When I think of early days of recorded Hip-Hop one word comes to mind: fun. Hip-Hop music at the outset mirrored the music and tenor of the times. In the late 70’s and early 80’s the majority of music was escapist and you listened and danced the night away and did whatever else you did to do what Heatwave said “Leave your worries behind…” That’s not to say that Hip-Hop wasn’t revolutionary or apolitical at the outset, I’m merely talking about its recorded output pre-1982.
Nothing wrong with having fun and even though “The Breaks” is a fun song there is a social commentary here. I think the other component that the music is missing beside the “fun” is I think we need a lot more guttural exclamations like Kurtis and so many other like Melle Mel used at the time “Ahrahhh”. Yes that’s what we need.
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
