Encounters of the Hip-Hop Kind
September 28, 2006
Log
Thursday, September 14th.
I was walking through the JC after exercising and doing some homework. Even though it was midnight, there was a small group of people break-dancing outside of the cinema. I was definitely impressed that they were going so late (and wondering why such ardent dancers weren’t going to a club?) I also saw people break-dancing there on Monday and once or twice more in the week.
Friday, September 15th.
In the late morning, I kind of wanted to procrastinate starting my day. I started watching the Boondocks TV Series that I had recently gotten. I had never seen the TV show before, but I loved the comic strip, even though it was over my head half the time. The TV show was a lot more accessible—I think I’ve now seen four more episodes in the past two weeks.
Saturday, September 16th.
While channel surfing in the morning, I came across the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which I honestly forgot existed. I must have seen like 75% of the episodes as they came out while I was growing up. I thought it was funny that I had forgotten something that was really an important example of hip hop in my life.
I went to DC that day and of course saw some graffiti in Northwest, where I was. It said “evolve,” and I definitely appreciated the positive message. My parents were also commenting on how someone had tagged our neighbors house before they had even moved in, (it was constructed over the summer) so I went across the street to see the tag. Interesting how graffiti was blatant vandalism and really stupid stuff in one incident and more like a work of art in another.
Sunday, September 17th.
I was driving in Rockville and saw a poster for the Wire’s new season at a bus-stop. I thought of this and remembered how you had mentioned that “If you really want to get a sense of Hip-Hop culture, you should watch the Wire.”
I listened to Matisyahu later that day. I was really curious to hear him because he’s been pumped up as the Yiddish Rapper. I was a little let down because the show I had was all reggae, no raps. A few days later I listened to Michael Franti and Spearhead and thought how they are hip-hop artists, or at least artists that are heavily influenced by hip-hop.
Monday, September 18th.
In my Queer Studies class, we watched a really powerful video called Tongues Untied. The video was about the urban homosexual African American male experience. They incorporated rhymes and protest chants and dance into a really powerful kind of performance art, and, as a documentary, it talked about the lives of the artists and other art projects they were involved in. I thought it was really amazing, and a nice step outside of the “Misogyny, Homophobia, Xenocentricism” part of Hip-Hop that you mentioned last class.
Thursday, September 21st.
I was surfing and came across a video on YouTube called “White Boy Steppin’.” I then linked up to a lot of different stepping videos. I don’t know much about this, and I think it’s the first time I really came across this as its own form of art. It seems very derivative of different African dances I’ve seen, and the videos I saw were all (except for “White Boy Steppin”) of young Black men and women. I was wondering if this would be considered part of Hip-Hop culture.
Saturday, September 23rd.
I listened to a whole lot of Democracy Now! Recordings as I drove today. I heard a Lebanese rapper in a segway during a show on Israel-Palestine. Another show featured a rap by Dr. Cornel West, and Dr. West spoke (in the interview) about the power of Hip-Hop as a tool of social change. The last show I listened to was on the Hip-Hop Convention, and they interviews with Michael Eric Dyson and Russell Simmons.
Log
Thursday, September 14th.
I was walking through the JC after exercising and doing some homework. Even though it was midnight, there was a small group of people break-dancing outside of the cinema. I was definitely impressed that they were going so late (and wondering why such ardent dancers weren’t going to a club?) I also saw people break-dancing there on Monday and once or twice more in the week.
Friday, September 15th.
In the late morning, I kind of wanted to procrastinate starting my day. I started watching the Boondocks TV Series that I had recently gotten. I had never seen the TV show before, but I loved the comic strip, even though it was over my head half the time. The TV show was a lot more accessible—I think I’ve now seen four more episodes in the past two weeks.
Saturday, September 16th.
While channel surfing in the morning, I came across the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which I honestly forgot existed. I must have seen like 75% of the episodes as they came out while I was growing up. I thought it was funny that I had forgotten something that was really an important example of hip hop in my life.
I went to DC that day and of course saw some graffiti in Northwest, where I was. It said “evolve,” and I definitely appreciated the positive message. My parents were also commenting on how someone had tagged our neighbors house before they had even moved in, (it was constructed over the summer) so I went across the street to see the tag. Interesting how graffiti was blatant vandalism and really stupid stuff in one incident and more like a work of art in another.
Sunday, September 17th.
I was driving in Rockville and saw a poster for the Wire’s new season at a bus-stop. I thought of this and remembered how you had mentioned that “If you really want to get a sense of Hip-Hop culture, you should watch the Wire.”
I listened to Matisyahu later that day. I was really curious to hear him because he’s been pumped up as the Yiddish Rapper. I was a little let down because the show I had was all reggae, no raps. A few days later I listened to Michael Franti and Spearhead and thought how they are hip-hop artists, or at least artists that are heavily influenced by hip-hop.
Monday, September 18th.
In my Queer Studies class, we watched a really powerful video called Tongues Untied. The video was about the urban homosexual African American male experience. They incorporated rhymes and protest chants and dance into a really powerful kind of performance art, and, as a documentary, it talked about the lives of the artists and other art projects they were involved in. I thought it was really amazing, and a nice step outside of the “Misogyny, Homophobia, Xenocentricism” part of Hip-Hop that you mentioned last class.
Thursday, September 21st.
I was surfing and came across a video on YouTube called “White Boy Steppin’.” I then linked up to a lot of different stepping videos. I don’t know much about this, and I think it’s the first time I really came across this as its own form of art. It seems very derivative of different African dances I’ve seen, and the videos I saw were all (except for “White Boy Steppin”) of young Black men and women. I was wondering if this would be considered part of Hip-Hop culture.
Saturday, September 23rd.
I listened to a whole lot of Democracy Now! Recordings as I drove today. I heard a Lebanese rapper in a segway during a show on Israel-Palestine. Another show featured a rap by Dr. Cornel West, and Dr. West spoke (in the interview) about the power of Hip-Hop as a tool of social change. The last show I listened to was on the Hip-Hop Convention, and they interviews with Michael Eric Dyson and Russell Simmons.
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