“On The Radar”: What’s The Point? (Article)

“..feel like On The Radar is oversaturated and they’ll let anybody on” - David S. , 24, NYC

“I can’t watch Mac’s cuz it makes me too sad but I’ll watch Anderson Paak’s or Action Bronson’s or like T-Pains once a month at least” - David T. , 24, LA (regarding NPR: Tiny Desk)

In the past year or two, “live performances” released through online platforms like 4 Shooters Only’s “From The Block” series and On The Radar “Freestyles” have spiked in popularity. It seems like just yesterday the world was introduced to 4batz through his subversive From The Block Performance, and Drake set upon the internet a new meme thanks to his ridiculous Jamaican pronunciation of “combination” during his On The Radar performance with Central Cee. 

Before I go into this any further, I want to make it clear that I’m not passing judgements on the utility or contribution of these platforms, especially On The Radar, to the culture. This is going to be more stream-of-consciousness thoughts about the platforms. 

FTB and OTR are far from the first platforms to have a performance series featuring up-and-coming artists using the “live performance” format. Since 2016, COLORS Studios have been showcasing artists through the “live performance” format; one microphone in a studio draped with a vibrant color from the spectrum. With these COLORS performances, you can tell that the vocals were recorded live in the studio during the recording. One of my favorite videos from them is Freddie Gibbs’ “Fake Names” performance. The intonation of Gibbs’ live vocals lend even more griminess and ruggedness to the already cutthroat subject matter of the song. He also displays a mastery of breath control in his performance; something that is severely lacking in today's up-and-coming rappers. The video offers viewers an alternative, more raw version of the song (one without punch-ins or autotune) that you can look up and listen to whenever you want a change of pace. NPR Tiny Desk Concerts, which have been around since 2008, also allows listeners to relive these live performances, and the unique moments in them, over and over again. Who doesn't love a live album? I’ve come across several people who throw on Mac Miller's Tiny Desk Concert when they are just chilling at home. In fact, I'm listening to the video as I write this article. Who doesn't love live music? 

So I’ve gone over how, in my view, platforms like COLORS and NPR capture live performances so the audience has a unique experience they can return to whenever they would like. But there's a stark difference between COLORS & NPR, and From The Block & On The Radar. COLORS & NPR feature a large variety of artists, spanning across genres and the globe. FTB and OTR are strictly Rap/Hip Hop platforms. I think that's one of the main reasons a majority of the content they record with artists is subpar. But Ellis, you just talked about how Freddie Gibbs (A RAP ARTIST) had an amazing performance with COLORS. You're contradicting yourself. I know; give me a minute to explain my reasoning. 

Freddie Gibbs is a veteran in the rap game. He came up during a time when you had to have bars, and you had to know how to perform on stage with your own voice (not lip sync) if you wanted to get respect as a rapper in order to level up in the industry. He's also one of the best technical rappers alive currently (yes, I said it). So when a rapper like Gibbs does one of these live performances, it's going to have a certain gravitas that is lacking, or seemingly absent in the up-and-coming generation of rap artists. This is largely due to the fact that in this day and age, you don't need to have bars, and you don't need to know how to perform your music live to blow up. Whether or not this is a good thing is up for debate. But the drop off in live performance quality from one genre to rap is a direct result of this. And here lies my problem with On The Radar Freestyles.

Again, I’ve established the role of COLORS and NPR in the digital music landscape. So what exactly is On The Radar's role? What is the purpose? Are they curators or simply promoters? 

When I first came across On The Radar, I thought it was pretty cool - A digital live performance platform dedicated to Hip Hop artists. So, I shot them a follow on Twitter. I later came to regret that decision. OTR consistently flooded my timeline with low effort “ live performances” and “freestyles” from so many different artists, it was overwhelming. I put freestyle in quotations because we as a people have entirely lost the meaning of a freestyle, but that’s also a discussion for a different time. I put live performances in quotations because, from what I've seen, it's a 90% chance that the artist is lip syncing- and barely making an attempt to pass it off as live.  In fact, I just saw Kirko Bangz do an OTR performance for his legendary song “Drank In My Cup”. This piqued my interest, so I decided to give OTR another chance. Imagine my face when I click on the video and hear the studio version of the track. Things like this make me believe the people running the show really don't care about the product they push out. They got a big name that will garner clicks and that was it. Is there no one in the studio saying, “Hey, maybe we should ask him not to lip sync the whole f’ing thing”? Is there no one in that studio saying “Hey, maybe we should push these hungry artists to perform live so we can move the culture in the right direction”? It was at that moment that I asked: what's the point of all this? 

Hungry artists pay a fee to make a video with OTR and for them to post it on their socials, hoping to catch the algorithm and blow up. The reality though is that, with seemingly no curation on OTR’s side, the result is whoever has enough disposable cash (quality of their music and performance ability aside) can be featured on their platform. Thus, the flooding of 10+ different artists’ OTR Performances onto the timeline within a 30 minute timespan, resulting in very little social media engagement for most artists. I understand rent is expensive in New York, but I think OTR needs to practice some discretion in who’s money they take. They are oversaturating the market with the product they are currently putting out, and I think this is lessening the novelty of their platform, along with their credibility. If they truly believe they act as “gatekeepers” or curators in the industry, why feature legitimate rising stars in the same studio as some Joe Schmo artist who was just able to scrape up enough change to pay the recording fee? COLORS and NPR produce moments with their videos, while OTR just seems to push out whatever. If you're reading this and have gone back to watch an OTR video multiple times, please let me know; I would love to know which one. 

So, again, I ask, what is the point? They are not curating, selectively placing budding stars on their platform. Doing a performance on there is not some industry signifier about an artist's booming potential, like say, how getting chosen for the XXL Freshman List used to be pre-2017. So, an artist appearing on OTR means very little in the public eye. They are not (if rarely) producing intriguing live performances with the artists for the fans. So, why should we be paying any attention?