Hip-Hopping the Digital Divide

(page 2 of 2)

VCs Join the Party

Simmons and Wright aren't the only entrepreneurs catering to this broadband-enabled population. A host of Silicon Valley venture capitalists are teaming with hip-hop entrepreneurs to launch multimedia-rich social sites targeting urban youth. Global Grind is backed by Facebook investor Accel Ventures and Island Def Jam Music Group's Simmons. Then there's DanceJam, a YouTube-like video site dedicated to dance, founded by Stanley Burrell, aka rapper MC Hammer, and a couple Silicon Valley startup veterans. DanceJam is backed by Google investor Ron Conway and TechCrunch's Michael Arrington, among others (BusinessWeek.com, 11/6/07). The site launched Nov. 12.

Last year, Damon Dash, one of the co-founders of hip-hop brands Roc-A-Fella Records and Rocawear, launched BlockSavvy.com. The invitation-only social network, which lets users create 3D virtual rooms highlighting music, movies, art, and other media, already has more than 10,000 members (BusinessWeek.com, 10/4/07).

Longevity and Creativity

This latest raft of sites joins an earlier wave of hip-hop-friendly destinations that remained viable over the long haul. News site AllHipHop.com has delivered news and music reviews since it was founded in 1998. It and other sites owe their longevity in part to the large community of hip-hop fans among whites. Roughly 75% of the fans of hip-hop culture, music, and fashion are not African American, according to Simmons and Wright, who hope their ventures also cater to the larger hip-hop community. But even the existing sites have become increasingly multimedia-heavy as more of hip-hop's core audience has come online. AllHipHop.com, for example, has changed from a largely text-based news site to a complete multimedia destination that prominently features photo slide shows and video interviews.

In addition to the high rates of broadband adoption across ethnic minority groups, young people across these groups go online via a high-speed connection at even higher rates, says Fox. Either they have broadband at home or they use high-speed connections in local libraries and schools to surf the Web. Wright believes all members of the hip-hop community will be able to use his site. "We know this demographic is much more creative with how they get access to the Internet—if they don't have it home, they have it at their school or their local library," says Wright, "and more and more they are getting access at home."

Holahan is a writer for BusinessWeek.com in New York .