I knew the title would get your attention, but it’s something I’ve been pondering for a while now. Like really what the hell is wrong with hip hop fans? Before I go off into my rant let me explain what happened the other day.
I get an email from Jamendo stating:
“Someone on Jamendo made a donation to the artist Cartel. Here are the transaction details:
* Name : ColdShiver * Message : There’s already so much taking in this world i figured i’l give something back, the least i could do. Thank you for this A-grade music, these tracks blow most commercial stuff away if you ask me, Cartel, Gang Starr and Nas are my favorite rappers, keep up the great work. Tracks i loved: 1. Cartel Ft. Gates – I Remember When 2. Cartel Ft. Tommy Mula – Elevate 3. Cartel Ft. Gates – U Know My Style 4. Cartel Ft. Brix – Real Talk 5. Cartel Ft. Mallz – Green 6. Cartel – Intro Prepare For Glory (too bad its so short, love the melody)”
It was definitely a pleasant surprise that someone liked my work enough to want to donate money to me because while there are donation buttons on the site for just this sort of thing, indie hip hop artist don’t usually see money from these type of promotions.
The real question is “why not”?
Hip hoppers like to consider themselves rebels… we go against the status quo… or so we like to think but in my opinion, the indie rock guys go against the grain more than we ever do and I attribute a lot of the blame for that to hip hop fans whose views are limited to how the music should be promoted.
Some of the most exciting, experimental music models have happened in rock and other genres of music. You have groups like Radiohead who allowed fans to pay whatever they felt their album was worth to the donation scale where the more you contribute to an artist to help record his project… the more you’re rewarded.
Hip hopper’s constantly scream about how being independent is the way to go and how the internet is the great equalizer but then they seem stuck trying to market their music just as the majors would. What’s the sense of spouting this indie/internet crap if you’re not going to try anything different? So you’ve set up a Myspace, Bandcamp and/or Facebook page. Yes you’re giving away your album/mixtape for free and/or have it on sale at iTunes. Then what? Who’s not doing that? How is that any different than what the majors are doing? Where’s the hip hop equivalent of the band, OK GO?
That’s why I applauded Public Enemy for utilizing Sellaband or Ras Kass for turning to Kickstarter.com to try and fund his latest project in a manner that most hip hop artists aren’t. You would think fans would reward his efforts to think outside the “rap box” but when you visit sites like HipHopDx (which has the most juvenile posts).. here’s what the fans stated:
“lmao this dude cant find the funds to put his album out, so he askin his fans to bail him out.”
“How are you a veteran in the game and struggling for studio time. This isn’t about conformity. He doesn’t know how to grind.”
“what a joke he is pimping himself what a hoe”
“Is this nigga that broke or something what the fuck donate, nigga is crazy and then you get limited edition handwritten song what the fuck. this nigga crazy”
Wow… Really??? Talk about a lack of vision. So I ask again what the hell is wrong with hip hop fans??? Is their vision really that freaking limited? If people like Josh Ryan, I Fight Dragons or Kelly Richey were creating hip hop they wouldn’t be in the positions that they’re in now. The 1000 True Fans Theory just does not seem to pertain to hip hop.
With fans as ignorant as this… it begins to make you wonder why even bother?
Leave a Reply