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Friday, February 08, 2002

By Sarah Lolley

In any music genre there are hardcore fans who frequent independent music stores, and those who never get past MTV and the radio.

As in rock 'n' roll, there is a dimension to hip-hop not represented among suburban consumers and sales charts. Ask local hip-hop figures and they'll tell you that underground sales of hip-hop are making a comeback, and that, yes, people are tired of what they hear on the radio and look to more traditional artists. And no, gangsta rap will always be popular even if it means buying bootlegs.

"Hip-hop is not what it used to stand for. It's just entertainment," explains WAMO disc jockey Nick Nice. "Videos and lyrics depict a decadent life that people can't relate to. This becomes a problem when young people become 'thugs' to be cool and end up hurting people ... this turns off a lot of people. At concerts people don't come out because of the 'thug' attitude they bring."

For example, last fall a fight and gunfire split up a Jadakiss show after rumors of the rapper not showing spread in an overcrowded South Side club. But this is not the only side of the story. Beanie Segal and Cormega played the Homewood Stadium and Ghostface Killah played at Club Laga without incident.

Whether or not violent rap on the streets promotes gang behavior is still up for debate. "The powers that be would like to be tired of gangsta rap," says whole name?Khalil Brentley, owner of Khalil's Music Emporium in East Liberty's. "But they're still going platinum underground. People come in the store and ask if [a CD] is hot or banging" -- meaning that it represents a thuggish, tough image young people try to imitate.

At the same time, it is evident is that the hardcore hip-hop community recognizes the effects of fame and money that changed rappers like Jay-Z and Puff Daddy. The Wu Tang Clan and Nas had commercial success with their first albums that struck people with their street-reporting style and innovative beats. But artists who continue to rehash the same line and live in mansions distance themselves from fans and the culture.

According to Deejay Selecta, owner of East Liberty's 720 Records, video killed the hip-hop artist. "The golden era of hip-hop was 1988 to 1992. [Now] people don't want to hear a message or politics," he says. "Real hip-hop has been stagnant for years. Hip-hop has become escapism." Sales went to gangsta rap after the heyday of conscious rappers like De La Soul, Roots and Tribe Called Quest. The platinum record sales and flashy pop images became the accepted form of the culture.

Iconic artist and speaker KRS-ONE epitomizes the schools of hip-hop that split the genre when it became widely popular. "Criminal Minded" in 1987 depicted violent street imagery that told people about life on streets in order to educate not promote the behavior. His current release, "Spiritual Minded," melds gospel and traditional beats with a message to raise you out of that lifestyle, a far cry from popular gangsta rap. His albums, however, still go gold.

At Brave New World Record store, Craig Street, Oakland, which carries only "conscious" or thought-provoking punk, metal and hip-hop, underground sales have increased. "For the type of hip-hop we sell it is growing in general," says store manager Spahr Schmitt. For instance, you can probably find De La Soul but not Blink-182.

In defining what is underground, Schmitt explains the term is misleading. "All of hip-hop is underground. Mainstream represents what is commercially viable. Underground hip-hop is traditional hip-hop and not being promoted and sold commercially ... I think people are getting tired of commercial hip-hop.

"In terms of sales, the entire industry took a hit. A lot of records that have come out in the last three to five months have been subpar records that don't meet sales expectations," says Schmitt. "It has more to do with the integrity and sincerity lacking and I think the fans knew it."

College radio DJ at WRCT, Andrew Burger says, "Last year Jay-Z was bought by real hip-hop heads because he started his career classically. Then success and producers started transforming his image into a commercial product." In the past 10 years, artists who want to maintain creative freedom started indie labels.

They sell records in the hundreds of thousands on the streets, and continue to upset the norm in the charts. Soul Aquarians, a progressive collective of artists that includes Bilal, Mos Def, Q-Tip, D'Angelo and Erykah Badu prove hip-hop is multifaceted and not all gangsters and gold chains. The changing face of hip-hop are artists like Alicia Keyes and Jill Scott who introduce soul and jazz as a crossover from traditional bass-pumping chords. They are still considered hip-hop because they are part of the culture not a category.

For Brian Brick, a hardcore fan of hip-hop and owner of Time Bomb, "The state of hip-hop is always going to be good. People listened to hip-hop because it's a culture. You can't stop a culture."

Sarah Lolley is a free-lance writer.