Happy Birthday Kevin!!!

We gotca Kev!  We, your site contributors wanted to do something a little special for the man responsible for connecting so many people together in the name of Hip Hop.

This was a last minute thing that Deez came up with…..so we weren’t able to get everyone’s input.  Whomever we missed from the team…..hit me on the email and I’ll put your joint up in it’s proper place.

Oh peep the song of the day as well….from your boy.  Hit the jump for more…

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Stevie Wonder – “Happy Birthday”
Hotter Than July (1980)

Thomas:

Wanted to give a shout out to my man Kevin on his born day. I’m not gonna put your age out there for everyone fam. LOL. But on the real…gotta give props to you my man for giving myself and all of the contributors a platform to express our love for this music in our own way.

Kevin you have cultivated a tight knit community here at This Is Hip Hop with your love of the music, your attention to detail, providing the “little guy” with an outlet to be heard, and steadfast refusal “to be like every other blog”.

You’ve open your arms (to most) who have come sending you emails with “yo I got this (insert: song/album/sample set) to be placed on the blog. The proof is HERE and HERE .  Damn I was buggin you to put them Jay-Z samples up wasn’t I? LOL.

Enjoy your day my friend!

Deez:

What can I say about Kev that already hasn’t been said already? He’s the man; plain and simple. I owe much of my success in my career, both management and writing, to Kev. He put me on. There aren’t enough dollars in the world to thank him for what he’s done for me as well as hip hop. Realize, people, that what Kev has done for hip hop, developing an original idea (which is enormously hard to do these days) and taking it to the level we have been at. We have opened up the eyes, ears, mouths, and minds of people all over the world by simple postings here and there. Realize, that it would not be possible with Mr. Kevin Nottingham.

Happy Birthday Kev. I wish you and the fam all the best on your born day. Holla!

Freddie C:

First off, happy birthday to the big dogg! It goes without saying that this site wouldn’t be what it is and we wouldn’t be who we are without you.  Hip-hop is life to a lot of people who visit this site, participate in our contests, give us feedback (positive and definitely negative), and to those who contribute to it, be it in the form of Top 10s, reviews, rants, sample sets, interviews, design, and everything else we do here. When Nas eulogized hip-hop, he didn’t count on the grassroots movement that grows stronger by the day, a movement that, thanks to your vision, hard work, and dedication, we’re at the forefront at.  We’re the ones keeping hip-hop alive, keeping the countless hip-hop heads informed and involved while keeping artists in touch with their fan base through interviews.  We give the shine to lesser-known artists who deserve it, but wouldn’t get it otherwise, despite having twice the talent than some major-label acts who have million-dollar advertising budgets.

Personally, I’m thankful for this site and the opportunity to showcase my writing while doing something I love: listening to hip-hop.  I appreciate you giving me the chance. I appreciate all my readers, especially all those who think I’m crazy for my low ratings. That’s the beauty of music, it hits us all differently. So while we all can’t agree on a appropriate rating for an album, I think we can all agree on the fact that K Notts is the man. Is there anything more hip-hop than a nothing-to-something story? Think Reasonable Doubt, Ready to Die, all about coming up from humble beginnings to blowing up. A small blog for music lovers starts up, delivers ill content, adds contributors, wins the 2008 Online Hip-Hop Awards Music Lover Blog of the Year, gets more hits every day, and becomes one of the premier places on the internet to go for hip-hop. Kevinnottingham.com. Yes, This Is Hip Hop. Happy birthday Kev!

Carsten:
I remember it like yesterday, I dropped a couple of comments on some various posts,

Kev replied, we started changin’ our thoughts about Hip Hop. A month later I wrote my first European artist spotlight…  You can’t imagine how happy I’am to be a part of this site, the movement I got introduced to great people like the crazy talented Kromey, Kev’s right hand man and sample brain Thomas, or the man of the words Sean Deez. Remember guys, this blog isn’t really gettin’ sponsored or shit. Kev still has a regular job to do, gotta be a husband and a dad. So Kev is doin’ it because of his love for Hip Hop and of course you, the reader.  All I can say for now is happy birthday bro!! Enjoy your day!

Thanks for havin me.