What are you listening to right now? Pt VI

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Playing for Change, an amazing concept.
"Oye Como Va" with Carlos Santana, Cindy Blackman Santana, Tal Wilkenfeld, Corey Henry, Becky G and so, so many more. I have no idea how they put together so many great artists from all around the world to produce such music. If you haven't heard of Playing for Change, go to YouTube and type in Playing for Change. You'll be amazed at the musicians you will see and the various instruments from around the world.

 
One of the early classics from golden age of hip hop was recorded by a 15yo. Edward K. Archer was the youngest of five brothers and the only one of his family born in the US to immigrant working class parents from Jamaica. His mother was pregnant when they arrived and moved to the tough neighborhood of East Flatbush, New York in the 1970's. About 10 blocks down he had cousins who lived across the road from Howie Tee, who had already produced records for other early rap artists, and as a child watching Howie Tee's crew creating mix tapes on the street where they lived, he understood how the process of making a record was within his reach.

Having been given some encouragement to write poetry in elementary school, and familiar from records at home with the vocal style of Jamaican DJ's, by junior high he got into freestyling rhymes and battling other rappers for prestige until he eventually felt confident enough to approach Howie Tee and ask if he could let him rap on his beats. He was signed to Profile records, who had to delay the release of his records while they negotiated a contract for a minor. For "I Got It Made" he took lines from his best braggadocio lyrics that he had written over the years and the video features places in his neighborhood including his high school and some other students.



The name Special Ed was a suggestion from a friend, partly a pun on "special education", although he never had to attend those classes he was wise enough to understand it wasn't just a program for special needs students, but a kind of placement that was given to students who were too difficult for teachers to handle or as he has called it in interviews "a pipeline to prison". He later got into his own difficulties with authorities at school, mainly over truancy and was transferred to different schools and programs, eventually taking an early graduation exam to pass so that he could tour with other hip hop acts.
 

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What are you listening to right now? Pt VI

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