The Blackout hosted by Ciaran Black - GK Radio - Tues 3rd Feb 09

Playlist:

Dizzee Rascal – That’s Not My Name
The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
Crystal Castles - Alice Practice
Rhymes Vital - Gaza (prod. Sert1)
Durrty Goodz - Destruction (Prod. Taz Buckfaster)
Frisco - Say My Name
Newham Generals - Head Get Mangled
Chipmunk - Chip Diddy Chip
Crookers - What Up Y'all?
Wiley - Conspiracy Freestyle
Correkt Minds - No Escape
Skepta - Sunglasses At Night
Terawrizt feat. Redzer - Every Step

http://www.staffsunion.com/gkmedia/g...

The Song I Am Listening To Most Each Week

7th Jan: Lupe Fiasco - Gold Watch
14th Jan: Jeff Buckley - Mojo Pin
21st Jan: Bob Dylan - Not Dark Yet
28th Jan: Jee4ce - ASBO Music
4th Feb: Burt Bacharach - What The World Needs Now Is Love
11th Feb: Elton John - Tiny Dancer
18th Feb: Alicia Keys - Like You'll Never See Me Again
25th Feb: Wiley - Wearing My Rolex
3rd Mar: Rage Against The Machine - Calm Like A Bomb
10th Mar: R.E.M. - Nightswimming
17th Mar: Prince - All The Midnights In The World
24th Mar: Colin Hay - Overkill
31st Mar: Class A'z - Every Step
7th Apr: Benga - Go Tell Them
14th Apr: Audio Bullys - I'm In Love
21st Apr: Bruce Springsteen - Goin' Down
28th Apr: Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think
5th May: Klashnekoff - Son Of Niah
12th May: Prince - Purple Rain
19th May: MGMT - Electric Feel
26th May: Boy Better Know - Microphone Champion Vol 1
2nd Jun: Ghetto - Sing For Me
9th Jun: Styles P feat. Wyclef Jean - Understand Me
16th Jun: Madlib - Greenery
23rd Jun: Random Impulse - I Quit
30th Jun: Cold War Kids - Hospital Beds
7th Jul: Reflection Eternal - Africa Dream
14th Jul: Chipmunk - Who Are U
21st Jul: Bobby Caldwell - Open Your Eyes
28th Jul: The Delfonics - Didn't I
4th Aug: Niall Johnston - Cause It Will Be
11th Aug: Frisco - Time Is Right
18th Aug: Ghetto - Buss 1
25th Aug: Paul Brady - Nothing But The Same Old Story
1st Sep: Wiley - Where's My Brother
8th Sep: The Streets - Everything Is Borrowed
15th Sep: The Pogues - A Pair Of Brown Eyes
22nd Sep: Blind Boys Of Alabama - Way Down The Hole
29th Sep: Manfred Mann & The Earth Band - You Angel You
6th Oct: Kano - Hunting We Will Go
13th Oct: Burial - Endorphin
20th Oct: The Bug - Skeng
27th Oct: Wretch 32 - Inna Di Ghetto
3rd Nov: Devlin Feat. Ghetto - FU
10th Nov: No Lay - Bars Of Truth
17th Nov: M.I.A. - Paper Planes
24th Nov: Florence & The Machine - Hospital Beds
1st Dec: Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire
8th Dec: Chairlift - Bruises
15th Dec: Y Dot - I Violate Cause I'm A Sinner
22nd Dec: Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody
29th Dec: Durrty Goodz - Destruction


The Blackout
Mondays 9-10pm
http://www.staffsunion.com/gkmedia/g...

http://ciaranblack.blogspot.com

Latest Irish Hip Hop & Grime News + Music - Visit It ^^^

Words by Ciaran Black

Hip hop seems to be in the hour of crisis at the moment with just about everyone taking shots at it. All I am hearing these days is “hip hop is dead” or “it promotes violence” you know the usual hassle we true hip hop heads get harassed with everyday! It’s all been said before, but a new topic has been raised recently thanks to Mr. Russell Simmons, Founder of Def Jam Records.

Simmons is calling for three words, ‘ho’, ‘bitch’ and ‘nigger’ to be censored in rap music. Quite clearly this triggered a huge debate in terms of censorship within rap music and was eye opening of a sort. People stand clearly divided on this one, some choosing to side with the censoring, others saying there should be no such thing in hip hop.

To understand it fully we have to look back and see that hip hop started as an outlet for the oppressed to be themselves, it was not constrained in any way. People had the freedom to express their creativity and say what they liked. Hip hop was a unique way for people to express themselves without having to feel the pressures of society weighing down upon them. Groups like Public Enemy and N.W.A used this to great effect and turned hip hop into a political tool for the downtrodden. No longer were they a class without a voice, hip hop’s solidarity allowed a true message to shine through, without the government or media being able to manipulate it. Yet the founder of the same record label that was putting out Public Enemy’s uplifting songs has turned his back on hip hop and announced he wants a ban on specific words.

Now to be fair with Russell, hip hop has changed dramatically since the early 90’s as we can all very much testify, but do we really need to compromise our art form because of the change? I believe there is an argument for the banning of these words. Taking into consideration the social pressures to conform and how commercial hip hop has become in recent years I still think Russell has a point. The words he is looking to abolish do not show any creativity, actually they are the opposite. They are degrading, derogative and offensive. The N-word in particular disrespects the pain and suffering black people across the world suffered at the hands of racist oppressors. Surely this word is unnecessary in music and common everyday use, unless it is to strictly make a point, and with it being used frequently it gives us all the more reason to ban it. I find it shows an ignorance in the artist who says the N-word in every other sentence, and I cringe whenever I hear so called ‘conscious’ emcees such as Talib Kweli and Common using it frequently. It only serves as a purpose of keeping a divide between races, with all due respect, I do think we should acknowledge the pain and suffering black people all over the world went through, but the N-word does not honour their ancestors in any way.

Although there is the argument that by censoring these words in rap that we are in some way damaging the integrity of hip hop. Words such as ‘ho’ and ‘bitch’ are used daily on the streets and the “street life” is being portrayed through the music. These words are a reality and what we see in the music is reality. If we limit emcees to what they can rap about then we are missing an important element within hip hop, the right to express yourself fully.

I think KRS-One summed it up beautifully on the Classic joint recently when he said,
“Rappers spit rhymes that are mostly illegal, MC’s spit rhymes to uplift they people
Peace, love, unity, and Havin’ fun, these are the lyrics of KRS One”.

When it comes down to it, we have had an influx of ‘hip pop’ rappers that are only out to make money and are talking about the same damn clichéd hip hop subjects of guns, money, women without displaying any love for the art. They are the ones that should be banned and abolished from hip hop, they are not needed and every unnece