Fist In The Air

Fist In The Air by Art On Wax on Mixcloud

This is my way of expressing what is currently going on in American culture at present. To be black in this country is still oppressive. The poignant music gifted to us from a past generation is still incredibly relevant. I've gone into my vinyl collection to find songs that truly encapsulates the current emotions of the time. Please take the time to listen.

Don't Mistake Me For A Guy: Reflections From A Female Music Aficionado

As I begin to seriously study music in a deeper more historical and cultural way, it is becoming clearer that women are not very visible in this work. It may sound cliche, but I  would absolutely say that I've been a music geek from very early on.  I was a reader of liner notes to find out who was involved in the production of the album and what song has been sampled. I was a "name that tune" kinda person. There was a brief stint in trying the whole DJ thing; however, that was a hustle that I was not interested in for various reasons. After a hiatus from music while studying directing in a grad theatre program, I became disconnected from what I love so much. Thankfully, with some very deep self work and honest realizations-I now know that music is exactly where I belong.

On this leg of the journey I see that I want to study and express music in a different way that does not require me to stand behind the decks. About 10 year ago I started collecting vinyl. I've picked up the past time again and it is truly invigorating. Art on Wax is my platform for exploring cultural analysis through music. With all of this said-there is one caveat, the invisibility of women. When people see Art on Wax it is accompanied by a logo, not my face. Therefore, when I interact with folks in social media they automatically assume that I am male. I graciously correct their presumptuous position. Their response always comes with an embarrassed apology or aw, my bad. The more and more as I grow Art on Wax-the more I realize that this is truly my way of creating a voice for women who love music as much as dudes. Don't get it twisted, I respect the brothas out their who are doing there thing. I just don't always want to be in the position where men think that I'm one of them or act shocked because a "girl" is well versed in music and has a pretty nice collection or can play a mean 45's set.
Another tidbit that I notice is when I see someone like Andre Torres speak about Waxpoetics being a magazine geared toward the 20 and 30 something year old "guy"-it makes me take pause. I think to  myself "I am a 30 something year old woman and I like Waxpoetics". Is it not for me? It just reinforces the fact that we are not taken into account as being interested in the world of the music aficionado.

So, I am here to make our presence known and to share with the world an outlook that comes from a woman who is a  keen eared vinyl junkie who craves music knowledge. I also ask you out there to support women who are taking their place in the world of music in all facets.

Put Your Weight On It Episode 2

Put Your Weight On It Episode 2 Vol. 1 by Art On Wax on Mixcloud

I think that it is a well known fact that music, particularly from the 70’s is the bedrock of hip hop.  The pioneers of hip hop took the songs that they loved and looped the break; therefore, giving the emcee a beat to rhyme over. The DJ was once in charge of manually playing breaks on turntables which then gave way to a house band recreating those breaks. That all changed with the invention of the E-mu SP-12 which was a drum machine and sampler, which revolutionized the way that hip hop was made.

The artform of sampling is quite brilliant. In this episode of Put Your Weight On it, we explore the songs that have been interpolated and reinterpreted through hip hop.  On a side note, I did include one song that is a remake, technically not a sample. You will hear that this compilation is Isaac Hayes heavy. His music from Shaft kicked down the door for blaxploitation soundtracks setting a precedence which is made evident by the plethora of producers who used his music.

See if your ears can pick up the songs in which the music you will hear has been sampled and transformed into.

[Sound Familiar?]: Sampling, Break Beats and Blaxploitation

I’ll start by saying that I don’t consider myself a hip hop head. I’m surely no aficionado spouting off knowledge from the hip hop canon. However, I can say that the first rap album that I touched and heard as a little girl was Sugarhill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight. It belonged to my aunt or mother.  Of course, what I did not know was that the song’s main structure had come from the break of Chic’s Good Times. The intro of Rapper’s Delight was sampled from Here Comes That Sound by Love De-Luxe. What makes the break beat significant? In his book, Making Beats, Joseph G. Schloss quotes Tricia Rose who states that:

The break is a section where the band breaks down, the rhythm section is isolated, basically where the bass guitar and drummer take solo.  Break beats are points of rupture in their former contexts, points of which the thematic elements of a musical piece are suspended and the underlying rhythms are brought center stage. (qtd. in Black Noise 74)

The breakbeat Sugarhill used consisted of a strong groovin’ baseline, drum and a clap. They took it, looped it and rhymed over it. Good Times had been heavily exploited as a break beat. Some groups even used a derivative of its baseline to form the melodies for their songs.

Later, in my years I came to understand that most of the hip hop sound that I grew up listening to came from music that was created before I was born. From jazz to funk to the most obscure rare tracks that could be excavated-hip hop producers were repurposing old art. They found a way to reconstruct the incredible music that they grew up appreciating. In many cases they became “diggers” seeking out undiscovered and unexploited breaks.

The soundtracks of the blaxploitation era were not overlooked. Blaxploitation films extended deeply within black culture. The styles of the characters were emulated by the everyday brotha and sistas on the streets.  They were able to see the power that emanated from the screen. There were black heroes and sheroes. Many of the early hip hop producers grew up in the 70’s during the heightened era of the genre.  Dudes like John Okuribido, I can only assume, is sharing his childhood fondness for the film Three Tough Guys by sampling Isaac Hayes’ Hung Up On My Baby in Geto Boys’ Mind Playing Tricks On Me.  You’d be surprised how many hip hop joints you’ve listened without hearing the origins of the tracks from which they have been recreated.

Music from the blaxploitation OST has certainly been transformed into a new form of expression through hip hop.  Sampling is an art form that pays homage to original works, which had their own cultural significance. Contemporary artists are just restructure archetypes by bringing their current cultural relevance to the music. More to come...

Put Your Weight On It Episode 1

Put Your Weight On It Ep. 1 by Art On Wax on Mixcloud

Put Your Weight On It: Episode 1

I.

Threshold-Things Are a Changin’

1. Dizzie Gillespie-The Cool World: Duke’s Fantasy

2. Booker T. and the MG’s-Uptight: Cleveland Now

3. Gordon Parks- The Learning Tree: My Baby’s Gone

4. Galt McDermot-Cotton Comes to Harlem: Cotton and Ed Gravedigger

The Threshold is comprised of songs that come from soundtracks of black films that are predate the  “blaxploitation” era bringing a new narrative to black audiences.The films introduced black audiences to characters that were a departure from the stereotypical depictions of sambo and mammy.  These were fully black cast films.  The characters were more rounded dimensional portrayals of black folks and not the “ebony saint” roles of Sidney Portier of the early 60’s. These particular films were made in the late 60’s to early 70’s.

Funk was a burgeoning genre and had not yet been the cool undercurrent paired with the black film. The soundtracks of this time had a little bit of edge creating a narrative that expressed the characters. The musicians were able to capture the spirit and varying moods of these films. The film composers during this period consisted of jazz musicians, rhythm and blues bands, musical theatre composers, and soul musicians. The funk had not hit the fan yet. Quincy Jones, who scored numerous films during the time, was probably closest to creating outside of the box when it came to spicing up the soundtrack. Also, Herbie Hancock’s Fat Albert Rotunda (69’) was a nice departure from the standard cinematic/romantic format.

II.

Genesis-Power of the People

5. Melvin Van Peebles, Earth Wind and Fire-Sweet Sweetback’s Badaasss Song: Hoppin’ John

6. Isaac Hayes-Shaft: Cafe Regio’s

7. Curtis Mayfield-Superfly: Junkie Chase

The songs selected for Genesis defined the blaxploitation era. They started it all and had a significant impression on black cinema. We get a real feel for that funk and soul sound. Funk was about freedom. Funk was revolution. It countered everything that was deemed normal by American standards. Sweetback was the first film to add funk music brought to you courtesy of a then little known band Earth, Wind, and Fire. The music was distinctly black giving a voice to urban life. The sound also contributed to the conceptually abstract presentation of the film acting as an interwoven element to the entire production. With Sweetback, one can not separate nor distinguish the music from the film; they are equally relative to all of the elements that make Sweetback an entire work of art.

Isaac Hayes brings hot buttered soul sounds to Shaft.  The music was far more successful than the film itself winning an Oscar in 1972 for the title track.  This soundtrack, scored by Hayes, had the musical backing of the funk band The Bar-Kays (if you don’t know their history, look them up).This soundtrack was not as conceptual as Sweetback. However, the songs are quite varied in style giving the score a solid sound from start to finish.  Here is where we first get a taste of the wah wah guitar, fast rhythmic hi hats, heavy horns, and thumping bass. Shaft gave us the formulaic chase grooves, love songs, character theme tunes, etc. that continued to be the composition of blaxploitation soundtracks to come.

And then we have Superfly, the ultimate blaxploitation soundtrack.  This score is brilliant simply due to the fact that it has a finessed social commentary that accompanies the visual.  Mayfield paired his melodic grooves with lyrics that made you think. His score was also extremely unique due to the fact that it has an emotional quality. Mayfield evokes empathy for the characters in songs such as Freddie’s Dead. Curtis Mayfield went scored several films in the blaxploitation genre.  

III.

Right On!-The Essentials

8. Marvin Gaye-Trouble Man: “T” Stands for Trouble

10. Gene Page-Blacula: Movin’

9. Roy Ayers-Coffy: Aragon

10. James Brown-Black Caesar: Down and Out In New York City

11. Willie Hutch-The Mack: Mack’s Stroll/The Getaway

12. J.J. Johnson-Cleopatra Jones: Go Chase Cleo

13. James Brown-Slaughter’s Big Rip-Off: Tryin’ To Get Over

14. Dennis Coffey-Black Belt Jones: Love Theme

15. Rudy Ray Moore-Dolemite: Mayor’s Get Away

16. Willie Hutch-Foxy Brown: Foxy Lady

This selection of songs for The Essentials come from films that are staples in the genre of blaxploitation. They consist of some heavy hitting funky soulful sounds, which is the essence of the blaxploitation soundtrack. Quite a range of artists made their contribution to these soundtracks such as James Brown, J.J. Johnson, Gene Page, Marvin Gaye, and Roy Ayers all of whom are musical geniuses in their own right. They bring sophistication, grit, and savviness to the music. The sounds are a style all their own.  Many musicians were able to flex their musical skills while stretching their musical creativity beyond the general scope of their own standard. The soundtracks are authentically black; culturally enhancing our stride, the way we speak, dress, and boogie.  These artists creates timeless sounds that elevate the simplicity of the blaxploitation narrative. The music rivaled the dominating funk bands of the time and definitely carved out a niche in black music history.

Coming June 2013

Put Your Weight On It is a podcast series that focuses on the blaxploitation OST genre. The sound set a precedent for a visual auditory merging that shaped black culture in an unforgettable way. It is no secret that the music was just as popular as the films. Much to my surprise, there is very little historical or analytical information focusing specifically on the music created during the period. I've made it my mission to collect all soundtracks from the period from original presses to later releases. Put Your Weight On It is an exploration and analysis of the scores that I've collected. I've collected a priceless treasure of soundtracks that helped elevate blaxploitation films to a new level and increased the genre’s popularity. This podcast also acts as a means of preservation and dissemination. The goal is to hip folks to the the importance of the music of the era. Episode 1 will be comprised of three segments:

I. Threshold-Things Are a Changin'

II. Genesis-Power of the People

III. Right On!-The Essentials

Look for it! Spread the word! Gratitude for your support!

The Significance of Preserving the Blaxploitation Soundtrack

   

For those hip hop heads out there, much of the music that we consider the classics, are rooted in the scores of blaxploitation cinema. Point blank, producers have sampled some of the most dynamic enriching funky tunes from the era establishing the fundamentals of hip hop.

The music is relevant to a period when social and political conscious was shifting in the black community. The sounds were starting to reflect the times.  Funk was making its way within the spirit of the people; particularly those who were on the bottom side of the caste system, poor black folks (also known as the blues people). With the assassinations of MLK and Malcolm X, upheaval was inevitable. Change permeated the atmosphere. A revolutionary ideology was espoused by many black youth along with Marxist intellectuals.  

Funk, which has a genealogy that consists of: blues, gospel, be-bop, rhythm&blues, rock&roll, and soul was becoming the voice of objection. It was a countercultural antithetical entity of bold polyrhythmic expression. Funk was the soundtrack of revolution. The music represented freedom from systematic oppression. Because funk was incongruous with the standards of the American way, it was the perfect genre to underscore blaxploitation films.  Blaxploitation films were intended to reflect a black power, freedom, and slough off the stereotypical tropes of the past. The often funky soundtracks of blaxploitation were the soul and musical impressions of the movies which quickly became formulaic in narrative.

Blaxploitation soundtracks were definitely appropriate for the times. They hold a valuable space in the lineage of our American musical ancestry.  In his epic book that explores all that is funk, Rickey Vincent states:

The soundtrack album ultimately served two extremely important functions: first, like the films in general, soundtrack albums gave jobs to struggling artists who may not have had the opportunity to release and distribute a record on their own.  Second, and most significant, the range of the movie soundtrack allowed the artists to explore-and reflect-the diverse moods of the film and thus the diverse moods of their people.

It is indeed necessary to preserve the cool, boundless, and funky musical narratives that are the blaxploitation soundtracks. They have offered so much to en rich our culture. They were a way to express the blackness of a people. We also must make sure that future generations understand the primary source of contemporary music and how relevant it is to way that music can be shaped in the future. As the saying goes, you have to know your past in order to be prepared for your future-there is power in that.