Re-Birthplace: Documenting New York’s (Hopeful) Hip-Hop Resurgence

This posting was originally published in 2008, as we began the Birthplace Magazine project. With the recent buzz surrounding veteran NY artists such as Jay-Z and Raekwon shining highly anticipated light on the New York Hip-Hop scene, as well as our recent efforts to reignite this important documentary site, we wanted to re-issue this manifesto, as it continues to be as relevant today as it was then. Please join in and follow Birthplace Magazine as we continue to provide news, information and dialog regarding NY Hip-Hop: Past, present and future.

It has been talked about for a long time, hearkening back to the days when hip-hop purists rebuked the commercially adored, but artistically criticized spirits dressed in shiny suits, when B.I.G. giants roamed the earth, and Brooklyn was still vehemently in the house. The game-changing, mixtape-to-mogul campaign run by a unit of guerrillas, and flocks of followers bearing witness to the church of Jay Hova, were in a way, made possible by a slashing and burning of competitors in the hip-hop landscape, creating a vortex from which few New York factions could survive. Empires staggered, some even crumbled. No longer did Ja rule, eventually Cam ran, and even bad boys quietly cleaned up their acts. While Mecca was distracted, forces from the South seized the day, and with it, clubs, radio, and media, and acquired much power over the land. Gotham has been in disarray ever since, and despite flashes of promise, there have only been the marginally successful actions of a few to give credence to the thought of an En Why Cee revival.

However, in recent times, the murmuring of such a rebirth has been slowly gaining in volume. Could a new era truly be upon us? After all, recent events in other arenas have proven that impossible is no longer an adjective that people can use to ignorantly ignore movements of change. In the world that is hip-hop music, could the once hearty stronghold of progression, passion and promise, the place where it all began, finally break the stifling grip of what it has become, and harness the power of what it once was, to make it what it could be?

These are the questions Birthplace Magazine hopes to help answer by establishing itself as a respectable media source with an editorial focus on this hallowed ground of hip-hop history, bringing to light what has been shrouded in musical darkness for what has felt like eons. We hope to be slightly ahead of our time when predicting that the sometimes cyclical winds of regional rap renaissance could indeed circle back around and lift the five boroughs out of the doldrums, and while doing so, expose the rest of the world to the foundation that still exists, showcasing the collective strength of our tri-state hip-hop soldiers who continue to clamor belowground with the same hunger, ferocity and feelings of under-appreciation that faced their forefathers.

In the beginning, hip-hop was born of a need for expression, and had to fight to exist, fight a corporate blockade to be heard, fight naysayers to prove its artistic value and fight a reluctant public to be accepted. The Russell Simmons and Rick Rubins of the world foresaw a vision where this culture and its music would be valued, appreciated and admired, and though many never thought that hip-hop would take it that far, it has. In doing so, New York gave its Bronx-begotten child to the world, and watched it evolve exponentially with a combination of pride, joy, apprehension, sorrow and anger, perhaps culminating into a burning desire, even an intense need, to remind the world from whence it came, and more importantly, where it should be going.

As we move forward with this journalistic endeavor, Birthplace Magazine will bring you stories of hip-hop artists and organizations that are of the New York state of mind, and while the call for the advancement of hip-hop music can be heard in pockets throughout the globe, we feel that no place has as much to offer such a rise-from-the-proverbial ashes movement, as New York City and its surrounding areas.

While delivering these stories, we hope to answer some associated questions; Is a new era eminent? Is it even a possibility? Does the talent exist? If so, who can usher it in? Is it up to the new artists, veterans, labels, media or the will of the people? What forces work for or against such a revival? We will even wonder aloud whether or not, as many have suggested over time, New York hip-hop will ever be considered a regional powerhouse of rap music again.

We look forward to input, criticism, dialogue and discussion, and will at the very least, give some internet shine to valued members of the New York hip-hop community. I personally appreciate your interest, and hope that you will become a regular visitor and contributor to the e-pages of Birthplace Magazine.

Respectfully,
Manny Faces, Editor-In-Chief
Birthplace Magazine
info@birthplacemag.com