Karma in Hip hop

As my first „underground“ hip hop experience I’ll always remember a Lone Catalysts show I went to out here in Germany. I used to write lyrics and rap back then myself and I remember like it was yesterday (although its about 9 years ago now), how much I got inspired by their show, the scenery and also the other heads I saw in the place. I sat down near the stage and wrote in my books of rhymes. I still have that book to this day, it doesn’t look as good as then but it sure does bring back the memories..

Out here in Germany I haven’t had moments of inspiration like that often, and I didn’t really feel as touched until this one night in Detroit. A local artist, Blake Eerie, had approached me about interviewing him. After all the interviews I had done before, I felt like I didn’t want to keep doing them in the typical way interviews are done. If I was going to take time out to do this, it had to be something special, something to inspire others. So we talked and decided to invite a few more local artists and have a conference style interview about the state of Detroit Hip Hop.

We weren’t aware of the gratitude until we actually got to the spot that night. By 9pm about 30 artists had shown up. And every single one of them was amazed by what we had done.

We sat down and talked, passionately. Talked about what was going wrong, what needed to be done in order to make it better.

I have always loved Detroit hip hop. I always saw the incredible talent in this city. Yet, it didn’t occur to me why Detroit never got the recognition it deserves. I wanted to get to the bottom of this and possibly find a solution.

That night, I saw it. I saw the inspiration in everyone’s faces, including my own. I saw the excitement, the will to do something. Even desperation. We all left that night, wanting to change Detroit, wanting to change Hip Hop.

And then…I went back to Germany. With all these ideas in my head. But as with everything, you cant do things by yourself. Especially not when you’re thousands of miles away.

I put my trust in the others to hold it down. To help me fulfil this dream that we all have.

But reality hit me. Unanswered E-mails. Uncompleted tasks. No responses. Less people at the following conferences. And I got discouraged. I still am. It’s only been three months, and I know I should be patient and give it time. But what people need to realise is that I am in Germany. I can’t come to the conferences. I can’t hit u up on your phone and tell you what to do. I can’t see the outcome. I can’t stay in touch if you aren’t willing to respond to me.

I sent out emails, asking for simple things, nothing that would’ve taken longer than 15 minutes of someone’s time. No response. I got very frustrated with the situation. People need to understand that I cannot be part of the project, which I co-founded, when nobody is willing to include me.

I got mad too. At a point I felt like, fuck this! Why should I take out time of my day, besides the job I have and other obligations, and try to do something to help YOU, do something that wont benefit me at all. Something I do solely for the love of hip hop. Why should I, when you cant even send me an email?

Then I started to think. And something occurred to me. I had always heard so much great music, and supporting it through my mixtape series “Digital undaground”, which wasn’t popular music or getting too many platforms to be heard on. I never understood how these incredibly talented artists didn’t have the success they should have. I think I got an answer now. And don’t get me wrong; this doesn’t apply to all artists, but to lots of them.

You can have the greatest product in the world, but if it doesn’t get heard, if you don’t work for it to be heard, then nobody will care about it.

Nowadays, with the over saturation of the hip hop market, nobody is going to LOOK for talent. When there are hundreds of talented cats out there, why should they come looking for you?

So the only ones to succeed will be the ones who dedicate their lives to it. The ones who stay up hrs longer than they should, just to make sure one more person will hear their music.

I’m sorry to say but most artists are just too lazy. I understand that ppl have jobs and lives and families to support. So do I. But I know that there are times when you lay on your couch and watch TV, times when you go out without networking. Times when you WASTE time. When you could be on your grind. In the end, only the hard working ones will be on top. If you don’t like to put in work, you might as well stop now. Going to the studio and recording isn’t enough anymore.

People don’t even realise all the opportunities they have in our modern age. The internet is your door to the whole world. And while you are reading this, you could make someone a fan of your work RIGHT NOW. When someone is willing to help you out and support you, you should take that chance and not let it go because you’re too lazy to reply to an email. And when a person that did something to help you asks you for a favour, you should do what you can to help them out because you never know what it might do for you in the future. Karma..

I’m frustrated. But I’m not bitter. And I haven’t given up on hip hop, Detroit, nor our project. I never will. But know that, if you’re not there now, you cant come when we got this up and running. Only the ones who help build will be standing on top in the end.

But this is not just about the artists I dealt with, not only about the artists I put on my mixtapes and who couldn’t even put one link on their page. This is to every artist, and to every person who has goals and wants to make something of their life. In order to reach any goal, you will have to put in work. And when you think you have put in enough work, put a lil more in. Because while you’re asleep, there’s somebody else working overtime to make their dreams come true. Like I am right now.

I still love ya’ll artists for giving me music that makes my head nod. And I would love to see ya’ll on top. And I will always offer a hand. So if you’re real about it, take it.

- Wanja Lange