“Blogs Are The DJ 2.0.”
GENERAL By Gotty™ on July 16, 2008 at 11:35 am
Jermaine Dupri was off base when he said the DJ is dead.
In Hip-Hop, the DJ will never die.
The DJ is one of the pillars on which Hip-Hop was built, even coming before the MC. The DJ is as essential to rap as the guitar is to rock, as brass & woodwinds are to jazz. That role could never be filled by technological advances. And of course, bloggers will never show up @ the local club to spin records & provide commentary along with each track. Hell, bloggers generally don’t leave the house, do they?
But there was a time when the music played by Clue, Kay Slay, Drama, and other top tier DJs would be the “hot” song or sound for the coming weeks & months. If Flex dropped bombs over it, it was official. If Kay Slay brought it back two or three times & dropped one of his signature catchphrases, it was official. No questions asked. Even if it was new & you weren’t in tune with it, you listened to it several times to get your ass in tune, especially for those of us who breathe the music & not just listen to it.
When you think of Web 2.0 and relate it to where you receive your doses of what’s next, where do you go to get those songs & to whose suggestions do you listen? With the overwhelming amount of crap material out there, who do you look to for help sifting through it? When you want an unfiltered, non-payola opinion on an album or artist, who do you turn to?
Bloggers.
Many of us are members of some online forum where we stay current with the e-pulse to see who or what’s hot in music. You may check for _______ (insert blog name here) to clue you in and/or put the music on your plate. You might come see us for suggestions…or you might find your way into the comments section to exchange new material with like-minded people whose choices you’ve found to be correct before. Either way you end up online, normally on some blog, looking for it.
And that same boat is filled with it’s share of artists as well. Years prior, a new cat looking to get on would be happy to be featured a Clue tape, even @ the end. While the hand-to-hand “listen to my demo” process will never die between little artists, bigger artists & DJs, many upstart musicians have turned to more accessible online avenues like Myspace and Youtube. They incorporate email blasts into their grind, making sure to cultivate a mailing list of sites & bloggers. These upstarts know that if they’re featured on those sites they’ll gain new listeners much faster than they could otherwise. Why? Because bloggers have the ears for the new artists and a direct pipeline to perfectly matched audiences around the globe. And once the e-avant garde deems it worthy, larger avenues & flocks of followers preach it as the gospel.
So do you still check for the DJ? Do you run to the barbershop or the swap meet to cop the latest mixtapes in hopes of hearing the next big thing in good music? Or are you the one now going into the barbershop selling burned cds and tellin’ them what to listen for?
Let’s face it: For new shit, you’re more likely to go to eskay than Kay Slay.
“Blogs Are The DJ 2.0.”
And that’s the truth Ruth.
Previously Posted — “You’ve Turned An Icon Into A Bust It Baby?’
Posted in GENERAL, SMOKE BREAK — Tags: DJs, The DJ 2.0, Web 2.0
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46 Comments
preums! big ups to tss from paris!
*Goes to look for “Do The Right Thing” DVD immediately*
wow…
dope perspective.
i was just reading a new textbook written by Trackstar the DJ about how DJ’ing began…
how it started with the DJ and the MC was his sidekick…then that dynamic started to change.
hard to stomach all of these changes that are all happening so fast.
it’s hard to learn to embrace change and flow with it…
I don’t know about blogs being the “new dj” dude. If the dj’s didn’t make mixtapes with new bangers for download a lot of these “blogs” wouldn’t have jack-shit to post. Still, hiphop is street-culture and regardless of all the advances in technology, changes as to how music is distributed and sold, and music industry related issues, you still need the streets to know what is dope. I use the net to discover new stuff, but at the same time I hit the block, record stores, and bootleg spots to stay up on my music. If anything, blogs are the new record execs.
Maybe thew new “Mixtape DJ”. A place to get all the new music 1st. And that’s coming from a former mixtape DJ turned blogger
but not the new DJ
The blogosphere embraces a certain kind of artist..the uber-cool-smart kinda artist
They don’t break the streets tho. They never truly supported artists like Young Jeezy. And he was born right in the middle of blog mania. Nor do they have any control over the clubs
The DJ filtered out the music, labeled it hot/not & was the point-man for labels to send their stuff in order to get it to the people, whether they be in the streets or otherwise.
Take a wild guess the # of mp3s & dl links I get in my inbox per day lol? How many albums hit my PO box?
I’m tellin yo, it’s not that the dj is dead b/c again, nobody wants me to be the personality that’s rockin a party. But, whereas before the DJ was THE man, his role or maybe the power of it had been split w/bloggers.
Disagree b/c that depends on your area. Outside of their immediate region, I FULLY remember speaking on & saying that cats like Jeezy, Plies & Ross would have staying power before anybody on the streets were even whispering about those dudes.All-Star, Yola, I can name quite a few lessers who got their share of burn here.
Only one I split w/the streets on was Boosie & that’s cause I chose Webbie lol.
I guess in a way, again depending on the person, the blogs are the streets. I know I’m out & not online all day, searching myspace or no shit. Barbershop, mall, whatever. & on a daily, I interact w/teenagers, who really are the ones determing if these artists actually do catch on so I see how they react to shit once they find it on their own as compared to what “somebody said online”.
Just my experiences.
aiight, but look..
i, like most well informed street cats,
dont really need any one to tell us wuts dope or not..
we usually pride our selves, as good muzik listeners,
as the ones who tell the people wuts poppin or not .
but wut the inner-net has done..is given us an extra outlet
to find hard to find stuff….be it muzik or other-wize..
me myself i enjoying reading the comments of other like-minded folk…and who doesn’t love gossip.??….
thats the other reason why i “stay-tuned” ..
because lets face it we all love a good controversy ..
and when sum one in our scopes is in sum sh*t..
where else can U git the newz in a faster-pace at ???
ya feel me….but i fux wit sites like this one because of the un bias opinions i can git besides the fact that cats do try to promote they sh*t here hard body…and when cats is hungry..your bound to find good muzik in there sumwhere..
in a way i do feel the Ol’ DJ lyfe style has diminished..
but to a smaller role..
not necessarily…
extinct completely yet….
but more and more becoming less relevant ..
and i blame that on the new school not just technology…
these cats aint got nuttin to grind on, to wurk wit, if for a hobby alone, back then DJ’s just did it in they hood because they had a passion for it…
you dont really see that any more…..
but who knows…..
maybe if a DJ got creative and
offered sum thing much more, ???
much more then just a CD wit new Muzik…???
like Bloggers DJ have their own way of thinking, and if DJ’s were hungry still..
they might find a way…
like the Old Saying Goes…
“WHERE THERE’S A WILL……..
THERE’S A WAY” !!!
@ Gotty: Real talk, I guess based on where you live or with whom you speak greatly determines ones opinion on the matter. Still, one thing is for sure the blogs are here to stay and their clout is only going to get bigger, more respected, and harder to ignore.
ps: TSS is still major, KING of the blogs!!!
Dope. I agree. I’m new to blogging this year, but not new to the DJ game….so how bout a DJ/blogger….that’s 2 birds wit one stone…if you feel me….
http://www.djbackside.com
and go.
“Even if it was new & you weren’t in tune with it, you listened to it several times to get your ass in tune, especially for those of us who breathe the music & not just listen to it.”
haha, well said.
I can see what you’re sayin with the blogger bein the new DJ but I don’t think the DJ has diminished enough for bloggers to have replaced DJs. (nor do I think they ever will). But the fact that even record companies and artists acknowledge and use blogs to their advantage, and the fact that we’re seeing it done more and more does prove that blogs are becoming a new force in hip-hop and hip-hop marketing. So maybe not THE new DJ, but a new TYPE of DJ. Like you said, even upcoming artists look at being featured on a blog almost, if not just as good, as being featured on a mixtape.
On a side note, Gotty, what area are you from?
@ Killa Kweenz: More real talk, dj’s need more passion in this day and age.
I got passion!!!!!
See the exclamation points???
Lol
Everyones got great perspectives. Blogs are definitely a big part of the game now and only gettin bigger…
@ 500 Flea :
No doubt….ya see when i was coming up
DJ’s did it wit an ART…
they mixed or Blended…they Scratched more often…
especially when the song was DOPE in their eyes.
they usta put it in wurk…
U know? they had a greater passion than nowa days…
now cats just see the glitter and thats all they want….
never mind earning it…..
respect all wayz comes to those who wurk hard, and wurk hard frum the heart..
Bloggers do have a Passionfor it….
for if they didn’t they wouldn’t be Bloggin ’bout it….
and i do see more Blogging now…
so that could def. mean that its
a promotional tool for up and coming artist…
and if studied im sure thats wut you’ll find..
cats who aint in a musically inclined area
do make haste of it….
becasue that just might very well be
their only way to git heard..
and if ya hungry…you will go at any and every avenue
at your disposal …..so…big ups to those that still have Passion for it….
no matter the media form you use !!!
Someone hit me up on “Crack”space and requested this joint.
Chi-Ali – The Fabulous Chi-Ali (1992)
http://www.zshare.net/download/53857150bea0dd/
Pass: blackstars
@500K Flea – without the DJ, bloggers would have nothing to post? A lot of bloggers are getting the exact same joints DJs are getting… the tracks don’t always come from that DJ. Maybe some exclusives, but not a number of them.
Being both certainly does help. I can’t lie. *points to his name hoping people click it*
But artists gaining blogging momentum helps tremendously, because if it weren’t for blogs and the like, and I’m guessing my brethren Flea can co-sign, I wouldn’t come across almost 50-70% of the music I have now.
Canada’s always had a problem with that, especially with music in general, hip-hop especially.
Thank god for the internet.
Double edged sword action of course, sometimes it green-lights garbage too.
“I don’t know about blogs being the “new dj” dude. If the dj’s didn’t make mixtapes with new bangers for download a lot of these “blogs” wouldn’t have jack-shit to post. ” – 500K Flea
Blogs like the members of the NMC have taken over the journalistic, extra-extra-read all about it job that the DJ used to have when CDs became popular. Outside of hip-hop music, it’s the clans of rippers and encoders putting leaked albums up on sharing and torrent sites. It used to just be mixtape DJs putting out that fresh new Dre, Outkast, Wu, Jay, or one hit wonder (or the next big thing). Now bloggers usually take on the single song leak role, aka the initial publicity blast role, while DJs usually are the ones putting out the full mixtape that said single song(s) are on, or releasing full mixtapes of brand new material (The Empire’s series of Wayne leaks). Sometimes the roles reverse (getright and illroots posting full mixtapes, Drama leaking Outkast’s Da Art of Storytelling Pt. 4). Hell, sometimes the DJ is leaking the new material through or in anticipation for the score for a new video game (all the recent sports games with underground/unsigned rappers, or GTA’s Green Lantern station and consequent album). The whole idea is that the social networking expansion of infotech has given bloggers, the new wave of uncensored journalists, that initial role of the publicity blast. The beginning of the post says that the DJ will never die and makes that same street culture argument.
blogs dont tell me wut to think is hot n niether do djs but they both expose me to music I wouldnt have come across otherwise.im from Tx n i honestly doubt i would’ve heard bout joel Ortiz or pac. Div. or charles hamilton..I know damn well i woulda never heard of Wale if it werent for yall ..the blogs….jus wanted to thank yall for helpin a texas boi find high quality hip-hop..i wuz honestly leanin more to the hate side in my love/hate relationship with this music.
Great points.
I love the way the internet has flipped everything on its head. the web is an extension of the block now–you got some heat, burn it, post it, double-click out there.
I don’t thinking you can be a working DJ these days without an online presence or at least having an online extension to your game.
The really thoro cats understand that and aren’t running from technology like clowns. They know that not only is the hood getting online, but you want to expand beyond the 100 people in your section, you gotta get out there. They see it for the tool it is and leverage it accordingly.
My blog would be fine without music releases because i write about other things beyond music. But the music offers an extra reward for readers; and like everybody else, i like music, so i’m just sharing what i’m into and looking for new stuff to get into.
But if you’re a DJ without a webpage, without an EPK or a podcast to get your stuff out there, then you’re just a kid protooling in your bedroom complaining about how the game keeps “sleeping on you”.
Get out there. Unless you got some sponsor willing to fly you all over the place and hiring street teams in every city get online. Everything’s free now–blogs are free. Podcast services are free (on a trial basis at least.) Filesharing is free. (word to z/rapid). So much of this stuff is a commodity now…
So save the loot you were gonna blow on your 14th pair of AF1’s and Madden 2009 and get hooked up.
http://www.hustleknockin.com
>>@500K Flea – without the DJ, bloggers would have nothing to post? A lot of bloggers are getting the exact same joints DJs are getting… the tracks don’t always come from that DJ. Maybe some exclusives, but not a number of them.
yeah, seriously. I challenge anybody to look at a new Big Mike or Kay Slay and show me more than 2 tracks on there that I haven’t already posted on Nah Right.
Not to take away from the (mixtape) DJ’s because they still get exclusives and still do alot for artists, but let’s not act like the labels and artist’s management teams aren’t sending the bloggers shit at the same time or even before the DJ’s.
and come on Sick, I’ve been posting Jeezy and other “street” shit from jump.
I wouldn’t say a blogger is the new dj…although I am a blogger and a dj…
I think blogging gives other djs a way to showcase their work so that a person can find music mixtapes other than just from the big names like Clue, Big Mike etc…
I do get a lot of promos etc…but since I focus on old school and R&B…a lot of the new hip hop stuff doesn’t make it onto my mixtapes unless I’m doing a new joints mixtape.
Most top hiphop sites are just aggregators…whereas the blogging dj offers original content (ie track listing, mixing, cutting etc). I would say I do it for the love…why else would I release a new mixtape every week with unrepeated content?
just my dos centavos…
didnt i say this not too long ago eskay?
but kudos to Gotty for reading my mind
I live on an island, literally, I live on an island. Thanks to blogs like TSS, I get exposed to artists I would’ve never given a chance. Like what old.sole said.
pago,
what island u on? how’s the web service where you’re at?
Sick, eskay, Legend – I see you all.
I’m glad that somebody did pick up on the statement I initially made.
the dj will never die. never. when the dj dies, hip-hop will die. It would be the equiv of cuttin the heart of the body.
But I do see a changing of the guard…or maybe a breakdown of the power in terms of who’s influential for”tastemaking” (i almost hate that term).
DJs are in the same boat as artists though. Like someone mentioned, if you want to be a successful DJ, you have to have an online presence of some sort. An active Myspace or webpage. Podcasts or free downloads. something to keep your name poppin.
pago,
what island u on? how’s the web service where you’re at?
= = = = =
I’m here in American Samoa. The Web Service sucks. Let me put it this way, whenever TSS posts a video from youtube or wherever. I have to press pause to let it stream before I can watch it. That usually takes about 15 minutes to watch a 3 minute clip.
I think blogs are doing what publications like XXL and the Source have been doing. They got reviews, unsigned hypes, news, etc.
This is so true. & i love every Dj out there doing there thing.
But ESKAy is giving nothing but heat.
And makes it posibble for me to do my thing.
Scream at me
http://www.HipHopSince1976.Com
Nuff respect to all the DJ’s and Eskay (Nahright is dope man, you just got some wack comments on there from your visitors!!!) but I still believe what I believe. Talking about Clue and Kay Slay is irrelevant because they don’t hold much weight on the mixtape scene anymore. If your talking about dj’s then mention Legend (what up!!!), DJ Scarface, DJ Rhude, SnatchaTape, DJ Blazita, and J-Ronin. There’s plenty of material that I’ve heard on mixtapes that’s NEVER made it’s way to a blog, and I’m sure many of you can agree. Still, if it weren’t for the blogs I wouldn’t see half of these videos that come out.
Let me say first, dope article…you made some real good points.
I’ll just geek out for a sec and say, technically DJ 2.0 is an oxymoron and blogs are not really modern day Web 2.0.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxymoron
I’m a hip-hop head and a web developer…from a hip-hop perspective, I almost agree with your point, I see where your coming from. But from a web devlopers standpoint, hip-hop is backwards enough as it is when it comes to the net. Your observations, while true, are kinda distorted (In my oppinion).
I really want to email you a rebuttle or a continuation on this subject Gottyâ„¢, so you can at least read it over and give me your oppinion.
I started writing here, but I have alot of points/counter-points and it clearly became too long for a comment section.
UntouchableC@gmail.com if your interested…no bullshit
just in-case some dont know what oxymoron means….no offence.
Great post. The connection you’ve made between blogs posting exclusives (Nah Right, 2dopeboyz, TSS, etc. I see you) and DJs back in the day is very astute.
Of course, blogs exist for more than just providing news. They provide a writing platform as well and I’m always impressed with the writing here in addition to the music offered for download.
You starting some shit G.
You see the Million DJ March?
Imma send em to ya house.
Pago Says:
I think blogs are doing what publications like XXL and the Source have been doing. They got reviews, unsigned hypes, news, etc.
- – - – - – - – - -
You’re on to something, but I think you need to take it a few steps further. Printed publications such as those were sufficient back in the day, but the news moves so fast that people demand up to date content. By the time the August 2008 issue of Vibe comes out, any ‘hot’ single they mention is ice cold by the time the joint hits newsstands.
To me, (good) blogs are way more valuable than any printed publication these days.
1 – they’re updated every day, every hour, every minute (the publication)
2 – they’re interactive in the sense that you don’t just get a review of a track (the publication) – you get the track itself (the DJ and/or the barbershop)
3 – they’re collaborative. MP3 posted at 9 am = 100 comments by noon (the barbershop and/or the streets)
The blog is the DJ, the barbershop, the publication and the streets. This is just what people demand in a faster-paced, information-centric world. Real talk.
It’s interesting that the web is the new “street.” B-boys have to comb the web instead of diggin in the crates, and artists have to respect the bloggers and the demands of the fan-base. Some poeople think hip-hop’s heyday is lone gone, but perhaps the music is on the verge of a “back to basics” phase, since opinions of the music matter again….who knows? – Jermaine Fanfair
On mommas. Blood. I usta read the SOURCE and XXL and be amped.
Like when Sway ‘nem usta be ONLY in the BAY and usta go by “sony” yall don’t know about that, ummmmm, yeah….
I think I had a date. I was fucking with B. And the first XXL came out. We picked it Up. It still had the bleeds on it. We read it from cover to cover. Like that shit was magic,
That shit usta be an event…those of us who remember when seeing a fucking HEAD on TV was an event that MADE us call on another need to “turn on channel so and so, b/c KRS/RAKIM/FRESH PRINCE is on”……
That shit is culturally relevant.
Blogs AIN’T dj’s. DJ’s ain’t never let you go through they shit the way blogs do.
DJ’s a beatcha ass for posting the shit that blogs post.
BUT.
Blogs do serve a special role as a certain kind of intermediary b/w the consumer/reader and the artist.
I wrote an entry about this a few weeks ago… i do ONLINE marketing for a lot of chi artists/djs and its sad how behind the times some people (including and especially industry insiders) are about the role BLOGGERS play in breaking their music.
Times aren’t changing. They’ve already changed. All these major labels need to overhaul their NEW MEDIA DEPARTMENTS and use promotional methods that match the mediums of communication that this generation lives by.
Labels are still spending millions of dollars on marketing for artists who won’t even break even to recoup them – yet they aren’t exploiting the most effective and efficient marketing tools at their disposal – THE INTERNET & BLOGS…. which are completely free.
Blogs aren’t the sole reason artists are making it, or why they’re not, but the role of blogs is becoming increasingly important and will soon be VITAL in achieving and gauging success in the recording industry.
GREAT POST.
Hi!,
Good day!,