'Behind The Breaks': Has Social Media Changed Hip Hop Journalism For Better or Worse?

By Jasmine Washington

Long gone are the days of fans waiting on pins and needles for weekly or monthly print features to get the '411' on hip hop news like The Breaks character Damita Alonzo delivers for the Village Voice. Nowadays artists and journalists alike have the ability to "spill the tea" as soon as it happens, thanks to social media.

In the new episode of Behind The Breaks host Sway Calloway continues his conversation with VIBE Editor-In-Chief Datwon Thomas, former Source Magazine EIC Kim Osorio, and The Breaks co-creator Dan Charnas. Part two of the sit down finds the veteran journalists giving their take on social media and it's impact on hip hop.

Kim Osorio breaks down the evolution of documenting the culture like this.

There's so much information now. There's so much content. It's not just the exclusive. It's on every website. It's on everybody's social media. They're putting it on Instagram. You know, artists are telling their own stories. They're not really looking for journalists to tell their stories anymore because they realize with technology that they can control the perception that goes out there. So it's about finding new and creative ways to tell stories from our own platforms and I think that's what has given rise to the blogger because the blogger is a personality. It's a snarky, funny, entertaining opinion and they're entertaining than a lot of people in our field.

Reflecting on the importance of journalistic integrity and how it's changed in the wake of social media, they also touched on Sway's infamous interview with Kanye West and praised

two prominent journos making waves in the social media driven space.

Check out the rest of the interview above!

Be sure to tune into The Breaks every Monday at 10/9c, only on VH1!