SOHH LEFT COAST
Is Anyone Still Paying Attention To Underground Hip-Hop?
Posted on December 7, 2006 12:00 AM
As some of you might already know, this past Saturday, members of Bay Area political hip hop outfit The Coup were involved in a fiery bus crash in the early morning. Luckily, both Boots Riley and Pam The Funkstress -- as well as their touring partner Mr.Lif -- made it out relatively unscathed, despite losing equipment, cash, laptops and clothing.
When SOHH posted an article on Tuesday covering the bus crash, someone reponded with a comment saying,”Who is this garbage? Cmon let’s report on some real artists not some crappy a$$ no names,” and it immediately got me to thinking: how the fuck is it that this guy’s never heard of The Coup or Mr. Lif? That led me to thinking about something else -- has underground hip hop completely lost its footing in today’’s market?
When I was growing up, I learned to love all kinds of different shit that I came across, from RBL Posse to Heltah Skeltah, to Goodie Mob, to Hiero, to Freestyle Fellowship, to Mobb Deep, to Beatnuts, and so on. After being conditioned to having an open mind towards music, I just carried on with that same mentality; if I liked something, I liked it, whether it was on a major label or on some indie.
I’ve posted a couple blogs on here about some underground artists, and the blogs elicited the same response from some people as the article on The Coup’s bus crash did. Instead of trying to expose themselves to something new, and maybe doing some research on an artist or group they’ve never heard of, motherfuckers just want to hear about some mainstream shit that they’re familiar with. It’s almost as though people quit digging to discover good music; now they just sit around and wait for Interscope or Def Jam to spoon feed them their hip hop, which is sad as fuck.
I guess what I’m trying to get at is this: do any of you still care about underground hip hop?
Comments
(:_;) *tear*
Fuck mainstream rap. Dancin prancin around finger snappin shit. Rap went down hill g-unit became da biggest group. J-dubb tha young hectic-son of the underground-album comin soon. Rebirth 2 hip-hop!
It's a shame that most of the idiots don't really care to listen unless you're on a major. The part that sickens me is that you reported on their health and well being and these idiots didn't care as if the coup and mr. lif aren't human. Also, this is another reason why hip hop is dying. Nobody cares about the art. I have a bunch of friends who listen to rock music. All these guys do is listen to bands who haven't blown up yet. It's funny cuz they stop listening to them once they do go mainstream. I still keep up with the underground scene, specially the underground music coming outta the bay....and NO, It's not all hyphy up there.
The biggest underground hip hop, getting the most attention and receiving the most support from it's own people is CHRISTIAN HIP HOP. Don't believe me...look it up. Check out this cat www.myspace.com/2fivethehoodrev
Christ Bless!
PZ
WATCH FOR MY NEW MOVIE CONIG OUT IN 2007
DIE OR LAND DOUGH !!!!!!!!
http://www.myspace.com/kotherapper
Shout attention to the phuckin low lifes who wait for Def Jam & Interscope to spoon-feed them their dose of hip hop: The Coup is one of the most reverred groups from the Bay. I'm sorry if ya'll saw the "Tell Me When To Go" video & heard the word "hyphy" get tossed around a couple of times and thought that's all the Bay is known for. Jim Jones has compared the Diplomats to a modern day Black Panther Party. Guess where the Black Panthers originated from? Yeah, lil nigga, the Bay!!! Niggas need to learn to respect the Bay, bottom line.
Conig......lol
Classic screw up.........hehehehe
"Even though everybody's feelin it'
This here's a message to the idiot
'Don't feel sad'
'You still gangsta, you still bad'"
- tPC - "Dollar and a Dream", yet another in a string of slept-on underground West Coast groups
Cats don't like smart hip-hop because it challenges the thuggish/ballin' image they have of themselves. Once one gets out of that, then each act can be judged on the basis of what they write, not what their marketing angle is
Judging by the responses...4 of us do.
I can't front, I'm not biggest fan of The Coupe...but Mr. Lif is nice. But I do appreciate the blogg for speaking to larger issue at hand here...People's addiction to spoon fed information. Sadly the issue itself seems to be prevalent in this country in life as a whole...information is sound bite driven...we need media outlets to tell us how we feel about situations before we learn the details behind the situation! Plus news divisions of media companies seemed to be EXPECTED to INCREASE PROFITS, rather than PROVIDE THE FACTS (thats why the NEWS on one channel sometimes varies wildly from the same NEWS on another channel). Facts are skewed and people don't care enough to sort it out for themselves (pardon the tangent...I have issues with that).
But it pains me more when the so-called "hip hop generation" seems idolize artists over HIP HOP CULTURE. Swagger has replaced SKILL in the heirarchy of importance. Records companies have consolidated creating less opportunities for new artists....radio stations have been acquired by huge multi-media conglomerates reducing the number of outlets accessible to artists to get there music heard. And every action taken by main stream artists is sensationalized to the point that nothing else matters. Its like nothing can be FRESH anymore unless we're told its FRESH...and that certainly isn't hip hop!
In the end...I just wanna hear LB, Kidz in the Hall, Jean Grae, Perceptionists, DJ Shadow, the Roots, Strange Fruit, Rhymefest's Music on the RADIO!...
Apparently I'm asking for too much.
Eighty its good your reportin on this. Mr Lif is from the Bean an even 80s babies remember The Coup videos on rapcity. They lost all their equiptment in the fire an i bet Boots didnt wanna pay for "the whitemans" insurance so even though their safe their still in a fucked up situation as far as money is concerned bcuz they have to cancel shows now.
listen its like this mainstream has taken over due to the fact that the taste of the consumer ( mainly white boy and girls from the burbs) has been the same dance records that talk about money cars clothes things they relate to they can't relate to the harsh realites of life because they the consumer havent faced the struggle i remember the days of waking up next to my five bros in a 2 bed apt grabbing my tape player and my big l tapes my classic pac shit and ready to die songs that get you through shit and have you going some where when you listen thats real talk you dont hear music like that anymore ( except for acouple artists) real pain "real" period no one can change the consumer but damit we can change the product BRING BACK REAL HIP HOP
It’s almost as though people quit digging to discover good music; now they just sit around and wait for Interscope or Def Jam to spoon feed them their hip hop, which is sad as fuck.
I guess what I’m trying to get at is this: do any of you still care about underground hip hop?
YO THAT IS THE REALEST COMMENT I SEEN OF ANY BLOGG HERE
CLAPS
BASICALLY ALL FORMS OF MEDIA NEED TO PULL AWAY FROM THESE TOP 10 TO 20 PLAYLIST. BECAUSE ITS SUCKING THE LIFE OUTA OUR CULTURE NOW IF ITS NOT COMMERCIAL YOU CAN'T FIND IT
REAL R&B AND DYING JUST AS FAST AS THE UNDERGROUND
As an underground artist myself..I will say this, the door for us to bring the music to the masses are completely closed. Some emcees have sick material but the way we used to move tapes and cd's just isn't the same anymore. I mean I can spend 5-10k recording a masterpiece and then i'd have to give it away for free pretty much..why? because your cd spot is going to make a million copies out of the ten copies they buy from me. It's a huge issue for us right now, there is no real market place for us alternatives of the music. The old spots in new york for example aren't the same, rock and soul stores have been politically dominanted over the last 7 years. It's hard, real hard. The masses get force fed shovels of commercial tracks but we can't get the same kind of love. If we do get play it's at 3 a.m. when everyone else is sleeping.
man i'm definitely down for some underground hip hop.
You gotta understand tho Eighty, underground anything is always gonna have its market. Whether readers comment on it or not, i'm sure folks dig and appreciate the commentry on folks we dont always get to hear enough about.
as far as ignorant folks hating on that underground stuff, i'm sure you can find folks who only listen to underground hip hop who dont want anything to do with mainstream shit (even if it is dre or nas or whoever).
lot of folks aren't gonna try to find out new shit, if they're not into being well-cultured or into self-education. i know from my own experience that those values usually pop up when you're in your teens. all depends on what type of soul you got.
It was just me and Jesus the Pimp in a 79 granada last night
underground hip-hop is the best....since yall talkin about the coup and underground artists on west coast peep custom made
they're on babygrande and they just dropped the sidewalk mindtalk mixtape
all i listen to is the underground west. i hate the mainstream commerical shit don;t appeal to me. the coup is the truth!!!!
xriaded cbo lynch yukmouth hollowtip young hoggs dresta knoccc out the trap south central cartel jayo felony 40 glocc zoo babies tripple beam jt the bigga figga kg wacsta killa tay juce and i can keep on goin on and on the west never left man
Fcuk this week ass shit nigga! talk about some muh fuckin gunz nigga! talk bout some dope nigga! talk bout some hoes! dont no body wanna here this week as shit!
Is anyone paying attention to the south anymore. I guess not…ying-yang twins sold 36,000 first week.
Dude didn't know who Mr. Lif is? Read a book for real. The fact that he described him as not a "real artist" makes me laugh even more. Definitive Jux is the only reason hip hop is not dead.
Good blog, there are still Hip Hops bumping that underground it's just that radio and TV don't appreciate us. But it has always been that way, we can't beat them so lets keep doing our own thing. They take a trend and run with to make a profit. If all these rappers they love right now fell off tommorrow, MTV, BET, and the radio wouldn't have no love for them. It's business and making money takes precedent over loyalty. It's funny but Hip Hop seems to reflect so many issues in popular culture. As the image of the Pimp and ganksta sells into today's music so does that image sell in books, magazines, movies and television. Now if you are a real pimp or ganksta its whatever but is it just me or wouldn't it benefit are young people if there were also some images of strong black families being uplifted and strong men who take pride in being good husbands, good fathers, and responsible citizens.
Im with you... You bring up some underground group and they'll be like soo whats up with that new D4L song... Its sad when people wont open there minds up a bit... but then all these main stream artists at one point where considered underground so when do you say its not okay to like them?
That is exactly why hip-hop is dead or better yet, dying...once u forget your history your way of life becomes extinct. Today's generation of hip-hop followers have no concept of history. They don't know who or what came before Lil Wayne or "Chicken Noodle Soup" (damn I hated even typing those 2 things). I blame Outkast...they made it acceptable to jump in the middle of a phenomenon without having any prior knowledge. I remember when you weren't allowed to even buy an album like (then known as )Common Sense's "Ressurrection" without having knowledge of his debut "Can I Borrow A Dollar" the same with Mobb Deep and "Juvenile Hell." Now these artists just pop out off nowhere and expect instant props. Dropping 3 broke ass mixtapes before your album drops is not paying dues in case you were wondering (just ask Ludacris,Jay-Z, Nas, T.I.,...hell even Cam'ron and Mase). I don't know what will become of our artform, hopefully this is its dark ages and the renaissance is coming soon.
THIS IS THE BEST BLOG I SEEN ON HERE, i grew up on all kinds of hip hop as well,but the internet help kill shit as well,plus those damn sample cd's,they killed off crate diggin,the game got lazy,everybody wants shit right there at there disposal,perfect example of this is muthafuccas saying lil wayne is best rapper now!!!!!!! the reason they say that is cause they may hear a mixtape or a freestyle and he say he the best and the song turns out good and people automatically say well yeah since this song is good he is the best,shit is terrible,wayne couldn't fucc with monch on monch's worst day,and come on common is in the game and his album kills wayne,cats to caught up in street rep's as well,just cause you can give a apt discription on the blocc don't make you the best lyricist. i don't blame no coast,thats bullshit to me,it's just the fans and the people in charge who are fucc'n up the game,and hip hop will never die it will just go bacc to it's roots and regroup, keep comming with blogs like this yell
www.myspace.com/panhandoelrcorp
once again it takes another one close to jay's age to speak (i said close not anywhere near it fully) i grew up in the golden era. g rap ll stets freestlyre nwa grandady rakim bdp etc. etc. and i grew up near philly hip hop is like the rules of hustlin back then it was for fun but also to get out now of days kidz( that means younger than 26 ) want to stay in the same mind frame they were born in ... nothingness . please read your history we make slavery songs and dance and call them hip . examples the jiggin in atl and ny ( walk it out and chicken noodle soup) is all steppin fetchit. all we're doing is cooning and boofin . if you like dave chapelle find out why he dropped his show for real please ... don'trepeat our past . bring back x clan and others
I like underground Hip Hop . But The Coup suck ass B
I love underground hip hop it's the most pure music out. No rich guy telling the artists what to do. No pressure to make a club track. Matter of fact I am underground hip hop. I would be happy to be mentioned with AZ, Cali Agents, 7l & Esoteric, Termanology, Saigon or any of these cat's out making quality music out of love for the art form. I remember when cat's could be signed to a major and still be considered underground but not any more cause they are not allowed the creative freedom to express themselves the way they see fit. And I would like to say to anyone who thinks sales have anything to do with talent and good music, FUCK YOU you are the ones who are killing hip hop it's your fault so stop bitching about Nas and his album title. Being pop is def not hip hop. Do you remember what selling out was, it wasn't cool now it's expected.
Ice Cube and Public Enemy told fools a long time ago to turn OFF the radio! Ya'll didn't listen. Now, you're stuck with $h!t like Chicken Noodle Soup and that bull$h!t Jay Z put out calling himself the King of NY and Rap saviour. You ain't the saviour of shit, bitch, you just Shawn fukkin Carter.
The Underground is in full effect!! It ain't never went nowhere, most people are too stupid to listen! Guerrilla Funk Records, bitch! Public Enemy's Rebirth of a Nation was the hottest shit to drop in the last 3 years. Followed by PARIS's album Sonic Jihad.
And when my shit 'Transgressions' drops in April, this whole jiggaboo, stepn fetchit, bling bling bullshit is OVER!! I'll stop by and give a link once 'Syndrome' is pressed to give you folks a preview!
im in total agreement with this blog, for real!! man i miss those days of the mc and the dj rocken shows together, the crate diggen stuff, all the native tounge family, da la soul, tribe call quest, jungle brothas ,man all that!! i read some ware that these guys use to compeat with each other, crate diggen to see who could come up with the most dopest off the wall stuff.
Do girls look good with hip hop Grillz ?
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