I'm sure that everybody here is well aware of the directly competitive strands to be found in black music - MC clashes in grime and hip hop being the most obvious examples but you've also got things like soundclashes in reggae. I though it might be intereresting to discuss these phenomena.
A couple of random thoughts/questions at first:
Is it true that this comes out of these music beginning with a base in live performance i.e. sound clashes and MC battles? Music as something a bit more social, and responsive to audience demands than the overproduced studio masterpiece?
IIRC David Toop (in Rap Attack) traces back the "singing insult" to African bardic traditions. Does anyone know more about it than the brief outline he gives therein? Is what he says true? False?
Thirdly, I think I remember reading something about instrumental clashes in reggae in the early ska days? Does this ring any bells to anyone or is it just me confabulating?
And lastly, any points of comparison with other musics spring to mind? I said "directly competitive" above as these things seem unified around the idea of beating a definite opponent which seems a bit more complex than smply "being the best"?
Any thoughts?
A couple of random thoughts/questions at first:
Is it true that this comes out of these music beginning with a base in live performance i.e. sound clashes and MC battles? Music as something a bit more social, and responsive to audience demands than the overproduced studio masterpiece?
IIRC David Toop (in Rap Attack) traces back the "singing insult" to African bardic traditions. Does anyone know more about it than the brief outline he gives therein? Is what he says true? False?
Thirdly, I think I remember reading something about instrumental clashes in reggae in the early ska days? Does this ring any bells to anyone or is it just me confabulating?
And lastly, any points of comparison with other musics spring to mind? I said "directly competitive" above as these things seem unified around the idea of beating a definite opponent which seems a bit more complex than smply "being the best"?
Any thoughts?