By bedouin
Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:32 am
Nah, I would have done the same to you 
Look, let me talk about this 'thang' for real and why I was being an **** about it.
First of all I'll admit when you deal with people on the net sometimes it becomes a bit of a video game and you just start having fun but don't realize there's real people at the other end who aren't taking it as entertainment.
My beef with this is definitely rooted in how it was presented. Okay, I understand you want to be the first product that targets Hip-Hop specifically, but that doesn't mean you have to dumb it down to do so. Present it without all the BS. We're just some business-minded dudes who like Hip-Hop -- but the way it's coming off now you're alienating a lot of people.
And then there's the whole legitimation side of it. Okay, it comes with 3000 kits . . . maybe that's not a good thing. Maybe it's not a good thing that if this thing actually catches on we're gonna be hearing the same exact sounds on records. Maybe it's not a good thing that someone with no real investment in this can hit some pads and think what they're doing really matters. Some people need to make an investment and learn the ropes and that 0 effort inclusion of the past 15 years has let a lot of bad product in. It doesn't help when the demos come out and they're all the kind of sounds that many would agree put the final nail in Hip-Hop's coffin.
But then its marketing thrives on this sort of ignorant Hip-Hop image. Look "its spinnin'! they spinnin' it's lightin' up man." People mistake Hip-Hop's humble beginnings in the ghetto with backwardness and run with it. So Roland isn't Hip-Hop? Good. They're neutral. They don't give a damn what I make on their device; they're not trying to influence what I make on it. The fact that drum machines and samplers were not "Hip-Hop" is why they were dope; they did things unintentionally that opened up unknown doors or created certain limitations that forced creativity. What I see here is just encouragement to do the same wack shit that's been done for years now -- and that's why my attitude is against it.
There's some belief that being outrageous is somehow a good thing simply because people are paying attention. The attention you're getting is legitimate but just dividing and confirming people's biases. Look at some of the most widely accepted equipment in Hip-Hop; the more neutral and professional its presentation, and the more it focused on pure functionality is the more serious it was taken. What you're doing now is essentially creating a souped up Casio Rapman or Yamaha DJX in the eyes of serious-minded folks even if the opposite is true. Again, the selling points for many are incredibly negative. There's plenty of Hip-Hop targeted products out there forgotten, and they are forgotten because they targeted a niche and fad. This is aiming at the Dirty South, pop--hop, commercial Hip-Hop fad -- and its doubtful that it will outlive that niche.
If there's 'hating' going on, that's just a code of initiation. The guard's been down for way too long and that's part of the problem.
Look, let me talk about this 'thang' for real and why I was being an **** about it.
First of all I'll admit when you deal with people on the net sometimes it becomes a bit of a video game and you just start having fun but don't realize there's real people at the other end who aren't taking it as entertainment.
My beef with this is definitely rooted in how it was presented. Okay, I understand you want to be the first product that targets Hip-Hop specifically, but that doesn't mean you have to dumb it down to do so. Present it without all the BS. We're just some business-minded dudes who like Hip-Hop -- but the way it's coming off now you're alienating a lot of people.
And then there's the whole legitimation side of it. Okay, it comes with 3000 kits . . . maybe that's not a good thing. Maybe it's not a good thing that if this thing actually catches on we're gonna be hearing the same exact sounds on records. Maybe it's not a good thing that someone with no real investment in this can hit some pads and think what they're doing really matters. Some people need to make an investment and learn the ropes and that 0 effort inclusion of the past 15 years has let a lot of bad product in. It doesn't help when the demos come out and they're all the kind of sounds that many would agree put the final nail in Hip-Hop's coffin.
But then its marketing thrives on this sort of ignorant Hip-Hop image. Look "its spinnin'! they spinnin' it's lightin' up man." People mistake Hip-Hop's humble beginnings in the ghetto with backwardness and run with it. So Roland isn't Hip-Hop? Good. They're neutral. They don't give a damn what I make on their device; they're not trying to influence what I make on it. The fact that drum machines and samplers were not "Hip-Hop" is why they were dope; they did things unintentionally that opened up unknown doors or created certain limitations that forced creativity. What I see here is just encouragement to do the same wack shit that's been done for years now -- and that's why my attitude is against it.
There's some belief that being outrageous is somehow a good thing simply because people are paying attention. The attention you're getting is legitimate but just dividing and confirming people's biases. Look at some of the most widely accepted equipment in Hip-Hop; the more neutral and professional its presentation, and the more it focused on pure functionality is the more serious it was taken. What you're doing now is essentially creating a souped up Casio Rapman or Yamaha DJX in the eyes of serious-minded folks even if the opposite is true. Again, the selling points for many are incredibly negative. There's plenty of Hip-Hop targeted products out there forgotten, and they are forgotten because they targeted a niche and fad. This is aiming at the Dirty South, pop--hop, commercial Hip-Hop fad -- and its doubtful that it will outlive that niche.
If there's 'hating' going on, that's just a code of initiation. The guard's been down for way too long and that's part of the problem.
