Brian Wharton AKA Thigamahjigee AKA Thig AKA Sharkula is Chicago character you can usually find in the Wicker Park neighborhood or on an El platform selling his homemade hip hop tapes and CD-Rs. His odd MC persona has been compared to Kool Kieth and Busta Rhymes.
He recently put out a vinyl-only release under the name Sharkula compiled from years' worth of tracks recorded in studios, on friends' computers, and on his rusty cassette recorder. His most recent CD is called “Martin Luther King Jr. Whopper With Cheese”…if that isn’t a brilliant play on words, I don’t what is.
But my favorite Sharkula/Thigahmahjigee material comes from the cassettes he records of himself walking around freestyling and approaching strangers to ask them what they think of hip-hop music. He often asks for the person’s phone number…”to receive information on hip-hop music.” I’m not sure if the interviewees realize the conversation is being recorded and the tape will be sold for $5, but most give their phone numbers without blinking
(I edited out the phone numbers)
Thigahmahjigee - street tape excerpt #1 (mp3) (NSFW)
Thigahmahjigee - street tape excerpt #2 (mp3)
Hip Hop is here to stay
I am forty-four years old and I think that Hip Hop is awesome!
I am proud of the young and now not so young black rappers and Hip Hop performers that have set the world on fire with their rhymes, clothes, speech, and culture.
Many older folk are critical of Hip Hop artists. I think some of the critics are jealous of the notoriety and financial success of many from the Hip Hop generation.
The young Hip Hop entertainers and promoters are among the wealthiest people in black America.
Hip Hop culture is celebrated and copied world wide.
Not all of Hip Hop lyrics are pretty – but not all of reality is pretty. Hip Hop is an art form and art reflects “real life”.
One of my favorite Hip Hop artists is super star 50 Cent.
50 Cent had a hell of an upbringing in New York City and his records reflect what he knows “hard core NYC street life”.
I admire 50 Cent because he made his experience of being a street hustler to work for him instead of against him.
50 Cent’s debut album “Get Rich or Die Trying” is the manifesto for his music and ad career.
In Atlanta music mogul Jermaine Duprey was in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Newspaper talking about how he would like to buy the basketball team the Atlanta Hawks.
And Duprey has the financial power to really buy the team.
Duprey while speaking about possible plans to buy the Hawks was wearing some big shorts and a tee shirt.
Duprey was clothed in the urban casual street wear symbolic of the Hip Hop culture and talking about BIG business plans that few of the Morehouse brothers in business suits can dream of or even begin to execute.
Hip Hop artists are creating and changing culture world wide and laughing all the way to the bank by marketing American urban street life.
Hip hip hurray for Hip Hop!
Posted by: Benin Dakar | August 04, 2005 at 08:08 PM
Dr Dre has earned more money from music related income than any other fellow in rap music which is the bedrock of hip hop.
The likes of jay-Z and P-diddy made their wealth from fashion and other merchandise so the difference is clear.
Dr Dre is the only genius in the game who could enter into American book of innovators and scientist who brought phenomenal changes in the world over
he is like bill gates in software business and Albert Einstein in creativity
Posted by: ibrahim hassan | December 27, 2006 at 11:18 PM
Hip Hop as a business is definitely alive and well. It is good to see artists getting paid big dollars for their efforts. Major labels are still sticking it to most MC's however the pay percentages are definitely up, and thats a good thing.
The only thing that worries me is that as a true hip hop head its harder and harder to find albums with even two decent tracks .. Nas says "Hip hop is dead", I don't know about that but I will say real hip hop is definitely on life support.. Need more old jay-z, nas, MOP, Guru, Twaleb, Common. dun know.
Steve Johnson
www.interraciallife.com
Posted by: Steve Johnson | February 22, 2007 at 10:01 PM
I would like to post a suggestion that Sharkula sample music from "Kraftwerk"... It would be evolutionary.. It would go places, baby... places! Hell yizzay!
Posted by: Tony | June 06, 2007 at 12:51 AM
Nice. I like the way you collected all the information. Very informative!
-mikee
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