Baseline Studios Closes 1/28/10

Yesterday, Just Blaze officially shut down the legendary "Baseline Studios" in Manhattan. This studio was once owned by Jay-Z and was the place where some of the biggest hits of the past decade were recorded. When Roc-A-Fella Records was on top of the Hip Hop game, this is where they created most of their music.

Just Blaze, who was the last owner/controller of the studio, was on hand yesterday to make the closing official. He's been tweeting all week to his fans and friends to come down to the studio and pick up various memorabelia that he no longer wanted. He was giving away all kinds of Roc-A-Fella items including sneakers and hats all signed by himself or other Roc-A-Fella artists.

This closing is truly symbolic of the times and the hardships of the music industry as of late (especially the Hip Hop industry). More and more studios are closing down due to the increase in ease that wanna-be rappers can record music in the comfort of their own homes. No longer do aspiring rappers have to save every penny they make sellin' drugs on the corner to blow it all away on the hourly recording rates at top-notch studios such as Baseline. Shit, even major league emcees don't fuck with historic studios anymore 'cause they all have Macs and Pro Tools in their cribs. The new digital capabilities of recording music have truly hindered the profitability of even the illest recording studios in the world.

Just Blaze attributed the closing to the rapid decline in business and the steadily increasing and extremely expensive rent for property in NYC. What this all means for Hip Hop, in my opinion, is not so good. Enter the MySpace Rapper Generation: where any suburban high school kid can take a topless cell phone pic in a mirror, illegally download an instrumental from the internet, spit the most pathetic verses known to man on a mic he hooked up in his bedroom and be considered as a rapper. GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WIT THAT BULLSHIT!!!! Emceeing used to be an exclusive club you had to get accepted to by proving yourself over years of hard work. Now this shit we're exposed to is a mockery of an art and a culture that was built on a foundation of struggle and hopes for better opportunities. Was this what KRS-One, Slick Rick, DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaata, and Big Daddy Kane had in mind???

I THINK NOT.

Props go out to Alexander Richter for the photos taken yesterday during the shut down. Peep his website here: http://www.alexanderrichterphoto.com/

Also, follow Just Blaze on Twitter at: www.Twitter.com/TheMegatronDon