Adrienne Anderson » excerpts

(Excerpt) The Political Evolution of KRS-ONE

admin — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 02:27:07 +0000

“…Changing the vision and image of one of hip-hop’s most prolific voices was like changing the voice of urban America. KRS-ONE’s politics sadly became defined and marketed by the recording industry and by the new hip-hop audience. He was even paired with such groups as alternative rockers R.E.M.!

“The relevance of his music was buried under multiple layers of bad marketing and pandering to a widening hip-hop audience. Unfortunately, themes of such songs as ‘Black Cop,’ ‘My Philosophy,’ ‘Love’s Gonna Get You,’ were replaced by bright and shiny raps of danceable tunes with blatantly ripped off, radio-friendly songs – a lá P. Diddy—like ‘Step Into a World,’ biting one of the lamest rap songs in history: Blondie’s ‘Rapture.’ As a self-described ‘teacher,’ the lessons were still the same, except they were now being taught in the well-scrubbed, hallowed halls of ivy-covered private schools, instead of over-crowded, urban American classrooms…” (page 50)

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(Excerpt) Women in Rap

admin — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 02:11:21 +0000

“…It seemed as if the regular slights, sexism and overt discrimination in rap music gave women rappers the collective strength to push the truly brave female rap artists to the forefront. A new wave of brash, in-your-face, rap-roots women seemed to appear out of nowhere. One of the first of these vanguard women was Roxanne-Shante (Lolita Shante Gooden) who delivered one of the fiercest rebuttals in music history. A former member of Marley Marl’s Juice Crew, no one could forget the slice-and-burn lyrics to ‘Roxanne’s Reply’, a comeback against the sexist ‘Roxanne, Roxanne’ by U.T.F.O. (the Untouchable Force Organization). Regardless of her current status in rap, Roxanne-Shante was one of the first women to speak in a clear, unrepentant, independent voice in defense of her name –even it was a fictional character.

“One woman had jumped up and saved her name from being dragged through the mud by a doctor, a Kangol kid and an “educated” rapper. Not to be outdone, a completely different group of men responded to her response with –as usual—another woman. Rather than doing the dirty work themselves, the original producers of ‘Roxanne, Roxanne’, Howie-Tee and Full Force, found another woman to go against Roxanne-Shante. By appropriating her name and re-defining the glaringly feminist ‘Roxanne’s Reply’ with a squeaky, baby voiced, nasally imitation who was lyrically talent-less compared to Roxanne-Shante’s biting styles, the ‘Real’ Roxanne was introduced. The new and improved Roxanne no longer reflected the round-the-way rawness of Roxanne-Shante. She was now clad in head to toe Fendi, overwhelmed in ringlets and manicured in acrylic nails and door knocker earrings. Rather than focusing on taking rap to the “next level” and into a viable art form, the rap world spent untold months whittling the Roxannes down the n-th degree until the public got tired of all of them…” (page 24)
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(Excerpt) Arrested Development

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 08:31:55 +0000

“When Arrested Development (AD) first hit the scene at the 1992 Gavin Convention, no one in the industry, or in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel, knew how to classify them –including me. They didn’t fit into the hip-hop or R&B categories. They weren’t “hoodied” up with a hard assed scowl or conked up in a purple Chess King suit and a pair of EK glasses. Who were these record industry misfits in the day-glo colors and Afro-chic outfits? By the summer of 1992 we no longer had to guess. It seemed as if every radio station in the country played AD at least five times an hour. Their debut single “Tennessee” became the summer of ’92 anthem. However, unlike many cookie-cutter recording acts, it took a lot longer to get tired of hearing their infectious samples and bluesy licks.

“There was always something new in the band’s sound. It was that blend of live instruments, samples and heart-felt lyrics brimming with images of humid, down-home days and warm summer nights. When you listened closely, the music massaged you, while the lyrics wrapped knowledge within honeysuckle-scented nights and soul drenched pews…” (page 41)

Word: Rap, Politics and Feminism is available through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and iUniverse.com.

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