Steddy P.

sounds like someone is a hater. better than most of what I hear in KC.

i moved from los angeles to kc (ahem olathe) in the spring of 2008. Having lived in LA for over 15 years, being in the music scene/business for nearly as long, listening to countless albums/demos, going to a gazillion shows, and reading a googol of reviews from so called "critics" - i have come to realize when a reviewer has really listened and reflected and also when a reviewer has written their review after hearing the first song probably because of some feigned "business" in their life.

You sir, have unfortunately fallen into the latter category. Did you listen to the same album I did? Do you, sir, have this "heart" you speak of? While your four sentence review might pass in some circles, you write for "The Pitch" which is one of the finest weeklies I've come across and you need to write like you derserve to have a spot here. Your lack of examples and support for your ridiculous review is at the very least appalling if not altogether vomit-inducing.

Please in the future, do your job and really listen to these albums you get - people work hard on these and so should you in return.

Peace.

Amusing, not very accurate. Maybe this guy should of went to the Kweli show to be made a believer. Oh well, tunnel vision all day on our goals. STYLE LIKE MIND / new STEDDY P. album 09.11.09 @ RECORD BAR in Westport.

while i suck at a lot of things Steddy doesn't. you're wrong.

You seem quick to brush off a record that has some great, different tracks on it. Listen again? I can't get enough of Girls on Bikes or New Man.

You call him a rapper, I call him a hip hop artist. In my eyes those are 2 different things, a rapper talks about his money, clothes, and jewelry. A hip hop artist makes beautiful music with a message, wit, and passion! Passion is something you don't hear in music anymore and if the only song you listened to was, "Thats Life," and wrote this review off of that, then you obviously dont know hip hop. No offensne Steddy, but that is one of my least liked songs on the ablum just because all the others are so amazing! Please try to find another emcee that has as much passion an lyrical skill as Steddy in KC, better yet anywhere, I bet you won't find it! And i will continue to find a writter that knows hip hop better than you!

Instead of writing an allegory about one of the songs on the album, try reviewing all of them. That would make for a more pitch-worthy review.

Mr. Koch,

First of all i acknowledge ur attempt on criticizing my friend's album. The word play u wish of is in there, just cuz u cant see it or obviously hear it u make a mockery of it. All im saying is listen to the album again and tell me its not satisfying. pardon my spelling im blazed as hell.

Kyle Koch

There's a kind-of-funny, kind-of-hilarious scene in the show Chappelle's Show, Dave Chappelle's irreverent TV skit comedy show. Dave Chappelle and company, playing a group of ridiculous haters, are standing around at a bar discussing their wardrobes. This is the "Player Haters Ball". "What can I say about your suit that hasn't already been said about Afghanistan?" says Silky Johnston. Being the biggest hater is valuable, admirable even, but not always redemptive in the real world where player hating is actually childish and immature. It's a lesson that applies to "Steddy P", Kyle Koch's review of "Virgo", an EP by the Kansas City hip hop artist Steddy P. No doubt Kyle Koch is a player hater, one conceivably from the skit "Player Hater's Ball". In the ninth sentence (the previous eight sentences having nothing to do whatsoever with music) the reviewer finally begins the review. The sentence about the song "That's Life" almost implies that the reviewer has actually listened to the music that is being reviewed, which in turn implies that the reviewer is competent. The review- short and full of booming jazz-like descriptions, commas, hyphens, and irrelevant anecdotes- is refreshingly reminiscent of the mindless squabble of the characters in "Player Haters Ball". The fact remains, however, that Kyle Koch still hasn't shown us an actual review of an EP that could actually convince us to take him seriously. Shit-talk, unfortunately, is not always enough.

I hate to respond to this sort of thing. I think it sets a potentially bad precedent. But in the interest of clarifying a few issues, I'll go ahead and drop a few sentences.

In my mind, the ultimate value of hip-hop albums and artists is rarely decided in newspaper columns. The people--and the streets--decide whether or not an artist is talented. That sort of meritocracy is one of the aspects of hip-hop that's always made the genre unique. There are exceptions, of course. But most of the artists you hear, regardless of how big they are, were supported by the streets long before they ever inked a deal.

That said, as a hip-hip writer, critic, or whatever you want to call it, I'm just contributing to the larger conversation. So I welcome the sort of disagreement I see on this board. It's a conversation that's healthy for the city's hip-hop scene.

To be clear: I listened to the album. I respect the effort. I didn't like the finished product. It has nothing to do with "player hating" (a term which, much like Dave Chapelle, became passe and outdated somewhere in the late 90s).

The simple fact is that my bar is high. And it's high for a reason. I've lived in NYC, Oakland and Boston, growing up on all sorts of different forms of hip-hop music. But, in the end, I grew up on Kansas City hip-hop. So I take the music--and the quality of music coming out of this town--very seriously. I'm not giving a pass to anyone because they made an album or they're local. I don't think that's a healthy approach.

I think the fact that I'm reviewing local artists, as opposed to national names, speaks for itself.

I'd invite you all to read my past columns to get a perspective for what it is I'm trying to do. If you seriously care about the city's hip-hop scene, you won't just read or participate when you're upset about a friend's review.

Keep posting. I encourage it. The dialogue is great.

I understand that you didn't like the finished product of this record. That is your opinion. Why are you expressing your opinion over giving a CRITIC's review of the album? Isn't your job to be critical? You know, give information about the subject in an objective sense? Also, try supporting your work with examples instead of blanket statements. Ending the article with an unsupported string of 'facts' is in poor taste. Try getting rid of the irrelevant allegory and supporting your article with relevant facts.

I can't believe the hate levels sometimes or local publications. Where is the love for local artists? Steddy Holds it down for the town, hater...

Critics/Crew become irrelevant after one goes platinum. So will you please hurry up Steddy...

True dat! Double True!

by the way, nice retort by KK. I feel you man. But we are a little biased and we like to support our people no matter what because even if it isn't mastered, the talent is there. Check out the shows homie. Respect.

dat ninja