Tuesday.

Reblogged from my Education Interwebs blog.

...bringing to the stage, DJ Ed Interwebs...

Today in #diglits, we spoke about the identit(ies) that we perform through the creation of our blogs. Dr. Stornaioulo [god, I hope that spelling is correct :)] pulled one of my original quotes into a document that had quotes from all of our blogs. It was one of my first posts. She obviously had to do some digging to get to it. I’m on post 57.

I hope to use this blog to share many of my “ruminations” about the future of education as well as pepper in many of the quotes and perspectives that speak to my hopes and dreams. If you notice from the title, hip-hop plays a major role in how I “read the world” (Friere & Macedo, 1987) around us. If you don’t know, get familiar.

My introduction to the blog. I noticed a couple things. One, ruminations…I love that word because I believe it to be associated with Rumi, who happens to be one of my favorites. Two, I had to link my brother from another mother Paulo Friere. He should be my uncle I guess. He was pretty old. Maybe he could be my pops. Lastly, the “get familiar”—-tag line that I know from DJ Clinton Sparks mixtapes—which links to a YouTube of Jay Electronica’s “Victory is in my Clutches”.

I realize that I really do take pride in my links. It’s not really about me. Most of the time, I don’t think I have anything original to say, or as Nas would say “No Idea’s Original.” [the ALCHEMIST version from The Lost Tapes] I do see myself as a curator and it comes out in a number of forms. I can dissect most of my language to their “originators” as in saying “jawn” happened because I grew up around Philadelphia. Rap lyrics infiltrate the idioms and phrases of my life. Comedians offer so many different jokes. So many things feel like a Curb Your Enthusiasm moment. The music I listen to is not only connected to the artist, but also connected to the moment that I discovered them and the process in which that came about. It’s a giant story. For example, Kendrick Lamar. [thats a Willie Hutch sample from The Mack Soundtrack] I have been listening to Kendrick Lamar since the EP because 9^th Wonder had an interview on AllHipHop.com which he stated that Kendrick Lamar was one of his new favorites from out of the West. One Ctrl+ T later, I am downloading the free Kendrick Lamar EP and have been a fan ever since. There is so many different instances which pull events together.

I often talk about the genealogy of ideas that I have so much fun with in music, but it relates well to academia. Reading a WaxPoetics magazine, you come across so many different talented artists that helped to build classic music that would stand the test of time to become some of Hip-Hop’s greatest songs. Ex. The Delfonics’ Ready Or Not. These are amazing talents. You have to CITE YOUR SOURCES!! The funny thing about Hip-Hop is that you don’t just give it away. It becomes the responsibility of the listener to do the searching, to do the crate digging. You have to find it. I remember hearing the story of Afrika Bambataa (from DJ Red Alert on a RBMA lecture) that he would change the labels of the vinyl’s that he would play so that no other DJ would know the records he would be playing at the party. HAVING THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SOURCES IS A BIG DEAL.

I think of how hip-hop definitely favors the academic in terms of being a crate-digger and a curator. It’s not just about what I have to say. In many ways, my validity is only based on the sources. As @epohnire pointed out today in class, I do look at my blog like I am a DJ. I try to create an environment that supports social justice, digital media, and progressive education. I don’t care if it’s my records or from somewhere else. It’s about that sound. If it’s not there, I would have to do more to create it. But that energy is already out there in the world so I can step back and curate it.
Miles Davis was great at curating. He knew how to find himself in the new movements of jazz. I believe he did this because he always had one ear on his playing and one ear surveying the land. And you got to know what that Champion Sound is….