Together Forever Book Signing Event on Oct. 1st!

please go to the facebook event page to find out more:
https://www.facebook.com/events/387743558611536/

Verbs Of Power - X- Clan

My Next Book Cover Finally Approved

View this post on Instagram

I’ve been waiting to share this with you all for a while now, but today the cover finally got approved. TOGETHER FOREVER all of my best RUN-DMC and BEASTIE BOYS photographs in one book, 224 pages, and i promise many you have never seen. From the first sessions to the last. With a foreword by Chris Rock, a crazy long introduction from Me, and words from Run, D., Mike, Adam and Hurricane, as well as Rick, Russell, and Chuck D. . . . It’s gonna be DOPE! Coming this fall... . . Publisher @rizzolibooks Editor @j32flavors Designer @candytman #RunDmc #BeastieBoys #HipHope #GoldenEra #DefJam #RUSH #TogetherForever #GoldenEra #OldSchool #OG #Rap #gold #Yauch #JamMasterJay #RIP #fortheKids

A post shared by glen E. friedman Ⓥ (@glenefriedman) on Mar 25, 2019 at 4:29pm PDT

in the mood for GRAFFITI ROCK Hip-Hop's Answer to American Bandstand in 1983

The Largest Vocabulary In Hip Hop

from The Pudding:

Rappers, ranked by the number of unique words used in their lyrics

By Matt Daniels

This project was originally published in 2014 and recently updated in January 2019 with newer lyrics data and 75 additional artists, including Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty, Migos, and 21 Savage.

It compares the number of unique words used by some of the most famous artists in hip hop (that is, an example of a quantitive view of lyricism, once proposed by Tahir Hemphill). I used each artist’s first 35,000 lyrics. This way, prolific artists, such as Jay-Z, can be compared to newer artists, such as Drake.

GO HERE TO SEE THIS GRAFIC IN ALL IT's GLORY.

35,000 words covers 3 to 5 studio albums and EPs. I included mixtapes if the artist was short of the 35,000 words. Quite a few rappers don’t have enough official material to be included (for example, Biggie, Chance the Rapper, Queen Latifah, and El-P).

Since the original release, there’s now a notable trend of fewer unique words among newer artists. This is easier to see in the following chart, where I highlighted each artist’s primary decade, based on album release dates for their vocabulary calculation (the first 35,000 lyrics).

GO HERE TO SEE THIS GRAFIC IN ALL IT's GLORY

Some of the newer artists wield a smaller vocabulary comparatively, but this is not because hip hop has “dumbed down.” The genre has evolved; it has moved away from complex lyricism toward elements traditionally associated with pop music: repetitive song structure and singing (Joe Carmanica recently wrote about this trend for the New York Times, arguing that it was led by Drake, who popularized the rapping-and-singing formula over the past decade).

A better benchmark for Lil Uzi Vert’s word count (2,556) might be those of pop artists, such as Beyonce (2,433 words), or even one his major influences: Marilyn Manson (2,466 words).

There are also genre-bending artists. If Childish Gambino’s Awaken, My Love! is less hip hop in the traditional ’90s boom-bap sense, is it fair to compare it to vocabulary-dense Wu-Tang albums? Genre matters in vocabulary calculations—check out the chart below, which takes 500 random samples of 35,000 words from rock, country, and hip hop.


# of Unique Words Used in 500 Random Samples of 35,000 Lyrics from Country, Rock, Hip Hop

In short, if artists depart from hip-hop song structure, we’d expect their vocabulary to go down in the number of unique words.

That said, the results are still directionally interesting. Of the 150 artists in the dataset, let’s take a look at who is on top.

#1 - Aesop Rock

When I first published this analysis, I excluded Aesop Rock, figuring he was too obscure. The Reddit hip-hop community was in an uproar, claiming that Aesop would absolutely be #1. Sure enough, Aesop Rock is well above every artist in the dataset, and I was obliged to add him to the chart.

#2 - Busdriver

For the most recent update, I pored over requests from readers, and Busdriver was most common on folks’ wishlists. He and Aesop Rock are the only rappers with more than 7,000 unique words in their first 35,000 lyrics.

#4, #5, #7, #10, #15, and #20 - Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit

Wu-Tang Clan at #5 is impressive given that 10 members, with vastly different styles, equally contribute lyrics. Add the fact that GZA, Ghostface, Raekwon, and Method Man's solo works are also in the top 20 – notably, GZA is at #4.

#28, #54 - Outkast and E-40

Of course E-40 is in the top 20%; he’s considered to be the inventor of many slang terms. Just a few that he’s been responsible for coining or popularizing: “all good,” “pop ya collar,” “shizzle,” and “you feel me.”

Outkast’s expansive vocabulary is definitely a function of their style: frequent use of portmanteaus (for example, “ATLiens,” “Stankonia”), southern drawl (for example, “nahmsayin,” “ery’day”), and made-up slang (for example, “flawsky-wawsky”).

#49 and #59 - Busta Rhymes and Twista

Since both rappers are known for their speed, it’s nice to see that their verses are just as lyrically diverse as their peers’.

So what's all this mean?

io9 writer Robert Gonzalez blew my mind with this point, “On the Black Album track 'Moment of Clarity,' Jay-Z contrasts his lyricism with that of Common and Talib Kweli” (both of whom rank higher than him, when it comes to the diversity of their vocabulary):

I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars
They criticized me for it, yet they all yell “holla”
If skills sold, truth be told, I’d probably be
Lyrically Talib Kweli
Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense
But I did 5 mil - I ain’t been rhyming like Common since

I used a research methodology called token analysis to determine each artist’s vocabulary. Each word is counted once, so pimps, pimp, pimping, and pimpin are four unique words. To avoid issues with apostrophes (e.g., pimpin’ vs. pimpin), they’re removed from the dataset. It still isn’t perfect. Hip hop is full of slang that is hard to transcribe (e.g., shorty vs. shawty), compound words (e.g., king shit), featured vocalists, and repetitive choruses.

If you’re looking for more quantitative analysis of hip hop, check out Tahir Hemphill’s many foundational projects (and whose work initially inspired this analysis) and Martin Conner’s Rap Analysis.

Vocabulary count data is available here.

Notable artists currently excluded, under the 35,000 threshold: Cardi B, Dej Loaf, Princess Nokia, Rae Sremmurd, Dreezy, Remy Ma, Dej Loaf, Da Brat, Princess Nokia, Queen Latifah, Azealia Banks, Nav, Dreezy, Earl Sweatshirt, Eyedea, Jay Electronica, Pharoahe Monch, Pusha T, Saba, Waka Floka Flame, XXXTentacion.

The Pudding is a digital publication that explains ideas debated in culture with visual essays.

Run- DMC on Graffiti Rock from 1984

One of the greatest Hip Hop performances ever on TV:

A great friend and inspiration to manyJam Master Jay murdered 15 Years Ago

From The Associated Press

After 15 years, probe into slaying of Run-DMC star goes cold

By TOM HAYS - Oct. 28, 2017

NEW YORK (AP) — A mural of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay, his arms crossed in defiance, looms over the hallway of the Queens recording studio where he was shot to death 15 years ago. The memorial gives no hint of a disturbing footnote to the DJ’s tale of fame and misfortune: The killer, so far, has gotten away with it.

New York City police detectives acknowledge that their investigation into the October 30, 2002, killing of the artist, whose given name was Jason Mizell, has gone cold. But some in the borough where Jam Master Jay, Joe “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels emerged as rap sensations in the 1980s hold out hope that witnesses could still come forward.

“It’s not resolved to the legal eye, but the street always talks,” said Jeremy “JL” Lam, a friend of Jam Master Jay’s family and a partner in the latest version of the Queens studio.

Family members, however, are less optimistic.

“We know it’s any anniversary but we don’t like to talk about it much anymore,” Jam Master Jay’s older sister, Bonita Jones, said from their mother’s home in North Carolina.

A cousin, Ryan Thompson, believes the potential witnesses may never come forward because they “could go to jail as accomplices.”

Thompson, also a DJ using the moniker “Base,” credits himself with introducing Run-DMC to one of its signature fashion statements: Adidas sneakers without laces. But Mizell should be remembered more “for the music he created and his kindness.”

That music included spinning the turntable on such Run-DMC hits as “King of Rock,” ″It’s Tricky” and a remake of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.” And one of Jam Master Jay’s acts of kindnesses included opening a 24/7 studio in a then-violent section of Queens for artists who needed a start. Famed rapper 50 Cent was among those he mentored there.

It was in that studio on the night before Halloween 2002 when police say two armed men were buzzed inside. Thompson, once hired as security “to keep the riff raff out,” said he had left the job because he wasn’t getting paid.

According to some reports, the 37-year-old Jam Master Jay hugged one of the men before gunfire erupted. One round missed him but a second, fired from point-blank range, entered the left side of his head. The men vanished.

Speculation followed that Jam Master Jay, who was drowning in debt, may have been killed on orders from someone to whom he owed money.

Police said there were at least four other people in the studio at the time. But none provided enough details to produce fruitful leads. Thompson said a security camera in the studio was broken.

Prosecutors later identified a career criminal serving time for armed robbery a suspect. But he denied involvement and was never charged. Then the case went cold.

Following the killing, a news photo showed Jam Master Jay’s body being removed from the back of the building through an emergency exit while mourners flocked to the scene to pay tribute. Two more showed DMC hugging Public Enemy’s Chuck D during the impromptu wake and a handwritten poster reading, “Rest in Peace, We’ll Fight 4 Justice.”

Fifteen years later, reminders of the tragedy are harder to find. There’s the recording studio mural and, inside, a plaque on a closet door with his “JMJ” record label insignia.

“He’s right there, so there’s no getting away from it,” performer Jaquan “Tipsy” Hardaway, said of the mural as he walked into the studio last week.

A founder of the current Signature Soundz Studios, Alix Dontfraid, agreed that it still feels a “little spooky” there. But he also tries to stay positive.

Jam Master Jay “could have built this studio anywhere, but he built it here, where it was needed,” he said. “That’s an energy I’m trying to perpetuate.”

A Little Hip Hop History: Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill (In 4 Minutes)

Tthe fastest-selling debuts of all time.

THE HOOD INTERNET presents 40 YEARS OF HIP HOP

in 4 minutes . .



Over 150 songs from more than 100 artists representing 40 years of hip hop all crammed into 4 minutes. It’s not a chronological history of hip hop. It’s rappers from different eras finishing each other’s rhymes over intersecting beats, all woven together to make one song.

Audio stream/download at:
soundcloud.com/hoodinternet/40-years-of-hip-hop

Featuring:
2 Pac, 50 Cent, A Tribe Called Quest, Afrika Bambaataa, Audio Two, AZ, Beastie Boys, BG, Big Pun, Biz Markie, Black Rob, Black Sheep, Blackstreet, Bobby Shmurda, Boogie Down Productions, Busta Rhymes, Cali Swag District, Cam'ron, Chamillionaire, Chance The Rapper, Clipse, Common, Craig Mack, Cypress Hill, David Banner, De La Soul, Dead Prez, Digable Planets, Digital Underground, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, DJ Kool, DJ Quik & Kurrupt, DMX, Doug E Fresh, Dr. Dre, Drake, Eazy-E, Eminem, Eric B. & Rakim, Funky 4+1, Gang Starr, Geto Boys, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, GZA, House of Pain, Ice Cube, J-Kwon, Jadakiss, Jay Electronica, Jay-Z, JJ Fad, Juvenile, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi, KRS-One, Lauryn Hill, Lil Jon & The Eastside Boys, Lil Kim, Lil Troy, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J, Ludacris, Madvillain, MC Shan, Meek Mill, MF DOOM, Missy Elliott, Mobb Deep, Montell Jordan, MOP, Nas, Naughty By Nature, Nelly, Nicki Minaj, Notorious BIG, NWA, Ol Dirty Bastard, Outakst, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Petey Pablo, Pharaohe Monch, Public Enemy, Puff Daddy, Quad City DJs, Rich Boy, Rick Ross, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, Run-DMC, Salt N Pepa, Scarface, Schoolly D, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Skee-Lo, Slick Rick, Snoop Dogg, Soulja Boy, Sugarhill Gang, T La Rock, T-Wayne, T.I., Terror Squad, The Fat Boys, The Fatback Band, The Fugees, The Game, The Pack, The Pharcyde, The Roots, Three 6 Mafia, Tone Loc, Tyga, UGK, Usher, UTFO, Warren G, Whodini, Wreckx-N-Effect, Wu-Tang Clan, Ying Yang Twins, Young Gunz

BONUS:
Trump Picks Fights on Twitter, Pisses Off World: A Closer Look

Vintage Hip-Hop Fantastic Freaks, Cold Crush Brothers, DJ Grand Wizard Theodore (Live at Club Dixie in South Bronx)

Clip from 1983 film "Wild Style".....
The Source has called WILD STYLE "the best hip-hop movie of all time," and it's widely recognized as such worldwide. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the film as one of the "10 Best Rock 'n' Roll Movies of All Time." Rolling Stone rates it #7 on its list of "The Top 25 Music DVDs of All Time," noting, "you'll find exhilarating and rare footage of Fab Five Freddy, Grandmaster Flash and all the spray-painters, rappers and breakers who helped turn hip-hop from a South Bronx musical style into a cultural phenomenon." This seminal visual record of the origins of hip-hop culture now celebrates its quarter-century mark with the special WILD STYLE 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION from Rhino.

The WILD STYLE 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION DVD presents a digital transfer from the original 16mm film, a 5.1 audio mix and new commentary from director Charlie Ahearn and hip-hop icon and former graffiti artist Fab 5 Freddy. In addition to the groundbreaking feature film, captured on location in the South Bronx in 1982 - including great subway and train yard shots - the WILD STYLE DVD is now expanded with new interviews with Ahearn, Fab 5 Freddy, Busy Bee and Lady Pink. Also featured are a previously unissued mini-documentary with footage from the 20th Anniversary WILD STYLE concert, a "Bongo Barbershop" DJ battle in the Bronx, previously unreleased photos and other bonus extras.

Narratively, WILD STYLE follows the exploits of maverick tagger Zoro (real life graffiti artist Lee Quinones), whose work attracts the attention of an East Village art fancier (Patti Astor) who commissions him to paint the stage for a giant Rapper's Convention. A documentation of the earliest days of hip-hop in the boroughs of New York, everything in WILD STYLE is authentic - the story, style, characters, and most of the actors, are drawn from the community. It features a pantheon of old-school pioneers, including Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy, Busy Bee, The Cold Crush Brothers and more.

In its chronicling the influential South Bronx youth culture of the day - before it became globally known - WILD STYLE shows many important hip-hop personalities in their milieu before they went on to reap national acclaim. Chief among these is Fab 5 Freddy, who hosted Yo! MTV Raps from its inception. Director Ahearn credits Freddy for the film's vision of hip-hop as a unified culture. WILD STYLE may not have been the first movie featuring rappers, but it was the first to link graffiti, break dancing, DJing, freestyle MCing and the emergence of the hip-hop nation. It culminates in one of the greatest hip-hop parties in history.

Get The DVD: HERE at Amazon

some Old School O.G. Hip-Hop for your Saturday

Wugazi - Slow Like That

Wugazi - Forensic Shimmy

Throw Back Thursday Old School Hio Hop Funkmaster Wizard Wiz "Can't You Take A Hint" (Bellevue Patient)

DOPE.







thanks, John Z for the Bellevue photo

My 1986 RUN-DMC Jacket and how I almost lost it and possibly more... from my Instagram +

My RUN-DMC baseball jacket from circa 1986. I got GLEN E. appropriately embroidered on the front. It was close to 30 years ago to the day or at least season that i got jumped in Westwood for this dope jacket. Here's the story, first know that there were few white kids going to hip hop shows at this point in time, it was about to blow ip, but not just yet, so i was friendly with a lot of the folks out in LA and was known around as one of those kids who was going and knowing most of the groups etc. i had been working with Run-DMC and RUSH and DefJam for a while now and still lived in LA while trying to get through my studies at UCLA. RUN-DMC gave me and less than 10 other people one of these original jackets, it was fly as fuck for that period of time with it's black leather sleeves and fold up collar. I'd wear it around a bit with my name on the front as i said, as was common for that era. So one night i was walking around Westwood (note at this time before the big shooting took place there, Westwood was an incredible packed scene, all the streets packed with students and kids from all around LA cruising, black, white, latino, blasting music out of their cars inching along in traffic checking all the sights to be seen on the scene. It was incredible. I remember bringing Rick and Russell here for the first time and they LOVED it and couldn't believe it. Almost all the cars bumping their music, LL's first album was just hitting when i brought them by for the first time to check out the scene, LL and Run blasting all over the place, it was something. But on another night i was walking around my self with my RUN-DMC jacket on and was gettin props from many people on how cool it was, one group of kids who recognized me from some shows were buggin out on it. It was all good... About an hour later, i start walking home, since I'm enrolled at UCLA at the time i could actually walk home from cruising around Westwood, as i get a couple hundred feet up into the neighborhood away from all the crowds, i see that same group of kids who were sweating my jacket, they are running towards me, like fucking around or something, I didn't know what? (CONTINUED BELOW)

A photo posted by glen E. friedman Ⓥ (@glenefriedman) on Sep 24, 2016 at 3:13pm PDT

Next thing i know i got a fist in the face! And im on the ground in a low lit area and i got six Jheri curled teenagers lookin down at me, and I'm asking WHAT THE FUCK? Next thing i know another fist in the face and the kid says "give us your jacket!" And I'm like what the fuck again, "there's only one jacket like this in LA, it's even got my name sewn in it, it was given to me by the group, what the fuck are you gonna do with this?" BAM! I get hit in the face again, "Shut up and give us the fucking jacket!" Now i'm thinking to myself, damn there's six kids and one jacket, these kids are gonna fuck me up! Then im thinking oh shit my license and credit card are in my small wallet in my inside breast pocket, fuck, I don't wanna have to deal with getting a new license at the DMV and calling up to halt my credit card, FUCK! I get hit again, "Give us the fucking jacket!" " OK, OK, OK, here take the fucking jacket, but as I'm taking it off i reach in to grab my license and wallet... Next thing i know they all run away...

WHAT THE FUCK? Cool, i still got my jacket and my ID, etc and continue walking home... Like a fool i get home and after putting some ice on my face i head out in my car to find these kids (leaving my jacket in the car) to find out what the fuck were they thinking? Lucky for me probably i never found them...

An hour later i head out to a night club called Power Tools, the cool hang at that point in time, half the dust brothers posse DJ'd there before there was such a thing as the dust brothers, i run into my homie ICE-T and tell him the story... He says "Glen you're crazy, you wanted to go back and ask them what they were thinking?? They weren't thinking you fool, thats why they do shit like that!" And as for them running away? "Obviously they thought when you went to get your ID and shit out of your pocket, they thought you were pullin' out a 'gat' and that you were gonna shoot them!" Nooo waaaay... Damn, street knowledge lesson #434... I still got my coat, and thats all the truth.

The National Museum of African American History is now open

We All must visit.

Here's a great piece from the New York Times http://nyti.ms/2cMOncG



I am honored to have a few photographs I've made on display here.

Public Enemy on my Instagram via twitter

Thanks Chuck & PE! This out take from the "It Takes A Nation Of Millions to Hold Us Back" is clearly better than the image used for the LP cover of that incredible 2nd PUBLIC ENEMY album, but I've told this story many times before, look it up if interested... Anyhow... Best hip hop album of all time hands down... Also on the twitter feed screen shot, mention of the Dock Ellis movie i helped out with "NO-NO A DOCKumentary" , with a shout out from The Great Al Oliver #16 he's the man! My son and i headed out to the PIRATES game tonight vs. Mets #hiphop #publicenemy @mrchuckd_pe #inspiration #OldSchool #ExtraStrengthPosse #DefJam #PIRATES #Roberto #Clemente #FirstAllBlackLineUp #humanitarian

A photo posted by glen E. friedman Ⓥ (@glenefriedman) on Jun 14, 2016 at 11:43am PDT

Glen E. Friedman Live Discussion Moderated by Alec MacKaye at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, Washington DC (2015)

Repete Wednesday:

Glen E. Friedman Live Discussion Moderated by Alec MacKaye at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, Washington DC (2015) from Burning Flags Press on Vimeo.

On October 25th 2015, Glen E. Friedman and Alec MacKaye sat down in front of a standing room only audience in the Grand Hall of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in Washington DC where the DC PUNK ARCHIVE is held. It was one of several events to celebrate the 1st anniversary of of the Punk Archive. They had a discussion about Glen's work and answered questions from the audience. This is a simple one camera lo-fi documentation of the event.



Special thanks to Vicente Gutierrez at Highway magazine (http://www.highwaymagazine.info) for being instrumental in creating and promoting the event with Michelle Casto and Maggie Gilmore at the DC Punk Archive (http://dclibrary.org/punk).

Rapping, deconstructed: the best rhymers of all time

interesting piece.

from Vox



There's a line in the first verse of MF Doom's track "Beef Rapp" that encapsulates everything I love about rappers who create complex rhyming patterns in their songs. It goes like this:

Whether it is animal, vegetable, or mineral
It's a miracle how he get so lyrical
And proceed to move the crowd like a old Negro spiritual

Not only is MF Doom talking about how he's a great rhymer, he's showing you.

I spoke with Martin Connor, a writer and music theorist who analyzes the rhyming patterns, beats, and rhythmic techniques of some of the greatest rappers, to figure out just how rhyming in rap music has evolved.



From the simple nursery rhyme–like bars of Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks" to the smooth East Coast flow of Notorious B.I.G.'s hit song "Hypnotize" to the speedy delivery of Kendrick Lamar's "Rigamortis," rhyming in rap music has not only evolved, it's gotten better.

The video above explores how some of the greatest rappers of all time create memorable, lyrically dense rhymes.

And here's a playlist highlighting songs that are prime examples of how great rhyming in rap can be.

The inside story of when Run‑DMC met Aerosmith

My photograph of RUN-DMC was used for the cover of this epic single.

It was the first "picture sleeve" single they at "Profile records" ever did, before that they had only used generic label sleeves. I was offered $100, this is all we're willing to spend they said, and told me, "If you don't give it to us to use for $100, we'll just stick with the generic cover..." so I gave in, just wanting to be a part of a record of two great groups that i was into in their early years.

Run, himself, to his credit, when he heard of my generosity, took four hundred dollar bills out of his pocket from his wad of cash and said "Thank you Glen, here's my contribution and thanks" ... for dealing with those assholes at the label...



The Washington post ran a great story on the recording, check it out here:
The inside story of when Run‑DMC met Aerosmith and changed music forever