Life is Motion

Saturday, June 24, 2006

I'm out...moving on....


Gackt from Japan

I'm sick of this ongoing debate about should Bi or shouldn't he go gender bender (aka androgynous).

If only he never claimed that his music is hiphop and R&B, I wouldn't be horrified of the possibility of him going androgynous. The two don't mix. The two styles do not mesh together. If you're hiphop, you go all the way, you don't wishywash and say, "well the Asians want something softer, so I gotta be a little more flowery."Here's a short history of old school hiphop:

The "Definition" of Hip-Hop and RapPart 1: The Status Quo
http://www.jam2dis.com/j2dhiphophistory1.htm

Believe it or not, rap has been around for over 23 years. In fact the first ever rap tune to be pressed on vinyl was "Rapper's Delight", by the Sugarhill Gang in the late 70s. Since then rap has evolved from a fad to a street party. Rap music is an element of a larger culture that encompasses rap, baggy clothing, break-dancing, graffiti, vocabulary and a general lifestyle. This popular culture is generally referred to as hip-hop. Rap made its way to our shores in the early 1980s, as early as 1983. DJ Blaze, one of the best known hip-hop DJs in South Africa, first got into it in 1983 when a movie called Beat Street was showing in his neighbourhood. "I began DJing in 1990," he states. "I liked the scratching and the mixing you know, the sound that DJs made when they were playing."

Hip hop is the culture from which rap emerged. Initially it consisted of four main elements; graffiti art, break dancing, dj (cuttin' and scratching) and emceeing (rapping). Hip hop is a lifestyle with its own language, style of dress, music and mind set that is continuously evolving. Nowadays because break dancing and graffiti aren't as prominent the words 'rap' and 'hip hop' have been used interchangeably. However it should be noted that all aspects of hip hop culture still exists. They've just evolved onto new levels.

Point blank, hip hop was a direct response to the watered down, Europeanized, disco music that permeated the airwaves.. FYI around the same time hip hop was birthed, House music was evolving among the brothers in Chicago, GoGo music was emerging among the brothers in Washington DC and Black folks in California were getting deep into the funk. If you ask me, it was all a repsonse to disco.

In the early days of hip hop, there were break dance crews who went around challenging each other. Many of these participants were former gang members who found a new activity.

Sources:
daveyd.com

Hiphop began as rap in the tough streets of New York city. It was a way for the majority of the marginalized black youth to express themselves creatively, to have their voices heard, and to have music in their lives even if they cannot afford to pay for a night in a disco. It had a rough and tough beginning--in other words, the power and passion of hiphop lies on expressing from your gut. It is metaphorical blood coming out of your movements, your voice, and your art(thus the grafittis).

So...tell me, how the hell can Bi legitimize his claim on being a hiphop artist if he looks and dresses like the androgynous guy above? Does he think he can blast all those lyrics, and hit the dance floor looking like a half-girl? Hiphop is street, so when did street start wearing mascara and foundation and had the time to tiss and spraynet their hair?

Fake shows. It always does.

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