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The Future (?) Of HipHopSite.Com
Dear heads,
So, I have been in deep thought about what direction to take HipHopSite.Com in the future. I have to be honest, my heart is not in the site anymore. Mostly because I don’t like the direction that hip-hop music has taken. Don’t get me wrong, the underground has always produced great music, but after 17 years of running HipHopSite.Com, it’s hard for me to get excited about this stuff anymore. Let’s face it, I’m jaded.
I’ve been wanting to take some time off from HHS to produce and start a label, but the time I put into the site each day is not allowing that to happen. My first inkling was to throw in the towel and retire HipHopSite for good. Hang up my mic, so to speak.
But I still enjoy reviewing albums; it’s innate in me to listen to a record and critique it. So then I thought I could just run those reviews on DJPizzo.Com, but that would probably confuse people. Someone suggested to me that I should sell it, and the another person suggested I hand it over to the community. I like the second idea better.
So now the question is how to do this. One way is to simply open the site up and let all of you take control of it. This could get messy with double posts, old posts, piracy, etc, but then again, if we had someone moderating the site, it wouldn’t be a problem at all. Sites like Reddit and Wikipedia have proven this. In short, we could probably get it under control pretty quickly.
With that off my chest, I’d like to hear your thoughts. I hate to see sites disappear completely, and I would hate to have the legacy of HHS thrown away just because I’m tired of doing it. I know you guys love the site and visit it every day, so perhaps there’s a way to keep this thing alive that involves all of you. Feel free to chime in with your ideas in the comments section or email me directly at mistapizzo@gmail.com.
No related posts.
Facebook comments:
I come here for the reviews. HHS has over the years been able to review just about any significant mainstream or underground release/mixtape within a reasonable time. If you move those then I’d follow to that new site. to be candid the blog posts replicate information I get from other sites. What HHS does different is provide color to the content within the reviews and there is some credibility there.
Yo Piz, I like the idea of opening up to the community a lot, and also see every possible pitfall doing such a thing can do. Worth the experiment though. I’ll shoot you a far more detailed email at some point this afternoon, but for whatever it’s worth, i think the potential for it working is there, and the benefit of the site staying around is worth it, despite that a change in both guard and execution could be a total disaster. but, that’s what makes it potentially fun, right?? I think…I’m in.
Pizzo,
Thanks for keeping the site going all these years. I started reading in late 96/early 97 and started ordering records from you in 97. In those days I checked back constantly for new content, and lately I’ve enjoyed seeing the updates in my RSS feed. I’ve been visiting this site regularly longer than I’ve frequented any other website.
I would like to see you get some money out of what you created, however you can make that happen.
Alex
I waited up until midnight on New Years from 99-2002 just hoping to view the best and worst list. My excitement and desire for learning about the culture were at an alltime high. My source for the good stuff was hiphopsite.com. Jurassic 5 was relevant and great. My how times have changed. We still love hiphopsite but hip hop…
im still waitin on the message board to get back up.
– gub
I hope you find a way to keep this site going.I only deal with this site when it comes to hip hop.I’ve been down with this site since 99 and your always on point when it comes to the music and the news.your news on the D L are more on point than any magazine or website.you remind me of how hip hop radio use to be.play the good shit no matter where they from.good is good.ya’ll put me down with alot of new artists this year,big ups to u 4 that.you guys have always done that.if ya’ll were a magazine I would buy that shit.I do wish u well my man I hope you can work it out & keep this going.ya’ll deal with the real hip hop.and from a 43 year old hip hop head I truly appreciate this site.
loved the interview with pos from de la soul.
visiting HHS ~15 years constantly. Easily the best and the realest hip hop online project ever. THANKS PIZZO!
Salute to Pizzo – I’ve been on this site every day for the last 15 years (since the RealAudio days)
Favorite article – “I Ain’t Havin’ That” – Dr. Dre dreads annual “Fuck With Dre Day”
I have been a fan of this site/store for many years. I remember going to the shop back in Vegas when I used to live out there. I hope this will stay open to us all, because I still have a love for hip hop, but more on the underground tip. I feel you on how the music today just sucks, and it’s not helping out. But I think opening it up to us all, would be a great decision. You have worked many years Pizzo, and I think you deserve that big break, to get your stuff out there. Please don’t let HHS pass away :)
NOOOOOOOOOOO! This is the only hip hop site I check on daily and the only one that plays to my selection of music not just the underground but also the “commercial” ish you chose to put on here. I’m 35 and have no time really for other sites or for searching for things. You give them to me in a timely manner. Well, it will be what it will be and thank you for all the years and good luck with what you decide.
Great work thru the years, Pizzo!
I’ve been coming to this website for over 10 years. Great content. Great reviews. Sad to to see it go.
Perhaps you should add your touch to another dedicated hip hop website/magazine because you definitely have things to say.
Hip Hop Ain’t Dead, we just have to dig deeper than ever now.
Big up to HHS!
Hey Pizzo, thanks for the years of keepin’ others and I posted, I think you should give handing it over a shot, it would be worth it see where it goes… Heaps of potential.
Love HHS, I think it was about 2000 I got hooked. First I came for the content, then I stayed for the content and the low low prices. And the t shirts! I have a draw full of HHS-supplied t shirts.
As much as I love the site I would be lying if I said I could be an internet dude modding and providing content etc. If it works wikipedia style that would be awesome, let’s not put a limit on what the HHS site audience may be capable of achieving.
Pizzo, love your writing man, it’s a been a hip hop beacon over the past 10 or so years and it will be missed. If a new version of HHS doesn’t come to fruition that you can add a little something to from time to time, can I make a suggestion that you have a T-Dome style blog either here or on your home page just letting you shoot the breeze on new hiphop releases etc that you like. Make it monthly or bimonthly or whatever works for you, just don’t let your editoralising and record reviews disappear entirely.
In any regard all the best for the future and the future of HHS, will continue to read & follow.
Dude I really don’t wanna have to find another home page! Like many others, I have bought records and CDs from you guys and I love the news on the DL, In the Deck, and you just can’t beat the year end round ups. Giving it to the communtity is a good idea, but imagine a few hundred thousand guys getting big egos and running around telling people that they now run hip hop site??!! I’m always excited to see a new label come into the fold so don’t give up on that. Maybe just base the site on underground hip hop. Use it as a way for real heads to communicate and stay updated on real shit that’s out there. The Source iz dead. XXL is like Right On for grown ups. HiphopSite is the only true destination for our music. In the end, you just have to do what you gotta do, but at least think of what this site has meant (and what it still means) to all of your fans and supporters. peace
You should definitely turn the site over to the people. I don’t really comment but I’ve been on this site for 12+ years. I really can’t get down with the mediafakeouts of the world. This site has definitely turned my ear to some of the underground acts outside of Cali. Good luck with your future endeavors but keep the site going!! Hip hop will never die as long as there people on this planet.
Please don’t close up shop on this site! I agree with you that hip hop has a ton of garbage on the airwaves right now. That’s why hip hop and heads like me need sites like this to get to the good stuff. If it wasn’t for this site I never would have even heard of cats like DJ Shadow or Apollo Brown or Black Milk. Gotta keep it going! Later.
I have been down since 1996 when a friend showed me the site in the dorms and have been on here almost every day ever since. I really respect what you and the entire staff have done with the site, the store and for helping to promote and further the careers of artists that make truly great Hip Hop music. Honestly I would be rather sad to see this site disappear, as it stands I have never found another Hip Hop website out there that could touch this one. I would love to help out however I can, my free time is rather limited but I would be willing to do as much as I could to help keep the site going. Closing this site would be a huge loss to the global Hip Hop community but I understand your need to pursue other interests and begin new ventures. I respect whatever decision is ultimately made and hope we all can keep the site alive in some capacity! Again thank you Pizzo and all of the HHS staff from a loyal follower, Dayz.
Pizzo, your my last link to the ‘Old’ Internet, like my Net Security Blanket that I can always come back to. I appreciate your dedication as a genuine fan of music. That’s the problem I see with certain sites that are community run. The Popularity and Notoriety sometimes gets to people heads and the core becomes tarnished or bias or completely over-run killing the site’s credibility. As a fan, I appreciate the work you’ve put in. Understand your feelings about Music at this time and know that the people you choose to work with will offer that same credibility and take some of the pressure off to free you up for your next adventure. Good Luck! Can’t wait to see what’s next.
Wow, for some reason i knew this would happen jus bcuz of how the hiphop scene is now, I myself am not feeling the music like i used too, it is getting wack but i been following this site for yrs and because of this site ive got some good music in my stereo. Do what you have to but there are still some die hard hiphop fans out here that listen to real hiphop. not that 106 n park bull shit
looks like im getting rid of my internet……..
I’ve just found this diamond of hip hop jewels in a sea of nonsense. Please say it ain’t so. I’ve only found this site just a coupple of yrs. Ago please stay forever.
Pizzo,
In all honesty, I respect your decision to want to start a label. If you think about it, it’s a natural, logical progression, and makes total sense. Starting a record label now is like swimming against the tide since nobody besides a handful of dedicated heads still buys music, but if thats what you feel you need to do go for it.
Where we disagree is that you need to completely disavow yourself or disconnect yourself from HHS. That is just not needed. Why not just hand it off to a trusted subordinate of some kind ? Keep some kind of control over hiphopsite so that it can be used as a vehicle to promote your artists ? You already promote a lot of other artists, why not your own ? Honestly, when you start pumping and promoting people like Nikki Minaj, Drake, Lil Wayne…you can really only redeam yourself by promoting your own artists.
This is still my go-to site. I even made sure I made a couple of trips to the store on Vegas trips; I loved everything about it.
I think it’s worth the experiment to let the community take a whirl at it. It can be on a short leash, and if it gets out of hand, then so be it. But the majority of people I see in the comment section seem to be older heads with positive things to contribute, and not too many of the 14-year-olds I teach, who people away from sites like this.
In any case, best of luck in your new pursuits. I’m eager to see where this goes.
Who *drive* people away. Stupid typo. Good thing I teach math and not writing.
Thanks for giving so much over the years Pizzo. I’ve been visiting the site since 1997 when I was just a kid in high school. Basically my life’s soundtrack has revolved around the selections from the website, which is all thanks to your hard work and dedication to hip hop. Thanks for everything and best of wishes in life.
Pizzo, I’ve been a customer and fan since 2001 and can totally understand the burnout – I’m thankful you were able to last this long.
Ideally, I’d like to see HHS sold to someone you trust, and someone who can do this legendary site justice.
If that’s not possible, an alternative could be to create a HHS Board of Trustees – eight to 10 longtime fans with a great sense of hip-hop and the willingness to put in the time. Annual term limits or elections might help keep the site fresh and evolving.
The goal would be to seat a board with a diverse mix of interests (underground, commercial, west coast, east coast, Twitter followers, press release subscribers, etc).
Just throwing an idea out there. Sad news considering there are so few alternatives for real hip-hop news on the interwebs… thanks for everything Pizzo!
Or – you could just get very selective on what you cover – kinda like okay player. I agree most of the stuff released now is garbage but there are still enough good artists (hip-hop / soul / electronica / etc). Been regularly visiting the site since about 97. Love the reviews especailly and would be sad to lose the site.
Thanks for years of hard work.
Hip hop is like the walking dead and you’ve tried to fight the good fight, but really the “artist” don’t even give a fuck about it anymore.
Best of luck going forward.
Been coming to this site since I first got internet in 98/99 or so. A very big thank you to all of the years of new fresh hiphop that I would not of heard of up here in small town Canada. Every other site caters to the mainstream bullshit where this has given to best of everything. Best of luck to your future endeavors.
WTF? gotta do what ya gotta do, I used to go the store on the regular to get “early” releases or just chop it up and have a real convo about music. Because of yall i got to kick it with the Whoridas up @ KUNV and talk to them about Ninja Scroll LOL!!! Got to see and talk to my hiphop hero KRS-ONE. GOD Bless on the Label and Production.
Sorry to hear, but also understandable with where hip hop has gone (and is still going) in recent times. Good luck with whatever you do in the future. I’ll keep checking in on djpizzo.com!
I have been coming to the website for years. Some of my favorite CD’s were the Preemptive Hype CD’s that came with orders. Anyways, I like the idea of opening it up to the community. One cool thing would be to have people vote on reviews. I can get my “Mitt Romney” on and switch a rating if I hear a good (or bad) review. No offense, I have flatly disagreed with a few reviews lately, so it would be cool to have a voice in the process. Maybe the review stayed open for a specific amount of time after the album/mixtape dropped. I am just thinking of the top of my head. Thanks again for all the hard work.
yo Pizzo
How can you say you are not excited about hip hop anymore when the 7LES w/Inspectah Deck album is coming out w/production from Primo? And a new Demigodz album.
Pizzo you trippin!
I thought you were better than this.
at least bring back the forums homie, the ughh forums are nauseating
I been coming to this site regularly for about 12 years now no lie, thank you for the great job you’ve done, I got open to alot of Indy artists I never would have known before thanks to you
please dont go !
Yo Pizzo, I just want to thank you for all that you and the staff have done for me over the years. Because of you guys I have been turned on to alot of dope vinyl, cd’s, videos, t-shirts, reviews, stickers, posters, toys, autographs and of course the lists. The lists are definitely a favorite of mine. I always look forward to them especially the “Best & Worst”. HHS is hands down the best Hip Hop site around, period. I was turned on to you guys in the late 90′s by some friends in Vegas and I have visited the site daily ever since. I always made it a point to visit the store when in LV. Shit, it was more fun than hittin the casinos. Your staff was cool, fun, and helpful. They always showed love to this Denver kid. I was pretty disappointed when you stopped the retail side but at least the site was still going. To be 100, I still miss the store. I especially miss all the dope freebies that shipped with each order. I dig Your writing and your reviews are always very clean and thorough. I aint gonna lie, I wish the site would never die. This site is not only entertainment to me, it’s theropy for real. Good luck with everything your future holds my brother. Thanks again for all the love you have shown to me and my fellow heads. Stay True.
Say it can’t be true ! I’ve been a regular reader of this site since I was at university in the late 90′s when I had way too much time on my hands so I’d be checking everyday to see if here was an update. I used to have my notepad and I’d note done all the new joints I likes so I could go and hunt for them. I remember reading about eminem for the first time on this site. To this day it’s the only hip hop publication I still read as all the others have either disappeared or suck.. I really hope u think twice about this I know evolution is all good and the site has changed massively over the years but handing it over to the users just means multiple threads which nobody has time to read or decipher through and also a lack of quality. This is just another nail in the coffin of hip hop I really hope u don’t do this but if it happens thanks for the last 15 years.
Dear Pizzo & other contributors,
If it is time to go, it’s time to go. GREAT SITE that had a positive impact on myself and hip hop in general for a LONG time. You have done so much good work, i’d say go ahead and retire it. You deserve a break man, and the ability to search out new opportunities. Thanks for all the years! Best wishes
one love, keep it real yo
Hi Pizzo, this is Dominic Figueroa, I am a FB friend and i have been
following, reading, visiting, hiphopsite.com for plenty of years now.
Recently, I haven’t been avidly going on the website as i used to BUT!
i have always been a loyal and humble follower. I enjoy and appreciate
all you and your partners have done to bring light good music reviews,
news, recommendations, music network, and straight out entertainment
and knowledge to the hip hop community. As you said, you are very busy
Artist, Entrepreneur, Journalist, and Family man,–all these qualities
are great and well respected. I wish you the best and hope that you
can still continue the website because its the only few wholesome hip
hop news in the world. You have suggested to open up the website to
the community but i also find it difficult to maintain from
illegitimacy. I just hope there is a way to continue the website, for
instance, is it possible you can hire somebody to write the reviews
and maintain the website? or if not can you just focus on DL news, or
music recommendations, or “best of” lists, or music producers reviews,
or hot new artists buzz, and the like. Or better yet, give your
followers homework to review old and new school hip hop
lp’s,albums,artists,producers, etc. Or just recommend albums to us and
well have a chat room going on. etc.
I hope hiphopsite.com survives. Its legendary status is
legit,respected,and you guys kick knowledge.
thank you for your time.
peace.
Dear Pizzo,
Its been said by many..we love this site
It has everything..great music old and new..
information..boatloads..
I am sorry to see you go, there are no buts..you will be making positive strides in your life, you know you only get one..so do you and make yourself proud.
That said, I want this site to live another 20 yrs..so if there was a vote for the continuation, i would vote for a moderator.
qualifications, must love hip hop..no cheesy shit
take care and always do you..
I’d hate to see the site go away as I’ve been visiting for well over a decade. I think I remember reading about Eminem on here before he dropped his first record. I still visit daily to get a taste of great music. However, I’m of the opinion if you’re going to completely step away to just close the site. Don’t leave it to the community or even trusted subordinates if you aren’t going to maintain some editorial control over the content. It’s too much of a risk to the name and reputation of HHS. I’ll admit I have no idea where to go to get a taste of real music so the closing of this site would really suck for me, but it’s probably the best option if you’re stepping completely away.
Wow. Say it ain’t so, Pizzo. I grew up on this site.
Hopefully, you’ll find resolve in knowing that the information you place on this site is important. At 40 years old, this is the only way to keep me attached to the culture, a culture I adhered myself to in 1983. I made my first online music purchase from this site (2002 Little Brother “The Listening” & Kelis “Wanderland”) Please reconsider leaving.
What am I supposed to do every morning at work, I need HHS. Pizzo thanks, community or selling HHS in the end the runs been great. Don’t know where I’m going to go to now for the underground, suggestions
Whatever happens, can you please ensure the last post on this great site isn’t a lame track by ‘Willie Evans Jr.’
Cheers
Pizzo, I thank you sincerely for all your work. I started reading back in ’98 around the time Hiero and Gangstarr were going to drop those long-anticipated albums, and I always looked forward to the weekly and, later, more frequent updates. Listen, I understand dropping the daily updates and interviews and so forth–though we might not like going to other sites, we can find a lot of that information elsewhere without too much hassle. But, if you still have the heart, do a review a week and make sure all the old reviews and old “best of” lists are archived somewhere easy. The reviews are what have made you stand out all these years. Your writing was always on point, and you weren’t scared to like something that “real” heads were prone to shit on (e.g. Drake, later Jay-Z) or criticize stuff that they would geek out to (e.g. some of the older Doom stuff, or the early Anticon, or later Souls of Mischief stuff). You didn’t let expectations or image get in the way of having an honest reaction to the music. That is something I struggled with in my own Hip Hop community, so I really appreciate the ethic you brought to your reviews. Best of luck to you in your next endeavor. Next time I’m in Vegas, I’ll try to come out to catch one of your sets.
http://www.hiphopsite.com/2012/02/16/rap-is-here-to-stay/