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a return to normalcy? · by Rafi Kam
Totally sane and completely agenda-free blogger Clyde Smith has been occasionally pointing out how sites like AllHipHop, SOHH, Vibe and even much smaller operations like Concrete Loop are whooping XXL in the web ratings game.
Did all this web-metric pressure cause XXL Editor-in-Chief Elliott Wilson to have some kind of crisis of conscience followed by his Jerry Maguire mission statement moment this weekend?
How else do we read Wilson’s posting of rare rap treasures at a feverish pace since late Saturday night other than speaking a commitment to “relationships” over “the bottom line”.
YN has been totally overdoing it, posting obscure gems from KRS, the Beastie Boys, Large Professor and many, many, many, many, many, many more.
Are rap’s gatekeepers and tastemakers starting to feel – like Jerry Maguire – a little guilty about their station in life and trying to set things right?
There’s also Funkmaster Flex who on July 4 mixed five hours of 1990s hip-hop (link via Spine Magazine). There’s Hot 97 allowing new dj Rosenberg to play all the classics or indie records he wants.
If this keeps up, I may have to retract my previous “Turn off that bullshit, turn off the radio” rant.
Now I’m no idiot. I know these Jerry Maguires don’t really love me. They just love the up and coming generation of hip-hop fans, the Jonathan Lipnickis to my lemon-sucking Renee. But still, we old maids are so desperate for some good hip-hop dick that we’ll probably just say ‘you had me at Hey yo.’
Comments for "a return to normalcy?"
Hot 97 plays “throwback” mixes every holiday, then within a week or two it goes back to putting the same three songs on repeat (the current three song rotation on 97.1 and Power 105 would seem to be the Lil Wayne and Ja Rule duet, the Fab and Ne-Yo duet and the Jay-Z, Fab and Murda menage). The 4th of July mixes were nice, but as of this morning things seemed to be back to normal at the station.
— fresh Jul 9, 05:37 PM
but of course… still from what i hear this rosenberg guy is playing a lot of good shit. i’ll have to check it out.
yeah i’m not saying they’ve improved their overall playlists in prime-time or drive-time.
but hip-hop doing badly in terms of mainstream dollars could actually be good for hip-hop if it means the core fans will become more catered to.
— Rafi Jul 9, 05:52 PM
yeah xxl has been steppin up they game lately over the last week or two
— smog Jul 9, 07:39 PM
If yall think playing some 90’s and current ‘underground’ hip hop joints is gonna ‘save’ XXL, Hot 97 or hip hop in general, you’re severely deluded. That era is effectively over and literally history with rare exceptions here and there.
— ian Jul 9, 09:31 PM
>> posting obscure gems from KRS, the Beastie Boys, Large Professor and … many, many more.
i threw together a tracklist of the joints that flex played… with some downloads a la 50 Incredible Rap Songs…
http://wmdeez.wordpress.com/2007/07/08/we-are-not-90s-snobs/
— nation Jul 10, 02:03 AM
^ my bad… i take that back
thanks for the spot on the sidebar
— nation Jul 10, 02:10 AM
“Here we go classic LL… ‘Around the Way’ girls are not good anymore, they’re not a go, not a go, not a go, not a go.”
Flex crushes it with this set…
J
— Just Jul 10, 11:42 AM
Forgive me if this is old news. Hate on this all you want, lately, at least the last week or so at work we throw on Hot 97 around 10 (at night) during the FFF show, they have what may or may not be a new feature where a call in guest gets to request any 3 songs. Sometimes these songs suck but weve caught some serious gems. I appreciate fuck clear channel and all that but I also appreciate the attempt to appease heads such as ourselves. Maybe this coupled with XXLs recent activity is some type of mass movement towards the rational assumption that the nations taste run further than the top 40, just a thought.
— Abe Beame Jul 13, 04:15 AM