It's true, I might come to class in a suit from time to time, and occasionally I'll rant about technicalities of content and the value system of Americans. But beneath my icy exterior there beats a heart, and the beat is one of West, Fiasco, and Kweli. That's right, from rocking my hood on the Island to reading under trees in the "'ber," if you see me with earbuds in, odds are I am bumping some illmatic stuff.
Hi, my name is Jordan, and I love hip-hop.
Now that we've met, lets move onto the new media stuff.
My love of hip-hop is obviously limited by what I am able to find on the internet. Let's be honest here, all 5'8" of me is not going to any rap battles in D-town anytime soon. So often I'll scour the web for some legitimate rap/hip-hop content, for free of course. So yesterday I came across this gem. Current hip-hop is a great website for the genre because it is expansive and easy to navigate and use.
Lets start first with design.
When you initally click on the website there are no sleek opening sequences or obscure titles to get through. You are simply greeted by a list of what is hot at the moment.
Exhibit A:
Right on the homepage there is this list of what should interest me and I am offered the options of playing it or downloading it right on the spot. It is a simple and straight forward way to get you straight to the content that you are craving.
What I like best about the design is the multitude of options on each tab, which include: my, home, songs, artists, and mixtapes. Each individual page is bursting with new tracks to sample or download. Yet the website manages to do this without the pages getting cluttered or overwhelming. Instead there is a simple black backdrop with varying colors for options. Download is blue, play is orange, albums are hyperlinked in beige. The website designer is smart because he realizes that the true hip-hop listener wants nothing more than easy access to otherwise inaccessible content.
That brings me to content. It's enormous.
ARTISTS
this bar of the alphabet is under the "artists" tab. Simple enough, no? Well under each letter there is a list of at least 30 rappers that you have never heard of. Sure they will offer you the popular ones too, Kanye has lots of love on this site, but underground emcees get a chance to promote their music for free through this site.
The site also offers mixtapes, which are harder to obtain because they are not as heavily marketed as full length LPs. Mixtapes offer the audience a raw listening experience that they would have trouble finding on Itunes. Unless I went through times square hunting down aspiring rappers selling mixtapes for 5$, I would have trouble finding their material. Thanks to this comprehensive website, I'll never want for rap again.
Navigation wise, the website follows suit with the design and content: straightforward and simple. But what pleases me the most is the ability to play music straight form the site in a constantly alternating playlist. Click on a "play" icon next to a song, then immediately at the top of the page a music player will pop up plays the song automatically. The listener can pause, play, alter volume, as well as add it to a list of favorites or share the song on Facebook or Twitter.
The website is a free and simple way to access an overflowing goblet of hip-hop gold, and I'm glad I found it.
Jordan-
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I just wanted to say thank you for introducing us to this sight. I love it! I am always looking for new hip hop and mix-tape outlets. When I went to this sight for the first time, I immediately wanted to play all of 'today's songs.' Some of the content may be a little too "hard core" for my hip hop taste, but thanks to you, I definitely have a new hip hop workout playlist!
I think CurrentHipHop.com has done a great job promoting popular artists as well as introducing new artists. CurrentHipHop seems to offer a lot of variety in a manner that is both navigable and fun. However, what I especially like about this sight is the amount of interactivity which you touched upon. I love the fact that this sight allows you to play songs while simultaneously downloading them (definitely a plus). I may even become a regular follower, so thanks for the great find!