Assignment # 6

Joseph Carrano
10/15/08
BLS 3085
2nd Year
The second chapter was actually very interesting, as in was in one chapter a short history of the style evolution of hip-hop as an art form. I really enjoyed reading about the very early hip-hop that came out of the Bronx in the early stages of hip-hop as, while I always loved Bambataa's work- and I used to blast "Looking for the Perfect Beat" out of my radio regularly and "The Message" was the first song I ever memorized the lyrics to-I really don't know too much more about this era beside these classics. This chapter gave me a lot to look up. At the same time I like how they delved into sampling and how while people claim hip-hop is not actually music, Hip-Hop Heads were (or are if your listening to what I listen to) exposed to a nearly infinite library of music that we would otherwise never be exposed to. I was introduced to the Delfonics when I first heard "After the Smoke is Clear" off of Ghost first solo album "Ironman" and first heard "Message From a Black Man" after it was sampled on King Geedorah's "Anti-Matter". I also liked the section that talked about the visual clarity in Illmatic, as I did not know Nas wanted to make movies, and now that I know it makes perfect sense.