Indy Hip Hop World

"A setback is just a setup for a comeback." --from Bebe Moore Campbell's "72 Hour Hold"

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Not anti ...



... just the truth.

I've been meaning to post this video for several weeks now, but, well, I am just now getting around to it.

I really like the song by Brother Ali. But then I saw the video - powerful!

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Saturday, June 23, 2007

"Gutterfly" is too fly!




Has anyone else checked out the commercials for General Motors? For the Sierra truck, in particular. I saw them a lot during the NBA Finals. The music immediately caught my attention. I knew that it was the music of the Lifesavas - "Gutterfly" to be exact.

I have been unsuccessful in my brief attempt to locate the commercial, but I did find this clip on YouTube. The clip looks very amateurish (but that's YouTube for you), but I've asked myself, what kind of venue is that ...?) and it's short.

My point is, if you hear the music maybe it will ring a bell as it relates to the actual GM commercial. Enjoy.

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Thursday, June 21, 2007

Say It Ain't So ...

... but it is true. I hosted my last hip hop show on WMCO last Saturday. How sad was that ... ? The show was not actually sad, but I don't know if the station will continue to play hip hop the way that it has in the past four years that I was there.

Now, I am not the hip hop maven ... well, maybe I am. But I don't think that they will continue to chart hip hop for WMCO. That is so crazy in my opinion. Their reasoning is that they don't know (hidden meaning: don't like) hip hop. Not liking hip hop is one thing, but when you work college radio, it is all about exploration and being open-minded. Not to mention that right now, hip hop is the fastest growing genre! And the hip hop that comes through WMCO is not the watered-down brand found in conglomerized radio; it's good music often w/a message.

About two years back, when WMCO went through music directors like athletes go through sneakers, what did I do? I manned up and got the alternative charts done. And what did that mean? It meant that I had to listen to a lot of music that I would not otherwise listen to. And that ended up being a good thing; again exposure to new and different things.

Does this seem like a vent? Well, it is. It is all too often that people associate that fact that since I am black, of course I would like hip hop. However, that is not always the case. I have way too many black friends who cringe at a mere uptempo beat on a song. Point is, it seems that since the resident black person has left the building, WMCO will revert to something that it should be embarassed about: strictly playing alternative music sans rap/hip hop and running the risk of sounding too commercial and lacking identity.

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Monday, June 11, 2007

A New One from the Beastie Boys

The Beastie Boys have a new disc out. Yeah, that one kind snuck up on me. It's called "The Mix Up". Their webbie is outstanding. Lots of interactivity and information and a blog and images and just busy. Good stuff.

I guess I'll peep the new disk and get back witcha ...

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Friday, June 01, 2007

Mister who...?

If I had to select this disk out of a line up, it would not get selected. The cover art is a bit retro and cute and elementary, but I don't think I would have given it a second look.

But I dare to listen to all hip hop that flows through my soon-to-be-departed office. Last week, I got a glimpse of Mr. V. And I had a chance to listen to it this week. Oooooh la la. It's hip hop, I get that, but it's like no two songs are the same; there are so many blends to choose from and note that I said blends: there's hip hop and jazz; garage-like hip hop; instrumentals and more.

"Welcome Home" is pretty cool. My stand out is "On Da Grind" f/XL.

Try that on for size hip hoppers ... kfox

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