Quality over quantity. Somewhere along the way, many in Hip-Hop forgot this mantra. As the tools available to artists have increased, the sheer amount of music available for free has gone through the roof. Some of this music doesn't even deserve to see the light of day while the rest of it, while listenable, suffers from the fast food MP3 world we live in now.
Continue reading "Speak On It: Free Music Doesn't Have To Mean Rushed Music" »
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I don't mean this literally. I know who Young Scooter is. He seems to be what would come out if Trinidad James and Ace Hood had a baby. What I'm really trying to say is, why when I step away for like 3 weeks is someone else once again the toast of the town?
I go to the blogs now and all I read about is Young Scooter (who completely sucks by the way in case you were wondering). It seems like every week someone else is the "it" rapper. I mean, have we already moved on from ASAP Rocky? Wasn't this guy like the next one people were losing their shit over? Then Trinidad James came along the blogs were like "no, no...THIS is the guy." Now, it seems we've moved on from "All Gold Everything" to "All Colombia Everything."
You know how Rock musicians...like really old ass Rock musicians...can still tour after years in the business? Yeah well that's because they were given time to establish a fanbase and make a connection with people. The only way I could make a connection with Young Scooter, Lil' Twist, Trinidad James, or whoever the fuck we like for this minute is if I was literally chained to them, 'cause this whole fast food Rap shit doesn't even afford us time to dive into an artist's album before we've moved on to the next thing.
I know the music biz is partying right now because sales have gone up a little (thanks Adele...thanks for nothing everyone else), but I'm convinced that most of these people at the record labels still don't have the slightest clue what they're doing.
So with that, let me dive into the catalogue of Young Scooter...oh wait, I mean Kirko Bangz...no Joey Bada$$...
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So much hate. Ever since Elliott Wilson, B.Dot and their team stepped on the scene, the hate and screams of "f*ck RapRadar" have reigned supreme. So where does all the hate come from? Is it because YN and friends didn't start from scratch and already had a powerful business partner in Pauly Rosenberg and years of experience behind them? Is it because YN and B.Dot are afforded opportunities other journalists aren't? Let's remember a few things here:
- Elliott Wilson has been doing this Hip-Hop thing since '92 when he was the Music Editor of Beat Down Magazine. Shit, I've been doing this a long time (since '96) but nineteen ninety got damn two?!?! I mean Hip-Hop was only in its teens then. There is no substitute for experience and time.
- As YN, his editorial in XXL Magazine was more anticipated than the bloody artist interviews and he made XXL a true Hip-Hop authority as The Sauce fell off. Argue with me.
-...Not to mention the fact that he, along with his Ego Trip collective, wrote two of my favorite books of all-time "Book of Rap Lists" and "Big Book of Racism."
One of the biggest complaints about RapRadar is that it caters to certain artists or labels in order to gain advertising dollars. Actually, this was a frequent complaint when YN was EIC of XXL Magazine as well. Here's the reality people: XXL Magazine and RapRadar are BUSINESSES. And like any business, it needs to make money. Do you know why it needs to make money? SO IT DOESN'T GO OUT OF BUSINESS. So if YN was putting Interscope artist after Interscope artist on the cover of XXL issue to issue and the issues were selling, would you not keep doing it? I never had an issue with that because the cover features were always dope and the rest of the magazine was creative and an engaging read. And looking at RapRadar, is it heavy on MMG content? Are there a lot of DJ Khaled posts? Is the "hot" artist of the moment always on the site? Yeah, but if you look at Alexa (I know YN, "fuck yo Alexa") and the comments section of RR, they are doing numbers and engaging visitors. Is everything they post my cup of tea? No, but isn't that what we're always asking for in the Hip-Hop blog world? Differentiation? I see plenty of posts on a daily basis at RapRadar that I don't see anywhere else (or very few other places). Not to mention that YN and his team have completely shaped Twitter and instagram for Hip-Hop. RapRadar not your thing? Go to The Smoking Section or DJBooth. Totally different web spots that have carved out their own space and created and engaged their own audience.
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These are just my thoughts people...just what I was feeling at the time.
I must admit, it took me awhile to start appreciating Gunplay as an artist. On first listen to his material, it was all the same shoot 'em up, bang bang stuff that everyone else was doing...or at least so I thought. My tipping point was Gunplay's "Rap Sheet":
This isn't to say I wasn't feeling any of this dudes music before, this was simply the track that made me go "shit, this dude has something to say and, most importantly, I can feel what he's saying." I think a big part of why I dig Gunplay is I actually believe what this dude is rapping about. Look, is it good for the black community to have ignant ass rappers talking about guns, gangs and drugs? Probably not, but if a rapper is going to talk guns, gangs and drugs, at least be about that life...exhibit a:
Oh, and let's not forget when Gunplay decided to fight the entire G-Unit by himself:
Yeah, he lost...but have you fought the entire G-Unit by yourself? That's what I thought.
And then there is that whole nose candy issue:
What makes a great recording artist? I'd argue that the most important thing is you want to (at least partially) believe what the artist is singing or rapping about. When Billy Joel sings about loving New York, I believe him. When the Rolling Stones sang about partying and screwing chicks, I believed them. When Jay-Z raps about being a business maaaaaaan, not a businessman, I believe him. I believe Gunplay...even though he is signed to MMG. That familiar cry of "we don't believe you, you need more people" is thrown towards so many rappers (including Gunplay's bawse) in the current Hip-Hop landscape. I've never heard it thrown at Gunplay.
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As we get ready to ring in 2013 and thousands of people prepare to lower their standards for the sake of one evening, I bring you a new feature here at brokencool. It's called 'Speak On It' and it's a semi-regular feature which is basically me, brokencool, ranting on a variety of topics. I'm just gonna let the keys fly here. These are just my thoughts people...just what I was feeling at the time.
I think I've figured out why Hip-Hop blogging is so wack. And yes, for the most part, it is wack. Here and there a few solid blogs creep through the mix but for the most part, wack reigns supreme. Hip-Hop blogging is the only form of blogging that demands no creativity or uniqueness from those that visit the blogs. I mean Eskay started posting every new thing a rapper sneezed on first and then hundreds and hundreds of others copied the formula and followed suit. 95% of Hip-Hop blogs are simply content aggregators with no writing abilities or unique ideas. I take pride in the fact that I've created mountains of original content on brokencool. No, it isn't easy to write long-form posts and take time with blog material (just ask Gotty who busts his ass for TSS). But is it really serving the culture to have spot after spot after spot posting the same new Fabolous freestyle? It's also not the best traffic strategy either (I won't get into that now...I'll save it for a later 'Speak On It'). Hip-Hop fans NEED to demand more from the blogs and websites in order to push the culture forward and create an engaging industry. And if you are just gonna post song after song like the next guy, at least be the first one like Eskay or cultivate new talent like DJBooth. I hate saying 'no shots', but no shots. I'm just trying to help y'all. Thank me later. 'Speak On It' is going to be edutainment for the masses and your new favorite feature.
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