Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 27 October 2000 — Page 26

PAGE C6

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27,2000 “

Wide range of opinions exist on the meaning of hip-hop

THE SCOOP

What is hip-hop music? You may not have a diamond in the back, sunroof dropped, diggin’ the scene in a gangsta lean (woowoo), but opinions are something we all have plenty of. Opinions are actually the very fixture upon which our window to the world sits, separating us from the bull, the gray areas and, sometimes, the truth. During our interview with the Source CEO/Publisher David Mays, he hit upon a sore spot for some aficionados of hip-hop. “The most recent MTV awards was a big slap in the face of hiphop as far as I was concerned,” said Mays. “They are consciously ^tempting to redirect people’s understanding of what hip-hop is by treating a rap and a hip-hop category. Things like that have to be Questioned by anyone who really

is loyal to the hip-hop community.” Questioning the resolve of the competition is something you would expect from David Mays. He’s MTV’s leading pain. But his quote raises a question that future music scholars eventually may have to grapple with. What is hiphop music? What constitutes hiphop? Where are its parameters? When we last spoke to Antra/Artemis recording artists the Spooks, group vocalist Ming summed up her frustration with those that try to lock hip-hop into parameters. "I don ’ t understand when people say to me ‘Oh, you are not hiphop,”’ said an obviously annoyed Ming. “Hip-hop is a movement, a way of thinking, it’s everything that came before it. It’s jazz, it’s rock, it’s rhythm and blues. It incorporates everything.” Part of hip-hop culture’s “way of thinking” is an emphasis on com-

munity, camaraderie and artistry. True heads also know its effect as an audio ambassador of goodwill to the world. It’s all based in love for the culture and universal enlightening. So, since the underground is often the coldspring that quenches the major labels’ search (and our thirst) for new artists, should hip-hop music’s dialectic fence stop here? Should it cut off all MC’s whose subject matters are death, pimpin’, drugs and misogyny? Or should the fence be moved even further from hip-hop music’s epicenter as an inspiring and soulful genre to encompass such pseudo rock/rappers like Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit?Don’t sleep! In a few years, their face will be the face of rap music. According to the hip-hop purist’s point of view, there are five elements that make up hiphop as a culture: the MC, the DJ, the beatbox, graffiti and break danc-

ing. Following this line of thinking, rap is then only a small facet of hip-hop. It is the artistry of the MC manifested in lyrics, both freestyle and written. But really though, when was the last time you saw graffiti artists or b-boys performing next to a platinum selling artist like say, Snoop Dogg? Never! But would that disqualify them as artistic MCs? Or is he, and others like Puffy, Jay-Z, Will Smith, DMX and an aircraft carrier full of other artists, to be remembered as pop flashes in the evolution of music? See, now we got a headache. We’ll continue our hip-hop cultural crash course in a future edition of the EUR. Newsbits • It’s LaFace all over again. In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, Antonio “LA” Reid, the new head man at Arista, has signed his longtime buddy and cre-

ative/business collaborator, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds to a long-term solo recording contract. Edmonds was previously signed to Epic Records. And of course Edmonds and Reid once owned LaFace Records before selling out to BMG. Arista and Epic will join forces to co-promote Face’s new Epic single, “Reason for Breathing.” It’s from his upcoming greatest hits CD due out Nov. 14. • During a previous piece on Jill Scott, we “sort of’ incorrectly stated that Scott’s next single is “Gettin’ In the Way.” That’s only half right. It’s her next single all right, but in the U.K. Her next U.S. single hasn’t been picked yet, but it’s a toss up between “Is It the Way” and “A Long Walk,” both of which are off the heezy like greazy popcorn with Lawry’s. We’ll keep you posted. • National Action Network President, Rev. A1 Sharpton, and

David Mays, CEO of the Source, ' announced that on Monday, Oct. '* 30, the National Action Network* *• (NAN) and the Source will coconvene a special summit on the^> state of the hip-hop music indus- *. try. The summit will bring together 1 • leading hip-hop artists and manag-'*. ers, record company CEOs, media. '■ executives, youth service experts, and national political and religious. ^: leaders. The summit will take place •' from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at NAN’s.«< Harlem headquarters (1941 MadL ' son Avenue between 124th and." 125th). i • One Hundred Black Men Inc.,' announced that it will honor Russell > Simmons and make a special pre- < sentation to Mary J. Blige. The < event will be held at the 21st Annual Benefit Dinner Dance, Thurs-1 day, Nov. 2, at the New York Hilton and Towers in Manhattan. i

The Scoop is provided by Electronic Urban Report. Visit its Web . site at www.EURweb.com

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