I HATED FIRE IN LITTLE AFRICA
In Hip-Hop the main topic that comes up is haters. Rappers glorify the hate. Because if you don't have haters, then you aren't successful. Look at artists like 50 Cent and Tekashi 6ix9ine who built whole careers off hate and trolling. You gotta admit that hate sells. Ask 50 Cent who again profited off hate by selling "G-U-Not" shirts because he saw an opportunity to capitalize off hate. But when did I become a hater? I would say the exact moment is when I saw a post on the @Fireinlittleafrica page.
But what was so special about this post? Well in particular it put front and center the fact that I wasn't invited. It made it clear that their was no spot for Tulsa Lines. Those seats were reserved for major publications and journalists from Complex, TheSource, and DJ Booth.
For those who aren't familiar with the Fire in Little Africa project, it was this collaborative effort to bring the best artists in the state together to create a legendary project. If you've ever saw the Revenge of The Dreamers 3 Documentary, than it's that, plus a 100 years of pain from a city all bottled into one project. So yea this was major. For me in particular, it was about the artists that I've interviewed, or wrote about. or posted on social media, who are now getting their just due. But I wasn't invited to the celebration. Tulsa Lines wasn't there.
I HATED FIRE IN LITTLE AFRICA
8/21/20200 COMMENTS
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In Hip-Hop the main topic that comes up is haters. Rappers glorify the hate. Because if you don't have haters, then you aren't successful. Look at artists like 50 Cent and Tekashi 6ix9ine who built whole careers off hate and trolling. You gotta admit that hate sells. Ask 50 Cent who again profited off hate by selling "G-U-Not" shirts because he saw an opportunity to capitalize off hate. But when did I become a hater? I would say the exact moment is when I saw a post on the @Fireinlittleafrica page.
But what was so special about this post? Well in particular it put front and center the fact that I wasn't invited. It made it clear that their was no spot for Tulsa Lines. Those seats were reserved for major publications and journalists from Complex, TheSource, and DJ Booth.
For those who aren't familiar with the Fire in Little Africa project, it was this collaborative effort to bring the best artists in the state together to create a legendary project. If you've ever saw the Revenge of The Dreamers 3 Documentary, than it's that, plus a 100 years of pain from a city all bottled into one project. So yea this was major. For me in particular, it was about the artists that I've interviewed, or wrote about. or posted on social media, who are now getting their just due. But I wasn't invited to the celebration. Tulsa Lines wasn't there.
So how the bleep... did I not get invited? How did I not get to witness history? My mind immediately had two options. Play the cool route and support. OR Go against the project publicly. I guess you can imagine which route I took. But I still remember some of those early conversations. Conversations about Tulsa Lines needing to state it's argument for deserving a seat at the table. My pride said look at my track record. What more is it to prove? The answer was a lot more. The real answer was Tulsa Lines hasn't proved shit. And that's the truth.
But who's fault is that? Is it mine for not fighting to be apart of history? Or is it Fire in Little Africa's for not seeing the value in having local press there?
‹My turning point is when I started to realize that my initial argument was the real answer. Yoh Philips and the other jounalists only got to see a sample of Tulsa's talent. I've gotten to experience it all. Maybe not all of it. But enough to know that I've lived it. I've met and had conversations with King Spencer. I've known Steph Simon since elementary. I've been on road trips to Oklahoma City and chilled with Grand National and Chris "The God MC" Cain. I've seen Dialtone progress as both a rapper and as an artist. Tulsa Lines had one of the biggest stages at the World Culture Music Festival 4. And it fucking poured down raining that night. As all these memories began to play out in my head I started to realize that what these journalists, including You Philips saw was only a petri dish sample of what I've gotten to experience here in Tulsa. I got to see artists develop their performances at TheYeti! That's something they'll never be able to experience. So in essence they're just now seeing everything that I've already known. That
TULSA HAS SOMETHING TO SAY!
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