Podcast Summary: "What Had Happened Once: Dr. Todd Boyd on 'Rapper's Deluxe'"

Podcast: What Had Happened Was
Host: Open Mike Eagle (Stony Island Audio & Talkhouse)
Guest: Dr. Todd Boyd (aka Notorious Ph.D.)
Event: Chicago Humanities Festival 2024
Topic: The release and cultural significance of Dr. Boyd’s book, "Rappers Deluxe: How Hip Hop Made the World"
Date: August 22, 2024

Overview

This episode inaugurates the "What Had Happened Once" sub-series with a vibrant, insightful conversation between Open Mike Eagle and Dr. Todd Boyd. The dialogue explores Dr. Boyd’s latest book "Rappers Deluxe," which offers an expansive, 50-year retrospective on hip hop’s cultural impact. The discussion weaves through hip hop’s origins, its manifestation as both countercultural and aspirational, the ongoing tension between underground credibility and commercial success, the global spread of the culture, and the evolving place of women in hip hop.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Now? The 50-Year Arc of Hip Hop

• Context & Motivation ([05:04])
  • Dr. Boyd emphasizes that writing a comprehensive hip hop history required waiting until the culture had matured:

    “It wasn't a 20 year story or a 30 year story. It was a 50 year story. And so the timing was right and then I could like lay it out over that whole period of time to get people to see what I was saying.” — Dr. Boyd [05:51]

• The rise of hip hop to a multigenerational force justifies telling its story at this scale.

2. The 1970s: Hip Hop’s Origin Story

• Setting the Stage ([10:36])
  • Discusses the mythical first party by DJ Kool Herc and broader cultural influences like blaxploitation films, Muhammad Ali, and record collections.
• Cultural Symmetry:
  • Highlights the coincidence of Pam Grier’s "Coffy" topping box offices the same week as hip hop’s "birth" — symbols of Black cultural ascendancy.

    “On the day hip hop was born, what’s dominating the culture? For a blaxploitation film to be the number one movie at the box office is major.” — Dr. Boyd [12:07]

3. Artifacts & The Visual History of Hip Hop

• Early Flyers as Artifacts ([13:53])
  • Dr. Boyd describes collaborating with visual artists and publishers to unearth and showcase original party flyers as both “art and artifacts.”

    “At the time, nobody really thought about that as something anybody would pay attention to. They're just flyers promoting a party. But all these years later, they're art.” — Dr. Boyd [15:45]

4. Hip Hop’s Aspirational Core and Status Symbols

• Materialism as Expression ([16:56])
  • Explores why status symbols (fashion, cars, etc.) are so central and deeply earned in hip hop culture — they reflect dignity and respect from those with little material wealth.
  • References classic lyrics from “Rapper’s Delight” to illustrate:

    “From the very beginning, it’s about like, I'm clean, I'm riding nice, I look good...That’s the culture. And it's not negative. It's not just materialism. That's about a group of people trying to get respect in whatever way is accessible to them.” — Dr. Boyd [19:16]

5. The Controversial Birth of Recorded Hip Hop

• Authenticity vs. Commodification ([21:57])
  • Recounts the creation of the Sugar Hill Gang and the controversy:
    • The group hadn’t existed before the record; used rhymes from Grandmaster Caz; Sylvia Robinson orchestrated it.
    • This introduced a split between the “real” (underground) and commercial, birthing tensions around authenticity.
  • Memorable moment:

    “I've always thought it was kind of funny that the actual first commercial hip hop song was by a group that otherwise didn't exist with somebody else's rhymes. It’s bogus.” — Dr. Boyd [24:50]

6. Underground vs. Commercial Hip Hop

• Dichotomy’s Necessity ([26:58])
  • While the underground is central for innovation, Dr. Boyd supports artists getting paid:

    “One of the things that has distinguished me...I’ve never had a problem with getting paid...If you don't put it on record and it's not for sale, people can't hear it and it doesn't grow.” — Dr. Boyd [27:19]

  • Commercialization is both growth and dilution; the underground is the “well” from which the mainstream drinks.

7. Capitalism’s Impact: From Rebellion to Mainstream

• Negotiating Counterculture and Commerce ([29:22])
  • Hip hop’s embrace of capitalism, traced through references like "Scarface" and the era's “get paid” ethos.
  • Despite tensions, Dr. Boyd believes hip hop at its best does both: “knowledge and the bag.”
  • Notable comparison:

    “Hip hop at its best, can do both. Oftentimes, though, the commercial aspect is going to get more attention than the underground political aspect.” — Dr. Boyd [33:11]

8. On Cultural Memory and the Future

• History, the GOAT Debate, and Misinformation ([34:41])
  • Uses sports analogies to discuss how present perspectives can erase foundational histories.
  • Warns of "the most misinformed time despite the most access to knowledge."

    “People have more access to knowledge than they've ever had and they're probably more misinformed than they've ever been.” — Dr. Boyd [38:36]

• Observes that hip hop’s future hinges on deeper knowledge over recycled debates.

9. Women in Hip Hop: Legacy and Ongoing Challenges

• Persistent Contributions, Under-recognition, and Hope ([40:10], [44:27])
  • Dr. Boyd and Open Mike Eagle address hip hop’s complicated relationship with sexism and inclusion.
    • Recognizes Sylvia Robinson’s foundational role and evolution through artists like Lauryn Hill, Queen Latifah, Lil Kim, and current women MCs.
    • The “crossroads” moment:

      “Inside of hip hop, we are going to have to deal with that question in a way that we've avoided for a very long time...some of our energy, some of our resources...have to go to making sure that there is a space for women.” — Open Mike Eagle [44:44]

10. Hip Hop’s Breadth: Rapping vs. Hip Hop as Culture

• Knowledge, Conscience, and Evolution ([46:17])
  • Affirms hip hop is broader than just rapping; encompasses breakdancing, graffiti, DJing, knowledge.
    • Hip hop once demanded substance and wisdom (“you couldn't just get on a mic and say anything”).
    • Not all rapping is hip hop, and not all hip hop is rapping.

11. Geography: Beyond the South Bronx

• Diaspora and Local Scenes ([49:56], [51:06])
  • Acknowledge the richness of Chicago, Detroit, and wider diasporic influences.
    • Muhammad Ali and Nipsey Russell cited as proto-rappers; local scenes like Chicago’s Nacrobats foundational to the underground.

    • “It’s not just the South Bronx in 1973, though that happened to be the place where this specific iteration of it took off and grew.” — Dr. Boyd [52:20]

12. Globalization of Hip Hop

• International Spread & Adaptation ([54:57])
  • UK rap’s adoption of drill style; hip hop as a universal language.
    • Dr. Boyd tells stories from Paris (MC Solaar) and Tokyo, where fans memorize Biggie’s lyrics without speaking English:

    "This is deep, because she doesn't speak English, but she speaks Biggie. She speaks hip hop." — Dr. Boyd [59:04]

  • Hip hop as a global phenomenon — “we planted a seed that has grown all over the world.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On status and aspiration:

  “When you hear somebody bragging, it's not necessarily negative. What they're saying to you is, I exist. Pay attention to me. Give me some respect.” — Dr. Boyd [20:57]

• On the commercial beginnings:

  “The beginning of the hip hop music business, coming from that group, it sort of made everything that was authentic the underground.” — Open Mike Eagle [26:33]

• On misinformation despite information abundance:

  “Having access to all these resources has not necessarily made people smarter.” — Dr. Boyd [38:47]

• On hip hop’s international reach:

  "She doesn't speak English, but she speaks Biggie. She speaks hip hop." — Dr. Boyd [59:04]

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------| | [05:04] | Why write the hip hop story now? (Boyd’s motivation) | | [10:36] | Kool Herc, 1973, and the wider 70s cultural context | | [14:26] | Sourcing early hip hop flyers as artifacts | | [16:56] | Hip hop’s relationship with status and materialism | | [21:57] | The controversy and context of “Rapper’s Delight” | | [26:58] | On the underground’s importance and commercialization | | [29:22] | Hip hop, capitalism, consciousness, and commercial success | | [34:41] | The challenge of cultural memory and the “GOAT” debate | | [40:10] | Women’s role and presence in hip hop | | [44:27] | Open Mike Eagle on the crossroad of gender and inclusion | | [46:17] | Hip hop as a culture, not just rapping | | [51:06] | Diasporic influences and non-Bronx roots | | [54:57] | International spread and “speaking Biggie” story |

Tone

The conversation is vivid, witty, deeply knowledgeable, and sometimes candidly personal. Dr. Boyd's voice is authoritative but warm, mixing lived experience with scholarly analysis. Open Mike Eagle maintains a tone that’s both reverent of the culture’s history and probing about its future, often infusing humor and honesty.

Conclusion

This episode offers a masterclass in hip hop history and sociology, with Dr. Boyd spinning connections across generations, mediums, and continents. Hip hop’s story, he argues, is not just one of music but of global cultural transformation — a mode of existence as much as a genre. The dialogue is as much celebration as critical reflection, leaving listeners with a richer understanding of where hip hop has been, the hurdles it still faces, and the possibilities ahead.