Hip Hop Is Dead: The Impact Of Social media & Technology

Because of the home grown music producer, hip hop music production has changed drastically in the past decade as the advent of digital computers and the internet has reciprocated the face of hip hop music production. Hip hop has always been intimately tied to technology however, it is important to note that the creation of hip hop music has never required the latest and greatest equipment. The earliest pioneers of hip hop used the analog hardware abandoned by the recording industry who were in search of even better equipment; two turntables and a microphone has been the equipment of choice for many hip hop artist as well as producers over the years. While Hip Hop has not yet led directly to advancements and innovations in the technologies of music engineering equipment, its producers have revolutionized the use of the technology in ways that incorporate priorities of black culture. How has technology shaped the creativity of hip hop, well one Carlos Bess commented that, while high-end digital hardware and software are becoming cheaper, its price tags are still out of range for the beginner producers. Carlos, who has spent his last 10 years as a studio sound engineer, was convinced that skill was a better determining factor when judging weather someone could escape the bedroom and enter the big time. Carlos went so far as to say that he felt that the new equipment simply created lazy producers who could only produce more beats, not better beats.

Even though we have seen the evolution of the hip hop culture in the digital age what has to be realized is that things will change over time.Considering the facts of how markets, consumers, and fans can be reached and appealed to through the Internet and the various forms of communication the Internet has created. The Internet has allowed unimaginable access to seamless information, but to other people as well. Someone sitting in their home can use computer equipment to record, edit, and distribute a piece of original music and can even make money doing so. While the mainstream recording industry may not always make it easy for smaller groups to break into the business, technology has made up for such failings. Certain websites have even been created with the express purpose of allowing musical performers to spread the word about themselves through social networking. While these sites may have become popular among non-musicians as well, they still exist and can certainly be used as a way for someone to spread their work and image to new markets and people. Internet websites can be used to host music clips, video footage from concerts, and allow even people who are still practicing in a garage for a first gig to create a website for their band. Recording and distribution in the digital age is about thinking beyond what was possible before, and creating something new that will catch people’s attention and make them want to know more about a group or performer. Things like blogs, forums, and podcasts can all be used to allow someone to get their music and image out to the public and interact with new musical communities. Because computer technology has allowed for the creation of professional quality home recording studios, a person can form a band and start recording music without the help of a major label within the record industry. With the possibilities opened up through webhosting of sites, streaming audio, and group information, a performer can now distribute his or her music to the masses as well. While someone can easily burn a CD to distribute, the physical process can be skipped completely and music can be recorded digitally then distributed digitally as well. The entire process has been potentially simplified and has allowed artists to relate and interact directly with the fans who buy the music, allowing the record industry to be bypassed nearly completely. Though the full potential for recording and distribution in the digital age has not necessarily been fully explored, the possibilities that are already available are quite impressive. Several technologies have become symbolic of producing hip hop’s famous sound that includes the turntable, synthesizer, drum machine, and sampler. These four pieces of equipment were the result of advancements made in the 1877 invention of the first sound recording and playback device, the phonograph. The phonograph is simply a record player, and is known to DJs as a turntable (Phonograph-Wikipedia). The turntable is the device where the infusion of electronic technology made its first entrance into hip hop. While this device was commonly used for playing vinyl records through the 1980s, the recording and playback of sound using a magnetic medium passing over electromagnetic heads was first conceived of in the late 1880s. These tools were used as a weapon in the creation of the genre we now know as hip hop. Hip hop is a cultural movement that emerged from the Bronx during the 1970s due to the isolation of the neighborhoods from the rest of New York City by a newly built highway system. Although the African-Americans and Puerto Ricans of the community lived in poverty and hardship, they created a beautiful culture consisting of four main elements of MCing, DJing, graffiti art, and break-dancing that displayed their resistance to the oppressive society around them. Through the years, we’ve seen vinyl give way to cassette tapes and the emergence of the compact disc. We’re 12-years deep into the Digital Era that was spawned by emerging mp3 and peer-to-peer technologies. And as we slowly segue into what appears to be an era of cloud-based, streaming music, both the R.I.A.A. and Billboard are reluctantly joining the party by recognizing YouTube views and digital streams as legitimate ways to legally interact with music. Additionally, social media such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter have become the new demo tape—even though most of the people that interact via the aforementioned social networks have no idea what an actual “tape” was. Cultures everywhere have united under the banner of the hip hop community as it develops and changes with the times. The internet has opened many new doors for artists to promote themselves without the need of a major label. Now producers and rappers can network over sites like facebook and twitter and make a name for themselves without spending thousands of dollars. Because of this the rapper is hindered only by their imagination, not A&R . What this breaks down to is more people are making music than ever before.