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Cinderella
and the hip-hop culture
By Daschell M. Phillips
An
Asian girl, White boy, Black girl and German girl all walk into
the Hip-Hop
exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry one Friday …
No, this is not the beginning of a joke; it is the sharing of
a culture.
Although
the hip-hop lifestyle originated in black communities, it's not
about color. It's about music, dancing, fashion, comedy and much
more, which are now often enjoyed by people from a variety of
backgrounds.
This
week, @Chicago gets advice from two
local hip-hop professionals on how to enjoy The Museum of Science
and Industry's Hip-Hop:
the Culture, the Sound, the Science, exhibit.
Not
bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good
Czarina
Mirani, professional choreographer and writer of the Chicago-based
play "Cinderella:
a hip-hop tale of an illegal alien recommends visitors stop
by for the "four elements of hip-hop" presentations
that are located right at the door before you enter the hip-hop
section of the museum.
"It
has the graffiti, the Bboy, emcee and the DJ," said Mirani.
"They have the pioneers of each talking about the industry
like Crazy Legs, Sir Wiggles all of the original breakers. It's
a pretty informative fifteen-minute film. This is my favorite
part because this is the only part of the museum that really touches
mostly on Bboying that is the type of hip-hop I'm into -- break
dancing, Bboying or Bgirling."
DJ
Real One, who performs the music at Mirani's play, likes the red
velvet throne that was once the trademark item of rapper Slick
Rick.
"He
used to have it in his videos," said DJ Real One. "And
when I went to see him in concert he had the chair on stage."
Since
the two are very connected to the local, underground hip-hop industry,
they noticed other details besides the well-known artist artifacts
and made note of the finer details that were on display in more
creative ways at the exhibit.
One
of the things was the graffiti on the walls that were done by
local artists. DJ Real One said he was glad to see that the art
form was being recognized at the exhibit.
"It's
kind of cool that they represent graffiti because a lot of people
don't respect it," DJ Real One said. "They think it's
vandalism they don't see the real art that is put into it. It's
not just a name scribbled out, it's a piece of work that somebody
took the time to make beautiful."
DJ
Real One said that when he was a graffiti artist he respected
people's property.
"I
know this may sound crazy but I used to respect where I was doing
it," he said. "Not that there are particular places
to do it, but I wouldn't do it on people's garages. I would do
it on a rooftop or something."
Although
the two were glad to see that local Chicagoans did the graffiti
art, they were somewhat disappointed with the lack of Chicago
representation in the rest of the exhibit. It consisted of three
large posters of Common, Da' Brat and Crucial Conflict. But nearby
there was a small display case that pacified them because it had
the artifacts of Chicago underground artists like ANG13. She seems
to be a favorite of the Cinderella duo.
According
to the museum display, ANG13 AKA Angela Zone is from the Northwest
side of Chicago. She started rapping at age 10 and is now a speaker,
writer and member of an all female rap group called Lyrisis.
Pop
goes the culture
What
angered Mirani and DJ Real One even more than the lack of Chicago
representation was what they said was an over representation of
the people who gave rap a bad name.
"I
have a problem with the pop hip-hop," Mirani said. "But
I guess it's important that they have artists like Vanilla Ice
here because you have to show how some of the whack people who
represented hip hop tried to make it commercial."
The
Roots
DJ
Real One was not surprised to see Jazz and R&B soul singers
like Cab Calloway and James Brown artifacts on display.
"Everybody in the early 80s was sampling [Brown]," he
said. "He's got so many hits that,that was pretty much the
whole 1980s sound."
Interactive
Hip-Hop
The
two also recommend that visitors read the to-do lists and diary
entries of some of the artists on display and give the interactive
turntable a scratch or two. They also highly recommend the hip-hop
karaoke stage, but neither one of them dared to go up to perform.
Mirani
said she is grateful that the exhibit is here, but she believes
a little more information would have helped.
"It
would have been nice if they would have had more detailed information
for people who really don't know much about hip hop," Mirani
said. "But I think it's really good that they have this exhibit
and that it's going all over the country letting people know about
hip-hop."
DJ
Real One also appreciates the fact that the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, which is where the exhibit was created,
decided to take the exhibit on the road.
"I
love it," DJ Real One said. "I went to Cleveland to
the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame to see it because I didn't know it was
traveling and I missed it. So I was so happy it was here. They
are representing everything some people don't realize that there
are other elements to hip-hop. They think it's just rappers on
a mic, but it's more than that its break dancing, DJs and graffiti
artists.
10
Interesting Hip-Hop Facts From The Museum of Science and Industry
1.
Hip hop was born in New York City in the early 1970s as a creative
outlet for young inner-city people.
2. The father of hip-hop culture was Clive Campbell, otherwise
known as "DJ Kool Herc."
3. In 1975, the first DJ to scratch was DJ Grand Wizard Theodore
at the age of 13.
4. The word 'rap' was coined by the album, "Rappers Delight"
by the Sugar Hill Gang and became the title for hip-hop recording
artists.
5. "Bboy" is a term made up by Kool Herc to describe
an elite group of dancers at his parties who had a distinct style
of dancing, known as break dancing.
6. Hip hop broke into the media with the first hip-hop radio show,
"Mr. Magic" in 1979.
7. The first TV show "Graffiti Rock" featured NYC Breakers
and a MC battle between Treacherous 3 and Run-D.M.C.
8. The Funky Four performance on NBC's "Saturday Night Live"
was the first national TV performance by an MC group.
9. One of the most famous MC battles of all time took place in
1982 when Kool Moe Dee humiliated Busy Bee.
10. One of the famous Bboy groups, Rock Steady Crew was featured
in the movie, "Flash Dance."
Hip
Hop: the Culture, the Sound, the Science will be on display at
the Museum of Science and Industry until Monday, May 27th, (773)
684-1414
Cinderella: a hip-hop tale of an illegal alien will be at the
Theater Building 1225 West Belmont until Saturday, May 18th (773)
327-5252.
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What is your definition of Hip hop?
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