Rap Music

RBG Street Scholars Think Tank's Purpose:
This Educational Program and Research Project is Dedicated to Further Building the Hip Hop--Black Liberation Movement Connection by Integrating Conscious Digital Edutainment with A Scholarly Self Directed Learning Environment.

N.B. June 3, 2007: From this point forward all post in the article /group blog section without thumbnails will be delete by the editor/RBG Street Scholar. This is because such posts compromise the formating of the zine. Furthermore, we refuse to get side tracked with eurocentric rap/pop culture. So, if posts don't jell with the RBG Movement / Rap Genre and the academic nature of the zine,again, they will be deleted. This is not a democracy, but an educational research project; and as such we intend to stay on point regarding our edutainment mission, goals and objectives. Please don't allow the title to make you get it twisted, the full title is RBG Hip Hop/Conscious Rap Music Wikizine.
Anyone who has a problem with this please start your own zine, it's free.
Asante(Thank You) for your contributions.

This Zine is a Hip Hop / Rap Music guide with photos,audio, videos, links, feeds, news, comments, group blog and forum. Special focus on Hip Hop History, Underground /Indie and the Positive and Socio-politically Conscious Rap Genre / Artists, RBG Style; along with links and extensions to each of the integral aspects of hip hop culture. Including Knowledge, DJing, MCing, Break Dancing and Graffiti.
Please take some time to browse.Your contributions are welcome and encouraged if you're looking for a scholarly, and at the same time entertaining, place to expose your work and help build a comprehensive multi-media resource for others to learn from. It's what we make it--a project in evolution and always under construction.The more of us that have something to share on the subject contribute, the better this resource will be for those wanting to do research.

"Of All The Disciplines Of Study, History Is Best Qualified To Reward All Research". Thus, let's commence the discourse with a brief historical overview.

The Political Origins of Hip-hop:

> Historically poetry/ rap/ spoken word, literature and music have been combine to play a pivotal role in black progress and power, rebellion, revolt and revolution.

Political Rap Started With the Afrikan Talking Drum.

> Because of the perceived potential of talking drums to "speak" in a tongue unknown to slave masters / traders and thus to incite rebellion, in 1838 these and other drums were banned from use by Africans in the United States.

> H “Rap” Brown, known to many of the 1960's/70's Civil Rights and Black Power Movements as the original master rapper. Rap, a given nickname, comes from his being such an eloquent speaker he would be rappin. For more see Dr. Errol Henderson on Black Nationalism and Rap Music and our Hip Hop Audio History.

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Major Record Companies Manipulated Control of Black Music Pt I

Written by RBGStreetScholar on

"The real goal was to put black record companies out of business and capture their market share."

By Kwaku Person -Lynn, Ph.D.
OW Contributor
Reprinted from June 15, 2006

(Part 1 of 2) - To understand how major corporate record entities manipulated control of black music, we have to go back in time to dissect an elaborate, complex, financial and legal methodology.
It is the common story of large businesses swallowing up smaller businesses, but in this instance, there are some unique peculiarities needing closer inspection.

This story begins in the 1980s with the sale of Motown Records, a once black-owned record company, to MCA Records and Boston Ventures Limited Partnership. The Afrikan American community felt a great loss of one of its cherished institutions. Around that same period it seemed like war had been declared against the survival of black-owned record companies. Solar Records was involved in a suit, counter-suit with Warner Brothers Records for control of its assets. Sussex Records, a once fast growing black-owned record company, was forced to cease doing business for tax reasons. Philadelphia International Records, a quality black-owned record company, was under the distribution control, lifeline to its financial survival, of CBS Records (also known as Columbia Records).

These are mammoth events virtually placing the dominance of recorded black music in the hands of major record companies. The hidden agenda may have been the closing of all doorways towards the development of full service (production, manufacturing, distribution) black-owned record companies in America. Had this occurred, as improbable as it seems today, it is possible that black record companies would have ultimately controlled a larger or equal percentage of the music business, competing with major record companies.

It was told to me by Dave Parker (oldest promotion man in the business at that time), that of the $500 million dollars made in 1987 by CBS Records, approximately 80% was from black music. black-owned record companies were obviously seen as a potential threat to the control of the music market.

The battle to control market share can best be understood by looking into the case of Stax Records. In the 1970s, it was the largest, most diverse black-owned record company in the music industry. Stax artists roster included such stars as: Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Al Green, Rufus and Carla Thomas, The Staple Singers, Booker T. & the MGs, and more. It also had a jazz label, blues label, gospel label, and even a comedy label where such artists as: Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor and Jackie "Moms" Mabley launched their careers.

This era paralleled the turbulent 60s, with the social, cultural, political and musical climate being fueled by the black Consciousness Movement and the Viet Nam Peace Movement. The financial profits generated by black recording artists and the phenomenal success of black films and soundtracks caused black entertainment businesses to be closely monitored.

Stax Records reached several peaks with the overwhelming success of "Wattstax." The live concert of Stax artists in the Los Angeles Coliseum attracted some one hundred and twelve thousand black people, without incident. It produced a film of the same event that was seen worldwide, and was the first to get into the revolutionary technique at the time, video production.

The success continued when Isaac Hayes, one of Stax top artists, won the Oscar for best original film score for "Shaft." This was during a time when black record companies (Stax, Sussex, Motown) had the lion's share of black artists. The major record companies, not to be left behind, sat up, took notice, determined to find a way to control the lucrative black music market.

CBS Records took an aggressive lead by hiring Logan Westbrooks, a pioneer in black music marketing, to maximize their profit margin in black music. When Westbrooks joined CBS, he was unhappy with the way records by black artists were being marketed. "There was a vice-president of pop promotion, and the person that headed the black music division would report to that individual.

My position was that we should have a complete and separate marketing division reporting directly to the vice-president of marketing, which is the same way that the White side was structured. That also was on the premise that CBS realize that the black market is a separate entity and should be approached from a black marketing standpoint as opposed to the way it had been done in the past. They bought it.

"Bruce Lundvall (former Vice President of Marketing - CBS Records, and past President of Manhattan Records) was in complete agreement with it. Also, at that particular time, they had recently made a deal with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff (Philadelphia International Records). They had not been successful with the product Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff were giving them. Gamble and Huff's position was, 'we were giving you a good product and you are blowing it because you don't know how to market it. What you need is some black individual up here that specializes in black music, to go after that market.'"

In order to approach the situation scientifically, CBS Records commissioned the Harvard University Business School to do a study. Westbrooks served as the coordinator. The title of the study was, A Study of the Soul Music Environment Prepared for Columbia Records Group. The Harvard team was officially titled the "Columbia Records Project Group." In his book The Anatomy Of A Record Company: How To Survive The Record Business, Westbrooks outlined some of the key rationales for the study.

First, CBS wanted to determine the profit potential, so they would not forfeit any market share. Second, CBS wanted to examine the crossover potential (crossover indicating crossing over from the Soul chart to the Pop chart in the music industry trade magazines, or as many described it, from the black chart to the White chart). Charts contribute heavily to records being played on radio.

In 1972, when the study was conducted, CBS Records had only two acts they felt could effectively penetrate the black market: Sly Stone and Santana. "The following recommendations were suggested to correct this: purchase already developed talent rosters from companies like Philadelphia International Records, Stax Records; revive and re-establish proven talents (Isley Brothers, O'Jays, Lou Rawls); take breaking groups and break them bigger (Earth Wind and Fire, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes); buy into breaking trends (Jazz Fusion through Miles Davis and his 'alumni': Weather Report, Headhunters, Mahavishnu Orchestra), and perpetuate success, Michael Jackson." Westbrooks.

The results of the study were quite striking. For instance, CBS Records developed a black Music Marketing Division that was copied throughout the industry by every major record company doing business in black music. CBS increased its artist roster from two progressive black-oriented acts in 1972, to one hundred and twenty-five in 1980 - the largest roster of black artists in the industry.

Michael Jackson broke all previous sales records with his album "Thriller," anticipating another big one with his next album, "Bad." At that time he was the number one music artist/entertainer in the world. The bittersweet side of this, it institutionalized black popular music, but it caused other forms of music: blues, jazz and folk music to suffer virtual elimination on most radio play lists and concert bills.

According to the study, it created more jobs for blacks, a point that must be clarified. Though dozens of blacks were employed to capitalize on this new found market, if the discontinued black-owned record companies had survived, hundreds of blacks would have been employed.

Ironically, Clive Davis, President of CBS Records during the time of the study, denies ever having used it, "I went ahead on creative feel, intuitive reasoning and common sense, not because I had any study or blueprint. I've never read that study, I've never seen it, and I've certainly never used it as a blueprint. [The study] did not form the basis for any move that I made," Westbrooks.

According to Verdine White, bass player for Earth Wind and Fire, "Columbia did a Harvard study on black music. Clive followed the Harvard study in terms of the viability of black music. He really made black music his goal. By signing us, Philadelphia International, Bill Withers, and Herbie Hancock (Miles was already on the label), they wanted to make a change." Mr. White said that since the 1920s and Bessie Smith, Columbia had not been successful with black music.

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RBGStreetScholar said...

Major Record Companies Manipulated Control of Black Music - Part II The real goal was to put black record companies out of business and capture their market share By Kwaku Person -Lynn, Ph.D. OW Contributor

Ray Barnes, a successful record producer at the time (late 1980s), suggests that there may have been a hidden agenda behind the Harvard study. He speaks of a conversation he had with a top black executive associated with the study (Westbrooks): I met with him and he had just left the major company that he was working with (CBS). He said, Im going to tell you something about this industry that will probably surprise you. He said, when I was working for the major company, they had me do a study on what it was that enabled black people to make the kind of music that they do. He said, the industry realized that black people influenced from 75 to 90 percent of all music made in America and the world. So that meant that these people, black people, have the influence which influenced almost all the music. The danger that was happening at that time was: you had Motown, you had Stax, you had Sussex. You had these black record companies at that time who had the majority of the black acts. He told me that CBS, Warner Brothers, Atlantic, Polygram, all of them got together to do this study. They wanted to find out what it is that makes black music what it is. The idea is that, if we can find the ingredients, then maybe we can make the music without black people. Then we wont have to have them. We can make the music ourselves. Groups and artists such as the Original Dixieland Jazz Band; Paul Whiteman labeled the King Of Jazz; Tommy Dorsey called the King Of Swing; Elvis Presley promoted as the King Of Rock n Roll; along with Pat Boone, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Osmonds, Kenny G, Herb Alpert, David Sanborn, Jeff Lorber, Teena Marie, Michael McDonald, are only some of the White artists and groups, who in the past or present, play(ed) black music. White artists have been copying black music since the Spirituals, during the time of slavery. It was not until the 1970s that music by black artists was accepted as a stable financial endeavor. Evolving beyond the race records of the 1920s, and Rhythm & Blues recordings of the 1950s, which were distributed mainly in black communities. It was around the time of the study that the record industry began to make heavy financial investments into black music: making more album commitments, rather than singles, promoting it to pop stations, investing more marketing dollars and making stronger efforts in international distribution. Mr. Barnes concludes: So he said their key then, If we cannot make black music without black people, then we must have a way of controlling the black music industry. One way of doing this, with the use of the study, was to expose the techniques in which a successful black business, such as Stax Records, was operating. For example, when Al Bell, owner of Stax Records read the study, he revealed this about his companys business operatives: ...the Harvard report was an excellent study of our approach at Stax on operating a black phonograph record company, in total...Prior to that study, our business methodology was unknown. So as a result of that, we had very little competition. No one knew what we were doing. We were able to build a business at our own pace. Subsequent to revelations in that study, the competition became much more intense. Not only did the competition proliferate, CBS sued Stax in order to stop the business agreement between Al Bell and Clive Davis (who was later fired from CBS). In effect, the suit served to legally exhaust Stax, a common corporate tactic used in battling an opponent in court. As a result, Stax was not financially able to compete with CBS in court, and ultimately ceased doing business. Bell tried to fight back: We filed an anti-trust suit against CBS for $67,000,000, alleging violation of the Sherman-Patton Anti-Trust Act. Bell said, We alleged clandestine activities on their part to try to stop it (the agreement). Thats a part of the court records. So I suppose that its fair to say, and I want to be really clear on this, I suppose its fair to say that some of the people, the executives in CBS, and employed by CBS at the time, played a very significant role in the demise of Stax. A very significant role. Larkin Arnold, former Senior Vice President of Artist and Repertoire Black Music - CBS Records, and a long time veteran in the music business, disagrees: I doubt anyone, any corporation or any group of corporations made a concerted effort to extinguish black companies, black record companies. Its like any other aspect of business life. If a major corporation decides to enter into a market place, its only a very, very strong smaller company that can survive. Whether were talking about mom and pop grocery stores, or little gasoline stations. If Gulf comes in there, theyre going for the market aggressively, in which they should do. If you cant compete, you are going to go by the wayside. We may never know the full effect the demise of Stax Records, the suit against Solar Records, compounded with the purchase of Motown Records, had on the development of black music, or the desire to develop a full service black-owned record company. Some things are evident, there still is not one black-owned full service record company in America (production, manufacturing, distribution). This would take us from being consumers to owners/investors, the root of financial power, leading to political power. The deeper effect may not be just the control of black music, but control of the black intellect and black culture. Since major record companies captured control of black music, especially the huge explosion of black youth music (rap/hip hop) the proliferation of profanity and sexism against black women has enormously expanded. So-called conscious or meaningful black music seems to have faded in the background or garners very little radio airplay. If there were no blues, jazz, reggae, and a very small hand full of conscious commercial black music artists in America, there would be no substance or uniqueness in black music at all. If ever there is another research effort like the Harvard study, let the black record labels and radio station entrepreneurs get together with some black colleges and develop not only sound business practices and self defense in business, but explore how the ancient Afrikans in the Nile Valley built those great empires, and use that as a template to do the same. Strong black-owned institutions are needed for the music the world is dancing to. If not, good, solid, meaningful black music may sorrowfully become a thing of the past. Some feel that has already happened. The generations to come may be left with the same discussion many debate today, what happened to that really good black music of the 60s and 70s, or even the conscious rap of the 80s? E-mail: drkwaku@hotmail.com.

theonedroppro said...

Yes" the black youths need more black roll models

! Leaders that wont bow down to white presser's ways. Big T ONE DROP PRO, INC