Thoughts
Three Things
There is no doubt that Sydney has a dynamically growing hip-hop culture with several facets. It was great to see how hip-hop in Sydney represented itself when it was incorporated into three high profile events with a global appeal.
Musicians Making A Difference (MMAD) All Access Conference
MMAD united aspiring performers, with Australia’s most popular musicians and industry representatives in one location for a two day event. Participants were allowed to choose from a range of session focused on topics in both the business and creative side of the music including music, including songwriting, marketing, and performing. This conference had several components that related to my research. For example, there was one strand of sessions that allowed participants to see the global relationship that exist between music and social justice. Additionally artist who had developed relationships with the New South Wales school system explained the process for conducting workshops as well as concerts in tandem with school events, (in both non-profit and for-profit endeavors). Artist such as Morganics and The Street Warriors talked about their work in the Aboriginal community. Bliss from Bliss N Eso explained how they had to develop social media and digital technology skills in order to promote themselves and hone their craft. Morganics, Mistery, Miracle, MC Trey, and Mind Over Matter, spoke on a panel about the history of hip-hop in Australia, as well as the positive impact of many of the collaborations they have taken part in throughout their career. Each of these artists has worked with numerous youth based programs and has helped several current artist launch their career.
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Lagu Identitas
One of the main focal points of my research here in Yogyakarta is to explore the identity of Javanese children. I am analyzing if and how music reflects their identity already, and if Indonesian and Javanese culture allows for children to express their identity creatively. With the children in Kelompok Kecil and Kelompok Besar at SDKE Mangunan, I held workshops over the span of a few weeks discussing the concept of identity, writing lyrics based on the children’s ideas of their own identities, making new songs in small groups, and finally recording these songs for an informal album.
The concept of identity is a common topic of discourse in anthropology and ethnomusicology. However, the purpose of my presenting this theme to the children was not entirely to fuel further discourse, but also to inspire the children to consider their own. This research project lends itself to uncover the most important information when the children are creatively empowered and are the creators of their own lyrics and music. What do they say? How do they say it? What are similarities and differences between boys and girls and the different age groups? These questions were all addressed during this unit and resulted in some very exciting song recordings that illustrate each child’s social and individual identity.
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I’m Not Racist But…
Definitely a compelling title right? This was the title of a community conversation held at the Seymour Center on the University of Sydney’s campus. It was one of many events hosted in part by the New South Wales Reconciliation Council targeted to fight racism in Australia directed predominately towards the indigenous community and refugees. L-Fresh, a.k.a ‘The Lion’, was one of four invited speakers. I have had the pleasure of working with him while I volunteered at Street University (which I will tell you about more in my next post). He is a hip-hop artist who has shared the stage with Nas, Public Enemy and Urthboy and spoken at conventions, most recently for Amnesty International. L-Fresh (picture courtesy of L-Fresh) is a young vibrant artist who has a way of succinctly stating really big ideas and deep thought… yet he is very approachable, and always ready to share a smile. So listening to his accounts of how he was made to feel different because of his religious practices was both saddening (because of how he was treated) and inspirational (because of how he handled it). I asked him to expand a bit more on the topic, and he provided this statement…
“I feel like there is a deep-rooted need for distinction or definition. The scene in Australia is very much divided. Hip-hop in Australia is still very much underground. It is only just beginning to tap into the mainstream. Nevertheless, there still feels as though there is a sort of mainstream and underground divide.
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Welcome to Africulturban…
Africulturban is one of the premier hip-hop cultural centers in the Dakar area.The name is combined from the words Afrique- Culture- Urban and the association focuses on the education, promotion, and development of urban arts in Senegal. I have been lucky enough to collaborate with Africulturban quite a bit throughout my time here in Senegal.
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Hari Baseball
As news of spring training started appearing in the subheading of news websites, my stomach griped; this may just be the first year since I was six that I won’t go to a baseball game! Not much later one day at school, some of the children started asking me questions about American baseball: the rules, the players, the teams. In anticipation, I asked my parents to bring along a small whiffle ball and bat when they would visit in April. As baseball has always had a special place in the hearts of the Stillings’ family, they were happily to oblige. Not only did Mom and Dad lug a suitcase of books and protein bars, but the whiffle ball set, a few bags of cracker jacks, big chew bubble gum, and MLB-themed silly bands.
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