Episode 28: The Geography of Hip-Hop (Ya Don't Stop)

We ain't no joke.

Don't you ever wonder why half of the hip-hop songs begin with some dude loudly bellowing out a place name? "Brooklyn!" "North Carolina! Put yo hands up!" Well, when we're talking about popular musical forms firmly rooted in place, there is no better place to go than the deep, storied, and cartoonishly commercialized world of hip-hop.

 

 It grew, pretty categorically, out of the Bronx in the late 60's and early 70's and took all of two decades to basically own the popular music landscape, so who's to say that place doesn't matter when you've got (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) MCs and one DJ (or two)? Many of us grew up fondly(?) remembering an era when they loudly bragged about shooting each other, depending on which coast they were from.

If any of you ever meet Ice Cube or Dr. Dre, $100 to whomever shows them this photo.

 
This week, our buddy Fernando joins us to talk about the ever-changing geographical face of hip-hop, the genre that constantly battles (verbally and metaphorically) over authenticity, representation, and in the case of Lil Jon, DRAAAAANK! WHAT! And you best believe we freestyle here, too. By "freestyle" I mean go off on tangents about hip-hop coming from all over the world, our own experiences getting into it over the years, and drawing the ideological parallels between hip-hop and punk music. This was a fun time.




Produced by Tyler S. for Sonic Geography
Theme Song: "The Face of the Earth" by The Dismemberment Plan
Other Music Featured:
Mos Def - "Hip Hop"
Bliss n Eso - "Eye of the Storm"
Jurassic 5 - "Improvise"
Atmosphere - "Get Fly"
Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa feat. Bruno Mars - "Young, Wild, and Free"

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* I should comment that we somehow got through an entire hour without discussing Public Enemy, Common, or Wu-Tang Clan. For this, we wholeheartedly apologize and hope that this doesn't deter you from listening to our next episode on the Geography of the American Civil War. We won't leave out Josh Chamberlain! Dude was badass!

The Casual Geographer Episodes 26 and 27!

What's that? 2 New Episodes in one post? The hell you say!

Well, the two episodes make up for the definitive lack of graphics or fanfare. We apologize for not updating this blog recently, but as the crow flies, we need to change our hosting plan, and sort out the iTunes situation. For now, though, we are excited to post the new episodes right here. Spread the love/RSS and we'll be back with you soon.

Episode 26: Bret's Journey to Japan and Korea


While Tyler was lame and remained stateside over the holiday break, Bret took matters and transpacific flights into his own hands and went to Tokyo, Suwon, and Seoul. What happened? Well, listen here to find out, kids.



Episode 27: LA's Ethnic Enclaves

So, Tyler and Bret still have a lot of work and research to do, but in their time bouncing all over the LA region, they've spent quality time in enclaves brought to you by various tempers of immigration. We're talking Little Ethiopia, Little Armenia, Chinatown, and various others. Hear them babble about them here, and then go eat some delicious Kefta and listen to System of a Down.




Produced by Tyler S. for Sonic Geography
Theme Song: "The Face of the Earth" by The Dismemberment Plan

And don't forget to hit up THE CASUAL GEOGRAPHER ON...
Facebook - Twitter - Email