Addressing the Journalist/Blogger Divide

Here's more ammo for those bloggers who still have to fend off claims that journalism is inherently superior to blogging, leaving aside emergent facts such as more and more journalists are blogging, some bloggers break news before the journalists get to it and some bloggers have exposed serious journalistic errors.

In the above linked article, Adam L. Penenberg, author of Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today's Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves and a "journalism professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University", points to examples of the betrayal of journalistic ethics in relationship to book reviews. Short for time? Check the last third of the page.

Note: It's not that I think journalism is totally bankrupt, though some of my comments along the way probably sound that extreme. It's that defenders of journalism who attack blogging almost always do so in an extreme, all or nothing manner, so I respond in kind.

In the grand scheme of things, my arrogance only undermines my progress in the world but the arrogance of journalists has helped to undermine their own profession as it faces the failure of a long-standing business model.

Complete List of Nominees for the BET Hip Hop Awards '09, New Blog Category, NY Media Counterrevolution Complete

Here is the Complete List of Nominees for the BET Hip Hop Awards '09.

  Best Hip-Hop Collabo
  Jim Jones & Ron Browz f/ Juelz Santana - Pop Champagne
  Lil Wayne f/ Bobby Valentino - Mrs. Officer
  Rick Ross f/ John Legend - Magnificent
  T.I. f/ Rihanna - Live Your Life
  Young Jeezy f/ Kanye West - Put On

  Best Live Performer
  Busta Rhymes
  Jay-Z
  Lil Wayne
  T.I.
  Kanye West

  Lyricist of the Year
  Drake
  Eminem
  Jay-Z
  Lil Wayne
  Kanye West

  Video Director of the Year
  Gil Green
  Anthony Mandler
  Mr. Boomtown
  Chris Robinson
  Hype Williams

  Producer of the Year
  Ron Browz
  Cool & Dre
  Tha Bizness
  T-Pain
  Kanye West

  Track of the Year
  Day "N" Nite - Kid Cudi
  D.O.A. (Death of Auto Tune) - Jay-Z
  Every Girl - Young Money
  (Lil Wayne, Drake, Jae Mills, Gudda Gudda & Mack Maine)
  Live Your Life - T.I. f/ Rihanna
  Turn My Swag On - Soulja Boy Tell'em

  CD of the Year
  Eminem - Relapse
  Q-Tip - The Renaissance
  T.I. - Paper Trail
  Kanye West - 808 & Heartbreak
  Young Jeezy - The Recession

  Rookie of the Year
  B.O.B.
  Dorrough
  Drake
  Kid Cudi
  Wale

  Best Hip-Hop Video
  Dorrough - Ice Cream Paint Job
  Eminem - We Made You
  Jay-Z - D.O.A. (Death of Auto Tune)
  Kid Cudi - Day "N" Nite
  T.I. f/ Rihanna - Live Your Life

  MVP of the Year
  Drake
  Jay-Z
  Lil Wayne
  T.I.
  Kanye West

  DJ of the Year
  DJ AM
  DJ Drama
  DJ Khaled
  DJ Tony Neal
  DJ Greg Street

  Hustler of the Year
  Diddy
  Drake
  Jay-Z
  Lil Wayne
  Kanye West

  Made-You-Look Award (Best Hip-Hop Style)
  Jay-Z
  Kid Cudi
  Lil Wayne
  Soulja Boy Tell'em
  Kanye West

  Best Hip-Hop Blog Site
  All Hip Hop
  Nah Right
  SOHH
  This Is 50
  World Star Hip Hop

  People's Champ (Viewers Choice)
  Dorrough - Ice Cream Paint Job
  Fabolous f/ The-Dream - Throw It In The Bag
  Kid Cudi - Day "N" Nite
  Soulja Boy Tell'em - Turn My Swag On
  Kanye West f/ Young Jeezy - Amazing

Note: For those who once considered blogs a revolutionary media tool, this is how the game of counter-revolution is played and is an excellent example of what the Situationists termed "recuperation":

"The counterrevolution does not take up revolutionary ideas because it is malign or manipulative, let alone short of ideas, but because revolutionary ideas deal with real problems with which the counterrevolution is confronted."

"Official 'revolutionary' thought is the scouting party of capital."

Knew that revo theory ish would come in handy one day!

Key Point: The sweet twist of BET's knife comes with the focus on New York based blogs and sites. Except for World Star Hip Hop, whose location is hidden as much as possible and is still unclear, all contestants in this category are based in the New York area, unlike absolutely every other category on this list.

A double edged recuperation at the very least though I would argue that, in the long run, it's actually an endgame and therefore a temporary recuperation at best.

Enjoy it while you can!

Over at Hip Hop Press:
The BET HIP-HOP AWARDS '09 Complete List of Nominees

Jay-Z for Rhapsody, ProHipHop for Old School Bloggers

Jay-Z Rhapsody Commercial

I'd missed out on this commercial for Rhapsody but was alerted by Oliver Wang's Blueprint 3 review on NPR that it existed and, look, there it is!

I love the concept of a Jay-Z photo shoot in which he runs through a series of moments based on his album covers. It's smart because it works for those who know what they're looking at but also for new fans since they can appreciate the commercial without knowing the background and then get drawn in deeper when and if they find out what's up.

But the fact that I didn't pick up on this is reminder that I need to plug back into a group of blogs with which I've lost touch as I focus on rebuilding ProHipHop after a rather down period.

In particular, I'm currently thinking of:

Notes from a Different Kitchen

Grandgood

The Couch Sessions

The Smoking Section

This is not to say that they all would have run this particular bit of content or that they're the only great blogs with which I've lost touch. I'm partly saying that they're all worth following and if I was on my game, you'd see a lot more links out to such folks since they all pick up on certain content before it makes its way into my current news gathering system. But I'm also saying that I simply regret losing touch with their fine work.

Note: Oliver Wang was a big time hip hop blogger just a few years back but now he mostly blogs at Soul Sides. I found out about his review on NPR from an old friend, John Dancy-Jones, who was driving around when it came on and immediately called me!

Blog Updates: From This Business of Blogging to ProHipHop

I decided to make my last official post on This Business of Blogging an overview of what's happening with all of my blog or blog-related projects. I'm mentioning it here because it's relevant to my hip hop projects and I know a few folks find behind the scenes info of interest.

Ad Age Power 150: Marketing Blog Discovery Tool

I don't think I've written about the Ad Age Power 150 that now includes 1020 marketing blogs in a growing list that's ranked daily. I'm less interested in who the top blogs are than in using the Power 150 as a discovery tool to find useful blogs about marketing.  Either way, it's pretty cool.

Hip Hop Research: Book List Now at 75 Academic Titles

Hip Hop Research, a blog by Clyde Smith devoted to documenting academic books about hip hop, has reached 75 titles.

There are more to come but it's already an impressive overview of the academic study of hip hop.

Big ups to Greg Schick at World Hip Hop Market who sent me a list of hip hop books to check out. Thanks!

Available on Kindle: ProHipHop & Hip Hop Press

Amazon's Kindle: Wireless Reading Device

Now available for Kindle subscriptions, ProHipHop and Hip Hop Press.  Yay!

Over at This Business of Blogging:
Distributing Content Via RSS: Kindle Blogs, Twitterfeed, MoFuse Mobile

Kiss My Black Ads: Kanye x NBA, Ashkahn Shahparnia, cris wicks, Aubrey "Oosaki" Walker, WiiSpray, Vans +

Of all the blogs I follow for ProHipHop purposes, Kiss My Black Ads is currently my standout favorite for interesting content, intelligent commentary and outright entertainment.

Here are some relevant posts from the last month:

Kanye West's "Amazing" For NBA Play-Off Campaign

Designer/Illustrator/Typographer: Ashkahn Shahparnia

Logo-Lolly-Love

White Ass Ads Wednesdays???

Personal Musica: Ricky Martin/Britney

Under The Influence: The New Reality in the Future of Advertising

design Inspiration: cris wicks

Polkomtel 36.6: Beatboxing Beaver

Associate Creative Director: Aubrey "Oosaki" Walker

WiiSpray: Tech-Hop

Vans: SlamXhype Take-over

Idolator Music Blog Down to One Employee

Music blog Idolator, sold by the Gawker empire to the Buzznet empire not that long ago, has had its staff reduced to one, editor Maura Johnston, who thanks the ousted "contributing writers, from columnists to daily bloggers" by name in her announcement of the news.

Based on occasional email exchanges Maura seems pretty cool and I wish her and all probloggers the best in this difficult time.

Via Hypebot.

Touring Through Raleigh, NC? Hit Me Up!

I've just launched a new Raleigh, NC blog called Raleighwood, NC.

If you're heading this way, send me your show info and I'll try to give you a bit of advanced publicity.

Raleigh, NC dates only to:
raleighwoodnc(at)netweed(dot)com

This Business of Blogging (& Web Publishing)

I'm using a new blog to explore some of my ideas about blogging and consulting and you can check it out at This Business of Blogging.

I'm actually focusing right now on opportunities to consult with nonprofits but not so much to become a consultant. Actually, I'm trying to establish some non-hip hop related blogging activities in relationship to an on-again, off-again library job search while also reflecting on the informal consulting I occasionally do with bloggers and web entrepreneurs.

Libraries are really interested in Web 2.0 but somehow saying, "yo, just check me out at ProHipHop", doesn't feel like it's going to do the trick!

I'm also pursuing some possibilities related to educational programs for nonprofits at local libraries so this speaks to the instructional aspect of librarianship.

And I'm open to the process leading elsewhere, since I've found I have some useful insights for bloggers and web entreprenuers that I generally don't share at ProHipHop, but I just want to take it one step at a time and see what happens without burdening the process with commercial expectations.

If that kind of thing interests you and you don't mind a bit of squishy self-reflection on a blog-in-process, drop on by!

Blogs by Jasiri X Puts ProHipHop Back on the A List

Jasiri X launches his new blog, Real Talk Xpress, with a track called Blogs and ProHipHop is included:

Inspired by another banging beat by "King Sym" that reminded him of a classic Wu Tang production with a 2009 Swag to it, Jasiri X flips Gza's legendary song "Labels" and brings it into the new millennium with "Blogs".

It's great to be included with all the hot shots as I claw my way back to relevance work my way back into the game!

Kanye West Blog: Liar Reveals The Blogging "Secrets" We Already Knew

So Kanye West finally told the truth about his blog, he has a staff and he takes things from other blogs. Plus, he takes pics when he's out and about.

This is one of the many reasons I'm getting out of hip hop media before too awfully long. This guy can lie and, when he finally fesses up, he gets coverage and praise in New York Magazine.

What a crock. I'm sure that's not just true in hip hop media but this scene seems particularly susceptible to such nonsense.

But at least his crew seems to be crediting their sources after a long period of ripping off the work of others.

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Kanye West's Blog & KanyeUniverseCity Make the NY Times
Kanye West Ghost Blogger Controversy Timeline
Kanye West's Blog Team Are Jackers

Hip Hop Marketing & Business News: WoooHa is King

I rule on certain keywords but, if you are seriously interested in hip hop marketing and business news, you should be keeping up with WoooHa.

Yeti grabbed the crown a while back and, though I can offer some useful material and remain a resource worth following, he's got the game on lock right now.

Others talked. WoooHa produced. Nuff said.

New Clyde Blogs: Podunk Raleigh, Flux Research

I'm messing around with a couple of blogs about things I simply want to write about though the personal and the professional are never far apart in my web activities.

Podunk Raleigh is my contribution to the Raleigh, NC blogging scene.

If nothing else, I plan to promote some folks and tell some tales. We'll see where it goes.

My definition of podunk will certainly annoy many of my fellow citizens but, for this blog, I define a town as podunk if I have to ask myself, "is there anything worth checking out tonight?", rather than, "which of these things worth checking out should I consider doing?"

That's actually a high bar for me as compared to most humans but I'm tired of seeing a town with pathetically inadequate public transportation get so many high marks for things like livability. though it's nice to be in a relatively low crime spot, I'll have to say.

Flux Research is now in Round 3 of its struggle to be fully born.

This rebirth was inspired, in part, by my recent dip into "link journalism" at Publish2 and my ongoing interest in companies that reinvent themselves in ways that change the game, whatever game that might be.

This was actually what I wanted to blog about at Fast Company, way back when, but I couldn't articulate the concept and fit it into the available slots. Instead, I explored a handful of marketing topics and realized that there's just a limit to my interest in blogging about such things outside of hip hop though I am looking at options for actually doing such things.

In any case, I'll be linking to and periodically posting about topics I've been following for the last few years but rarely write about though I don't see doing in-depth work there right away.  Topics of interest will include web publishing, business models and movie theaters, that's right, movie theaters.

Hip hop or radical arts act performing in Raleigh?

I'm going to start doing occasional live reviews, hopefully starting with tonight's Yo! Majesty appearance, so hit me up at Podunk Raleigh if you're in the area or coming through town.

Update:
I'm not going to be doing any live reviews and I explain why in this post about the show featuring Yo! Majesty's Shunda K and Natalie "The Floacist" Stewart.

But I'm down for promotions so keep me in the loop, if you wish.