The Beginnings of Hip Hop #3: The Nine Elements of Hip Hop (Hip Hop culture)

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The Nine Elements of Hip Hop really shaped Hip Hop for years to come, giving it a defined cultural background. The four core elements gave the art form a cemented foundation so that it could really turn into a cultural movement. 

The four core elements (as discussed in the previous article) are, B-boyin', MC-in', Aerosol Art (graffiti), and DJ-in'.

When people talk about Hip Hop now, it includes the nine elements, which the first four are the fore core elements and then there is; 

Beatboxin'- making a beat using your own voice to create snares, high hats, and the bass drum. It has gotten so intricate now-a-days to where people can do the drums, instruments, and singin' or rappin' while beat boxin'. Peep this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZkeDDE79ew

Street fashion- a form of fashion that usually pairs up some cool kicks and well coordinated casual attire that often times sported with matching colors or well organized color clashes.

 

Street language- Some call it slang, some call it ebonics, but whatever it is, it was pretty much made up by MCs spittin' new wordplays in songs or new definitions. Many books and websites have been created on this subject, for example, Urbandictionary.com, which was created by a college student in 1999 and now has contriubtions from all over the world.

Street knowledge- The stories and tragedies around the world we live in through the eyes of a Hip Hop scholar. Street knowledge has been printed for years as well as chronicled, through people like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Clarence 13X, and just about every relevant Hip Hop artist ever to grace the golden mic (my personal favorite, KRS-One the pinnacle Hip Hop artist of street knowledge). 

 Street Entrepreneurialism- When you think of this subject, Russell Simmons comes to mind. He is the Berry Gordy of Hip Hop, being a co-founder of the pioneering record label Def Jam. He helped push the genre forward with his savvy business sense and has brought out legend after legend, but he couldn't do it without the production quality of Rick Ruben (also a founder of Def Jam).

Hip Hop (music in general) as a culture is diminishing, record companies and big egos has taken over making it one big money machine. I was told this by a local artist, Dap Daniel from Da Brohydez of Richmond, "When Tupac came to the studio, he gave us all a book on Malcolm X and said that we had to read this before he'd working with us." Where has this gone, when Hip Hop spit knowledge? Now it is about nothing and stands for nothing. Music now-a-days is a rehash of music that came out before, it is hard to do something original and the "hip hop" that is coming out now, is just an updated rehash of the funk and soul days in the 70s but what makes it irrelevant to Hip Hop is the egotistical maniacs that are behind it. There is no knowledge being spit, they talk about having all this money while their respective audiences struggle to make ends meat. This type of arrogance is not needed in music, it is the type of arrogance that gets people killed. A word to the wise audience, always stay humble.

The Beginnings of Hip Hop #2: The Four Core Elements of Hip Hop

Hip hop was started by Kool DJ Herc, when he took two records and played them together focusing on the "breakbeats" of a song. This expanded and developed an art form known as Hip Hop, which can be described by the four core elements. These cores are:

1. B-Boyin'= break dancin'...remember back in the day when people had boomboxes and slapped down a piece of cardboard ad started break dancin'? That is what B-Boyin' was all about.

2. MC-in'= rappin'...KRS-One was the first grandmaster of this art form and many will say that still there is no one that can test this man. MC-in' started with some turntables and a mic hooked up to keep the party going. It evolved into adding lyrics to the "breakbeats" that were exploding out of the speakers to build it into a song.

3. Aerosol Art= graffiti writin'....which some people used it to mark their turf but most is used for self expression which is graffiti in it's truest form.

4. DJ-in'= cuttin', mixin', and scratchin' records usually two at a time. Kool DJ Herc was the man that started it all. Grandmaster Flash just expanded it by bringing in many different techniques such as beatboxin' with a beatbox to keep the beat going so that the beat never stopped going.

With these four cores of Hip Hop, the music expanded into nine elements of Hip Hop that turned into a culture that has kept the music going strong for four decades. Now many say that it has turned into another form of music that the mainstream has taken and caused a cultural decline in the name of money and fame. Many artists now use a plugin called "autotune" and it allows those who can't sing to be able to sing.

If you ask me, Hip Hop is still here. You can find it in the underground but not in the mainstream. The days when you could find Hip Hop in the mainstream are over. It is time to take Hip Hop back ladies and gentleman, Hip Hop is a movement made to bring knowledge through music. This is the whole reason behind this blog, to get people to open their eyes and see that there is an assault against Hip Hop going on and we need to take it back! I hope you're all with me because what they call Hip Hop nowadays is regurgitation on the mic and diarrhea out the speakers! It's time to bring back the elements from the core so that Hip Hop can expand again.

Legends of Hip Hop #2: Mos Def the Entertainer, Now Known as Yasiin

Mos Def can do it all, he raps, he sings, and he acts, he's the total package in entertainment. He is also a rarity in the world of entertainment, he is very humble, he walks around nonchalantly fist bumpin' and shaking hands with many of the people he encounters. Don't tell him I told yo, but he is also not shy about taking a picture with encountered fans.

Mos Def was born in Brooklyn, New York to the name of Dante Terrell Smith. He was raised in Brooklyn by his mother and his father lived in New Jersey. His father originally was a member of the Nation of Islam until he became an active member under Imam Warith Deen Muhammad. At the age of 19, Mos declared shahada, which is a Muslim declaration of faith, which later took him to the Islamic group known as 5 Percent, basically started off the teachings of Clarence 13X.

Mos Def began writing rhymes when he was nine years old in '82. He talked about it in an interview with Spin magazine (August 1, 2009 by Charles Aaron):

"That was the first year I wrote a rhyme, and it was also the year that I first saw Wild Style — in the theater, in the Bronx, with my moms. The place was packed. I lived for a summer in the Bronx, and you can't really describe that time and the energy and have it mean all that it did. It falls short. New York was another type of place, and hip-hop was local, community music, public-access channel. It was a culture that came up in a city on the decline."

Mos Def also started to act around the same time, the first play he was in was Free to Be...You and Me. His mother was really active on making sure he made the best of his talents. Mos Def also talks about a middle school teacher he had (also from the Spin interview in August 1, 2009 by Charles Aaron):

"And Philippa Schuyler, my middle school, was this place, this oasis, in Brooklyn, in Bushwick, in the hood, but there were all these bright, talented kids."

When it comes to his professional career, he started as a solo artist in 1996 working with De La Soul and Da Bush Babees before he came out with his own single, "Universal Magnetic". Mos Def then signed with Rawkus Records and formed a group with Talib Kweli called Black Star. They released an album in 1998 titled Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star. Hi-Tek was the main producer of the whole album. The album had a couple of hit singles in "Definition" and "Respiration". These two tracks were featured in VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. 

In 1999, Mos Def was hard at work releasing his first solo debut album, Black on Both Sides, under Rawkus Records. He also featured in some compilation albums that Rawkus put out called, Lyricist Lounge and Soundbombing. 

A few years later, Rawkus collapsed so Mos signed with Geffen/Interscope. Under them, he released his second solo album, The New Danger in 2004. The New Danger was a daring album, especially for his sophomore solo attempt, it mixed many genres (blues, soul, rock, and hip hop). He did all the song with a live band and it included a couple of singles, "Sex, Love, and Money" and "Ghetto Rock".  "Ghetto Rock" was up for several Grammy nominations. 

In 2006, Mos Def released his final(third) solo album under Geffen called True Magic. He collaborated with such industry heavy hitters such as, Madlib, Preservation, The Neptunes, J Dilla, and Mr. Flash (to name a few). 

After Geffen, He signed with Downtown Records, and released his fourth solo album, The Ecstatic. He kept up the same relationships that he established with True Magic and brought them along for this album as well. In August 1, 2009, Mos Def also came out with his own line of Converse, which was given a limited release through Foot Locker. Later in 2009, Mos also came out with his own clothing line UNDRCRWN calling the collection "Mos Def Cut & Sew Collection". 

In 2012, Mos Def changed his name from Mos Def to Yasiin. There has been reports about a Black Star revival, in January 2012, many hope it is true because when they collab, it is always dope.

A link to an interview that he did:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzBUktSV2GE

To find out info about his acting career check out:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0080049/?ref_=sr_1

Main Source of the article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mos_Def

Legends of Hip Hop #1: Tragedy Khadafi: The Life of an Intelligent Lyricist… So Far

Tragedy Khadafi: The Life of an Intelligent Lyricist… So Far

                                                        by: Desiree Salas

“I always knew I was intelligent, and I came from something greater than what the schoolbooks taught us… I wanted to inform people like me about what I learned. That's why I will always relate my music to a hood perspective. It's for those kids in the dark like me. I have an obligation to reach those kids. I am of you, you are of me. I keep in tune with them. You shouldn't get to a point where you forget them. I'll never forget the pain of being physically hungry and doing things out of straight desperation.” – Tragedy Khadafi, Village Voice interview

That quote pretty much sums up what the artist formerly known as Intelligent Hoodlum is all about. But that’s not all there is to the man – he’s as multifaceted as a superbly cut diamond.

Let’s take a closer look at “one of the last of a dying breed” of hip hop artists who’s influenced a good number of other artists and rappers like Mobb Deep, Cormega, Nas, and Capone-N-Noreaga.

Percy Chapman IV came to this world on August 13, 1971 in Queens, New York. He is eldest of 5 children, son to a heroin-addicted mother and a father who’s been absent for most, if not all, of his life.

From an early age, he had to find ways for him and his siblings to survive. “I had to feed my siblings because my mom was a heroin addict. I had to get out and get money,” Trag said in a previous interview.

His efforts to help his family thrive involved activities that were against the law, aside from tending to a fledgling career as an MC. Ultimately, at 16, he got detained upstate for a robbery charge.

It was during his stint at the Elmira Correctional Facility that he acquired this “knowledge of self” that he refers to every so often. It influenced his music and lyrics, including his own name.

Image courtesy of Mashable and Jay Shells

Previously, he broke out into the hip hop scene when he was 12 or 13 years old as MC Jade and the other half of Super Kids. His first single. “Go, Queensbridge,” was released in 1985 and got the attention of producer Marley Marl, who produced the Super Kids’ next single “The Tragedy(Don’t Do It)” in 1986.

“I did the song ‘The Tragedy’, which was like an emanation of my life at the time, growing up with my parents being on drugs and so much of that being a part of my culture, in terms of growing up in Queensbridge. I depicted the story as if it was someone else, but it was really myself,” he revealed in a 2010 interview with Unkut. It was this song that also influenced him to later name himself “Tragedy.”

From there, he started becoming part of the Juice Crew, which consisted of the likes of Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, and MC Shan. With his participation in the group, Tragedy became “one of the youngest MCs ever” at that time. “I was the first kid rapper! A lotta people don’t know I was the first kid MC – before Kriss Kross, Bow Wow, Lil’ Romeo and all that,” Trag declared in the same Unkut interview.

Indeed, it seemed that he was destined for great things in the world of hip-hop. But his upward trajectory got cut short by his robbery conviction at age 16.

While in prison, he thought of never coming back home and making music again because he was “bitter with the game.” But it changed when he heard Big Daddy Kane came out with a solo album and became successful with his solo venture. He describes this moment with the following statement:

“I see all this success, and I’m like, ‘Damn, man! I fucked-up! I shoulda listened to Marley.’ Marley kept telling me, ‘Chill, chill. Stay out of trouble’, but it was hard for me to concentrate on music when I’m like 14, 15 years-old and I don’t have no place to live. I’m basically living everywhere – anywhere I can lay – I don’t have no money. It was hard for me to concentrate on music without a stable home. So now I’m away and I see all my friends – they getting big record deals. I see Kane on the cover of Long Live The Kane and he’s got the Roman Caesar garb on, he’s got the women feeding him grapes, and I’m like, ‘Damn, he did it!’

When he ended his incarceration, he got back with Marley Marl and Joe Fatal, who he credits as putting back that “spark” for hip hop music and performing in him. He then went on to record through the 90’s, named himself “Intelligent Hoodlum,” and became a Five Percenter.

It was in 1997 that he changed his name to Tragedy Khadafi, the last name referencing that of the infamous Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Trag, as he is also called, continued to work with other hip hop artists and mentored a few others well into the 2000’s. He recorded “L.A L.A” with Noreaga, Mobb Deep, and Capone in response to Dogg Pound’s “New York, New York.” He also collaborated with good friend and fellow Queensbridge resident Michael Butler, also known as Imam T.H.U.G.

Tragedy released a number of albums, such as Against All Odds, Still Reportin’…, Thug Matrix, Blood Ballads, and Thug Matrix 2 in 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2006 respectively. He also released an album as part of Black Market Militia in 2005.

Late in 2007, Tragedy was incarcerated again for selling narcotics. His original prison sentence of 4 years was later reduced to 3 because he got a grant for early parole. He was released in June 2010.

In 2011, he churned out a digital version of Thug Matrix 3. This year, 2013, he released Golden Era Music Sciences with hip hop group 7 G.E.M.S.

Currently, Tragedy Khadafi is back in the game and rolling out new music like he used to. Will he be able to notch that success he’s seen his former peers achieve? Will he be able to avoid personal landmines that have kept setting him back from the commercial acclaim this rhyme master deserves? Only time can tell. At present, his life story is still unraveling through his unique brand of lyricism and musicality.

The Beginnings of Hip Hop

Clive Campbell aka Kool Herc is accredited with being the founding father of one of the best modern music genres, Hip Hop. He started off as a tagging artist and then moved on up to tearin' up the turntables. The first gig that really got him notoriety was a back-to-school party that was hosted by his sister and he was the DJ. Herc was already known because of his tagging and this made the party a huge success as far as the turnout. People came just to see him.

Herc really learned how to rock a party by watching people dance. He noticed that often times people would wait for certain sections of a song to dance, so he took those sections and re-played them over and over again by using two turntables with two copies of a record to keep those sections going. This is what defined the term "breakbeats". Herc also kept the party going by making show-outs to the crowd like, "Rock on my mellow," lines like this kept the dancers moving.

Eventually, Herc started getting better at mixing songs together and it became harder for him to make shout-outs because he was paying more attention to what he was doing, this was how the emcees were born. Herc employed Coke La Rock and Clark Kent to aid in his show productions, later to be called the Herculoids. Coke La Rock expanded his shout-outs to be full on poems and that gave way to the birth of rapping. The emcees also took part in dancing to further the good vibes on the dance floor and sometimes even Kool Herc did as well.

As the days had gone by, more people got inspired to become DJs so talent like, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash started to hit the scene. These two guys are seen as the godfathers of hip hop. Bambaataa was a DJ that was part of a street gang called the Black Spades, he saw first hand what the violence and drugs did to a community so he created Zulu Nation to combat this problem by bringing positive vibes through music.

Scott Gries/Getty Images

Hip hop pioneers Afrika Bambaataa (L) and Kool Herc

 pose for a photo during a press conference to announce

the launch of The Smithsonian's Hip-Hop Won Stop:

The Beat, The Rhymes, The Life in 2006

Grandmaster Flash was inspired by his father's music collection and used his knowledge of electronics to make many contributions to the world of hip hop:

Punch phrasing- this added hits that exclaimed the music for higher energy for the MCs and the dancers.

Scratching- this added a soloing type method for the DJs so they can add more personality to the music by moving a record back and forth.

Beatbox- for a DJ beatboxing is different than the human vocalized beat box done by such artists as the Fat Boys, Biz Markie, and Doug E. Fresh. The Grandmaster used an electronic drum machine to add an element to the music that kept the party going because you couldn't tell when the song ended and he came in.

These three DJs were really the first pioneers of hip hop, them and other pioneers carried hip hop through house and street parties through out the 80s. When the first hip hop recordings hit music stores, it moved hip hop to larger venues and people's homes. The very first hip hop radio show was called Mr. Magic's "Rap Attack" which played in New York on WBLS-FM in 1983. After a while, MCs started to become more prominent replacing the DJs as the front man.

 Source for this article:

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/hip-hop3.htm



Interview #1 with Massifbeatz of Studio Starbuxx

My man Massifbeatz

Didier Hallemeesh, Massif Beatz himself, was born on June 20th, 1961. His love for music started at a very young age, 7 to be exact. That was when he started to play the accordian. As he grew, so did his love for instruments. He learned to play the guitar, drums, harmonica , clarinet, oboe, piano, and violin, as well as others.

Later, he started to DJ at parties furthering his love for music. Massif declares, "Hip hop has always been an important part of my life. My beginnings in hip hop started in the 80s." Massif went on to talk about his influences, "The one that inspired me the most was Mr. James Brown. To me, he was the very first real MC, then came KRS ONE, Run DMC, Ice Cube, Tupac, and Biggie." Then I went on to ask him about his main hip hop producer inspirations to which he replied, "Hmmm...there are so many but to name a few, Dr. Dre, J Dilla, and DJ Premier." 

Due to a kiting accident, he was unable to play instruments and work his normal 9-5. For about 7 years, he was confined to a wheelchair and he fell into depression. Thanks to his son starting to rap in 2007, he began to really put producing hip hop to the forefront using Fruity Loops. He gives young artists a chance to spit on his beats for free and that is his main objective so that the young artists can really hone in on their mic skills.

You can feel the excitement coming from him when it comes to the future of his studio, Studio Starbuxx. Studio Starbuxx is based in Belgium and he is the founder and CEO, along with being a producer. He does it all for the love of music and he is a really inspiring individual to talk to. Big ups on the interview Massif!

Links to the Belgium fam out at Studio Starbuxx: https://www.reverbnation.com/massifbeatz
https://www.facebook.com/#!/didier.hallemeesch
http://soundcloud.com/massifbeatz
Here is a bit of info about the people who surround his music and his studio,

Founder/CEO/Producer: Didier 'MassifBeatz' Hallemeesch

Producers: Massif (B) - Laupi D (NL) - LvStong (NL)

Recording/Mixing Engineer: Massif (B) - Dempsey 'Dekz' Clarebout (B) -Laupi D (NL) - LvStong (NL)

Beat producers: MassifBeatz (B) - Daily Bakers (B) - Dekzbiets (B) - Laupi D (NL) - LvStong (NL) - Mindtraveller (D) - DJ Valentinoo (ROM)

DJ's: LvStong (NL) - TRUST (B) - Iulian Badea aKa DJ Valentinoo (ROM)

Recording Artists: Dekz (B) - OdC (B) - TizIk (B) - NM²C (B)- Laupi D (NL) - LvStong (NL) - Dillemma (B) - J.V.C (B) - and more

Video Editing: SouthStoneRetroVideos (NL)

Visual Artist: Olivier Ollischlaeger aKa Don Vasion (B)

Webmaster: Cedric TheDon (B) (official website under construction)

Overseas working with RebelzNoizProductionz (Ca)- Rebelz 2 Da Game[R2DG] (Ca)- PT The Last Tycoon aKa Mr. International (Ca)