In Soul Sonic forces, Tricia Rose explains how rap music relates to traditional African as well as European musical traditions. The discussion treads somewhat similar ground to what we have read by Hebdige. Both articles deal with the ways a subculture relates to and differentiates itself from a dominant hegemonic culture. In both articles, it is clear that the dominant culture and the sub culture profoundly influence one another. For example rap producers explaining how their lack of musical education allows them to be more creative when compared with trained musicians (this tension and inspiration would not exist without interplay).
The article outlines the connections between Rap music and traditional African musics. Both frequently employ cyclical melodies and place a particularly high importance on rhythm as opposed to the traditional European style which has a more melodic focus. Whereas traditional European music tends to have the musical progression change and develop from the beginning to the end of the piece. African music is more cyclical, layering and developing a single melodic rhythm allowing it to change and blossom.
The sampling aspect of Rap music can be seen to echo these features of African musical culture, as well as African-American forms such as blues and folk, in which musicians would cover one another's songs, subtly modifying them to lend their own style to the music.
The article discusses the theory that the cyclical and programmed nature of rap is a reflection of modern mass production. With television and the internet, once can often see the same piece of artwork repeatedly. This has an effect on a culture's artistic unconscious. The traditional aura of artistic pieces is being altered the more they are mass produced and brought into the public sphere. This process is exemplified in rap. In which once can observe original pieces sliced up, and re contextualized to fit a completely different message. In this setting the original pieces are no longer solitary expressions of the soul, but instead are emotional and rhythmic products, available for artists to collage together into new and original soulful expressions.
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I completely agree with you and Rose with her statement that the original aura of a song is reduced and somewhat lost when it is sampled so frequently. Much of the soul music and R&B/pop tunes from the 60s-80s are being sampled nowadays. You turn on the radio and it seems like no one has any orginal musical ideas of their own. Where has artistic integrity gone? Who has the soul of Donny Hathaway's and Aretha Franklin's anyway? Today, most people in the mainstream music industry are in it just to make a buck. Or a million. And if that means they need to slice up and mesh a few songs, then so be it. And the mass of consumers just give into it because even though it sounds familiar, its trendy to be into an old song that has had a new spin on, with totally different lyrics.
There are only a handful of producers out there now who are actually creating and using there own brand new, innovative melodies and techniques. Take Timbaland for example. Most of his production feature his own adlibs and vocal percussion that he molds and layers (like that in traditional African music) into his own beat. He is lending his own style to something that dates back to that of the Yoruba tribe's Call and Response drumming technique.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading your blog. It was well written and thought out, and you made some interesting points.
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