The Phenomenon of Featured Rappers, Part I

August 20th, 2011 | By Edwin

The world of music can be frightening for young rappers who are just starting out in the game today. It is a cutthroat environment and even rappers with a huge amount of talent can sometimes fall between the cracks. How can somebody stand out from the crowd? One technique that has existed since the early 90s was the “featured rapper.” Here are a few observation that I made about this phenomenon:

1) New rappers may establish themselves and gain fame, notoriety, and buzz by rapping a strong verse on an established album by a veteran. Some notable examples in recent memory include Lupe Fiasco, who got a significant amount of buzz by killing his guest verse on Kanye West’s “Touch the Sky.” J. Cole had his career boosted with a guest verse on The Blueprint 3 (a mediocre album, by the way) and on Wale‘s album Attention Deficit. Likely the most famous example of all was AZ’s historically fierce cameo on Nas’ Life’s a Bitch.

2) Conversely, established rappers can jump into new micro-niches of the hip hop culture with guest appearances on tracks that may diversify their portfolio. Lil’ Wayne fueled his rapid ascension to hip hop stardom not only with the incredible amount of mixtapes he put out, but also with cameo appearances ranging from Destiny’s Child to Wyclef Jean. He ensured that his music was constantly heard in both the streets and the radio.

3) Rappers can also form a cohesive group of sorts in which they can feed of each other’s styles and energies. One of the earliest examples of this was N.W.A, which consisted of  Arabian Prince, DJ Yella, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and MC Ren , all of which became solo legends in their own right. In the early 2000 era, conscious hip-hop merged with the native tongue movement and inspired rappers Common, Talib Kweli, and Mos Def. When you listen to an album like Black Star, you can hear the chemistry between them, the common sound they share and the lyrical ideas that they seem to effortlessly create today. This still continues on to this day (Young Money, for better or worse).

Rapper "Crews" Can Be a Very Good Thing

Just like how transcendent talents in the tech industry often make sweet music together by combining their energy, efforts and ideas together in the start up world, rappers can help each other reach levels that they can otherwise not achieve by themselves as long as the sound is cohesive, the chemistry is sound and (perhaps most importantly) they all actually like each other.

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More Inspiration

July 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

I found this website called http://www.hiphopinspires.us which specializes in dishing out bite-sized inspirational lyrics from songs ranging from 2Pac, to T.I., to The Roots. One of the reasons why I love hip-hop so much is that the lyrics can really tell a story or convey emotion in ways that other genres of music cannot, because of its lyrical density. Here are some of my favorites:

Sometimes before you smile you got to cry
You need a heart that’s filled with music
If you use it you can fly

The Roots – Sacrifice

I refuse to be concerned with condescending advice
‘Cause I’m the only motherfucker that can change my life

Immortal Technique – Leaving the Past

To everyone out there, who’s a little different
I say damn a magazine, these are God’s fingerprints
You can call me ugly but cant take nothing from me
I am what I am doctor you ain’t gotta love me

Brother Ali – Forest Whitiker

Any inspirational lyrics that hit you in the right spot?

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Top 10 Things to Be Thankful in Hip-Hop

July 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, and I hope that everyone has a safe holiday with their families (as safe as you can get with the amount of food that some people are eating!) I thought that it would be fitting to list ten things that I am thankful for about hip-hop.

1) I am thankful for music that anyone can relate to, and has such a huge range of passion and creativity. The same can be said for any genre of music, but hip-hop is one that I connected with.

2) I am thankful for artists that make music for the love of making music. I’m sure Brother Ali did not release his new album for fame or glory.

3) In an industry where a complete lack of skill and originality can result in big profits, I’m thankful that many artists are taking huge risks with their art.

4) I am thankful that producers are now getting a lot of attention – you have to thank Timbaland and Kanye West for that. They are influencing a new generation of RZAs, Pete Rocks, and DJ Premiers.

5) I am thankful for the Internet – it fuels the vibrant underground scene and allows for massive distribution of mixtapes.

6) Speaking of mixtapes, I’m thankful for mixtapes helping artists increase visibility and getting their product directly to the streets.

7) I am thankful for the iPod and the Digital Revolution – instead of everyone consuming the same mass produced megahits, we can enjoy increasingly niche bites of what we really want.

8) I am thankful for the increasing mainstream coverage that hip-hop is getting – I was surprised at seeing the universal accolades for Only Built for Cuban Linx…II

9) I am thankful for the Internet blogging community and their intelligent, hard-hitting coverage of the hip-hop world.

10) I am thankful for all my readers!

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Hip Hop Album Art as an Artform

July 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

A friend recently sent me a great website that featured someone replicating classic hip hop albums covers with Legos:

Hip Hop Album Covers - Lego Style!

Check out the original link here: Lego Hip Hop Album Covers. As I was scrolling through the list of diverse hip hop album covers, a thought dawned upon me. One of my favorite things to do after I buy a new CD (yes, I still buy CDs that I like) is to listen to it while reading the linear notes and stare at the album cover. Although thoughtful album art is definitely not unique to the genre of hip hop, I searched through my memory and found a couple I really liked:

Love this cover because of the sense of desolation it gives you, which is fully expected...given the album title and its complex, dark lyrical material.

Abstract imagery, great monotone coloring, and artful composition makes this one a winner.

Quasimoto, one of the wackiest and most original hip hop artists to emerge on the West Coast weed music scene, has a simplistic, yet visually rich and abstract album art design. The faceless driver clutching a boom box, while being chased by a police car accompanied by a "Do Not Enter" sign inspires feelings of music rebellion.

Wale, an artist from Washington D.C., has created a perfect parody of the Seinfeld logo for his critically acclaimed mixtape, The Mixtape About Nothing. Hot kicks are Photoshopped in partly to promote the clothing brand which helped to sponser the mixtape. Elaine makes a couple of voice cameos in the mixtape!

Wu-Tang Clan returns to their brooding Staton Island style, laced with obscure Kung-fu movie samples. Their album art similarly follows suit. The rising sun, flanked by the Wu-Tang members, gives the impression that perhaps not all the Wu members are in harmony with each other (there are only six pictured and several do not appear in the album).

Although the album art mentioned above were simply the ones I liked, oftentimes album art sends a strong political, social, or cultural message to the listeners which can be discussed in much greater detail. Alas, that is for another blog post in the future.

Any album art covers strikes you as particularly interesting or inspirational?

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Introducing the Octopus

July 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

What a strange title for a new blog. The Hip Hop Octopus. What is this guy all about anyway?

At first, I hated rap music.

I grew up in the late 1980s in a small town in North East LA, called Highland Park. It was a community of Asian immigrants, African Americans, and Latinos, and my only experiences with hip hop was from the street. Sometimes, it seemed to leaking out of the concrete – car systems booming like King Kong was locked in the trunk, graffiti on chipped brick walls, and the wails of police sirens as they chased speeding Fords down the freeway. What fueled my music preferences at that time was chronic childhood insomnia – I scoured the radio for anything that would prevent me from depressingly wandering around in the dark. It was so bad at times that I began to get a sinking feeling when the sun went down because it meant that I would spend the night feeling alone.

Picture of a lonely car courtesy of agira929.

The perfect beast to combat this was incidentally… KOST 103.5. If you are in LA, you know that this is a radio station that specializes in contemporary adult love songs and “soft rock” at night – a sure recipe for disaster on the elementary school playground. At first, I only listened to Elton John and Céline Dion just because they were a soothing way to fall asleep, but I would be lying if I said  I didn’t begin to appreciate their music on some subconscious level.

Sleep was bliss. If Candle in the Wind can grant me that bliss, than I can dig it.

Part II to follow.

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Eight Rules: Proper Sound System Etiquette

July 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

As an audiophile, one of the first things I did when I got a new car was to perform open heart surgery, strap some wires to the battery, and install my own sound system in it. The 500 watt amps power two 10 inch subs and four component speakers and shot a booming arrow into my heart – everything from swing music, jazz, and hip-hop sounded fifty times better. I was hearing nuances, making out instruments, and clearly hearing every word and breath in every lyric like never before. But with all this sexy sonic power, comes responsibility!

Enjoy responsibly. Photo by IceBone

Here are eight rules and tips to follow to be a safe car audio enthusiast and avoid being an Audio Asshole:

1) Rolling through residental neighborhoods with your system on blast won’t help you pick up chicks or more street – it wakes up babies and takes off a couple of minutes off an elderly person’s life every time you do it. So don’t.

2) There is nothing wrong with bumping the hell out of a song you love. But if you must, try to keep your windows rolled up if a lot of other cars are around.

3) Booming bass is cool, but a trunk rattling like a tin can during a major earthquake definitely isn’t. Put some sound dampening material in your trunk so your bass will kick better and your rattle won’t scare little kids on the street.

4) For God’s sake, I’ve seen booming sound systems with mothers in the car. Please have respect for her ears and everybody else in your vehicle.

5) As a male, any kind of contest is fair game. I’ve fond memories of how far I can throw licked gummy bears onto ceilings, for example, but sound system battles on the street tend to hurt the competitor’s ears in what equates to a pissing contest – and bothers everyone around you.

6) If you are driving through a rather seedy looking neighborhood, it’s best to keep the volume on your system to a minimum – stolen audio equipment are hot commodities on the street.

7) Police or emergency vehicle sirens should never have to compete with your system.

8) If you notice a big group of children (such as a school or a playground), it might be best not to play the Geto Boy’s “Still” at full blast.

Let us reverse the trend of car audio “thuggery” and be recognized as serious car audio enthusiasts instead!

How do you feel about car audio systems?

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How to Listen to a New Album

July 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

After patiently waiting for Raekwon’s Only Built For Cuban Linx II, I’ve thought about the whole album buying process, and what I do afterward. I’m a creature of habit, and I always eat my ice cream cones the same way, tie my shoes the same way, and angrily cut off the same car on the way to work everyday (half joking).

I got to thinking – what does one do after they buy a brand new album?

(I’m talking about a real CD, not a digital one. That’s for another post, although it’s not my preference. But I digress.)

The process begins for me after I scour the Internet for a new release announcement from any artist I’m interested in. If I am REALLY excited, I will mentally memorize the month it will come out for further notice. Then, the album comes out and an epic journey to Best Buy commences! Note that this is not an actual endorsement of Best Buy, which is a perennial customer service wasteland with horribly trained employees, but they do usually have $9.99 specials for new albums.

After racing home, I carefully peel the shrink wrap by removing the top sticker (they make this impossibly hard to remove for some reason – are they afraid of us copping a listen in the store or something?) and take out my initial playback instrument of choice: the personal CD player.

Do you remember the 90s when it was cool to have a mammoth CD player in your cargo pockets while you strutted your stuff in the mall? It’s hard to imagine this now in the iPod age, but a large bulge in your pants with wires sticking out of it was somehow acceptable. I use this partially because of convenient since I don’t have to wait for it to rip to MP3 files, and because I feel that the initial listen is richer and more musically complete this way. I block off some time, put on my Sennheiser HD 201s or Shure E3Cs so I can catch every note and word, and listen to the album front to back while reading the linear notes and noting the cover art on the CD cover. Linear notes are my favorite – unfortunately, they are slowly being phased out.

While listening, I note the atmosphere and tone of the album. What was the artist thinking, and why did he choose the beats? How is the chemistry between the producer(s) and the rapper, and his guests? Do the guests overshadow the rapper on any of his songs? How is the technique, lyricism, and overall “listenability” of every song? Is it filled with filler? These are some of the questions that run through my mind as I nod my head and absorb the material and listen to the stories on the album. I also make sure to listen to the skits, as they can be vitally important to the feel of the album (ala Prince Paul’s hip hop opera: A Prince Among Thieves).

After I finish the album, then I read more up on the album – reviews, background information, and forum posts to gain some more insight. Some extremely deep albums, such as Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor, may have so much to absorb that it will warrant weeks of non-stop listening – I’ll find something new for my brain to chew on each time I listen to a lyric. Heck, even that album’s title is a lot more complex than you may think! Lupe explains:

In Chicago, instead of having bodegas like in New York, the majority of the corner stores are called ‘Food and Liquors.’ The store is where everything is at, whether it be the wine-o hanging by the store, or us as kids going back and forth to the store to buy something. The ‘Food’ is the good part and the ‘Liquor’ is the bad part. I try to balance out both parts of me.

What do you do when you listen to a new album? Any comments from my readers?

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Introducing the Octopus Continued

July 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

In middle school, 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G. were the rage. Big didn’t describe them (well, it described B.I.G., who looked like he ate a little too many flapjacks).  I didn’t hear much about them besides the fact that all my friends kept reciting rap lyrics and arguing about who was supreme (2Pac won nearly all the time since I lived on the West Coast). When 2Pac was shot and killed, I vividly remember that day in the playground – the subdued buzz, the surprised exclamations of “did you hear what happened?” and the feeling that a great loss has taken place. This event, coupled with the general disdain of soft rock in the playground, piqued my interest.

2Pac, the oldest of souls. Photo by Art-KO of Flickr fame.

As high school approached, I fully threw myself into hip hop with 2Pac as my guide. The more I found out about him, the more I thought he could do no wrong as I navigated the urban waters. Everything about him was magnetic – his life story, his dedication to the arts and to telling the story of the weak and ignored, and his lifelong dream to spark a revolution in the streets. Surprisingly, even his poetry turned out to be remarkably well polished. 2Pac was an easy to digest gateway to the rap world.

Rap music turned out to be an acquired taste, much like wine, coffee, or beer – at first listen, it seemed shallow, overly focused on “gangsterisms,” and full of bad messages and language. Only after repeated listens, often late at night and while looking up the written lyrics, can one start to see the poetry, strong positive messages, and emotional attachment the artist had to their songs (and that is just scratching the surface). 2Pac remains one of the best examples of someone whom you can feel emotion in every bar. Relating my very ordinary and mundane life to these strong, powerful lyrics became surprisingly easy.

College, like it is supposed to, opened my eyes even further. To be continued in a future post.

To my dear readers: does anybody else out there have an artist that they felt introduced them (or catapulted, violently)  to a new genre of music?

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Snoop Dogg as a Football Coach and Mentor

July 20th, 2011 | By Edwin

Recently, I read an article (located here) about Snoop Dogg playing a much different role than his usual weed-smoking, pimpalicious self. He was described in the article as a hard-working mentor to disadvantaged kids who works to keep them off the street. Meet: Coach Dogg.

Snoop has gone through a rather drastic metamorphosis throughout the years, with his early success resting on his reputation as a West Coast Crip OG and his latest successes relying on reality show appeal and ridiculous wardrobe. In his early days, however, he was decried as a horrible influence on the youth of America. His rap songs were immensely popular and frequently forayed into the science of pimping out bootylicious hoes and promoting the benefits of smoking a certain green plant.

Despite this though, a hidden aspect of the Big Boss Dogg hasn’t had quite the same amount of promotion: Snoop Dogg is an active child mentor, football coach and philanthropist. I Googled this when I saw a giant blue “Snoop Dogg” football bus rolling through Whittier, CA one day. Snoop Dogg’s program is unique because the benefits really cut away at gang violence at the roots:

1) The league allows ex-cons to focus their energy into a productive cause – too often we do not give those who have been punished for their misdeeds a chance to actually succeed in society

2) A big factor for gang members is that they do not have a sense of family or belonging from their biological families or they do not have a way to spend their free time. The football program instills strong male role models and solves the problem for both.

3) Gang disputes between rival gangs, such as Crips and Bloods, are left away from the field as a sort of peace treaty. If bitter gang members can do what the Democrats and Republicans apparently cannot, that must be a positive sign.

Snoop also enforces a dress code to get “players out of the hood culture” in order to give them a sense of order. The rapper also is approachable, demands no special treatment and tries his best to have the football league be a symbol of what can be accomplished with a little money and PR. Programs in Dallas and Pittsburgh are interested and I hope it catches on. Play on, S N double O P!

Get the best of Snoop on Sale!

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