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Baba Got BARS Vol III

by Baba Bomani

FDWC exclusive
1.
ZYX 04:48 video
Z, Y, X, W, V/ U, T, S, R, Q, P/ O, N, M, L, K, J/ I, H, G, F, E, D, C,B, A/
2.
Chorus What are the vowels? a, e, i, o, u What sounds do they make? Each has at least two Short sound or long sound some rules will apply a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y short sound or long sound some rules will apply a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y Verse 1 (A) A has a short sound: add After my nap I packed my bag and ran with dad A has a long sound when alone: paper A lady saw an alien atop a skyscraper, A long sound with a silent e: ache I ate my name on a birthday cake A long sound with an a-i: aid The maid used her brain removed the stain and got paid a long sound with an a-y: pay I pray today that you stay okay A long sound with ey: obey They survey for prey, their instincts they obey A long sound with an ei: eight The neighbor helped carry the weight of all the freight   Chorus Verse 2 (E) e has a short sound: egg the elk stepped through the web with its long leg, a long sound when alone: even no one competing this evening is equal to Stephen e long sound with a silent e: concrete “Here”, said Pete “these are complete” a long sound with an e-a: eat I dream that I can heal through playing the beat a long sound with a double e: eel a queen bee stung me in my sleep, the pain I feel Chorus Verse 3 (I) I has a short sound: it She showed grit, didn’t quit, and caught the ball in her mitt a long sound when alone: idea an iron is an item that I bought from Ikea a long sound with a silent e: ice we went on a hike and flew a kit so the day was nice! a long sound with igh: right there is lightening high in the sky tonight a long sound with an ie: tie don’t lie, you tried to eat my sweet potato pie long song as a y: by I try to yell a reply but my mouth was to dry Chorus Verse 4 (O) o has a short sound: otter when its hotter you can spot her reading Harry Potter a long sound when alone: go there’s no banjo so I play the piano a long sound with a silent e: cope the stove wouldn’t close unless I tied it with a rope a long sound with oa: oat on the road I got soaked and I had a sore throat a long sound with ow: bow The more you grow, the more you know, your talents will show long sound with oe: foe Joe swung a garden hoe and hit his toe, Chorus Verse 4 (U) u has a short sound: up Yup, the pup drank from a cup, A long sound when alone: unicorn Humans look unique even in a uniform Long sound with a silent e: use As a rule, don’t be rude there’s no excuse Long sound with a ue: true Sue put each clue together like glue Long sound with an oo: tool We studied proof that man landed on the moon in school Long sound with a ew: few The wind blew as new grass grew with morning dew
3.
The evolution of music won’t stop Like RUN DMC bringing us Hip Hop When I say “Hip”, you say “Hop” HIP – HOP, HIP - HOP Before that they scrunched your face up like it stunk Like James Brown giving us that funk When I say “Give me that”, you say “Funk” Give me that – Funk, Give me that - Funk The generation before took it smoothly Like Big Mama Thornton giving us R&B When I say “R &” you say “B” R & - B, R & B, The generation before got even more bold Like Chuck Berry bringing us rock’n’roll When I say “rock’n’” you say “roll” Rock’n’ – roll, rock’n’ -roll The generation before added some pizzaz Like Ella Fitzgerald giving us the jazz When I say “We got”, you say “the jazz” We got – the jazz, we got – the jazz They turned field hollas into soulful grooves Like Robert Johnson giving us the blues When I say “we got”, you say “the blues” We got – the blues, we got - the blues After slavery, music was their favorite past time Like Scot Joplin giving us ragtime When I say “Rag”, you say “time” Rag – time, Rag - time Want to know how “American” music was made? You have to start with the triangle slave trade Enslaved Africans had their languages forbidden But many things survived, especially their rhythms Rhythms of the djembe, bata and shekere Survived in reggae, samba, salsa and merengue African influence in music remains still You can hear it from Cuba to Brazil Especially here in the United States This element makes our music great Find Africa all over, here’s an example the Ngoni from Mali turned in to the banjo The rhythms can be heard so easily From jazz in new Orleans to go-go in DC Begin with field hollas, slaves singing at work The other kind of songs they sang were spirituals in church The foundation of our musical recipe African music is part of the American legacy Freed slaves had music as their favorite past time Like Eubie Blake giving us ragtime When I say “rag” you say “time” Rag – time, rag – time Field hollas evolved into soulful grooves Like Betsy Smith giving us the blues When I say “we got” you say “the blues” We got – the blues, we got – the blues The next generation added some pizzaz Like Louis Armstrong giving us the jazz When I say “ we got” you say “the jazz” We got – the jazz, we got – the jazz The next generation got even more bold Like Sister Rosetta Tharpe bringing us rock’n’roll When I say “rock’n” you say “roll” Rock’n – roll, rock’n – roll The next generation took it more smoothly Like Aretha Franklin giving us R&B When I say “R &” you say “B” R & - B, R & - B The next we scrunched your face up like it stunk Like George Clinton giving us that funk When I say “give me that” you say “the funk” Give me that – funk, give me that – funk The evolution of music won’t stop Like Roxanne Shante bringing us Hip Hop When I say “hip” you say “hop” Hip – hop, Hip - hop
4.
Chorus (2x) H-I-P H-O-P I've got a DJ and a MC Plus some Breakers so we've got all three That we need for this Hip-Hop Party Verse 1 (DJ'ing) If I need head nodding drums and bass lines to rock me I go find a DJ, that’s short for Disc Jockey South Bronx, New York City, early 1970’s A kid, Kool Herc, influenced the culture heavily South Bronx was going through a lot at the time Rising arson, drug use, gang wars and crime But being Hip-Hop is making the most of what you have Since Herc played his sound system on Sedgwick Ave known as a no faker, no stuff taker, dope party maker like they did in his home of Jamaica To do his block parties he’d hack the streetlights Or his basement jams would bring the people each night all off New York came for Kool Herc’s spinnin And most say that this was Hip-Hop’s beginning These parties in the South Bronx are why we say The first element of Hip-Hop is the DJ Chorus (2x) Verse 2 (MC'ing) The master of ceremony is on the microphone At events like graduations or where people might perform In Hip Hop, while the dj moves the groove around MC means “microphone controller” or “move the crowd” Before their lyrical recitals or battling their rivals Their role was really vital as the dj flipped his vinyl turntables aren’t like cd players or ipods You can’t make a playlist, these days that seems quite odd Not a problem, until you wanna go from one song to the next At a party, but you don’t want the crowd to get vexed They used “Call and Response” a very old tradition giving “shout outs”, or “toasting”, was part of their mission They would make the crowd move to what he or she say use their microphone skills to promote the DJ They changed music as we know it, it’s easy to see my favorite element of Hip-Hop is the MC Chorus (2x) Verse 3 (Breaking) To understand the dances and the style they were portraying You must understand the dj’s and the music they were playing The hottest funk records were in heavy rotation As Parliament Funkadelic toured the nation James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, that’s right man With the JB’s, you should’ve seen him at his height man bass, guitar, keys, a drummer on his left and right hand 4 horns, 3 singers, 3 dancers, and a hype man One part made the party go wild and the ground shake When they all stopped but the drummer, this was called the break grandmaster flash developed new techniques To make sure they gave the people their beats He would get two copies of the same record On two record players, a turn table double decker He put a mixer between each record player Which includes many buttons including a cross fader He would line up the records to the same place Where the break beat started and put on his game face The records going at the same rate he’d let the first rotate Switch at the right time, release the record with style and grace He did this for as long as he wanted the break to last The dancers went crazy, they really had a blast They’d break into James Brown inspired moves Groups of kids would get together and be dance crews Created B-Boy and B-Girl stances, the Freeze, and footwork With some acrobatic moves, if you fail it could hurt But this was all history in the making Because the style they created is now called Breaking! Chorus (6x)
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about

After a summer of touring the Delaware Library system and the Baltimore City school libraries, I came back home with a bunch of new ideas to turn in to songs. Check out the fun mental exercise/party trick "ZYX", and learn how to say the alphabet backwards. After a summer of performing "The Syllable Game" (from Baba Got BARS vol I), it seemed only natural that we go over all the long and short vowel sounds that help us recognize syllables, so check out on "What are the Vowels?". I created a power point presentation about the evolution of black music from traditional African music, through the trans-atlantic slave trade, then from field hollas to 120 years later Hip-Hop. I put a hip-hop beat behind Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" and created "The Black Entertainer". Lastly, I stopped doing this mini-lecture on the history of Hip-Hop's main three elements, and instead flipped my own track ("Count to Four" from Baba Got BARS vol II) into break beat to explain the origins of DJ'ing, MC'ing, and Breaking on the track "Hip-Hop Party".

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released November 6, 2018

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Baba Bomani Washington, D.C.

Baba Bomani, aka the Watermelon man has been using hip-hop, poetry and multi-media disciplines to teach fun and informative workshops with all ages from kindergarteners to graduate students for well over 15 years Bomani . Here you can find his hip-hop music for kids as well as teaching materials showing students the writing process through hip-hop! ... more

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