Rendering №14

Across the Miles and Years, a Gathering of Hip-Hop Beats

The author of the article is Jon Caramanica. It was published on 24 May, 2013, in The New York Times. The article provides the information about the event, which was called United States of Bass.

In the beginning of the article the author tells that part of the Red Bull Music Academy series of performances, which has been flooding the city with dance music for the last few weeks, it offered both a tactile dance-floor experience and a history lesson. There was DJ Magic Mike and his Miami bass, Egyptian Lover and his Los Angeles electro. DJ Assault, from Detroit, played ghettotech; Scottie B, from Baltimore, played Baltimore club. Chicago was represented by two generations: DJ Funk and his classic ghetto house, and DJ Rashad and DJ Spinn playing modern juke.

Caramanica adds that this bill could have served as an opportunity to parse the fine differences among the sounds, though often the bass led with such intensity that to do so in the moment felt meaningless.

The author also says that DJ Rashad and DJ Spinn played a masterly set of juke music, which is fast, clean, precise and neck-snapping. DJ Funk had the most in common with DJ Assault, who’d earlier brought his vulgar, irresistible ghettotech — the sound of Detroit strip clubs in the late 1990s — to the main stage. According to the article DJ Magic Mike is a pioneer of Miami bass music, the low-end-intense hip-hop subgenre that has the advantage of having some national hits, like those by 2 Live Crew. 

Then the author points out that the current norm, most of the D.J.’s used the computer program Serato, meaning they didn’t have to bring a crate of vinyl, except Egyptian Lover, who mixed directly off records handed to him one at a time by an associate.

What is more, the lone straight-ahead rapper on the bill was Big Freedia, from New Orleans. The father of all the scenes and sounds represented at this show, Afrika Bambaataa, was one of the D.J.’s who reached far and wide, bridging funk and electro and soul and Krautrock and plenty more, setting the table for hip-hop’s eclecticism. 

Well, I'm sure that United States of Bass is a real treasure for music experts. There they can see legendary bass producers and DJs. I guess it may be useful for the beginner or amateur in musiс.