MCY 121 Exam #2

New School: Dis Rap (Beef)

*Boogie Down Productions (BDP):* -KRS-One (MC) aka Kris is #1 or Knowledge Reigns -D-Nice -Scott La Rock (DJ) vs. *Juice Crew: MC Shan, DJ Marley Marl, Roxanne Shante*: -MC Shan "The Bridge" (1986) → the bridge = region of Queens, NY where rappers of other areas of NY dis the Bronx; Jamaican influence (dancehall type, delays, riddim and efx, piano delay digital, Kool Herc = first Jamaican DJ; hip-hop is supposed to have started in the Bronx but they say it starts at the bridge, cypher (A cypher is a gathering of rappers, beatboxers, and/or breakers in a circle, extemporaneously making music together, gets violent) -BDP "South Bronx" (1987) -MC Shan "Kill that Noise" (1987): response to South Bronx, ritual dueling/diaspora -BDP "The Bridge is Over" (1987): patois (pigeon language, metaphorical, Jamaican roots of South Bronx), dancehall roots, masculinity, response to "Kill that Noise", homophobia → "they blow" (gay = real dis)

Busy Bee/Kool Moe Dee Battle

-Busy Bee starts with a boast about himself and Kool Moe Dee disses him (rap battle) -"playing the dozens" = "yo mama" jokes, ritual dueling/ trying to get a rise out of someone -rap battle = live -double-dutch = learn what it means to be a black woman (right of passage); women at first were not really included in rap battles (gender script in hip-hop)

Herc Provides the blueprints

-DJ's role is to rock the crowd, appeal to them, and control them -Herc uses 2 turntables, b-beat music (funk), toasting -promotes anti-violence, anti-drugs, alcohol, and weapons -dress code

What does The Bridge refer to?

A city in Queens

Gender in hip-hop tends to favor

masculine themes

What did beatboxing originally stand for?

using a drum machine

Which 1980s movie featured various Def Jam artists?

Krush Groove

The main difference between toasting and MCing is?

Mcing contains more rhyming than toasting

What is the difference between Old School dis-rap and New School dis-rap?

New School plays out in recordings and Old School is live

Who were the producers of Def Jam records?

Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons

What musical contributions to hip-hop was Afrika Bambaataa best known for?

Use of the TR-808/9 and an expert at digging

"New School" Approach: Dis Rap

Women vs. Men -U.T.F.O "Roxanne, Roxanne" (1983): dis on Roxanne by untouchable force -Roxanne Shante "Roxanne's Revenge" (1984): response to U.T.F.O -The Real Roxanne (1984): collaboration and boasting about oneself, roasting (ritual dueling) -New School = chains, black leather jackets, shirtless (masculinity and homophobic/derogatory) -Roxanne is dissing the same way. she was dissed (acting more masculine) -"Ladies First" features empowering women like Harriette Tubman

DJ Techniques

*Grandmaster Flash* (superstar): -needle selection -inventor of slipmat (needed to scratch, Techniques turntable = best-selling turntable, nobody would book him at clubs b/c he would put his fingers on the record to scratch) -DJ beat juggling (quick mix theory/backspinning) -punch phrasing *Grandmaster Wizzard Theodore*: -scratching (invented it) -needle dropping

Applying "ritual dueling"

*Old School* (1970s): -live battle -parallel structure -non-confrontational (South Bronx tradition) -folk roots: The Dozens *Old School* (1981): -live battle -face-to-face confrontation (Kool Moe Dee attacks Busy Bee) -folk roots: The Dozens *New School* (1984): -one-sided, battle on radio -confrontational (Roxanne Shante attacks U.T.F.O.) -folk roots: The Dozens

Golden Era of Rap Music and the Concept of "New School"

-Distinguishing sound and appearance from Old School: tougher, "street," aggressive delivery, being "hard," become popular via music video medium (not live performances) -Run DMC "Sucker Mcs" (1983) -further separation of the four components: -b-boying or breakin' → a formalized tradition interpreted by dance companies and videographers as breakdancing -centralized in NY but also NJ →Hollis, Queensbridge (begins to expand) -New styles: rap rock fusion, x-rated rap, women rap, humorous rap, etc. -style change: aggressive masculinity; however,gender is constructed and constantly negotiated now -"Krush Groove" = masculine with appearance of a man wearing a tophat -"Can't live w/o my radio" = more aggressive, matching sweatsuit with sneakers and puffy jackets -social taboo in African American culture about homosexuality also for marketing purposes for masculinity

"The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel"

-Grandmaster Flash and Furious 5 = Second Wave Commercial DJ -first commercial recording of South Bronx musical soundscape; live in studio -turntablism (scratching used hand to turn record back and forth, punch phrasing = little bit of vocals and use it as a phrase, mixing records and rapper's delight, the rapture, good times, etc. was included); used 3 turntables

Hip-Hop Trinity

-Kool Herc -Afrika Bambaataa -Grandmaster Flash (scratching, break beats), quick mix theory, digging = finding the most rare record to compete with other DJs (progressive records but not super popular/mainstream/ on the radio) -Pakousa (from movie) = task to find this record

The Second Wave

-Kurtis Blow "Christmas Rappin'" (1979) -Sequence "Funk You Up" (1979) -Lady B. "To the Beat (Ya'll)" (1980) -Funky Four Plus One "Rapping and Rocking the House" (1980) -Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five "Birthday Party" (1981) -disco majority beats not funk, recorded by live studio bands, party rap emulation, and crowd involved on record, longer than pop song, no major chorus -rap at the forefront, not DJ -no major hook, tried to emulate a party with Mcs and now boasting and rapping about themselves

I'm Bad

-LL Cool J, (1987) third wave commercial hip-hop -Def Jams Records -boasting, anti-drug (critiquing Italian mafia trying to get people of color to do drugs), fight stereotypes of blacks/criminals; masculinity

"Walk this Way"

-Run-D.M.C./Aerosmith; crossover, height of commercialization period on MTV, competition (whether rap/hip-hop is legitimate) -Aerosmith = rock so helped legitimize hip-hop

Def Jam Records

-Russel Simmons and Rick Rubin, started in dorm room -peak years 1985-1986 -the cross over into mainstream via TV (Spartacus MMXII The Beginning in 1984) and via film (Krush Groove in 1985) -rock music is the shared link -Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, and Run DMC (not officially), influence of Jazzy J

Freaks Come Out at Night

-Whodini song - electrofunk sound/ electro rap; transitional between old school and new school (1984) -features poppin' and lockin' in music video -TR-808/9, vocoder, electric drums

Fight For Your Right To Party

-by Beastie Boys 1986, white hip hop group used to be a punk band, used to appropriate black dress but changed, became both participants and observers of black music, identified with white audiences -middle class youth, cable = MTV station, distorted guitar riffs, play on "revenge of the nerds" (all black fraternity, outcasts) -Beastie Boys crash the nerds' party = teenage angst, anti-parental -whiteness of Beastie Boys on MTV allowed for them to be more successful than other groups -comedic hip-hop

Just a Friend

-by Biz Markie (1989), comedic rap ballad -covered not sampled, original song is by Freddie Scotts ("You Got What I Need) -playing the dozens (begins with "yo mama" jokes) -romantic ballad ends in tragedy

All you can Eat

-by Fat Boys and Buff love (human beatbox), comedic hip-hop, featured in. Krush Groove 1985 -Prince Markie D, Kool Rock- Ski; not overtly masculine and not as aggressive, beatboxing

I Need Love

-by LL Cool J, rap ballad (tells a story, more feminine for New Wave, love-centered songs/intimacy) -romance ballad. (can end tragically but not in this case), synth oriented r&b (FM Tines = keyboard sound from Roland) -masculine transformed to more sensitive man

RockBox

-by Run DMC, third wave commercial hip-hop, produced by Russel Simmons (1984) -rap/rock "crossover," electric guitar, rapping, music video. commentary (rap is just as legitimate as. other genres on MTV), sampled 101 songs, use of cynth and drum machines, 80s fashion -Run DMC was featured on MTV, first gold, platinum, and multi-platinum record, self-proclaimed "New School", appeared on Rolling Stone magazine -DJs in the back and rappers are at the forefront/ the stars

Rapper's Delight

-by the Sugarhill Gang 1979, 1st recorded hip hop record, produced by Sylvia Robinson, weren't really professional artists, had a disco feel, shifted balance of power from DJs to record producer -Second Wave Commercial Rap -maintains party-oriented rhymes, disconnects, replaced DJ with live studio band (copyright purposes), no MCs in original crew, used disco tune (Good times by Chic), only 15 min long (arguable who wrote lyrics) -rhyming couplets (not. improvised like old-school rappers) -Rapper's Delight made rap music recognized by industry and commercialized mainstream pop market and grabbed national attention.

MTV crossovers

-deregulation of cable, middle class, synth-pop -electro-rap (Soul Sonic Force and Afrika Bambaataa) → TR-808/9, "Freaks Come out at Night" → poppin' and lockin' -breakdancing commercialized in movies (Breakin → "Jam on it" and "Electric Boogaloo")

What is unique about Run DMC?

-first rappers to tour the U.S. -first rappers to go platinum -first rappers to have a crossover hit

First Wave (Proto Hip Hop)

-local and informal artistic scene -outdoors in a community plaza not really in major clubs -commodity = homemade DJ cassette tapes, no mass production yet -music connect = DJ, MC, breaking -flyers to promote and word of mouth advertisement -material art connection = graffiti -inclusive community (Bronx), underground -Rapper's Delight changes everything → not first rap song on radio (King Tim III by Fatback Band of Brooklyn in 1979 was the first) becomes recognized by industry and mainstream pop market and get national attention -Michael Jordan of DJs, Grandmaster Flash was approached by record company before this and thought it was a joke, did not want commercialization of hip-hop

Rap Ballads

-more feminine for New Wave, love-centered songs/intimacy -"One Love" by Whodini (1986) is awkward and not really sentimental or lovey -Spoonie Gee "Love Rap" (1980), old school -"I Need Love" by LL Cool J more romantic and feminine, upper register of voice -comedic ballad = "Just a Friend"

Run DMC

-self-proclaimed "New School" -first to go gold, platinum, and multi-platinum -first rap group to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone -first to land in rotation on MTV, to endorse a sneaker, and to tour the country -"Rock Box" = rap/rock crossover

Hip-Hop Trajectory

1. Old School First Wave (proto-Hip Hop) 1973-1979-81 2. Old School Second Wave (Rap music) 1979-1983 3. New School (Rap music) 1983-1992 -New School at the time, but Golden Era or Golden Age or Third Wave reflects better this bygone period of time

Which techniques was Grandmaster Flash best known for?

Backspinning and scratching

Who invented the scratching technique?

Grand Wizzard Theodore

"Walk this Way" is an example of

crossover