HoodStars.net is the brain child of Amen-Ra, Nino Brown & Zuka, which came about after many years of affiliating their past websites such as Makaveli4ever.com, 2untouchable.com, WildNThaWest.com, Westside2Real.com, TooGangsta.net, StreetHop.com, DeathRowEntertainment.com, & WestCoastAfterShock.com. Between the three webmasters, we were the first in the online hiphop community to bring artists direct to fans with input for interviews for artists & interviews with the artists themselves. This was unheard of in '99/'00 for ANY kind of fan site for ANY kind of music.
With innovative designs, vast volumes of unique content, fresh ideas & a new approach to building music fan-orientated portal sites, we set the standards & templates for which most online hiphop fan sites are now still using nearly 5 years later.
What is HoodStars.net?
With there being so many hiphop websites very focussed on particular niches, i.e. West Coast music, there was a lack of diversity & a lack of "connectedness" for fans of all forms of hiphop/urban music. With this in mind, our collective experience & industry contacts, we decided to establish what we hope will become a major player in terms of the online urban music experience, becoming THE place for hiphop fans from around the globe. We hope to cover international hiphop also, given the continually diversifying global nature of hiphop.
"We kept setting trends with our own individual sites, people kept checkin out what we were doin', followin' & even now I'm lookin at sites & seein shit we did way back & people claimin they did this & that first." HoodStars.net co-CEO Amen-Ra, along with Nino Brown, came together & decided to yet again establish a new set of standards. "We're one of the first hiphop fan sites to produce their own anthem track. Shit, I even dropped the bars my damn self. You won't be seein other sites doin' that, cos that's somethin which is in me. I'm a artist first & foremost, & a businessman second, & I defy any muthafuckas out there to raise on up to that [bar], yeah - come join us up here, air is all fresh man!"
With mainstream hiphop journalism now in a state of stagnation, & the Internet proving that fans & ordinary people are now getting there with news first, there is a massive gap in the market, & with it being a multimedia platform, it has advantages tradtional print doesn't. "We're in a position to bring artists to the fans directly visually & in sound & without a delay of a month like the magazines," explains Amen-Ra. "We fans first off, we know what we wanna see & we ain't feelin the whole 80 pages of ads, 3 pages of music shit we into & in the damn process payin money for it. Plus you gotta wait like a damn month before you can even catch up on whatever with artists & 90% of the time, they ain't showin no love to dudes people fiendin' to read about - it ain't right, & it ain't good business."
Hoodstars.net has formed a network of recording artists, reporters and agencies, which streamlines the promotional process and maximizes the resources available to each segment of the industry. This allows industry personel to promote themselves with guidance and direction from hoodstars.net.
It is this experience, insight & impetus that Amen-Ra feels gives HoodStars.net an edge, "We know artists out there right now are in a big position of power with their products, & they got the world watchin, waitin & fiendin for it. The mainstream media is only lettin hiphop catch a peek in the door, when everybody & they damn dog knows hiphop right now is leadin the way & makin alotta people alotta money & yet its still not given its dues in the media. Irony is the media is the same people that be makin they money off hiphop right now. I believe we can offer a global audience efficiently, with minimal cost & with maximum exposure that they [magazines] can't!"
As a team, HoodStars.net are starting to go where few other hiphop websites have gone before & to challenge their printed rivals such as XXL & The Source. "Yeah the source has alot of money behind it, & a global circulation, same with XXL, but we showin that we can compete in terms of global circulation & be fully interactive with hiphop fans which they [the magazines] can't!" explains Amen-Ra, "Yeah you got Vibe too, & Vibe the only one of that group with a significant web presence, but even right now they're not capitalising the way AllHipHop & SOHH do, & even they aren't fully taking advantage of what is there for the taking, we won't make their mistake. It is all ours for the taking!"
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