Week 2

Afros, to me, have always been fascinating. Having thin, blonde hair, I have no idea how anyone can ever tease hair enough to get it to that sort of shape and style. I am one of those people who fall victim to straightening my hair or, as certain male hairdresser in the 1950’s said, I “burn and process all the life out of it.” Of course, the difference with me is that I am very white and the au naturelle look would never work for me. If I don’t straighten my hair, it simply is a frizzy, nasty mess. Helen Hayes King is another story. Personally, I found it intriguing that her hairdo was met with disdain at Julliard and her family didn’t particularly approve either. But when she went back to her New York City block, it was met with high approval. How quickly it became a sign of the rebellious youth; most middle class women, white or black, straightened their hair chemically. And so began the afro. Who knew that a hairstyle could be molded into a subculture so quickly?

Another article discussed the aspects of the Low Rider, referring to cars, not jeans. This is something that I have never really taken a liking to. Being a car person, I know what I like and that would be a stock car. Whenever I see a car that has been lowered or put on a hydraulic lift system, I have a tendency to roll my eyes. It’s never sat right with me. I am beginning to see the hip hop aspect now though. To those who created it, it was a pure expression of pride and culture. It was kind of a rebellion against the laws concerning cars riding too low. And then, it just went from there to the kind of cars I see now. The original low riders were gorgeous; I wish that the low riders and the lifted cars today had the same sense of style that they started out with. But, again, that's just my personal tastes.

I will freely admit that I do not know anything about hip hop at all. The very little music that I have come across that falls in this category has not particularly interested me, as I am more of a classic rock fan. This is why I wanted to delve a little further into the music and culture. Interestingly enough, I was immediately sucked into “That’s the Joint!”, particularly the chapter on the history of breaking. Being a dancer myself, more of the ballet variety, I was fascinated to find that tap dance was developed through the creation of breaking. Whenever I go to tap dance, I have never even considered a connection between what I am doing in a traditional studio and what people have been doing on the streets in the 1850’s.

Beyond the reading on dance, I struggled with the vernacular of hip hop. I don’t know what a “B-beat”. I know nothing of creating one’s own music or movement and running with it. I kind of feel like this is learning a whole new language, like taking French or Spanish, except there are more rules and loopholes. The rules aren’t really rules; they are general sayings that some people go by and other deviate from. There seem to be rules regarding the fact that there aren’t a lot of rules. Styles shift and change and are expressed differently as generations change. What used to be considered hip-hop is not viewed as a whole different style and culture; the connections are not always made. Either way, it’s still hip-hop.

It was interesting to see Kool Herc in the “Yes, Yes Ya’ll” section. He described himself as an individual that didn’t want to cause trouble; he just wanted to get people together. The part t hat intrigued me was comparing it to how many see hip hop today. Many see it as a connection to gangs; Kool Herc made it clear that he had no connection to gangs. Many see it as rabble rousing or some sort of trouble; Kool Herc didn’t want any trouble. He just wanted the music and the people and to make people happy with the music.