I Mix What I Like!: A Mixtape Manifesto
Jared Ball’s carefully constructed narrative draws upon an extraordinary range of analytical and evidentiary sources to provide a concise explanation of the mixtape movement. Simultaneously, he uses this history to illuminate how the media promotes ideological interests, and how those interests serve not simply the corporate bottom line, but the much larger political objective of assigning each of us our “place” in society.I Mix What I Like!serves as both an example of emancipatory journalism and a model for emancipated thinking, without which we will be consigned to struggling for a kinder, gentler subjugation rather than true human liberation.—Natsu Taylor Saito / Author ofMeeting the Enemy: American Exceptionalism and International LawJared Ball is one of the most important activist intellectuals in the United States. His book is powerful and provocative?? Unlike President Obama, Professor Jared Ball is committed to revolutionary change in America. His book provides an insightful analysis and critique of culture, media, and African American politics.—Ollie Johnson / Department of Africana Studies / Wayne State UniversityDr. Ball has created a twenty-first century Black radical manifesto that samples and remixes the best of the radical and anti-imperialist tradition.I Mix What I Like!recognizes the colonized nature of contemporary Hip Hop and the colonized context of the people from which Hip Hop emerged. In the tradition of Noam Chomsky and Public Enemy, Jared Ball brings the noise to the status quo and lays out his vision of Mixtape emancipatory journalism as the liberatory mass medium for today and the future. I strongly recommend this work for all those interested in reflecting upon the theory and practice of struggling for social justice in today’s America.—Dedrick Muhammad / NAACP / Author ofUnderstanding Racial Inequality in the Obama EraOne way to prevent the appropriation of a revolutionary culture—one that expresses the desires and visions of the oppressed to fight for liberation and self-determination—is to smuggle the word as if it is a liberatory tool, replicating the clandestine, anti-colonial and resistant drum of the maroon. Jared Ball’s concept of “mixtape radio” follows that tradition with an irreverence that we so sorely need.—Claude Marks / Freedom ArchivesJared Ball’s work conveys the ultimate reality about hip hop: that there is no nation space in hip hop but that which exists for revolutionary music for the Africans and African and Indigenous oriented colonial Spanish speaking peoples (misnomered latinos). The strength of the colonial argument presented places whites as settlers in hip hop. Load the audio clip and bust a shot for freedom!—Mark A. Bolden / The Fanon ProjectDr. Jared Ball’s impressive book is a bold undertaking in which he critiques and ultimately distances himself from the prevailing assumptive logic found within pop academic circles. To be sure, Mixtape Radio does not offer itself as a panacea for the oppressive structures he addresses. The revolutionary power of this book lies in its capacity to interrogate staid constructs of thought and re-pose vital questions pertaining to “emancipatory journalism.” For the power to pose the question is the greatest power of all.—Frank B. Wilderson, III / Author ofIncognegro: A Memoir of Exile and ApartheidI Mix What I Like!is a brave and necessary book that focuses the conversation about hip hop (and politics) beyond the limitations of 90% of published materials on the subject. Once again, walking the walk, Jared Ball offers a provocative, though not surprising, piece of work that shifts the debate into a much-needed direction.—Shaheen Ariefdien / Former member of the pioneering South African hip-hop group Prophets of da CityLike a classic—cassette recorded—Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show, circa early 90’s New York City, Jared Ball’s manifesto is a raw, uncut, ground breaking contribution to a new frontier of critical thinking and critique within Hip Hop discourse. Too many, are stuck on ‘repeat’ and ‘ain’t sayin nothin’! Love it or hate it, Jared Ball’s work is necessary and vital for the cultivation of tradition and responsibility. Strong arm the system, grind mode heavy, “Let’s Get Free!”—Carlos REC McBride M. Ed. / TRGGR MEDIA GroupHere, Jared Ball takes us back to the value of polemic and the revolutionary new knowledge-base of worldwide anti-colonialism before it was driven underground by counter-revolutionary repression.I Mix What I Like!is terribly thoughtful, terribly original—a joy for the “wonder-ground,” and a political-intellectual terror for the overlords.—Greg Thomas / Author ofThe Sexual Demon of Colonial Power and Hip-Hop Revolution in the FleshJared Ball is determined to rescue hip hop and left activism from increasingly subversive corporate control. This book is a manifesto that needs to be read, argued about, and yelled from the rooftops. Let the bricks fly!—Todd Steven Burroughs / co-author ofCivil Rights ChronicleThe Funkinest Journalist breaks it all down for all servants of Soul/Funk music and Art in the 21st Century. His Mixtape Manifesto explains what we are up against battling corporate empires that control the coveted consumer-merchant access points, and offers us an option to distribute, connect, and popularize our culture.—Head Roc / “The Mayor of D.C. Hip-Hop”