6.11.2009

Til The Trumpets Blow!

Its been brought to my attention that Blogger has shut down the Louisiana Rap Blog. I know that there are people on both sides of this debate but the debate itself does not interest me. Data, like people, has a drive to reproduce, its what its best at and on account of that it Can't Be Stopped. We could outlaw giving birth and see similar results.

It's a little unusual that LR got shut down in my mind because the releases it shared were small ones and those MP3s were the only likely way for that music to be distributed throughout most of the world. Many releases were OOP and even the ones that are not are certainly not stocked in stores and for the most part are not available elsewhere online except on Ebay (excepting Tommy Wright who btw is not responding to my "re:Ebay item..." emails, which is concerning) where a purchase is not likely to benefit the artist or label, entities which, believe it or not, fans like us respect.

On the other hand it is not weird, because all it takes is a single complaint to shut down a blog. It doesn't take a trial, or an investigation or even a conversation. That's a pretty powerful form of censorship and the only tool at your disposal as a blogger on Blogger.com is the ability to request a review. I really do want to encourage 7th Ward to pursue a review, even if restoration is unlikely. If you used and appreciated his site I would encourage you to email him with a few words of support @ louisianarap@hotmail.com. The reason I say this is that few people bother making the effort to do a blog like that, even if it is a terse and slow one and the discouragement of getting shut down not only prevents them from starting over but also keeps others from taking on the task.

Still, please realize that for now, the site STILL exists in Google's cache. So, right now you can still visit the site and download all active links. Right now I am even compiling a google document of all the active links in case this disappears from the cache and will gladly share it in that event. To get to the site simply google "lousiana rap blog" and click on the "cached" hyperlink. What we will do, as a community of Bounce Rap fanatics, is use google's various services to thwart google's various transgressions.

As far as T&G goes: we will not be shutdown. There is a plan of action in the event of an emergency, so don't sweat it.

ALSO: a word to artists - I don't know any blogger who will not respect a request to remove a link. If you register a complaint directly with us we can resolve any disagreement in a manner that doesn't destroy a body of work and disservice the world wide fans of your music.

12 comments:

Turlet said...

Who was D?

7thWard said...

7th ward aka chanky here, it's truly heartwarming that the shutdown of the blog is worthy the attention of a serious post like this.

To keep things short and whitout technical mumbo jumbo: I could revive the blog whit everything intact.

However, even though i know that all this talk about lawyers defamation suite and stuff like that probably is bull I am not willing to take the risk.

I love Louisiana (esp. N.O) rap whit all my heart and want it to be available to everyone but i am not willing to risk any legal actions taken against me.

I got the xml file needed to export the blog to somewhere else, it's up for grabs, anyone want it i will give it.

ROB said...

Yo did Tommy Wright respond to you yet? He told me that his computer was broken. Did you get anything from his store?

kid slizzard said...

Well thats good news cuz it sounds like it will be resolved eventually. I previously got a Lil Watts tape but I'm waiting on "Book of the Dead" and really, I am eager to order more from him as soon as he gets back to me.

kid slizzard said...

I' sure we will all have regrets about what we didn't buy from Tommy back in '09.

Dave Quam said...

real talk, sorry about the LA rap blog Chanky, got a bunch of great stuff off you

Anonymous said...

Hey Chanky....

Anonymous said...

I swear with my hand to god that I actually wrote that on your message board on your blog. I kind of did it as a joke, why?
I don't really know why.
I feel really bad about doing it since you kind of packed up your site and left.
I can see that you were pretty enthusiatic about your site and kept it updated all the time so now its just been dwelling on me and I know it was a shitty thing to do so I would like to say Sorry.
The E-mail never came and wont and no one reported you to Blogger it was all a big hoax.
I did'nt expect you to jump the gun and close up shop...damn.

Once again I am very sorry for doing such a shitty thing...
really I am dude.

D

boi-dan said...

I'mma' big Sporty T fan and LR held me down and kept em' coming.

Turlet said...

D, spooking bootleggers is a crime! chanky you should put it back up, I can't imagine anybody wanting to sue over that stuff. most of those rappers are dead or in jail and the record companies disappeared.

7thWard said...

Okay, I put it up again. From now on I will ignore any comments like that unless they are E-mailed to me and the mail contains an request on what album/albums to remove and who i can contact regarding this.

Anonymous said...

Who dat call the police? Dem hoes call the police.