What are the rites of passage for an underground hip hop group?
I think the underground hip hop acts that have linked up to the indie rock scene are using that model to not only work their way from small clubs to bigger clubs to more attention to getting signed (or whatever) but also to establish indie labels. But other hip hop acts don’t seem as clued in to the value of live performances and seem obsessed with getting signed to a degree that undermines their careers. What’s really weird are these freestyle artists who spend all their time in cyphers and battles hoping to catch attention with their demo who have very little stage experience aside from battling and very little understanding of how to put on a good show. However, once you get past the differences, much of the process is the same because it’s the same overall industry. What do you think the pressing issues at that level for the hip hop indie crowd are in terms of getting the music heard and distributed? I think they’re pretty similar across genres but I think doing live shows is the d
