Slum Village. Phat Kat. First Down. J Dilla. House Shoes. DJ Dez. Black Milk. Guilty Simpson. Invincible. Fatt Father. Finale.
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| (Still love this shirt) |
I'm back from my "hiatus," during the month of July I was pretty much submerged in the Slum Village happenings. Part because the fan in me wanted to know what the hell was happening, part because the reporter in me HAD to find out what the hell was happening (Speaking of which if you haven't read it, check out my story for Real Detroit Weekly). I could go on and on about all the things I learned, but this post is about much more than that.
Detroit, What the f**k are we doing?
I know you're confused, but while I was working on the Slum Village story I noticed that out-of-state and international fans cared more about what was going on than the people in the city. Thus bringing back up the theory about Detroit being a follower market. It amazes me that eLZhi, Phat Kat, Black Milk and others can tour overseas, packing venues, performing for thousands of people and come back home where they're nobody.
Complete strangers, not only to the radio (revisit my rant from last summer to know my feelings on that) but to the city itself. Detroit hip-hop is a secret society (#noIlluminati), if you don't know someone in it or who to talk to, you won't know anything about it.
On the other hand, I don't think the younger generation knows exactly what the older ones have done. I understand that some of the Vets (as I call them) can be mean and may not even try to communicate with the newbies. However, there are younger ones who expect respect to be automatic and for everything to be handed to them, they also seem to think that the Vets are just bitter souls.
Let me ask: If you were putting on for a city, for 10 or 15 years, that continued to ignore your contributions and then have arrogant newbies coming into the scene that don't even care about the legwork you put in so things can be easier for them, wouldn't you be "bitter" as well?
I'm straying. The original thought about the Detroit market came from a post on Hex Murda's blog where he described a hip-hop show in Norway. He talks about the unity over there and how hip-hop is cherished and respected (not his choice of wording but a pleasant gist). I've heard that people overseas, who don't speak a lick of English, can rap to a Black Milk song almost as good as Black himself.
Why isn't it like that here?
I've taken advantage of being able to interview people and asked Phat Kat and House Shoes why they thought hip-hop was more received over there than here.
It's still new over there; over here it's all watered down or whatever. We're force fed and people accept what you give them and over there people are just getting fresh up on the music. They appreciate it more, I hate to say it, but that's the difference.
- House Shoes (July 2010)Europe is much more open-minded than America, if you just look at Detroit ... It’s really hard to just put a finger on what it is, but they’re not as stupid as the people over here. Black Milk is anonymous in Detroit to the general population. Slum Village is anonymous, only time you ever heard them on the radio was during traffic and weather. Nobody in Detroit knows who J Dilla is, to this day. You reach out and travel the globe and at the end of the day you get a feeling of “Fuck Detroit” — unfortunately. We got our little hip-hop scene here of maybe four or five hundred people but the main mistake that keeps them stuck in the city is trying to be embraced by a city that really doesn’t care about good music.
Is that the problem? Does Detroit not care? Have we given up on trying to reach out to the city or are we not trying hard enough?
I don't know.
What I do know is Detroit is home to many gems and it took Drake to shout out J Dilla for a close friend of mine to say "Isn't that the guy you talk about all the time?"
It's a sad thing, and what's worse, nothing is going to be done about it. We rant, rave and tweet all day long but once we log off we continue on with our lives until the next scandal. I personally believe that the Detroit scene would be so much better if we set aside the egos and actually helped each other, but I feel like that's a pipe dream full of empty promises (#Word to Finale, love that album).
Ghandi once said "Be the change you want to see in the world"
How about we apply that concept to Detroit as well.
Happy August.
Alex Washington
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