Ever wondered if there was a sample people STILL couldn’t figure out? I have to be honest, this was one that I didn’t even realize was undiscovered. Maybe it’s because I like the song so much as is I just never really thought past how great this beat was.

Oliver Wang’s latest blog in the LA Times chronicles the “unearthing” of one of the last unknown sources of a hip-hop classic. Check it out here.

If you want to hear it for yourself, see the video below:

Well, I like this story quite a bit.

I’m all for victories for my hometown, even though I live in the “actual” Gotham City now.

This is definitely a bragging point.

“Ayo, Zach and Miri Make a Porno AND The Dark Knight II were filmed in the ‘Burgh, bro.”

A friend of mine and frequent collaborator, X-Clusive, just dropped this mixtape yesterday. I think you’ll enjoy this one; the kid goes hard. I know he’s been working on this one for a while and I’m proud of him to finally see it out. Head on over to datpiff.com to stream it and download it.

What have I been doing? Well, it’s a long story, but I’ve been in NYC diving head first into the audio engineering biz, among other things. I’m available for hire if you need me .

For now, stick to Twitter (or @BlackHoodieRap), and Black Hoodie Rap if you want to stay current with me.

Here’s Brandon and I’s latest Black Hoodie Rap music video. We’re very proud of this, as this is what we think a music video should look like. If you want to read more about the concept, go check out the entry on the BHR site.

(Side note: Just graduated from Northeastern a few weeks ago and am slowly getting settled into Brooklyn. As anyone who frequents this site knows, the best way to stay in touch is through the BHR blog, or here. I’ll be back here in full effect soon.)

*Insert everything Jay Smooth says here*

I don’t like being a straight co-signer, but I’m not sure I could have said it any better than Jay Smooth did. There really is nothing worse than the arrogantly uninformed person. It’s unfortunately one of the biggest flaws in the wider hip-hop community/consciousness (or lack thereof), and it will continue to be exploited until there is a big change.

I would have defended T-Pain because Sean Hannity is the type of bully that would treat an “endorsement” from an otherwise uninformed rapper as a game. It’s something you know he went home to tell his buddies about, in that “oh those rappers” tone.

“Hey Bill, guess who I got on camera today saying ‘Conservative Victory 2010?’”

Who Killed It?

While journalists in all facets of the industry argue about the future of their craft, hip-hop media has been one area of journalism that has almost entirely jumped shipped for anything online and digital.

In a lot of ways, the digital shift has reinvigorated the genre through the access it has granted. But for Chris Faraone, it didn’t really address a fundamental problem.

“Unfortunately, there’s never been a lot of good hip-hop journalism,” he said, “because the hip-hop community doesn’t understand what good journalism is.”

Chris Faraone

Faraone, a writer at the Boston Phoenix, is proudly a self declared old school journalist. Often seen carrying around a reporter’s notebook, with a pen in his ear, you know what you’re getting with him. He’s made his name by covering hip-hop for Spin, YRB, The Source, and the now defunct Elemental.

His characterization of hip-hop journalism isn’t without merit. From Benzino promoting his career as an artist through The Source while he still owned the magazine, to alleged affairs between artists and female writers on staff, the horror stories are well known. Let’s just say its been less than harmonious and respectable.

“A lot of groupie bitches got into it. Male and female,” Faraone said.

The problem with hip-hop journalism as Faraone and many others see it, is simple really. The bread and butter of the craft is the album review, or anything that discusses an artist’s music. The phenomenon became that some people had trouble seperating their fandom from being objective or offering any criticism. They were fanbois, as Faraone puts it. In other genres, it’s sometimes a badge of honor to have never given a good review.

“Some of the early stuff was written by straight white-voyeurs, the Rolling Stone magazines of the world, who went into the South Bronx and wrote about what they saw,” Faraone said.

The trend of hip-hop media migrating to blogs that provide more MP3’s than reviews would seem like the nail in the coffin to journalists of Faraone’s mold. In some instances, this view has been vindicated. The most relevant rap outlets to many are Nah Right, 2 Dope Boyz, and Rap Radar, and most do not resemble Faraone’s brand of journalism at all.

This new reality of content providing left many wondering where journalists fit into the equation. Faraone has hardly let this stop him.

A few years ago, he co-founded the popular Boston hip-hop blog Jump The Turnstyle, his stories are among the most read on the Boston Phoenix’s website, and he maintains a strong presence on Twitter and Facebook. Not bad for an “old school journalist.”

Perhaps we’re all a bit too unfair to “old school journalists” when discussing their ability to cope with new media and finding their place in it. Faraone could easily make you look silly if you dismiss him like that, as he talks about the internet as something exciting and full of new opportunities for journalists.

“Instead of feeling paralyzed, like I know a lot people do, you should feel completely liberated,” Faraone said, “the quality is up to you, especially if you don’t have an editorial process… The potential is fuckin’ limitless.”

Faraone’s optimism is not completely lost on the younger generation either.

Zach Cole, of Potholes in My Blog

Zach Cole is a 20 year old college student and co-founder of Potholes in My Blog, a popular hip-hop site that’s centered around its album reviews and written content.

When you speak to Cole about his approach to hip-hop journalism, it is not that different from Faraone’s. Like Faraone, Cole gets hundreds of emails per week from artists who are looking to get their music reviewed, and much like Faraone, Cole goes through every one of the requests.

“A lot of bloggers complain about that aspect of it, they don’t like getting hit up to listen to stuff. It’s understandable, but at the same time though, when you sign on to be a blogger, you accept a new responsibility that you are a tastemaker and you have a responsibility to take these requests and give it some kind of feedback. Otherwise, there’s not going to be any music progression. Somebody has to listen to that album,” Cole said.

Cole’s enterprising ways have earned him jobs reviewing music at Rhapsody and Urb Magazine.

Whether or not Cole’s personality and approach have been influenced by new media is hard to say. Talking to him however, you certainly get the feeling that he could be a rarity among the new generation (ie: my generation). A hopeless romantic maybe?

“Hip-hop journalism doesn’t really exist,” Faraone said shaking his head as we sat in the Quiznos next to Fenway Park.

I’m not sure I’m ready to give up quite yet though.

——-

Click Here for the feature photo set (Flickr)

To my non-NU Journalism Department readers (ie: most of you): this is an updated version of a similar story I posted a few weeks ago. The story you just read is a modified version for Dan Kennedy’s class. Feel free to comment or dispute either!

Don’t they know a certain activity owns the market on that word?

Chris and I met up nearly a month ago to discuss the past, present and future of hip-hop journalism for a story I was writing for class. He has always epitomized to me what an old school journalist embodies (a rarity in hip-hop reporting), so I figured that as far as the Boston scene goes, I didn’t have to look much farther than him.

These are some highlights from our conversation that didn’t necessarily make the final story, but definitely needed to be put out there. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Journalists clearly love their craft and their business (or what’s left of it). The problem is that most journalists are stubborn. For instance, they have to know that in a global sense, there is a need for their skills. Heck, this is the argument of most print-journalists who rally against the internet. So how does that make them stubborn? Well, there’s plenty of opportunities to pursue that utilize the same skills they covet so much. But they don’t pursue these opportunities.

Every day, I hear journalism industry outsiders advocate for our skill-set and things we could be doing. Even today, Dan Gregory of Northeastern’s Entrepreneurship faculty advocated for the skills journalists bring to the table in entrepreneurial ventures. He gave a bunch of case studies that show that journalists have skills in the workforce that place them in the upper percentile of desired labor.

Here’s an easy one: Familiarity with use of a communications mediums can land you a job in a marketing department.

It’s tough though, because many journalists just want to be writers. They want to report and chase the story, and all these “side hustles” just divert from that. Maybe it’s not the answer journalists are looking for, but it’s the only lead anyone has right now.

Who knows, maybe people are pursuing these opportunities and they don’t pan out. It’s a desperate economy with desperate people.

If I may make a plea to all the intelligent, thoughtful people who label themselves journalists: can we get a little less of this “self help” mentality as it relates to journalism? Sometimes I feel like all you guys do anymore is tell me how to save the industry.

The discussion is a valuable one, but if some of you split your time a wee bit more, and embraced the tactics of a WikiLeaks, maybe you would have gotten the scoop before them.

All this self-help talk of how to save journalism is really the biggest turn-off about journalism to me these days. I’ll be damned if this blog ends up as one of them…