Boycott Region Hip-Hop

Jul 22, 2006

Boycott Region Hip-Hop · by Henry "Rizoh" Adaso

Two weeks ago, I received an interesting ‘hate mail’ prompted me to mull over the issue of region hip-hop. Apparently, the sender fell out of the sky, tripped, and landed on my other site, and this was the first (and only) thing he saw that day. Honestly, I get a pat on the back every now and then, but hate mail is part of what comes with the territory. Suffice it to say that I’ve long developed thick skin for situations like these. However, this was a special case where a reader claims that Rizoh’s got no love for the east coast or any other coast, with the exception of the dirty dirty.

Anyhow, he goes:

I’ts nice that you’re trying to rectify misconceptions ppl have about about the genre. But two misconceptions you just proved to be true in your article on the new Re-up mixtape. First, the fact that fans, media, and artists have no respect for those that have come before them. And second is that all three of those groups are full of hate. No need to hate on the eastcoast, whoo kid and eminem, we still like your grill daddy. maybe you just drunk too much of that purple oil when you wrote that.. .

xxxxxxxxxxx
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Lol. First, I don’t do lean or purple oil or any other kind of oil for that matter, except of course vegetable oil. But, even that has to be cooked and mixed with actual food. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here’s my backlash:

The fact that you perceive me as an East Coast hater is indicative of your own oversight. The highest rating I’ve ever given any album on About.com is to an East Coast rapper (Ghostface Killah’s Fishscale).

I’ve said it on the blog before but I’ll say it again…Eminem is
one of my favorite rappers. As a writer, it’s not unusual to
be hard on your own favorites. I won’t give Eminem credit where he doesn’t deserve it just because he has millions of fans that hype up everything he drops, hot or wack.

Besides, I don’t partake in all that region bs. If music is good, it’s
good, period. The focus shouldn’t be on whether it’s east coast or west coast.

best,
Henry
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Me trying to take it cool and all. Good thing he switched gear in his reply, because I wasn’t willing to carry on with this trivial debate:

I can’t believe you found the time to reply so quickly. I’m
impressed with your dedication and loyalty to your readers. Even though I’m not not an avid listener of hip-hop, you’ve made a new fan/reader. More people like yourself are needed to educate and inform.

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ps loved your 25 worst rap lyrcs of all time
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Folks, regional rap is bullshit. I’ve never seen any other genre categorizing music by region. You’ll never hear the Red Hot Chili Peppers going “we on our west coast shit.” It’s cool to rep where you’re from and claim tru’, but let’s not extend that to musical judgement. A generous amount of the doosh bags who frequent SOHH Houston accuse me of being pro-East Coast and anti-Houston. I must be crazy because I still don’t understand what that means. Who in the world likes or dislikes music for the sheer fact that it originates from a specific region? Every area has its share of great rappers and bad rappers. Houston’s own Scarface is one of the best to ever breathe on a mike, but Mike Jones is one of the worst to ever attempt, and he’s also Houstonian. Guerilla Black is from the west but he’s not on the same lyrical pedestal as Ras Kass. Same applies to every other region.

Region has no bearing whatsoever on my music reviews and preferences. I approach music criticism like a journey; always traveling with an open mind and trying my best to understand what’s inspired the artist’s direction. But at the end of the day, it’s just one man’s opinion. Nothing more, nothing less.

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It’s no surprise that guest blogger Henry “Rizoh” Adaso sees the world without regions since he probably has two kids in every state (yes, 2nd Prince Paul reference of the week!). That also explains why he blogs like a member of the West Indian family from In Living Color. You can appreciate his hustle when you find him steady blogging at About.com’s Rap site, SOHH Houston and The Rap Up. Goddamn, that’s a lot of blogs. It’s no wonder Henry is considered “our generation’s Hashim Warren”.

Comments for "Boycott Region Hip-Hop"

never understood why people get caught up in the area a crew or mc is from
its gotta be grunges fault cuz before 91 no one cared that too short or nwa was from cali or that tribe ll and nas were from queens. grunge put seattle on the map, record label a&r’s swarmed in there like locusts and shit spawning the seattle sound. if you don’t follow this comparison, look up a CD called Seattle:The Dark Side, a compilation featuring Seattle’s indigenous rap scene; which only heralded Sir Mix-A-Lot as a name mc

— Jay B Jul 23, 08:40 PM
>“before 91 no one cared that too short or nwa was from cali or that tribe ll and nas were from queens.”

I disagree. A large part of rap marketing has been the regional appeal. Because NY dominated, there was a lot of intra-NY “regional” stuff, but all the west coast artists rode that wave. And when they became popular, all the NY artists rode the west coast backlash wave.

Certainly NWA, Short, Ice T, in addition to all of the NY artists and Southern artists not only benefitted from regional marketing, they played a large role in the strategy.

— eauhellzgnaw Jul 24, 03:21 AM
I deal with this way too often. Even if I review a Paul Wall, Z-Ro and Scarface album all on the same month I get accused of “hating on the South” or refusing to cover it at RapReviews. Same goes for the West if I don’t cover enough Living Legends and Mac Mall, same for the East if I wait more than a week to review a new Fat Joe or Ja Rule album. Hip-Hop heads are often so territorially obsessed they make me want to pull my hair out and say fuck the whole thing.

— DJ Flash Jul 24, 04:51 AM
“I disagree. A large part of rap marketing has been the regional appeal. Because NY dominated, there was a lot of intra-NY “regional” stuff, but all the west coast artists rode that wave. And when they became popular, all the NY artists rode the west coast backlash wave.”

yeah but this came after the chronic went dub plat and snoop was the shiznit around 93, 94.
it was only until nas dropped it was written when you began to see regional collabos opposed to the whole west coast vs. east coast bullshit. you gotta remember back in the day rap as a whole was a struggling genre so it made no difference whether some cat was representing oakland, compton or brooklyn.

— Jay B Jul 24, 12:20 PM
It made a ton of difference early on. Few from NY wanted to give a chance to people outside of NY whether they were bringing their own sound or biting NY. People on the West Coast had to do their own things for their own audience.

Yes, the occasional act or song would cross over but beyond that it was hardly common for a NY fan to know who was doing what outside of NY or NJ.

Recommended reading: It’s Not About a Salary… Rap, Race and Resistance in Los Angeles on the birth of the LA hip-hop scene.

— Rafi Jul 24, 12:45 PM