WE’VE SEEN CONSCIOUS RAPPERS, BACKPACKERS, GANGSTERS ETC. BUT WHO GOT NEXT?

I’ve cruised past Compton Cali palm trees, gotten hyped up in New York subway ciphers and I’ve even seen Atlanta’s fat Booty queens, all this through the comfort of my speakers and my headphones. The Dr Dre’s, Jay-z’s, Andre 3000’s and many of our favorite rappers have painted vivid pictures and given the world images of their city, their life and lifestyles.

These images have been painted so effectively so that these stories keep getting regurgitated and retold by the next generation of MC’s. Causing “Hip hop purists” to constantly dwell on the era of the past glory and innovation. No matter how good the storyteller, we’ve already heard the story.

It’s simple, the international hip hop community needs something new, a story they’ve never heard before, a city they’ve never pictured living in and a lifestyle they’ve never tried emulating. It really is time for the next hip hop legend to be a South African or an arab or even Somalian if the music is great enough! This may sound as far-fetched as it can get but if you tell me that 10 years ago (50 cent era) in the midst of all that gangsta rap you would have predicted that in 2013 a top contender for the crown would have been a SUBURBAN, RNB SINGING, CANADIAN I am going to first slap you across the face, then call you a liar.

But how? How do we outshine the shadow of the worlds biggest media hub? We don’t, the only way to win is by playing their game.

Now because of the internet the world has become what Canadian philosopher Marshall Mcluhan has dubbed a “Global village”, all geographical and cultural barriers are being broken by the internet. At this very moment this article itself can be accessed from Hong Kong to Singapore and this is beautiful because of what it means for our music. The internet has given people a choice of what they want to view and who they want to listen to. We do not need Mtv to be viewed anymore, instead if we make sure that we are chosen, Mtv will need us so they can view them. A win/win for everybody.

What we as the outsiders of the worlds biggest media hub, should be striving for is presenting a refined product to present to the globe and dominate it through the web. We are at the verge of an era where the web will be the main source of mass media, so if you’re big here you’ll be big everywhere. No imitations, lets all sell our product, our culture, our lifestyle with the spirit of originality and breath life back onto this Hip Hop culture we live for.

This article was submitted by:

Tsholofelo” Stylez maestro” Radebe. age: 21 year old From: South Africa (pretoria)

Aspiring MC. writer, blogger.All around art geek. Will finish Corporate Communication degree some day. Currently a dubbing entrepreneur selling mobile Pizza specialising in branding and marketing. Child born and raised by the Hip Hop culture. Peace, Love, Unity and having fun.

Originally published on Onlyhiphopfacts.com