Things to Do Before Class

Note that all readings/viewings/listening should be done BEFORE the class date listed.

 

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For Thursday 12/12 at 2:45pm (OR, optional early exam time: 12/9 at 4pm in GSH 123):

None, study for the exam

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For Wednesday 12/4:

Please Read: 

• Son of Detroit: The Oral History of J Dilla

• The Evolution of J Dilla

Please Listen: 

• Here is the Spotify playlist. It’s missing De La Soul’s “Stakes is High” remix and all the sample material listed here under each song.

• Slum Village – “Fall in Love” (1998)

  • Gap Mangione – “Diana in the Autumn Wind” (1968)***just listen to the first minute

  • Iron Butterfly – “Soldier In Our Town” (1970)***just the intro break

• J Dilla feat. Common and J Rocc – “E=MC2” (2006)

  • Manzel – “Midnight Theme” (1979)***just the intro break

  • Giorgio Moroder – “E=MC2” (1979) ***just check the sample at 4:22

• J Dilla – “Don’t Cry” (2006)

  • The Escorts – “I Can’t Stand (To See You Cry)” (1974)***just check the first minute, although Dilla plays most the sample in the intro of “Don’t Cry”

• Black Star – “Little Brother” (1999, prod. J Dilla)

  • Roy Ayers’ Ubiquity “Ain’t Got Time” (1971) ***check the first 90 seconds

    • ***please note that what makes this beat so incredible is that Dilla chopped up small portions of “Ain’t Got Time” and was able to make an instrumental loop of it. Why is this such and excellent chop??? Because Ayers talks over the whole record and Dilla found all the bits the re-composed them

• De La Soul – “Stakes is High” (1996, prod. J Dilla)

• Pharcyde – “Runnin” (1995, prod. J Dilla)

• MF DOOM – “Doomsday” (1999, ***not Dilla related)

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For Monday 12/2:

Here is where can you find the Week 10 questions to help you through the readings/viewings and our in-class discussion.

• PLEASE see the questions posted for the 11/27 class we cancelled and you agreed to check on.
• Kajikawa, Loren. 2009. “Eminem’s ‘My Name Is’: Signifying whiteness, rearticulating race.” In Journal of the Society for American Music 3, no. 3: 341-363.

Please Listen: 

• Here is the Spotify playlist. It’s missing Eminem “Never Too Far,” but I want you to watch some of the music videos anyway.

• Eminem – “Never Too Far” (1996, take a listen to a bit of this to get a sense of his sound on Infinite)

• Eminem – “My Name Is” (1999, watch the video)

• Eminem – “White America” (2002, watch the video)

• Kid Frost – “La Raza” (1990, watch the video)

• Cypress Hill – “Latin Lingo” (1991, watch the video)

• Mountain Brothers – “Paperchase” (1998)

• Jin – “Learn Chinese” (2004, watch the video)

• Rich Brian (fka Rich Chigga) – “Dat $tick” (2016, watch the video)

  • Interested in knowing more about him, read this

  • Rich Chigga Changed His Name But The Damage Is Done And The Joke’s On Us

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For Wednesday 11/27:

• Review all these materials, look at the slides, and these are the review questions for the exam. They will all be bonus questions. 

• Please download and answer these questions about the film Scratch and answer them while or after you watch it.

Please Read:

• Katz, Mark. 2012. “The art of war-The DJ battle: 1991-1996.”  In Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-Hop DJ, pgs. 153-178. London: Oxford University Press. (You can skip 166-174)

• Wang, Oliver. 2015.  “Take me out with the fader: The decline of the mobile scene.”  In Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews in the San Francisco Bay Area, pgs. 125-150. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. (Please focus on pages 128-138)

Please Watch: Scratch (2001)

Please Watch (these are all between 1 and 6 minutes): 

• DJ Craze New Slaves Routine

  • Bonus: re-watch X-Men vs. Invisibl Skratch Piklz – 1996 I.T.F. Team Battle (from 8 minutes in; Katz writes about this battle on page 162-166)

• DJ Perly 2016 USA DMC 2nd Place

• Roc Raida 1995 World DMC Championship Set

• DJ Craze 1998 USA DMC Final

• DJ Babu Blind Alley Routine

• DJ Kuttin Kandi 1998 USA DMC Final

• DJ Shortee Coffee Cuts

• Mista Sinista Method Man Routine

• Rob Swift and the Biz Markie Routine (and, him explaining the composition)

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For Monday 11/25:

Here is where can you find the Week 9 questions to help you through the readings/viewings and our in-class discussion.

• Morgan, Joan. 2017. “From fly-girls to bitches and hos.” From When chickenheads come to roost: A hip-hop feminist breaks it down, 65-81.

• Keyes, Cheryl L. 2004. “Empowering self, making choices, creating spaces: Black female identity via rap music performance,” p. 265-274.

• Roberts, Robin. 1994. “Ladies First”: Queen Latifah’s Afrocentric feminist music. African American Review 28, no. 2: 245-257.

Please Watch:

• Why hip-hop needs women on the mic with Jean Grae

  • For those really interested, you can check out Hip Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes (2006)

Please Listen: 

• This Spotify playlist is complete
• Queen Latifah – “Ladies First” (1989, watch the music video)

• Bahamadia – “True Honey Buns” (1996, watch the music video)

• Lauryn Hill – “Doo-Wop (That Thing)” (1998, watch the music video)

• Salt n Pepa – “Push It” (1986, watch the music video)

• Missy Elliot – “Work It” (2002, watch the music video)

• Lil Kim – “Queen Bitch” (1997)

• Queen Pen – “Girlfriend” (1997)

• MC Lyte – “Lyte as a Rock” (1988, watch the music video)

• Azealia Banks – “Liquorice” (2012, watch the music video)

• Sa-Roc – “Forever” (2018)

• Rapsody – “Cleo” (2019)

• Jean Grae  & Talib Kweli – “Black Girl Pain” (2004)

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For Wednesday 11/20:

NONE, study for exam

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For Monday 11/18:

Here is where can you find the Week 8 questions to help you through the readings/viewings and our in-class discussion.

Please Read:

• McLeod, Kembrew. 1999. Authenticity within hip-hop and other cultures threatened with assimilation. Journal of Communication 49, no. 3: 134-150.

• “Keep It Real: Hip Hop’s Changing Views On Authenticity” by Andres Tardio

Please Listen: 

• This Spotify playlist is complete

• Wu-Tang Clan – “C.R.E.A.M.” (1993)

• Wu-Tang Clan – “Can It Be All So Simple” (1993)

• O.C. – “Time’s Up” (1994)

• Gang Starr – “Mass Appeal” (1994)

• Jeru the Damaja – “Come Clean” (1994)

  • No need to check it, but for those who want to learn about the making of this classic

• Notorious BIG – “Juicy” (1994) and “Gimme the Loot” (1993)

• Mobb Deep – “Shook Ones Pt. II” (1995)

  • No need to check it, but for those who want to read about the making of The Infamous

• Big L – “I Don’t Understand It” (1995)

  • No need to check it, but if you’re digging Big L: in 1995 Big L brought a then-unknown rapper named Jay-Z to the Stretch & Bobbito radio show on WKCR in NYC. Check out this dope 10-minute “freestyle”

  • And for those of you who like Jay-Z, check out the b-side from his first 12″ single for “In My Lifetime”…the join is “I Can’t Get Wid Dat” (1994), which was the first release on Jay’s label that he funded with drug money: Roc-A-Fella.

• Common – “I Used to Love H.E.R.” (1994)

  • No need to check it, but for those who want to read about the making of Resurrection

Watch:

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For Wednesday 11/13:

Please Read:

• Williams, Justin. 2014. “Jeep Beats” from Rhymin’ and Stealin’: Musical Borrowing in Hip-Hop, p. 73-102. (Please read the whole thing, but focus your energy on 82-102.)

• Selected pages from Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard On You?: A Memoir (focus on pages 289-295, but please read the whole thing)

• Take a look at the P-Funk sampleography

• No need to look at this, but in case you want to brush up on your G-Funk look at The 30 best G-Funk tracks of all time (note, many of the links don’t work)

Please Listen: 

• This spotify playlist is complete 

• Above the Law – “Dose of the Mega Flex” (1991)

• Parliament – “Mothership Connection” (1975)

• Snoop Dogg – “Who Am I? (What’s My Name)” (1993)

• Funkadelic – “One Nation Under A Groove” (1978…listen to at  least the first 4 minutes)

• Ice Cube feat. George Clinton – “Bop Gun” (1993)

• DJ Quik – “Tonight” (1991)

• Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg – “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” (1992…watch this video)

• Snoop Dogg – “Gin and Juice” (1993)

• Mista Grimm – “Indo Smoke” (1993)

• Kendrick Lamar – “King Kunta” (2015)

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For Monday 11/11:

Here is where can you find the Week 7 questions to help you through the readings/viewings and our in-class discussion

Please Read: 

• Before class, download and/or write these questions down in your notebook and answer them while we watch Planet Rock: the Story of Hip Hop and the Crack Generation.

• Watkins, S.Craig. 1999. “Black Youth and the Ironies of Capitalism.” from Representing: Hip hop culture and the production of black cinema, p. 50-76. (*read only 58-63)

• Please watch this short, 4-minute film by Jay-Z The War on Drugs is an Epic Fail (sorry, added a Youtube link not the paid NYT article)

  • Please read about the Fair Sentencing Act, signed by Obama in 2010

Please Listen: 

• This spotify playlist is complete 

• Notorious BIG – “10 Crack Commandments” (1999)

• Outkast – “West Savannah” (1998)

• Public Enemy – “Night of the Living Baseheads” (1988)

• GZA – “Gold” (1995)

• NWA – “Dopeman” (1988)

• Boogie Down Productions “Love’s Gonna Get’cha” (1990)

• Immortal Technique feat Diabolic, Tonedeff, Poison Pen, Loucipher, C-Rayz Walz – “Peruvian Cocaine” (2003)

• Future ft. Pharrell Williams, Pusha T- “Move That Dope” (2014)

***If you missed/will miss class, please watch this film: 

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For Wednesday 11/6:

Please Read:

• N.W.A.- Art or Irresponsibility? Interview by Davey D and Keith Moerer in BAM Magazine (April 21 1989)

• Chang, Jeff. 2005. “The culture assassins: Geography, generation and gangsta rap” from Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop, p. 299-329. (read it all)

• Watts, Erik. 2004. “An exploration of spectacular consumption: Gangsta rap as cultural commodity” from That’s the joint!: The hip-hop studies reader. (read 593 through the top of 603)

  • Look over “How Ronald Regan Created Gangsta Rap” in The Village Voice (1996)

  • Look over “A History of Rap Songs Protesting Police Brutality” on Complex

Please Listen:

• This spotify playlist is complete except “Stop the Violence” and “Cop Killer”

• Schoolly D – “P.S.K., What Does It Mean?” (1985)

  • Check out this comic on the song: Schoolly D’s Influential Hit: PSK, What Does It Mean?

• Ice-T – “6 ‘N The Mornin” (1987)

• Boogie Down Productions – “9mm Goes Bang” (1987)

• Stop the Violence Movement – “Self Destruction” (1989)

• Eazy E – “Boyz in Da Hood” (1987)

• N.W.A. – “Fuck the Police” (1988)

• KRS-One – “Sound of Da Police” (1993)

• The Geto Boys – “Scarface” (1990)

  • Bonus Listen: The Geto Boys – “My Mind Playing Tricks On Me” (1991)

• Ice Cube – “Endangered Species (Tales From The Darkside)” (1990)

  • Bonus Listen: Body Count – “Cop Killer” (1992)

• Vince Staples – “Hands Up” (2014)

***You do NOT need to watch this, but for those who want to: N.W.A The World’s Most Dangerous Group

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For Monday 11/4:

Here is where can you find the Week 6 questions to help you through the readings/viewings and our in-class discussion

Please Read:

• Edwards, Paul. 2015. Producers and Samplers/Sequencers in The Concise Guide to Hip-Hop Music: A Fresh Look at the Art of Hip-Hop, from Old-School Beats to Freestyle Rap, 98-110 and 122-129.

  • ***Please re-look over this chapter that I didn’t talk about last week but will todaySchloss. 2004. “Sampling Ethics” in Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop, 101-133.***

• Tompkins, Dave. 2001. “Return to the World of Though: Extended Re-Thought”. In Big Daddy magazine. Yooooooo, this article is super fresh and the grail of writing on Paul C and his disciples. Don’t front and READ THIS!

• “Back to basics with Pete Rock” by Dave Ma

• Interview: Hip Hop Great Large Professor by Chairman Mao for Red Bull Music Academy.

  • If you have time, a short interviews with legends about using the SP1200 sampler. No need to read, but it’s dope!

Please Listen:

• This spotify playlist is complete 
• Ultramagnetic MC’s – “Ego Trippin'” (1986, prod. Ced Gee)
• Ultramagnetic MC’s – “Give the Drummer Some” (1988, prod. Paul C)

• Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud – “Do The James” (1988, prod. Paul C)

• Eric B & Rakim – “In the Ghetto” (1990, prod. Paul C w/ Large Professor)

• Eric B. & Rakim – “Let the Rhythm Hit Em” (1990, prod. Paul with w/ Large Professor)

• Main Source – “Looking at the Front Door” (1991, prod. Large Professor)

• Nas – “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” (1994, prod. Large Professor)

• Large Professor – “The Mad Scientist” (1996)

  • For the head interested (that means, you don’t need to listen), very fresh NPR podcast where Ali Shaheed from Tribe Called Quest interviews Large Pro: Part1 an Part 2

• Pete Rock and CL Smooth – “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y)” (1992)

  • No need to check it, but for those who want to learn about the making of this classic (you need to scroll to #4)

• Pete Rock and CL Smooth – “Straighten It Out” (1992)

• Nas – “The World is Yours” (1994, prod. Pete Rock)

IF YOU’RE Interested, please watch (you DO NOT need to watch this): 

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For Wednesday 10/30:

NONE, study for exam!!!

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For Monday 10/28:

Please Read:

• Before class, download and/or write these questions down in your notebook and answer them while we watch Copyright Criminals.

• J-Zone. 2001. “Legal Action from a Pimp” in Root for the villain: Rap, bullshit, and a celebration of failure, 69-71.

• Schloss. 2004. “Sampling Ethics” in Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop, 101-133.

• Jay-Z Versus the Sample Troll: The shady one-man corporation that’s destroying hip-hop by Tim Wu

Please Listen:

• Please listen to the drum break on James Brown “Funky Drummer” (break is at about 5:18)

If you are absent or interested or whatever, here is the film we’re watching in class: 

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For Wednesday 10/23:

Please Read:

• A beginner’s guide to hip-hop collective Native Tongues

  • Bonus reading if you’re interested (this is a great article!!!): De La Soul 3 Feet High and Rising by Jeff Chang

• McLeod and DiCola. 2011. “The golden age of sampling.” In Creative license: The law and culture of digital sampling, p. 19-35. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.  

  • Bonus reading material for those who care, so you don’t need to read this: 1989: when Beastie Boys, De La Soul, and sampling ruled

• Coleman, Brian. 2007. A Tribe Called Quest The Low End Theory from Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies.

Please Listen:

• This spotify playlist is complete except for “Eye Know” but check some of the videos as noted

• De La Soul – “Buddy” (Remix feat Jungle Brothers, Q Tip, Monie Love & Queen Latifah, 1989) ***please watch the music video

• De La Soul – “Eye Know” (1989) ***please watch the music video (not on Spotify)

• Jungle Brothers – “Doin’ Our Own Dang” (1989)

• Jungle Brothers – “U Make Me Sweat” (1989)

• Black Sheep – “Flavor Of The Month” (1991) ***please watch the music video

• Queen Latifah ft. De La Soul – “Mama Gave Birth To The Soul Children” (1989)

• A Tribe Called Quest – “Bonita Applebum” (1990)

• A Tribe Called Quest – “Can I Kick It” (1990)

  • If you want to see the music video, which had a remix to the song

• A Tribe Called Quest – “Check the Rhime” (1991)

• A Tribe Called Quest – “Award Tour” (1993)

Please Watch:

***This is optional, but awesome

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For Monday 10/21:

Here is where can you find the Week 4 questions to help you through the readings/viewings and our in-class discussion

Please Read:

•  Goldberg, David Albert Mhadi. 2004.  “The scratch is hip-hop: Appropriating the phonographic medium.” In Appropriating technology: Vernacular science and social power, edited by Ron Eglash, Jennifer L. Croissant, Giovanni Di Chiro, and Rayvon Fouche´, p. 107-144. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. *just read 107 through the bottom of 128*

• This comic: Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel and Hip Hop Family Tree, Rockit & Grandmixer DST

Please Listen:

• This spotify playlist is complete but watch the two videos below

• Grandmaster Flash – “The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel” (1981)

• Herbie Hancock – “Rockit” (1983) *check only the 2:00-4:10 of this, but most important part is 3:00 on

• Run-D.M.C. – “Jam Master Jay” (1984)

• DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince-  “The Magnificent Jazzy Jeff” (1987)

  • Bonus listen: DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince “A Touch of Jazz” (1987)

• Eric B & Rakim – “Eric B is President” (1987)

  • If you’re really into it, peep this video where Marley Marl shows how he made the beat, but you don’t need to watch it

• Gang Starr – “DJ Premier In Deep Concentration” (1989)

• D-Styles – “John Wayne on Acid” (2002)

Please Watch:

•  X-Men vs. Invisibl Skratch Piklz – 1996 I.T.F. Team Battle (watch from the 8:00 mark to the end, but the beginning is awesome. Not a real battle per se, but a historical night and ISP really shows how DJs can be a band)

• DJ Brace – 2016 DMC Online Finals (Winning Routine)

 

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For Wednesday 10/16:

Please Read:

• Chang, Jeff. 2005. “What We Got to Say” from Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop. (pages 231-261 and 276-280)

• Coleman, Brian. 2007.  Eric B. & Rakim Paid in Full from Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies

• Coleman, Brian. 2007. Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back from Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies

• These comics: 1) The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five; 2) Rick Rubin and Def Jam; 3) Run-DMC Releases Their First Record; 4) Russell Simmons Meets Rick Rubin; 5) Run DMC’s King of Rock; 6) Def Jam signs with CBS Records; 7) LL Cool J’s First LP, Radio; 8) Chuck D and Spectrum City; 9) Public Enemy No. 1

  • ***BONUS Reading if you’re interested in Def Jam History: Charnas, Dan. 2010.“The Beat Box: Def Jam Fosters a Revolution in Hip-Hop Art and Commerce.”

Please Listen:

• I made a spotify playlist for these, which is complete. But I want you to watch a few of these music videos.

• Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – “The Message” (1982)

• Run-D.M.C. – “Sucker M.C.s” (1983)

• Run-D.M.C. – “King of Rock” (1985) *please watch this music video

• Run-D.M.C. – “Peter Piper” (1986)

• Run-D.M.C. – “My Adidas” (1986)

• LL Cool J – “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” (1985)

• MC Shan – “The Bridge” (1985)

  • If you’re inspired, watch this video where Marley Marl recreates his production process for this song, but you don’t need to watch it

• Beastie Boys – “Fight for Your Right” (1986) *please watch this music video

• Eric B & Rakim – “I Know You Got Soul” (1987)

• Eric B & Rakim – “Paid in Full (7 Minutes of Madness Remix)” (1987)

• Public Enemy – “Rebel Without a Pause” (1988)

• Public Enemy – “Fight the Power” (1990) *please watch this music video

  • Please listen to the drum break on James Brown “The Funky Drummer” (break is at about 5:18)

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For Monday 10/14:

Here is where can you find the Week 3 questions to help you through the readings/viewings and our in-class discussion

Please Read:

• Blair, M. Elizabeth. 2004. “Commercialization of the Rap Music Youth Subculture.”

• Fricke & Ahearn. 2002. Superappin’ and Funky Four + 1

• Ogg and Upshal. 1999. “Rapper’s Delight.”

• Please read all these comics from Hip Hop Family Tree, and in the following order: Comic 1; Comic 2; Comic 3; Comic 4; Comic 5; Comic 6

Please Listen:

Note: some of these are really long (umm, they are disco rap records and 14 minutes was no big deal then), so listen to at least the first 3-5 minutes if you’re getting bored…ahahaha

• This spotify playlist is missing a few cuts 

• Sugar Hill Gang – “Rapper’s Delight” (1979)

• Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – “Superappin'” (1979)

• Funky Four Plus One More – “Rappin’ And Rocking The House” (1979)

• Spoonie Gee – “Spoonin’ Rap” (1979)

• Kurtis Blow – “The Breaks” (1980)

• Spoonie Gee & The Treacherous Three – “The New Rap Language” (1980)

• Blondie – “Rapture” (1981) ***it’s a music video, but please watch

• Bonus listen for those interested: The Treacherous Three – “Feel the Heart Beat” (1981)

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For Wednesday 10/9:

Please Read:

• Hebdige, Dick. 1987. Dub and talk over. Pages 81-89. From Cut n’ Mix: Culture, identity, and Caribbean Music.

• Rose, Tricia. 1994.“All Aboard the Night Train”: Flow, Layering, and Rupture in postindustrial New York.”

• This is a comic strip: Hip Hop Family Tree, DJ Kool Herc Spawns A New Culture.

• This is a podcast, but listen as you read please. A Latino History of Hip-Hop: Part 1 (click the link and hit play full episode)

Please Listen:

• I made a spotify playlist here. Note that the first two songs are not on there as they have the wrong versions, and some of time codes for the breaks are off on list list, but listen for them and compare to youtube. 

• James Brown – “Give It Up or Turn It Loose” (live Sex Machine live version, 1970. Break at 4:58 but ill part at 4:20)

• Babe Ruth “The Mexican” (1972. Break at 3:26)

• Michael Viner’s Incredible Bongo Band – “Apache” (1973. Break at 2:22)

• Michael Viner’s Incredible Bongo Band – “Bongo Rock” (1973. The ill part is around 1:14)

• Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band – “Scorpio” (1971. Break and dope bassline at 1:15).

  • You DO NOT have to read this, but this is an AWESOME article on the history of this song being used and sampled.

• Jimmy Castor Bunch – “It’s Just Begun” (1972. B-BOY Classic here. Break at 2:10)

Please View:

• You DON’T NEED to watch this, but it’s an audio interview with Kool Herc. Highly recommended for those of you into the topic. Davey D Interviews the Father of Hip Hop Kool Herc

• Another BONUS listen interview with Herc if you’re interested. BUT, no NEED to listen if you don’t want.

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For Monday 10/7:

Here is where can you find the Week 2 questions to help you through the readings/viewings and our in-class discussion:

Please Read:

• Chang, Jeff. 2005. “Necropolis: The Bronx and the Politics of Abandonment.”

Please Listen:

• I made a spotify playlist for these, which is complete.
• Ghetto Brothers – “Ghetto Brothers Power” (1972)
• Willie Colon & Hector Lavoe – “La Murga” (1972)
• Ray Barretto – “Soul Drummers” (1969)
• James Brown – “Soul Power” (1971)
• Maceo & The Macks – “Soul Power” (1974)

Please View:

• While you read, watch some of Flyin’ Cut Sleeves

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For Wednesday 10/2:

What type of instructor has you do stuff before the class starts?!?!