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New York hip hop is once again buzzing loudly, with the recent explosive rise of Brooklyn's Bobby Shmurda. Thanks to the power of the meme, his #ShmoneyDance and the song it was derived from, exploded across social media in the past few weeks, culminating with an "epic" record deal signing.
However, with this meteoric rise, comes plenty of opinions. Many are surprised that such a sudden, possibly flash-in-the-pan artist could (or shoud) literally take over the hip hop industry. What does this say for the integrity of the artform, they ask, when someone can get signed and wildly promoted off of the success of a Vine clip?
On the other hand, many point to Bobby Shmurda as a great example of how a NY-based rap artist should rise to fame... through a make-music-for-my-block-and-the-rest-will-follow attitude, a strong local movement, a catchy song, charisma and well-timed co-signs by outside influencers.
Some will worry that the imagery on display in "Hot Ni**a" is adding to an already violent rap music landscape, and will inspire many more copycats seeking to follow in his footsteps.
Others will remind us that it isn't the music creating the environement, it is the environment creating the music.
We're going to welcome several individuals with diverse opinions on tonight's episode, and invite callers to give their opinion on Bobby Shmurda.
We'll also be speaking with Mikal Amin Lee, aka Hired Gun, an artist, educator and global hip hop representative about his organization Urban Word NYC, and their current fundraising campaign to continue utilizing hip hop as an inspirational teaching tool.
Lastly, we'll preview a slew of great, new NY rap releases we think you should know about.
Tune in! Call in!
