How Far We Going Back?

The Ghetto Brothers: Ghetto Brother Power
from Can't Stop Won't Stop: The Next Lesson (Quannum Projects 2005)

ESG: UFO
from A South Bronx Story (Universal Sound 2000)

ESG: My Love For You
from A South Bronx Story (Universal Sound 2000)


I just finished reading Jeff Chang's new book Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation and it is a very informative book on the culture. According to him, the foundation of Hip-Hop rose from out of the political abandonment of the 60's of the Bronx. The "white flight" led to resegregation which allowed for the proliferation of the violent gang era of the late 60's and early 70's. From out of the fires of gang warfare and the subsequent peace treaty would come the framework that is recognized as the start of Hip-Hop. The Ghetto Brothers, one of the most powerful of the gangs of that time, would also become one of the most influential. Politically inclined they would create and foster the peace treaty between the numerous gangs of the bronx. Musically inclined they would create their own band and play local block parties where all gangs were peacefully welcomed.

In 1972 the Ghetto Borthers released an album that would find distribution around their area. The first track on this post, Ghetto Brother Power, is from that album (here taken from the accompanying CD to the book). Ghetto Brother Power is rich in harmony and stacked with a moving Latin rhythm. Sounding surprisingly more like an early Beatles track tinged with r&b influences, the song drives quickly through it's percussion heavy two minutes. Listen for the conga breakdown right before the guitar solo and you can picture crowds in the block party sweating and dancing to the easy call and response lyrics. While the song will never get confused as a contributor to the Hip-Hop culture, the creators of the song had a deep and pronounced influence on the genesis of Hip-Hop.

The second cut is from the heavily sampled song UFO (NWA's "Real Niggaz Don't Die", Nine Inch Nails "Metal", Public Enemy's "Night of the Living Baseheads" just to name a few) and is from the criminally underappreciated , though undoubtedly influential group ESG. Emerging out of the South Bronx, the four sisters (along with a conga player) were a very popular group among the dance club enthusiasts of the South Bronx during the late 70's early 80's and hearing UFO it's easy to understand why. A driving rhythm with piercing synths, frenetic drums and a hypnotic bassline, the song goes off in all directions but still maintans a centrality that is essential to any dance song. Nowadays this song is probably more recognized as the pitched down version that a lot of DJ's like to use, but either way, it is still a great song.

If Phil Spector created his Wagner-esque Wall of Sound by throwing every instrument into the mix while still maintaining the integrity of the harmony, then the ESG sound could be considered an opposite, a minimal Wall of Rhythym. Heavy on thhe bass and percussion their sound emphasizes the rhythm over the harmony and yet the two sections still merge well enough to drive the song from beginning to end. My Love For You is a perfect example of this. A rolling bassline that thankfully never quits, the girl's vocals just seem to be dressing for the song's bass letting it lead the listener toward the inevitable end. If you have a massive soundset, I would suggest turning this song up to disturning the peace proportions as a song with a bassline this heavy loses a lot of effectiveness when played through tinny computer speakers.