MUSIC: MU0123 S02 (Studies in Ethnomusicology)

Routes, Rap, Reggae:

Hearing the Histories of Hip-hop and Reggae Together

Instructor: Wayne Marshall (wayne@wayneandwax.com)
Office Hours: by appointment

Grant Recital Hall
Tu/Th 10:30 – 11:50
Spring 2005

course description, class weeks: 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

Course Description (back to top | next)


Frequently described with familial metaphors, the close relationship between reggae and hip-hop is well established at this point, and their increasing interplay in the American mainstream would seem to confirm hip-hop’s and reggae’s fundamentally relational character. Yet despite an acknowledgment of "foreign" origins in the stories of both reggae and hip-hop, popular histories and perceptions of the two genres frequently ignore the consistent outside influences—in particular, from each other—that have contributed crucially to hip-hop’s and reggae’s distinctive, compelling styles. What are the implications of such established narratives?

Proceeding as an intertwined history of reggae and hip-hop, this course seeks to demonstrate and analyze the longstanding interaction between the popular music of the United States and Jamaica. How might this musical interplay enhance our understanding of international, post-colonial, or "globalized" relationships? What roles do migration and media play in the creation, transmission, and interpretation of musical and cultural practices? How does the tension between "local" vs. "global," "world," or "foreign" music contribute to one’s imagination of the world and identification with social groups? How does music mediate such concepts and categories as race, nation, and community? How do particular narrative strategies—different approaches to telling the stories of reggae and hip-hop—structure an understanding of the world and one’s place in it? Finally, if this is such a seemingly intertextual story, why hasn’t it been told that way?

Through an in-depth exploration of fifty years of musical and social history, a detailed examination of musical style, and a consideration of relevant theoretical issues, this course will attempt to provide some answers to these questions and will challenge as it enhances common conceptions of the relationship between hip-hop and reggae, between the United States and its neighbors.

Assignments:

  1. weekly online discussions/position papers – 40%
  2. final paper – 30%
  3. final exam – 30%

Required Texts:

  • David Katz. Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae. Bloomsbury: 2003.
  • Norman Stolzoff. Wake the Town and Tell the People: Dancehall Culture in Jamaica. Duke: 2000.
  • Jeff Chang. Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-hop Generation. St. Martin’s: 2005.
  • Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal (eds.). That’s the Joint! The Hip-hop Studies Reader. Routledge: 2004.

Recommended:

  • Lloyd Bradley. This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica’s Music. Grove: 2001. [Example of typical reggae narrative.]
  • Island Records. Tougher Than Tough: The Story of Jamaican Music. 4 CD set. [Seems to be out-of-print, though occasionally available from various online vendors.]

Useful Websites:

  • Reggae-Riddims.com – extensive database of reggae artists, tracks, and riddims
  • Jamrid.com – database of reggae artists, tracks, and riddims, with sound clips
  • The-Breaks.com – extensive database of hip-hop tracks and the samples they employ
  • JahSonic.com – lots of hyperlinks and informed commentary on a variety of related subjects
  • Allmusic.com – browse by genre for overview of various styles, with links to specific artists

January 27- Introduction: It’s a Mad, Mad Story: Hearing Hip-hop and Reggae Together (back to top | previous | next)

February 1/3 - The "Pre-History" of Jamaican Popular Music (1900-62) (back to top | previous | next)

Reading:

  • Katz (ix-xiii, 1-29)
  • Stolzoff (20-64)
  • Olive Lewin (Garland Encyclopedia and New Grove articles)
  • Garth White, "The Development of Jamaican Popular Music, Part 2: The Urbanization of the Folk," African-Caribbean Institute of Jamaica Research Review 1: 47–80)
  • Kenneth Bilby, "Jamaica," in Caribbean Currents (143-182) [Temple: 1995]
  • Bradley (3-87 [recommended])

Listening:

  • Jamaican folk/traditional/religious music: "Paraney Gal" [side 1, band 6 / track 6], "Walk In Dere" [side 1, band 7 / track 7], "Hey Maroma" [side 1, band 8 / track 8], "Zion 'Chorus'" [side 2, band 1 / track 9] (from Folk Music of Jamaica, Smithsonian Folkways FW04453, 1956)
  • Maroon music: Charles Town Maroons, "Falla Me," Accompong Maroons, "Nyabingi [medley]" (from Drums of Defiance, Smithsonian Folkways SFW40412)
  • pre-Calypso: Jean Eustache Stoute, "Patizan-Mwen I Las," "Ay Si Ay No" and "Maypole Interview"; Vasco de Freitas and Tamboo Bamboo Band, "Congo Bara"; Sotario Gomez, "Maysotis" and "Pasillo" [from Caribbean Voyage: Trinidad: Carnival Roots: The 1962 Field Recordings (Rounder: 2000)]
  • Merengue: (Samuelito Almonte, "Que Pena" [Dominican Republic; see also John Storm Roberts field recording])
  • Meringue: (Ti Band L'avenir, "Panamam Tombe" [Haiti, 1983])
  • Son: (Ignacio Piniero, "En Guantanamo" [Cuba])
  • Calypso: Loveys Band, "Mango Vert" [1912]; Sam Manning, "Sly Mongoose" [1925]; Keskidee Trio, "Congo Bara" [1935]; The Lion, "Ba Boo La La" [1938]; Wilmouth Houdini, "War Declaration" [1934]; Executor, "My Reply to Houdini" [1937]
  • Mento: Lord Composer & The Silver Seas Hotel Orchestra, "Hill and Gully/Mandeville Road," Hubert Porter, "Monkey Talk" [from Mento Madness]; Count Lasher's Calypso Quintet, "Slide Mongoose," The Jamaican Calypsonians, "Dr. Kinsey," Lord Power and His Calypsonians, "Special Amber Calypso" and "Mambo La La" [from Boogu Yagga Gal]
  • New Orleans jazz/boogie-woogie/R&B: Jelly Roll Morton ("Freakish" and "The Chant"), Professor Longhair ("Go To the Mardi Gras," "Whole Lotta Loving"), Fats Domino ("Mardi Gras In New Orleans," "I Can’t Go On (Rosalie)," "What a Party"), Clarence "Frogman" Henry ("Ain't Got No Home," "It Won't Be Long," "Standing In the Need Of Love"), Willis Jackson ("Later For the Gator"), Louis Jordan ("Beans and Cornbread," "Boogie-Woogie Came To Town," "Early In the Morning," "Push-Ka Pee-Shee Pie," "Run Joe," "Stone Cold Dead In the Market")
  • early JA boogie: Laurel Aitken, "Boogie In My Bones," Theophilus Beckford, "Easy Snappin'"; Folkes Brothers, "Oh Carolina"

February 8/10: Independence and the Rise of Jamaican Sounds (1962-68)(back to top | previous | next)

reading:

  • Katz (31-95)
  • Stolzoff (65-93)
  • Bradley (88-197 [recommended])

listening:

  • Derrick Morgan, "Forward March" [1962]
  • Millie Smalls, "My Boy Lollipop" [1964]
  • The Wailers, "Simmer Down" [1964]
  • The Skatalites, "Guns of Navarone" and "(Music Is My) Occupation" [1964]
  • Prince Buster, "Al Capone" [1965]
  • Don Drummond, "Man In the Street" [1965]
  • The Rulers, "Don't Be a Rude Boy" [1966] (from Rudies All Round)
  • Bobby Aitken, "Curfew" [1966] (from Rudies All Round)
  • Alton Ellis, "Girl I've Got a Date" [1966, Duke Reid], "Mad Mad Mad" [1967, Coxsone Dodd)], "I'm Just a Guy"
  • Derrick Morgan, "Tougher Than Tough" [1967]
  • Tommy McCook, "Music Is My Occupation" and "Ode to Billie Joe" [1968] (see also, versions by Bobbie Gentry [original], King Curtis, Lou Donaldson, Flatt & Scruggs)
  • Desmond Dekker, "007 (Shanty Town)" [1967, Leslie Kong, note reverb], "Israelites" [1968, Kong]
  • The Maytals, "54-46 (That's My Number)" [1968]
  • Marcia Griffiths, "Feel Like Jumping" [1968]

viewing:

  • The Harder They Come [DVD]

February 15/17: Reggae Hit the Town, and Moves Inward and Outward (1968-80) (back to top | previous | next)

reading:

  • Katz (97-207)
  • from Chanting Down Babylon: The Rastafari Reader (Temple:1998): Barry Chevannes ("Rastafari and the Exorcism of the Ideology of Racism and Classism," 55-71) and Verena Reckford ("From Burru Drums to Reggae Ridims: The Evolution of Rasta Music," 231-252)
  • Stolzoff (93-99)
  • David Toop ("Replicant: On Dub," in Audio Culture [Continuum:2004])
  • Bradley (198-231; 262-369; 396-421; 457-481 [recommended])

listening:

  • Ethiopians, "Reggae Hit the Town" [1969]
  • Melodians, "Rivers of Babylon" [1969]
  • Bob & Marcia, "Young, Gifted, and Black" [1970]
  • U-Roy, "Wake the Town" [1970]
  • Niney, "Blood and Fire" [1971]
  • Jimmy Cliff, "The Harder They Come" [1972]
  • Big Youth, "S.90 Skank" [1973]
  • Bob Marley, "Concrete Jungle" (original studio version and overdub) [1973]
  • Dennis Brown, "Westbound Train" [1974]
  • Burning Spear, "Marcus Garvey" [1975]
  • Chosen Few, "Collie Stuff" (from Darker Than Blue) [post-73]
  • Carl Bradney, "Slipping Into Darkness" (from Darker Than Blue) [1975]
  • Ken Boothe, "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Is It Because I'm Black?" (from Darker Than Blue) [see originals]
  • Dillinger, "Cokane In My Brain" [1976]
  • Max Romeo, "War Ina Babylon" [1976]
  • Lee "Scratch" Perry, "Revelation Dub" [1976] and "Dub Revolution" [1976]
  • King Tubby/Augustus Pablo, "Each One Dub" [1976]
  • The Congos, "Solid Foundation" [1977]
  • Althea and Donna, "Uptown Top Ranking" [1977]
  • Bob Marley, "Babylon System" and "One Drop" [1979]
  • Willie Williams, "Armagideon Time" [1979]

viewing:

  • Rockers [DVD]

February 24 (no class 2/22): Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: a visit from author Jeff Chang (back to top | previous | next)

reading:

  • Chang (ch. 1-4) [also, begin readings for next week]

listening:

  • selections from Kurtis Blow’s The History of Rap, vol. 1:
  • James Brown, "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" [1970/86]
  • Booker T and the MGs, "Melting Pot" [1971]
  • Dennis Coffee, "Scorpio" [1971]
  • Incredible Bongo Band, "Apache" [1973]

March 1/3: A Bronx Tale (1974-81) (back to top | previous | next)

reading:

  • Tricia Rose (Black Noise [ch 2, pp. 21-61])
  • Jacques Attali ("Noise and Politics" in Audio Culture [Continuum:2004])
  • Dick Hebdige ("Rap and Hip-Hop: The New York Connection," in That’s the Joint)
  • Juan Flores ("Puerto Rocks: Rap, Roots, and Amnesia," in TTJ)
  • Nelson George ("Hip-hop’s Founding Fathers Speak the Truth" in TTJ)
  • Fab 5 Freddy ("Foreword" in Bring the Noise [Harmony Books:1991])
  • Yes Yes Y’all: Oral History of Hip-hop's First Decade [recommended]

listening:

  • Gil Scot-Heron, "Whitey On the Moon" and "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" [1970], "No Knock" [1972]
  • The Last Poets, "Niggas Are Scared Of Revolution" [1970] and "White Man's Got a God Complex" [1971]
  • Lightnin' Rod, excerpts from Hustler’s Convention [1973]
  • Fatback, "King Tim III (Personality Jock)" [1979]
  • Sugar Hill Gang, "Rapper's Delight" [1979]
  • Welton Irie, "Hotter Reggae Music" [1980]
  • Kurtis Blow, "The Breaks" [1980]
  • Grandmaster Flash, "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" [1981]

viewing:

  • Wild Style [DVD]

March 8/10: Rap and Reggae Go Electro/Digital (1980-85) (back to top | previous | next)

reading:

  • Chang (ch. 5-10)
  • Murray Forman (The Hood Comes First, ch. 4-5 [Wesleyan:2002])
  • Stolzoff (99-112)
  • Katz (329-348)
  • excerpts from Modulations (Caipirinha:2000): Shapiro, 104-107 [required]; Toop, 88-103 [recommended]
  • Bradley (501-517 [recommended])

listening:

  • Black Uhuru, "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?" [1980, Sly and Robbie]
  • Dennis Brown, "Sitting & Watching" [1981, Sly and Robbie]
  • Michigan and Smiley, "Diseases" [1982]
  • Yellowman, "Zunguzung" [1982], "I'm Getting Married," "Mr. Chin"
  • Barrington Levy, "Here I Come" [1985]
  • Tenor Saw, "Ring the Alarm" [1985]
  • Wayne Smith, "Under Me Sleng Teng" [1985] (and versions)
  • Anthony Red Rose, "Tempo" [1985]
  • Yellow Magic Orchestra, "Computer Games" [1979] (on That’s My Beat [see full contents])
  • Kraftwerk, "Numbers" [1981] and "Trans-Europe Express" [1977]
  • Afrika Bambaataa, "Planet Rock" [1982]
  • Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, "The Message" [1982]
  • Herbie Hancock, "Rockit" [1983]
  • Hashim, "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)" [1983]
  • Shannon, "Let the Music Play" [1984]
  • T-La Rock, "It's Yours" [1983] (on That’s My Beat)
  • Mantronix, "Needle to the Groove" [1985]
  • Run DMC, "It's Like That" [1983] and "Roots, Rap, Reggae" (w/ Yellowman) [1985]
  • LL Cool J, "I Can't Live Without My Radio" [1985] and "Rock the Bells" [1986]

March 15/17: Hip-hop’s 'Golden Age' and the Rise of Gangsta Rap (1985-90) (back to top | previous | next)

reading:

  • Robin D.G. Kelley, "Kickin' Reality, Kickin' Ballistics," 117-157, in Droppin' Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture, edited by William Eric Perkins [Temple:1996]
  • Chang (ch. 11-16)
  • Andrew Bartlett, "Airshafts, Loudspeakers, and the Hip Hop Sample: Contexts and African American Musical Aesthetics" in TTJ
  • John Oswald, "Bettered by the Borrower: The Ethics of Musical Debt," in Audio Culture [Continuum:2004]
  • Eric Watts (in TTJ [recommended])
  • Forman (The Hood Comes First [Wesleyan:2002], ch. 6 [recommended])

listening:

  • Marly Marl/MC Shan, "Marley Marl Scratch" [1985]
  • Kool G Rap, "I'm Fly" [1984, produced by Marley Marl] and "It's a Demo" [1988]
  • Schooly D, "PSK (What Does It Mean?)" [1986] and "Saturday Night" [1987]
  • World Class Wreckin' Cru, "Cabbage Patch" [1986]
  • Beastie Boys "Paul Revere" [1986]
  • Red Dragon, "Hol' a Fresh" [1987]
  • MC Shan, "The Bridge" [1987]
  • BDP, "Remix for P is Free" (see "Marley Marl Scratch") and "The Bridge Is Over" (see Super Cat "Boops" [1985]) [from Criminal Minded, 1987]
  • Eric B and Rakim, "I Ain't No Joke," "I Know You Got Soul," and "Eric B Is President" [1987]
  • Public Enemy, "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" [1988], "Fight the Power" [1989] and "Brothers Gonna Work It Out" [1990]
  • Grandmaster Caz, "Get Down Grandmaster" [1988, from Ego Trip's The Big Playback]
  • Slick Rick, "Mona Lisa" [1988]
  • EPMD, "Strictly Business," "You Gots To Chill" [1988] and "So Wat Cha Sayin'" [1989]
  • Gang Starr, "Words I Manifest" [1989, produced by DJ Premier] (see also, "You Know My Steez" [1998] and Joe Simon, "Drowning in the Sea of Love" [1972])
  • Ice T, "6 N the Morning" [1987]
  • Eazy E, "Eazy Duz It" and "Nobody Move" [1988]
  • NWA, "Straight Outta Compton," "Fuck tha Police," "Express Yourself" [1989]
  • Ice Cube, "The Nigga Ya Love To Hate" [1990]
  • De La Soul, "Transmitting Live from Mars" (see also, The Turtles, "You Showed Me" [1969]) and "Me Myself and I" [1989, 3 Feet High and Rising]
  • A Tribe Called Quest, "Can I Kick It?" [1990]
  • Special Ed, "The Magnificent" [1989]

viewing:

  • Scratch [DVD]

March 22/24: Hip-hop Hegemony and Patois Presence (1990-98) (back to top | previous | next)

reading:

  • Mary Waters, Black Identities (1-43) [Harvard:1999]
  • Nancy Foner, "West Indian Identity in the Diaspora" (Latin American Perspectives [Riverside, Calif.] 100(25/3): 173-188)
  • Louise Bennett’s "Colonization in Reverse"
  • Steve Feld, excerpt from "Waterfalls of Song: An Acoustemology of Place Resounding in Bosavi, Papua New Guinea" (In Senses of Place, edited by Steven Feld and Keith Basso, 91-135 [Santa Fé:School of American Research Press:1996])
  • Mark Slobin, "Music in Diaspora" (Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies 3(3): 243-251)
  • Chang (ch. 17-18)

listening:

  • Shinehead, "Real Rock" [1990]
  • Poor Righteous Teachers, "Rock Dis Funky Joint" [1990]
  • Super Cat "Ghetto Red Hot" (and Bobby Konders remix), "Dem No Worry We" (with Heavy D) [1991]
  • Boogie Down Productions, "Reggae Medley" and "Bo Bo Bo" [1991, on Live Hardcore Worldwide]
  • Fu-Schnickens, "Ring the Alarm" [1991]
  • Daddy Freddy, "Raggamuffin Soldier" [1992]
  • Shabba Ranks, "Trailor Load A Girls," "Housecall" (feat. Maxi Priest), and "The Jam" (feat. KRS-One) [1991]
  • Chaka Demus and Pliers, "Murder She Wrote" [1992]
  • Cutty Ranks, "A Who Seh Me Dun" [1992]
  • Mad Cobra, "Flex" [1992]
  • Buju Banton, "Boom Bye Bye" [1992], "Bogle Dance" [1992], and "'Til I'm Laid To Rest," "Champion" (see also, hip-hip remix), "Untold Stories" [1995]
  • Das EFX, "They Want EFX" and "Mic Checka" [1992]
  • Dr. Dre, "Nuthin' But a G Thing," and "Let Me Ride" [1992, The Chronic]
  • Black Moon, "Enta da Stage" and "How Many Emcees" [1993]
  • Smif'n'Wessun/Cocoa Brovaz, "Sound Bwoy Bureil" and "Bucktown" (1995, Dah Shinin') and "Spit Again" (feat. Dawn Penn) [2002]
  • Heltah Skeltah, "Sean Price" [1996] (see Super Cat, "Nuff Man a Dead" [1991])
  • Notorious B.I.G., "Unbelievable" and "Gimme the Loot" [1994]
  • Nas, "N.Y. State of Mind," "Memory Lane," "One Love" [1994]
  • Jeru The Damaja, "Jungle Music" [1994] and "Revenge of the Prophet (part 5)" [1996]
  • Fugees, "Ready or Not" [1996]
  • Slick Rick, "A Love That's True" (parts 1 and 2) [1994, Behind Bars]
  • Mad Lion, "Take It Easy" [1995]
  • House of Pain, "Fed Up" (see also, remix, feat. Guru) [1996]
  • Beenie Man, "Who Am I? (Sim Simma)" (and hip-hop remix) [1998] (see, The Roots, "Section" [1996])
  • Black Star, "Definition" and "Respiration" [1998]
  • Big Pun, "Caribbean Connection" (feat. Wyclef) and "Super Lyrical" [1998]
  • A Tribe Called Quest (Phife Dog), "His Name Is Mutty Ranks" [1998] (see, Tanya Stephens, "Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet" [1996])
  • Lauryn Hill, "Lost Ones" [1998] (see, Sister Nancy, "Bam Bam" [1992] on Stalag riddim)

March 29/31: No class – Spring Break (back to top | previous | next)

April 5/7: The "Coastal Wars" and the (Dirty) Rise of Local Rap (1995-2000) (back to top | previous | next)

reading:

listening:

  • Tupac, "Keep Ya Head Up" [1993], "California Love" (feat. Dr Dre) [1995], "Hit 'Em Up" [1996]
  • Notorious B.I.G., "Player's Anthem" [Junior M.A.F.I.A., 1995], "Who Shot Ya" [1995]
  • Jeru tha Damaja, "Ya Playin' Yaself" and "One Day" [1996]
  • Wu Tang Clan, "C.R.E.A.M." [1993]
  • Common (Sense), "I Used To Love H.E.R." [1994]
  • Binary Star, "Reality Check" [2000]
  • Outkast, "Player's Ball" [1994], "Elevators (Me & You)" [1996], "Bombs Over Baghdad" [2000], "The Way You Move" [2003]
  • Goodie M.O.B., "Cell Therapy" and "Dirty South" [1995], "They Don't Dance No Mo'" [1998]
  • Geto Boys, "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" [1991]
  • Master P (No Limit), "Make Em Say Uh" [1997] and "Bout It, Bout It" [1997] (see also, DJ Screw version)
  • Juvenile (Cash Money), "Ha" and "Back That Azz Up" [1998]
  • Trick Daddy, "Nann Nigga" [1998] (see also, DJ Screw version)
  • JT Money, "Who Dat?" [1999]
  • Lil Jon (and the East Side Boyz), "Get Low" [2002] (see also, maxi-single remixes)
  • Three Six Mafia, "Sippin' on Some Syrup" [2000] (see also, DJ Screw version)
  • Bone Thugs 'N' Harmony, "The Crossroads" [1999]
  • E-40, "Rapper's Ball" (feat. Too Short) [1996]
  • dead prez, "hip-hop" [2000]

April 12/14: New Millenium: A Different Ting a Gwaan? (2000-2005) (back to top | previous | next)

reading:

listening:

  • excerpts from Jim Brown Memorial Dance 2003 (Stone Love, Firelinks, Tony Matterhorn, Jazzy T)
  • Busta Rhymes, "Break Ya Neck" [2001] and Kingston underground versions
  • Jay-Z, "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" [2003] (as heard in Cambridge soundclash, Spring 2004)
  • Black Rob, "Whoa!" [1999] (see also, Mad Ants riddim [2002, Donovan "Vendetta" Bennett / Don Corleon])
  • Vybz Kartel, "New Millenium" (feat. Wayne Marshall) [2002]
  • Sizzla, "Just One of Those Days" (see also, Dawn Penn, "You Don't Love Me (No No No)" [1992]), "Solid As a Rock" (and Bonecrusher mashup) [2002/3]
  • Elephant Man, "Shizzle Ma Nizzle" [2002, Bad Kalic riddim (Stone Love)], "Log On" [2001, Liquid riddim (Jeremy Harding)], "The Bombing" [2002, Martial Arts ("Scatta" Burrell)], "Signal de Plane" [2003]
  • Wayne Marshall, "Area Codes," "The Whole World (Legalize Ganja)," "Ganja" [2001-2003] (see, respectively, Ludacris, "Area Codes" [2001], Outkast "The Whole World" [2002] and "Hey Ya" [2003]
  • Diwali riddim (Sean Paul, Wayne Wonder, Bounty Killer, Elephant Man, Lenky [producer]) and offshoots (Lumidee, various remixes, underground recordings [e.g., Raheim])
  • selections from Def Jamaica [2003]: Wayne Marshall, Vybz Kartel, Juelz Santana, Jim Jones, "Straight Off the Top"; Beenie Man, Ms. Thing, Shawnna, "Dude (remix)"; Method Man, Red Man, Damian "Junior Gong" Marley, "Lyrical .44"
  • Mos Def, "Fear Not of Man," "Ms. Fat Booty," and "Do It Now" (feat. Busta Rhymes) [1999]
  • The Roots, "Concerto of the Desperado" [1996]
  • Talib Kweli (feat. Cocoa Brovaz), "Gun Music" [2002]
  • 50 Cent, "Many Men" [2003]
  • Jay-Z, "Lucifer" [2003]
  • Terror Squad, "Lean Back" [2004] (see remixes)
  • Eminem, "Crazy In Love" [2004]
  • Lyrics Born, "The Last Trumpet" and "One Session" [2003]
  • Mr. Lif, "Home of the Brave" [2002]
  • Aesop Rock, "NY Electric" [2003]
  • Nando Boom, "El Desorden" [1991] (see also, Super Cat, "Don Dada" [1991])
  • El General, "Pu Tun Tun" (see also, Little Lenny, "Punnaney Tegereg") [1991]
  • Tego Calderon, "Dominicana" [2003]
  • Daddy Yankee, "Gasolina" [2004] (see also, remixes)
  • Orishas, "A Lo Cubano" [2000]
  • Busta Rhymes, "Pass the Courvoisier" [2002]; 3 Suns, "By the Bar" and TOK, "Dom Perignon" [Soca Gold 2003]
  • Dawg E. Slaughter, "Bounce" [2003]
  • note and browse contents of Power 96 Presents: Dancehall Nice Again 2004 (Miami)
  • Blackout and Tabernacle riddims [2004]

April 19/21: Hip-hop and Reggae in the World / The World in Hip-hop and Reggae (back to top | previous | next)

reading:

  • Hesmondalgh and Melville, "Urban Breakbeat Culture: Repercussions of Hip-hop in the United Kingdom" (86-110), in Global Noise: Rap and Hip-hop Outside the USA, edited by Tony Mitchell [Wesleyan:2002]
  • Simon Reynolds, "Roots'n'Future" (250-269), in Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture [Boston:Little/Brown:1998]
  • Sanjay Sharma, "Noisy Asians or 'Asian Noise'?" (32-57) in Dis-Orienting Rhythms:The Politics of the New Asian Dance Music [London:Zed Books:1996]
  • (also recommended in Dis-Orienting Rhythms: Housee and Dar, "Re-Mixing Identities: 'Off' the Turn-Table" [81-104])
  • Steve Feld, "pygmy POP: A Genealogy of Schizophonic Mimesis" (Yearbook for Traditional Music 28:1-35 [1996])
  • Chang (ch. 19)
  • Jeff Chang, "Future Shock" and "Missy E For President"
  • Kodwo Eshun, "Operating System for the Redesign of Sonic Reality" in Audio Culture [Continuum:2004]
  • Martin Clark, Interviews with Wiley (parts 1 and 2) and Dizzee Rascal
  • Sterling Clover, "Coalition of the Thrilling: Hip-Hop's Long Hot Indian Summer"
  • Tarek Atia, "Pimpin' a Classic"
  • Tina Chadha, "Mix This"
  • Joseph Patel, "Bhangra Over Bombs Over Baghdad"
  • Kodwo Eshun, "Gush Collective: 2step Has a Right To Children"

listening:

  • Skatalites, "Eastern Standard Time" [1964]
  • Abyssinians, "Satta Massa Gana" [1969]
  • Augustus Pablo, East of the River Nile [1978]
  • Wu-Tang Clan, Enter the 36 Chambers [1993]
  • Missy Elliott, "Get Ur Freak On" [2001], "Pass That Dutch" [2003, note Diwali/electro references]
  • Timbaland, "Big Pimpin'" [1999] and "Indian Flute" [2003]
  • Abdul Halim Hafez, "Khosara"
  • Eric Sermon/Redman, "React" [2002]
  • Truth Hurts, "Addictive" [2002]
  • Bollywood riddim [2002] (see also Tabla riddim [2002])
  • Egyptian riddim [2003, Daniel "Blaxxx" Lewis] (e.g., Vybz Kartel, "Sweet to the Belly"; Elephant Man, "Egyptian Dance"; Sizzla, "These Are the Days")
  • Coolie Dance riddim [2003, Cordell "Scatta" Burrell / King of Kings]
  • Elephant Man, "Mexican Girl" [2003]
  • Panjabi Hit Squad, "Nachle Moranie," and Surinder Rattan, "Kala Kala Munda" [2003, note contents of Desi Beats compilation]
  • Bunji Garlin & Shammi, "Soca Bhangra" [2003]
  • Punjabi MC/Jay-Z, "Mundian to Bach Ke (Beware of the Boys)" [2003]
  • SL2, "On a Ragga Tip" [1992]
  • Aphrodite, "Ready Or Not (Jungle Remix)" [2004]
  • Herb LF (Gush Collective), "Cool Down Da Dancehall" [2000]
  • Seeed (feat. Black Kappa), "Dickes B" [from Berlin Macht Schule]
  • Roots Manuva, "Man Fi Cool" [2002]
  • Dizzee Rascal, "Sittin' Here" and "Stop Dat" [2004]
  • Wiley, "Wot Do U Call It?" [2004]
  • M.I.A., "Galang" [2004, see video]
  • mixes by dj/rupture, DJ C and Mashit crew, Kid Kameleon, etc.
  • see also, BBC/1extra: browse dancehall, garage, drum'n'bass, bhangra, and hip-hop shows

Paper prospectus due in class on Tuesday, April 19.

**Special guest on April 21: Adam Mansbach, author of Angry Black White Boy [read excerpt].

April 21/26: Hip-hop and Reggae in the Mainstream and on the Fringes (back to top | previous | next)

reading:

listening:

  • Mighty Crown Tribute to Volcano [excerpts]
  • The Bug, "Politicians and Paedophiles" [2003]
  • The Clash, "Rudie Can't Fail" and "Guns of Brixton" [1979]
  • The Specials, "Gangsters" and "A Message To You Rudy" [1979]
  • Bad Brains, "I Against I" and "Stay Close To Me" [1980, Omega Sessions (read allmusic.com review)]
  • No Doubt, "Just a Girl" [1995]
  • Sublime, "What I Got" [1996]
  • Eric Clapton, "I Shot the Sheriff" [1974]
  • Led Zeppelin, "D'yer Mak'er" [1973]
  • R. Kelly, "Snake" [2003] and "Thoia Thoing" [2003]
  • Britney Spears, "The Hook Up" [2004]
  • Christina Milian, "Dip It Low" [2004]
  • Beyonce (feat. Sean Paul), "Baby Boy" [2003]
  • Nina Sky, "Move Ya Body" [2004] (see also, Mr. Vegas, Pitbull, and others on Coolie Dance)
  • Lumidee, "Never Leave You (Uh-Oooh)" [2003] (reggaeton and Diwali versions)
  • N.O.R.E. (feat. Nina Sky), "Oye Mi Canto" [2004]
  • Outkast, "Hey Ya" [2003]
  • 50 Cent, "In da Club" [2003]
  • Lil Jon/Usher, "Yeah!" [2004] (see remixes)
  • Cam'ron, "Sippin' on Some Sizzurp" [2004]
  • Eek-a-Mouse, "Jamaicanese" [2004]

viewing:

  • TV advertisements: Chili’s, Michelob Ultra, Skippy peanut-butter, Superbowl 2004

April 28: Conclusion: Trends and Cycles, Representations and Realities (back to top | previous | next)

reading:

  • Paul Gilroy, "It’s a Family Affair," in TTJ
  • Scott Deveaux, "Constructing the Jazz Tradition," 483-512, in The Jazz Cadence of American Culture, edited by Robert G. O'Meally [Columbia:1998]
  • Ta-Nehisi Coates, "Keepin' It Unreal"
  • Greg Tate, "Hiphop Turns 30" [see also, online responses]
  • Nelson George, "Rhymin' and Stealin'"
  • James Clifford, "Diasporas," 244-278, in Routes: Travel and Translation in the Late Twentieth Century [Harvard:1997]
  • Christopher Holmes Smith and John Fiske, "Naming the Illuminati," 605-622, in Music and the Racial Imagination [Chicago:2000]
  • Manthia Diawara, "Homeboy Cosmopolitans," 237-278, in Searching for Africa [Harvard:1998]
  • Bradley (518-530 [recommended])

May (back to top | previous)

  • Final Papers: Tuesday, May 10 – 5 p.m., Wayne's mailbox Orwig Music Building, rm. 101 ("Reception")
  • Review Session: Wednesday, May 11 – time/place TBA
  • Final Exam: Wednesday, May 18 – 9 a.m., Grant Recital Hall