Hip Hop Blogs

Hyphy wins by a landslide, Chicken Noodle Soup ethered

Hip Hop Regional Dance Styles: Let's settle this debate like men...

... and vote on some Internet polls!  These two polls will determine the best and worst of the current major, regional styles of hip hop dance.  Now I know these categories are quite broad, dance styles can get granular, and many will bitch about how the representative videos really aren't representative of their regional "culture."  Whatever. But seriously if you think you have a video link that better represents any of the 4 major regions, feel free to share in the comments and I might just switch the current ones out.

If in doubt- don't necessarily vote for the dance style itself, but for the regional "movement," as they are sometimes called.  Remember, your vote may very well determine the future of urban hip hop dance. Ha. 

Jay-Z orders boycott against Cristal Champaigne

I think Jay is doing the right thing.  Standing up for hip hop.  I bet he's going to declare war on Cristal at Radio City on the 24th.  What do you think?

"In response to comments made by Frederic Rouzaud, the managing director of Louis Roderer Cristal, Jay-Z and his upscale sports lounge, The 40/40 Club, have announced that they will no longer be serving Cristal Champagne and Jay-Z will further help lead the boycott against Cristal Champagne in the world of hip-hop.

Despite loyal patronage by Jay-Z, his clientele, and the entire hip-hop community, Rouzaud said in a special edition of The Economist magazine that the company observes its association with the rap world with "curiosity and serenity." Even though Jay and other rappers continually support the brand by including Cristal in their lyrics, as Jay did in his number 1 hit "Hard Knock Life," Rouzaud has labeled the name-checks as "unwelcome attention." [PR Newswire]

Here is the Economist article in which Mr. Rouzaud disses hip hop patronage.  Stupid, stupid move.  It reminds me of the Tommy Hilfiger rumor about him saying that his clothes weren't meant for African-Americans.  And we all know what happened- the Tommy trend died, FUBU was born and the seeds to the Marc Ecko and Sean John empires were sown.  This time, its not a rumor, and the CEO of hip hop is leading the charge.

Does Sex Sell Hip-Hop?

Fortune Magazine published a revealing article about the movie business, which found that Hollywood focuses more attention and money on sex and violence filled flicks, even though they are not as profitable as family movies. A quote:

This trend- G-rated movies are good for business but underproduced; R-rated movies are bad for business, and yet overdone--is something that has been driving economists batty for the past several years.

This surprising fact got me thinking about what sells in hip-hop and the larger world. We all have heard that "sex sells", and that's true. But marriage also sells, and there's a billion dollar event, book, and counseling industry based on marrying people and keeping them that way.

Porn sells, sure. But the Bible also sells, and so well that it doesn't even get listed on bestseller lists anymore.

People spend hundreds betting at casinos. But people spend tens of thousands betting on college.

Jerry Springer sells, And so does Oprah, times ten.

Byron Crawford sells. And so does Jay Smooth, plus some.

50 Cent sells. And so does The Black Eyed Peas.

Diddy sold in the 90's. And so did The Fugees.

The Evil Corporate Influence on Hip-Hop Myth

Jeff Chang says that the machine is deaf, meaning that the corporations that fund the hip-hop industry don't care what type of content their creative arms cook up. I agree. Companies like Viacom, Clear Channel, and Universal Music Group only care about profit, not artistsic performance.

And that's a good thing. It means artists and the lower level managers can produce and promote whatever they want, as long as it sells. This is also revealing, because despite this freedom of expression, it seems that we still overwhelmingly choose to push violent, misogynistic, and ignorant junk out to the world.

The End of the Hip-Hop Gravy Train

What happens when hip-hop ceases to be the #1 music genre in America? What happens when companies no longer see rap music as a way to effectively market their products to young people?

This week, as others have already noticed, there are no hip-hop albums in Billboard's top ten. Also, Reebok has dropped their hip-hop centered campaigns even after crediting it with their amazing brand turnaround. Sprite has done the same, so says Micheal, which is a big deal since I remember them using rappers in their commercials a good ten years ago. In the comments of the Sprite post, Lazarus aka the CEO of Urbanomics is quick to notice that this may be the signal of a larger trend.

I wonder though - will declining sales and less corporate marketing equal more artistry in the music? Hopefully so.

How Hip-Hop Can End Racism

Months ago, during an interview on Hot 97, Jay-Z claimed that hip-hop has done more for race relations that any social activist. He said it's hard for a White kid in middle America to believe the bigoted nonsense his parents teach him when he has a Busta Rhymes album in his cd player.

I dismissed Jay's claim because it seemed to me that hip-hop has mostly served to cement negative stereotypes about Blacks, not create more understanding amongst other races.

This weekend changed my mind a bit. I moved out of my Harlem apartment, and into a new place on 110th street, at the very edge of my neighborhood's border. My building seems to be made up of mostly White people, and my backyard is literally Central Park North (and I'm not being facetious - why would I?). The projects seem miles away, even though it's really only three blocks uptown.

I haven't met any people there who live hip-hop culture, like I do, and I've already had some Fresh Prince moments. For instance, after greeting one woman with a "What's good?", my Black friend had to translate that I was greeting her. Another guy complimented me on my "Roh-ca-Wear" shirt, until I explained that the label is (mis)pronounced as "Roc".

2006 Predictions for Hip-Hop, Blogging, and Hip-Hop Blogging

This is my third year making these predictions, which means I’ve been in this read/respond/repeat cycle for a long time, way before blogging became a way to keep your name hot between book deals.

I’ve had these predictions waiting in the que since the end of last year, but I kept forgetting to put the polish on and publish it. I know it’s silly to forecast for a year when a whole season has passed by, but hip-hop is so unpredictable that it’s not like a shortened time frame gives me any advantage.

So, here we go:

1. The exodus of platinum talent from Def Jam that started with Cam’ron and DMX will continue with Ludacris and Ja-Rule jumping ship, probably to Warner Music. The rumor will be that the focus on Jay-Z’s projects is what made the artists leave.

2. In the same way that every website feels compelled to pitch a forum in their backyard, expect social networks to be attached to all of your favorite web destinations, especially the ones about music. I thought up this prediction before I saw Atlantic Record’s MySpace clone, but that is certainly the direction I’m thinking about. Oh yeah, most of the corporate backed ones will fail, because building community online is something you can brand your way into.

3. T.I. and Ludacris, who are fighting for the same attention not just in music, but in movies, will clash again. Expect an Ether/Takeover style battle instead of the jabs they landed last time.

The Boondocks: "The MySpace"

A rare funny Boondocks strip, featuring a MySpace punchline:

I'm in love with an Apple billboard girl

There are a few things that I've really been nostalgic for since moving from San Francisco to Manhattan. 

There are the obvious things- family & friends, hyphy music on the radio, the weather.  The practical things- having a car, affordable rent, big chain grocery stores.  And the personal things- my favorite food joints, my modest record collection, and the girl on the Apple billboard.

I used to see her on the way to work every morning on the corner of 2nd and Howard.  She was about 2 stories high, maybe 80 feet wide, rocking the iPod nano.  Yeah, I ain't afraid to say it: I was in love with the chick on a giant Apple billboard.