Where Are the Black Hip-Hop Bloggers?

The argument honest discussion between Sally and Oliver Wang, David's response and the confession at the beginning of Byron Crawford's latest review got me thinking (again) about the lack of Black folks representing in the hip hop blog world.

I offered it to the hip hop bloggers group for discussion. Join in, or keep track via our webfeed.

Comments

[BlkScholar]

I think this is a trend reflective of my own mentality, as well as the mentality of others. Many hip hop fans (and especially minorities in the inner city) are not as used to having their own voice. I would even argue some of the gangsta posturing in the music serves to cover up a lack of power/voice. This is how you come up with terms like "hood rich" (meaning you are only really rich compared to the poor people around you), and when you have guys flossing with ice and coogi sweaters...while they live in the projects. By contrast, the people why are actually rich and who have a voice are alot more understated in their attitudes, because it's so ingrained in their culture, it's like breathing air. This is why, by contrast, these rappers often talk about "keepin it gangsta", as a way to assert their own sense of self worth, a sense which is deeply missing in the african american community. So (surprisingly or not), the people who feel less disenfranchised (eg Whites, Asians, etc.)become fans of the music, and since they don't carry the baggage, they are able to speak more or less eloquently...and with more confidence and enthusiasm than those to whom hip hop music more directly speaks.

[Mikey]

For me there is not alot of hip hop to get excited about. 90% of the artists talk about the same thing over and over.

[lynne]

are you serious - are there really no black hip hop bloggers? i think they exist - i just think that a lot of black blogs are not solely hip hop. mine for example is not totally hip hop, but i've heard that professors have told students to research hip hop info and primarily feminist hip hop.

there are other black hip hop bloggers, give me a minute and i'll come back with a list.

[lynne]

ok on one hand i believe that a lot of blogs we regard as hip hop are considered so b/c they have hip hop in their title or subtitile or the blogger writes about hip hop, alot. a second thing you have going, is that all of these published writers and academics who write about hip hop or music in general are now blogging - and many of them are not white. another thing going on is that a lot of black females do write about hip hop, but the majority of their blogs are relegated to their personal lives and observations. and then quite a few of the black men who blog are gay and they also talk a lot about music, not only hip hop, but then also their personal lives and observations. then you have the black bloggers who tend to write more about racial issues and news.

and this is probably going to make me change my blog to: Lynne d Johnson :: A Day In The Life Of Hip-Hop

and following that i'll keep it gully for sure

but anyway...

ok let's see
so there's you hashim here and here http://dieselnation.blogs.com/, and there's me lynnedjohnson.com, and there's trent at beatsandrants http://beatsandrants.blogs.com/hiphop/. ok that's 3. and then i count j of hiphopmusic.com. so that's 4. jason of negroplease.com often writes about hip hop, but like me, is not a hip hop blog per so. so maybe that's like 5, plus or minus.

Following is a list of hip hop bloggers that I know are black - I'm not going to put down the folks whose ethnic identity i'm uncertain of

mike at movethecrowd http://tradermike.net/movethecrowd/

jimi izrael
http://www.jimiizrael.com/ji.html

(I think KB is black - and sometimes hip hop blogs) http://www.buccho.com/

al boogie is black and sometimes hip hop blogs
http://rhythms247.com/

corey is black and definitely sometimes hip hop blogs
http://thought.3rdeyeopen.org/

there's gotta' be more - we probably just haven't snuffed them out yet - they're just not on our radar or in our network

i know some of these college kids out there must have hip hop blogs

i'm going to link to this to help you call them out and perhaps they can get down on some of these discussions that are happening too

[sally]

i think there are a few reasons that there is a glut of white people blogging about hip hop. for one thing, due to the "digital divide" this technology is more accessible to whites who tend to either have the resources to have a computer and high speed internet, or perhaps attend schools where computers are available. i think that this socio-economic situation has caused blogging to evolve as a mostly "white" subculture. thankfully, this is becoming less and less true and when people like lynne, jay, hashim, nova and oliver keep great blogs that get attention, not just from other bloggers, but from the media, visibility widens and hopefully the world of blogging will, too. i think this is one reason that hip hip in the blogosphere is whiter than hip hop in the real world-- there might justbe more whites blogging in general.

but to take a less material view of the situation-- I think that BlkScholar made an interesting point above, which is that white people, as many in this discussion have pointed out, are outsiders to hip hop. this makes us, i think, think about it and talk about in a much different way. we are outsiders, purveyors, and let's be honest, consumers-- so we approach hip hop in a different way, i don't know if detached is the right word, because i feel very emotional about a lot of the music i listen to. but maybe analytical is a better word. this is not to say that Black hip hop fans are not analytical about what they hear, or anything like that. just that white people listen to hip hop knowing they are detached in a very real way from the artists they are listening to , no matter how much they love the music and i think we process it in a slightly different way-- not because we are genetically different or anything like that, but because we tend to be from different backgrounds, and therefore internalize and think about the music in a much different way. i think this leads to a lot of thinking and a lot of over thinking, and wanting to discuss, which leads a lot of people to turn to blogs to do this-- a place where they know there is a forum for discussion.

[METALFACE]

Mikey,

We fall for this everytime: If we don't claim the music as our own someone will claim it as their own. Then poof Elvis is the king of Rock n Roll. Chuck Berry must be like "Well ain't this a motherfather!?"

I think as black people we feel that our art is disposable. We are often quick to throw in the towel when it comes to our achievements and be on to the next thing as if what got us there never existed.

Instead of trouncing the 90% of hip-hop that's garbage maybe we should instead celebrate the 10% that is FIYAHHHH!

[METALFACE]

By the way,

I am black/AA (I guess that's the terminology we negroes use these days). I occassionaly blog about hip-hop on my site and I write hip-hop reviews on the side. I'll post a few when I get a moment.

Lynne didn't mention Ian at differentkitchen who blogs on the regular on hip and such.

[Trent]

There are plenty of black hip-hop bloggers out there representing. Sheeet, look at my "Diarists" list on my blog and there's a slew of black latino (and white) hip-hop bloggers. On some occasions, I write a post highlighting these blogs and their hip-hop related subject matter.
Some of these people are not scholars, or published writers, or people you see on tv. They are hip-hop fans, enthusiasts(sp), buyers, average Joes, like you and I.

The problem -- at least for me -- is we don't update everyday (or frequently) like we should.
And that's because we are on the grind.

Last year, I was breakin' my readers off with mad hip-hop ish. But this year, I'm slacking because I just don't feel like blogging on some days. I write/edit all day in front of the computer on my day gig so when I get home, I just want to relax.

It's not an excuse . . . it's reality.

But hell, I don't think there's an epidemic or shortage of black hip-hop bloggers . . . just a shortage of updating. They are out there, you just have to add them to your blog rolls. And every once and a while big them up in a post. I do it all the time.

Black and Latino hip-hop bloggers are out there -- you just gotta surf the 'Net. And when you do find one, link them up.

I got mad cats on my list and I don't even know any them. But I still give them props.

That's the real problem: We are not spreading the love.

[METALFACE]

Sally,

About this statement:

"[whites] are outsiders to hip hop. this makes us, i think, think about it and talk about in a much different way. we are outsiders, purveyors, and let's be honest, consumers-- so we approach hip hop in a different way, i don't know if detached is the right word, because i feel very emotional about a lot of the music i listen to. but maybe analytical is a better word."

I'm not sure exactly where you're going with this but I think what you're saying is that those who are proponents of the music can't be analytical and therefore critical of the music.

This is complete balderdash. If that's the case would a latina be unfit to critique merengue simply because she has lived the music all her life? Of course not.

Should one be leary of a white So-Cal native critiquing No Doubt?

And when you (and blkscholar) speak of whites viewing the music from an outside perspective does that neccessarily deem you authorities because you have a different take? blkscholar says the disenfranchised being spoken to are blacks who can't speak "eloquently" or "confident" about their music. I don't know. Sounds weak.

Like anyone, you're going to relate the music to your own experiences, slosh it around in your head a bit and ultimately compare it to music you know and like. And like many journalists, it may may be some comparison to Sgt. Pepper or what you know about hip-hop's "golden age".

It's no different than a black writer/blogger who going to ultimately compare it to the music this culture tells him/her who are the pantheons while comparing it to hip-hop's "golden age".

This is all to say that Black writers live here and are inundated with the same crap everyone else is. We are pop culture junkies, unfortunately. So I think its goes with out saying that our perpspective are not that far off from anyone else.

Our oracle is MTV/BET Viacom, Clear Channel radio stations, a dose of Sponge Bob Square Pants, a Project Chick novel, a little Chappelle and while your're at it throw in the occassional Drama King mixtape. Are what the majority of Whites, Latinos (throw in some Telemundo, Flaco and Gordo), Asians checking all that different this? I'd be suprised if their was much variation. We're all slaves to it. So are we coming from completely different universes?

Another question. Where are my Latino bloggers? Stand up, mi amigo.

[lynne]

sorry metalface i didn't know that you and ian were black. i thought you might be but i was unsure. and this brings up another interesting point - the anonymity of ethnic identity on the web. i can't wait to see where this discussion will go.

[eric]

not to worry... many thousands of years ago... i was black too.

[Jason]

I don't think there are very many black bloggers that blog specifically about hip-hop. My site is often infused with hip-hop music and culture but I am all over the place. I consider Jay Smooth and Ian and Metal Face to be hip hop bloggers as their focus is almost exclusively on all things hip hop or that should matter to the hip hop community.

And that might be it in my field of vision. Maybe we need some criteria of what counts.

And maybe the larger question is whether or not there is a difference in how black folks see and experience and approach hip hop vs. individuals from other ethnic communities?

[sally]

hey metalface,
no no no, that is not what i mean. i probably misspoke/didn't explain myself very well. i was just pointing out that white people come to hip hop with a different perspective than most African Americans probably do, and so this informs/effects how we think about it and subsequently how we blog about it. not that we are more astute or objective or ANYthing like that. just that we are coming to it from a different perspective. in my mind there is no doubt that proponents of a genre can make great analytizers and critics. obviously african americans and are subjected to the same glut of pop media that white people are. i was just pointing out the different perspective i have when i discuss hip hop than you probably do. i agree with all of your points above. i hope i clarified what i mean.

[Lazarus]

I'm Black; I blog.

[skaybn]

Interesting....let's step our game up.

[METALFACE]

Sure thing, Sally. I just wanted clarification.

[Andreas Thai-yan]

I am black and I have a blog that deals with Hip-Hop and urban culture as well as promoting my organization.

Andreas Thai-yan
MediaClectic

[Lazarus]

Jerome's Black, he blogs at jeromebaker.blogspot.com

[Andreas Thai-yan]

By the way my Blog site is www.mediaclectic.com

[bemused]

i started my blog because i wanted to air some of the discussions my study group was having about blackness - black life, black politics, and DEFINITELY black music. my team of crack bloggers is really shy about stepping up to the plate, but i'm finta put foot-in-ass to get them started.

in any case, we talk hip-hop a lot during our study group sessions. i'm going to start posting some of our discussions ex post facto just to give y'all some idea of where our heads are at.

big ups and respect due to ALL hip-hop bloggers, though. a multitude of viewpoints is always the best way to critically appreciate any tupic, nu?

[Trent]

Check this out:

Black Blogz --
http://www.ringsurf.com/netring?ring=blackblogz;action=list

I stumbled upon this webring Sunday night.

I have read at least five black writers (and there are more) whom I've deemed are "hip-hop bloggers" under Mike's definition.
[Read Mike's post: http://tradermike.net/movethecrowd/archives/2004/07/all_the_black_hip_hop_bloggers_be_quiet.php#comments]

I don't have the time to sift through all 114 black blogs to verify whether or not they are hip-hop bloggers or not.

But as far as I'm concern, the notion that they ARE NO BLACK HIP-HOP BLOGGERS out there blogging, is not necessarily true.

However, we need to support one another and continue to encourage writers to blog as often as they can -- hip-hop related and otherwise.

That webring I posted above is full of black bloggers, including 35 to 40-year-old black bloggers(!!!). Even some female hip-hop bloggers.

The digital divide is not so DIVIDED or AGE-IST. We need to start spreading the love. There are mad writers out there.

Do we need more hip-hop bloggers?
Hell yeah, no doubt.

There is certainly not enough Latino bloggers or Latino hip-hop bloggers.

Is there a dearth of black hip-hop bloggers?

I don't think so. There out there but we need more to represent . . .

[Eric IQ]

Look I agree with sally on some points. I been Blogging about hip hop sence the early days and I'm a blackman. See people can say what they want to say but from my experience all the hip hop out here today is some sort of retro form industry type money making machine I feel has killed 95% of the real culture. You can't tell me nothing about hip hop that I hav'nt lived first hand. The Monster(Industy Media) did'nt give a S*** about us urban black hip hop headz until the day they seen that there was money to be made. Hip Hop was the only release we had as blacks at that time to vent what we had inside our minds, Bodies and souls.
Get it correct only about 5% of what's left of the real hip hop culture blog somewhere
in the far far away from the phoney. In the begining was the word and the word was good.

[shorty]

hip hop is pretty much the only positive thing in my life. its saved me from making some really bad mistakes. i thank hip hop for doing this to me. hola out to aaliyah's soul in heaven! peace.

[T-Square]

I am black. I blog. Up until recently my site (tiffanytrott.com) wasn't about Hip Hop anything...it was my personal site.

Since I started doing reviews and posting stuff up on the rumor tip I decided to start a new, pretty much devoted Hip Hop/Pop Culture blog (inovermyhead.net)

We are out there, but as was said earlier, there ain't a lot going on in hip hop that gets me excited these days. Its the same regurgitated crap from most of the artists out there.

When the kings of hip hop start pushing out something that is worth a minute of talk time then maybe more of us will start talking about it, blogging about it.

[Bitsy King]

Thank you, James Earl Ray!!!!!