Music

Sound happens--hear historically!

Musical artefacts and commentary:

Music is a fossil, a sedimentation of past sounds. They lie buried beneath contemporary tunes. Provide below an example of a musical artefact that traces back to the Black Atlantic (jazz, funk, dub, hip-hop all have Caribbean ancestors). 300 words will do--but feel free to link to anything or anywhere!

Easy Listening for Intergalactic Travelers:

Add to our interminable list of Atlantean musicians and tunes. Be alphetical!

THE SPACE BASS:

Bootsy Collins played a number of these over the years with Parliament (on the front page, you can see a five-pickup version), but 100 of these were made by Washburn to Bootsy's exact specifications.  (Notice the star inlays.)  So if you want that classic, Funkadelic sound--Youngquist approved--and have $5000 or so to spend... Space is the Place!

(Played with the Clone Theory and the Bootzilla.)

Artist: M.I.A.

Track: Hussel (Feat. Afrikan Boy)

Album: Kaya

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=160UA1fIn6g

I have chosen to focus on a Sri Lankan rapper, M.I.A. (full name: Maya Arulpragasam).  MIA was raised in Sri Lanka, where her father was a Sri Lankan Tamil militant who took on an active role in the growing civil war between the Sri Lankan Sinhalese and Tamils.  When MIA was eleven she escaped to England with her mother and siblings, but her father was forced to stay behind, fighting for the Tamil movement in a civil war that has lasted nearly three decades. Known as Tamil Tigers, separatists have been fighting since to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils after decades of discrimination by majority Sinhalese-controlled governments.  On a purely lyrical level, much of her music focuses on the cruelty of war and its effects on those living in war-torn countries. 

The following lyrics from the track Hussel (feat. Afrikan Boy) that I have chosen to focus on are a great example of the despair of war in third world countries that MIA raps about.

WE DO IT CHEAP HIDE OUR MONEY IN A HEAP

SEND IT HOME AND MAKE EM STUDY

FIXING TEETH, I GOT FAMILY, A FRIEND IN NEED

A HAND TO THROW THE GASOLINE

A MOBILE PHONE HOOKED UP TO THE SCENE

HELLO MY FRIEND YES IT’S ME

DONT BE SCARED THERE’S SOMETHIN GOING ON

IM GETTIN MONEY SINCE I GROWN

COULD BE DASH GO OUT AND HUSSEL EM

BUT I HATE MONEY CAUSE IT MAKES ME NUMB

But global influences are also evident in the sound of MIA’s music, not just the lyrics.  She recorded the album this track is from, “Kala”, all around the globe.  She spent time recording in Liberia (while a war was going on), with Aborigines in Australia, drummers in India, and musicians in Trinidad.  MIA has said she enjoys bringing a third-world perspective to her music, which she believes is not heard enough in music today.

“The thing is, an American voice, in every shape, form, size, is getting heard on the planet all over the world. If you go to a mud hut in Africa, they are listening to an American voice,” M.I.A. says with her distinct British accent. “(But) a two-way exchange can exist.” “India gave me the bulk of it musically, just building the elements, and then Trinidad just gave me loads of inspiration to put those elements together and create songs and light a certain vibe,” she says.

MIA cites her influences to be pop-art of the ‘80s and early ‘90s when New Wave was popular and hip-hop was a mix between rap, rock, and pop.  She also incorporates elements of Caribbean music (reggae, dub, dancehall) and club music (jungle and electronic).  The track  we’re listening too, "Hussel" incorporates tribal drums and jungle bird calls.  Another track from this CD, "Mango Pickle Down River" is Australian-themed and consists of a standard drum beat, the unusual sound of a didgeridoo (an aboriginal instrument) and guest vocals from the Aboriginal children's hip-hop group Wilcannia Mob.

One influence that is echoed throughout the album “Kaya” is the South Indian dappangoothu music style, an indigenous music genre of South India, with a style characterized by relatively simple melodies sung to throbbing, showy percussion. It serves as a comfort music for the people, enjoyed in various celebrations, commonly by the masses.  But as you can hear MIA incorporates a variety of influences from across the globe, effectively creating a hybrid style that is all her own.

Samantha Luceri