Fans vs. Heads: The Battle For Hip Hop

Yes, there is a difference. Contrary to popular belief, just because one is a "Hip Hop Head" doesn't make them a "fan".

Most "Hip Hop heads" are generally pleased with the omnipotent presence of rap music, in all it's forms. Even if it's not their prescription, the hypnotic instrumentation & amalgam of verbiage is soothing to their collective soul(s). The "head" is drawn, like a moth, to all that the music entails, even if it's only to bathe in the hatred that surrounds it. To a true head, the ambiance of the music & artist is loosely interchangeable. Audio-whores, if you will. If it's hot, the head will support. Nary is there a decent rap song that gets by them, & their overall vagueness keeps their hands in numerous cookie jars, musically speaking.

On the same token, the "Hip Hop Fan" is clearly targeting specifics. A fan memorizes verses, attends concerts, supports the music vocally, financially & physically, & sticks by the artist they are the fan of through hell & high water. A fan of hip hop has delicate taste buds only satisfied by the artist(s) they feel their connection with. Like mind sex. Pause to the last 1.5 sentences. Generally, a fan of an artist adopts the emotions of their cherished leader. For example, when 50 Cent said "Fuck Rick Ross", a million e-gangstas yelled the same thing at their respective computer screens. Similarly, thousands of cyber-thugs referred to 50 as a "mungkhey" once Ross mumbled it on a WorldStarHipHop(.com) video clip.

The most notable difference betwixt the two is what they are doing to Hip Hop. Both groups profess undying love for the culture, yet one group allows thriving & productivity, while the other blindly chips away at what makes it a viable living for those who chose Rap as a profession, rather than competition or sport.

The head downloads. All he/she's concerned with is a cacophony of Rap's greatest hits & misses at his/her fingertips, to brag about with the other heads. The fan goes out & purchases, ensuring that, at the very least, he/she's helping to keep his/her favorite artists' bills paid. Which one are you?

SlaughterHouse's self-titled inaugural album "topped" the charts, after one week, with roughly 20,000 copies sold (give or take). Now, the group [Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, Royce Da 5'9" & Joe Budden] itself is lyrically superior to the majority of heavy-hitting rappers in today's regular rotation. Yet, they lack the promotional inertia that a lot of their weaker counterparts have. But, for all their superhuman linguistics, they barely scratched Rap's fiscal surface.

Based on Hip Hop blogs/websites, they should have scanned at least 250,000 copies, physical & iTunes. Truthfully, that's hard to do without posters, in-store signings & advertisements of some sort. Some die hard fans, who were actually heads, claimed they'd be purchasing two copies, when in actuality, they illegally downloaded the album a week in advance.

I'm 1/8th comp geek-I know how we gets down....

Right now, Hip Hop needs FANS; those willing to understand that Rappers don't do this for fun. In a perfect world, heads & fans could co-exist & attend the Gucci Mane & Charles Hamilton concerts in unison. But, until then, what better way to stick it to the industry than to SUPPORT what we like, IGNORE what we don't, & let Jimmy Iovine sort out the rest.

Everybody can't go to E1, because the way things are looking, it will be the next Priority Records. Remember them?