Il party di Kool Herc dell’estate del 1973 nel West Bronx è passato alla storia come l’incipit di un mito: non certo per i partecipanti – un centinaio di giovani del quartiere – non certo per il luogo – una modesta sala comunitaria in un nuovo complesso popolare – né per la zona – a un paio di miglia dallo stadio degli Yankees, vicino al luogo in cui la Cross-Bronx Express Way riversa il proprio traffico nell’isola di Manhattan. La storia ricorda quella festa poiché quello fu il giorno in cui Clive Campbell creò la leggenda attorno a DJ Kool Herc.
Guida al Party Intergalattico !
George Clinton & i Parliament Funkadelic si sono affermati nel pantheon della musica come una delle band più eclettiche, prolifiche ed originali degli anni Settanta. Guidati dal genio creativo di Clinton, innovando le fondamenta del funk erette da James Brown e mixandole con l’ethos hippie ereditato da Sly And The Family Stone, il gruppo fu in grado di evolvere da quintetto doo-wop di Plainfield, nel New Jersey, a collettivo funk-rock psichedelico capace di produrre un incredibile mix di suoni e un immaginario adatto a un party intergalattico.
Hip hop, la teologia dei numeri
Trentacinque anni or sono, nell’estate del 1986, migliaia di giovani in tutto il mondo ripetevano rima dopo rima le liriche di “Eric B Is President“, singolo d’esordio di Eric B & Rakim, senza avere la benché minima idea del significato di quelle parole; un trend questo destinato a ripetersi anche nei decenni a venire.
BEHIND SOME OF BIGGIE’S ICONIC PHOTOS
March 9 is a day the hip hop world stops and remembers the life and legacy of Christopher Wallace, known to the world as The Notorious B.I.G. For years, Ernie Paniccioli helped document the growth of hip hop as it rose from a new genre in music, to the world’s biggest phenomenon. His photos through the years showcase legends such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy, DMX, Foxy Brown, Lil’ Kim, Nas, Jay-Z, 2Pac, and the list goes on.
The Mask of Doom
I first heard the rapper Daniel Dumile (pronounced doom-ee-lay) when I was fourteen and hip-hop was just beginning to bloom. The music was not so much “CNN for black people,” as Chuck D would later dub it, as a lingua franca. I came up awkward in West Baltimore—a tall black boy with no jumper, no gear, and no game. But my mastery of the arcane verses of X-Clan, my sense that the decoupling of EPMD was an irreparable tragedy, and my abiding hatred of Vanilla Ice ushered me into the scowling ranks of my generation.
Disco King Mario
By 1971, Disco King Mario was an eminent DJ in the Bronx.He was known for his superior sound system and his love for combining music and a good time. Mario came up during the era where you had to be tough enough to bring your equipment out, because of how prevalent gangs and violence were in the Bronx in the early 70s. But the Disco King was respected all over, from neighborhood mothers to the grimiest gangsters. He is a major part of the creation of Hip Hop.
From Basquiat to ‘Black Panther’
“Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation,” a brilliant exhibition at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, reveals the centrality of visual art to hip-hop’s thrilling beginnings. The show prompts fresh consideration of the origins of hip-hop and the “post-graffiti” movement, which saw the street artists who had transformed New York’s urban landscape adapt their work for display in high-end galleries, as well as in music videos and fashion.
Una rima contro il sistema
Prima di George Floyd c’erano Rayshard Brooks e Breonna Taylor, e poi Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, Freddie Grey, Tamir Rice, Mike Brown. Le pratiche violente…
Un corto animato su Rosa Parks
L’impegno di Rosa Parks nella lotta per i diritti civili degli afroamericani non si limitò allo storico gesto dell’autobus, quando la donna si rifiutò di…
How Nina Simone Became Hip Hop’s “Secret Weapon”
In 1996, the Fugees burst on the scene with “Ready or Not,” and most listeners were not ready: for the ominous, eclectic, Caribbean-inflected production, the…