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The state of Rap, was Re: computer music



At 10:44 AM 6/23/00, Larry Tremblay wrote:
>
>Correct. The original Hip-Hop nation in the South Bronx brought back this
>technique (or rediscovered it), e.g., Sugar Hill Gang, Afrika Bambatta,
>and the other pioneers of Rap. Unfortunately it has degenerated to the
>point of dreck like Puff Daddy, et al. But that's what happens to good
>ideas all the time. Beat that dead horse to a bloody pulp...

While as much of an abomination as Puff Daddy's music is (though I do dig
his Led Zep appropriation for the Godzilla soundtrack: Double-tracked
orchestras, yeah baby), I don't think it's quite fair to say that
hip-hop/rap has as a genre degenerated to his level. Yeah, there's plenty
of crummy commercial rap around, and he's not the only offender, but I
actually think there's a kind of hip-hop renaissance going on right now,
I've heard more interesting hip-hop records in the last year than anytime
since, say, Fear of a Black Planet and Paul's Boutique. Any of the Quannum
Project and related stuff, any Kool Keith/Dr. Octagon/Black Elvis or
whatever psuedonym he's working under currently, People under the Stairs,
etc. I think that there's a new approach to wordplay coming about, more
open rhythmically, more free-associative, more improvisational.

One record that I think shows the state of the new hip=hop art is the 1999
Material release Intonarumori, which, up to Laswell's usual standards, is
incredibly well-produced and features some of the best of the new
generation of rappers, as well as stalwarts like Flavor Flav. One track in
particular has Killa Priest of the Wu Tang Clan doing an absolutely
chilling paranoid rap over minimal tambura, electronic drones and a distant
tabla, a piece that creeps me out in the best possible way every time I
hear it.

____________________________________________
Dave Trenkel : improv@peak.org
Minus Web Site: http://listen.to/minusmusic
Minus MP3's: http://www.mp3.com/-minus-
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