HipHopdom

Past February 2008, The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery recognized hip hop as an influential culture in the society and organized the exhibit called RECOGNIZE!, a display of Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture that included colorful graffiti murals lining all of the gallery hallways.

In early instance some critics said this exhibit was only an attempt to take young people to the museum providing the audience with an insight into the hip hop cultural movement in America putting together the work of David Sheinbaum and graffiti artists Dave Hupp and Tim Conlon.

Nonetheless, RECOGNIZE! collected different media and artwork such as the portrait of Ice T as Napoleon, work by Kehinde Wiley in which Ice T is wearing a robe like the French emperor in the painting by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, but wearing a baseball cap instead of a crown.

The fact is that RECOGNIZE! is still on and the exhibit now features a “Hip-Hop Happy Hour” at 5 pm that is broadcast live by 93.9 WKYS-FM, although the airplay is from 2 pm to 6, plus the presentation of “New York Is Now” by DJ Spooky (Paul D. Miller) in the Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium at 7 pm.

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery is located in Eighth and F Streets in NW, D.C., admission is free and the gallery’s mission is spread the story of America through the people who have shaped American culture.

Now the question is, simply marketing strategy or true awareness in hip-hop?

Record producer and rapper Dr. Dre has finally announced the release of his new album “Detox” sometime between November and December this year. As a recording executive, Dr. Dre considers the delay of his new album a natural thing bearing in mind he is always pursuing perfection.

Dr. Dre was born André Romelle Young on February 18, 1965 in Compton California, debuting with his West Coast hip hop in 1984. Although Dr. Dre is CEO and founder of Aftermath Entertainment record label, his name has came into public attention after the scandal around Death Row Records, at which he was former co-owner.

But Dr. Dre has nothing to do with public scandals since he is one of the most respected hip hop producers so do not feel surprised finding in “Detox” as featured guests rappers such as Nas, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and Lil’ Wayne.

In an interview with USA Today, Dr. Dre said about his new album “We have an entirely new thing going with the drums that’s incredible, and we’re still developing that. I’m going to put this record out, promote it, tour and then become a hermit, I’m going to stay in the studio and produce.”

“Detox” is a long-time awaited album due to be released in 2004, but it was not completed because Dr. Dre was just busy producing the albums of Eminem, Rhymes, Eve and The Game for Aftermath Entertainment. Planned as a concept album two years before (in 2002) “Detox” will finally see the light soon… or not yet?

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Grammy winning singer and songwriter Robin Thicke is best known for his work co-producing artists such as Brandy, Christina Aguilera, Michael Jackson, Jordan Knight, and Marc Anthony, but this time columnist Clayton Perry remarks a facet in Thicke career that is not often ignored after the artist became the first white male artist that peaked at number one on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart on February 24, 2007.

After this mark, the name of Robin Thicke has been continually present in both the hip hop charts and the BET Awards, where he was nominated the “Best Male R&B Artist” in 2007. The following is an excerpt from the interview with Thicke conducted by Clayton Perry, a member of The NUBIANO Exchange, a new, dynamic voice in Black America.

Perry: Based off the length of your hair, at that particular point, it is quite obvious that your career wasn’t an “overnight success.”

Thicke: Oh, yeah. I have been making music for 15 years. Everybody in the business says, “Hey, man, you never
stop.” I have definitely paid my dues.

Perry: In recent years, you have had multiple collaborations with Lil Wayne - even before he became “the best rapper alive.”

Thicke: My wife says, “You called that 6 years ago,” because I told everybody, “This guy is going to be the next big thing. He is it.”

As Perry noted in another part of the interview, Robin Thicke’s music is usually associated with black folks but soul music has not color, race or face, don’t you think?

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Believe it or , while Hip Hop culture is gaining spaces in the public scene not only in America but worldwide, Rev. Thomas Sweatt said to a crowd that hip hop has corrupted a generation. The story was brought by reporter Ben Slivnick for The Morning Call, the newspaper for the Lehigh Valley in eastern Pennsylvania.

Rev. Sweatt is an Allentown pastor at the St. James A.M.E. Church who, after attending the 66th Freedom Fund and Awards Banquet for the Allentown branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People past weekend, decided to reclaim the hip-hop generation preaching on his own points of view.

According to Sweatt, the hip hop culture is not only synonym of corruption, but takes children away from Christian values that must be preserved, inviting parent to meditation since the hip hop culture is lured by money and vanity claiming that “Hip-hoppers live lives of self-indulgence, self-satisfaction all for self-engrandizement”

However, Sweatt is not only expecting attention from Allentown parents but the whole community to whom he considers responsible for the right or wrong direction that the next generation takes without the proper guidance sticking to religious values that he considers the panacea to all the problems from children and adult alike.

“The Boys and Girls Club, the Y, these things are great, but they are not there to replace you as a parent at home, the only way to turn things around is to take them back to the way God planned it,” said Rev. Sweatt rounding his sermon.

Do you think that if hip hop is so bad you and I would be meeting here to read this?

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The official Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards (HHHHOF) is a ceremony created in 1992 by TV show producer James JT Thompson that eventually became the first independent hip-hop show aired on BET network three years later. The very first ceremony inducted renowned artists such as Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, DJ Red Alert, Kool Herc, Eazy E, and Run DMC with Jam Master.

J.T. Thompson announced the return to TV of the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards this Fall 2008 and will not only bring back into the scene former presenters but also a whole week of activities associated to this event, including an “Old School Luncheon” reunion concert at which the name of the award nominees will be unveiled.

The Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards ceremony will be hold in New York City and a “Sweet 16 Anniversary” DVD will released afterwards compiling the best of the ceremony, the original 1996 TV show, interviews, performances and some of the community socio-economic projects derived from the HHHOF recalling peace summits, marches, education initiatives, and “Get Out the Vote” campaigns.

About the HHHOF ceremony Thompson said “We are very excited to be returning to TV as Hip Hop has re-emerged as the major youth marketing driving force influencing over $250 billion in sales across all product and service categories. The event will help re-establish the HHHOF brand in the marketplace for decades to come.”

I don’t know about you but I will keep an eye on TV this Fall.

Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards Music Downloads

Whitbread prize winner Patrick Neate is a writer and journalist best known for his articles published by the British media including The Guardian and The Independent, newspaper in which his story about Afro Reggae, A Rio’s hip-hop band, caught the eye of the society who learned how young musicians are involved in social movements, by the time when this Latin American musicians visited Manchester.

However, Patrick’s interest in hip hop led him to jot down a list of ten books that he considers key reading for anyone wanting to understand a little bit more what the hip-hop culture means and how it influences the new generations.

Patrick Neate’s top ten hip-hop list include some of the best classic books on the genre:

1. The White Boy Shuffle, by Paul Beatty, published by Picador (2001)
2. Hip Hop America by Nelson George, published by (Non-Classics) Penguin (1999)
3. Westsiders by William Shaw, published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (2001)
4. Egotrip’s Book Of Rap Lists, published by Griffin (1999)
5. Six Out Seven by Jess Mowry, published by Anchor (1994)
6. The Art Of War by Sun-Tzu, originally published by Oxford University Press (1971)
7. Rap Attack: African Rap To Global Hip Hop by David Toop, published by Medientrum (1984)
8. Pimp by Iceberg Slim., published by Holloway House (1987)
9. No Logo by Naomi Klein, published by Picador (2000)
10. Black Noise: Rap Music And Black Culture In Contemporary America by Tricia Rose, published by Wesleyan (1994)

Besides the good recommendation for reading, a visit to Patrick Neate’s website will sure surprise you.

Continuing with the political fever in America, this weekend will be memorable for hip hop devoted followers heading for the National Hip-Hop Political Convention at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. This is the thrid bi-annual convention and will bring to the discussion panel activists and artists alike.

From August 1 to August 3, several workshops will focus on what is considered one of the most critical elections in America, along with issues such as police brutality, job and health care in urban communities.

Heather Sanchez, spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Local Organizing Committee confirmed the attendance of Rosa Clemente and Jeff Chang along with some of the most renowned activists and artist in the hip hop scene. Sanchez said “The most important thing is the agenda, how we come together collectively to decide on the issues that affect us the most.”

The convention pretends to make aware the nation of the reality that urban communities face everyday, places where the lack of employment and countless issues affect poor people with a diversity of cultures that often find an point of encounter in the hip hop living.

“If you consider yourself part of the Hip Hop community, it’s in your best interest to attend. We’re going to give you the tools to go out and make change in your community,” said Sanchez. A speech from Green Party presidential candidate nominee Cynthia McKinney, is scheduled to close the Las Vegas National Hip-hop Political Convention.

Great idea, isn’t it?

Although the Roxe Jam Hip-Hop Festival is an event of regional importance in the south of Wales, UK, this two-day event is being recognized as one of the most representative events for a new generation of fans joining to the hip-hop culture in Great Britain.

Roxe Jam Hip-Hop festival was founded one year ago as a tribute to one of the youngest hip hop graffiti artists, Bill Lockwood, who died in a road accident in January 2007. Roxe Jam highlights the love for the art and is supported by the Cardiff Council, The Arts Council of Wales, and several Welsh organizations.

The memory of Bill Lockwood, a native Cardiff artist, has helped to bring into the public attention the regional hip-hop music scene, although rappers, DJs and graffiti artists perform in several venues accross the city and not only in the Sevenoaks Park, place at which a 130 meter wall showcases the spray-paint artistic work.

Lou Lockwood, mother of the late Bill and founder of the festival said “I was overwhelmed by the response to last year’s event.” Musician and producer Rhys Adamsn expressed with enthusiasm how “It’s important that there’s an outlet for any artistic community, particularly one that’s based around a youth culture.”

Roxe Jam 2008 lineup include rappers and DJs Me One, Dead Residents, Y Diwygiad and Hoax, Humurak D Gritty, Optimas Prime, Quiet Poison, Out of the Box, Smithy Blade, Flow of Thought, as well as graffiti artists Hoxe, Skroe, Rmer, Foe, Solve, and Biro, among other artists from London, Glasgow, Birmingham and Cambridge.

Did you hear about this festival before?

Although Nas is one of the top rappers in the hip-hop music scene, he is mostly known for his hard-die opinions bringing to people’s attention facts that he likes, dislikes or simply are out of curiosity from his very personal point of view.

This time Nas is protesting after watching Fox News coverage of Barack Obama activities confirming what all people know from coast to coast; Fox is a racist-oriented network. Joining in New York City with activist groups ColorofChange and MoveOn, Nas is heading the delivering of over 600,000 petitions to the TV network, headquartered in this city.

In Nas’ own words, “Fox poisons the country with racist propaganda and tries to call it news.” Fox News has been broadcasting what a producer defined as a “poor judgement” after the network referred to Michelle Obama derogatorily past month.

Despite Fox apologized saying that “Fox News believes in all protesters exercising their right to free speech including Nas who has an album to promote,” this comment was considered by some people as a personal attack against Nas after his non-named album released the past week in which the song “Sly Fox” is targeting Fox Network “poisoning” activities.

Either way, Fox News is aware that if Barack Obama takes office as the next President of the United States, the future of the network can be put, if not at risk, in a very hard situation so as a way to “demonstrate” they have not racial prejudices, Bill Hemmer will be interviewing Obama on weekend.

Now let’s wait for Nas versus Fox, what will he be doing next?

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Released early this month, “The Wackness” is a movie portraying some of the live in the middle 1990s with hip-hop culture as an underlying motivator. This film is starred by Ben Kingsley, Josh Peck, Famke Janssen, Mary-Kate Olsen,and Olivia Thirlby, the film is distributed by Sony Pictures Classics in the USA, and will be released in the UK next August 29, 2008.

Produced by Joe Neurauter, Keith Calder, and Felipe Marino with a $20 million budget and directed by Jonathan Levine, the story takes us back to New York in 1994 and, despite its drug use-related plot, some critics have compared this film with those comedies of Cheech and Chong because of the jokes the characters play with.

Even though, “The Wackness” is Levine’s free adaptation of the spy novel “The Echelon Vendetta” by David Stone published past year, in which all the CIA agents who participated in a top secret, but illegal operation called Echelon are killed.

Incidentally, Jonathan Levine graduated in 1994 and some people point at his own experience watching how marijuana was dealt among senior high school classmates. Beyond gossip and speculations, “The Wackness” include sexuality and partial nudity scenes.

Some people have questioned Levine about Sir Ben Kingsley, an Academy Award winner actor, playing a role in “The Wackness” and he could not resist express that “As much as I adore and worship Ben Kingsley , having Method Man on the set was an absolute thrill. That was so cool.”

Beyond opinions, do you think “The Wackness” is really a flashback to the hip-hop scene of the 1990s?