As sales slip and criticism grows, hip hop’s current state continues to be called into question.

David Banner is quoted in the above linked article as a representative of hip hop who has tried to do some more positive songs but offers the same weak excuses for the same old social content (I’m just showing what’s around me and the fans hold me back when I try to do anything different).

What I find interesting is that in the formulaic AP coverage, the standard style for most mainstream media news writers, Banner appears somewhat superficial with not much new to say.

However, in an interview with David Banner playing off his experiences shooting Black Snake Moan, he’s given some room to talk and suddenly a complex, thoughtful man emerges.  What’s interesting is that the questions in the interview aren’t complex, they simply give Banner room to talk without fitting him into a debased and misleading journalistic template in which balanced coverage equals one guy saying yes and one guy saying no.

I have a lot of thoughts on the questions being raised (cause I’m the Thinker Upper!) so I’ll sum a few up in brief:

The best beats will win.

Corollary: Meaningful content can chart if the music rocks the house.

Whether or not you simply want to make a lifetime living in music with nonmainstream values or whether you want to take your art to the top of the charts, you’ve got to build your own independent system that will allow you to do an endrun around the gatekeepers (as the South has done in relationship to New York) and outlast the ups and downs of popular taste (as Chuck D has done).

On a personal note to progressive artists asking for "support" for their art, as an artist I never asked people to support my work due to the values expressed.  If I asked for their support, it was for a specific cause.  But I did encourage them to come out and have a great time at well-organized performance events in which performers gave their all.  As an artist, I’d much rather have a fan than a donor.

Thanks to Gabriel and blackfilm.com’s Wilson Morales for the news tips.