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Hip Hop Segregation
by Hector "Heist" Alvarez..
The Latin Hip Hop Advocate


In a time when so many things bring up attention to racial issues, we are faced with a similar problem within our own culture and community. I don't know if this would be called racial discrimination or just unfairness but it is out there. Although this will raise a lot of others to face a reality and also make remarks about the thoughts I am about to express, I am faced with stating how I feel about it.
When the whole explosion occurred within the Music industry, and all of a sudden Reggaeton made millions for so many Artists and Record Labels alike we saw that not everyone was able to take full advantage of it.


If you really analyze the genre and see which artists made it to Radio and actually saw sales sky rocket you will take notice that they were all predominantly Puerto Rican! I am also Puerto Rican so commenting on this is something I can have valid feelings on because I see this to be wrong!

Very few if any other Spanish Speaking Artist made an impact if they were not from Puerto Rico, in fact if you really look at it this music was made famous by producers that weren't from Puerto Rico but from the Dominican Republic, yet an artist Singing Reggaeton from the Dominican Republic was not able to get the respect and wide acceptance as one from Puerto Rico! This is very unfair and a huge problem within our own community, more because of the lasting impression this can make on our youth but also this will keep us from growing and continuing to reach a larger audience because we ourselves our putting restraints on our own music. We have the biggest possibilities before us, but we keep anything from happening because we can not get past the simplest of things and that is that we have so many different countries that speak Spanish! There are 23 countries and we should be proud to have this many, but instead of rejoicing and being one united culture we allow this to be a wall that separates us.



This is a situation similar to that of a few years ago in the Hip Hop community, when we saw the east and west go head to head. But here we have something that can be resolved and made right. On the East Coast of the United States you have Puerto Rican & Dominican artists in the forefront of Latin Hip Hop, and although Reggaeton's popularity is fading you still see very little in artists not of Puerto Rico doing well! But all in all you can still take notice who dominates the Genre of Latin Hip Hop in the East Coast market. On the west coast you will have a more difficult time breaking in if you're not Mexican, Latin Hip Hop is much more popular on the West Coast but also more dominated by the Mexican rappers. The different styles and interpretations of Latin Hip Hop on each coast is very noticeable, one being more party oriented and the other more street oriented but both still Hip Hop.


On the West Coast Spanish Rap is very different from here on the East Coast, but Music is Music no matter what you are, and if it's the same genre it shouldn't even matter anyway. And this is not only a problem in Hip Hop but with so many other Genres within the Latin Community including Salsa, Merengue, Bachata and every other Spanish Music. For us to be in a situation that if you're not this or that and from a certain part of the country you're not going to have the support and backing makes it a problem. I see this as segregation within our own and its something that will continue to harm us and not allow us to make it as far as we should. How many millions of us are there, but yet we have to struggle to make the numbers others make when unified.


There is enough racial discrimination taking place for us to be suffering from our own internal discrimination, where as this is not an issue of race this is an issue of not supporting one another fully. The segregation I speak of is not a problem where we are racist with each other, but it's a problem that does appear to deal with being less supportive of one over the other. Reggaeton being a great example as to what took place not less than two years ago, for it to have blown up into a national phenomena and then slowly falling off due to not having an overall support from everyone. I believe that if we all were to unify and work on something together instead of working against each other we may in fact get further and have something that can last for a longer period of time and not just have fads come and go. We have experienced this fad syndrome various times in our past and yet we fall right back into it over and over again. In the late 80's into the early 90's we have Freestyle music come and disappear as fast as Reggaeton seems to be going.


We have core fans of Freestyle but who knows what would have happened had the marketing support and growth of the Genre been done in a different way!

When Reggaeton hit everyone was already talking about the Fad syndrome and the possibilities of it not lasting! So many great songs were released by artists and not given a chance if they weren't from Puerto Rico! That is not only unfair to the artist but to the consumer as well. We can not continue to deny those we seek to appeal to, the fans which purchase the music we struggle so hard to make. If we make the music and put it out, it will be purchased. But if we continue to shelve artists for what ever the reason especially if the reason is not being one thing over the other then we face never having a solid hold on any Genre. If you notice we go through periods of when one Genre is hot and then all of a sudden we have something else, such as Salsa being the hot music of the moment for one minute and then all of the sudden Merengue comes in. I just feel if we just support Music for the Music we will have better success and longer lasting impressions within the Music world. Let's not be our own worst enemies and continue to make music that lasts and not just fade away.



Written by: Hector "Heist" Alvarez
Perrealo Media Group
Si No Sabias, Nao Yu No!

http://www.HectorAlvarez.com
http://www. Perrealo. com
http://www. myspace. com/heistness
perrealo@gmail. com


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