hip hop, I’m equally seduced by the mainstream bump and grind core. Like the free pancakes, some days that sh*t just tastes so good. Call me the quintessential white hipster binging on black cool. As far as I’m concerned, without blackness, I have no culture to speak of. From an essay called “Color Notes” published by William Houghton in 1927, the white male writer concedes to how freed slaves have in effect conquered their former masters, “We talk his dialect, we sing his songs, we dance his dances… his tempo, jazz is the universal rhythm. Whenever we relax we fall under his spell; it is only in our tight working moments we are free of it.” 20 This is certainly not to say that music erased racism in America, where during the time of this publication lynching still happened and segregation was still enforced. In many ways Houghton’s writing only serves to emphasize the projection and exotic/erotic tropes characterizing whites views of black expression. The subjective Modernity to which one’s humanity (subtext “white” humanity and “black” subalternity) lays claim to food, shelter and a means of survival is always comprised of whiteness constructed through investments in black culture. 21 All of us by whatever approximated privileges pass as white enough or straight enough to be marked a “citizen” of the republic are implicated in a violent and oppressive neocolonial frame in which race is cast as, in the words of Achille Mbembe, the “nocturnal side of the Republic.” 22 In terms of my allegiances to hip hop I may have entered by way of the typical salacious sedation but what I’ve ultimately gotten out of hip hop is much closer to a type of embodied faith and burgeoning sense of global citizenship. Which is where BoomBoxBoy, REVOLT <strong>Magazine</strong>’s posterboy of Hip Hop pet-a-dawgy in the flesh, factors into the equation. Like hip hop’s founding fathers DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa, Prince Harvey is of West Indian decent having grown up in LA, Dominica and New York City. I’m largely interested in his work because I think he’s usurping the sheer sex appeal of the hip hop aesthetic to interestingly promising socio-political ends. BoomBoxBoy, influenced by the character Radio Raheem in Spike Lee’s 1989 film Do The Right Thing, is a performance work by the artist Prince Harvey exploring ownership, community, and socially appropriate modes of being with respect to race, class and gender. Incorporating personal narrative, anecdote and hip hop a cappella – BoomBoxBoy’s call and response approach to rapping and beat making urges the audience to take a participatory stance embellishing the music by clapping and speaking along in rhythm. On BoomBoomBox boy’s turf, I’m clapping along, I’m a participant. I may be initially roped in by the eye candy of his hypermasculine *bling*bling” semi-nudity (which as far as I’m concerned is drag for Prince Harvey, who when he’s not strong-arming a boombox in his underwear is as likely to be seen in a skirt or a glittery sweater) but I’m ultimately solicited as a participant. I’m also schooled. When BoomBoxBoy gathers his audience he not only hoots and hollers, he talks about being a black male, having a gender and sexual identity, and the importance of community and dialogue. Prince Harvey, who grew up in a female dominated household and loves to surround himself with a crew of fierce, sex-positive womenloving women, is amongst a cadre of young artists determined to queer the dialogue of Hip Hop and effectively derail its associations with misogyny and unrestricted male privilege. Another artist I’d connect him to here is Cakes da Killa. Cakes is the type of artist that covers Frank Ocean's "Thinkin Bout You,” with his own lyrics, which go "I've been thinking bout dick/ na na na na," commenting on the recent public discussions concerning Ocean’s sexuality and how hip hop is finally “Gay” in the media because an R&B singer that dates women once crushed on a dude. Pitchfork is calling Cakes the new Lil Kim figure, “A raunchy-ass bitch who absolutely owns being a raunchy-ass bitch.” 23 It’s not raptivism or anything, but it does offer a bit of a silver lining in terms of re-thinking the hetero-family unit as the universal index of health and wellness. It’s also interesting to note that when rap albums get “cleaned” up for big retailers like Kmart and Walmart the music companies only delete drug references and profanity. Misogyny and homophobia, however, remain clear as a bell and likewise par for the tween course. 24 In terms of Cakes work, it certainly begs the question of why there are so few female MCs following in the footsteps of the great female MCs. Is the drag male the new female rapper par excellence? The recent cover of the Village Voice featuring “Flowmosexual Gender Ninja” of “Warrior Rap” Mykki Blanco seems to suggest YES. Played by a young man, Mykki Blanco is the female rap alias of Michael Quattlebaum Jr., age 27, who states that riot-grrrl was his primary musical influence as a youth (before hip hop, when punk’s homophobia turned him off). 25 What’s interesting about the BoomBoxBoy project is that he takes a more nuanced approach to his gender-nomadism. In some of his videos online he has recorded instances of harassment he experienced during his performances from groups of young women, homophobic men and police officers. He’s had to learn the hard way that taking your clothes off and asking for money in Times Square in the footsteps of the Naked Cowboy and 500 or so life-size Tickle Me Elmos is a lot different than traipsing around Baltimore, where he was nearly arrested for obscenity related allegations. And to make things clear, BoomBoxBoy is asking for money. The project began as a way for Prince Harvey the artist to raise money to produce his first hip hop album: BOOM. According to Harvey, BOOM will be the first official full-length hip hop a cappella album. “The project started as a way of getting exposure and funding to black artists creating culturally relevant work,” says Harvey, “but you don’t have to say that if you don’t want to, it brings me great pleasure when people think I'm just a nigga.” Say what?! That’s another interesting development within hip hop these days, the turn from “nigger” to “nigga.” Although largely misunderstood, the nigga turn is a profound utterance indicating the sheer importance hip hop places on authenticity. In his seminal essay “On the Question of Nigga Authenticity” R.A.T. Judy says: “Understanding the movement from nigger to nigga means recalling the historical systematic employment of nigger as exchange value…nigga is that which emerges from the demise of human capital…the nigga is unemployed, null and void, walking around…a nigga who understands that all possibility converts from capital, and capital does not derive from work.” Judy’s argument is one that seems to address a number of timely concerns for a generation undergoing huge shifts within the economic sector and the general “niggafication” of white suburban America. Conversely, one could almost argue for an artist like Prince Harvey, and his Facebook page will certainly attest to this, the BoomBoxBoy project is equal parts Radio Raheem and Rappin’ Rockin Barbie (Mattel© circa 1992). Ultimately what came of Prince Harvey’s humble quest to get paper and produce a full length album is a larger than life pet-a-dawggy with a hyperreal appeal straddling the street and the virtual sphere. BoomBoxBoy’s stage extends to Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Soundcloud, where I have been, solipsistically at times, frankly, pretending I’m him, and watching his hilarious posturing and community building unfold. If you haven’t had the pleasure of encountering BoomBoxBoy on his trek through the five boroughs, you soon will. 1 “Higher Learning: Using Hip Hop to Transform Schools and Communities,” Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Nov. 27, 2012 Panel Moderator: Martha Diaz 2 Ped·a·go·gy [ped-uh-goh-jee] n. The function or work of a teacher; teaching. The art or science of teaching; education; instructional methods. 3 David Pleasant, “Rhythms of Resistance,” Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, December 14, 2012 4 Jorge Pabon, “Fashion Moda: A Legacy of Community and Creativity in the South Bronx” panel at the Bronx Documentary Center, February 16th, 2013 5 David Toop, The Rap Attack: African Jive to New York Hip Hop, South End Press, 1985 6 Greg Tate, Flyboy in the Buttermilk: Essays on Contemporary America an Eye Opening look at Race, Politics, Literature and Music, Simon and Schuster, 1992, pg. 232-233 7 Hip Hop H.E.A.L.S. is an initiative in NYC Public schools using rap and hip hop culture to explore healthy eating options for youth. Guest artists include hip hop legends Doug E. Fresh and the Cold Crush Bros among others. 8 Darlene Vinicky, “(Progressive) Hip Hop Cartography” in Wish to Live: The Hip Hop Feminism Pedagogy Reader Ruth Nicole Brown + Chamara Jewel Kwakye, (eds.) Peter Lang, 2012, pg. 29 9 Murray Forman, The ‘Hood Comes First: Race, Space, and Place in Rap and Hip Hop Wesleyan University Press, 2002, pg. 59-61, 191 10 Murray Forman, ibid, pg. 198 11 Davarian L. Baldwin, That’s The Joint!: The Hip Hop Studies Reader, Murray Foreman and Mark Anthony Neal, Eds. 2012, pg. 235 12 Alex Perullo, “Hooligans and Heroes: Youth Identity and Hip Hop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,” That’s The Joint! ibid, pg. 331 13 http://www.ebony.com/entertainment-culture/rick-rossthinks-rape-is-a-punchline-999#ixzz2PF1RpoKS 14 Angela Y. Davis, Blues Legacies and Black Feminism New York: Random House, 1998, pg. 190 15 Jay Z quoted by Todd Boyd, “Intergenerational Culture Wars: Civil Rights v. Hip Hop” Todd Boyd and Yusuf Nuruddin, That’s The Joint! ibid, pg. 444 16 “What is the Current Direction of Hip-Hop?” Published Dec 31, 2012 on YOUTUBE by 1HoodMedia, "Our World with Black Enterprise" hosted by Dr. Marc Lamont Hill with Pharoahe Monch, Dr. Tricia Rose and Jasiri X 17 Darlene Vinicky, ibid, pg. 29 18 Bocafloja, “Global Hip Hop Movement” Panel at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, April 16, 2013, Panel Moderator: Martha Diaz 19 Beth Coleman, “Pimp Notes on Autonomy” in Everything But the Burden: What White People Are Taking From Black Culture Edited by Greg Tate, Harlem Moon, 2003 20 William Houghton cited in Jayna Brown, Babylon Girls: Black Women Performers and the Shaping of the Modern, Duke University Press, 2008, pg. 218 21 Jayna Brown, Babylon Girls: Black Women Performers and the Shaping of the Modern Duke University Press, 2008, pg. 17 22 Achille Mbembe cited in Richard Iton, In Search of the Black Fantastic: Politics & Popular Culture in the Post-Civil Rights Era Oxford University Press, 2008, pg. 134 23 Miles Raymer, “Cakes da Killa: The Eulogy,” Pitchfork, February 7, 2013 24 Gilbert B. Rodman, “Race…And Other Four-Letter Words” in That’s the Joint: The Hip Hop Studies Reader Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal, eds. 2012, pg. 193 25 Jenna Sauers, “FLOWMOSEXUAL: The Making of Mykki Blanco” The Village Voice, April 10-16, 2013, pg. 8 REVOLT <strong>Magazine</strong> Number 4, 2013 42
Matt Craven, DOTS, mixed media on found paper, 2012
- Page 2 and 3: m a g a z i n e TM volume 1 no. 4
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- Page 7 and 8: JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT, Untitled (Two
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- Page 12 and 13: TOP 10 NYC !#$%12456!@# ARTISTS NOW
- Page 14 and 15: FASHION Today The Cult of the First
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- Page 20 and 21: Westbeth Artists' Housing, New York
- Page 22 and 23: Westbeth PHOTOS BY SCOTTO MYCKLEBUS
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- Page 30 and 31: THE LITERARY VIEW Skyscraper Blues:
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- Page 36 and 37: ARCHITECTURE VIEW On Being Post-Seq
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