New American Songbook

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New American Songbook: 'Spa 700' Aug 13, 2018

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There’s a moment in ‘Spa 700’ where you find your bearings, just barely: the tempo solidifies, a melody emerges and stanzas form. Then you realize that only four minutes have passed since the beginning of this fourteen-minute release from Philly musicians DJ Haram and Moor Mother.

New American Songbook: Pigeon Jul 30, 2018

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There are cloth mesh barriers lining the steel girders underneath the railroad bridge in downtown Wichita. The bridge, nicknamed the ‘pigeon bridge’, was a home to a roost of the birds--a few weeks before the mesh went up, live traps were placed, pocketed between beams, and the birds’ numbers dwindled. That the pigeon has a pedigree more noble than its circumstances is a fact often overlooked in discussions that center on what to do about the bird. The species is amazingly versatile, and even as a metaphor, the pigeon is a capable ally. The pigeon is the bird of the working poor, as described by Vast Aire in this song by Cannibal Ox, called ‘Pigeon’: It’s difficult to avoid comparison between the eviction of the pigeons from the Douglas Street bridge, and the renovation of Naftzger Park just across the street, which has resulted in the eviction of the unhoused or working poor that visited the park. It’s unclear where the remaining pigeons will relocate now that their flock has been

The Hip Hop Way | New American Songbook Jul 16, 2018

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"The Hip Hop Way" originally aired December 16, 2016. There’s a scene in the 1997 documentary "Rhyme and Reason" where the emcee Taz demonstrates how to hand someone a hat. It isn’t enough to merely give someone a hat, he explains, you have to hand it to them in a hip hop way. As he performs the difference, you can see he knows this is over the top, but you can also see there’s a part of this that’s true: There is a hip hop way to hand someone a hat, and it’s a little funkier than any other way. I think about this scene nearly every time I put on a ball cap—a slight tilt of the brim to one side is standard, and like Taz, I know this is both over the top and also, at the same time, serious. Culture is quilted together by the threads of these small gestures; the daily performance of the incidental trains our minds to see reality in a certain way. In other words, the vocabulary of hip hop culture is expressed in more than raps on tape, or ciphers on the corner, although it’s expressed

New American Songbook: GZA's 'Liquid Science' Jul 02, 2018

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Scientific concepts have long existed in hip hop music, sometimes expressed in the mathematics of Five Percenter ideology, or in more procedural ways, like referring to the recording studio as a laboratory, suggesting the crafting of music is akin to the creation of a science experiment. And while these themes are widespread, my guess is that if you ask a hip hop fan which emcee they most associate with science, 9 out of 10 of them will answer with the GZA of the Wu-Tang clan.

Femdot's Delacreme 2 | NAS Jun 18, 2018

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I’ve been really impressed with the hip hop coming out of Chicago lately--emcees like Mick Jenkins, Noname and of course Chance the Rapper have developed a wonderful and distinct sound and emotional range that feels rare in contemporary hip hop.

New American Songbook: 'This Is America' May 22, 2018

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In 1992, the rap-metal group Body Count released one of the more infamous songs that you’ve probably never heard. The song, "Cop Killer," generated a ton of controversy--even then-President Bush chimed in--and it was eventually removed from the album, but not necessarily for the reason you might think. When asked about it, Ice-T explained that he removed the song because “it got out of hand...let’s get back to real issues, not a record, but the cops that are out there killing people.” The reaction to Childish Gambino’s new release “This is America” has been similar insofar as it’s missed the forest for the trees. The speed with which the conversation about the video became more about how many times a person watched it, or how many Easter eggs they could decode, was remarkable, especially for a video and song that is stunningly straightforward in its message. Spoiler alert: It’s about white supremacy and police brutality. A common refrain online is that the video rewards multiple views,

New American Songbook: High Hip Hop May 07, 2018

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Hip hop has always been fascinated with itself--one of the music’s unique and endearing qualities is its constant self-reflection and self-assessment. This is great for true fans--there’s nothing an enthusiast loves more than to constantly talk about their enthusiasm--but it’s often difficult for casual or first-time listeners to get into it.

New American Songbook: The Pulitzer Apr 23, 2018

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In 1989, the first year that rap music was included as a category in the Grammy Awards, half of the winning duo boycotted the show altogether. The winning act, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, felt slighted by the exclusion of the category from the television broadcast. The emcee, Will Smith, along with several other nominees, declined to participate. The rap group Salt N Pepa put it succinctly, saying “if they don’t want us, we don’t want them.” If the 1989 Grammys indicated the acceptance of hip hop into a certain level of popular culture--acknowledged, but still marginalized--then the 2018 Pulitzer Prize award for music could be taken as a culmination of a 30-year journey from outlier to absolute cultural hegemony. Even if you’ve never listened to Kendrick Lamar’s winning album, DAMN , you have likely heard its songs in movies, NBA commercials, video games and more. This is a good thing. But, while Pulitzer is, I’m told, a venerable institution, I want to be careful to keep Salt

New American Songbook: Anthropocene Apr 09, 2018

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A term that is gaining more popularity over the past few years is the Anthropocene.

Remembering Craig Mack | New American Songbook Mar 26, 2018

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Bad Boy Records, founded by Sean “Puffy” Combs in 1993, was a cultural force in the mid-90’s.