Final Exam (90s - 2000s) Flashcards
Music Industry in the Early 90s (think Nirvana)
Lines blurred between margins and mainstream (popular music in a wide variety of genres)
- Being ‘outsider’ = key to promotion!
- Produces some of the most popular singles ever (though singles declining)
Earliest Hip Hop Breakout
Rapper’s Delight (Sugarhill Gang) → “Hip-hop, hippity hop” and The Message (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five) → “it’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from going under”
- First to perform in neighborhoods beyond their own
- Begin the tradition to building individual style
Rockit (Herbie Hancock)
Jazz-Hip Hop fusion
- Hip Hop = record scratching
***Synth-riff (ba bum, ba bum↑, ba bum↑,bum↓, ba)
I Feel For You (Chaka Khan)
Soul-Hip Hop fusion
- Hip Hop = rap, vocal sampling, chromatic harmonica
** Prince Cover with Melle Mel feature (Grandmaster)
**”Chaka Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan”
Raising Hell (Run-D.M.C)
Rock-Hip Hop fusion
- Hip-Hop = rap
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (Public Enemy)
Marks rap coming into it’s own genre (opposed to fusion with other genre)
Run-D.M.C. (DJ Run & Easy D)
Rock-Hip Hop fusion
- Signature style: complete each other’s lines!
- Appealed to young, white, rock audience
- Essential to clothing in Hip Hop culture (chains, fedoras, Adidas with no laces)
Walk This Way (Run-D.M.C. & Aerosmith)
- From Raising Hell (most platinum selling rap album ever!)
‘Calculated’ Crossover in all 3 modes:
1. Aural: Run-D.M.C. (verses) and Aerosmith (chorus)
2. Textual: sexual content
3. Visual: fusion symbolized when Steven Tyler breaks down wall in MV
***Drum sample → turntable scratches → guitar riff
Public Enemy (Chuck D & Flava Flav)
Hip Hop with socially engaged rap + artistic sampling
- Dense textures created by production team = Bomb Squad
Night of the Living Baseheads (Public Enemy)
– From It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (also platinum selling)
Quintessential Public Enemy track
Socially engaged theme: crack cocaine epidemic → turning people into zombies!
- Scolding black dealers for victimizing their own community
- Sampling: Black Panther leader (Khalid Abdul Muhammad) and 13 other ‘sound’ samples throughout
- World Play: dope, bass (VS free base), night of the living dead
***Airhorn sound on backbeat (2 & 4)
Hardcore Punk Rock
Variant of Punk movement, originating in West Coast clubs
- Fast tempo/mosh pits (slam dancing)
- Screamed lyrics
- Chaotic wall of sound
Holiday in Cambodia (Dead Kennedys)
Quintessential Hardcore Punk Rock
- Theme: anti-establishment, critique of hypocritical rich suburban kids (think their life is hard, though they know nothing of true suffering)
- Kids should grasp the meaningless of their own problems by taking a trip to Cambodia (forced labor camps)
- Frantic percussion, violent guitar sounds
***Menacing guitar riff, “It’s a holiday in Cambodia, it’s tough kid but its life”
Grunge Rock
Alt. Rock becomes mainstream
Nirvana
Quintessential grunge rock; blend of hardcore punk (gritty) with heavy metal (clean)
- Appealed to the mainstream (irony!)
Nevermind (Nirvana)
Album which attracted commercial success for the band; displaced Michael Jackson’s comeback album
- Fame ‘destroyed’ them (no longer an anti-establishment band)
Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana)
- From Nevermind
Heavy metal texture + pop technique (songwriting includes verbal/melodic hooks)
- Texture creates distinct sections
Ani DiFranco
Singer-Songwriter with an alt-rock edge
- Do-it-yourself model of punk independence → own record label “Righteous Babe Records”
Ani DiFranco Style
- Progressive themes
- Rebellious musical energy
Not a Pretty Girl (Ani DiFranco)
Quintessential folk with alt-rock edge
- Minimalist instrumental texture (alt-rock) → puts voice at forefront
- Theme: America’s treatment of women as stereotypes vs. people (based on man who wronged her)
***”I am not a pretty girl”
Lauryn Hill
Rap evolutionist in during 90s
- Began career in hip hop trio, the Fugees, then went solo
- Had a hit single with “Killing Me Softly” cove
Lauryn Hill Style
Blend of rap, reggae, R&B
1. Focused on self aware, socially conscious themes (vs. violence & sexism focused on by other rappers)
2.Commitment to female empowerment
Doo Wop - That Thing (Lauryn Hill)
- From The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (multi-platinum)
Quintessential Lauryn Hill style (specifically rap and R&B) → important contribution to hip hop!
- R&B: soulful vocal, 4-part harmony, horns
- Rap: socially conscious lyrics, digital groove
- Theme: observation of male and female behavior, desire for materialism and (easy) pleasure)
K.D. Lang
90s country star
- Began as a Patsy Cline imitator (Nashville sound)
- Break through with Angel with a Lariat in late 80s→ honkey tonk sound
- Transitioned to adult contemporary sound in 90s
K.D. Lang Style
- Campy, androgynous image (rebellious for conservative country!)
- Rich, easy sounding vocals
Nowhere to Stand (K.D. Lang)
Reminiscent of K.D.’s country roots
- Traditional musical form (verse, chorus, repeat)
- ‘Alternative’ lyrics = critique of traditional practices of child abuse
***”A Family tradition, the strength of this land”
Gloria Estefan
Latin superstar of 90s
- Started with Miami Sound Machine (1975)
- Solo career beginning in 1989 hit a road bump with back injury → went on to have successful recording career
Gloria Estefan Style
Disco and salsa (latin) fusion of Miami Sound Machine → dance-oriented pop of solo career
Conga (Miami Sound Machine)
- From Primitive Love
Quintessential disco and salsa (lain) fusion → highly popular!
***”Come on shake your baby do that Conga”
Doctor Pressure (Mylo with Gloria Estefan)
Modern take on the disco/salsa fusion
“Drop the Pressure” (Mylo = EDM-House) + Dr. Beat (Miami Sound Machine)
***Synth beat (ba, ba, bum↑, babababa ba, bum↑)
Regional Hip Hop
Development of hip hop styles specific to region (during 90s)
2 General Rap Camps During 90s
- Pop rap camp
- Gangsta rap camp
Pop Rap Camp (commercialized rap)
- Mainstream oriented
- Digital sampling
- R&B dance rhythms/vocal styling
***Pioneers include MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice
MC Hammer
Pro: dancer
Con: not a skilled rapper, only pandering to mass audience
U Can’t Touch This (MC Hammer)
MC Hammer’s version of Pop Rap
- MV message: celebrating Hip Hop, go with the flow
- Song message: self-referential hype song, claiming to be the best at what he does
Vanilla ICE
Pro: brought Hip Hop to a wider audience (white)
Con: Fake street cred (grew up in middle class suburbs)
Ice Ice Baby (Vanilla ICE)
Vanilla Ice’s version of Pop Rap
- MV message: soft sounds at beginning symbolic of spray paint used to pain his name
- Song message: self-referential hype song
***Sampled Queen’s “Under Pressure” → bold move for just 2nd album!
Gangsta Rap
Began a division between East Coast (originated) VS West Coast (innovation)
1. Margins orientated
2. Replaces the social justice warrior (SJW) content with themes of anger, outlaw
***Pioneers include Iced Tea, Public Enemy
West Coast Division of Gangsta Rap
Division which lead to national acclaim of rap
- Laid back style
- Southern dialect flavors (children of migrants from Texas/Louisanna)
Ice-T
Part of West Coast division of Gangsta Rap
- Dealt with mature themes
O.G. Original Gangster (Ice-T)
Ice T’s version of Gangsta Rap
- Comments on changes in Southern California urban community (themes include rising unemployment, crack cocaine, drug-related gang violence)
***Repetitive drums!
N.W.A (Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Easy-E, Yella, M.C. Ren)
Part of West Coast division of Gangsta Rap
- Wanted to make a name for Compton/LA on national scene
- Straight Outta Compton = thematically boundary pushing and graphic (sex, violence, vulgarity…)
Fuk Tha Police (N.W.A)
- From Straight Outta Compton
N.W.A’s version of Gangsta Rap
- Funk influences (guitar and sax) from George Clinton/James Brown
- Theme: animosity towards stop and search (racial profiling)
G-Funk (Gangsta Funk)
Developed by Dr. Dre in response to P-Funk influence
1. Deep, penetrating bass/hypnotic groove
2. Female vocals, high synth lead
Who Am I (What’s My Name)? (Snoop Dogg)
Quintessential G-Funk; dance club record which samples P-Funk (Parliament track looped) and Clinton (saying ‘da bomb’)
- Themes: street cred, potential for violence (“Mr. 187”), sexual prowess
East Coast Division of Gangsta Rap
Division which emerged to fame following the West Coast division
- Emphasis on complex lyrical dexterity, wordplay, flow
- Less emphasis on danceability
Nas
Part of East Coast division of Gangsta Rap
- Album Illmatic helped put East Coast rap back on the scene (dark, soulful sound)
Illmatic
East Coast gangsta rap album by Nas
- Slow commercial success
- Title refers to ‘Illmatic Ice’, a friend of Nas’ who was incarcerated for homicide; or something ‘beyond cool’
N.Y. State of Mind (Nas)
- From Illmatic
Nas’ version of Gangsta Rap
- Slow start → “don’t know how to start” → quick, clever flow
***Piano ostinato
Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie Smalls)
Part of East Coast division of Gangsra Rap
- Album Ready to Die helped put East Coast rap back on the the scene
- Laidback delivery/charm helped to offset brutally honest biographical lyrics
Big Poppa (Notorious B.I.G.)
Notorious B.I.G.’s version of Gangsta Rap
- R&B influences
- Themes: gangster lifestyle, sex
***Weeeoooo
Culmination of the West VS East Coast Rap Division
Notorious B.I.G. VS Tupac → both died as a result of drive by shootings
Salt-N-Pepa
First multi-platinum female hip hop artists
None of Your Business (Salt-N-Pepa)
Anthem of female empowerment
- Theme: anti slut-shaming, objectifies men
Queen Latifah
Most influential female in hip hop history
R&B ties
- Assertive persona, held her own among the other gangsta rappers
U.N.I.T.Y (Queen Latifah) → uncensored version
- From Black Reign (play on Purple Rain)
Dichotomous track between assertiveness of message and jazzy/reggae influenced groove
- Theme: call for respect for women from black men (not bitches, whores, etc)
Origins of EDM During 80s
Inspired by the disco/club scenes of Europe and America
- American Uptempo, repetitive music
- European synth pop
Detroit - Techno
One root genre of EDM; pioneered by the Belleville Three
- Each member founded own record label and produced singles under various names
The Belleville Three (Detroit - Techno) Inspirations
Coastal cities, Kraftwerk, George Clinton
NO UFO’S (Model 500 - Juan Atkins)
Detroit - Techno track by one of the Belleville Three (Juan Atkins)
- Sounds reflective of Detroit industrial plants → cold, mechanical sounding
Chicago - House Music
One root genre of EDM; pioneered by Frankie Knuckles
Features of Chicago - House Music
- Use of NY turntable styles
- Four to the floor beats (uniform beat in quadruple time)
- Jack ‘Clap’ sound
Baby Wants To Ride (Frankie Knuckles)
Chicago - House track in which the whole song is a hook (no verses, chorus)
- All features of Chicago - House (four to the floor beat, Jack clap, warm tone)
- Sexually explicit lyrics
Changes to EDM During 90s
EDM divides into various sub-genres; differ according to:
1. Harness (tempo = beats/min, loudness)
2. Timbre of rhythm, synth
3. Influences (punk, funk, hip hop…)
Method Which Led EDM to Mainstream
Soundtracks
