is either written in a slang that I don't understand like Nann (which I am so glad someone explained that) or they just talk so fast I don't have time to figure it out. But after the presentations when people gave out lyrics with the people they were talking about and watching Letter to the President it started making sense. There are people out there who really grew up in a place of guns going off and their mothers going to jail so there is no reason that they should not be able to sing about it. I also learned that hip hop is also a booming insdustry with lots of artitsts having their own clothing lines and grills, and some even have shows likd runs house and making the band.
I don't really know if I can say that I know enough about hip hop to really understand if it is going to stick around or not but I would like for it to know that I am learning lots of new artists like Common. I really enjoyed the presentation over him and I was glad I got to listen to his music I really liked it. It has also been very helpful having people in this class that do live the life of hip hop so I can ask them questions about things that don't make a lot of sense to me. I know this class is almost over, but I hope in the remaining week I can become more knowledgeable in this area.
Links:
http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/makingtheband3/series.jhtml
http://www.grillsbypaulwall.com/
http://www.kvsp.com/

Hustle and Flow

Well eventhough I was warned about the movie Hustle and Flow I will say it has still taken me off gaurd just a little bit. With that being said I have really enjoyed it thus far. It is very eye opening what some people have to do to make a living. The white girl in the movie I don't know her name but I can't believe she does was she does. I mean knowing that the only way you can make money is by going out and selling your body to people that you don't even know....wow that is just so sad. That is also probably because I have never been put in the position to have to be out on my own with no one. The other thing was from today in class when we were watching it they were just about to start recording. When the lady that was pregnant came in and gave him the lava lamp and then they had her come back and sing. I am not going to lie I got kind of sad watching how excited she got when she was singing on that track. It just was amazing how everything in their life was. They had no air conditioning and they had to sell drugs and themself just to have food and the little they had. It also showed a good representation of how hard it is in the music business to make it. After he went into the bathroom and found his tape in the toliet. That was really sad, because D-jay had put so much work into that and then he just treated it like crap. But eventhough it was really sad it was a great representation of what it is like in the music buisness. You don't just walk in there and make something of yourself you have to prove that you are caplable of being successful. Overall eventhough I have not seen it all yet I feel like this is a well made movie about the real lives of some of the hip hop people we listen to today.
I am looking forward to finishing the end of the movie because I want to know if D-Jay with got caught or if he made it in to the music buisness. I also want to see what happened to the girls along with Skinny. I guess that is all I have to say today.

Links:

http://www.hustleandflow.com/
http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0009OL7W2.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1119289665_.jpg
http://www.smartlyrics.com/Song562292-Djay-f-Shug-Its-Hard-Out-Here-for-a_Pimp-lyrics.aspx

Presentations

Today I just wanted to talk about the class presentations that we had. I thought they were all really good not meaning that I am commenting on mine this is in reference to the other three that were presented.
I am going to start off with the Milli Vanilli presentation. I have to say that before the presentation today I had not heard of them before. I know that is really sad, but it is true. I found it really sad when they were talking about them getting caught for lip syncing. I don't that that people or groups should do that, but it is still sad. I also found it interesting when we got into the discussion of groups or people being staged and not real. I just don't know why companies would want to do that maybe I just don't understand but it just seems kind of dumb I mean you are going to get caught sooner or later. I guess they could look at it as we will see how long we can go and how much money we can get until people find out. A question I have is why didn't the two guys have to pay back all that money when they were the ones that got asked to do it, why should the owners or record label not have to pay or did they???
Onto the other topic I liked the presentation about Dr. Dre it was really good. I didn't know that Dre was the one who founded Snoop Dogg and is now a producer. I knew that Dre had done some songs or raps. It was interesting to know that he founded Aftermath records and took Snoop Dogg with him and practicallhy made him who he is.
The most interesting thing discussed today was when the group talked about the east coast/west coast battle. It had been brought up in class but I really didn't know exactly what it was about. Now that I do I don't know how I feel about it. When they were talking about how 2pac got shot and 1000 dollars got stolen from him and then they said that it was Notorious BIG and he said it wasn't it just seemed kind of silly. Then 2pac died and the speculations continued to come up all the time and then BIG died and it is still unsolved. When I think about it I just want to know why rappers think that killing people, not that I am trying to say that it happens all of the time but in this particular case it did. I do plan on looking into this a little more because I find it really interesting. I just feel a lot better already having learned as much as I have this far.

Links:

1.http://www.snoopdogg.com/
2. http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/dr_dre/artist.jhtml
3.http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/shakur_BIG/2.html

Why White Kids Love Hip Hop

In the hand out that we read for our quiz in class about why white kids love hip hop was a very interesting article. It brought up a lot of topics that I don't think about when I think about hip hop. I thought it was interesting to find out that now there are just as many white people that love hip hop as african american. The quote at the beginning of the article was something I think is very true it said, "People are not born racist. Racism is a learned behavior that is part of American culture. If hip-hop can change that, then there is reason for hope." Haki Madhubuti. That quote is somthing that I have talked about to some people in my own family. I have always hated when people talked down to blacks or treated them as if they were not equal. I am also the person that when I hear it always make known that I am not okay with things like that being said. So I really do feel that this particular quote says a lot. I also found it very intersting when they discussed about the different magazines and news stations that before didn't want to have anything to do with talking about hip hop. But as the music and the artists began to become more famous they couldn't not talk about them or put them on the cover of the magazines. I think that is so good of the hip hop artists that if the media and other are going to go out of their way to try and keep them from not succeding that they make it where they can't help but give them the respect they deserve. Another interesting thing was about the real leaders and owners in the hip hop business not being the artists but being corporations which are mostly owned by whites. Just from reading this article I became more aware of what hip hop use to be to where it has become today. And to get back to something that was asked in the beginning of the class if I thought hip hop was going to die. I didn't really know how to answer that question at first because I didn't know how it got to where it was, but after seeing what it has gone through and the success it has had I think it will be a long time before hip hop dies. And now that it is becoming a very dominat music genre it could be around a lot longer than we think.


Links:

http://men.style.com/?mbid=google
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/53/O0ZT.html
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Singles&f=Pop+100

Breakin'

Well since I didn't talk about 'Breakin' yesterday I thought I would talk about it today. I thought even though it was super cheesy and poorly made it was really funny. Sadly enough I kind of wish I could see the rest of the movie, but since we didn't have time in class today I guess I will just have to rent it ( I don't know if I liked it that much) or I could just guess how it ended.
Some of the things in the movie that pertain to things we have discussed thus far in class was the once again barrier between blacks and whites. This was very evident when Kelly had to talk her agent into coming with her to watch her dance in a dance off. He was very uncertain of weather or not to attend. Once he goes to watch her he loves it. That to me is kind of like most people who don't know a lot about blacks but once they give people a chance they find out how they are not that bad.
I also noticed that when Orlando and Tony came into the party thrown by Kellys agent they get looked at like they are aliens. They are definatly not wanted there. If I were to guess I would think that by the end of the movie they would have become more respected by whites then they were in the beginning but that may just be me thinking to positive or living in a dream world but that is what I would hope would happen.
I also noticed that not only do blacks have to deal with the lack of respect from whites but they compete with people of the same race. I guess you could say it is almost like gangs. Blacks trying to out do other blacks whether that is on the dance floor, making music or even getting the girl. I would think it would be easier for blacks just to stick together instead of fight with eachother.
I hope that maybe sometime before the semester is over or two weeks we might have to time to finish it just so I can fill in some loose ends. Eventhough some people didn't think that it was a good movie from an informational stand point I think that on issues like that it is easier to just make people laugh about issues than make everything so serious. It helps to get the point across on a lighter note.
Well with that being said I learn more and more everyday in this class and am looking forward for what is to come.

Here are some links:

http://www.fast-rewind.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=321f_e8Ap0M
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/b/b8/180px-Breakin-DVDcoverart.jpg

Can't Stop, Won't Stop

Well the book Can't Stop, Won't Stop is actually a very interesting read. Kool Herc was a very interesting guy who was born in Jamaica. He moved to the United States with his family for a better life. At a young age he loved music and beats. His sister who was very inventive decided that she wanted new clothes so she decided to get what she wanted while also helping her brother do something that he loved. She would have parties which she would personally make the invitations on note cards and hand them out. Her brother would DJ them in the rec room and she would charge 25 cents to get in. The money that she made she used to get her clothes. Kool Herc also help figure out how to make his fathers speakers louder. Kool Herc figured out how to manipulate the wiring and managed to get a loud true sound out of the speakers.
Afrika Bambaataa however lived a very different life from Kool Herc. Bambaataa lived his life jumping from gang to gang. He called himself Zulu which ment "affectionate leader." He also had to go through a really tough time when his cousin died. Bambaataa would not say his name he just called him Soulski. He still carries a copy of his death certificate to remind him of what happened. Bambaataa was looking for a way to close the generation gap to have a way to make people understand.
From both of these individuals I find it amazing what they did to get to where they ended up. As we started talking in class about how hip hop is so much more than just music I have come to appriciate that more and more as class has continued. I guess where I had a hard time thinking otherwise was when I didn't think of it as a way of life. After watching "Letter to the President" and reading about these to gentlemens lives it becomes more clear. Now when I think of hip hop I don't only think of it as music but in some instances it could be a message or even a cry for help. Hip hop music is very deep it has many layers and the lyrics tell it all. As I learn more about different people in hip hop it all seems to go back to one common theme; life. It tells a story of what most americans don't ever see or never take the time to learn about. One thing that I do hope is that everyone has a chance sometime in their college career to take an educational class about hip hop so we can stop the ignorant racist comments that so many say.

Letter to the President

Todays movie was definatly not what I was expecting from the title. It was a true example of what Brasco and you had been explaining hip hop to be. It is real and a way of life, that was made very evident from the interviews and people in the movie.
One of the things that stood out to me when watching the movie was actually said in the beginning, David Banner said, " Rap acually talks about the state of America, but America makes it sound a lot prettier." After he said that it got me to thinking, wow he is right. Most people don't pay much attention to the lives of the african americans in the hood. A lot of people of power who could actually help them try to sugar coat everything and make it not seem as bad as it really is. In todays world it is not a place of happiness or a place where everyone gets along, or for that matter truly a place of free will. That is just how the people of power want other people to assume.
I find it very disturbing to hear that our own police force was also contributing to the crime and deaths of african americans. For the way everyone talks about the United States that is not the kind of place we really are. When one of the people said that in a rap song they were trying to tell everyone that the police were doing this but no one would listen it was said to hear. Just like rock or country is to some people this is the kids who grew up in the hoods' way of communicating to everyone else. And when people talk about how bad and inappropriate the songs I think they have a choice not to listen but shouldn't tell them they can't sing it. The truth of the matter is that they are not just making these songs up it is what they have lived and saw while growing up. When I think about that and then listen to the words of the song it now longer is whether or not it is positive or negative it is how can we try and help kids not have to grow up and see this kind of stuff or live that way.
I personally don't know how half of the successful rappers have made it as far as they have, they have to have tons of will power. I think if anything they should be looked at for not being another statistic and making something of themselves. To have to see your own mother get arrested at such a young age and practically have to raise yourself I can imagine that you might not have the nicest things to say about cops or people for that matter.
After the movie ended I first had to sit back and actually take time to absorb all of the information that I heard. Some of it I could not hardly believe. To have the odds against you your whole life I can't imagine what that would be like. I am looking forward to becoming more informed about things like this and other areas of hip hop I don't even know exist.

Perry productions, Power 103.5

I enjoyed the discussions we had in class today. I personally had not realized that there was so much to hip hop. When I think of hip hop I just associate it to the music. After the guests in class today I am really excited to learn more about this diverse topic.