<s>
rec.music.hip-hop	B-Application
(	O
commonly	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
RMHH	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
Internet	O
Usenet	B-Application
newsgroup	I-Application
primarily	O
dedicated	O
to	O
the	O
discussion	O
of	O
rap	O
and	O
hip-hop	O
music	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RMHH	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
longest	O
running	O
newsgroups	B-Application
on	O
Usenet	B-Application
for	O
the	O
discussion	O
of	O
rap	O
and	O
hip-hop	O
,	O
established	O
in	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
newsgroup	B-Application
was	O
proposed	O
and	O
chartered	O
by	O
Steve	O
"	O
Flash	O
"	O
Juon	O
in	O
1994	O
as	O
an	O
effort	O
to	O
expand	O
the	O
discussion	O
of	O
rap	O
and	O
hip-hop	O
music	O
on	O
Usenet	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
newsgroups	B-Application
,	O
alt.rap	O
and	O
rec.music.funky	O
,	O
already	O
existed	O
for	O
the	O
discussion	O
of	O
rap	O
and	O
hip-hop	O
music	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
noted	O
that	O
the	O
alt.rap	O
group	O
was	O
not	O
as	O
widely	O
distributed	O
due	O
to	O
Usenet	B-Application
servers	O
not	O
carrying	O
all	O
(	O
or	O
any	O
)	O
of	O
the	O
alt	O
hierarchy	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
discussion	O
in	O
rec.music.funky	O
was	O
mainly	O
centered	O
around	O
funk	O
music	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
proposed	O
finalized	O
charter	O
for	O
the	O
rec.music.hip-hop	B-Application
:	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
newsgroup	B-Application
is	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
forum	O
for	O
the	O
discussion	O
and	O
dissemination	O
of	O
information	O
specifically	O
relating	O
to	O
hip-hop	O
music	O
and	O
culture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
group	O
is	O
meant	O
to	O
replace	O
the	O
newsgroup	B-Application
alt.rap	O
for	O
a	O
multitude	O
of	O
reasons	O
,	O
stated	O
herein	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
hold	O
the	O
opinion	O
that	O
the	O
newsgroup	B-Application
should	O
deal	O
with	O
funk	O
music	O
alone	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
the	O
large	O
amount	O
of	O
rap	O
traffic	O
be	O
directed	O
elsewhere	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Periodically	O
the	O
alt	O
newsgroup	B-Application
receives	O
flames	O
claiming	O
the	O
contrary	O
,	O
yet	O
forms	O
of	O
music	O
which	O
rap	O
evolved	O
from	O
have	O
their	O
own	O
newsgroups	B-Application
(	O
rec.music.bluenote	O
and	O
rec.music.reggae	O
are	O
two	O
examples	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
moving	O
to	O
the	O
rec	O
hierarchy	O
we	O
hope	O
to	O
increase	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
coverage	O
and	O
traffic	O
our	O
newsgroup	B-Application
receives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
CfV	B-Protocol
(	O
Call	B-Protocol
for	I-Protocol
Votes	I-Protocol
)	O
was	O
issued	O
on	O
January	O
6	O
,	O
1995	O
,	O
with	O
all	O
votes	O
needing	O
to	O
be	O
cast	O
by	O
January	O
26	O
,	O
1995	O
at	O
23:59:59	O
UTC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
final	O
votes	O
were	O
officially	O
posted	O
on	O
February	O
2	O
,	O
1995	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
proposal	O
to	O
create	O
rec.music.hip-hop	B-Application
passed	O
with	O
239	O
YES	O
votes	O
,	O
44	O
NO	O
votes	O
,	O
3	O
ABSTAIN	O
votes	O
and	O
3	O
INVALID	O
votes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
post	O
to	O
the	O
newsgroup	B-Application
was	O
made	O
by	O
Steve	O
Juon	O
on	O
February	O
3	O
,	O
1995	O
,	O
a	O
of	O
the	O
rec.music.hip-hop	B-Application
FAQ	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
successful	O
proposal	O
and	O
creation	O
of	O
RMHH	O
,	O
subscribers	O
to	O
the	O
alt.rap	O
newsgroup	B-Application
were	O
encouraged	O
to	O
discontinue	O
their	O
participation	O
in	O
alt.rap	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Subsequently	O
,	O
traffic	O
to	O
the	O
alt.rap	O
newsgroup	B-Application
fell	O
by	O
nearly	O
79%	O
within	O
the	O
first	O
two	O
months	O
of	O
RMHH	O
's	O
establishment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
total	O
number	O
of	O
posts	O
to	O
the	O
alt.rap	O
newsgroup	B-Application
did	O
recover	O
for	O
a	O
few	O
years	O
,	O
participation	O
in	O
this	O
group	O
was	O
only	O
a	O
fraction	O
compared	O
to	O
RMHH	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
rec.music.funky	O
newsgroups	B-Application
saw	O
a	O
gradual	O
decline	O
in	O
discussion	O
of	O
rap	O
&	O
hip-hop	O
music	O
,	O
with	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
discussion	O
completely	O
gone	O
within	O
a	O
one-year	O
period	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Google	O
Groups	O
,	O
as	O
of	O
May	O
26	O
,	O
2008	O
the	O
newsgroup	B-Application
has	O
116,074	O
posts	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
categorized	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
High	O
Activity	O
"	O
newsgroup	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
messages	O
the	O
newsgroup	B-Application
received	O
was	O
8030	O
in	O
June	O
2003	O
..	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
expansion	O
of	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
has	O
seen	O
a	O
general	O
decline	O
in	O
Usenet	B-Application
discussion	O
over	O
the	O
years	O
,	O
the	O
newsgroup	B-Application
still	O
receives	O
over	O
1300	O
messages	O
a	O
month	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
RMHH	O
newsgroup	B-Application
established	O
an	O
official	O
website	O
for	O
itself	O
,	O
rmhh.com,	O
in	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
