What Is It About Black American Comedy?

I pretty much just finished watching a Chris Rock marathon of his live stand-up material and have ever since been reliving old childhood shows all of which lend a heavy focus to “Black Comedy”. Now, when I say this, I am talking about my childhood progression from the early days of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (1990-1996) to Kenan & Kel (1996-2000) to more recent shows such as Everybody Hates Chris (2005-2009).

One of the main selling points, aside from the humour itself, is how these shows mark a certain era, or rather encompass the whole “90’s kid” vibe in general which of course, being one myself, I hold close to heart. From the endless snap-backs and loud prints that Will Smith cultivated to the hip-hop soundtracks that circulate within each episode. And whilst Everybody Hates Chris is set in the 80's it follows the same pattern of “street-lifestyle” which completely takes you back into childhood.

Another thing that this particular subgenre of comedy achieves to perfection is catchphrases. Let me remind you of a few…

“Uh… Nah” – Michael, My Wife & Kids (2001-2005)
“Who loves Orange Soda?” – Kel, Kenan & Kel

Or even just catchphrases in the form of actions… catchactions such as Jazz being thrown out of the house by Uncle Phil or Michael, once again, slapping the back of Juniors head.

I always find that with recent comedy, it’s always a struggle between humour and relatability. With Black American Comedy, it came so naturally but the British comedy shows currently on air all advertise themselves on the “hilarity of real life situations” but seem somehow forced and too scared to become either completely outrageous in situation or completely realistic and so are stuck in an uneasy middle ground. Whereas Everybody Hates Chris knew exactly how to have episodes such as in Everybody Hates Bomb Threats, where Chris reports a so-called “bomb threat” to evacuate the school so that he doesn’t have to give a history speech, whilst still appearing relatable and absolutely hilarious.

And this doesn’t just go to television for this subgenre has also proved its ability within cinema and yes, I am talking about the classic Wayans Brothers return, White Chicks (2004). This film ticks every box from having a pool of memorable quotes that runs a close second to the ever-loved Mean Girls, to having the perfect blend of comedy and action.

Now, back to my original reason for this post… Chris Rock. All four of his shows, Bring The Pain (1996), Bigger & Blacker (1999), Never Scared (2004) and Kill The Messenger (2008) have all brought tears to my eyes in hilarity ratings. He draws a very similar comedic style to which he portrays in Everybody Hates Chris, but is able to explore topical issues such as politics and poverty in greater death. Whilst these may seem sensitive issues, even those with opposing views can’t resist finding humour in his ridicules of society. You wouldn't have to even listen or watch Chris Rock to find his stand-up completely amazing, seeing the audiences reactions is more than enough. Plus, on a final note of why I love Black American Comedy… only Chris Rock could have delivered the best “Fucks I Give” joke ever.

Thank-you, and goodnight.

Mass Hallucination Baby, Ill Education Baby.

1. Kendrick Lemar - Good Kid
   Lemar's debut is absolute perfection to me and this song by far stands out. Close runners up are The Recipe (as stated in last months playlist), Swimming Pools (Drank) and Compton. This song reminds me of Andre 3000's "The Love Below" especially in the second half of the first verse where the vocals layer and echo and the choice of samples also has hints of J. Cole's début  From these two comparisons alone, it's safe to say the song is complete genius. Good Kid, m.A.A.d City is extremely well polished for a début but with enough grit within the lyrics to make way for a new rapper. 
2. Miquel - The Thrill
3. Alpines - Cocoon
4. John Mayer - Ain't No Sunshine (Cover)
   Wow. I have an extreme dislike for covers of Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine as I feel it is never done any justice but this has by far got my certificate of approval. Its been given a Californian freshness and ease to the song without losing its original soul and character.
5. VAST - Pretty When You Cry
6. Ben Howard - Oats In The Water
   Still has the charm and atmosphere of his first album but explores a darker, more nostalgic side. 
7. GOOD Music - Sin City
8. Nas - Roses
9. Breakbot - Baby I'm Yours
   So much funk, its hard to handle. A bit like listening to Passion Pit in the 80's. Or, as my friend who introduced this song to me said, "a modern Bee Gees".
10. The Villagers - Becoming A Jackal

"If I've Made It A Little Easier For Artists To Work In Violence, Great! I've Accomplished Something."

Quentin Tarantino is an absolute favourite director of mine purely due to his fearlessly bold and offbeat approach to the crime action genre. An array of fake blood dominates every scene as well as an endless stock of outrageous caricatures and whilst his films seem to jump through scenes of complete surrealism, he still manages to keep a consistently light yet unique humour throughout.

Now, let’s start with some prime examples of this blunt signature humour.

1. Reservoir Dogs, (1992): *inserts entire Madonna discussion between Mr Brown, Blonde, Orange, Pink, White and Nice Guy Eddie*

Yeah, that’s pretty much all I need to prove my point.

What interests me the most that how he translates his personality into his films, unlike some directors who remain nameless throughout each and every film because their only concern is that the camera doesn’t jerk. However, Tarantino is still able to adapt himself into his more modern cinematic creations such as Inglorious Basterds (2009) which may not have similar stylistics to his previous work but is as wonderfully shocking and upfront gruesome as always, if not more.

Even Sin City (2005), in which he was a guest director, had the grit of Tarantino written all over it and is a true visual interpretation of a comic, a still-shot of any scene could easily be printed onto paper and sold as a comic in stores, unlike the polished American marvel films, some of which I do enjoy, but don’t stand a chance against the technicalities of Sin City’s opening scene.

However his classics such as Jackie Brown (1997) and Pulp Fiction (1994) have such a recognisable and iconic style to them that they can never really age and even what may be considered as his least successful (particularly after the 2^nd film, despite my own acclaim) film, Kill Bill (2003, 2004), will still have a devoted Tarantino audience (population: me + many) in the 3^rd instalments upcoming release next year along with a new creation; Django Unchained (2012).

Please note, that whilst I am quite obviously a fan, if you haven’t watched any or even all of his films, my recommendation could not be more serious.

On a second note, if my word is not good enough… then maybe Brad Pitt can convince you… 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR2JQ0vwCDs

I Could Take The Pitchfork From The Devil

1. RZA ft The Black Keys - Baddest Man Alive
   
   I always knew The Black Keys had an unexpected edge to them (and not the typical rock band edge either) and they have completely lived up to my expectations in this collaboration with rapper, RZA. This song has everything I love about the The Black keys in it - their quaky instrumentals and their simplistic lyical genius translated through a blues vibe. But not only that, RZA has his timing on point and blends into the rock stylistics of this song in ease giving it a harder punch. This is one kick-ass song which pretty muchs sets itself up for a kick-ass film...
2. Kendrick Lamar - The Recipe
   An up & coming artist that I am so into right now
3. The XX - Teardrops (Cover)
4. GOOD Music - Clique
   I'm pretty shocked to realise I didn't already post about this so had to slide it in!
5. Billy Ocean - Caribbean Queen
   I feel I have to add a few explanations to this months playlist - well this song is a classic, a vague genre which must always be fulfilled, but my main reason for hitting the replay button is my rekindled love of the American TV show, Everybody Hates Chris. Fans; you will know why
6. Tennis - Origins
7. The Revivalists - Criminal
   This is one of those songs that I am surprised that I like since it would usually be the thing that I would have listened to when I was in "that" stage and now hate but it just has that whole "trash a hotel room" vibe without having that teenage angst that usually accompanies it
8. N.E.R.D - Hypnotize U
9. Daley - Up And Down
10. No Doubt - Hella Good
    I am so sad to say this, but I was slightly if not completely disappointed with No Doubts returning single, wtsitcalled, and so I have been trying to comfort myself by listening to their old tracks

The Represention Of: Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur is one of the most creditable, influential and compelling American rappers of all time. His rise to fame has been iconic and has been subject to much media speculation and controversy but within his genre, who could expect any less?  

Having been raised in the ghettos of America, Tupac was accustomed to a life of poverty and crime which enabled him to witness the true cracks in society. Shakur used his music to proclaim societal and political issues from the corruption of authority to sexual abuse and in effect, gave a voice to the majority of American’s living in the ghetto. Tupac began his professional career in the 1990’s having released his first EP in 1990 and his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now, a year later. His debut instantly received high critical acclaim as well as out-right criticism, a divide that inevitably followed throughout his career. His first official release, Brenda’s Got A Baby, is a prime example of Tupac’s signature style not only in the use simple urban beats, soulful backing vocalists and straight-forward yet poetry-like style, but also the topics he discusses for the lyrics to this particular song were formed after having read a newspaper report on Brenda, a 12 year old girl who fell pregnant at the hands of her cousin, which triggered his criticisms of how society treats teenage pregnancy and how quick they are to outcast young mothers which then has a knock on effect to crime and prostitution.

Rap artist, 50 Cent once stated that "every rapper who grew up in the Nineties owes something to Tupac” commemorating Tupac for being a pioneer of the rap genre and for rather than allowing himself to be comparable to other artists of the 90’s, he set himself apart as someone to whom future artists are can be comparable to. Tupac has achieved high respect even within modern pop culture and many rap artists still use their songs in homage to him. J. Cole, an American rapper who released his debut, Cole World: The Sideline Story, late 2011, actually cites the chorus of Tupac’s Hail Mary within his EP Single, Enchanted. J. Cole has been credited with having an extremely similar style to Tupac and has further shown that Tupac represents the soul of the rap industry by discussing similar society centred topics with the urban roughness and explicitly that initially set Tupac apart from the rest.

However, Tupac wasn’t always criticised in his represented in a critical manner for the music video to Changes, was released after his death as homage to Tupac and his achievements within the rap industry. This video is a documentary style montage of Tupac at various points within his career and various clip are collected from media reports. Amongst these are some of Tupac’s troubles and various run-ins with the police but rather than use this against him, the clips are combined with photographic images to portray him as “only human” and as an honest American who grew up in the ghetto. A clip of Tupac himself is shown addressing his approach to representation from which the audio can be herd of Tupac calling him a thug by nature and accepting responsibility for himself yet acknowledging he cannot be representative of “every black male”. This thus disregards all negative press that had classified him a “bad role-model” for Tupac makes it clear he never set out to become a “role-model” at all.

“I wanted to keep it real, and that’s what I thought I was doing, But let somebody else represent it. I represented it too much.” - Tupac Shakur on the thug life.

As this quote suggests, throughout his career, Tupac has carefully represented and branded himself as a thug and in music videos such as I Get Around, he glorifies the “thug life”. I Get Around represents Tupac to lead an opulent lifestyle in which house parties are thrown, he is surrounded by young attractive women and bathes whilst wearing heavy chains. Tupac also represents himself as a thug through personal image such as his reputation for wearing a white vest, a doo rag and expensive gold jewellery which all serve as stereotypical imagery for the rap genre. This thus represents rap to be centred on superficial luxuries and power, “forgive me I’m a rider, still I’m just a simple man, all I want is money…”, however Tupac also uses this phrase by associating it with all the troubles and traumas that life has offered him such as Thugz Mansion and Thug N U Thug N Me. Tupac mocks the representation of a “thug” by citing that for his fans that are living well lives, Tupac’s lyrics will seem to “glorify” the thug life but for his fans that actually do live in the ghettos, it’s a way of helping them out of it.

Most male rappers are stereotypically represented as misogynistic whereas Tupac understands and explains the trials and tribulations of women and appreciates their presence and the power that they have over men. In Tupacs first posthumous single, Thugs Get Lonely Too, he assumes the voice of a typical thug and their sexual desires however he emphasises on the hold that women have over them by creating a scenario in which he is transfixed on a woman and when he is alone, is unable to stop thinking about her. Further more in Wonder, Why They Call You A Bitch, Tupac conveys how women should act in order to be respected by men and offers positive influence by stating “keep your mind on your money, enrol in school” and “keep your head up, legs closed, eyes open” for Tupac understands that some men may use women but and he doesn’t aim to change that, yet he defies the representation of rappers being misogynistic by educating his female audience and willing them to be wise with their body and to take control.

However, one point during Tupac career which was particular subject to harsh criticism was when he was sentenced to serve 1½  – 4½ jail time when charged with rape in November, 1993. This destroyed a significant amount of Tupac’s reputation as the media often represented him as being violent and brutal however prior run-ins with the law added to his reputation such as a shoot-out in Atlanta in the early 1990’s made Tupac even more of a “hero” in the eyes of his fans for he became more real and more relatable thus having a positive representative effect.

In contrast to the negative responses of the media, Tupac is represented as a heavy influence towards many rap and hip-hop artists and has a variety of songs dedicated to him after his death such as Ashanti and T.I’s – Pac’s Life in which they state how Tupac rose to success against all odds and still manages to have a lasting impact, “all the shit you went through meant a lot to me…”. Other rap artists such as Eminem state that Tupac “set a standard” for all rap artists by proving that you have to be relatable in every aspect which is one of Tupac’s greatest achievements for he had an experience and a lyric for almost every trouble a person may face growing up. Eminem further states in the same interview on this remix with Biggie Smalls and Tupac that whilst Tupac represents many Americans, “there was only one Tupac” thus suggesting him to be the most original rap artist of all time. And so, despite his criticisms, of which all artists have been subject too, Tupac is generally remembered in a positive light and to have an everlasting impact upon the entire rap industry.