THE AFRICAN 1ST AESTHETIC IN GLOBAL HlP-HOp

THE AFRICANIST AESTHETIC IN GLOBAL

HlP-Hop

POWER MOVES

HALIFU OSUMARE

palgrave macmillan

* THE AFRICAN 1ST AESTHETIC IN GLOBAL HIP-HOP

© Halifu Osumare, 2007.

Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007978-1-4039-7630-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLANTM 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world.

PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin's Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Osumare, Halifu. The Africanist aesthetic in global hip-hop: power moves /

by Halifu Osumare. p.cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Rap (Music)-Social aspects. 2. Rap (Music)-Political aspects. 3. Hip-hop-Influence. 4. Intercultural communication. I. Title.

ML3918.R370882007 782.421649-dc22 2006049846

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.

First edition: February 2007

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Transferred to digital printing in 2007.

ISBN 978-0-230-60961-7 ISBN 978-1-137-05964-2 (eBook)DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-05964-2

For Baba Ochosi and Yeye Oya

for always keeping me pointed in the right direction, and the ancestors

who I know were always looking over my shoulders,

for the hip-hop generation who is inheriting the twenty-first century

& for those who will come afterwards to continue the beat in new forms

CONTENTS

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Power Moves from the Hip-Hop Nation to the Hip-Hop Globe

1. Phat Beats, Dope Rhymes, and Def Moves: The Africanist Aesthetic Meets the Hip-Hop Globe

2. Beat Streets in the Global Hood: Hip-Hop's Connective Marginalities

3. Props to the Local Boyz: Hip-Hop Culture in Hawai'i

4. "It's All About the Benjamins": Postmodernism and Hip-Hop's Appropriation

Notes

Bibliography

Index

IX

Xl

21

61

105

149

181

203

213

1

ILLUSTRATIONS

1.1 Hip-Hop's Two-Pronged Bodily Text 57 1.2 TeN's B-Boying Style 59 2.1 Diagram of Connective Marginalities of Global Hip-Hop 69 2.2 1995 New York Times Front Page: Hammer Performing

at Russian Political Rally 75 2.3 The So-Called Jiggers of Japan 95 2.4 Non-Jigger Japanese Hip-Hoppers 97 3.1 Hawaiian Islands in the Northern Pacific Geographically

Connecting the Pacific Rim, U.S. Mainland, and Polynesia 106

3.2 Kutmaster Spaz at Work 123 3.3 Partial List of Mainland Rap Artists Who Performed

in Honolulu (1987-99) 126 3.4 Ku'e CD Cover by Sudden Rush 143

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I AM DEEPLY ApPRECIATIVE for the heartfelt sharing that the hip-hop community in various locations gave to me during this research project. B-boys and girls who are truly "down" with the culture exhibited a deep love for their lifestyle. I have tried to capture some of what the b-boys, emcees, and deejays of Hawai' i, in particular, shared regarding their engagement oflife through hip-hop culture. I want especially to thank Kutmaster Spaz, TeN, Jason Frasco, Don Kawa'auhau, Skill-Roy, Strategy, Orlando Smith, Pablo Rivera, Phil Lolhene, apart from many others.

This book is an extensive revision of my doctoral dissertation, and though my committee is now far removed from this current text, they still deserve recognition for their initial belief and aid in its foundation as a PhD disserta­tion. The Department of American Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa deserves recognition for supporting this type of research, particularly Drs. Mark Helbling, David Stannard, and David Bertelson. My dear friend Dr. Kathryn Takara, then with the Ethnic Studies Department, was also a vital contributor to the original text. This book would not be what it is today without the guidance and mentorship of Dr. VeVe Clark of the University of California, Berkeley's African American Studies Department. Her "talking back" process of editing got me through many moments of mental inertia. Finally regarding the original text, I must thank The Hawai' i Committee for the Humanities for the grant to conduct the high school research exhibited in chapter 3, as well as Pahoa High on the Big Island and Casdemont High in Oakland for opening their schools and sharing their students for my study.

It takes assistance from competent editors and academic colleagues to turn a dissertation into a book, and to this end, I must first thank the staff at Palgrave Macmillan for their recognition of this work and the speed with which they went about moving the text through the process. I have particu­lar admiration for my editor Gabriella Pearce and her assistant Joanna Mericles, as well as the copy editor Maran Elancheran. I also want to thank Brenda Dixon Gottschild for her encouragement and Mark Anthony Neal who supported my presentations of several theoretical perspectives in this book at American Studies and other conferences throughout the years. I also give

Xli ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

thanks to my UC Davis student, Anthony Pineda, who helped tremendously with the bibliography.

Every great endeavor has many behind-the-scenes supporters from one's personal life who deserve heartfelt acknowledgment. Susheel Bibbs, my dear friend and editor par excellence, gave many selfless hours to the manuscript. My daughter, Bolade Chinue Oyinkola, was a staunch supporter on a daily basis. Others who are to be thanked are Lily Chan Harris, Luisah Teish (Chief Yeye Fajembola Fatunmise), Francis Awe, and Gladys Crampton. Books, in the end, are group efforts.