HIP HOP & PIRACY
]------------------

[ by DEF KLF of MAD VISION


  Just a few words before  the  article
when I speak about Rap groups  I  don't
talk about famous  rap  bands  but  all
those unknow bands that appear  in  all
our cities and that  consist  of  young
people.


   Hip Hop  and  Piracy is not the same
thing.It's more than that... That's the
same idea...
    But one is  white  &  middle class,
the other is proletarian and coloured.
 Coding/Cracking scenes can be wild and
collective like the Rap scene is...


]  1 -  NOTION OF GROUP and  A NEED FOR
]INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION.

 In a society, which  is  known  to  be
individualist,the B.BOYS and  the  demo
makers   have  created  the  GROUP.   A
collective  struturation   based   upon
distribution of  the  fonctions  within
the band.
  A computer band has different members
with differents tasks... There are some
coders,graphists,swappers ...
  and a Possee can have dancers,taggers
rappers...
  The  knowledge   of  each  members is
optimised , in order to be better  than
rivals. If  there's  no  leader in  the
band  there  is  always a  "locomotive"
in order to motivate the band.
  Nevertheless  guests  can come in the
band to do a  job. And  conversely  all
the band  is  not necesary taking  part
in a project,even  if  they  are  still
in contact. (Mail,phone,modems...)


]   2 - THE NAMES ...

 If the names of the members of a  band
can  often  be  found  in  a  scroller,
rappers  often  spell  their  names  in
their  songs   and   a  tagger   writes
everywhere his pseudonym.
  If  it is  easy to understand why the
taggers   and   the   crackers   choose
nicknames.  It  can  be  strange   that
Rappers  or demo coders don't use their
real names.
 The names used are often inspired from
movies,cartoons....
] LUKE SKYWALKER ,TERMINATOR X, MAD MAX,
]EAZY E,THE BLADE RUNNERS,ZIGGY STARDUST
]THE LORD,GARFIELD,DEE NASTY...

[ With a pseudonym a new life begins.We
[are independants from our family , our
[origins,the laws...


]  3 - THE GROUP & HIS SPHERE

  Once again , demos & hip hop have the
same objectives.The band (by the way of
his members )  must  be  associated  to
an artistic feat. We try to impress our
underworld with virtuosity as Dj , with
his  madness  to  tag impossible place,
with the maximum use of  a  68000. What
is  looked  for, is  to be acknowledged
by his little  scene. Nevertheless  the
group is not a desert island;wars exist
between bands, but  it  gives a kind of
credibility   to  the  reality  of  the
scene.  But  the enemies are nammed and
very seldom fought. The  computer group
nammed them "lamers"  and  the  hip hop
movement "suckers".
 There  are  2  ways  of  communication
between  the bands , the 1st one is the
"real contact" : Coding party, concert,
sound system. And  the  second  is  the
greetings, wich  can  be found on  some
songs,sleeve,scrollers...
  To find his name in a greetings list,
show  you are involved in the movement,
and that  you are respected. It's a bit
also like associating  his  own work to
the nammed persons.It looks like a name
sampling (!?).
     However  each  movement  has   its
specificities. The computer bands  have
an european scene  and  are  in contact
with many bands. But frontiers  between
band disapeared, and  German,swedish or
French demos are the same  and  we  all
are trying  to  speak  english. Whereas
the  rap  movement  is  very  different
according  to  their  original country,
languages,ethnies,political ideas...


]  4 - FEAR OF EMPTY

 Fear of future ? Refuse of reality. If
we (young people) don't hate the  empty
we like very much the full.Rappers  let
the radio playing all day long, Taggers
fill all the  surfaces up. ( the  walls
but also his bedroom,exercice books...)
   A  good  rap may  be very noisy like
public enemy; there's  no space for any
other sound. Moreover  a  rap record is
most of the time filled up with remixes
stories,greets...
 The  packers do menus without any free
sectors, and the coders use 100 percent
of the capcity  of their microprocesor.


]  5 - A NEW DESIGN

[ If many people don't like to listen to
[rap, it isn't because 90 per 100 of the
[rap   records  aren't  interesting  but
[because it can  be  judged  like  other
[music. It  must be appreciated with his
[own criterions. That's  the  same thing
[with demos.
     Most  people   find   demos   very
boring  and  can't  enjoy  them because
they don't know  what  is  hard  to do.

 The texts/lyrics are also important in
the two movements. And  both have their
jargon: The crackers use  "GFX", "ZAK",
"LAMERS", "WRAP"...  The rappers  "YO",
"DOPE","SUCKER"...


]  6 - REBELS WITHOUT A PAUSE

[  As there are cool/soft rappers,& nice
[demo  coders , the  scenes  also   have
[crackers & radical rappers.

 Afrocentrism; "Fight the power";"Don't
believe the hype" are some of the motos
of harcore rap bands.

 Piracy has also his radical boys, thus
in Germany (CCC), USA  and  in  Holland
hackers ask for  the  right  to look at
some protected datas on some top secret
boards , or   revolt  against  the  so-
high-prices of softwares.

] If  you  are a member of a "rap-band",
]if you tag, or  if  you simply have  an
]opinion about my article, please  write
]us. Express  us  why you are in a group
]( even on ST ). Are  you  conscious  to
]keep  in  the   background   from   our
]society , your  family...?     Are  you
]conscious  to  take  part  in something
]you can't share with most people ?

                            (.........)

 I really hope that my poor english can
be read and understood...

[         DEF KLF 1992 - MAD VISION