Drafting Of The Bloggers I’m The Number 7 Pick
Vibe’s long awaited and soon to be much debated Top 50 Rap Blogs list just leaked to the web. Cocaine Blunts (no comma, no bullshit) comes in much higher than I would have expected, which is flattering. But let’s talk about the rest of the list. Minus an obvious effort to preempt a hissy fit by putting Kanye’s design blog for aging homosexuals at #2, the top ten is pretty solid. After that it starts to lose me. But respect to the Vibe staff for opening up what could be an interesting conversation on what actually makes a rap blog great and hopefully getting us all a little bit of a traffic bump.
Full list and additional commentary after the jump.
1. Nah Right
2. Kanye’s Blog
3. 2dopeboyz
4. Missinfo.tv
5. OnSmash
6. You Heard That New
7. Cocaine Blunts & Hip Hop Tapes
8. Ill Doctrine
9. AllHipHop.com Rumors
10. RapRadar
11. Dajaz1.com
12. The Smoking Section
13. Fake Shore Drive
14. Get Right Music
15. World Star Hip Hop
16. Mixtape Monday
17. H.E.R
18. The Meaning Of Dope
19. The MegatronDon
20. The T.R.O.Y blog
21. The Rap Up
22. Beats and Rants
23. SOHH Blogs
24. Vladtv.com
25. Elitaste
26. KidCudi.com
27. Don’t Get Gassed
28. Kim Osorio’s Blog
29. Byron Crawford
30. Hip Hop Is Read
31. Fat Lace
32. Notes From a Different Kitchen
33. Nola Bounce
34. Rosenberg Radio
35. Xclusives Zone
36. DallasPenn.com
37. So Many Shrimp
38. Zilla Says
39. Unkut.com
40. Bust The Facts
41. Uggh…Nice Watch
42. Maurice Garland
43. Slang Rap Democracy
44. Mista Jam’s Blogs
45. Metal Lungies
46. ThePressPlayShow
47. Prancehall.com
48. Straight Bangin’
49. Passion of the Weiss
50. Twankle & Glisten
Admittedly there is a sticky definition of what even constitutes a rap blog in this day and age. As far as I can tell, Worldstarhiphop, for example, only recently expanded their video feed site to include a mostly irrelevant blog. If Worldstar made the cut why not other recently-expanded-to-blogs mega rap sites like Okayplayer? Or if you are going to feature Jay Smooth’s all video blog Ill Doctrine then why not acknowledge the dudes from The Real (both are excellent, btw, pretty much the only vloggers I fuck with.) On the whole it was wise of Vibe to almost entirely ignore both the Sandra Rose type gossip sites and wordless Rapidshare indexes. That’s not hip hop blogging, that’s something else. (Old school full album archive Bust The Facts did manage to eek in, presumably on depth alone.)
There are also at least ten blogs on that list that I have never heard of or didn’t know were blogs. Maybe I am just disconnected, but a cursory glance at their front pages isn’t exactly inspiring. Of those unknowns that will remain nameless only Prancehall seems to have anything resembling a unique voice or content. Hell, I actually designed one of the other sites on the low end of the list and I was shocked to see it make the cut.
And point blank, Byron Crawford should be ranked much higher, if only for influence. The fact that he can still effortlessly ruffle the feathers of an institution like Nahright, forcing Eskay to write more words than he has in his entire career, should be testament enough to this. But one of his most underrated skills as a writer is his downright Rakimish ability to take a phrase that’s rarely heard and flip it to a daily word. So much of the language that our little circle has picked up on over the years – weed carrier, TI – comes directly from his keyboard. Admittedly, his style is something of an acquired taste and his penchant for cracking jokes at the expense of certain Vibe staff members probably didn’t help his case. Politics as usual.
Tumblin' Erb
May 7th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
yea, what constitutes a great rap blog?
May 7th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
not to say that i even belong in a top 50 of anything, but im wondering what the criteria for consideration was. influence and longevity should be #1 and #2, i’d say.
seems like mistajam and prancehall were added to fill out some outside-America quota.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
nation of thizzlam was robbed
May 7th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
CB #1 to me fam
May 7th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
not including yours ive heard of about 5 of these…bol should be #1 tho
May 7th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Too many great blogs missing: Smoking Section, Traps N Trunks, Thizzlam. Also 2DB @ 3? They post a lot but a lot of the rappers they push are garbage.
May 7th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
TSS = #12, but shoulda been higher.
May 7th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
I liked Fat Lace’s/Hip Hop Connection’s list better
May 7th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
as i alreddy sed, congrats mayn. again mayn iss an honor ta do de column fo dis here site mayn. if i cud hav done somethin fo any rap blog uv mah choice it wud’ve been righ here mayn u alreddy kno.
as fo de liss, i aint gon’ say much besides BLVD ST gittin robbed. if bein a “Hot Rap Blog” meanz anything along de linez uv ismply posting good music mayn, den Burn One’s site shudde been on de liss an pretty dam high mayn
May 7th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
cant believe unkut is so low. PhilaFlava should be top5 to me.
May 7th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
congrats on getting the #7 spot on a list that clearly favors re-bloggers and aggregators (not that there’s anything wrong with that…). i think both Byron and Dallas should’ve been way higher.
May 7th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Honestly, I’m embarrassed for you and Byron and a couple other people up there who actually bring something to the table to be included in such a joke of a list.
There’s a difference between an artery and a vein and there’s a real similar difference between a blog and a feeder website.
May 7th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
congrats, well deserved
May 7th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
yeah, a lot of robberies here, most notably blvd st. and nation of thizzlam
still
congrats on #7, and a couple of pretty strong choices, especially so many shrimp at #37 and twankle and glisten at #50. those are two pretty intricate and obsessive blogs that only people deep into music would probably appreciate, and i was glad to see them making it
May 7th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
i’m glad we’re on it, motivated me to write a post.
May 7th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Co-sign Mayn and Flex re: BLVD St. getting no play. SOHH Blogs?! Are you shitting me?! And yeah, Bol is like the E-40 of this rap blog shit. Also, IMHO, Maurice should be higher.
May 7th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
i want ta like bol’s writin mayn, an i do overall. i juss cant live wit blatant, distaseful in ay way, disrepsect fo Pimp C. iss wun thang ta not like his music, but pokin fun at an addict when he dead…i mean, why mayn?
May 7th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Congrats dude.
“Sky high… sky high….”
“Oh is that what they be sayin?”
May 7th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
props on the #7 slot. . .
vincent lopez @ thimk got robbed too! And, I guess my definition of blog is different than Vibe’s. . .I mean, worldstarhiphop? AHH rumors? wtf
May 7th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
some of the sites listed are garbage, glad i made it but kinda :? at the description of our site
May 7th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
gotta say i dont get the order of this list at all & some dudes who do more (like twankle&glisten) should be higher whereas the less said abt kidcudi.com the better
May 7th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Your heartless comment section will be responsible for Crybaby Cudi quitting blogging. He is too real for this High School Musical shit.
May 7th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
what makes sites like 2dopeboyz, onsmash, youheardthatnew, and fuck it nah right different from wordless rapidshare indexes? contemporaneity? where is austin surreal?
May 7th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
on the whole glad to see they are at least acknowledging twankle and so many shrimp. definitely think coke blunts should be number one and unkut and twankle MUCH higher up
May 7th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
and yeah bol should be way higher.
May 7th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
No Trivia was robbed
May 7th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Same goes for Peoples history of hip hop and combat jack even though they haven’t been around as long.
May 7th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
and shit if 2dopeboys and all that shit is making the cut why not grandgood?
May 7th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
eff that list man… most of it is WACK except for cb, unkut and bols shit…
May 7th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Rap Radar?…#10?…it’s been around wut? a month or so…and hasn’t really done anything….this List is about as worthwhile as a Greatest Rap Albums List
May 7th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Except for your blog and Elliot’s the top ten = complete trash
May 8th, 2009 at 2:41 am
“BARNS
what makes sites like 2dopeboyz, onsmash, youheardthatnew, and fuck it nah right different from wordless rapidshare indexes? contemporaneity? where is austin surreal?”
I was thinking the same thing but considering the list was created by Vibe magazine I’m just happy that some deserving blogs actually made the cut. Personally I consider nahright, 2dopeboyz, and the rest of the one word indexes “sites” not blogs but I guess Vibe considers every website on the internet a blog.
May 8th, 2009 at 3:23 am
No Trivia and Poisonous Paragraphs were both robbed
May 8th, 2009 at 10:34 am
cb is #1 easy,…nah right is on new york and chicagos nuts…and those other ones r gossip collumbs….plus kanye likes fishsticks
May 8th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Honestly, I don’t have time for blogs with authors who don’t bother writing. Even Nah Right, much as I respect the effort, I just can’t deal with it. I figure anything decent that they post will end up on one of the blogs that I actually read, plus commentary that will help me decide whether I want to listen or not. So, there’s Noz, Bol, Combat Jack, Unkut, No Trivia, and that’s about it. There’s the same issue with indie rock blogs, which I also read; most are just zshare dumps, so I just stick with the two or three that have useful writing (one of which, oddly enough, is also Bol). Commentary is much appreciated, especially reasonably intelligent commentary.
May 8th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
i cant lie, i didnt think this blog should have been that high. who cares about vibe anyways, they an r&b mag. c/s on bol deserving being higher though and lol at Rap Radar at 10 wtf?
May 8th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
1) Nah Right -lol at the haters on here thinking they ish is better,
2) Byron Crawford-acquired taste no doubt
3) Combat Jack
4) Dallas Penn
5) HipHopMusic when it used to be updated.
Honorable mention 4 Jdee Eat MAny Shrimp good looking out on tha shrimp i used to write on there 4 about 2 days b4 i gave up.
ps i aint no blog nerd like u folks throwing hissy fits that ya favorite blog aint make it so maybe my list aint kewl like that but whatever.
May 8th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
DIDNT EM USED TO HAVE BLUE EYES?
May 8th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
[...] Drafting Of The Bloggers I’m The Number 7 Pick [via Cocaine Blunts] [...]
May 8th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
# eskay Says:
May 7th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
it’s funny because bloggers who spend their days writing 2000 word posts and reviewing albums and interviewing fucking wack ass artists are steady talking shit or shooting subliminals in my direction implying that we don’t do shit here at Nah, but then year after year, lists like these come out and Nah is #1 and them niggas is either way the fuck down near the end or not mentioned at all. so obviously we’re doing something right and them niggas aren’t.
posting an mp3 and letting the reader listen to it and form their own opinion and comment on it > spending 2 hours writing a review of an mp3, then posting it late as fuck after 200 other sites, then crying about why nobody respects your review or even gives a fuck about your site for that matter.
yes shots.
May 8th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
“posting an mp3 and letting the reader listen to it and form their own opinion and comment on it > spending 2 hours writing a review of an mp3, then posting it late as fuck after 200 other sites”
ah, so journalism doesn’t matter, then. let’s just have tons of information out there, and let people fend for themselves. from Ta-Nehesi Coates:
“Journalism is difficult, and in this age, the urge to immediately have an opinion on everything is quite strong. But this is exactly why that urge has to be resisted. Opinions matter–even ill-informed ones.”
this also applies to being the first to break a song. personally, i like sites that show some discernment
May 8th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
“where is austin surreal?”
Shit, totally forgot about that! Definitely should have made the list.
May 9th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
right, so who cares about “top blog” lists or Vibe or whatever – the absurdity of a print mag ranking blogs aside – but this:
“posting an mp3 and letting the reader listen to it and form their own opinion and comment on it > spending 2 hours writing a review of an mp3, then posting it late as fuck after 200 other sites, then crying about why nobody respects your review or even gives a fuck about your site for that matter.”
is pretty much everything that is wrong with shitty MP3 blogs, condensed into one sentence. quality>>>>>>>quantity. all the feedback loop, hype machine garbage is just that. not talking specifically about Nah Right (who is just better at that particular game) but about that mentality in general, which is obv not limted to hip hop, or even music journalism – reminiscent of around-the-clock news stations and the need to fill 24 hours with “news” even when there isn’t any.
right, but just tell people they’re haters. that always works.
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