Hip Hop/Rap Art Music vs. Club Music; Favoritism vs. Empirical Evidence: How Taste and Sonic Preference Influence Hip Hop/Rap Music Scholarship
Hip hop/rap “art music” and “club music” are fruits from the same tree.
Marley Marl, Easy Mo Bee, DJ Premier, RZA, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, Large Professor, DJ Quik, DJ Toomp, J Dilla, Madlib — These are all important figures in the beatmaking tradition of hip hop/rap music. But one’s sonic preference for and familiarity with (or lack thereof ) these names goes a long way in shaping one’s research, focus, and arguments. And I would argue that this holdspolitical implications for many music writers. Inasmuch as most music writers reveal (through their writing) their taste and sonic preferences, it’s often clear when the “favorites” of a music writer are being pushed to the forefront. This can have a chilling effect on the accuracy of the scholarship.
Certain music writers lean towards certain styles, sounds, and aesthetics. The more narrow the sensibilities, the more narrow the scholarship. For instance, if one holds no preference for hip hop/rap as dance music but instead prefers hip hop/rap music as “art music” (it’s often both), then one is less like to be familiar with or interested in highlighting the qualities of hip hop/rap music as dance music or how this dance music powers hip hop clubs or the impact of such dance music on hip hop production overall. Likewise, if one has never spent time in hip hop clubs and/or dislikes hip hop/rap music as “club music” — think today of trap and drill — and does not carefully consider its qualities and aesthetics, then one’s study of hip hop production in general will be limited.
Although my focus is the sampling tradition of hip hop/rap music, ostensibly a quite specific scope, my research is broad and comprehensive precisely because: 1) My tastes and sonic preferences are broad; 2) Because sampling touches all styles of beatmaking and all sub-genres of hip hop/rap music; and 3) Because, having spent a considerable amount of time in hip hop nightclubs, I know and I appreciate the hip hop/rap “club music” aesthetic just as much as I appreciate hip hop/rap as “art music.” All of this leads me to follow empirical evidence and to shun favoritism.
