Hip hop is not the problem

I physically cringed when I read yesterday's headline that a fight had broken out and arrests made (including that of Rob Dz, one of the area's most well-respected emcees) at a local hip-hop show at the Brink Lounge. Great, I thought, just what we need more of in Madison, another excuse for people to stigmatize the music based on the actions of a few bad actors.

Lo and behold, I (and many others) was sadly right: The Brink has now officially decided to stop booking hip-hop acts all together.

The Daily Page reports on several elements of the incident that I had only suspected, but do now look to be the case. That police likely responded with excessive force, quickly and needlessly escalating a situation that was, by the time they'd arrived, well under control. Sixteen MPD officers (plus an undisclosed number of Capitol Police) showed up when called about a fight between two women at the show. How is that at all reasonable? They then peppersprayed and arrested several of the event's performers for, as far as I can tell, trying to 1) get their equipment out of the building, and 2) protest when they saw what they felt to be excessive force being used on the female suspects.

I wasn't there, so I can't make any definite judgments on how things were handled and why, but after hearing from several witnesses and people directly effected, I can't help but suspect that this was a case of inappropriate action on the part of the MPD, based mostly on the overall stigma now associated with hip-hop in this city.

It's an absolute shame, too. As mentioned in the Daily Page article, "...media and political attention to hip-hop in Madison is focused on negative matters and doesn’t focus on positive events like recent shows geared towards registering voters, collecting winter coats for the indigent, or raising money for a child with cancer."

Every experience I've had with Wisconsin hip-hop artists has been an overall positive one. A lot of the emcees and DJs do a lot of work in the community to not only bolster the profile of their music, but to help kids find a productive purpose in life, to do community organizing, and to work on behalf of social justice issues. Hell, sometimes what they do is just artistic expression without any immediate or grander purpose, but that's just as valid.

The problem isn't with the genre as a whole (you could make an argument against certain specific artists glorifying violence, etc., but I can't think of one single local musician who'd fit that profile). The problem is with individuals who happen to be in the audience and decide to do something stupid. But that happens at shows of all different genres. I'd be really curious to see statistics on fights and other disturbances breaking out at live shows in general, and if there's any correlation between their frequency and corresponding genre. I doubt it.

So now, based on ill-founded but widespread fears, hip-hop artists have one less venue to play in town. We could start focusing on regular ol' security issues, good capacity and organization regulations, and personal responsibility - or we can keep choking out an otherwise vibrant and relevant form of artistic expression. Which is it, Madison?

Change does not equal death for local music

I read with some interest the recent article in the Badger Herald that pondered whether the Madison music scene was dying or not. I've been in one Madison band or another since 2001. I'm currently in three, but that's a whole other story. What I'm saying, though, is that I feel like I have a decent perspective on this whole thing, and I'm not entirely sure I agree with the article's overall slant toward suggesting that things are getting worse for the local scene.

The author does come around in the end to give voice to those who suggest that the scene goes through cyclical changes, that things are just shifting and not dying, which is the theory I personally subscribe to. Things change. Madison, because of its many schools, is a town of coming and going, so the fan base and the musicians are transitory. Changes in scene are natural, and I doubt very much that we'll ever see a complete (or even near complete) "death." To even suggest such a thing in the title is a bit dubious, if you ask me.

The author cites the recent closings of a number of smaller venues: the Slipper Club, Bru's Anchor Inn, and the Corral Room to name a few. But the location where the Slipper Club was seems to change hands every other year, the Anchor Inn had been having troubles for a long while (and frankly, wasn't that great of a venue--the site lines and nearly non-existent dance floor sucked), and the Corral Room...well, don't get me started on that place.

We do suffer from a dearth of smaller venues, especially all-ages venues. But for every place that closes down, we do seem to get new ones springing up in their wake. We have another very decent mid-sized venue (all-ages, no less) in the Majestic. Places like the Mercury Lounge, Cafe Montmartre, Mr. Roberts, the Annex, Harmony Bar, Crystal Corner, the King Club, The Journey, The Klinic, Brink Lounge, Escape Java Joint, the Dry Bean Saloon, and various coffee shops around town all cater to smaller acts. The problem isn't so much a lack of places to play so much as a band's lack of willingness to put themselves out there and get the gigs.

Of course, the article gets one issue right: lack of attendance at shows. It takes a lot of variables to draw in a large crowd: quality and popularity of a band, competition on any given night, and the high turnover rate of show goers (as in, when students are your primary fan base, good luck filling a show during the summer months). I suspect that a large part of the problem comes from just how many good bands there are in Madison, and how many are playing on any given night. Happily, we've got a lot of options here, but that does make it difficult for any one act to pull in a full house.

I'm glad the article at least gave a small tip of the hat to the ever-growing hip-hop scene in Madison. It's taken some serious hits in the last few years, with artists leaving town and moving on, but there always seem to be some fresh voices coming along to fill in. Add in the First Wave program at the UW, the National Poetry Slam competition coming here next year, and a whole slew of hip-hop centered events to the mix, and you've got a surprisingly vibrant scene for what is, at its core, a small city/big town in the Midwest.

There's still plenty of work to be done to keep the local arts scene alive and well. It seems like there's always something to fight against, to overcome, but the great thing about Madison is that no matter how many clubs close, how many arts publications shut down, there will always be people here interested in making, promoting and listening to music, regardless of how many people turn up for their shows. Just don't say they're dying. It's just change, and if we put forth just a little bit of effort to see it through, it's usually for the better.


(photo credit: yours truly, of God-des & She)

Majestically Not Hip-Hop

I'm happy that someone bought the very cool Majestic Theatre, renovated it and started booking live music there again. It's a great old building (built in 1902 as a vaudeville theatre) with a storied history, some of it more notorious than others. In the final months of its last incarnation, there were several incidents of brawls and stabbings happening out front. The media usually pointed the finger at the hip-hop DJs and acts playing inside, blaming the allegedly "violent culture" that went along with the music for all the riff-raff and associated criminal activity.

I'm pretty sure that's a load of horse shit, but enough people bought into it that eventually the reputation was set and the venue's future looked extremely gloomy.

Then Scott Leslie and Matt Gerding came to town, bought the place and decided to give it a new lease on life. In the process of renovating the historic space, the new owners decided to tear out the DJ both entirely. An article on dane101 sums up the potential reasons and ramifications of the move nicely:

As Scott Leslie and Matt Gerding petitioned city leaders and community members who were nervous about once again allowing music in the historic theater they had to repeat over and over that they would not be hosting DJ parties. For better or for worse, the letters "D" and "J" used in succession with the word "party" in Madison have become synonymous with "bad scene." While the dismantling of the booth was aesthetically necessary to achieve the goal of increasing the capacity of the venue to 600 - it can also be viewed symbolically as a new era for the controversial Majestic.

Regardless of their actual motives, the equation of DJs (and, by proxy, hip-hop music) with "bad scenes" has taken root in the public conscience. It's a shame, really, because there's nothing inherently wrong with DJs, the music they play or the crowds they attract. Madison also suffers from a dearth of venues that will play host to DJs and MCs who play/perform hip-hop and rap, so the loss of one has far-reaching reverberations.

In the end, though, it's well within the rights of the new owners to book whatever kind of music they damn well please. I'm happy to note that a number of the acts in their initial line-up are local Madison bands. Support of homegrown groups is always welcome. But I noticed another, perhaps less exciting trend (at least for me): the vast majority of the acts in the initial line-up are Top 40 rock and/or singer-songwriter acts. For instance, the much hyped kick-off show on Sept. 29 boasts headliner Mandy Moore with bland alt-rocker Ben Lee as an opener.

No offense to Ms. Moore, (I admit to being strangely intrigued by the idea of seeing her perform--could be like watching a train wreck, could be cheesily entertaining), but I'm a little disappointed. The other slice of white bread in this musical sandwich comes in the form of The Verve Pipe (Dec. 14), who I didn't even know were still touring.

I can only wonder, was it really necessary to go so far to the other side of the musical pendulum to appease concerned city and local officials? Maybe it was, which means there's still a lot of work to do to show the public that one specific type of music does not equal one specific type of person associated with it, and that all forms of musical expression should have their fair place in our city.

(photo credit: Madison Trust for Historic Preservation)