The Individuals of Early Hip-Hop

'White Allies'

There were many white adult allies who were in support of these youth gangs and writers. The believed through the power of education, art, music and dance that the gang members could tear themselves away from the street violence and offer something of importance to the world. They dedicated their lives to helping the voices of the unheard be known, loud and clear.

Manny Dominguez  & his wife, Rita Fecher, were teachers at Dwyer Junior High. They became involved in the Ghetto Brothers, the Savage Skulls and the Savage Nomads’ lives and acted as their allies. Rita Fecher filmed the Ghetto Brothers and interviewed them. These tapes would eventually find their way into Fecher’s and Chalfant’s gang documentary Flyin’ Cut Sleeves.

Dominguez and Fecher became gang advocates, and often held salons in which the members could freely talk about world issues and local struggles. They aided in helping secure the Ghetto Brothers a safe space to meet, a storefront clubhouse, which was funded by the city’s Youth Services Agency. Through their contacts at New York University, Dominquez and Fetcher were able to also get the gangs musical instruments. They even used their contacts in the media to help gain coverage of their stories. Sadly, Dominguez was eventually fired from Dwyer Junior High for being a gang advocate.

Henry Chalfant came from a wealthy, white and privileged background. He moved to New York with his wife in 1973, where he quickly became immersed in graffiti art. From the summer of 1976 to 1979, his hobby of photographing graffiti art became an obsession. He would snap photos for hours of the decorated trains. One day he met a writer named NAC. After telling NAC about his obsession, NAC introduced him to the Writer’s Bench. He quickly befriended the crew and began to document their work, from filming to snapping photographs. The writers were very eager to show off their work in front of a camera. Chalfant even allowed them to even use his Greenwich village studio space for creating pieces.
           In 1980, Chalfant put on his first public exhibition of his photos at O.K. Harris Gallery. Hundreds of writers flocked to his show to admire his work. There he met Martha Cooper, a fellow news-photographer who worked for the New York Post. Chalfant and Cooper played major roles in getting Graffiti noticed by mainstream art critics, curators and gallery owners.
Chalfant became a manager for the Rock Steady Crew, and tried finding them dance battles and venues to perform at. Cooper also did her part in documenting the dancing. Chalfant put on an interactive art show entitled “Graffiti Rock,” which was comprised of graffiti, DJing, rapping and b-boying.

Chalfant worked with filmmaker Tony Silver to create Style Wars which was shot between 81 and 83. The film’s attention was focused on graffiti and bboying in this radical new youth movement that was becoming hip-hop.

Sally Banes was an NYU dance professor who worked with Cooper in covering stories of b-boys and b-girls. Their book proposals were rejected for years. But finally in 1984, Chalfant and Cooper found a publisher and produced the book called Subway Art.

Charlie Ahearn grew up in a middle class family. In 1973 he moved with his twin brother John to New York City to become contemporary artists. He would bring his super 8 camera down to the Lower East Side projects, to film the kids practicing their martial arts. He even worked with them in creating a film called “The Deadly Art of Survival” which was a compilation of their martial arts videos. He quickly became enamored with the street art surrounding him, which was all created by Lee Quiñones. Eventually Ahearn collaborated with Quiñones and FAB 5 FREDDY in producing a hip-hop movie. Ahearn was welcomed into the rap scene and frequented all the flyest clubs with FAB, meeting other writers and rappers. In 1982, he created the film Wild Style starring PINK (a feminist writer) and Lee.

B-boys and b-girls were youths who frequently participated in dancing battles. “They would simply jump in one after another to go off, take each other out, just “break” wild on each other. Herc called them break boys, b-boys for short” (Chang, Ch.4).
Richie “Crazy Legs” Colon was the leader of the Rock Steady Crew. When he was 13 years old, he made it a personal mission “to find and challenge every remaining b-boy” (Chang).  He and his crew spent their time dancing and perfecting their moves, even by accidentally creating new ones. Their skills were highly recognized and praised, and they “had the opportunity to perform with Cold Crush Brothers, Fantastic Five, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmixer D.ST., Funky Four + One, [they] became part of that elite clique in hip-hop” (Chang). B-boying wasn’t just the art of dancing. It “was style as aggression, a competitive bid for dominance” (Chang).       

'Graffiti Writers'

Graffiti writers were integral to the beginning of Hip-Hop with their revolutionary notions of space, exhibitionism, and territory. Most writers choose or prefer to stay out of the public eye, however fame has chosen a few of them to continue their careers in galleries and in movies. Today the majority of writers continue to push the art form despite the danger of crossing territories or being arrested.

Sandra LADY PINK Fabra
Born in Ecuador, LADY PINK was raised in Queens New York throughout her adolescence. One of the few woman graffiti writers in the early scene if not the only woman in the public eye, as It was assumed that females were just the boyfriends of other writers. For this reason much of her art was centered around societal themes like sexism and aristocracy. Many of her canvases are now in prestigious museums across the US and Europe. Stylistically there are few analogues, her lines and colors are striking and simultaneously evasive.

   “Graffiti is an outlaw art. When we train graffiti writers we’re not training fine artists to exhibit in a museum. We’re training criminals. We’re training kids to take their life into their own hands and go out there and hopelessly paint on some wall or some train that will do nothing for you except get you fame with other vandals and criminals”

Andrew ZEPHYR Witten
A Jewish American born in the South Bronx, he described himself as a “wanna-be hippie”. ZEPHYR grew up in the “Park Scene” which he describes as “a freak scene of young kids” coming from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. ZEPHYR developed a more holistic aesthetic through observing and learning from his peers as well as acting from his own drive. ZEPHYR has collaborated with multiple directors on expository hip hop films as well as the photographer Henry Chalfant.

   “Everybody wrote, but no one was all that serious about it, it was just a rite-of-passage type thing. Like you fuckin’ rob a marker, and you fuckin’ mark shit up for six months, then you throw that shit away and get into some other shit”

Donald DONDI White
Born in Brooklyn, DONDI was of African and Italian Desent. Although he was forced to be in gangs throughout his childhood and high school career, he only took upgraffiti in the late 80s after getting his GED and taking an office job for the government. Under these conditions he flourished as one of the most influential writers of all time. He was the first graffiti artist to have a one-man show in the Netherlands and Germany, and his work is collected by European museums. DONDI died of aids in 1998, after his death many murals were erected in his legacy that are still maintained today.

'The Godfathers'
DJ Kool Herc- Kool Herc (aka. Clive Campbell) arrived in the Bronx at 12 years old, fresh off the plane from Kingston, Jamaica. In addition to playing football and experimenting with graffiti, Herc’s passion was DJing—and with access to a powerful sound system (after some needed tinkering) DJ Kool Herc began hosting house parties out of the basement of his parent’s apartment building. These blew up and became increasingly more and more popular. Herc noticed that the instrumental breaks of the songs were what got most folks riled up, so he coined a new spinning technique dubbed “the Merry-Go-Round.” (See video below for a lesson from Herc himself). Kool Herc’s parties got even bigger so he moved them to an outdoor venue: local parks. There was a no-nonsense policy at these parties: any sort of violence was not tolerated. Herc was known to stop entire shows waiting for fights to dissolve. Dance Ciphers also began at Herc’s shows, signifying hip-hop’s first “break boys.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw4H2FZjfpo

Afrika Bambaataa- Afrika Bambaataa (real name unknown) was a legend before he even started DJing. Promoting black nationalism and pride, he saw hip-hop being played out through four gospel elements: DJing, MCing, b-boying, and Graffiti (later he would add a fifth: knowledge). After seeing Zulu—a sort-of reverse of the Alamo tale in which the “primitive” Zulu warriors were defeated by the outnumbered British heroes—Bambaataa was awakened to a new sense of black solidarity. Through the channels of hip-hop, he went on to establish the Zulu Nation, a celebration of black personhood and heritage and a revolutionary youth culture. Through his “infinity lessons” the Zulu Nation touched on, but was not limited to, the origins of hip-hop, narratives of black nationalism (without offering racial segregation, self-defense, and right knowledge. In 1982, Afrika Bambaataa established “Planet Rock,” the new wave up hip-hop. His appearance was a cross between a New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian and an Afrofuturist prophet. Releasing “Planet Rock” as a single, Bambaataa realized he could use music and the Zulus to send a message. http://musicstreaker.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/afrika_bambaataa18.jpg

Grandmaster Flash- Grandmaster Flash (aka. Joseph Saddler) epitomized style in hip-hop. His interest in sound went beyond the decibel level and into the intricacies of the equipment. Though his style was unprecedented at parties, it was so new that he realized he needed a vocal accompaniment to spark the movement. Flash invited past friends to come up on stage and rhyme while he simultaneously spun his new style. “Kool Herc couldn’t draw a crowd after people saw Flash” (Chang 114). Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five released “The Message” in light of hip-hop’s new lean towards the MC rather than the DJ. “The Message” was the first rap song to put the emphasis on the lyrics, as the beat was too slow to really rock a crowd. http://theblastpast.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/gal_hip-hop_4.jpg

Run DMC- Run DMC contrasted heavily with the looped and sampled disco/house beats of the pioneers of hip-hop. They instead used booming drum machine loops and were probably the stepping stone from acts like Grandmaster Flash to Public Enemy. Hip-hop was now growing up.

Bob Marley was considered a “worldwide icon of freedom struggle and black liberation” (Chang). His music brought people together politically and emotionally. This new genre of reggae was deeply rooted in Jamaica and brought to America. His music offered a beacon of hope to those who were struggling in this time of political oppression.


'Gangs'

The Ghetto Brothers-  Benjy, Ulpiano, Victor and Robert Melendez: “ the ghetto brothers gang was one of the most powerful, with more than a thousand members in divisions as far as new jersey and connecticut (Chang pg 50)”. As two tracks were forming across the excavation of the bronx, the Ghetto brothers headed up the high road to peace, while the other track was centered around increased gang wars, and blood in the streets. What started with a 1961 Urban Renewal project lead to mass gang treaties in the boys clubhouse, and unity across every vertical, and horizontal line drawn defining the bronx. The ghetto Brothers were also very influential with their music. The eight –song album, Ghetto Brothers Power Fuerza gave out a message that promised peace and harmony for even the “little people…(chang pg 64)”. The ghetto brothers music was said to have been more of the , “Teen-themed latin pop of california [opposed to,] the salsa of the bronx…(chang pg 65)”. Continuing to make a statement across grid lines, the Ghetto Brothers signature song, “ Ghetto Brothers Power”climaxed with a message that there was something better out there for everyone and this new found possibility, segwayed into turf grids disintegrating and, a new style of party. Hope and peace resulted from the Ghetto Brothers even if it was only for a little while.

http://api.ning.com/files/FIBvqt47Vjv59Pic7ktbI6kYHWv6nu0yGSmkM*sTaX09RhnqUAHJ90QnAkypZzOaUfkBhdP5BN1WPSMTvyCJ7zlF*WV9v30L/ghettobroth_powerfuer_101b.jpg


Yellow Benjy- a young teenage diplomat that turned into a young revolutionary because of his skilled way with words. Yellow Benjy was often referred to as the “preacher” and would give speeches that were said to be, “ laced with blood-and-fire Old Testament scripture. Yellow Benjy had a great love for music, and favored the Beatles. (chang pg 51).

Black Benjie- Cornell Benjamin, a 25 yr old half- African American, Half Puerto Rican ex junkie who became the third staff leader of the Ghetto Brothers. Black Benjie became a peace counselor and his efforts characterized the progress of the Bronx. Black Benjie brought on this new idea of not solving pain and suffering with more pain and suffering. Though he made many powerful attempts in cleaning out the Bronx, and ridding it of it’s ugly definitions, his death seemed to be more of a movement for more people than anything he had ever spoke of. Benjie’s death brought on this two way street, one of peace and one of blood.

GANGS~ New Grid Lines (1977)

South Bronx 138th street through 163rd street

·      Bachelors

·      Savage Nomads

·      Savage Skulls

·      Ghetto Brothers

{Grandmaster Flash & Casanova Crew}

Southeast

·      P.O.W.E.R

·      Javelins

{Afrika Bambaataa & Zulu Nation}

North

·      DJ Breakout

·      DJ Baron

East/ West Bronx

·      Night clubs

{DJ Kool Herc}

This breakdown of Turfs is what resulted as the Era of discos began to fade away. As Grandmaster flash, Bambaataa, and DJ Kool Herc gave people something to listen to, gangs turned into, “ little area crews…(chang pg 80)” where DJ’s and Breakdance crews claimed the stage and called the crowds.

Hip-Hop as a Commodity

Malik Coburn (“Franklin Barbosa”)

Ian Eland (“Dunny”)

Andrell Hardaway (“Vision to Reality”)

Jordan Marshak (“Getflite Fresh”)

Jared O’Neill (“O’Neill Fo4 Real”)

Hip-Hop has been a commodity that has spread like no other, however it didn’t really spread out of the Bronx until an unexpected hip hop group, Sugarhill Gang, released the hit single, "Rapper's Delight." the whole world outside of the Bronx hadn't tapped into hip hop, the mainstream music at the time was disco. When "Rappers Delight" came out, it trumped the "hokey" ‘sound of Barbara Streisand and Donna Summers number 1 hit "No More Tears (enough is enough)." (Chang, 131) people loved the contrast of Rappers Delight, "it sounded it fresh from its very first words-- "I said uh hip-hop...' to the Bronx heads, the whole thing was a sham." (Chang, 131)

"Rapper's Delight" was the first piece of mainstream hip-hop commodity as well. People loved to bump that song not only at parties, but also in their cars and boom boxes. The song was easy to relate too, which was very uncommon because hip-hop in the Bronx was only fully understood if you were local. "Rapper's Delight" crossed over from New York's insular hip hop scene to black radio, then charged up the American Top 40, and swept around the globe... It became the best selling twelve inch single ever pressed." (Chang, 131)

           The mobility of Hip-Hop is brought about by the commodification process, in which it is discovered in the Bronx by producers and promoters and brought from the parties to the studios. Before, Hip-Hop was a local phenomenon, only available to those in the immediate geographic vicinity of its origin—after it starts taking on recorded forms, it begins to permeate into the broader culture, outside of just New York. Hip-Hop has a lot of factors behind its coolness: much of it has to do initially with its radical new sound—it's innovative fusion of numerous previous traditions to make something that had never been heard before. More important than that though, is its attitude—coolness is coolness, you don't acquire it by having things, coolness is its own signifier.

People thought that hip-hop records would never actually make it out of the Bronx. Hip hop was looked at as a “whole gig,” meaning that it was too long of a thing to fit on a record, but when “Rapper’s Delight” by Sugarhill Gang came out, the record was only 15 minutes.  Originally people believed that it would last up to three hours.  Another barrier standing in the way of hip-hop leaving the Bronx is that most of hip-hop dealt primarily with the black race.  Also there wasn’t much money in it.  It would be hard for hip hop to leave because there wasn’t anybody really listening to it elsewhere and they didn’t really have the cash to bring it around to different events or parties.

The more popular something becomes, there more people want it. They may want it because of its features, its look, or because it is just what is “cool” at the time. Hip-Hop wasn’t supposed to be “cool;” it was said to be an “urban renewal” (Chang, 11) for those dealing with the stresses of their neighborhoods that they lived in. When something becomes popular, it runs its course; then after a while it becomes “played out,” or lame. After this, something was usually innovated from it.

Hip-Hop is extremely popular and has turned from a lifestyle to a hobby for some. How? Rappers Delight! It “turned hip-hop into popular music – [it] began to destroy what hip-hop was” (Chang, 132 – 133).  It was a [indirect] sell-out move from the Sugarhill Gang. With lyrics going from: "The time has come and work for soul, show you really got soul” (“Planet Rock”); to “I got a Lincoln Continental and a sunroof Cadillac; so after school, I take a dip in the pool which really is on the wall; I got a color TV so I can see the Knicks play basketball.” It went from a personal uplifting," to a plastic, materialistic, “game;” hence people calling the hip hop “industry, “The Rap Game.” Brand names sell easily which is why “Rapper’s Delight” was a success and “Planet Rock wasn’t as praised. This is why mainstream rappers rap about what they rap about – what they have and what they can do with their wealth. Nobody wants to hear about uplifting the soul – that is what church is for! Conscious rap will not sell. Instead, hearing about material things is what literally sells. There is more of a personal connection with perishable items rather than personal improvement.

In today’s society Hip Hop has helped unite many races in a way. When Eminem emerged as a prominent figure in the rap game, many rappers gained respect for him and the fact that he was one of the first white rappers to make it. This diversified the industry and opened doors for many other white rappers to make a name for themselves. Hip Hop has also introduced a new form of entertainment/fashion. Also known as ‘Swag’, which includes the clothes you wear, the way you dress and the way you talk.

The everyday lifestyle of most of these artists coming from the inner city is expressed in their music, which is very different from what the music industry is used to. The ‘fast life’, from the drugs and money, to the girls, cars and clothes. 

The Message -- I'd like to encourage you to continue to analyze the Message of the Message on the blog to see how much further and deeper we can take our in class analysis. How do we see the politics of abandonment in this video? How are the artists constructed their identity? What's going on in terms of its representation of race, gender and sexuality? Here is the video again for our analysis.

(One thing that struck me when viewing it again was the repeated use of the word fag at several points in the song. What's up with that? Is that working to construct a heteronormative masculinity, something else?)

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?