Gyp the System

Not surprisingly, Timbaland is back in the news — and in the courts — again facing charges of outsourcing the orient unauthorized sampling. This time he’s being sued, for the second time, over the use of elements from the Egyptian composition “Khosara” (most famously recorded by Abdel-Halim Hafez back in the 50s) for Jay-Z’s “Big […]

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Tons o’ Tons, or Distributed Reading #5382

I tagged a “raï-ggaeton” video over at my linkythinky a while back. A bit o’ chutney-ton, too. Both seemed interesting to me as rather explicit examples of the localization of global pop (and rton in partic), if not terribly compelling as specific things &, yeah, rather steeped in the odor of novelty. That’s not the […]

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I&I’m a African

Sorry for the silence here of late. It’s been crunchtime for fall semester, which I’m v excited about. What’s more, I thought I’d leave the “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” post up for a while in the hope of getting more feedback for me and Boima both. (Thanks to Lamin for sharing his thoughts & the […]

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Hear Here

Reppin’ Salone (Sierra Leone), Wisconsin (Milwaukee and Madison!), and the Bay Area, DJ Boima holds down a whirled music dance party in San Fran, moving the massive with a mix of (pan-)African and (pan-)American pop / hip-hop / club / etc. Readers of this here blog might have noticed his name in a flurry of […]

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P®AGGAMATIC ?

The Jamaica Observer reports this week that a “recently formed” Rastafarian group known as the Ethio-Africa Diaspora Union Millennium Council “intend[s] to pursue the use of intellectual property protocols to protect and preserve the culture and symbols from misuse” — specifically, the kind of misuse embraced by self-proclaimed “Gangsta Ras” and dancehall flavor-of-the-month (but likely […]

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Whirl-a-whirls

Two other entities in the (other)worldly spirit I was speakin of — and I mean that in a good way — would seem to merit some shine on em, ‘specially since one’s got a new mix up & out :: London’s Heatwave crew bring the picante to the blogaparty, lacing together Spanish rap y reggae […]

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Nu Whirl Music, Blogged in Translation?

In a recent issue of the SEM Newsletter (March 2007, to be precise), Phil Bohlman addressed the issue of cultural translation and how it presents a paradox to ethnomusicologists — or perhaps more broadly, to those of us who mediate musical representations in myriad ways (including via links and mp3s): Should we understand our acts […]

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Follow Me Now: The Zigzagging Zunguzung Meme

The text below was written in spring 2007 and delivered at EMP and IASPM. Since its initial publication, I have learned of many additional instances of the “zunguzung” meme, often thanks to readers. I will continue to update the tally at the end of the post, and searching “zunguzung” on this site will lead to […]

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Loop the loop, loop the loop the loop

Gotta love distributed research technics — Thx to Mark Calaguas for a few more notches in the Zunguzung tree, including a slippery interpolation by Ninja Man on “Funeral Again.” And, get this, two uses by Nice & Smooth — in the same way, and on CONSECUTIVE TRACKS (?!) on the same album: “Nice & Smooth” […]

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IASPM in Boston

After running my “Zunguzung” paper through the ringer at EMP the week before, I’ll be offering a slightly different (and no doubt revised) version at the annual US meeting of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (or “yaspum,” as we say it). The conference takes place at Northeastern University from April 26-29; […]

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Keep It Movin Like the Zunguzung & Other Uprock Narratives

JC on JB Back from Seattle, which was a blast (see below). Off to Boston tomorrow. Gonna be in the Bean (and the Bridge) for a spell, presenting a revised version of the Zunguzung tale I told this past weekend, weighing in on the White Rapper Show alongside some hip-hop(-studying) ethnomusicologists, and delivering what have […]

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EMP 2007

From April 19-22, I’ll be participating in this year’s EMP conference in Seattle, an annual convergence of music writers (journalists and academics alike). My own presentation is on that ol “Zunguzung” meme and will follow the zigzagging melody from Yellowman to Jin, with plenty of stops along the way, examining how such a musical figure […]

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Seeplist in Seattle

Off to Seattle tomorrow to participate in this. I’ll be following what I’ve been calling the “Zunguzung Meme” from Kingston to Brooklyn to San Juan and back (w/ several stops along the way). That ol’ Yellowman melody sure seeps into some interesting (and often seminal) performances, telling the intertwined stories of hip-hop and reggae (and […]

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El Arte de Blin-Blin Politricks

Pictured above is a shot of Filiberto Ojeda Uptowns / Machetero Air Force Ones by visual artist Miguel Luciano, as featured in a show opening this Sunday, April 15, at Bard College. I’ve been an admirer of Luciano’s arresting approach since Raquel Rivera (who brought this latest project to my attn) sent me a digital […]

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Houston So Surreal

best dj screw gif evar by 893 of course Mattsoreal posted a 5 part bizarre, comic, yet rather reverent&informed (&informative) documentary on Houston rap (c/o vbs.tv). It’s quite something. This’s Part 1 — audiyoga :: c/o w&w [audio:http://wayneandwax.com/music/ww-screw36-68.mp3] mo’ audiyoga :: c/o Christhecat (hear, esp, halfway thru) [audio:http://www.wordthecat.com/images/WordTheCat_April07.mp3] Incidentally/apropros! — if you’ve checked the “play” […]

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Stage Show Excerpt & Counter Canonical Discourse

If we’re listening for the presence of Jamaica in hip-hop (and hence in NY/US/worlwide), we could attend to such a thing on any number of levels: 1) the occasional 3+3+2; 2) the influence of dub engineering on hip-hop mix aesthetics (e.g., echo, layering, lowend); 3) double-time, flip-tongue, fast-chat flows; 4) accents, cliches, Rasta mantras, and […]

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Dear Wayne #8353: JA inna US & UK

While we’re in a outsourcing mood here at w&w, allow we to offer up another recent q&a — Dear Wayne, Hope you’re well, This is a follow-up to an email that I sent last week regarding me possibly conducting an interview in the near future regarding the role of Jamaican styles in US and UK […]

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On the Record(s)

Jose Davila recently penned a profile of Black Chiney for the Miami New Times. In the article, I make a brief appearance, referring cryptically to a “triple threat” that never gets enumerated. Here’s the full transcript of my email Q&A with Jose, just for the record — 1: what do you like about black chiney/what […]

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