I had an interesting conversation with some people the other day about the responsibility of media and their role within Hip Hop. I remember being an avid reader of The Source from 1990 until like 2002. I was a loyal subscriber and if I saw the latest issue in the store before I got mine I would buy it just to stay up on the latest info. The two sections I checked for, or was the most excited about, was the “Unsigned Hype” column and the “Mic Report”. Every month I COULD NOT wait to see who was the next hot thing coming up in the streets as The Source had deemed themselves credible by displaying Eminem, Bug Pun, and others in this section prior to them blowing. The Mic Report?? If you grew up listening to Hip Hop in the 1990’s then you had endless debates with people about how Reasonable Doubt only got 4 mics, or how Only Built 4 Cuban Linx should have got 5 mics. The list goes on and on. The point is that there was credible journalism and REAL opinions that had nothing to do with a check. Just real music and real people reviewing music because it was worthy of review.
I did not grow up thinking “One day I am going to start a magazine”. I LOVE Hip Hop music, saw that there was not a mixtape magazine, and thought it would be dope if there was one. The whole idea was to simply do the two things that I thought were the most important. Solid reviews of the music and featuring new talent. I wanted to take it a step further then The Source did and make those two elements the majority of our content. We had a good run with this for a while until the bills started piling up. Next thing you know its more famous people, more ads, less reviews, and less new artists. I LOVE Hip Hop, I hate the business.
There seems to be two different types of media presences these days. You have “The Blogs” and then you have “The Websites” and both of these serve a specific purpose, and are needed. The Blogs seem to be here to keep us informed and up to date with new music, interviews (most of the time done by someone else besides the “blogger) new video of live performances, behind the scenes etc, album and / or mixtape release dates. The updates are phenomenal as they come every hour, sometimes quicker. The Websites serve a purpose as well providing us with original interviews, thought provoking editorials, music reviews, video, music and more. While the majority of the websites have their own version of a blog, it is not as effective as the 3 or 4 blogs that people check every hour. I go to Nahright for my daily up to the minute dose, I go to Allhiphop for the rumors and occasional editorials, I go to HipHopDX and HipHopGame for new music, and sometimes I’ll swing over to RapRadar because I am a fan of Elliot Wilson and his interviews.
In 2010 it seems that true journalism may be an endangered species. Where we used to have journalism we now have promotion. Journalism is the craft of conveying news, descriptive material, and opinion across different media vehicles. The blogs and websites do a great job at conveying news and describing new material, but the opinions seem obsolete. The responsibility of breaking new talent falls on the shoulders of the media and the DJ. I understand being overwhelmed with an enormous work load and trying to create revenue to pay the gazillion bills that owning your own business creates.
I think there are three ways for an independent artist to be featured anywhere in media. The first one is to be an amazing artist who creates original music that appeals to the masses. The second way is to be cosigned by an already established artist or DJ. While this does not guarantee success, it will get you in front of a large amount of people which will allow the fans to decide whether your are worthy of their nine dollars. The third way is to pay for your spot. All spots are for sale these days and you should be grateful this is an option because without this option most of you would never be heard. While “I” do not think this is very effective for the artist, it creates a win win situation for both the media and the artist. The media is able to cover the cost of utilizing the spot and the artist gets some exposure. Either you pay now for your spot or you keep working until your number is called. In the interim, we will feature artists who are “contributing” to the culture through artistic autonomy and creative freedom.
