Pioneering journalist and activist Harry Allen will lead a discussion on YouTube’s effect on Hip Hop this Sunday (June 9) at the Museum Of The Moving Image in the Astoria section of Queens, New York. “Hip Hop in the YouTube Age: How the Medium is Changing the Message” will explore “online video’s significant impact on Hip Hop culture.”
Allen intends to frame the conversation around five primary points: How YouTube allows for video formats that do not fit traditional television standards, its ability to empower artists and fans to interact with each other “more deeply,” the powerful corporate marketing opportunities available because of an increasingly visual Hip Hop, YouTube’s ability to serve as a mass archive, and the access YouTube provides for “White neophytes” and commentators to experiment with Hip Hop and join the cultural dialogue.
“Anything from ‘How To Rap’ videos, people talking how to rap and giving instructions on how to do so to the totally successful ‘Epic Rap Battles Of History,’” says Allen exclusively to HipHopDX, providing examples of neophytes joining the Hip Hop conversation. “These are things on the web that facilitate Hip Hop, but they are not people who are in any kind of mainstream of Hip Hop. They are kind of commentators off on the side who use Rap to either create YouTube content that they monetize or do so just because they’re fans. I see these things as new developments.”
When asked which current Hip Hop artists are maximizing the video opportunity provided by YouTube, Allen names Odd Future. “One thing that’s really shifted in terms of content and style in a video because of YouTube are music videos,” he says. “When I look at what Odd Future is doing, it’s almost like they’re using the web as a notepad. It’s almost like how in some homes a mother leaves a note on the refrigerator saying, ‘Do this. Your dinner’s here. I’ll be back at this time.’ They almost use the web in the same way, to leave notes about themselves. Then their music videos are just kind of TV-defying. They make videos that you can’t show on television…because of the blurs and edits. Not to mention the language, which is again a really big issue.”
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In 1991, Harry Allen assisted Public Enemy in an online presence before publishing the print journal rap dot com in 1994. Also known as the “Media Assassin,” Allen appears on PE’s seminal 1988 track “Don’t Believe The Hype.” With KRS-One, Allen also co-founded the Rhythm Cultural Institute, an organization focused on creating a “Hip Hop Hall Of Fame.”
“Hip Hop in the YouTube Age: How the Medium is Changing the Message” will begin at 5pm EST on Sunday, June 9. The Museum Of The Moving Image is located at 36-01 35 Avenue, Astoria, NY 11106. Visit MovingImage.us for more information.
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