The Anthropology of Hip Hop
Written by Terri Skillz
You can try to picture the whole thing in just three parts.
Each part may not understand one another’s true intent, yet each of them help
to create what is called Hip Hop. This is a process that occurs before the
general public views the performance, being a much bigger picture than just a
song.
The Artist is a role taken by some that have a desire to
express his or her self solely on the belief that that they were meant for
greatness. Perhaps in high school, a teacher gave them recognition attached
with a few “A” grades on some lame poetry assignments throughout the year.
Boosting their ego, they feel that what they have to say is important and means
something larger than themselves. Fame and fortune is always the main motive,
although the feeling of expressing their inner thoughts and emotions will
always be the reason they maintain their drive.
Now, once an artist has his motivation and drive, he needs a
producer, to do simply that of which the title is- produce a song. Whether the
producer made the music or arranged the artist on the music, someone who can
take on the role to take basic vocals and produce a song is called a producer.
It may usually seem that this person is pushy or “bossy” and, they are. This is
because a producer is a person who likes to get things done. In any work
environment, a Producer is a manager. This type of person could be seen as a
manager of a department or retail store however, they would never actually be
able to manage an entire store. This is due to the narcissist trait that a
Producer must have so that he can have the job done- in their time, in their
own way. This is largely a reason why music stays so creative and diverse. Each
“manager” of a songs production does so in their own unique way.
Mixing all the parts from beat, to vocals, to productive
management- can be either the least or the most time consuming. Nevertheless,
engineering is the part that is most important for the final production and is
taken very seriously. Understanding the fact that music can sound however you
want it to sound may be clearer to an individual that has some type of
experience playing a live instrument. Having the knowledge of how soft, hard,
late, or early a sound is will assist when making a “good” song. A musician
would hear a note, and when it’s the correct note, a light bulb will go off in
their head. This epiphany is a strong nudge to the engineer saying “take
control- this is the sound that you create.”
Today, you may only find 2 parts to this equation since
producers and engineers may either be the same person or work closely together.
The producer/engineer and the artist have completely separate goals and
assignments but each step that is taken is parallel to their counterpart. 