Editor’s Note: 013

Before I began, I want to say thank you to James Blagden for a dope cover.

Scheme is very thankful to have had the opportunity to interview Peter Rosenberg radio host on HOT97. Let me be clear that there are plenty of other dope DJ’s and hosts on this historic radio station that could’ve been on the cover of this issue as well. The reason why we’ve selected Peter Rosenberg is because he has a show with a mission similar to that of Scheme’s. Paraphrased from Phonte of Little Brother, the moles are slowly infiltrating the system. The reality is there has not been a show on a major commercial radio station playing this balanced level of hip hop music from J Dilla to Saigon since Bobbito Garcia and Stretch Armstrong. This is no disrespect to Funkmaster Flex who gets on the turntables for three and four hours on any given day or night and plays nothing but classic material music. The truth is from 9am-5pm Monday through friday what the hip hop community hears on the mainstream radio is not what you will hear on the Peter Rosenberg’s show. To us this show is a major breakthrough and worthy of major attention.

This is no jab but if I were a major publication in the hip hop community I would have the Peter Rosenberg’s and the Giles Peterson’s of the world on every cover just as much as 50 Cent or Lil’ Wayne. Their story of why they play the music they play, do what they do, and make the sacrifices they make is just as important.

In the end, we need to get out of defining what is and is not hip hop. In this “have it now” society let’s begin to develop an open-mindedness to listen to new things outside of what has been chosen for us through these different media outlets. Let’s began to realize that hip hop has many lanes, let’s give each one equal representation. We don’t have to like everything that’s put but let’s educate ourselves and explore all the various expressions of hip hop that is out there like Panacea, James Blagden, Peter Rosenberg, IHMDJ and then we can brdige the gap by one of hip hop’s icons DJ Evil Dee. There is more to hip hop than this music and there is more to this music than the radio.

You Choose