Cadence, Rhythm, Flow: An Interview with Vietgone Composer Shammy Dee Part Two

-
By Elspeth Sweatman

Vietgone composer Shammy Dee began performing at a young age, but it was in junior high school that he discovered his medium: hip-hop and the smooth turntables of the DJ deck. Since releasing his debut album Transcripted Thoughts in 2006, Shammy Dee has produced and performed on many other music projects, such as DJing for top brands including Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo, and Burberry, as well as for celebrities including Mary J. Blige, Michael Bublé, and the Kardashians. We sat down with Shammy Dee to chat about his process and the inherent energy of hip-hop. This is Part Two.

Vietgone composer Shammy Dee performing. Photo courtesy Shammy Dee.
What makes hip-hop a good medium for telling a story about immigrants?

That’s where hip-hop came from. When hip-hop culture was birthed back in the day, it was a subculture of primarily Black and Latino people in New York. It wasn’t on a mass stage. It was something akin to punk when it came around; it was very underground. Hip-hop contained this raw energy that the mainstream culture didn’t understand. People initially thought it was a fad, that it would pass; they didn’t think that it could be something bigger. But, if you lived the culture, you knew and felt the energy behind it. There’s something about outcasts, being an outcast and having this music and culture you can relate to, that gives you this sense of belonging. There’s a palpable feeling that comes with loving this music and knowing that there are others who vibe with it too.

What advice would you give to a young performer who wants to become a better emcee?

Google, download, and stream the top 20 classic hip-hop albums of all time, including JAY-Z’s Blueprint, Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders. Eric B. & Rakim, Paid in Full. Dr. Dre’s Chronics, Ghostface Killah’s Supreme Clientele. ATLiens by Outkast. Ready to Die by The Notorious B.I.G. Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint. Eminem—he has a lot of albums. . . . I’ll say The Marshall Mathers LP. Oh, Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Tong (Jenelle Chu) rapping to Quang (James Seol) in A.C.T.'s 2018 production of Vietgone. Photo by Kevin Berne.
Also, look at Shakespeare’s plays. Inherent in a lot of Shakespeare’s writing is a built-in cadence; study the way a sentence flows with its various inflections, rhyme schemes, and tone. If you memorize the words and the flow of Shakespeare and these hip-hop emcees, get their cadences under your tongue, you’ll become a better emcee. To any future rapper who reads this advice and wins a Grammy, I expect my obligatory shout-out. [Laughs]

Vietgone runs through April 29 at A.C.T.’s Strand Theater. Click here to purchase tickets. Want to learn more about the hip-hop in Vietgone? Order a copy of Words on Plays, A.C.T.'s in-depth performance guide series.

Popular posts from this blog

“To Be or Not to Be”: The Iconic Speech’s Origins, Interpretations, and Impact

-
Image
By A.C.T. Publications Staff The opening line of Hamlet ’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is theater’s most iconic, most referenced quote. What’s less known is the famous speech’s history, with Hamlet ’s earliest publications offering varying versions of its language. Also questioned is its meaning—is Hamlet contemplating suicide or is he weighing the consequences of murder? Though definitive answers are unlikely to arise, the questions “To be or not to be” asks have kept audiences, scholars, and actors engaged for centuries. Hamlet ’ s "To be or not to be" speech as it appears in the three original editions of the play. Photo by Georgelazenby. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons. The first edition, or First Quarto (Q1), of Hamlet was published in 1603. Because the text is much shorter than later editions and its language is less poetic, it is nicknamed the “Bad Quarto” by scholars. “To be or not to be” in Q1 reads as: To be, or not to be—ay, there’s the point. To die,
Read more

The American Sound: The Evolution of Jazz

-
Image
By Cecilia Padilla There is nothing so uniquely American as jazz music. In its simplest form, jazz embodies the essence of the American people: bold and inventive. The improvisation of the jazz ensemble can even be seen as a metaphor for the American democratic ideal: musicians playing solos have the liberty to express themselves as long as they adhere to the overall structure of the tune—individual freedom but with responsibility to the group. The evolution of jazz music also carries with it the social development of our nation from slavery to the swinging songs of World War II. Musically, jazz contributed immensely to the way contemporary musicians approach instrumentation, composition, and vocal arrangements. It is difficult to find a popular tune today that does not derive from such jazz icons as Joe Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk. Jazz is the great equalizer; for more than a hundred years, it has been the common ground between blacks and whites, me
Read more

Purely Pinteresque: The Elements of Pinter's Language

-
Image
By Taylor Steinbeck Most artists take years to establish their voice and style. This wasn’t the case for playwright Harold Pinter. His first West End play, The Birthday Party, showcases the elements of Pinter’s aesthetic that would later be evident throughout his 29 plays and 23 screenplays: the rhythm of colloquial language punctuated by pauses and silences, mysterious characters who rarely say what they mean, and the unsettling, yet witty juxtaposition of comedy and terror. Suspenseful and comical, familiar and foreign, disturbing and alluring, The Birthday Party is quintessential Pinter. Graphite drawing of Harold Pinter. By A.C.T. Senior Graphic Designer Brad Amorosino. Pinter is a playwright who uses the back-and-forth of everyday conversation to create conflict and shape power dynamics between characters. “My characters tend to use words not to express what they think or feel,” said Pinter in a 1995 speech, “but to disguise what they think or feel, to mask their actual
Read more