Other Music from a... Different Kitchen

"No sooner did Fela begin to develop highlife-jazz, however, than a musical tidal wave swept across Africa (as well as the African diaspora worldwide): James Brown. By the mid-1960s, James Brown was already recognized as a titan of rhythm and blues, "Soul Brother No. 1." With "Out of Sight" in 1964 and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" the following year, however, Brown took a radical turn away from traditional R&B/soul. Largely abandoning traditional song structure, Brown instead increasingly foregrounded complex, ever-changing arrangements of simple rhythmic patterns or vamps played by his razor-sharp horn and guitar sections, all over polyrhythmic foundations laid down by his drummers Clyde Stubblefield, Jabo Starks and Melvin Parker (brother of the late Columbia Law professor Kellis Parker).

Brown's famous account of the making of "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" in his autobiography is perhaps the best description of this seminal development in American popular music: "I was still called a soul singer but musically I had already gone off in a different direction. I had discovered that my strength was not in the horns, it was in the rhythm. I was hearing everything, even the guitars, like they were drums. I had found out how to make it happen."

Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis to introduce congas into Brown's band and was an inspiration behind the arrangement of many of the Brown's most rhythmically innovative compositions, such as "There Was a Time," Give It Up Or Turnit a Loose," and "Super Bad."

The result of these revolutionary musical experiments – which eventually became known as funk – at first seemed shockingly "unmusical" to many white Americans (and to some black Americans as well). In Africa, by contrast, although prompting similar incomprehension and disapproval among a few self-appointed cultural gatekeepers, James Brown's new sound almost immediately became wildly popular, and in West Africa soon began to undercut the audience for highlife.

In addition to its symbolic appeal as a newly assertive expression of black Americans' ongoing struggle for human rights (in such songs as "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud"), some musicologists have explained the African popularity of Brown's music as stemming from certain structural commonalities with traditional West African rhythmic patterns, particularly variations on the generic West African patterns known as "clave" (which are also central to Afro-Cuban and other Afro-Carribean musical styles). For Fela, the wild popularity of James Brown's music posed a significant challenge.... "

In a span of a few hours, 2,973 people were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In a span of 45 months, the number of American troops killed in Iraq has exceeded that grim toll.

The milestone in Iraq came on Christmas, nearly four years after the war began, according to a count by The Associated Press.

President Bush has said the Iraq war is part of the United States' post-Sept. 11 approach to threats abroad: Taking the offensive against enemies before they could harm Americans.

There has not been any credible evidence linking Iraq to the Sept. 11 attacks.

"The president believes that every life is precious and he grieves for each one that is lost," deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said Tuesday. "The hardest decision the president has ever made has been to send our young men and women in uniform into harm's way.

"The president will ensure that their sacrifice was not made in vain."

Many enlisted because they felt it was a way to battle international terrorism in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Jonathan Lootens, from upstate New York, joined the Army, telling family members: "This is something I have to do."

The 25-year-old sergeant was killed during his second tour of duty when a roadside bomb went off near his vehicle in the city of Kirkuk. His father says more than enough Americans have died in the conflict.

"I want the boys to come home, you know," Lootens said. "Personally, I can't see where we're really accomplishing anything over there anymore."

"A new documentary by 36-year-old filmmaker Byron Hurt, “Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes,” questions the violence, degradation of women and homophobia in much of rap music.

Scheduled to go on the air in February as part of the PBS series Independent Lens, the documentary is being shown now at high schools, colleges and Boy’s Clubs, and in other forums, as part of an unusual public campaign sponsored by the Independent Television Service, which is based in San Francisco and helped finance the film.

The intended audiences include young fans, hip-hop artists and music industry executives — black and white — who profit from music and videos that glorify swagger and luxury, portray women as sex objects, and imply, critics say, that education and hard work are for suckers and sissies.

What concerns Mr. Hurt and many black scholars is the domination of the hip-hop market by more violent and sexually demeaning songs and videos — an ascendancy, the critics say, that has coincided with the growth of the white audience for rap and the growing role of large corporations in marketing the music." (click here for more)

On the web:

James Brown - MySpace Pages | website | Buy the Sex Machine album

Hip Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes - website

"So let me see if I have this straight: We invaded a country for whatever reason du jour (WMDs, Saddam an evil dictator, 9/11, terrorists, etc.), without the people at the top having the foreknowledge of the history of the area or the difference between various Muslim sects, took out the relatively secular (although admittedly dictator-based) government in favor of a far more Islamic (but democratically elected) government and continued to occupy said country, fighting in some cases FOR the Shia (being assisted by our sworn enemies, Iran) and against the insurgent Sunnis (that our allies, the Saudis, support). Have I got that right?

Anyone else thinking that the people in charge do not know their ass from their elbow? Feel safer in that "War on Terror"?"

"What can you say about bling? It’s loud, it’s flashy, it’s expensive—but most of all, bling has to be seen to be believed. And so connoisseurs Reggie Osse and Gabriel Tolliver bring you Bling: The Hip Hop Jewelry Book, a stunning collection of the wildest and the brightest in outlandish jewels. Bling is the decisive showcase of all things bling, a lavishly illustrated look at this hugely influential cultural phenomenon. From $100,000 gold and diamond covered pistols to platinum teeth to jewel-encrusted goblets (aka “pimp cups”), if it’s out there, it’s in here." (click here to read more)