THE RAP REPORT: New York’s rap scene...

THE RAP REPORT: New York’s rap scene is booming--except when it comes to live music. If you want to hear hip-hop, you either tune in the hot radio shows (the best being WBLS-FM’s Friday night rap blast, which features the legendary sonic sorcerers Mr. Magic and Marley Marl and their new 17-year-old apprentice Chili Q) or camp out at a hospitable record store. The best-stocked is the Music Factory (1476 Broadway, between 42nd and 43rd), which is jammed with the latest New York-based label rap hits, breakbeat collections (which feature hit songs with extended breaks for rap deejays or record producers) and even a rack of rap bootlegs.

The Music Factory’s biggest asset is Stanley, an immense white salesman who barks out buying tips in a gruff baritone with the same timbre as a Staten Island ferry foghorn. And what a salesman! Fifty dollars later, Stanley had loaded us up with an armful of hot rap 12-inch discs, including “Raw” by Big Daddy Kane, “Super Casanova” by Super Lover Cee and Casanova Reed as well as Hurby’s Machine’s “The House That Rap Built,” a collection of hits produced by Hurby Luv Bug, who’s worked with Salt-N-Pepa, Antoinette and (!) the Mau Mau Clan Overlords.

Still, the rap club scene is in the doldrums--the only regular live spots are Wednesday nights at the World (a club on the Lower East Side) and some weekend dates at the Rooftop (on 145th Street in Harlem). The biggest show in the city was a recent Urban Teen Music Awards concert at the Apollo Theatre, which featured winners Doug E. Fresh (who previewed material from his upcoming album), Public Enemy and Kool Moe Dee (who dissed rival L.L. Cool J).

So what’s wrong? “A lot of people who own the clubs don’t want the hip-hop clientele,” explained Monica Lynch, president of Tommy Boy Records and an indefatigable supporter of the local rap scene. “They don’t see how they can make money off of 17-year-old kids who don’t have enough money to buy a couple of drinks at the bar. Also, the club owners are wary--they’ve had some problems with kids getting into fights sometimes. So the scene’s really diminished. A year or two ago, you could go to the Latin Quarter or the Underground. Now kids are driving around in their Jeeps, blasting tapes all night.”