Down in a converted
basement with a few friends, blunt smoke fills the air; loud music
from a new stereo system covers all four corners of the room. In
the stereo is the new DJ Green Lantern mixtape you just copped. You
start up a conversation with a friend about the artists or maybe
even the DJ himself. They disagree and you find yourself enlisting
the aid of another friend creating a full blown debate on a CD meant
for your listening pleasure. You dog out the DJ someone else praises
him, you give your reasons and they give theirs. You lay your point
down and people either agree or offer you a counter–point.
On the net or most other publications this kind of vibe is almost
non-existent. To generate revenue and to keep their stature in the
world of hip-hop, journalistic entities almost seems to be forced
to be politically correct.
Rapmullet.com is where the life in the basement is reality, on a
daily basis. Started in 2003 by a student, True, a site was conceived
not knowing the potential or even the formula of getting it off the
ground. In the beginning of its life, Rapmullet.com went through
many names including all the generic hip-hop formulaic names that
seemed to be all too common and less desirable. But, with True standing
at 6’5 340 pounds, with his curly mullet like hair, it’s
a no-brainer as to why they settled on the name.
As futile as it might sound Rapmullet.com is taking the road to
being one of hip hop’s leading educators, historians, and innovators
in the mixtape world. Starting with the content of their site, Rapmullet.com
does a few things differently that most other hip-hop websites just
seem not to do.
First, cornering the mixtape market for the founders was important.
That’s all they knew. They recognized the local bootleggers
by face and some by name. They bartered and did business with them.
Listened to the music analytically and had inebriated conversations
about the overall production or how horrible the MC or DJ was that
had the audacity to release it. This atmosphere has been successfully
transferred to the site, making it’s vibe as authentic as possible.
Second, Rapmullet.com pulls no punches. The basis of the site is
to be as real as possible. If your mixtape sucks, they tell it. If
it’s good, they single it out. If it’s innovative, they
praise it. If you do anything that is noteworthy, it's going to be
news on RapMullet.com. Content is extremely important to this group
of writers and entrepreneurs, without it the site would be as generic
as every other hip hop website.
Third, unlike the most of the masses of hip-hop followers they believe
in the history of what they do. Posting free downloads of mixtapes
long forgotten and highlighting the people who paved the way for
the DJ’s and MC’s who do it today.
Because of RapMullet’s ability to keep it street with that
real talk, DJ’s from all corners of the earth send in their
material for real feedback and for it to be shared with the public.
From Boston’s own DJ Jay-Cee-Oh of Special-Teamz fame, to DJ
Green Lantern, all send in their installments just for the chance
to be featured on the site and hope for a good write up.
Speaking to Dimez from RapMullet.com he said something that resonates…
“I don’t have time to review tapes and be like, ‘This
track gave me an eerie feeling with its swelling horned and melodic
baseline”
Which people been known to do from time to time
“I’d rather be that dude in the basement smoking and
el, listening and giving my opinion on it regardless”.
No wonder Rap mullet’s popularity has skyrocketed in the past
3 years.
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