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Rap
(audiovisión personal).
Ahora leemos críticas desde el hiphop convencional, dónde estos trabajos están llegando poco a poco. La crítica convertida en virtud: no lanzar mensajes claros, confusión, palabras indescifrables, piruetas orales sin significado. La poesía en estado puro, trabajadores de la palabra abiertos 24 horas. El periodista Pete Shapiro definió así, y en v.o., a Mike Ladd y Anti-Pop Consortium (actualmente las cabezas más visibles de toda esta corriente). "They are MC Eschers twisting trompe les oreilles verbal maze out of stairways to the nebulae" 2. La aparición de Escher en estas metáforas de laberintos verbales y espacios mentales no es la única. Recurren a poetas como e.e. cummings, teóricos como W.E.B. Du Bois y precursores directos cómo The Last Poets y Gil Scott-Heron. Roger D. Abrahams, en Deep down in the jungle: Negro Narrative Folklore from the Streets of Philadelphia, 1970. "Una de las mayores diferencias entre la clase media blanca y los miembros de la comunidad afroamericana de los guetos, es que estos últimos todavía conservan una concepción del mundo basada en la oralidad, mientras que los primeros centran su energía creativa y su imaginación en los libros y la escritura, manual o tipográfica." 3 Quincy Troupe: "En el terreno de la poesía se perciben claras diferencias entre una audiencia blanca y una audiencia negra. La blanca permanece callada, mientras la negra participa casi tanto como en un concierto. Sentarse seria y calladamente es un comportamiento de la cultura de los buenos modales. Y los buenos modales ahuyentan la creatividad. Nosotros procedemos de una cultura expresiva. El performer -poeta, músico, actor, deportista- se alimenta de la audiencia. Cuando el público se expresa el performer se llena de energía y se supera a sí mismo. La cultura africana, y por tanto la afroamericana, ha sido siempre participativa." 4 Oliver Jackson: "La tradición actúa a un nivel más profundo que la cultura. No es casualidad que el rap lo hayan producido los negros, porque es una forma muy africana de utilizar el lenguaje. África adora jugar con el ritmo del lenguaje: resbalar, arrastrar, frenar y tropezar con las palabras. El rap es un estilo totalmente impregnado de la sensibilidad africana." 5 The Last Poets son precursores de quien lo decida. Así, por ejemplo, Chuck D, miembro de Public Enemy, aclaraba: "The Last Poest estaban en un tipo de jazz, recitando sobre un beat. Cuando apareció el rap, también se recitaba sobre un beat, pero sincronizado. Para nosotros James Brown es más importante que The Last Poets. Su disco Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud ("Dilo fuerte: Soy negro y estoy orgulloso") tuvo un enorme impacto porque era bailable y al mismo tiempo te hacía pensar." 6 No hay sólo un tipo de hiphop, sino un colectivo formado por miles de colectivos que, aún mayoritariamente empeñados en su identidad, han producido y producen cambios y mezclas. Quizá la diferencia máxima entre ellos no sea el cómo sino el qué. Las formas se mantienen o ya no hablaríamos de hiphop. Cambian los contenidos y las formas de estos contenidos. Y hay, siempre, una estructura rítmica que nos acompaña. La diáspora de ideas y el placer oral. Las batallas de adolescentes negros en los 60 (dozens) donde las palabras eran sus únicas armas. La intuición del rapsoda y su capacidad de improvisación en los llamados freestyles. Palabras. Y hay, siempre, una estructura rítmica que nos acompaña. Chuck
D empeñado en hacer pensar. Pero si estamos de acuerdo con
la diversidad de individuos, habrá también diversidades
de elementos que provoquen pensamientos. Sus mensajes claros, panfletarios,
no tienen porqué ser ni mejores ni más "verdaderos".
Anti-Pop Consortium y su visión transpolítica en v.o.:
Confused over which side of the crater will the creator place you/In
case you don't understand/ Remember Iraq, remember Iran/ Remember
dismembered bodies and MCs and SPs melting at ground zero/Adjust your
vision/Grand exquisite, lyric verbaliser/Witness the fire/Break down
rhymes though enzymes in my saliva/Deliver, I'm the liver/Futuristic
inscriber of cities enclosed in plastic bubbles/You spell trouble
P-R-I-E-S-T/My ESP harder than SP1200 snare taps/Over bare tracks
snapped like bear traps/Did you hear that? You weren't listening [...]."
7 La poesía con mensaje, la de la calle... No significan nada. Toda poesía se crea en la calle, bebe de ella y lanza mensajes. Los grados de obviedad en cada uno de los versos corresponden al oyente. Rita
Dove: "En los slams suele tenerse en cuenta tanto la presentación
como la poesía en sí, aunque demasiado a menudo se premia
más la forma que el texto." 9 Hay,
también, una mímesi en la poesía actual americana
que bebe directamente del rap. Aislar poemas, aislar actitudes e incluso
un intento claro de no involucrarse con el hiphop, al mismo tiempo
que copian su forma y su espíritu. La intelectualización
que ve peligrar su acercamiento a estilos de vida estereotipados (gangsterismo
incluido). "Los medios de comunicación siguen sin sentirse cómodos con la cultura negra. Sin embargo, todos quieren escribir al estilo negro. Su ideal sería meternos en un ordenador y extraer la fórmula." (Ishmael Reed) 10 Un vinilo de 12" sin apenas texto y con referencias al graffitti en las imágenes. Un recuerdo a la tradición africana de atribuir significados mágicos a las palabras. Un lenguaje tonal, heredado de los afroamericanos del sur, dónde una misma palabra tiene diversos significados según el tono empleado. Referencias y guiños con la audiencia, siempre presente. La inclusión del mismo tema, pero en versión acapella (despojado de música, su hábitat natural) permitiendo sus nuevos usos (incluirlo de nuevo en su hábitat gracias a la remezcla). El hiphop nace cuando la máquina entra en la tradición oral afroamericana. El robot, hijo de la diáspora, dispone ahora de nuevos medios de producción y difusión. Pero todo ya estaba allí. Hay precursores obvios (Melvin van Peebles, los predicadores negros, Leroi Jones...). Hay mimetismos, competencia y evolución. Hay etiquetas (spoken word, rappoetry...). Pero la palabra es siempre hablada, el rap es poesía (no necesariamente buena poesía). Un mc (rapper) es un poeta que decide trabajar desde un estilo concreto. Fronteras tangibles escritas por sus propias mutaciones. Poetas con memoria y sobrexposición. Excesos verbales. Sonic
Sum: Hay
más precursores obvios: los poetas de Watts en los 60. ("Lo
más importante es que ellos tomaron la tradición afroamericana
del lenguaje de la calle, lo formalizaron poéticamente y lo
devolvieron de nuevo a la calle"). 12 Dose
One: Categorías: todos en sus puestos. Había una pose, una rima, un ritmo, virtuosismos heredados del jazz e individuos formando grupos. Y poco a poco -los años pasan- nace por necesidad un hiphop romántico -más genuino- dispuesto a seguir contando historias. Una apuesta frente al hiphop salvajemente comercial. Ahora
en las ciudades norteamericanas encontramos centenares de locales
destinados a la difusión y mezclas entre todas las maneras
orales. Hay noches con micros abiertos, hay concursos, hay recitales
y presentaciones de discos. Saul Williams: "our magic insturments be political prisoners up inside computers as if the heart were not enough as if the heart were not enough and as heart beats bring percussions fallen trees bring reprocussions citys play upon our souls like broken drums redrum the essence of creation from city slums but city slums mute our drums and our drums become humdrums cuz city slums have never been where our drums are from just the place where our daughters and sons become offbeat heartbeats slaves to city streets and hearts get broken and heartbeats stop broken heartbeats become breakbeats for niggas to rhyme on top, but.. i won't rhyme on top no tracks niggas on a chain gang used to do that" 15 Una historia que sigue... Verborrea (evocación, cita, denuncia). Conciencia. Mercado. Sobre el griot africano, donde empezó todo: "Además de conocer muchas canciones tradicionales sin error, también debe tener la habilidad de improvisar sobre hechos actuales, posibles incidentes y escenas que suceden. Su ingenio puede ser irresistible y su conocimiento de la historia local formidable." 16 Una historia que sigue...
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The Wire, Adventures in Modern Music nº 208 , junio 2001. p.38
Rap
(personal audiovision).
Now we can read critics from conventional hip-hop as these new works are slowly kicking in. Criticism's becoming virtue: they accuse them of not giving clear messages, creating confusion, and using impossible words and acrobatic oral expressions with no meaning whatsoever at all. However the truth is they are pure poetry, 24-hours-non-stop word workers. Journalist Pete Shapiro described Mike Ladd and Anti-Pop Consortium -the most important heads in this new trend- as follows, "They are MC Eschers twisting trompe les oreilles verbal maze out of stairways to the nebulae" 2. Escher's appearance in these labyrinthic metaphors and mental spaces isn't the only one. They turn to poets such as e.e. Cummings, theorists as W.E.B. Du Bois and straight predecessors like The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron. Roger D. Abrahams, in Deep down in the jungle: Negro Narrative Folklore from the Streets of Philadelphia, 1970. "One of the greatest differences between the white middle classes and members of the Afroamerican community from the ghettos is that the later maintain a speech-based conception of the world. However the white middle classes focus all their creative energy on books and writing." 3 Quincy Troupe: "In the field of poetry, great differences between white and black audiences can be perceived. The white one remains silent whereas the black one participates nearly as much as in a concert. Sitting down quietly is a good-mannered cultural behaviour. And good manners dispel creativity. We come from an expressive culture. The performer (poets, musicians, actors, sportsmen) is fed by the audience. When the audience expresses something the performer is filled with energy and gets better and better. African culture and therefore Afroamerican culture has always been proactive". 4 Oliver Jackson: "Tradition acts on a deeper level than culture. It's not by chance that rap has been produced by black people. It's a very African way of using language. Africa loves playing with the rhythm of language: slipping, dragging, braking and stumbling with words. Rap is totally soaked with African sensibility." 5 Anyone who chooses can follow the prophecy of The Last Poets. For instance Chuck D, a member of Public Enemy: "The Last Poets were into a jazz-type approach, doing poetry over a beat. When rap music came along, it was poetry over a beat too, but in time. More important than The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron, to us, was James Brown. His record Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud had the most impact because it was danceable and yet you still thought about it…" 6 There's
not only one type of hip-hop but a group made of thousands of sub-groups.
They are often stubbornly determined to keep their identity unscathed.
However they have produced and still make changes and mixtures. The
greatest difference between them might not be how they do it but what
they do. Forms stay equal as we wouldn't talk about hip-hop otherwise.
However, contents and its forms are changing. And there's always a
rhythmic structure that goes with it. Diaspora of ideas and oral pleasure.
Black teenager gangs from the 60's (dozens) where words were the only
weapons. The preacher's intuition and his improvising skills in freestyles.
Words. And there's always a rhythmic structure that goes with it. Poetry with a message, the one made on the street… they don't mean anything. All poetry is created on the street, it drinks of it and gives out a message. How each verse is interpreted is up to the listener. Rita
Dove: "In slams both presentation and poetry itself are usually
taken into account. However form is too frequently more valued than
the text." 9 In the American poetry nowadays there's also a mimicry derived straight from rap. They isolate poems, attitudes and they even attempt to not get directly involved with hip-hop whereas they actually copy forms and the spirit of it. Intellectualization sees danger in the approach to stereotyped ways of life -gangsters included. It's surprising how little non-textual poetry exists in such an oral diaspora. It's surprising how many slams there are with sportsmen/women poets. It's surprising how underrated all this is by many European poets.. "The media still doesn't feel at ease with black culture. However, they all want to do black writing. Their dream would be to shove us in a computer and get the formula out of it." (Ishmael Reed) 10 There's a 12" vinyl with hardly any text but with graffiti references in the pictures. One more reference to African tradition: conferring magic meanings to words. There's a tonal language inherited from southern Afroamericans where one word has different meanings depending on the tone used. There are references and jibes with the audience -which is always there. There's one tune repeated acapella (with no music to it, its natural habitat) so it lets the music be included again in its habitat thanks to remix. Hip-hop is born when the machine enters Afroamerican oral tradition. The robot, son of dispersion, now owns new ways of production and broadcasting. But it was all there. There's some obvious predecessors (Melvin van Peebles, black prayers, Leroi Jones...). There's mimicry, competition and evolution. There're labels (Spoken word, Rappoetry...). But the word is always spoken, rap is poetry -not necessarily good poetry. An mc (rapper) is a poet who decides to work from a very specific style. Tangible borders drawn by his or her own mutations. Poets with memory and overexposed. Verbal excesses. Sonic
Sum: There
are some more obvious predecessors: the poets of Watts in the 60's.
("The most important thing they did was taking Afroamerican tradition
from the street talking, they formalised it poetically and then brought
it back to the streets again.). 12 Dose
One: Categories: each has its place. There was a pose, a rhyme, a rhythm, which was all inherited from jazz and bands formed by individuals. And little by little -time goes by- a romantic hip-hop -more authentic- was born by need; and it was ready to keep telling stories. It was almost an insult for the wildly commercial hip-hop. Now in American cities we find hundreds of venues dedicated to broadcasting and mixing all sorts of oral forms. There's open-mike nights, competitions, gigs and record presentations. There's life, hybrids and manifestos (beyond rhymes, rhizomes). 14 Saul Williams: "our magic instruments be political prisoners up inside computers as if the heart were not enough as if the heart were not enough and as heart beats bring percussions fallen trees bring reprocussions cities play upon our souls like broken drums redrum the essence of creation from city slums but city slums mute our drums and our drums become humdrums cuz city slums have never been where our drums are from just the place where our daughters and sons become offbeat heartbeats slaves to city streets and hearts get broken and heartbeats stop broken heartbeats become breakbeats for niggas to rhyme on top, but.. i won't rhyme on top no tracks niggas on a chain gang used to do that" 15 A story that goes on… Verbal diarrhoea (evoking, quoting, denouncing). Conscience. Market. About the African griot , where everything started off: "Though he has to know many traditional songs without error, he must also have the ability to extemporise on current events, chance incidents and the passing scene. His wit can be devastating and his knowledge of local history formidable." 16 A story that goes on...
1-
The Wire, Adventures in Modern Music n 208 , June 2001. p.38
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