[Local Music] So we've gotten a lot of heat recently over our apparent loose grasp on Salt Lake City hip hop. The response has mostly been of the "you like such and such band therefore you know nothing about hip hop" to the more thoughtful "Suck it City Weekly." Right. Not very helpful. Perhaps you could enlighten us: Who are you absolutely loving right now? Who deserves some attention in the paper? Oh, and Mugshots, I'm waiting for you to come down to CW headquarters. The invite is still open. (Jamie Gadette)
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Hip Hop Don't Stop
[Local Music] So we've gotten a lot of heat recently over our apparent loose grasp on Salt Lake City hip hop. The response has mostly been of the "you like such and such band therefore you know nothing about hip hop" to the more thoughtful "Suck it City Weekly." Right. Not very helpful. Perhaps you could enlighten us: Who are you absolutely loving right now? Who deserves some attention in the paper? Oh, and Mugshots, I'm waiting for you to come down to CW headquarters. The invite is still open. (Jamie Gadette)
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If you're going to run hip hop reviews they should at least be done by someone with a basic understanding of the culture outside of indy or underground hip hop. There's a huge problem if your main point of hip hop reference is Aesop Rock or Atmosphere...
ReplyDeleteand how has concise kilgore never been interviewed or mentioned in CW? HE's one of two (including Adverse) SLC hip hop artists that continually tour out of the state. Hell, he's even toured Europe, but you'll highlight the Deadbeats, in the very same issue that you include a Slammy ballot? That screams of favortism. Plus, instead of focusing on the scene in that interview, why didn't you actually ask questions related to the Deadbeats music? I'd be upset about that if I were them. It's like the interviewer was trying to dig up some non existant story on why hip hop is the way it is. What a dumb way to position an interview!
I guess I'm naive, but I always thought it should be the journalists job in seeking out the information.
It's not our fault that the CW staff doesn't step outside of their comfort zone to investigate what else slc hip hop has to offer. And no, it's not all aggressive, but even if it was, that's a corner stone for what helped create hip hop in the first place!!!!
OH SNAP!
ReplyDeleteDudes got a point.. Concise, Adverse, Day-O, SamEyeAm, Latu and most importantly Brisk (Who produces records for emcees all over the US) Never get any love.
ReplyDeleteAll these guys have all been around for well over 10 years and in hip hop it's all about paying your dues.
When old hip hop heads see these fly-by-night groups who started listening to hip hop three weeks ago getting a music feature.. it's a little hard for CW to gain credibility in the SLC Hip Hop community.
However, CW DOES opens up a lot of doors for the up and coming musician and if you don't believe/acknowledge that your kidding yourself.. It would just be nice to see these older dudes get a little recognition once and a while..
Paying dues is more than how long you've been doing it. Paying dues also means putting in the work.
ReplyDeleteThere's plenty of artists in the scene that have been 'doing' it for 10 plus years with little to no musical output (IE albums, live shows etc).
Fly by night groups are entitled to coverage if their talents are deserving.
first of all, I can understand and respect the view points presented here, however...
ReplyDeleteI'd venture to say that if the artists in the scene that are feeling neglected submitted music for review and put themselves out there more, they'd most likely get more coverage in the local media. It's up to the individual artist to let people know what they're up to. You can't expect the world to come find you and put you under a spot light. Self Promotion is key in this. There are so many talented hip hop artists of all styles in our state, but there are few that really push to keep their names out there. Another thing to consider is that some artists don't make their presence locally much of a priority. If these artists are touring the world, I doubt they're really all that concerned about a write up in a alt. weekly in their home town. No artist is automatically entitled to press coverage simply because they are from here and make music. If we don't like the way things are we have to be proactive and make moves. my 2 cents
Thanks for all the feedback!
ReplyDeleteThanks for actually providing some names for us to pursue!! That's helpful.
I don't expect people to come to us, but they are more likely to get covered if they make themselves known.
You want your album reviewed? Mail it to me OR just come down here to City Weekly. I don't bite. Easy as that. You have a record. Send it to me. I'll review it.
I try to get out there as much as possible, but I also have to keep up on the new/old metal, blues, alt-country, indie, noise, acoustic, singer/songwriters, reggae (which I could use some help on), DJs, electronic,goth/industrial/darkwavegroups, and other artists who are making great music as well. I think it's awesome that SLC has such a diverse music scene.
Yes, it's my job to keep up on the local scene. It's also my job to keep up on the national scene and pack it into three pages every week. I totally appreciate suggestions. I just get offended when people act like we're just a bunch of idiots with typewriters who know nothing about music. Why on earth would I do this job if I didn't love music? And you know, if you want to get coffee or a beer and have me go into detail the different styles of various artists, I can do it all night long. I can't, however, write it in 100 words. Sorry.
I spend each and every day trying to learn more. Let's work together on this.
And if you want to try your hand at writing, email me or come down here. Pitch some ideas! I'm always open to new writers.
Thanks
Nice...first the Slammys page @ www.slweekly.com, and now this. Well...my work's done here...for now...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jamie!
love,
Biff
I'm also glad that people remember the Deadbeats article so well!
ReplyDeleteWell, its not like there are that many hip hop related feature articles...and in the case of the Deadbeats article, it was actually remembered for not-so-good reasons...
ReplyDeleterrrrriiiiight...let's see if any change really does happen.
ReplyDelete