Harlem Shake - How humping the air means group-think and lost meaning

It’s been a while since anything has inspired me to write. Of course “Harlem Shake” would. I’m inspired to write this because of what the video symbolizes to me – a performance of the way we culturally consume in the postmodern, internet, era. And, the meeting of lenses among our social commentators and critics. It's weird, but things have been weird for a while.

I’m fascinated with what is going on IN the videos themselves. Each one begins with a singular, goofy, character bobbing around to the intro, followed by a barrage of physical bodies gyrating, shaking, twerking, and tweaking about in a back and forth fashion when the song “drops”… props of animals, toys, and tools all around for disposal. Bodies are dispersed across the entire frame, like a medieval landscape painting. This sequence imitates the “drop” that EDM-dervied-dubstep has popularized, a physical representation of all hell breaking loose when the bass and song are in full swing. And that rush is over just as the first measure is over thirty seconds later. What does this mean? Why this? 

  

A theater performance of social media, hipsterdom, and millennial group-think

Opening scene: a singular force introducing something to the rest of us… we screw, gyrate, jump, and dance to its impact in ways incongruent to the roots or intention. Then POP! We lose interest and cut scene as quickly as it came… this has been the nature of our pop culture for some time; viral videos, quick tickers on CNN, 140 characters or less… being the first, the quickest. A friend of mine just told me that he is sad because he knew about Harlem Shake WAY when Baauer had only 700 followers… the fact that it’s popular makes it obsolete, even if the song hasn’t changed – or the genre of Trap – hasn’t either. It’s a cultural Kleenex that lost its value as soon as we spewed it out.

In certain ways, it’s an acknowledgement of our current state of postmodern groupthink… quick consumers, quick responders, we don’t analyze or question… but react with no regard of context. Yet, EVERYONE does it – Black, White, Hip, Mainstream, Latino. 

 Titled "Black Version"

 Titled "Mexican Edition"

We get off on being part of something that everyone else is doing, a quick jolt of social connection, we are all doing the same thing together and IT’S GREAT!! However mundane and unproductive it is, we know YOU and your cousin, and your friend are doing it. When I go to a party, I can come quick with a “isn’t it annoying” or a “let’s do a Harlem Shake video” ready to go at the drop of a dime. We like the 2D commotion because we can glance and look around the screen, in its “diversity” of gestures and colors, rather than looking at a singular event of someone getting kicked in the balls, or some person on a rant… we are given several videos within a video, en masse and ready for our “multicultural” melting pot. I’m not surprised about the rise of EDM tribal culture in all this, a new version of the countercultures we love of the past.

Is it Group-think? More like Group-react without the think part. It’s hot and sexy, and soon as someone walks in with the next great thing… we’ll be ready to gyrate over and over and over and over again.

Harlem Shake – an incomplete meaning for race and a Post-Dubstep/Chopped N’ Screwed/Trap sampling era

If you read the story behind the production of the song… its not that complicated. A guy sitting on his computer has a bunch of samples taken from the internet and uses them for markers that are commonly understood from the Dubstep aesthetic. A signal for the intro “con los terroistas” and “do the Harlem Shake,” a signal on when the drop is going to take place… A Skrillexian template (which actually is a UK template) applied to a very Southern Hip Hop vibe. Instead of Skrillex’s hyped up screams, they are pitched down vocals that are derived from Chop n’ Screw. Plus, the track is on a Trap vibe, but the samples are Latino and NYC.  And yet, this Trap is not the same Trap that T.I. and Atlanta put on the map years back. You see where I went with this? UK > Houston > Atlanta > Latino > New York… So, whom does it belong to?

Then there is Davey D going in on how it’s not cool as the word Harlem Shake was a dance, slang for nodding junkies in Harlem, and so forth. I get it and respect the man for bringing us the history behind the name. Yet the entire song… from structure to samples… is a riff off everyone. I do see it as another paragraph on the continued relationship of removing cultural pieces from the hands of their creators, remaking them, and setting it out as a “new” thing… this is not new. As a Latino, I’m kinda disgruntled on the whole “Con los terroristas” bit. But I think it is important to include the race piece, with the sampling piece, with the disfigurement of Trap and Chop n’ Screw, with the Spanish sample to the analysis. Take it all in because each part is connected in its absurdity, to the others. This is postmodernism, the song is homeless, and wearing the clothes of every cultural signifier that is hot at the moment… yet its not new to me at all.

Did we fail our youth in our effort for equality?

Earlier this week, at George Washington University, a class of high school students took part in a college advisory workshop about stereotypes and race. The students are Black and Latino from Washington D.C. The facilitators, two college aged TAs, asked the students, “So, with all these stereotypes about you and us, what can you do about it? What can be changed?”

“Nothing” said one junior, a 16 year old Black female. “It doesn’t even matter, people are going to think of you whatever way they want”

Another junior, Black male, said, “All you gotta do is stick to your own lane, do you, and nothing else”

The rest of the class agreed. The TA continued to ask what can be done, but after two more tries, they moved on to wrap up the class. The following day, my colleague asked a student, “what did the TAs talk about?” The student replied, “we talked about race, AGAIN, for the 100^th time”

When I’m not sharing sounds or pretending to be a DJ, I work as an educator. In two months, I will be laid off from this really cool job as an Academic Advisor for an Upward Bound Program at the Latin American Youth Center in Columbia Heights D.C. For those who may not be familiar, Upward Bound is one of several national federal TRIO programs, developed during the Affirmative Action/War on Poverty programs of the sixties, dedicated to addressing the lack of minorities in higher education. This Upward Bound is unique as it is housed in a Youth Engagement Center in one of the most “diverse” yet disastrously gentrified locations in Washington D.C. The center resides along a street that you can find bodegas, carry outs, and 7-11s with methadone clinics, subway stations, and huge Target/Best Buy/Staples megastores… there is also traces of corny “progressives” with vegan bakeries and what not. There is a huge underbelly of gangs, drugs, and section 8s that make this a very unique take on “development,” hence the need for a youth center.

With all this context and history, I was a bit surprised of the students’ reluctance and complacency in dealing with stereotypes and racism. I imagine these students entering college classrooms, tackling current issues and people, and keeping their mouths shut and stories hidden. Without an ability to speak up, and rattle the cage a bit, what is the point of sending them to school? Financial stability? Opportunity? To get a job they want? While valid reasons, they do not address the very reason why one goes to college, to learn.

There has always been passivity among us when it comes to race. There are many Black and Latino folk who’d rather not deal with it, because they deal with it too much or because they don’t know how to articulate these experiences. We now exist in a time where there has been over 50 years of race-talks, good and bad; bus boycotts, student movements, TV shows, national news, Hip Hop, educators, activists, etc. But this passivity takes a new twist for me as we now live in a “Post-Race” perception of mainstream Black music, President Obama, and the ability to hide behind avatars and Facebook anonymity. Besides the rise of Hip Hop as the musical genre of a generation, I cannot think of any other social or cultural movement that has any impact since the power movements of the late 70s. We also have thousands of college students who have bitten the apple of Teach for America, Americorps, Intergroup Dialogues, Civic Engagement, Alternative Spring Breaks, Diversity requirements, multicultural offices, cultural months, and so on and so on and so on…The benefits of this work should all be handed down in a nice clean platter… but somehow, the kids don’t want to eat what we serve.

As I mentioned earlier, not everyone wants to get down with this type of talk. What hurt the most was when my student complained that this was talked about “again” for the umpteenth time. Did we go too far? Were we so thirsty that we overwatered our youth? Did our lack of representation deprive us so much that we decided that every street needed a sticker or a tag all over it? Did we make too many mistakes?

What happened is we have not given our youth any motivation to become activists, fighters, and rebels. We have spoken about race and identity too much and with little consistency. Not everyone likes the word “diversity” not everyone agrees on what that means. We have highly unqualified people speaking on it and we have experts who cannot connect to their audience. We are overzealous to highlight how everything sucks, numbing folks away. Our measures of what success is, in regards to when we feel something went well to dispel myths and stereotypes (i.e. the election of Barack Obama) is inflated.

The biggest challenge is that we deal with a topic so ubiquitous in U.S. society that becomes completely unusable in the space of criticism and justice. Racism is the greatest gift and export this country produced; it is woven through media, law, government, education, culture, and so forth. Yet, I have sat in dozens of race conversations where audiences and participants are left in that awkward silence of wonderment because we really do not know what to do about it. Race becomes that decoration in your room that looks nice, but really has no place or space in your living room… we know its nice, but it just doesn’t go with anything.

Furthermore, the common assumption of race is that it is a passive construct; there is no practical application of race and diversity work. In my previous life as a higher education administrator, race resided in the world of demographic variables; percentages, retention, graduation, and satisfaction; static representations that handed over to mainstream people in power to only say “try harder” or “try something else.” So why would anyone really care about race when the work of protesters, marchers, speakers, rebels, thinkers, and educators have become regulated to deficit-based percentage points and long-winded rants with no solution presented? This piece I am writing is another drop in a bucket of complainers. We are socially conscious complainers with no tools to change the world.

Then, what would be beneficial for a 16 year old black male? What can we do to give this young person the urgency to address racism? First, is to curve the bombardment of deficit-based discussion and lenses when writing about race. Second, we need to provide our youth with more tangible successes than a protest, a soundbyte on the tv, or a pamphlet with statistics. The benefits of this work must be something worth aspiring to. We the race-fighters are a bunch of complainers who still end up paying the bills, complaining of our bosses, and acting like anyone else. How can our own youth want something that we are not benefiting from ourselves?

A quick sidebar, yes, things have gotten better… but look at the lack of social consciousness we see in our youth. Look at the attainment levels of Blacks and Latinos in education. Look at the overrepresentation of Black males in the prison system. Look at D.C. gentrification. Tell me it has gotten better.

What we are missing is follow-through, discipline, and tools. Our ability to see beyond the myths must also springboard new ways of walking, talking, behaving, and thinking that reap unique and wonderful tools. These benefits must be embedded into our work with youth, our education system, and our standards of a positive and just society. So often, I see “activists” use the same tools of hierarchy, linearity, power, and privilege to accomplish social justice goals. We have not changed. We left ourselves wasted and wasteful.

To my students, I worry we did not give you a good reason to join us. I’ll try my hardest for you to be proud of me, of the work we have done… so we can share and benefit together.

A close look at the "Latinos Are" graphic (yes, I have a problem with it)

Alright, we are so powerful! There are a lot of us, we have a lot of babies, and we buy a lot of stuff... plus obviously we all eat Jalepenos because the picture says so...

I HIGHLY implore you to think about the picture for a second... let's categorize each stat and see where it leads us...

• The top 3 pics are different ways of quantifying our number in the U.S. How much we take up in space, how we compare with the rest of our neighbors, and how many of us are children and adults. I call this category the "Dead Weight" Category
• The first two on the bottom row are uber simplistic representations of our economic capital and capacity to reproduce. I call this "What the Mainstream Wants Us For" 
• The sixth pic is a bit tricky. The language makes sense of "Latinos in the U.S." versues "U.S Latinos." So, providing nationality is fair game, but this brings up questions of purpose of the stat, citizenship, nationalism, etc. I call this one "Huh?"
• The very last pic is a logo from Latino Branding Pwer, the organization that made this graphic. Their role, as stated in their site, "... delivers culturally relevant insights about Hispanic marketing and Latino culture" Unfortunately, this graphic doesn't show culture at all, but numbers and statistics... If you want better use of numbers, check out the Pew Hispanic Center. Anyways, Culture is influences, values, worldview, perspective, etc that manifest in cultural products (a simple way of putting it)... This graphic is not culture. A Jalepeno is not culture. I call this category "A Commercial."

My issue with this pic is the SIMPLE indicators of how strong we are. We become satisfied that buying our starbucks and having lots of cousins means we are good Americans, that we are contributing... this is too weak of a case to make. The big theme along all of these categories is showing Latino power by producing bodies and spending money, making us look like commodities. These are bare minimum requirements in a capitalist democracy. And, it makes our worth equitable only through assimilating to the mainstream culture. Fact is, we are not them, they are not us... that doesn't mean we cannot contribute, but we must contribute in our own way, that my friends, is what makes us a true member of a democratic society.This graphic leaves out our true stengths, our unique roles, and our potential in ways beyond assimilation.

Looking at Madonna's "Give me all your Luvin" and M.I.A. "Bad Girls" two twists of the same thing

This right here is social consciousness critiquing 101 of Madonna's Superbowl Ready -- "Give Me All Your Luvin". Obvious:

• if this wasn't made for the Superbowl, i dunno what is...
• Of course, there is a subordinate/dominant relationship with the POC cheerleaders behind the white lady Quaterback
• Of course there is some white-centered melting-pot during the rap interlude with Nicki and MIA wearing Madonna's throwback Marylin Monroe steez
• This feels A LOT like some Blondie "Parallel Lines"
• The dichotomous Grrrl Power against all boys is jive played out
• Giving M.I.A the Dubstep track for about 8 seconds...

In some respect, I can't see Madonna going to anyone else as they are the only provocative female entertainers in mainstream, showing light on the lack of range in pop culture for females. As I type, i cannot think of anyone else who could be there... Brittney, Christina, Gaga (maybe)... they are all stale bread. I'm kind of satisfied that these two women of color, and Rhianna, are the "it" women of provocation and pop imagery... I'd take these three any day over Beyonce, Shakira, Mariah Carey, or Christina Aguilera.

In another respect, M.I.A. carries her flaw of acting REAL privileged and REAL down in an inconsistent way. We have Nicki with her butt-implants and doll posturing -- lending itself to another version of the Beyonce, Rhianna, Christina cyborg thing. It all kinda works, but not convincing until we are given a more complex layout of innovative and provocative pop-art, around them, that isn't derived from the overrepresented spitfire, whore, slut, model. I'm still wrapping my head around the mechanization of female bodies and the tension/conflict of the transnational culture.

Then take a look at M.I.A. "Bad Girls," another attempt at flipping the script by taking U.S. subcultural components (Bling, Hyphy, Ghost Riding) and applying it to a middle-eastern landscape. Throwing in old and dirty high end cars from the 90s adds a flex of "we broke, but not that broke cause we can still cop the gringo cars." The carrying over of U.S. created subcultures to an international audience is nothing new, as this has been happening as early as the Jazz era. The flipping is becoming a bit repetitive with the "Born Free" video following the same script. A rather novel choice of cultural isms to bring together. But all together not that impressive. I'm not that surprised that its only static items; location and clothes, that signify an "other." The only action of "other" is someone riding a horse. I can imagine mainstream kids digging the novelty of the donuts and ghost riding.

How to Make Dubstep (vid) -- smh its the end...

As cute as it wants to be, showing the "formula" for a music defines it's established stasis. It ends up sounding boring, lame, and stale. This tune is pretty much an audio version of any given youtube clip on how to make a beat... Too bad. There was some boring and lame dubstep during its rise. So maybe I'm posting due to the mainstream thing rather than the formulaic thing. I guess what I'm bothered with is that there is still good dubstep out there, just as there is still good Hip Hop, but both are overshadowed by this formulaic juggernaut of a genre cliche. Oh well... The clip below does a funny take on my sadness.

Slate Magazine: Dubstep's Breakout Year in One Info Graphic

In Tumblr fashion, Slate Magazine shares some links and jumps about Dubstep's takeover of 2011 based on MTVs infographic of how the genre did this year. It's informative and provides enough coffee table fodder for conversations amongst hipsters and sophistos.

I still am wondering how the transition took place from the old guarde of DMZ, Chef, and all them crew, to the post-Dubstep crew to the Brostep/Mainstream/Skrillex crew... I can only trace it to Dub Police's mid-range sound, then Rusko jumping ship to the Diplo camp, and Skream and Benga's natural trajectory towards mainstream formats. But it still seems that Skrillex has no ties to all this... hmmmm... 

Anyway, as much as I didn't enjoy Dubstep this year, I'd rather have had that selling me cereal and diapers than anything else... then again, there wasn't anything else besides Dubstep this year.

Brief moment of inspiration - cliche for critical thinking

RIP Heavy D - how his party rap shaped today's Hip Hop

 Heavy D was the undisputed king of "Party Rap". His work and role in Hip Hop is one of the most underrated in the genre. It was Heavy who gave us the strong use of the Hip Hop hook. His presentation, taken directly from 60s Soul groups like The Temptations, gave Diddy the template to present Biggie Smalls and the Jiggy era of 2000s Hip Hop... and if you haven't found the connection between the naming of "Heavy D" and "Biggie Smalls"... then you must stop reading, and start looking up some youtube clips.

Heavy D's presence, and the crew of Party Hip Hop - which included EPMD, Beastie Boys, Salt N' Pepa, and Kid n Play - served as the counter balance to the Hardcore, Social Conscious, and Gangsta rap that was moving in to take over. His reappropriation of being "big" and "heavy" was a key element in Hip Hop's stake as liberation music. The genre was about reappropriating the ghetto, urban, and poor aesthetic of street life... Heavy D took it upon himself to not subdue his size, but relish in it, he was the "overweight lover". This was another balance, where lyrical and party rocking skills would be the tools to equalize Slick Rick (blind in one eye), Chubb Rock, Big Pun (obsese) Biggie, Humpty Hump (ugly), and so many others, alongside brute strength and attractive looks such as LL Cool J or Big Daddy Kane. Heavy D proved that anyone can be swag. (yes, Gucci... you owe Heavy)

Musically, it was Party Rap that served as the bridge for Diddy and Suge Knight to usher in the mainstream success of Hip Hop in the 2000s. Groups such as Naughty by Nature, NWA, Cypress Hill, Onyx, and Wu Tang could not touch the commercial success of a Biggie or Tupac without the thump thump party tracks they rapped their hardcore lyrics over. It was Party Rap that helped us dance to someone like Eminem, 50 Cent, or even Clipse. The irony was that it was the overrepresented presence of these "Hip Hop Gangsta Rap" that made the genre mainstream. It was during the Party Rap era where folks were unsure Hip Hop as safe music.

And, no mainstream rapper cannot survive without Heavy D's use of the Hip Hop hook. As much as we love Heavy, it was singing "NOW THAT WE FOUND LOVE" at the club that made us rock. The tip towards 60s soul styles, and the hook, would draw the connection to the past, and bring in the new of "New Jack Swing" and "Hip Hop Soul" with Tone Tony Toni, Mary J Blige, Faith Evans, Missy Elliot, and Alicia Keys.

We owe this man big... rest in peace Mr. D.

Video of "El Freaky" and my thoughts on nu-skool sampling.

A great glimpse of the beautiful now that is taking place in Latin American DJ/Dance/Bass culture. El Freaky's take on the past and the present and future is of an overlap and constant "now" that you can see with all the wonderful sounds from Columbia, Argentina, and the U.S. (which IS a Latin American nation). Old and new are less distant, and feed into each other in a new space.

This varies quite a lot to the old school "excavation" style of 80s and 80s Hip Hop, House, Rave culture. In that era, samples were taken and placed on newer noise, riddim, and space... creating pastiche and mosaics of sound sewn together by big pieces of yarn. But now, this new vibe from Cumbia Electronica and Tropical Bass, the old is embedded into the riddim tracks, drum patterns... the mid-range synths mimic horns, and horns are manipulated (through software) to bleed into the new synths... this morphing removes the distance of the traditional sample being "on top" of a track. This next level sampling probably began, in my opinion, with Public Enemy... DJ Shadow... maybe move it onto Girl Talk or some of the nu-skool productions like Pattern (but then I'm almost feeling like I'm reaching) but its on some other thing now. Quite refreshing. Here is El Freaky bringing Latino from Oakland Hip Hop group "Los Rakas" and blending it up... Transnational Latinidad.

I'm turning 34 tomorrow - what do I think of that?

 as taken by my FB page...

A post about Huff Post Latino - its racist and stereotypical approaches will bore you, but my critique won't!!

I found this in my inbox the other day, someone who posted one of my pieces announced a great step forward for him...

I get a few reactions when projects/initiatives like this pop up. First, I tense up, 2. I get all pessimist that such a voice will poorly reflect my sense of identity as a Latino 3. I question such moves by mainstream venues to be a form of "cultural gentrification," and 4. I seriously doubt this will work. Why you ask? Its quite simple... I feel that my Latinidad is characterized by contradictions, synergies, and hybridities across dichotomous, bi-cultural, multicultural, and hybrid cultures. Yet, time and time again... we are inundated with an essentialist method of what is Latino, reminiscent of old-school race signifiers: catchphrases, topics, color schemes, cultural products, and issues, presumed as common issues across Latino populations. Whats more fun is we enjoy adapting this simplification of ourselves with no question.

Self-deceived racists of color gladly jump into the boxes media and cultural products present to us without a genuine investigation of the cultural, social, and experiential congruence of these products have to themselves, and the lives of others in their community. Immigration, family, language, and "the sleeping giant of the Hispanic vote" are all you read because all mainstream media outlets focus on these issues and nothing else. And of course, any Latino to gain the slightest of mainstream prominence is to be celebrated with t-shirts and all. Token Spanish words are sprinkled over English dominant writing.... and let me see... I figure an article on George Lopez, Shakira, Eva Longoria, Cesar Chavez, and Celia Cruz will be in order. Yet, the U.S. Census has reported that half of Latinos in this country are born here, the other half immigrated. Studies have shown the immigrant populations adapt to this country in a variety of ways that look nothing like assimilation. We are spread across very divergent geographical areas; we are made up of White, Black, Mestizo, Asian, and Native American populations;  and the number of nations that comprise "U.S. Latinos" is extremely diverse with their own histories, ethnic groups, and cultural norms. These complexities of demographic variables should immediately come to mind to any editorial board, focus group, or board meeting. I begin to wonder if editors only know these miniscule topics, or there really is a swell of interest by the Latino mainstream. Unfortunately, Huff Post Latino fails to provide anything new to the conversation. Here is a brief survey of the mundane and repetitive topics you find anywhere everywhere else...

1. Immigration:
Looking at the headlines HuffPost Latino has to offer... I am inundated with articles related to immigration, immigration reform, and deportation. Its an overrepresentation of an issue, and a strong indicator of what editors think is important to us. It smells of assumption, and partitions national issues to particular constituents, and not others. I am reminded of countless class conversations where it was only women who spoke up during topics about gender, or African Americans speaking on racism. I have a hunch that there may be Latinos with a voice at LatHuffPo. The needs and experiences of such a diverse range of Latinidades is not tied together with immigration. There are issues related to healthy, sexuality, education, social justice, that continue to be overlooked everyday. Again, immigration is an issue... but when approximately 2/3rds of a news' headlines are about one subject, would you buy the paper?

2. Can't get enough of that lame Latin Explosion from 1999... 
Another annoying piece are the rest of the articles... they fall into what I consider the "mainstream culture" category. If I were to ask you what the other articles would be about, you would be correct that they talk about "familia", "J-Lo", and food... then behold! Here they are!! You would hope for Rita Indiana or a Junot Diaz in there... but nah, its throwbacks...

3. Cultural Products:
Cause an entire hemisphere does the same thing right?

Crime of course:

Despite these stereotypical headlines, I found something of interest. Alicia Morga's "Should there be a Huff Post Latino?", draws up similar questions and concerns as I do, and Miguel Ferrer's "Piedra, Papel, y Tijera" , a reaction where he defends the merits of Huff Post Latino. Mr. Ferrer's first argument is that Latinos are undergoing a retro-acculturation process where we enjoy superficial cultural products, dance to old music, and learn a language that many of us do not speak...

Such an approach is absolutely insulting... Anyone can acquire these products, gringo, Latino, or otherwise... so how is this embracing culture? Plus, the way culture moves through this paradigm follows the old school linearity of 'assimilated - acculturated - native" stages of culture, which many writers have broken up. To be quite honest, people evolve and there are cultural products and expression in art, social media, literature, and research that have looked forward and taken these old-school cutlural signifiers to new levels. We have transnationalism teaching us intertextuality between ideas and geographies, youth who continually serve as the trendsetters and tastemakers of what Latinidad and identity can be today, and a plethora of Nu-Media social activists and writers talking to each other across the country. And whats funny is that forward thinking reframing of our culture and society was identified years ago. The biggest and strongest argument against such linear and basic ways of understanding our Latinidad continues to be "The Borderlands" by Gloria Anzaldua, which was published, back in like when??? 1987 or so??? Mr. Ferrer continues this line of thought by claiming English-dominant "Hispanics" don't rely/need their Latinidad as much as those, who I assume, are Spanish-dominant...

If this was the case, we wouldn't be struggling finding voice to begin with... and if you feel that a language barrier is the only door between us and mainstream accessibility, then you are poorly mistaken. Question is, how do you know what we need? How do you know that it is found in mainstream outlets? I don't dance when I read the paper, I don't drink Inca Cola, and I code-switch between English, Spanish, Spanglish, and Caliche... but he goes on...

Huff Post Latino claims to be different because its in English, dedicated to Latinos who do not know Spanish, and non-Latinos who do not speak Spanish. Surveying the topics presented in this publicaiton, I can find conversations on immigration in Univision, my local paper "El Tiempo Latino" and this thing. In that line of thought, then you are true to claim you are an equal partner, as your partners and contemporaries are just as stereotypical and tunnel-visioned as Huff Post Latino. And, its absolutely offensive that acquiring English is the means of "empowering" ourselves, as if we are unequal beforehand.

What this says to me is that I won't be staying long on this site, as it continues to present the stereotypes I find everywhere else.

"Punk R&B" and the silencing of Freedom- Reaction to AfroPop's "Midwest Electric: The Story of Chicago House and Detroit Techno"

Detroit Techno group - Underground Resistance

Midwest Electric: The Story of Chicago House and Detroit Techno by Afropop Worldwide

With genres like Kuduro and South African House, and the turn towards House templates for UK Funky and Future Garage in the UK, and pretty much every mainstream Black artist in the U.S. doing House music (listened to Chris Brown lately)... House and Techno is the music of inspiration right now. Afropop Worldwide does a beautiful piece on Detroit Techno and Chicago House. They draw the connections between these 80s born, 70s influenced, genres and today's Juke and Footwork movements. They tackle the notion of race and electronic dance music... bridging the two and showing these supposedly "colorblind" musics as extensions of the Afro-Music diaspora. Plus, the show connects these genres to Europe and South Africa, showing a cultural imperialism, or transnationalism, taking place.

Techno and House = Open-minded Black music

What I enjoyed most was the comments from Underground Resistance of the denial of Black roots of Techno and House, in order to accommodate the colorblind, mainstream, and white masses; juxtaposed with House's mantra of family vibes, the groove, and moving your body. I agree with UR's statement as its of utmost importance to recognize the Afro roots of the genres. I do argue that it is highly possible (and has been done) that you can create a genre that speaks to various identity groups, and still maintain an identity-specific origin, which House represents. 

 House/Techno vs. Hip Hop: Racism all over again

I also enjoyed how Hip Hop took on an adversarial role as radio stations were eaten up by national syndicates and heralded as the "new voice of Black/urban culture". Such as stance is interesting to me as we can easily compare the "future," "otherworldly," "outerspace" and "everybody come together" of Techno and House, and compare to the "represent', "my hood", "where I'm from," street journalism in Hip Hop. I would even argue that the negligence of House and Techno as legitimate members of the disaspora, and the embrace of Hip Hop, is an act of racism in which elements of the ills of society can only be spoken of by African Americans and Latinos, whereas poor people trying to escape, leave, and find a new world through otherworldly sounds are muted and ignored. We can't have poor black folks making Juan Atkins's "UFO's" because it would be a recognition of the capacity of the poor to rise, and the labor force needed to fill those jobs middle and upper class do not want to sweat for. A wonderful quote was "Techno and House are R&B gone Punk, DIY (do it yourself)... having a community to build by its own means is just a scary thought... Instead, lets celebrate the music where the artists only speak of plights and not solutions...

U.S. ignorance of its own

The last piece that caught my eye is the observation that the U.S. still does not want to embrace or acknowledge House and Techno, history and all, as part of its musical cannon. It's an irony that genres of such creativity and simple pounding groove can be highly misunderstood by its own citizens. This brings to mind the need for contradiction and complexity to eradicate stereotypes. DC Go-go, Baltimore Club, Chicago Footwork, Bay Area Hyphy, etc. are vital components to the American electronic/dance/black/urban aesthetic as they keep Hip Hop in check and complicate the functions and subject matter of people of color in direct combat against racist attempts to box in our notion of what is American. Many young folk do not know much about these genres, referring them as just Dance music made for white people. I encourage you all to take a listen and see for yourself that 4/4 beats and acid sounds, which spawned Rave and Electronic movements, are just as much ours as Hip Hop, Jazz, and Blues... its Punk R&B.

The Irony of Learning

Earlier this week, I began taking my first classes (Journalism and Editing) after 3 years of graduating with my Master's degree in Higher Education Administration. In light of the past two years of unemployment; specifically the opportunities I had to volunteer for an assortment of causes, teaching ESL, beginning a novice side hobby as a music journalist and script editor for theater, as well as a brief stint as a U.S. Census enumerator, and currently waiting for responses from the 5 Ph.D. programs I had applied to, I have this thought which I posted on FB. My limitation to this thought is that I am assuming "school" is defined by traditional buildings and places where you pay tuition, buy books, sit down, and listen to an "expert." But, the irony is there for you to think and ponder.

the irony, school is to prepare you for life, but it also takes you away from it... Are temporal moments of intense discipline and social institutionalization the appropriate means of learning? Specific subject matters yes, but what is seriously lacking is learning how to integrate this knowledge in a pluralist society... there, I said it!

My conclusion is, there are different types of schooling that occur outside of societal-christened classrooms that are not embraced or recognized as valid. What is scary is that our society emphasizes discipline-based learning with little attention paid to interdisciplinary thinking and integrated application of disciplines relative to other forms of knowledge and communities' cognition. It reminds me of somewhere I worked that preached such aspirations, but held onto hierarchal and traditional forms of leadership, communication, and organizational structure. I ended up getting laid off from this org. ha!

We have a long way to go.

My quick thoughts on MTV's True Life: I am an Albino"

True Life - MTV Shows

For once, my "man, fuck this shit!" meter wasn't as high as it usually gets with mainstream shows about Albinism. I don't watch MTV True Life series often, so I couldn't tell you if its approach is typical of other episodes, but I appreciated the large amount of airtime the three were given to explain themselves, and not a voice-over explaining what Albinism is in a medical-kinda-a-way (it eventually does later in the show). I connected strongly with the guy who went to the convention and his initial nervousness about being with so many other folks with Albinism. Overall it was as good as it can get from a commercial/MTV lens. It could have been worse.

This is the second time I've seen a white female concern herself about "passing," a topic I heard mostly among African Americans, which I find REALLL ironic. She also brings up the notion of being called "An Albino" versus "Someone with Albinism" and the implications it has on her esteem. IMO, we're screwed if you take it that way. I've been on some message boards and folks can really get into this particular topic. There may be some valid language and social identity politics at play, but as a Latino, I cannot see such discussions anywhere related in the same vein as ethnic groups going on about "Latino vs. Latin@" or "Black v. African American". In the end, uses of such terms are contextual. And, moving fluidly among these names is an act against the Eurocentric approach of rigid categorizations and psycho/social/identity segregation. I often play with the negative connotations when interacting with people, just to fuck with them a little... so no matter how I present myself, I keep in control of the naming at all times.. (oops, I gave away a secret).

I also found the lunchroom discussion quite fascinating as the African American male told Zack (the African American with Albinism) that he was shocked, and the white dudes were all "I just saw you as who you were man" SOOO much to be said right there about how this exemplifies the continued stagnation of how fucked up race issues are in 2010... As a Latino with Albinism/Albino Latino/Latino Albino (ha!), I had my share of acceptance and rejection by whites, blacks, and Latinos... too bad this wasn't explored more to show intra-group issues, and cross-group issues, and how it takes social anomalies to bring this out.

In all, its a decent episode, not the best... and not everyone has such a great ending to their lives as these folks do. Again, this calls for more exposure of Albinism, and a heightened complexity of understanding the identities of "others," which I doubt we'll see about Albinos again anytime soon.

My thoughts on the recent piece on Rosa Parks, the passing of Elizabeth Edwards and making heros in the United States in 100 words

After reading this recent piece on Rosa Parks's myth reframed to include her long work in social activism and the simplification of the legacy of Elizabeth Edwards' passing in mainstream media as "Mother", "Caring" and other singular nouns and adjectives, I'm noticing how pitiful we/media/society frame our American "Heroes." If having heroes means using small words, simplifying a person's actions to describe how great they are. Or reduce their character to a 1 positive word and remove the contradictions, faults and complexity, then I have no heroes. I'd rather admire people for being human beings than statues in a museum

Goodbye SP1200's; everyone else, get over it....

Fact magazine talks of how Technics are going to slow/stop the production of the Sp1200s.

So move on....

I understand how dope they are... I know how cool someone looks... countless pics of clubby girls behind decks smiling cause they look dope... the ugliest of people have gotten ass when sliding faders and cueing up needles for crowds... and yes rewinds and scratches are monsterous inside the mix...

but get over it...

I love the SP12's (and most turntables for that matter) ... it's one of the vessels which Hip Hop and other dance musics were created. What made them so interesting is that they gave a lesson in reappropriation, by not playing it correctly we came up with the nicest musical devices that carry on today. When Flash, Bambaataa, and Herc put these items together they were drawing from what was around them, from the technology made available, and making something out of it. They did not meander on the 'good ole days' of funk and soul where everything was done on tapes and analog machines... and that was one of the subtle ways Hip Hop was 'future' music, it dealt with the realities of the day, the present, what was around you right now and represented it in a way that no one had ever heard before.

and that is my point....

At the time when CDs, MP3s and the like starting coming through, we saw people throwing out names like "True school" "Sellouts" "Cheaters" and "real" when seeing a dJ using CDs, decks, or Serato, smothering the very reason why they were up there to begin with... to get people to bob heads, shake asses, or get in proper zones. And yes, it does feel funny that rewinds, scratches, are now generated using samples and computer programs... and finally, yes, hearing a vinyl record DOES sound different from a digital version. That warm sound is bass friendly and adds a sense of organic that digital cannot produce... but let me remind you again, were those the reasons our DJing pioneers decided to use turntables in the first place?

So...

We have built these temples based on innovation and change, and pushing things forward. But we have become victim to what we complained of our predecessors, that we moved from innovation to dogma, to doctrine... stagnating our ability to be creative. If you think the spirit of the turntable is dead, please don't fret. There are plenty of turntables out there. There are artists who stick with analogue and vinyl for their releases as that is what is tied to their craft (Digital Mystikz for instance). But what hasn't changed is the need for the oppressed, the underclass, the underserved to speak, to voice and reappropriate in their music. We see kids using cell phones and ringtones to make Kuduro beats, we see folks using free music production software making big tunes, we see folks creating scenes in DC, Chicago, Oakland, London, and so forth that are completely Do It Yourself... this is the legacy. When you place too much on technology to maintain 'realness' you are missing yourself from the equation. Technology changes, you should too...

The Hip Hop counter-revolution has begun, Let me introduce Pitchfork's "The /b/ Boys: Odd Future and the Swag Generation"

Pitchfork... as much as I want to hate them... they do bring heat. I've been talking to my friend about the death of Hip Hop and the rise of something new, something as rebellious, educational, yet absolutely bad for you at the same time... and here we go...

The backlash includes acts like Das Racist, and Die Antwoord exemplifying the piss-take against what Hip Hop has become (with maybe MF DOOM as their Godfather, and maybe even DE LA SOUL as the antecedent with "De la Soul is Dead"). There is also the rise of attention to subgenres such as "Jerk" "Hyphy" "Juke" and others as manifestations of a yearning for something else... THEN!! there is the Indie-rock/Hipster transformation of Hip Hop culture as of late (the skinny jeans massive) also signifying a sign that young youth are splintering off to find new directions and sounds... its about time that we rid ourselves of the vines and rule-sets that our rap forefathers and contemporaries have accepted...

I'm not saying the artists here represent a new phase in Hip Hop, but they sure as hell represent a serious backleash to the bullshit the genre has accumulated... to be rejected by 'indie' blogospherists tells me something. I kept wondering why bands like Little Brother, El-P, and Atmosphere really didn't grab me as much as other bands did earlier... I do love some of that indie stuff, but my favorites were acts that were on the emo side of things, as I found that talking about how badass you were, bling, or political rap became too cliche for me.

So if you read this and wonder what is going on, if you see clips and are disgusted by what you see... remind yourself of 1989 and where Rap music was then... it makes me smile to see some other shit going on... Looking forward to the future...

The /b/ Boys: Odd Future and the Swag Generation on Pitchfork found here

An open letter to all you socially conscious, just, progress, change, types… (and you chill folk too)

In the last year, I have made a strong effort to become as connected to various forms of media as possible. My google reader runs the scope from Washington Post to Alter.net and everything in between. It makes a lot of sense for me to read corporate and independent media as I consider myself to be a contributor, participant, and voyeur of society. I also consider myself a cultural critic and humanist, focusing my attention on soundsystem music as it offers a wonderful window of social commentary, artistry, and contradictions. Correlating to this quest of capturing a wide range of opinion and reporting is my circle of associates and friends who represent this wide range of social views. I find myself hanging out in sophisto circles, drinking at hipster bars, talking to cleaning ladies and drunks at the metro, and watching Redskins games with my college buddies. For many, especially cultural/nationalist/cliquish purists, my involvement in one circle may seem like I am being fake towards the other. So, how is it that I have love for a D.C. team whose logo and industry is racist? How is it that I hang with progressives who can be just as prone to being elitist and discriminatory as the conservatives and neoliberals they fight against? 
 

I rationalize these contradictions and membership in many spaces as a part of our ability to self-contradict and to good ol’ human error. Albino, Latino, American, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Capitalist, Socialist, Populist, Humanist, Progressive, Competitive, Communal, Male, Moderate, Musician, Activist, Advocate, Educator, etc all reside in me, and come up based on situation and event. And as part of a larger society with particular processes and systems, I am also coerced into acting in these ways too. There are times where I take a very liberal stance and others where I may be seen as conservative. Many times this happens not by choice but because the surrounding voices and minds navigate me to these positions.

I also understand these circles have a wide range of diversity as well. Not every progressive ‘gets it’, and not every conservative is closed minded. And the use of categories is generally quite troublesome as they carry assumptions that may not be met by everyone. Even among supposedly inclusive groups, you have those in power and those who are not. As a result, I know progressives who wish not to identify as progressives, I know feminists who do not like using that term. And ultimately, no matter what side of the spectrum you are on… if you use a category at all, you are likely to fall into the same trap as the other group in the respect that you will abide by the rules of ‘groups’, which includes membership, establishing norms, and codes. These parameters result in similar behavioral patterns of members deciding who gets in or out, what to wear, how to speak… and that my friends sounds pretty segregating to me.

And this is pretty much the reason why I am writing. In my quest to make connections and put the dots together, I pretty much see every dot acting just about the same as every other dot, across all levels of political view or makeup. Cliques, cultures, and subcultures oftentimes share a theme of membership, self-discourse, and homogeneity. I read through comments on progressive blogs and everyone tends to agree on the article. I see comments on mainstream blogs and behaviors are quite similar amongst those participants. I see similar faces in progressive events. Angry folks stick with angry folks, social justice white-guilters stick with other social justice white-guilters, sophistos hang with other sophistos.The gifts, perspectives, and contributions these groups can offer to others is often muted as they are shared with people similar to them... you go to a really cool socially conscious event and it ends up looking like preaching to the choir.

Aside- I love it when I see certain progressives, radicals, activists and blah blah... actually interact with the homeless, working-class Latino, or Black female who do not speak the collegiate and progressive movement language... the progressives like saying cool things to grab their attention and love like "revolution" only to be received with ambivalence, cause they don't speak that way, their not using such codes, and they pretty much are talking like gringos who want to get down and don't...

Obviously there are folks who do not follow ‘group’ behavior. I was pleasantly surprised the other night where I visited a happy hour in a poshy spot in Downtown DC… amongst the crowd was someone I saw from what they called an ‘activist’ circle. I also appreciate being at get-togethers comprised of a motley of people and the conversation goes terribly awkward when the views of one person doesn’t link up to another’s, breaking group-think and having folks try hurriedly to change the subject. I like the fact I have conflicts of interests in the events I participate in… tailgating with my friends at a D.C. United game, or going to a film screening about gentrification. Those moments bring the dirt from outside the house and into your living room, forcing you to wonder why the hell I walked in, and putting to question what you are gonna do about it. And it’s that urgency, that awkward tension that brings excitement to my world… I have to deal with the contradictions, I need to figure out how to include you and you in this conversation, and I want to find a way to move the dialogue and movement forward.

My recent interest in transnationalism, and my ongoing study/participation in soundsystem music provide some steps for me to move this point towards something useful and positive. In my recent quest to go back to grad school, I learned of researchers interest in decentering current understanding of society as a collection of nation-states by looking at the tides and movements of ideas shared among people. My current research in Soundsystem music follows this closely as we have unique music genres in Brazil, England, United States, Angola, and Puerto Rico connected through history, oppression, and technology. The internet has made it easier for artists to send information to each other, and artists like M.I.A. exemplify this transnational communication of dance music. Soundsystem music is a great example where technology, economics, oppression, artistry, social commentary, literature, and language converge for a beautiful whole. And a good DJ makes decisions on track selection to speak to participants, and their reactions speak back to the DJ. The ability to communicate across all walks of life is what I strive for in all my work.

So, I am sharing my observations in order for you to think about your actions and attitudes towards social change and group membership. There are times where I think it is important for people to occasionally be immersed in a homogeneous space, we need breathers and it's good to recharge our batteries. But, I have heard so many progressives/activists speak of distaste for their ‘other’, as backwards, unwilling, and evil. I find such attitudes hypocritical and ineffective. And its usually the ones with the most resentment that end up having the least capacity to communicate their ideas with others. I am not saying what they believe is wrong… but social justice based on spite and social justice based on inclusion is very different. Let us look at the wind currents that slide across nation-states rather than the borders of difference. This should not be mistaken for some melting pot thing, or ‘everyone must get along’ thing, but a question of your ability to speak to others in an effective manner that reflects a sense of humanity and empathy towards members of our community, no matter where they stand.

My letter to M.I.A. - and her beef with Lynn Hirschberg

Battle between, representation and translation, placement and boundaries, transplants and static states between M.I.A. and NY Times writer Lynn Hircshberg, and her piece profiling MIA while making her third album. Fascinating for M.I.A. being questioned, her taking it badly, and attacking another person's interpretation of her.


Dear Maya,

I do think you have to own your contradictions, and there is a place for you... just read about Latinidad, among other theories. I think you'd be more credible once you accept your placement along this fluid Post-Race, 2.0, postmodernist, 1st meets 3rd, borderlands, intersectionality, teacher/student - student/teacher aesthetic... it is a concept we have been living since Colombus first raped my mother...

I personally understand this dilemma. We are dealing with the simultaneous want to be part of a group, or to essentialize ourselves for sake of solidarity with others. Yet we carry unique differences that separate us from that group and move towards another... and when that difference likens you to features such as power and privilege, and appoints you to membership to groups that are flexing that power and privilege... we become resentful of ourselves for not being like the rest.

As interlopers between the altern and the subaltern... we carry the jewelry of the visible, and the blood and food of the invisible. We use these pieces such as record labels, the internet, blogs, English, dance music, and Diplo to translate and share rhythms, messages, ideas, and anger of the 'other'... but it is at that point we utilize these pieces is where we lose ourselves... right when you do make a polyrythtmic track with some Baile Funk... your quest is gone. My only advice to you is be in that space to the point of control. Take charge of your borderland, take hold of these features and grasp it for yourself, make power within that sphere... instead of leaving that space to accept another type of power that was not made for you.

So dont' worry Maya, you are no different from the rest of us interlopers... and its a nice place to be. Just do you and it'll feel a whole lot better.

HN.

My contention with “Do I look illegal Day” and “White-T shirt Immigration Reform Rallies”

I’m dumbfounded by some en masse actions taking place in reaction to the AZ legislation. First, there is the call for another rally on May 1st across the nation from the same folks who did it earlier this year. Now we have this ‘do I look illegal’ piece floating around FB and Twitter where individuals are asked to post on their FB statuses that very question. Both are acts to bring up solidarity, ‘raise awareness’ and other positive goals.

Both measures are mass examples of power by assembly, or a more recent trend, groupthink. What I am afraid of is a lack of individual fearlessness to really discuss and find solutions to these issues, hindering discussion that will eventually belittle progress. And, a closing in of the dialogue to harbor only on administrative actions and the ‘illegals’ themselves, with no space for identifying the missing factors in this public discourse such as human rights violations, ways to empower ourselves to deal with this issue, or questioning the economic push/pull factors created by the same legislative body we are asking to deliver us from this plight.

A problem I see in these superficial acts of solidarity is the use of temporal physical items such as T-shrits and statuses to raise awareness. It’s the classic “Are you wearing the ribbon?” thing from Seinfeld. The encouragement of White T-Shirts, the gathering of folks at the Mall, and this notion of making all of our beautiful profile pics and statuses ambiguous is a rehashing of the ‘melting pot’ all over again. These viral acts always intrigue me because in both instances, there is no real articulation of what the agenda is, and who is directing the show.

I wholeheartedly agree with a freedom of assembly, and rallies are supported when cognizant of their limited capacity. But, these are superficial covers, temporal moments, viral moments are where a true agenda is lost, and a committed agenda cannot be made. What I mean by commitment is when the participant is educated on the issue, empowered with action and interventions, and choosing to engage in this process. And how can true agenda and platforms, and views and stances be truly made when the act is only wearing a t-shirt? It’s through discourse, questioning, critical thinking, debating, contemplating, process, calling out, shouting out, feeling the different levels of privilege and hurt where ideas and innovations can come to pass. Weigh the notion that the white-t you are wearing was just bought from Target, versus the white-t worn by your friend-in-solidarity was passed to them cause the other ones were too dirty or old (or not white anymore). Its setting your status to ‘Do I look illegal” with my albino-ass profile pic next to it, and the one after has a picture of a brown-skinned black-haired person who has been racial profiled in his/her own neighborhood. It’s where you stand up to me and ask why? And where I ask you “why do you need to ask?”

Lets talk, lets debate. Tim “He’s so wise” does the same ‘temporal solidarity trick’ through his latest piece where he asks us ‘what if the Tea Party was Black”… Again we are seeing temporal, physical, and superficial techniques being applied to address a social problem. Again, I understand that these are minimal attempts to just get awareness out there… but how many times have I seen ‘awareness’ through Pink and Red Ribbons, Yellow rubber bracelets, Whtie T shirts, Swoosh signs, Golden Arches, etc etc etc… , it’s a redundant technique.

Point is, wearing these little masks, veils, shirts, colors, will not grant me the opportunity to know what its like to be undocumented, and it doesn’t eradicate the educational system and prevalent culture that continually teaches us to profile and stereotype. As a Latino who has/had family and friends without documents, I can try and pretend to know, but I really won’t. So because I wear the shirt, because, I act and look like them for 5 minutes, or for 8 hours in my FB status, will that really help? And because I DON’T look or know what it means to not have papers, do I REALLY need to resort to these makeup acts to show awareness? Truth is, if you are a rich white woman who is down, then show that you are a rich white woman who is willing to speak and act against these fascist laws. If you are a college educated Latino who went through shit and has felt the burn, and yet your college status grants you a shitload of privilege… putting on a white-t with your hermanos and hermanas doesn’t mean you get it either. Be that college educated, English-Dominant citizen and act anyway.

I found this article where I gave props to the Chief of Police Association in Arizona for expressing disagreement with the passing of the law. I gave them props because they are who they are, and they will not change who they are, but they spoke up anyway… they held their ground as law-enforcement officers. This public action and display of disagreement among law-enforcement breaks up the notion of groupthink, it will certainly create dialogue and sharing of ideas among those in uniform. Do we fear it will ‘destroy the police force as we know it?’ No we don’t… but when there is disagreement among people based on race, socioeconomic status, and so forth, we think the country is falling apart. And it is this very notion of finding allegiance through ‘group-think’ and ‘makeup’ to make us look alike is what the problem is all about… we still rely on physical attributes to group ourselves… this reminds me of racism… we should use issues, discourse, ideas, and thoughts to bind us together, to bring us closer rather than physical descriptors… that’s profiling.