Clare Cloyd
One of the questions that I submitted was about whether or not hip-hop artists viewed hip-hop as a job or a lifestyle. The discussion of hip-hop in an art form versus hip-hop as a job came up. Alexs was discussing how he feels that hip-hop is his job and he aims to make sure that there are always people that are professional at analyzing the hip-hop scene. He said he thinks it is extremely important to have a strong separation from hip-hop academia and actual hip-hop art. I could tell that he had a high level of respect and knowledge of the hip hop world. He also made it clear that he knows that his expertise is the analytical factor and not the actual performing, and he made it clear that it was not important to him if he was liked by the performers. He mentioned that he has met numerous "stars" if you will and it is not his goal to be liked by them. I thought Melissa's theory about territory was also very interesting because it is completely true that it is a groups duty to defend their turf. So, the answer to the question would probably be that there are many aspects to the hip-hop world and depending on which part you belong to , academics or performing, is the deciding factor as to whether it is viewed as a job or a lifestyle.,