For a while now, everyone's been worrying about the death of hip-hop. (I mean, gays are invading it!) There are certainly plenty of worthy adherents offering healthy critiques, most recently suggested by the ITVS documentary "Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes." But while hip-hop is presently weighed down by the politics and discourse of race, economics, vice, sex, and coming on "hard," we sometimes forget this was a socially subversive, party-based subculture since the beginning. Something tells me hip-hop will find a way back to the playful beats of its roots. There are underground scenes across the U.S. and around the globe that most of us can only speculate about. And there are groups like Spank Rock, hip-popping "international spotrockers" who are clearly influenced by the vintage greats like Grandmaster Flash:
Yeah, this hoppy digit-tech style is definitely one of hip-hop's many new/nostalgic subgenres, but considering some of the other options (and their preoccupations), I'll take it. Check out this piece on the group on Flavorpill Video. Spank Rock, led by the poetic prankster MC Naaem Juwan, had a secret show about a month ago at The Echo. * I'm told I should also consider in this sphere acts like ghetto-tech MC Bus Driver, who plays at "Low End Theory" at the Airliner tonight in Lincoln Heights.