(January 21, 2025 at 5:37 pm)PhCritique Wrote: During a podcast, rapper Fat Joe offended a lot of people. I don't intend on sharing what he specifically said. But many are expressing their disdain on countless YouTube platforms. Joe's comment has prompted me to look for the full context on what is currently an ongoing debate:
Based on what I understand now, Hip Hop is interchangeable. It's a genre of music which began when the earliest rap artists were recorded. And it's a movement or a culture of various activities including disk jockeying, improvised spoken word, dance battles, graffiti, block parties, enthused young children innovating these art forms and much more.
Hip Hop is an identity for many individuals like KRS-One and Afrika Bambaata.
According to Niya Falls, "Disco King Mario was an eminent DJ in the Bronx." The neighborhood respected him and he's "a major part of the creation of Hip Hop"(hiphopgoldenage)
On July 1st 2023, Rosedale Ave was co-named Disco King Mario Way. (News12 Brooklyn)
Hip Hop is also an identity for many people who witnessed Jim Crow laws and the harassment it caused to their loved ones. Additionally, many lived to witness its 50th birthday on the same year Mario Way was co-named. Hip Hop (not specifically rap music) started in this Jim Crow era and it's roots are settled earlier in a darker period.
So, is Fat Joe discrediting Hip Hop's lost and hidden figures? Are Hip Hop critics fair to scold him?
As far as I know, Fat Joe was unprofessional in his tone on the podcast. There's certainly a large community (including Bronx natives) who maintain historic details which Joe failed to address. I don't expect there to be heavy recourse, but it would be nice if he apologizes publicly before February.He's contributed to the careers of many talented artists. His support shouldn't end on a note like this.
Sources:
Forgotten Founding Father: Disco King Mario - Hip Hop Golden Age Hip Hop Golden Age
Hip-hop icon 'Disco King Mario' honored with street co-naming as part genre's 50th birthday celebrations
A lot of things in the arts appear to have come out of nowhere. But if you take time to study the background and environment they came from, there are always precursors, foundations, roots.
Nothing comes from spontaneous generation. It's always evolution.
And I am certainly no expert on Hip Hop and its related phenomena, but you can see what leads up to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoEX6g8itTw
In the above video, you can see the tap dance change into spinning on the floor, much like break dancing.
In the one below, they tell a story in a talking blues style, that's not a million miles from rap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx0oU1OnHf8
As I say, this is not my field of expertise. But I've studied enough artists from enough different eras to see that everybody's work is simply an incremental advance on what came before.
