Notes
The commercialization of rap (Sugar Hill Gang) instantly changed the
aesthetic, producing a new passivity within hip-hop culture. It
changed from a participatory ethic into a listener ethic.
Important
observation – malcolm maclaren's uncredited use of groups such as
the mahotella queens on the duck rock
album, and ensuing lawsuits. Far
from being easily slotted into the IP-bad/freedom-good dichotomy, it
is worth considering that maclaren's use of the music in this case
had as many imperialist overtones as it did insurrectionist/pastiche
ones.
By
achieving unparallelled crossover success in both directions, Def Jam
achieved a racial reintegration of American culture interesting
premise. I've always wanted to write something on the social
implications of “crossover.”
fairlight
sampler represented a big step forward in beats-production
technology, early-mid 80s. More subtle beats >> more subtle
rhymes parallels impact of
vocal mics and overdubbing on singing styles
comparison of Eric B. & Rakim's style with Public Enemy's
showcases the role technology plays in setting the locus of aesthetic
possibility.
PMRC/parental
warnings emerged 1985 – focus shifted from metal to rap ~1990. look
for artists' response to this
1990
fundamentalist campaign against 2 Live Crew pre-
or post-dates sampling lawsuit? How about the obscenity conviction?
Need to look for relationship. Need to separate out political agendas
– race issue vs. consolidation of power/restraining dissent –
although obviously these issues are intertwined.
DC
contextualizes the growth of The Source during
the 1990s within the larger media industry shift from “broadcast”
to “niche” model. This
is a perfect example of configurable corporate architecture,
independently pegged to what he calls “the archetypal story of the
hip-hop generation” (415) – i need to look for other similar
examples, but this is an excellent start. Also, need to remember to
include focus on economic shifts in chapter on configurability
1990s – rise of independent hip-hop music and culture distribution
networks. Grassroots promotion, zines, college radio, etc.
early
commercial hip-hop radio (e.g. KMEL) appropriated both community
radio's on-air personalities, and its business practices corporate
reinvention based on community practices however
telecom deregulation in 1996 eliminated this another
example of imbalance stifling creativity audiences
responded w/ boycotts in 2001.
nice little section on dwindling market diversity in the face of
corporate consolidation – nothing revelatory, but well argued
posits neo-soul as a hip-hop feminist response to the exclusion of
female voices from corporate rap in the 1990s aesthetic
strategy to counter consolidation and exclusion
Quotes
“If blues culture had developed under the conditions of oppressive,
forced labor, hip-hop culture would arise from the conditions of no
work.” (13)
“reggae,
perhaps more than any other music in the world, also privileged the
invisible music men, the sonic architects – the studio producer and
the sound system selector.” (28) producer
as artist
“The sound systems democratized pleasure and leisure” (29)
original
bronx hip-hoppers: “they shared a revolutionary aesthetic. They
were about unleashing youth style as an expression of the soul,
unmediated by corporate money, unauthorized by the powerful” (111)
revolutionary aesthetic
“'Graffiti
writing is a way of gaining status in a society where to own property
is to have identity.' Your name was your currency, and you created
value by making your mark in the niches or getting into mass
production. Here was the logic of reverse colonization...” (118)
reverse colonization
“Graffiti writers had claimed a modern symbol of efficiency and
progress and made it into a moving violation . . . subway trains were
merely the beginning of the daily circuit of alienating labor. . . .
The writers replaced the circular logic of trains with their own. . .
. . This was style as confrontation.” (122)
“Politicians
and bureaucrats played an unwitting role in the development of style.
. . . graffiti's inherent risk and its perpetual removal catalyzed
innovation and ingenuity; its countless deaths generated countless,
more magnificent rebirths.” (122) political
and technical intervention drives aesthetic innovation
“At
the bottom of its economic torpor, city officials rallied to attack
the problem again, unleashing a new creative spirit among the
writers. Subway graffiti's most influential period of style began.”
(123) adversity >>
innovation
“Ironically,
the Sugar Hill Gang helped revive the dying Bronx club scene. But
club-going turned into a more passive experience than ever. The
b-boys disappeared...” (132) Mass
production >> passivity
“For the length of 'Superappin',' the tension between what rap was
– a live performance medium dominated by a DJ – and what it would
become – a recorded medium dominated by the rappers – is
suspended.” (133)
“The tension between culture and commerce would become one of the
main storylines of the hip-hop generation. . . . The other was
between youth and authority.” (134)
“Once cloaked in secrecy and code and executed under the constant
threat of violence, graffiti suddenly became a very public
performance, for the consumption of high society.” (152)
“Not
only was “The Message” another boost for the rapper over the DJ,
the crew itself became a dramatic casualty of rap's realignment
towards copyrights, trademarks, executives, agents, lawyers and
worldwide audiences. . . . From this point, questions of ownership
and authorship would become hip-hop generation obsessions.” (178-9)
although rap's use of remix
technology arguably begs these ontological questions.
“The
album was delayed as Bambaataa's and Silverman's lawyers tangled.
'The record companies would try to tell us what we should make, what
we should do,' Bambaataa says. . . . Out of this tension, Afrika
Bambaataa would create another manifesto.” (190) label
demand for homogeneity drives aesthetic innovation by artist
“Hip-hop
had been reduced [by Hollywood] to a kid-friendly Broadway
production, scrubbed clean for prime-time, force-fitted into
one-size-fits-all. . . . but the spitshined thing only increased the
craving for the real
thing.” (194)
“The only thing that put a stop to [breakdancing] was marketing
overkill.” (203)
“Rap
proved to be the ideal form to commodify hip-hop culture. It was
endlessly novel, reproducible, malleable, perfectible. Records got
shorter, raps more concise and tailored to pop-song structures. Rap
groups shrank. . .” (228) aesthetic
changes to rap from commodification
“DJs
no longer enjoyed the eminence or the central musical role that their
billing implied. When drum-machine and sampling technology were
turned into hip-hop tools, the record producer filled that space.”
(229) new
technologies enabled shift from DJ >> producer as sonic
architect
“[Straight
Outta Compton]'s runaway success
signaled the beginning of a sea-change in pop-culture tastes. . . .
Straight Outta Compton democratized
rap and allowed the world to rush in.” (320-1)
“By attacking hip-hop, conservatives could move their culture-war
agenda out of obscure Congressional debates and campus Academic
Senates into the twenty-four hour media spin cycle.” (392-3)
“In just a decade, major labels had gone from playing catch-up in a
musical genre they had once pegged as a passing novelty to signing
every rap act they could to shaking out large numbers of rappers
because of their political beliefs.” (399)
“[Chuck]
Brown short-circuited the rise of the disco DJ by reinventing the
dance band format with go-go music.” (408) go-go's
live breaks preempted DJ music
“Broadcast
culture was too limiting. [Audiences] weren't interested in being
'programmed' or hard-sold into the mainstream. They wanted control
over their pop choices; they wanted to define their own identities”
(416) 'niche-model'
configurability as political self-efficacy
“Hip-hop
had reached the point where it was ready to flow out of its niche
into the mainstream. The only question left was whether reaching
market potential and fanning potential militancy could remain
consonant goals.” (423) 1990s
tension between mainstream economics and subversive cultural goals
“Once, there had been a creative tension between hip-hop's role as
a commodity in the global media industry and as the lifeblood of a
vast vibrant network of local undergrounds. But during the mid-'90s,
the power shifted decisively in the direction of media monopolies.”
(440) centralization/decentralization
dialectic shifts towards oligarchs in 1990s – imbalance undermines
creativity
“just as hip-hop was now crucial content for the consolidated
media, media consolidation also affected hip-hop's content.” (445)
“Media monopolies favored
artists who did not merely produce hits, but synergies of goods. In
this new corporate order, a song could become a movie could become a
book could become a soundtrack could become a music video could
become a videogame. Here was the media monopolies' appropriation of
dub logic, profits stacking up with each new version.” (447)
excellent quote – perfect statement
describing the integration of configurability into the corporate
ethos
“'Political
rap was defanged as 'conscious rap,' and
retooled as an alternative
hip-hop lifestyle.” (447) corporate
appropriation undermines political power of music
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