MUSIC 15 Week 6

1. MUSIC 15 Week 6 A Second Golden Age

2. Midterm Recap

3. Final Paper • In the final paper (which should be about 5 pages long) you should choose one song from the "additional" listening category and try to write about it in as much detail as you can. Work outwards from the specifics of the song to discuss issues that you find compelling about the artist, producer, the performance, the lyrics, the beat (original or sampled) and the social context. This paper will be due in lecture in the last week of class.


4. In terms of just what you're hearing: • what are the words? • what are they about? • how are they delivered? (i.e. style of the emcee: tone of voice, relative speed of delivery, rhythmic complexity or otherwise, rhyme schemes etc) • what does the beat (i.e. the background music) sound like?

5. In terms of what you’re hearing cont’d • is it built around a sample or samples? if so, what? what might be the significance there? • does it include a played interpolation of another song? • if it's played, what instruments are there? • deal with the form of the song. is there a chorus? how do the verses work around it if there is • how does the voice relate to the beat? is it melodic at all? on the beat? behind the beat? in shifting patterns in relation to it?

6. Context • is this song representative of the artist's output? why? • is the artist associated with a particular style or scene? • if so, how does that figure in this song? • what context do the lyrics address? i.e. who do you think they are spoken to? where? why?

7. Context cont’d • is there a political message? if so what? • how does this song relate to songs with a similar viewpoint by other artists? • what else does it sound like? why? • I'd expect some of your paper would be basic explanations of who the artist(s) is/are and what significance the song had to their career, though be careful to stay on topic

8. General shifts in hip hop in the early 1990s • The unprecedented success of records like Straight Outta Compton and The Chronic changed hip hop • In 1991 the music business shifted to using Soundscan to calculate the charts. It revealed large audiences for hip hop, country and metal that were not being targeted by the mainstream music business

9. General circumstances in the early 1990s • Broad mainstream popular success was now • This created the circumstances for the development of an underground scene opposed to the more commercially oriented mainstream

10. New York • The rise of the gangsta aesthetic on the West Coast had temporarily shifted the focus away from New York • There was also a shift away from explicitly “conscious” or political messages in the music • Production style became typified by the ultra stripped-down sound of DJ Premier and Pete Rock, who both drew frequently on jazz records as sample sources

11. Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth “They Reminisce Over You” • A tribute to their friend Troy, a dancer with Heavy D who had just died • Tells a kind of everyman family narrative with lots of personal detail, though the story does not seem to connect explicitly to the subject • Beat is built on James Brown drums and a sax lick from a hippy folk/jazz record by Tom Scott

12. The Wu Tang Clan • Loose coalition of rappers from Staten Island and Brooklyn • Much more influential than sales figures might suggest • Their image was novel and complex as was their business structure, where each member had their own deal on different labels in the beginning

13. Wu Tang Clan cont’d • Like Public Enemy they developed strong contrasting characters within the group • Based their material around first person street story-telling, but expanded that to encompass complex metaphors drawn from martial arts films, gangster films and 5%er cosmology

14. Wu Tang Clan “Can it be it was all so simple then” • Third single from “Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers” • First verse is by Raekwon, second by Ghostface Killah with both on the chorus • Production by the RZA demonstrates his basic strategy: combination of old soul samples with stronger drum tracks. The sound is both nostalgiac and somewhat menacing

15. Old Dirty Bastard “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” • ODB was the trickster/comedian figure in the Wu Tang clan • Drew explicitly on routines by comedians like Rudy Ray Moore and Richard Pryor (sampled here) • Flow was notably erratic rhythmically • Lyrically more a party rapper, especially against the more cerebral styles of the rest of the Clan

16. GZA “Liquid Swords” • One of the clearest examples of the martial arts influence. Track begins with a lengthy dialog sample from “Shogun Assassin” • Production again draws on Southern soul records (Al Green and Willie Mitchell), and the lyrics play out a street story through the martial arts warrior metaphors

17. Nas “N.Y. State of Mind” • Nas was from the Queensbridge projects, son of noted jazz trumpeter Olu Dara • This song is from his first album “Illmatic” produced by DJ Premier • Established Nas as probably the pre-eminent lyricist in hip hop and was a kind of state-of-the-art of NY hip hop at the time (productions by Pete Rock, Large Professor, Q Tip) • His style, like Rakim’s before him is dense and highly complex rhythmically

18. Mobb Deep “Shook Ones Pt. 2” • Also from Queensbridge, duo of Prodigy (the rapper) and Havoc (the producer) • Work similar territory to the Wu Tang Clan (and sometimes Nas) but stripped down to the basics • Song is notable for the poetic nature of its cold-blooded threats

19. West Coast Underground • Strong undergrounds developed in both Los Angeles and San Francisco

20. Freestyle Fellowship “Inner City Boundaries” • Virtuoso rappers based in Los Angeles, associated with legendary freestyle scene Project Blowed • Draw explicitly on jazz traditions (esp. improvisation) and other forms of poetry and spoken word outside of hip hop • This is their most commercially successful track and was produced by Daddy O from Stetsasonic

21. Souls of Mischief “93 till Infinity” • Part of the Hieroglyphics crew led by Del (Ice Cube’s cousin) • Song is notable especially for the technical intricacy of the rapping • Overall sensibility draws on jazz but not as explicitly as something like Freestyle Fellowship

22. Tupac “Keep Ya Head Up” • One of Tupac’s “feminist” anthems • Built around the Five Stairsteps “Ooh-ooh Child” • Essentially a song of solidarity with single mothers but shifts to the child’s perspective in the last verse • Uplifting and community-based in contrast to his later more paranoid work

23. Notorious B.I.G. “Juicy” • His first single and a kind of autobiography • Much of the narrative is filtered through the lens of rap fandom • Beat built around “Juicy Fruit” by Mtume by Pete Rock, uncredited

24. Notorious B.I.G. “Ten Crack Commandments” • Street lore as life lessons • About the minutiae of hustling rather than the general image

25. Lil Kim “Queen Bitch” • Lil Kim cultivated an explicitly sexualized image that was new for hip hop, in part based on performers like Madonna • Lyrics for this song were written by Biggie, begging the question of whose fantasy it is, and how it’s performed

26. Mary J Blige/Method Man “You’re All I Need” • One of the most successful early attempts at integrating hip hop and R&B. • Remake of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell classic • Production is heavily indebted to hip hop methods: the beat is emphasized and musical details of the original are simplified for greated impact • Method Man raps his verses, Mary J sings

27. Lauryn Hill “Doo Wop/That Thing” • Lauryn Hill was the breakout star of the Fugees a conscious pop/rap group that was hugely successful in the 90s. • She was equally talented as singer and MC and performs both roles on this track: rapping the verses and singing the choruses • This track was the hit single from her solo album

28. Lauryn Hill cont’d • Song plays out a set of inter-related oppositions: 1960s vs 1990s; rapping vs singing; men vs women etc • Takes relatively familiar narratives of gender conflict, but takes on both parts herself