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Hip-Hop in 1997: The good, the bad, the interactive?

© Steve Juon

As we draw to a new year on the ano domini calendar, some have complained loudly that it was a bad year for hip-hop. I find it hard to see it that way, considering that the underground got stronger and the innovations came in both real life and virtuality to improve the state of hip-hop around the globe.

Consider how many hip-hop labels now have web sites; for instance:

* Def Jam

*Grand Royal

* Loud/RCA

* MCA

* Ruthless

Hip-hoppers only benefit from these free sites; because they provide bios, sound clips, video clips, and even unreleased tracks from our favorite artists. We don't often consider how much our free speech and open markets are an asset to us, but around the world the net causes controversy as "subversive" elements like hip-hop leak in from the web. Kids wear new clothes, people get new ideas, and expression runs rampant! Hip-hop is more provacative and dangerous than ever, thanks to the net!

In many other ways, through personal homepages, online magazines, and even unofficial artist homepages, the wealth of online hip-hop is making a huge impact in inet representation for an artform that was once almost non-existant online. To get an idea of how large it is, check out the links here at this site that I have established for hip-hop -- brand new and updated for 1997. Happy new year and keep hip-hop alive y'all!

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