Bronx Origins -- Dub 1

So for Monday we are taking our first stab at hip hop's roots -- looking in depth at the Bronx where hip hop began, tracing some of hip hop's founding figures, and the cultural and social environment that produced and was transformed by hip hop's 4 elements. As DJ today, I'm going to sketch some of the key questions I think this material raises and choose a few songs, videos and photos that help make this early period of hip hop come alive. But I encourage all of you to add your questions and comments that will help structure our first discussion.

Core questions from the reading: 

• What did you think of DJ Herc's definition of hip hop and call to the hip hop generation? How can he add to our understanding of what hip hop is and can be?
• How does Chang define the hip hop generation? What does he mean by all generations are fictions? And what do you think of his definition of this one (pg.1-2) 
• Why do you think he starts with the Reggie Jackson story? What insights does it give us into the hip hop generation?
• What does Chang mean by the politics of abandonment -- and how did this shape the emergence of hip hop? And turning that question on its head -- how did hip hop reshape the abandoned spaces of the Bronx?
• What stylistic/cultural elements link the four elements of hip hop together? How did they become linked culturally in the Bronx and NY more broadly?
• After reading Chang, how would you describe the relationships between gangs and hip hop?

• How does graffiti fit with this concept of the politics of abandonment? These are some images of graffiti at its high point in the 1980s when NY trains were covered with large piece. Also look at this link of a Crash exhibit at a NY gallery. Graffitti in a gallery. How do the different locations of graffiti in the city transform its meanings?

Listen to The Message Below -- how does this rap paint a picture of the Bronx at this moment of abandonment? What images/ metaphorical stories does it use? What is the message of the message? It's racial or gendered politics? What do we make of that story at the end? What's the role of hip hop in "the jungle"?

Sampling the Old School

Here is a selection of Reggae songs Chang discusses that may help us think about the Jamaican roots of hip hop.

Here are some of the most famous early hip hop songs. Besides their fame, I chose these songs because I thought they demonstrated the diversity of messages and styles even at hip hop's roots. I think it would be interesting to consider how these songs compare in terms of style, beat, and message to hip hop today. What are some of the similarities in terms of content and style? Where do you see real differerences? A couple differences that strike me:

1. When I hear this really early hip hop, it seems to lack the emphasis on being hard that seems essential to a lot of hip hop. 
2. I hear the other elements in hip hop much more compared to now when rap/MC seems so dominant. The DJ is in the front of these songs, and the sampling is amazing, layer on layer, some of which I recognize from disco, funk and lots which I don't. But even break dancing is evident in the music, which seems focused on  making dancers move even more than today.
 

Here is the Message video -- which we will analyze in detail in class, either Monday or soon after. Feel free to start thinking through your analysis now.

Lastly here are two interesting videos -- classic breakdancing by the Rock Steady Crew: 

 

And this, the first clip of the classic graffiti movie Style Wars (we may watch more of this when we talk about graffiti). Why is going all city important to the graffiti artist?