Below is nearly 30 year old footage of Bad Brains performing reggae to what appears to be a punk audience in Germany. The beautiful thing about this video is the lack of adherence to genre barriers. As hardcore music heroes, this is an another example of the kinship between original Hip Hop and punk cultures. Both rebelled against formats- music was music. Original Hip Hop adopted all genres from all sounds and styles. Today, there’s so much pigeonholing in what is presented as Hip Hop, that much of it lacks creativity in sound and delivery.
Whether Kool Herc, Africa Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash or later Rick Rubin, all of these innovators within Hip Hop chose to embrace diversity in sound. Producers, rappers, and DJs, take a lesson from the architects of the genre and from punk’s Bad Brains, broaden your pallet and invent a new way to present your craft. If effective, the best that could happen is that you make music that’s still celebrated decades later. -I. Vasquetelle
