Box of delight

DJs have been the best crate diggers, people who would spend hours flipping thru old vinyl, unknown titles, rare cuts, and sometimes seriously out-of-fashion, embarrassing old records for those brief moments of music that when looped, could be spun into modern magic.  

 

Since the beginning of hip hop and turntablism, the best DJs have been the best crate diggers, people who would spend hours flipping thru old vinyl, unknown titles, rare cuts, and sometimes seriously out-of-fashion, embarrassing old records for those brief moments of music that when looped, could be spun into modern magic.

At the same time, hip hop sampling has also been a minefield for copyright law, so much that modern DJs shy away from sampling lest they spend months and or years seeking clearing rights.

Let’s start this post out clarifying what it is not.

This isn’t about why to teach with hip-hop. It’s also not about how to teach with hip-hop. Nor is it a political statement, an endorsement of controversial language and themes, or something you can just play for your students on a whim with no preparation. If you “hate rap music”–and your classroom is all about you–then don’t read any further. This post won’t change your mind.

If you’re still reading, here’s the idea, in short: the evolution of hip-hop, as both an art form, a critical cultural voice, and medium to reach the youth is an authentic, complex, and hugely “human” concept. While hip-hop is increasingly present in pop music “top 100” lists, its roots lie in 1970s New York City, and has since diversified from street corner cyphers to a nuanced and regional musical form of its own, including southern and west coast forms to add to the east coast origins.

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 breakout star’s rhymes. “Rap orgies with Porgy and Bess / Capture your bounty like Eliot Ness,” Hill raps, and then a few lines later, “So while you’re imitating Al Capone, I’ll be Nina Simone / And defecating on your microphone.”