2015_NWFolklife

4 BY DR. DAUDI ABE The foundations of hip-hop were formed in NewYork City during the 1970s.The original elements of hip-hop culture included DJing, breakdancing, graffiti art, and MCing or rapping. Different aspects of these elements can be directly traced to long-held and various cultural traditions primarily fromAfrica and the Caribbean. Language as power An important piece of communicative discourse in Africa has been nommo, a concept from Mali that means “the power of the word.” Beginning with the Atlantic slave trade, the cultural residue of these verbal traditions has been transmitted from generation to generation of young African Americans both on formal and informal levels. Given the fact that written literacy among slaves was an offense punishable by death,African-American culture became even more verbal based on survival. Over time these African traditions began to meld with the experiences of blacks in America. By the 1970s these traditions had evolved into early examples of spoken- word poetry in songs such as “The RevolutionWill Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott-Heron and “When the Revolution Comes” by the Last Poets. Mixing music Although rapping eventually became the most commercially popular element of hip-hop, initially the centerpiece of attention within the culture revolved around the DJ. The style of DJing that rocked block parties and community centers around NewYork in the 1970s evolved from Clive “DJ Kool Herc”Campbell, a native of Jamaica.The Jamaican dancehall style of DJing, which Herc employed, emphasized huge speaker systems and call-response style audience participation.These gatherings provided a blueprint that tens of thousands of DJs all over the world still follow today. Continued on page 5 SEATTLE HIP-HOP TIMELINE REFLECTIONS ON THE ROOTS OF HIP-HOP TRIBE-olution photo courtesy of Folklife By Dr. Daudi Abe BEATS, RHYMES AND RHYTHMS : Every year, Northwest Folklife engages a Northwest community to showcase during the year leading up to the Festival. This program, called the Cultural Focus, allows Folklife to connect more in-depth with the people that we serve, and empower their artistic expressions and cultural traditions. The 2015 Cultural Focus, “Beats, Rhymes, and Rhythms: Traditional Roots of Today’s Branches,” explores the cross-cultural roots of arts expressions that have evolved into contemporary cultures today, specifically examining the traditional roots of Hip-Hop. TRADITIONAL ROOTS OF TODAY’S BRANCHES n 1981 • Emerald Street Boys are formed • ”Fresh Tracks,” hosted by DJ ‘Nasty’ Nes Rodriguez, premiers on radio station KFOX (KKFX) 1250 AM n 1990 Gordon Curvey premiers “Music Inner City” on Seattle Community Access Television (1990) n 1992 Alison Pember & Rachel Crick publish the first issue of “The Flavor” magazine n 1993 Sir Mix-A-Lot wins a Grammy award for “Baby Got Back” Photo of Merlot, Beetlejuice Production, Seattle Photo of Moye Kashimbi by Christopher Nelson Photo of DJ Cues by Christopher Nelson