How Much Cultural Capital Do You Have?
Cultural Capital acts as a social relation within a system of exchange that includes the accumulated cultural knowledge that confers power and status.(Pierre Bourdieu)
Cultural Capital is one of the terms that students in the Media Xperiments program must demonstrate mastery of as they tour local businesses, build portfolios and participate in educational planning sessions. Students complete these activities in order to participate in 30 – 60 hour summer service learning projects led by University of Texas graduate students. Students work directly with professionals to provide real goods and services to local businesses and non-profits.
In a sense, every activity that we have students do is about accruing cultural capital. Experiences, knowledge and relationships all focused on empowering students to educate themselves and create a culture of achievement. Our students meet and work with entrepreneurs, executives and experts from a broad range of fields. Some of our proteges have toured and shadowed 12 or more top ad agencies such as GSD&M Idea City and production companies such as AMS Pictures. They have established lasting relationships with professionals that are within their fields of interest and able to call on them for advice, guidance and eventually employment. They are motivated because they know that they have value and that opportunities await them if they are prepared to meet them.
This video was written, shot and produced by alumni (now peer mentors) in the Media Xperiments program on the very subject of Cultural Capital.
Nine Rappers, One Wu-Tang Clan : NPR
Nine Rappers, One Wu-Tang Clan
by Joel Rose
Taking inspiration from martial arts movies, the members of Wu-Tang Clan named themselves after a fictional sect of Chinese swordsmen.
Taking inspiration from martial arts movies, the members of Wu-Tang Clan named themselves after a fictional sect of Chinese swordsmen.
There had been large groups in hip-hop before, but none that featured nine different rappers, as the Wu-Tang Clan did when it made its debut in 1993. Creating a cohesive group out of nine individuals requires discipline and imagination.
There’s a moment on the Wu-Tang Clan’s classic first album when the members are talking to an interviewer. They compare themselves to the after-school cartoon Voltron, in which five robot lions combine to form one invincible warrior. Like Voltron, the voices of the Wu-Tang Clan seem to fit together seamlessly.
“There were so many diverse voices coming at you at once, very aggressively,” writer and producer Sacha Jenkins says. “But at the same time, it was one voice.”
In the early 1990s, Jenkins was the editor of a hip-hop fanzine called Ego Trip when a friend played him a tape of a tape of the first Wu-Tang single.
“It didn’t feel like a lot of guys,” Jenkins says. “That sort of sensibility and that energy just spoke to the chemistry that these guys had. And I believe the hunger they had to sort of change their environment and change their situation.”
Most of the Wu-Tang Clan’s members grew up on Staten Island. Taking inspiration from martial arts movies, they named themselves after a fictional sect of Chinese swordsmen, and they adopted an ethic of loyalty to one another that was born out of necessity and experience. Mitchell Diggs is the CEO of Wu-Tang Corp. He’s also the brother of Robert Diggs, better known as RZA, the clan’s producer.
“Me and RZA, we came from a large family — 11 siblings,” Diggs says. “We was pretty much familiar and used to how to balance out that many people at one time.”
Source: YouTube
Both Diggs and his brother had been signed as rappers to major labels before assembling the Wu-Tang Clan, and both had put out solo records that flopped. For the Wu-Tang to succeed, Diggs and RZA had to persuade the other rappers to put the group first, at least for a while. Mitchell Diggs says it wasn’t easy.
“The biggest thing was, ‘How do you feed nine people off of one deal?’ ” Diggs says. “We laughed about it. But it was something we thought about. We knew that we had to create solo careers.”
Protect Your Neck
The Wu-Tang Clan signed with one record company. But the group’s contract made sure each member had the freedom to make his own solo records. That was good for morale and for business. When the Wu-Tang Clan’s first album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), sold 1 million copies, all of its MCs were able to cash in, including Lamont Hawkins, who performs as U-God. Hawkins says the Wu-Tang Clan did something together that none of its members could have done alone.
“We come from nothing. And we make something out of nothing,” U-God says. “We was trying to create our own industry, our own brand, our own situation, know what I’m saying? So it’s like an industry was being built inside an industry.”
Source: YouTube
The Wu-Tang Clan made millions of dollars selling clothing and video games, but success wasn’t always sweet. Founding member Ol’ Dirty Bastard died of a drug overdose. The other rappers built careers as solo artists or branched out into acting and film scoring. When the Wu-Tang Clan came back together to record, arguments were inevitable. But Mitchell Diggs says the group found a way to resolve them.
“When there’s tension, and dudes are beefing, and dudes are whining, we have sit-downs,” Diggs says. “We go through 50 songs and say, ‘What you don’t like?’ And then we tweak ‘em. And if you still don’t like it, you not on that [expletive] song no more. Excuse my French, but get out the way. We like the way the song is, leave it alone.”
Making It Work
Occasionally the Wu-Tang’s internal disagreements have gone public, as they did during the making of 2007′s 8 Diagrams. Rapper Raekwon complained about RZA’s atmospheric production style to an online journalist.
“RZA is trying to create too much of an orchestra, piano,” Raekwon said. “This is not the vibe I want. But it’s his vibe. It’s his vibe. It’s like, he’s like, he’s like a hip-hop hippie right now, you know what I mean?”
Raekwon is using other producers on a solo album that’s due out later this year. RZA is not appearing on the Wu-Tang Clan’s current tour because he’s in Asia directing a martial arts movie. But his brother, Mitchell Diggs, says the Wu-Tang members generally do get along. To make their partnership work, he says, they all share a single dressing room on the road.
“If you can’t get in the room, you’re gonna come on that stage unfocused,” Diggs says. “You’re not gonna have the chemistry. Keep the friends and family out. And give them the dressing room so they can meditate, stare at each other. Even if they gotta argue for 10 minutes — get it off they chest. And when you hit that stage, you are one body.”
A partnership more like the Chinese swordsmen who inspired them than most people expected.
Content Advisory: Language Not Suitable For All Ages
Source: YouTube
More Music Interviews
The Record
Wu-Tang Clan: A Few Extra Chambers
Bonus audio: How the members of the Wu-Tang Clan have resolved their differences over two decades.
Music Interviews
Nine Rappers, One Wu-Tang Clan
Creating a cohesive group out of nine individuals requires discipline and imagination.
Music Interviews
OK Go’s Kulash Rewrites Rock-Star Rules
Singer and guitarist Damian Kulash describes how OK Go is forging a nontraditional path in music.
Comments
Please note that all comments must adhere to the NPR.org discussion rules and terms of use. See also the Community FAQ.
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Login / Register
NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.
William Paschall (MisterSinister) wrote:
Since my last post got removed by a moderator, let me try again. Just because some people don’t like a certain style of music doesn’t make them the arbiters of musicality. Threatening to pull funding simply because you don’t like a topic on NPR is both childish and petulant. The “Rap isn’t music” argument is meaningless and is not an opinion held by music scholars as far as I know. I don’t personally consider Jeff Koons a real artist, but my personal opinion doesn’t equal fact (as much as I’d like it to).
January 5, 2011 1:35:12 AM CST
ALIYA AMARSHI (ISA_MML) wrote:
I think Dietrich is absolutely right. The hatred towards hip hop and frankly any genre of music dominated by a segment of the population that has been denied true legitimate citizenship in this great free country of yours (and ours as well) is always linked to the threat that they pose to the white populace. Older hip hop was intrinsically tied to black nationalist movements which has been, in recent years, obscured by commercialized gangsta rap. Good for NPR for recognizing a rap group that transcends this narrow commercialized form and good for Dietrich for being so sweet.
January 5, 2011 12:18:07 AM CST
Fred Pearce (Lunceford) wrote:
I am tired of the recent focus on Rap. I do not consider it music, now, or ever. It is spoken word, it requires no musicality. It has robbed a generation of its musical heritage. Think were Jazz, Blues and Soul would be today if the small portion of rappers whom had the potential to become musicians had become them, and the listeners to rap had listened to real american music. Maybe they would be socially conciose today and connected to their history rather than to bling.
January 4, 2011 10:16:00 PM CST
William Paschall (MisterSinister) wrote:
An NPR moderator has removed this comment because it does not adhere to the discussion guidelines
January 4, 2011 9:51:20 PM CST
Cathy Wittel (CathyWittel) wrote:
Whether or not you like this type of music or the NPR story, it is socially and politically relevant…that’s NPR reports are about.
January 4, 2011 9:35:36 PM CST
Leah Dixon (ArtOfLife) wrote:
I think Wu-Tang is awesome, and I’m a music lover who listens to rock, jazz, folk, bluegrass, ambient, chants, Americana. Small-minded people who think the only arts that should be covered are the arts they personally like, or who threaten to pull their support from NPR because a news org’s culture section covers something an artist didn’t want to hear are just sad to me.
January 4, 2011 9:24:13 PM CST
Dietrich W (outdeh) wrote:
Classic comments from all the old, bitter readers. So every time NPR does a story on a topic you don’t find interesting it automatically means they don’t deserve public funding? Give me a break.
We’ve all heard the “hip hop isn’t music” line before. Do you remember when you were kids and your parents were saying the same thing about rock n roll? It amazes me how quickly people forget their youth. And while you’d never admit it, even to yourselves, all you people who automatically dismiss hip-hop are in reality threatened by young, proud, loud, rich, successful, and angry black people. But why even say any of this, talking to a brick wall is always pointless.
January 4, 2011 9:14:17 PM CST
L R (human) wrote:
I heart Wu Tang clan. Yes, and I also love Merle Haggard and the Concertgebow (sp?).
January 4, 2011 9:06:56 PM CST
Matthew Stanley (MC_STAN) wrote:
I don’t like every bit of music played or talked about on NPR, but at least I have an open mind and respect other peoples’ tastes.
“shivarising”, “TruAmerican”, and “krizaziz” best protect ya necks, cuz Wu Tang Clan ain’t nothin’ to f*** with. CHOPPIN’ HEADS BWOI
January 4, 2011 8:53:00 PM CST
Art Leland (PopNobob) wrote:
Every notice how the most successful musical partnerships (like Wu-Tang) usually have at least one member who is straight, sober, focused and another who is edgy or even stark raving crazy? That kind of conflict leads to brilliant if unstable chemistry. This duo gives and example of how it can play out onstage:
January 4, 2011 8:46:04 PM CST
New WordPress Site for Client – The Funk Mob
Putting the finishing touches on a new web site for Austin band The Funk Mob based on the WordPress platform. Hopefully, an elegant example of how to leverage free and low cost media tools. Meaning, they now have a handsome website on a platform they can manage and update with relative ease as well as integrate social media tools such as Facebook, YouTube and live streaming. A website today, no matter how lovely it may appear, if it’s not easy to manage is useless.
They can log in and change dates, add pages and blog entries that incorporate video, pictures and music all without having to know a line of code.
Thanks to photographer Dwayne Hills for the great shots and media proteges David Frias and Gabriel Leal for their behind the scenes production work, logo design and soon to be completed video work. I look forward to coaching the Funk Mob, along with support my proteges, to take their brand to another level.
A History Of The ‘Big’ Business Of Hip-Hop : NPR
A History Of The ‘Big’ Business Of Hip-Hop
The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop
By Dan Charnas
Hardcover, 672 pages
NAL Hardcover
List Price: $24.95
In 1979, producer Sylvia Robinson heard hip-hop music at a birthday party in Harlem and had a hunch that it would be commercially successful.
She called her son, Joey Robinson Jr., and asked him to gather a group of musicians who could perform like the rappers she saw in Harlem. She then held makeshift auditions for a rap group outside a pizza parlor in Englewood, N.J.
“She put these three guys together who had never met each other before, had the backing track all ready and created a record in a matter of minutes,” says Dan Charnas, a former rap industry executive who chronicles the history of hip-hop in a new book, The Big Payback.
The group that Robinson put together, Charnas says, would become the Sugarhill Gang, and the track they recorded was “Rapper’s Delight,” the first hip-hop single to break into the Top 40 charts.
“Basically, it’s a record that created an industry,” Charnas says. “Nobody thought the stuff that was in the streets was even music. It was stuff that people did at parties. But Sylvia Robinson had the notion that she could turn it into a record. And she did, and it was extremely successful, due in no small part to her own production genius.”
Dan Charnas has worked on projects with Rick Rubin, Sir Mix-A-Lot, DJ Kool, Special Ed and Run-D.M.C. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Scratch Magazine, The Chicago Tribune and The Source. He was also a music supervisor on the Showtime program Interscope Presents: The Next Episode.
Dan Charnas has written features on Ice Cube, A Tribe Called Quest and Public Enemy, among others.
Dan Charnas has written features on Ice Cube, A Tribe Called Quest and Public Enemy, among others.
Interview Highlights
On Sugar Hill Records’ Dwindling Influence In The 1980s
“Sugar Hill had a lock on the business in the early 1980s, which I believe they frittered away over the years, partly because of the bad reputation that they developed for paying artists and partly [because of] hubris. There’s a story in the book of a young concert promoter from down south named Cedric, and Cedric has this idea that he’s going to create this three-ring circus of hip-hop that includes DJing and MCing and breakdancing. He wants to get Sylvia Robinson excited about this concept, so he flies on his own dime to New York, he goes to Sugar Hill’s offices and he meets with Sylvia. She literally curses him out and throws him out of the office, saying, ‘Why do I need you? I was the first person to put a rapper on tour.’ So Cedric Walker walks out of this meeting, goes back across the river, and his Plan B is to talk to this minor, lesser artist-manager by the name of Russell Simmons, who has some budding rap acts like Houdini and Run-D.M.C. — so it’s Russell Simmons who gets to make this deal, and that tour idea becomes the Fresh Fest, which was the first successful national rap tour. It symbolizes how Sylvia Robinson and Joe Robinson were eclipsed by people like Russell Simmons.”
On The Difference Between Sugar Hill Records And Russell Simmons
“I think Sugar Hill saw themselves as riding out a fad. I don’t think they had any particular belief that this was a powerful culture that had staying power. We’d just come off of the disco era, which turned out to be very, very short-lived, and I’m sure that a lot of people, including Sylvia and Joe Robinson, thought that the same would happen to this rap stuff. The difference was that Russell Simmons did not like the records that Sugar Hill was turning out because they didn’t sound to him like the hip-hop that lived in the streets and the parks and the clubs, which was very raw, very beat-oriented, and didn’t sound like disco at all. And so Russell Simmons’ key innovation, when he made Run-D.M.C.’s first record, was to basically order his producer-partner Larry Smith to take out all the music. ‘I just want to hear a beat,’ he said.”
On Rick Rubin
“Rick Rubin was a college student who heard ‘Sucker MC’s’ and was inspired to make his own record. He said, ‘This stuff is so much better live. Why can’t we make a record that sounds like hip-hop does live?’ So he created a song called ‘It’s Yours.’ The irony was he wanted to make it with a group called the Treacherous Three, who … had exclusivity with Sugar Hill. He had to make it with the brother with one of the people from the Treacherous Three. Russell Simmons hears this record and goes bonkers. He wants to know who did this record. And he finally meets the person [and] he doesn’t believe that this white, Jewish college student actually made this record.”
On Jay-Z
“Essentially, the Roc-A-Fella ethos was that hip-hop can be everything to its fans. It’s not just music, it’s not just entertainment, but it can be the clothes that they wear, it can be the language that they speak, it can be the books that they read — it can be even the money that they spend. So I think Jay really is a product of that. and acts according to that ethos. So he ends up diversifying into nightclubs and a sports team and a cosmetic line.”
Excerpt: ‘The Big Payback’
by Dan Charnas
The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop
By Dan Charnas
Hardcover, 672 pages
NAL Hardcover
List Price: $24.95
In 1979, Sugar Hill Records, a small, Black-owned company, became the first to release a hugely successful rap record, “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang; and would over the next few years record many more rap hits. In the early 1980s, most major music companies paid hip-hop no attention, leaving the field to small-time, independent operators like Sugar Hill. Below is a story from The Big Payback about another one of those small labels that dabbled in rap, and won. Profile Records would eventually go on to sign Run-DMC, rap’s first true mainstream superstars, and land the first rap video on MTV.
When Cory Robbins and Steve Plotnicki decided to open Profile Records in May of 1981, they each borrowed $17,000 from their parents. With the $34,000 in start-up cash, they rented a room for $700 a month in a building on the corner of Broadway and 57th Street, just blocks from the Brill Building and 1650 Broadway on one end, and the offices of Sugar Hill partner Morris Levy on the other. West End Records, their soon-to-be com- petition, was upstairs.
Running a record company wasn’t like they thought it would be. Plotnicki never got around to writing songs, and Robbins didn’t end up producing. Instead, Robbins handled talent scouting and promotion. Plotnicki, with his experience at the distributor, took care of sales and manufacturing.
For its first single, Profile Records paid $3,000 to license a disco record from England called “I’m Starting Again.” It seemed like a good idea: The singer, Grace Kennedy, was a TV star in the U.K. But in America, her record flopped, selling only a few thousand copies.
Profile’s second record was the label’s first rap release. Robbins made a deal with his former Panorama artists, the Fantastic Aleems, who had already put out a 12-inch single on their own Nia label with a young Harlem rapper, Lonnie Love. The reissue, called “Young Ladies,” cost Robbins and Plotnicki a very uncomfortable $5,500. The track was a replay of Cheryl Lynn’s “Got to Be Real” — a dance hit which, like “Good Times,” was ripe for a rap sendup in the tradition of “Rapper’s Delight.” Another good idea, and it flopped, too.
Robbins then licensed a second record from England, a dance-infused medley of the Four Seasons’ greatest hits recorded by Gidea Park called “Seasons of Gold.” The song seemed to be another safe bet. But by the time he had closed the deal on “Seasons” in October 1981, Profile was in peril.
Profile Records’ founders hadn’t drawn salaries from their fledgling company. To survive, they were still collecting unemployment checks, illegally. But between the costs of licensing and commissioning the records, pressing and shipping them, along with their overhead — rent, electricity, phones — they were down to their last $2,000.
For a moment, Robbins and Plotnicki considered asking their parents for more money. Instead, they decided to gamble the rest on one more record. Plotnicki suggested a rap version of “Genius of Love,” the new record by the Tom Tom Club.
One of the dominant club tracks of 1981, “Genius of Love” was a successor to Blondie’s “Rapture,” a product of the collision of uptown and downtown cultures happening in New York. A funk record conceived by Fab Five Freddy’s friends Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, “Genius of Love” was embraced enthusiastically by young Black kids who had never heard of Weymouth and Frantz’s other group — the new-wave band Talking Heads.
“Genius of Love” was an inspired candidate for a rap remake. But Plotnicki and Robbins had to move fast. Another label, like Sugar Hill, was sure to come out with their own version. And Profile’s rent was due.
First, Robbins called his old friend Joe Tucci, who had recorded a huge disco hit called “Keep on Dancin’,” right out of his own sixteen-track home studio.
“Joe,” Robbins asked, “can you record an exact replay of ‘Genius of Love’? “
No problem, Tucci answered. Robbins offered him $750 for the entire project.
Next, Robbins called Island Music Publishing to secure the rights to re-record “Genius of Love.” They would pay Island ten cents per record sold, a rate mandated by U.S. law.
After that, Robbins called the only rapper he knew: Lonnie Love.
Before he met Cory Robbins and Steve Plotnicki, Alonzo Brown had never had a real conversation with a White person.
Brown had grown up in the DeWitt Clinton housing project in East Harlem with his mother, Margaret, and older brother, James. Their father, Baxter, had died of heart failure when Brown was only fourteen. An older Puerto Rican girl who lived in the building, Miriam, took pity on the Brown brothers — both quiet boys who mostly stayed inside and played records. She took them to the ice-skating rink at the Harlem Meer, just a few blocks away in the northeast corner of Central Park.
The rink became an obsession for Alonzo and James, who kept sneaking in until they got caught. The foreman of the rink, Mr. Johnson, cut them a deal. “People are complaining about the music here,” he said. If the Brown brothers came in and played records for the crowd of kids, he would let them in for free.
Alonzo and James formed the Lasker Skate Crew, hauling records to the rink every Saturday. They even got a grant from the city to purchase speakers, which they did on Canal Street from none other than Mr. Magic, who still worked at S&H Electronics while broadcasting his rap radio show on WHBI.
On the night Brown went to Harlem’s Renaissance Theatre and saw his first rapper — Lovebug Starski telling the crowd to scream, “Oh, yeah!” and seven hundred people responding in unison — he knew he wanted that kind of power. Brown began writing rhymes and practicing them in the hallways of Charles Evans Hughes High School with his classmate, Andre Harrell. Soon Brown and Harrell were writing routines together. While Brown focused on the substance of the lyrics, Harrell was concerned with style — clothes, hair, presentation. Harrell was also good with marketing — hustling for gigs, getting into the mix — and he insisted they needed a gimmick.
At first Harrell and Brown billed themselves as “the Lone Ranger” and “Tonto,” but by the time they finally started to perform at clubs and community centers around East and Central Harlem, they were calling themselves “Dr. Jeckyll” and “Mr. Hyde,” respectively. They sported mustaches, wore pants from A. J. Lester’s men’s shop on 125th Street, Cortefiel coats, and sneakers called Playboys. Alonzo was the taller of the two, standing a lean six feet even, not including his Afro. His girlfriend, Wanda Majors, had even made herself a sweatshirt that read, “Mrs. Hyde.”
By the time they made it to the rapping contests at Harlem World on 116th and Lenox, Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde were the neighborhood favorite. They even recorded a few routines that ended up on 12-inch records for two small uptown imprints, Rojac and Tayster, run by Harlem World’s owner, “Fat” Jack Taylor. At Harlem World, Alonzo Brown’s lyrical abilities caught the attention of two huge, muscled twin brothers, Taharqa and Tunde Ra Aleem. The Aleems were accomplished musicians who had shared an apartment with Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s and collaborated with him on a few projects, even contributing backup vocals to his song “Dolly Dagger.” By 1980 the Aleems were already accomplished recording artists and had an R&B hit on their label, Nia Records, called “Hooked on Your Love,” reissued by Panorama Records after being signed by its young general manger, Cory Robbins.
Alonzo Brown adopted a solo moniker — Lonnie Love — and cut “Young Ladies” for Nia, giving his partner, Andre Harrell, label credit for helping with the lyrics. Meanwhile, Robbins had told the Aleems that he had started a new record company and was looking for music. The Aleems took Brown to meet Robbins and his new partner at Profile. This new label with the downtown office seemed like the big time, and Brown was nervous. He was surprised to see that Robbins and Plotnicki were, too. The two White guys tried to project confidence, but he suspected that they didn’t know what they were doing.
“Young Ladies” sold a few records — in Florida, for some reason — and then quickly went away. Brown grew restless. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life in East Harlem. By the time he got a call from Robbins in October of 1981 asking him to rap on another record, “Lonnie Love” had already enlisted in the air force.
But Alonzo Brown agreed to make the record anyway, and asked if he could record the song with his partner, Andre Harrell.
Printed with permission from The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop by Dan Charnas, NAL Books, copyright 2010.
Related NPR Stories
More Music Interviews
Music Interviews
Looking At The Life And Times Of Thelonious Monk
Robin D.G. Kelley discusses his book Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original
Deceptive Cadence
Robert Kyr’s ‘Songs’ From A Desert Monastery
Robert Kyr writes his music in a monastery. NPR’s John Burnett has been following his process.
Music Interviews
Singer El DeBarge Gets A ‘Second Chance’
After a 16-year absence, El DeBarge is back with a new album and a new lease on life.
Comments
Discussions for this story are now closed. Please see the Community FAQ for more information.
Curt Fredrikson (X_Ray_Eye) wrote:
.
Never mind Blondie; how about Ian Dury and the Blockheads? “Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3″ was released a month before “Rapper’s Delight” (per Wikipedia) and went to #3 in the U.K. I wouldn’t call it hip-hop, but it was, definitely, rap.
I need to find a copy of Dury’s “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” to listen to because I can’t remember whether it was sung or another rap (I know that the chorus was spoken word). If it was the latter, it is significant because it beat “Rapper’s Delight” to the market by nine months.
.
December 13, 2010 3:08:43 PM CST
Curt Rohner (CRohner) wrote:
How is it that Fresh Air has become the national soap box for thoughtful consideration of hip hop and urban music? I love you Terry!
December 10, 2010 11:54:57 AM CST
Tim Baker (tcbaker5225) wrote:
@Mike Mikula, @Mark Riding: Mike you should probably go back and read the original story and then research the history of hip-hop just a little bit. Not only is Mark right on with his dates about Blondie but the rapping that was happening in New York had evolved out of the work of artists like the Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron (listen to “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. It’s a classic) as well as the toasting of Jamaican MC’s.
December 10, 2010 11:43:36 AM CST
Christopher Thompson (BoxyBrown) wrote:
Nicole S (Nikki1913) wrote: “If you’re ever able, listen to 88.9 WEAA (NPR affiliate)…”
I miss Baltimore…MORGAN PRIDE!
December 10, 2010 7:03:52 AM CST
Mark Riding (mistermr) wrote:
@ Mike Mikula. Your facts are a little wonky. Blondie’s Rapture was released in 1981 which was two years after Rapper’s Delight was released in 1979. She actually pays homage to rap pioneer Fab Five Freddy in the lyrics of the song. Blondie’s Rapture can lay claim to being the first rap video played on MTV though.
December 10, 2010 1:18:32 AM CST
Dylan Crewell (DCrewell) wrote:
I enjoyed this story today. However, the guest mentioned the superficial parts of the industry. When he says they are all entrepreneurs it is very misleading. Each of these companies has very well established parent companies that give backing on every level.
He also, discusses how hip-hop has brought races together and alludes to it aiding the Obama campaign. What is the stigma of white kids that listen to rap… It is NOT a good one. There is also a reason why when anyone who dresses in strictly hip hop styled clothing they are not taken seriously.
Also, Hip hop club music is House/dance/techno music. Anyone feel free to comment…
December 10, 2010 12:37:04 AM CST
Mike Mikula (MikeM0) wrote:
Why is it that all of these type interviews REFUSE to give credit to Blondie for inventing the genre many years prior. The concept of “rap” (whether they wish to admit it or not) came from the song “Rapture” by Blondie and the example this program played from the Sugarhill Gang is an absolute rip-off and bastardisation of many of the same riffs from “Rapture”. Give credit where credit is due already!
December 9, 2010 10:18:12 PM CST
Nicole S (Nikki1913) wrote:
@Erik – I think that what this book (from the interview anyway though I plan to read it) proves is that there was creative life and “purety” in the genre before the mainstream got its hands on it but that the desire for profit was inevitable as a means of income and wealth building for those artists, producers and other players. There remains some truth to the music in the mainstream and LOTS of great music in the underground and mix-tape arenas.
If you’re ever able, listen to 88.9 WEAA (NPR affiliate) from 12am – 5am Saturday night/ Sunday morning. The show “Strictly Hip-Hop one of the BEST programs playing great and unperverted underground, indie and mix-tape hip hop music.
December 9, 2010 3:58:37 PM CST
Erik Slajus (Slaj) wrote:
The title should really be, how record execs perverted a genre of music for profits.
December 9, 2010 3:34:16 PM CST
Nicole S (Nikki1913) wrote:
@Ricky Edwards – If you think that hip-hop is the most degrading thing to African Americans than your head is stuck in a dirt hole!
I don’t like all hip-hop but many of it gave voice to a generation about the TRUE dangerous and degrading things that were going on in our communities. It enabled many young people to earn legitimate and viable incomes and to build businesses that may have been unheard of even 10 – 15 years earlier (c Russell Simmons and Jay-Z). Whats degrading are those myopic individuals (like you) who were unfortunately part of the music industry who believed that the most sellable part of the genre is the negative, misogynistic trite that I’m sure you’re familiar with.
Take a tour of true hip-hop. In fact, read this book and Jay-Z’s new book, buy some music and REALLY understand the culture and the music. Perhaps you won’t make such silly blanket comments after that.
December 9, 2010 3:21:52 PM CST
Taking Your Site Web 2.0 Series: Spill Dot Con – A Case Study
Howdy, this the second installment of my Taking Your Site Web 2.0 Series. I have been on the technical side of web development for 15 plus years and used to take great pride in showing off my prowess using tools like Flash and custom html, etc. Over the last 2 years, I have made a significant shift away from those tools to embrace a Web 2.0 approach to all of the work that I do. From creating your own blogs and social networks to implementing web video in an efficient way, there are number of free or low cost tools that allow you to create your own robust media platforms that can promote your business, church, favorite charity or just a hobby.
Today, I’ll talk about the web site Spill.com based on the social networking platform called Ning. Until recently, Ning had a completely free option for you to create social networks. Now, you can start a network for as little as $2.95 a month. The site Spill.com, is definitely a high end site and I’m sure they pay far more than $2.95 a month but it’s nevertheless far cheaper than having a developer create your own custom network and because it is open sourced, improvements are always being made and shared. There are lots of smaller sites that have vibrant communities built around them including the one I created for students in my outreach program Media Xperiments, which has just over 500 members in Texas. So, here goes… Enjoy!
In the interest of full disclosure, I am working to help produce the film and music festival Spill Dot Con. Nevertheless, I am doing so because it is something that I truly believe in. Spill Dot Con is an event celebrating the community of the web site Spill.com, a movie review site with more than 31,000 members around the world. The site is based on animated characters created by Austinite Korey Coleman and his long time crew of fellow film geeks.
We always hear stories about “overnight successes” but in reality, most of those successes have taken many years to come to fruition. I’ve known Korey Coleman for close to 20 years. He has always been a charismatic guy with mad drawing and animation skills. About ten years ago, Korey and friends wanted to find a way to get into the movies for free. So, they decided to do a live action movie review show on access television. They would sit in 2 rooms and comment on films as they played scenes from trailers cutting back and forth… kind of Mystery Science Theater style. It worked. They got to see most all of the latest movies and even became local celebrities for a time. During this time, Korey continued to make a living as an artist and animator. He had a long running comic strip in the Austin American Statesman and even wrote, directed and starred in a feature film that made it into SXSW one year.
About 5 years ago, Korey had the idea of combining his animation skills with his love for film and decided to make animated versions of their reviews and publish on them web. And this where Web 2.0 technology and platforms begin to play a large role in Korey’s success story. Korey posted his reviews on YouTube (go figure) and attracted the attention of an international pay per click ad network called Miva. (That’s right, there are companies out there scanning the web to sign promising talent.) They asked Korey to do a few reviews for them and it turned out that he was dependable and delivered consistent quality. So, they hired him full time and Spill.com was born. Korey and the Spill crew continued to prove themselves and they were eventually sold to Hollywood.com opening the door to cash flow for the rest of the crew and the hiring of more animators and support staff.
Through the web, Korey and the Spill crew have built a world wide base of extremely loyal followers willing to hop on Greyhound buses for 24 hours or fly overseas just to hang out.These fans, many of them film makers and creatives themselves, have made their own tributes to Spill by mashing up Spill videos and podcasts into entirely new pieces along with intricate illustrations paying homage to their favorite Spill characters.
Now, Spill is taking it to another level. They were recently hired by Universal Pictures to interweave their characters into the new MacGruber film trailer and with the Spill Dot Con looming on the horizon, they are poised for meteoric growth over the next several months and years.
Now, not all of us can draw or are particularly funny like Korey and the Spill crew. Nevertheless, they are a great case study in how to build a brand based on Web 2.0 technology. They took a compelling interest, in this case film, and used their strengths to create an entire community around it. A video review on Spill now averages over 270,000 views in a month. It wasn’t easy and it certainly didn’t just happen over night. Korey had a passion. He worked for years on it before he ever received a dime and that passion continues to evolve and inspire others. So, think about your passions in life. Is there a powerful idea or cause for which you could create a community? Perhaps your passion could become your business. All of the tools you need to find your audience are available for free or at very low cost on the web.
Radiohead: They Decided to Give Their Album Away & See What Happens
Always love NPR and Radiohead is an awesome band too!
