No Need to Celebrate by Craig S. Jenkins

When I heard that World Star Hip Hop was taken down, I began celebrating with the rest of the "intelligent hip hop community". At the time, my twitter feed was mostly full of celebration and bewilderment, but there was one man that seemed genuinely upset at the reaction of bloggers and journalists. I immediately thought that this was a classic case of pseudo-hispteria-- where someone on the internet purposely chooses the opposite side of a big internet trend or argument just to be different and swim against the stream-- but then I thought, maybe he does have something to say? So, as I rolled my eyes at his final tweet comparing WSHH haters to female Smurfs, I asked Craig to write about it and told him I would post his reaction. To be honest, I thought he would never do it. I also thought he wouldn't have a good enough point for me to change my mind.

I was wrong.

By: Craig S. Jenkins

I need to start with a disclaimer. The views detailed below are not the views of Whiskey Teeth. The homie Ryan was courteous enough to offer me a forum for my wild and crazy thoughts. Well, technically, he kinda asked me to write about said wild and crazy thoughts, so maybe he is to blame for the existence of this piece? Anyhow:

Last night we had a quick scare. Last night it looked like World Star Hip Hop was gone for good. The site vanished briefly, and 50 Cent, who filed a lawsuit against them for using his likeness without permission back in 09, immediately took credit for the outage. 50 copped to lying, and it was later rumored that a stolen intellectual property complaint from a Youtube vlogger might have been to blame. Regardless of the culprit, the news about World Star potentially shuttering broke to more than a little premature gravestone tap dancing by plenty of happy hip hop bloggers. Personally, I didn’t see what was so funny.

Surely the almost unilateral glee World Star’s apparent death engendered is a function of people’s dissatisfaction with the content that the site hosts. The volatile cocktail of shameless stripper showcases, goon rapper music videos, industry gossip, and cell phone footage of public ass whoopings that is World Star’s daily bread rubs people the wrong way. It ain’t classy. The site as a whole is a bad look for hip hop, for humanity, for all bipedal life with eyes and ears, really. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Then why are you defending them?”

Here goes nothing: Blog closures, whether they’re the product of government investigations (like the Thanksgiving clampdown that temporarily sidelined OnSmash), angry artists with a vendetta (50, you dirty, filthy liar, you!), or kneejerk Google/Yahoo/Wordpress/etc. crackdowns (too many sites to name), are not good news for anyone with a website. I don’t care what blog it is. I don’t care how foolish or how deplorable it is. The shit ain’t a victory. What it is is a sign that certain factions have their eyes trained on the online hip hop community, and they’re willing and able to destroy or severely impair sites at will. Ain’t nothin funny about that.

Cheering the closure of a blog just because you don’t like the content is self-righteous and shortsighted. Whether you like it or not, World Star deserves to exist. It paints as much of a picture of modern hip hop culture as any other site does. World Star’s is a seedy, creepy, pathetic, and outrageous picture, yes, but a real one nevertheless. If you don’t like their voice, sing louder. Don’t sit back and applaud when outside forces take action against them that don’t know either of you from a hole in the wall. It’s not constructive.

Last night on Twitter, I likened the behavior to “Smurfette laughing while Gargamel captures Vanity.” Point being, bloggers, instead of all the smirking, you should be paying careful attention. You should have your back up plan in place. You should know what to do if there’s an attack on your site. For all you know, you’re next. While you’re busy chuckling about another man’s downfall, yours might be in the works. That’s the problem with bloggers. Too many of y’all seem to think this is a game of oneupsmanship. This ain’t either me or him or her. When things go bad, we all suffer. Am I the only one that sees this?

I need a drink. Jameson, please?

Got Next: Outasight

Hailing from the concrete slabbed hills spread throughout the Eastern bank of the Hudson River, Outasight is an emcee/vocalist putting a fresh new twist on a Yonkers sound that was once blessed by the lips of a now bronzed Ella Fitz and put to rest at night by Jada’s kiss.

Born Richard Andrew, Outasight is a cool, calm, and collected individual that carries himself with a slight, casual lean like the brick buildings wrapped around Shonnard Terrace. In video interviews, he stands complaisant and poised behind a pair of signature black Ray-Bans, equipped with a slight stoned grin that shows satisfaction with his propulsive young career. Always seen dressed to the nines, his fashion feel mirrors his music in the sense that it’s perpetually polished, perfectly ironed, and has never been worn by any other master of ceremonies.

Originality could be the perfect middle name to bridge the gap between the two first names on his birth certificate. Like no one before, Outasight has united soulful-pop croons with breezeless boasts about big city dreams, life, love, and music appreciation. Every album he has released since his 2007 debut ‘Employee of the Year’ has shown immeasurable sonic growth. 2008’s ‘Radio New York‘ was the dusty, yet refined full length record that catapulted his name onto numerous New York City marquees and endless internet posts. An album that showed his innate ability to fuse infectious hooks, melodies, and head rocking raps over jazzy gems from Dante Lewis and D/Will, as well as foreshadowed Outasight’s pop-hop hits to come.

One of 2009’s best mix tapes was the Mick Boogie commissioned, ‘From There to Here: An Album Prequel’, which served as our first glimpse at the bubbling chemistry between him and up and coming producer, 6th Sense; a musical marriage that has already birthed epic compositions such as, ‘Brand New Day‘ & “When I Heard the Beat Knock,” and has elevated O’s abilities to another level.

“6th is a great producer.” Outasight told me in a recent e-mail, “What he has really helped with is making the musical landscapes behind what I do so much bigger, broader, and universal. He’s a great musician and together we are influenced by so many different types of music…the chemistry comes natural.” These comments ring loud and true on his latest free LP, ‘Further’, where amongst the guitar plucks, frantic horn stabs, and thundering drums, 6th and Outasight’s serendipitous connection shines brightest.

His new release ‘Further‘ remains an aptly titled LP, as the simple adverb explains exactly where Outasight has taken his music. While grabbing influences from a myriad of genres like: 70’s blues-rock, folk, modern pop, soul, and golden era hip hop, O has proven to new artists that the standard template for constructing a hip hop song has forever changed, the bar has been raised and standards refreshed. Growth and maturity is also accomplished on the free LP, as he toys with various styles, themes, and vocal cadences. He additionally displays surprising versatility as a musician with pristine production choices and contagious song construction.

In only a few short years, we have seen a young musician take his career further than most emcees experience in a lifetime of beats and rhymes. Outasight continues to expand hip hop horizons and expose new slivers of dawn to a genre that has been stuck in the eves of midnight for many years. Soon enough, you might want to borrow the black Ray Ban’s from O’s nose, because there is no doubt that with the release of his upcoming major label debut, ‘From Here to Eternity’, hip hop will be seeing a brand new day.

Click here for more Outasight.