From the conked crooners and bee-hived divas in the fifties and sixties, to the high-top faded and micro-braided street artists of the eighties and early nineties, urban culture has always evolved, but until recently, managed to retain its core principles: a commitment to producing quality art and an unwavering intolerance for mediocrity.

Critically selective and oftentimes intimidating, urban culture's audience held its artists to a high standard, filtering out all but the most talented, and ensuring that performers continually honed their skills in order to reach new heights creatively.

Whether it was being booed off the stage at the Apollo Theater or getting removed from a street corner cipher, urban artists were held to a simple, yet effective litmus test: singers had to blow, musicians had to jam, emcees had to spit, and so on. 

All who passed the test were greeted by appreciative and adoring fans.  Whether it was MC Sha Rock and MC Lyte rhyming before a predominately male audience, or Teena Marie and MC Search performing in front of raucous, all black crowds, urban culture's audience used to value talent and skill above all else.

Conversely, artists were students of their craft who studied the work of their predecessors and contemporaries alike. They engaged in friendly competitions seeking to reach higher notes, create more complex rhymes, make new sounds on instruments and turntables, and perform funnier routines.

Unfortunately, over the past decade or so, commercialism finally broke through urban culture's once impenetrable core and compromised its commitment to quality art.

Artists are now making more money with less effort and their audiences knowingly accept a watered down product as authentic urban art. The culture has always engaged in a battle with commercialism, but, until recently, never completely exchanged its values and uniqueness for money.  Out went creativity and improvisation.  In came soullessness and regurgitation.

Worse yet, the artists and audience that remained loyal to urban culture's principles are now disconnected.  Artists from yesteryear and today are still producing exceptional work, but, due to limited promotional support, their audience has no idea that it exists.

Old School Tribune provides a platform for both Old School and new school artists to directly communicate with fans of quality urban art. We provide our members with current news, commentary, blogs, and discussion forums that address all facets of Old School urban culture, as well as current issues that are of interest to our mature community.

We also manage the largest database of Old School events on the Internet.  Our members are grown, but not old.  We provide them with a comprehensive list of nightclubs, parties, concerts, stand-up comedy, and other Old School related events from around the world.

Welcome, enjoy, but remember, Old School Tribune will only be as good as you make it.  Feel free to spark discussions and share information with the community.

Old School Tribune is the voice of Old School urban culture, but can only speak as loud as the community allows. Then maybe, just maybe, our community can create enough noise, shake enough trees, and ruffle enough feathers that cause new school urban culture to pick up their game and produce quality work.

Again, welcome and spread the word about Old School Tribune.