Lecture 11: The 1990s: Flashcards
Founded in 1982
Public Enemy
Mcs: chuck d and flavour flav
Minister of information: professor griff
Security of first world: dancers
Bomb squad: production team
Public Enemy
Trenchant political analysis, cut with humour
Public Enemy
Sampled jazz riffs, historical speeches, creating a “dense, multi layered, sonic web”
Public Enemy
West coast rap: NWA
East vs West: Death Row vs Bad Boy
Commercialization, DIversification, and the Rise of Gangsta Rap (1990s)
Rap becomes mainstream: MC Hammer
Held the #1 position for 21 weeks thanks to a pop-friendly style
Had a cartoon at the height of his popularity (1991)
Commercialization, DIversification, and the Rise of Gangsta Rap (1990s)
Straight Outta Compton
Media scared by the music
West Coast Rap:
NWA (1986-1991)
Political, coming from a reactionary angle
West Coast Rap:
NWA (1986-1991)
Saturated with images of sex and violence straight out of prison roasting tradition
West Coast Rap:
NWA (1986-1991)
Reflected ongoing changes in Southern California’s urban communities, including a decline in industrial production, rising rate of joblessness, the continuing effects of crack cocaine, and a concomitant growth of drug-related gang violence
West Coast Rap:
NWA (1986-1991)
Bragging, hyper masculine gangsta rap spreads to East coast, and leads to rivalries, public, death
East vs West Rap
West: Marion “Suge” Knight, owner of Death Row records (Tupac Shakur 1971-1996)
East: Sean “Puff” Combs
East vs West Rap
Hip hop is the lived experience of coping with a life of horrifying meaninglessness, hopelessness, and lovelessness… a nmbing detachment from other and a self-destructive disposition towards the world
Gangsta Rap Excesses
Chuck D: 10 years ago, I called rap music black america’s CNN. My biggest concern now is keeping it from being Cartoon Network
Gangsta Rap Excesses
As sampling becomes more sophisticated, use of precorded (and copyrighted) material becomes problematic
Hip Hop, Sampling, and the Law
1991 De La Soul sued by Turtles for using a sample of
“YOu Showed Me on “Transmitting Live from Mars”
GIlbert O’Sullivan forces the removal of a sample of his 1972 song “Alone again (naturally)” from Biz Markie’s song
Hip Hop, Sampling, and the Law
Licensing of samples becomes expensive: creating multiple simultaneous layers of samples becomes prohibited
Hip Hop, Sampling, and the Law
Provided an alternative to the misogynist braggadocio of gangsta rappers like Snoop Dogg
Queen Latifah
RB influenced voice
Queen Latifah
Established the precedent for sustainable hip hop careers, an antithesis to the live fast, due young ethos of gangsta rap
Queen Latifah
“Alt”: Music fan’s definition “valorizes” music that challenges the status quo- underground, indie
Alternate Currents:
Alternative rock 1980s-1990s
Record company: uses it to identify and exploit new trends, styles, and audiences
Alternate Currents:
Alternative rock 1980s-1990s
The notion of a huge entertainment corporation cooking up a fake independent record label to satisfy an audience hungry for musical expressions of authenticity and rebellion may seem a bizarre contradiction
Alternate Currents:
Alternative rock 1980s-1990s
Very often political
Hardcore punk
