New Underground Hip Hop

People often ask "what is some good new underground hip hop?"

Look no further, This is your source for New Underground Hip Hop. Artists such as Zion I, Brother Ali and Bad Habitat are constantly changing what it means to be underground hip hop. These underground hip hop artists, among many others, release new albums all the time, and they are good. I mean good. There are a couple different ways to find the best new underground hip hop and most of those ways are online. You can always catch local underground hip hop shows in your own city. keep an eye on the papers and catch the opening acts for larger scale underground acts like Sage Francis or Dead Prez. But these ways all take a lot of time and energy. To find good quality new underground hip hop the internet is the best tool. Google is the biggest and baddest search engine on the web and that is where you are going to go first. Simply type into the search bar "new underground hip hop". What will come up is a lot of "free ringtones" and stuff like that. But if you continue to the second, third or even fourth page you will find blogs like this one that will list tons of great new underground hip hop artists.

Hip Hop Message Forums, Talk About It

Hip hop message forums are out there for you. If you have a love of hip hop, you probably want to shout about it. Well do it! Talk about your favorite artists and what they are up to on hip hop message forums. Throughout the web, you will find various places to do this. There are often great websites out there that you can express your feelings, talk about your thoughts or just find out what is up with your favorite bands.

Hip hop message forums are a great place to stop and talk. Like the lyrics to a certain song? Want to find out the inside scoop on what your favorite hip hop artist is up to? The message forums are the places to go to find this. All sorts of various artists are out there and every once in a while you may just find one stopping in for a chat or a message about them. Hey, that’s worth it!

Of course, you can also use hip hop message forums to get in touch with others out there that love hip hop as much as you do. This is a great place to make some friends and talk some music. Get in touch with them in a safe place where you can just chat without worrying about anyone preying on you. Make some great friends and talk to others that love what you love, hip hop.

Hip hop message forums are out there and available to anyone who is looking for them. Some of the hottest hip hop sensations have their own chats and message forums. There are also a number of great websites that you can get online with others about hip hop in general. There are a million fans out there just like you who are looking to find someone to connect to. Get in touch with others and show off your knowledge of all that has to do with hip hop. Hip hop message forums are just the right place to do it

Getting Hip Hop News

Hip hop news is a huge priority of many people. Let’s face it, no other class of artists are involved in so many things, good and bad. But, where do you find just the information that you need? How can you learn what is happening? There are several ways that you can do this, but some are often times better than others. It never fails that you will find the latest in hip hop news available to you, but where you get it will tell you how good it is as well as how old it is. And, when you want the real thing, it matters where you go to get the hip hop news you want.

First, you can of course get a lot of information from hip hop magazines. These are great for the latest information right from the hip hop artist’s mouth. These magazines often incorporate quite a bit of information on the details of the latest happenings in the world of hip hop, but they are not the fastest method for getting the news you want and need about hip hop.

So, what is a better way to get hip hop news? A great way to learn what’s happening in the hip hop world is by tuning to your favorite hip hop radio stations. Yes, there are often a large amount of great news stories happening on them. Live interviews are always happening as are a large amount of in depth coverage of the inside story.

Yet another way for you to get the hip hop news that you want in a way that you can read it when you have the time is by using hip hop websites. They are available throughout the web and offer a huge amount of detailed information about the artists, the music, the culture and life in hip hop. Many of them offer inside information about hip hop as well as help to get you in contact with the hip hop artists you want to know. Regardless of where you get it, getting hip hop news is the key. You will find a wide range of all the news you need in several different ways.

Hip Hop Radio Stations, The Source To Know

Sure, you can listen to hip hop radio stations to hear all the hip hop music that you want, but this is also the perfect location for much more including interviews, information about artists, and finding concert information as well. Throughout the radio waves there is an increasing amount of hip hop radio stations. And, whether they play hardcore rap or if they play a combination of hip hop and pop, you can really turn to these stations for much more information.

Hip hop radio stations offer the best of hip hop. There is no doubt that people can tune in to hear 50 Cent’s latest or to find out when he’ll be in concert. What is great is that you can count on hearing a wide range of information including new artists as well as the older artists with new songs and their old. And, with so many people looking for this type of music in this type of setting, there just seems to be quite a few hip hop radio stations happening.

But, they offer more than just music. In many cases they are full of more information about the hip hop world than you can find almost anywhere else. By the time hip hop magazines hit store shelves, the information is already old. Instead of waiting to hear it there, simply turn the dial. Now, we are talking about what is happening with the artists at any given time as well as when concerts are who will be interviewed next and even political topics that set the artists off. If you want to know their view and need an inside look, you can count on getting it from the hip hop radio stations out there.

Of course, you probably tune to your favorite hip hop radio stations to find the latest and hottest hip hop on the radio. But, you really can gather a wealth of information from these radio stations as well. To find out what is out there, check the websites featuring them as well as other hip hop websites.

Hip Hop Record Labels, The Job The Fame

Hip hop record labels are the companies that sponsor and produce the music that you love to hear. Hip hop is one of the hottest types of music on the market today and that is due at least in part to the advertisement and promotion of these artists by their hip hop record labels. So, we can thank them for bringing the artists we love to the forefront in music, but that is not all that they do. In fact, the hip hop record labels play a large part in the production of the music itself.

In hip hop music, the producer or the hip hop record label is responsible for much more. In fact, they often are responsible for composing the music along with arranging it. They often times create what is called an instrumental track or the beat of the music. Then, artists will often work with them to finish the recordings making them their own in their own way. But, there are still those hip hop record labels featuring producers who do it in the traditional way of supervising a team of musicians. One example of this is Dr. Dre.

Such hip hop record labels often have been founded by huge names within the music genre. For example, Dr. Dre’s record label that includes 50 Cent is one of the largest and most popular. Look for Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment to feature some of the best that is out there in hip hop. 50 Cent is also working under the record label of Eminem called Shady Records. Another famous hip hop record label is Death Row Records and No Limit Records. Both have been brought to light by some of the hottest names in hip hop including Snoop Dogg.

Hip hop record labels offer you the ability to find new music as well as to listen to the old. It is through their promotions and advertisements that stars like these come to light. If you want to learn more about the various hip hop record labels and who they have signed lately, check out the web where you will likely find all the information that you need.

Underground Hip Hop

You’ve probably heard many people say “Hip hop is dead” and “Most of the mainstream hip hop coming out is watered down. It’s just too commercial”. You most lightly have two burning questions: Who are the real underground hip hop artists? and Where can I find the best underground rap music?

These’s no doubt that some of the mainstream hip hop being released is pretty good. After all, these artists generally have big budgets behind them. But have you ever wondered why you sometimes hear new songs on the radio and you absolutely hate them? And after a while, those same songs find a way of growing onto you.

Just to give you some background, one study showed that an ad from a new product or service has to be noticed by a prospect a total of nine times before that prospect becomes a customer. Two out of every three times a prospect is exposed to a new product or service, it’s ignored. That means that a customer has to be exposed to a new product an average of 27 times before he or she will buy. So what does that tell you about the music on the radio?

Quite simply, it means you have a personal musical taste that goes beyond the standard mainstream music on the airwaves. That’s why you fall in love with certain songs the instant you hear them. You don’t normally wait for a song to grow onto you, unless you’re forced to hear it again and again. Think about it. If you’re forced to hear a song that you don’t particularly like for an average of 27 times, wouldn’t you start to know some of the lyrics and maybe even sing along with it? You would, and you might even buy it.

Here’s the slap-in-the-face reality: In our experience, the typical hip hop consumer is only exposed to music that makes it onto radio play lists. It’s not necessarily the best music, but since the labels behind it have deep pockets, they can afford to have their material played over and over again, even if it means using payola tactics to get the job done. This obviously doesn’t make life easier for smaller labels since they don’t operate with big budgets. And in the end, the hip hop consumer is the one that ultimately suffers because he or she might never get to hear some of the best underground hip hop available.

Hip-Hop Love Stories and the Construction of Socially Acceptable Urban Identities

Hip-Hop has historically existed as a male-dominated industry. Being a reflection of urban life and struggle, past Hip-Hop artists have been forced to maintain a certain level of masculinity in order to be accepted by their urban communities. Old school rappers who talked about love were often viewed as soft or corny. Because of this perception, the existence of love in Hip-Hop is a fairly new concept.

As the movement has gained support and recognition throughout the world, love has become an increasingly common theme in Hip-Hop music and poetry. However, the taboo still exists. Even today, Hip-Hop artists and poets present their love stories in a manner that allows them to maintain socially acceptable identities. Hip-Hop stories about love must still meet the masculine ideology in which the movement is rooted in order to be perceived as real and true.

The purpose of this study is to analyze Hip-Hop love narratives and how artists present these love stories in order to construct socially acceptable identities. I believe personal narratives are closely tied to the construction of identities. It is through personal narratives that people can recount life-changing events, realize socially acceptable behavior and create individual identities.

I have researched and studied several Hip-Hop love songs and analyzed the lyrics as text and poetry. In my research, I have found five common narrative forms used by Hip-Hop poets to tell their love stories: contrasting, perceptual, spiritual, conversational and metaphoric. These five narrative forms are used not only to present the story correctly, but also to maintain positive perception among a society that might view this sensitivity as weak. I plan to demonstrate each of these narrative forms and show how the poets use them to tell their love stories while establishing acceptable identities.

The Contrasting Narrative

One of the most common forms of Hip-Hop love stories is the contrasting narrative. Many artists use Hip-Hop music and poetry to tell stories about the negativity surrounding their urban environments. The contrasting narrative allows the poet to express his or her love story as a contrast to this negativity while constructing an acceptable identity because that negativity is real and understood in urban communities.

A great introductory example to the contrasting narrative would be the following passage from Method Man’s “All I Need”:

Back when I was nothin’
You made a brother feel like he was somethin’
That's why I'm with you to this day boo no frontin’
Even when the skies were gray
You would rub me on my back and say "Baby it'll be okay"

In this song, the poet uses the contrasting narrative to show his love for someone who stood by him when “skies were gray.” He speaks of his love interest as someone who helped him get through troubled times, thus providing a positive contrast to his negative surroundings.

Another example of the contrasting love narrative can be seen in this passage from Guru’s “All I Said”:

This world is crazy, she's supposed to help me stay sane
Supposed to help with the pain, supposed to help me maintain

In this song, Guru uses the contrasting narrative to share his view of what love should be. He admits that his “world is crazy”, and that his love interest is the one person who can make it bearable.

In “She Tried”, Bubba Sparxx uses the contrasting narrative to tell a story that actually recalls his love being there for him when he was in trouble with the law:

A fly country girl, just workin’ them gifts
She's my queen, was a virgin I guess
But I ain't never ask and I ain't never tell
But Betty had the cash every time I went to jail

This song further illustrates the use of contrasting narratives to express love. Though the poet confesses spending a lot of time in jail, Betty was always there to bail him out, again acting as a positive contrast to his troubles.

The Perceptual Narrative

Another common narrative form of Hip-Hop love stories is the perceptual narrative. Like the contrasting narrative, the perceptual narrative is based around the negativity that surrounds the poet’s life. But instead of presenting this love as a contrast to that negativity, the poet uses this narrative to explain how that love changed his or her previously negative perceptions. This narrative form also allows the poet to construct a socially acceptable identity due to the acknowledgement of the negativity of urban life.

In “Jazzy Belle”, Andre of Outkast uses the perceptual narrative to tell of how his love changed his former perception of women:

Went from yellin’ crickets and crows, witches and hoes to queen thangs
Over the years I been up on my toes and yes I seen thangs …
Now I’m willin’ to go the extra kilo-
Meter just to see my senorita get her pillow
On the side of my bed where no girl ever stay
House and doctor was the games we used to play
But now it’s real Jazzy Belle...

In this song, Andre talks about a personal change of perception caused by love. He admits that at one time he thought of women as “witches and hoes.” But “now it’s real”, and he has a new perception of women as “queen thangs.”

Another great example of the perceptual narrative can be found in the following passage of Black Star’s “Brown Skin Lady”:

I don't get many compliments, but I am confident
Used to have a complex about, gettin’ too complex
You got me, willin’ to try, looked me in the eye
My head is still in the sky, since you walked on by

In this example, the poet admits to having relationship issues, but tells of how love helped him to overcome these issues. The poet’s love interest helped him to change his perception of love and fear of “gettin’ too complex”.

In “Ms. Fat Booty”, Mos Def further illustrates this point by demonstrating the perception of other men and speaking to his love on how he is different:

Yo, let me apologize for the other night
I know it wasn't right, but baby you know what it’s like
Some brothers don't be comin’ right
I understand, I'm feelin’ you
Besides, ‘Can I have a dance?' ain't really that original

In this song, the poet uses the perceptual narrative to acknowledge that some men “don’t be comin’ right”, but that he has a different perception of women than these other men.

In “Come Close”, Common uses the perceptual narrative to express how love has made him change from his old ways:

I want to build a tribe wit you
Protect and provide for you
Truth is I can't hide from you
The pimp in me
May have to die with you

Although the poet used to be a “pimp”, an urban term for a man who romances a large number of women, he tells of how his love interest has changed his actions and perceptions.

The Spiritual Narrative

A third common form of Hip-Hop love stories is what I like to refer to as the spiritual narrative. The spiritual narrative relies on the poet’s characterization of love as a kind of godly being, spiritual force or royalty, often with the feeling that the story teller has to protect that force. The spiritual narrative allows the storyteller to construct an acceptable identity by characterizing love as spiritual or perhaps even predetermined.

A great example of the spiritual narrative can be found in this passage of The Roots’ “You Got Me”:

Somebody told me that this planet was small
We use to live in the same building on the same floor
And never met before
Until I'm overseas on tour
And peep this Ethiopian queen from Philly
Taking classes abroad

Here, the poet uses the spiritual narrative to describe the time, place and emotions that his love was founded on, speaking of them as if they were somehow meant to happen. He also refers to his love interest as “this Ethiopian queen from Philly”, using the royal characterization so common in spiritual love narratives.

In “Love Language”, Talib Kweli also uses a spiritual narrative form and refers to his love as a kind of royalty:

Now if they call you out your name
Then that's a different thing
Anything but Queen
I'll go to war like a King

This example shows the protection aspect of common spiritual love narratives. The poet feels it is unacceptable for anyone to “call you out your name”, or in other words, use derogatory language toward his love. If someone were to do so, he would “go to war like a King”, thus maintaining his masculinity.

In “Mind Sex”, Dead Prez uses the spiritual narrative to talk about love introductions:

African princess, tell me yo' interests
Wait, let me guess boo, you probably like poetry
Here's a little something I jotted down in case I spotted you around
So let me take this opportunity

In this song, the poet uses the spiritual narrative to tell a story about the introductory conversation he had with a love interest. He refers to her as “African princess”, once again showing the tendency of poets who use the spiritual narrative to refer to their love interests as royalty.

The Conversational Narrative

The fourth common form for Hip-Hop love stories is the conversational narrative. The conversational narrative allows the poet to recite or recreate a conversation with his or her love and present it as play-like story about a specific love experience. Conversational love narratives are typically characterized by introductory speech and compliments, and are most commonly used as tools to tell a story about a first meeting or impression. These narratives allow the storyteller to construct an acceptable identity mainly because they often include many smoothly-structured compliments, and make the poet look like a cool ladies man.

A great example of the conversational love narrative can be found this passage from Dead Prez’ previously mentioned “Mind Sex”:

Pardon me love but you seem like my type
What you doin’ tonight?
You should stop by the site
We could, roll some weed play some records and talk
I got a fly spot downtown Brooklyn, New York

In this example, the poet is reciting the conversation between himself and a love interest. As with many conversational narratives, it is based around meeting someone for the first time. The poet is telling a story about a girl he met that “seem[ed] like my type”. He then inquires “What you doin’ tonight?”, and follows with a list of charming speech in an attempt to create a social relationship with the girl.

In a similar narrative, “Beautiful Skin”, Goodie Mob uses the following conversational narrative to retell the first phone conversation he had with his love interest:

This is Carlito from a couple of days ago, you sound tired
Forgive me if I've called you too late
But what better time to relate mind-states?
Where could I begin?
Has anyone ever told you ‘You got beautiful skin’?

This example further illustrates the use of introductory language in conversational narratives. The poet asks his love interest if she would like to “relate mind-states”, or get to know each other. He then tells her that she has “beautiful skin”, an often successful introductory complement given to women.

Cee Lo uses the following conversational narrative in “Slum Beautiful”:

Look at you, unbelievably, brilliant beautiful you
You're looking deliciously divine darling you really and truly do
The very thought of has got me running at the speed of love
Exploring everything about you from the ground to the God above

In this song, the poet uses the conversational narrative to speak directly to his love interest through the song. Note the wide range of compliments offered in this passage, as well as the charm, again illustrating a common aspect of the conversational narrative.

The Metaphoric Narrative

This fifth form of Hip-Hop love stories is possibly the most fascinating. It is the metaphoric narrative. The metaphoric narrative is used when the poet speaks of love in a metaphor of some kind. The most popular and socially acceptable form of metaphoric narrative is using Hip-Hop as the metaphor. Many followers of the movement view Hip-Hop as a driving force of love and happiness in their lives. Thus, many metaphoric love narratives revolve around Hip-Hop itself.

A good example of such a metaphoric narrative is the following passage from Black Eyed Peas’ “Rap Song”:

Yo, she got hips to hop
And she ain't goin’ pop
She like a record that I wanna rock
When I'm rollin’ in my ride cruisin’ down my block

In this example, the poet actually uses a unique play on words and speaks of a love interest as a Hip-Hop metaphor. He relates this person to “a record that I wanna rock”.

The group further extends the metaphor in the following passage:

She like a beat that makes me wanna grab the mic
She like the lyrics that I wanna recite
She like the old school mic with the cable
You can bring your records and I'll bring the turntable yo

Again, the poet relates his love interest to other things he and his audience love, including “old school mic with the cable”, reciting lyrics and spinning records on a turntable.

Another great example of the metaphoric narrative is in The Roots’ “Act Too … Love of My Life”:

Learnin’ the ropes of ghetto survival
Peepin’ out the situation I had to slide through
Had to watch my back my front plus my sides too
When it came to gettin’ mine I ain't tryin’ to argue
Sometimes I wouldn'ta made it if it wasn't for you
Hip-Hop, you the love of my life and that's true

This passage is unique because it utilizes both the metaphoric and contrasting narrative techniques. The poet refers to Hip-Hop as “the love of my life”, while simultaneously showing how that love created a positive contrast to the tough “ropes of ghetto survival”. The poet admits that he “wouldn’ta made it if it wasn’t for you”, showing that his love for Hip-Hop was and is a driving force in his life.

And that leads us to the most popular metaphoric Hip-Hop love narrative of our time. In “I Used to Love H.E.R.”, Common Sense uses the metaphoric narrative to express his love for Hip-Hop. He starts off the narrative with the following passage:

I met this girl, when I was ten years old
And what I loved most she had so much soul
She was old school, when I was just a shorty
Never knew throughout my life she would be there for me

In this example, the poet starts off telling a story about a girl he met when he “was ten years old”, and how she was always there for him. The poet continues to use the metaphoric narrative to speak of this girl, including the good times and hardships they faced together. Not until the end of the poem does the listener actually realize that the entire song is a metaphor. The song ends with the following passage:

I see rappers slammin’ her, and takin’ her to the sewer
But I'ma take her back hopin’ that the stuff stop
Cause who I'm talkin’ bout y'all is Hip-Hop

In this song, the poet used the metaphoric narrative to tell a story about the love of his life, the struggles she faced, and his desire to save her. In the end, he admits that this love is not a real person, but instead his love of Hip-Hop.

The presentation of Hip-Hop love narratives is a very difficult task. In order to talk about love and still construct a socially acceptable urban identity, artists tend to implement one of the five successful love narrative forms. I believe that our society’s analysis of Hip-Hop music and culture is lackluster at best. The Hip-Hop love narratives presented above could provide a great basis for linguistic and sociolinguistic studies. Not only are they presented in a variety of styled narrative forms, but they also include deep thought, perception and analysis of the urban environment that characterizes an increasing majority of American society. Through the analysis and study of these love narratives, linguists could come to a greater understanding of and appreciation for the Hip-Hop vernacular, literature and, ultimately, culture.

All this is mostly seen in Underground Hip-Hop. Mainstream Hip-Hop typically flaunts chauvinism while the underground is more open to experimentation. Mainstream Hip Hop artists are under the pressure of their record company and managers to press albums that will sell and 12-18 year old males (hip hop's primary fan base) want sex in everything. Especially the music that they, and the girls they are trying to get with, are listening to. Underground Hip Hop and artists like Dead Prez, Common, Bad Habitat and Talib Qweli promote positive non-degrading music. Keep your eyes and ears open when listening to hip hop.

Peace

Bad Habitat at Calabash - Featuring: Raise The Bridges, Gepetto, Daps and More

Location: Calabash (SW 2nd & Taylor) Portland's Hip Hop Underground

The Bill: Bad Habitat, Raise The Bridges, Gepetto, Daps and More.

Another day, another bad ass hip hop show at Calabash. Portland's Hip Hop Heroes, Bad Habitat, are rocking in full effect Friday Night (11/13/09). All real Northwest Hip Hop heads should attend. This is not a show you want to miss. Club Calabash is popping Friday nights.

Rodders 10/23/2009

Rodders is a pretty nice sized club located on Molalla in Oregon City that hosts some really great shows. Last Friday was no exception. With performances by Bad Habitat, Rocket One, Lost Soul Surcle and Prologic to name a few, this show popped off with some real hip hop in the northwest. I met a cat outside that was pushing his hip hop movement news letter. I read it the next day and was very impressed with some of the literature. I will be giving him a shout out pretty soon. Bad Habitat rocked it. So did Rocket One. It was all in all a good show. It was my first time catching a show at Rodders and I was not disappointed. The drinks were pretty spendy though. $7 for a well drink in Oregon City? thats crazy

POH Hop 11 - 2009

The 11th annual POH Hop (Portland Oregon Hip Hop) Festival took place October 7th - 10th in various venues around Portland Oregon. Headlining the event is E-40, bay area rap legend, and local hip hop favorite. 2 Time World Rap Champion and Portland Native, Illmaculate, hosted the Portland Battle for Rap Supremacy(September 30th). The POH-Hop Jumpoff Party (Wednesday October 7th) at the Ash Street Saloon with Focused Noise (Animal Farm, Mic Crenshaw and Serge Severe), Gray Matters, Soul P, Bad Habitat, Mac Smiff, Rapper E, Hosted By DJ Fatboy and Saphira. POH-Hop New Talent Showcase (Thursday October 8th) at The Backspace with Zion I, The Jacka, Braille, Luck One, Dubble 00, Sapient, Eternal Family, Hosted By DJ O.G. ONE & Stevie G. Runaway Productions Showcase (Friday October 9th) at Slabtown with Sleep, Illmaculate, IAME, Living Proof, Alphabet Stew, Destro, Diezel P, Quixotic and Level Headed. The NW Breakout Showcase (Saturday October 23rd) at The Roseland Theater with E-40, Sandpeople, Maniac Lok, MY G, Twisted Insane, Majr D, Saphira, Yung Fadell, Roseville, Jae Lava, Jay Child, Liquid Antrax and 44 Cal aka Portland George, Hosted By DJ Fatboy. The POH Hop 2009 was ill. There are good things going on in Portland Hip Hop. Stay Posted for more to come.