An ode to hip-hop

I grew up in the ghetto. Rephrased: I grew up outside the ghetto where the white people lived. So at that point in my childhood where I developed musical tastes seperate from my parents I turned to hip-hop or rap as it was commonly reffered to. I think this might have been because it was what I was exposed to. Or maybe I was just trying to be down so that I wouldn't get shoved in the lockers. Maybe not.

I started with the crossovers like DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince and M.C. Hammer and RUN DMC who were getting pop radio play. But it soon lead me to the greener pastures of groups like Tribe Called Quest and Brand Nubian.

Back in that day there were no JW rock bands going around but there were rap groups. In a neighboring congregation a couple of [physical] brothers (one being Brandon who I play with now) were rhyming over pilfered beats. (Back then when you bought a rap cassingle the b-side was usually just the music so you could rhyme over it.) Their cassette started working its way around the circuit and by the time I got my seventh-generation copy the sound quality was so bad I had to turn my stereo up super loud to hear it. But it was cool none the less. I still remember some of the choice lyrics such as "when it comes to dresssing, I'm not in the middle. Put on my best suit and tie my tie like Brother Little."

My first attempt at making rap records was a nice failure. I didn't know what a sampler was so I was manually creating loops with old disco records and a cassette deck. Me and my friend Derek were going to try rap over it but ended up just giving five-minutes worth of shout outs. "I'd like to give a shout out to the carrot! Yo carrot you taste good." My first time performing was when we started rhyming at these teen parties under the moniker of Tone Def and D-Wreck. Usually one cover, Das EFX "They Want FX" and then one original.

Meanwhile Ice-T and NWA were getting media attention because of their songs "Cop Killa" and "F*** Tha Police". Rap's days were number as far as JW's were concered. When the governing body dropped the blade on rap they also sliced in half my musical ambitions. I gave it up and didn't look back like Lot's wife. I can't complain at all because when I left hip-hop the alternative thing started happening in the mainstream which lead me to Belly and then to Throwing Muses.

Now I look around and Witnesses kids are listening to hip-hop again. I knew it was only a matter of time before it started becoming acceptable. If you look at old magazines you'll see that both "the twist" and Disco dancing were at one time outlawed. Now these are JW wedding reception standards. Even the elderly widows are out there doing the twist--hip replacement and all.

The problem is that mainstream rap hasn't become any better. The violence/gangsta element isn't as prevelant as it used to be; but, it's been replaced by an emphasis on sex, drugs, and partying. The materialism (bling, bling) is still there as well as the self-centered attitude and boasting. (I know that there are exceptions to this but they are exceptions and not the rule.)

I don't have any hip-hop CD's anymore. I got rid of them shortly after that first article came out. But lately I've been downloading some of those old tracks. I really like that jazzy hip-hop like Tribe and Digable Planets.

Me and Brandon both have a common musical background even though what we listen to today is different. We both grew up on hip-hop. I guess that explains why the hip-hop beats keep creeping up when we start working on songs. Brandon almosts raps in his new song. Awww shucks it's almost old times. That got me thinking about all of the above. I'm almost coming full circle. I think we have both outgrown hip-hop for us to come out with something that's just straight rap but at the same time I don't think we can shake the elements of it. Case in point is Brandon's new song trENDsetters. (As a whole I don't really like this one that much just bits and pieces therein.)