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April 05, 2006
Retrohump Day: 'Bronx keeps creating it'
If you recognized the above line from the seminal Boogie Down Production song "The Bridge is Over," then, well, you know what this is about.
Jeff Chang's magnificent book "Can't Stop Won't Stop" supremely influences this Retrohump Post.
In his frank look at hip-hop, Chang spends so much time on the pioneers, their struggles and foibles, and breaks down just how hip-hop got started: through the ghetto-depressed streets of The Bronx, by way of Jamaica.
A further review will come (I'm only three-fifths of the way through and it's still on "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back"), but here's some "Can't Stop..."-inspired delights.
Chang discusses "Wild Style," the movie that, despite poor acting from actual graf writers and hip-hop stars, seems to convey an accurate profile of the movement (thanks to the creative control from scenester director and writer Charlie Ahearn). Rich art socialites try to co-opt the movement, racism and violence tinges on the edges, and the graf writers find the explanation for what they do ineffable. While, throughout, crews like Cold Crush Brothers and Double Trouble duel with clever wordplay, showmanship, and a love for their art.
Fab Five Freddy and Grandmaster Flash
Afrika Bambaattaa - Planet Rock
To understand how fluid, open, and full of possibilities this movement was in 1978-1983 (give or take a year or two) is to contemplate just how different Grand Master Flash and Bambaattaa approached showmanship, dress, attitudes, and sound.
Bambaattaa, for those unschooled, created "Planet Rock" partially from a Kraftwerk track. Cats were picking up whatever records they could find, searching for the breaks, and keeping the beat for minutes, which led to the B (Break) Boy movement.
All of the above is attributed with love to Chang's opus.
Finally, we have the infamous...
Kool Moe Dee vs. Busy Bee MC battle
Busy Bee, who had his moments in "Wild Style," seemed to be the lothario artist who kind of sleepwalked through his rhymes. He was adequate, but didn’t really dazzle. Content with crowd-pleasing call-response, he unfurled "hos" and "bom-dee-dee-da-dees."
Then, Kool Moe Dee, repping the Treacherous Three, steps to the mic and straight… up… murders… the Bee. Point-by-point refutation. Only KMD’s words do it justice.
Pity he’s more remembered for the tepid, media-drenched feud with LL Cool J.
Cheers, Raze-1.
Tags: Hip hop, Can't Stop Won't Stop, Jeff Chang, Kool Moe Dee, Busy Bee, Wild Style
Posted by Keith O'Brien at April 5, 2006 12:18 AM
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