I didn’t want to call DP Dot Com a “Hip-Hop” website when we first jumped out the gate. I didn’t think that expressed our mindset to the fullest. I was scared that being labeled as much would mean that we might be overlooked by the tacit supremacy endorsing venues. That was my mistake to try to appeal to those outlets that ultimately don’t RESPECT the message that we project here at Dallas Penn Dot Com.
In all honesty, we were foolish to expect white folks to trade in their supremacy tickets for this Hip-Hop movement. Only Robbie from UnKut would be that crazy kind of white dude, but he is also Australian so you can’t really call it with one of those Aussie cats. My homie from OhWord, RAFI KAM is pretty serious too, but I don’t expect him to totally cash out of his whiteness either. I mean, c’mon. he’s got a family to feed. Trading in your white power for some global love understanding is almost too much to ask for from anyone. So I ain’t even mad at you if the men in black come visit you and make you yell out “Sieg Busche!”
I have been peeping some video content from a group of dudes that call themselves ‘The Real’. Unfortunately, for Hip-Hop, these dudes are anything but. Hip-Hop belongs to everyone that wants to represent it as it truly exists. These dudes have decided to parody the artform, but they aren’t fans of the artform itself. This kind of sucks for me because I have to blast on a group of dudes that feel good about the content they are creating. If someone told me that the iNTERNETS CELEBRITIES weren’t Hip-Hop I would feel a kind of way. These dudes are not Hip-Hop though. I won’t even link to their shit. If you know these cats, the Rosenthal brothers, then you already know them.
Rosenthal brothers; stop bullshitting and hire some writers that speak Hip-Hop. Hire some production assistants that are Hip-Hop. Y’all niggers are doing your thing, but you ain’t Hip-Hop, and you are embarrasssing me, but for the most part, you are embarrassing yourselves. That is not Hip-Hop.
who are these guys? i won’t even bother with the youtubeage, fuck it. peace d.
…they have some funny clips i will say that.
question though – what IS a hip hop deemed website homie?
>> These dudes have decided to parody the artform, but they aren’t fans of the artform itself.
nah D… give them a chance
^ Nation,
I see these cats are doing their thing, but they just got to come better with their shit. They obviously have a production budget. They need to use some of that paper to get a writer that will bring them out of their cliched tropes.
It’s like watching that video clip of Karl Rove rapping at the Republican gala event in D.C. Once they stop being so cliche with their shit they will become Hip-Hop.
How do you parody something that is already a parody of itself? In regards to the consumption or should I say devouration of said “hip-hop” the notion of “authenticity” is merely a lark. Once the formulaic blueprint was layed out it went from being a craft to a commodity. This is no “parody” of hip-hop no matter how “good” or “bad” or “authentic” it could be. Since this artform has been minced to its basest elements and that paltry puree is seasoned with “reality” everyone who thinks that can rhyme sentences over a basic rhythm think they’re being “hip-hop”. Ever see “Celebrity Rap Superstar”? You can’t tell those people they’re not hip-hop.
Hip-Hop is dead/dying because we’ve made ourselves (as the collective hip-hop populace) way to open to the masses for the sake of financial gain. We’ve disclosed ALL of our dirty laundry for the sake of head nods and Soundscan charts. We’ve sacrificed a part of our inner us for mere crumbs. We let the world look in to our world initially as a cry for help to make those aware of the shit we’re dealing with. That cry has been replaced with barks, unghs, OKAYS, izzles, and wobble wobbles…
Once again we have been assuaged into complacency and we have sacrificed our souls and our identities to do so. Sadly enough that harsh reality that spawned such a great movement hasn’t gone anywhere, but all these MC Peters out there crying wolf about it have diluted, neutralized, and immobililized any care, concern, or help by over-romaticizing and simplifying the true blight that exists. Instead of old slave films where the happy darkies overcame life on the plantation with jubilant singing and dancing, we’re still stuck in the same entertainment trap but this time the plantation is “The Hood” and cats are more than happy being fucked up…
40, where do I subscribe to your blog?
LOL….
I’m not disciplined enough for it Rafi… I tried it once before and I caved under my own pressure and froze up like Britney at the VMAs… So I just play my lane and contribute to the community that is DallasPenn.com…
And I wish you made that Camborghini shirt in my size…
Hail 40…even though I drink 12 oz. a few at a time.
wait, MIMS isn’t a parody?
Non-bloggers stand up!
Yes, 40, thanks for the contributions.
DP… I will check out the Rosenthals… but is that your intention? To highlight what you perceive as low-quality stuff?
^ LM,
Peep these cats if you have the time to waste. As I write my thoughts out sometimes I say too much or I say too little. If my intention was to highlight these cats I would have upped a link like I do when my intention is to highlight cats.
Carry on good peoples. 40, do you want me to pass the link to your blog?
LOL….
I’ll pass on what used to be my blog.
http://mightydrewpreme.blogspot.com
Its old and dated but still a fun read. I had visions of something like DP.com before I even knew what DP.com was. However I know Dallas stays on me about writing and I should be self-sufficient and be the Furious Styles of the blogosphere (It wasn’t a problem til it showed up in Iowa!). But then what I also realized here at DP. com its a true collective over here. A sense of community that has symbiotic relationships that gives me hope in real people in this internet world. What I think is dope about Dallas’ Cosa Nostra is that since its dominated by people who had tons o’ fun pre-interweb, that the human element is not lost. Often times in this interweb world cats hide behind screennames and personas and use that anonimity to spew their foolishness unchecked. The biggest social flaw of the internets is that its unchecked freedom of speech. The average DP.commer comes from an era where reckless talk got your shit split. But although we may not always agree we maintain a level of respect because we all know and respect the actuall HUMAN element of those who create the comments. So I’m more than content, in fact I’m grateful to be a voice that is heard and respected in a community of great people. Dallas, myself, Combat Jack, Rafi, Gabe, have all connected at some point and everyone on this page is the same person in life. So thats why I’m rollin’ with the big homie DP and hope that one day this dude is on Bill Maher along with these other fools reppin’ “This Thing Of Ours”. Making our voices heard.
Sorry for the diatribe Dallas. And shout out to everyone here.
just saw their latest vid
how is that a cliche?
^ apologies never required.
I think you aren’t quite being fair to these guys. To suggest, these guys don’t know or love hip hop is just flat out wrong in my opinion. They clearly are familiar enough to be aware of the current issues in hip hop (ring-tone rap, G-Unit’s decline, Kanye vs. 50) as well as a sense of history (The UPS Line From The Flavor In Ya Ear Remix). Deconstructing Biggie is really funny to me. I think the one issue that seems quite not right about them is that there aren’t any faces of color in their videos (except that Asian dude who did the Puffy Dance.) and that seems odd. Honestly, I think your primary beef with these guys seems to be the fact they are white dudes making parody of hip hop. Although, having the occasional black face in the videos might help alleviate some of the tension.
And also in their defense, stemming from working in the film industry, I can tell you these guy have NO budget. At All. I’m guessing they just have their own equipment or this part of a school project of some sort.
^ DocZeus,
They display a pedestrian knowledge of the topics they have made clips about. Yes, it is weird that no people of color are present in their videos, I don’t automatically include asians into the diaspora because for the most part they don’t include themselves either.
I’m talking strictly from the standpoint of something being genuinely funny and not something that MAD TV or Friends would do as a parody. Did you peep the Mimi and Flo video that parodies R.Kelly and Usher’s duet ‘Same Girl’? This is what I mean by going in deeper than a cliche.
Everybody can have their own little piece of Hip-Hop, but some folks have to realize that they are renting their piece and they need to contract with folks that actually own theirs. Real does recognize real homey.
Dallas –
Regarding their lack of knowledge, those ARE short comedy clips and isn’t formal criticism on the subject. I will say they are pretty hit and miss and all of them have an awkwardness on screen that seems pretty evident but thats a performance issue not a conceptual one. At the same time, they aren’t Dave Chappelle.
Although, I still find it hard to believe that anybody wouldn’t at least chuckle at Deconstructing Biggie. For example, in that particular video the joke isn’t really at Biggie or hip hop’s expense but rather taking a subtle jab at political correctness . Its funny to me for a group of UPS workers get upset and be so uptight at a Biggie line denigrating their profession. Plus, who can’t laugh at a FedEx employee doing the Puffy Dance in victory to mock a UPS worker.
Still, I’m not sure I agree with your premise that there are cultural gatekeepers that decide who is and who isn’t “hip hop.” With all due respect, Hip Hop is lot more nebulous than perhaps your outdated true school definition of what is hip hop. You can clearly draw the line that Karl Rove is not hip hop but these cats while clearly being middle class white kids from the burbs don’t fit the traditional ideal but certainly have a little bit of that ol’ hip hop spirit in the,. I would be careful in designating anybody “hip hop” or “not hip hop.” I know your hip hop cred so I’m not hating but I think sometimes you oughta expand your definition.
^ DocZeus,
Point taken and acknowledged. I also agree that Hip-Hop is certainly available for everyone no matter one’s background or even their economic standing, but the essence of Hip-Hop is to shine lightness to the dark, and this can certainly be done without the obvious presence of dark people.
Still, there is something that is quantifiably missing from these short productions and my nose smells inauthenticity. Maybe I’m being too didactic, or maybe these joints just ain’t that fresh. One of rap music’s current shortcomings is a lack of originality in content and presentation. I see the same LCD within these videos.
Dallas… I feel like I am the only one who sees the irony or hypocrisy in you segregating these guys from hip hop. with all due respect, especially for what you do and the way you put yourself out there everyday, don’t you think you should give them a chance… especially since you acknowledge how fucked up society can be versus black people or even any hip hop fan.
you start off by saying that white people are not playing fair because they wouldn’t trade in their supremacy cards for hip hop, but when they do attempt to, you put them on blast. it’s as if you’re doing to them what is being brought upon the entire subculture (see: counterculture)… and because of what… them being white? we need to acknowledge that nowadays anyone with a sense of humor, digital camera and a youtube account is a director…. let em live. plus you know ain’t no one fucking with the internet celebrities
Nation,
No free ghetto passes come from my lookout post. Being white never stopped ANYONE from being Hip-Hop, if they were Hip-Hop at all to begin with. Charlie Ahearn, Rick Rubin, Joe Strummer, Danny Hoch, Robbie Ettleson, Rafi Kam are all what you might call “white”, and they are all Hip-Hop inside and out. They reflect this in their pride, predjudice and politics. So don’t ever fall through here and talk that shit.
My problem with the Rosenthal camp is that they aren’t fresh to def. Can they be? I hope so. And just because niggas got a video camera and a YouTube account don’t mean that they are worth my time. Just like the twelve million fools rhyming their hearts on MySpace. What you want holmes? Dope or dog food? Right now them dudes smell like Ken-L Rations.
Point taken about just not liking them. If you don’t like ’em because you find them not funny that’s cool. No more qualms from me.
i can see clearly now
Giggled a bit at that UPS thing. Rest of that ish was hot garbage, B. I was damn near offended by the wackness on that ‘Ye vs 50 drama school thing. That video made me think they weren’t talking about Hip Hop as insiders, they were laughing at it as outsiders, though I didn’t get that impression from anything else i saw. Eh, I ain’t checkin them like I check dp dot com, so it’s whatever.
AYO 40!
Was reading your Blog… Its really good my dude. Keep writting.
Not funny… you wasted too much time talking ’bout ’em.
^ truedat
I cant hate on all of their skits..some are wack, but some are actually decent
hiphop doesnt have colour homie..well green if ur a TI