.Finale.

This will be my final entry for my blog titled the "The New Ol' Skool". Although I did have fun writing something that I enjoy, I am happy that it's over. I hope that you guys out there enjoyed my blog and please, do not be sad about it's retirement. You will never know if there will be another blog from me in the future. Now I'm going to lay down, i have a fever and a throat infection and I need rest. Ciao!

Hip Hop's Newest Faces: Indie, Fierce and Female

Hip-Hop’s Newest Faces: Indie, Fierce and Female

By JULIANNE SHEPHERD
Published: January 27, 2008
Correction Appended
JWL B. of the Florida hip-hop duo Yo Majesty was not satisfied with her tight-collared, mostly male audience at a New York club last fall. So she nonchalantly peeled off her oversized white T-shirt and black sports bra and performed the next several songs topless, bounding about the stage with the ease of a shirtless male rapper. The audience lit up and finally proceeded to, as the Yo Majesty song “Club Action” commands, get their behinds “on the floor.”

Craig Wetherby Santi White, who performs as Santogold, is a singer and rapper from Brooklyn. She toured with Bjork last fall and will release her debut album this spring.

Jwl B., left, and Shunda K of Yo Majesty. The duo built a following through MySpace, leading to a recording contract. Their debut album will be released this year.
And that is how a lesbian rap group from Florida got an uptight Manhattan crowd to relax a little.
“I got stretch marks, and I’m fat, and I’m wildin,’ ” Jwl B., whose real name is Jewel Baynham, said in a phone interview. “But your boy 50 Cent does his show with his shirt off. Why can’t I? God made me who I am, and I’m comfortable in it. I want people to know you don’t have to look glamorous to be an inspiration.”
It’s a lackluster time for mainstream female rappers, with M.C.’s like Foxy Brown and Remy Ma making more headlines for jail stints than for their music. Lil’ Kim hasn’t gone platinum since 2003, Eve’s comeback album has been delayed several times, and Missy Elliott’s first record in three years isn’t due until late spring. Fergie, with her singsong chants about her feminine wiles, is the closest thing to a female rap superstar these days. But in the wake of the critical favorite M.I.A., a new crop of young, multicultural, female hip-hop acts is causing a stir on the Internet and in indie-label conference rooms.
There’s Kid Sister, a cheeky, charismatic rapper from Chicago who recently released a video featuring Kanye West; Amanda Blank, a nasty-mouthed M.C. from Philadelphia who is associated with the hipster male hip-hopper Spank Rock; and Santogold, a new-wavey singer and dub-style rapper from Brooklyn who toured with Bjork last fall. Though their styles vary from agile wordplay to club-ready choruses, what unites them is their fresh, left-of-center enthusiasm; their bold attitudes; and an expansive approach to female sexuality.
“There is a reason why these artists are having so much early traction online,” said Josh Deutsch, chief executive of Downtown Records, which will release albums by Amanda Blank and Santogold this spring. “And it’s because they have such strong voices and strong points of view. There’s nothing remotely manufactured about them.”
Yo Majesty’s roots go back six years, when Ms. Baynham met LaShunda Flowers, who is known as Shunda K., a track star turned rapper, at a gay club in Tampa, Fla. (A third member, Shon Burt, quit recently.) The group’s early songs were “real gay music,” Ms. Flowers said.
Yo Majesty broke up for a few years, during which Ms. Flowers renounced her homosexuality, found God, married a male Christian missionary, got divorced then reclaimed her lesbian identity. Upon reuniting, the rappers began building a following through MySpace. That led to a recording contract with Domino Records, which will release their debut album this year.
Yo Majesty’s party-rap proudly celebrates everything below the waist, but the duo also grapples with growing up Christian and gay. “At the end of every show,” Ms. Flowers said, “whatever we do, we ask people, ‘Do you know who the Lord is?’ ”
The only religion in Amanda Blank’s music is the kind she is losing. Ms. Blank, whose real name is Amanda Mallory, mimics the pornographic lyrics of Southern rappers like Trina and Khia, but she ramps up the gross-out factor to the point of nigh-absurdity. Her persona is a mix of seediness and street-toughness, which is on display in “Loose,” a recent video by Spank Rock. As several naked, tattooed women writhe all over him, Ms. Blank sits on a toilet, threatening to fight rappers who try to steal her style and making highly unprintable claims about her sexual prowess.

Unlike Yo Majesty and Amanda Blank, Kid Sister spurns sexual frankness in favor of innuendo. Born Melisa Young on the South Side of Chicago, she dismisses unsuitable suitors while strutting her postmodern stuff. “We could be hugged up like hippies on a tree trunk,” she teases in her verse in Chromeo’s “Tenderoni,” while “Telephone” reprimands a guy for calling too much. In the video for her single “Pro Nails,” backup dancers sit in pedicure chairs, lip-synching the chorus: “Got her toes done up with her fingernails matchin’.”

The video underscores Ms. Young’s populist, all-ages aspirations. “It’s music made by a girl who shops at Target, made for girls who shop at Target,” Ms. Young said. “Or girls who work at LensCrafters or Ace Hardware or are sorority sisters or debutantes.”
Angel Laws, editor of the celebrity news Web site Concreteloop.com and an early champion of Kid Sister, said: “I think she stands out. She’s a party rapper, bringing back the ‘80s style with the club-hop.” (Kid Sister’s debut album, “KoKo B. Ware,” is due from Fool’s Gold Records this summer.)
But the artist with the loudest buzz is Santogold, who has already been called the next big thing in many articles. Born Santi White, she parlayed a college internship at Ruffhouse Records into a job as an A&R scout for Sony. After she was executive producer and wrote most of the songs on an album for the R&B singer Res, she left and eventually formed her own punk band, Stiffed.
In 2006 Ms. White, who now lives in Brooklyn, began writing her own songs; “Creator” and “LES Artists” confess to feelings of alienation, but she also revels in her individuality. Singing in a haunting, sensual wail, or toasting in the style of dub M.C.’s, she adds a layer of softness to an unusual mix of synthesizers, dancehall rhythms and percolating new wave.
“She appeals very broadly,” said Martin Heath, the founder of Lizard King Records, which signed Stiffed and is jointly releasing Santogold’s debut album with Downtown. “She’s not cliché one way or the other. She’s not playing on the foxy thing.”
Ms. White said she admires other female artists who try to defy stereotypes. “You get these images of women in sexy clothes, walking around in, like, panties,” she said. “Even Beyoncé — that’s what it is to be a woman and make music. But now there are all these other women doing cool, interesting things, wearing styles they came up with, and it’s not about being naked.”
Since the time seems ripe for underground, unquantifiable female M.C.’s, the Lady Tigra is hoping that pioneers will have a place too. She was half of the ’80s duo L’Trimm, which scored a poppy Miami bass hit with “Cars that Go Boom” in 1988.
After spending the last two decades getting a creative writing degree, managing Manhattan clubs and writing and singing the theme song for the frozen yogurt chain Pinkberry (“Sorry Ice Cream”), she’s preparing for a comeback. Her first solo album, “Please Mr. Boom Box,” released by High Score Records, is available through major digital retailers.
Tigra’s aesthetic hasn’t changed much since the ‘80s. She raps in the same honeyed, high-pitched tone, and there are beefy low-end clicks, handclaps and electro synthesizers, all hallmarks of classic Miami bass music. But contrary to much music of that genre, there is little overt sex; she prefers coy comebacks.
The Lady Tigra, whose real name is Rachel de Rougemont, said she hopes that girls will realize that artists like Fergie and Gwen Stefani were inspired by semi-forgotten female forebears like “L’Trimm and J. J. Fad and M.C. Lyte and get into that.”
“Before, you’d really have to come with it to be considered an M.C.,” she added. “And now women get — if not equal — way more respect and recognition for what they do.”

.Let It Bump.

St. John's Caution's Dance Team, my beloved dance team, has been active for four years so far and it is still hot in the game. Not to boast and brag but Caution makes entertainment look so much better =]. Yes we're all about hip hop and reggae because that is our specialty, but we like to bring other genres into our style too. For example, we have pop that we incorporate into our dances. One of my favorite dances is an opening dance that we did with Missy Elliot's "Ching-a-Ling". The video was something that I pictured in mind because it had a 1980's feel to it with the house parties and the clothes.

American Girl

Estelle "my Belle" is a U.K. artist that is making her way into the United States with her fresh new single "American Boy" featuring Kanye West. She is featured on Rolling Stone's list for lookout artists this year and she is on R&B artist, John Legend's music label. She is an original, hot, sassy, artist that works with all genres of music; Hip-Hop, Reggae, R&B, Soul, etc. Since listening to the her CD titled "Shine", I must give it two thumbs up. Its something different. Not only does she sing but she raps as well. Besides the hit single "American Boy", my favorite song from her album is "Wait a Minute". I love the beat, it's so hot. It's something that you can dance to in the club. I listen to this on my Ipod all of the time and I know that I won't get tired of it anytime soon. Give Estelle a chance, you won't be sorry. It's official when you hear on the radio and have her as one of your ringtones for your phone...I have her as my ringtone =].

Come Close by Common

This is the most romantic hip hop song around in my generation. Common shows depth and perception in a new way of how to fall in love with the one that you love. He uses flash cards to show more meaning in how he feels and it is not because the woman portrayed in the video is deaf. I think that using sign language shows a different connection that no one else understands and that to me is beautiful.

.Admirat!on.

Mus!c is considered to be a big part of my life as well as my boyfriend Eddie. This guy has such a wonder for all varieties of music genres that includes h!p h0p, r&b, rock, reggae, soca, pop, 70's music, reggaeton, and heavy metal. He even listens to show tunes lol, and plays the clarinet and the guitar. I play the flute. I believe that if he was on a music trivia game show, he would probably win. He knows a lot of stuff. If we were to have a conversation about music with him right now, it will go on for hours. We would compare, compete against each other to see who knows more, sing, dance, etc. There's this one game that we play sometimes when we're bored and it's called "Finish the Music Lib". It's kind of like Mad Lib when you fill in the sentence with an adjective or a verb, but its with lyrics from a song. We like to interrupt each other and fight lol. The game may sound cheesy, but it is fun indeed. =]

Music inspires everyone in many different ways. To my boyfriend and I, it is a way to have fun, relax, and enjoy each other's company.

Soulja Boy...K!ck Rockz

Do you know what really grinds my gears? (Courtesy of Peter from Family Guy lol) People who think that they are the hottest thing out there right now off of a stupid song that is going to become a one-hit wonder. It doesn't take a genius to know that just by listening to one word of the "song", it's going to be trash. Yes, you have seen people do the "Soulja Boy" dance. I look at people and say " You are embarrassing yourself". I don't care if I don't know the dance and I am HAPPY that I don't know that dance. I just sit there at parties and watch everytime the song comes on. I know one thing is for sure, I'm not doing it. I am not going to look like the fool. It's ashame to see three-year old children do this dance instead of learning their ABC's and 1-2-3's. If I ever catch my little brother do that, no matter how cute and adorable he is, I will scold him. The same goes for my neice and she's only 10 (her birthday was yesterday, yay!). I'm so afraid of what type of songs are going to come out in the next ten years when my little sister turns 10 (she's only 5 months). This is why I like to listen to Ol' School artists that were previously mentioned in earlier posts. I respect Lupe Fiasco for what he is doing now. He is different and original. I hope that he doesn't cross over into mainstream in order to please companies & their money. He is proof that hip hop is not dead. And that's what really grinds my gears folks. I'm Out!

U-N-I-T-Y

U-N-I-T-Y by Queen Latifah is known as the song that stirred up a lot of controversy in the early 90's. "...Who you calling a bitch?" was the line that got the most views out of critics everywhere and females related to it because it was known as an anthem. It is still known as an anthem 'till this day. As a part of Women's month, I thought that it would be a good topic to bring up because we deserve the respect. We are not bitches, we are not hoes, whores, or any other demeaning names that men can think of. Women need to respect each other as well. It is ashame to see other women argue, fight, and being scandalous over stupid stuff that is not necessary.

MC Lyte is a fiery MC who does her thing on the Mic each and every time. She shows those out there in the rap game (males especially), that women have skills too. She's not afraid to speak her mind. To me, she is the female version of Slick Rick. Slick Rick is legendary and so is MC Lyte.
The word UNITY is important in the month of March for women everywhere.
"...I bring wrath to those who disrespect me like a dame"

Heard 'Em Say by Kanye West feat. Adam Levine

This video is creative because Kanye West made it into a cartoon and if you listen to the lyrics, he's giving a message to the people that listen to his music. It's from his experiences growing up.

K!ck, Push by Lupe F!asco

Two words to descr!be H!p H0p...

DOPE AND FRESH.

Hip Hop !s Global.

48 of 999 DOCUMENTS


South China Morning Post

September 17, 2006 Sunday

Hip hop lets your body talk

BYLINE: Joyce Siu

SECTION: YOUNGPOST; Pg. 9

LENGTH: 389 words

Hip hop fans take note. The Warehouse Teenage Club will organise a new hip hop dance course for beginners next month.
The eight-session course will be taught by Yeung Ka-fai, a Year Two student at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) who has been hip hop dancing for seven years.
Yeung said the course aims to help participants, who are mainly secondary school students, to gain confidence on the dance floor and have fun.
Participants will learn hip hop fundamentals such as leaps, turns, kicks and stylistic movements. They will also work on their balance and beat counting.
They will dance along to tunes by current hip hop stars such as Ciara, Jay-Z and Beyonce.
"It's important that you like music. Dancing is about using your body to interpret the music," said 24-year-old Yeung.
Czarina Tabora, 20, found her passion for hip hop in the Warehouse. She joined the dance course five years ago and is currently a member of all-female dance group Folkie Troopz.
Tabora, also a CityU student, said hip hop is a good way to de-stress:
"While classical dance, such as ballet, lays stress on techniques, hip hop is more about expressing yourself [freely]."
That said, she still practises at least two or three times a week in order to hone her agility and skills.
"Once you master the skills, you can move on to develop your own style," she said.
Vian Yip Wing-yan, 18, from Shue Yan College said she signed up for the hip hop course because she was fascinated by pop stars dancing in music videos.
"Hip hop dancing is so energetic. It's fun to perform on the streets, too. You get instant feedback from spectators. It's a challenge," said Yip.
She also likes the way that "new school" hip hop dance incorporates jazz styles, and allows for personal interpretation.
"The dance keeps evolving. You have to keep improving to keep up with the trends," she said.
Although hip hop culture developed in the early 1970s in New York City ghettos, it is now a dance form that has mainstream appeal.
"It doesn't matter what race you belong to, you can still enjoy the fun of the dance. It's a universal language. Let your body speak for you," Yip said.
The Warehouse's hip hop class starts on October 15 for eight consecutive Sundays from 3pm to 4.30pm. The course costs $320HK. For more information and to register, call Ellen on 2873 2244.

LOAD-DATE: September 19, 2006

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper


Copyright 2006 South China Morning Post Ltd.
All Rights Reserved

.Spray Cans & !nk Pens.

One thing that I love to do is graffiti...well, not in public on buildings, but in my sketch book. I love to be creative when it comes to art, and its a way to express the way I feel about H!p H0p. Using different colors and blending is my favorite thing to do, when I create graffiti. It's something that people might not understand when they look at it because of how the design and the words are, but eventually they will get the concept. There are so many things to do in order to get that edge and street style. That's what's in right now and it's hot.

The Art of Breakdancing...o0o You Got Served!

Breakdancing has been around before my generation. I've thought that it was the coolest thing to watch and I used to watch my brother and his friends do it. I've seen it countless times in movies where they would feature dance groups in competitions who want to win money. There's no such thing as winning a gift certificate to Pizza Hut or something else of that matter anymore. My favorite movie that features breakdancing is "You Got Served" with Marques Houston and B2K. It's about them being the best dance team in town and winning money in order to help upgrade their status in the dancing world. They are known as the baddest group around and someone by the name of Wade wanted to challenge them. The prize was $5,000 in cash, and of course they were'nt going to back down. How would it look if they decided to back down on a challenge? They would be considered Punks..they're not going to go down like that. So Marques Houston (MH) and his crew took the challenge inside Mr. Rad's warehouse, the hottest place on the streets to dance. Of course, his crew lost against Wade & his crew...but you know that's how most of the drama unfolds. The reason why MH lost was because one of his teammates decided to "sell him out" and join Wade. The ex-teammate thought that the distribution of money among the crew was unfair, so in roder to get back at him, that's what he did.
As you can see, breakdancing can be very competitive and it can destroy the relationship that you have with people because your 'Ego' gets in the way. It sad but true...a lot of drama can stem from competitions. Other than that, breakdancing can be fun and you can have a gret body because you build muscle strength...believe me, i've seen guys with wonderful bodies...what a great viewing pleasure. =] Going back on track...yea it's fun lol

Bonita Applebum..

This song is featured on my playlist below on the left side. I thought that this video was funny. I guess it's because of the lyrics itself in the song. The term 'Bonita Applebum' means 'Beautiful Apple Bottom'. I don't find it disturbing and demeaning. A Tribe Called Quest just wanted to embrace and talk about defined curves of a woman. There is nothing wrong with that unless they use the wrong phrase such as "Hey, that girl got a fat ass" or something like that. Now that is stupid. This group could also use the word 'derrière' to mention the buttocks. I love this term better because it sound more feminine and voluptuous. It makes us sound pretty and more worthy of looking at =]...but hey what can you do? So enough blabbering...here goes the video.

80's Flava

In addition to the Adidas sneakers that will never go out of style, the bright colors and the 80's look will never die. If you take a good look around you and observe, you will see men and women wear the same type of patterns. Men wear layered looks, bright patterns, plaid, skinny jeans, Nike, Vans, and other sneakers. For the women including myself, we like to wear leggings with sneakers, high heels, and ballet flats. We also like to wear bright colors such as yellow, lime green, neon orange, plaid patterns and the layered look as well. I personally like the look because it's different and it's fun. I feel like a rockstar at times when I dress the part =]. It's always a good look when you're ready to go to a party and just dance the night away with friends. No matter what era it is, the 80's look will always have its title and its influence on everyone.

ADIDAS

What can I say about these bad boys? They will never go out of style. Adidas sneakers have been around since the 80s...maybe even longer. I know that they've been around since the 80s because I'm an 80's baby and I've seen Run DMC wear them. Well, not in person but you know what I mean. No one really knew about Adidas sneakers until they started wearing them with no shoelaces. Who would really wear sneakers without shoelaces??? That's unheard of lol. But they proved me wrong when I saw it. It was an inventive way to express another type of style that has never been done before and it was clever. Soon as they started doing it, everyone else did it in order to be cool back in the day. Now people like Nick Cannon on "Wild N' Out" wanted to bring the style back and rock Adidas with no laces. I guess he wanted to honor the legendary Rev. Run because he was a guest on there and play the part..I don't know...but it was cool. I personally don't own Adidas sneakers anymore, but I would love to have another pair again. They're comfortable, casual, and stylish. I can't complain. =]

The Beastie Boys...

You know what's interesting to me? The Beastie Boys. I have never really listened to them before...not because they are caucasian rappers, but because of their unique style. I didn't have the chance to sit down and listen to them until I played Guitar Hero III the other day with one of my sorority sisters. The name of the song was "Sabotage" and they encorporated rock & hip-hop together just like run dmc did. It was cool. It's an ok song but a song that I do like from them is "Brass Monkey". It has a funky fresh beat to it. I respect them as artists because they all bring something new to the scene.

Children's Story by Slick Rick

One of the best rappers there are in time. To many he is known as the story teller of hip hop. To others, he is a legend. Collaborating with Doug E Fresh was the best decision that they have made. They have been inseperable ever since. Today, this blog will feature a video by Slick Rick...a famous video I might add. I love this video because it has an old feel to it. The silent movie effect made his story come alive.

Patriots...K!ck R0cks!!!!

I know that this post is way off topic from my theme, but I just have to state the obvious that we k!cked ass out there in Arizona last night. I must say that Superbowl 42 was the best game that I've seen, because of the fact that the Patriots were undefeated and Giants were considered Underdogs to many and the Big Blue guys won... SCREW YOU PATRIOT FANS, HAHA!!! I'll admit that I was getting nervous when Randy Moss made the touchdown and moved the score up to 13-10. At that moment my Dad and I started to call each other back and forth to make sure that we saw every play that was being made (Side note: I love the Sobe Life water commercial with the lizards and Naomi Campbell dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller...Hilarious! lol). I also told him that if and WHEN the Giants win, my birthday present for me this weekend from him will be a new Giants jersey with either Shockey, Strahan, Manning, Toomer, Bradshaw, or Burress jersey since he did make the winning touchdown.

I love NY spirit, I really do...as soon as the Giants won, fans from left and right were honking their horns from their cars, flashing lights, lit fireworks, screamed LET'S GO GIANTS!, and the Empire State Building proudly displayed the color of blue. The NY spirit was flowing through my veins when I went back to campus with my ' NY Giants' & 'Superbowl XLII' balloons, tied it to my friend's door, rang the doorbell & ran lol (She's a huge Patriots fan, she's from Boston... eww, but I still love her lol). Then I came back when she opened up the door, because I wanted my balloons back & I wanted to rub our victory in her face some more. I also called my friend & left her 2 voicmails saying that the Patriots suck & of course I laughed...she hasn't called me back since, but she'll get over it...she's really mad that they lost. You see guys, that's what happens when you don't have any faith...Karma bites you in the ass big time! As a result of it, we won, and we lived happily ever after...

Party like it's 1985...

Ok, so im back again with my second blog entry and another story to tell. The second of many =]. Do any of you guys rememeber going to or hearing any of your friends go to house parties? I do..house parties are fun and entertaining. Of course there were house parties that I went to with friends where there was alcohol, but I was a good girl--I didn't have any. One day my aunt came to visit during one summer and we were listening to Run DMC, MC Lyte, Erik B. and Rakim, and the famous storyteller of them all, Slick Rick in the car. My aunt was excited to hear her favorite songs on the radio and I started to sing along with her. She asked "How do you know all of these songs?", and I replied back with "Mommy listens to these songs all the time and I just picked it up from her." From that point on my aunt started to talk about her experiences with my mother and her friends back in the day going to house parties in her neighborhood before she moved to Texas. My family members would even host parties in their homes until 5 in the morning lol. She told me that everyone had such a great time and that the music was HOT. When she told me this story I started to realize that house parties are still on and poppin' and its just a feel good time.

H!p Hop 101

Hey what's up everyone! Britt is here to school all of you guys out there who are not familiar with hip-hop, its culture, and how it developed over time. Hip-hop is fun, creative, and makes people want to dance. It is even a form of expression in which it can tell stories from many aspects of life. Personally I remember from back in the day, preferrably the early 90's, where I started to listen to hip-hop and enjoy it. My influence growing up was my older brother and he was a big fan of Christopher Wallace (Notorious BIG) and Jay-Z--he still is. I've noticed a pattern when I started to like the same people, but there were other artists such as Busta Rhymes, Wu-Tang Clan, Common, A Tribe Called Quest, Run DMC, Snoop Dogg, Nas and others.
Now that I'm getting older and seeing for myself how hip-hop has changed, there are many changes in the way it is displayed. The birth of hip-hop was a change in itself from other styles of music that were being played in the 70's. Run DMC made fame through MTV with the premiere of their video in the 80's. There were periods where it was criticized as being crude, detrimental, demeaning towards women, and just complete nonsense. Now hip-hop is making another 180º turn where it is producing more fresh and innovative music. People have to understand that hip-hop is more than just being popularized into mainstream contemporary music. There are artists out there who are doing something positive and influential and changing hip-hop. Artists such as Common, Mos Def , Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West, and Lupe Fiasco refine the definition of being or!g!nal and d!fferent. That's what it's all about folks...