Hip Hop Stories (for the Record)
Ranked #9,805 in Music, #260,923 overall
On Hip Hop Music Culture, Past and Present
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Histories
roots, genesis
Freedom of Expression
Hip-hop thrived in the 1970s long before the record industry paid attention; this also had a lot to do with the recent affordability of cassette recorders. During this time, the only way to hear hip-hop music was at live performances in South Bronx parks, public-school gyms, small nightclubs, or on boom boxes. DJs and crews sold dubbed copies of their live performances, and their fans copied these cassettes-passing them on from friend to friend, acquaintance to acquaintance. "Around 1977," said DJ Disco Wiz, "we used to record all our battles. Every party we had we always had a boom box on the side, and we used to record what we did and who we did it to. And those things used to sell-we used to sell them in high school." Jazzy Jay, an MC in Afrika Bambaataa's Soulsonic Force, boasted, "I mean, we had tapes that went platinum before we was even involved with the music industry." An exaggerating Grandmaster Flash said that tapes of his performances sold at "a buck a minute."Hip-hop prospered because of the wide diffusion of bootlegged tapes. This is true for hip-hop even today, because record companies frequently leak exclusive tracks to popular DJs who make and sell illegal mix-tapes. Giving away tracks that float around the underground mix-tape circuit is a way of promoting up-and-coming artists and building buzz for an established act's new record. "At first," said Rob Love, an executive at the seminal hip-hop label Def Jam, "I was anti-mix-tape, because I thought it was stealing and I thought that the resale of [the recordings] did not benefit the artist." But Love changed his mind when he realized mix-tapes were extremely effective promotional tools; the success of mix-tape favorite (and others) demonstrates this. Even Metallica, in the early 1980s, directly benefited from the unauthorized trading of their tapes, an irony that would rear its ugly head years later.
Reproduced from - Freedom of Expression: Overzealous Copyright Bozos and Other Enemies of Creativity by Kimbrew McLeod licensed under a Creative Commons License. Additional link editing by lensmaster David Holmes.
Hip-Hop Playlists
Playlists are the Internet version of mixtapes. Use this Plexo to share links to hip-hop tracks and mixes.
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Homemadejam.Muxtape.com
An introduction to various hip hop artists.0 points
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Old School Hip Hop #2-NYC Style
Stream or download this playlist by DJ Diva-The MI more...0 points
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Blentwell.com - the peoples dj mixset link collective - Genre:hip-hop
Hundreds of mixes mostly in MP3 format.0 points
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DatPiff :: The Authority in Free Mixtapes
Thousands of free R&B/Hip-Hop mixtapes to stre more...0 points
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MuxFind: Muxtape Discovery
A search engine for finding user-created Muxtapes more...0 points
Hip Hop Films
Share your favorite Hip Hop movies on video and DVD.
Scratch: Hip Hop DJ Documentary (DVD)
A feature-length film that explores the world of t more...0 points
The Freshest Kids - A History of the B-Boy (DVD)
A comprehensive history of B-Boying, its evolution more...0 points
Style Wars: Graffiti (DVD)
A documentary that tracks the rise and fall of sub more...0 points
Tupac - Resurrection (Full Screen Edition DVD)
A look at Tupac's short, full life from beginning more...0 points
Hip Hop Portals
- History of Hip Hop - Mahalo
- Hand-selected links to articles and media focusing on historical developments, timelines, people, etc.
- Hip-Hop Categories - Mahalo
- Mahalo is a human-powered search engine. This page provides access to all categorized "Hip-Hop" search results. (Links to popular artists).
- The Hip Hop Portal - Wikipedia
- A useful entry-point to Wikipedia content on Hip Hop music and culture including articles, images and media.
Book Spotlight
Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists
Amazon Price: $13.44 (as of 02/17/2012)![]()
Anthology of Hip Hop history with facts, trivia and lists for everything imaginable.
Hip Hop Books
Share your favorite Hip Hop books.
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Home Girls Make Some Noise!: Hip-hop Feminism Anthology by Gwendolyn D. Pough
An in-depth look at the attitudes, roles and stori more...0 points
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Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation by Jeff Chang, D.J. Kool Herc
Tells many less-told stories to create a picture o more...0 points
Remix Culture
sampling arts, cultural trends
Remix Stories
Narratives, reports, events, definitions, developments, tools and initiatives associated with Remix Culture.
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Freedom of Expression: Overzealous Copyright Bozos and Other Enemies of Creativity by Kimbrew McLeod
A book documenting the battle between Open traditi more...0 points
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Remix Theory
Research by Eduardo Navas focusing on material rel more...0 points
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The Genesis of Hip Hop - Big Think
Rising from an abandoned city, hip hop captured th more...0 points
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Samplinglaw.com
Opinions and facts about sampling, turntablism, sa more...0 points
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6 Ways That Bloggers are Like Rappers | Copyblogger
Bloggers and rappers are pretty much the same peop more...0 points
Sampling Resources
Social Media
auctions, blogs, bookmarks, tweets
eBay - Hip Hop Culture
Blog Buzz
- ASAP Rocky: Harlem Rapper Says Homophobia in Hip-Hop Is 'Retarded'
- Musically, the 23-year-old's dexterous east coast-meets-Houston-chopped-'n'-screwed vibe is proving to be a fresh new angle for hip-hop heads. What might be just as interesting is the man born Rakim Mayers' willingness to question some of the macho ...
- Dave Grohl apologizes for his Grammy speech, reaches out to hip-hop and ...
- Many blog-dwellers felt his acceptence speech ? in which he praised ?the human element? in music, as opposed to the type made on computer ? was a slur against electronic music makers, as well as hip-hop creators. They also felt it made Grohl look ...
- Nicki Minaj Is the Hip-Hop Queen on February / March Vibe Cover
- Heavy is the head that wears the hip-hop crown, but Minaj does it effortlessly. She is the undisputed queen of hip-hop in 2012. Minaj is also largely covered up in this image, wearing a silver and white, flowy and sheer tunic-type top.
- Vibe Hip-Hop Expert Weighs In On #7 'Hottest MC' Meek Mill
- There's been plenty of controversy about the order of the list so far, but in addition to fans, MTV News also got experts from the hip-hop community to weigh in on some of the Hottest MCs. Vibe Magazine's editorial director, Datwon Thomas gave his two ...
Hip Hop Blogs
Share your favorite blogs.
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Cocaine Blunts & Hip Hop Tapes
A popular MP3 blog specializing in rare hip-hop tr more...0 points
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FROM DA BRICKS
Hip hop audioblog covering the best that the genre more...0 points
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Unkut.com - A Tribute To Ignorance (Remix)
Focusing on underground and old school artists tha more...0 points
Bling for Blogs
Twitter Posts
Hip Hop tweets
Twitter Music Lenses
YouTube Videos
shortcuts to short stories
Hip-Hop Videos
Viral Videos
Images
every picture tells a story
Graffiti Books
Graphics Collections
Party Flyers
A WRITING on the WALL - Urban graphics Flickr group.
Brithop
British developments
Ruthless Rap Assassins
Monie Love
Shout Box
comments, music lenses
Shout Box Comments
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therichlawfirm Feb 7, 2012 @ 9:55 pm | delete
- The old school turntables remind me of how influential and massive hip-hop music back in the 90's. It really brought out the passion of lots of listeners. Simply too far to be par with the current scene. Ensure your rights with Tampa Bay DWI Lawyer today!
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YMCrew
Jan 18, 2012 @ 1:11 am | delete
- What I really like about the old hip-hop scene was their undeniable dedication of the artists to their chosen culture. Their passion is just so intense and on very high level unlike the what is going on in the present. Keep sharing cool lens and peace out! Boost your page with business marketing online strategy Tampa now!
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KatieRyan
Jan 16, 2012 @ 9:33 pm | delete
- Hip-hop music scene at present isn't at par with the scene during the late 80's up to late 90's. The passion of every hip-hop artist during those times can be pretty much observed with their written lyrics.
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AlexaB
Jan 11, 2012 @ 2:57 am | delete
- When I first think of hip-hop, in depth lyricism and vinyl turntables come into my mind. Not auto-tune and garbage lyrics which the present hip-hop scene is giving. Up for this cool lens!
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JadeMitchell
Jan 10, 2012 @ 10:14 pm | delete
- Old-school hip-hop is way different with the present hip-hop music scene. The latter seems nothing but mostly sellouts. It may sound too much but sad to say that it's the truth. This lens should be a wake up call to all the present hip-hop music artists. Cheers!
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by DavidHolmes
David Holmes is a Blogger and Digital Curator focusing on Internet Music, Open Content and Social Media: Follow @davidholmes
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