“

Girl, girl, get that cash
If it’s 9 to 5 or shakin’ your ass
Ain’t no shame, ladies do your thing
Just make sure you ahead of the game

Missy Elliott on survival and integrity within patriarchal capitalism

(via daniellemertina)

03/25/13

“

…critics often fail to acknowledge that hip-hop is neither sociological commentary nor political criticism, though it may certainly function in these modes through its artists’ lyrics. Hip hop is still fundamentally an art form that traffics in hyperbole, parody, kitsch, dramatic license, double entendres, signification, and other literary and artistic conventions to get its points across. By denying its musical and artistic merit, hip-hop’s critics get to have it both ways: they can deny the legitimate artistic standing of rap while seizing on its pervasive influence as an art form to prove what a terrible affect it has on youth.

Michael Eric Dyson

(via poetsofcolor)

10/30/12

Tina Turner photographed by Jack Robinson for Vogue in the 1960’s.

(via mickyalexandria)

06/12/12

"rap and hip-hop isn't meaningful or complex!"

2Pac: And since we all came from a woman, got our name from a woman and our game from a woman, I wonder why we take from our women. Why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think it's time to kill for our women, time to heal our women, be real to our women. And if we don't we'll have a race of babies that will hate the ladies that make the babies. And since a man can't make one, he has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one.
Jay-Z: Silly rappers, because we got a couple Porsches, MTV stopped by to film our fortresses. We forget the unfortunate. Sure I ponied up a mill, but I didn't give my time. So in reality I didn't give a dime, or a damn. I just put my monies in the hands of the same people that left my people stranded. Nothin' but a bandit, left them folks abandoned. Damn, that money that we gave was just a band-aid, can't say we better off than we was before.
Kanye West: Is it genocide? 'Cause I can still hear his momma cry, know the family traumatized. Shots left holes in his face, 'bout piranha-size. The old pastor closed the cold casket, and said the church ain’t got enough room for all the tombs. It’s a war going on outside we ain’t safe from, I feel the pain in my city wherever I go. 314 soldiers died in Iraq, 509 died in Chicago.
Mos Def: When the average minimum wage is $5.15, you best believe you gotta find a new grind to get cream. The white unemployment rate, is nearly more than triple for black so frontliners got they gun in your back. Bubblin crack, jewel theft and robbery to combat poverty and end up in the global jail economy. Stiffer stipulations attached to each sentence. Budget cutbacks but increased police presence. And even if you get out of prison still livin join the other five million under state supervision. This is business, no faces just lines and statistics from your phone, your zip code, to S-S-I digits. The system break man child and women into figures. Two columns for who is, and who ain't niggaz. Numbers is hardly real and they never have feelings but you push too hard, even numbers got limits. Why did one straw break the camel's back? Here's the secret: the million other straws underneath it - it's all mathematics
Lupe Fiasco: I really think the war on terror is a bunch of bullshit. Just a poor excuse for you to use up all your bullets. How much money does it take to really make a full clip. 9/11 building 7 did they really pull it. And a bunch of other cover ups. Your childs future was the first to go with budget cuts. If you think that hurts then, wait here comes the uppercut. The school was garbage in the first place, thats on the up and up. Keep you at the bottom but tease you with the uppercrust. You get it then they move you so you never keeping up enough. If you turn on TV all you see’s a bunch of “what the fucks”. Dude is dating so and so blabbering bout such and such. And that aint Jersey Shore, homie thats the news. And these the same people that supposed to be telling us the truth. Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist. Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit. Thats why I aint vote for him, next one either. I’ma part of the problem, my problem is I’m peaceful. And I believe in the people.

06/11/12

Full Hip-Hop Documentaries Online

thechanelmuse:

STYLE WARS (1983) - The most essential of the early hip-hop docs, up there with Wildstyle, it exposes the world of graffiti, a culture burgeoning in New York with fresh art and an underground dialogue centered on notions of originality versus biting. An iconic slice of budget b-boy cinema.

Beat This!: A Hip-Hop History(1984) - This takes us through roots of hip-hop culture starting in the late ’70s in the South Bronx and features Kool Herc, Planet Rock, Kurtis Blow, Jazzy Jay, Afrika Bambaataa, Malcolm McClaren and many more. Great vintage footage of Manhattan, the Bronx, beatboxing, graffiti and breakdancing.

Biggie and Tupac (2002) - Beef has long been a staple of the hip-hop diet, but no rap rivalry has got so dark and surrounded by conspiracy theory as that of Tupac and Biggie. nick Broomfield goes straight to the heart of the matter: visiting LA’s roughest hoods, interviewing Biggie’s mum, and even tracking down the infamous Suge Knight in prison.

Fade to Black (2004) - A master at the game on the top of his game. From incredible studio scenes shopping for beats at hip-hops top table with Kanye, Pharrell and Timerberland to running the stage of a capacity Madison Square Garden with The Roots, Mary J, Ghostface & Foxy, Jay-Z is flawless and always the brightest star on screen.

New York 77: The Coolest Year In Hell (2004)- NYC had fallen into decay and chaos. Yet from the chaos sprang one of the most creative times any city ever encountered. Hip-hop was emerging from the South Bronx, punk music was emerging from the Lower East Side, and disco was emerging from Queens and midtown Manhattan.

80 Blocks from Tiffany’s (1979) - A solid documentary covering some of the most notorious street gangs in the South Bronx before they faded away and Hip Hop took over. After peering into this looking glass you will be glad that Hip Hop is here to stay.

Scratch (2002) - In the language of hip-hop, the MC raps on top of the beats. The DJ—supplies the beats. Doug Pray’s doc is a tribute to these unsung heroes of the “scratch. It opens with Grand Wizard Theodore (New York) telling the story of how he first introduced scratching.

KeepInTime: A Live Recoding (2004) - What happens when you put a bunch of classic funk drummers and super skilled break juggling DJs in the same room? This doc shows us that music is a universal language and that ultimately the generation gap closes quickly when funky jam session is on the go. A must for the footage of Axelrod’s drum beater Earl Palmer, who has since passed away.

The Freshest Kids: A History of the B-Boy (2002) - The narrative traces their evolution from the South Bronx 1970s to media-crazed 1980s to today, as the phenomenon has returned to the underground while remaining as popular as ever. The old and new school are on hand to explain and to praise the b-boy; everyone from rappers like KRS-One and Mos Def to breakers like Crazy Legs and Ken Swift.

Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme (2005) - Like preachers and jazz solos, freestyles exist only in the moment, a modern-day incarnation of the African-American storytelling tradition. Shot over a period of more than seven years, the film systematically debunks the false image put out by record companies that hip-hop culture is violent or money-obsessed. Instead, it lets real hip-hop artists, known and unknown, weave their own story.

Rhyme and Reason (1997) - This doc explores the history of hip-hop culture, how rap evolved to become a major cultural voice (and a multi-billion dollar industry), and what the artists have to say about the music’s often controversial images and reputation. Interview subjects range from veteran old-school rappers, such as Kurtis Blow and KRS-One to Ice-T and Dr. Dre to several current rap hitmakers, including Wu-Tang Clan, The Fugees, and Sean “Puffy” Combs.

Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes (2006)- The documentary explores the issues of masculinity, violence, homophobia and sexism in hip hop music and culture, through interviews with artists, academics and fans.