Monthly Archives: April 2008

Music Underreported News

New book plans to ‘out’ hip hop

April 26, 2008 – 5:20 pm

In an interesting and yet concerning event, Terrance Dean is writing a book to publicly expose hip hop artists as being gay.

It’s no secret that hip hop and rap has struggled with some unquestionably homophobic lyrics and artists. 50 Cent and Eminem, for example, aren’t exactly favoured by the gay community. Then again, Eminem went right from that to performing a duet with Elton John, perhaps suggesting that these homophobic tendencies aren’t as deeply entrenched as we assume.

Within academic circles, it’s widely accepted that this is a burden hip hop must face. Education officials and those attempting to address bullying in schools often point to rap as a problem within schools. Easily influenced kids listen to shitty songs with terrible lyrics and get the wrong idea. Or so they say.

I’m personally of the opinion that people make their own choices and that pointing a finger at music, or movies, or video games is not the answer. It’s a combination of influences and, frankly, I think the majority of negative attitudes start at home or in the local community, and not so much in the kids mp3 player.

Dean’s book, called Hiding in Hip Hop: On the Down Low in the Entertainment Industry–from Music to Hollywood, is already available for pre-order in Amazon.

I’m not entirely sure that this book is that great a thing, to be perfectly honest. I really don’t think anyone should be ‘outed’ against their will. It’s a pretty emotional undertaking to out yourself, and that’s not a decision someone should make for you.

So while maybe there’s some credit in trying to make hip hop confront it’s own image as homophobic, I’m not sure trying to publicly out people is the way to do it.

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Featured

Was Moses High?

April 26, 2008 – 1:25 pm

Moses Was Straight Trippin' YoStay tuned for some fresh music tomorrow, but in the mean time check this madness out: Benny Shanon, an Israeli philosophy professor, thinks Moses was “probably on psychedelic drugs when he received the Ten Commandments from God.”

Aside from the obvious comedic value of such a discovery (the author of the article notes how the “assertions give a whole new meaning to being “high” on Mount Sinai”), one also has to wonder whether this could seriously damage the reputation of both Judaism and Christianity. After all, how seriously would you take a religion that was based largely on the results of “a drug-fueled hallucination?” We might as well start worshipping Cheech and Chong (although this is probably already happening somewhere).

When questioned about the theory, Orthodox rabbi Yuval Sherlow said: “The Bible is trying to convey a very profound event. We have to fear not for the fate of biblical Moses, but for the fate of science.” Fantastic.

 

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Art

4080Records Presents: Debra Hurd

April 25, 2008 – 10:05 pm

Debra Hurd is quite the artist.  Not to say that she’s really all that original, but I really like her Jazz painting series.  It’s got a style that looks hurried and kind of blurry, and does a pretty good job of capturing what the performance is like.  It’s a rush of action and you tend to focus way more on the music than on the people playing it.  Here it’s almost like the musicians in the paintings are not the focus of the attention, which is somehow disconcerting because they’re really the only things in the painting to begin with.

She loves using all kinds of bright colours and maybe that’s part of what appeals to me.  Here’s her own explanation:

Debra explains: “A very ordinary scene can be perceived differently when painted with a bit of exaggerated color and awareness of light. The ordinary then becomes the extraordinary. Color is critical. When I’m asked which color is my favorite, I tend to think in terms of which two or three colors I like in combination.”

A bunch of her paintings are for sale through her website, so check ‘em out if you’ve got some money to spend.

one of debra's paintings

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Awareness Cool

Hip-Hop Doc talks about HIV and AIDS

April 25, 2008 – 3:04 pm

This article is yet another example of how hip hop can really do a lot of good in the world.

Dr. Rani Whitfield is often known as the “hip hop doc”. It may be a little bit of a ridiculous nickname, but he’s actually a fascinating person.

He uses hip hop and rap to try and raise awareness about those devastating health issues like HIV/AIDS and its disproportionate impact on the black community. According to the article, black people make up almost half of all people infected with HIV/AIDS in the US.

That’s a crazy thing to think about. Only 13% of the total American population is black, but yet they make up 50% of ALL of those affected with AIDS. It’s a terrible situation, and one that needs to be solved using increased education.

Discussing the risks and the nature of the disease openly and honestly is of paramount importance, and is something that is only starting to get done. Whitfield actually raps to try and get his message out. Sometimes this can be a little hokey, but I haven’t yet been able to hear his song yet so I can’t really judge.

He’s also taking his message online, launching “Let’s Get Hip Hop Healthy” on Youtube. Below is the first episode of the series.

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Cool Geek Music

Direct Note Access will revolutionize beatmaking

April 24, 2008 – 4:17 pm

One of the biggest drawbacks to making beats is that once you get an insane sample, sometimes it doesn’t quite have the sound you want.

Yes I know that sounds obvious, but bear with me. Think about if you take a sick guitar riff or something, there’s just something not quite right about it, something that doesn’t fit with what you wanted to do.

You play around with it a little, shifting pitch and all that, but it’s not just good enough.

Melodyne with Direct Note Access lets you actually go into the chord and directly alter individuals notes. Think about the possibility. You can tweak each note till you get the perfect sound for it. I’m not even clear on all the technical aspects of it, but it sounds pretty unreal to me. You can check out their FAQ here.

I can’t even explain the excitement. It gives the bedroom producer so much flexibility. Or it would if it didn’t cost $700 USD. So maybe it’s more for those small indie studios to play with then someone like ourselves.

Below is basically a glorified infomercial, but it’ll show you just exactly how (potentially) amazing this program will be. If it works, I’d be all over it.

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Sample Sourcing

Sample Sourcing: The Lafayette Afro Rock Band’s “Darkest Light”

April 24, 2008 – 9:30 am

Today we explore one of my favourite samples: the blaring, haunting saxophone introduction to The Lafayette Afro Rock Band’s “Darkest Light” from their 1975 album Malik. Click below to listen:

The Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Darkest Light (Malik, 1975) [Sample]

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Formed in 1970 on Long Island, The Lafayette Afro Rock Band was originally called Bobby Boy Congress after vocalist Bobby Boy. Quickly realizing that ”America was already overloaded with funk acts” (1), the band relocated to France in 1971 where they caught the attention of producer Pierre Jaubert. Jaubert dramatically altered the group’s musical direction by encouraging them to blend ”the powerful Afro-beat tendencies” of Paris’ Barbesse community with the band’s “original solid (if workmanlike) funk.” (2) The resulting sound, a “heavy, dense, no compromise ghetto funk,” (3) propelled their second and third albums, 1974′s Soul Makossa (the source of another classic hip-hop sample: the drum break from ”Hihache”) and 1975′s Malik, to modest success.

Unfortunately, by the mid 1970s Jaubert had become infatuated with disco and convinced the band to record a novelty dance track called “Brazil” under the name Crispy and Company. The song became an instant hit, reaching #26 in the UK. Spurred on by the track’s success the band plunged headfirst into the disco wave, releasing albums like Frisco Disco and singles like “Dr. Beezar, Soul Frankenstein.” However, their disco success would be short-lived and the group disbanded soon after returning to the US in 1978.

Luckily for us, the band’s pre-disco catalogue has since been thoroughly mined by beat diggers and a number of excellent samples have been unearthed, the saxaphone introduction from “Darkest Light” being perhaps the best known and most recognizable of them. Melancholy and desolate, the sample is so effective for two reasons: first, because it is evocative - it elicits in the listener a unique emotional response - and second, because it is so versatile. Containing only a single instrument, the sample can be layered over any number of other samples to create an limitless variety of sounds.

Indeed, consider the diversity of the songs on which it has been used, some of which are listed below. On Jay-Z’s “Show Me What You Got”, the sample serves as a compelling counterpoint to the exuberant horns of Johnny Pate’s “Shaft In Africa.” On Public Enemy’s “Show ‘Em What You Got” the sample becomes a hypnotizing clarion call for empowerment while on Wreckx-N-Effect’s “Rump Shaker” it becomes a New Jack Swing summer jam.

Jay-Z – Show Me What You Got (Kingdom Come, 2006)

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Public Enemy – Show ‘Em What You Got (It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, 1988)

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Wreckx-N-Effect – Rump Shaker (Hard Or Smooth, 1992)

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Music Politics

4080Records Presents: M.I.A.

April 24, 2008 – 7:03 am

M.I.A is a bit hard to pin down. She’s not only a musician, but she’s an artist in general. She’s the daughter of a Tamil Tiger, and an outspoken activist. She’s both intelligent and extremely outgoing. Plus, her website may just give you a seizure.

Even her music is hard to describe. Some sort of odd fusion between hip hop-electro-funk-reggae-grime thing with a little splash of soca. It’s a combination that doesn’t always work (a bunch of her songs are…acquired tastes) but sometimes it just combines in a great great way.

One of the thing I find most fascinating about her is her constant outspokenness on political issues. She’s one who has constantly used whatever fame she has to advance her point of view. Now this isn’t always a good thing, and I sometimes find it annoying when artists do it, but I have to say I kind of respect it when it comes from such a different perspective. Being who she is, she comes with first-hand experience of ethnic conflict and is always trying to draw attention to the odd relationship between East/West and first world/developing countries. A lot of the lyrics she uses are pretty political too, but with her constant UK slang dripping in, it’s sometimes difficult to pick out.

It’s almost a little refreshing to see something that’s nearly constantly so different. Hell, even her clothes are…special.

So without further ado, here’s a video from M.I.A’s latest album, Kala. The song is called Paper Planes. Not necessarily her most political work, but one of the most popular off the new album.  Her tracks are way different than a lot of the stuff we’ve been repping here at 4080, but consider it part of our commitment to push the envelope as much as we can. You could also keep investigating and see if you like some of her other stuff.

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Music

Johnny Cash still walks the line

April 23, 2008 – 12:45 pm

Johnny Cash still walks the line

Vince Mira is 15. He is 15 and he sounds exactly like Johnny Cash. It’s actually pretty eerie to hear, but it’s nice to see someone paying such tribute to a great artist like Cash.

I can’t find all that much information about this young fellow, except that his nickname is now “Juanny Cash”. Yes, it’s a little silly, and yes, possibly even has some less than nice racial undertones, but he doesn’t seem to mind it at all.

Amazingly enough, he was even scheduled to perform at Folsom Prison, recreating one of Johnny Cash’s most famous shows. But he had to cancel the show thanks to some sort of quasi-riot.

If you want to have one of those mind blowing moments, watch the video below of MIra’s performance on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Also, check out Mira’s Myspace for a couple of more songs and details on how to get his album.

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Cool Music

Rock The Bells Line-up & Dates Announced! Tribe Is Coming To Vancouver!

April 23, 2008 – 6:49 am

A few days ago I mentioned that seeing A Tribe Called Quest perform live would be, without a doubt, the single greatest musical experience of my life. Now, it appears as though all my wildest dreams are coming true: yesterday afternoon it was announced that A Tribe Called Quest would be re-uniting to headline this year’s Rock The Bells tour which will be making a stop in Vancouver on August 20!

But it gets even better. In addition to the Tribe reunion the tour will also see legendary ’90s collective The Pharcyde perform together for the first time in several years. Other artists slated to perform include Nas, Mos Def, De La Soul, Rakim, Method Man & Redman, Raekwon, Ghostface and Dead Prez. As you can imagine, I’ve passed out from sheer excitement twice already.

For more information, including the full concert line-up and tour dates, visit the official Rock The Bells site here.  

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Politics

Young Iraqis turning away from militants?

April 23, 2008 – 4:09 am

The New York Times is reporting that the five years of insane sectarian violence and bloodshed in Iraq is becoming too much for a lot of the youth.  Far from the monolithic, militant, violent force that everyone seems to want to believe, the Iraqi youth are turning away from the fundamentalist crazy clerics.

While religious extremists are admired by a number of young people in other parts of the Arab world, Iraq offers a test case of what could happen when extremist theories are applied. Fingers caught in the act of smoking were broken. Long hair was cut and force-fed to its wearer. In that laboratory, disillusionment with Islamic leaders took hold.

It is far from clear whether the shift means a wholesale turn away from religion. A tremendous piety still predominates in the private lives of young Iraqis, and religious leaders, despite the increased skepticism, still wield tremendous power.

It’s an interesting take on the situation in Iraq.  It seems like an almost universal characteristic of teenagers that they feel disenfranchised with the current state of affairs.  It’s even more of a dramatic situation in Iraq, where the youth are the primary targets of both security forces and Islamic clerics.  These youth have a chance to earn some money by following the clerics, which is often the initial incentive to joining these groups.  Money rules all in a lot of these situations, and according to the NYT, it even explains why the insurgent groups choose to behead their hostages:

Indeed, at least part of the religious violence in Baghdad had money at its heart. An officer at the Kadhimiya detention center, where Muath was being held last fall, said recordings of beheadings fetched much higher prices than those of shooting executions in the CD markets, which explains why even nonreligious kidnappers will behead hostages.

Insane.

What I think is the most fascinating aspect of all of this is the fact that parents are so concerned:

In Falluja, a Sunni city west of Baghdad that had been overrun by Al Qaeda, Sheik Khalid al-Mahamedie, a moderate cleric, said fathers now came with their sons to mosques to meet the instructors of Koran courses. Families used to worry most about their daughters in adolescence, but now, the sheik said, they worry more about their sons.

It’s pretty crazy to think that parents have to be especially careful of their sons these days.  But in a weird way, it’s nice to know that so many people are doing their best to try and make Iraq a little safer.  Obviously it’s a pretty shitty situation overall, and no one is going to argue that it’s going well, but even the hardest-nosed neocon or the most liberal anti-war activist is going to have to admit that there is no possibility of success in Iraq without the support of the people.

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