Today is the day the music died.

It's safe to say that a few years ago, hip hop music died. When simply making a good song that was all about having fun -- or perhaps aimed to inform or educate -- began to be considered "soft" and so-called hip hop "artists" instead shifted their focus to rapping (if you want to call it that) about money, luxury cars, bottles of exotic champagne, fur coats, and designer clothes; when the ultimate measure of a man's worth became the amount of sexual partners he could amass in a weekend's time; when money won out over innovation, creativity, and furthering the art form, that's when hip hop music died. In a world where New York's Hot 97 FM has risen from the slime into which it was rightfully born, and now dictates the direction of hip hop music and culture -- in much the same manner that any despotic tyrant rules a helpless nation with a merciless iron grip, we can only conclude that the music is dead. The hip hop music we once so loved has been co-opted, shaped into something sick and perverse, something which we cannot even recognize.

It only stands to reason that this evil parasite, this virus that's afflicted the music for so long, would have to spread. All viruses must propagate; such is the rule of nature. And sure enough, its evil influence has now reached #HipHop, the channel on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) that once was home to a group of people who shared an interest in the lesser known, the "underground," the experimental, the innovative -- that which was just plain good in hip hop music. We didn't always talk about the music. Often, we really didn't talk about it much at all. But when we did, it was the one thing that united us, the one thing we shared in common.

That foundation has disappeared. We have seen tensions flare up which, in the past, generally were resolved in time. Instead, they have reached such a fever pitch in recent weeks that a massive rift has formed. One group prefers to talk only with other members of that group; another splits off to another corner and socializes only amongst itself; still another isolates itself in another area. And some of us are left floating alone, because being forced to choose one, we have found, is perhaps the hardest thing to do.

So, what happens next? That is anyone's guess. But it appears that the spirit of the old #HipHop is dead and gone. But it was fun while it lasted, and I'm sure many of us will carry a lot of memories from it. Some of us have met new friends through the channel, and certainly, all of us have been enriched musically by sharing music and information with one another.

It's been an enjoyable ride. Best of luck to us all in finding that next great thing.

The last version of the Universal Hip Hop Alliance (v4.2) can be viewed here.