I mix what I like! : a mixtape manifesto

241 Pages·2011·1.52 MB·English

by  Ball

cultural studies / africana studies $14.95 | £11 j
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In the proud tradition of Fanon, Cabral, Malcolm X, and Steve Biko, d
Jared Ball speaks in the voice of the decolonial Other, offering a much- b
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needed mind transplant to anyone preferring to ignore the liberatory
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potential inhering in the hip-hop phenomenon of mixtape.—Ward l
Churchill / Author of A Little Matter of Genocide

With this book, Jared Ball correctly and cogently posits hip-hop in its

rightful place—as the most important literary form to emerge from the i
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20th century.—Boots Riley / The Coup
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The value of a committed, revolutionary PhD with an ear for the truth
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and skills on the mic and turntable? Priceless.—Glen Ford / Executive
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Editor of BlackAgendaReport.com
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In a moment of increasing corporate control in the music indus-
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try, where three major labels call the shots on which artists are l
heard and seen, Jared Ball analyzes the colonization and control ik
of popular music and posits the homemade hip-hop mixtape as an e
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emancipatory tool for community resistance. I Mix What I Like!

is a revolutionary investigation of the cultural dimension of anti-
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racist organizing in the Black community. a
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Blending together elements from internal colonialism theory, cul- m bal
tural studies, political science, and his own experience on the mic, l
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Jared positions the so-called “hip-hop nation” as an extension of t
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the internal colony that is modern African America, and suggests p
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that the low-tech hip-hop mixtape may be one of the best weapons
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we have against Empire.
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Jared A. Ball, PhD, (a.k.a. The Funkinest Journalist) is the host of if
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FreeMix Radio, and associate professor of communication studies at s
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Morgan State University.

www.akpress.org
www.akuk.com
www.imixwhatilike.com
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IMixWhatILike_cover_FINAL_REV.indd 1 5/9/11 5:16 PM
advance praise for i mix what i like!
Jared Ball’s carefully constructed narrative draws upon an extraordinary range of analyti-
cal and evidentiary sources to provide a concise explanation of the mixtape movement.
Simultaneously, he uses this history to illuminate how the media promotes ideological
interests, and how those interests serve not simply the corporate bottom line, but the
much larger political objective of assigning each of us our “place” in society. I Mix What I
Like! serves as both an example of emancipatory journalism and a model for emancipated
thinking, without which we will be consigned to struggling for a kinder, gentler subju-
gation rather than true human liberation.—Natsu Taylor Saito / Author of Meeting the
Enemy: American Exceptionalism and International Law
Jared Ball is one of the most important activist intellectuals in the United States. His book
is powerful and provocative‥‥ Unlike President Obama, Professor Jared Ball is commit-
ted to revolutionary change in America. His book provides an insightful analysis and
critique of culture, media, and African American politics.—Ollie Johnson / Department
of Africana Studies / Wayne State University
Dr. Ball has created a twenty-first century Black radical manifesto that samples and re-
mixes the best of the radical and anti-imperialist tradition. I Mix What I Like! recognizes
the colonized nature of contemporary Hip Hop and the colonized context of the people
from which Hip Hop emerged. In the tradition of Noam Chomsky and Public Enemy,
Jared Ball brings the noise to the status quo and lays out his vision of Mixtape emanci-
patory journalism as the liberatory mass medium for today and the future. I strongly
recommend this work for all those interested in reflecting upon the theory and practice
of struggling for social justice in today’s America.—Dedrick Muhammad / NAACP /
Author of Understanding Racial Inequality in the Obama Era
One way to prevent the appropriation of a revolutionary culture—one that expresses the
desires and visions of the oppressed to fight for liberation and self-determination—is to
smuggle the word as if it is a liberatory tool, replicating the clandestine, anti-colonial
and resistant drum of the maroon. Jared Ball’s concept of “mixtape radio” follows that
tradition with an irreverence that we so sorely need.—Claude Marks / Freedom Archives
Jared Ball’s work conveys the ultimate reality about hip hop: that there is no nation space
in hip hop but that which exists for revolutionary music for the Africans and African
and Indigenous oriented colonial Spanish speaking peoples (misnomered latinos). The
strength of the colonial argument presented places whites as settlers in hip hop. Load the
audio clip and bust a shot for freedom!—Mark A. Bolden / The Fanon Project
Dr. Jared Ball’s impressive book is a bold undertaking in which he critiques and ulti-
mately distances himself from the prevailing assumptive logic found within pop academic
circles. To be sure, Mixtape Radio does not offer itself as a panacea for the oppressive
structures he addresses. The revolutionary power of this book lies in its capacity to inter-
rogate staid constructs of thought and re-pose vital questions pertaining to “emancipatory
journalism.” For the power to pose the question is the greatest power of all.—Frank B.
Wilderson, III / Author of Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid
I Mix What I Like! is a brave and necessary book that focuses the conversation about hip
hop (and politics) beyond the limitations of 90% of published materials on the subject.
Once again, walking the walk, Jared Ball offers a provocative, though not surprising,
piece of work that shifts the debate into a much-needed direction.—Shaheen Ariefdien
/ Former member of the pioneering South African hip-hop group Prophets of da City
Like a classic—cassette recorded—Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show, circa early 90’s
New York City, Jared Ball’s manifesto is a raw, uncut, ground breaking contribution to a
new frontier of critical thinking and critique within Hip Hop discourse. Too many, are
stuck on ‘repeat’ and ‘ain’t sayin nothin’! Love it or hate it, Jared Ball’s work is necessary
and vital for the cultivation of tradition and responsibility. Strong arm the system, grind
mode heavy, “Let’s Get Free!”—Carlos REC McBride M. Ed. / TRGGR MEDIA Group
Here, Jared Ball takes us back to the value of polemic and the revolutionary new knowl-
edge-base of worldwide anti-colonialism before it was driven underground by counter-
revolutionary repression. I Mix What I Like! is terribly thoughtful, terribly original—a
joy for the “wonder-ground,” and a political-intellectual terror for the overlords.—Greg
Thomas / Author of The Sexual Demon of Colonial Power and Hip-Hop Revolution in the
Flesh
Jared Ball is determined to rescue hip hop and left activism from increasingly subversive
corporate control. This book is a manifesto that needs to be read, argued about, and yelled
from the rooftops. Let the bricks fly!—Todd Steven Burroughs / co-author of Civil Rights
Chronicle
The Funkinest Journalist breaks it all down for all servants of Soul/Funk music and Art
in the 21st Century. His Mixtape Manifesto explains what we are up against battling
corporate empires that control the coveted consumer-merchant access points, and offers
us an option to distribute, connect, and popularize our culture.—Head Roc / “The Mayor
of D.C. Hip-Hop”
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i mix what i like

a mixtape manifesto

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i mix what i like

a mixtape manifesto
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by jared a ball
I Mix What I Like! A Mixtape Manifesto
By Jared A. Ball
© 2011 Jared A. Ball
This edition © 2011 AK Press (Oakland, Edinburgh, Baltimore)
ISBN: 978–1–84935–057–0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011920475
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Printed in Canada on acid-free, recycled paper with union labor.
Cover illustration by Joe Widener | Layout and Interior by JW & KK.
Por mis niñas Maisi y Marley.
No hay razon mas grande para luchar.

table of contents
Acknowledgments 1
A Prefatory “Note to the Reader” 3
Introduction 9
Table I: The Colonial Pyramid 18
Chapter 1: The Colonized Rhythm Nation 19
Table II: The Colonial Music Model 46
Chapter 2: Media as Ideology, Culture, and Colonialism 47
Chapter 3: Education and Conceptual Boundaries 57
Chapter 4: Journalism and Conceptual Boundaries 65
Chapter 5: Revisiting the Corporation
and Cultural Industry 71
Chapter 6: The Politics of Popular Culture 75
Chapter 7: Intellectual Property, Copyright,
and the Ownership of Thought 81
Chapter 8: Payola and Playlists 91
Chapter 9: Washington, D.C.: A Case Study
in the Colonizing Function of Radio 95
Chapter 10: National Public Radio as Fanon’s Radio-Alger 113
Chapter 11: Managed Outcomes 117
Chapter 12: The Mixtape and Emancipatory Journalism 121
Chapter 13: FreeMix Radio: The Original Mixtape
Radio Show 135
Chapter 14: White Liberalism and “Progressive” Journalism 141
Conclusion 149
Selected Bibliography 157
Notes 165