Scribe of the hip-hop culture

Chuck Creekmur, AS ’95, is aware that much has changed on campus since he hosted a daily hip-hop show on the campus radio station WVUD, spinning A Tribe Called Quest.

Today Creekmur, or “Jigsaw” as he is known to his friends and fans, is co-CEO of AllHipHop.com, along with his high school friend, Greg Watkins. He returned to campus during Homecoming 2005 to take part in the second annual journalism panel, which allows journalism alumni to share their stories and accomplishments with current students.

Both Creekmur and Watkins were heavily into music when they met at Glasgow High School in Delaware during the late ’80s. Eventually, their passion for hip-hop and drive for success brought them together again after college to form the popular web site.

“I’ve always been a part of the hip-hop culture,” Creekmur says. “Even before UD, music was part of me—it’s where I come from. Put that together with my natural ability to write, and I found my calling.”

Born and reared in Wilmington, Del., Creekmur entered UD as a journalism major because a high school teacher had encouraged him to pursue writing.

“I knew that I needed an outlet for my creativity, and journalism allowed me to merge my two favorite things as a kid, comics and hip-hop,” he says. While at the University, Creekmur searched for activities to fill his appetite for music. He worked on The Review, the student newspaper, as entertainment editor and hosted a hip-hop show on WVUD every day from 3-5 p.m. Despite his contributions to the campus entertainment scene, Creekmur says he became increasingly aware of a lack of media diversity at the University.

He and Steve Julien, CHEP ’94, another high school friend, took up the challenge and restarted an alternative African-American newspaper, The Pamoja, which is Swahili for “united.” They distributed the paper around the University and throughout New Castle County.

Julien would continue to be a key element in Creekmur’s professional life when he later became the president of AllHipHop.com.

“My approach to business, and relationships in general, is to work with people I’ve known for years and years. Greg, Steve and I bring many different things to the company in terms of our skill sets,” Creekmur says.

While Creekmur honed his journalism skills in class, he also delved deeper into the music scene. He used his time at WVUD to spotlight new hip-hop artists and started interviewing popular hip-hop acts, such as A Tribe Called Quest and KRS-One, and other acts around the area.

After graduation, Creekmur worked for a while at MBNA. He continued to write for independent magazines, freelancing at various publications while still maintaining the dream of owning his own business one day.

Since the center of the music industry is in New York City, Creekmur knew he would have to relocate there if he wanted a real chance to break into the industry. In the meantime, he began his own web site to continue building his writing portfolio.

“It’s difficult to write for other magazines when I know what I want to communicate to an audience,” Creekmur says. “I needed somewhere to showcase my own talent, my own way.”

Once again, Creekmur found his path crossing that of Watkins. Since both had web sites dedicated to hip-hop, they decided in 1998 to merge the two. AllHipHop.com became official in 2000.

“I was surprised by the initial impact of the web site. I never conceived it would be something I could do full-time. I figured I would use it as a stepping stone to write for a major publication,” Creekmur says.

AllHipHop.com was welcomed by the hip-hop community. Creekmur and Watkins used their site as a creative outlet for themselves and for hip-hop fans, who could express their opinions in an open forum.

“We’ve established something that’s made with a creative human touch,” Creekmur writes in an editorial on the site. “That’s always been our viewpoint; we write for the people, not the big companies or artists.”

As the popularity of AllHipHop.com rose, Creekmur was writing more reviews, editorials and feature articles. That’s when BET.com approached him with an offer to write for that site, where he has been a contributing writer for the past three and a half years.  

“Every time I interview Russell Simmons, Jay-Z, P. Diddy—someone of that caliber—I always learn something,” he says. “Those interviews are very educational because these men are the pioneers in the business of hip-hop. They have proved to be the most successful because they’ve seized control of their destiny and path in life. I see that drive in those people, and I take that as a learning experience.”

Because the pressure is on to maintain AllHipHop.com’s success, Creekmur has become more involved in the business aspect of running the company. Four UD graduates are now on staff at AllHipHop.com, working in publicity, marketing and editorial.

“I’m beginning to look at the web site from a business perspective. We have to work harder now and rush out the breaking news to stay ahead of the game,” Creekmur says. “I’m beginning to learn how to think business, think costs. It’s hard for me, since I’m a creative person, but my partner [Watkins] has kept me focused.”

Creekmur stays active in the hip-hop community, refusing to fall behind the scenes now that success has found him. He served as a panelist for the National Hip-Hop Convention in 2004, where he spoke on a number of issues, ranging from money matters to stereotypical images. Creekmur and Watkins also hosted the second Hip-Hop Summit in 2001, along with Russell Simmons and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

As hip-hop’s popularity continues to expand, Creekmur is predicting a return to the era of socially relevant music. He says he believes hip-hop will become more relevant to the general population, as the “gangsta rap” genre begins to run its course.

“There are new rappers today with different perspectives on the music, such as Kanye West and Common, who are becoming more commercially relevant. We will continue to see hip-hop become more business savvy and independent,” Creekmur says.

The pioneers of rap, such as Ice-T and Dr. Dre, are now adults, leaving the door open for new hip-hop artists to take the industry in a different direction, he says. “Rap is still a very young culture, and you can’t expect it to remain the same,” Creekmur says. “It will grow as the people inside of the culture grow.”

Creekmur also is a regular contributor to VIBE, The Source, Complex and SCRATCH. He has been featured on National Public Radio, Celebrity Justice, Bill O’Reilly’s The O’Reilly Factor and on New York’s Hot 97 FM.

“This thing reaches way beyond me,” he says. “It’s beyond AllHipHop.com. It’s unstoppable. The future is bright for us. We’re just getting started. There are many opportunities open to us right now—to go off line into print, TV, DVDs and albums. The possibilities are limitless.”

—Kim Sharrah, AS ’06