fromthemouthofmoi

The Women Does anyone remember Saturday morning Roller Derby when it was played by women and before men saw it as a chance to have a hard-on at 10am? Do you remember the helmets, the knee and elbow pads and the way they played? Those were some serious women. Those women were ready to take you down and out. They were fierce. I had never before seen women play or behave like that. They were women that I was a little nervous imaging myself getting in the way of. Hell, those women wore mouth guards. They were prepared to have teeth knocked out and were equally prepared to knock out their opponents and they did it working as a team. That's my kind of woman. That is how I feel about the women of Rap. The women of Rap are fierce and they demand our attention. Like their male counterparts the symbolism (hoodies, hand gestures) remains intact. These women know where they are standing. My impression with the early pioneers of Rap is that the women were surprised to be unable to get a seat...

Rap Goes Elsewhere It is better to die on your feet Than live on your knees. The hoodie travels the world  And everywhere it went it remained the same only changing to accommodate a new culture. To apartheid South Africa, Kwaito, to Tibet, Somalia, to China and everywhere it went it picked up momentum, everyone adding something, nothing taken away. It was reinvigorated and it's never going away. It is the music of the revolution. It's the advice our fathers never gave, it's the time our mothers never had, it's the sight for sore eyes. It's the travel plans we have yet never having any money, it's the truth: that united we stand. It's a spirit that can not be squashed, it's joy despite centuries of hurt. To South Africa with Mdlwembe by Zola and on to Palm Island Australia giving voice to the Aboriginal. Then on to Somalia born K'naan returning to The First Nations of America. Rap has traveled far and wide and wherever it goes it understan...

In all the years I have lived I have never asked anyone if they like rap music. In the same amount of time I have lost track of how often I have pointedly been told: I don't like rap music. This unsolicited information has been offered to me so many times that it became a source of curiosity to me. The only other genres of music I sometimes hear people claim not to like are jazz and classical music, less frequently, country music. I began to ask randomly why it was they disliked these various genres. With classical and jazz I was most frequently told: I don't understand what I am listening to. Fair enough, that can be taught and for some, music without words is daunting. With country it was too often perceived as the music of the uneducated and sarcastically for those that needed to pine over lost lover in a bar. But when it came to rap music folks just dismissed it, en masse, as not worthy of their time. This seemed odd to me as a singer and lay musicologist. Possibly because ...