It’s always interesting reflecting on the music of the past year over here, and the constant shifting of power in the music industry. There was a lot of fantastic music from both indie & mainstream Hip-Hop artists released to the masses in 2010, from free mixtapes to albums actually worth spending your loot on. On the flip side, there was an absurd amount of music that ranged from meh status to trashmatic.

But before getting into this year’s Indiesent Exposure’s 100 Top Indie Hip-Hop Artists list, a side note into one of the things that stood out in the world of Hip-Hop in 2010:

Earlier in the month, I reread my 2009 column which advocated the independent mentality, embracing technology and artists taking full-fledged control of their musical direction and careers no matter what changes come along. The use of tech along with hitting the streets, has done a world of good for the rap world. Adversely, it created a terrible new breed of egoist that unfortunately reigned supreme in 2010 – The ‘Net MC.

As a self-admitted tech geek, seeing musicians able to freely and affordably interact with their fans whether through social media, or via live streaming from the studio is pretty awesome. The mystery of what happens with an artist from start to finish with a project is much more transparent than a fiercely-controlled TV documentary or magazine article. Artists can use the number of followers, views, downloads, etc. to get an idea of the impact they’re making.  There are multiple ways artists can even distribute and sell their music now.

Sounds cool, right? In a way, all of this new technology and the web has exposed the good, bad and ugly of the music industry. So many ‘Net MCs got to be utterly obnoxious with their new toys. What exactly does The ‘Net MC do that’s so detrimental?  Here are seven examples of the negative behavior the ‘Net MC constantly engages in:

• eThugging a.k.a. tough talk via their social network, comment box, e-mail or other tool of choice to try to intimidate you to cop/listen to/play music/post up from their project otherwise you’re not “real”
• Abusing Twitter by spamming download links to their latest project without sharing or engaging with their potential fan base. Just dumping a shitload of usershare/zshare/hulkshare links repeatedly throughout the day like it’s MTV 2.0.
• Any variation of the following: “My music/video was on display at [fill in your popular music website, blog, e-mail blast, DJ conference call or podcast here], so you should automatically give me love”
• Retweeting EVERY single single positive thing anyone tweets about them. On Facebook, it would be erasing comments that don’t appropriately kiss enough of their ass.
• Getting “Brand New” the second they get a post on a “big time” website, TV show, magazine, etc. (even if it’s only 3-5 sentences or minutes of exposure), which causes a stunning case of forgetfulness of the numerous other media outlets, DJs, PR people, fans, etc. who put that MC on the map in the first place.
• Viewing stardom as a measure of how many video plays, downloads, streams they’ve gotten rather than how good their music or shows are.
• Shouting “I’m getting money” in response to not being felt or facing even the most constructive of criticism.

They top it off with an overbearing MC watch where they tweeting from the mall, they momma house, the barber chair, the toilet and a bunch of places we don’t give a damn about (rarely the studio). They tweeting pictures of their soon to be snatched chain. It’s a movie! It’s history! It’s going to be EPIC! All just because Nuvo is sponsoring their next listening party that features the making of the behind the scenes trailer of the video to their impending mixtape.

To ALL of my Hip-Hop MCs: Men lie, women lie, and the number of Twitter followers does not translate into the number of people that will buy your product or go to your show. Your music should always speak louder than you do. Even if your music is fly, no one will support a corny ass keyboard fool and in the long run, that’s going to hurt your bread. Proper and respectful communication with EVERYONE who helps you with your dream of making a living as a musician – fans, DJs, Marketing/PR People, ALL media outlets, etc. – is key for a music artist to make positive moves in conjunction with some amazing audio.

Let’s stop or at least slow down all of this ‘Net MC nonsense in 2011, eh?  The ‘net is like any other tool – it can be used to build or destroy things.  Musicians have taken on more responsibility for their careers, so even when things go wrong much of the blame rests on their shoulders.

If you see yourself in this write up: smarten up and fly right – self-vaccinate mentally so you don’t mutate into Sick, The ‘Net MC and get quarantined into the Recycle Bin of the industry .

And now, onto the list biz at hand….

Indiesent Exposure’s 100 Top Indie Hip-Hop Artists Whose Music You Should Have In Your mp3 Player, CD Deck & Or Hard Drive ASAP of 2010 (in alphabetical order; based on mixtape, album & singles releases):

2 Hungry Bros.
4-IZE
9th Prince
A-Alikes
Adrian Champion
Angelz Inc.
Apple Juice Kid
Ashy L Bowz
Bad Seed
Black Milk
Boog Brown
C.A.B.
Camp Lo
Camu Tao
Celph Titled
Clan Destined
Cymarshall Law
D.C. Don Juan
Damu The Fudgemunk
Daru Jones
Das Racist
David Banner
dead prez
Diwon
DJ Bless
DJ K.O.
Donnie Darko
Donwill
Droop-E
Dysfunkshunal Famlee
Emilo Rojas
Enoch 7th Prophet
Everliven Sound
Fly Gypsy
Freddie Gibbs
Freddie Joachim
Freebass 808
Freeway
Fresh Daily
FreshNerd
Gensu Dean
Gods’illa
Hell Razah
Homeboy Sandman
Internal Quest
J-Live
J.A.M.E.S. WATTS
Jake One
Jay Mills
Joe Budden
Joell Ortiz
John Robinson
Johnny Polygon
Jon Regan
JR & PH7
JUDAH
K-Beta
Kyle Rapps
Leroge
Mega Ran
Mista FAB
Nikki Lynette
Nottz
Nucci Rey-o
Oddisee
Pharohe Monch
Phil Ade
Princess of Controversy
Pslam One
Ques
Ra The MC
Rasheed Chappell
Reek Da Villian
Reks
Reflection Eternal
Rhymefest
Rob Swift
Royce Da 5′ 9”
Salkah The Beatchild
Ski Beatz
Soulful!
St. Joe Louis
Surock
Tech N9ne
Tha Gekco Brothas
The Beast
The Co-op
The Cornel West Theory
The Five One
The Paxtons
The SecondElement
THEESatisfaction
Theology 3
Trae Tha Truth
Ty
Whitefolkz
Willie the Kid
Wise Intelligent
X.O.

Fill up your iPod and Catch up on the all of Planet Ill’s Indiesent Expsoure article series & FREE music downloads at anytime – click here to get details of the great Indie Music artists we’ve already covered!

DJ Fusion’s E-Mail: djfusion@planetill.com (Back Up: fuseboxradio@gmail.com)

DJ Fusion is the creator and co-host/mix DJ of the syndicated FuseBox Radio Broadcast (hit up http://FuseBoxRadio.podomatic.com for the radio show archives or http://www.FuseBoxRadioOnline.com) and the websiteBlackRadioIsBack.com, two areas trying to fight audio B.S. one day at a time…check folks out around either way whenever you can. 🙂

Also feel free to touch base with a sis on the Twitter Expressway at http://twitter.com/FuseBoxRadio.

If you dig the music vibe I’m on & want to download some free mixtapes from the FuseBox Radio/BlackRadioIsBack.com collective, hit up the constantly updated Bandcamp page over at http://FuseBoxRadioBroadcast.bandcamp.com.