Today we looked at Hip Hop Pioneers. The list was expansive and extensive and covered the older hip hop generation like Afika Bambaataa and DJ Kool Herc, and their little brothers: Russell Simmons and groups like the Fugees, sisters and daughters like MC Lyte, Lauren Hill, Queen Latifah.
Think about the artist's presence in the world and what role their craft has been used to shape public policy and change society for the disenfranchised and the oppressed. Perhaps the artist's role was more economically viable, in that their entrepreneurial skills developed jobs and set a new standard for their peers and those that follow their lead.
I mentioned the film, starring Jimmy Stewart, "It's a Wonderful Life." In the film a man feels that his life is meaningless and has had no impact on society. An angel shows him how deprived the world would be without his presence.
Look at your artist and in an introductory paragraph talk about the community or world that grew them into the personality they are. Was their a problem the wanted to articulate with their art? Was their a constituency they wanted to give voice to? Was their a problem they wanted to address or offer a solution or answer to?
A lot of the early hip hop music gave the ghetto a visual presence in popular culture. Music and rhymes and spoken traditions are old. All societies have such. It is the more primal of all the arts--poetry, rap or talk: storytelling.
We spoke about procrastination. Think about the urgency of the situation that gave rise to hip hop culture, all the major elements. It was an outlet, it was a way youth expressed their disgust and anger or rage towards the "powers that be." Until these artists started making noise, writing their names on trains, taking over corners with their cyphers--convening meetings with other writers and artists to collaborate and make bigger and more powerful statements, no one really cared or noticed.
It was a quiet movement that grew and grew and grew until now, it is a world culture and a world-wide movement that has its problems and its successes like all other movements and cultures. But look at the roots, these pioneers, and what it took for them to address and redress the social ills in the society with art.
I want you to use 1 direct citation, 1 block quote and 1 paraphrase from Can't Stop, Won't Stop. See Hacker pp. 401-437. 438 is the MLA table of contents. The essay is due Thursday, October 2.
Homework is to read the Loop 2. We want to finish the book in the next couple of weeks. We have a library orientation next Tuesday at 9 a.m. Meet at the library desks. We will begin our research on Hip Hop as a global movement.
Oh, classes are cancelled 10/1 and 10/2. I am at a conference. See you Friday at the play. Study hour at 12-1:30 is still happening in L-235.
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During 1984 in New York City two entreprenuers met each other at a night club. One was Russell Simmons who was a college dropout who promoted shows for up and coming hip-hop groups. The other Rick Rubin who was attending New York University and played in a punk-rock band.
They were both huge contributers to the hip-hop movement buy starting the premier label for rap music Def Jam. Both ran the label out of Rubin's dorm room, their feature artists were LL Cool J, The Beastie Boys and Run-DMC in which Simmons brother Run was the lead MC of the group.
Rubin was the first producer to infuse rap and rock with "WALK THIS WAY" which featured Run-DMC and Aerosmith. They made countless #1 hits that inspired other hip-hop acts throughout New York and all over America in urban areas to contribute more music to the genre.
"Russell was a black executive able to bridge black and white tastes like no one since Berry Gordy. Rick was a jewish music producer who understood how profoundly Herc, Bam, and Flash's insight could reshape all of pop music.The staff for Russ and Def Jam was uniquely suited and highly motivated to pull off a racial crossover of historic proportions".
Basicaly without both of their input in music their would be no hip-hop as we see today, artist would of struggled to get signed and the music would still be seen as a dead genre.
-Rashad Aiyewunmi
-John Rawson
-Faraj Fayad
-Jordan Matthew Stone
Great essay! You don't note where the block quote is cited, also there are no paraphrases identified, or any in text citations.
The writing is good, but the assignment was to include those items mantioned. How do you know what you know? No references are mentioned. Is Chang your source? You need to cite him then. Revise.
Since it started, Hip Hop has caused a tremendous impact on society; revolutionizing movements with lyrics, setting fashion trends, and using "freedom of speech" to its full extent." In the animal kingdom, rabbits are prolific, producing a limitless amount of baby bunnies. This in turn feeds many predators such as lions and tigers. If the rabbits stopped producing, animals that rely on them won't have food, therefore going into extinction. But what if, like many high school kids with their homework, and people with their exercising regime, hip hop artists, such as Lauryn Hill and Queen Latifah decided to procrastinate? How much would this affect society? Halting the production of hip hop would be like upsetting the "circle of life”.
Have you ever wonder how much influence you have had in this world? I have. And I think we would be amazed if someone shows us the impact we’ve had on people that surround us. If normal people like us have impact on other people, imagine how much impact gifted individuals like Lauryn Hill have had in our lives. When a new movement is created a new generation comes along with it; therefore causes other generations or movements to be modify which makes a new direction of life. If Lauryn had procrastinated, then she shouldn't be considered as an "exception rather than a rule." (pg 445, Chang) Being a successful female rapper, she had a part in bringing up "neo-soul." A movement created by female artists to re-identify their dignity.
"Hip-Hop feminism's musical counterpart was not in rap but in the so-called “neo-soul” movement, a genre opened up by Elliot and Hill, Mary J. Blige, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jill Scott, and Erykah Badu, that put the groove back into the music and the love back into lyrics.” (445-446, Chang)
If Lauryn Hill did procrastinate...our music today might have been very different. There really is no way to tell how hip-hop music would be today, but we can make some assumptions based on her influences on music. At age 13, Hill stood and performed in front of an audience and although she was hesitant, she finished the song strongly. This was one of her first breaks in her music career, even at such a young age. She also attended high school, which made her more informative of the world, since she was an active student, and preformed regularly. If Lauryn Hill had dropped out of school during her time, she wouldn't have met Prakazrel "Pras" Michel, who asked her to join The Refugee Camp, also known as the Fugees. She began transforming her poems into rap verses. Lauryn Hill is well known to hip-hop listeners, especially women. Not only did she play an important role in introducing "neo-soul", but she was well admired for striving in the music career as a woman. We can't always assume that other women would have stepped up, but we do know that without Lauryn Hill, and other female vocalists and writers, or music, culture, and way of life would be different than it would be today.
As one can see, hip hop has been a huge influence over our society for many years. Every step that has been taken whether it is for entertainment or for a political stance has definitely made its mark. If no one took the initiative to make a change through means including hip hop, then we would be in a state of socialism. If people procrastinated, then things would not only get done but it is possible that the power that people currently have could weaken or even diminish. As to say, procrastination if anything is a bad thing. If this were to mix in with hip hop, then who knows what state our society would be in today.
-Eder A.
-Loren D.
-Ronnie T.
-Jennifer N.
Kimberly Peterson
Aerin O’Leary
Benjamin Herrera
Tammia (Will do the conclusion on a separation blog.) :-D
To: Professor Sabir
English 1B: (Tues/Thurs)
Africa Bambaataa contributed a great deal and had a major influence on hip hop culture. "when hip hop lost its way he(Bambattaa) added a fifth element-knowledge." There are four known elements in hip hop according to hip hop scholar Jeff Chang in his book "Can't Stop Wont Stop". He gives credit to Bambaataa for his direct influence on the makings of the Zulu nation. He highlights how the artist fought for hip hop to be a movement rather than a cult. Because of Bambaataa's eagerness to change the world he stood up and spoke out for what he believed in rather than waiting for someone else to take the initiative.
Imagine a time when the world is not at peace. There is war, gangs, and blood baths. It is a time when nobody knows any knowledge, or even tries to seek to gain any knowledge. The truth is lost. This is how the Bronx in New York would be, in this day if Afrika Bambaataa decided to procrastinate his gift to give among the people in his commuinity. He brought the gift of knowledge to everybody and the gift of power for freedom of speech. He brought the Zulu Nation. The Zulu nation was founded by Bambaataa by him watching the movie, "Zulu", and by being heavily influenced by it, ever since he was a young boy. He started his organization and he even got other people excited about it too. (Blockquote) "The job of a Zulu is to survive in life. This is to be open-minded dealing with all walks of life upon this planet Earth and to teach [each] other truth (Knowledge, Wisdom, and Understanding). To respect those who respect them, to never be the aggressor or oppressor. To be at peace with self and others..." (Chang 101). It was a philosophical movement that helped gangs see themselves as families, turn less violent.
If Afrika Bambaataa would have procrastinated during his era hip-hop music would not be as popular as it is today. During his earlier years Bambaataa was the one person who brought the music and culture of both the African-American and Latino communities from the Bronx to a lot of the white groups that lived in New York . Hip-hop culture would never have reached its fullest potential if it weren’t for Bambaataa’s earlier contributions to this generation. This is what Jeff Chang the hip-hop scholar and author of the hip-hop book “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” had to say about Bambaataa’s and all the other kings of hip-hop accomplishment toward opening this music to other races. Chang says, “The iron doors of segregation that the previous generation had started to unlock were battered down by the pioneers of the hip-hop generation. Soon hip-hop was not merely all-city, it was global a Planet Rock.” (92). Bambaataa could not have been able to procrastinate because the hip-hop world would not be the same without him. Bambaataa was one of the three hip-hop kings that younger kids looked up to because of the respect he had form other people and also the music that he played. What would have happened to all of his younger admires if he would have done something else or took the easy way out and became a drug dealer. Bambaataa was on of a kind and who knows what the hip-hop music and culture would have looked like now if he procrastinated.
During Bambaataa's youth in the 1960s and 70s there existed up to four hundred in the Bronx where he lived and as well as a lot of police brutality against people of color. Bambaataa was involved with many gangs at once when he was young, and this is because he was the only person that could get all the gang leaders into one room to solve there issues with words instead of fists. Bambaataa could not have been one of those people that put things off and procrastinated because if that was the case there would have been a lot of more violence and killings between the existing gangs during his era. One other thing that Bambaataa was involved in was the many cases of police brutality killing minorities around in his neighborhood. In many cases that the gangs wanted to retaliate against the police because they were murdering members of their gangs Bambaataa was the one person to communicate to them that violence was not the way to handle the situation. Again this shows that if Bambaataa procrastinated many more lives could have been lost because he was only person that almost all of the gangs respected and listened too. Afrika Bambaataa was very important when it came to the many gangs in the Bronx and also was a key component in more people dying because of what the police where doing during that time and if was a procrastinator none of the things he did would of probably never happened.
REVISED
During 1984 in New York City two entreprenuers met each other at a night club. One was Russell Simmons who was a college dropout who promoted shows for up and coming hip-hop groups. The other Rick Rubin who was attending New York University and played in a punk-rock band.
They were both huge contributers to the hip-hop movement buy starting the premier label for rap music Def Jam. In theBoth ran the label out of Rubin's dorm room, their feature artists were LL Cool J, The Beastie Boys and Run-DMC in which Simmons brother Run was the lead MC of the group.
"Rubin was the first producer to infuse rap and rock with "WALK THIS WAY" which featured Run-DMC and Aerosmith. They made countless #1 hits that inspired other hip-hop acts throughout New York and all over America"(Chang 245.)
Chang says..
"Russell was a black executive able to bridge black and white tastes like no one since Berry Gordy. Rick was a jewish music producer who understood how profoundly Herc, Bam, and Flash's insight could reshape all of pop music.The staff for Russ and Def Jam was uniquely suited and highly motivated to pull off a racial crossover of historic proportions".(Chang 245.)
Music has a major influence on our actions whether we want to admit it or not, during the early years of hip-hop, the movement was a party and a revolution all at the same time.
-Rashad Aiyewunmi
-John Rawson
-Faraj Fayad
-Jordan Matthew Stone
Tammia Jackson
Conclusion
Bambaataa and the Zulu nation were heroes in many people eyes, back then and even today. There music and what they stand for was a great part of HIP HOP History.
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