Soul Sonic

Matt Altstiel
11/21/06
GLOS 3900

Soul Sonic

In her chapter, Soul Sonic, Trisha Rose compares European traditions of progression and regression with what she calls the Black observance of repetition. By “Soul Sonic” Rose means the ways technology, orality and Black cultural practice appear within rap music. Rose defends rap music, as music, which is firmly within the tradition of other musical forms. Through various methods of analysis she asserts its viability against the criticism that rap music, is in fact, not music. Rap music, like any music, is comprised by of organization of noise. However, rap music focuses much more on afro-centric compositions of rhythm and repetition. Rap music does not lie on the same linear plane as European musical forms, which seek progression and change, but rather draw upon rhythmic dynamism and slight nuances in form to perpetuate movement.

Rap music is the by product of high technology, born out of industrial and commercial methods of reproduction. Rose therefore looks at the construction of the beat and the widespread use of sampling with regard to modern technology. Sampling reinforces afro-diasporic traditions which dissolve the past and future into an eternal present. Samples reconfigure certain elements to draw listener attention and prevent lapsing into passive listening. Breaks can be extended endlessly and seamlessly harkening back to the days of call and response compositions of ancestral Africa. The manipulation of samples can bring in elements completely severed in time and space from the original recording, fusing old with new, creating a thoroughly unique composition. Common raps on his song, “The 6th Sense”: “think about how many dead folks this art resurrected / how many different people this culture connected / who am I to judge ones perspective?” The soul sonic, as defined by Rose reflects the lyrical thoughts of Common.

Emphasis on bass and on the beat is another cultural prerogative. Various sampling devices and drum machines allow the manipulation of sound to fit sonic priorities. The 808 drum, commonly referenced in modern rap songs produces the deep, booming base characteristic of rap music. Detuning, focusing on the most dynamic rhythmic elements and “pushing levels into the red” all originate from the experimentation characteristic of Black diasporic music. Often the lyrical content within the production phase is subsumed by the thump of the bass. However, the MC serves within the process of rupture and repetition as well. The oratic tradition prevalent in African music and its North American offspring, is not only preserved, it is refined. The lyricist stutters and explores between the parameters of the beat using his or her voice as a musical instrument. Key phrases are emphasized, repeated and transformed by the skilled MC. Like the nuances of the beat and the sample, the MC has the ability to add definition in ways that European musical construction does not allow.

Traditional music training, of the Western theory of music, dismisses these innovations in favor of tonal, harmonious compositions. Following Western progress narratives, music must build to something. The climax of the song represents the paramount of musical intensity; the reliance of notated music subtracts the power of the oratic element. European musical tradition contains its notation in a limited number of notes, octaves and chords. Soul Sonic therefore looks toward rap as a form embracing the possibilities allowed by traditions of technology, orality and Black cultural practice.

Editors Note: Since I pulled an all nighter and wrote this at 5 in the morning. It might not make any sense. If you think I should re-write this, I’d have no problem doing that.