only watched "The Life of Rhyme" so far but thought it was really well done, especially liked the relationship made between jamaican patois intonations and the rhythms of MCing in UK (and I guess jamaican music in general). Really great selection of MC's being interviewd doing verses aswell.
Street Summer - Channel 4
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Ulala
Awkward Woodward
I watched 'Life of Rhyme' and I got fed up with the constant 'this is the new poetry' schtick, which Akala kept coming back to in his links and which was the main drive of most of the interviews. I presume Channel 4 wouldn't commission a straight documentary about the history of the British MC, or that it wanted to avoid the grimier (clever wording I know, cheers) end of things, but I rapidly grew weary of the constant belabouring blows of "this is poetry". (The English lesson where Devlin was compared to some 19th century verse was particularly cringy.)
The fact that every ad break was bumpered by a 16 bar acapella performance was further grist to this mill (look! They're rapping without beats! They're poets!), and yeah, some were ok, but then you got a brief snatch of Wooo Riddim as well, and I couldn't help thinking: why didn't they get them to do their bars over Wooo instead? (Like this: http://thegrimereport.blogspot.com/2010/05/free-download-s-x-wooo-mixtape.html) There are very few MCs I'd want to hear perform acapella at any great length, part of the skill of the MC (and the differentiator from the poet) is fitting the rhymes to the beat, surely? Conveniently ignoring the relationship between the MC and the music for the sake of the 'poetry' narrative seemed a bit aberrant, really.
That said, there were a few good interviewees, and like Muser, I enjoyed the more theoretical parts (about 'flow', particularly), but this seemed a strange thing to choose as the central strand of the programme.
(Also, I watched 'How Hip-Hop Changed The World', and it was diverting in the way that any list show is, but it was tailored very much to the non-initiate. I guess Channel 4 have to aim for the widest possible audience, but I would have preferred fewer 'LOL MC Hammer'/George Bush says "Yo Blair" bits.)
The fact that every ad break was bumpered by a 16 bar acapella performance was further grist to this mill (look! They're rapping without beats! They're poets!), and yeah, some were ok, but then you got a brief snatch of Wooo Riddim as well, and I couldn't help thinking: why didn't they get them to do their bars over Wooo instead? (Like this: http://thegrimereport.blogspot.com/2010/05/free-download-s-x-wooo-mixtape.html) There are very few MCs I'd want to hear perform acapella at any great length, part of the skill of the MC (and the differentiator from the poet) is fitting the rhymes to the beat, surely? Conveniently ignoring the relationship between the MC and the music for the sake of the 'poetry' narrative seemed a bit aberrant, really.
That said, there were a few good interviewees, and like Muser, I enjoyed the more theoretical parts (about 'flow', particularly), but this seemed a strange thing to choose as the central strand of the programme.
(Also, I watched 'How Hip-Hop Changed The World', and it was diverting in the way that any list show is, but it was tailored very much to the non-initiate. I guess Channel 4 have to aim for the widest possible audience, but I would have preferred fewer 'LOL MC Hammer'/George Bush says "Yo Blair" bits.)
the poetry angle is really corny and boring at this stage agreed. youd think hip hop would be beyond caring about that at this point. a few rappers, some songs could work as poetry but by and large its not really the same, its MUSIC. its not the same. the words have a diff function. that goes for any genre. (i hate rappers going acapella too, esp grime mcs, they sound really bad). still not seen the moments that changed the world in full yet but idris elbas accent is a mess. was weird to see westwood saying so solid were the first uk rappers to use proper uk accents - he of all people should know thats a big lie. unless he just meant first to do it and get in the charts.
I agree that the poetry angle is inccorect and over used, I often just get a bit over excited when things like this get in the mainstream media. Would never have thought sneakbo would ever get mentioned for example and its good thing for the uk scenes that all these people are getting wider exposure.
Some people can pull off accapella but it is mostly just a bit grating I agree (again). I thought Leshurs sounded alright on the show anyway.
Some people can pull off accapella but it is mostly just a bit grating I agree (again). I thought Leshurs sounded alright on the show anyway.
this was interesting to watch but it should have been called 'why rap is poetry' cos it was akala talking about and virtually nothing else - also odd to see him touch quickly on the roots that led to the 'renaissance' we have now without ever mentioning american hip hop or really delving properly into the roots of the uk thing we have right now, which was a bit of a shame cos it wd have been cool to see old guys like tippa irie etc interviewed properly. but apart from rodney p - whose lyrics have more substance/depth and actually have some right to be called poetry, everyone elses rhymes just sounded really fish out of water without beats. sorry akala but the words dont have enough to them to stand on their own. they need beats. its MUSIC guys. it should def be respected for being hip hop or grime or road rap or whatever, but its still not poetry.