Gazeebow Unit

Gazeebow Unit is a rap group from Newfoundland, Canada, founded by a group of teenagers in the provincial capital of St. John's.[1] Gazeebow Unit uses a home computer to develop their music; they integrate samples and downloaded drum loops.[2] The group was noted for its combination of the rap music styles with depictions of working-class Newfoundland culture and the use of the Newfoundland English dialect.[3]

History

Gazeebow Unit was formed in 2005 by young white rappers from a suburban community, calling themselves Mike $hanx, Alpabit, and M to the C.[2][4] They performed and recorded a number of satirical raps, including "Trikes & Bikes", "Mugsy" and "The Anthem". The group did not perform their music live at the time; instead they began distributing them online.[5][2]

In 2006, Gazeebow Unit began performing, and appeared as part of a Donnie Dumphy concert in St. John's.[6]

Critical reception

As well as gaining a large online audience of young rap fans, Gazebow Unit's raps attracted the attention of folklore experts, including Professor Philip Hiscock of Memorial University, who declared the trio's raps to be a form of folk music, blending the new rap form with traditional Newsfoundland culture and lyrics.[2] There was disagreement, however, as to whether the members of the group were serious rappers.[7] Academic Sandra Clarke declared that the use of Newfoundland vernacular by Gazeebow Unit was parodic, imitating the "skeet" blue-collar white culture of Newfoundland, to which the suburban youth did not actually belong.[8][9] Marina Terkourafi, on the other hand, describes their use of Newfoundland dialect as metaparodic.[3]

Further reading
  • Gazeebow Unit: Local Language And Vernacularity In A St. John’s Rap Group, Philip Hiscock. Presented MUN Folklore Society, 15 November 2005

References
  1. Quill & Quire. Greey de Pencier Publications. 2006. p. 13. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  2. "St. John's hip-hop trio attracts the attention of folklore scholars". The Globe and Mail, JOAN SULLIVAN, ST. JOHN'S. February 2, 2006Special to The Globe and Mail
  3. Marina Terkourafi (23 September 2010). The Languages of Global Hip Hop. A&C Black. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-8264-3160-8.
  4. Sandra Clarke. "Hip-hop in a Post-insular Community: Hybridity, Local Language, and Authenticity in an Online Newfoundland Rap Group". Article in Journal of English Linguistics 37(3):241-261 · August 2009
  5. Kelly Best. "Hip-hop on the East Side: A Multi-sited Ethnography of Breakdancing and Rap Music from St. John’s and Grand Falls, Newfoundland". Newfoundland and Labrador Studies, Volume 22, Number 1 (2007). Memorial University
  6. "Playin' with a travellin' brand". CBC News, Dec 22, 2011.
  7. Niels Markus. "De representatie van Nederhop" - Erasmus University thesis
  8. Sandra Clarke (1 April 2010). Newfoundland and Labrador English. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 137–. ISBN 978-0-7486-2617-5. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  9. "PERFORMING “UP THE SHORE”. Rachel Susan Grace Deal, Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Memorial University of Newfoundland, May 2016
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