speaking of "new sounds in music" and corporate cooption....
---------- Forwarded message ----------
A Tools Of War Press Release!
RE: Heineken Commercial Spoofing the Creation of the Scratch
>Perhaps you saw the Heineken commercial, during the Grammy's,
>featuring a DJ rockin' the party, back in the early 80's. He
>accidentally spills his beer on the turntables and when he attempts
>to wipe it off he "invents" the scratch. The year shown on the
>screen is 1982...
Many of Hip Hop's legendary DJs have expressed their outrage but the
most insulted of all is the actual creator of the scratch,
GrandWizzard Theodore. In the Summer of 1975, at the age of 13,
Theodore created the technique that would eventually become one of
the signature sounds of Hip Hop music today.
As you can see from the responses below- some people still possess
the revolutionary spirit that sparked Hip Hop in the first place!
Here's what Theodore and friends had to say recently about Heineken's
mishandling of Hip Hop culture.
GrandWizzard Theodore (L Brothers & Fantastic 5): "It's a disgrace to
the Hip Hop culture. Heineken doesn't know the culture and they don't
contribute to it, then they have the audacity to give wrong
information about how scratching started! They take from the culture
and they don't give back. We should boycott Heineken. Scratching
started in 1982? I don't think so.
That commercial is a total disgrace. What they did was very very
upsetting. I guess it's true that the people shouldn't be using their
own product. They must have been drinking too many Heinekens when
they made this commercial."
MixMaster Ice (U.T.F.0.): " I think it's an insult to people like
myself and especially the pioneers who originated and laid the
groundwork for where Hip Hop is today. These people (Heineken) don't
know about, were not part of, and had nothing to do with where Hip
Hop came from or where it's headed. They need to do more research and
include more pioneers in their commercials so the culture can be
preseIN TO SEE THAT HEINEKEN IS NOT DOING THEIR MARKETING HOMEWORK,
BECAUSE IF THEY HAD, THEY WOULDN'T HAVE INSULTED MILLIONS OF HIP HOP
VIEWERS AND LISTENERS, THE SAME HIP HOP VIEWERS AND LISTENERS THAT
MAKE HEINEKEN ONE OF THE LARGEST SELLING IMPORT BEERS IN THIS
COUNTRY. WHAT HEINEKEN PROBABLY SAID WAS "HEY, THIS LOOKS CUTE AND
MAKES US LOOK REALLY COOL SO LET'S PUT IT OUT THERE CAUSE IT WILL
SELL MORE BEER" WITHOUT TAKING THE TIME TO GET THE FACTS. LIKE A LOT
OF OTHER INDUSTRIES INCLUDING THE RECORDING INDUSTRY, HEINEKEN IS NOT
TAKING HIP HOP SERIOUSLY ENOUGH TO GIVE IT THE PROPER REPRESENTATION
IT DESERVES. YEA I AGREE, IT WAS JUST A LOUSY COMMERCIAL DONE
INCORRECTLY AND, "NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON'T AND ON WITH OUR
LIVES." TRUE THAT!!!! BUT THE BUCKET IS NOW OVERFLOWING WITH ALL THE
LITTLE SPECKS OF BULLSHIT THAT'S BEEN DROPPED IN BY INDUSTRIES AND
ARTISTS WHO WANT TO MAKE MONEY AT HIP HOP'S EXPENSE. WHAT I WANT TO
DO IS CALL ON ALL THE HEAVY WEIGHTS IN HIP HOP, THE ONES WHO ARE
MAKING ALL THE MEGA DOLLARShip-hop and its pioneers, but they have
the nerve to allow sponsors to air these bullshit commercials and
keep brainwashing the generation at hand. this is the reason why the
true pioneers of hip-hop must align, and make a solid coalition, to
protect ourselves and our history against misrepresentations of this
kind. i ask my brothers to stand up and take notice, a lawsuit should
be in order. peace, dj disco wiz"
Adisa Banjoko "The Bishop of Hip Hop": "The recent "Hip Hop" Heineken
ad, does Hip Hop culture a great disservice. It promotes unrealistic
images of how and why the elements of our art were created. It is a
slap in the face to all true architects of the culture and fans of
the art. I feel it is unfair exploitation of African American people
as a whole, and Hip Hop culture across the board. It is my sincere
wish Heineken will pull that ad campaign immediately."
GrandMaster Caz (Cold Crush Brothers): "JUST ANOTHER PUTRID ATTEMPT
AT HUMOR FROM ADVERTISING ASSHOLES WHO MOCK THE MOST COPIED, IMITATED
AND EXPLOITED CULTURE SINCE AFRICAN DRUMS. THE INVENTION OF THE
SCRATCH WAS AND IS A BOON TO THE HIPHOP CULTURE AS WELL AS THE ENTIRE
MUSIC INDUSTRY AND SHOULD NOT BE MADE LIGHT OF BUT BROUGHT TO LIGHT.
LOVE, PEACE AND HAIR GREASE TO MY BROTHER GRAND WIZARD D.J. THEODORE.
GRANDMASTER CAZ"
Bobbito: "I've always boycotted all liquor companies personally cuz I
don't drink at all. I get intoxicated off of my music. I'm not
opposed to spoofing of our culture, but that should only be done by
the insular community when it's in responsible hands. No major
corporation that has no vested interest in our culture has any right
to spoof. Quite honestly though, I'd be more troubled by seeing
Theodore in a Heineken commercial than seeing a spoof. I don't watch
TV at all, haven't in over a decade. In any event, you have my
support and good luck.
peace, bobbito"
Ddn't even pick up on how thin that was. It's a matter of "people"
who have nothing to do with Hip Hop or the people who live it, trying
to appeal to our beer consuming masses by appealing to them as being
"down" (when they are not by far) while cashing in on Hip Hop, not
even realizing how totally ignorant, ridiculously dense and extra
stupidly stupid they are, in their attempts to do so. I bet alot of
us are too blind to even recognize it. But it just goes with all the
other insidiousness that Hip Hop's existence has brought along. It
isn't the first or last time Hip Hop (or black folks for that matter)
will be used or exploited through and by manufacturers and products
that we can do without the consumption or endorsement of....like
anything with refined white sugar in it -it hardens your arteries.
Alcohol, works wonders on livers and the pancreas as well as they
both wreck your complexion. Cow's milk...what's with those ridiculous
ads??? When are we gonna recognize that i and insulted, I'm always
compelled to see the negatives only as a blessing in disguise.
Hopefully Heineken will hear them and so will the public and in turn
the music will be heard along with the truth. Have no worries because
everything is in perfect order with the universe, it's just the time
for it, believe it or not...and you bet I'm gonna mention this
shtick! Peace and blessings yall' Qbert"
DJ Kuttin Kandi (5th Platoon): "TO ALL ARTISTS, FANS AND LOVERS OF
HIP-HOP... I will not sit here and watch as we, people of Hip-Hop
culture, continue to play a part in the lies that corporate America
has created. For years, we have shouted out, marched, rallied and
died for our own rights, freedom of speech and to own our own lives.
Yet, when we gain these rights we deny those rights because we
subject ourselves to little hand-me-downs that America tempts us to
believe are real. They give us a little "freedom of our own", they
give us a little shine, let us make our speeches through our
rhymes... T our history through our way of poetry. They blast our
faces on television, mock our upbringings, and blame only us and our
culture for the violence, materialism and sexism in our society. My
fellow Hip-Hop people, sadly, we do have much to apologize for...
True, I can blame the MEDIA (such as beer companies, ahem) for
bringing misinformation to the masses.. Yes, I can blame radio and tv
stations, record labels, movies, newspapers, commercials and large
corporation companies for misleading our people to believe that
Hip-Hop is just about the benjamin's and bling blingin. Yes, I can
blame our schools, our teachers, our history books, the GOVERNMENT
for not teaching the real history we were never taught... I can blame
all of the above all I want.... BUT we all know that we have as much
to blame... We have allowed ourselves to become part of the lies they
feed us by taking part of their commercials, by parading around in
the music videos that THEY DIRECT, by writing the rhymes THEY want
society to buy. How cated stories they have fed to the MASSES... even
if it may seem humorous with their own version of how the skratch was
created... It may seem frivolous to all of you of my generation that
our older pioneers of Hip-Hop are complaining... It may seem to you
that they are being bitter and angry, but believe me, 20 years from
now, that could be YOU. We need to preserve our culture and cherish
what our older generation have handed down to us. We need to respect
that and share the stage with them. I am asking all of YOU to take a
stand, young and old for TOGETHER we can make a difference using
America's system, using their commercials, using the media... IF WE
TAKE CONTROL. We can take this system and make it our own. We can
empower ourselves if we use it to our advantage - the right way, that
is... After all, it is what it is and we have to make the most of
it... If they're not telling the truth, we should write and document
our truth... so it shall be written into history. If they take our
culture and make it the
A true activist, DJ Kuttin Kandi gave someone named Mercedes, at
Heineken, a call on Fri. March 2 and told her what she thought about
that wack commercial. You can call Heineken USA: 914-681-4100 or
e-mail at infoATheinekenusa.com or infoATheineken.com to tell them what
you think.
Thanks for your support!
Peace!
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