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| 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.
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| Robert Moog & Bernie Worrell |
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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:
- Geekism is a part of the African American experience.
- Advancements in electronic sound technology provided the foundation for new music genres to emerge.
- Parliament/Funkadelic reflected the sound of new music technology and presented it to the masses with palatable themes of innovation, engineering, and social justice.
- Dr. Dre pulled from the legacy of Funk to create G-Funk; the fusion of funk and hip hop.
- 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.
