nonstop_ga said:
really, its time to phase out the weak, and get together as a region...
blow this nw shit first, then we can worry about cities...
we CAN get it like the south... we just have to target a different audience...
portland and seattle are 8% black, while the south is WAAAAY higher..
so we just have to cater to our audience...
but first....
THIS IS THE NORTHWEST!!!! be proud... bang this shit like a hood... NORTHWEST NIGGA
WE'RE THE NEW WEST!!
I love what your saying about the Northwest movement, bang it like a hood etc I love that, that's what I do personally nearly every day of my life.
But I'm just one dude, and I've had really no success turning people I know onto NW rap music. And I see a lot of comments on this thread that are kind of flaky and opinionated without much substance to give me any real sense that what they are saying is true.
But what I think the most important thing you said the "portland and seattle are 8% black, while the south is WAAAAY higher.. ", you're getting at something I've been maintaining for a long time, that it is in so many ways, a demograhpic thing.
The NW is at a tremendous natural disadvantage in so many ways b/c it lags way behind other regions (such as the South like you mentioned) in 1) total population and 2) black population. Now I'm not a dumbass, I know that the vast majority of rap music is purchased by white people, and I also know that outstanding rap music can be produced and rapped by white people (too many guys from the NW have proven this). I also know that Seattle does have a very proud tradition of musical excellence and even black musical excellence with Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones and Ray Charles (sort of).
HOWEVER, the overall whiteness (or better stated, lack of blackness) in Seattle and Portland I think still plays a major role in limiting what the NW can do. One of the most common themes in rap music is coming up from hard times, usually hard times (escaping the crime etc.) in a ghetto that is 85 to 90% African American. Portland and Seattle do not have any places like that of significant size (no Census Tract in SEA or Portland is over 45% black). If you asked the average white person in Seattle or Portland "does your city have a ghetto?" I have observed they will most likely either say "no" or "yes, but not like (insert your city here).
So if the people of the region who need to be purchasing these CDs and supporting their artists are doubting the very substance and authenticity of these artists, are they going to purchase those CDs and support those artists? I've flat out had buddies of mine in the car kind of roll their eyes when they here about a lot of the things these dudes talk about. Now that doesn't make those guys wrong, I have no doubt guys like Crytical are 100% real no bullshit, but if the masses in our region would, then I think that severely limits what a man like Crytical can do.
Why in the world would a CEO of a record label go up to Seattle or Portland and get somebody when he could also get a very talented guy from a place that is already in the consciousness of everybody, already proudly displayed on t-shirts, etc. Those corporate people rely heavily on the creativity and trendmaking prowess of young black America, who set the trends and make the white masses follow (with their $). I honestly don't see many black kids from a city in Cali, the South, the Midwest or the East rocking a shirt that said "206" or rocking some Street Level records because they simply have too much pride in their own communities and are not intrigued enough by ours.
And to the people saying "they just have to make good music" that is flat out wrong for several reasons. 1) there is no such thing as universally accepted good music, it's art it is open to an infinite amount of interpretations and 2) in MY interpretation, the NW has been making outstanding music for too long now, especially in the last 2 years. But D-Sane (as far as I know) doesnt' have a mansion in Mercer Island, Crytical isn't a rich man etc. etc. If Crytical doesn't blow (and he won't), then that proves right there that the actual music is either irrelevent or just the first step of a multi-step process.
So I guess the big theme here with what I'm saying is that the Northwest lacks many aspects of the reputation that is a prerequisite to blowing up as a rap mecca. I know that people buy good CDs to listen to good music not because some guy is from x, but the reality is there are extremely talented people everywhere (I've got hot shit from 42 states), the image and the connections and all that stuff is more important than the music.
I know people will get all offended with this shit but honest, I have over 600 NW rap albums, I live in another region of the country for 9 months of the year, I have a very thorough understanding of the music the Northwest has produced, as well as a very thorough understanding of the way our region is perceived nationally. I have tried ever since I was banging that F.T.S. Money Motivated my sophomore year of HS to get people into this NW rap shit. I won't give up, but I don't care as much anymore.
I really liked what Red Head Steve said about this, he was kind of like 'fuck this, if I can just know deep down inside that I did something fucking special and can show it to my kids, then it's cool.' That is the attitude, I respect that so much.
SO OVERALL, THE NORTHWEST IS NOT BLOWING, we're too small, too white, not nearly nationalistic enough (like Texas is) as a region. If it were, it simply would've happened by now. To the artists, many of whom know how much I have supported them over the years, I say this, don't worry about it, get as much scrill as you can but more importantly just take a tremendous amount of pride in the incredible work so many of you guys do and understand just how positively you've affected the lives of us fans.
