Birthplace to the Earthspace: International Hip Hop Spotlight Series on BirthplaceMag.com

New column to highlight the best of worldwide hip hop music and culture

Hip hop, once an isolated musical and societal sub-culture, has clearly gone on to become a part of Americana. However, the phenomenon born in the Bronx has not been limited to the American borders, and has seen its influence spread throughout the world in an awe-inspiring manner.

It is often said, in fact, that hip hop outside of the United States, despite cultural difference and linguistic barriers, can be some of the most passionate, honest and purely entertaining examples of the artform in existence. We witnessed this up close and personal both at home and abroad, with our coverage of the L’Original Festival in April, 2013, a 5 day, celebration of hip hop’s multiple elements, and at the Import/Export International Hip Hop Showcase at the 2013 CMJ Music Marathon, where talented artists from across the globe touched down in the hip hop Mecca to do their thing.

These two events, plus a growing appreciation for how hip hop is practiced throughout the world, led us to speak with Import/Export show producer Fiona Bloom about developing a way to regularly showcase international talent, as part of our existing editorial platform.

Fiona, owner of The Bloom Effect has been orchestrating internationally-focused hip hop showcases for many years, and is emphatic in her love and admiration for the appreciation that international hip hop artists have for the artform. She believes it is imperative that they receive the attention they deserve, and believes that more and more people are now starting to pay attention.

Birthplace Magazine founder and editor-in-chief, Manny Faces, agrees, especially after traveling to Lyon, speaking to several New York-based artists who tour the world and witnessing the wide spectrum of talent from overseas who have performed locally.

In that spirit, we are happy to announce the launch of a new, regular series on BirthplaceMag.com – Birthplace to the Earthspace: International Hip Hop Spotlight. Despite our strict allegiance to covering New York-area hip hop music, culture and participants, we feel that our region has produced the inspiration for all involved in hip hop, throughout the country and the world, and while there are plenty of avenues for other U.S. artists to receive attention and media coverage, we feel that the international hip hop scene could use a stronger voice, just like New York needed when we first started.

We hope to bring the same kind of positive attention to the international hip hop scene that we did to help kickstart New York’s re-emergence onto the national hip hop stage.

The column will feature Q&As with some of the world’s most interesting and eclectic hip hop talent, as well as music picks from across the globe, and will start this column this month, with new entries expected roughly every two weeks.

If you know of a hip hop artist based outside of the United States that you think we should know about, let us know by sending an email to international@birthplacemag.com.

In the meantime, stay tuned for the debut article in our International Hip Hop Spotlight series, and we’ll see you around…. The world!

Visit The Bloom Effect on the web and on YouTube.