Here is a blog entry by composer Derek Bermel talking in some detail
about the seminal hiphop record _Paid in Full_ by Eric B. and Rakim:
<http://derekbermel.blogspot.com/2006/01/rakim-rhyme-got-rougher.html>
Bermel has won the Rome prize, a Guggenheim and a Fulbright
fellowship. I recently heard Alarm Will Sound perform one of his
works at Carnegie's Zankel Hall. His bio is here:
<http://www.derekbermel.com/bios.cfm>
An excerpt from Bermel's post:
It is not only Rakim's rhythmic freshness, but also his ability to
create and maintain a consistent language, that defines him as a
compositional maverick. He fashions catchphrases, epigraphs, hooks,
and metaphors to act as signifiers. He develops unusual syntax,
morphs nouns into verbs, redesigns sentence structure to suit his
lyrical needs. Rakim's innovations cannot be separated from his
musical grammar; they are part and parcel of the same root system,
presented in a constant, uniform, and logical way, defined by clear
structural limits, parameters, and motivic cells. As in the music
of many great composers, this clarity and consistency of language
empowers listeners to make connections, to hear the music in larger
phrases; it draws us - consciously or unconsciously - into Rakim's
musical and metaphysical world.
Over the years I've noticed that much of the scholarship on rap
music shies away from hard musical analysis. This may be because
writers do not often possess the training to address music-
theoretical issues, or it may simply be that they don't find such
issues relevant or attractive to discuss. Of course, with most
music (that which Duke Ellington refers to as "the other kind") it
doesn't really matter, as the materials are largely imitative.
However, the trend of ignoring analytical/theoretical issues does a
great disservice to complex and thought-provoking rap music by
lumping it together with all the rest. In saying this, I don't mean
to dismiss the importance of culturally-based scholarship; I simply
mean to emphasize that outstanding music transcends its cultural
context, and this truism begs to be recognized.
Naturally, all music is created within a cultural framework, and
the history of a particular music cannot be divorced from its
context. But its influence, importance, and resonance most
certainly can. Therefore when technical innovations occur, it
behooves writers to acknowledge those innovations independently,
rather than treating them as though they have little relevance
outside the milieu in which they were engendered. Many of the
groundbreaking discoveries in pop music during the last 25 years
have taken place within the medium of rap music, but the one-
dimensional lens of cultural contextualization tends to trivealize
these innovations and marginalizes their importance.
A cursory glance at the history of jazz scholarship in America
provides a sobering lesson. The great jazz artists of the 40s, 50s,
and 60s - Ellington, Basie, Parker, Monk, Mingus, Dolphy, Coltrane,
Evans, Davis, etc etc etc - are still relegated to one separate
(albeit large) chapter in the history of American music. Why do
serious technical discussions of their work, even today, remain
largely neglected? I would chalk it up to a lack of engagement with
profound levels of musical structure in these artists' work. During
their lifetimes, there wasn't even a sufficient vocabulary to
discuss their discoveries or acknowledge their achievements. I hope
some of these issues will be resolved for rap music in the near
future by a new generation of writers and thinkers who will choose
to delve deeply into the rich and sophisticated technique of
visionary artists such as Rakim.
- Darcy
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[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://secretsociety.typepad.com
Brooklyn, NY
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