In my journalism class, we discussed citizen journalism in society; Boston bomber witnesses on social media, the students in Parkland, FL during the school shooting, etc. It got me thinking about citizen journalism in reference to Hip-Hop. Although Hip-Hop journalism is a niche market, there have been only a few occasions of non-journalists with their phones on at a significant point of an artist’s life.  The main case that comes to mind is the death of XXXTentacion, which occurred this summer. The late rapper was shopping at a motorcycle shop in Florida, and a car blocked his path. The occupants of the car got out, stole his Louis Vuitton bag, and shot him. The first reporters on the scene were pedestrians, who heard the shots and came over. Video of him unconscious and bleeding in his car quickly took to Twitter, leading to speculation as to whether or not they were real. The videos of him in the car are graphic and viewer discretion is advised.

(XXXTentacion death videos)

It was not for another hour and a half that he would be declared dead by the county sheriff’s office. Some outlets such as TMZ and XXL broke the news of death then on twitter.

With the advancements of social media and the fact that a majority of cell phones have recording capabilities, it is safe to say that citizen journalism is going nowhere. However, the necessity for it in Hip-Hop community has yet to really be revealed. For one thing, the community of Hip-Hop itself is fairly connected. The media outlets that report on news in this community have enough connections to find out breaking news, usually before it drops anywhere else. One example is TMZ dropping the news of Mac Miller’s death in September.

Another argument against needing citizen journalists is that many rappers often break their own news. Most artists in the Hip-Hop community control their own social media accounts, interact with fans themselves, and posting their own content. Since social media can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection, artists are always able to stay connected to rebuke any false claims and share their thoughts with their followers. One example is when Vince Staples said in an interview that he thought the 90’s were overrated.

One Twitter user then tried to speak on music in north Long Beach, CA, where Staples is from.

On the other hand, simply because citizen journalism might not be necessary right now in Hip-Hop, does not mean that it should not exist. There are plenty of times where audience members are the only ones besides the artists who even have a clue as to what happened at a certain show or event. If Hip-Hop continues to grow like it has been for the last 10 years, it will be too big to not rely, at least a little bit, on citizen journalists.