This is a really good blog that looks at some of the strategy and politics behind hip hop. I don’t listen to rap music at all but that hasn’t been a problem as far as reading the site. The author is really clear and concise and he understands how new media is dramatically changing the music landscape beyond just downloading or pirating. And why do rappers matter? Because they’ve never been able to earn the same amount of money touring as other artists, they were forced to learn how to brand, proliferate and turn attention into cash through indirect means.
It’s new but awesome. The writers apply Boydian (John Boyd) strategy to business and the internet. Boyd hardly wrote anything so any material that is even tangentially putting his thoughts into words is a godsend. I don’t know who the writers are or what their credentials are but they are smart and have a good grasp of Boyd. It’s just getting started but I like it.
Global Guerrillas
4th Generation Warfare is essentially internet theory applied to warfare. It takes decentralization, the long tail, system disruption, crowd sourcing, informational cascades and guerrilla tactics to understand how small, fluid organizations can wreak havoc on trained military experts. More than anything, this blog is on the cutting edge of that sphere and is making sense of it as it happens.
Ben is writing again if you lost track of him. You should read him.