![JSWISS featuring Chandanie - LML [VIDEO]](https://www.birthplacemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/JSWISS-218x150.jpg "JSWISS featuring Chandanie – LML [VIDEO]")
Birthplace Magazine’s mission is to highlight the variety of hip hop talent hailing from, or based-in, the New York City metropolitan area. An ambitious journalistic task for sure, we take pride in carefully culling information about artists and organizations in our midst who demonstrate what we’ve been preaching for some time: That New York hip hop is nowhere near the flatline status proclaimed by critics who are a) ignorant, b) jaded or c) blinded by the current state of the hip hop music “industry.”
That being said, while we have been steadily working to build our own brand in order to shed light on the massive amount of hard-working artists of the region, we can hardly cover it all at one time, so when other publications are able to help our mission, we are happy to pass along their efforts, as our overall goal is enlightenment, rather than exclusivity.
Phillip Mlynar, a writer with The Village Voice spotlight five rappers who heavily infuse their lyrics and videos with decidedly Big Apple flavor. Mlynar highlights Queens MCs Action Bronson, Meyhem Lauren and Timeless Truth (O-Prime and Solice), Brooklyn’s Maffew Ragazino Sr., and Long Island’s Roc Marciano.
Although New York City hip hop has become too diverse an animal to suggest there is any one particular NYC rap “sound,” and these artists are all loosely affiliated, so the writer’s assertion that they are the “Top Five” is a bit hyperbolic, there is no denying the distinct New York influence on these artists, and they are certainly worthy of discovery for the unfamiliar. Check out the full article, including information and videos from each act, over at the Village Voice “Sound of the City” blog.
Top Five Young, Hometown-Obsessed New York City Rappers by Philip Mlynar [Village Voice]