Face '83: Phase Two

Not the barely-noticed attempt by ITV to create a challenger to Top Of The Pops - that was still a couple of years off - this The Roxy was the nightclub in New York where hip-hop was first formulated.

Phase II was actually a graffiti artist, Lonny Wood, who would paint on stage while nascent hip-hoppers did their nascent hip-hopping.



Although Mr Two nearly got a role in Wild Style - eventually Fab 5 Freddie took the part - his greatest claim to fame was a namecheck in a KRS-One song. (Fab 5 Freddie, of course, managed to get a namecheck in Rapture, which means he bested Two again.)

I think "of historical interest only" sums up this track, and that means history isn't interested.

The Face 16; history 14.

[Part of The Face's best recordings of 1983]

Bookmarks: Rap and hip hop

Lisa Wade over at Sociological Images reports on work by Kevin Steinmetz and Howard Henderson. They've tabulated hip-hop lyrics to explore the claims that rap is violently anti-cop. The results? Not so much:

Steinmetz and Henderson conclude:

We actually found that the overwhelming message in hip-hop wasn’t that the rappers disliked the idea of justice, but they disliked the way it was being implemented.

These communities, then, have a strong sense of justice… rooted in the sense that they’re not getting any.

Bookmarks: Hip Hop history

The Oxford University Press blog picks 12 crucial moments in hip-hop dj history:

1984: Grandmixer D.ST Scratches at the Grammys

This was the scratch heard around the world. Although GrandWizzard Theodore and others had been scratching for the past several years, that distinctive sound had not yet become a familiar part of the musical soundscape. That changed in 1983 with the recording of “Rockit,” a track that paired jazz great Herbie Hancock with, among others, a young DJ known as GrandMixer D.ST. The sound of D.ST’s scratching — and especially the sight of him scratching on the telecast of the Grammy Awards ceremony in 1984 — inspired many to become DJs, including Mix Master Mike, Qbert, and Rob Swift.

Hiphopobit: Heavy D

Heavy D, actor and musician, has died in Beverley Hills.

Born Dwight Arrington Myers, as leader of Heavy D & The Boyz he was the 90s go-to guy at the poppier end of hip-hop for those times when you couldn't afford Will Smith. The Boyz were the anchor group for Uptown Records, finding success almost immediately with the album Living Large and the platinum follow-up Big Tyme. D landed a number of lucrative collaborations - rapping on Michael Jackson's Jam and working with BB King, but a cooler reaction to third album Blue Funk saw him turn more and more to TV and film work.

Initially, his interest was in theme tunes - Mad TV and In Living Color both used him to top and tail their antics - but he swiftly moved in front of the camera. An episode of Cosby spin-off A Different World was built around him; he landed regular roles in The Tracy Morgan Show and Boston Public.

Heavy was slowly returning to music - there was a reggae album, Vibes, in 2008, and earlier this year he performed at the BET Awards. That show was his first live show in fifteen years.

TMZ reports that D experienced breathing difficulties after arriving home yesterday afternoon. He was 44 .

Hiphopobit: DJ Omega Supreme

DJ Omega Supreme, Organized Konfusion's first DJ, has died following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Born Andre Kyles, Omega backed up Organized Konfusion's MCs Prince Po and Pharoahe Monch during the early 90s, before moving into management and artist development.

Omega's cancer had been believed to be in remission; he died shortly before Christmas.

Diddy sees a culture laid waste; seeks blame

Hip hop has become a bit of a stinking beast over the last few years. Sure, there's still a lot of innovative stuff, but at the end with the sales, it's become a bit stagnant.

Indeed, so bad is the smell that it's hit the nostrils of Puff himself:

"People have figured out the formula when they make records for radio, and DJs ain't DJs no more. DJs don't break records no more. DJs don't play album cuts. DJs play what is going to move the crowd. DJs, they don't expose you to the newness. That was the DJs' thing. Hip-hop is in a recession also."

Ah, yes. It's the DJs fault. Not, as you might have thought, that hip-hop has now been around long enough to have the same problems as rock - that it's choked up with figures who have long since lost any interest in exciting music and who hang on, churning out substandard fare that gets over-promoted because of what they did, rather than what they're doing. People like... oooh, there's a name on the tip of my tongue, but I can't quite... no... it's gone.

Guess who's Gus: The gay secrets of hip-hop

Whoever would have thought that, beneath all the macho posturing and crotch-grabbing and bitch this and ho that of hip-hop, there's a lot of closeted homosexuality in the rap world?

Oh, you'd guessed?

Terrance Dean used to work for MTV, and he's now published a book revealing what he's seen. Although he's not actually naming names. Some of these guys have guns, you know:

That gay hip hop subculture certainly seems to be thriving. Dean's book describes a world where many industry executives and some artists are leading secret gay lives, which are often obvious to everyone but rarely talked about. And, despite using some false names, the book contains enough information so that it will undoubtedly spark off a frenzy of speculation as to who some of the characters are in real life.

For example, Dean describes 'Lola', a singer who is a lesbian and had to keep her sexuality secret. And 'Gus', a male rap artist who appeared on television in typical 'gangsta' style yet hid a secret gay life. Then there are the other hints of big-name celebrities close to the hip hop business who are also gay. They include 'Lucas', a married A-list movie star, and 'Kareem', a leading sitcom actor.

Dean claims his motives for publishing the book are pure, and not merely an attempt to sell books off the back of a "guess who this is meant to be" style guessing game:

Dean hopes that by bringing out his book he will allow a leading hip hop figure to come out as gay and thus pave the way for the notoriously homophobic industry to come to terms with its secret side. 'Within the next year I believe a major artist will come out. They are going to have to be brave but I think they can do it,' he said.

It's a bit of a hope - an artist comes out as gay and all of a sudden Eminem's going to be comfortable around gay men who aren't Elton John? Good luck with that one, Terrance.

Bboyobit: Frosty Freeze

Wayne Frost, former member of the Rock Steady Crew, has died after a long illness.

Working under the name Frosty Freeze, Frost joined the second iteration of the Rock Steady Crew, centred on Manhattan. In 1982, the Crew danced at The Ritz, sharing a stage with Bow Wow Wow and Afrika Bambaataa. This provided them with a valuable connections which would turn them from a New York sideshow into, briefly, one of the most prominent names in hip-hop - they were taken under the wing of Bambaataa's Zulu Nation and propelled to international fame: a top ten single in the UK, a major part on a package tour of Europe. And a part in Flashdance.

It went a bit sour after the UK record deal, though, in which the group were first shafted by Charisma and then - after Virgin bought Charisma - they saw themselves dropped. The fall-out split the Crew; Frost would not participate in the 1991 revival. He did join with some of his former colleagues in 2004 for a VH1 awards ceremony.

Wayne continued to appear at Hip Hop events in his home state of New York, up until he fell seriously ill at the start of this year. He died yesterday at the age of 44.

Eve: never mind about hip-hop, what about, y'know, stuff and... I dunno, shit

In a long and somewhat rambling digression, Eve nearly managed to form an opinion on the 'clean-up hip-hop lyrics' before suddenly misplacing it again:

"I feel like there are so many other (more important) things going on in the world.

"I barely say bitch. I do say it. I usually don't say ho.

"The N-word, more than anything, holds a negative connotation. It's a word I grew up with and that's a word that's never threatened me and I've never used it in a threatening manner. I feel like if that's a word that's going to be removed, it has to be a movement and we all need to do it at the same time.

"I still haven't decided where I stand all the way.

"It's not just hip-hop, and that's the thing that makes me mad. Those words have been a part of everyone's vocabulary at some point in everyone's life. Black, white, whatever. Hip-hop, pop, rock. So it makes me mad that the fingers are being pointed at hip-hop for those certain words.

"There are movies that come out every year where a woman is being smacked up and beat down by a man. Let's talk about domestic violence. No men will stand up (for that). They want to say, 'I want to take these certain words out of a song.' But a lot of men that are hitting women won't stand up and say, 'You know what? I'm gonna stop hitting my women today.'

"That's what we need to be fighting. Stuff like that. There are a lot of different issues."

So, erm, is that clear? Something about how if wife-beaters don't stop hitting women, then there's no reason to take out the n-word, which has never been threatening but simultaneously has a negative connotation.

We're not sure if Eve has heard rock or pop songs which drop "nigger" into their lyrics, but - unless she goes shopping for tapes at BNP fairs - we're fairly sure she hasn't; and if she had, she wouldn't be quite so laid back about it.

Still, the "why should we clean up our acts if other people don't clear up theirs" is identical to the White House's line on pollution, which means if she can sort out the DUI trouble, Eve could fit in easily into front line politics.

Straight dope: Gay rapper wasn't gay

Do you remember MC Jason Caushun? He was promoted as the first mainstream, out, gay rapper who picked up an award from GLAAD? It turns out he was the creation of Ivan Matias, who's now calling time on a joke that isn't really all that funny.

Matias explains the genesis and six year, six show history of Caushun, and suggests that there was some sort of social conscience at the heart of the project:

I don't think he was mocking Hip-Hop. He was just a fraud with it. I think a part of this project was good because it showed that Hip-Hop is not as homophobic as it projects. Out of everyone else who could have popularized something as trivial as the color pink, it took a masculine culture like Hip-Hop to popularize that on men. This showed a good side of Hip-Hop that's its open and diverse.

Hmm. So what might look to the casual observer as a minstrel show of sexuality managed to sell some pink shirts. Well, that was certainly worth it. Because, of course, pink is a notoriously gay colour.

Timberlake takes it easy

Justin Timberlake is, apparently, winding it down:

"I've had a good share of the spotlight. I don't feel I need too much of it right now. I want to write country music, because I grew up in Tennessee, soul music and I want to be involved in hip-hop."

Jazz is breathing a sign of relief, but it's still not coming out hiding.

We love the suggestion that working in country and soul is somehow akin to toiling away in obscurity.

Robbie Williams is not going to be shunned by Fiddy

Fifty Cent is a shrewd business brain, and so the news that he's seriously thinking of pairing up with Robbie Williams must, we pray, be driven by pounds in his eyes rather than dreams of artistic merit:

"People should look forward to hearing 50 Cent and Robbie together. He's keen to explore hip hop.

"He's got a very distinctive voice and with the right song we could work well together."

Still, we look forward to the inevitable "who can take their shirt off the most" video, which will be in No Way Gay At All.

Russell Simmons calls for something other than censorship

Nobody would argue there aren't times when hip-hop and R&B (along with every other genre of music) embarrasses itself with some of its lyrics. Russell Simmons has decided enough is enough - but he isn't suggesting censorship as such:

Recommendation to the Recording and Broadcast Industries:
A Statement by Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis on behalf of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network

April 23, 2007

The theme of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) is "Taking Back Responsibility." We are consistent in our strong affirmation, defense, and protection of the First Amendment right of free speech and artistic expression. We have recently been involved in a process of dialogue with recording and broadcast industry executives about issues concerning corporate social responsibility.

It is important to re-emphasize that our internal discussions with industry leaders are not about censorship. Our discussions are about the corporate social responsibility of the industry to voluntarily show respect to African Americans and other people of color, African American women and to all women in lyrics and images.

HSAN reaffirms, therefore, that there should not be any government regulation or public policy that should ever violate the First Amendment. With freedom of expression, however, comes responsibility. With that said, HSAN is concerned about the growing public outrage concerning the use of the words "bitch," "ho," and "nigger." We recommend that the recording and broadcast industries voluntarily remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words "bitch" and "ho" and the racially offensive word "nigger."

Going forward, these three words should be considered with the same objections to obscenity as "extreme curse words." The words "bitch" and "ho" are utterly derogatory and disrespectful of the painful, hurtful, misogyny that, in particular, African American women have experienced in the United States as part of the history of oppression, inequality, and suffering of women. The word "nigger" is a racially derogatory term that disrespects the pain, suffering, history of racial oppression, and multiple forms of racism against African Americans and other people of color.

In addition, we recommend the formation of a music industry Coalition on Broadcast Standards, consisting of leading executives from music, radio and television industries. The Coalition would recommend guidelines for lyrical and visual standards within the industries.

We also recommend that the recording industry establish artist mentoring programs and forums to stimulate effective dialogue between artists, hip-hop fans, industry leaders and others to promote better understanding and positive change. HSAN will help to coordinate these forums.

These issues are complex, but require creative voluntary actions exemplifying good corporate social responsibility.

We'd have thought that if we learned anything at the hands of Tipper Gore, it's that quasi-voluntary codes of conduct, and standards and bleeping doesn't make things better - after all, has a Parental Advisory rating ever made any band think twice about its content?

The way to stop musicians recording songs which treat women like shit and play games with racist epithets isn't to have some sort of pools panel of sobriety rating songs on how they fit a pre-determined grid of what's acceptable; it's more about changing the atmosphere so that acts wouldn't want to release a song which talks about women as "whores" in the first place. Rather than issuing long, rambling calls for something to be done, figures like Simmons should use their influence to suggest that it might be a good idea for rap videos to contain fewer women in their knickers, for example. You need to challenge the mindset that makes the records, not merely put your hands over your ears when they get to the bits you find uncomfortable.

Madonna sucks down more young brains

"Mmm... young brains, so soft and fleshy and yummy... munch munch munch... mmm..."

Apparently, this time round, Madonna's desperation to try and do something different-ish is going to see her try and turn in a "real hip-hop album."

So she's called in Justin Timberlake.

Which is a bit like planning to make an authentic country album and putting in a call to Rednex.

Arctic Monkeys attack daytime Radio One

We're a little bit surprised that the Arctic Monkeys are even bothering to have a pop at Radio 1, to be honest; we thought they were a bit above that. Mind you, the Victoria Newton thinks it's more than that - why, it's practically career suicide:

Radio 1 — the station who gave them a huge helping hand when they were mere marmosets — are the latest victims of a tongue lashing from the Sheffield scamps.

And I reckon the criticism won’t go down to well with the likes of DJs CHRIS MOYLES, JO WHILEY, ZANE LOWE and SCOTT MILLS.

Erm... Victoria, do you remember all those articles about how the Arctic Monkeys use computers and stuff? And how their fanbase existed before they started getting network coverage? This is more on a par with, say, Duran in the 80s attacking something like Radio Humberside - a little odd that the band would bother, but hardly going to ruin their lives.

What's more interesting is Jamie Cook's decision to have a go at something he admits he knows nothing about:

“English radio is terrible, and Radio 1 plays a lot of crap music.

“I realised that the other morning when I had the radio going.

“Even music I don’t usually listen to, like hip-hop, is obviously bad at the moment.

“There is no real hip-hop anymore.”

Judging the state of hip-hop from listening to Chris Moyles is like trying to follow the news by watching Fox. Tomorrow, we expect he'll be offering an opinion on the state of Austrian choral music.

Our friends in the 'hood

HBO are putting together a history of hiphop told through fictional characters long, interweaving lives. Sounds like the sort of idea that might just work, to us; certainly got to work better than rush-filming The Jam Master Jay Story and selling it straight to Channel Five.