Can't Stop, Won't Stop, Chapter 17

All in the Same Gang: The War on Youth and the Quest for Unity
by: Julie Bing, Becky Lathrop, and Julie Thompson

In the early 1990’s, West Coast gangs celebrated a time of successful peace treaties. Gang violence was down while creative energy was high. However, economic issues still plagued the cities and government-led efforts to raise funds to stimulate the regrowth of the city, such as the “Rebuild L.A.” organization, failed miserably. The people of the cities wanted to work and grow, but the opportunities were not available. In the meantime, the police grew suspicious of the motives behind the gangs’ peace treaties and feared their collective power over the streets. As a result, the LAPD often harassed the gangs’ peace gatherings and cracked down on gang-related activity. Their methods proved to be extremely biased against not only blacks and Hispanics, but against youth in general. Outrageously restrictive loitering, curfew, and cruising laws resulted in huge numbers of arrests and unjustified accusations of gang affiliation. The whirlwind of activity caused the general public to fear the youth, especially those of color.
Mainstream politicians such as President Clinton and Tipper Gore found themselves in spats with contemporary rappers and artists. Tipper Gore pushed to combat explicit lyrics, while Ice-T’s band Body Count released a song called “Cop Killer”. The song sparked a heated battle with media outlets and record labels, primarily over the issue of greed vs. responsibility.
Efforts to continue the push toward unity and peace within the Black community inspired Farrakhan to organize the Million Man March in Washington on October 16, 1995. While the event boasted no concrete political agenda or substance, the event brought clarity and unity to the Black community. The March proved to be a powerful symbol of their collective struggle and hope of redemption.

From Noelle

Somali rapper bucks hip-hop code of violence
www.cnn.com

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

* Rapper: Violence was too common in Somalia to glorify it or make it cool in songs
* K'naan looks to "reform" hip-hop as "Wavin' Flag" hit chosen as a World Cup anthem
* Metallica guitarist, Maroon 5 frontman among collaborations on K'naan's résumé
* K'naan: Blasting U.N. for failed missions in Somalia may have kicked off career

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/19/knaan.hip.hop.violence/index.html

Can't Stop, Won't Stop, Chapter 16

Gonna Work it Out: Peace and Rebellion in Los Angeles
by: Zenas Kim, Megan Schuster, David Tarai

This chapter is about the gangs of Los Angeles and how they went from shoot outs that ended in blood baths to police brutality and finally to peace. Like everything else that we have studied this quarter it took multiple tries and multiple people to bring people together. The chapter starts off focusing on the geography of where the gangs were located in LA. The Bloods and the Crips were in the East and West parts of the city, respectively with a railroad and Watts Towers being the dividing lines. Several other gangs, affiliated with either the Bloods or the Crips were being started around town as well. One gang that was an exception was call the Grapes. They were not aligned with either of the two main factions.

The geography of the main neighborhoods Hacienda Village, Nickerson Gardens, Jordan Downs and Imperial Courts, formed a triangle with the Grapes being in the middle. Aqeela, a student in the late 1980’s had managed to escape gang life, recognized that if the Grapes became peaceful so would the other gangs. So he, and Lois Farrahkahn a leader in the Muslim community and Jim Brown an NFL player started sending out God Squads to talk peace to the major gangs. Slowly they started coming around and Brown opened his house up for parties and eventually weekly meetings between the gangs. During these meetings they would talk about their feelings and work out differences.

During this time police brutality started to rise. The police saw gang violence as job security and therefore would stop and harass people without cause. One of the earliest examples of this is when a God Squad was on its way to a neighborhood got pulled over. When the men asked the officers why they were being pulled over the police became violent and arrested all the members in that squad. This grew into huge raids into the various neighborhoods where no weapons would be found but arrests would be made. Eventually this escalated to the point of the Rodney King incident 1991.

Eventually Farrahkahn and others were able to convince the gangs to sign the United Black Community Code. This code was based off of the temporary peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. It was modified to fit the gangs of LA and called for a truce between all the neighborhoods. During the celebration in the neighborhoods the verdict on the Rodney King trial was read acquitting all 4 officers involved. This, along with the LA City Council blowing off the peace treaty started a string a riots all over the city.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop, Chapter 15

The Real Enemy: Cultural Riot of Ice Cube’s Death Certificate
by: Steve Jamison and Kyle Russ

This chapter was about the album that Ice Cube wrote in response to the conditions of African neighborhoods in Southern California in the early 1990’s. Two incidents occurred at this point in time that caused a lot of hardship and tension. Rodney King was beaten by several white cops after speeding drunk and a young African-American girl that was murdered in a liquor store for allegedly stealing an OJ. This caused a lot of strife between the African-American neighborhoods and the Korean-American shop owners. Many of the African-American patrons felt as though the shop owners thought they were consistently stealing, and many of the Korean-Americans felt as though their lives were in danger because of the number of robberies at the time.

Ice Cube’s album was in response to these conditions. He took a strong stand that was about the unity of African-American men, rising up, but not necessarily equal with the white population. He used harsh, aggressive lyrics “of the streets” that referenced white people, Jews, and Korean-Americans as “the devil.” Several of the songs referenced violent acts toward these groups of people. He also referenced women as “bitches” and “hoes,” although he later claimed that he did not think all women were this way. The album was banned in some stores and protested by several organizations.

KAGRO (Korean American Grocery Organization) looked to protect its people in these neighborhoods, and forced Cube to apologize and discourage violence against store owners and bring the communities closer together. KAGRO’s leverage was that Cube was the number one endorser of St. Idle, a malt liquor that was sold in all of the liquor stores in these neighborhoods. KAGRO adopted a ten point code of behavior that African American activists hailed as a breakthrough.

From Ellen Eichner

This article was in the New York Times today and it's really cool. It's about 2 graffiti artists who started a business that makes custom clothes to go along with colorful sneakers! Here's the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/nyregion/16shirts.html?WT.mc_id=NY-SM-E-FB-SM-PIX-MSS-051710-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click

Can't Stop, Won't Stop, Chapter 14

The Culture Assassins: Geography Generation and Gangsta Rap
by: Jessica Modlich and Shea Mogg

This chapter focuses on the west coast around the 1980s. Around this time there was a lot of unrest and issues with the cops. Many manufacturing plants had closed down, and the unemployment rate of youths in South Central was 50%. Gang violence was also very high. An Asian American got caught in gang gun-fire and was killed. This event started the LAPD War on Gangs, where they added 650 officers to the force. This movement was mostly a failure. They arrested a lot of people, mainly on gang profiling, but 90% were let go without any charges.

Around this same time Ice Cube and other rappers started recording music. Their lyrics reflected the feelings the youth. They were very angry and they sang about violence against cops. Ice Cube wrote and recorded Boyz-in-the-Hood with Dr. Dre and Eazy-E (NWA). This song brought back memories of Jonathan Jackson, who took members of a courtroom hostage after his brother was accused of killing a white prison guard. This song was very popular and became an anthem for the urban youth on the west coast. Even after the popularity of this song, the group still got rejections from major record labels because their music was too violent. The finally signed with Priority Records and released Straight Outta Compton. The album was huge without much promotion. This album really started the term “gangsta rap.” While there was a backlash from the violent lyrics and hatred towards cops, the album was still popular.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop, Chapter 13

Follow for Now: The Question of Post-Civil Rights Black Leadership
by: Keira Gaudette, Jaimie Hoppert, Kayla Pelok

The 80s ended. Campus organizations (Black Student Leadership Network and United People of Color) were forming. Afrocentricity came about as an intellectual program that decentered Eurocentric educational biases. Self-esteem and self-actualization were important. Jesse Jackson was running for president again. The campaign was based on hope and believing. Controversy grew and he was called an Anti-Semitic. Jackson came in second to Dukakis. There was a search for who could be leaders. Rappers put politics into their music and were leaders. Philadelphia declared Public Enemy Day. Stop the Violence Movement, a media event to show rappers were responsible, began in response to several incidents at concerts.

Spike Lee’s film Do the Right Thing showed the generational rage and confusion at the time and provoked questions of using violence as a means to protest but he offered no solutions which angered many media and politicians. From PE’s “Fight the Power” video, Chuck from PE became the new black power fighter/leader/icon of the time, even though he did not want that responsibility. Public Enemy’s members had conflicts with each other and the group began to unravel with Griff becoming the instigator for much of PE’s problems with the media. His comments were turning the media and public to think of PE as anti-semitic and not just pro-black.

Spike Lee was preparing to release Do the Right Things with “Fight the Power” as the lead-in single. Movie distributors questioned Lee over Public Enemy’s involvement. Public Enemy was in crisis. Griff’s statements had hit the newscasts and Hank and Bill were convinced something needed to be done. Some believed Griff sabotaged the group. They wanted to keep the group together, so Griff was forced out. This didn’t resolve the issues. Public Enemy collapsed. Bensonhurst occurred and the rise and fall of black power was still occurring. This staged a controversial comeback for Public Enemy. Their tract created revival in black communities. Whether the white race agreed or not, it was going to be a hip-hop world now.

DJ Craze

Fell upon this clip from a friend, DJ Spidey X.

Reggaeton

Reggaeton is a Spanish language genre of Dancehall with distinct Hip hop and Pop Music influences, originating in Panama.
History

The first Reggae recordings in Latino America were made in Panama in the mid-1970s. A large number of Jamaican immigrants had been brought in during the building of the Panama Canal and they brought with them Reggae music to the local population.

In 1985, rapper Vico C from Puerto Rico produced the first Spanish-language Hip hop record. Thus the two main influences of the genre were in place, as well as the two main producing countries.

Reggae production took off seriously in Panama in the early nineties, about the same time Jamaican Ragga imports were becoming all the rage in Puerto Rico. It was common practice to translate an original jamaican reggae song (Same melody and rhythm, but with translated lyrics). Towards the middle of the decade Puerto Ricans were making their own riddim material, with clear pop influences, and recording what must be considered the first proper Reggaeton tracks.

Although Panama has always held its own production-wise, a more-widespread Reggaeton scene was created throughout Latino America when local Panamanian-style reggae became infused with distinct Puerto Rican influences a couple of years later. Today the music flourishes equally in both countries and has also spread to the rest of Latin America, including Colombia.
Distinguishing Features

The genre's most notably unique feature is a driving drum-machine track derived from early Jamaican Dancehall rhythms. Sometimes hip hop-styled vocals, an import from the U.S., are also used. Despite the genre's derivativeness, the fusion is often very creatively done, with some excellent producers and performers incorporating their own personal musical backgrounds into the crafting of songs. In any event, after over a century of forced connection to the U.S., Island Puerto Ricans have- in the end- preferred to tie themselves back into the Caribbean matrix to which they belong.

The lyrics, like most working-class popular music, are often about the reality on the streets, misunderstandings, unfair situations, love, cheating and passion. The most notable differences in Reggaeton from some Jamaican Dancehall records, besides the inclusion of definite Latino melodies and musical styles, is the exclusion of homophobia which allows Reggaeton a more acceptable access to a much wider age-bracket and social spectrum of Latino music lovers worldwide. A big factor holding reggaeton from being truly respected as an artform are the misogynistic, violent, and drug related lyrics as found in some U.S. hip hop music. This is an Indigenous Taino aspect- both men and women can be Cacikes (leaders) in the same musical arena- equal and with respect. Ivy Queen's establishment as an artist who highlights female strength has garnered the respect from Latino youth- both male and female- and has paved the way for many female Reggaeton artists.

These developments are definite signs which demonstrate the openness, positivity and party-atmosphere preference of Puerto Rican society. Reggaeton's creativity and break from the normal Reggae style is reflective of Puerto Rico's multi-ethnic flavor- afroindoeuropean. This creative fusion has allowed it to almost become a recognized Puerto Rican musical form.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop, Chapter 10

End of Innocence: The Fall of the Old School
by: Alycia Burkitt

The book presents a much different conclusion to Old School than I was expecting. I thought that the book would be talking more about the commercialization of Old School rather than the devastation that drugs had on the community. It did talk about how record labels, Hollywood, and the art community scripted many of the artists so that their art conformed to pop culture fads. One of the examples the book gives is the movie, Beat Street, originally written my Steven Hager based off his book Hip Hop: The Illustrated History of Break Dancing, Rap Music, and Graffiti. When the movie came out it had been rewritten for pre-teen and teenage suburban fad followers. Hager said “not a single word of anything I said made it into that unfortunate film.

The author then begins to talk of the increase in violence and drug use in the community. Brutal beatings of “colored citizens by white officers” were no longer being tolerated and activists were fighting back.

This chapter then discusses the angst and abandonment felt by the original crews. They began turning to drugs as way of coping, earning money, and keeping themselves in the game. Drugs were everywhere, drug trafficking boomed and U.S. agencies did nothing to stop it. Drugs, dealing, and scoring became the main focus of movies and especially music. The quote at the end of the chapter sums it up the best; “This was a new breed of renegades. The hip hop generation had reached childhood’s end and was coming into an era of rebellion.”

Can't Stop, Won't Stop, Chapter 12

What We Got to Say: Black Suburbia, Segregation and Utopia in the Late 1980s
Carolyn Aldana, Elaine Aldana, and Emma Foxall

Between WW2 and the 1970’s blacks began moving into the suburbs of Queens. This triggered white flight and realtors placed pressure on white clients to move out of the area. The area became known as the “Black Belt”. At the time moving to the suburbs was the American dream. In trying to attain the American dream the blacks triggered white flight so they still remained segregated. These suburbs soon became what is known as the inner ring suburbs. In some ways this was positive for the middle class blacks because they were able to establish businesses that may have not been successful in an integrated suburb.

The members of what would become Public Enemy had the unique experience of having disposable income but having regular exposure to the street culture in the inner city. Public Enemy was comprised of six rappers; most famously Carlton “Chuck D” Ridenhour, Hank “Shocklee” Boxley, and William “Flavor Flav” Drayton. Boxley founded the group Spectrum City while he was attending college. Spectrum City was overall unsuccessful with their record releases and were reluctant to sign another record deal. Later they were finally convinced to sign with Def Jam records, Russel Simmons’ company. They changed their name to Public Enemy and produced their first record, Yo! Bum Rush the Show. The record sold less than expected, especially compared to the other artists signed to Def Jam; Beatie Boys, LL Cool J, and Run DMC. There was a new crop of artists, particularly Rakim, whose songs made Public Enemy realize hip hop was evolving faster. Public Enemy soon released the famous Rebel Without a Pause song.

Graffiti.....social commentary/vandalism/resistance/disregard/aesthetic?

Graffiti by Bansky

Dancehall

Dancehall is a type of Jamaican reggae which developed around 1979, with artists such as Barrington Levy and others who went on to become the Roots Radics. The style is characterized by a DJ singing and rapping or toasting over raw and danceable reggae music (riddims). In the early years of dancehall, some found its lyrics as crude and "slack", though it became very popular among the youths of Jamaica and then eventually, like its reggae predecessor, made inroads onto the world music scene. In the late 1990s, many artists converted to Rastafarianism and changed their lyrical focus to "consciousness", which reflects the spiritual underpinnings of Rastafarianism. Various varieties of dancehall achieved some crossover success outside of Jamaica during the mid- to late-1990s. In 2001, reggae pop star Shaggy, went 6 times platinum with his album Hotshot. The next year, he received various nominations from the American Music Awards and the Grammy Award, and he has won two World Music Awards. Also some Dancehall-tunes (voiced riddims) become popular during the summer of 2003, especially Sean Paul's Get Busy.

Dancehall developed in Jamaica as a result of varying political and socio-economic factors. Reggae as a style of music was heavily influence by the ideologies of Rastafari and was also spirited by the socialist movements in the island at the time. Dancehall the scion of reggae was birthed in the late seventies and early eighties, when many had become disenchanted with the socialist movement and harsh economic realities came to bear in the island. It is during this time that neo-liberalist ideologies and materialism started to factor into the live of many Jamaicans, such these realities came to the fore in the new music.

Dancehall has been in large part condemned by high Jamaican society, with little or no state endorsement, it has also faced the slaughter of intellectual criticism in the media, particularly by the likes of popular Jamaican journalists, like Ian Boyne. Also Dancehall has come to face scathing criticism from the homosexual community, as they claim that it perpetuates violence against homosexuals in Jamaica (though this claim is unsubstantiated with any data or statistics, except for lyrical excerpts).

Source: http://www.dancehall.dk/genres/dancehall/

Can't Stop, Won't Stop, Chapter 11

Things Fall Apart - The Rise of the Post-Civil Rights Era
by: Rachel Barnes, Emily Walker, Stephanie Hallett

This chapter discussed the 1980’s and the segregation and hatred that was still very much present even after the Civil Rights Movement. Beginning with a discussion of apartheid, the chapter discussed American’s reaction to the racism that was present in South Africa. The movement began quite slowly, with large companies attempt to divest, however after Nelson Mandela’s arrest and the banning of his organization, the South African government was able to silence Black resistance and continue its segregated trends. But in 1984 the anti-apartheid movement began to pick up speed again as multiple states began to divest, and numerous protests again apartheid began to occur across the country, particularly on college campuses. Different from the civil rights movement, black students now played a critical role in organizing and executing the protests. They also began to question the lack of black citizens in positions of power within their communities and the anti-apartheid movement expanded to an anti-racist movement by the late 80’s. While these protests turned quite violent, they began to work as multiple companies, universities, and states began to divest and the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act was passed in 1986. In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released and became the first black elected president in 1994.

Although the Civil Rights Movement helped eliminate segregation, it did not eliminate hatred. Many northern cities still had highly segregated areas, or ghettos, and hate incidents spiked nationally. Black youth looked up to Minister Louis Farrakhan of Islam, who promoted peace and self affirmation in a time of hatred. Described in detail was the incident of Howard Beach, a predominantly white community where a black man was struck by a vehicle and killed for being in the wrong neighborhood.

Reference from class (Jalen Testerman on Ellen)

That kind of physicality is not supposed to exist in a 5/6 year old kid. The video below, a different kind of physicality, but captivating nonetheless.

From Jaimie Hoppert

I found this on CNN today and thought you (all) might be interested in seeing it. It is a piece about street art all over the world. Shows it is still relevant today.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/28/street.art.graffiti.ireport/index.html?hpt=Mid

*Can't seem to make this into a link, so just copy and paste into your browser!

Can't Stop, Won't Stop Chapter 9

1982, Rapture in Reagan’s America
by: Bethany Hoover and Jennifer Mowls-Hutkowski

As America became increasingly conservative with the election of President Ronald Reagan, hip-hop became even more unifying, especially in terms of the nightclub, which became a “communal sacred space” (168). Ruza Blue, later dubbed Kool Lady Blue, from London became an integral player in the diffusion of hip-hop across socioeconomic and racial lines. She started hosting her “Wheels of Steel” show at Negril, but later moved the show to a larger venue: a former roller rink that became the legendary night club Roxy. A screening of the Sex Pistols’ “Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle” helped to popularize the hip-hop form and movement amongst the punk rock community. Additionally, Afrika Bambattaa’s 1981 album “Jazzy Sensation” with the track “Planet Rock” became “hip hop’s universal invitation, a hypnotic vision of a world under one groove, beyond race, poverty, sociology, and geography.” The hip-hop culture, stricken by recession, had problems. “The Message”, a down tempo track capturing the “crash” when the dancing stopped, was “another boost for the rapper over the D.J [and] the crew itself became a dramatic casualty of rap’s realignment toward copyrights, trademarks, executives, agents, lawyers, and worldwide audiences” (178). Also, media attention, the anti-graffiti campaign, and new “bombers” created problems for graffiti artists. Artists had trouble finding space and Cap One, a new tag group, broke the rule “you didn’t go over somebody” and so the “…structure of respect collapsed and graffiti’s code of conduct unraveled” (182). The film “Wild Style” was the only piece of this time that “adequately conveys the communal thrill of merging the tide, riding with the lightning” (187).

Can't Stop, Won't Stop Chapter 8

Zulus on a time bomb : hip-hop meets the rockers downtown
by: Katherine Fenstemaker and Stephanie Carpenter

This chapter was more about the evolution of hip hop as a culture in the Bronx. Henry Chalfant played a large role in bringing this culture to the public through his photojournalism. He took pictures of the graffiti art and then put the photos on display in a gallery. Crowds came from everywhere. This chapter also talked about Fred who became a part of the FAB 5 and worked with Lee Quinones who was the most famous graffiti artist in town. The FAB understood that this movement was becoming a culture because it now had a dance (bboying), a music (rapping/DJing), and it now had a visual art (graffiti).

In 1973 the United Graffiti Artists was created and they started to make money by selling graffiti on canvases. These sold for as much as $10,000. It was cool because each graffiti artist had their own style and focus. Graffiti was brought overseas when Fred and Lee went to Italy with this art.

Henry Chalfant became the manager of the Rock Steady crew and had them perform a staged battle at one of his gallery shows. Everyone started to talk about the new style of dance known as bboying and were linking it together with graffiti. It showed the public how these gangs were dancing instead of fighting.

He eventually made a movie “Style Wars” which was a documentary of graffiti and bboying. It was popular on both the east and west coast, but some citizens were angry because they felt that it was promoting vandalism.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop Chapter 7

The World is Ours: The Survival and Transformation of Bronx Style
by: Erica Bleiweiss, Leigh Fouts, Erin Watrous

By the late 1970s, many individuals in the Bronx started to see a dramatic change in hip hop music and culture. Newer technology such as records became a hit with emerging hip hop artists. Many individuals including Grandmaster Flash opposed the idea of mainstreaming hip-hop. Before this change occurred, hip-hop culture revolved around dancing and the DJ. Impromptu dance battles would often take place in high school gymnasiums, parks, and during other social gatherings. Dance battles began to fade when hip-hop focused more on written lyrics and the MC instead of dancing and the DJ. With the scripted lyrics, hip-hop evolved to sound more like pop music. “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang, which was played on the radio, began this transformation and introduced the world to the culture that was formerly contained in the Bronx. Even though former hip-hop artists opposed the idea of recording their music, the success of the Sugar Hill Gang transformed the hip-hop scene overnight. Realizing the potential success of this technique, rappers began producing money-making records.

During this time, graffiti became an increasing problem in the Bronx. The New York City mayor declared a War on Graffiti. Graffiti was no longer seen as an art form, but rather became a political issue as well as a punishable crime. The city created an anti-graffiti program in which they profiled the typical graffiti artist. This profile was used to target potential suspects to put an end to graffiti. In the long run, this program proved to be ineffective.

In a different part of New York City, Crazy Legs was determined to bring together b-boys from the surrounding areas and revive dance as an integral part of hip-hop. The re-emergence of b-boys led to the creation of new dance moves such as freezing and windmills.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop Chapter 6

Furious Styles: The Evolution of Style in the Seven-Mile World
by: Rachel Scholtz, Kathleen Secor, Kimberly Conley

The seven-mile world had its center in Crotonoa Park (Bronx, NY) and extended to create a seven mile radius around this park. Crazy Legs described hip-hop’s four elements as: DJing, MCing, B-boying, and graffiti. Joseph Saddler, later named Grandmaster Flash, became known as a DJ because of his style. He focused on showmanship, such as scratching with his elbows and flipping around. He later added MCs to pump up the crowd because no one would listen to just the music without words. Soon he became more liked than Kool Herc and Bambaataa. B-boying was originally created by kids too young to get into clubs, but then spread out of homes into the streets. It soon became part of gang life and was a mixture of martial arts and dance made to intimidate other gangs. Gangs would compete for dominance in an area with movements that mimicked fighting and stabbing. Graffiti was seen as a “way of gaining status in a society where to own property is to have identity”. Fame was the goal because it equaled wealth, therefore the more risky a target, the more fame someone got for tagging it. This was one of the first movements to break out of the seven-mile world by moving along train lines. Because it spread so quickly it was mostly desegregated. It became so prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s that new graffiti had to be done over someone else’s graffiti. Quantity became more important than quality. The reasoning behind graffiti was to defy a hostile world and create a name for yourself.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop Chapter 5

Soul Salvation: The Mystery and Faith of Afrika Bambaataa
by: Jenna Stein and Jaimie Horning

Afrika Bambaataa was born in Manhattan to parents of Jamaican and Barbadian descent. He was drawn into the gang life as many young boys were during this era in the Bronx, joining them as young as 9. He first joined the P.O.W.E.R. gang (People’s Organization for War and Energetic Revolutionaries), and then became a Black Spade. In this gang, he started to build a reputation as an individual who had the power to build relationships with people in other gangs, and the president of the Black Spades quickly made Bambaataa a warlord, who was responsible for building the ranks and expanding the turf of the gang. It quickly grew to one of the city’s largest. Many gangs in the South Bronx joined together in a peace treaty in 1971, which inspired Bambatta to search for a way out of gang life. DJ Kool Herc offered Bambaataa a way forward by allowing him to apprentice under former Black Spade DJs on his way to becoming an independent DJ. Bambatta had a unique style that was symbolic of his peace-making philosophy. He mixed just about everything into his music, and became known as the most renowned programmer in the Bronx. During this time, he formed the Bronx River Organization as an alternative to the Spades.

Throughout his life, and particularly from a trip overseas and the move “Zulu,” Bambatta had been inspired by Africans and their ability to unite and work towards a common goal. Renaming the Bronx River Organization to the Universal Zulu Organization, he had a vision to grow the organization into the “brown” or Puerto Rican population and gangs whose territory was on the other side of the Bronx river. They had reached a high point of violence amongst themselves, and with other gangs. He invited them to come to one of his parties to expand his peace movement with the promise of a “good time.” The Universal Zulu Nation organization grew more structured and had a ten point platform of beliefs in place, and quickly proliferated the Bronx with the motto of “Peace, Love, Unity and having fun.” It was intentionally NOT a political organization, but instead encouraged its members to live by a fundamental code of conduct and Zulu “way of life,” which included being open minded, teaching each other truth, respect others, and to be at peace with self and others.

You're a Jerk

Always a new dance with a new song with a new generation with a new groove.....

Can't Stop, Won't Stop, Chapter 4

Soul Salvation: The Mystery and Faith of Afrika Bambaataa

Afrika Bambaataa was born in Manhattan to parents of Jamaican and Barbadian descent. He was drawn into the gang life as many young boys were during this era in the Bronx, joining them as young as 9. He first joined the P.O.W.E.R. gang (People’s Organization for War and Energetic Revolutionaries), and then became a Black Spade. In this gang, he started to build a reputation as an individual who had the power to build relationships with people in other gangs, and the president of the Black Spades quickly made Bambaataa a warlord, who was responsible for building the ranks and expanding the turf of the gang. It quickly grew to one of the city’s largest. Many gangs in the South Bronx joined together in a peace treaty in 1971, which inspired Bambatta to search for a way out of gang life. DJ Kool Herc offered Bambaataa a way forward by allowing him to apprentice under former Black Spade DJs on his way to becoming an independent DJ. Bambatta had a unique style that was symbolic of his peace-making philosophy. He mixed just about everything into his music, and became known as the most renowned programmer in the Bronx. During this time, he formed the Bronx River Organization as an alternative to the Spades.

Throughout his life, and particularly from a trip overseas and the move “Zulu,” Bambatta had been inspired by Africans and their ability to unite and work towards a common goal. Renaming the Bronx River Organization to the Universal Zulu Organization, he had a vision to grow the organization into the “brown” or Puerto Rican population and gangs whose territory was on the other side of the Bronx river. They had reached a high point of violence amongst themselves, and with other gangs. He invited them to come to one of his parties to expand his peace movement with the promise of a “good time.” The Universal Zulu Nation organization grew more structured and had a ten point platform of beliefs in place, and quickly proliferated the Bronx with the motto of “Peace, Love, Unity and having fun.” It was intentionally NOT a political organization, but instead encouraged its members to live by a fundamental code of conduct and Zulu “way of life,” which included being open minded, teaching each other truth, respect others, and to be at peace with self and others.

Locking Vocabulary

By request....a list of the locking vocabulary

The lock
Wrist Rolls
Uncle Sam Points
Claps and Slaps
Scooby Doo
Stop n' Go
Don Campbell Lockwalk
Kick the Bucket

Remember Locking is a singular technique and not the same things as Popping. The style originated on the West Coast by Don Campbell. In terms of expression, this style of dance is animated, exaggerated, joyful, witty, and playful. Usually it is accompanied by Funk music, a mixture of soul and R&B genres, with complex and syncopated rhythms. The video below is a wonderfully rigorous example of Locking, both in rhythm and in physical precision. Check it out!

Can't Stop, Won't Stop, Chapter 3

Blood and Fire, with Occasional Music

by: Ellen Eichner and Iriny Faltas

This chapter focused on gang activity in the Bronx in the early 1970s. The Black Panthers originally governed the area in the 1960s, but after the assassinations of King and Kennedy, J. Edgar Hoover decided this organization was a threat and had them put in jail. It was the Panthers who had provided a social organizational structure and necessary social services to the area when the city government did not, and without them, there was a gaping hole in the Bronx. Youth street gangs filled this void. Gangs originally started to protect members from junkies and provide some social services, but these conflicts were usually mediated through violence. Gangs started to turn against one another- one gang would violently killing members of another for simply wearing colors on their turf. One of the most prominent gangs was the Ghetto Brothers, formed by the Melendezes, Charlie Suarez, and Cornell Benjamin aka “Black Benjie”, who had a unique role as a peace counselor. The conflict came to a head when “Black Benjie” was murdered while proposing peace to conflicting gangs. In light of his death, The Ghetto Brothers called a meeting of the gangs and signed a peace treaty. Although the publicity of the treaty led to a police crackdown, the treaty turned gangs into something positive- music. The Ghetto Brothers lead the way as they began to create and produce their own music influenced by their Puerto Rican roots, which paved the way for the creation of hip-hop.

Funk defined

For fun. James Brown dancing. With personality. Some previews of locking. But in general a wonderfully entertaining clip with animated dancing and a good lookin outfit.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop: Chapter 2

Sipple Out Deh: Jamaica's Roots Generation and the Cultural Turn

by Josh and Michael

The chapter begins with an explanation of Jamaican culture and its influence on music – especially the interaction of Rastafarianism and Reggae music. Rastafarianism generated a relatively new social and political movement that pitted two parties against each other. These political parties battled in more underground ways that straight campaigns and elections. Jamaican gangs were actually formed surrounding political views and music was an integral medium of change. Musicians were forerunners for political views and often experienced physical, violent persecution for supporting certain movements. Dance parties were rallies as certain songs summoned followers of certain campaigns together. The DUB was accidentally invented when someone forgot to dub the vocals to a track, creating a new movement of music. Dubs themselves became political expressions as ‘side B’ versions of politically charged songs. These rallies and concerts became centers of political violence. Even the CIA is rumored to have been involved through supplying arms to the gangs of the conservative party. However, opposite party members, while in jail, began conversing and a movement to end the peace began. Bob Marley became a forerunner for this movement and hosted a concert tour, ‘One Love Peace’ in order to promote this. Eventually the violence subsided, but from all of this ‘rebellion’ and ‘revolution’ a new genre a movement of music was inspired, reggae, that swam across the ocean and engendered its own touch into the soon-to-be-born Hip-Hop movement.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop, Chapter One

Necropolis: The Bronx and the Politics of Abandonment
by: Laura and Laura

This chapter set the scene for the establishment of hip-hop as a social movement. Hip-hop came about as a result of the poor working and living conditions, especially in the Bronx. The unrest caused by the shifting power of the Black Power movement then local gangs worked first to improve the city but then lead to its ruin. Political authorities had no interest in reviving the city; they saw the area as a lost cause and thought that the best course of action would be to level the entire community. The chapter did not give any specific information about hip-hop rather it served to set the cultural scene in which the dance style would develop. The deplorable social conditions inspired the advent of hip-hop.