Now You Got The Juice: The People Power of The Hip-Hop Head
Hip Hop heads are some of the smartest, most varied people you’ll ever meet. You got the 80’s old-school cats who cling to KRS-One, Rakim, or Public Enemy as the greatest MC’s of all time (period), and keep the Five Percenters tradition alive. You get the Phillies and Backwood smoking, Hennessy & Baileys drinking, D.I.T.C, Canibus, Purple Tape (a.k.a Raekwon’s 1st album for those not up on history) lovers from early to mid-1990’s. There’s the people like myself who came up on Vanilla Dutches being the number one choice, Cassidy killing Freeway, G-Unit mixtapes had the biggest buzz on the streets, DMX and Eminem being the most marketed rappers on the planet (damn, can you remember a time when DMX was Def Jam’s biggest star), and Ruff Ryders and Dipset being the crews holding down “the streets.” And finally you got the new Hip-Hop heads; a mix between cats who love Jim Jones & Dipset for they “swagger,” the Lil Wayne obsessed, the True Religion jean wearers, and new “backpackers” (the Lupe, Little Brother, Saigon, Brother Ali faithful) always ready to say “the real hip-hop is right here.”
This wide mix of folks has been created thanks to over thirty years of Hip-Hop music and culture. They can recite a classic line at the drop of a dime, they can learn the lyrics to a song from one listen (you know the person that learns the words before it gets on OHHLA, that person) Hustlers, business men, college students, artists, and haters: all under the same umbrella. And where is the one place you can find them all. the internet.
Hip-Hop websites, blogs, discussion boards, forums, and all of the like, they bring together heads from all over the world. It is here we have formed a community. We discuss, debate, “politic,”- all in the name of Hip-Hop. Most of us ain’t getting paid, don’t work for MTV, BET, VIBE or any other mainstream outlet. Just the regular normal cats that have been given a voice and a platform. Not only are these communities great for diversity of thought, they allow for expansion of knowledge. It is similar to what is called “people’s history” or “bottom-up history:” the idea that you analyze and chronicle events not based off of observers or major players, but from the participants who also interact and observe; the everyday, working-class people who voices are rarely given popular attention. This is a major characteristic of our online Hip-Hop community. The people who you would normally never read in The Source or see on BET are heard. The opinion of the average fan has been raised. We now speak.
The greatness of it all is that it takes away some of the grip held by mainstream outlets and corporation over Hip-Hop. The internet and downloading have given an unprecedented amount of power to the consumer and the Hip-Hop lover. Now we can download tracks to see if fam really brought it or fell off. A new artist can spread they buzz on their own, all they need is a MySpace page. And news, interviews, and information can be disseminated world-wide and instantaneously. Most people check Real Talk before they pick up a VIBE magazine. We email, we “AIM,” we download, we upload, we SHARE. As capitalistic as Hip-Hop is, isn’t it funny how “socialist” our online community is?
Are there downsides to this sharing, open community-of course. Do we now have everybody and they momma thinking they “a rapper”? Yeah. Does every single crew claim that it’s “more than music, this is a movement?” Yeah. Have we left ourselves more open and compromised our privacy, no doubt. Has the market become over saturated, for sure. But none of it surpasses the fact that now the power is in the hands of the people in a monumental way.
When artists and labels cry about how much money they losing off downloading and how much it is hurting the industry, tell them to fall back. Downloading has made some artist more well-known then they could have been ten years ago. You can go from local to global without the major label or major media press coverage. This notoriety certainly helps marketing, certainly brings in more endorsements (from the fact that you can reach a bigger audience and because now, with the internet, there’s more places to market you), and certainly helps show and concert attendance (I figure the more people who know you, the more people who can potentially come to your show. if they don’t watch it on You Tube, but still you get the point). And further, as George Nelson has said, “The record selling business is a dinosaur.” Artist never were getting rich strictly off records sales in the first place; so if they haven’t smarten up, learned from history, and change the type of deals they sign, that’s your bad-not ours.
Hate it or love, the mainstream media still controls a large part of what we see and don’t see; what we hear and don’t hear; what we know and what we don’t know. And more then anything, mainstream Hip-Hop outlets has created an industry. It has given jobs to people who wouldn’t have jobs otherwise. In an inverted way, it has given hope and career aspirations to poor kids in hoods where it seems like there is nothing else (whether a music career, a entertainment career, or a sporting career should be their only aspirations. that’s for a whole other editorial).
But our community has a power that is ever-growing and ever harder to control. They can lock up people for downloading music now, they can read our emails and track the sites we visit, but the game changes-we will (and have) find a way around it. Always have, always will. Right now, we (the Hip-Hop lovers, the Hip-Hop Heads) have the power. The model for distributing music has to change, and obviously the content of the music has to be changed (people are listening to the albums; they download them, find that it’s trash, and keep it moving). It will have to go digital, it’s only a matter of time.
And we, this Hip-Hop community, will be there; holding it down. So shout out to all the academics, scholars, Hip-Hop historians, working-class folk, kid who go online when they should be in class, buddaheads, backpackers, college students, and anybody who is a REAL Hip-Hop lovers. Ya’ll are sharp, insightful, and passionate. Keep holding it down. “Power to the People.”
Michael Partis
michaelpartis@gmail.com
www.myspace.com/hiphopthought
http://my.rawkus.com/profile/ForeThought
31 Comments so far
This is true.
Great Article!!!
Hip Hop Isn’t Dead Because It Lives In The Hearts Of Those Who Sleep, Breathe and DIE for It!!!
Good Read!!!!!!
Hip Hop Is In All Of Us!
Very good read, interesting and accurate..
word
I LIKED THIS SHYT LOL ME MYSELF IM 19 CAME UP (12-PRESENT)ON PUN BIG L JADA EMINEM DMX WAS KILLIN WEN I WAS YOUNGER SEEN THE BLING ERA ,THE HARDCORE ERA(LOVED IT),N THE RINGTONE ERA(HATE IT)I STAY WIT A VANNILA DUTCH N ALL DAT BUT YO THIS NIGGA JUS SAID WAT ISAID 20-30 POST AGO WE THE CONSUMERS HOLD THE POWER FUK DAT HIP HOP IS DEAD SHYT TO WHO????THE ARTIST SO WAT IF NIGGAS AINT GOIN 3X PLAT WHO CARES LOL SO U CANT BUY 3 BENZES U CAN ONLKY GET 1 SORRY FUK DAT HIP HOP IS ALIVE N WELL THGE BULLSHYT WILL ALWAYS B THERE N DONT LET 80 HEAD OR EVEN 90 HEADS(LOL)FOOL THERE WAS JUS AS MUCH GARBAGE BAK THEN AS THERE IS NOW ONLY THING IS WE DONT REMEBER IT WE REMEBER THE BIGS THE PACS THE PUNS JAY HELD IT DOWN(I THINK HOV IS SO OVERATED BUT W/E)LOOK AT WAT WE GOT THIS YEAR LUPE(DONT LIKE EM BUT U DO),BENIE SEGAL.FREEWAY(EHH),CASSIDY,JAY,TALIB KWELI,GHOSTFACE,KANYE,50,ALL THEM NIGGAS CAME OUT WIT CDS SO WHOS TO SAY HIP HOP IS DEAD
Great read
Me myself am a neew school hiphop fan who love that boy weezy(no homo)
But i dont jus listen to weezy.im really a fan of all hiphop.From Lupe to Hurricane chris
I like it all
And i am a true hiphop head
I like this article. Very good read. Much love and have a Happy New Year.
you fools talk about hip hop like it’s a religion…..face it, HIP HOP IS DEAD . right now it is the most washed up genre of music period, stop it wit the useless commentaries.
You are so wrong #8(vigorous), so so wrong
at no #8 obviously u don’t really know the essence of hip hop cos it’s not dead!! hip hop is never gonna stay the same it will evolve and every1 has thier favourite era, artist or hip hop track!
This is a hot post realtalk! Thanks for this!
holla bk!
Nas pronounced Hip Hop dead, if it is so, why is he the one still rapping. Alot of people misunderstand Hip Hop, they take it too literal sometimes.
“Sooner or later, will all know who the profit is.”
I’m alive, Hip Hop is in me, and amma hold it down.
Repping Southern Africa.
i see hip hop going into a more darker place(hopefully)and all these ringtone bastards are going to do their thing in the backround for those who want it.
and please for 2008-stop wearing those tight jeans and t-shirts.the sleeve should come down ALL the way to your elbow!i’m out.
Well hip hop will never die, music never dies.
Look at the indie music genres, like grindcore, trip hop, etc. while they are not nearly as big as hip hop or will ever be.
But critics constantly point out that hip hop is losing steam, and well it is, but is it dead…
HeLL NO
If anything it is jsut going through its going through some growing pains, i mean come on we still got
lupe
gemini
nas
kanYe
andre 3000
big boi
wayne(fuck off is you complain he isnt good, he is, he might be great to you or not, i dont want to hear that you are a weezy dick ridee or a person who hates weezy)
bun b
talib kweli
mos def
common
I could name more, but i rather not
Hip Hop will always live, just because it isnt the top genre and is conssting alot of ringtone rappers doesnt mean it is dead.
I found out about rakim, nas, pac, and alot of great rappers just this year, cuz i really wasnt in to hip hop, i liked it , but now i love it.
peace
REAL TALK!
“HIP HOP IS DEAD . right now it is the most washed up genre of music period, stop it wit the useless commentaries.”
Hip Hop influence on societ hasn’t died and sales are down across the board.
Word… lovin this hip hop till i Die! Shouts to all Heads and sites reppin the realness! rtny! okayplayer! ughh! lovin this 90’s hip hop forever!
Gang Starr!!!
peace
Seanck
YO….ask yourselves this, sooner or later all the ”real MC’S” (nas, jay, rakim, krs-one etc…) won’t exist anymore….they’ll be either too old or dead at some point SO ASK YOURSELF…WHO’S GONNA BE LEFT?? NOBODY!! you think guys like soulja boys are gonna rep this music like the great ones did, gimme a damn break….HIP HOP IS ENDANGERED, IT’S DEAD !! FACE IT…I DONT GIVE a fuck what you say, ”hip hop will never die” …negro please !! somebody prove to me how that’s true, with guys like young joc, young jeezy, soulja boy etc carrying this music of course it’s gonna die in 10 years, i doubt naS will be rapping like he is now when he’s 43 or so in 10 years, those real rappers will be gone, and when they are IT’S OVER….MARK MY WORDS, tell your aunts sisters nephews and cousins that i said it. I don’t even listen to 95% of the shit thats coming out now, 10 years ago it woulda been the opposite….you see how fast it’s dying? imagine what its gonna be in 10 years
REALTALK, you FUCKED UP BIG TIME for this article tryna put hope in sumthing that anybody wit a brain would know is complete bullshit. you tryna make it sound like hip hop is healthy when it’s the complete opposite…..
Long live the internet.Our only weapon in this world.The labels and industry fear us and this is good.
yea viggy i was thinkin that though i mean common,weezy,ti,jeezy,game,luda,lupe, all i have said they would retire soon.Jay,and nas and scarface and the other legends might retire.Then who the fuck will we have left ?
The problem is niggas dont have the passion to rap no more.Alot of rappers would rather act or get a clothing line.Instead of do hiphop.Which really means they dont love this thing called hiphop they jusrt in it for the money.Which is sad if you really think about it
i am that phillie smokin hennesy drankin from 90 s ..that raw new york sound that o.g.c ,helta skeltah..d.i.t.c dat redman faet. ksolo dat classic biggi shit that made us cop some gucci shirts type of shit ..thats me homie.
Real Talk
Kwame
HD Entertainment
J.C.I.T.Y Rep
we have wayne and kanye left
duh
im a mix of all of those. LOL i can remember coming home to watch Yo! MTV RAPS back in the day, kwame had us sportin polka dots and slick rick had us rappin funny. my brothers intoducing me to “Bonita Applebaum” and then when i heard the females spittin, it was all over for me i was hooked. id have to say that the 90s were my favorite from beginning to end, coast to coast.
yall brought up DITC. that’s my avenue right there. I could give two fucks if anybody calls me a STan, we can’t deny we fans. I’m a fan a this crew right here. you got Showbiz and AG, Diamond D, Buckwild, OC(Word Life,Jewelz), Big L Corleone, The Underworld Don Lord Finesse, Fat Joe aka Joey Crack. To me this the only crew where if you was to dig deep underground, you would forget these guys cause they somewhere in the middle. This was a crew that got the opportunities to shine on record labels doing that traditional hip hop but didn’t have enough promo cause of they deals. but then you got they producer side that always gets they respect from “Day One”.and for the emcees, you got OC(an underrated type emcee comparison to Nas with makin dem classic type albums from Brooklyn, you got renknowned spitter who started gettin his fame after he died, BIG L( why everybody say he the best after he died, that’s fucked up, now yall sayin that shit),Lord Finesse( I ain’t gonna speak about him if yall know yall know what time it is), and Fat Joe(the last veteran heavyweights still makin albums even if he switched his style up a little bit, but you gotta givem credit for being album competitive with the Nas, Jay , Big’s Pac’s Eminem’s and Puns of our time. this dude been out before Nas and Jay-Z and Big makin an effort to make dem boom bap type albums.you know they underground when people could forget about diggin for them cause they wouldn’t be your first thought.They represented the essence of this shit, I can’t front.(Diggin, Graphity(TAt TS fat joe),makin beats,DJ’in skills, and of course emceein( finesse at the Rocksteady anniversaries with the B-boys.) now how authentic is that.Bronx represented
wow you said canibus you just brought back so many crazy freestyles from that nigga. He’s one of the greatest lyricists.
no cmnt. OTHER THANN HELL MFKNN YEAHH IMMA HIPHOP HEADD
I’M MORE SO TOWARDS THE MID-LATE 90s WHEN HIPHOP 1st STARTED SEEIN REAL MONEY (ii was dumb yung) but ii will always be a fan of the B.I.Gs, the JAY-Zs, 90s MA$E, the DMXs ect. ii can’t front ii bop to sum of da new sh*t, da swag guys
I Love Hip Hop
80s baby
90s crazy
Hip Hop will never die cuz what will the people listen to? Who will teach America how to dress and talk? Hip Hop is necessary for the society to function. What will die is hip hop sales because all the dudes that used to buy albums now have myspace pages and think they are the next big thing. Of course sales will go down when all of your fanbase are now “artists” their damn selves. As soon as all these cats hit age 30 and realize it’s not gonna happen, they’ll start supporting again and the game will be fine.
If your a true fan of music I pray your still going out and buying albums from the store.This is an art form that is being depreciated by “us” when we don’t truly support the same art and artist we love to listen to.(we are the reason why music will either live or die).When you go out and buy an album your dollars are a vote against “The Powers that be,” you are keeping the art alive and an artist “alive” as well. So they can continue to bring you the music you enjoy.You voice your opinion of what you want to hear musically via radio and other media branches.It’s the same with the other arts such as film(Stop Bootleggin Man!)If we keep going down this path one day your gonna wake up and find the same music you love is extinct.
Love
My thoughts on Hip Hop
Hip Hop is like any other living substance. It will always grow into something else. If it stayed the same we’d get bored and find something else to do. So although we might think Hip Hop is dieing and/or dead, it’s only evolving into something else. Listening to Grandmaster Flash isn’t the same as listening to LL Cool J, that’s because music will always change and evolve. Listening to Jay-z and then listening to Soulja Boy is obvious different, but you have to expected as the natural change music goes in. So I believe Hip Hop is not dead it’s just doing what it has always done (Change). Even thought you might not like where it’s going, doesn’t mean its gone.