Going back to Hip-Hop's roots...... HHAWWO Part 3.
Written: May 21 '03 (Updated Oct 11 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A complete package, Mos and Talib's fusion of intelligent street knowledge, politics and Motown chivalry.
Cons: Somewhat short
The Bottom Line: Classic with a capital "C"
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| sadgit's Full Review: Black Star [PA] by Black Star |
Ladies and gentlemen, the annual Hip-Hop Appreciation week is upon us. This is a time to sit back and reflect upon the state of hip-hop culture, to bask in the glow of talent generated from the true lyricists and to curse the massive negativity generated from the many "gangstas" that populate our artform. With this in mind, Madtheory has sent us all a mission: Make Hip-Hop respectable again. This years write-off theme? Responsibility.
I have already written two preceeding pieces on this write-off, links below:
Part 1
Part 2
This is my final piece.
Recently Krs-One, one of the most famous underground Hip-Hop artists of all time, gave a speech about Hip-Hop music and culture as a means of youth expression, and how such expression was particularly important in order for the youth to articulate their fears and political concerns in the post-Septemer 11th world. What he laid out to the crowd is a balanced evaluation of the whole of Hip-Hop, and its positive and negative side, and its potential for positive creativity and communication.
In his speech, he acknowledged the negative side of Hip-Hop- the lyrics of guns, misogynistic womanising, anti-social behaviour, ad nauseum and he acknowledged its place in music of youth culture. "we don't even have a problem with all that- there is a need in youth for rebellion. But the issue here is balance!" and he then went on to profess his allegiance to the positive camp within Hip-Hop which was just as necessary an element of youth pop culture to educate them about the right path of existance and their personal positive potential through conscious Hip-Hop's lessons of individuality, self-knowledge and black-pride.
This positive camp of Hip-Hop is however largely underground and is hardly ever promoted on MTV. So Krs-One expressed his fears that Mainstream Hip-Hop's bombardment of such fantasies of violence and sex to the youth without any positive alternatives would be quite harmful in shaping their world view and how they see themselves and their fellow man and woman. That young boys could indeed grow up believing in the glory, security and belonging of the Thug life and learn to see their sisters as nothing more than sex-objects or manipulative gold-diggers. Or indeed that young girls may learn to see themselves as subservient to men and obliged to forgive and tolerate whatever misogynistic abuse they may suffer and to expect no protection and feel helpless.
His voice echoed simmilar feelings felt by Hip-Hop fans over the excessive thuggery of Hip-Hop. In the late 80's and early 90's, many Hip-Hop heads had no problem with the growing elements of violence and misogyny in the music. Gangster Rappers at that time still maintained the core aesthetics of Hip-Hop music's style and lyrical dexterity, as well as a radically political and anti-establisment attitude.
And I tend to think many fans just loved its rebeliousness and its defiance of censorship, given that the many action films of the time like "Cobra"(1986), "Total Recall"(1990) and "True Lies" (1994) were replete with fetishised images of various types of guns, a physically violent anti-social hero who lives by the gun and revenge, glorified scenes of physical beatings, casual homophobic language, scenes of devaluing mass body counts not to mention scenes of b**chy women being silenced by being brutally shot. Furthermore plenty of films at the time, some directly aimed at teenagers glorified marajuana, such as "The Breakfast Club"(1984) and the Cheech and Chong movies.
If all that could be entertaining to the public and get past all the censors without being excessively challenged, then why couldn't Gangster Rap albums do the same? It was generally percieved that most censors were quite racially biased in targeting Rap music over other violent and misogynistic forms of art made by non-blacks. However nowadays it seems that cinema has moved on from all the negative cliches of action films, toning down their act and re-asserted their humanity through contemporary films about challenging child abuse and maltreatment, befriending the lonely, using violence only as a last resolve, and allowing proper and healthy communication between people, and there is a general feeling in the Hip-Hop community that Rap music should do the same.
Coming from the New York underground Hip-Hop scene in 1998, an extremely competitive and demanding musical scene, Rappers Talib Kweli and Mos Def, along with DJ Hi Teck, dropped this collaborative album, which provided everything the Hip-Hop fanbase demanded- deft turntableism, top notch linguistics and poetry, genuine self-expression and intelligent and positive lyrics which defy every negative stereotype about Rap music.
No nonsensical, mindless lyrics of materialism, ego, killing, malice, drugs or misogyny to be found here.
The album begins with an announcement- "We feel we have an obligation to shed light into the darkness" and from there it breaks down the various problems of the various shades of the ghetto mentality.
The first track Astronomy (8th light) goes against Hip-Hop's disturbing casual use of the word "n**ger" and the song oozes with black pride and paints the colour black as something beautiful and positive, and reminds people of the true value of being a creation of God- both Mos Def and Talib Kweli are devout Muslims by the way. And the album carries on its uplifting ideals throughout.
They invoke nostalgia about Old School Hip-hop anthems of positive education as well, such as the track "Definition" which is heavily inspired by Boogie Down Production's 1988 track "Stop The Violence", the latter was originally made to oppose the growing thug attitudes in Hip-Hop at the time, violence and shootings in nightclubs, and particularly the violent death of bandmate Scott LaRock. This emulation of the song was made in reflection of history repeating itself with the fatal shootings of Rappers 2pac and Notorious BIG between 1996 and '97. Involking a very Boogie Down Productions style track of reggae guitars and rhythm, clever and thoughtful rhymes going on various tangents but mainly focused on challenging and attacking the thugs which plague the ghetto population and the Hip-Hop scene. With lyrics about street survival and self-defense which isn't dependant on being part of a gang or having a thug mentality.
"Walkin the streets is like battlin, be careful with your body
You must know karate or think your soul is bulletproof like Sade"
Basically the duo make an example of how Hip-Hop's positive messages of the past can be recycled and re-emphasised just as prominently as the Thug rappers can repeat the same old Gangster cliche's. They do the same again with the song "Children's Story" which was originally a song by Slick Rick at around the same time as Boogie Down Productions. A song originally about the dangers of crime, telling a cautionary tale of a Ghetto child who chose a life of crime and robbery only to get shot dead in his prime by the police. Mos Def takes the song and with a certain comicalness, he reconstructs its lyrics to tell the story of a young Rapper who publicises himself as a thug in order to get rich, only to find himself drawn through his music and fame into the real world of thug violence and ultimately loses his life. A song which points out many of the lies and facades that goes hand in hand with many Gangster Rappers "why you selling lies to our wives and children" and also how when Rappers proclaim themselves as thugs, and achieve fame, they can often attract the real-life thug element and its violence.
However Slick Rick himself had never been a model of Hip-Hop's responsibility, since his controversial 1987 song "Treat Her Like a Prostitute" has been influential on Hip-Hop's misogynistic attitudes ever since. But Mos Def and Talib Kweli take a stance against such sexist attitudes, as they drop the next song "Brown Skinned Lady" which is a refreshing display of chivalry on wax. A song evoking the beauty of womanhood with sweet platitudes of love "You provoke a brother we should get to know one another" It is mainly the spoken dialogue opening and closing the song which particularly carries the weight of the message from Mos Def's opening attack on Rappers who disrespect women "most of y'all brothers came from your mother" to Talib's closing beliefs in natural beauty of women and that people and the media place too much unhealthy emphasis on cosmetic beauty, and that people should let their natural beauty shine and not buy into cosmetics that will ultimately wear down their self-esteem.
Their declaration of producing Hip-Hop which is totally purged of its negativity is the song "K.O.S. Determination" which addresses Krs-One's above speech about maintaining a balance in Hip-Hop of positivity to level out all the Gangster Rap. "So many MC's focusing on black people extermination// we keep in balance with that knowledge of self determination". An examination of how black people integrate themselves into the white man's world and what they have often compromised of their soul and humanity in order to do so. The track "Thieves in the Night" perciveres with this theme and particularly challenges black people's obsession with living dangerously.
"Brought up, through endangered species status on the planet Earth
Survival tactics means, bustin gats to prove you hard
Your firearms are too short to box with God
Without faith, all of that is illusionary
Raise my son, no vindication of manhood necessary"
The biggest highlight of this CD, and there are a lot of highlights is the 11th track "Respiration" where another revered underground conscious Rapper, Common collaborates with the duo, with all three of them dropping verses giving the track a really epic feel. It's an excellent track about street life, the dangers of crime in a city "where you could get murdered over a glare"- and feelings of oppression. It's a masterpiece of urban art!
"Skyscrapers is collosus,
the cost of living is preposterous,
stay alive, you play or die, no options
No Batman and Robin,
can't tell between the cops and the robbers,
they both partners, they all heartless
With no conscience, back streets stay darkened
Where unbeliever hearts stay hardened"
As each verse builds up a sense of oppression and rage, the chorus brings the release, describing vividly the calming act of respiration and unleashing and exorcising all the anger. This effect is very relaxing. The track has a lot to say about the Ghetto community and its need to unify against its enemies to peace, and to police itself because the justice system will do nothing to better the situation "we played against each other like puppets, swearin you got pull// when the only pull you got is the wool over your eyes// Gettin knowledge in jail like a blessing in disguise" and harks back again to the idea of regeneration "For trees to grow in Brooklyn, seeds need to be planted" and having faith in your community even as its falling apart, otherwise nothing will change
"It's a dog-eat-dog world, you gotta mush on
Some of this land I must own
Outta the city, they want us gone
Tearin down the 'jects creatin plush homes
My circumstance is between Cabrini and Love Jones
Surrounded by hate, yet I love home"
All very responsible messages to convey and done superbly....
This album is superb- a modern classic of any genre which any musical critic must listen to. And furthermore the album embodies everything I love about Hip-Hop music and shedding off everything I hate about the art. Musically it's very pleasing as DJ Hi-Teck picks some excellent and lush Jazz and Motown samples which fit perfectly the style, emotion, atmosphere and verbal delivery of each track. Plus it's also very good for dancing to.
So that rounds off the album, but for Hi Tech, Mos Def and Talib Kweli it was only the beginning. DJ Hi Tech began collaborating with other underground artists working to revitalising Hip-Hop, providing backing music for their lyrics . The two Rappers pursued solo projects and each dropped albums further mastering their craft and making more socially conscious Hip-Hop music with very responsible teachings. Mos Def's album "Black On Both Sides" (1999) (Review Here) was full of further teachings on the subtle racism that black youth will face in their life wherever they go or however high they aspire and to be strong willed, and also raised environmental issues about the diminishing supply of drinking water, and Third World countries where people are dying.
Talib Kweli also dropped two solo albums, "Train of Thought"(1999) and "Quality"(2002) where he continued to examine and teach black women's issues from the racism they have suffered in the past to the sexism they still suffer today and forces black youth to question how far they've come from the days of slavery, or if they've simply come full circle. Furthermore he also examined the issues surrounding the September 11th aftermath, such as the increased violent racism against Muslims, and America's pressing for war against countries in the Middle-East, and encouraged people to acknowledge the tragedy but not let that hold them back from being critical about these issues and speaking out.
All in all the group have done a fine collection of work and embodied Hip-Hop done responsibly. Undoubtedly giving Hip-Hop's critics some food for thought and proving that despite the ignorance of a lot of its artists (this is true of most music genres, though), the Hip-Hop genre itself is still one of the most important musical artforms in popular culture and has a lot to convey, to express and to teach.
Make sure you read the entries of these other participants:
andrewtarr, anthony06511, bigd99999, brotherman, cletta1201, ekidd911, heirograffiti, matthos, mrjulius, PacManY2J, paulyoungotti, roheblius, konspirator01, boffie, speeddemon531, sun_tzu, youngchinq
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sadgit
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Member: Tom
Location: Lancashire, United Kingdom
Reviews written: 325
Trusted by: 89 members
About Me:
scrapped the countdown again.....
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