Hip-hop Takes a Victory Lap

文/G. M. 奥斯丁 译/王一宇

South by Southwest11每年在美国得克萨斯州首府奥斯汀市举办的电影、交互式多媒体和音乐艺术节，始于1987年。(SXSW) may lure more than 250,000 people to Austin each year to learn about and experience technology, film and video gaming, but music has always been the festival’s raison d’être2raison d’être〈法语〉存在的原因。.

[2] Though indie rock has long prevailed, this year it was hip-hop that dominated both the conference rooms and the music venues. There was training and tutelage3tutelage指导；辅导。: young aspiring rappers participated in freestyle rap meetups and lined up to get career advice from celebrated managers. Newer artists looked at how the genre is evolving; experienced practitioners performed and contemplated how far it had come.

[3] This was partly prompted by the release of Nielsen’s year-end report on American listening habits in 2017. For the first time, hip-hop surpassed rock as the most popular variety, accounting for seven of the ten most-consumed albums. As listenership has grown—in large thanks to streaming services—so has the pool of talent.

西南偏南文化节或许可以每年吸引超过25万人去奥斯汀了解和体验科技、电影、电子游戏，但是音乐才始终是西南偏南文化节存在的原因。

[2]尽管独立摇滚盛行已久，但今年，占据会议室和音乐舞台重要位置的却是嘻哈。嘻哈产业有训练和指导机制：胸怀抱负的年轻说唱歌手们参与即兴说唱聚会，并一一得到知名经理人的职业建议。嘻哈新秀们揣摩这一艺术类型演化的未来走向，经验丰富的习艺者们则展示并思索嘻哈过往的发展历程。

[3]尼尔森发布的2017年美国音频用户研究年终报告起了一定的推动作用。报告显示，嘻哈首次超越摇滚，成为最受欢迎的音乐形式，在十张最热销专辑中占据七席。随着嘻哈听众数量增加（一定程度上得益于流媒体服务的发展），嘻哈人才数量也在增加。

[4] Hip-hop sub-genres have popped up on platforms like SoundCloud and YouTube, providing a huge volume of music.

[5] But SXSW was also amplifying conversations about legacy that have been going on in the hip-hop community for some time. “All Eyez on Me”,a recent biopic of Tupac Shakur, was criticised for failing to capture the mythology of the man, and dismissed as“rarely more than a faithful adaptation of [his] Wikipedia entry”. Documentaries abound about his murder in 1996.

[6] When young rappers such as Lil Xan4原名迈尔斯·帕克斯·麦科勒姆（Miles Parks McCollum），美国说唱歌手。and Lil Yachty5美国说唱歌手，出生于加利福尼亚州。have criticised artists such as Shakur and Notorious B.I,G. as “boring” and “overrated”, the comments have been met with outrage.Long-time followers such as P. Frank Williams, an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer, stated that hip-hop cannot move forward without appreciating its past.

[7] Young rappers don’t always agree.In 2016, Lil Yachty asked: “If I’m doing this my way and making all this money,why should I do it how everybody says it’s supposed to be done?”

[4]嘻哈的子类型接连不断地出现在SoundCloud和YouTube等平台上，涌现出大量的音乐作品。

[5]但“西南偏南”也在加强关于音乐遗产的讨论力度，而这些讨论已在嘻哈社群中持续了一段时间。最近上映的图派克·夏库尔自传电影《万众瞩目》被批评未能展现他的“未知生活”，还被贬损为“只是他维基百科个人条目的忠实改编”。关于1996年夏库尔谋杀案的文件数不胜数。

[6]当Lil Xan、Lil Yachty等年轻说唱歌手批评夏库尔、声名狼藉先生等从艺者“无聊”且“过誉”时，许多人对这样的评论感到愤怒。嘻哈乐铁粉，包括艾美奖得主、制作人和编剧的P.弗兰克·威廉姆斯，曾表示，如果年轻歌手不尊重历史，嘻哈无法继续前进。

[7]年轻说唱歌手们则不尽同意。2016年，Lil Yachty问道：“如果我用自己的方式唱歌并挣了这么多钱，为什么还要按照别人所说的方式去做？”

[8] Skyy Hook, a radio presenter, was inspired by these public critiques to host a panel about Shakur’s legacy at SXSW.Rappers Money B6龙·布鲁克斯（Ron Brooks）的艺名。, E.D.I. Mean7马尔科姆·格里尼奇（Malcolm Greenidge）的艺名。and other panellists unanimously agreed that Shakur is one of the most talented rappers in the hip-hop canon, and that young performers need to appreciate the history of the music if they are to innovate.

[9] Other hip-hop creators told humorous and heartfelt stories about a life spent in pursuit of freedom, fame or wealth. Forbes interviewed U-God,a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, about the hip-hop collective’s rise to fame in the 1990s. Theodore Livingston—aka“Grand Wizzard Theodore”, a DJ—explained to the crowd that his mother is largely responsible for the invention of “scratching” and the needle drop,two techniques central to hip-hop music. Mr Livingston, 55, stated that his mother barged into his bedroom in 1975 to tell him to turn down his music, so he stopped the record from spinning on a turntable with his hand and moved it gently back and forth. (Some still find the story implausible.)

[8]受到这些公众批评的触动，电台主持人斯凯·胡克在“西南偏南”主持了关于夏库尔音乐遗产的圆桌会议，Money B和E. D. I. Mean等嘻哈歌手和其他与会成员一致认为夏库尔是经典嘻哈乐中最有才华的歌手之一，年轻歌手们若想创新，需要尊重嘻哈乐历史。

[9]其他嘻哈创作者则讲述了他们毕生追求自由、名声或财富之旅中诙谐而动人的故事：《福布斯》曾采访美国嘻哈乐队“武当派”成员U-God，讨论20世纪90年代嘻哈歌手的集体崛起。昵称“大巫师西奥多”的嘻哈音乐人、55岁的西奥多·利文斯顿曾向公众说明，嘻哈乐两项重要的技术，即“刮擦”唱片和“唱针落下”，很大程度是受他母亲启发而发明的——在1975年，他母亲曾冲入他的卧室，并要求他调低音乐声，于是他用手缓缓地在旋转唱盘上来回刮擦，使唱片最终停下。（不过至今仍有人不相信这个故事。）

[10] In tandem with8in tandem with并驾齐驱；同时实行。this introspection, there is a growing sense that hiphop is a subject worthy of serious study and reflection. Harvard University established the Hiphop Archive and Research Institute 16 years ago. In November, Stanford hosted a symposium dedicated to discussing the “liberatory possibilities” of hip-hop pedagogy in classrooms. Last month, the Oakland Museum of California opened “Respect:Hip Hop Style and Wisdom”, an exhibit that uses photography, video, art, music,dance and fashion to explore the genre’s cultural and social significance. The crowning jewel will be the Universal Hip-Hop Museum, scheduled to open its doors in 2022 in a 60,000 squarefoot facility in the Bronx, where hiphop originated. It will feature archives,exhibits, interactive displays, performances, film screenings and classes aimed at showing, explaining and discussing hip-hop culture.

[11] The conversation, at SXSW and elsewhere, is about more than nostalgia. History has always been a huge component of hip-hop: “knowledge” is considered the fifth of five “pillars” of the culture (the others are graf fiti, MC-ing, Bboying, and DJing). It has, from its inception, been a platform for black Americans and minority ethnic communities to give voice to their experiences of injustice. Shakur’s politicised, urgent lyrics often made reference to the Black Panthers, of which his parents were members, and the need to break free of oppressive governments and hypocritical notions of the American Dream.

[10]伴随着嘻哈音乐人的自我反省，越来越多的人认识到嘻哈乐是值得研究和反思的对象：16年前，哈佛大学建立了嘻哈档案和研究所；2017年11月，斯坦福大学召开研讨会讨论嘻哈教学法进入课堂的“开放可能性”；2018年3月，加州奥克兰博物馆举办了“尊重：嘻哈风格和智慧”展览会，运用摄影、录像、美术、音乐、舞蹈和时尚来探索这种曲风在文化和社会方面的重要性；计划于2022年开馆的国际嘻哈博物馆最值得一提，该馆在嘻哈发源地布朗克斯区占地6万平方英尺，它将主要通过档案、展览、交互式显示屏、演出、电影、课堂教学这些博览形式，展示、阐释并讨论嘻哈文化。

[11]无论是“西南偏南”还是其他各地关于嘻哈的讨论都不仅仅是为了怀旧。历史一直是嘻哈极其重要的组成部分，“知识”被看作是嘻哈文化第五大“支柱”（其他四个支柱是涂鸦、说唱、街舞、打碟）。从一开始，它就一直是非裔美国人和其他少数族群表达他们所经历不公的平台。夏库尔带有急切政治主张的歌词中常常提及黑豹党的观点（其父母便是黑豹党成员），呼吁要挣脱暴虐政府的枷锁和打破虚伪的“美国梦”概念。

[12] As race relations have worsened in recent years, consumption of hiphop has increased. “Alright”, Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy-nominated song,became a sort of de facto9de facto〈拉丁语〉事实上的。anthem for the Black Lives Matter10“黑人生命值得尊重”运动，由非裔美国人最先发起，反对针对黑人的暴力和歧视，与“所有生命值得尊重”（All Lives Matter）运动相对。movement,and Jay-Z’s Grammy-nominated album“4:44” explored racism and the black experience.

[13] Modern hip-hop musicians,whatever they think of their predecessors’ musical contributions, are similarly engaged in protest and speaking truth to power: the lyrics of early tracks still resonate. Regardless of how it innovates and changes, that will be hip-hop’s legacy. ■

[12]近年来，随着美国种族问题的恶化，嘻哈乐越来越多地进入公众视野。肯德里克·拉马尔的格莱美最佳说唱歌曲提名作品《一切安好》某种程度上成为了“黑人生命值得尊重”运动实际意义上的主题曲；Jay-Z的格莱美最佳专辑提名作品《4：44》探究了美国的种族主义和非裔美国人的遭遇。

[13]无论当代嘻哈音乐人如何看待前辈的音乐贡献，他们在向强权抗议、为真理发声的立场是相似的：他们的歌词都呼应了早期嘻哈乐的精神。无论嘻哈乐如何创新和变化，这都终将成为嘻哈乐的宝贵财富。 □