Are We There Yet?

network newsletter 3/2000

How many times have you heard this one: "This is the year man! Chicago is gon’ blow up. No more stagnating." Or this one: "Man, we get more love in Cleveland, Chicago just don’t support it’s own." Or any of these: "It’s ’95! This is the year for Chicago.", "It’s ’97, this is our year Joe!", "Woo, it’s 1998. This is has got to be it!" Well now it’s 2000, the brink of the new millennium, and I still hear the same song ‘n dance from cats who, in my opinion, spend way too much time being disgruntled with their own accomplishments, that they never even recognize the face of success all around them. Sure, we’d love to have a few Chi-town labels with the resources to ship 4X platinum. We want our own radio stations to play our records to death, like they do those other guys. Over and over again. Nonstop! We want the world to hear us, see us, feel us, experience, and enjoy what we have to offer, . . . like they do those other guys. Right? Right!

Now pause for a minute. . . Take a deep breath. . . Clear your mind. . . Think about all of the people you started out with. All of the ones you planned on getting ‘famous’ with. A few of them are actually still around, aren’t they? And some are even still doing their ‘thang’, just like you, right?. . And the civil right’s movement is still alive too, right? Precisely! A baby is no less valuable because it is young and inexperienced. It just means that the child has a whole life to look forward to, and still has the power to make the most of their destiny.

By the same philosophy, in order for Chicago to blow up, we’ve got to begin to recognize, appreciate, and acknowledge all of our accomplishments. They all add up. Each and every one of them. Each time an indie releases a CD, from Chicago, it’s a step for all of us. Each time a local emcee wins a national title, it shows that we got the dopest emcees. Each time a hometown producer, creates a track for a major label recording artist, it shows that we’ve got the hottest untapped resource. So, as far as I’m concerned, we’ve already blown up. We just haven’t set the world on fire yet!