Wednesday, November 16th, 2005

Hip-Hop Activism Looks Back and Ahead

As we come to the end of a tumultuous political year, and look ahead to 2006, here’s a good piece sizing up the state of hip-hop activism, by Maria Luisa Tucker at Alternet.

Here also is an interview with BAYLOC’s Troy Nkrumah, now the National Hip-Hop Political Convention’s Internal Chair. The NHHPC is gearing up for the summer of 2006, when the Convention will be held in Chicago.

One thing I wanted to pull out from Troy is this point which I think is especially resonant when we look at last year and the road ahead…:

“See, the problem with hip-hop activism is that too many people look to the artists as the political voice of hip-hop, and that is 100% wrong. Artists are artists. They are not necessarily activist. With the exception of a few, the artists that many look at as the political conscience of hip-hop, are not themselves organizers. Most are not involved with political organizations, thus they are not accountable to anyone other than themselves or their record label.

If you examine the history of political movements and their leadership in this country, you will find that the leaders are always part of something bigger. They don’t stand alone. They always have an organization behind them. You name the leader and I bet you that you cannot find one that was not part of a larger body. With hip-hop we make the mistake too often of looking at artists as leaders. We do so because they have the microphone and everyone’s attention, but that’s a major mistake since they lack the political education and organizing experience that is required of a political leader.”

Point is: if we want a political movement, we need to build the one that we want, not wait for artists or celebrities.

Click here for the rest of Troy’s interview.

posted by @ 3:04 pm | 2 Comments

Monday, November 14th, 2005

Zigaboo Modeliste and The Meters Are Back! (w/Bonus Stuff)


Zigaboo brings that beat back!

Here’s a piece I did in today’s Chronicle on Zigaboo Modeliste and the Meters reunion:

On a good day in a little corner of West Oakland, over the crow of backyard roosters and the low whoosh of cars passing on Interstate 880, you might hear a little bit of New Orleans heaven. Drummer Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste is laying down that famous second-line beat with a smile on his face and an extra little snap on his rolls. His band, the Meters, one of the most celebrated in the Crescent City’s storied musical history, is finally back together.

“God gave us a gift,” Modeliste says, “and we should be doing it.”

For many hip-hop, funk and rock fans, the reappearance of Modeliste with his original bandmates — keyboardist Art Neville, guitarist Leo Nocentelli and bassist George Porter Jr. — at April’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival was a stunning moment.

It was billed as a farewell show. But after their set, Modeliste teased the crowd, saying, “We’ll see you again.” (They play two dates this weekend at the Fillmore.) As New Orleans tries to recover from Hurricane Katrina, many see the band’s return as a sign of hope for the suffering city’s cultural revival.

But bringing the beat back wasn’t easy.

Click here for the rest of the story…

Bonus Features

DJ Z-Trip on the Meters’ Josie Records: “It had an innocence to it. I don’t think when they sat to do their music they thought about it. They’re just getting started, and there’s this sort of energy when they’re all in the room, no one necessarily knows where it’s going to go. But many years later, you can still can feel that when you hear the music.”

Cut Chemist on Zigaboo’s style: “It was about less is more. Zigaboo had a swing. He was a monster in metric modulation. The hi-hat isn’t on the normal grid. He was working the in-betweens. The ghost notes are just as important as the ones that are there. It reshaped what was there by playing what wasn’t there.”

George Porter, Jr. on his relationship with Zigaboo: “I think my part is Zig’s life is to be to get as close to his heartbeat as I can. That’s my job as a bass player–I am supposed to make him make sense to everyone else.”

Leo Nocentelli on whether the Meters reunion will last beyond these winter dates: “I would say yeah, I’m 95% sure that it’s gonna happen because people are already making offers. I would imagine there’s going to be a new record from the Meters.”

Art Neville on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: “We lost a city. I haven’t even seen my home, I don’t know what it looks like. I was on the road when it hit, and I’m still out on the road as far as I’m concerned. I do know it didn’t flood. We had some burglars come and help themselves. I don’t know if it’ll ever be like it was before. My brothers Aaron and Cyril lost everything. They don’t want to come back there no more. I want to go back to New Orleans.”

Geek Stuff

+ Hank Shocklee’s favorite Meters Record
+ Cut Chemist’s favorite Meters Record
+ My favorite Meters record
+ Sundazed Records

Meters Websites

+ Zigaboo Modeliste: Zigaboo.com
+ Art Neville: Nevilles.com
+ Leo Nocentelli: nocentelli.com
+ George Porter, Jr.: georgeporterjr.com
+ The Funky Meters: funkymeters.com
+ The Meters: TheMetersOnline.com

posted by @ 7:21 am | 3 Comments

Friday, November 11th, 2005

Worst Look Of The Year


The bluest eyes.

It was bad news when ex-favorite screen siren Zhang Ziyi signed up to do this flick…(note to Hollywood: anyone interested in doing “Fire In Fontana”? Thought not.)

But wow, what’s next? Breast implants?

Hey, we know you wanna be loved, but you’re making it hard for us, homegirl. Just Do The Rosa Parks.

posted by @ 7:48 am | 2 Comments

Wednesday, November 9th, 2005

Behind the Beat


Home is where the vinyl is.

Been digging this great new book on headz’ home studios, Behind The Beat by Aussie hip-hop head Raphael Rashid. Not that the idea of an underground Cribz is new–you could peep B+’s shots of LA headz’ rooms in the early 90s in It’s Not About A Salary, and the Bedroom Rockers book last year was killer. It might help if you know what slobs these folks are on a personal basis, but you don’t have to. Anyway, it’s a well done book and revealing in a “Where’s the anti-bacterial soap, man?” kind of way.

You can order or here or here.

BTW a great week so far: Arnold lost–steroid big loss–and my man Phil is going to win. May the frightening reign of Phil begin!

posted by @ 5:37 pm | 0 Comments

Wednesday, November 9th, 2005

Post-Crunk Shakes Its Laffy Taffy

Cool piece in today’s LA Times on the new sound, which you know, is kinda Zen-like. I don’t remember saying all the stuff I did in here actually! But what the heck, rock the discotheque:

Over three decades, perhaps the only thing that has remained constant in hip-hop is change. The music’s always-evolving sound has spanned break-beats to rock guitar riffs, sinuous gangster funk to the grinding Eurodisco soundscapes of crunk and riffed on just about every other musical form along the way.

These days, hip-hop’s newest dictum seems to be less is more.

A spate of recent recordings arranged over minimalist beats and reliant upon “homemade” sound effects such as whispering, snapping, whistling and slamming doors has quietly ascended the charts.

Sometimes called “intimate club” music, the burgeoning subgenre has become one of the hottest styles in hip-hop…

posted by @ 10:43 am | 2 Comments

Monday, November 7th, 2005

Konono Can’t Stop


May we all be as cool as Mingiedi when we grow old.

Got to see Konono last night–their first show in San Francisco, probably one of their first gigs in the States period–and they are certainly No. 1 in generosity and joy and general ass-shaking funkiness.

It took 3 songs–about oh, a half hour–for the uptight SF Jazz festival crowd to actually get on their feet and start dancing. Which must have really confused the band. So to make up for it, they played an extra long last “song”. They started that one at about 8pm, an hour into their set. Every 15 minutes or so, lead vocalist Waku Menga would say, “Thank you thank you thank you!” Then the band would pick it up and go another 15 minutes!

That happened, like, 5 times.

So 75 minutes later, they gave their last thank yous and goodnights, ended their epic last track–I think the title was something like “I Thought I Told You That We Don’t Quit”–and everyone filed out nice and sweaty. Mingiedi was in the building and feeling himself, and punctuated his exit stage right with several little hip wiggles. Next time they play in SF, they need to sell some We Heart Mingiedi T-shirts.

Then the whole band came back. And even though the house monitors and the sound men were done for the night, Konono played another half hour for the 100 or so punks and punkettes, Aquarius Records employees, and this aging hip-hopster. Note to bands and DJs who would knowingly or unknowingly seek to violate your house contract: it is always good to bring your own amplification system.

Of course, The Suburbs Are Killing Us has the entire world scooped on the next installment of Congotronics and Konono, because Christopher just can’t stop either. Includes complete US tour info!

posted by @ 3:13 pm | 1 Comment

Saturday, November 5th, 2005

Paris Is Burning


Deputy mayor of Aulnay Franck Cannarozzo said, “Rather than playing on their Playstations, they attack the police.”

It’s the 10th day of rioting in the poor suburbs of Paris in what appears to be shaping up as a fight between second- and third-generation French Africans and the hard-line interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy. Earlier this year Sarkozy promised an all-out “war without mercy” on the residents of these areas, and now the rioting has spread beyond the capital to other areas across the country. These are the biggest race riots Europe has seen in decades.

Some context for those unfamiliar with the French way of housing poor people: substitute “inner-city” for “suburb”, and think “housing projects” instead of “subdivisions. These are areas of concentrated poverty created decades ago when French sought to push working class folks out of the city’s core toward the industrial jobs on its outskirts. The idea was not unlike Robert Moses’ urban renewal plans to clear Manhattan of the poor by shuttling them to the Bronx and Brooklyn. Of course, deindustrialization and white flight have since been the rule, and poor African immigrants replaced working-class Europeans in the projects.

Bomb the suburbs, indeed.

posted by @ 10:06 am | 0 Comments

Friday, November 4th, 2005

Rumors of Jay-Z Buying The Source Circulating Again

Been receiving this news item from Women’s Wear Daily all morning: the rumor that Jay-Z is part of an investor’s group including Lyor Cohen and Steve Stoute seeking to acquire The Source is making the rounds again.

Here’s the question for the day: is this a potentially good thing for the magazine and hip-hop journalism in general? Or is it an ethical red-flag only slightly less troublesome than the mag’s current situation?

Damon Dash’s own investment in America Magazine wasn’t a smooth one. This fall, editor-in-chief Smokey Fontaine and Dash were reportedly having it out over control of the magazine, with Dash allegedly attacking Fontaine in an argument over a Sean John advertorial. The beef apparently continues, and Fontaine is looking for new backers.

posted by @ 10:25 am | 5 Comments

Friday, November 4th, 2005

Hip-Hop Voters May Swing Mayor’s Election In Detroit

The Detroit Free Press describes a a swing in young voters toward Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the 35 year-old self-dubbed “hip-hop mayor” who has been trailing in his race for re-election to 55 year-old deputy mayor Freman Hendrix. Young voters have closed Hendrix’s one-time 13-point lead to almost single digits in the closing days of the campaign.

Four years ago, Kilpatrick mobilized a large wave of young voters in winning the office. But although he was celebrated early on by Russell Simmons and hip-hop magazines, he has stumbled badly in recent years with multiple corruption scandals.

posted by @ 8:18 am | 1 Comment

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005

Defend New Orleans

This great read is from John Biguenet’s blog at the New York TimesDefend New Orleans:

“Saturday night, Marsha and I attended a Nine Inch Nails tribute concert for relief and emergency workers as part of the Voodoo Music Experience, an annual New Orleans festival. The concert was held on the banks of the Mississippi River in weather that turned crisp after darkness fell.

Earlier, as the setting sun silhouetted tankers and container ships gliding down the river toward the Gulf, we had been entranced by Worms Union, a local punk drum ensemble, one of whose members wore the most commonly seen T-shirt at the festival. It featured, just above a musket, a skull emblazoned with a fleur-de-lis; circling the skull and gun was a simple message: Defend New Orleans…”

posted by @ 8:42 pm | 0 Comments



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