Apathy vs. prosperity: the NW Hip Hop forum
Jenna Montgomery
Daily Staff
Last Sunday’s Northwest Hip Hop Forum at the Showbox had auras of business and camaraderie, but seldom did the two mix. Producers, accountants, and musicians milled among the members of their separate crews, asking each other, “Who you with? Have you checked in yet?” Seeing this disunity and battle of attitudes, one might wonder how much of a hip hop community Seattle actually has.
The forum had two panels in the afternoon. The first was for people to discuss issues relevant to the hip hop community. The second was an opportunity for unsigned performers to get advice from professionals in the recording industry. Promoters of new releases, magazines such as Ill Tip and The Flavor, and Channel 29 (Public Access) set up booths outside the auditorium.
The first panel opened at noon with organizer and mediator, Robert Brewer of Crazy Pinoy Productions, who sounded optimistic about the shape of hip hop in Seattle and surrounding areas. “1996 is going to be a very prosperous and successful year for a lot of people out there,” he said.
This optimism seems to be a shared feeling within the community, but contrary to the love and unity hip hop is known for, problems arise in competing genres of hip hop. When the b-boys (hip-hoppers) identify themselves with gansta rap, funk, the East or West coast style, etc., they perpetuate this division, and according to Robert Redwine of Wine Time Productions, slow the success of the hip hop industry.
“There are rivalries going on in the rap scene, East against West,” said Redwine. “Rap started on the East coast, and I think it’s good to be diversified with music, so let’s respect each other. There’s so much hatred going on in Seattle, we’re not going to be a major scene unless we get off of this hatred thing.”
People in the audience stepped up to the microphone, angered by the general apathy they receive from the 21-and-over clubs and record companies who don’t put any effort into the work of these b-boys.
Source of Labor’s Blahzey Blah commented, “We’ve got to build within ourselves first, make sure that your team is all the way correct because if I’m coming after you for info, you better believe that I’ve got something to give. If you expect someone to love you, you have to be able to prove that you can love them back in a sense of what you’re doing. Don’t be involved in the scene if you are not an open and pliable resource for the artist. If you are not accessible to us, then you are nothing to us. All of you dropping cards, names, lists – drop some availability, you know what I’m saying?”
One man from the audience, Jace, stood up to say, “I’m hearing this, ‘They won’t let us.’ Well, what are you waiting for? It ain’t no easy walk-in, I been in this business for ten years, been to the East coast and seen how they respect us, been down to LA and the Bay and seen how they respect us. They don’t, and you know why? Cause we ain’t puttin’ it out.”
At one point in the forum, everyone turned to somebody else to shake hands and say, “What’s up?” and “What’s happenin’?” to demonstrate the unity and spirit hip hop strives for. Cuteness and fronting pushed aside, respect and love briefly took over the room.
“I think a lot of people are gettin’ off here, we’ve got two conflicting ideas going on,” said another participant. “We say this is a forum on hip hop, then we say this is business. Hip hop is not business. If we’re tryin’ to talk business or how to be an MC – I’m not an MC, I’m just a person. I’m just tryin’ to do my own thing and if we’re goin’ to have a forum on business, I’m like, ‘Fuck that! Go to a library.’ I’m talking about the impulse that drives hip hop. I’m talking about waking up in the morning and reading how they killin’ niggas. That’s the unity, the frustration that we feel and all that. So when people come up here complainin’ about how they can’t play in the clubs, it’s not about tryin’ to gain acceptance. Shit, accept yourself! Everybody’s going to respect you. It’s not about comin’ here and shaking hands, it’s about saying, ‘Goddamn! What is goin’ on?’ That’s the stuff I want to see discussed if we’re gonna have a forum about hip hop.”
By the end of the day, everyone was ready to kick back, relax and listen to the local artists lined up for the show. At seven, the DJ rolled into action and a heavy bass beat boomed from the speakers. Everything was running smoothly save a few technical problems (the audience shouted at the performers, the performers cussed at the “sound man”). Heads began to bop and hands waved in the air to the music of T Love, Beyond Reality, Source of Labor, Spice E (this woman has an incredible talent for freestyle), Profits of Truth, and Infinite Narcotic.
The evening ended on a positive note, but many remained uninspired. We can only wait and see what happens to hip hop in Seattle. Until then, you can check out what’s going on now by listening to KCMU’s Rap Attack on Sunday evenings, reading hip hop magazines, and going to local clubs like the Metropolis, Aardvark and the Weathered Wall.
University of Washington hip hop is alive son!