Books: Check ‘em Out
August 10th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Considering the fast-paced world in which we live and the entertainment medium that I choose to follow, it’s probably no surprise that I’m not much of a reader. Actually, I’m not much of a viewer anymore, either. My television viewing has gone down to maybe one or two shows that I follow religiously, and one of those–Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job–is edited like a well-considered ode to ADD.
But I do still buy a couple of books a year, like the occasional wrestling autobiography (which I usually forget to read) or books about Japanese graphic design (which are notable for their pictures). I am, however, always a sucker for a good non-fiction book about various aspects of hip-hop. But I guess I never knew why I had this thirst for hip-hop knowledge. I started listening to it sometime in the early-to-mid-’80s, when a relative exposed me to some sort of K-Tel breakdancing compilation. My love for the music would be solidified a couple of years later when I picked up Raising Hell and Licensed to Ill and made completely unbreakable when, as an 8th-grader, I got my hands on Straight Outta Compton and Eazy-Duz-It.
Jason Tanz, a Brooklyn-based writer, has done his share of thinking about hip-hop, and the place of white people in it, with his book, Other People’s Property: A Shadow History of Hip-Hop in White America. While I don’t really expect most readers to feel as I do, many pages of this book felt more like a mirror in my hands. Tanz relates stories of his own induction into the world of hip-hop and backs it up with plenty of interviews, some inspiring, some (like the time he spends with a bunch of confused wannabe gangsters from Canada) downright embarrassing. The book also briefly touches on the marketing forces at work behind hip-hop, how they subvert it for their own twisted needs, and how the artists are more than happy to oblige–which taps into the scary culture-bending science behind marketing, another topic that has my clicking the BUY BOOK NOW button once or twice a year. So anyway, yeah, loved the book.
Of course, it also helps that the author, like myself, found himself recording and releasing rap albums in the mid-90s. As I transitioned out of Headboard and started the Suburban All-Stars, Tanz and his posse were probably already thinking about how best to shout rhymes into a Mac’s internal microphone as they formed a group called Commodore 64 and released an album that still has some beats on it that I wish I had made called K-Minus Initiative.
Three tracks, which I’m guessing must be long-lost tracks from some never-completed second album, recently got posted onto last.fm. Sounds like they did the right thing and got something that more closely resembled a real microphone. You know, there’s a reference or two in the tracks that make them sound a bit newer than the typical “long-long track” would be.
…it’s stuff like this that makes me want to hook up my mic.
August 10th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
*blows dust off blog*
August 10th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
I’d hope to see more of your music.
August 11th, 2008 at 12:28 am
That’s quite interesting Jeff, I’ve never thought of it from the persepctive of a white guy. As a kid of indian origin i see many of my peers trying to be black and conform to hip hop culture in need of identity.
Nice to see you repping your blog again, and can’t wait for the next MB album
August 11th, 2008 at 1:02 am
Nothing that makes Jeff want to hook up his mic again can be a bad thing. The world needs more Midnight Brown.
August 11th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Yeah, i always catch flak at work for playing hip-hop. It’s kind of sad that when most white people think of hip-hop, they think of the commercial hip-hop they hear which, as you know, is 90% garbage. I think if your average joe was slowly acclimated to hip-hop through some of the underground nineties stuff (Hiero, Pharcyde, Native Tongues, etc.) they would have a different perspective. My boss the other day made some snide comments about how all hip-hop is just sampling other music with no real talent, and i really had to bite my tongue.
It’s also annoying (and ironic) when people think you’re “trying to be black” when you’re listening to guys like Aesop, El-P, Edan, Atmosphere, etc. “I guess Karl Malone is trying to be white because he enjoys hunting and fishing. But then again he plays basketball, so he MUST think of himself as black! OMG! World… Collapsing…” People who see everything through a racial lens are idiots.
Anyway, how did you like Braid? And I thwarted your score in pacifism. Wax Off took me, like, three hours.
August 11th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Yeah, we want more music from you.
I started listening to Midnight Brown in 06 and became an instant fan and at the start of the year I began to listen to Suburban-All Stars, which I also love. Are the songs on the SAS page the only ones made or are there “long-long” tracks as well?
Also, Midnight Brown inspired me to start making some music. I have SO MUCH to learn, but it is something that I love doing as a hobby.
BIG UPS
GUS
August 11th, 2008 at 8:01 am
You have to “Get On Da Mike”, Jeff! Midnight Brown IV! Make it happen!
Or start something new! Whatever you got!
August 11th, 2008 at 9:03 am
There are so many confused wannabe gangsters here in Canada.
When you hook your mic up again, get Chris over and please, PLEASE, finish Deadly Electric!
August 11th, 2008 at 9:20 am
I hate it that we’ll always be labeled as the Hip Hop generation. Like the 70s with their Disco and the 80s with their Metal, we’re stuck with Hip Hop. I F”ing hate Hip Hop.
August 11th, 2008 at 10:47 am
That’s whats up Jeff. As a fellow rapper, I know that anything that gives you even an inkling of music inspiration probably isn’t a bad thing (unless ofcourse, it is a bad thing and you want to write about it.) Either way, hope to hear some of your hip-hop…
Hip-Hop is the Past, Present, and FUTURE!!!
August 11th, 2008 at 10:58 am
If you’ve never checked it out, Brian Coleman’s [i]Rakim Told Me: Wax Facts Straight from the Original Artists – The ’80s[/i] is worthy of a read. He’s also got another book out that collects liner notes but I haven’t gotten around to that one yet
August 11th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Books: check ‘em out. Haven’t heard that one in a while.
That track Hardly Boys was definitely made after 2001 because it’s got that Cut Chemist/DJ Numark beat from Monkey Bars… I’m pretty sure that was their original they did all their stuff on MPCs.
August 11th, 2008 at 11:16 am
cool, thanks for the reco
August 11th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
My younger brother turned me on to hip-hop, he’s about your age, as for me, I have no rhythm. It’s all good though, I still pop in my Public Enemy cd from time to time, a little Chronic to pass the hour. Hip-hop has really changed over the years, hell, Ice-T is an actor now. I remember it sweeping the white suburban areas of the nation and everyone was screaming how it would harm the children, just like rock-n-roll. You kids and your hip-hop, you’re older now and left with the memories of two turn tables and a microphone.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
MIDNIGHT BROWN COMEBACK!!
Your first project should be covering the “Books, Check’em out!” song.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
I just listened to Beer like 15 times in a row. Also, I’m an eighth grader. (Well, ninth grader in half a month) and you’ve heavily influenced my listening choices. Lots of Public Enemy, for one.
It drives me insane to see people fake things, and a lot of modern hip hop seems way fake. Jay-Z seems like one of the few mainstream, modern rappers I can get behind, because he’s secure in his identity.
So much of todays music is a complete and total head fuck, it’s enough to drive you insane.
August 12th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Please oh please hook that mic back up again – Midnight Brown ftw!
August 15th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Yeah Jeff, where’s Deadly Electric?
August 16th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Cool that the marketing stuff creeps you out. Please annouce somewhere at GB if you have any impressions of books that go into the marketing stuff, I’d like to learn more about it from a non-”how to manipulate people in five easy steps!” kind of book.
August 19th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Sounds like an interesting book. I suppose it could be said about most forms of music these days but the connection with hip hop and advertisers always strikes me as more awkward than usual. For a music form that seems to emphasize (at least in lyrics) being “real” it is hard to take a lot of artists seriously when they’d just as quickly and emphatically tell me about how I should drink Pepsi as they would do anything else. I guess that doesn’t seem odd to some people as so many identify personally with brands… still it is weird to me.
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:30 am
You should check out an album called Flying Colours by a group called Bliss and Eso (should be able to find it on Itunes) An Australian Hip hop group, and the first to bring the genre in Australia to a high enough level to compete around the world IMO.
August 25th, 2008 at 6:59 am
As a Canadian, I’d love to hear who the confused Canadian rapper in question is! I can’t seem to find out elsewhere on the net …
August 27th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
FUCK! I never knew!
Back in the 90s, I downloaded most of what I could grab of Suburban All-Stars. It’s still in my mp3 collection. I’ve been unconsciously following your various careers for more than a decade.
Small Internet is smaaaaaaaall.
PS: I also had K-Minus Initiative, that mp3.com “dual format” disc still floats around here. That was some good beats, but yeah, that mic quality was horrid.
September 2nd, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Johnny Cocaine is still by far my favorite.
What “UhMer Don’t Know” Can’t Hurt Him!
Suburban All-Stars is also tip-top dope! I saw you live in Cotati. Heck yeah!