Black Entertainment : HIPHOP LEGACIES EAST@WEST@SOUTH...

[Isaiah]

Venturing a contributions to hiphop legacy for the most prominent regions of the country, I concluded(though not very scientifically)that the East had provided lyrical content, the west had provided musical and rhythmic creativity, and the south had provided a southern style and sabor, as the Puerto Ricans say...

I concluded that in no other region of the country had the notion of strong social commentary been more prominent than in the east, and the list of great groups and individuals who brought The Message would attest to that...

Out west, beginning in the 1990's, we began to hear a far more creative pulse in the genre with Dr. Dre, N.W.A., Ice Cube, and Tupac, and the genre has never been the same since. Again, the West Coast's sense of rhythm probably domnates the scene even now, because they pointed the way toward my creativity in the riffs of HipHop...

Now, the south, provided style changes for both the East and West Coasts, which is a departure from what we've come to know as the norm... The south always provided the substance for Black music all over the United States, but I think the roles were reversed this time... Again, though this little survey is not at all scientific, but Crunk and Skrew are styles of the music that has had a powerful impact on the music overall - though west and east coasts may not have fully adopted those styles yet... Doesn't matter, because that's probably just a matter of time... Those style changes actually broaden the palate of colors from which hiphop images can and will be painted...


Peace!
Isaiah

 

[uplift19]

Interesting analysis. You neglected to mention that east didn't merely provide "lyrical content," but in fact the invention of the culture itself. And in the beginning, hip hop had nothing to do with lyrics and everything to do with partying. As focus shifted from dj to emcee, the lyrics became more important. This has more to do with history than region.

The west coast and south both put their local spin on what was perceived as a New York culture. I think, though, it was mainly Dre that added the creativity/style as far as music/rhythm/production that you are referring to rather than a cadre of artists from the west coast.

And what about the international community that keeps more of the culture (not just music) alive than we do? (i.e. graffiti, breaking, etc.)

 

[Isaiah]

Interesting analysis. You neglected to mention that east didn't merely provide "lyrical content," but in fact the invention of the culture itself. And in the beginning, hip hop had nothing to do with lyrics and everything to do with partying. As focus shifted from dj to emcee, the lyrics became more important. This has more to do with history than region.

The west coast and south both put their local spin on what was perceived as a New York culture. I think, though, it was mainly Dre that added the creativity/style as far as music/rhythm/production that you are referring to rather than a cadre of artists from the west coast.

And what about the international community that keeps more of the culture (not just music) alive than we do? (i.e. graffiti, breaking, etc.)

I agree, Sister Uplift, as to the origins of the genre, but as that is a well-known fact of the history, I didn't feel the need to repeat it... And you are also correct about the party origins of the music, and the EmCee Factor later on, as well as, Dr. Dre being the most instrumental catalyst for the rhythmic pulse that came out of the west... The south's influence is harder to define, and so is the international flavor, but it is there...

I remember a few years ago, when the Cuban group, the ORISHAS did a song called REPRESENT... That was when I knew stuff had blown sky high in this culture, and that those influences would definitely change the sound and style of the genre I think that was AFTER MC Solar did that piece with Ron Carter on Bass, and US3 had done CANTALOOP... I like the international rap community's fascination with Jazz riffs in HipHop... They seem to have a far more sophisticated, well-rounded, and eclectical understanding of what is possible in HipHop than African American kids... I don't know, but that is how I see it...


Peace!
Isaiah

 

[MississippiRed]

I think a lot of it has to do with where the music originated and why.....music in the South came out of the clubs and strip clubs.....it came about in the case of Screw from a culture of sippin Lean and riding.......we love them cars down there and we love to ride and make them blocks.....so every part of the country has a personality and you can hear it in the music.......what we've contributed to hiphop......don't know........we didn't have the breakdancing and painting on the walls and parties in the park.......so what we did wasn't a version of what we saw folk in NY doing we were doing us........riding, drankin, fighting up in the club, going to strip joints, street racing .....sitting in the park like it's a car show on Sundays.......knoumtalnbout.......

but still can't tell you what we've contributed so far.......it's still not a lot of us down there that consider our music hiphop to begin with so that's a good question Isaiah but a hard one to answer.....



Red

 

[uplift19]

.......knoumtalnbout.......

Wow...if nothing else, a whole new language