NRG wrote:

Lucidialect wrote: I think this board is cursed, or something. It's got some consistently bad vibes floating around on it. is it time for this board to die? can it be made better with a different vision/mission easy to criticize harder to make a go of it what say yall. thei board's 4 you all let me know nrg

somehow a fresh start visually may feel good... those decisions changes and ideas should be up to administrators though. But also a change in the mentality of the artists seeking listeners would also need to happen. I feel the hip hop scene is disjointed and a lil confused presently.

what do you all think should happen?

if I were a programmer it would be done this weekend, the visual part that is.

as for the local artists and their disconnect/fragmentation, I won't speak on that, as I am not on that side of things much. I wish them luck with creating a new vision for this tool I created to support their creativity.

if you got programing/design skills and think the site could use a new shell and wanna work for free like me, holla. I'm down for listening, learning and changing.

have a safe weekend out there.

nrg

anyone else on this site, users etc, have any ideas or thoughts?

this board is dead. at this point i dont think anything will bring it back. too much bs...too much censorship...
time for a new forum/board/site what have you...i dont know how many people have told me they dont go to this site because of all the childish antics that take place here.

This post and the lack of activity on it speaks volumes to me. This is the heart of the reason this forum and its members have failed. Lack of pro-active participation. Your lack of an answer is the answer itself.

(__silence)

am i wrong?

you are correct sir!

Lawrence hip hop was way better? or was it just because I was younger and still enthusiastic about making and participating in music? I don't even know man, I know I'm proud of Stik, Miles, Quest and the rest of the local heads who make good music and get recognized worldwide...

This site need's 1) a facelift 2) non-artists // appreciators of hip-hop.

More so 1 than 2 because 2 will come when 1 happens. We need to be able to tweet, email and do all that other social networking stuff in order to even seem relevant. Obviously, I won't even pretend to know where to take it but I think that's in order. Google the term web 2.0 -- we're in need of it.

One of the MAJOR things this site is in desperate need of is a "Download Thread" where people - artists or not - can download local music/media. Where else can people do that? You would think this would be the place to do it. Everyone on here has their stuff on Zshare/Megaupload - what have you. This way we can create a cycle.

At this point, this forum is little more than an arbitrary destination for local heads or peeping toms who have an unlikely fascination for petty arguments, tension and occasional support. Support amongst a large group of artists is a fantasy - haha - we should face that. So we should pitch to outsiders.

The site should not die. It's just all about relevancy - supply and demand. So far our supply has outweighed our demand. We have to create a demand - that will in turn create a market - which creates relevancy.

HipHopKC's like anything else. Everything hits a lull at some point and needs new lifeblood to catch a second wind.

I believe in the site.
I believe in what it can be.

I don't think censorship is HipHopKC's problem.
ALL of the popular networking sites have some sort of policy against abusive language, personal attacks, and such. That's stat quo...

And I think if HHKC has ever had a problem... It's been being far too lenient on those who've violated said policy and run other posters off...for good.

The site does need a facelift (aesthetically), but I think it's still necessary and relevant. It might also benefit from a revision of the sub-forums available.

i don't think it's the site, as in its' appearance, but the appearance of what goes on on the site that has caused the lull in activity.

it seems to me alot of the time people that are regulars on this board aren't interested, don't comment, or don't follow new music as a whole.

personally if i want to see what heads think about the new Raekwon or Jay-Z leak i'm going to 2dopeboyz over coming here to see a thread with 12 views and maybe 1 comment.

it's like no one in KC is excited about hip hop right now.

Quote:

Lawrence hip hop was way better? or was it just because I was younger and still enthusiastic about making and participating in music?

I don't know either, but the vibe there always seemed better. And there were a LOT more people posting.

Quote:

One of the MAJOR things this site is in desperate need of is a "Download Thread" where people - artists or not - can download local music/media. Where else can people do that? You would think this would be the place to do it. Everyone on here has their stuff on Zshare/Megaupload - what have you.

That would be dope.

Quote:

At this point, this forum is little more than an arbitrary destination for local heads or peeping toms who have an unlikely fascination for petty arguments, tension and occasional support.

Well said.

People equate "the scene" with hiphopkc .... and most artist i talked to HATE that term "the scene" ... and run from it like disease. Bad feelings and feelings of underappreciation surround "the scene" and hiphopkc.

I don't think HiphopKC can be resurrected. I think a new board altogether is due. quite honestly.

DR.T wrote:

People equate "the scene" with hiphopkc .... and most artist i talked to HATE that term "the scene" ... and run from it like disease. Bad feelings and feelings of underappreciation surround "the scene" and hiphopkc.

Ah, but therein lies the rub.

People confuse the politics, mentalities, attitudes, and behaviors of the individuals that make up the "scene" WITH "the scene".

"Scene", in my estimation, is nothing more than the collection of musicians and artists within a given area that make music in some capacity professional or otherwise.

I think that just might be the problem.
Calling a club a spade.

my 2 cents: this shit is dead. not because of the look or age of the site. not because of "abusive" posters (in comparison to other boards i go to people on here are pretty tame). it's because of the underlying hate and discontinuity of us collectively as musicians. the artist in this area are ridiculous, as soon as someone starts to do something, the hating begins. it's rarely overt ( read: pussies). ask any of the artist here who have been mildly successful. people say shit out of the side of their mouth and don't really enjoy the music anymore because their focus is no longer on the music. their attention has no been diverted to the dislike of an individual based on the success of music they used to enjoy before that person got more popular than them, or got a article in the pitch when they didn't, or got a guest spot they wanted, whatever the case may be. i don't know where this jealousy comes from, but it is the main source of problems with this site and in our community in general as i see it.

I think you make a great point Quest.
Thing is...jealousy and envy are human problems. If we can't get them fixed in our everyday lives I don't see how we'll ever hope to accomplish that with the "scene". I'm also not sure how we navigate around that particular problem OR if we need to...

They say the best revenge is success...
So, brush your shoulders off and keep the line moving.

i agree quest
and reach i understand...

Ive ben watching teh raw footage (20+ hours) of interview with a handful of artists most involved in the Lawrencehiphop.com era.. this is the raw footage collected and vcaptured by jon allen for his Looking For Today documentary.
im talking about interviews in 2002 with approach / mac / guild . ces/ sounds good / close encouters / etc... archetype...

and very littel bitterness and self pity existed in that circle at that time.. i see excited people.. not people complaining about whether other people work with them or not. People are putting in work and moving ahead. I may do a re-edit. becasue there is so much that is said that wasnt included in the movie.

Given that recent experience.. it does get back to negative and self loathing. Those are the diseases that run rampant within members who use this board.


beyond that.. hip hop is so broad. Tastes are not shared as they once were. Lawrencehiphop.com came after mp3.com // pre facebook. pre myspace. pre twitter. there are other ways to express yourself online now. beyond that. Take into account that the hip hop community in kc has no general feel of community .. just the sad and failing sense of negative competition.

Personally, i just speak on what i think is worth saying. If im not interested in a post, i avoid it. maybe we should be more proactive.. maybe all be more honest. Although too often when i am... the discussion ends. It seems everyone on hhkc wants to be right. Everyone wants to be the "winner". It'd help if everyone wanted to spur real local dialogue. Then when people make valid points. everyone is quiet. or scared? or i dont know...

lets seek growth and answers... not walk in circles...

SOME IDEAS
* if we attempts to discuss whether "the scene exists" or some common and often repeated post discussions, and people care about this site.. we will post a link to the last time it was discussed. we will organize ourselves and our content.
* if someone talks trash that isn't constructive, call them out.
* lets remove barriers from accessing the forum. If we want people to easily join the community lets not create barriers via ads etc to them getting to the goods.
* stickys must be taken down and put up daily. Those who run the board must demonstrate a commitment to participate in maintaining the content and theerby set a precedent for the users.
* lets make effort to post new topics, and at least reply in some form to other's posts.

if this is going to turn around and work..
NO MORE SLACKING AND NEGATIVITY. Just proactive efforts.