University of California San Diego » Music » Music 17 - Hip Hop » Spring 2020

Music 17 - Hip Hop » Spring 2020 » Lecture 1 Quiz

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Question #1

What is the connection between these two songs, other than the fact that they are on the same record label, Sugar Hill Records.

A. They both described exactly the same gang-related shooting in a crack deal gone wrong

B. It is the same rapper on both

C. They are both examples of Jamaican dub

D. They both use exactly the same recording of a live band as the backing track

Question #2

How would King Tubby have obtained the effects - echo and reverberation - that he used when he created his "dub" versions of songs ?

A. He invented them himself

B. He and his friends stole them during the great 1977 blackout.

C. He worked as a disco DJ in New York during a summer and brought them all back with him.

D. From visiting British rock bands

Question #3

How would you characterize the difference between King Tubby's dub productions and Lee "Scratch" Perry's

A. Tubby doesn't use any kind of effects but Perry's do.

B. Perry's are more abstract and use harsher sounds than Tubby's

C. Tubby's seem geared more towards an underground market and Perry's are more mainstream

D. Perry's tend to last for hours but Tubby's are made to fit on one side of a 45 rpm record

Question #4

Which of the following statements is true about he difference between a Jamaican Soundsystem "DJ" and the modern Hip Hop "DJ"

A. In Jamaica, the DJ was the person who fixed the electronics but in the Hip Hop world, he/she is the person who raps.

B. This is a trick question - there is no difference.

C. The DJ in the Jamaican soundsystem culture was the precursor of what we know as the "Hip Hop Mogul" . He/she ran the record companies and collected money on the behalf of performers.

D. Although at first, the Jamaican DJ was the owner of the soundsystem who did everything, in time he/she became the person who spoke to the crowd which evolved into "toasting" - the precursor of rapping. In the Hip Hop world, the DJ is the person who uses the turntables,

Question #5

In the simplest of terms, why did Soundsystem culture arise in Jamaica ?

A. The dictator banned dancing so kids had to make their own parties to dance in secret.

B. Imported American stereos did not have enough low-end to bring out the bass lines of the rocksteady music that was popular at the time

C. The stereos in cars were not loud enough for the noisy Kingston cityscape so people had to invent large speakers.

D. There wasn't an effective infrastructure for people to gather and socialize with music, so innovators made what was effectively their own portable dance clubs so fulfil the need

Question #6

What is a "dub plate" special and why did they exist ?

A. The police would arrest dancers that disobey the dictators orders and send them to a special cell with a hot floor to prevent dancing - a "dub plate"

B. It is the large piece of metal that they put on the back of a speaker. It would vibrate and make the bass sound louder.

C. It is a song commissioned and recorded for a specific Soundsystem. There arose a great deal of competition between Soundsystems and with American records becoming more and more difficult to find, owners hoped to record hit records that could only be heard at their own parties.

D. To draw people to their Soundsystems, owners would pair with food trucks and many became known for there "dub plate specials" as much as the music.

Question #7

Which of the following phrases best characterizes the way that Lee “Scratch” Perry altered “Roast Fish and Corn Bread” to create “ Corn Fish Dub” ?

A. He re-recorded the vocals to take the swear words out because he hoped it would play on American radio

B. He removed much of the vocals, leaving ghostly traces and added echo and harsh non- musical sounds - particularly an incessant beeping - which created a destabilizing effect and may have more accurately depicted the social situation of Jamaica at the time

C. He added strings and dense instrumentation to “Roast Fish and Corn Bread” to create a new slick and polished song that would be popular in America

D. He used a tape machine to repeat the parts of the song that made people dance the hardest

Question #8

After going through the above, you should have been able to hear how disco remixers like Tom Moulton took small parts of songs and re-organized them for functional purposes - keeping people dancing - and how they re-arranged these parts to ensure that there was new sense of progression, or form in the music. If you did not hear that, go back and listen again. These remixes are not new songs - we are not seeing new things being made from old - but are remixes with refined purpose as opposed to the act of creating entirely new songs from small parts of others. How could you relate what we hear happening here to what we heard happening in Jamaica ?

A. Both the disco remixers and Jamaican dub remixers were primarily concerned with elevating music to high art status

B. Both the disco remixers and Jamaican operators who created versions were primarily interested in inventing technologies that they could sell and profit from

C. Both the disco remixers and sound system organizers were concerned with ensure that the party kept going and that people would remain on the disco dance floor or at the soundsystem.

D. Both the disco remixers and Jamaican selectors were primarily concerned with keeping their source records secret so they obscured them by altering them

Question #9

How would you characterize the technological requirements of the Tom Moulton remix ? Is what we’re hearing purely artistic or does the innovation require advanced technological skills alongside musical ones ?

A. This is purely technological - there is no musical understanding or talent needed

B. No big deal - they just threw it in garage band - anyone can do it.

C. The tapes were difficult to work with so to achieve the level of sophistication required, a remixer really needed to complement with musical idea with a very high level of technical competence and understanding

D. This was such big business that remixers could just hire people to take care of it all

Question #10

Why would the fact that many of the kids that formed the foundation of early Hip Hop were Caribbean immigrants be significant ?

A. The patois that they spoke at home was very similar to the way that rapping was supposed to sound

B. They were acquainted with American culture from TV but when they arrived felt alienated and grouped together into Hip Hop groups

C. They brought money earned in bauxite mines and were able to fund early Hip Hop recordings

D. When there became an opportunity for musical social interaction to begin again after the gang peace they were already acquainted with Soundsystem culture and set up their own.

Question #11

How did Bronx Hip Hop culture first get on the radar of the rest of New York ?

A. Via the graffiti on the subways

B. Via the radio

C. Via a popular sitcom about inner city New York

D. Via the first hit Hip Hop records from Georgia

Question #12

What two controversies arose the moment the acknowledged first commercial Hip Hop recording, "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang, was released ?

A. Payola and music industry corruption

B. Authenticity and artistic integrity

C. Samples were viewed as theft and the record companies were sued.

D. Sex and violence

Question #13

Who invented the crossfader ?

A. Grandmaster Flash

B. DJ Kool Herc

C. El Guapo

D. DJ Hollywood

Question #14

What would the advantage of be of making a "version" - why would that be useful ?

A. If a song was popular, the "DJ" or a "toaster" could speak on top of it to advertise upcoming shows or hype the the soundsystem and the audience would be more likely to listen.

B. The band could claim double the recording royalties for any recording sessions that they had done.

C. If there was a fire and the master with the vocals was lost, they only had to re-record the vocals rather than the whole thing

D. The band could export the song to other countries, and then singers could make vocals in their native languages.

Question #15

How or why did the practice of creating "versions" come about ?

A. What's a "version"

B. It was a mistake - a sound engineer accidentally left out the vocals of a record but sent it to a soundsystem anyway

C. Vocalists charged too much money and the country was going broke.

D. There were so many different languages spoken in Jamaica that everyone need to make wordless songs.

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