Aint Nuthin But a G Thang: the intersection, personification, and cross-over appeal of Hip Hop and Ghetto Genius

Mechanical Engineering

When Dr. Dre dropped the single "Ain't Nuthin' But a G Thang" it solidified the era of "gangsta" culture in Hip Hop.  The G Thang video represented the "disengaged reality" of street life culture.  Disengaged Reality is a grounded theory of urban street life that represents a culture that doesn't believe in the promise of an equitable society and recognizes the reality in which they live.  It has it's own rules and codes in order to not only survive, but also thrive.  Leeriness of law enforcement, street economics, and how well you take care of your own dictates your authenticity.  Dr. Dre was able to capture that culture and put it on wax with a new sound rooted in the historical intersection of black american music technology and geekism. Welcome to the "G-Funk" era.

Robert Moog & Bernie Worrell

Aerospace Engineering

G-Funk was the sound that reflected street life. It had the various elements of Hip Hop culture within it, yet it had much more of an edge. G-Funk was very technical because it relied on the augmentation of technically synthesized sound by classically trained musicians like Bernie Worrell.  Bernie Worrell, a musical prodigy that was classically trained at Julliard and the New England

Genetic Engineering

Conservatory of Music, was a tech geek that introduced the sound of the keyboard bass to funk music as well as other sound innovations. Robert Moog, an Engineering Physicist created the the Moog Synthesizer, an instrument that was used to create the  heavy bass sound in funk music. It was gritty, heavy, hard, and raw. Much like the street life of South Central, LA that Dr. Dre was accustomed too. Dre grew up in "stereo" listening to Dj's on the radio pump the sound of bands like Earth Wind and Fire, Ohio Players, Barkays, Bootsy, and Parliament/Funkadelic. These bands were filled with engineering innovation and well prepared artistry.

Bioengineering

However, it was the geekness for tweeking the technology that spirited the formation of Funk. Funk music is a by-product of engineering innovation, exceptional musicianship, and the spirit of social justice. It is forever present in the digital DNA of Parliament. Just look at the album covers, they set the tone for the listeners sound experience.

So when Dre developed "The Chronic," he reached out and incorporated the sound of artists like Bernie Worrell, someone like him who appreciated the integration of
technology and music. Their collective geekism helped shape the sound that ushered in the next wave of Hip Hop.  The new wave; a fusion of technology, funk, and Hip Hop proved to be a winner cross-culturally.  The tales of growing up in the hood, laced with funkdafied bass not only resonated with black kids from the ghetto, it attracted white kids from the suburbs, the "burbs" became filled with the sound of the G-Funk and Dr. Dre's record

sales as an independent artist went through the roof. And to demonstrate it wasn't by chance, the release of Snoop Dogg's "Doggystyle" cemented how Dre's "Ghetto Geekism" evolved into "Ghetto Genius."

So again, the historical legacy of engineering technology was historical and key in the sound creation that built a new musical era.  Do you see potential for BEATS to engineer new musical tools that are influenced by the legacy of Bernie Worrell?  How could an aspiring engineer tap into the legacy of someone like Bernie Worrell?  Is there an artist today that is spirited like Bernie Worrell?

You should know:

1. Geekism is a part of the African American experience.  
2. Advancements in electronic sound technology provided the foundation for new music genres to emerge. 
3. Parliament/Funkadelic reflected the sound of new music technology and presented it to the masses with palatable themes of innovation, engineering, and social justice.
4. Dr. Dre pulled from the legacy of Funk to create G-Funk; the fusion of funk and hip hop.
5. The G Funk era exposed Hip Hop to the burbs and kids like Eminem who expanded the marketability of the culture and everything that it influenced.

Straight Out of Compton: Crazy brothas with money, attitude, genius, and the spirit of entrepreneurship

Dre, Ren, Cube, and Dj Yella also known as "NWA" (Niggas Wit Attitude) were a group of young men that lived and survived daily in the streets of South Central, Los Angeles. Their experience
may have been unique to the country, but not to the residents that learned how to survive in the harsh realities of urban life. Deindustrialization, poor public schools, and a meager outlook for employment was fertile ground for a growing epidemic to become big business. Crack cocaine.
Eric Wright, now known in the world as "Eazy-E" was like many
young African American men in the mid 1980's. Energetic, visionary, and a keen sense for business. He explored his love for the streets and the lifestyle they provided. From booming sound systems, old school low-riders, and high end imports, Eric wanted his success on the street reflected in the cars and other accessories that

screamed "I made it." Dr. Dre recognized the resources Eric garnered from street hustlin' and influenced him to invest into his boostrapping idea of starting his own recording imprint. Dr. Dre's indigenous street research from Djing exposed a cultural trend that was developing around West Coast Hip Hop, Gangsta Rap.   Ruthless Records was the imprint that harnessed Dr. Dre and Eazy E's vision of developing, marketing and selling Gangsta Rap Culture. Through various ideation stages and proof of concept strategies, music business veteran, Jerry Heller took notice of the venture and became a "knowledge resource investor" to scale up their idea.  Unfortunately, Ruthless Records business practices absorbed the creative properties of it's artists and caused Dr. Dre and Ice Cube to leave the label, and its founding product, the rap group NWA.

Entrepreneurship has been an integral part of Hip Hop from its inception. Eazy E started with a label imprint, but it was Dr. Dre that learned after several uncomfortable business decisions as an artist that it was time
for him start his own company, Aftermath, to manage his music career and pursue new opportunities that were more aligned with his vision.When you think about what was happening in the country during this period, where does engineering begin intersecting with youth popular culture and how did that moment pave the way for the engineering concepts to be realized today in the various fields we've discussed in class? Could BEATS exist without Ruthless Records, Death Row, or Aftermath? Could the engineering feats that have emerged from those moments in Hip Hop occurred without the artist or the culture? How would you approach or work with an artist from an engineering perspective? What would be your approach to get know or learn the culture and how would you link that to the design, build, and marketing strategies?

The Business of "Keepin' it Real" in Hip Hop!

Authenticity is a big deal in Hip Hop. In fact, consumers purchase products and services based on authenticity.  Quality of materials, craftsmanship in design, and placement of product all play a role in how a product sells or is viewed.  When Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine developed BEATS, it was because Jimmy was able to realize with Dr. Dre that developing a consumer line of speakers was a better fit for his persona as opposed to clothes. 

When the reputation of artists is joined with engineered products what carries the weight - the reputation of the artist or the ingenuity of the product? Is BEATS successful because of Dr. Dre's authenticity as a producer? Or, is the engineering of these particular products leaps and bounds above the competition?  This is the age old debate about whether marketing makes the product or the product quality carries the marketing potential.  As engineers, its important to consider the marketability and authenticity of products as part of the product development rather than as an afterthought when the product is ready to be sold. What personas do you envision engineering products with?

"Necessity is the Mother of All Invention"

The emergence of Hip Hop Culture was the combined result of a number of social factors that came to bear in the mid 1970's in New York burroughs, particularly in the South Bronx. The destabilization of the economy, a collapse of municipal services, the rise of drug culture, rampant arsons, and street gangs eventually created an atmosphere of distrust and territorial riffs that disseminated many of the social gains made during the civil rights movement.

Robert Moses, a constructionist, was a key player in structuring an urban renewal plan that created the barrage of issues in the South Bronx. The leave behind were neighborhoods filled with empty tenements, cracked sidewalks, burned out building, abandoned store fronts, and public school buildings and playgrounds with no children.  Yet, inspite of the social decay, there was a spirit amongst the young people that shined, shined through dance, art, music, technology, and MC'ing, better known as rapping.

You would think that young people would have been dismayed by the destruction of the opportunity to pursue and live the American Dream, the prize that dangled at the end of the promissory of note of strong education, social responsibility, and unyielding work ethic. Yet, they weren't!

Instead, they got creative and developed new cultural activities to replace the old ones established by the Johnson Administration during the War on Poverty. The new activities occurred in the parks, on forgotten playgrounds, in the streets. and abandon buildings. The main activity that formed the others into one consistent culture was the art of Djing and the technology behind it. Djing was more than playing a record in the Burroughs.  New York City, particularly the Burrough of Manhattan was the center of big dance floors, booming sound systems, and cool Dj's.  To many, Uptown represented the good life, but unfortunately, most would not make it out of the South Bronx, so they got creative and created something, something out of necessity, the necessity to survive their way, a youthful way to communicate and share information by establishing norms and practices that spawned a culture we now know as Hip Hop.

Questions for Discussion

Do you think Hip Hop could have been created without the social despair caused by the urban renewal actions of Robert Moses?  Could it have been created without rethinking how to use existing technology in a new and creative way? And finally, what role did engineering, informatics, art, and technology manipullation play in the creative process?