Some of you may know of an underground rapper called Immortal Technique.
"Immortal Technique (Felipe Coronel) is a revolutionary. Born in Peru, he immigrated to Harlem, NY and eventually ended up in prison. He left with a new focus on music. His aggressive style gained him instant notoriety as a battle rapper, and his first album was a word-of-mouth sensation. Unwilling to change his message for mainsteam, he remained completely independent. His subsequent projects have permanently found their way into the hearts and minds of truth seekers worldwide. Going behind the scenes, The (R)evolution of Immortal Technique is an exploration of one man's global journey to fight injustice through music." http://viperrecords.com/index.php/artists/immortal-technique
Hilary's lecture today on the relationship between visibility and regulation got me thinking about other areas in which people are told how to act in order to be "marketable." The music industry is one of these areas. I choose to talk about Immortal Technique because he chose not to take corporate sponsorships for record deals that would make him millions of dollars, while censoring his message. His music is not the most savory or for the faint of heart–he raps about the unpleasant realities that many of us are unaware of or turn a blind eye to. No corporate sponsors would put their name behind him without asking him to change his musical message. He refuses and continues to make shockingly provocative music that can almost be disturbing as an in-your-face reality check. There can be real value and substance in someone's un-filtered message, and the visibility that comes along with the promise of sponsorships often results in increased regulation. It is nice that there are artists out there who choose not to censor themselves for a huge profit.
(Warning: These songs are intense in subject matter and contain massive profanity. If you don't want to hear it, don't click.)
Immortal Technique - "Freedom of Speech"
Immortal Technique - "Internally Bleeding"
If these links don't work (not super tech savvy) but you're interested in his music, go to www.grooveshark.com and search each of these songs in order.
Nice Post. I think it's great that independent artists today who put their music/message before earning money and fame like Immortal Technique can achieve a decent level of success. Since the technology to produce high quality music became available so cheaply there have been a lot of new rising artists trying their hands at relatively new genres. One of my favorite examples of a modern artist who never could have succeeded if the music industry were the same as it previously was is the rapper Hopsin. He began his career with incredibly little money but after a music video of his became a big hit on youtube he picked up 300,000 fans within a matter of months. I just think it's great that we can move away at least somewhat from having music be about appearances and celebrity nonsense.
ReplyDeleteI listened to both songs and I loved the first one, but was a bit angered at the the second one. The first song is bout how he hates corporate America, and props to him for saying that, but I think even he wants a piece of the American dream. Wanting the America dream is inevitable, and he is trying to tell his audience that he doesn't care about fame, materialism, and fortune, but he does, otherwise he wouldn't be in the music industry. The second song bothered me when he said, "Cuz some b**** killed my first born son witha coat hanger." Pure chauvinism and sexism. If he is crudely referring to a women he had relations with that decided to terminate an unwanted pregnancy than i am appalled. First of all, it isn't his choice to decide whether or not the embryo is his "first born son." Masculinity in rappers is very evident in this line, as well as the rest of the rap. It is all part of their "image." He feels as if he has control of women, as historically, it has been. Women are becoming equals to men, and when he says offensive material such as that, he is making a joke of the progress of women's rights.
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