*WARNING THIS MAY BE THE LONGEST, MOST INCENDIARY POST I HAVE EVER TYPED HERE. THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE MY OWN. THAT SAID ENJOY…. OR MAYBE NOT*
after a few years of releasing albums and touring the country I have come to a conclusion: Tanya morgan isn’t accessible. This is mostly by choice. We sorta look the part and at times sound the part but for the most part we are off in our own little world.
It feels like everybody is fighting for the post rave/dance scene. Artists are really pushing to be on their radar. I dunno if they spend a lot of money or if they are the ones who keep you on the road but apparently they are more important than any other consumer of music right now. Or maybe that’s how it looks based on who I pay attention to. Regardless tho I feel like we don’t pander to them, we honestly dont make music for them at all. We kinda make music for ourselves. Our scene would be straight up hiphop. No real subgenre.. Just rap music. Even our dancey tunes are just plain rap. We make regular ass rap music and that’s not a good or bad thing its just a thing.
The weird part is that as much as I hate to admit it I kinda identify w/ that crowd who I don’t make music for at all. I don’t listen to that much rap. I play more post dance scene shit. If someone was to judge me based on my musical tastes alone I guess they could say I am a hipster. They would be wholely as justified in that assessment as they would by labeling Von Pea a backpacker. Thing is Von cops to being a backpacker while i dont cop to anything. But ill admit it here, im very hipstery.
I also think its kinda interesting to see what the post dance scene is embracing, i dont really go to their parties but i do go to their myspace pages and blogs and it seems that they are all kinda done with regular ass rap. thats not sayin that they dislike it, just sayin that they are bored with it or something. hell even the hip hop kids are leaning away from regular ass rap. i find that very interesting.
lemme explain what i mean when i say ‘post dance scene’…
the rave scene was HUGE for a long time. these rave kids were apart of the mtv generation. they were into a little bit of everything musically. well they have grown up and grown away from that experience as a whole but the sensibilities are still there. they still love hip hop and they still love dance music and listen to them both. they’d love to see the two married since well they are playin em side by side on their ipods anyway.
now apply that to the fact that alot artists and djs were born of that sphere of influence. of course the refining process takes a few years to happen but what we are seeing right now in music is the diamonds from the coal if you will. There is alot of discussion surrounding this new crop of artists. Acts that arent new at all to those of us who have been paying attention but definitely new to people who get their music knowledge from mass media as opposed to good old fashion looking for whats new. The main focus of the discussion is what to classify them as, hipster hop? meta rappers? the list of labels is growing day by day but it all boils down to who is going to create the label that sticks the hardest. alot of it mislabled to be honest.
we can all agree (well alot of us anyway) that the dj is the most important person in music hands down. they command large groups of listeners and are the record breakers/tastemakers who keep their hands on the pulse of whats hot. right? well its not them that is making the paradigm shift, they are just playin what the people want to hear in most cases. its mtv news and other media outlets informing its viewers of what rap is. how many awards shows have you seen where the nominees in the rap category arent rap at all? if they are so haphazard in awarding our music then imagine how careless they are in defining new branches of it. the music they are just discovering (on that christopher columbus shit) is dance music with a side of rap. it has just bled outside of the clubs its being played in. the same way snap music bled outside of the strip club this music has bled outside of the rave.
these artists have big followings on the dance scene, they can survive off of one song because dj’s spin their stuff at dance parties and they get remixed a million times over by other djs lookin to get into the scene and then the kids at the parties eat that shit up until said artist is called upon to host and perform that one song maybe more. performing one song may sound wierd but its a dance party so the performance aspect isnt really the meat, the dj is. that would make this music more dance than hip hop right? the lines are so blurred at this point noone can really say, thats why the media is scrambling to think up a new classification for them in the first place. media attention means there is a market for it which means that companies of all sorts are banking off of it somehow.
i think i have made my point, no actually i dont think i had a point. i just know that tanya morgan has not really been the benefactor of alot of these things. i mean we got a few industry pals but who in the industry doesnt? on a pure surface level the uninitiated dont see our music as progressive or breaking the mold. our innovations lie in nuance, we dont beat you over the head with our change, its subtle. concepts and themes and references that dont ask to be gawked at and are barely noticeable to even those who get it. at the end of the day we make regular ass rap music. the dj’s who were spinning hip hop are now spinning dance and/or dance influenced music or flat out top 40. which is why you will get parties where they play early hip hop, mash ups and then that dance shit that we refuse to do. or they just go straight for radio hits. thats what butters their bread, not our regular ass rap records. even when they are danceable.
meanwhile tanya morgan is on some me and my imaginary friends are having a great time living in our bubble. if we aint gettin word of mouth love we aint gettin no love because potential fans are being herded away en masse to the new flavor of the month and dj’s more concerned with keeping the lights on than breaking records, while regular ass rap and its pundits are being further alienated from the only genre they are true to. which leaves us lookin like 3 niggas w/ a funny name dropping another album in a cluttered scene…
im gonna go ahead and say it now, this new album is our middle finger to everything going on. does it vocally address the trends and shifts at hand? nah, that automatically makes the album a period piece. on lyrics to go q tip advised mc’s not to say the year in order to keep shit timeless and im a firm believer in that. all im sayin is taht at a certain point nonconformity becomes conforming and well frankly alot of the music that claims individuality is getting further and further away from showing people how to be themselves or more importanly how to be proud of being different.
the end.
**footnote: im not complaining at all, just analysing and commenting.
good read….it’s good that your acknowledging what’s out there and where you fit (or don’t) out there…also good to see that you’re embracing your hipsterness (i coulda saved you some keystrokes and told you this 2 yrs ago, but admitting it yourself is the first step, lol).
this jawn did read a tad bit little brother-ish so maybe you’re working on your “getback” album…either way just know that some of us out there still appreciate “regular ass rap” (i love that tagline btw, but you right it’s not marketable in this day & age….or is it?)
are your blogs always this good?…i haven’t been paying attn., with me adjusting to nyc this past yr ‘n all.
Lot of truth here. At first I wanted you to name names, but upon re-reading, it makes a lot more sense to speak broadly so as not to have someone miss your point(s).
Question: If the current fascination with the golden era of hip hop (as seen with the high-top fades and so forth) grows, do you expect that regular-ass rap will once again find its place on the Serratos of DJs throughout the US?
Also, based on your travels, is what you’ve described a US phenomenon or a global one?
kaydilla – lol… my blogs come in two forms of nonsense: mindless or mindful, you caught me on a mindful day lol.
tim – yeah everything goes in cycles, it will all come back. regular ass rap aint goin no where its just that the media wont pay it attention because it aint making nobody any kinda money. artists, labels, companies…. nobody. oddly enough i think the fascination with retro isnt helping at all if anything its confusing the gatekeepers even more.
I can definitely see where you’re coming from with this, but I think you’re putting too much stock in MTV’s (and mass media in general) influence.
In this digital age, the music market is becoming more segmented than we probably ever thought possible. The MTV crowd is is only one segment of the music market, and it’s becoming smaller and more defined just like every other segment. This is a crowd that, like you said, isn’t out looking for the new shit like alot of us are. They want to be told what to listen to, and they want stuff that’s somewhere between ‘regular ass music’ and ‘hipster’ (for lack of a better word).
People who rely on MTV will dismiss an artist one week for being too ‘out there’, but as soon as they start getting play on TV, they’ll jump right on the bandwagon. I think Tanya Morgan probably is a little too ‘weird’ for this audience, because you guys aren’t really trying to fit into that scene. You’re just speaking in your own raw, unique voice – and it’s that authenticity that draws people to you to begin with.
A group like Tanya Morgan shouldn’t really be trying to break on MTV. I’m in Halifax, Nova Scotia and got turned onto you guys via the net. That’s where your audience is. Outside of the main hip hop centers in the US, you have smaller pockets of fans spread out all over the world. And these aren’t MTV kiddies, so you shouldn’t be trying to gain acceptance from mass media. Instead, just listen to all of these little pockets, and cater to them. Draw them in and create a community around Tanya Morgan. Let them connect with you and with each other. The more you listen and are able to identify and connect with your core audience, the more empowered they will be to spread the music and increase your reach.
There is a large audience for ‘regular ass rap music’, but you have to know how to get your message out to them and engage them. It’s not about advertising and media exposure with this type of music. It’s about people connecting with the music and spreading then sharing it with others.
While some potential fans are getting herded away to the next flavor of the week, there are plenty more who are being driven away by MTV and looking for exactly what artists like you are offering. You aren’t at a disadvantage, you just have to understand how to find and connect with YOUR audience, and then cater exclusively to them. The word will spread on it’s own.
Hit me up on Twitter if you want to talk about how to ‘listen’. I always like connecting with artists who are operating outside of the traditional model.
Peace,
Greg
http://www.twitter.com/GregBates
regular ass rapper! keep that shit coming for us regular ass rap listeners…i cant speak for all but i appreciate what you all put out
*sidenote* dj lowkey is one of the coolest people i have met in a long time
preach brother preach…I see it all day everyday. What bothers me is that there are more people who can identify with “regular ass rap music” but want to listen to stuff they don’t even know about and claim its “real”
do what you do fam, and holla at ya folk
I am happy to be considered an imaginary friend. Tanya Morgan is my girl LOL Down ass bitch
Wow, I think I learned something. Good read. I find myself starting to listen to more and more “different” music, maybe what you mean by that post dance type of stuff. Not to replace the “regular rap” but in addition. I was just feeling like the stuff in my iPod was so predictable, something I’ve heard over and over again. Now all this so-called hipster stuff has kind of re-ignited my interest in music.
That didn’t make much sense, but what I think I’m trying to say is that to people like me, there’s room for everything. I’ve got TM banging in my headphones right behind some southern booty popping music, followed by a go-go cut and maybe the shuffle will take me to M.I.A.
I know yall will stay true to self, regardless and that’s what I think people like about TM. You wouldn’t be happy if you tried to fit your shit in someone else’s box and the fans who have kicked it with yall from jump wouldn’t be happy either, no matter what else they’ve got banging in their iPods.
Well wrote, my friend, well wrote.
Nigga, I’m just waiting for disco to come back.
Big horns and complex percussion. Live shit for 7 minutes.
I blame kanye west & his flashing lights for this shift….but anyways, I love tanya morgan and regular rap…regular rap is like the steady girl you wanna be with forever, eurryting else is like that flyyy slutty-thang w/her booty cheeks hang’n out her shorts that you just wanna bang a couple times :)
let me just throw my 2 cents in the pot….
i was looking at that “hipster hop” article in the xxl with jeezy/foxy on the cover and if kidz/pac div/lupe/mickey/cool kidz are the hipster hop mcs then shit…they all can rap! haha…at least good rapping is making a comeback in the popular world of hip hop. i think niggas just like labeling people honestly. i mean out of our lessondary crew spec boogie, elucid, and che grand all rap over weird shit/”hipster” songs too. its all about hip hop going in cycles. honestly we’re all just on some jungle brothers/monie love shit right now and i think its kinda dope if you look at it like that. if that was me then id be doing it too. instead im on my “rap over madlib beats” shit lol. I dont think this era of hip hop means anything bad about who we are at all though.
i will say this though…LOW BUDGET, KAY, THE ARE, NICOLAY, JUSTUS LEAGUE, SKYZOO, TORAE, KAM MOYE, ILLMIND, AOK, MARCO POLO, ETC…WE SHOULD ALL BE RICH! WE ALL NEED TO WORK TOGETHER MORE! POWER IS IN NUMBERS! POWER IS IN NUMBERS! LOL
This entry seriously made me feel better about a lot of things. No lie.
Thanks for this, fam.
I love BOOM BAP (REGULAR ASS) RAP! Keep doing what yall do. I can’t wait for Brooklynatti to drop… YEEEE!!!
I dig whatcha sayin…..kinda reminds me of the article where Common was talking about why he wanted to make Invincible Summer ( now titled Universal Mind Control ), but from a different angle. I say u got nothing too worry about. Yeah, we listen to J*DaVeY and Jonelle Monet and Blu and and and, but we fucks wit Tanya Morgan cause ya’ll do that regular ass rap shit we love so much. Next stop: Brooklynati!!!!
I dont care if I’m the last nigga alive repping for regular ass rap. give me dope beats and entertaining rhymes (the MC doesnt even have to be super incredible)
i sincerely hope yall dont give up the fight whether it’s quitting altogether or switching up your lane.
I love rap music. I dream about being a DJ or maybe a producer some day. My family’s not that rich though so it’s going to be tough to make it. Seems like people with money get breaks. Though some cats from da hood.