With shifts in how we consume information—from blog posts to Twitter, Google Reader and Facebook, to name a few—the hip-hop generation looks to the wit and wisdom of its bloggers to guide trends, address social injustices and to promote hip-hop music and culture, yet with music and technology moving at such a rapid pace, hip-hop artists and advocates increasingly have a lot of questions about how to get a foot in the door. This event will give them an opportunity to interact with the most influential hip-hop bloggers in the country. There’s also the question about how we can plug in to the issues that impact our community as hip-hop artists, consumers and writers, which we’re very excited to explore.”

The first half of the discussion will feature hip-hop bloggers such as Meka Udoh (2 Dope Boyz), Dallas Penn (Dallas Penn & the Internets Celebrities), Jason Reynolds (OkayPlayer), Frank William Miller Junior (FWMJ of rappersiknow.com) and Chris Rabb (Afro-Netizen) talking about why they do what they do and what they’re looking for to create compelling content. These dedicated champions of hip-hop will address questions like: “How do I get attention for my project?” “What should I be thinking about in terms of web presence?” “What kinds technologies exist to help me do all this?”

Following these discussions, Future of Music Coalition will talk about how policy shapes what the hip-hop community does, where it goes and what it says on the online. FMC will also present information that bloggers, artists, and fans can use to protect their right to free speech and entrepreneurship via the open Internet.

A question and answer/peer learning session will also take place immediately after, during which attendees will be able to network with peers, panelists and presenters.

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