Hip Hop and Classical music….
March 24th, 2006 by etobias
Do any of your students like hip hop culture? Do any of them like to play instruments? Can they enjoy both at the same time? Some students may experience a disconnect between what they view as “school music” and “their music”. When thinking about hip hop our students might not immediately think of an instrument like a violin. That is until recently with Daniel Bernard Roumain getting mainstream press. (You can also listen to an interview with Roumain from “All Things Considered” on NPR.) Hip Hop culture is all around us and Roumain has taken a natural step in infusing musical elements of hip hop with string performance. Taking a different route in fusing aspects of the hip hop aesthetic with strings, DJ Radar has been working on projects such as a concerto for turntable. Another initiative that took place in Britain, Urban Classic, brought together an orchestra, hip hop and grime artists. Besides fusing elements of hip hop and classical music together some musicians use hip hop almost as a brand name or to sell shoes for that matter. While there will always be what some people view as unsuccessful attempts at fusion with certain groups - the idea of fusing hip hop and classical music should not be dismissed.
String performers aren’t the only people fusing elements from hip hop culture with classical music. Vocalists have started to experiment with the fusion of rap and opera. I’m sure we can expect more Hip H’Operas sprouting up in the future, from the sacred to the secular. Some opera companies have even started initiatives involving students. Most of these initiatives seem to start with traditional opera adding elements of hip hop.
The work, “Domestica”, by Mike Ladd, the final work in a trilogy detailing the lives of the infesticons and majesticons in the future approaches the genre from a hip hop perspective. In “Domestica”, Ladd fuses hip hop with staged performance and a storyline that deals with issues in society, hip hop culture and the future with no spoken text except the occasional spoken narration. Everything else is rapped or sung. With a DJ spinning on stage instead of an opera orchestra, a digital set up on the side of the stage and the occasional piano playing, Ladd created a current opera but in an entirely new context.
While some music programs already have students creating original operas, the creation of an opera in a hip hop context or a fusion of the two different genres provides endless opportunities for collaboration between instrumental and general music students in our schools. Whether freestyling (improvising), creating electronic accompaniments (aka beats) for the performers to spit (rap) to, working the decks (turntables) or popping and locking (breakdancing) there are many different roles that students can play in creating an original opera in a contemporary context. Even the discussion over whether to call it an opera or a Hip H’Opera and the various issues raised in that discussion can lead to some interesting discoveries. Maybe there’s a school out there that will one day perform an original hip hop opera created by students in place of the traditional broadway musical.
With classical music having hundreds of years to develop and evolve and hip hop only a couple of decades it will be interesting to see how they continue to intertwine and morph into one another. Our students may possibly be the ones in the future pushing the boundaries of both forms and defining a new aesthetic. What is our role as music teachers in dealing with these issues?
There are several “hip hop” bands that involve classical music. The CD that i have in my player right this moment is a “popular” band i guess you could say, or better a new age band. They incorporate a few classical instruments into their songs, and it gives the music such a nice sound to it. The songs that are coming to mind include cello solos throughout the CD, and several trumpet solos. I agree with the fact that we should incorporate classical music into the new age music that is around today. The way schools are lately, there is not another way that kids are going to listen to classical music on their own. We need to sneak it into “their” music, which might even cause them to enjoy it.
I just read an article about Syracuse University professor Greg Thomas’ course about hip-hop artist Lil’ Kim and the issues of contemporary society she confonts through her music. Does anyone adress music as an agent of social change in their teaching?