What is 'street' in relation to music?

nomos

Administrator
Sometimes the 'gossip, slander, lies' threads become black holes for topics that could be great threads in themselves. I'm going to start pulling more of these out...

Over here stelfox has asked whether the minimal techno influence will make dubstep 'less street.' Tactics asks whether it has ever been 'street.' I say Eshun was right when he argues that 'street' is ghettoizing, drawing simple equations of street = real = black/working class = radical/productive whereas 'not street' = white = bourgeois = timid. Eshun: Everywhere, the 'street' is considered the ground and guarantee of all reality, a compulsory logic explaining all Black Music, conveniently mishearing antisocial surrealism as social realism.

So what is 'street' in musical terms. What does it mean? What does it do? Is it in the sound, the producers, the listeners, the distribution?

Is hip hop still street? If not, was it ever or when did it stop?

I'll pre-emptively bring up the figure of the hipster as well - a straw man if I've ever seen one. I know these creatures do exist, but too often it's lazy code for "white," middle class-looking, or "not as hardcore/devoted as me."

Thoughts?
 
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I knew this would happen

but I thought in the dubstep post...not an actual post for it lol

I typed 'street' with apostrophes to say something like whatever that means but if given a meaning...I guess its one of authenticity
 

nomos

Administrator
Right, but I'm saying it keeps coming up. It has for decades. And whether we use quotes or not what is it supposed to mean?
 

Tyro

The Kandy Tangerine Man
To define street you have to check out the feet.

Street is indicated by the smart footwear that paces the street.When in a club avoid stepping on or spilling drink on this footwear.Their owner has invested a lot in them.They are precious and represent how far he has come in the world.

Student is indicated by scruffy footwear.Avoid the owner if you dont want drink spilt over your own footwear.His soiled footwear represents the freedom he has before he graduates and buys a house on the aforementioned street.This house will show how far he has come in the world.


http://www.myspace.com/thekandytangerineman
 

Poisonous Dart

Lone Swordsman
The eternal question...

Street implies underground in realtion to Hip Hop/Rap...however in this current era "underground" (which ONCE meant "street") implies that it's highbrow and artsy..."backpacker music", UNLESS it's a regional subculture/music form like Hyphy, Crunk, Bass Music, or Screw Music, etc. What was considered "grimy/gutter/underground" in 1997 is now considered "old salty rap fan music" today. Jeezy was underground until his first album dropped while there are dudes that are recognized worldwide and have 10-12 year careers that are considered "underground" because 12-19 year olds don't buy thier albums...weird, huh?

The streets both dictate to the industry what's hot and then are TOLD who's hot by the industry...The streets are also fickle as hell. That's why you have 3-5 years to do your thing and then it's a wrap...shit, ask Ja Rule! One.
 

dubble-u-c

Dorkus Maximus
standing here on the corner i don't know shit about the streets

good question
wish i knew the answer .

maybe if you dealt drugs to produce your record you are street?
 
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Guybrush

Dittohead
I don’t know either. What about all the fashionable rock-meets-dance music? Is that street? Sort of—I feel in my gut. I somehow associate ‘street’ with ‘metropolitan’, I think. Any music that is predominantely associated with an urban crowd is ‘street’, while the music prefered by the rural crowd (there is some overlap, of course) is not (I am mostly thinking of trance and heavy metal here, as that is the most obvious ‘big with the yokels’ music over here). I don’t think the music has to be gritty or roughneck to be ‘street’, though.
 

Blackdown

nexKeysound
i think it's strange this discussion came out of the dubstep thread because in a UK context, i rarely hear the term 'street' being used, whereas 'urban' is. now i know this term is loaded, esp in a US context, and has been debated at length before but to me its UK use is that it refers to a demographic, in or around cities (and perhaps is less racially loaded than in the US).

can the same be said of 'street?' To me it has more overlap with the (UK) terms 'gully' or 'greasy' which are less demographic descriptions, more personal ones.

to see the destinction, i think you could argue that dubstep is 'urban' music but you couldnt argue it's 'street' because of the lack of emphasis around overt masculinity/agression, primarily through lyrics.
 

straight

wings cru
i always had a problem with with 1extra's 'new black music' tag, i thought we'd finally buried the race issue in urban music. and i dont know if you can doubt dubsteps street credentials, if 'greasiness' is a marker then all the big showcases round manchester parts have been loaded with it.
 

Logan Sama

BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
Music derived from working class urban areas in the UK which are not racially segregated I would call music from the street. You couldnt call Grime or Dubstep black music for example due to the culture surrounding them.

'Street' appears to simply be a more authentic version of "Urban", whilst remaining racially inclusive of all it's influences and participants.

A "Station for new black music" which plays no Jazz or West African music, yet batters Garage, House and Drum And Bass shows you how redundant that tagline is.
 

stelfox

Beast of Burden
i use it to describe music that's ground-up, popular, generally working-class and from a city environment. street music can be made or listened to by anyone and it's not a grand political distiction or a claim of ownership. it's just where the music comes from and is listened to. the best way to decide whether a music is street or not is whether you hear it on the streets, coming from car windows, kids' mobiles etc. therefore desi/grime/crunk etc = street, dubstep = not so much. and, yeah, edu is pretty great. i don't check for his show anwhere near as much as i should
 
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gek-opel

entered apprentice
What about rock... not now, (obv) but in the past I think you could definitely say that The Stooges, or The Fall, (say) were "street" music... the latter definitely fitting in with the working class antisocial-surreal thing posited by Kodwo... Dubstep is obviously "urban" (in the "of or relating to cities" sense, rather than the marketing term)...
 

dubble-u-c

Dorkus Maximus
i use it to describe music that's ground-up, popular, generally working-class and from a city environment. street music can be made or listened to by anyone and it's not a grand political distiction or a claim of ownership. it's just where the music comes from and is listened to. the best way to decide whether a music is street or not is whether you hear it on the streets, coming from car windows, kids' mobiles etc. therefore desi/grime/crunk etc = street, dubstep = not so much. and, yeah, edu is pretty great. i don't check for his show anwhere near as much as i should

This definition hits the nail on the head imo.

By this definition, where I live street music is hyphy, R&B,snap, crunk, texas rap, reggaeton, dancehall, funk, cumbia, desi, house and mariachi.
 
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crackerjack

Well-known member
I can't help feeling that for many here 'street' is largely a subjective term meaning 'music i like'. A white girl walking by listening to Kaiser Chiefs on her iPod isn't street. A black guy driving by playing E-40 is. Why? And what is it if the black guy switches from E-40 to Fergie?
 
Well, lots of the post above seem to be saying it's about the background of the people who make the music, more than the people listening to it.

Does that answer your question :)
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I think it's an overused phrase. It's just a newer, cooler way of saying 'cool', with connotations of blackness and urbanity (for bonus coolness).

To me, the phrase has more farcical or comedic value than anything else - it makes me think of white MPs, vicars and so on trying to appear 'down with the kids' on Ali G. Of course it may have a serious usage to plenty of people, that's just my personal take on the term.
 
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