Hip-Hop today is synonymous with ignorance and mindless thuggery. This is a great injustice to the genre's golden age which often rejected crime and violence in favour of individuality, common sense and having fun.
The Native Tongues collective was perhaps the most prolific embodiment of these values which have been protected in Hip-Hop to this day. The Native Tongue posse was formed in late 80's New York by The Jungle Brothers, under the guidance of Kool DJ Red Alert a prominent and well respected old school pioneer and Hip-Hop radio DJ. The collective's core groups were De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and The Jungle Brothers although other Native Tongue members included Queen Latifah, Black Sheep, Monie Love and Da Bush Babees. Many of these artists were members of the seminal Hip-Hop organisation the Zulu Nation created in the 70s by one of the founders of Hip-Hop: Afrika Bambaataa. The Native Tongues became a popular alternative to the increasingly violent and egotistical themes occurring in Hip-Hop at that time. They offered intelligent and playful rhymes backed by a wide range of musical beds. They also popularised the sampling of Jazz which reflected their sophisticated and occasionally afro-centric stance.
I know many people will be apprehensive about giving Hip-Hop a chance but when I first heard 3 Feet High and Rising I immediately fell in love with the culture. I was amazed that I had never heard of The Native Tongues or their music. I had discovered an alternative side to Hip-Hop which was an antithesis to the corrupt and dead-end messages of overtly exaggerated gangsta rap which I thought, up until then, represented Hip-Hop as a whole. Listening to the Native Tongues made me ask the same question that's at the end of De La Soul Is Dead, De La Soul's second album.
"That's it? That's all? What happened to the pimps? What happened to the guns? What happened to the curse words?"
"That's what rap music is all about........... right?"
Wrong. Maybe that's what a lot of people have been led to believe but Hip-Hop is far more diverse and has a lot more to offer than just gangsta rap.
Comments
ak618
I think the first verse off of the first song off of De La's first album, Posdnuos sums up the Native Tongues perfectly.
Difficult preaching is Posdnuos' pleasure
Pleasure and preaching starts in the heart
Something that stimulates the music in my measure
Measure in my music, raised in three parts
Casually see but don't do like the Soul
'Cause seein' and doin' are actions for monkeys
Doin' hip hop hustle, no rock and roll
Unless your name's Brewster, cause Brewsters are Punky
Parents let go 'cause there's magic in the air
Criticising rap shows you're out of order
Stop look and listen to the phrase Fred Astaires
And don't get offended while Mase do-se-do's your daughter
A tri-camera rolls since our music's now set
Fly rhymes are stored on a D.A.I.S.Y. production
It stands for "Da Inner Sound Y'all" and y'all can bet
That the action's not a trick, but showing the function