hip hop and social media

One would think that an industry as large and affluent as the hip-hop industry would be a strong force in social media.

The thing is--they are, just in ways you would not expect. Of course they are creating blogs about hip-hop, there are sites like streetcred.com where you can have discussions with other hip-hop lovers.

However, as those that follow hip hop and its performers know, the conversation is usually between two artists or groups of artists. Recently, the conversation is between the hip hop world and the government. If you've been paying attention to the news, you would have noticed that rapper, T.I., has been arrested.

The hip-hop community is torn about this. You can find a discussion about it here.

In addition to that, hip-hop listeners are also creating their own conversations, there are sites (very explicit sites), mostly based on the musical representations of their favorite rappers. So in essence, a conversation is taking place between hip hop and the world. The rappers start the conversation and the listeners continue the conversation.

Another form of social media that these artists are using is that they make themselves and their product more available to their audiences. They have music to download, videos you can watch and also some artists have personal blogs you can follow.

They are learning that by making themselves more accessible they are cementing their fan base and allowing room for more people to become fans.