It amazes me how often the elite of the Hip-Hop community dash to media
outlets that are far from being Hip-Hop to offer their points of view
on Hip-Hop related topics. Such is the case with sites like The
Huffington Post and their growing slew of Hip-Hop authorities.
Granted,
Huf Po, is the hottest ticket in town and this isn't a slam on them but
why are so many people from the Hip-Hop community in a rush to blog for
them as opposed to a Hip-Hop site? There are so many to choose from
that have been around for a very long time (speaking in internet
years), it's baffling that the same people who inspire the net nerds
are the same ones who ignore them. All in favor of an audience who
could really care less what they have to say anyway. If what they have
to say is so riveting, why not say it on a Hip-Hop site/blog and send
users to read it there. That would allow them as a blogger to get their
message across and at the same time elevate the field of Hip-Hop based
journalism. There's no need to exclude the ballers, just share the
love.
Just imagine if Diddy's first video blog debuted on World Star Hip Hop
or On Smash, that would raise the bar of every video driven site in the
culture. Everyone would step their game up to meet the standards worthy
of obtaining a homerun like that. Since Hip-Hop web producers--even
those as large as All Hip Hop or SOHH--know the probability of scoring
something like that is so close to zero, it makes more sense to be
content with a clip of an unknown rapper punching another unknown
rapper in the face and calling it an "exclusive."
There
was a time when the mainstream media would look like idiots reporting
on Hip-Hop because their ignorance was fueled by an arrogance towards
society's undesirable. Now, that arrogance is backed up by those once
undesirables. Our prized celebrities give high-end media institutions
the co-signage to look official while those same institutions rarely
reach out to writers, historians or authorities from the Hip-Hop
community. Maybe one or two here and there but somehow, I doubt Davey
D's phone will be ringing anytime soon for his perspective. Maybe he'll
get a quote in the next time a rapper gets shot to pieces.
Ultimately,
our community's digital media outlet remains a slum of gossip, rapper
beefs, links to leaked songs and rants like this one. Will Hip-Hop
sites ever get to crack the wall of credibility--although their
information is usually the most accurate and often sampled by the big
wigs? We will soon see won't we.
-The Blackspot