Connect Politic...: Hip-hop Writing Empowers Us and Gives Us a Voice

Hey Jeff,

I'm sorry it took a while to reply to you, though it looks like people have used my absence to get a discussion going. In some ways that has actually helped me to come up with what I want to say here, for it's that same opinionated spirit that these people are expressing that makes writing about hip-hop interesting. More so than other musical genres, writing about hip-hop opens you up into such a vulnerable space simply because there are always people who will tell you if they think you are full of shit for what you are saying.

I've told you this before, but it was somewhat of a terrifying challenge to write the Dirty South book for so many reasons. Not only is it my first book but it's the first to tackle this subject (and I pray not the last). I had an overriding fear that my work would not appear credible to those who have chronicled the culture for many years. That shit kept me up at night at times!

But I turned that fear and dread into a positive as I let it drive me to work as hard as I could to come up with an approach that was appropriate to my place as a fan and an outsider. In the end, more people have said good things about my effort than bad-and even most of the criticism has come from supportive and kind-hearted places.

Hip-hop's tough love is helping me become a better writer and reporter, and I love it for that. I'm starting to see that I can have a valid role in the development of the literary end of hip-hop by helping artists and others in the community tell their stories and to help them tell their own stories as well. More than a few people I talked to during the course of writing my book mentioned interest in putting their own books together. I was particularly impressed when 8Ball of 8Ball and MJG fame mentioned an arsenal of poetry! I'd love to help catalyze these kinds of book projects for people.

Answering your question of how hip-hop has changed my life is difficult at best. I was born the year that Kool Herc perfected the loss of his accent and started to seriously throw down in New York, as I learned from your book. My life seems like a hip-hop pastiche of sorts, even though I grew up in the suburbs and only started to become versed in city life as a young adult. That's testament to the reach of hip-hop.

Pivotal moments in my early hip-hop history: At age 10 I soaked up Breakin' and Beat Street and challenged a fifth grade classmate to a break-off (I don't think I won). I jammed off of those same synth grooves that Afrika Bambaataa did, and I saw Grandmaster Flash mixing records on TV and longed to integrate the technique into the pause-button mixtapes I was making. And then when I was about 12, I saw these kids from right here in the Bay Area on a local TV show called Home Turf. They were probably 15-16, something like that, and they were DJing their little hearts out. Their names were QBert and Mixmaster Mike. I can't flex records like they do, but what amazing role models to have behind the decks at an early age, right?

Still, as a kid I never really felt like a part of hip-hop, rather an observer of it. It's not like I was in New York dodging third rails or anything like that, so that's why I felt that way. As an adult so many years later I'm just beginning to find my voice within the culture.

The element of DJing as introduced to me by hip-hop has been the most influential on me in my work, whether I'm actually writing about hip-hop or not. Country Fried Soul is what I like to call a mixtape in book form: You can read it in any order, and it's got an A-Side (interviews and reflections on the culture) and a B-Side (reference material and recommendations). It has that same sort of cut-and-paste aesthetic. Writing this book made me realize how much that defines all of the writing I do.

Hip-hop has influenced my whole life in a profound way. It's how I sensibly patch together my strange palette of musical and cultural interests and influences. Even if some people think I'm full of shit -- which, in this incredibly incisive blog-i-verse, is not unlikely. But that's okay, for we're hopefully all in it for a good discussion.

Anyway, congratulations on winning an American Book Award! I'm glad people are recognizing your significant work, and I hope it continues to do well for you. I look forward to the next leg of our chat and promise my reply won't be so long and timid in the making!

Thanks,
Tamara

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Hey all

Chanced across this blog, having reconnected with Tamara a couple of weeks ago, and enjoyed reading through the few posts here. I've just finished Country Fried Soul and thoroughly enjoyed it.

For what its worth, I've covered the book in my capacity as an editor for Notion magazine in the UK...review below. I can also heartily recommend another hip hop tome, Vincent Fedorchak's "Fuzz One" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0972592016/qid%3D1125477745/026-8107744-0635634) a fine tale of what it means to "be" hip hop.

REVIEW: COUNTRY FRIED SOUL: THE DUTTY SOUTH
Tamara Palmer
Backbeat, RRP £8.99
With hip hop from the southern US states having long been lost within the shadow cast by the East and West coast rhyme scenes, respected music journalist Tamara Palmer sets out to readdress the balance. While Palmer accepts that the arrival of crunk - a hybrid which brought funk and reggae to rap – has prompted a reappraisal of the so-called dutty south, she argues that the south has been critically involved since the days of Miami nasties the 2 Live Crew. Her examination of a previously neglected period of both hip hop history and geography, highlights the cultural differences between the south and their northern neighbours, and comes loaded with interviews and insight – a detailed reference section further securing our recommended status. (KM)

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email : laurent.lunetta@lagrosseboule.com

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