Fuck ‘Supporting Australian Hip Hop’
I now hate this logo and everything it has come to represent.
No that isn’t a straight up diss to every single MC, producer and DJ out there in Australia, nor is it a general proclamation that nobody should be supporting our local scene or even a goddam criticism of the graphic design. What it is a go at, is the abuse that the catchphrase and logo has suffered in the hands of fuckwits.
When the ‘Support Australian Hip Hop’ logo first appeared out of the Obese Records camp over a decade ago it was within the context of a local hip hop scene that was beginning to find it’s feet. There was no Hoods on NOVA. No Bliss & Eso rocking a mainstage. No Drapht scoring #1 records. Back then this logo was a mark of solidarity amongst a small community of artists. In a time when the music was still seen as a novelty by many outsiders it was defiant collective statement of identity. That this shit was real and warranted respect. It let people know that this scene existed and deserved recognition.
I mean back in the day I remember catching a glimpse of it on albums up at Next Level or over at my mate Shan’s house and immediately checking out what it was attached to. It helped serve as a flag for local releases and definitely put me onto artists I might have had difficulty finding otherwise.
But these days shit done changed.
First it was abused by the mindless growing demographic of young bogan dickheads who ‘only listen to Aussie Hip Hop’. Personally I think the idea of only listening to hip hop from these shores is as ridiculous as somebody who enjoys getting a blowjob, but hates actually fucking, but hey that’s just me. Anyway this narrow minded mentality perpetrated by these muscially nationalistic retards adopted this ‘Support Australian Hip Hop’ catchphrase as a mantra, interpreting it like fundamentalist zealots do religious texts. Australian hip hop was the centre of the musical universe and all other forms of it (especially the US variety) was not worthy of consideration. These wankers adopted the logo with gusto and soon it was adorning the utes of beer swilling fuckwits and being inked into the skin of neanderthals who regurgitated the opinions of Andrew Bolt.
Then you have every Tom, Dick and Barry wannabe local rapper hiding behind the logo. With hip hop exploding in popularity in this country in recent years and with the release of the movie 8 Mile, we saw a huge influx of individuals who bought a cheap mic from Tandy, plugged it into their computer and were suddenly ‘upcoming MC’s’. As most of these folks lacked any considerable skill, many decided to disguise their lack of talent by plastering their releases and webpages with the ‘Support Australian Hip Hop’ logo. Suddenly ‘Supporting Australian Hip Hop’ was a cult. If you criticised anything bearing it’s mark, then you didn’t support the local scene and were a hater. It became a shield for wack cunts who would rather produce mediocre music for an unquestioning fanbase rather than grow as artists. It demanded dumb, deaf and blind acceptance.
A brief search through Facebook will find countless meaningless Fan Pages dedicated to Oz Hip Hop or Supporting Australian Hip Hop all adorned with this logo and countless examples of the arseholes who have corrupted it.
The logo once served an important purpose within local hip hop, but with it’s molestation from newjacks it has lost any true meaning it once held. Where once it symbolised a burgeoning creative community, establishing it’s identity and seeking acceptance, it has now been co-opted by nationalistic arseholes, sub-par music and an insular mindset.
It’s time has past, and I for one think it’s time it was put out of it’s misery.
What do you think?
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