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Posts tagged as “Lemme Break It Down”

Black Lexicon: What “Cutting Contest” Means (LISTEN)

Black Lexicon: What “Cutting Contest” Means (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on April 4, 2022

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

In today’s Daily Drop, for #JazzAppreciationMonth, we explore the term “Cutting Contest.” To hear about it, press PLAY:

You can follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.com or create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website. Full transcript below:

Hey, this Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Monday, April 4th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.

It’s in the category we call “Lemme Break It Down,” where we explore the origins and meanings of words and phrases rooted in the Black Lexicon and Black culture. Today’s phrase for #JazzAppreciationMonth? “Cutting Contest.”

A “cutting contest” is a battle between two musicians where the “prize” could range from bragging rights to a coveted job.

The term was first applied to face-offs between pianists in the 1920s and later evolved to include competitions between singers, horn players, drummers, guitarists or virtually any musicians who squared off against each other on the same instrument.

A lasting form of the cutting contest is the improvisational trading of solos in jazz. It’s also a precursor to modern-day breakdancing and rap battles.

To learn more about cutting contests, you can watch a cool, fictionalized cutting contest from the 1977 television movie Scott Joplin starring Billy Dee Williams as Scott Joplin and Clifton Davis as respected St. Louis pianist Louis Chauvin on YouTube, and also check out the links to sources provided in today’s show notes and in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.

This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022,” published by Workman Publishing.

Beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.

If you like these Daily Drops, please consider following us on Apple, Google Podcasts, RSS.com,Amazon, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a rating or review, share links to your favorite episodes, or go old school and tell a friend.

For more Good Black News, you can check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.

Sources:

[Photo credit: Mike Aremu and Yolanda Brown @Sax Appeal via olorisupergal.com]

GBN’s Daily Drop: Black Lexicon – What “Sadiddy” Means (LISTEN)

GBN’s Daily Drop: Black Lexicon – What “Sadiddy” Means (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on March 11, 2022

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Today’s GBN Daily Drop podcast looks at our Black Lexicon category “Lemme Break It Down” from the Friday,  March 11 entry in the “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day®️ Calendar for 2022 where we explain the term “Sadiddy”:

You can follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.com or create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website (transcript below):

SHOW TRANSCRIPT:

Hey, this Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Friday, March 11th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.

It’s in the category we call “Lemme Break It Down,” where we explore the origins and meanings of words and phrases rooted in the Black Lexicon and Black culture. Today’s word? “Sadiddy.”

“Sadiddy” —  s-a-d-i-d-d-y — is a term meaning stuck-up, snobby, arrogant, conceited or superior- acting. What Brandy says she ain’t in her 2004 song of the same name:

[Excerpt from “Sadiddy” by Brandy]

Alternate spellings include “s-e-d-i-t-ty-,” “s-a-d-d-i-t-y,” “s-a-d-i-t-t-y” or basically any two words put together that sound like “suh” and “ditty.” The word is traceable in written form to the 1940s, where it was employed in several African American newspaper columns.

Example usage: “She used to be cool, but ever since she bought that used Mercedes, she’s acting all sadiddy.”

To learn more about sadiddy, there are two great segments on the A Way With Words show on Soundcloud, that discuss the etymology of “sadiddy” in more detail, and I’ll provide the links to both in today’s show notes as well embed them in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.

GBN Daily Drop Podcast: Black Lexicon – What “The Drinking Gourd” Means (LISTEN)

GBN Daily Drop Podcast: Black Lexicon – What “The Drinking Gourd” Means (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on February 11, 2022

[Image via National Park Services; nps.gov]

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Today’s GBN Daily Drop podcast is based on the Friday, February 11 entry in the “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day®️ Calendar for 2022 that explains the term “The Drinking Gourd.”

(Btw, GBN’s Page-A-Day®️ Calendar for 2022 is 50% off at workman.com with code:50CAL until 2/28/22!)

You can also follow or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.com or create your own RSS Feed. Or just listen every day here on the main website (transcript below):

SHOW TRANSCRIPT:

Hey, this Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Friday, February 11th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.

It’s in the category we call “Lemme Break It Down,” where we explore the origins and meanings of words and phrases rooted in the Black Lexicon and Black culture. Today’s phrase? “The Drinking Gourd.”

“The Drinking Gourd” is a term from African American folklore used by enslaved people to reference “The Big Dipper” constellation. Thus, instructions along the Underground Railroad to “follow the Drinking Gourd” meant to follow the North Star as a guide on the path to freedom.

The term also referred to the hollowed-out gourd used by enslaved people and indentured workers to hold drinking water. The folksong “Follow the Drinking Gourd” was first published in 1928 and has been sung and recorded over the decades.

Right now you are listening to a taste of singer/songwriter Richie Havens’ version from the 1991 album, Songs of the Civil War.

Several children’s stories also employ the phrase and its lore, such as Jeanette Winter’s 1992 illustrated book Follow The Drinking Gourd and the 1993 Morgan Freeman-narrated and Taj Mahal-scored half-hour visual audiobook illustrated by Yvonne Buchanan also titled Follow The Drinking Gourd, which is currently available on YouTube. Links to these sources are provided in today’s show notes.

This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022,” published by Workman Publishing, and available at workman.com, Amazon, Bookshop and other online retailers.

Beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot. For more Good Black News, check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.

(paid links)