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Dr. James Peterson's Essay on B-Boy Rules for Hip Hop Intellectuals
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Tags: peterson, intellectual, kustoo, assumptions unplugged
While site surfing at Fuzz, I was testing the "way cool" new word search feature on the Fuzz Buzz page randomly inserting words and came across Dr. James Peterson's long but fascinating essay posted as a blog on "B-Boy Rules for Hip Hop Intellectuals".
At long last, I found a blog that is longer than mine usually are [a criticism not lost on me].
Those interested in Hip Hop as a genre and/or social movement, or the delicious and dangerous evolution of the Fuzz platform as a culturally defining medium, should check out Dr. Peterson essay mentioned above and the commentary on his blog by the growing Fuzz community.
Link:
http://www.fuzz.com/fan/DrJamesPeterson/blog/entry/B-Boy-Rules-for-Hip-Hop-Intellectuals
[For TCC blog visitors, I copy my observations on Dr. Peterson's important essay below.
"While surfing the Fuzz site by using the new word search facility on the Buzz page, I was sent to your essay on B-Boy Rules and Hip Hop Intellectuals several times on the basis of random words that have been turning over in my head recently.
With apologies and the caveat that I am not familiar with the literature of Hip Hop, in reviewing your essay and the views of other Fuzz blog participants, I thought I would offer a few random comments on your blog that center on a few points embedded in your piece in respect of what Hip Hop means for the future of the inner city and the broader American experience.
1. I recall fondly the days of my youth, when we played "the dozens", a game of insult and fun for those of us in the inside, largely poking fun at ourselves, but often in the context of a distinction between those on the "inside" separated by race or economic circumstance from others on the "outside". The dozens began to take on the rhythm of the streets and may well have provided important elements in what was to become Hip Hop [of course, together with many other influences on the genre/social movement you discuss in your essay].
2. I also am old enough to remember that to be "cool" [now a mainstream sentiment] was a sentiment that connoted the delicious and dangerous inner city experience. It would be instructive to analyze how and why what was considered "cool" then as an inner city experience is now considered "cool" globally as a positive mainstream sentiment. Surely, the Hip Hop movement as a culturally framing phenomenon is part of the evolution of "cool".
3. Having lived overseas for almost two decades, upon my return I have been struck almost every day by the growing disparity between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in our country in terms of material wealth and opportunity. The "inside" and the "outside" is a distinction that is becoming even more pronounced and the dozens and its successor in sentiment, Hip Hop, becoming more strident and desperate.
4. Those in the inner city are becoming daily less and less invested in mainstream social norms. The plight [if I many characterize it as such] of the inner city and a way forward should be developed on the basis of a clear-headed [if you will, intellectually grounded] understanding of the framing phenomenon at work, as exemplified by Hip Hop and its possibilities to become "way cool" as a mainstream sentiment. This is easier said than done [witness the sturm and drang over Cosby before and now Imu]and I appreciate that Hip Hop speaks to mind, heart, and soul at many levels as you point out in your essay; but we are all in this together, brother.
5. Back to the Fuzz platform, music, and what I refer to as Cottage Industries 2.0. It is my intuition that we have a unique opportunity to use Fuzz as a vehicle to "disaggregate" many of the things that are broken in our system and rebuild the damn thing step by step. Perhaps a useful first step might well be to take another look at the many dimensions of Hip Hop and see ifwe can use this platform to develop clarity on what each element in the Hip Hop "movement" means."]
After pondering the Peterson essay and commentary, I think it is instructive to check out once again, but with new perspective, Kustoo's vlog "Assumptions Live Video from YouTube" for a great example of the possible as Hip Hop merges with mainstream.
What a great way to use playlists, site surf, blog, and view videos at the same time on Fuzz. Feeds the mind and touches the heart. Fuzz Rocks!
While site surfing at Fuzz, I was testing the "way cool" new word search feature on the Fuzz Buzz page randomly inserting words and came across Dr. James Peterson's long but fascinating essay posted as a blog on "B-Boy Rules for Hip Hop Intellectuals".
At long last, I found a blog that is longer than mine usually are [a criticism not lost on me].
Those interested in Hip Hop as a genre and/or social movement, or the delicious and dangerous evolution of the Fuzz platform as a culturally defining medium, should check out Dr. Peterson essay mentioned above and the commentary on his blog by the growing Fuzz community.
Link:
http://www.fuzz.com/fan/DrJamesPeterson/blog/entry/B-Boy-Rules-for-Hip-Hop-Intellectuals
[For TCC blog visitors, I copy my observations on Dr. Peterson's important essay below.
"While surfing the Fuzz site by using the new word search facility on the Buzz page, I was sent to your essay on B-Boy Rules and Hip Hop Intellectuals several times on the basis of random words that have been turning over in my head recently.
With apologies and the caveat that I am not familiar with the literature of Hip Hop, in reviewing your essay and the views of other Fuzz blog participants, I thought I would offer a few random comments on your blog that center on a few points embedded in your piece in respect of what Hip Hop means for the future of the inner city and the broader American experience.
1. I recall fondly the days of my youth, when we played "the dozens", a game of insult and fun for those of us in the inside, largely poking fun at ourselves, but often in the context of a distinction between those on the "inside" separated by race or economic circumstance from others on the "outside". The dozens began to take on the rhythm of the streets and may well have provided important elements in what was to become Hip Hop [of course, together with many other influences on the genre/social movement you discuss in your essay].
2. I also am old enough to remember that to be "cool" [now a mainstream sentiment] was a sentiment that connoted the delicious and dangerous inner city experience. It would be instructive to analyze how and why what was considered "cool" then as an inner city experience is now considered "cool" globally as a positive mainstream sentiment. Surely, the Hip Hop movement as a culturally framing phenomenon is part of the evolution of "cool".
3. Having lived overseas for almost two decades, upon my return I have been struck almost every day by the growing disparity between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in our country in terms of material wealth and opportunity. The "inside" and the "outside" is a distinction that is becoming even more pronounced and the dozens and its successor in sentiment, Hip Hop, becoming more strident and desperate.
4. Those in the inner city are becoming daily less and less invested in mainstream social norms. The plight [if I many characterize it as such] of the inner city and a way forward should be developed on the basis of a clear-headed [if you will, intellectually grounded] understanding of the framing phenomenon at work, as exemplified by Hip Hop and its possibilities to become "way cool" as a mainstream sentiment. This is easier said than done [witness the sturm and drang over Cosby before and now Imu]and I appreciate that Hip Hop speaks to mind, heart, and soul at many levels as you point out in your essay; but we are all in this together, brother.
5. Back to the Fuzz platform, music, and what I refer to as Cottage Industries 2.0. It is my intuition that we have a unique opportunity to use Fuzz as a vehicle to "disaggregate" many of the things that are broken in our system and rebuild the damn thing step by step. Perhaps a useful first step might well be to take another look at the many dimensions of Hip Hop and see ifwe can use this platform to develop clarity on what each element in the Hip Hop "movement" means."]
After pondering the Peterson essay and commentary, I think it is instructive to check out once again, but with new perspective, Kustoo's vlog "Assumptions Live Video from YouTube" for a great example of the possible as Hip Hop merges with mainstream.
What a great way to use playlists, site surf, blog, and view videos at the same time on Fuzz. Feeds the mind and touches the heart. Fuzz Rocks!
Comments
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posted on Jun 19 at 2:19 am
Here's Kustoo's video "Assumptions Unplugged"
posted on Oct 5 at 9:54 am
Thank you for sharing the essay. I totally agree with him. Further, when I think of the "dozens" -- that is something that I kinda did as a kid talking "smack" (trash) about others but it did not have any rhythm as rap. Something you go through as a young black kid but I cannot say I grew up in the projects but a middle class background. We all do it though irrespective of our social backgrounds! Prime example are the politicians talking mess about one another and who could forget Trump and Rosie talking mess about one another.