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December 8, 2005
The New Mixtape
Also via GreenCine, a link to Ethan Brown's Village Voice article, "The New Mixtape," which describes the phenomenon of DIY "DVD Magazines" that have begun to emerge from the hip hop scenes of several cities. Brown reports that
the spliced-up nature of DVD magazines—all of which (for now) are homemade and released straight to the street—has brought comparisons to hip-hop's mixtape scene.Brown adds that the "street-centric" approach has caused problems for some of the people featured in the DVDs, with Charleston, South Carolina, and Atlanta prosecutors likely to use evidence from the DVDs in criminal cases (Brown notes that this model of distribution can also be connected to the "Stop Snitching" DVD featuring NBA player Carmelo Anthony that circulated a few months ago).
I'm not sure I have anything specific to add here, but the DVD magazines represent an interesting form of DIY distribution, but I am intrigued by the degree to which the rhetoric of authenticity often goes unquestioned in the production of these ultra-low-budget DVDs, particularly when it comes to the performances of street cred that many of these DVDs feature.
Posted by chuck at December 8, 2005 4:05 PM
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