Pee Froiss (Night & Day Records)

The Future of Rap Video 2 – Takin’ it to a Next level

" All of us are taking our influence from the US, but the more we have our own, we understand that we should talk about the people around us. As though we’re living in the first floor of the building and there is a fire." – Pee Froiss (Senegal)

An ailing music industry closes 2003 boosted by sales from major rap releases by Jay-Z, Tupac Shakur, G-unit, and 50 Cent. The success of these releases reinforces the sense that gangsta style and lover boy rap have a solid future as the continuing voice of hip hop. But appearances can be deceiving and the cross over appeal of groups like the Black Eyed Peas suggest that the future lies elsewhere.

Eric Meza and Roland Hudson are directors who helped bring the early vision of rap to television screens when the average budget for a rap video was US$50,000. Meza and Hudson have produced many esteemed videos with groups like Public Enemy, Salt ‘n Pepa, Ice Cube, and LL Cool J. Now making movies in LA and New York, Meza and Hudson have a lot to say about the development of rap video and the entertainment industry. The success of Hollywood blockbuster movie Jaws, which grossed over US$100 million, made Wall Street corporations view the entertainment industry as a major source of revenue. Meza suggests that this opened the Pandora’s box giving Wall Street the power to control the creativity within the entertainment industry.

Corporations are not in the business of educating or enlightening or elevating a culture or community." -- Motion

“We’re destroying a money making machine by only having the interest be in making money. When they stopped going after the art, they stopped being creative, for the music in the entertainment industry has become stagnant and stale. (But) it’s got to run its course until somebody realizes that in order to get the industry back on it’s feet, you’ve got to give it back to the artists.”

During the last decade rap music has been one of the vital undisputed
voices of youth culture in countries around the globe. And, like punk
music and other variations of rock & roll, rap has pushed it’s way
through society gates first as the sound of youth rebellion and now,
cash. Today, the phrase “Keeping it real” resonates to a hip hop beat
from Senegal to Siam. But ‘Keeping it real’ has developed a cynical
twist as audiences are increasingly disillusioned by the limited
dimensions of fantasy high life reflected in many rap videos. But these
are a far cry from life as presented in videos from the street cultures of Canada, Africa, Asia, Europe, the UK or even the US.

Ty

Making music videos outside of North America’s mainstream entertainment
industry does not always include expensive sets, large casts of scantily
clad trophy women and men, designer clothes, and massive budgets.
Emerging and established artists are taking rap back to basics as seen
in videos by groups like Pee Froiss (Senegal); Fusing Naked Beats, Ty
and Roots Manuva (UK); Slum Village and Black Eyed Peas (US); Motion and Kardinal Offishal (Canada). Award-winning Canadian rapper and poet Motion says, “The spectrum of Hip Hop is not being represented by the mainstream outlets, in order to present a balanced picture of life in
the 21st century. Corporations are not in the business of educating or
enlightening or elevating a culture or community.”

In Muslim-dominant Senegal, leading African rap group Pee Froiss write,
produce and direct videos with skeletal resources. Influenced by early
rap videos which exposed the poverty of American communities, Pee Froiss released their first album and video in 1996. Xuman of Pee Froiss says, “The music that they are doing is pop in Senegal. These videos are all about beautiful things. We made our first video in the real dark ghetto.
We showed the people what was happening around us, in the neighbourhood where we were living. Even this video when we released it, (local) television didn’t play it a lot. It was a new way of seeing videos.”

“As a product of pop culture, rap may last, (or) it may not, but it will change and many more cultures will be involved that's for sure.” -- Fusing Naked Beats

As UK rap has renewed public interest with the success of artists like Mercury award winner Dizzee Rascal and new releases from Big Dada’s Ty, producer Trevor Rose, formerly of seminal UK rap group Outdaville, is practical about the purpose of the video as a way to generate industry interest for the artist beyond MTV airplay. Rose would like to see British rap videos reflect the local culture. “You can do the nightclub scene hanging out with your mates. But unless you detail it a certain way it can just look like America. Our culture is based around simple things. I spend (a lot of) my life in the chip shop. We have a multicultural society. There are a lot of differences. We (need to) reflect the way that we are over here.”

Meza agrees, remembering early success with Public Enemy which resulted in invitations for the US video director to work with the UK’s legendary Soul II Soul and others. Despite the fact that the average budget for mainstream rap videos is now usually at least US$200,000, could similar partnerships be possible today which would see video makers like Little x collaborating with groups like Senegal’s Pee Froiss or rising Nigerian woman rapper Weird MC? Little x muses, “The music will
determine the content. If we keep on going down the same road, who
knows? For me, seeing the quality of the work grow, is something that
will come and something that we need.”

Fusing Naked Beats’ producer/rapper Asif echoes Little x’s thoughts.
Like many who love hip hop, Asif would like to see more diverse
unpredictable videos reflecting wider cultures and deeper story lines.
“As a product of pop culture, rap may last, (or) it may not, but it will
change and many more cultures will be involved that's for sure. People
have made it everyday life. It's only a matter of time before you have
your shine.”

Weird MC (Nigeria/UK)

photos courtesy of Big Dada; Fusing Naked Beats; Night & Day; Motion and Griots Productions