He’s got a point. On the other hand, it’s not like people know where—or even who—DJ Vadim is. As an artist he has remained on the fringes of hip-hop music for his entire career.

“It’s not about what’s ‘underground’ or ‘mainstream’,” he says. “It’s about good music and bad music.”

In other words, mainstream doesn’t equate to bad and underground to good.

“Some of the stuff Missy Elliott’s done in the past few years is more innovative that most of the underground hip-hop I’ve heard,” he says. “Yet there’s stuff in the mainstream which I think is also devoid of…of anything. Like Ja Rule, DMX…it’s just not my cup of tea.”

Actually, there are several aspects of mainstream hip-hop—particularly in the United States—that aren’t Vadim’s cup of tea. One of these, he says, is the massive commercialization of hip-hop, where many people become hip-hop artists just for the money.

While he says many artists in the U.S. are genuinely passionate, he says he acknowledges the materialistic attitude that now permeates the music.

“I’m not in this for the money, bitches and hoes,” he says. “Sometimes people judge hip-hop and think, ‘That’s what hip-hop’s all about: money, bitches and hoes.’ And that’s not true. It’s like saying all R&B is about women taking their clothes off and not being able to sing.”

At the TT the Bears performance, Yarah Bravo gave voice to DJ Vadeem’s ideas. Songs like “Overexpose,” “The Pacifist” and “Your Revolution” speak not to “money, bitches and hoes,” but to social issues that generally escape mainstream American hip-hop.

“The Pacifist”, for example, was performed as a protest against war in Iraq. “Your Revolution,” a poem originally by African American feminist Sarah Jones, was directed against what was seen as the disrespectful attitudes towards women prevalent in rap music.

But DJ Vadim says that in the end, it’s all about combining diverse elements to create good music that will last through time.

“I’m not making an album like DJ Clue or DJ Envy—not an album with just 12 beats and 12 collaborative emcees that people will just forget,” he says. “I’m not trying to make beats; I’m trying to make songs, stuff that you can listen to not once or twice, but hopefully many times, each time discovering new things, new sounds within the structure.”