AVV's HIP-HOP SUMMIT CHALLENGED BLACK MEN AND BOYS TO ADVOCATE FOR DIRECTIONAL CHANGE IN RAP LYRICS
Alonzo Williams, pioneer of West Coast hip hop and former member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru, addressed self-destructive messaging in hip-hop music
Closing out its 2023 Brothers Can We Talk series, Anti-Violence Ventures (AVV) turned up the heat with an inspiring mix of entertainment, history, and culture all while bumping the latest and greatest rap jams in celebration of Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary. The KEEP IT ONE HUNDRED HIP-HOP SUMMIT, a “be easy and speak freely” forum for Black men and boys, brought together an eclectic group of individuals bound together by a general love for hip-hop music and culture to discuss hip-hop's enduring impact on the Black community.
The summit, hosted by Albert Neal, AVV’s Outreach and Engagement Coordinator, and sponsored in part by the California Community Foundation, featured a distinguished panel of speakers, including Jathan Melendez, Lead Youth Organizer at Community Coalition; Grammy Nominated producer, Justin Walker, CEO of Man Laws 101; Nick Brooks, author, filmmaker, and rapper under the stage name, Ben Kenobe; and jazz tenor saxophonist, Teodross Avery, professor of Jazz Studies & Contemporary Music at California State University-Dominguez Hills. The keynote speaker for the evening was DJ Alonzo Williams, pioneer of West Coast hip hop and former member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru.
The event was held December 3rd in South Los Angeles at the Crenshaw Dance and Yoga studio and drew a diverse audience of hip-hop fans. Black men, young and old, from Inglewood to the Inland Empire, were inspired by the frank discussion, specifically the need to return to hip hop’s more conscious roots by taking an activist's stance when listening to popular hip-hop songs. DJ Alonzo Williams kept the vibes high and the possibility of contention low by intermixing the discussion with classic hip-hop cuts that marked time in the audience’s overlapping and variable but shared history.
Younger attendees expressed a genuine love for hardcore hip-hop beats while frowning on some of the messaging, disclosing the fact that they were born into an era of hip hop that had long left behind its message-driven, conscious, and spirit-of-upliftment heritage while senior members in the audience remarked on hip-hop’s dubious origins, comparing it to American Jazz’s ability to persevere where other forms of soul music had perished—mainly disco.
Event host, Albert Neal, took guest on a trip down memory lane starting from hip hop’s humble beginnings in 1973 with 18-year-old Clive “DJ Kool Herc” Campbell’s sister, Cindy Campbell, asking her brother Clive to throw a party at their Bronx apartment complex so she could raise money to buy new clothes for kids for the upcoming school year. Neal also shared the significance and importance of James Brown to hip hop in that the Godfather of Soul laid the break beat foundation for hip-hop with the release of his hit record, “Funky President (People It’s Bad).”
“Funky President (People It’s Bad)” inspired hit records by the likes of Eric B. & Rakim (“Eric B. Is President”), Salt-N-Pepa (“Shake Your Thang”), Public Enemy (“Fight the Power”) and Kanye West (“Clique”) all who sampled Brown’s seminal hit and created chart-toppers of their own. Neal also covered the invention of scratching by Grand Wizzard Theodore and the introduction of the Roland TR-808 drum machine to the buying public. Incidentally, the Roland TR-808 electronic percussive kit was deemed a commercial and critical flop but was rescued from extinction by the hip-hop community due to its need to create musical sounds by any means necessary and available which, in turn, stems from a lack of music programs in inner-city schools.
This component of the discussion concluded with even greater moments in hip-hop history, such as Run-D.M.C. receiving sponsorship from the shoe and apparel brand, Adidas; the arrival of controversial rap groups NWA and Public Enemy in the late 80s; rapper, Ice-T, becoming the first rapper-actor with the New Jack City film; and, finally, rap extraordinaire, Kendrick Lamar, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2018.
Panelists were asked to respond to a number of questions that ranged from ways hip-hop inspired them individually to hip-hop’s influence on society overall and what are the consequences of such influence. Jathan Melendez suggested “Hip hop has created a way for us to tell our stories without intervention from others who wish to control the narrative of our existence in mostly unflattering ways.”
When asked what ways has hip-hop music impacted the African-American community economically, psychologically, physically, spiritually, and otherwise, event photographer, Stanley S., added, “For us to be putting ideas out into the universe and creating a new zeitgeist, a new paradigm of thought… man, this is what we have the power to do as a community.” The number of inspired responses from audience members underscored the need for additional conversations where Black men and boys are provided with a safe space to share their innermost thoughts.
After viewing a clip of 1993’s What's Love Got To Do With It? starring Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett, attendees participated in a breakout session where they were asked to analyze the controversial scene in which an abusive Ike Turner forces his wife, Tina, to eat a slice of cake at a diner then slaps one of their female back-up singers for intervening vocally.
Participants were tasked with writing and delivering 16 bars of a socially conscious spoken word poem or rap verse that commented on this scene from the film. The purpose of the undertaking was to engage audience members with a critical thinking task that encouraged reflection on the damaging nature of particular hip-hop lyrics and how ruinous the lyrics can be to our community. Neal highlighted songs and lyrics from hip hop luminaries, such as The Notorious B.I.G.’s“Machine Gun Funk,” Jay-Z & Beyoncé’s “Drunk in Love,” and Cardi B’s. “Drip,” each of which name-drops Tina Turner's trauma as figurative language that reduces Turner’s trauma into metaphor, shorthand for aggression and dominance.
Four guests leaped at the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of domestic, family, and community violence, their skill at analyzing the film clip, and, ultimately, creating spoken-word lyrics that denounce violence against Black men, women, and children.
Audience members applauded the inherent creativity demonstrated by each of the 16-bar spoken word and rap verse participants. Anti-Violence Ventures awarded each participant with branded swag and an honorarium for their creativity and courage. Albert Neal ended the foundational KEEP IT ONE HUNDRED HIP HOP SUMMIT with the following call to action:
Be present, physically, emotionally, and psychologically – the next time you listen to aggressive/gangsta rap. Monitor how you feel, your immediate needs, and physical urges.
Center your conversations – become an advocate for violence prevention by continuing discussion around the prevalence of violence in hip-hop music and the ways it impacts our families, domestic relationships, and communities.
Analyze the statistics – Google hip hop and community, domestic, or family violence and analyze what the stats say about the Black community and this particular music choice. Share your thoughts with friends and family.
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