Rap-Vermont style

Yo, Vermont, What Up? These 3 Dudes, for Starters - New York Times, 6/2/07: "The rap, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL7uW4TYqbs, pokes fun at Vermont institutions and stereotypes like dairy products and snowplows.

“Green Mountain State, where we roll on skis, don’t mess with our cows or we’ll break your knees,” go the rappers, who perform under the name X10."

Brazil's official support of hip-hop

New York Times, 3/14/07 - Brazilian Government Invests in Culture of Hip-Hop: "In a classroom at a community center near a slum here, a street-smart teacher offers a dozen young students tips on how to improve their graffiti techniques. One floor below, in a small soundproof studio, another instructor is teaching a youthful group of would-be rappers how to operate digital recording and video equipment.

This is one of Brazil’s Culture Points, fruit of an official government program that is helping to spread hip-hop culture across a vast nation of 185 million people. With small grants of $60,000 or so to scores of community groups on the outskirts of Brazil’s cities, the Ministry of Culture hopes to channel what it sees as the latent creativity of the country’s poor into new forms of expression....

Brazilian law also offers tax breaks to companies that contribute to cultural endeavors like films, ballet and art exhibitions. Rap music has now been granted similar standing, and as a result, some of the country’s largest corporations have begun underwriting hip-hop records and shows.

At a recent event in Campinas, a city of one million an hour’s drive from here, the sponsors included a power company, a bank, a construction business and an industrial conglomerate."

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Detroit promotes its music to tourists

Soundslam News: "Despite the loss of some of Detroit's hip hop core, it seems that the city's Visitor's Bureau has recently recognized the strength of the Detroit hip-hop scene as a catalyst for new tourism. Last Wednesday, the Bureau released their new advertising campaign entitled, D. Cars, Culture, Gaming, Music, Sports, reflecting several facets of hip hop's influence.

In the press release, the Visitor's Bureau stated, 'Hot cars. Leading-edge music. Vegas-style gaming. Diverse culture. Championship sports. These are the attributes that define metro Detroit and offer the most appeal as a tourism destination.' Larry Alexander, CEO of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau (DMCVB), said that including music, these five categories give Detroit the identity as 'the American city where cool comes from.' The ads' demographics focus on a narrow 21 to 34 year old range. While the older baby boomer generation remembers Detroit for its economic deterioration, the youth, especially hip hoppers, see Detroit as a hot bed for each of the five categories. VisitDetroit.com also explicitly takes advantage of Detroit hip hop by giving updates on hip-hop events and a thorough history of its scene, shouting out Eminem, Kid Rock, Slum Village, J Dilla, and old schoolers such as The Crew Called Open Mic, A.W.O.L., Smilee, and Kaos & Mystro.

The aesthetic of the ad campaign also shows glimpses of hip-hop's influence. The campaign's logo (fig. 2) shows a sleeker version of the old English 'D' found throughout Detroit hip-hop's marketing."

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A thriving sub-genre in the Bay area live music scene

1/14/07, San Francisco Chronice - Hip-hop takes the stage: "Some call it a movement. Others say it's a revival. But there's no denying that the blending of hip-hop with live instrumentation and a variety of other genres -- including funk, jazz, salsa, reggaeton and rock -- is one of the freshest, most happening things going in the Bay Area's multicultural music scene."

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Hip hop and local scenes

This NYTimes article says the days of national hip hop artists selling millions of CDs may be over. Now the focus is on hometown boys selling locally and regionally.

Lil Boosie and Hip-Hop - New York Times, 10/19/06: "It’s easier than ever for fans to learn about regional scenes, from the Bay Area’s space-age hyphy movement to the rough beats and rhymes of Baltimore. The Internet has made it easier to get mixtapes, too ...

"...hip-hop feels both more local and more accessible, and nothing captures that combination like the continuing popularity of hip-hop dances. ... they filter up from clubs to YouTube, and then back down into bedrooms."

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Indigenous hip-hop in Bolivia

An example of music reflecting the issues and spirit of a local culture.

9/14/06 - Toward Freedom - Rapping in Aymara: Bolivian Hip Hop as an Instrument of Struggle: "At 13,000 feet, the hip hop movement in El Alto, Bolivia is probably the highest in the world. The music blends ancient Andean folk styles and new hip hop beats with lyrics about revolution and social change....

"[Cadena] believed hip hop was becoming more popular in Bolivia because anyone can produce the music, regardless of whether or not they know how to play an instrument. 'It’s popular in poor neighborhoods where people might not have a guitar. All you need is a pen and paper. You don’t need money. You can do it anywhere. People largely identify with it in marginalized neighborhoods, where people don’t have access to music lessons or instruments.' She also said it is growing along with the current political changes all around Latin America. 'It’s part of this regional protest movement.'"

Mixing Boomers and Gen Y

Here's another example of venues that are finding ways to appeal to both younger and older fans.

Baltimore's Young Music Fans Move from Hip Hop to Jazz | BaltimoreChronicle.com, 7/12/06: "Small Baltimore jazz clubs are experiencing a resurgence in attendance among an under-30 demographic and have welcomed such diversity....

"Many of Baltimore’s young music lovers prefer to visit jazz establishments over other nightlife venue options. The relaxed atmosphere has most frequently been cited as the main reason many prefer jazz clubs to the rowdier scene of hip hop clubs or sports pubs. The level of talent displayed by jazz artists is another reason why Baltimore’s young people are flocking to local jazz clubs."

Stockton promoted by local rappers

This article talks about how rap is often tied to location. True to their roots:

"Stockton artist Andre 'Drizay' Hillery, 32, said claiming a hometown also gives a rapper an identity.

"'If you don't represent where you're from, you're nobody,' Hillery said.

"The best example of regional sounds in rap are the West and East Coast sounds that developed in the early 1990s. West Coast artists such as 2Pac rapped about their region's superiority over funk-based tracks, while East Coast rappers such as the Notorious B.I.G. chose a different musical path and emphasized the supremacy of their area.

"Record companies have found that consumers are willing to buy music based on these regional identities, said [Marc Lamont Hill, a hip-hop scholar and assistant professor of urban education at Philadelphia's Temple University]."