Episode 26 - Vibrations

Have You Heard George's Podcast?

BBC

Drama, History, Fiction

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 1 September 2021

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

There was a moment, somewhere between the 1980s and 1990s, when Black music turned gangsta. This moment shaped two of the world’s most influential genres: American Rap and Jamaican Dancehall. The story behind the music is one of oppressed Africans unlocking the ancient powers of their ancestors to break free. The dark side of this story is that many of those Africans, descended from slaves, embraced the pattern of violence that had cursed them for so long and slowly turned against each other. Was gangsta music the explosion of Black culture, or the implosion of Black power? In the end, the market decides. Warning: This episode contains very strong language and language which may offend, as well as adult themes. Credits: Written by George the Poet Produced by Benbrick and George the Poet Mixing, recording and editing by Benbrick. With music from: Bob Marley - Get Up Stand Up The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper’s Delight Billy Boyo - One Spliff A Day Ninja Man - Murder Dem Eric B. & Rakim - Paid in Full Super Cat - Boops Ice-T - New Jack Hustler (Nino’s Theme) Mad Cobra - Bad Boy Bounty Killer - Copper Shot The Notorious B.I.G - Juicy Craig Mack - Flava In Ya Ear Remix Bounty Killer - Disrespect The Notorious B.I.G - Hold Ya Head (feat. Bob Marley) All original music is written by Benbrick and recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra. Thank you to: Benbrick, my Groomsmen and my nephews. My team: Sandra, Vidhu and Birungi. Dylan Haskins and the team at BBC Sounds, Alex Entwistle, Adam Eland. BBC Concert Orchestra. Archive: The first four clips document scenes of street violence and are taken from various YouTube channels. The channel names are Toyin Made (used at 01:14), axolotol (used at 01:18), Eyez-wide-Videos (used at 01:41), and The Scuttlebutt Report (used at 02:01). The clip of Sam Cooke used at 03:27 is taken from his interview with Dick Clark on American Bandstand. The clip about Rastafari used at 03:51 is taken from the BBC documentary “Roots, Reggae, Rebellion”. The clip about Black people expressing their true selves used at 04:21 is taken from the BBC documentary “Soul Deep: The Story of Black Popular Music” The two clips used at 05:06 and 05:22 are taken from the BBC documentary Jamaica 40: Blood and Fire. The clips used at 07:55, 08:03 and 08:08 are taken from the ABC News 20/20 Hip Hop special report from 1981. The clips used at 19:40, 20:36 and 21:01 about Bounty Killer are taken from the 1994 classic feature with Jamaica TVJ ER host Anthony Miller. The clips used at 19:51, 20:21 and 20:58 is taken from the Yendi Phillipps Untold Journeys interview with Bounty Killer. The clip used at 20:46 is taken from the BBC documentary “Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music” Have You Heard George’s Podcast? is a George the Poet production for BBC Sounds. Commissioning Assistant Producer: Adam Eland Commissioning Senior Producer: Alex Entwistle Commissioning Executive for BBC: Dylan Haskins

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio and the Peabody Award winning, have you heard George's podcast?
0:09.0	Yo, before we get started, I wanted to tell you I've made some special music mixes to tie in with this series.
0:15.0	And if you're in the UK, you can listen to these exclusively on BBC Sounds.
0:20.0	This episode contains very strong language and language that may offend, as well as some adult themes.
0:30.0	Even when I'm just chilling with Amanda, I've got the same thoughts on my mind.
0:47.0	Draskers two people are from the same race, doesn't mean they're coming from the same place.
0:54.0	Hence the political divisions, they keep putting black leaders in difficult positions.
1:02.0	In this country when a black cute gets stopped, the instant reaction is wherever the leader is.
1:09.0	But they really ain't no leaders like that in their ends. It's only parents and teachers.
1:21.0	For some of these kids, there's no other authority. They ain't trying to hear about no government policy, they're coming from poverty.
1:28.0	Their parents left their country properly because the leaders weren't running it properly.
1:33.0	Where are the leaders?
1:36.0	Nah, the real question is who's taking care of the street kids?
1:42.0	While he's at work, he's out there with the dealers. A couple of enemies are trying to tear him to pieces.
1:50.0	See, most of these young black gang members are living proof of what was taken from their ancestors.
1:59.0	That's why they take pride in war. They're dying for certain worth fighting for.
2:07.0	And this society has no moral authority to give these youths a sense of purpose.
2:13.0	So they get what they can, they rep for the gang and blow fast money on an expensive purchase.
2:21.0	16 years of black history month in school never explained any of this.
2:28.0	Music held the story together.
2:32.0	Music will tell the story forever.
2:44.0	Over thousands of miles of migration, black people stayed in sync through sounds and vibrations.
	...

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