hip-hop journalism participatory survey

Nov 20, 2008

hip-hop journalism participatory survey · by Rafi Kam

Let us survey the landscape of hip-hop journalism a bit and ask have there been great works done in that realm this year?

There were Smoking Gun exposes, Unkut interviews and too many poorly thought out blogger rants to list. But when I think back on the stories that stand out from this year, only a few come to mind.

First, Michael A. Gonzales’ New York magazine piece on Kool Herc, Coke La Rock and the fight to preserve 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. Second, David Ramsey’s anecdotal tale of how, while working as a teacher in New Orleans, he came to adopt his students’ love for Lil Wayne.

I also want to mention this extremely well made video documenting an AntiPop Consortium reunion show at an NYC record store. The sound, video and editing are top-notch and the improvisational nature of APC’s act is fascinating and worthy of documenting. Via interviews with the group, the video also gets into the group’s history as well as the tension involved in reuniting after years apart.

Perhaps the promotional nature of the video is at odds with what we typically think of as journalism. But you won’t see work like this funded by an independent news source. This is documentary as advertising, similar to the Black Moon-centered Canadian radio show segment turned YouTube video, which was not nearly as high-quality an effort but (due to the difference in the group’s audiences) more widely seen by far.

Now if you don’t mind, can you help me out with two things..

1. I’m wondering what are your favorite examples of hip-hop journalism from this year? What articles / posts / videos from offline or online sources stick out to you as being among the year’s best?

2. I was thinking about that Lil Wayne piece and how I’d like to compile some lists of the best articles on various rappers. Weezy seems as good a place to start as any. I remember this Sasha Frere Jones piece from the New Yorker which was nice but more memorable was SFJ on his own blog going to bat for Wayne against the haters.

No constraint on how new or old these Wayne articles are… So what do you consider the best writing / coverage of Lil Wayne? The tone of your selections need not be positive.

Consider this an experiment. If it works out well, I’ll ask for other artists next time around.

Thanks.. I look forward to seeing what you come up with for both requests. I’m sure I’m forgetting lots of good stuff.

Comments for "hip-hop journalism participatory survey"

the problem is these journalists with no hip hop pedigree of any kind being so all about lil’ wayne. im not saying you have to be a hip hop journalist to be able to write about hip hop in general. but its hard to take a writer seriously who doesn’t have a deep understanding of the genre and hails a mediocre mc as weezy as something anywhere close to great. First of all SFJ mentions an entertaining but clearly not great MC like Nelly as another MC that needs to be held in high regard, and follows it up by saying it’s all about Weezy’s annoying voice and that lyrics don’t matter. That’s a fair opinion, but lets face the fact that it’s not that of most people with a either long-term or a quality based investment in the genre

— wes Nov 20, 06:09 PM
Riff Raf,
My Personal Top 5 of 2008 and I think number 1 should be included in the best articles about Weeze.

1. “How Lil Wayne helped me survive my first year teaching in New Orleans” By David Ramsey http://www.oxfordamericanmag.com/content.cfm?ArticleID=390&Entry=CurrentIssue

2. “The Demise of Hyphy” By Eric K. Arnold. http://www.sfweekly.com/2008-02-20/news/the-demise-of-hyphy/print

3. “Beyond ‘the Wackness’: Hip Hop & Whiteness at the Movies” By Brandon Soderberg http://brandonsoderberg.blogspot.com/2008/07/beyond-wackness-hip-hop-whiteness-at.html

4. “Kool Keith: Chromosomal Beatdown” Interview by Noz: http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.1229/title.kool-keith-chromosomal-beatdow

5. “Trends Prodigy has set since 1992 and is still setting in 2008 and beyond” by Prodigy http://razorapple.com/2008/02/28/prodigy-mobb-deep-trend/ (not the original link)

— monique r Nov 20, 06:15 PM
wes: follow instructions

monique: good choices! i forgot that demise of hyphy article was 08.. that one is excellent.

— rafi Nov 20, 06:20 PM
“HOW DARE YOU QUESTION MY TREND SETTING, LOOK AT WHAT I BRING TO THE TABLE.”

P will forever S-H-I-N-E

x(

— aods Nov 20, 07:08 PM
my favorite one so far has to be Buckshot (i’m a big fan)
http://www.hiphopgame.com/index2.php3?page=buckshot0208

— OffTheDome Nov 20, 07:24 PM
In the Bay Area – it would have to be Eric K. Arnold’s piece in the SF Weekly “The Demise of Hyphy” it stirred a lot of conversation, that’s a key piece in good journalism… getting people to think and discuss! article here: http://www.sfweekly.com/2008-02-20/news/the-demise-of-hyphy/
(ps. Lil Wayne is overrated, i doubt 10 years from now anyone is going to bump his music)

— dove16 Nov 20, 07:53 PM
Max B and his claims of legal immunity:

http://33jones.com/blogentry.asp?EID=880

Prodigy’s handwritten letter from prison about Malachi York and how “J-Z” is in league with York’s son to blind our eyes to the world conspiracy.

http://www.wordonthestreetsmag.com/profiles/blogs/prodigy-from-mobb-deep-claims

The Dallas Penn/Asher Roth video.

— Tray Nov 20, 11:46 PM
I’d have to say that URB’s piece on Wu-Tang was one of the better articles that I’ve read this year. Can’t think of many others that stand out.

— Mark Anthony Nov 21, 01:24 AM
-Weiss’ interview with Dilla’s Mom

-Nas Is a Demagogue by Joey

-Super Nintendo Sega Genesis by Quan

-Hip Hop Hooray by Armond White

— brandonsoderberg Nov 21, 01:47 AM
where’d the links go? Whoops.

— brandonsoderberg Nov 21, 01:55 AM
Nice. Keep ‘em coming! I have to revisit a bunch of these but good calls on the Asher Roth video and Dilla’s mom interview.

I’ll also dig for more tomorrow. I didn’t do any digging before doing the post because I wanted to just remark on what stood out instead.

Mark Anthony: was that the Wu cover story in Urb? I think that was 07.. or was there a more recent Urb Wu-Tang piece?

— rafi Nov 21, 03:45 AM
Thank you for the kind words about my New York magazine story.

If I can weigh in on this subject, one of my favorite hip-hop pieces was about Spoonie Gee. Written by Mark McCord, it first appeared in Wax Poetics (which I think publishes some of the best music pieces in the country), but can be found on his blog…

http://hiphop101a.blogspot.com/search/label/Spoonie%20Gee

— Michael A. Gonzales Nov 21, 08:47 AM
On the Wayne front, Kelefa Sanneh’s review of his Newark show was good, but mostly it’s just important because it’s KS’s last hip hop piece before he jumped to the New Yorker to write about Tavis Smiley. Sigh.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/arts/music/26wayn.html?_r=1

Rafi, maybe you can get a guest editing gig for the Da Capo Best Music Writing book and for once it won’t be all pasty white dudes (like me).

— justin Nov 21, 09:00 AM
Pricey? Sure.

But I loved this summer piece from The Economist, “The politics of hip-hop.”

Regarding hip hop, “Those who disapprove of it vastly overestimate its capacity to corrupt. And those who expect it to foster a political revolution that will dramatically improve the lot of black Americans are going to be disappointed.”

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11622433

— J-Mass Nov 21, 10:34 AM
Michael: I short-changed you actually. I probably should have said more.. Considering the subject of hip-hop’s genesis is one I’ve read many tellings of by now, it was great to see the subject come alive with details I hadn’t heard before.

Also I was by then pretty fed up with what seemed to be a phony outcry about 1520 Sedgwick Ave from this generation’s online hip-hop fans whose life really wouldn’t change at all no matter what happened to this building. But telling the story of what it means to Herc makes all the difference.

On another note, Bring the Noise is such an important work. I read it about ten years ago and it’s time for a re-read but really you guys were ahead of the curve and I consider it a huge influence on me and hip-hop writing in general. So thanks to you.

Also I just checked the Spoonie Gee article.. very good stuff, though it looks like it’s from 07 from the copyright at the bottom.

justin: are splotchy white dudes any better?

J-Mass: ha I remember that Economist article but it’s problematic, don’t you think? I read it when Chloe went in on it at Ethos.

The way the Economist article twists around the Roots critique of George W. Bush as thug into the band’s message was unforgivable. Also, they quote a fifteen year old Da Lench Mob song and depict them as modern conscious rappers. Sloppy.

— rafi Nov 21, 01:08 PM
I think they were unfair to the Roots, but let’s be honest, it’s not like the Roots have this deep political message that the Economist missed for the out-of-context trees.

— Tray Nov 21, 07:58 PM
i would nominate fake shore drives debate between rhymefest and phonte http://fakeshoredrive.com/2008/09/fsd-rhymefest-present-great-debaters_09.html

— smog Nov 22, 07:59 PM
Good picks all around. You guys mentioned most of my picks, so I won’t repeat any. Much props to Mr. Gonzales. His interview with Jigga in Stop Smiling for last year was great.
LC Weber – Where In The World is Jay Electronica?

http://smokingsection.uproxx.com/TSS/?p=12177#more-12177

Robbie E’s interviews with T La Rock and LL:

http://www.unkut.com/2008/06/t-la-rock-interview-pt-1-the-story-of-its-yours/
http://www.unkut.com/2008/11/ll-cool-j-the-unkut-interview/

Joseph Ohegyi – B.O.B. Dylan (short piece but well-written)

http://josephlovesit.blogspot.com/2008/03/bob-dylan.html

— AaronM Nov 22, 08:35 PM
DJ Sorce-1’s work this year interviewing various DJs (some famous and some less so) is outstanding.

http://heavyinthestreets.blogspot.com/

— AaronM Nov 22, 08:38 PM
i think spoonie was written in 2007, but wasn’t published until june 2008.

http://waxpoetics.com/issues/issue_29/

— Michael A. Gonzales Nov 23, 01:03 PM
Thanks for the mention Aaron, I’m honored that you thought to mention my stuff alongside people/publications like Noz, Unkut, and Wax Poetics.

— DJ Sorce-1 Nov 28, 11:18 AM
As for the Black Moon thing on Youtube, im a writer for that Canadian Radio Show mentioned in your blog post. The bio’s on artists arent intended to be a promo tool for artists in that way. I can tell you it was a bit shocking to see Duck Down run with it like that! But on a positive note, it did help us reach more listeners, just not the way i necessarily wouldve pictured it. This was a great post tho… and the articles ive read have helped re-assert my love of the music and culture!

— C Banga! Dec 10, 05:43 PM
Funny, I just came across this post and I am writing a piece titled “Rafi Kam and Underachieving Hip Hop Writers.” I am intuitive and a fucking problem.

http://modelminority.blogspot.com/2008/12/rafi-kam-and-underachieving-hip-hop.html

— m.dot Dec 18, 03:23 PM
HERE is the best article of 2008. SUCKAS!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/soundboard/2008/06/afrika-bambaata.html

— b-chilla Jan 15, 11:54 AM
I love how Obama dropped Lil Wayne’s name through out his campaign. It’d be nice to get a sit down with him just about hip hop. I think the author of this article took Obama’s comments about rappers to the extreme though… The point is this—our president listens to hip hop. The times they are a changing…

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/07/09/obama-name-checks-lil-wayne-at-georgia-town-hall-meeting/

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he problem is these journalists with no hip hop pedigree of any kind being so all about lil’ wayne. im not saying you have to be a hip hop journalist to be able to write about hip hop in general. but its hard to take a writer seriously who doesn’t have a deep understanding of the genre and hails a mediocre mc as weezy as something anywhere close to great. aaThe problem is these journalists with no hip hop pedigree of any kind being so all about lil’ wayne. im not saying you have to be a hip hop journalist to be able to write about hip hop in general. but its hard to take a writer seriously who doesn’t have a deep understanding of the genre and hails a mediocre mc as weezy as something anywhere close to great. First of all SFJ mentions an entertaining but clearly not great MC like Nelly as another MC that needs to be held in high regard, and follows it up by saying it’s all about Weezy’s annoying voice and that lyrics don’t matter. That’s a fair opinion, but lets face the fact best web hosting that it’s not that of most people with a either long-term or a quality based investment in the genreFirst of all SFJ mentions an entertaining but clearly not great MC like Nelly as another MC that needs to be held in high regard, and follows it up by saying it’s all about Weezy’s annoying voice and that lyrics don’t matter. That’s a fair opinion, but lets face the fact that it’s not that of most people with a either long-term or a quality based investment in the genre

— donaldjeo Jun 2, 03:39 AM