Another Suggesn.. Can we get rid of the Hip Hop groups?

I'm really not feeling all of the hip hop groups riding the afro-punk wave. I mean, seriously, Bonecrusher? Can we keep this to punk, metal, hardcore, experimental? Pretty much whatever, except rap?

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Permalink Reply by Matthew on March 5, 2009 at 11:15pm

Majestic, have you ever seen Bonecrushers group The Onslaught ?

Permalink Reply by Ghettopunkrocker on March 5, 2009 at 11:20pm

...Don't feed the troll.

Permalink Reply by Matthew on March 5, 2009 at 11:22pm

GP your a funny dude. Where the hell did you get that picture from LMAO..m

Permalink Reply by MajesticMap on March 6, 2009 at 12:36am

Matthew said:

Majestic, have you ever seen Bonecrushers group The Onslaught ?

Not until two minutes ago. It's as tired and stupid as I thought it would be. The only thing cool about the youtube video i'm torturing myself with right now, is the fact that's he's shirtless and kinda hot.

Permalink Reply by Matthew on March 6, 2009 at 12:47am

LOL, oh no we really have different taste in that case.

MajesticMap said:

Matthew said:
Majestic, have you ever seen Bonecrushers group The Onslaught ?

Not until two minutes ago. It's as tired and stupid as I thought it would be. The only thing cool about the youtube video i'm torturing myself with right now, is the fact that's he's shirtless and kinda hot.

Permalink Reply by CapCityBlack512 on March 28, 2009 at 2:10am

damn... you said it all.

Permalink Reply by Rosenda on April 5, 2009 at 6:23pm

Damn, you on point, Machetero. That was my entire life in my late teens/twenties during the 80's.

BOTH movements and the music were EXTREMELY important to me. It was all a big part of my life. From those early days of punk and hiphop coming to me on a couple of radio shows who were ahead of everybody else in the late 70's on through the 1980's.

El Machetero said:

No, we can't. Know why? Cuz some of us came up during a time when the line separating punk from Hip-Hop was paper thin. The two musics and subcultures have been intertwined since day one, whether or not everybody knows that or cares to acknowledge the fact.

i do understand your concern, cuz i think we all know how trendy and meaningless shit can get. But that is a little bit inevitable, as much as i hate to say it. i say rather than be like, "sorry, you're too Hip-Hop, get the fuck out", it's better to be like, "Ok....what is this kid bringing to the table that is new or that is relevant to what we're trying to build?" It's better than categorically rejecting a whole entire genre or foundation of music altogether, if you ask me.

If you got in a time machine and travelled back to say, 1980, you would find that there was no contradiction between being into both the Cold Crush Brothers and the Selecter, Devo and the Bad Brains, DNA and Steel Pulse, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and Elvis Costello, Crass and the English Beat, Kid Creole and the Coconuts and the Undertones, Bauhaus and A Certain Ratio, the Police and the Germs, Gang of Four and Discharge, or Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and Killing Joke.

i don't know about you, but that is exactly the essence and the vibe i would like to preserve. i know it's a totally different time and era, but i still think that there is something about the openness to new and different sound that characteized that particular moment that we could learn a lot from.

Permalink Reply by MajesticMap on April 5, 2009 at 6:38pm

I believe the hip hop/punk connection is a bit overrated. Like any two genres, ever, there are some crossover and have always been. I'll never forget seeing a record cover with Johnny Rotten/Lydon from Sex Pistols/PiL hanging out with Afrika Bambaataa. Still, I think other than the initial artists sharing the same downtown space in NYC in the early 80s, we are romanticizing the connections a bit.

If I wanted to hear new rap, I'd turn on the radio or go to undergroundhiphop.com. I don't really care what people listen to, and I list rap/hip hop groups as some of my all time favorites. I'm also a dj who spins dubstep, dancehall, techno, house,hip hop, rap, freestyle on and on... My poiint is, is that i don't think that hip hop belongs here as the focal point of the movement. It's a shame when most of the featured artist are just cookie-cutter rap "bands" and wanna-be kanye wests or spankrocks. I think in order to be defined as afropunk, a rap group has to be genre bending/defying much the way the new saul williams is, or the way the new Zach De La Rocha project, One Day As a Lion is or Dalek, etc. These rap groups are closer to punk in the same way that jazz musicians like Sun Ra, Art Ensemble of Chicago, and Sonny Sharrock are (in fact, i'd say the jazz musicians helped *define* the punk aesthetic). Just b/c you add live instruments to your dull raps doesn't make you afropunk.

Give that Bonescrusher bands front page billing to Girlz of Zaetar or Occasional Detroit.

Permalink Reply by lyfenlyn on April 6, 2009 at 10:59am

Same here. No Wave and hip hop ran side by side in NYC in the 80's.

Rosenda said:

Damn, you on point, Machetero. That was my entire life in my late teens/twenties during the 80's.

BOTH movements and the music were EXTREMELY important to me. It was all a big part of my life. From those early days of punk and hiphop coming to me on a couple of radio shows who were ahead of everybody else in the late 70's on through the 1980's.

El Machetero said:
No, we can't. Know why? Cuz some of us came up during a time when the line separating punk from Hip-Hop was paper thin. The two musics and subcultures have been intertwined since day one, whether or not everybody knows that or cares to acknowledge the fact.

i do understand your concern, cuz i think we all know how trendy and meaningless shit can get. But that is a little bit inevitable, as much as i hate to say it. i say rather than be like, "sorry, you're too Hip-Hop, get the fuck out", it's better to be like, "Ok....what is this kid bringing to the table that is new or that is relevant to what we're trying to build?" It's better than categorically rejecting a whole entire genre or foundation of music altogether, if you ask me.

If you got in a time machine and travelled back to say, 1980, you would find that there was no contradiction between being into both the Cold Crush Brothers and the Selecter, Devo and the Bad Brains, DNA and Steel Pulse, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and Elvis Costello, Crass and the English Beat, Kid Creole and the Coconuts and the Undertones, Bauhaus and A Certain Ratio, the Police and the Germs, Gang of Four and Discharge, or Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and Killing Joke.

i don't know about you, but that is exactly the essence and the vibe i would like to preserve. i know it's a totally different time and era, but i still think that there is something about the openness to new and different sound that characteized that particular moment that we could learn a lot from.

Permalink Reply by lyfenlyn on April 6, 2009 at 11:03am

From a place where art, fashion, experimental turntableism, and undefineable music generes collide, I think we should all be able to gather in groups that serve us well. When we find that we have that commonality it makes it so we don't feel so left out.

http://www.wefunkradio.com/

Permalink Reply by MajesticMap on April 6, 2009 at 8:49pm

El, word. I'm the same age you are, and i have experienced similar things, and I understand what everyone is saying about inclusion What I would add is that afropunk should be about taking punk BACK from the white/suburban/racist environment it has languished in. We created avant garde music and all of it's influences, we created rock music and all of it's influences. We need to take rock *back* from whites.

My main point is that while all these rap groups are getting front page ink on afropunk, groups like Girlz of Zaeter, Occasional Detroit, and This Moment in Black History get no love. That is a problem. I mean, I actually like MURS, but do we really need to have him on the front page? He gets plenty of press from the rap sites.

Anyway, dead horse is getting smacked around. Thanks for your comments guys.

Permalink Reply by Compound Egret on April 8, 2009 at 8:37pm

^^^^
I checked out all 3 of those groups that you mentioned above. To be diplomatic, I would rather listen to DJ Quik any day of the week. But you dig them and other people here might dig them, so it's all gravy. No need to ban anyone.