How Nina Simone Became Hip Hop’s “Secret Weapon”
- By u.net
- Mar 06, 2020
In 1996, the Fugees burst on the scene with “Ready or Not,” and most listeners were not ready: for the ominous, eclectic, Caribbean-inflected production, the smooth, sexy menace of Lauryn Hill’s hook (“you can’t hide / Gonna find you and take it slowly”), or the interplay of references in the [...]
From a Bronx Party to a Global Force
- By u.net
- Feb 21, 2020
Many, many people with an internet connection, including yours truly, spent a fair amount of time on 11 August 2017 entranced by a Google Doodle.
This wasn't your typical such creation, no short animation linking to a Wikipedia entry. This particular Doodle was a full-blown, interactive immersive into the world of [...]
The story of the funky drummer:
- By u.net
- Feb 19, 2020
“Give the drummer some”, said the voice of funk soul pioneer James Brown as it rang out above his band on the 1967 recording of Cold Sweat. The drummer in question was Clyde Stubblefield who was said to be one of the most sampled and exploited musicians of all time. His playing on [...]
A History of American Protest Music
- By u.net
- Feb 18, 2020
On June 12, 1963, in the early morning after president John F. Kennedy’s Civil Rights address, activist Medgar Evers was shot in the back as he stood in the driveway of his Mississippi home. He was returning from a meeting with NAACP lawyers and officials, and carried an armload of [...]
The origins of hip hop
- By u.net
- Dec 18, 2019
When we hear “hip-hop” or “rap” (we hardly hear just one of those term separately, because of their common origins), we talk about a musical and cultural phenomenon that covers at least five decades, now consolidated as a real music trend: Kanye West, Jay-Z and before them Eminem, Dr. Dre, [...]
#HipHopDance
- By u.net
- Dec 13, 2019
How the B-Boy and B-Girl Became Choreographed Count-By-The-Numbers Dancers
Prologue:
Ihave a dilemma. Every time I pull up old clips of Def Comedy Jam’s first season all I see is the comedians. Which is cool. Bernie Mack made his name with “I ain’t scared of you mothafuckas” on that jawn. But we [...]
PHASE 2’s Party Flyers
- By u.net
- Aug 02, 2019
In the South Bronx in the 1970s, hip-hop culture was just beginning to form at large musical gatherings called jams. In abandoned buildings packed with people, a group of DJs developed techniques like sampling, breakbeats, scratching, cutting, and backspinning. But news of a jam didn’t spread by word of mouth [...]
From Prodigy to KDot
- By u.net
- Aug 01, 2019
Legendary photographer Estevan Oriol has taken more than a half-million photos throughout a career that has spanned over 25 years. The legendary photographer sat down with us to talk about his most iconic shots.
Born at Saint John’s hospital in Santa Monica, Estevan Oriol, a Mexican-American photographer and music video director, [...]
DO THE RIGHT THING
- By u.net
- Jul 03, 2019
Spike Lee’s third feature, “Do the Right Thing,” returns to movie theatres this weekend in honor of the thirtieth anniversary of its release. Lee dedicated the movie, in the end credits, to the families of Eleanor Bumpurs, Michael Griffith, Arthur Miller, Edmund Perry, Yvonne Smallwood, and Michael Stewart—six black people, five [...]
PROJECT SURREALISM
- By u.net
- Jul 03, 2019
As a season of 1990s cinema kicks off at BFI Southbank, we look back at the suburban landscapes of Mathieu Kassovitz’s vital portrait of the Paris suburbs
Mathieu Kassovitz’s award-winning drama, La Haine (1995), follows a day in the life of three young men from immigrant families in a poverty-stricken Paris suburb. Fizzing [...]