The Signifyin' Monkey told the lion one day"There's a bad motherfucker comin' down your way
He talk about your momma and your sister Lou
He talk about how good yo' gran'ma screw ...
Thus Rudy Ray Moore, a.k.a. Dolemite, who rose to fame in 1970's blaxploitation films, began his version of the Signifying Monkey toast. It's one among many -- there have been at least a dozen recordings of one version or another over since the 1940's -- and there's evidence that this "toast" goes back well into the nineteenth century, if not farther. Henry Louis Gates, in his book, The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism, suggests that the figurative scenario may have its roots in the ancient Yoruba trickster figure Esu-Elegbara. That there aren't hundreds of recorded versions may in large part be due to the tacit censorship imposed by the recording industry; while studio acetates such as Lucille Bogan's X-rated version of "Shave 'em Dry" attest to such songs existing, they were almost never released -- and when they were, they were usually "private" off-label pressings such as the one shown here, "For Adults Only." Nowadays, many of these are only a click away on YouTube: The Big Three Trio, Smokey Joe, the Three Bits of Rhythm, Johnny Otis, and an even anonymous talking version by the "Arkansas Traveller." The Deep Blues blog also has a roundup of numerous versions, with video and audio links.
But although this may well be, as Gates theorizes, the ur-text of all toasts, it's far from the only one. Along with the one-person "toast," the two person dissing contest known as the "Dozens" is similarly structured -- a verbal contest, often involving insults against the opponent's mother, in which the first person to lose his cool loses. These, too, have made it on to records, as with Big Maybelle's "Gabbin' Blues" or Otis Redding and Carla Thomas's "Tramp."
There is something fundamentally entertaining about a battle of wits and the vigorous display of “one-up-manship” as characterized putdowns and comebacks. Competition with words likely evolved as soon as words were invented; perhaps a primitive “caveman battle rap” took place in caves with the other members of the clan cheering their favorite “artist.” In today’s society musicians, politicians, athletes, and advertisers all engage a form of battle rap to pump up their image and put their opponents in a less favorable light.
ReplyDeleteWords, when engaged cleverly, are an effective weapon.
one of my favorite types of hip-hop to listen to is the battle or beef songs between artists. There was, or possibly still is, a series of songs that were traded between LL Cool J and Canibus, dissing each other. I can remember y friends and I counting the days until a single or new ablum from either artist was realeased so that we could hear the next round of verbal pugilism. Reading about the dozens, and signifying is like taking a time-machine back to the first rap battles. It's a cool timeline that we can look at and see exactly where and from what this practice come from.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with what Darla is saying. When I first read the story of the signifying monkey I thought about the power of words and how what we say not only effects us, but it also effects the people who are interpreting those words.With technology playing a major role in the out-put of communication, we rely on things like text,Facebook and twitter to get our points across. However the problem we run into is that those words may come across meaning something different then what we intend them to mean. By no fault of our own we allow our words to be dissected by others and in the end its like a game of telephone, the interpretation is going to be different depending on the individual.
ReplyDeleteIn the hip hop world words can be many things including weapons. As Jason and Darla point out words are not only expressive but they can also be competitive. In the hip hop industry there is nothing more piercing then to hear that another artist has made a diss track about you. The only thing an artist can do is to come back with words that are 10x harder then what the other person has said. This is the "one-up man-ship" Darla is talking about.
It is my belief that battling and beef in hip-hop is a fundamental aspect of the genre. A lot of rappers had to battle to gain street credibility and reputation, battles also generate publicity for rappers. Examples include Eminem vs Benzino (the owner of the Source magazine who eminem claimed took payment for album ratings), Ice Cub vs Common, Jay-Z vs Nas and all of the infamous songs that accompanied battles such as these. The precedence was definitely set, and battles are competitions that now can be held by labels for contracts or cash incentives, I agree with others that the wittiness and creativity is also very impressive and difficult to display in a battle, as you have no option to premeditate your diss if a battle is live.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sam. Battling between artists is apart of "the game." It draws in crowds, gets fans to buy albums and gets people talking about the emotion in hip hop. I know when I go to buy an album of an artist, I don't reach for the "clean" version of the CD. I want to feel the emotion from the artist and the way the artist intended the music to be: dirty. Although, more recently, hip hop artists aren't consumed by the aspect of battling through their music (like Biggie and Tupac) but are battling to see who can release the most singles and who is on top of the Itunes list. Does the west coast-east coast rivalry still exist in music? Most "hip hoppers" today are most consumed with money, women and cars.
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