> I think that radio stations actually call themselves Hip Hop
> when they SHOULD be calling them Rap.
>
> Being that radio is only radio, the only thing that they can
> do is offer music and mixes. But as far as beatboxing,
> breakin, graf, etc..... not sure any modern so-called Hip
> Hop station does that. They take it to the streets for
> advertising at a local store or car dealership, but that's
> RADIO, not HIP HOP.
>
> As far as the type of music these days, of course heritage
> old school folks will always wish things were "how they were
> back in the day."
>
> There ARE times I really miss being part of something
> smaller, underground, not the "norm," back when not every
> small town had a station that played Rap. Where not
> everyone wanted to do it. Where everyone still wore
> lumberjaks and the only major gear was Polo, Addidas, and
> Starter and not everyone had overpriced clothing lines. On
> the other side, as with everything, it evolved and is bigger
> than ever.
>
> Rap is not dying, or in a nuisance as Kanye might say. East
> coast old schoolers and new schoolers don't like the South's
> style or "what they've done to it." I like to say it's
> evolved into different styles of Rap, much like Rock has
> Classic Rock, Alternative, and Hard Rock.
>
> Hip Hop culture as a whole....... is not dying. PARTS of it
> has been exploited or cheapened for advertising. But most
> of the whole culture it's still not mainstream. There's
> plenty of B-Boys, graf artists, poets etc, it's still more
> underground and radio won't touch on it because they are to
> cheap to really get into it as a whole...."(at least outside
> of NY.. I'm sure it's still pretty hot out there).
>
>
>
>
>
> > Was wondering if progressive hip-hop and "The Hip-Hop
> > Lifestyle" is dying a slow death,or does this format have
> > more room to run. There is some circumstancial evidence to
>
> > this, but nothing firm. Are listeners tired of gangs,
> > hookers, shootings and thugs? Wondering if the pedulum is
> > swinging to the left of this to some sort of
> Urban/AC/Funk.
> > What do you think?
> >
> > This is an interesting read.
> >
http://www.akashicbooks.com/scars_excerpt.htm
> >
>
Thanks TJ for an inside look at Hip-Hop. Unfortunately, we are talking about Radio, and there is evidence that suburban teens are growing weary of Rap, per se. Suburban white teens are the listeners and buyers of this music. But there is contradictory evidence from Arbitron that the format is steady. That format is called "Urban". However, I believe the urban format is based heavily upon R & B, thus, we're back to where I started out here, with the premise that the 17-24 demo and the 18-24 demo is growing weary of hoods, thugs, hookers, and shootings. From the sounds of this, this was all the creation of large music corporations, and not what hip-hop was originally meant to be. So maybe we're talking about "Corporate Rap." But we still need some answers as a station in a major market might swing a little left of center here, but I am not totally convinced this would be a good move.
