Hola, I'm back with my second of three blogs on Hip Hop. So, originally I said that the blogs would observe the social environment, the living environment, and the political environment of hip hop's art world. I'm revising that-- my first blog was about the social environment on Hip Hop, and this blog is going to expand upon the social environment, opposed to delving into the living environment. The difference between this blog and my last one is that I am now focusing on the underground Hip Hop scene, which I have personally seen while going to school, here, in New Orleans.
About a month ago I went to The House of Blues to watch a well-known rapper amongst the underground hip hop crowd who goes by the name of Immortal Technique. The performance was nothing like a mainstream 'big-time' rapper's performance, mainly because of the small size of the venue. However, let me say that the intimacy between the crowd and all the rappers performing that night was incredible. It was so relieving to be able to truly feel like an individual at the show, instead of literally one in a million at a much more populated venue. I would guess that there were maybe around 50-60 people at The House of Blues that night. This small-crowd setting made it seem like Immortal Technique was a local artist, which truly gave off a great vibe.
The analytical and conceptualized lyrics of Immortal Technique, along with the mind-blowing cuts of the DJ G.I. Joe, made for an incredible show. (Note: a DJ cut is when the DJ performs live on turntables and actively spins the record). The DJ was not your simple "press-a-button and let the track play" sort of guy by any means. No, DJ G.I. Joe was the ESSENCE of a TRUE Hip Hop DJ that actively participated in the art known as turntablism (I'll post a video at the end of this blog as an example). You see, turntablists have practiced turntablism since Hip Hop began, so in a way the show felt more authentic and even "old school."
Technique stressed that we should converse with him personally after the show, because in his words "there's nothing Hollywood about us." Since he offered, I wholeheartidly took it upon myself to speak to him. I have been writing raps for a year now and I take the art extremely seriously, so I asked him what advice he could give to an upcoming/aspiring rapper, such as myself. He replied by telling me that the key point to remember is to always "conceptualize your ideas," into "verses that have the potential to be analytical, in a multi-layered manner." While his answer was not as profound as I thought it would be initially, in retrospection it was simple and sound advice. He could have easily said that the key is to "keep at it," yet he took the time to answer and show interest towards my inquiry. It was overall a great experience, especially because I gained something way more valuable than an autographed cd or a fan picture-- I received wisdom from an artist who understands the inner workings of a musical genre that I hold close to my heart.
Here's a link to Immortal Technique's new free album for download called Martyrs:
http://www.viperrecords.com/
And here's some good ol' turntablism from a world champ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iZdggruFpY
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