ChiBangin.com - The Official Chicago Rap Site

In early September, Down Magazine, a publication dedicated to Southern rap, contacted ChiBangin.com's Director of Promotions Rodney Williams. They wanted
to do a feature on the relationship between Chicago rap and rap from the South for their Dec. 2005 issue. They conducted an extensive interview that covered a lot of background information about our site. Down Magazine was kind enough to give us access to the portions of the interview that deal directly with Chicago rap and our beginnings. We thought members of our community might find some of this information interesting and have posted various parts of the interview for your viewing.

Down: How did the website come to be?

RW: Most of us were already in the promotions game, running around passing out flyers and shit for these labels. There was four of us who started the site and three of us worked together doing street promotions for a company that had a bunch of major label accounts here in Chicago. We would talk about how weak the music we were promoting was and we all had this love for Chicago rap in common. We would always complain about how Chicago wasn't getting the respect we deserved, so we decided to do something about it.

Down: Was it difficult getting started?

RW: Nah not really, building the site from scratch was one of the best parts. We had met a lot of our favorite Chicago rappers through our day job, so we started designing the site and brought proposals to a bunch of the artists and labels explaining what we was on. We got those first few sponsors and it was poppin' from there. After we got the site up for the first time a lot of things became easier. Other people wanted to help out and a bunch of local talent wanted to jump down. Now we have nine people working in one way or another for the cause. Funny thing is, now all these sites are popping up for Chicago rap tryin' to shit on our name. Where the fuck was ya'll when Chicago rap had nothing? It's easy to see everything we done and try to make your own version of it, but when we started ChiBangin.com, wasn't nobody believing enough in this Chicago shit to do it. Now a mufucka wants to second guess how we do things. We're never looking for props, just respect. Like I said, getting it started was the easy part, it's marching forward that takes some balls.

Down: Do you feel the market for underground Chicago rap is strong enough to support what you're trying to do?

RW: First of all, I know you didn't mean it that way, but that's a real
disrespectful question. Why would that even be a question for one of the
biggest cities in the country? That's a question you would ask a site
dedicated to Wyoming rap or North Dakota rap. It seems like the way Chicago rap is perceived is really warped. If we didn't know Chicago had the best rap music in the world, this might not be the worthwhile cause that it is. The funny thing about the market you're referring to is, the people who do know about this music, own damn near every CD they can get their hands on. The fans love it and want more. It's Chicago's place within the industry that affects our market negatively. We know that if we can expose the PsychoDramas, CWALs and Payrolls of the city, people would be fans for life. Its just a matter of exposing people to it. That's exactly what the site is all about.

Down: What is ChiBangin.com's feelings on illegal downloading?

RW: That was one of our first topics of discussion when we were putting the site together. Many of the Chicago related sites at that point openly allowed file sharing and downloading. A bunch of them bitches still do. I think its crazy how some of these sites feel like they have the authority to say who's music should be given away for free. I don't blame the fans, they're gonna take what you give them. I really blame the owners of these pussy ass sites for creating a community where its accepted. We knew people needed to hear the music to increase interest. We spoke to the artists and came up with the idea to post short snippets in lower quality. This gives the fans a chance to check out the music without bootlegging it. Also, one of our sponsors has the biggest selection of Chicago and Indiana CD's anywhere on the internet. So if a fan likes a snippet they hear, they can purchase the CD and support the rapper directly with the click of a button. I mean, how can you claim to support this music while you're taking the bread and butter out of the artists mouths? There's no excuse for posting an entire CD for download, knowing its available for purchase. I would only do that to somebody I hated. In Texas and Atlanta independent music is highly respected. In a lot of other places though, especially Chicago, people still have to be reminded. Its real fucked up.

Down: Who are some of the more popular artists on the site?

RW: Of course, Kanye and Twista are hot topics. Crucial Conflict, Qualo, Traxster & Illa WhiteFolks all have respectable followings. Really there's a lot of lesser known artists that command a lot of respect in our forums. Sometimes people inquire as to why we don't have a forum for topics other than just Chicago rap music. If you want to discuss something outside of what we offer, go to a site that's about something other than Chicago rap. That's not us. We try to create an outlet where rappers you may never have heard of, can be on an equal playing field with the rappers who have a 5 or 10 year jump on them. I think some of the newer artists don't know how valuable this is. They think oh it's the internet, its easy. They think they can go to a bunch of sites and post up that they have a new CD out and people will buy it. They sell 30-40 CD's and start running out of steam. The interest we're involved in creating takes sales from the hundreds to the thousands, but sometimes these Chicago mufuckas be too proud. The e-mail list we have is comprised of almost ten thousand active Chicago rap costumers. You can't put a value on something like that if you're an up and coming rapper or group trying to reach people who will spend money with you. Ultimately, we want all these Chicago rappers to gain something from ChiBangin.com's existence. We created the site so that our members could tell the media and these other cities who the most popular Chicago artists are, not the other way around.

Down: What does the future hold for ChiBangin.com?

RW: We want to expand upon what we already have. More videos and more audio. We're also starting ChiBangin radio. We look at it like we're archiving Chicago rap. Someone could spend hours on our site doing nothing but educating themselves on artists and releases they may not be up on. Interviews are another important thing. I came up with the idea of letting the members of our community ask the questions in our interviews. This had never been done before. It brings the fans closer to the artists and vice-versa. In the future we just want to continue to come up with original ideas that'll encourage people to recognize just how unique this Chi-Town shit is. Now we have Down Magazine tracking us down for an interview (laughs)! We've had a bunch of local publications like the Chicago Sun-Times, reaching out to us for details about artists they want to feature. Shiiit, Atlantic Records is a big supporter of the site with their projects from Twista, Bump J and Lupe Fiasco. It's funny, cause the same major labels that once paid us crumbs to put up posters and pass out flyers, now need our assistance with internet exposure. I was tryin' to tell them seven years ago, passing out flyers is a waste of time and money. The internet is where a good chunk of their focus should be. It seems like things have come full circle. I guess the future is now.

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