After bunches of email requests (surprisingly so), here's my official and completed list (at least, for now) of DJ Premier jokes.
Enjoy.
Continue reading "The DJ Premier list... Back by Popular Demand." »
This comes courtesy of Davey D and hiphop documentarian, Ernie Paniccioli. HustleKnockin' thanks them for the opportunity to spread the word.
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The Otherside of Hip Hop: An Interview with Ernie Paniccioli feat. Davey D
We recently sat down with pioneering Hip Hop photographer Ernie Paniccioli to get some insight into his long career which began years before the first rasps were being kicked in the Bronx. He broke down a lot of stuff for us. he also let us know about his new movie called 'The Otherside of Hip Hop' which chronicles his life. The movie which has already been shown in festivals around the country to rave reviews and features Chuck D, MC Lyte and Afrika Bambaataa to name a few will be showing at the Tribeca Film Festival this weekend; Saturday November 17th, 2007 2pm Tribeca Cinemas NYC Laight and Canal St. Info and tickets available at www.bigapplefilmfestival.com
Davey D: Lately there are a number of books and exhibits coming out highlighting the works of pioneering Hip Hop photographers.. What do you think is behind this resurgence? In what ways do these works add to or take away from the Hip Hop's history?
Ernie Paniccioli: When a book is done from within the culture by someone like Joe Conzo ("Born In The Bronx") or myself ("Who Shot Ya?") or an exhibit shows the work of Harry Allen or a Martha Cooper "Hip Hop Files" it can only deepen the history and knowledge of Hip Hop Culture. When a "Culture Vulture" does a book or tries to lay claim to be "The Bible of Hip Hop Art and Politics" style magazine or a trick ass radio station claims to be "Where Hip Hop Lives" then things get ugly and commercially distorted.
Davey D: Contrasted with Rock-N-Roll and other genres what challenges are unique to the Hip Hop photographer? What has been your biggest accomplishment? What has been your biggest gripe?
Ernie Paniccioli: Rock and Roll is bought by, financed by and nurtured by White America and is simply Rock Music. Hip Hop is from the streets, ghettos, inner-cities and is comprised of 5 Elements. A Rock Photographer only has to shoot rockers and is usually paid by a record company or big money magazine.
A Hip Hop Photographer has to capture the DJ, Hip Hop Dance, Graf, Emcee, and be aware of and respond to the Cultural aspects of Hip Hop. If all they do is shoot Rappers then they are at best a Rap Photographer. In it's 33 year His-Story there have only been a handful of photographers that can be called "Hip Hop Photographers". My legacy is secure because I have been called that by Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D and KRS1 as well as Nas and Rakim.
My greatest accomplishment has been staying true to the culture decade after decade and my biggest gripe is seeing this amazing art form, that gave us a global voice, being used instead of addressing survival issues, selling sneakers, rims, cars, burgers and really crappy clothes. 
Davey D: What sort of equipment did you start off using? What are you using now? Does new technology make things easier? Is their something loss with all the photo-shopping and digitizing of photos?
Ernie Paniccioli: I started out with a Canon AE1 and a 50MM lens. I now use Leica and Nikon 35 MM Digital and Mamiya Medium Format. I personally love PhotoShop for cleaning up and restoring old photographs. If you suck or have no soul, Photoshop will not help you, if you are dope all of these photo aids will only make your work more profound.
Davey D: You served in the Vietnam and there you took lots of photos and made collages capturing the social and political climate of the time.. How did your experiences in Nam help you when you started doing Hip Hop photography?
Ernie Paniccioli: Having the experience of life and death and discipline, training for war and being responsible for the safety of others gave me a sense of responsibility which I came to understand meant a response to the best of your ability. It also prepared me to go anywhere to shoot my subjects, either in a dark club full of drunk or stoned and often violent rap fans or in a project hallway or gang banger territory.
Davey D: Talk about the importance of archiving history through photography and other means.With you being a Native American brother what lessons can the Hip Hop generation learn from the trials and tribulations experienced by Native people?
Ernie Paniccioli: Edward Curtis is my greatest influence. He shot the tribes across the continent under almost impossible odds but always with pride, intelligence and dignity. Without him the visual legacy of native Americans would be greatly diminished. I have always tried to do the same by infusing my work with dignity, pride and a sense of honor and one of the ways is to keep in mind that we are all spiritual being with a soul and an inner power and beauty.
Forgive me for getting too deep but just as Native People were considered "savages" and not worthy of land or protection of law (look up the writings of the amazing Professor Robert A. Williams of The University of Arizona) after nearly a decade of dehumanizing music videos, CD's and movies portraying Black Southeners as subhuman, sexually deviant, drug addled and shiftless drug dealers and pimps along comes Katrina and the non reaction of FEMA and America tolerates the sight of swollen Black bodies floating like debris in the water. 
Continue reading "The Otherside of Hip Hop: An Interview with Ernie Paniccioli" »
One of my fave crews just got down with Corporate America—in a pretty big way. One of my guys over there sent me this note to spread, which I'm happy to do so.
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Duck Down Record's and their various artists were hired by ESPN to create five original tracks for ESPN's coverage of Men's College Basketball. Buckshot, of Black Moon, Heltah Skeltah (Sean Price and Rock), Smif N Wessun, and Tek, of Smif N Wessun all recorded original music for ESPN's College Basketball programming.
The music will be featured throughout the complete season of men's college basketball, which kicked off this week.
Buckshot "All Business" produced by Tai Dealz
Tek, of Smif N Wessun "Get in the Game" produced by KB
Heltah Skeltah feat Buckshot "Getcha Team" produced by Optiks
Smif N Wessun "Push It" produced by Sic Beats
For more info visit www.duckdown.com
Below is a link to download the Heltah Skeltah's "Getcha Team" featuring Buckshot (produced by Optiks).
http://download.yousendit.com/BE7328A64831B2E0
Heltah Skeltah's "Getcha Team" was created singularly for this seasons ESPN coverage of college basketball and is not a sample track from Heltah Skeltah's forthcoming LP "D.I.R.T." which will be released in the summer of 2008.
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Make no mistake--you'll be seeing more deals like this in the future. In fact, anyone who's been to a movie in the last year or so has seen 3 Doors Down's U.S. Military-sponsored joints.
Propoganda aside, the work is genius--getting a corporate sponsor to pay for your art--that is, provided you're already in sync with their agenda. If you're not, then... Well...
Best wishes to Duck Down. This deal is gonna open them up to a much wider audience. Just remember to dust off the steel toed-timbs; because whenever you dance with the Devil, your toes do get crushed—eventually.
There's an alleged trend in hiphop towards clean, G-rated lyrics and mainstream friendly danceable tunes. For Gangsta rap, particularly those in the game who are seeking the blessings of madison Ave.
Looks like MC Hammer and Will Smith, etc. were pioneers, after all.
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GANGSTA RAP CLEANS UP ITS ACT
Don Imus backlash moves some rappers to abandon bad words, others remain defiant
By: Nekesa Mumbi Moody
Associated Press
NEW YORK–Rap's critics have been complaining for years, only to watch the music become even more profane – and more popular. But now it seems as if disgraced CBS radio host Don Imus may be accomplishing what a generation of detractors could not.
Just because I was going thru some of my old joints and I don’t feel like filming my technics spinning this one.
Quick: name me one song that’s bumpin’ harder than this one right now.
Go on… I dare you.
just because I was going thru some of my old joints and I don’t feel like filming my technics spinning this one.
Quick: name me one song that’s bumpin’ harder than this one right now. Go on… I dare you.
One of my fave emcees is dropping some new material this June. Mr. Voice-of-the-Bullet himself, Pharoahe Monch. He always brought a degree of intellect to his music. And the guy has flows on top of flows. There’s very few cats with deals that can mess with him on a certain level.
I still bump this one:
By the way:
the quote:
"I'm still struggling. Don't get me wrong, I'm not rich. Just because you see me with jewelry on and whatever, don't pay the jewelry no mind. When I go home, when I leave the tour, that's how I am, I just feel lonely inside. I'm just a lonely old man and people don't know that."
—Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah
courtesy of Playahata.com
And now, the news:
Continue reading "The most mature man in hiphop is... Master P?" »
From what I hear, there’s a new Arrested Development joint out. No, not the garbage sitcom, i mean the other Arrested Development--the real one. These guys:
I hear they got a new album out/coming out... If i'm right, it's called "Since the last time". All i've seen of it are foreign pressings that i hear are brand new, but i'm not sure. this might be the cover art.
I’m gonna hit torrent or someplace and see if I can find some tracks. Curious about their sound these days...
AD... they were hot for a couple albums. But it wasn’t just good music with them… they captured the beginnings of a rebirth, I felt. Coulda been something special going on there. And I don’t just mean their music. I just remember the time in the culture when people were really still interested in standing on their own, trying to push for change. Maybe they just wanted to get paid and laid… I’m not sure why they broke up.
Kid’s a monster. You hae to be somewhat of a hiphop geek and totally technic-absorbed to get into tourney DJ’s; but there’s so much history and culture in what these cats do… the good ones anyway.
Continue reading "Rob Swift… still the ablest ablist on the twos." »
Pac’s losing some of his catalog. That muffled sound you hear in the background is Pac rolling over in his grave. Comments to follow.
EVERGREEN COPYRIGHTS ACQUIRES WRITER'S SHARE OF TUPAC SHAKUR'S PUBLISHING CATALOG
Posted: 05/16/2007
by: HHNLive.com
EverGreen Copyrights has acquired the writer's share of Tupac Shakur's publishing catalog from his mother Afeni Shakur, providing the publisher with a revenue stream from more than 350 commercially released songs, countless poems and several albums' worth of unrecorded material. Universal Music Publishing Group owns, and will continue to administer, the copyrights in the catalog.
How sad is this story. Comments to follow:
HIP-HOPPERS CAN'T BEAT CURSING RAP
BY BRENDAN BROSH and RICH SCHAPIRO
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Sunday, May 13th 2007, 4:00 AM
At a Harlem rap marathon last night, the rhymes flowed for hours but the rule against cursing lasted only a few seconds. Nearly 100 rap fans filled the Hip Hop Culture Center on Frederick Douglass Blvd. to see if the dozens of rappers and poets on hand could keep going for 24 hours and break the world record for continuous rapping - while keeping it clean.
Not even the first rapper, Kool Herc, was able to do that. But the hip-hoppers seemed to have enough verbal stamina to power them through the night.
"I'm ecstatic to be part of positive hip-hop history," said Kashana Green, aka Kween Kash, who added that not swearing wouldn't be a problem for her because "I typically stay away from curse words anyway."
The event, which was sponsored by the Global Artists Coalition, a nonprofit organization dedicated to career development for young people, was designed to showcase rap as an art form that does not have to revolve around violence, drugs and money.
"We're here to demonstrate that hip-hop culture is not a negative culture," said Terry Nelson, the event's organizer. "There's a positive message in hip hop that needs to get out."
Despite his age, Lil Crise, a 13-year-old rapper from Brooklyn, was among those itching to get on stage to display their lyrical skills.
"I'm not nervous," he said. "I'm just gonna get my freestyle on."
DANCE OFF: How Women can beat Hiphop’s Misogyny
By: Hadji Williams
“Women don’t care… If the beat’s alright, she will dance all night!”
—Chris Rock
There’s been a lot of talk about the degradation of women at the hands of commercial hiphop. (I see you, D. Imus’ defenders.) But one of the dirty little secrets about commercial hiphop and the urban music industry at large is that the very DANCE OFF: How Women can beat Hiphop’s Misogyny
By: Hadji Williams
“Women don’t care… If the beat’s alright, she will dance all night!”
—Chris Rock
There’s been a lot of talk about the degradation of women at the hands of commercial hiphop. (I see you, D. Imus’ defenders.) But one of the dirty little secrets about commercial hiphop and the urban music industry at large is that the very poison we hate on is designed largely for female consumers. You don't get smash-off records without female consumers’ overt (or covert) support.
It’s no accident that every successful hiphop artist from Jay-Z to 50 Cent to Luda to Snoop, Timbaland, et al sprinkles their albums with a couple “songs for the ladies” and “club bangers”. And it’s no accident that said club bangers get way more ladies dancing in clubs than men.
Continue reading "Ladies First: Stopping Misogyny in Hiphop" »
The constructs in hiphop just kill me…Flat out breaks me in two like burger buns. Seems like all that’s left these days is to feed on itself. That’s when you end up with stuff like this:
what’s frightening is no one’s sure if this is a parody or just their idea of a concept or just a cheap video. But given where things are these days…
here's a couple of the better hiphop interviews of 2007 so far, courtesy of my man Davey D over at Daveyd.com. Give a listen...
Chali2Na and Daveyd
2 of my favorite people in hiphop just sat and chopped it up on some hustles and constructs being run in the music biz... Wendy Day, founder of The Hiphop Coalition and DaveyD, the man himself from the Yay.
Check it out. I just had to spread the word about this one as i chat with these folks on the regular.
KOREANS MAKE UNLIKELY PURVEYORS of HIPHOP FASHION
HERALD NEWS
ED BEESON
Yong Suk Kim doesn't know a thing about hip-hop. But she does know something crucial about the direction its fashion is taking.
"It used to be big and baggy," the 50-year-old Korean immigrant recently said. "Now they are getting a little smaller."
Kim is the co-owner of Dr. Sports, a downtown Paterson clothing store that specializes in urban fashion -- the colorful, imaginative and often luxury-priced gear made by street-savvy designers such as ENYCE, Pelle Pelle and Miskeen.
But the clothier does not look the part. Clad in a cardigan sweater and imbued with gentle politeness, Kim possesses a grace that does not mesh with rap's rough edges. The speakers in her store pound hip-hop music from the radio station Power 105.1, but she said that in the 20 years since she and her husband opened this shop, she still does not understand rap, its rambunctious beats or slang-heavy lyrics.
If Richard Simmons were willing to do a little blackface, he might be able to flip this into a DVD series...
Hmmm....
YOU DOWN WITH "O.L.D."?
Rap fans basking in bygone era ain't too cool for old-school acts
Chicago Sun-Times
BY NATALIE Y. MOORE
What's a rapper to do when he is nearing 40 years old? Go on tour with his greatest hits. Jay-Z, 37, has a new CD that has received lukewarm reviews, but he is also president of the Def Jam record label. Rap mogul P. Diddy, 37, balances the idea of a 401(k) with performing. Then there are rappers who hail from the golden era of hip-hop, appealing to an audience hungry for songs not incessantly rotated on commercial radio.
Hip-hop is maturing into its third decade, and many old-school rappers are hitting the road even if they have nary a new album to download. MCs are aging, with children who are hip-hop fans, too. They are performers in transition in a genre that has always centered on youth culture since its Bronx, N.Y., beginnings.
Afrika Bambaataa, often called the godfather of hip-hop, comes to town Thursday. The "Rap History Tour" comes to the Congress Theatre (in a to-be-announced date postponed from December) with Naughty by Nature, Digital Underground -- Tupac Shakur was once a member -- and Black Sheep. These groups saw their heyday about 15 years ago. The tag line for the concert is "hip-hop as it should be."
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The Original Recipe
As I said earlier, marketing is all about cut. Cut is how drug dealers prepare and package their product for consumption. The goal is to stretch your supply while maintaining and, if possible, increasing your product’s potency.
For a while, a crowd favorite in my neck of the woods was “wet”—marijuana joints laced with dust or heroin then dipped in embalming fluid. So was “syrup” or “sizzurp”—cough medicine or codeine mixed with Hennessey or other types of hard liquor.) Coke dealers cut their raw with any number of additives, or they cook it up into crack to get more bang for the buck... (And to think, I only got a “C” in high-school chemistry.)
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Like the drug game, fast food’s also a commodity hustle—quality goes out the window when it comes to commodities. It’s about value meals, over a bazillion served, and convenience. If you want cheap food for the masses it’ll be made cheap, sold cheap, and probably taste cheap. When you consider Pizza Hut, Outback, TGI Fridays, KFC, Taco Bell, BK, Wendy’s, and the rest, you’re talking about thousands of outlets serving hundreds of millions of customers worldwide each day. The price-points, competition, and barriers of entry alone force them to use cheaper (and consequently less healthy) ingredients just to compete and grow.
Here's a little gem... An opened letter from Rass Kass, underground hiphop legends. He of Soul on Ice, RassKassination, etc. He and others have long compared the record insutry to pimps slave system, etc. Truthfully, it's more like sharecropping. All legal. All ethical. Little moral. Very little of it is moral.
What stuns me is how many artists continue to play the game and sign such awfu,l awful contracts. It's like seeing oncoming traffic and then just running out into it, then complaining afterwards about getting hit.
Still, here's Rass and his lawyers take on things, courtesy of my man, Davey D.
REVIEW:
Title: After The Music Stops
Artist: Lecrae
Label: Cross Movement Records 2006
Sorry Malice, sorry Hov, but Lecrae’s the real reason my favorite emcee is no longer my favorite. As a Christian, I have to say that I’ve almost always hated Christian rap. It’s made me cringe since I was a shorty.
Between Hammer’s Pray, Kirk Franklin’s joints and even Ye’s Jesus Walks from last year. I thought that nobody would ever do this thing even close to right. (And of course, you gotta walk the talk, so maybe Mr. West is a stretch—not that I’m throwin’ stones with all the bones in my closet. (But that’s another story.)
There's all kinds of hiphop.... all kinds of black music. unfortunately, we only see a certain side of it: the most degraded, stupid, self-hating part. there's a label out there called Cross Movement Records. crossmovement.com
This kid Da' Truth, he spits like Hov, but he worships as opposed to seeking worship...
It's fun stuff.
take a listen.
This might be one of the great videos floating around today. And if you'll notice the date, it's over 5 years old. So did Chappelle and his crew steal this for their bit, is it a fake? Do great minds think alike? Was one being subversive and the other racist? You tell me...
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vX6AU2O7oYg"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vX6AU2O7oYg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
Mutts, Mulattos, and Paper Bags
By: Hadji Williams
Before it went mainstream “dog” was a semi-common reference to Black men, mainly used as a term of endearment, a là DMX. It later became shorthand for unfaithful brothers. In the December 2006 issue of Essence magazine, super-producer Kanye West remixed it into a jab at fair-skinned sisters: “If it wasn’t for race-mixing there’d be no video girls. The Kan-man theorizes. “Me and most of our friends like mutts a lot. Yeah, in the hood they call ‘em ‘mutts’.”
Dogs… Mutts… Mulattos. First Bush hates us, and now depending on how dark you are, we might hate ‘us’, too. (Dear RIAA, please let this child win another Grammy—it might be the only thing that’ll keep West’s foot out of his mouth.)
Change is Good
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