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Elsewhere on the WebSuggested ReadingDaKAH Hip Hop Orchestra
Los Angeles' Hidden TreasureThe label of "folk music" is generally often reserved for bands or artists who defy any other definition. These rare folks touch on so many different genres, and cross so many different cultural divides that their work becomes universal. It's in this universality that it becomes accessible and identifiable to anyone and everyone ... ostensibly, there's no way it can't be considered the music of the masses.Such is the stuff of Los Angeles' DaKAH Hip Hop Orchestra. A group of 60+ "Da'Kats" who span skill sets from instruments like trumpet and bassoon to rapper MCs and turntable DJs. There's a string section, a percussion session, and a small chorus of hip-hop vocalists. The notion of hip-hop artists using clips of horn sections, classical orchestras, or woodwinds is nothing new. Hip Hop artists have been sampling classical and jazz works since the inception of their artform. It's just a little more rare to find classical players, jazz hornists, and rapper MCs all onstage at one time. It's nothing if not the most integrated, innovative effort at bringing the music to the people. Classical, jazz, hip hop, and folk music are not strangers to one another. Classical music, during its time, was nothing if not folk music. The only thing distinguishing it as "classical" are the periods of history from which it came. The composers of what we popularly consider "classical" music were, for the most part, from the lower and middle classes. Many like JS Bach worked some other day job (repairing church organs, for example) while they composed their underappreciated experimental pieces on their own time. Similarly, jazz music came out of the working class clubs and juke joints in New Orleans and along the Mississippi delta. Folks like Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima were hardly part of the American gentry. Their music was inspired by, and spoke to, the working classes. Furthermore, hip hop evolved from the blue collar neighborhoods with mostly African-American men composing intricate rhythms and rhymes about racism, poverty, and the struggle of their daily lives. But so seldomly do these areas come together to create what is quite likely the most resounding cross-disciplinary musical statement possible these days. And I'm not talking about Eminem doing a duet with Elton John. I'm talking about working class musicians in downtown Los Angeles leaving their orchestral jobs, studio recording gigs, etc., to commune with dozens of other artists and make up what is known as the DaKAH Hip Hop Orchestra. DaKAH, for all it's numbers of participants, does not have an over-extended sound. Their rhymes are sharp and intelligent, their accompaniment is fierce and precise, and their overall aesthetic is truly astounding. |
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