EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s been said that when it comes to this here rap game, rap blogs are the new streets, breaking music and news faster than a bootlegger getting an edge up at the local barbershop. But if that’s the case, then who’s running these here new streets? To find out, VIBE hit what the old heads used to call the digital superhighway and scooped up the 50 best rap blogs in the land. Then we ranked ’em according to power, influence, and straight up dopeness. To find out who’s running the game, pick up our The Real Rap Issue (June/July 2009) on newsstands May 19, or keep coming back to VIBE.com, where we’ll drop the top 50 in descending order, 10 by 10, until we unveil the Web’s No. 1 rap blog on Friday, May 8. We’ll also be interviewing five of the hottest bloggers in the game to find out what it takes to put a pot in play and get it bubbling to the top. As the headline says: THIS IS WHAT IT LINKS LIKE!
Of all the websites listed in VIBE’s list of the 50 Hottest Rap blogs, none is as diverse and eclectic as John Gotty and his crew over at The Smoking Section (thesmokingsection.uproxx.com). Sure other rap blos cover all kinds of hip hop, and others splash in pop culture posts, R&B, and sports, but most put these topics on the peripherals. Gotty, on the other hand, lines all those subjects up and devotes the same amount of attention to each well-written post he and his team of writers deliver.
For the past four years, Gotty has put together a blog that moves the needle on online hip hop debates. His comments board is one of the most intelligent out there, and his interview series (“Smoking Sections With…” and “Fifteen Minutes With…”) are some of the most provocative and engaging conversations you will find. For anyone who is a fan of un-biased hip hop blogging, start sitting in The Smoking Section.
My Name and Age: John Gotty, 30-plus
My City: Nashville, TN
My Site: smokingsection.uproxx.com/TSS
My Launch: March 2005
My Inspiration: nahright.com; Maura Johnston at idolator.com; byroncrawford.com; passionweiss.com
My Soundtrack:
Curren$y: [My crew and I] were actually bickering back and forth about the rating on that
Drake: We caught on to Drake earlier and kind of overlooked him and I went back to him and kind of forgot about him but then I been listening And it’s like I cannot stop playing that motherfucker right now.
Wale: I said it a million times, he just seems to be growing you know what I mean, getting better as he goes along.
Bobby Ray (formerly known as B.o.B.): I know that’s kind of cliché like everybody talking about him but it is what it is. The kid is good.
Freddie Gibbs: I think he’s from Indianapolis. I want to say one time he had a deal popping with Interscope nothing ever came of it. He’s still making music though. Kind of feeling that cat right now.
My Start: I did a sneaker website, I want to say ’01 or ’02. I think it was ’01. You know we did that for three to four years until that got saturated. Then about that point I was used to being online and working everyday, so it was like you kind of switch from one love to the next. I went from sneakers and then I was like, Shit what else is there to do now? And I started talking about music and s*** here we are.
My Motivation: You know it initially was just to have fun. Of course, it still is at the end of the day. You read comments and you interact with people and you interact with the different sites and different writers. [Now] I don’t know, you just got that bigger purpose, like you know people are looking towards you. Still a lot of it is about fun, it’s still about fun.
My Hustle: I just read an article the other week, I have to go back and look, I want to say 10 percent of the population makes some type of money online now, blogging. It was a certain number out of that ten percent that were saying they actually make that their career; their job is to blog. I’m okay. It all depends on this business. You have to have some hustling and some business sense about you.
My Moment: I think when print media started noticing us. I think we popped up in Dime, we popped up in King, popped up in The Source, that’s when you kind of realize there’s actually people that are reading this. It’s not just Internet nerds — the motherfuckers who actually do this for a living are giving us credit.
My Dilemma: Just the challenge; trying to come up with the content. It doesn’t keep you up but it’s like you think about it. I have to be at work at like 7 [am]. I usually get up like 5:30 [am]. I still have to have three things ready in the morning everyday. Usually four to five things already ready for the next day. Plus you know it’s a little different than some of the other sites, in that I’m not the only one writing, so I have to deal with a lot of other people’s personalities, schedules.
My Writers: I’m trained; I’m an English major, got a Bachelor’s and a Master’s, but I’m wise enough to know even my best writing may not compare to somebody who's trained in journalism. Usually when I ask people if they want to write I tell them, "If you are a journalist or if you’re trained in journalism, this is totally different." I don’t want journalists, I want people who know grammar, who know music, but I don’t want journalists because it’s really two totally different lanes right there.
My Advice: You better write [laughs]. Man, that’s all I can tell you. I find that a lot more entertaining and fulfilling. It connects more. You may not get as much traffic or as much attention but you can get a lot of continued support and loyalty if you write. People have to learn who you are.
Click on page two to see the full list of 20-11.
home
