5 Things Indie Rock Could Learn From Hip-Hop

posted by on July 18, 2012 in Features, Lists

lupe computer 5 Things Indie Rock Could Learn From Hip Hop

How To Use Social Media

There are very few indie rock personalities on Twitter. In some ways, maybe that’s a good thing, but if you’re on Twitter and you’re following your favorite artists, it’s obnoxious to see the same tour announcements, buy links, and generic thank you’s to random cities across the globe. And it’s frustrating when all you want in life is a Tweet response from Lykke Li but you get nothing.

Rappers, on the other hand? Completely different story. Just look at the following:

Rappers’ Tweets:

Indie Artists’ Tweets:

Enough said, yeah?

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  • Saurus

    Some good points, but I do disagree on the crowd participation bit. At some hip hop shows I’ve been at there was so much timeout of the show taken just to make the crowd yell shit, I come to see you perform your work live and watch how you do this, if you’re doing a good job I’ll jump, scream, mosh, crowdsurf and whatever the fuck comes up in my mind. But I did not pay 20 bucks to see some mofo order me to jump. My experience with indie bands and crowd paricipation has always been good, from some talking to us to actually yelling ‘all you motherfuckers jump’ when the chorus is coming up (Bloc Party’s frontman Kele does this great) yet they always make sure they bring as much music to you as possible.

    Not arguing on the twitter, mixtape, collabs and remix bits tho.

  • PancakeMcKennz

    Indie bands can’t do remixes. It’ll confuse hip-hop producers when they try to sample them. haha

    But no, seriously–about mixtapes: it’s a bit more difficult to do that with a band. A lot of hip-hop mixtapes are the artist rapping over somebody else’s beats like “No Ceilings” and whatnot. I know many more recent mixtapes have original beats, but if a band were to spend their time composing and writing original stuff, they’d probably just figure “well, we might as well get paid for this.” The bands could do covers but it would be difficult to ascertain their personality in that manner. I mean, some bands are able to convey their personality in a cover or a re-working (like JDavey’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” cover) but otherwise IDK. Like anything, it’s just a crapshoot of whether or not your effort will result in buzz.

    jj is a good example of “indie mixtapes” but the music they make could be made in a bedroom on a laptop–just like some hip-hop mixtapes. The indie bands that do play instruments probably have to pay for studio time and the end just wouldn’t justify the means.

    TL;DR: It’s more difficult for Indie bands to make mixtapes (but I would appreciate it because I’m broke and any legally free music is appreciated).

  • Confusion

    @Saurus Agreed, it varies from act to act. Sometimes the “PUT YOUR HANDS UP” stuff gets old, and I don’t think crowd participation necessarily NEEDS to be a part of the show. I’ve loved a lot of shows where people just stand and watch (like at Fiona Apple’s show).

    But I do think there’s more of a sense of community at a lot of the hip-hop shows, where you’re there and feel some kind of connection with the artist.

  • Brian

    @PancakeMcKennz

    I agree with you completely…. A lot more goes into making a collection of songs from scratch. Very few hip hop artists do more than rap over tracks, so it takes a lot less time to compile a “mixtape.”

  • Joel

    The fact that it may take an indie band more effort to create a mixtape would give me that much more reason to listen to it. I’ve never seen it done before, and to do it would be innovative. The buzz will most definitely follow, especially if it’s FREE ..like mixtapes should be.

    P.S.
    What about bands covering hip hop songs? Like that Heartless remake by Kris Allen?

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  • nic

    So what you’re saying is we need a ratatat and sleigh bells project, that was the main message… right?

    but seriously, that’s all i want to hear now

  • j

    where do i get on this petition for a Radiohead + Purity Ring album?

  • #Larry
  • Andy

    …some indie bands do this already. Small Black had a really great one recently.

  • Confusion

    I know some bands do all these things. Speaking more generally. I wish it would be standard procedure

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