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Evan Endicott's "Under The Radar" talks about hip hop being dead and the emergence of a new underground scene that is trying to resurrect a dying art by using "vintage vinyl, digital software and live instruments to
create new classics."

Everywhere you turn, the secret is being whispered. In the aisles of independent record stores, where groove lovers congregate among dust-covered slabs of vinyl; in the neighborhoods of New York and Los Angeles, where hip hop has shaped two generations of youth; on college radio and in cyberspace, the words are heard and seen.

'Hip hop is dead.'

How can this be? After all, hip hop, a 'fad' born in
the Bronx two decades ago, has weathered the media's
ceaseless attacks to become the dominant form of pop
music. Rap's mainstream acceptance, enabled by multi-
platinum pretenders MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice, created
a cottage industry that comprises not only albums, but
stadium tours, film franchises and fashion imprints.

Yet the secret persists, winding its way through smoky
nightclubs and streetcorner ciphers. Hip hop remains
alive in name only-a brand like any other. As a voice
of dissent against 'Amerikkkan' culture, it has ceased
to function. These days, P. Diddy proclaims, 'Don't
worry if I write rhymes / I write checks,' and
listeners nod their heads in agreement.

I'll admit to loving that line in "Bad Boy for Life" but it does speak volumes about where so-called hip hop heads are these days. Are we so wrapped up in the bling bling lifestyle that we've lost the sense of what hip hop truly is and what it can do?

The article goes on to say:

But for every action, there is an equal and opposite
reaction. Hip hop's underground, much maligned after
years of in-fighting and self-obsession, is showing
signs of renewed vitality. The first element of this
renaissance is musical. While Eminem recycles Aerosmith
tunes and Jay-Z squeezes the last drops of soul out of
Bobby Bland, innovative 'undie' producers are employing
vintage vinyl, digital software and live instruments to
create new classics.

Am I the only one tired of hearing the same samples over and over again? I am in the mood for some new music. Something I've never heard before. Something that is going to thrill me.

Although I do like some of the bling bling raps, I don't like that they are in such heavy rotation. I'm missing hip hop with a message and hip hop with a conscience. I'm looking for people with something to say. I'm as materialistic as the next person but I don't need my head filled with that 24/7. Address some issues. Use your position to lift the heads of those around you, those that might not get the message otherwise because they are too busy bling blinging, on the grind and playing PS2 all day long.

Apparently the voices are out there, but they aren't going to get any mainstream radio play.

Many underground MCs focus on fixing hip hop because they lack the vision to address the bigger picture. Fortunately, J-Live's eyes are wide open. Above is a State of the Union Address, delivered with more candor and heart than any president could muster. On 'Satisfied,' J-Live rhymes: 'The poor get worked / The rich get richer / The world gets worse / Do you get the picture?' Addressing America's recent adoption of patriotism as fashion statement, he observes, 'Now it's all about NYPD caps and Pentagon bumper stickers / But yo, you still a nigger.'

A coast away, Blackalicious draw similar conclusions on
their major label debut Blazing Arrow. From the
blackest streets to the Whitest House in the land, MC
Gift of Gab captures the fall of the American Empire in
chilling detail: 'Liquor stores upon every corner and
younger people done accepted defeat / In the melting
pot the lava's seeping and the hood is all the mind can
conceive / … The cops is the Klan and the planet's run
by a government of genocidal thieves.'

Fortunately, Blackalicious and J-Live buttress these
dark treatises with bouncy, sun-soaked songs that
celebrate life's pleasures-friends, family and hip hop
itself. Less optimistic, but no less funky, is
Oakland's The Coup, a pair of Marxist revolutionaries
who drop communist theory over rump-shaking
instrumentals.

On '5 Million Ways to Kill a CEO,' (from the LP Party
Music) MC Boots Riley sums up America's captains of
industry in three brilliant lines: 'They own sweats
shops, pet cops and fields of cola / Murder babies with
they molars on the areola / Control the Pope, Dalai
Lama, Holy Rollers and the Ayatollah.'

That's what I'm talking about man.

I've decided to go ahead and put the layout up. I am still working on things, but what website is not constantly under construction? Besides, looking at that plain white layout was starting to get on my nerves. Especially after I had spent hours working on this one. So here goes.

There are still more things I'd like to add. My main goal is to try and get all of the things I want to include on a website into a maintainable set of stylesheet elements. That will make future changes to my website easier.

In the meantime, have a good time peeking around and please be sure to let me know if you find anything broken.

I sat here for a few hours trying to figure out how to do something in the archive templates of my new layout. I was working hard, using trial and error to figure out how to get the output that I wanted. There were moments when I almost had exactly what I wanted but one piece was missing or wrong. I didn't allow myself to get frustrated. Suddenly, it became a challenge. I was determined to learn how to make this feature in MT work. Nothing I was doing was working. Finally, I decided to take a trip the the MT Support Forums.

And there was the answer to my question. One little snippet of code needed to be removed. I had removed it a few times too, so I'm not sure if maybe it was a combination of the other tags I had in there or what. Whatever it was, it's fixed now and the layout is moving right along.

I keep talking about this layout because it's the first time I've done one without tables. I've tried to make CSS layouts before without tables but I always end up frustrated and give up. This time I am sticking it out and it's well worth it. From here I will be able to do even more things with CSS and I'm both proud and pleased with that.

Sometimes I think about all the things that I've learned about web page development since I started a blog. I marvel at how far I've come as far as design concepts and layouts are concerned. I feel excited anticipating how much more I can learn.

Oh my god. I'm a geek.

mmmmkay?

After reading this excerpt on Rebecca's site, I am convinced that I need to buy her book. I will admit that I was strongly opposed to any book on weblogging because I thought they were self-serving. My opinion is slowly changing thanks to things like this.

The rule that stands out to me the most is number 4:

4. Write each entry as if it could not be changed; add to, but do not rewrite or delete, any entry. Post deliberately. If you invest each entry with intent, you will ensure your personal and professional integrity.

Changing or deleting entries destroys the integrity of the network. The Web is designed to be connected; indeed, the weblog permalink is an invitation for others to link. Anyone who comments on or cites a document on the Web relies on that document (or entry) to remain unchanged. A prominent addendum is the preferred way to correct any information anywhere on the Web. If an addendum is impractical, as in the case of an essay that contains numerous inaccuracies, changes must be noted with the date and a brief description of the nature of the change.

If you think this is overly scrupulous, consider the case of the writer who points to an online document in support of an assertion. If this document changes or disappears--and especially if the change is not noted--her argument may be rendered nonsensical. Books do not change; journals are static. On paper, new versions are always denoted as such.

The network of shared knowledge we are building will never be more than a novelty unless we protect its integrity by creating permanent records of our publications. The network benefits when even entries that are rendered irrelevant by changing circumstance are left as a historical record. As an example: A weblogger complains about inaccuracies in an online article; the writer corrects those inaccuracies (and notes them!); the weblogger's entry is therefore meaningless--or is it? Deleting the entry somehow asserts that the whole incident simply didn't happen--but it did. The record is more accurate and history is better served if the weblogger notes beneath the original entry that the writer has made the corrections and the article is now, to the weblogger's knowledge, accurate.

History can be rewritten, but it cannot be undone. Changing or deleting words is possible on the Web, but possibility does not always make good policy. Think before you publish and stand behind what you write. If you later decide you were wrong about something, make a note of it and move on.

I make a point never to post anything I am not willing to stand behind even if I later disagree. I work to be thoughtful and accurate, no matter how angry or excited I am about a particular topic. If I change my opinion in a day or two, I just note the change. If I need to apologize for something I've said, I do so.

If you discover that you have posted erroneous information, you must note this publicly on your weblog. Deleting the offending entry will do nothing to correct the misinformation your readers have already absorbed. Taking the additional step of adding a correction to the original entry will ensure that Google broadcasts accurate information into the future.

The only exception to this rule is when you inadvertently reveal personal information about someone else. If you discover that you have violated a confidence or made an acquaintance uncomfortable by mentioning him, it is only fair to remove the offending entry altogether, but note that you have done so.

Everytime I have redesigned this site or uploaded a new version of MT I have lost some entries because I'm too lazy to figure out how to import on MT. Some entries I deleted because I didn't like the google response they were getting. Lately I've wanted to have all those entries back simply because it shows the history of my growth both on this site and on the web. I'm in the process of reinstalling all of them.

I agree with what Rebecca is saying here. We have the opportunity to build this network of information that keeps people informed of what's going on without having to worry about media bias and news outlets with political interests in mind. This point has been brought home to me time and again in the past few weeks with all the discussions that have been going on regarding race and racism. Jason said it best when he told me that it's up to us to leave our telling of history so that there are different perspectives of our times for the generations to come. I am determined to prevent a one-sided telling of history. What we are writing/seeing/doing here now will be a reflection of our generation in the years to come. For as much as I complain about the "media" am I doing anything to improve the storytelling?

The saga continues ...