Thursday Thought - Fliptop and the Future

Cuz sometimes after a hump day, you just want to think...

This is only my second Thursday thought. I haven't really been able to follow schedule and I'm really sorry. But I want to share and try and keep up as best as I can.

I've been meaning to write about Fliptop for a while now but I've been busy with work, with my book and other random ramblings and/or nonsense.

It's amazing what has happen in the past few months...

The way Fliptop went viral just blows my mind. We had battles before. I think some of the older cats might remember "V.S.". But that was a time before Youtube.

Youtube has really changed the way people can market things. And it's not even that Fliptop was marketed. It was just out there and people loved it so people support it.

Never in the 10 years (more or less) I've been in the Filipino hiphop scene, have I seen such an impact. The last event was a real shocker for me.

(Funny how I've been doing hiphop this long and now I'm pretty much known as the "SYAT DA PAK AP GUY")

"SYAT DA PAK AP!" (Photo courtesy of Charelle Meneses)

First of all, there was a line that extended down to the stairs (we were on the second floor of Freedom Bar). Aside from that, the place was already backed with maybe 200+ people.

But the most shocking thing was that people were taking pictures with the artists... A sort of celebrity status was being born amongst the popular battlers.

For Filipino hiphop, I believe that is a huge thing.

There are pros and cons to this type of publicity. And our "Kuya Pleptop" knows this.

I'm just so glad the organizer, Anygma, has managed to keep an underground/indie sensibility to a growing media market.

I love the fact that Anygma will always call out stupidity.

It may scare away potential fans but the main point of the movement is to educate the audience. To paraphrase "Kuya Pleptop": if you don't tell them the things they are saying are stupid and give them the reasons why we will never have any change, and we need change RIGHT NOW (more than ever).

But of course this doesn't mean we can't help publicize the movement.

FHM recently did an article. You should check it out.

That's it for now. What are your thoughts?