Global Hip Hop

[kaivai]

What does hip hop mean to the dj in hamburg germany? what does hip hop mean to the breaker in zimbabwe, what does hip hop mean to the producer in easter island? these arent necessarily hip hop places but, what i am asking is, what does hip hop meanto you on a global scale

 

[Formant024]

It's a daily humm drum, I aint wearin' the fashion, knowin the video's or latest hotstuff. People are just livin' the cult very low profile here, au naturel. Im living mid-east in the netherlands straight againts the German border, which about a 2 hour drive from Amsterdam. Unlike Amsterdam which lives the hiphop culture as a breed of hype n fashion ( ey, it's Dutch metropolis ), people here mostly keep both feet on the ground keepin a lot of the bullshit out which I can appreciate. Peeps livin' in my " area " are Rigor and Eka. These are cats I can relate to since we livin' the same scene and situations, at least Rigor that is. Eka is to be met @ events every once in a while ( btw, no Hiphopsunday or saturday this year... ). To me Europe is as Global as it gets, with France probably being the hiphop capitol of Europe ( and globaly also 2nd biggest hiphop consumers! ). Germany is big for what hiphop concerns, a bit extreme in some occasions, kinda japanese like. Actualy, nothin's alike the US scene I think, either side, we just aint livin' like that, industry is different and english isn't our native tongue which makes it hard for loads of europeans to focus on a career in hiphop, It aint worth it most of the time unless you appreciate the small venues.

But I like it like that, in general I'd be more interested what the Japanese hiphop scene looks like than any US scene. Just different values to music.

 

[kaivai]

tru tru any one else got anything to contribute???? ill go l8r

 

[MarkN]

yea the hip hop situation here is kind of like the political situation between america and here with us being on there dick ! most people here just like to emulate everything coming out of usa ! there are a few original acts some good some bad some different lol ! a lot of the stuff is very closely linked with uk garage with im not a fan of ! The only artist who has had a break in the mainstream is dizzee rascal who is errr kind of hip hop but again closely linked with garage ! his album won the mercury music prize over here and as a result hes released two singles which have done ok ! personally i think hes ok but nothing special he prodcues almost all of his stuff to but his production is pretty basic to say the least !
Its definately becoming bigger over here though everything is getting more hip hop influenced there is now even a channel on sky that plays a lot of uk hip hop and i think its only a matter of time before the healthy underground scene here blows up and more UK acts get recognition in the mainstream both here an abroad !
There are a couple of big name DJs from the UK in tim westwood and trevor nelson, i think most people will either love or hate them, westwood does have a lot of good big name guests on his show but is a bit of a dick, trevor nelson is more of an r'n'b dj and slightly less annoying !
Compared to a lot of people down this way i am probably into hip hop more, i don't live it wear it as such thought i definately have it as an ifluence, though saying that maybe i do live it and wear etc just in a UK sense rather than US sense ! Its definately a passion of mine though as its the main music i listen to, its what i produce, its wot i watch so i definately think it effects me in a big way just not in the US video style gangster stylee with huge chain and an AK47 !

 

[kaivai]

yea over here the scene is heavily us influenced with in terms of fashion and old school production (samples over breaks) i mean we get these dudes wearing nba shirts and they probably dont even know who the champion team is, alot of the hiphop here is frontin, but in a good way there is sum tight as shit coming out, there are national mc battles, we have the aotearoa hip hop summit where all the elements come together and share ideas, out of that summit they have discussions about where nz hip hop is going, its alot like a big community we also have the independent record labels like dawn raid, breakin wreckwordz, and urban pacifika that have secured distribution through warner and universal, but there is a downside, i got little kats on my street screaming WESTSIIIDE and EASTSIIIDE and BLOOODSS and that shit the entire gang culture has caught on big time and its just not cool to see these little bitches on the street wearing there dads baggy as jeans, screaming and drinking and sniffing glue and shit, so we got rappers and mcs trying to spin things positively which is good

more later

 

[Equality 7-2521]

to me, hiphop is a mind state......not an area code.

so as far as music goes, good Hiphop is good Hiphop no matter where it originates.

 

[Shonsteez]

word up Mess^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[kaivai]

dats right, but what kinda mind stae???? the guy in california is gonna be rapping about sumthing totally different, to the dude next door to me so in that sense what is it about in your area???? the hip hop ideal is the mind set what im asking is how its being 'lived' out