Boogie Down Productions - Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hiphop
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CD Details
Artist: Boogie Down ProductionsEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1989-06-28
Music Label: Jive
Soundtracks:
- The Style You Haven't Done Yet
- Why Is That?
- The Blueprint
- Jack Of Spades
- Jah Rulez
- Breath Control
- Who Protects Us From You?
- You Must Learn
- Hip Hop Rules
- Bo! Bo! Bo!
- Gimme, Dat, (Woy)
- Ghetto Music
- World Peace
Music reviews of Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hiphop
Music Review: Propaganda? Sure...great hip hop? Definitely...
Rating: 4 Stars
A phrase I've seen a time or two in reference to James Brown and Little Richard suggests that they can be forgiven their egotism because their music lives up to the boasts. That thought came to mind after ingesting this CD from "The Teacher" KRS-One and Boogie Down Productions.
Those who suggest this disc is musical propaganda are correct. Kris Parker's general message here is that the police are not to be trusted, the educational system is failing to pass on the achievements of black Americans of the past and of African culture, and that sometimes a black man's only friend is his firearm. He uses an intense vocal delivery while musically smooth rhythms take some of the edge off the bitter pill. Reggae flavors turn up often, being most pronounced (ironically enough) on "Hip Hop Rules". The group also make time for a nod to the beat box sound in "Breath Control".
HIGHLIGHTS:
The scratched hook of "Jack of Spades" is relentless. Ever wonder where the origins of "throw your hands in the air" were? Check the rhyme...Parker's sister Pamela "Harmony" Scott turns in a nicely soulful vocal on spiritual paean "Jah Rulez". ("What can they do?/What can they say?/They can't live without your love/another day...") "Who Protects us from You?" aims at police brutality, questioning whether the quality of protection varies by class. ("It seems that when you walk the ghetto/You walk with your own point of view...") "You Must Learn" indicts the educational establishment's failure to teach about the achievements of forebears like Benjamin Banneker (creator of the almanac) and Granville Woods (inventor of the walkie-talkie). It's not just young blacks who miss out here. ("When one doesn't know about the other one's culture/Ignorance swoops down like a vulture..") Gangsta rap template "Bo! Bo! Bo!" is catchy, if not more than a little disingenuous on a disc that also includes "World Peace" and the logo of the "Stop the Violence" movement.
LOWS:
"World Peace" is simultaneously musically catchy and lyrically vapid. "If we really want world peace/and we want it right now/We must make up our mind to take it.." is the answer according to Parker but that doesn't take into account the fact that many world conflicts are based in deep seated religious or ethnic divisions that won't go away just because of "positivity".
BOTTOM LINE:
You have to take some of the "education" here with a grain of salt. But there can be no doubt at all about KRS' skill on the mic. He absolutely defines the foundations of old school hip-hop and this album is one of rap's cornerstones. Recommended.
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