Rapping is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The components of rap include "content", "flow", and "delivery". Rap differs from spoken-word poetry in that it is usually performed off-time to musical accompaniment. Rap is a primary ingredient of hip hop music commonly associated with that genre; however, the origins of rap predate hip-hop culture by many years.
Melvin Van Peebles was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, The Story of a Three-Day Pass (1967), was based on his own French-language novel La Permission and was shot in France, as it was difficult for a black American director to get work at the time. The film won an award at the San Francisco International Film Festival which gained him the interest of Hollywood studios, leading to his American feature debut Watermelon Man, in 1970. Eschewing further overtures from Hollywood, he used the successes he had so far to bankroll his work as an independent filmmaker.
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is a 1971 American blaxploitation film written, co-produced, scored, edited, directed by, and starring Melvin Van Peebles. His son Mario Van Peebles also appears in a small role, playing the title character as a young boy. The film tells the picaresque story of a poor black man fleeing from the white police authorities.
Baadasssss! is a 2003 American biographical drama film, written, produced, directed by, and starring Mario Van Peebles. The film is based on the struggles of Van Peebles' father Melvin Van Peebles, as he attempts to film and distribute Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, a film that was widely credited with showing Hollywood that a viable African-American audience existed, and thus influencing the creation of the Blaxploitation genre. The film also stars Joy Bryant, Nia Long, Ossie Davis, Paul Rodriguez, Rainn Wilson, and Terry Crews.
Maurice White was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter, and producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, and served as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey.
Watermelon Man is a 1970 American comedy film directed by Melvin Van Peebles and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Estelle Parsons, Howard Caine, D'Urville Martin, Kay Kimberley, Mantan Moreland, and Erin Moran. Written by Herman Raucher, it tells the story of an extremely bigoted 1960s-era white insurance salesman named Jeff Gerber, who wakes up one morning to find that he has become black. The premise for the film was inspired by Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, and by John Howard Griffin's autobiographical Black Like Me.
Don't Play Us Cheap is a 1973 American musical comedy film written, produced, scored, edited and directed by Melvin Van Peebles. The film stars Avon Long and Joe Keyes Jr. as Brother Dave and Trinity, a pair of demons who take human form to break up a house party thrown by Miss Maybell, an African American woman, in honor of her niece Earnestine, who is celebrating her 20th birthday in Harlem. Trinity's devotion to his mission comes into question when he falls in love with Earnestine. Don't Play Us Cheap was part of a diptych with Van Peebles' stage musical, Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death, which presented a darker vision of African American life compared to the lighter portrayal in Don't Play Us Cheap.
BaadAsssss Cinema is a 2002 TV documentary film directed by Isaac Julien. Julien looks at the Blaxploitation era of the 1970s in this hour-long documentary.
Edutainment is the fourth album from Boogie Down Productions. Released on July 17, 1990, it is an album whose lyrics deal with afrocentricity and socio-political knowledge. It has 6 skits/interludes known as 'exhibits' that all talk about or relate to Black people. Many skits feature Kwame Ture a leader of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on October 10, 1990. KRS One has stated in interviews that the album has sold over 700,000 copies
What the...You Mean I Can't Sing?! is the fourth studio album by Melvin Van Peebles. Released in 1974, this album marks the first traditional music effort by Van Peebles. Previously, Van Peebles released the experimental spoken word albums Brer Soul, Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death and As Serious as a Heart-Attack.
Brer Soul is the debut studio album of Melvin Van Peebles. Released in 1968, the album introduced Van Peebles as a recording artist, following his work as an independent filmmaker, playwright and novelist. It is notable for its use of sprechgesang, a vocal style which lies between speaking and singing.
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is the soundtrack to Melvin Van Peebles' 1971 feature film of the same name. The soundtrack was performed by then-unknown Earth, Wind & Fire and released in 1971 on Stax Records. To attract publicity for the film without spending significant money, the soundtrack was released before the movie; it performed well, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart.
Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Melvin Van Peebles. The musical contains some material also on three of Van Peebles' albums, Brer Soul, Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death and As Serious as a Heart-Attack, some of which were yet to come out.
Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death is a 1971 album by Melvin Van Peebles, featuring mostly spoken word poetry over music written by Van Peebles. Some of its material was used in later projects such as the stage musical of the same name and Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. Note that this is an album of original material, not to be confused with the soundtrack LP released for the musical itself.
William "Spaceman" Patterson is a guitarist and producer, who has collaborated with Miles Davis, James Brown and Frank Ocean.
Xenon Pictures is an American film production and distribution company which releases titles produced by African-American filmmakers for African-American audiences. The label has distribution deals with numerous prominent filmmakers, such as Melvin Van Peebles, Rudy Ray Moore, Jamaa Fanaka, Ralph Bakshi and Perry Henzell.
"Lilly Done the Zampoughi Every Time I Pulled Her Coattail" is a song written by Melvin Van Peebles.
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company , is a 2005 documentary film directed and written by Joe Angio, and produced by Michael Solomon. The film follows Melvin Van Peebles through his illustrious musical, acting, and directing career. The name comes from a controversial article that Van Peebles wrote, but never got published. Joe Angio, the director received four nominations for his film. Three of these nominations were for best documentary at the Chicago International film festival, and one nomination was at the Los Angeles Film Festival for best documentary feature.
Robert Maxwell was an American cinematographer known for his work on B movies, pornography, and exploitation films of the 1960s and 1970s. His best-known credits include Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song and Don't Play Us Cheap.
"Ghetto Life" is a song written by Rick James that was first released on his 1981 album Street Songs and was later released as the third single from the album.
