@tamar_kali

The Soundstage at the Apollo Theater has had a busy year.  Burnt Sugar did its James Brown tribute.  Then the Apollo formally launched its Music Cafe with a monster performance back in February by Joi.  Blitz the Ambassador came thru, along with a bunch of other talent.  And they’re finishing up the series with Tamar-Kali.  That’s right: Start strong, end strong.

So, if you’ve not experienced Tamar-kali live, or if you’re still not convinced you need to own a copy of her foot-in-yo-behind debut album Black Bottom, then this is the chance for you to do so.  Details are below.

Additional link:

• Tamar-kali official

@blitzambassador

So, y’all know that Blitz’s new album Native Sun drops on Tuesday, May 3, right?  I’ve already previewed one of my favorite album tracks here. In addition to the album, Blitz and his team put together a full-length film, set in Ghana, to which he’s added the album, in track order, as the soundtrack.  It’s a nice way to experience this album, which is really about Blitz grappling with his conflicting emotions about being an immigrant.

Check it out here:

Additional link:

• Blitz on MySpace

@kevin_powell @theperfectru

The internet has been ablaze in the wake of Ashley Judd’s comments about hip hop in her book,  All That is Bitter and Sweet. She wrote:

As far as I’m concerned, most rap and hip hop music — with its rape culture and insanely abusive lyrics and depictions of girls and women as ‘ho’s’ — is the contemporary soundtrack of misogyny.

But how  far off is she really? If we’re honest, we know there’s “some” truth in what she said.

Let’s get some things out of the way early. We know that this statement doesn’t apply to all hip hop.  There are thoughtful, creative artists whose music is not based on denigrating women. Mos Def, Talib Kweli, J-Live, The Roots, Toki Wright, Shad, Pigeon John, P.O.S., and Blitz The Ambassador, are some that come immediately to mind.  And there are plenty of women who represent hip hop, as both MCs and spoken word artists.  Think Invincible, Jean Grae, Jessica Care Moore, Toni Blackman, Bless Roxwell, to name a few here.

So, what I think Ashley is guilty of is over-generalization.  But the fact is that too much of hip hop does, in fact, denigrate women, be it through lyrics or videos. Recent examples such as Kanye’s Monster video or most of the work of recently celebrated teenagers Odd Future fall in this bucket.  And Girl Talk samples what I think are some of the most vile examples of hip hop for his mashup albums.

What you end up with is work that creates an environment that devalues women. And it’s true: Rappers talk about women in the third person, as sexual objects or body parts, or women are seen gyrating half-naked in videos as a symbol of some dude’s material success.  Call women bitches and hoes enough times over dope enough beats and an attitude gets normalized.

Hip hop is a global pop cultural phenomenon.  It not only defines how a generation sees itself, but it also has become the shorthand for what’s cool around the world.

But on it’s way to becoming that billion-dollar industry, hip hop failed to grow up.  Global retailer Walmart went through similar growing pains.  As economist Umair Haque notes in his book, The New Capitalist Manifesto, as soon as the company made it to the top of the Fortune 500, society’s expectations rose as well, as evidenced by the attacks on it by labor and environmental activists.  So, is it so shocking that many of us have a higher expectation for hip hop, since it, too, stands atop the cultural mountain?  Further, is it at all shocking that Ashley Judd—someone who’s not part of the hip hop community—perceives hip hop the way she does?  Once you’re able to dictate terms of a discussion, peoples’ expectations about you change, for better or worse.

There is no power—or freedom—without responsibility.

For too many rappers “keeping it real” went wrong a long time ago. Even though the world is listening, too many engage in the fiction that they’re just talking to their boys on the block.  Now, it’s one thing to say something to friends: There’s context; people understand where you’re coming from; and there are probably shared values and ways of looking at the world.  But when you take some of these songs and blast them around the world, the context disappears.  We’re left with only the words.

There are those who will defend hip hop by saying that it’s only reflective of American culture, one that clearly doesn’t value women. I mean, if it did, there wouldn’t be a gender pay gap.  And, yes, we live in culture whose values are way out of whack: Cut the tax bills of billion dollar corporations to zero, while at the same time cutting social safety nets and education spending for the most vulnerable.  All in the name of some recently found idea of “fiscal responsibility”. Is this the culture the black community wants to reflect?  Just because parts of American culture are morally bankrupt, doesn’t mean hip hop—and by extension black culture—also has to be.

Some tried to point out the misogyny in rock and country music.   Remember when you were a kid and you got in trouble with your friends? Remember when you tried to make the case that, “They were doing it, too” line?  That didn’t stop your parents from tearin’ up that behind, did it?  No, because you were expected to know better.  Another way to think about it: The they-were-doing-it-too argument is like low-level Nazi soldiers after the Holocaust saying, “I was only following orders.” That’s a shameful cop out.

Thing is, every one of us always has a choice.  Hip hop has to grow up, and take responsibility.  It starts with the artists, but we as audiences have a responsibility, too.  If you’ve got grown men who want to act like teenage boys in their albums, then maybe we should stop supporting them.  We are under no obligation to continue circling the wagons around the artists or parts of an artform that don’t reflect where we want our culture and community to go.

Men, particularly, need to start speaking up when we see negative culture being produced and spread.  It’s often the few who are willing to speak out that give others the courage to do so.  Unless we take a compassionate, principled and firm stand, hip hop will never shake the image, held by many such as Ashley Judd, that it is a breeding ground for misogyny.

Women, hip hop, and our community all deserve better.

Additional articles:

• Ru Johnson: Bad Rap: Ashley Judd calls hip hop the soundtrack to misogyny. Is she right?
• Kevin Powell: In Defense of Ashley Judd

@blitzambassador

New music from Blitz’s forthcoming album, Native Sun, due out May 3.  Just a few listens in to this album, and I’m liking what I’m hearing.  Some initial impressions: This album is a strong document of the immigrant’s experience, especially the ways in which he’s embraced hip hop and American culture, but feels both pride in his native Ghana, but also shares the stinging regret that he left in the first place.  And, I gotta shout out the Embassy Horns.  There’s something wonderfully warm and textured about his use of a live brass section.

If you were digging the song “Akwaaba”, it’s on the album, too.

Anyway, here’s “Accra City Blues”:

Additional link:

• Blitz The Ambassador

Congrats to the Apollo Team for launching this new series!  Good things happening uptown.  Here’s the full schedule of events:

February

• 11-12: Joi
• 14: Blitz the Ambassador

March

• 4-5: Future Now
• 6: Kiki and Tess

April

• 1-2: Afromondo/Songs for Miriam
• 4: Shades of R&B

May

• 13-14: Geri Allen/Timeline
• 16: The Maurice Brown Effect

June

• 3-4: Art After Dark
• 6: Tamar-kali and 5ive Piece

Additional link:

• Apollo Music Cafe main page

Hope for hip hop: @J_Live3TP aka J-Live

I did something different here and made it an all hip hop night.  I’ve said before that, as people who support progressive black music, it’s important not to forget that we must also support those progressive voices in hip hop.  I know I’ve got to be better at this.  But it’s ridiculous to believe that this music will ever change if we don’t support those who are trying to create substantive work.  It’s that simple.

Also, I had a great conversation with Keith Josef Adkins of the New Black Fest.  He comes in about halfway through.

Anyway, here’s the playlist for the night (song/artist/album):

1. The Carpenter            Homeboy Sandman             The Good Sun
2. Dying to Live feat. John Forté            Blitz the Ambassador            StereoLive
3. HBE SPOTTIE  Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
4. Thieves In The Night  Black Star            Black Star
5. Think Of One              Robert Glasper            Double Booked
6. The 4th 3rd            J-Live            All Of The Above
7. Let It Rattle           P.O.S.                        Never Better
8. The Pocket           Tabi Bonney            A Fly Guy’s Theme

Also, if you dig where Keith and his partners at the New Black Fest are coming from, please support.  The new Website is now live.  For donations, you can give either online or via regular ol’ mail.  Online donations can be made via:

https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/contribute/donate/3594

Snail mail can be sent to

The New Black Fest
P.O. Box 663
New York, NY 10012

All checks should be made payable to: Fractured Atlas.
However, in MEMO LINE please write The New Black Fest.

Here’s some video I shot on Saturday at the final installment of Weeksville Heritage Center’s Garden Party Series. It was my first time seeing Blitz, and he’s an incredibly charismatic performer.  Check him out as he spits in his native Twi.

Blitz the Ambassador — “Akwaaba” (live @ the Weeksville Garden Party) from Rob Fields on Vimeo.

@Gonjasufi photo: Tomas Muscionico

This show had a “rock-meets-rap” theme to it, at least in the early section.  Take a listen, too, for my interview with David E. Beats.  He’s got an interesting take on the N-word and its usage.

Anyway, here are the songs (song/artist/album):

1. Rock Box    Run-DMC    Run-DMC: Greatest Hits
2. Maybe Tomorrow    David E. Beats and the White House Band
3. Kill the Radio      Blitz the Ambassador    StereoLive
4. OMG OMG    Oh My Goodness    URB ALT Sampler-Tres
5. Politicians In My Eyes  Death    …For The Whole World To See
6. Ancestors        Gonjasufi with Flying Lotus      URB ALT Sampler-Tres
7. David E. Beats interview
8. Walk In    David E. Beats and the White House Band
9. Smiling Black Faces    Rain Machine    Rain Machine
10. Nu Rose    Stoni Taylor    URB ALT Sampler-Tres

Two embeds here.  First, the full show:

. . .and my interview with David E. Beats

Additional link:

• VIDEO: David E. Beats–”Maybe Tomorrow”

This is it, people!  The Weeksville Garden Party series comes to a close this weekend.  And what a way to close things off: Weeksville goes out to the dynamic sounds of Blitz the Ambassador and his Embassy Ensemble!

Remember: This is a free show, so get there early.  Doors at 4pm, music starts at 6pm.  He performs with Eagle Nebula and Kate Mattison.

Here’s a taste of Blitz’s music, a song called “Remembering The Future,” which will give you a taste of how he blends the influences of African and America:

Additional links:

• Weeksville Garden Party — July 24
• Blitz the Ambassador official site