Rap Beef

Rap beef is when two or more rappers become enemies and usually create songs “dissing” each other.  This is arguably the most entertaining form of rap. This goes back to the essence of hip-hop, the battle.  A battle is when two MCs (or rappers) compete by taking turns rapping and then a winner is decided. The objective of this competition is to rhyme while being creative and witty. My opinion is that battles and beef are more entertaining because you have to be better than someone else instead of making arbitrary songs. Your round in a battle is being directly compared to your opponent’s round. Your “diss” song is also being directly compared to your opponent’s. I feel that the level of competition brings out the best in each artist.

In today’s society “rap beef” has taken a turn for the worse. Most rappers today are considered to be gangsters. They make music filled with so many guns and so much violence that when a situation occurs they feel that they have a image to uphold. Upholding this image often leads to lives being lost.  Many people attribute “rap beef” to the deaths of the (arguably) two greatest rappers ever, Tupac and Notorious Big. This beef was not only a beef between the rappers, but it became a east coast versus west coast civil war in the hip-hop community.

This is not always the case. There are battle rap leagues, such as URLTV, where people compete strictly for entertainment, and after the battle the MCs shake hands and go on with their lives. Lots of times these events can get personally and out of hand, but the majority of the beef that goes on is for entertainment.

A gangster persona is what helps a lot of these guys become successful, but it can also be what can get these guys killed. In the music industry there is a thin line between business and personal because they are in the lime light 24/7 and their personal life becomes business.

My advice to rappers is to treat “rap beef” as a sport. Try to be better than the other person, make good music, and keep the “beef” in your music. This will keep this aspect of hip-hop alive and will keep our people alive as well.

                                                                                                                                                           

Death to the Music Industry

Will the music industry die? My parents, my friends, and many others think that the music industry will eventually die out. They believe that music will become a mere hobby for those who love it, but the professional/business aspects of the music industry will be no more. Many skeptics think that because of file sharing and illegal downloads that the music industry will never be the powerhouse that it once was, I disagree. After researching the industry, because I am concerned about its future, I realized that this is not the first time the industry was on the decline and the reasons for this decline is very similar to the reasons in the past.  I came across an article titled, “Who Killed The Music Industry,” by Stephen Deusner, and he explains that this has happened before. Record companies were furious when the radio was created. All of there music was being played for free and the industry was on the decline. The music industry turned a negative into a positive. They used copyright laws so that the music that was played on the radio was limited so you would still have to purchase the music to hear everything. And they also turned the radio into the biggest marketing tool for them to advertise their music. And it seems that every time a new technology is introduced to the music industry there is a pattern of decline and regulation that will get the music industry back on its feet.

History repeats itself. In today’s society, technology has allowed us to share files and download music illegally. We are very capable of catching people who download music illegally but the problem is that there are so many people doing it that it is hard to regulate. In the near future there will be new legislation that controls file sharing and illegal downloads. When the government and music industry get control on file sharing, you will see a huge increase in record sales across the board. Music has been here since the beginning of times and will be here forever. It influences us, it effects our moods, and for lots of people determines how they will live their lives. The music industry will never die because it is to powerful. 

World Star Hip Hop

WorldStarHipHop is the most popular website on the Internet for hip-hop and urban culture. This website is full of music, blogs, fights, and content that some might consider to be pornographic. Sex, drugs, money, and guns are reoccurring themes on this website.  Each post on the website is in video form, so it gives you something to look at to keep your attention. Friends of mine call it “current events for the hood,” which I found funny because, according to Worldstar’s wiki page, the creator of the site says that it is “CNN of the hood.” This website is very entertaining. The website also contains content that is informational. There might be presidential debate footage on there to get young people to vote. There are motivational videos on the site. Success stories are also common on the site. WorldStarHipHop  has also been a huge marketing tool for the entertainment industry.  It also helps the fans keep up with what is going in the lives of celebrities (similar to the tabloids). The entertainment industry post music videos (some of which are too graphic to show on television), video blogs, concerts, interviews and other types of promotional information to the site and due to the amount of traffic it is very beneficial for the artist. I am from Detroit and one of our local rap groups named, “Doughboyz Cashout,” have lots of videos posted on this website.  When I go out of town, or meet people from out of town they ask me about them.  The first question I ask is how did you hear about them, their answer usually is from WorldStarHipHop.

The down side of the website is that it also exploits African Americans. It makes every African American male look like a “thug,” every female look promiscuous, and it makes every African American person look “ghetto.” There is an abundance of ignorant videos that are there for entertainment purposes, but they make the African American culture look bad.  For these reasons, a website called Abovetopsecret.com wants the site to be banned. They portrait the bad stereotypes and degrade African American people.  Lots of people feel that it does not degrade them that it is just entertainment. With that being said, WorldStarHipHop is the “one stop shop” for urban entertainment on the Internet.