Growing Our Scene - The Future of KC Hip-Hop

***PLEASE NOTE: This is NOT a criticism geared towards anyone. If you interpret it to be such a thing, you either have not read the entirety of this post or you have been misled. If this were a criticism, I would be doing it to myself as well. In no way am I omniscient. I know there are numerous ideas. The purpose of this post is to express those ideas and find ways to bank on them in the spirit of community. If you disagree or agree please post***


You all know best, Kansas City Hip-Hop has come a long way. One can randomly cop an album whether that be on Dela, Atmosphere, Twista, Large Pro etc and can find a KC artist on it. That's remarkable. And to no extent are those KC artists being included the stretch of our success.
In the sense that we are expanding musically and are collaborating is certainly key - and we have that DOWN - in growing our scene but it is only half of the battle.

What we must continue to do, however, and with more force, is to involve more people into our art. I commend those who are doing just that but much more is needed. We cannot grow formidable in comparison to other cities if we continue the cycle of catering to an arbitrary group of a few hundred heads (who are mostly artists). Kansas City's metro has over 2,000,000 people. Why do KC Hip-Hop show's barely bring in single and double digits in terms of attendees? This must be addressed and acted upon.

I've created a survey written specifically towards getting insight on how to fill this missing link. Although there are thousands in the city limits of Kansas City who are unaware of our local scene, this survey is geared more toward suburban dwellers of the metro who are in the age range of 15-35. If you have access to communicating with people in this demographic please have them take this quick 10-question survey: http://bit.ly/KChip-hop

Three things that we MUST push for:

1. Either 18+ or All ages shows: Although some may have an aversion to the "kiddies" attending Hip-Hop shows, be it there apparent obliviousness, inability to buy alcohol, or giddiness, they ARE ABSOLUTELY VITAL in creating a scene/community. That same giddiness translates into other friends who hear about the scene and so on and so forth. We need that. The city of Kansas City does not appeal to the needs of families and the youth (sub-par school system mostly). Those kids are being averted to the outer-limits. THIS involvement can be an attraction to bring them back.

I know that clubs/bars don't like the "kiddies" either because they can't make much money off of them because they can't buy alcohol. It is imperative that we meet them half way by providing wrist bands, stamps etc to prevent minors from attempting to buy alcohol while at the same time making sure that those who can buy alcohol are in the house with as much or more a vengeance of minors. It's not the minor's fault that the venue wasn't packed.

2. More aggressive marketing: We need more street teams, more time and more dedication. The loyal few, bless their righteous heart, can't do it all - especially with limited funding. Perhaps with the help of those minors and/or dedicated people with turf knowledge can remedy this void.

We need to market OUTSIDE of the arbitrary bubbles of Westport and the HHKC community as well as continuing to do so in those bubbles also.. We need to hit the begrudged Power & Light District (I do see that progress has been made on this front recently) and put our attitudes aside. One of the best urban planners in America, Andres Duany, can attest to this. The draws of P&L, urbanity and walkability - the sense of community and human interaction - are what urban areas can provide best. Those folks are SEEKING culture. We need to capitalize and cater to them.

It shouldn't stop there. We need to market to the suburbs. Those residents claim to live in Kansas City for a reason. They want to be a part of the urban environment.

3. Retention:

An integral part of growing our scene is retaining those people. We can't just let them drift back to their previous life. Our art is life-CHANGING. We have to create an insatiable need. To do this we need to keep people looped. A lot of us actually do a terrific job of this by having ubiquitous presences on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and at social events around the city. What must happen, however, is much more interaction between "fans" and "artists", more effective integration of HHKC.com and other KC culture sites with tangible things: T-Shirts, Fliers, Banners, Tattoo (ha!), you name it. This can be gradual. But it must be apparent. This will add to the loop factor that is much needed.

Now this may make some upset but it needs to be addressed. HiphopKC.com NEEDS to step into this millinium. If we are to attract new fresh blood and KEEP them we must maximize this resource and transform it into a web 2.0 site. As of now it looks like it's fresh out of Windows 95.

These issues can be greatly expounded upon. That's what's needed. We need a coalition to meet the demands of a growing scene. The plaza has a team that determines every slight move of it's growth and transformation from store front facades to retail mixture - all in the name of growth and preservation of it's uniqueness. We need a diverse team of Hip-Hop figures to do so as well. Please PLEASE PLEASE feel free to ping pong about this subject. Time is a wasting and the train is moving.



*** I'll post the results of the survey as they accumulate on here as well. Again, the link is: http://bit.ly/KChip-hop ****

I'm on a BOAT!

I can't even lie, this song is slightly fire.