1,720,975 research outputs found
Project The Future - The Projections
No full text'Project The Future' is a concept album designed, composed and written by Adam de Paor-Evans under the name The Projections. It is a reflective album containing eleven songs which critically position eleven narratives within contemporary themes of: racism and race denial, financial and personal struggle, intellectual trajectories within hip hop, personal loss, and paranoia.
The album is a reification of The Projections' collaborative work, and de Paor-Evans worked with five producers from the UK and Germany to craft this album which was released on vinyl through B-Line Recordings, UK in 2016. Limited runs with artwork by de Paor-Evans were made to promote the release.
https://www.discogs.com/The-Projections-Project-The-Future/release/888282
Scratching The Surface: Hip Hop, Remoteness, and Everyday Life
No full textScratching The Surface: Hip Hop, Remoteness, and Everyday Life presents the evolution of hip hop through 28 particular and detailed memories drawn from the encounters of a young, rural teenager growing up in Devon, in the south-west corner of the UK. The book is divided into four parts, and situated between 1983 and 1986, explores the emotional growth, contextual questioning, and at times, naïve journey of the protagonist as he reflects on such miniscule details as the price tags on record sleeves, the LED display on cassette players, and the zips on tracksuit tops. The author of Provincial Headz: British Hip Hop and Critical Regionalism returns with a quirky, contextual non-fiction novel with extensive endnotes, which explores some of the less canonical hip hop artefacts of the 1980s and expresses the innocence and obsessions he experiences as an only child growing up in the sticks
No Hatchet
No full textCONTEXTUAL STATEMENT
This piece is a song commissioned in 2019 and featured on Specifik’s album The Ill Circus, released on Berlin-based Britcore Rawmance, 2019.
The research questions the song interrogates are spatio-geographic. Questioning the validity of the positions of hip-hop artists from rural areas vis-à-vis the broader national-global political context, the song decentralizes the core of British hip-hop and makes visible the regional-rural and provincial presence of rap, additionally attesting to an alternate glocal viewpoint from this perspective.
The song achieves this firstly through its sonics and structure. The song is split into two distinct parts. Part one opens with a typical Blaxploitation-esque sample driven 8-bar drum-pattern, after which a standard 4-stanza/16-bar verse is delivered, repeated in part two. The two breakdowns offer narratives of cultural distance and closeness, entering into a full 4-bar drop of ‘Take Me To The Mardi Gras’ – its full break with bells – ensuing with the ‘Mardi Gras’ break repeated, but fully filtered suggesting detachment from hip-hop’s roots. The author murmurs menacingly “Another classic” over each pattern. These vocals are repeated in the breakdown of part two. The juxtaposition of “classic” with the remoteness of delivery represents a new decentralized hip-hop habitus, as explored in the author’s article ‘Urban Myths and Rural Legends’: “…this new hip-hop habitus evolves through responding to local regional-rural traditions and the continuing development of glocal hip-hop culture. Furthermore, there is an invisible class system at play between regional-rural dwellers and inhabitants of cities, constructed through what Farrugia describes as ‘…structural inequalities that differentiate rural and urban places’ (2016: 2-16)” (2020). Secondly, these themes are reinforced by lyrics such as: “From borderlands, Lebanon, Syria to southern Cyprus / A liminal sketch I draw I might just”, “I mimic a brick”, and “Spin on the Centre Point I’m counter-point / My counter-raps, I flex it”.
[300 words
Not A Love Song
No full textCONTEXTUAL STATEMENT
This piece is a song commissioned in 2016 for B-Line Recordings’ collection, ‘The B-Line EP Vol. 4’, released in 2017.
The research question the song explores is twofold, and connected to the position of hip-hop as a driver for thirdspace-dromology (taking Soja’s thirdspace [1996] and Virilio’s dromology [1977] as points of departure) – a hybrid concept developed by the author and proposed in his article ‘The Futurism of Hip-Hop’ (2018: 132, 134).
Firstly, and sonically, it challenges the space-time conventions of popular and hip-hop songs, immediately through the title (nodding to PiL’s similarly named song), but mainly through its structure and production. Structurally, it presents the lyrics as a single 48 bar verse containing 4-bar and 8-bar stanzas, grouped as 2 verses. These groups of lyrics are sonically melded throughout via exponential use of echo and reverb, resulting in a 3-minute listener experience concluding with 31 seconds of echoed reverb of the single-lyric: “organize” fused with white noise and glimmering Afrofuturist aesthetics. By altering the song’s structure and sonics makes visible spatial atmospherics for the listener, which slow down and speed up the perceived pace of sonic travel and experience throughout the song. Its 31-second outro suspends this notion of movement and invites listeners to question their own spatio-sonic engagement with the song.
Secondly, and vocally, the lyrics identify several points of connection between thirdspace-dromology, represented through the narrative of the arcade game, and which also aided the development of the thirdspace-dromology concept. Through the lines: “Are you in range? What is your location? / Nearest station application sent to stick while I'm slick over analogue / I toggle, my monologue will spy your eyes boggler / Losing lives on the street like you're playing Frogger”, the song captures a reflective analogue in tension with futurist and spatial context.
[298 words
Mathematic Facts
No full textCONTEXTUAL STATEMENT
This piece is a song featured on Specifik’s album Eighty3, commissioned in 2015 and since its release in the summer of 2016 has received airplay on The Pioneers Radio Show, Kane FM and widely across internet radio, and performed live in a range of different music contexts including Berlin’s Cassiopeia and hardcore punk venue, K19.
The research question that ‘Mathematic Facts’ investigates is twofold: First, it challenges the formulaic 92bpm / 4-bar stanza verses trope found in contemporary global hip-hop sound. Percussion samples are split, and by utilizing the latter half of each sample, a disorientation of apparent delayed bass and snare drums create an atmospheric swing that beguiles the listener and invites a questioning of tempo. The sonics are metallic, murky and distinct, which make way for a series of interlinked themes which support the vocals.
Second, its lyrics expose hip-hop’s contextual myths of urbanism, attesting to the presence of the regional-rural – a subject rarely addressed. Through lyrics such as: "My grind is on the resist the crumble / Through toil I'm digging dirt to reach the soil, salt of the earth / I've already smurfed so I stare through screens at others who do / I mix voodoo with wicca now my rhymes are thicker", the author presents the socio-cultural status of the regional-rural artist. By connecting observations of religion, medieval and astral life with textures of the earth, contemporary socio-cultural issues are addressed. The lyrics continue to explore the chasm between medieval and contemporary life as metaphor for the void between urban and rural, and the invisibility of rural artists. Exposing the fallacy of hip-hop’s urbanism, ‘Mathematic Facts’ confirms regional-rural hip-hop’s coexistence with contemporaneous global hip-hop production, reinforcing the author’s argument in ‘Urban Myths and Rural Legends: An Alternate Take on the Regionalism of Hip-Hop’ (2020).
[299 words
The Futurism of Hip Hop: Space, Electro and Science Fiction in Rap
Get PDFIn the early 1980s, an important facet of hip hop culture developed a style of music known as electro-rap, much of which carries narratives linked to science fiction, fantasy and references to arcade games and comic books. The aim of this chapter is to build a critical inquiry into the cultural and socio-political presence of these ideas as drivers for the productions of electro-rap, and subsequently through artists from Newcleus to Strange U seeks to interrogate the value of science fiction from the 1980s to the 2000s, evaluating the validity of science fiction’s place in the future of hip hop. Theoretically underpinned by the emerging theories associated with Afrofuturism and Paul Virilio’s dromosphere and picnolepsy concepts, the chapter reconsiders time and spatial context as a palimpsest whereby the saturation of digitalization become both accelerator and obstacle and proposes a thirdspace-dromology. In conclusion, the article repositions contemporary hip hop and unearths the realities of science fiction and closes by offering specific directions for the future within and the future of hip hop culture and its potential impact on future society
On the Origins of Hip Hop: Appropriation and Territorial Control of Urban Space
Get PDFProjecting forward in time from the processes of design and construction that are so often the focus of architectural discourse, Consuming Architecture examines the variety of ways in which buildings are consumed after they have been produced, focusing in particular on processes of occupation, appropriation and interpretation. Drawing on contributions by architects, historians, anthropologists, literary critics, artists, film-makers, photographers and journalists, it shows how the consumption of architecture is a dynamic and creative act that involves the creation and negotiation of meanings and values by different stakeholders and that can be expressed in different voices. In so doing, it challenges ideas of what constitutes architecture, architectural discourse and architectural education, how we understand and think about it, and who can claim ownership of it
The Myth of the Elements: Compilation, Representation and the Construction of Hip Hop in Rural Britain During the 1980s
No full textThe cultural practices of hip-hop evolved during the mid-1970s in NYC’s dilapidated neighbourhoods and since the mid-1980s has been globally represented by four core elements: graffiti, Bboying, rap and DJing, which produce strong representations of the urban experience within which they were conceived. The primary sonics of hip-hop music and its dance counterpart carry a natural synergy discussed by scholars throughout the evolution of hip-hop studies (Toop 1984; Rose 1994; Chang 2005), yet the relationship between these elements and the practices of graffiti are sporadic. However, during the 1980s secondary representations of hip-hop through film and compilation albums framed graffiti as an equal counterpart of hip-hop whilst providing a visual language that became its key selling point to consumers outside the immediate context of the culture’s NYC origins, and by doing so, created the myth of the elements.
Through a semiotic and semantic deconstruction of hip-hop compilation albums released in Britain and Europe during the 1980s and reflective interviews with consumers of the time, this paper explores two culturally critical hinges: primarily, the hinge between graffiti and hip-hop, and secondarily the hinge between rural and urban. This exploration informs a detailed discussion of how secondary representations of hip-hop fostered the myth of the four core elements- and the subsequent impact of this myth- particularly in rural areas. The paper concludes that these compilation albums were largely responsible for a divergent understanding of the core elements of hip-hop, which resulted in a distinction in how hip-hop was practiced in rural Britain
From Broken Glass to Ruf Diamonds: Manchester Hip Hop
No full textWhen one considers music culture in Manchester during the 1980s and 1990s, Hip Hop is not an obvious cultural arena for discussion. However, amidst the spectacle of The Haçienda, the pop boom of Factory Records and the evolution of rave subculture and form of dance music which produced the pop cultural phenomenon of Madchester; in the space of music between The Fall and The Charlatans where brief stardom was found by Inspiral Carpets, Northside and Candyflip, Mancunian Hip Hop was also evolving a cultural position of its own.
During the decade between 1984 and 1994, the year The Stone Roses formed and the year Definitely Maybe by Oasis was released, Hip Hop in Manchester established itself as an organic counter-narrative to two cultural positions- firstly the very local yet nationally explosive position of The Haçienda and Madchester and secondly the position of Hip Hop in London which was growing an international presence with seriousness, professionalism and rigour. To the rest of the UK, the Manchester indie scene and the London Hip Hop scene overshadowed Mancunian Hip Hop via the contemporary music press and media coverage of the time. London Hip Hop groups were gathering momentum as challengers to American Hip Hop crews, and the buzz surrounding artists such as London Posse, Demon Boyz and Hijack was reaching a feverous state in the UK, and also made solid impact stateside. Concurrently The Haçienda, Madchester and rave subculture seduced a generation, but what of Mancunian Hip Hop?
This chapter investigates the key developments in Hip Hop in Manchester and starting in 1984 with Broken Glass, a Mancunian breakdancing crew, and concluding with Ruf Beats and the Jeep Beat Collective in 1994, explores the cultural triggers responsible for underground Hip Hop in the locale and wider territories. Three interrelated questions are framed and examined within this chapter: To what extent did the evolution of Mancunian Hip Hop coexist, compliment or oppose the cultural dynamics of The Haçienda, Madchester and rave subculture? What was the relationship between Hip Hop in Manchester and London in terms of cultural representation, identity and value; and finally, is there a particular honesty in Mancunian Hip Hop that differentiates it from the gravity of London Hip Hop and the spectacle of Madchester?
In order to support the interrogation of these questions, this chapter draws on interviews with Broken Glass, MC Lady Tame, Krispy 3 and Dave Ruf. Broken Glass are important as the first established Manchester crew who released their only record on Morgan Khan’s London based Streetwave label (Style of the Street, 1984), and additionally MC Lady Tame and Krispy 3 also had deals with well-regarded London independent labels Music Of Life (1990) and Kold Sweat (1993-94) respectively, but subsequently their debut records being released on Manchester based private presses. Finally, Dave Ruf’s later contribution during the early to mid-1990s extends past the artist vinyl release, and under the guise of Jeep Beat Collective and Ruf Beats released compilation albums, mixtapes, held club nights and mini-festivals and ran a mail order record shop. These interviews are framed within a theoretical context by means of Pierre Bourdieu’s exploration of cultural consumption (Distinction, 2010 edition). Bourdieu critiques the notion of value, taste and practice, primarily through the lens of the bourgeoisie, and it is these concepts that ground the exploration of the questions posed here. In conclusion, this chapter affirms the position that whilst Mancunian Hip Hop culture did not achieve the reverence of its counter-part in London or the financial success of Madchester, it bred a rich culture of artists, practitioners, producers and consumers that has led to a regional stability and sustainability of Hip Hop culture
Future Shock '64/BANG! - Specifik and Project Cee
No full textThe double-sided 7" single 'Future Shock '64/BANG!' was released in January 2015 on B-Line Recordings. The concepts for the two tracks are quite different. 'Future Shock '64' is a melancholic, long burner which sees Project Cee rhyme one 64 bar verse for the duration of the track, using subliminal half-bar and quarter-bar sample patterns of 'Funky President' underneath a crystallised synthetic percussion. Light echoes of Herbie Hancock's 'Future Shock' vocoder at the outro emphasise the song's Afrofuturist agenda, heightened by Project Cee's lyrics opening with "You see me through the fog the smog boogles cogs /
Revolve and solve solutions narrowing the odds...".
'BANG!' returns to a wide percussive, drum-heavy britcore sound, and is more contextually grounded in contemporary issues, and reflects on the everyman's experience of witnessing world atrocities. Lyrics such as "Another attack on the Middle East / While the fat sit down to feast on the meat / On the muscle every morsel dorsal fins muscle in / Mescaline’s the only thing that wrings away the sin", and "A lengthy slot there’s rot set in the core / As four horsemen point to pointless war", present narratives embodied in complex metaphor and literal reification
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