Issues with Worldstar Hip-hop

Issue with WSHH and VLAD TV

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, websites like Worldstar Hiphop and VLAD TV are the main sources of ignorant activity, sexual exploitation, violence and degradation of both men & women of color. On the average day, you won’t have to scroll much if you want to get your daily dose of ignorance within the black Community. On one video, you can find a crowd of teens assaulting and spitting on an underage black girl while someone is filming the incident. On the next video, we find an African Pastor spraying insecticide in the face of his parishioners under the premise that the spray will rid them of evil spirits and demons. To be black in America and be relatively conscious, is to be enraged every waking second of the day. Before Q, owner of Worldstarhiphop passed away, I actually contemplated releasing my music through sites like the above mentioned. To be honest, I still do. I mean seriously, what better way than to market your music to a larger audience? The amount of daily traffic these websites generate would make any aspiring musician dive at the chance to be a “Featured Artist”.

I'm not going to lie. Who doesn’t like to see two willing, unarmed combatants in a bout of fisticuffs? A fight is the most primitive display of aggression within our genealogy. Risking death, injury or imprisonment in order to inflict as much pain as possible to the point your opponent can no longer continue is the main goal. However, where do we draw the line? It’s bad enough it seems like every evening on the news we see another young, black, unarmed child get shot in the back while handcuffed. As much as I would like to entertain the foolishness, I have to say, Worldstar has become the epitome of the word “degrading”. If you were, to ever by some chance, develop the sense to realize what these sites are doing to communities of color, you would want to have them shut down indefinitely. As bad as America has dealt with racism, these websites do nothing but add to the fact that the perception of black men and women in America are loud, lazy, violent, uneducated savages that come from single-parent homes.

These sites are not out for the betterment of their communities. They do not wish to promote true lyricism nor quality hip hop. These sites are pay-to-play platforms that guarantee a front spot on their site for a limited time. For a nominal fee of $800 (last time I checked), you can throw your craft to the wolves, which in turn will cause keyboard warriors in their parent’s basement to thrive off of your potential downfall. If you don’t know what a troll is, just visit the comment section on a random video submitted by any artist on the above-mentioned platforms.

I don’t blame these platforms for providing a lackluster quality of music that is being fed to children through various streaming platforms. This is a money grab. There isn’t a quality control staff or team that judges what is and isn’t considered hip hop. All you have to do is pay the upfront fee (regardless of your talent level) and be front page. I truly feel it’s a gimmick driven game. Society doesn’t want an artist that is for the betterment of his or her community. As a nation, us Americans like to make the ignorant become financially successful. A fight at a Popeye’s restaurant over a chicken sandwich can generate millions of views within a matter of minutes, whereas an artist speaking on injustice within his local police department will garner very small if any major revenue.

Will Hip hop ever go back to its truest form of lyricism, or will we succumb to the attention span of the new-age listener? All we at Guano Records are doing is restoring the quality of music you lost with this social media-driven era. You won’t find any gimmicks or crazy hair color. No face tattoos or mumble rap will come from our artists. What you hear is creative control. The ability to release music without any outside influence. No artist here at Guano tries to mimic/imitate any other artist. What you get is a true feel for the culture and all it entails.

So, in closing with my thoughts, do not look to these sites for real lyricism, authentic sound or hi-quality music from educated men and women. Go to these sites if you want to see the ugly side of corporate music and the run-off that mumble rap entails. We here at Guano will continue to speak out about the injustices within our community. It takes a Village, and the Village I come from will not allow me to succumb to such degrading acts. I’d like to thank you for your time and patience, and please do not let a few ignorant videos shape your perception of the black community or any community for that matter.