I'm not really sure how receptive Europe is to the hip-hop scene and culture... whereas here in the states, it's a mainstream thing, I've gotten the impression that it's more or less an underground culture of sorts overseas. That may (or may not?) have something to do with it. I'm just guessing here.
The only point I want to add is that this so-called "lag" seems to be getting cut by modern communications technology... specifically, the Internet. Anyone can get online now and instantly know what is popular on one of the other continents, and forecast what will be popular in the coming months as it makes its way overseas (via MP3, RealAudio, etc). I can remember wayyyy back in the 80's (LOL I feel silly saying that) listening to late night radio shows on Saturday or Sunday or whenever, trying to catch wind of what some of the fresh new music was, and where it was going to be coming from. Obviously, the advent of the net has altered this quite a bit. And then on the other hand, the record companies will continue to do what they want to do and decide what they think we want to hear from overseas and when, regardless of what is popular on the Internet... sort of making what I just stated in the previous paragraph totally pointless. :-) Matt E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage: http://magicmattkelly.tripod.com > This several-month-lag between the US and Europe surprises me. > > With house and techno, if a track is not just on promo/white anymore and > is out officially, it's *out*. Worldwide. There may be a delay of a few > weeks, but certainly not months. Why this difference?
