A History of Hip Hop lesson that gives more weight to Arrested Development than Big Daddy Kane (possibly the most seminal rapper of all time), Geto Boys (the first to really rap about mental illness and trauma with mainstream impact), or the likes of Queen Latifah, MC Lyte and Mobb Deep.
That doesn’t sound very educational, or authentic, to me.
And yet HEY DJ – A History of Hip Hop is hardly meant to be taken seriously. Long-time rap heads may just feel like they’re listening to Kyle Sandilands playing “old school” hip hop on KISS FM as the talented DJ YO! MAFIA takes us through a seamless 1.5-hour medley of hip hop’s history. But, what did you expect?
The issue with shows like this is the same issue with any bit of performance art at any of the many Fringe festivals around the world: the need to make money.
Such a show needs commercial appeal to be seen as a success and justify its share of the budget, and so it’s understandable when the most obscure song of the night (based on crowd reaction) is JAY-Z’s “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”. I can just hear the brief given to DJ YO! MAFIA in my head: only songs Aussies recognise and…no…I repeat no…absolutely no….seriously, zero…curse words.
Parental Advisory stickers have been used to belittle, stigmitise and suppress hip hop culture since the days of N.W.A and 2 Live Crew. It’s okay when a white burlesque performer lets out a “fuck” or simulates sex on stage. But Ice Cube letting loose with the expletives? How naughty.
Those within the culture have been dehumanised for decades based on the way they talk and the language they use, so the best way to reverse that process is to cling zealously to every single uncensored word, true to how the artist intended.
And so I let out an audible grown when DJ! YO MAFIA explains how Parental Advisory stickers were used to try and deter people from buying N.W.A.’s records, only to then launch into the heavily censored, sanitised version of the group’s definitive hit, “Straight Outta Compton.”
A History of Hip Hop was obviously conceived after the success of A History of House, a similar format where a DJ and one of the most talented choirs in the world (the hypnotic Soweto Gospel Choir). But house has a wider appeal and is less divisive, so this was always going to be a bit of a risk.
Which is why it’s a good thing that DJ YO! MAFIA was staying on the surface. These are songs we’ve heard on the radio time and time again, expertly mixed into one another to accentuate the unquestionable energy that has built hip hop from a party trick, to a tool for the disenfranchised to better their lives and inspire others, to a multi billion dollar business that’s slowly being killed by social media algorithms and shifting goal posts.
Anything deeper would have broken the immersion, which would make this more of a didactic show than one that’s purely meant to be fun and nostalgic.
It’s my first Adelaide Fringe, so I’m incredibly naive when it comes to navigating this impossibly large and unwieldy program. But after spending two days immersed in the world’s second most famous Fringe (after Edinburgh, of course), I get the distinct impression that this time-honoured festival, one of the most exciting things on Australia’s annual calendar, is most admired for its sense of escapism.
Considering that, A History of Hip Hop is a success. It’s a good show. The Avalanches’ vocalist Eliza Wolfgramm does a terrific job bringing songs like “Push It” (Salt-N-Pepa) and “Killing Me Softly With His Song” (The Fugees) to life, backed by a crew of local breakers, poplockers and dancers who are so exceptionally talented that it really makes you wonder why the actual fuck Raygun was chosen to represent Australia at the Olympics.
THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
HEY DJ! A History of Hip Hop will continue playing at Gluttony as part of the Adelaide Fringe Festival until Sunday 23rd March. More information and tickets can be found on the official Fringe website.
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