Words cannot describe how much I love this blog (and all blogs for that matter). Besides serving as my soap box to stand on when I want to make a statement, the blog has been a great tool for constructing relationships with like-minded individuals who understand that much of what I write is more than bitching and moaning about a broken industry; it’s a call to action for those that believe we can change the industry.

This week I had the pleasure of being introduced to Julie C. and Shamako Noble of the Hip-Hop Congress who found their way to my Hip-Hop Stimulus Plan. We didn’t miss a beat in getting the ball rolling on bringing more heads to the table that I believe will help elaborate on the ideas I’ve outlined, while also bringing great ideas of their own to ultimately reform the hip-hop industry. I’ve even been appointed as the Media and Technology: Economic Policy Adviser for the organization– a title I absolutely love especially because of my future ambitions in politics.

Just to give my loyal reader(s) a little background; me and the Hip-Hop Congress go way back. In fact, it’s not much of an understatement to say that I owe my career to this organization.

When I started attending Ohio University back in 2003, I arrived to a campus with no hip-hop scene. Nothing. There were plenty of hip-hop fans on campus. There were also plenty of MCs, DJs, B-Boys and B-Girls and graffiti writers in the area as well. But aside from 2 bars on campus (out of about 30) that hosted live DJs, outlets for live hip-hop performances were scarce. I was a recent transplant to this rural campus, coming from a year spent in Los Angeles, and was not accustomed to a scene with so little to offer hip-hop fans.

Towards the end of my first year I ran into a couple of guys at a bar who caught my attention because one of them was drumming a beat on top of the bar while another was freestyling from a bar stool (why he had drum sticks at the bar is still a mystery). I introduced myself and let them know of my background as a DJ. They immediately put a flier in my hand letting me know about this organization called Hip-Hop Congress, which they were in the process of organizing a local chapter for on campus.

The following Sunday I attended one of the first organizational meetings for the chapter. I was amazed by the diversity of the people at this meeting. You had people that looked like hippies, skaters, nerds and pretty much any other label you can imagine, but these people were all there because of their love for hip-hop culture. These were the people I had been looking for.

Packed House at the MC Battle

It didn’t take long before this collective we formed became quite influential on campus. We started by hosting weekly MC battles (see Monday Night Sound Clash 10-20-03), but were soon hosting hip-hop events all over town that embraced the various elements of hip-hop culture and examined a lot of social issues that pertained to hip-hop. While we were diligently working on building outlets for live performances, we spent just as much time educating people about hip-hop culture. We definitely weren’t doing the type of work most people would expect from a bunch of hip-hop heads.

As the scene formed, I found myself taking on more roles within the local hip-hop circuit. I was no longer just a DJ, but an event promoter, record label liaison and the worst nightmare of anyone who wanted to oppose this movement we were creating. I also started working with a few artists to assist with their marketing, both on campus and on a national scale.  Soon, these things were consuming so much of my time I had to reduce my course load just to handle all the work I was doing on the side. It was at this point that I realized that this hip-hop stuff wasn’t just a hobby or interest of mine; it was my life.

We continued building that scene right up until the day I graduated and the Ohio University Hip-Hop Congress is continuing to build on that groundwork to this day. I still get excited every time I get an invite on Facebook to a hip-hop show on campus or read stories about the work that the organization is doing on campus.

Here are a couple of links to stories that were written about our work in forming the OU Hip-Hop Congress Chapter and below is a video I recently spotted on Fake Shore Drive from the Chi-Town Beatdown event hosted by the UIC Chapter of the Hip-Hop Congress.

Rhythm Battles Spice Up Casa Monday Nights

Hip-Hop Gets the Vote at OU

Panel Discusses Hip-Hop Culture

City and Residents Appear Ready for Monster Block Party

Hip-Hop Concert to Entertain at Palmerfest

UIC HHC Presents: Chi-Town Breakdown from Tori Boyd on Vimeo.

I received some pictures this morning from a weekly MC Battle I organized while attending Ohio U. called the Monday Night Sound Clash. When I reminisce on some of my personal milestones, the organization of this event always comes up because it was something very new to the area and also because we literally packed this venue to the seams every week. Looking back at these pictures really makes me wonder how the fire marshal never shut us down, because this just looks like a disaster waiting to happen (but fortunately never did).

The Original Show Flyer:

The Show: (all photos courtesy of Athens Musician Network)

By Kristin Majcher
Athens NEWS Campus Reporter
March 13, 2008

Situated in Appalachian Ohio, Athens is not necessarily known as a hip-hop center. Grammy-nominated Stu Pflaum hopes to change this by using Ohio University as a tool to promote artists on his Element 9 record label.

Pflaum was nominated for a Grammy for working on the hit song “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” and is a 2006 OU graduate. After college he moved to New York to develop his production company Element 9.0 LLC, which he recently announced will start distributing recordings by artists on the Element 9 Muzik label.

Element 9 started as just a promotion company, but has recently expanded to also serve as a record label. Unlike major hip-hop labels, Element 9 is using a grassroots approach to promote artists by allowing them to leave a message on a dedicated phone line to show off their skills.

Pflaum started the Dial-A-Deal program to allow unknown artists the chance to make it big, without needing much else but talent.

“I’m very excited about the potential of this new approach to talent scouting because it allows us to focus on the raw talent an artist possesses, as opposed to the common industry practice of researching radio airplay statistics, which basically eliminates the possibility of label consideration for artists without the funding to hire the right people to get them that airplay,” Pflaum said.

Element 9 Muzik will put on a 10 p.m. Saturday show at 19 South to promote its first artist, Devon “QP” Hubbard. The 22-year-old MC grew up in Cleveland, and is excited to represent Ohio by doing his first show this year in Athens.

“This is a big event for me because it’s in Ohio, and I have family in Athens right now,” Hubbard said. “I know I can tear it up down there.”

Hubbard’s influences include older rap artists such as Snoop Dogg, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Biggie Smalls, but he also avidly listens to R&B. He tries to stay original and strays away from sounding like other contemporary artists. “I do what I do and not what they do,” he said.

While QP will perform mostly older songs already available online, fans can participate in a “text mob,” with details available on his Myspace page. This will allow them to listen to tracks from his upcoming album at a secret location only disclosed through text messages on the day of the show. Pflaum hopes to gather opinions from fans in Athens to influence marketing plans for the album.

Also performing will be Atlanta duo Young Snead and Yay-High, as well as DJ Kut Nyce from Cleveland. Pflaum himself will perform under the name “DJ Xplosive.”

While the upcoming show is the first for Element 9 recordings, Pflaum hopes to use Athens as a place to introduce his artists to the world.

“I’ll bring an artist I work with to Athens at every opportunity I get,” Pflaum said.