Remember Me?

What up Nation!  I’ve been saying it for weeks now…Cathy’s Hughes new NewsOne.com is on point.  Today Adam Mansbach, newsone.com contributor and author of Angry Black White Boy took me back real quick sharing a quick but extremely well written article entitled Early Hip Hop Mags Are Sorely Missed in which he examines the void left by pioneering Hip Hop rags.  Here’s a bite:

I went home and unpacked some boxes. Soon copies of Ego Trip, On The Go, Stress, 4080, Elementary, Rapsheet, One Nut, Life Sucks Die, Rappages and International Graffiti Times covered my floor. I’ve been re-reading them all week. They may lack some of the polish and most of the advertising of today’s publications, but they made up for it in flavor, passion, and wit.

Every one of the above-named publications was independent, dedicated, a labor of love. Every one of them is gone now, and so are the kinds of fierce, uneven, unpredictable, argument-starting, culture-critical voices they used to wield. The corporatization of hip-hop goes beyond the music industry; it has narrowed the frame of media coverage, too. Not only did the indie publications shape the culture instead of reacting to it, they kept the high-post glossies and everybody else honest as well.

He’s so on point.  I really encourage you to check out Adams piece and also check out his website.  He’ a young cat whose both an excellent writer and emcee with his finger on the Hip Hop pulse but also has some insight in other areas.  Paz.