Media Meditations #3: Kris' and 9th Wonderful's Lessons on Media and Hip-Hop

KRS-one:
MC, Teacher, Philosopher


"Rap is something you do, Hip-Hop is something you live" -KRS






Image Credit: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/251362/Interview_Hip_Hop_Legend_KRS_ONE_Seizes_New_Ways_for_Rap_to_Work_with_Major_Brands



9th Wonder: 
Producer, Beat maker,
Teacher, MC




Image Credit: http://hiphopmakers.com/9th-wonders-10-track-commandments


-For this media meditation, I found a short interview with one of my favorite hip-hop producers and beat makers of all time, North Carolina's 9th Wonder. His soulful sound, and infusion of jazz has made a name for himself. He is also an educator of hip-hop culture, giving classes and lectures to students of all ages, mainly at colleges and universities. His philosophies and teachings focus on hip-hop's origins; how its changing with the forces behind it, and ways to preserve the culture.

In this video the producer talks with interviewers on his viewpoints on how the hip-hop culture is being altered from the media. How the current media structure splits the generations in terms of who's listening to it. 9th talks about how media depicts the culture, portraying a commercialized 'gangster' lifestyle that has negative affects on youth and hip-hop education, and how people perceive it. 9th says specifically that the one thing he'd like to change is how in hip-hop today it's disrespected with a lack of support by older generations, and older black Americans. 9th vouches that all they see is BET, MTV, magazine covers or corporate radio, and that's what they're told from the media, this glorified world that portrays the culture in a negative light. This lack of support enables it to be 'taken' from other people, that is, taken from higher education entities, and the media structure in control, of mostly white executives. Some older black people in the US don't want to give the hip-hop culture support or a chance, that their people initially started in the late 70's and early 80's. 9th says the media has separated the generations because of the picture painted of hip hop from the media. The regulation and washed out content from corporate media today in the state of hip-hop, as a musical culture, has forced people to an ignorant lack of understanding of the wonderful music of hip-hop.





Heres a sample of a 9th Wonder beat so you can get an idea of the soul and jazz influences in his head nodding music:











And another:










Sorry I could post these all day. Heres the actual video interview:





Backstage with 9th Wonder - No. 1 from LRG on Vimeo.
In our latest video series LRG takes you back stage at the annual A3C hip-hop festival in Atlanta Georgia. A3C stands for All Three Coasts and showcases the best independent hip-hop artists from all over the country. LRG was lucky enough to sit down with one of hip hops most prolific and gifted minds, super producer 9th Wonder. This is a three part series, that takes not only Hip Hop's temperature but America’s and it’s perception of the culture as a whole. 9th is asked three questions that are sure to leave everyone with some serious food for thought. Watch as 9th Wonder takes us to school and drops some serious knowledge on the state of hip hop today. Enjoy!







In my digital web digging, I found another interview with a hip-hop pioneer and educator, KRS-one. Which is an acronym for Knowledge Reigns Supreme- Over Nearly Everyone. And he displays his reigning knowledge all the time. Whats interesting in his testimonies and why I am comparing it to 9th's views is that KRS actually supports corporate relationships with positive hip-hop artists. Now anyone that knows a thing or two about hip-hop, knows that KRS is anything but corporate. He's more religious and spiritual than corporate any day. Kris' argument is that working with companies to make songs for websites, videos, or commercials may be jarring, but in fact it is the only major way to get good music to the masses, to utilize digital convergence as one of the major aesthetic shifts of 21st century media. Good music for the masses means music for the people who need to hear it, so they can get enlightened instead of being subjected to the phony watered down music coming out of corporate mainstream record labels, and radio stations. KRS focuses on the positives of the changing music and media world, its economies and ways to accommodate to its shifting forces. He says that authenticity is a new business model from corporations, that companies need a product that's not destroyed by an artist's shady image. Companies need a good image, good artists need outlets to reach the world, and an ability to turn the media against itself. KRS says artists can embrace this opportunity to get their good music out in the public, using the power of the media structure as a method or medium to carry the positive messages from good hip-hop music. KRS is almost using the media against itself, to achieve balance with hip-hop culture and the economic structures in place. Corporations are giving money away to good artists to make music for them. KRS says these very corporations are going to finance the very revolution he is creating with the music and his postive messages displayed on Nike's, or Red-bull's website.

Link to full article and Interview



For those of you that think that KRS is still selling out, read this article of his speech and testimony at a 2007 FCC meeting in Chicago. How the people, and KRS, want the media landscape of a specific area to reflect the ideas of that specific community, and not those of media conglomerates.

Important Quotes from the article:

Here's the full FCC article

"KRS-ONE asked the FCC, "If you have a government that is run by Big Business, how can the FCC get that Business out of radio? Right now, as we speak, I can't get my record played…I would appeal to the FCC to please help me in this situation."

Further, KRS argued: "Our culture is being criminalized by the radio stations… we are not gangstas, pimps, ho's, thugs. This is not who we are. But this is what we're being advertised as, and I think it's a public safety issue because police officers listen to the radio as well…"

"KRS-ONE left the room to a standing ovation. When a handful of huge media companies decide what music gets played via automated playlists on radio stations across the country, local culture is either misrepresented or not represented at all".



To bring all of these ideas together, and to take it all into context of our class ideas, we can compare and contrast 9th Wonder's and KRS-one's arguments for how media is shaping hip-hop. They both refer to how the changing media landscape is a reflection of economic shifts and ownership influencing public opinions, and public discourse, reflecting a discursive shift. These are direct arguments that relate and illuminate to our friend Neil Postman (RIP). Also, our Mass Media/Society text would agree with KRS that this corporate control of the media has social implications and has negative impacts on social interactions and peace in our society. 9th and KRS both vouch to keep the culture in the hands of the people away from corporate media influences. However 9th focuses on the music and the distribution himself, while KRS uses new ways to use convergent media forces and their 'large pockets' against itself, to get his good music out widely. The more of KRS's music is out there, the more positive messages of hip-hop and other themes are portrayed, an effort to counter attack the junk from media. They both have views about the system, and both have different ways of coping with the many media shifts in our society.