quinzième anniversaire

Fifteen years ago, I started this thing.

It wasn’t a huge thing, and it certainly wasn’t that big of a deal in my mind, anyway. I started a blog, calling it Hip Hop Isn’t Dead partially because I was mad at Nas, but mostly because I truly believed the musical genre still had some life left in it (still do to this day). It was a way to keep my pen sharp in between offline projects, writing about a subject I was passionate about in a format that I felt wasn’t being explored nearly as often as I would have liked: the track-by-track review. (I wanted to write something that I would want to read myself.) My idea was to discuss artists’ entire bodies of work, one album at a time, a lofty goal that still exists, believe it or not, although the sidebar suggests that I’ve definitely bitten off more than I can chew. (I’ve since made some adjustments to the parameters of this project in order to protect my sanity.)

Because life is a funny motherfucker, the “offline projects”, while still in progress, have oftentimes been put on the backburner as the blog has managed to grow its audience: music fanatics (not just from our chosen genre, either) who desire a forum to discuss artists and albums they liked, one with a much more satirical, occasionally caustic tone, so as to set it apart from every other music website where the writers fawn all over celebrities as though it could eventually rub off on them. I also enjoy writing goofy shit, and putting that within the context of an album review still makes me laugh today.

The last fifteen years have seen solid bursts of output, some years of mostly nothing (when you combine all of the hiatuses together), several side projects started (some of which were abandoned, but the Patreon and the mix shows are still going strong), and a metric ton of curse words and italicized nonsense. The site has been featured on several lists claiming it to be a must-visit, but even with the multitudes of Reader Reviews that used to run more regularly, this has always been a one-man show. I’ve gained a ton of readers and lost many more (the site’s been around for fifteen years, that was bound to happen, people grow up and move on), but I appreciate every one of you two who reads my bullshit and contributes in your own way, whether it be through comments, subscriptions, link sharing, podcast plays, and whatever else I’m missing here. None of this would exist without you – my ego might have carried me through six months or so, but there’s no way in hell I’d still be here fifteen years later if you weren’t also a part of this journey. So I thank you.

I don’t really have much to say for the fifteenth anniversary of Hip Hop Isn’t Dead – whatever plans I may have originally had went by the wayside quickly when COVID hit and I found myself sleeping a lot. (I’m mostly fine now, by the way. Go get vaccinated.) But this blog project isn’t just about me, even though I may be its primary voice: it’s about everyone who has taken the time to read these words and have agreed or disagreed with me throughout the years. So what I’d like to know is this:

- What were your favorite posts?

- What would you like to see on the blog (or on its side projects)?

- What is your particular jam right now (album, song, artist, film, literally whatever), and why would you recommend it to someone?

Feel free to leave your responses in the comments below, and I’ll try to be much more diligent about participating in the discussion. Even if you just want to complain about something, have at it: I’ll find some way to confirm that you’re in the wrong. Probably. Maybe. I don’t know. Either way, this project is still very much not dead, so stay tuned for some upcoming ridiculousness that you’ll hopefully enjoy.

Thanks again for reading! (No, seriously.)

-Max