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. 1 2 3 4 "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. 1 2 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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