WHAT IS HIPHOP MUSIC ALL ABOUT

Above: revolutionary rapper Immortal Technique
http://www.truthinstitute.org.co.za/

Many people claim that they know hiphop and that they are living it. I`ve had conversations with those people and what  I`ve found out is that they don`t know a thing about the game but they think they know. Hiphop is not just about what you wear and swagger, there`s something more than that in hip hop. It`s not about big jeans and straight caps that hiphop artists wear. This kind of music requires creativity, I`m talking about people who can create something out of nothing, that`s what I mean by creativity. It`s about who you are, what you feel inside and being able to reveal it so that people will hear it and if people consider it as important they will learn from it, if it is controversial people will open a debate and if you are prooved wrong that gives you a chance to grow personally. In South Africa people take hiphop as part of gangsterism not realising that all the truth is there. I`m talking about conscious hiphop not just the kind of hiphop that can be sung even by a 9 year old child. American hiphop is successful compared to South African hiphop because artists engage in some debates with their government. They address issues with the government and people take it seriously. In Ameica there are revolutionary rappers who can reveal what their government is doing wheather it is right or wrong,they are not scared of revealing the truth. I`m talking about the likes of Immortal Technique,Diabolic and many more. When I`m talking about conscious rappers I can mention the likes of Nas, Common, Jadakiss, 2pac, those are the people who make hiphop music the medicine for the people. So as you read this blog you will find out that we have three kinds of rappers

Above: conscious rapper Common
http://www.haywirehiphop.com/

• Conscious rappers,those who do music to motivate people,talking about things that happen in life
• Swagg rappers, those who base their music on what they have,like money and clothes
• Revolutionary rappers, those who base their music on politics

May be if we can have revolutionary rappers and conscious rappers in South Africa government would take hiphop seriously and not just as music for promoting gangsterism. Infact we have conscious rappers but they are few so my point of communication is people should change their perception that hiphop music is all about gansterism and South African hiphop artists should try change their content of music.                                                                 

                                                                                                               

WHY MOST OF THE SA HIP HOP ARTISTS NOT SELLING

There has always been some complaints by South African hiphop artists that people are killing their music by just downloading it and not buying (pirace),while others were complaining that South African radio stations and TV channels do not play their music instead they are playing overseas music. They complain that you seldomly hear their music being played in the cars instead you just hear Lil Wayne or Rick Ross songs. Hip Hop Pantsula mostly known as HHP had a conversation with a Hype magazine in 2010 whereby he mentioned that in Nigeria they play 80% of their music and the rest is other countries` music. After I read that conversation of HHP and the Hype magazine I kept on asking myself, is that the reason why they do not sell like other artists from Nigeria and US. I gave myself a chance and listened to the content of their music and compared it with Nigerian Hip Hop music and US Hip Hop music,only to find out that their music is kind of faking the American swagg hip hop and not the conscious hip hop. Few South African artists are doing conscious hiphop,I `m talking about the likes of Proverb,Driemanskap,Tumi and the volume just to name a few,and I was like how come you expect to sell more in South Africa when you`ll be like ``you know what I have money in the bank and I`m driving lamborghini, I have 20 chics yo check me out''. This is South Africa so artists must stop doing things the American way if they want their music to be played even by a 60 year old person. This is not America so our way of doing things is mush more different when you compare it with an American way. In South Africa,you can not expect media to play your music if-

• There is a use of valgar language in your lyrics,they do it in America because it works for them
• You will criticize a particular politician in your lyrics,Immortal Technique does it because it works for him

I think if they can try to change the content of their music they can sell better because I believe that the more conscious is your music the more you get an airplay. I don`t think the way the madia play their music has something to do with the selling because since the 2010 world cup SABC plays I think 90% or more of South African music, you seldomly see an overseas song on LIVE or MUSIC LOUNGE but people are still complaining. What else do they want from  SABC? that`s my question for now.

IS IT WISE FOR AN ARTIST TO SIGN A RECORD LABEL



Above:A phenomenal rapper with no record label Immortal Technique



Some of the artists believe that signing a contract with a record label is another way of generating fame and being commercial,but some say it`s one and the same thing because most of the artists in the music industry are famous even though they never signed any contract with any record label. They say being independent is better than being part of a record label. They don`t deny that if you are part of a particular record label you get fame,but they say it`s useless to be famous while you don`t see money of what you are doing. I have been researching about all the artists that have never signed any contracts with any record labels until I found Immortal Technique as one of them. According to Immortal it is a better idea to be independent than killing your creativity by signing a contract with a record label because nowadays producers are just wrenching creativity out of artists` hands. He supports his ideas by making an example saying if forinstance you have made 20 songs in your album they will pick only 12 of them and you find out that they do not pick your favourite ones. He added that you only get 15 cents for that 12 songs and the producer gets millions of dollars.



Immortal Technique in Afghanistan



Technique is a revolutionary rapper who has released 10 albums from 2001 until now. He is actually basing his music on the political injustice,socil economics,poverty and racism. You can hear only one thing from Technique`s fans that he is only about the truth,he`s not scared of the truth. He says he likes it when he is proved wrong because that gives him more passion. The reason why he doesn`t want a record label is that he will be limited from reaviling what he feels inside and that`s the way the producers take your creativity out of your hands.Ever since this rapper started his music he`s been working independently. He refused to sign a deal with Def Jam and Sony but he is succeding,he makes hits and he is rich. Few years back he built school in Afghanistan and that prooves that he has money even though he is independent

LIST OF IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE`S ALBUMS

• Bin Laden Part 2
• Black cargo
• F**ck tha government
• Revolutionary vol 1
• Revolutionary vol 2
• The third world
• The martyr
• The middle passage
• The point of no return
• The silenced revolution  

DOES THE ILLUMINATI EXIST IN HIPHOP MUSIC

I`v been trying for a long time to figure out if this illuminati thing does exist in music. According to Professor Griff from the united states, illuminati does exist in music. He says most of these rappers and singers become part of the problem instead of the solution, some because of fear of going against these devils like many have in the past before being terminated such as the case of Tupac Shakur,Pimp C,Michael jackson among many others. The majority is part of it because they have love of money more than their brothers and sisters.

SELLING YOUR SOUL

Many hiphop artists use to quote the words that were said by Prodigy ``illuminati want my mind,soul and my body''. That is the statement that characterises what the illuminati want from them. According to Proffessor Griff it is not necessary to go through a blood sacrificial to open up yourself to this demon,but it is sometimes asked of many of these people wanting fortune and fame,sometimes knowingly they accept but some accept not knowing that they have to donate with their relatives. If a member of the illuminati wants to quit he or she will be killed.

There are still rumours that Tupac was shot and killed because he quit illuminati. Griff says Donda West (Kanye West`s mother) dead because of the illuminati,adding Michael Jackson and Alliah in his list. He says some of the illuminati members are Jay Z, Kanye West, Eminem,The Game and many more.

I don`t know whether to believe it or not, one thing that makes me believe it is that triangle sign that most of the artists use and one thing that makes me not to believe it is that I`ve never heard any person saying he or she is the member of the illuminati.

RICK ROSS CALLS EMINEM A MONKEY

American rapper Eminem also known as Slim Shady has been always known as the most crazy rapper alive. This sick rapper was introduced by Dr Dre in the music industry and since then he has been releasing dope hits. We see rappers coming and going but Eminem is going nowhere, instead of going he releases dope songs. Since he lost his best friend Proof, Eminem has been insulting every rapper that he doesn`t feel. He`s been acting like someone who`s out of his mind until he went to the rehab.after he has come back from the rehab he has released an album called recovery.In this album he is trying to tell people that he is back to normal,the new him is back to old him. In the BET awards Eminem was with Rick Ross and other rappers in his category but Eminem took it and unfortunately Rick Ross did not take it. Rick Ross became jelous with Eminem so he started insulting him,calling him a monkey. Eminem responded emidiately to Rick Ross saying ``would you excuse me man''. In the past few years Rick Ross has been fighting with 50 Cent and he won the battle, now you tell me who`s going to win the battle between these two rappers?