What are the odds that the US Dept of Ed would ever think of this?
Brazilian Government Invests in Culture of Hip-Hop
By LARRY ROHTER
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — In a classroom at a community center near a slum here, a street-smart teacher offers a dozen young students tips on how to improve their graffiti techniques. One floor below, in a small soundproof studio, another instructor is teaching a youthful group of would-be rappers how to operate digital recording and video equipment.
This is one of Brazil’s Culture Points, fruit of an official government program that is helping to spread hip-hop culture across a vast nation of 185 million people. With small grants of $60,000 or so to scores of community groups on the outskirts of Brazil’s cities, the Ministry of Culture hopes to channel what it sees as the latent creativity of the country’s poor into new forms of expression.
The program, conceived in 2003, is an initiative of Brazil’s minister of culture, Gilberto Gil, who will be speaking on digital culture and related topics on Wednesday at the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference in Austin, Tex. Though today one of the country’s most revered pop stars, Mr. Gil, 64, was often ostracized at the start of his own career and so feels a certain affinity with the hip-hop culture emerging here.
“These phenomena cannot be regarded negatively, because they encompass huge contingents of the population for whom they are the only connection to the larger world,” he said in a February interview. “A government that can’t perceive this won’t have the capacity to formulate policies that are sufficiently inclusive to keep young people from being diverted to criminality or consigned to social isolation.”
As a result of the Culture Points and similar programs, Mr. Gil said, “you’ve now got young people who are becoming designers, who are making it into media and being used more and more by television and samba schools and revitalizing degraded neighborhoods.” He added, “It’s a different vision of the role of government, a new role.”
As the ministry sees it, hip-hop culture consists of four elements: M.C.’s (rappers), D.J.’s, break dancers and graffiti artists. At the Projeto Casulo, a community center here on a narrow, winding street at the foot of a favela, or squatter slum, all four art forms are being taught to dozens of young residents.
“This program has really democratized culture,” Guiné Silva, a 32-year-old rapper who is the director of the center, said during a tour of its simple concrete building. “We’ve become a multimedia laboratory. Getting that seed money and that studio equipment has enabled us to become a kind of hip-hop factory.”
Though links to music run strong and deep in Brazilian culture, the notion of using taxpayers’ money to encourage rap and graffiti art is not universally accepted. But because Mr. Gil’s musical judgment is widely respected, the level of skepticism and resistance is lower than might be expected.
“Gil still has to fight against other parts of the government in favor of things that everyone else there thinks are alienating junk, but he’s willing to do that, whether it’s on behalf of rap or funk or brega,” another style of music considered vulgar and lower class, said Hermano Vianna, a writer and anthropologist who works in digital culture programs. “He looks at that sort of thing not with prejudice, but rather as a business opportunity.”
On the other hand, some important exponents of hip-hop culture in Brazil, like the rapper Manu Brown and the writer Ferréz, remain skeptical and have chosen to keep their distance from the government program. Others are participating but complain of the bureaucracy involved.
“The idea is great because it has brought about a level of recognition we didn’t have before,” said the rapper Aliado G., president of an entity called Hip Hop Nation Brazil. “But people get frustrated when a project of theirs is approved, and they can’t get the money because they don’t know how to do all the paperwork.”
Brazilian rap, at least as it has developed in poor neighborhoods here in the country’s largest city, tends to be highly politicized and scornful of lyrics that boast about wealth or sexual conquests. In contrast, the funk movement in Brazil, also imported from the United States but centered in Rio de Janeiro, is unabashedly about celebrating sex, bling and violence.
“When U.S. rap groups come here and try to be ostentatious or do the gangster thing, they get booed off the stage,” Mr. Silva said. “We feel a kinship with Chuck D and Public Enemy” — known for their political commentary — “but we don’t have any respect for people like Snoop Dogg and Puff Daddy.”
Since established commercial radio stations and publishing houses have shown minimal interest in the music and poetry that new hip-hop artists are producing, or want to impose contract terms that are too stringent, rappers have developed their own channels to distribute their work. These range from selling their discs and books themselves on the streets and at shows to having the works played on a network of low-power but linked community radio stations.
“There is an entire industry being built in the informal sector,” Mr. Vianna said. “If you were to apply all the laws in place today, no producer can release a record from a favela. So you have to create a new model, and Gil is willing to do that.”
At the Projeto Casulo, the Culture Points program has produced a pair of documentaries about housing problems, complete with a rap accompaniment, that were broadcast on commercial television. The center has also generated a radionovela, a fanzine and a community newspaper and plans next to set up an online radio station to broadcast the rap songs that its musicians and those at similar community centers here have composed and recorded.
In addition, a Culture Ministry grant enabled Hip Hop Nation Brazil to publish a book called “Hip Hop in Pencil,” a collection of rap lyrics. After a first edition of 2,000 copies quickly sold out in 2005 and was nominated for a literary prize, a conventional publishing house was interested enough to negotiate a deal to publish subsequent editions.
“We had never before seen our story told in a book, and at first the publishing houses didn’t take us seriously,” said Toni C, one of the editors and authors of the collection. “Books had always been used as a weapon against us, and people didn’t know that such a thing as hip-hop literature existed. Now they do.”
Brazilian law also offers tax breaks to companies that contribute to cultural endeavors like films, ballet and art exhibitions. Rap music has now been granted similar standing, and as a result, some of the country’s largest corporations have begun underwriting hip-hop records and shows.
At a recent event in Campinas, a city of one million an hour’s drive from here, the sponsors included a power company, a bank, a construction business and an industrial conglomerate. As a troupe of break dancers strutted their most flashy moves, D.J.’s and M.C.’s railed against social, economic and racial inequality with lyrics like “Reality is always hard/for those who have dark skin/if you don’t watch out/you’ll end up in the paddy wagon.”
“It took a while for companies to wake up to the potential this offers,” said Augusto Rodrigues, an executive of the power company and the director of the cultural center where the show was held. “But there’s a hunger for cultural programs like this, in which for the first time in 20 years, the ideology of the periphery can express itself.”
Showing posts with label Slanguage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Slanguage. Show all posts
Friday, March 16, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
The N Word And Gil Scott Heron
I read a piece on counterpunch.org that takes the opposing side to Mo Beasely's view on the use of the N word. It mentioned the great Gill Scott Heron and his inspiration to rappers. How true. I think I'll compile a CD and lyrics for Mo's bunch. A lot of the kids liked the Calloway stuff.
Here's a great slide show someone did on youtube of his "Winter In America" (not really a rap piece, though), similar to the kinds of ones I make and the kinds I believe kids could be inspired to do in a Web 2.0 easy way. It sort of answers my question (to Jim Garst) as to why the public is just laying down and taking the crap that Bush is handing to us nationally and what Klein/Bloomberg are doing to us locally.
removed
Uh from the Indians who welcomed the pilgrims
And to the buffalos who once ruled the plains
Like the vultures circling beneath the dark clouds looking for the rain
Looking for the rain
Just like the cities stagger on the coastline
In a nation that just can’t stand much more
Like the forest buried beneath the highway, never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow
And now it’s winter, winter in America
Yes now that all of the killers have been killed, sent away, Yeah
But the people know, the people know, it’s winter
Winter in America
And ain’t nobody fighting cause
Nobody knows what to say
Save your soul, lord knows from
Winter in America
The constitution, a noble piece of paper
With free society, a struggle but they died in vain
And now democracy is a ragtime on the corner
Hoping for some rain
It looks like he’s hoping, hoping for some rain
And I see the robins perched in baron treetops
Watching lasting racists marching across the floor
Just like the peace sign that vanished in our dreams
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow
And now it’s winter
Winter in America
Yes now that all of the killers have been killed, or betrayed, Yeah
But the people know, the people know, it’s winter
Lord knows it’s winter in America
And ain’t nobody fighting cause nobody knows what to say
Save your soul
From a winter in America
Stick
And now it’s winter
Winter in America
And now that all of the killers done been killed, sent away
The people know, the people know, it’s winter
Winter in America
And ain’t nobody fighting cause nobody knows what to say
And ain’t nobody fighting cause nobody knows nobody knows
And ain’t nobody fighting cause nobody knows what to say
Here's a great slide show someone did on youtube of his "Winter In America" (not really a rap piece, though), similar to the kinds of ones I make and the kinds I believe kids could be inspired to do in a Web 2.0 easy way. It sort of answers my question (to Jim Garst) as to why the public is just laying down and taking the crap that Bush is handing to us nationally and what Klein/Bloomberg are doing to us locally.
removed
Uh from the Indians who welcomed the pilgrims
And to the buffalos who once ruled the plains
Like the vultures circling beneath the dark clouds looking for the rain
Looking for the rain
Just like the cities stagger on the coastline
In a nation that just can’t stand much more
Like the forest buried beneath the highway, never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow
And now it’s winter, winter in America
Yes now that all of the killers have been killed, sent away, Yeah
But the people know, the people know, it’s winter
Winter in America
And ain’t nobody fighting cause
Nobody knows what to say
Save your soul, lord knows from
Winter in America
The constitution, a noble piece of paper
With free society, a struggle but they died in vain
And now democracy is a ragtime on the corner
Hoping for some rain
It looks like he’s hoping, hoping for some rain
And I see the robins perched in baron treetops
Watching lasting racists marching across the floor
Just like the peace sign that vanished in our dreams
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow
And now it’s winter
Winter in America
Yes now that all of the killers have been killed, or betrayed, Yeah
But the people know, the people know, it’s winter
Lord knows it’s winter in America
And ain’t nobody fighting cause nobody knows what to say
Save your soul
From a winter in America
Stick
And now it’s winter
Winter in America
And now that all of the killers done been killed, sent away
The people know, the people know, it’s winter
Winter in America
And ain’t nobody fighting cause nobody knows what to say
And ain’t nobody fighting cause nobody knows nobody knows
And ain’t nobody fighting cause nobody knows what to say
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Beware Brother Beware
I don't know why I thought there wasn't Jordan stuff on youtube. This is one of his best and sound advice as well.
This could also be the title for the Mayor's new plan for education in NYC. Give the teachers and principals a ridiculous model to follow and irrelevant professional development then make them scapegoats when it fails. Substitute "managers" for girls in Jordan's song and it's updated to 2007
<
beware
Beware
Hey, fellas, yes, you, fellas, listen to me, i got something to tell you And i want you to listen to every word and govern yourselves accordingly
Now, you see these girls with these fine diamonds, fine furs and fine clothes Well, they're looking for a husband and you're listening to a man who knows They ain't foolin', and if you fool around with them You're gonna get yourself in a schoolin'
Listen, if she saves you dough, and won't go to the show Beware If she's easy to kiss and won't resist Beware
And if you go for a walk, and she listens while you talk She's tryin' to hook you
And nobody's lookin' and she asks you to taste her cookin' Don't do it, don't do it And if you go to a show and she wants to sit in the back row Bring her down front, bring her right down front
If you wanna go for a snack, and she wants to sit in the booth in the back Beware
And listen, if she's used to caviar and fine silk When you go out with her she wanna a hot dog and a malted milk She's trying to get you
If you're used to goin' to carnegie hall, but when you take her out night clubing All she wants is one meatball You better take it easy
If she grabs your hand and says, "darling, you're such a nice man" Beware, i'm telling you
(should i tell them no more?) (tell them everything)
You better listen to me 'cause i'm telling you what's being put down You better pick up on it
If her sister calls your brother, you better get further I'm telling you, you better watch it
And if she's acting kind of wild, and she says, "darling, give me a trial" Don't you do it, don't be weak, don't give it to her And if she smiles in your face and just melts into place Let her melt, forget it, let her melt
(should i tell them no more?) (tell them everything)
Now listen, if she calls you up on the phone, and says, "darling, are you all alone?" Tell her, "no, no, i've got two, three women with me"
Don't pay no attention to women Stand up for your right, be a man, be a man
(are you listening?) If you turn out the lights and she don't fight That's the end, it's too late She's got you hooked, you might as well stick with her
(should i tell them no more?)
If you get home about two and don't know what to do You pull back the curtains, and the whole family's looking at you Get your business straight Set the date, don't be late
Brother, beware, beware, beware Brother, you better beware
This could also be the title for the Mayor's new plan for education in NYC. Give the teachers and principals a ridiculous model to follow and irrelevant professional development then make them scapegoats when it fails. Substitute "managers" for girls in Jordan's song and it's updated to 2007
<
beware
Beware
Hey, fellas, yes, you, fellas, listen to me, i got something to tell you And i want you to listen to every word and govern yourselves accordingly
Now, you see these girls with these fine diamonds, fine furs and fine clothes Well, they're looking for a husband and you're listening to a man who knows They ain't foolin', and if you fool around with them You're gonna get yourself in a schoolin'
Listen, if she saves you dough, and won't go to the show Beware If she's easy to kiss and won't resist Beware
And if you go for a walk, and she listens while you talk She's tryin' to hook you
And nobody's lookin' and she asks you to taste her cookin' Don't do it, don't do it And if you go to a show and she wants to sit in the back row Bring her down front, bring her right down front
If you wanna go for a snack, and she wants to sit in the booth in the back Beware
And listen, if she's used to caviar and fine silk When you go out with her she wanna a hot dog and a malted milk She's trying to get you
If you're used to goin' to carnegie hall, but when you take her out night clubing All she wants is one meatball You better take it easy
If she grabs your hand and says, "darling, you're such a nice man" Beware, i'm telling you
(should i tell them no more?) (tell them everything)
You better listen to me 'cause i'm telling you what's being put down You better pick up on it
If her sister calls your brother, you better get further I'm telling you, you better watch it
And if she's acting kind of wild, and she says, "darling, give me a trial" Don't you do it, don't be weak, don't give it to her And if she smiles in your face and just melts into place Let her melt, forget it, let her melt
(should i tell them no more?) (tell them everything)
Now listen, if she calls you up on the phone, and says, "darling, are you all alone?" Tell her, "no, no, i've got two, three women with me"
Don't pay no attention to women Stand up for your right, be a man, be a man
(are you listening?) If you turn out the lights and she don't fight That's the end, it's too late She's got you hooked, you might as well stick with her
(should i tell them no more?)
If you get home about two and don't know what to do You pull back the curtains, and the whole family's looking at you Get your business straight Set the date, don't be late
Brother, beware, beware, beware Brother, you better beware
Reet, Petite And Gone
I found a Louis Jordan film that was in public domain and converted a portion of it for youtube. Those ladies are fine, but they need lessons from the Dreamgirls.
I found a girl who beat's them all
she isn't too short and she isn't too tall
she's in the groove and right on the ball
she's reet, petite and gone.
What a babe, she's the tops
when we go out they don't need no traffic cops
one look at her and traffic stops
she's reet, petite and gone.
I could have my pick you know
'coz i got dough ready to go
this chick's so mighty fine
she's got me all tied up like a ball of twine
when I do things I do 'em right
I'll never let her out of my sight
we'll tie the knot and tie it tight
she's reet petite and gone.
That chick has changed my attitude
whenever i gaze on her poultritude
I'm telling ya Jack, she's mighty fine
got me all tied up like a ball of twine
those other chicks leave me cold
you can't compare brass with 14 carat gold
after they made her they broke the mould
she's reet, petite and gone.
She's reet, petite, neat, so sweet
ALL:
Reet, petite, neat, sweet and gone.
I found a girl who beat's them all
she isn't too short and she isn't too tall
she's in the groove and right on the ball
she's reet, petite and gone.
What a babe, she's the tops
when we go out they don't need no traffic cops
one look at her and traffic stops
she's reet, petite and gone.
I could have my pick you know
'coz i got dough ready to go
this chick's so mighty fine
she's got me all tied up like a ball of twine
when I do things I do 'em right
I'll never let her out of my sight
we'll tie the knot and tie it tight
she's reet petite and gone.
That chick has changed my attitude
whenever i gaze on her poultritude
I'm telling ya Jack, she's mighty fine
got me all tied up like a ball of twine
those other chicks leave me cold
you can't compare brass with 14 carat gold
after they made her they broke the mould
she's reet, petite and gone.
She's reet, petite, neat, so sweet
ALL:
Reet, petite, neat, sweet and gone.
Monday, January 15, 2007
What You Know About That?
Any shortfalls in the education capital spending plan could be plugged by Klein/Bloomberg/Weingarten performing this at a charity event. BTW ATL is a really good feel good movie
from Wikipedia:
"What You Know" is a hip-hop song by Southern rap artist T.I., and the second single from his 2006 album King. The song has also been used in promotion of the film ATL, in which T.I. stars. It has garnered a 5-star rating from Pitchfork Media.[1] The song is peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and it also topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. It utilizes a sample of Roberta Flack's version of The Impressions's "Gone Away"[2]. The track "What You Know" was rumored to be a diss song directed at fellow Dirty South rapper Lil' Flip. According to the last verse when he says "You say you want to squash it, what you still talkin' shit for" and "Video or not, dawg, I'll bust until the glock stop" referring to the videotape that T.I. supposedly has of a fight between him and Flip. The song is produced by DJ Toomp from Zone Boy Productions and Wonder. The drums were done by DJ Toomp while the actual music composition was done by Wonder. Wonder apparently tried to sample the Roberta Flack song, Gone Away, but decided to do a replay instead.
"What You Know" was performed at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, where its music video was nominated for two awards."
ey..ey..ey..ey..ey..
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
ey.
don’t you know I got
key by the three when I chirp shawty chirp back
Louis now sack
where I hold'n all tha work at
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
I know all about that
Loaded 44s on the low where the cheese at
Fresh off the jet to the Jects where the G’s at
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
Hey what you know about that?
Hey I know all about that
See me in ya city sittin pretty kno I'm shining dawg
Ridin wid a couple Latin brawds and a china doll
And you kno how we ball,
Aye..
Ridin in shiny cars.
Aye..
Walk in designer malls,
Aye..
Buy everything we saw,
You know about me dogg,
Don’t talk about me dogg,
And if you doubt me dogg,
You better out me dogg,
I'm throwed off slightly bruh,
Don’t wanna fight me bruh,
I'm fast as lightning bruh ya better use ya Nike’s bro,
Know you don’t like me cuz,
Yo bitch most likely does,
She see me on them dubs,
In front of every club,
I be on dro I’m buzzed,
Give every ho a hug,
Niggaz don’t show me mugs,
Cause you don’t know me cuz,
ey...
don’t you know I got,
key by the three when I chirp shawty chirp back,
Louis now sack,
where I hold'n all tha work at,
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
I know all about that
Loaded 44s on the low where the cheese at,
Fresh off the jet to the Jects where the G’s at,
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
Hey what you know about that?
Hey I know all about that,
Candy on the '64,
Leather guts and fish bowl,
50 on the pinky ring just to make my fist glow,
Ya bitches get low,
Because I get dough,
So what? I'm rich ho,
I still pull a-kick-do' (kick ya door down)
What you talking shit fo?
I gotta run and hit fo?
Got you a yellin and I thought you pulled out a gun hit fo,
But you’s a scary dude,
Believed by very few,
Just keep it very cool,
Or we will bury you,
See all that attitude’s, unnecessary dude,
Cause you never Carry Tools not even sweary qs,
You got these people fooled, who see you on the tube,
Whatever you try to prove, they’ll see you on the news,
ey...
don’t you know I got,
key by the three when I chirp shawty chirp back,
Louis now sack,
where I hold'n all tha work at,
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
I know all about that
Loaded 44s on the low where the cheese at,
Fresh off the jet to the Jects where the G’s at,
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
Hey what you know about that?
Hey I know all about that
Fresh off the jet to the block,
Burn a rubber with a top-pop,
I’ll pop and bust a shot and tell em stop and make the block hot,
Ya label got got,
Cuz you are not hot,
I got the top spot,
And it will not stop,
A video or not that will bust it to the glock stop,
Drag ya out that Bentley Coupe and take it to the chop shop,
Partner, we not ya'll,
If it may pop off,
I’ll answer the question “Will I get ya block knocked off?”,
And what it is bruh,
Look I will kill, bruh
I’m in your hood, if you a gangsta what you hid for?
Somebody better get bruh for he get sent for,
You say you wanna squash it what you still talkin shit for?
ey...
don’t you know I got,
key by the three when I chirp shawty chirp back,
Louis now sack,
where I hold'n all tha work at,
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
I know all about that
Loaded 44s on the low where the cheese at,
Fresh off the jet to the Jects where the G’s at,
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
Hey what you know about that?
Hey I know all about that.
from Wikipedia:
"What You Know" is a hip-hop song by Southern rap artist T.I., and the second single from his 2006 album King. The song has also been used in promotion of the film ATL, in which T.I. stars. It has garnered a 5-star rating from Pitchfork Media.[1] The song is peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and it also topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. It utilizes a sample of Roberta Flack's version of The Impressions's "Gone Away"[2]. The track "What You Know" was rumored to be a diss song directed at fellow Dirty South rapper Lil' Flip. According to the last verse when he says "You say you want to squash it, what you still talkin' shit for" and "Video or not, dawg, I'll bust until the glock stop" referring to the videotape that T.I. supposedly has of a fight between him and Flip. The song is produced by DJ Toomp from Zone Boy Productions and Wonder. The drums were done by DJ Toomp while the actual music composition was done by Wonder. Wonder apparently tried to sample the Roberta Flack song, Gone Away, but decided to do a replay instead.
"What You Know" was performed at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, where its music video was nominated for two awards."
ey..ey..ey..ey..ey..
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
ey.
don’t you know I got
key by the three when I chirp shawty chirp back
Louis now sack
where I hold'n all tha work at
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
I know all about that
Loaded 44s on the low where the cheese at
Fresh off the jet to the Jects where the G’s at
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
Hey what you know about that?
Hey I know all about that
See me in ya city sittin pretty kno I'm shining dawg
Ridin wid a couple Latin brawds and a china doll
And you kno how we ball,
Aye..
Ridin in shiny cars.
Aye..
Walk in designer malls,
Aye..
Buy everything we saw,
You know about me dogg,
Don’t talk about me dogg,
And if you doubt me dogg,
You better out me dogg,
I'm throwed off slightly bruh,
Don’t wanna fight me bruh,
I'm fast as lightning bruh ya better use ya Nike’s bro,
Know you don’t like me cuz,
Yo bitch most likely does,
She see me on them dubs,
In front of every club,
I be on dro I’m buzzed,
Give every ho a hug,
Niggaz don’t show me mugs,
Cause you don’t know me cuz,
ey...
don’t you know I got,
key by the three when I chirp shawty chirp back,
Louis now sack,
where I hold'n all tha work at,
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
I know all about that
Loaded 44s on the low where the cheese at,
Fresh off the jet to the Jects where the G’s at,
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
Hey what you know about that?
Hey I know all about that,
Candy on the '64,
Leather guts and fish bowl,
50 on the pinky ring just to make my fist glow,
Ya bitches get low,
Because I get dough,
So what? I'm rich ho,
I still pull a-kick-do' (kick ya door down)
What you talking shit fo?
I gotta run and hit fo?
Got you a yellin and I thought you pulled out a gun hit fo,
But you’s a scary dude,
Believed by very few,
Just keep it very cool,
Or we will bury you,
See all that attitude’s, unnecessary dude,
Cause you never Carry Tools not even sweary qs,
You got these people fooled, who see you on the tube,
Whatever you try to prove, they’ll see you on the news,
ey...
don’t you know I got,
key by the three when I chirp shawty chirp back,
Louis now sack,
where I hold'n all tha work at,
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
I know all about that
Loaded 44s on the low where the cheese at,
Fresh off the jet to the Jects where the G’s at,
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
Hey what you know about that?
Hey I know all about that
Fresh off the jet to the block,
Burn a rubber with a top-pop,
I’ll pop and bust a shot and tell em stop and make the block hot,
Ya label got got,
Cuz you are not hot,
I got the top spot,
And it will not stop,
A video or not that will bust it to the glock stop,
Drag ya out that Bentley Coupe and take it to the chop shop,
Partner, we not ya'll,
If it may pop off,
I’ll answer the question “Will I get ya block knocked off?”,
And what it is bruh,
Look I will kill, bruh
I’m in your hood, if you a gangsta what you hid for?
Somebody better get bruh for he get sent for,
You say you wanna squash it what you still talkin shit for?
ey...
don’t you know I got,
key by the three when I chirp shawty chirp back,
Louis now sack,
where I hold'n all tha work at,
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
I know all about that
Loaded 44s on the low where the cheese at,
Fresh off the jet to the Jects where the G’s at,
What you know about that?
What you know about that?
Hey what you know about that?
Hey I know all about that.
Jack, You're Dead
Nothing of any real worth on youtube or multimedia-wise elsewhere for Louis Jordan. I had to make my own karaoke iMovie and then convert it. A time consuming, tedious job, but procastination is preferred to dealing with other things. I'm proud of the results. Great slanguage possibilities. Jordan's link to Harlem? His first real gig (1938) was at the Elk's Rendezvous Club on 484 Lenox Ave. He named his group the "Elk's Rendezvous Five." Later it was changed to his famed "Tympany Five."
Saturday Night Fish Fry (on Monday Night at 1:30AM)
I had to go upstate yesterday and I forgot to bring along my favorite CD and track of the moment, Joey Defrancesco's version of Anthony Newley's, "Once In a Lifetime." It has an incredible arrangement with Joey backed by a great European Jazz Band. So I reach into my CD stash and come up with my Calloway CD and bingo. Talk about slanguage and Harlem history-Calloway was the man. I have a pdf file of many of his songs' that I can print out (at home-there's an ink crisis at school) for Mo's kids. I'll burn them CD's as well. In September I had a youtube of Calloway's Jumping Jive with the Nicholas brother. I'm too lazy to relink it, just do a search for Calloway. The other guy I should have thought of for the poetry, rap, slanguage connection was Louis Jordan. From wikipedia on Louis:"Jordan's raucous recordings were also notable for their use of fantastical narrative. This is perhaps best exemplified on the freewheeling party adventure "Saturday Night Fish Fry", the two-part 1950 hit that was split across both sides of a 78. It is arguably one of the earliest American recordings to include all the basic elements of the classic rock'n'roll genre (obviously exerting a direct influence on the subsequent work of Bill Haley) and it is certainly one of the first songs in popular music to use the word "rocking" in the chorus and to prominently feature a distorted electric guitar. [2]
Its distinctive comical adventure narrative is strikingly similar to the style later used by Bob Dylan in his classic "story" songs like "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" and "Tombstone Blues". "Saturday Night Fish Fry" is also notable for the fact that it dispenses with the customary instrumental chorus introduction, but its most prominent feature is Jordan's rapid-fire, semi-spoken vocal. His delivery, clearly influenced by his experience as a saxophone soloist, de-emphasises the vocal melody in favour of highly syncopated phrasing and the percussive effects of alliteration and assonance, and it is arguably one of the earliest examples in American popular music of the vocal stylings that eventually evolved into rap."
LITTLE MOE:
If you ever been down to New Orleans
then you can understand just what I mean,
all through the week it's as quiet as a mouse
but on a saturday night they go from house to house
you don't have to pay the usual admission
if you're a cook, a waiter or a good musician
so if you happen to to be just passin' by
stop in at the saturday night fish fry.
ALL:
it was rockin'
LITTLE MOE:
Sing it fellas
ALL:
it was rockin'
LITTLE MOE:
See they know what I'm talkin' about
ALL:
You never seen such scufflin' and a shufflin'
'til the break of dawn.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Mo Mo 2
I youtubed Mo's great performance of No Good Nigga Blues from last year
From session 1 on Friday I picked up these gems from Mo as he urged on his crew of poets
"Step up to it Mike"
"Hit it and quit it"
I brought my copy of Streettalk. The kids enjoyed reading it and of course they've got many expressions that are unlisted.
Afterwards I wrote my own poem using some I viewed printed and some I newly minted.
"I have a premonition that one day I'll be Doctor Bobby Murcered
Well on that day
I got a bullett for Doctor Bobby Berged
That fake ass wanna be D
Yeh he's got a little fake something going on
With my B
I be dumb but I ain't got no bolts around my neck
Let him pay for making my life total Dreck
From session 1 on Friday I picked up these gems from Mo as he urged on his crew of poets
"Step up to it Mike"
"Hit it and quit it"
I brought my copy of Streettalk. The kids enjoyed reading it and of course they've got many expressions that are unlisted.
Afterwards I wrote my own poem using some I viewed printed and some I newly minted.
"I have a premonition that one day I'll be Doctor Bobby Murcered
Well on that day
I got a bullett for Doctor Bobby Berged
That fake ass wanna be D
Yeh he's got a little fake something going on
With my B
I be dumb but I ain't got no bolts around my neck
Let him pay for making my life total Dreck
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