Malcolm X And Hip Hop: Happy 80th
by Davey D (05/19/2005)

Thursday, May 19th: Lets all take time out and reflect upon what would've been the 80th birthday of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz aka Malcolm X. Where would Hip Hop be had the fiery Civil Rights leader was still around? There is no doubt, that Malcolm would've been involved with the Hip Hop generation. He most likely would've offered us his guidance, loaned keen insight and given up a lot of game about the inner workings of the music biz. He would've been a driving force that would've encouraged Hip Hop to sustain the early path it took in the direction of social commentary and social upliftment. Malcolm X who was a strong believer in us owning our own things would've no doubt encouraged Hip Hoppers to do whatever it took to own their own creations. He was not about the business of folks getting pimped.

Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965 but his connection to Hip Hop has been a long and strangely eerie one. The man who once ran the streets of Harlem, lived the fast life and spent time in prison was a bona fide Hip Hopper of sorts back in the days of his youth. Malcolm went to all the latest shows, hung out with all the coolest music cats. He was up on the latest happenings as they were emerging from the streets. Back when he was a youth, Hip Hop was known as be pop and Malcolm who was always known for keeping it real was down with the whole scene.. But for those of us who were around during the early days of Hip Hop, you may recall one the most happening hot spots was a place called the Audubon Ballroom. It was the spot right across the street from the Presbyterian Hospital. This was the place where Malcolm X was assassinated. By the late 70s it was the spot for some of the most memorable Hip Hop parties featuring everyone from Grandmaster Flash to Grand Wizard Theodore. Who didn't go to the Audubon?

Malcolm's spirit was constantly being invoked because back in the days popular deejays, in particular Afrika Bambaataa would play excerpts from his speeches over popular break beats Years later people like myself as well as numerous others would follow suit on air. To this day I still pull out 'Message To The Grass Roots' or Ballot of the Bullet' and rock them over funky beats. Playing Malcolm was done on the regular, it didn't matter whether it was his birthday or not. Malcolm was a constant companion to the early Hip Hop generation. Just to give you an idea of how popular Malcolm X was, there were pressing of some of his famous speeches on Paul Winley records that sold like hot cakes during Hip Hop's early days. In these reissued recordings a fictional announcer had been inserted asking Malcolm pertinent questions on all sorts of pressing issues ranging from his views on non-violence to the concept of Black Nationalism. The answers to the announcers questions were of course taken from various Malcolm X speeches, in particular The Ballot or the Bullet speech. The ironic thing about Malcolm being recorded on Paul Winley records was the fact that this small label was one of the first to compile popular break beats and issue them on a series of albums. I still have my collection and to this day I play cuts like 'Cheeba Cheeba', 'Bra' and 'Scratchin' and the 'Funky Penguin' to name a few. Everyone who was into Hip Hop back then had at least one Paul Winley record.. His releases proceeded Sugar Hill by more then a few years..

In later years especially around the Afrocentric period of Hip Hop [1987-93], Malcolm's distinctive voice was heard on more albums then I can name. Everyone from 3X Dope to Sway & Tech sampled Malcolm X. His popularity with the Hip Hop generation was due to the fact that he was seen as someone who would take 'no shorts'. Folks admired his militant stance on things. The fact that Malcolm grew up in the hood and 'lived the life' made him even more relatable. The fact that he was able to turn his life around after going to prison was inspiring. A lot of younger people understood that if Malcolm could make it happen, so could they.. One should also note that since his death Malcolm had profoundly impacted the young generation in each decade that followed. In the 60s he inspired the Black Panthers who in fact referred to themselves as 'Children of Malcolm'. In the 70s he inspired early Hip Hoppers. In the 80s, he inspired Hip Hop's Afrocentric period. Malcolm's influence began to wane sometime in the 90s. You stopped hearing his voice on records due the music industry and his estate seriously cracking down on 'illegal samples'. One wasn't free to simply put Malcolm's voice on record. Using his voice as was also the case with Martin Luther King, required one to go through some rigorous clearance procedures. For many, the trouble and expense it took was not worth it after a while. Adding to that was you now had a new younger generation of Hip Hoppers who were coming up at a time when social consciousness was seen as being soft and ineffective. Being a gangster was the order of the day.

For many, Malcolm X is someone they know about because they may have had to read his autobiography, but his voice and what he was actually saying his relatively unknown by most. To illustrate this example, every day at 12 noon one of our deejays Mind Motion on 106 KMEL, opens up his mix show with a quote from Malcolm where he says 'Lets stop singing and start swinging'. It was lifted from a Motion Man record that came out several years ago. When I went around and asked people if they knew who the voice was, hardly any of the younger folks I came across recognized Malcolm X's voice. But then again why would they? When was the last time they heard a Malcolm X speech? When have they last seen his image on TV? When was the last time folks took time out to reflect upon his birthday? better yet who last had a conversation with them about Malcolm? Check us out on the web at www.daveyd.com to hear both my Friday Nite Vibe Hip Hop Show on 94.1 FM and my Sunday Nite Street Knowledge Show on 106 KMEL. We will definitely be playing Malcolm for you to hear, understand and appreciate.

Source: http://p076.ezboard.com/fpoliticalpalacefrm56.showMessage?topicID=394.topic