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.{{cite book|title=Quill & Quire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KH4nAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=19 April 2012|year=2006|publisher=Greey de Pencier Publications|page=13}} Gazeebow Unit uses a home computer to develop their music; they integrate samples and downloaded drum loops.[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/st-johns-hip-hop-trio-attracts-the-attention-of-folklore-scholars/article18154093/ "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 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.{{cite book|author=Marina Terkourafi|title=The Languages of Global Hip Hop|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoCETlhOPDEC&pg=PA234|date=23 September 2010|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-8264-3160-8|page=234}}
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.Sandra Clarke. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249700336_Hip-hop_in_a_Post-insular_CommunityHybridity_Local_Language_and_Authenticity_in_an_Online_Newfoundland_Rap_Group "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 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.Kelly Best. [https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/nflds/article/view/10107/10371 "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
In 2006, Gazeebow Unit began performing, and appeared as part of a Donnie Dumphy concert in St. John's.[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/playin-with-a-travellin-brand-1.1006710 "Playin' with a travellin' brand"]. CBC News, Dec 22, 2011.
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. There was disagreement, however, as to whether the members of the group were serious rappers.Niels Markus. [https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/13325/Markus.pdf "De representatie van Nederhop"] - Erasmus University thesis 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.{{cite book|author=Sandra Clarke|title=Newfoundland and Labrador English|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=moDVp5TTpgcC&pg=PA137|accessdate=19 April 2012|date=1 April 2010|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-7486-2617-5|pages=137–}}[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/77997607.pdf "PERFORMING “UP THE SHORE”]. Rachel Susan Grace Deal, Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Memorial University of Newfoundland, May 2016 Marina Terkourafi, on the other hand, describes their use of Newfoundland dialect as metaparodic.
Further reading
- Gazeebow Unit: Local Language And Vernacularity In A St. John’s Rap Group, Philip Hiscock. Presented MUN Folklore Society, 15 November 2005[https://www.mun.ca/marcomm/news/index.php?includefile=showitem.php&id=975]