Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop

384 Pages·2007·0.59 MB·English

by  Jeff Chang

M
PRAISE FOR TOTAL CHAOS: USI
C “Jeff Chang is hip-hop America’s Howard Zinn.”—SALON.COM
“Total Chaosis Jeff Chang at his best: fierce and unwavering in his commitment to document the hip-hop
explosion. In beginning to define a hip-hop aesthetic, this gathering of artists, pioneers, and thinkers illu-
minates the special truth that hip-hop speaks to youth around the globe.” —BAKARI KITWANA,
author of The Hip-Hop Generation
Hip-hop is one of the most important art movements of the past two decades, having moved beyond rap
music to transform theater, dance, performance, poetry, literature, fashion, design, photography, painting,
and film.
American Book Award–winning journalist Jeff Chang, author of the acclaimed Can’t Stop Won’t Stop:
AHistory of the Hip-Hop Generation,presents an incisive look at hip-hop arts through the voices of its pio-
neers,innovators, and mavericks. With an introductory survey essay by Chang, the anthology includes:
•Greg Tate, Mark Anthony Neal, Brian “B+” Cross, and Vijay Prashad on hip-hop aesthetics
in the wake of multiculturalism
•Actor and playwright Danny Hoch’ship-hop arts manifesto
•Joan Morgan and Mark Anthony Neal on gender relations in hip-hop
•Danyel Smith and Adam Mansbach on hip-hop literature
•B-boy-turned-visual-artist DOZE on the uses and limits of a “hip-hop” identity
•PEN Award–winning writer Raquel Cepeda on “the flash of the spirit” in hip-hop arts
•POPMASTER FABEL’s history of hip-hop dance, and choreographer Rennie Harris on the
emergence of global dance theater
•Bill Adler on hip-hop photography, with photos by Glen E. Friedman, Janette Beckman, and Joe Conzo
•Poetry and prose from Amde Hamilton of the Watts Prophets, Staceyann Chin, Suheir Hammad,
MarcBamuthi Joseph, and Kevin Coval
PRAISE FOR CAN’T STOP WON’T STOP:
“Chang’svoice and ambition are truly epic and stunning.” —PITCHFORK
“Chang is a formidable reporter who follows individual actions to their collective vanishing point.”
—THE ONION
JEFF CHANG is the author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop(winner of the American
4/c process
Book Award, the Asian American LiteraryAward, and the ASCAP Deems Taylor
matte uv finish
Award). He has written extensively on race, culture, politics, and the arts for
ColorLines, the San Francisco Chronicle,Vibe,The Nation,and Mother Jones,
among others.
www.totalchaoshiphop.com
Cover design by Mike Stern; author photo © B+ US $18.95/ $23.00 CAN
ISBN-13: 978-0-465-00909-1
ISBN-10: 0-465-00909-3
AMember of the Perseus Books Group
www.basiccivitasbooks.com
TOTAL
CHAOS

TOTAL
CHAOS
The Art and Aesthetics of
HIP-HOP
Edited by
JEFF CHANG
A Member of the
Perseus Books Group
New York
Copyright © 2006 by JeffChang
Published by BasicCivitas,
A Member ofthe Perseus Books Group
This project was made possible in part by the La Peña Cultural Center with the support ofthe
Ford Foundation.
All rights reserved.Printed in the United States ofAmerica.No part ofthis book may be
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case ofbrief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.For information,address Basic Books,
387 Park Avenue South,New York,NY 10016-8810.
Books published by Basic Civitas are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the
United States by corporations,institutions,and other organizations.For more information,
please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group,11 Cambridge
Center,Cambridge MA 02142,or call [phone] or [phone],or e-mail
[email protected].
Text design by JeffWilliams
Cover design by Mike Stern
Total chaos :the art and aesthetics ofhip-hop / JeffChang.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978-0-465-00909-1 (alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-465-00909-3 (alk.paper)
1.Hip-hop. I.Title.
NX456.5.H57C43 2006
700.9’05—dc22
2006024180
06 07 08 09 / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Introduction Hip-Hop Arts: Our Expanding Universe JeffChang ix
PART ONE
ROOTS:PERSPECTIVES ON HIP-HOP HISTORY 3
1 Dreams ofa Final Theory Harry Allen 7
2 Nommo Anthony “Amde”Hamilton 10
3 (Yet Another) Letter to a Young Poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph 11
4 Physical Graffiti:The History ofHip-Hop Dance
Jorge “POPMASTERFABEL”Pabon 18
5 The Art ofBattling:An Interview with Zulu King Alien Ness
Joe Schloss 27
6 Got Next:A Roundtable on Identity and Aesthetics after
Multiculturalism Greg Tate,Vijay Prashad,
Mark Anthony Neal,and Brian Cross 33
PART TWO
FLIPPING THE SCRIPT:BEYOND THE FOUR ELEMENTS 55
7 The Pure Movement and the Crooked Line:An Interview
with Rennie Harris JeffChang 59
8 Found in Translation:The Emergence ofHip-Hop Theatre
Eisa Davis 70
9 From the Dope Spot to Broadway:A Roundtable on Hip-Hop
Theatre,Dance,and Performance Marc Bamuthi Joseph,
Kamilah Forbes,Traci Bartlow,and Javier Reyes 78
10 On Lit Hop Adam Mansbach 92
vi • CONTENTS
11 Who Shot Ya:A History ofHip-Hop Photography Bill Adler 102
12 Words and Images:A Roundtable on Hip-Hop Design
Cey Adams,Brent Rollins,and Sacha Jenkins 117
13 Between the Studio and the Street:Hip-Hop in the Postmillennial
Visual Arts A Roundtable Curated by Lydia Yee,with Nadine
Robinson,Samford Biggers,Luis Gispert,and Jackie Salloum 133
14 The City in Public versus Private:Through a Scanner Darkly
Paul D.Miller,a.k.a.DJ Spooky 149
PART THREE
THE REAL:IDENTITY IN FLUX 161
15 Trapped in between the Lines:The Aesthetics ofHip-Hop
Journalism Oliver Wang 165
16 L-vis Is a Pioneer;or,Legacy:The VH1 Special Kevin Coval 175
17 Burn Rubber on Plastic Bubbles:“Gangsta Limpin’”and the
Art ofDave Funkenklein Retreaded byDave Tompkins 178
18 Black Talk and Hot Sex:Why “Street Lit”Is Literature
Danyel Smith 188
19 It’s All One A Conversation between Juba Kalamka and Tim’m West 198
20 Homothugdragsterism Joël Barraquiel Tan 209
21 how I found my inner DJ robert karimi 219
22 A Brand-New Feminism A Conversation between Joan Morgan
and Mark Anthony Neal 233
PART FOUR
WORLDWIDE:HIP-HOP ARTS BEYOND BORDERS 247
23 brooklyn Suheir Hammad 249
24 Falling for Bob Marley Staceyann Chin 252
25 InventosHip-Hop:An Interview with Eli Jacobs-Fauntauzzi
JeffChang 255
26 Cape Flats Alchemy:Hip-Hop Arts in South Africa
Shaheen Ariefdien and Nazli Abrahams 262
CONTENTS • vii
27 AfroBlue:Incanting Yoruba Gods in Hip-Hop’s Isms
Raquel Cepeda 271
28 Native Tongues: Hip-Hop’s Global Indigenous Movement
A Roundtable Curated byCristina Verán,with Darryl “dlt”
Thompson,Litefoot,Grant Leigh Saunders,Mohammed Yunus
Rafiq,and jaas 278
PART FIVE
NEXT ELEMENTS:HIP-HOP ARTS AND FUTURE AESTHETICS 293
29 Untitled Walidah Imarisha 297
30 Theatres Crossing the Divide:A Baby Boomer’s Defense of
Hip-Hop Aesthetics Roberta Uno 300
31 Put Your Camera Where My Eyes Can See: Hip-Hop Video,Film,
and Documentary A Roundtable Curated by Eric K.Arnold,
with Rachel Raimist,Kevin Epps,and Michael Wanguhu 306
32 Codes and the B-Boy’s Stigmata:An Interview withdoze
JeffChang 321
33 Revolution:An Interview with Brett Cook-Dizney JeffChang 331
34 Scarcity and Exploitation:The Myth and Reality ofthe Struggling
Hip-Hop Artist Rha Goddess 340
35 Toward a Hip-Hop Aesthetic:A Manifesto for the Hip-Hop Arts
Movement Danny Hoch 349
Acknowledgments 365
Index 367

Introduction
Hip-Hop Arts:Our Expanding Universe
Jeff Chang
What you hold in your handsis notanother book about rap music.This is
about hip-hop.
To most people,hip-hop signifies rap.And perhaps well it should,for since
the art of party-rocking was transferred in the form of 1979’s “Rapper’s De-
light”to a twelve-inch piece of black polyvinyl chloride,born literally of salt
and oil, then distilled further from fifteen minutes of rhymes to a three-
minute pop song—in other words,a portable commodity that could leverage
hundreds more valuable commodities,the salt and oil of the new global en-
tertainment—hip-hop has been an inescapable fact.
But rap’s pop dominance has eclipsed hip-hop’s true importance. In par-
ticular, it has hidden the way that hip-hop has become one of the most far-
reaching and transformative arts movements of the past two decades. From
condemned farmland barns in South Carolina to flashy postmodern bou-
tiques in Shibuya, from brick-and-stone alleyways to the bright lights of
Broadway,in airy suburban bedrooms crowded with the stuff of urban detri-
tus and overheated inner-city schoolrooms abuzz with the noise of personal
journals, in front of white laptops, in black-box theatres and red-light dis-
tricts,hip-hop has set the imagination ofa generation afire.I don’t say this to
make a “look how we’ve grown up” bid for acceptance, an “it’s more re-
spectable than you think” apology, or even a “you better recognize” boast
puffed full oftriumphalism.Again,it’s just a simple fact.
The hip-hop arts movement has left its mark on theatre,poetry,literature,
journalism, criticism, performance art, dance, visual arts, photography,
graphic design,film,video,name your genre,not to mention the recombinant
and emerging versions ofany and all ofthe above.I’ve said this elsewhere,but
ix