Archive for September 2011
The top 5 hip hop producers of all time is a topic talked about all over the internet and honestly everybody is entitled to their own opinion; no one is really right or wrong. One thing is for sure though, hip hop has grown to a level that no one could of expected. From old school DJ’s to new school beat bangers the game is stronger than ever.
Here are my Top 5 Hip Hop Producers of All Time:
NUMBER 5 | MARLEY MARL
GOVT. NAME: Marlon Williams
DOB: September 30, 1962
AGE: 48
BIRTH PLACE: Queensbridge, NY
BIO: Marley Marl is recognized as one of the pioneers of sampling. He was a member of The Juice Crew who included big names such as: Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shante, Masta Ace and his cousin MC Shan. These days Marley Marl is still touring the world doing his DJ thing representing his brand of funk for fans of Golden Era hip hop.
NUMBER 4 | RZA
GOVT. NAME: Robert Fitzgerald Diggs
DOB: July 5, 1969
AGE: 41
BIRTH PLACE: Staten Island, NY
BIO: RZA is an American Grammy winning music producer, author and rapper. He has been the production mastermind behind the legendary Wu-Tang Clan as a group and produced many solo projects from different Wu members. Rappers do act right? Well RZA is no exception. You can catch him featured in movies such as American Gangster, Funny People and Repo Men.
It has been around for decades, growing back in the 1920′s with such artists as ‘Eck” Robertson and Jimmie Rodgers, but this has come far since them, in leaps and bounds and has become unrecognizable to some and unpalatable to others. It can be hard to imagine how the two eras of Country Music could be so different yet the same. With such diversity among artist and sub genres such as Pop and Rock, just what makes Country Music Country?
Instrumental
Is it the instruments? Traditionally it had fiddles and even high spirited instrumentals, and later slow simple chords, but if that makes, then it definitely rules out almost all the top Country artists on today’s top ten, and even many older artists.
Lyrics
Traditionally this Music had very recognizable lyrics. The song would tell a distinctive story, of loss, pain and life lessons, this set it aside from many other genres of music, but this ‘old’ style seems lost in today’s modern world, and even the ‘story telling’ lyrics seem to be lost among more commercial type songs.
Rock music is a popular from of music that is accompanied by instruments like drums, guitar and bass. Rock music in itself has many styles that were incorporated by musicians who loved this music. One can come across rock music where instruments like synthesizers, piano and organ is also used. Rock music began in the early fifties in United States and the United Kingdom and like all popular music has it own loyal fan following. Rock music was subsequently mixed with many other elements of music to give their own touch to rock music. Rock song subsequently over the years had many new genres added in its fold.
So in 1970s jazz was blended with rock to create jazz rock music, and then it was blended with folk music resulting in folk rock and later Latin, soul and funk music also had its influences on rock music at times. Today we have different categories under rock music and some of the popular ones are heavy metal rock, progressive rock, blues rock, soft rock, punk rock and techno rock among others. In the 1980′s and 1990′s many new additional genres of rock music such as Brit pop rock, Indie rock, alternative rock, hard rock and grunge style rock were introduced. The United Kingdom is another country where rock country flourished and British rock is also as famous as American rock music all over the world.
In the turn from the century about 1920, numerous artists made their mark by playing in the discreet underground nightclubs called “Speakeasies” which are high class, “Blind pig” lower class or “Smokeasy” for tobacco users. The United States once prohibited the sale of alcoholic drinks and smoking tobacco in clubs as a constitutional amendment. One could typically find an underground nightclub by the thresholds without an indication to indicate that there was such as establishment inside. Those dives also had a secret doorway that lead out to a passageway or alley just in case the police came to investigate. The police had the power to arrest everybody in the position attributable to the fact that they were broke the law by being there.
Although, thing were beginning to seek out for Jazz Music once the creation of the record player or phonograph was designed to play jazz albums. In addition, radio stations helped promote Jazz music, and made it favorite among the populace. Jazz Music became a music of class that earned the era a nick name called the “Jazz age”. The band leaders who became famous as Jazz musicians were Paul Whiteman, Ted Lewis, Harry Reser, Leo Reisman, Abe Lyman, Nat Shilkret, Earl Burnett, Ben Bernie, George Olson, Bob Haring, Vincent Lopez, Ben Salvin and a good many more. Paul Whiteman stated to be the king of Jazz music as a result of his popularity. He earned the title when he hired some white Jazz musicians with Bix Beiderbecke included to combine jazz with larger orchestrations.
What is ‘pop music?’ Where did this distinction arise and what is it’s purpose? If it has a purpose, who does it serve?
On close examination, you see that it’s the way society absorbs a thing; the way the tiger is defanged. It’s another useful illusion from society’s toolbox of illusions. All through my school years, I had to put up with this prattle about ‘serious music,’ and ‘pop music.’ Oh sure, I bought into it a bit, at first. But one only has to question the status quo.
First of all, we all know what it means, this business of ‘pop music’ and ‘serious music.’ It depends a lot on what side of the fence you’re sitting on, of course. If you’re a ‘serious musician,’ ‘serious music’ is ‘good,’ and ‘pop’ music is ‘bad.’ Of course we all know that ‘serious music’ will make you no money. Why? Because it’s ‘good,’ of course, and the majority of people don’t know about ‘good.’ They only pay for music that’s ‘bad.’
Now to be fair, if you’re on the other side of this particular fence, ‘serious music’ is ‘boring,’ (that’s bad) and pop music is ‘cool.’ (That’s ‘good’). Moreover, this historically speaking, has tended to be ‘radical’ and ‘revolutionary.’