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!

Episode 15 Posted! What We Did on Our Summer Vacation

We're back! At least, on iTunes, where you can find our latest episode if you choose that route, and we hope you do. It's also embedded below.

Now, let's talk about it. Bret and Tyler both decided to travel this summer (as they are wont to do), and they're back to tell you how things went for them! Tyler already checked in with a special from Columbus, OH, so he's already beat that whole story in the ground. But Bret, as well as Tyler, took the opportunity to head east over the last month of the summer, and you won't believe what they found!!!

Actually, you probably will, because it wasn't anything particularly unbelievable. Beautiful scenery, interesting characters, and other issues that made them rant things for you and you only. For one thing, Bret was in Maine! What do you know about Maine? Not enough, I imagine. It's way up there.

They also tackled a number of other topics there isn't enough time to enumerate here, just tune in and enjoy yourself. See you this Thursday LIVE on Kbeach.org at 1pm PT with our MEXICO episode!




Produced by Tyler S. for TDC Productions
Theme Song: "The Face of the Earth" by The Dismemberment Plan
Other Music Included:
Rush- "La Villa Strangiato"
The Leftovers - "Make You Mine"
Airbag - "Coleccionista de Discos"

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Episode 3 Posted! INTERSECTION SONGS

Well, hello there, thanks for being here once again, and thanks for being you. But mostly, thanks for being here, with the full intent of listening to episode 3: Intersection Songs!

This week, we took a handful of great songs by some great artists that describe particular intersections and talk about their individual stories, and how those intersections have evolved since the songs were published. Sounds neat, huh?
Have a listen here, and it should be on iTunes very soon!



Songs in today's show.
1. The Ramones - "53rd & 3rd" - City: NEW YORK - Street View
2. Tom Waits - "9th & Hennepin" (1985) - City: MINNEAPOLIS/TOM'S BRAIN - Street View
3. Good Riddance - "Queen & John" (1999) - City: TORONTO - Street View
4. The Afghan Whigs - "Fountain & Fairfax" (1993) - City: LOS ANGELES - Street View
5. The Dismemberment Plan - "13th & Euclid" (1993) - City: WASHINGTON DC - Street View

We hope you enjoy it! Once again, The Casual Geographer in socialmedialand:
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Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and to our friends abroad, a great rest of the week. It's almost December!