Ring The Alarm: A Comprehensive Guide on How to Blow Up
Hip-Hop needs to be saved. A once significant revolutionary art form that crystallized the struggle of a people and the hope for relief has been beaten to death. The love of art and social commentary has largely been replaced by greed and self-imposed thematic limitations.
Possibly more important than the salvation of the art form, is how that would affect those who perform it, and those that consume it. Who can the genre turn to for inspiration? Two suburban white kids of course.
These guys are more than just your run of the mill posers from well to do families with phony rage and nothing to say. Doug Moore and Gary Monteleone have things to say and they demand to be heard. Forgive them if they lack patience for songs about money, cars, and ho’s. They just can’t relate.
Doug Moore was born without arms and legs, given up to an orphanage and raised in a foster home. Despite his obstacles, Doug learned to fend for himself – more so than many people with a clean bill of health.
Gary Monteleone’s mother was murdered when he was a teenager. He supports himself by working in the roofing business all day long and spending every free moment creating music and trying to make connections on the industry. He often falls asleep at his computer in the early hours of the morning in the middle of the task.
Doug (aka Diadem) and Gary (aka Status) formed a group they call H.U.S.HH (Help Us Save Hip-Hop.) Their goal is to bring hip-hop back to its roots. Conscious music. They rhyme about things that people can relate to – common problems and common desires. H.U.S.HH is about positive outlooks and playing the cards you’re dealt with the intent to win.
How do guys like these make an impact? The industry they love has moved to exclude anyone with a story that is genuine. The style they grew up loving is something of a niche or a novelty these days. Hip-hop was an explosion of originality that took the world by storm in response to a stale music landscape. These days hip-hop is filled with everything but revolutionaries – how can someone with something unique to say be heard?
Doug and Gary work tirelessly to make connections and promote themselves. They are true grassroots artists. They hope that if they work hard enough and endure the lonely nights of half filled shows with no payday, that you will hear them.
Do they have the talent to make it? Will they be taken seriously? Will they stay true to their pledge that the purity of the music is more important than their personal success?
Front: Georgia Pantazopoulos, Doug Moore