Hip Hop Stacks: September 2014

Saturday, September 27, 2014

#IceTpolitics2014

Presenting Hip Hop Alumni's 1st

Publication Contribution

Gaming the System:
Ice-T as Neoliberal Hustler

& Entrepreneurial Philanthropist

by Greg Dimitriadis and HHA's Justin De Senso

This year marks the 1st publication contribution from Hip Hop Alumni by way of co-founder Justin De Senso and Dr. Greg Dimitriadis, Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs from the University at Buffalo New York.

This post is being scribed be Lee Rhyanes, co-founder of HHA as I've recently received my copy and began setting some time aside in my week to read the text. These days HHA has channeled a majority of its social networking time through the ease + access of Twitter at twitter.com/hiphopalumni. On twitter we're going to begin a #hashtag to track notes on the read and to encourage others to read either through purchase at online or book retailers or as request through univeristy/community libraries.

To learn more about this text and HHA visit HHA's Twitter and #hashtag #IceTpolitics2014.

From one brother to another, I want to congratulate Justin De Senso for his dedication to his students & colleagues, first and foremost, and the good will of having the opportunity to network and connect with folks which resulted in how HHA got involved with the Rapper, Writer, Pop-cultural Player, Ice T and the Politics of Black Cultural Production text through Ashgate publications.

We're hopeful this is the first of many publications that either involve or are lead by HHA and its partners. Below in the tags you'll see a list of all the authors that contributed to the text, including Justin De Senso's mentor James Peterson and several others. In addition, we look to share a number of recordings and thoughts on this text both here on the blog and through Twitter, including a recording of a panel that took place overseas in the United Kingdom, of which Justin was a presenter.

This one is for Hip Hop. Peace.

Ashgate Publishing: click here

Amazon.com: click here

-Lee

Monday, September 1, 2014

Louis Armstrong's New Orleans

Louis Armstrong's New Orleans

Following up on a #HHcAtalog post from July 7, 2014, of Thomas Brothers' newly released Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism, here we have Louis Armstrong's New Orleans, a 2006 publication from Brothers & the same publisher W.W. Norton & Company. Having arrived to Chapter 3, 'Larenzo's Soul' I've decided to purchase the text for my own collection. It's a book I highly recommend for all all library patrons interested in music history and an in depth journey into the life of one of music's maestros, Louis Armstrong. You don't have to be into jazz or knowledgeable of it to access the rich story and history lesson that Brothers eases readers to enjoy through his exceptional & honest writing style. The imagination is supported by key photographs and the music of Brother's writing as one enjoys a close reading.

Below is a link to Amazon to purchase and a link to the El Paso Public Library (EPPL) location of the text as well as the World Catalog location for anyone else in the vicinity that would like to locate this text. In preparation for the upcoming sections 'Street Hustler' and 'Jail', its a reading experience not to be rushed! And if you're a collector of anything music, it's one for your personal archive. Builds anticipation for the Master of Modernism read as well.

Amazon / Purchase: click here

El Paso Public Library / Checkout: click here

WorldCat.org / Checkout: click here

Notes

Some notes I've jotted so far include Thomas Brothers as an "Armstrong scholar". Also thinking of oral histories as a primary source (ix), looking up copy editors and the idea of "musicology reading groups" (xi). I made note to look up books and other notes such as Louis Armstrong, In His Own Words, Louis Armstrong House and Archive, Institute of Jazz Studies, New Orleans Public Library, Duke Music Library, Hogan Jazz Archive, and the Louisiana State Museum. My interests in juvenile justice made me note the information provided on the Colored Waif's Home for Boys and Armstrong's sentence on January 1, 1913 for busting off a gun at merely 11 years old. This is the moment of which his skills on the cornet would emerge. I thought a lot about Louis Armstrong as King Oliver's only mentee. There is a quote on page 19 of music as an antidote to violence and I noted the political position of an artist. Reading in late July brought me to consider the origins of Hip Hop through Armstrong's story, in so far as understanding vernacular (slang) and the musical and social complexities that makes New Orleans so important... especially to be engaged in learning history through ((listening)). Page 45 made me think of Bruce Lee's water idea, in which Brother's quotes Zora Neale Hurston stating, "...an African American sermon is not something 'set' rather it is something loose and formless and is in reality merely a framework upon which to hang more songs...". On page 51, I noted another quote that I liked... "[music] fostered wholeness by bringing spirituality, criminality, and politics into the same performing circle..." Another quote referenced by Brothers of Mahalia Jackson states, "...first you've got to get the rhythm until, through the music, you have the freedom to interpret it..." 'The Saints' chapter provides a very interesting view on the musical-social-spiritual-synthesis of this chapter's subject matter. Til' the next read time of Louis Armstrong's New Orleans...