What is sci fi hip hop?
Sci Fi Hip Hop is a niche but popular genre. There are legends like Kool Keith, aka Dr Octagon, Ultramagnetic MC, Dr Dooom, Black Elvis, etc. But many other artists have put out albums like Beastie Boys, Deltron 3030, Outkast, UNKLE, Bobby Digital (RZA from Wu Tang Clan), etc.
As a genre, I was worried it didn’t get enough attention. So I asked myself, how do I best showcase Sci Fi Hip Hop?
By making a Sci Fi Hip Hop mix – yes, this is going somewhere!
This is my new mix. It includes a spectrum of artists basically held together by hip hop beats. even if not all of them are traditionally hip hop. I’m looking at you Queen, Tom Waits & David Bowie!
It seems the reason for hip hop and science fiction coming together so often (beyond the desire for wild and wacky costumes!) stems from a similar root to Sun Ra. Sun Ra was the founder of the Arkestra back in the 1950s. He presented himself as an alien, or more specifically an Egyptian who’d travelled to Saturn and learned all their secrets, and then returned to educate earthlings.
Similar to Ralph Ellison’s appropriation of The Invisible Man as a metaphor, Sun Ra felt the best analogy for how it felt to be a black man in US society was that he was an alien. Brilliant!
Anyhoo, play the mix please, and let me know what you think!
You can also listen here on hearthis.at.
See also my Hipstory of Hop…
