The Family Turns 2So here we are. Two years into this online thing, and on the verge of an all new Hiero album. As I was working on the new site designs and whatnot, it dawned on me: everything is coming together. When I began creating Hiero Online, "No Man's Land" was only a handful of months away until its release. 2 years later, I'm in the same exact position. "3rd Eye Vision" is a mere 2 months away from hitting the shelves, and you can already feel the excitement. Sure, the vibes between the crew and Hiero Heads was flowing two years ago when "No Man's Land" was about to drop, but it's an entirely different scenario now. Everyone in the crew is finally independent; free to go about their leisure in ever aspect of the recording process. You can sense the "lean on my shoulder"-type vibe emanating from the crew, as they are all in this together now. And perhaps what's more, this site has become the Hiero's direct link to some of their most diehard fans. It has become a focal point online where excitement, anticipation, and curiosity all merge together under one common theme: Hiero. The RapPages article talked about this site and its viewers as a "cult" following. To some degree, this can be true for some heads. But I feel what Hiero Heads share is something more than that. It's as if we are all part of a family, Hiero members included. Perhaps it's ironic, then, that the crew is about to drop their first "family" album. I've bumped into cats at shows or on the street who are actually trying to come up with the funding for a computer just so they can get online to the site! Such a statement blows my mind every time I hear it. The eagerness to become part of this online family surprises me to no end. Everyone's togetherness at this site radiates, and I think it's one aspect that separates us from any other group online. Here, we're all interested in the same thing, and at the same time, we are in direct contact to the group we love. Perhaps this is what has been misunderstood as "the Hiero cult"? So what has two years time online done for this site? For starters, we've increased. Last I checked (4 or 5 months ago) the e.mailing list was well over 1,400 heads big. That's a lot of online Hiero heads. It's a shame not as many take advantage of hiero hoopla to express their opinions about the crew, or have discussions with fellow Hiero Heads. Our content has increased as well, with many features coming your way soon (they were originally planned to launch with the new site, but my hard drive got erased, and I've had to start all the designs over from scratch). But the best part, I feel, is Hiero's ever increasing interest in adding to the site. Take for instance Del: I was sitting at my boy's crib a couple months ago, and got a beep on my pager. I call it back and ask for Tajai, cause they put in the same code, but it was Del. I had never directly spoken to Del prior to this phone call, but here I am talking to Del!! "My mind was blown", literally. But the funny thing was, he wanted to talk to me about video games and anime. For a minute, I was selling cheap Playstation games to Aplus & Tajai. Del had caught word about it, and wanted to get in on it too, so he gave me a call. We straight talked about video games for almost an hour and a half. I could tell he was hella into it, and asked if he'd want to review games for the site. The excitement in his voice ran wild, and he began to lay down several ideas he has been planning for the site (many of which, are being implemented as we speak). Just last week, JBiz paged me and we sat down and had a discussion on how we can increase the Prose exposure on the page (something sorely lacking, and much needed). We're working on that now as well. I haven't spoken to him about it yet, but Casual's been sitting in the background, eagerly pumping his hand in the air, like a school kid trying to get his answer in. Hiero's interaction into this site will be increasing 10-fold, I promise you, within the coming months. I was telling Jake, shit's really getting exciting. I say this all the time, but seriously: If you have any ideas to add to this site, let me know!! I read ALL my email. And with that, I'll leave ya'll. Thanks for the continued support (and reading this far!!) :) Peace!! -StinkE |