Category Archives: Musical

Ritual

Nationality: American. Self-Identified Ethnicity: Caucasian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/26/11
Primary Language: English

Ben explained that “Kandi” is the name for a type of bracelet that consists of beads on a plastic string.  Each bracelet is different, and you’re supposed to make your own bracelet unique.  People wear these bracelets to raves, which are huge dance parties where electronic musicians and DJs perform.

Ben said that there are “Kandi and Name-Giving Ceremonies” at raves.  If you’re an inexperienced raver, you likely don’t have a Kandi bracelet or a “rave name,” which is basically just a nickname for your rave alter-ego, since people dress and behave differently at raves than they do in regular, every day life.

At raves, the more experienced rave-goers will bring Kandi bracelets that they can then pass on to other, beginner-level ravers.  Furthermore, the experienced ravers make up a “rave name” during this process that sticks with that person forever.  Ben said that one of the rules is that both people have to be “rolling” (slang for high on ecstasy or mdma), but people often break this tradition.

Ben said this tradition was taught to him at a rave in which the group Bloody Beetroots were performing.  A random guy approached him and asked him, “Do you have a rave name?”  Ben was confused, and responded that he didn’t know what he was talking about.  The random guy then said, “You are Hurricane,” because Ben was wearing blue, wavy face paint.

Ben said that he was completely out of his element at this point and didn’t know what was going on, but the random guy continued with the process.  He told Ben that he had something for him before taking Ben through the official “Kandi giving ceremony.”

The Kandi-giving ceremony calls for both individuals to raise one hand and make the “peace sign” (two fingers).  The combine fingertips and say “peace.”  Example:

Then, the individuals combine their hands so that it looks like a “heart” symbol and say “love.”  Example:

Finally, the individuals combine hands so that their palms are linked together like this:

They then say, “unity.”  With the experienced individual’s free hand, he takes his “Kandi bracelet” and slides it over the conjoined palms, on to the other person’s wrist.  After that, the process is over.

Ben told me that he still feels as if his rave name is “Hurricane,” at that he’s now at the level where it’d be acceptable to give a rave name to someone else.

Ben said he thinks this tradition exists because raves are all about love.  He said that in a world full of hate, the youth of America need a place to feel safe and feel that connection with human beings on a positive level.

Ben’s analysis is probably true to a certain extent, as the interaction definitely symbolizes love and unity between otherwise random people.  From a non-raver, outsider point of view, however, the ceremony seems more like a rite of passage for inexperienced ravers.  If you haven’t gone through this process, you can’t really consider yourself a part of the subculture, at least according to Ben’s report.  After going through this process (which some rave attendees have never even heard of), you feel like part of a larger group of individuals.  Then, once you feel experienced enough and fully integrated into the rave culture, you can pass the tradition on.

Ghost Riding The Whip

Nationality: American. Self-Identified Ethnicity: Blend of Japanese, Caucasian and Mexican
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/26/11
Primary Language: English

Video Examples:  http://vimeo.com/22972127

Drew told me that ghost riding the whip is when you blast hyphy music in your car (“whip” is slang for “car”), open up the doors and dance along the car, on the hood, or on top of the car while the vehicle rolls forward slowly in drive or neutral.  Drew described “Hyphy” music as mid-tempo hip hop with unusual slang and goofy lyrics commonly found in the Bay Area.    The type of music encourages its listeners to “go dumb” and have fun with themselves rather than having any serious political philosophy or emotional relevance.  Drew explained that the style was popularized by artists like Mac Dre, E-40 and Too $hort.  People often ghost ride the whip in areas like Oakland at events called “sideshows,” in which large groups of people get together, play loud music, and basically have huge parties in the middle of the street.

Drew learned how to ghost ride the whip from the juniors and seniors in his high school when he was a freshman or sophomore.  He said he and his friends performed the activity a few times throughout high school, usually late at night on abandoned streets.  He said that he also did it once in his high school parking lot.  He claimed that people mostly did it just because it was funny and because they had seen Bay Area rappers doing it in videos.

Drew said he thinks people ghost ride because the act is funny and a part of hyphy culture.  If you want to feel like a part of the hyphy movement, you’ll ghost ride the whip at some point in your life.  Also, it’s fun.

In the videos included at the beginning of the post, Drew and his friend Gordy (also from the Bay Area) demonstrate common dances associated with ghost riding the whip.  However, they told me that you can pretty much dance however you want.  The only rule is that the car has to be moving by itself and blasting hyphy music.

I agree with Drew’s analysis that people ghost ride the whip mostly because it’s fun and funny.  I also would ghost ride the whip with my friends a few times in high school, simply because we felt as if we were doing something funny that we had seen rappers from Oakland do in videos online.

Also, ghost riding has an element of danger attached to it, as there’s always the fear that your car might get out of control and crash.  This makes the practice especially exciting for kids who have just learned how to drive and are rebellious and willing to test their limits.  The fact that Drew did this in his high school parking lot demonstrates that the practice is associated with youthful rebelliousness.

Also, ghost riding and the other aspects of “hyphy” are largely linked to Oakland and the greater Bay Area.  Even though the action is performed by people throughout the country, it’s most commonly found in Oakland.  Thus, ghost riding gives people a sense of identity and community.  It also distinguishes the hip hop scene from other hip hop scenes found throughout the country.

This practice can be found in the film Ghostride The Whip: The Hyphy Movement, a documentary by Peter Sprier released in 2008.  The documentary depicts examples of members of Oakland’s hip hop scene participating in sideshows, ghost riding the whip and doing other tricks with cars.  It highlights the danger surrounding the practice, but also explains how hyphy is a movement that shapes Bay Area identity and youth culture.  Popular Bay Area rappers like Keek Da Sneek appear in the film and explain the ghost riding phenomenon.

The practice has also been written about in several news publications, such as this article in the Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/26/AR2006122600994_pf.html

References to ghost riding the whip can also be found in songs such as “Ghost Ride It” by Mistah FAB, featured on the album Da Yellow Bus Rydah.

Folk Song

Residence: Marietta, GA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

“ Raider Pride Cheer”

Coach: “Whose house?”

Team:  “ Our house!”

Coach: “Whose house?”

Team:  “Our house!”

Team: “ One, two, three… Raider Pride!”

Malcolm is currently a student at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He grew up in Marietta, Georgia for the majority of his life. He was born in Dallas, Texas. He first learned the Raider pride cheer as a freshman at George Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia. He says that he was taught the cheer by upperclassmen athletes who played on the same basketball team as him.

According to Malcolm, the cheer is an important piece of tradition that is handed down from upperclassmen basketball athletes at Walton High School to freshman athletes. The cheer is sung prior to every official basketball game that the Raiders, the team name for the Walton High School basketball team, play whether at home or away. Malcolm says that the team members derive a sort of bond and strength from the cheer performance. He says, “The Raider Pride Cheer is powerful when it is sung loudly and vehemently and proves a source of inspiration for all the team members and a source of intimidation for the opposing team.”

This cheer appears to be a uniting bond that is shared between the members of the group. It seems that the folk group in this instance is the Walton High School Raider basketball team, and the lore is the “Raider Pride Cheer”. Team members can take personal pride in this cheer as they perform it on special occasions and derive inspiration from its performance.

Song – American

Age: 53
Occupation: Housewife
Residence: Laguna Hills, CA
Performance Date: January 2007
Primary Language: English

Better late than never,

Better never late

My informant learned this song as a child of approximately six years of age.  She was taught it by her mother as a way to instill values of timeliness in her children in a way that was easy to remember for them.  Her mother would sing it whenever Sherri and her sisters were tardy or took too long to get ready to go out.  Sherri recalls her mother using many songs and proverbs to teach lessons to her and her sisters during her childhood.

This song, which is usually used to target tardiness in children, teaches people that, while it is better to show up to an event you were supposed to be present at, it is even better to show up on time to that event.  This is because not only will you get more out of that event, but also it shows the host of the event that you genuinely care about them and want to spend time with them.  Your timeliness benefits not only those around you, but also benefits you as you get more out of every situation if you are on time.

I think this is a good lesson to teach to children at a young age as timeliness can make many a difference, from being hired by a company to just conveying the idea that you are a timely person.

Hymn

Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 21, 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Hebrew

Shema

Shema yisrael adonai eloheinu

Adonai echad

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God,

The Lord is one.

Jay Rockman is a freshman at USC and a dedicated follower of Jewish religion and tradition. His mother is Israeli, and as a child he learned to speak Hebrew. From grades 6-12 he attend Milken Community School, a prestigious private school in Calabasas, CA that integrates Jewish education into its curriculum. According to Jay, they would often sing Jewish hymns and prayers at assemblies or certain classes; the school would combine both the Hebrew text and the English translation into these short hymns. The third and fourth lines of the hymn are normally written in Hebrew characters, with this version containing the phonetic pronunciation of the words.

The “Shema” is the most sacred Hebrew hymn, as it provides a general framework for the indispensable principles of the Jewish religion. The central concept is the idea that God is “one,” but this can be interpreted in multiple ways. First and foremost, the prayer stresses monotheism, meaning that the Jewish people cannot pray to anyone but God (meaning they cannot have idols or statues). Also, the “Shema” discusses God’s omnipotence, claiming that there truly is no barrier between God and the natural world; instead, the Lord is “One” with everything He has created. Thus, to disrespect the Earth or other human beings is to directly disrespect the Lord. Finally, the hymn speaks to the land of Israel, as it is considered the homeland of the Jewish people, meaning that every Jew has a direct connection to the land. While there has been tremendous controversy over who should have sovereignty over the holy land of Israel, the “Shema” certainly confirms the location as an indispensable aspect of Jewish culture. These ancient texts certainly explain why the Israelis are so protective of their land, as they are directly commanded by God to represent and protect the holy territory.