Background:
Creative communication is a process of sharing a piece of one’s inner essence.
3D Street Art by Julian Beever
When those who are greedy for attention and money take advantage of the abilities of creative communicators it crosses the line where admiration ends and enters the realm of soul robbery. During England’s Stuart era, writers such as Shakespeare were regarded as the highly intelligent elite by the illiterate public. This is partly because they appreciated how difficult it was to read and write and understood how special a person was if they could do so creatively. This type of appreciation was showcased on stages at amphitheaters for the entertainment of the literate elite and the illiterate common person. The emergence of technology has allowed opportunists to exploit the creative works of others for personal gain, it has also given a world stage to those without these abilities wherein popularity and fame are considered highly regarded by the public, and substance and purity have fallen by the wayside.
Introduction:
Spoken Word Poetry is derived from acting, journalism and rapping in addition to traditional poetry. It is a crossover genre that became popularized during the Beat Generation.
Technology of the 21st century has completely changed the face of this creative form of communication from one that incorporated body language and non-verbal communication
Here, body language and non-verbal communication are displayed in Spoken Word
to one that has no human face at all.
Technology has erased the face of creative communication.
The spoken word, in all its forms, is a lost art. Today, social media has replaced human contact at an alarming rate. Instagram has replaced photojournalists and comedians with everyday people who know nothing about the ethics of photo sharing, privacy, tact or entertainment value.
Here, a skilled photographer has captured the essence of this dish
Here, an unskilled photographer, possibly the restaurant owner or the cook, doesn’t quite get the best message across
Vine has replaced the video camera, the time and energy it takes a skilled audio visual technician to record and edit montages and footage.
Before technology, in order to film something with merit, you needed learned skills and years of experience.
Today, a film crew consists of a few dozen camera phones held by amateurs.
It’s great that the Millennial Generation has access to tools of self soothing that keep them occupied and engaged in creative activities. Some truly phenomenal creative people that lacked the funding and exposure necessary in promoting their craft have had the advantage of You Tube to start their careers. However, there is a much larger number of people who do not have skill or talent, nor are they interested in the philosophy behind the creative decisions they make. This type of ambivalence has devalued the importance and awe in the special abilities of talented people. Evidence of a growing ambivalence can be found in reality television, weblogs and You Tube videos relying heavily on auto tune and other digital technology that masks their lack of talent.
RAPPING
The emergence of Beat Poetry in the 1950’s was one of the inspirations of modern Spoken Word Poetry. Beat Poetry was recited by the Beat Generation who elevated ordinary prose into stream of consciousness recitation. They spoke about their unique vision of life, incorporating philosophy, politics and a jazzy ensemble. They consisted mainly of underground non-conformist youth. They derived inspiration from the hustlers, drug addicts and thieves living in a “beaten down” downtrodden underworld.
Here, typical artists of the Beat Generation in their natural environment.
By the 1970’s, rap was popularized. Rap also got its inspiration from this same downtrodden underworld. The main difference between rap and beat poetry was in its flow. To “rap” is to speak quickly, just as knocking rapidly on a door was the original meaning of “rap”. In the 1960’s, rap came to mean “to converse” and it was about the cadence in which the person spoke. The flow of modern rap originated in 1978 when Melle Mel changed the flow of conversing to a flow that was more musical in nature; with rhythm similar to improvisational drumming.
Typical break dancers of the Hip Hop culture in their natural environment.
Below is an example posted to Vine of Grandmaster Melle Mel’s flow in 1978. According to Kool Moe Dee, prominent rapper in the 1980’s, the flow of rap fashioned itself after Grandmaster Melle Mel’s style until 1986.
https://vine.co/v/OFPzeBe3qPM
Generational Style Comparisons
The style of rap has been heavily influenced by the generations. Original rap started out with a message or a story about the underworld in which they lived. The following is a break down of how the generational influence has impacted this type of creative communication. Notice how the introduction of technology in 2002 shifted the dialog to a world that was far from underground or desolate. (Click each heading for a snippet of the video)
1982
Grand Master Flash and The Furious Five – The Message
The lyrics in this song describe the desolate living conditions of the ghetto in the 1980’s, telling a story of Grand Master Flash’s everyday environment in a way that is easy to understand and clearly enunciated. The use of profanity is at a minimum. The music has an electronic quality to it, as most music from the 1980’s did, but the sound is simple, the artists are collaborative working as a team instead of each artist fighting for attention as in modern collaborations.
1992
Eric B. and Rakim – Don’t Sweat The Technique
The lyrics in this song display a trend where the lyricism in rap music is appreciated. Don’t Sweat The Technique is discussing the incredible writing ability that Rakim displays through rapping and how other rappers aren’t as top-notch. The music has a jazzy influence much like the backgrounds of the beat poets. It also has a beat conducive to break dancing and other forms of street dancing which is not only inspiring to other creative artists but invites them to express themselves while listening.
2002
Fat Joe, Featuring Ashanti – What’s Love
This video is the introduction of choruses in rap music, where rap lyrics are broken up by a singing chorus. A keen ear will notice the juxtaposition of the rough deep rap voice of Fat Joe against the delicate singing voice of Ashanti. The lyrics describe a club interaction between a rough man and a delicate woman brought together by lust and trust, two other juxtapositions. She describes that love is about trust but goes to the club without her boyfriend. He spends the entire song convincing her she is there to cheat, and by the time she sings the refrain she has become convinced she is there for lust, not love. Further illustrating juxtapositions. This is an example of how more vulgar imagery and hedonistic behavior is also being introduced through rap lyrics during this time era.
2012
Nicki Minaj featuring 2Chainz – Beez In The Trap
The lyrics in this song glorifies narcissism, hedonism and arrogance. While the melody is simple and the chorus is catchy, there is not much being said anymore. This is the re-introduction of sing-rap where the artists are both singing and rapping their lyrics. This trend was first introduced with Rapture by Blondie in 1980 but didn’t catch on the way it has today. Like ten years earlier, a man and a woman are both featured in this video, but unlike the earlier era, they are not creatively juxtaposed. The female, in this case Nicki, glorifies her fame and beauty and how it has brought so much money to her that she is as powerful and rich as a druglord. Her fame, riches, power and beauty make her hated by jealous women but she claims to not care. The male rapper, 2Chains, raps about how much he admires her beauty and riches and also joins her in glorifying his own fame and riches.
Journalism
Here I plan to discuss how technology has affected journalism in a photojournalistic format. These will be Instagram photo posts.
Instagram photo gallery still in progress.
Acting
Here I plan on discussing how technology has affected acting, from reality shows to You Tube videos. I plan on using Vine videos here to illustrate how the emergence of technology has made everyone lazy. I will compare acting from pretechnology days with what’s been generated today.
Before technology, shows like this were performed by professional actors and the script had a responsible message.
Today, reality shows like this are not well written, if at all, and provide little value in its lessons. It is purely for the entertainment in morbid curiosity.
The following are vine videos that will be incorporated in the text above to illustrate how technology has affected acting.
Example of a riveting performance.
Example of ordinary people performing poorly.
Example of well produced ad about an everyday product.
Example of a viral video by an everyday person about an everyday product through the device of everyday buffoonery.
Example of a responsible message through scripted dialog.
Example of an irresponsible message gone viral.
Surreal Sista
Stephanie "Surreal Sista" Williams 