If the dopest record drops in the
forest ...
June 3, 2003
BY DAVID JAKUBIAK
headline: Every other big city
has made a mark on the hip-hop scene. What's our problem? -->
It's been a long time
since Chicago has celebrated a World Series championship parade. The
reasons for this are many. Some people blame the media. Some people blame
the bullpens. Some people blame curses or divine intervention.
But there's another reason
cited from time to time. It's known as the "24 guys, 24 cabs"
theory. It refers to the idea that members of a team hate one another so
much they won't even ride to the park together.
A similar theory may
apply to Chicago's hip-hop community, where whispers of hatred reverberate
louder than the bass of the freshest track.
For decades, Chicago
heads have wondered why their city hasn't risen to the top of the hip-hop
world. First, New York and Los Angeles dominated. Then came Oakland,
Atlanta, New Orleans and New Jersey. Detroit and St. Louis soon followed.
Chicagoans watched as Petey Pablo successfully urged North Carolinians to
raise up and the entire nation stood.
There' no question:
Chicago has a vibrant hip-hop scene. This is a city with talent that runs
deeper than Lebron James' freshly stuffed pockets. It's talent that breaks
the cookie cutter that's impeded hip-hop as a whole. It's talent that could
restore creative energy to this vital art.
But Chicago is
struggling to gain the national exposure the scene so obviously deserves.
This isn't for a lack
of work ethic. Chicago's artists from the Nacrobats to the Molemen to the
Family Tree have hustled across the country letting people know they make
the Illanoise. But one has to wonder if the folks at home are listening.
In the past few weeks,
Atlanta's Bone Crusher and Mississippi's David Banner have catapulted to
the top of Billboard's hip-hop and R&B charts. And this isn't because
folks in the huge markets of Los Angeles, New York and Chicago have put
them there. Bone Crusher reached his status with the help of Atlanta, but
also by dominating sales in cities like Memphis, Tenn., Greenville, S.C.,
Mobile, Ala., and Jacksonville, Fla. Surely, if these cities can dictate
the marketplace, Chicago can overpower it.
But first, Chicagoans
need to take pride in their scene. They need to recognize it is one of the
most active in the country, it's one of the most promising in the nation,
and it's our very own. These artists are our neighbors, our brothers and
sisters, our cousins and co-workers.
Then we need to buy
local. We need to go to our local record store and ask for the Record
Playas "Soundtracks for Days," Longshot's "Open Mouths
Fed," Vakill's "Darkest Cloud." We need to call local radio
and demand Earatik Statik's "Keep Rocking." We need to tell our
friends and neighbors and bosses about Gravel Records' "The Chicago
Project" and the Nacrobat's "Allways."
And then, when Chicago
takes its rightful position on top of the hip-hop world, we can all celebrate.
Because all of us will have made it happen.
Then, we can all share
a cab to the show.
E-mail:
redstreakmusic@hotmail.com
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