ObiAudio

You know I was just thinking about a radio interview I did with a radio station yesterday promoting my new single “The Champ is Here” featuring Worst Case Scenario and Stop The Gimmicks and one of the questions that stuck with me was about my views on hip hop culture of yesteryear vs hip hop culture of now. Here’s my brief summery;

Yesteryear:

Human Interaction: Back in the days in NYC, the iron horse (subway for you laymen) was an integral part of my record shopping experience. Every weekend myself, DJ Dae One and DJ J. Speed would go to I&L records on Flatbush Avenue and then travel down Church avenue stopping in multiple record stores along the way, then hit Utica avenue to hit up a few spots until we got to Eastern Parkway and then jump on the IRT to the City (Manahattan) and head on over to Rock and Soul on 7th Ave between 34th & 35th and then over to Times Square to the Music Factory and then double back to Downtown records on 28th street and further down into the Village to a few spots on Bleeker street including the iconic Bleeker Bob’s and then we’d head over to Queens to hit up Music Factory on Jamaica Avenue and VP Records and a few spots on Guy R. Brewer which back then was known as New York Blvd.

The thing here was we not only had a relationship with the records we’ purchase but we had a face to face rapport with our vendors as DJs. But DJs weren’t the only ones privy to this very special experience. The record store was also a very cool spot to meet chicks who loved music just as much as you. You also made friends in the record store because someone could know the name of the record you heard at a block party, park jam or on the radio.

Today:

Soulless corporate owned music department outlets. Uniformed guy or girl who’s bitter about their so called fugged up life and pissed off they have to wear a stupid looking logo and engage their customers with the ultra phony “Hi, how you’re doing?” or “How’s it going?”.

But there is another disconnect about this experience that does not feel right about buying music in stores like this. They are sterile in such a clinical way that these stores have no true personality. Thus making the purchase uncomfortable and awkward. But wait what about the internet?

Now let’s get into iTunes for a second. First off iTunes sucks moose c ock! Yeah I said it and if you’re looking at your iPhone or iPod you’re probably saying to yourself, Fugg you Pete Marriott and that’s a natural response because I just told you a simple truth you know. Think about it for a sec, it’s the most restrictive file format and it’s a rather annoying purchasing experience.

But the iPhone and iPod is pretty and what’s pretty is automatically deemed as cool especially when Appholes (my coined phrased for overzealous Apple fanatics) are the Tea Party of digital technology. But there is another reason why I strongly dislike iTunes. It’s elitist and that in it’s self takes the true joy out of music purchasing experience.

Human beings in the digital age are not only physically lazy but mentally lazy in the sense of how we listen to music today. I don’t have to search for music anymore, it comes to me via my Facebook, Twitter feeds and when Hypemachine goes public, god forbid the chaos that will ensue.

The Major Label side of the music industry is trying to save themselves every damn day as more and more shareholders are dumping their stock into these corporations. The marketing companies who’s jobs are to sell you shit that you actually don’t need now have a solid Kung-Fu Death grip on all things hip hop music, so what are we to do?

Do we all run through the streets butt naked screaming the sky is falling or do we make a convergence and empower ourselves and increase the value of our music by creating a new system within that will not only create sustainability but a platform that balances the war between the localization and globalization of hip hop music?

Hack your 3rd Eye first then Hack the business of Hip Hop culture. People who follow the current trends are destined to fail and fall hard, why? Because without truly knowing the rudiments you can’t lead the path to the results you seek.