Hip Hop News That Isn't About Dumb Sh*t - Week of Dec. 9, 2024

[00:00:00] I Am Brother Cornel West And This Is If I Can Save America

[00:00:32] For The Live Stream On YouTube.

[00:00:35] So I'm now doing video interviews pretty much primarily.

[00:00:38] We air them on the live stream, but then I also rip the audio and deliver it here on the podcast feed.

[00:00:44] Now, if you're not watching the live stream show, that means you get the interviews that you've been getting for the past several years, and that's great.

[00:00:50] But it also means if you're not watching the live stream show that you're missing out on, you know, a good amount of other things that I do on the live stream show.

[00:00:58] Part of which is to often talk a little bit more in detail about the news stories that I share on the newsletter.

[00:01:05] Now, maybe you're getting the newsletter and you see those stories, so you're getting all this.

[00:01:09] But if you're not, if you're not digging into the newsletter every week, which you can get for free at MannyFaces.Substack.com

[00:01:15] and you're not watching necessarily the live stream, either when I air live on Mondays at 9 p.m. Eastern,

[00:01:20] or watching it on replay on YouTube at YouTube.com slash Manny Faces,

[00:01:25] I thought maybe y'all listening to the audio feed don't necessarily always get to either of those other outlets.

[00:01:31] You're used to hearing the audio, maybe you're in a car, you're driving.

[00:01:35] And I thought I would share with you excerpts from the live stream, interviews, of course,

[00:01:40] but also when I go into this segment of what I like to call hip hop news that isn't about dumbish.

[00:01:45] And I speak a little bit more in detail about either the stories that we're presenting in the newsletter

[00:01:50] or other things that are happening in and around hip hop music and culture outside of just entertainment or gossip or the salaciousness

[00:01:57] or, you know, all the things you might hear about on a day to day basis.

[00:02:00] So with that in mind, I'm going to take a chunk from the live stream show.

[00:02:04] I'm going to drop it on the pod.

[00:02:06] I'm going to look at the numbers.

[00:02:07] I'm going to see if you guys mess with it or not.

[00:02:08] I'm going to look for emails at manny at mannyfaces.com.

[00:02:11] Now, if you to tell me that you dig this, you don't dig this many know, please just give me interviews.

[00:02:15] I don't have time to I don't want my feed all feeded with all these other things.

[00:02:19] But, you know, not for nothing.

[00:02:21] There's some cool information to be shared, and I think it behooves us all to get it any way we can.

[00:02:27] It's usually inspiring stuff.

[00:02:28] It's innovative hip hop news.

[00:02:30] It's it's news about hip hop being used in ways that can uplift humanity.

[00:02:34] And, you know, that's what this mission here and all my work is really about.

[00:02:37] So I figured we'd try it out.

[00:02:38] You let me know.

[00:02:39] And now we'll have just another way to access all the great stuff that I'm trying to compile and share to folks like you.

[00:02:46] So thank you for your time.

[00:02:47] It's always an honor and a privilege to have me in your eardrums.

[00:02:50] And I just want to find ways to share all this stuff where you are.

[00:02:53] And again, maybe you're not watching the live stream every Monday, 9 p.m.

[00:02:56] Eastern on YouTube.

[00:02:57] Maybe you're not checking, you know, the nitty gritty, the nuts and bolts of the free newsletter at mannyfaces.substack.com.

[00:03:03] And you're just an audio pod feed listener and you want a little bit more from your man, Manny Faces.

[00:03:08] So that's what I'm doing.

[00:03:10] Let's see how it works.

[00:03:10] Peace and love.

[00:03:11] Let's get into it.

[00:03:12] This is the hip hop news.

[00:03:14] It isn't about dumb ish segment from the live stream podcast, which aired on December 9th, 2024.

[00:03:21] And if you like what you hear, come join us live.

[00:03:24] Come on YouTube every Monday night, 9 p.m.

[00:03:27] Eastern YouTube dot com slash Manny Faces or just go to hip hop can save America dot com for all of the episodes, information, links, anything you need.

[00:03:36] All right, let's go.

[00:03:39] And I just want to talk about some items in the newsletter.

[00:03:42] I can take you there right now.

[00:03:44] Look, the last three, which I talk about here in the newsletter, the last three episodes are really interesting.

[00:03:50] Let's just recap real quick.

[00:03:51] First, I spoke with Dr. James Norris about using hip hop as therapy, including the launch of a new initiative, Rhythms of Healing and his hip hop therapy certificate program.

[00:04:02] This is for practitioners, teachers, counselors and more.

[00:04:05] What I loved about this interview is that we talked about hip hop as a as therapy.

[00:04:13] Now, we've seen hip hop being incorporated as therapy or merged with traditional therapeutic practices by some of our wonderful friends, Dr.

[00:04:23] Rafael Travis, Dr. Ian Levy, J.C.

[00:04:26] So many people that use hip hop as part of their school counseling or mental health therapy sessions.

[00:04:31] And Dr. Norris has an interesting approach because two things.

[00:04:35] Number one, he talks about hip hop as therapy, not as a tool for therapy, like by itself in of itself.

[00:04:43] We said matter of fact, since we're doing stuff on the fly and you know, we're making things work the way we can.

[00:04:52] And I'm going to see if I can get funky here. And I think I didn't have a short. I did have a short.

[00:04:59] Let's see if we could play this. Hopefully you hear this.

[00:05:01] A lot of folks use hip hop to connect, to different use it to connect to, you know, different cultures or bring folks into educational spaces.

[00:05:09] But you said there's a difference between connection and healing and the healing thing is something that has to be explored and utilized more often.

[00:05:16] So explain that.

[00:05:17] Yeah. So just in my research and my work and my engagement with hip hop my whole life and not necessarily as an artist, but hip hop has just been a part of what I've consumed, you know, my whole life.

[00:05:30] And along with the research and what I found is many folk, which I think is important to is using hip hop to connect or as an intervention alongside of kind of other approaches.

[00:05:43] Right. Right. And what what I'm suggesting is that hip hop alone is its own healing property. Right.

[00:05:50] In of itself. In of itself.

[00:05:53] So there you have an idea of what he's talking about. Hip hop as therapy, but also also what I loved about his program and his his approach, which is different than a lot of others, is that it's not youth oriented.

[00:06:03] It actually talks about using hip hop as therapy for grown folk. Right.

[00:06:08] For grown ups, for us. And one of the great takeaways from his conversation, the conversation with him was that as grown ups trying to deal with young people with their issues.

[00:06:21] If we haven't taken care of our issues, then it's very difficult to to do that because we haven't dealt with our trauma.

[00:06:29] So if we can accept that hip hop is a great tool for use in therapeutic sessions for young people, which we have plenty of evidence for.

[00:06:37] Again, I've talked to a bunch of people on the show. They're well represented in the field.

[00:06:42] There's real authentic ways of of incorporating hip hop into mental health therapy that exists.

[00:06:48] If we can acknowledge that it exists for young people, we can also now say, hey, wait a minute.

[00:06:54] That could actually we're old or older, but we're of hip hop. We're of the hip hop generation.

[00:07:00] Many of us identify as hip hop, you know, as part of our culture.

[00:07:04] And even if you don't.

[00:07:07] OK, the thing about hip hop, which I'm trying to now get across to everybody, is not only does it present actual tangible ways to connect with people.

[00:07:18] Obviously, if you have a common ground, if you have a middle ground, if you can connect via the music and the culture and we have some common ground might be older, you might be younger, but we both, you know, vibe to dope beats like it's something that we can connect with.

[00:07:31] Cool. But if you're outside of the culture, you don't have to know hip hop.

[00:07:36] You don't have to like hip hop. This is what I'm trying to say, Bob, when I talk about connecting with people politically, it's not just tying in.

[00:07:42] It's not just connecting to their to their inherent hip hopness.

[00:07:46] It's using the the ways of communicating that hip hop has pioneered.

[00:07:52] You feel me? So what we're not talking about is directly like, hey, let's let's talk about these rap songs together.

[00:07:59] We're talking about that's one aspect of it. The other aspect of is that hip hop has pioneered these ways of communicating that, yes, a lot of times do incorporate itself into itself, but also can do this with anything.

[00:08:13] It's just a way of of finding ways to remix and reinvent ways of looking at a thing, whether it's problem solving in business.

[00:08:23] Doesn't have to be a hip hop business doesn't have to be a hip hop solution, but it's a way of seeing that problem and somehow just incorporating a different mindset, which presents a solution in a different way.

[00:08:37] So we're seeing that in therapy. It's a great conversation with James Norris.

[00:08:41] So please go back and check that out as well. And as you can see here, also the hip hop at Howard University, the discussion I talked about before you can my interview with Mesia Clark, Dr.

[00:08:54] Clark and Dr. Roger Carruth of the Howard University.

[00:08:57] They do talk about the conference, which happened already, but they really talk about the hip hop degree program in the university.

[00:09:04] And and I just think it's a great insight as to yes, Bob, not only a destination, but also a path.

[00:09:12] That's that's very that's a very good way of putting it. I think it's it's it's it's a methodology. Right.

[00:09:17] Not just a destination, but a methodology. Right. Not just the tools, but, you know, sort of the ethos. Right.

[00:09:25] Right. So, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Peace to Emil YX. What up, brother? In the building.

[00:09:31] And also the last of the three recent episodes, which I might have missed, were available here as a video, also available as an audio podcast is with Loyola University out in New Orleans, which I love, man.

[00:09:44] I love New Orleans. We talked about it in this interview. But my man, my mellow professor Rainey Antoine Jr., a really good episode which talked about their degree program.

[00:09:54] So, again, so if you look at Howard's new minor degree program, it's hip hop studies. Right.

[00:09:59] So it's again, it's the it's a little bit more than just the music. It's a it's the cultural aspect.

[00:10:03] It's a sociological, anthropological ways of doing things. Emil, by the way, Emil YX in the chat, by the way, if you don't know who he is, follow him for the international and also, again, educational anti-colonialism way of incorporating hip hop into the lives and livelihoods and communities of folks for betterment, for their greater good.

[00:10:23] He has written 17,000 books. I'm just writing one book. I just I have one book that's not even like out yet.

[00:10:32] And in it's taken me 900 years and Emil's written 730,922 books. So please check out Emil if you don't know who he is.

[00:10:42] We'll have him on the show. It's long overdue, even though this is a nationally focused Emil works.

[00:10:48] He's from South Africa. He works internationally. But obviously, many of the lessons that he's teaching the world need to be brought back home, as it were, to America.

[00:10:56] So Emil, I see you. I appreciate you. And it is going to be long worth well worth the wait.

[00:11:03] That being said, again, Loyola University's Bachelor of Science in Hip Hop and R&B program is sort of a performance artistry.

[00:11:11] They talk about artist development. They talk about it's a music program. It's a music school.

[00:11:16] Shouts to Loyola for incorporating hip hop into their program.

[00:11:20] Fun fact, fun fact, I interviewed for this job and didn't get the job.

[00:11:27] But Rainey Antoine Jr. did. And I'm very happy that he did because he's very, very well suited for this.

[00:11:33] It's a great interview about what they're doing at Loyola University.

[00:11:36] So there is an academic twist to some of the last few interviews, but they're they're really important for not just academics,

[00:11:44] for people who are trying to that I'm trying to get through to this idea that it's not just obviously it's not just the music,

[00:11:51] like hip hop bigger than music, but it's also like like Bob said, like a path methodology, a way to see the world and fix problems.

[00:12:00] That's what hip hop can save America is about.

[00:12:02] So we give you a lot of examples of how this is being done in real life and and folks that are doing that work specifically.

[00:12:09] And then at some point you're going to say, oh, my God, I can see how this is working or I can work this in my lane, whatever that might be.

[00:12:22] And so that's kind of the lessons we're trying to, you know, trying to share with everyone.

[00:12:28] Jennifer, yes, I have a book. I have a book deal.

[00:12:31] It's I'm just waiting for some final words.

[00:12:33] The book's been submitted.

[00:12:35] It needs to be like looked at, smack, flipped and rubbed down.

[00:12:39] And we'll see what's going on for anyone watching.

[00:12:41] My camera's gone. So we're just going to keep looking.

[00:12:43] I want you to notice that, again, this is the newsletter that I send out.

[00:12:47] It's at HIPAA. It's called Hip Hop Save America.

[00:12:49] The newsletter it's at many faces dot sub stack dot com.

[00:12:53] Please, please.

[00:12:54] It's a free subscription, although you can contribute there to this movement of mine.

[00:13:00] And believe me, every dime helps.

[00:13:02] And I do have some supporters in the room.

[00:13:04] I know Andrew's here.

[00:13:05] I know some folks that actually contribute to the Patreon page and or this thing.

[00:13:09] I haven't even asked.

[00:13:10] I'm not very good at asking.

[00:13:12] But believe me, I could just be doing stories about Jay-Z and I'd get paid.

[00:13:18] So the fact that I'm here doing stories about hip hop culture and all these other wonderful applications,

[00:13:23] they don't pay you for this.

[00:13:25] They just don't.

[00:13:25] They won't.

[00:13:26] I'm working on some things.

[00:13:27] I'm working on some grants.

[00:13:28] I'm working on some things.

[00:13:29] But you can help support.

[00:13:31] support.

[00:13:31] So just real quick, you can just go to patreon dot com slash many faces.

[00:13:36] Andrew, don't remind me that I'm missing a Knicks game.

[00:13:38] I'm going to do the service that I'm here to do.

[00:13:40] Damn it.

[00:13:41] But go Knicks all day.

[00:13:43] So again, this newsletter that you can get for free, many faces dot sub stack dot com.

[00:13:47] I share all of this stuff.

[00:13:49] So if you don't know where the next hip hop academic conference is, it's going to be listed there.

[00:13:54] I know them all.

[00:13:55] They're going to be listed there.

[00:13:57] There's one coming up.

[00:13:58] Oh, I just just announced today.

[00:13:59] I heard about it today.

[00:14:00] Ohio State, the Ohio State University Hip Hop Literacies Conference.

[00:14:04] Shouts to Dr. E, Dr. Elaine Richardson.

[00:14:06] That's coming up in March 2025.

[00:14:09] Hip hop feminisms.

[00:14:11] A whole look at hip hop feminisms.

[00:14:13] That's the name of feminisms, plural.

[00:14:15] So again, a great academic space.

[00:14:18] You don't have to be an academic.

[00:14:19] Again, we want you to take what the academics is.

[00:14:22] The academic space has been, you know, sort of more mature than some of these other spaces, these intersectional spaces.

[00:14:28] But go there.

[00:14:29] Be inspired.

[00:14:30] Listen to people who are doing it in different areas of life and then apply it to how you can enhance your way of life.

[00:14:37] It's wonderful.

[00:14:37] I'm sure Jay Rawls, Dr. Jay Rawls will be there.

[00:14:41] Dr. Richardson is an OG.

[00:14:43] All right.

[00:14:44] So we give all respect and love to Dr. Elaine Richardson.

[00:14:47] Dr. E, as she is affectionately known.

[00:14:49] The Hip Hop Literacies Conference has been going on for a long time.

[00:14:52] I'll cut to the chase here.

[00:14:54] There's a call for papers, a call for proposals.

[00:14:57] It's by January 15th.

[00:15:00] Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[00:15:00] It's in the newsletter.

[00:15:01] So if you go to mannyfaces.substack.com, if you don't already get my newsletter, it's in your email box if you do.

[00:15:06] If you don't, just go to mannyfaces.substack.com and you'll see the latest episode.

[00:15:11] Subscribe for the other ones and then you'll get all this information.

[00:15:14] I'll run through a quick couple of stories that were on that and then we'll get out of here since we're at a, you know, technologically tough.

[00:15:24] I did.

[00:15:24] Did I say the, the Ohio State University?

[00:15:26] By the way, fun fact, my dad, who was a sociology professor and taught at Rutgers University for a long time and then the SUNY Old Westbury on Long Island where I grew up, was also a professor at the Ohio State University.

[00:15:39] So I have love for the Buckeyes.

[00:15:41] All right, listen.

[00:15:42] Yeah, so shout out to Dr. Jay Rawls who is professor of hip hop at the Ohio State University and he was on this show.

[00:15:49] So again, I got them all, baby.

[00:15:51] If you doing it, I talk to them.

[00:15:52] You can find his, I'm not going to look for it now, but you can find his episode on the podcast feed and also here on the video feed.

[00:16:00] So go back at YouTube videos and blah, blah.

[00:16:02] By the way, give a thumbs up.

[00:16:03] I know this, you know, you can't see my gorgeous face, but I'm still giving you good information.

[00:16:07] Give me a thumbs up.

[00:16:08] Give it a share.

[00:16:09] Make sure you're subscribed.

[00:16:10] We want to keep building this thing up.

[00:16:11] I know I've been gone for a couple of weeks.

[00:16:13] Obviously the rust and the technical difficulties, but we will come into 2025 roaring back on schedule.

[00:16:20] So, what was I saying?

[00:16:23] So some of the news that we focused on in this episode, just a couple would touch on.

[00:16:27] So obviously a couple of stories I want you to know about that you can follow up on.

[00:16:31] We did have a lot of RIPs in this and I haven't done a newsletter in, you know, again, in some time.

[00:16:37] Unfortunately, we had some RIPs.

[00:16:38] You know of them.

[00:16:39] Brownsville Ka, a great lyricist, great MC out of Brooklyn, New York, who I covered years ago when I was running Birthplace Magazine,

[00:16:47] when I was covering New York music and culture in New York.

[00:16:51] Ka passed away.

[00:16:53] Just a great body of work.

[00:16:54] Didn't release that often, but when he did, it was a, you know, iconic monumental release.

[00:17:00] Great wordsmith.

[00:17:01] Passed away recently.

[00:17:03] DJ Clark Kent, of course, a great pioneering DJ and did so much for the culture producing and bringing people into the fold.

[00:17:11] Passed away.

[00:17:12] A Saphir, West Coast MC, legendary dude as well.

[00:17:17] Passed away.

[00:17:18] TJ Swan, who sang on All My Records, was obviously part of the Juice Crew out of New York.

[00:17:24] Sang on Bismarck E songs.

[00:17:26] Sang on Juice Crew records.

[00:17:29] Again, a very well-known member of the artistic community in hip-hop, particularly out of the New York scene.

[00:17:35] And, you know, as we're getting, as hip-hop itself reaches 60, is sixth decade, and maybe many of its early practitioners are now in their 50s and 60s and some 70s.

[00:17:43] We're going to see more of this, unfortunately.

[00:17:45] So let's try to give flowers when they're here.

[00:17:48] But as they've passed away, let's also give a respect due.

[00:17:53] So I've linked a few, what I think are the better articles, representing each one of those folks who have passed.

[00:17:59] The second item on this list is that if you haven't stopped to watch Dochi's recent performances, just stop playing and watch Dochi on Stephen Colbert or on NPR's Tiny Desk.

[00:18:11] Dochi's making a ton of noise right now.

[00:18:14] If you haven't had time to watch Dochi, her performances are fantastic.

[00:18:19] Her album, it's not really an album, it's called a mixtape, but her mixtape, Alligator Bites Don't Heal, is just a great body of work.

[00:18:30] Everyone's kind of getting up on her now.

[00:18:32] Been talking about her for a couple years, certainly for months and months and months.

[00:18:36] Personally, you know, please understand that there's a wide spectrum of hip-hop.

[00:18:41] So that goes for whatever, I don't know, classifications or categories you want to focus on.

[00:18:47] If you want to talk about women MCs and separate them for some reason from the rest of MCs, fine.

[00:18:54] But do note that just for, you know, there's a wide spectrum of women MCs that are doing great work.

[00:19:01] Dochi is just one of many.

[00:19:02] So if you're just tuned in to Dochi and you're like, oh my God, finally, you know, a woman MC that does, you know, hip-hop that I enjoy.

[00:19:11] You're, don't sleep on Rhapsody.

[00:19:13] Don't sleep on Saw Rock.

[00:19:14] Don't sleep on, you know, Tiarawak.

[00:19:17] Don't sleep on Lady London, who's up at Howard University.

[00:19:19] Don't sleep on Little Sims.

[00:19:21] Don't sleep on just Lickie Lee 47.

[00:19:25] Like, don't sleep.

[00:19:26] Don't sleep.

[00:19:26] Don't think because you just caught up with the mainstream, you know, that that's the only one.

[00:19:31] But that being said, please give Dochi her flowers and give her her love.

[00:19:35] She's doing really incredible work and I'm very happy to see her succeeding and getting on these platforms like Stephen Colbert, Tiny Desk.

[00:19:41] I shared those links.

[00:19:43] If you haven't, peace to Jen.

[00:19:45] Thank you for checking in.

[00:19:46] We're done soon, but I just will follow.

[00:19:49] And just thanks for coming.

[00:19:50] You know, some first timers and please come back next Monday, 9 p.m.

[00:19:53] I'll have all the technical difficulties worked out and we'll have more cool stuff like this.

[00:19:58] Hey, hip hop and anime is a really cool intersection that a lot of people mess with.

[00:20:03] And we did a story.

[00:20:04] We did a story.

[00:20:05] We linked to a story.

[00:20:07] 20 years of Samurai Champloo, the best hip hop anime ever made.

[00:20:11] So again, intersections, a great story on this.

[00:20:14] You know, I'm not totally into anime.

[00:20:17] My son has put me on to a bunch of things.

[00:20:19] He's an anime head.

[00:20:20] And then when I told him about this story, he got mad at himself for not mentioning Samurai Champloo to me.

[00:20:28] So, hey, you're a hip hop head.

[00:20:30] You want to get into anime?

[00:20:31] You want to test the waters?

[00:20:32] It's apparently a good vibe.

[00:20:34] So check it out.

[00:20:35] I did a story about Gucci Mane using an entire symphony orchestra.

[00:20:39] Gucci Mane from Atlanta.

[00:20:42] Trap music, you know, legend, right?

[00:20:46] He's been doing trap music.

[00:20:47] He's been doing, you know, this is an Atlanta Journal constitution.

[00:20:51] So they paywall most of the story.

[00:20:53] But it's just interesting to see.

[00:20:55] Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane performs The Road to 1017, a musical collaboration with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra at Atlanta Symphony Hall.

[00:21:03] We've seen a lot of this happening.

[00:21:05] We've seen, I've seen Pharoah Mons do it, I don't know, eight, ten years ago almost.

[00:21:09] We've seen Nas at the Kennedy Center with a full orchestra.

[00:21:13] We've seen Jeezy with a full orchestra.

[00:21:15] We've seen, I think, Rakim with an orchestra.

[00:21:19] Jadakiss, as Andrew Wang picks up, from Tim's to Tuxedos or something like that, you know, did a show.

[00:21:25] So we're seeing rap incorporated with orchestral backing.

[00:21:29] So it's super dope.

[00:21:31] It's great.

[00:21:31] It's not new.

[00:21:32] It's not surprising.

[00:21:33] And it's not gimmicky.

[00:21:35] It's something that, obviously, if you're doing music and you're doing original creations or you're doing sampling, any type of music can be brought to full instrumentation.

[00:21:46] And I like it.

[00:21:47] I got to tell you, I really like when it happens.

[00:21:49] So keep an eye out for these kind of collaborations.

[00:21:52] They're happening more and more.

[00:21:54] As I'd like to try to make sure that we cover different generations as well as different elements of hip-hop, we noted a story.

[00:22:03] We, me.

[00:22:04] I noted a story in The New Yorker, a Bronx family album from hip-hop's early days.

[00:22:09] Puerto Rican photographer Ricky Flores capturing the parties and people that helped shape his teenage years.

[00:22:14] So this is a really cool.

[00:22:16] Another photographer.

[00:22:17] Shouts to the OG photographers from New York City that caught the early days of hip-hop.

[00:22:21] Shouts to our friend Joe Konzo, our friends Ernie Panacoli, Jamel Shabazz, you know, all the great early hip-hop photographers.

[00:22:31] Yeah, Farrell Mons did a great one in New York a bunch of years back.

[00:22:35] He's worked with the Pitch Black Brass Band, which I wrote about years ago, Andrew.

[00:22:41] The Pitch Black Brass Band.

[00:22:43] I don't know if they're still recording, but they came out with a couple of really good projects and great live performances.

[00:22:47] The Brass Band that, you know, incorporates hip-hop into the mix.

[00:22:51] Of course, you got the Soul Rebels out of New Orleans.

[00:22:53] A lot of people using, you know, orchestration and hip-hop.

[00:22:56] Anyway, Flores has a slew of imagery from, you know, the days that hip-hop was coming up in 1970s.

[00:23:04] Obviously, a lot of, as you see there, some of the, you know, the Bronx burning imagery that was, you know, storied.

[00:23:12] But at the time, and just, you know, we value these collections as we're hip-hop heads.

[00:23:18] We love to see imagery from the, here's obviously we're talking about Cool Herc, Joe Konzo, and Tony Tone,

[00:23:25] and some of the Black and Latino groups coming together in the Bronx to really make, you know, the early days of hip-hop coalesce.

[00:23:36] So that was really cool.

[00:23:37] Just if you're looking for visuals.

[00:23:40] Story about Peabody Conservatory.

[00:23:42] They're down with Johns Hopkins.

[00:23:43] They also have a Bachelor of Music and Hip-Hop degree program that they launched.

[00:23:47] So that's pretty cool.

[00:23:47] I think that they say theirs is the first in the country.

[00:23:50] And then, of course, we talked about Loyola.

[00:23:52] It's semantics.

[00:23:53] Loyola was first as a full Bachelor of Science in hip-hop degree program.

[00:23:59] Peabody Conservatory has launched a Bachelor of Music.

[00:24:03] So it's not the first hip-hop undergrad degree, but it's the first Bachelor of Music as opposed to a Bachelor of Science.

[00:24:10] That being said, Shouse and Wendell Patrick up there at the Peabody Institute.

[00:24:14] Trying to get him on the show to talk about the program.

[00:24:16] It's very cool.

[00:24:18] It, again, shows hip-hop and academia being done sort of like in a way that we want because we want practitioners.

[00:24:24] We want people that have been doing this music to be at the helm.

[00:24:28] We talked about that in the interview with Rainey, Antoine Jr., professor at Loyola, about him going to Loyola as a student and then not finding the – found a great music program, great music business, like great coursework, great teachers.

[00:24:45] But when it came to producing and making hip-hop and R&B, one of the things he said in the interview, again, with Rainey, Antoine, one of the things that he pointed out was that the – they didn't quite – he was asking, like, he wanted to make his, like, 808 drums.

[00:25:01] The big, you know, deep boom bass drum sound.

[00:25:05] Like, you know, mix it in a way that, you know, it's tweaked so that it's hitting.

[00:25:09] It's hitting hard, like the music he's listening to on the radio, the music he wants to make.

[00:25:13] He's like, I want to tweak the 808s to make them really punch, like, you know, like you hear in professionally mastered stuff.

[00:25:18] And one of the professors just said, hey, just use a bass guitar.

[00:25:25] And he's like, wait, what?

[00:25:27] Like – and then where, you know, at the time, I think, you know, T-Pain was going crazy on the radio with songs.

[00:25:33] And, of course, T-Pain is known for his use of autotune, which is this technological way to adapt singing, you know, vocals.

[00:25:40] It's computerized.

[00:25:41] You know, we know what autotune is.

[00:25:43] You know what it is.

[00:25:44] And one of the professors said, well, if the artist you're working with has to use autotune, they can't sing.

[00:25:50] So don't work with them.

[00:25:52] And he's like, wait a minute.

[00:25:53] Like, that's a very, like, elitist way of – like, this is the music of the day.

[00:25:59] This is the contemporary hip-hop and R&B.

[00:26:01] And I'm making it.

[00:26:02] And I need to know how to use autotune.

[00:26:04] Like, it's part of the toolkit.

[00:26:05] Like, don't tell me we don't have that option.

[00:26:08] And that was something that helped him actually start the program at Loyola.

[00:26:14] To say, you know, we need, you know, some producers that actually make this music so that people who do hip-hop and R&B would feel welcome coming into Loyola.

[00:26:24] So that's what that conversation was about.

[00:26:27] So really dope, you know, story about Peabody's undergrad degree, tying that into Loyola.

[00:26:34] And again, tying this into the fact that, listen, I don't have a degree.

[00:26:41] But if you don't think I'm qualified to teach a hip-hop history or a sociology of hip-hop or hip-hop and social justice or hip-hop and, you know, and podcasting, which I lecture on, or hip-hop and technology or, you know, hip-hop media.

[00:26:55] Like, I'm just as qualified as anybody else.

[00:26:58] But I don't have a degree, so sometimes I don't get that look.

[00:27:01] And once again, shouts to Loyola, who did actually, I was on the shirtless.

[00:27:04] They interviewed me.

[00:27:05] And they have hired people that don't necessarily have the academic credentials, but they are practitioners and they have a body of knowledge.

[00:27:12] They are what Ben Ortiz, the curator of the Cornell University hip-hop collection, called organic intellectuals.

[00:27:21] We're organic.

[00:27:22] I'm an independent scholar.

[00:27:24] I wish you could see my face when my cameras aren't working.

[00:27:27] I'm looking at you like, damn it, hire me.

[00:27:29] You can hire me.

[00:27:31] Shit.

[00:27:32] Right?

[00:27:32] We're just as qualified.

[00:27:33] And so what I'd like to see is the Rainy Antwans, the Wendell Patricks, the Ninth Wonders, who are brought into these spaces, these academic institutions that they'll use hip-hop, they'll use hip-hop, but they won't be hip-hop.

[00:27:46] Shouts to Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, who gave me that quote.

[00:27:49] She doesn't want teachers to use hip-hop.

[00:27:52] She wants teachers to be hip-hop.

[00:27:54] So anyway, stories like that.

[00:27:56] A great interview with Diggable Planets.

[00:27:58] A great interview with Debbie Deb, freestyle legend, who you might not know.

[00:28:03] Deb, but you will know if you listen to Squabble Up by Kendrick Lamar.

[00:28:08] She's the singing voice that was sampled in that song, but she was a freestyle singer from back in the, I guess, 80s.

[00:28:15] And super dope.

[00:28:16] Like, everyone, like, she has a legacy in music.

[00:28:18] And so she's being brought back to life.

[00:28:20] Another good example of how sampling music can actually breathe new life into old artists and their catalogs and their legacies.

[00:28:28] So a story with that.

[00:28:30] A story on the Indigenous rap group there.

[00:28:33] Indigenous, I guess, First Nations Canadian group.

[00:28:36] Snotty Nose Rez Kids.

[00:28:37] They are performing at Toronto's Opera House.

[00:28:41] So again, we're seeing hip-hop from different areas that you might not, you're not going to hear any of these stories on your hip-hop media.

[00:28:48] You're not going to hear any of these stories on mainstream news.

[00:28:51] But I bring them to you in this newsletter.

[00:28:53] We have Pharrell talking about hip-hop and fashion.

[00:28:57] Connecticut organization called Hip-Hop for the Homeless, which does a yearly concert series to raise money to fight homelessness.

[00:29:04] In Connecticut, so I gave them some props.

[00:29:07] That was a local news story.

[00:29:08] Let's watch it real quick.

[00:29:09] It's a short story.

[00:29:10] This is watching.

[00:29:11] A Hartford hip-hop artist and educator is leading a group of performers whose hearts are set on making a difference in Connecticut's homeless population this holiday season.

[00:29:20] 42-year-old Joey Bataglia, better known in the local hip-hop circle as Joey Batts, helped launch the nonprofit Hip-Hop for the Homeless.

[00:29:28] Its goal is to raise money and collect food and supplies for homeless residents throughout our state, and he hopes to increase awareness about the challenges they face.

[00:29:38] It's truly indicative of, like, it takes a village in so many ways.

[00:29:45] You know, if you have it, if you're able to give something, you'd be so surprised how far that goes.

[00:29:53] And when you're going home, when you're driving home, when you wake up the next day, you'll just feel like, man, I'm part of that.

[00:29:58] Like, I did that.

[00:29:59] You know?

[00:30:00] And that's the coolest thing, you know?

[00:30:02] Since 2014, Bataglia has organized a series of local rap concerts each December to work toward achieving those goals.

[00:30:10] The current slate of 10 shows is already underway, marking the 11th year for the initiative.

[00:30:16] All right.

[00:30:17] So there you go.

[00:30:17] There you have it.

[00:30:18] A nice little story.

[00:30:19] Again, these are the types of stories that you'll find only, only, I gotta say only.

[00:30:25] There's really nobody else doing this.

[00:30:26] Only in the Hip Hop Can Save America newsletter, manyfaces.substack.com.

[00:30:31] We talked about some B-girls that are up in Buffalo.

[00:30:34] We got a B-girl, you know, artistic consortium that's happening up there in Buffalo, New York.

[00:30:40] We talked about art in Ontario.

[00:30:43] This is actually started in St. Louis, I think.

[00:30:46] But now it's an art exhibit that's traveling around, maybe Baltimore, traveling around the world and showing some hip-hop inspired art.

[00:30:55] So it's hip-hop as fine art.

[00:30:57] God, so many good things.

[00:30:59] You don't even hear about this stuff unless you're watching me.

[00:31:02] And so stories like that.

[00:31:04] Once again, the upcoming events, I'm going to fill this out.

[00:31:06] This has had like 20 events.

[00:31:08] Right now there's only a couple.

[00:31:09] So shouts to our eternal consulting producer, Summer McCoy, who, one of the loves of My Hip Hop Lives.

[00:31:17] If you're in New York City, this is a cool documentary.

[00:31:19] It's called Cassette, a documentary mid-tape.

[00:31:22] Celebrating the rich history and influence of the audio tape, cassette plays out like a mixtape compiled to honor a revolutionary musical format.

[00:31:28] This is a cool documentary about the mixtape post-screening discussion with Zach Taylor, I think, as a director.

[00:31:35] And our friend, Reagan Summer McCoy.

[00:31:37] This is happening in a few days.

[00:31:39] And if I was in New York, I would be there front and center.

[00:31:41] Go see my friend Summer.

[00:31:43] Go check that out.

[00:31:44] And again, the call for proposals for the 2025 Hip Hop Literacies Conference at The Ohio State University happening in March.

[00:31:51] But the call for proposals is due January 15th.

[00:31:54] The theme is hip-hop feminisms, culture, care, and justice.

[00:31:59] So we could talk about some of the problems in hip-hop.

[00:32:04] And we do very often.

[00:32:05] The misogyny, the violence, the anti-women sentiments, which are playing out in a big way.

[00:32:14] In a big way these days, as you can tell if you just look at any other news outlet.

[00:32:20] But we can also talk about, if we want to keep it real, we can talk about the solutions.

[00:32:25] We can talk about the people who are trying to either make it better or we're trying to find ways to deal with those problems.

[00:32:33] And you will see that at the Hip Hop Literacies Conference.

[00:32:37] I hope to be there.

[00:32:38] I went a couple years ago.

[00:32:39] I did present on hip-hop as social justice journalism.

[00:32:44] And I enjoyed presenting there.

[00:32:46] And I love Dr. E.

[00:32:47] And so check that out.

[00:32:48] So that all being said, I think that's it.

[00:32:51] That's what we got.

[00:32:52] That's what we're working with.

[00:32:53] We made it work, even though I didn't have good cameras tonight.

[00:32:56] But again, it's not about me.

[00:32:58] Please make sure you're signed up to the newsletter.

[00:33:00] And we can talk about all these things in greater detail as we move forward.

[00:33:03] Thank you again.

[00:33:04] Thanks, Bob.

[00:33:05] Appreciate you.

[00:33:05] Thanks to Emil.

[00:33:07] Thanks to Jennifer.

[00:33:09] Thanks to Andrew Wang, of course.

[00:33:10] Thanks to all of our people who support this.

[00:33:13] Again, you can support this at patreon.com slash mannyfaces if you feel so inclined.

[00:33:19] It does help and shouts to the people who do, what is it, patreon?

[00:33:25] www.patreon.com slash mannyfaces.

[00:33:30] I promise everyone who donates money to the cause that I'll make sure all the technical difficulties.

[00:33:35] We haven't had a show in a while, and I've also upgraded.

[00:33:39] It's actually really cool when it all works.

[00:33:41] I got other cameras, and we got different feeds, and we'll have guests again, and it'll be great.

[00:33:46] So anyway, thank you to everyone who checked in with me and rock with me and who loves this information.

[00:33:52] It just, you know, it warms my heart that we had some people tuning in and watching, and we'll be back next week, Monday, the somethingth of December.

[00:34:00] I'm going to be back next week, October, 16th of December.

[00:34:02] I probably won't have a slew of guests because it's the holidays, and I don't want to bother people with guesting.

[00:34:07] We'll start ramping up again in January, but please do come back, and we'll talk about some of the things that are happening out in the world.

[00:34:14] I will have some thoughts about this Jay-Z thing, but as I mentioned in the newsletter, I'm not qualified because I don't know enough.

[00:34:22] All I know is what's been reported, which is all anybody knows, and I don't like wasting my time, you know, putting out unvarnished opinions.

[00:34:30] And theories, but the internet is full of people who do.

[00:34:32] So enjoy that.

[00:34:33] Enjoy your social media feeds of all the people who have something to say, even though they really don't have anything to say.

[00:34:39] So enjoy that.

[00:34:40] For the rest of us, and for the ones who want to hear about all the other things that are happening in hip-hop, music, and culture, I'm your guy.

[00:34:48] The newsletter is your newsletter.

[00:34:50] The podcast is your podcast.

[00:34:51] And the live stream is a live stream.

[00:34:53] We'll be back next Monday night, God willing.

[00:34:56] Peace and love to you and yours in the meantime.

[00:35:00] I'm out.

[00:35:00] Many faces.

[00:35:01] You sick for this one.

[00:35:03] Sick for this one.

[00:35:06] Once again, thanks for listening to another episode of Hip-Hop Can Save America, a.k.a.

[00:35:10] The World's Most Important Hip-Hop Podcast.

[00:35:13] My name is Manny Faces.

[00:35:14] You can find out more about the show at hiphopcansaveamerica.com.

[00:35:17] You can watch the show now as a live stream on YouTube.

[00:35:20] Hiphopcansaveamerica.com slash watch.

[00:35:22] Check back for all the replays as well.

[00:35:24] The interviews from the live stream will be brought here onto the audio feed, so you always get the best of the live stream.

[00:35:30] You can also check out our Substack newsletter.

[00:35:31] It's free at manyfaces.substack.com.

[00:35:35] Filled with stories of hip-hop innovation, inspiration, and in general, hip-hop news that isn't about dumb s***.

[00:35:42] Eternal shouts to our consulting producer, Summer McCoy.

[00:35:45] Be sure to check out her dope initiatives, Hip-Hop Hacks, and the Mixtape Museum.

[00:35:49] We'll be back soon with another dope episode, but check us out on the live stream as well.

[00:35:53] On Mondays, 9 p.m. Eastern, hiphopcansaveamerica.com slash watch.

[00:35:57] Until next time, it's Manny Faces wishing peace and love to you and yours.