“The reason I have eyeballs is because of my irreverence.”

Today the New York Times reports on a “trend” of women bloggers as a target for advertising.

Advertisers are betting that the trust and intimacy that come from talking about
sex after motherhood or reading about a blogger’s battle with postpartum
depression will translate into sales of products discussed on a site or simply
advertised alongside the personal stories.

Yes, of course, we’ll solve our relationship and emotional problems with knick-knacks and shampoo. A time-tested, advertiser approved solution!

While there are many disturbing quotes from this article, including the one I’ve used as the title to this post, I’ll leave you with an uplifting one. There is one group of women who are consistently foiling advertisers… the feminists!

“We tried pure news, and sometimes it doesn’t work,” said Brandon Holley,
Shine’s editor in chief. Ms. Holley was most recently editor in chief of Jane,
the Condé Nast women’s magazine that closed in July 2007. Jane struggled with
the same problem — how to offer an irreverent, feminist take on women’s topics —
and ultimately failed to attract advertisers.

Wait, are they meaning to tell us that women with insight into systems of oppression and a sense of self-worth aren’t into advertising? I wonder why that is.

UK Financial Times Tour Article With Public Enemy

By Angus Batey
Published: August 9 2008 03:00 | Last updated: August 9 2008 03:00
Chuck D has a request: a champagne bucket full of ice. For most musicians preparing to go onstage at the Brixton Academy in south London, that might not raise eyebrows. But Public Enemy's front man is a politicised rebel, and his success predated rap's obsession with bling - diamond-encrusted Rolexes, ostentatious rims on the wheels of luxury cars, and Moet on ice.

Actually, the ice will serve a different purpose - to numb his left foot before some DIY surgery. For three years the rapper, businessman, lecturer, author and political activist has been battling onychocryptosis. That's an ingrown toenail to you and me. Last night, when Chuck was performing at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich, it kept him from moving around quite as much as he would have liked, but he managed. This afternoon, however, as he surveyed the vast expanse of the stage at the Brixton Academy, he realised that was not a performance he could repeat. "I was labourin' in Norwich," he says. "But this a gigantic stage! You can't not move around on a stage that big."

Scissors, a knife and bandages are procured from the venue's first-aid kit. The ice is delivered, and the door of the dressing room swings shut. The man about to perform a 20-year-old album called It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back is not the sort to let a painful big toe constrain him.

This is Public Enemy's 61st tour, in the band's 21st year together, and they've sold out the Brixton Academy, which holds 4,900 people. In some respects, this demonstrates their staying power - and yet just three years ago, they failed to sell every ticket at the 2,100 person-capacity Forum in Kentish Town, north London. Their highest placing in the British singles chart came 10 years ago; their best-performing album peaked at number four in 1990. Chuck admits that the current tour's concept - they will perform their acknowledged classic album, Nation, in its entirety each night - has helped bring in both lapsed fans and curious newcomers. But it takes more to maintain longevity in the music business than any one piece of canny marketing.

As we all know - music listeners, producers, investors alike - these are hard times for the record industry. Global sales of recorded music in 2007 were at a 22-year low. CDs - which saved the industry back in 1985 - can now be copied with no loss of quality, free music downloading from the internet shows no signs of decreasing despite recent attempts by internet service providers and record companies to stem the flow, and CD give-aways by magazines and newspapers have helped undermine recorded music's perceived value.

But as the lines outside the Brixton Academy suggest, fans haven't stopped paying for music; they're just spending in different ways - and the principal beneficiary seems to be the live music business. The vast number and variety of rock festivals and outdoor gigs taking place in the UK, and a rise in average ticket prices, suggest a business in rude health. Record companies are jumping in on the action, signing new artists to "360-degree" deals, where the labels take a cut of live income, merchandising and other areas traditionally the preserve of the musician. Live music promoters are also changing the way they operate, with the company Live Nation adding the South American superstar Shakira and Canadian rock band Nickelback to the previously announced captures of Madonna and the Glastonbury-headlining rapper Jay-Z. These multi-million-dollar long-term deals give the company the rights to distribute the musicians' recorded music as well as to book their tours.

And yet Public Enemy are unlikely to interest the likes of Live Nation: the band's margins are too small. Nor are they going to sign on to a 360-deal: they would simply be giving away money that they can presently keep for themselves. How, then, to make it in this new terrain? Chuck D thinks he has a business plan: minimise expenditure, maximise income and synchronise everything around the core brand. Unfortunately, it's not quite as easy as it sounds.

The day before Brixton, in a room backstage in Norwich, the 15-strong Public Enemy team are preparing for their show. Chuck D - born Carlton Ridenhour, in 1960 - is one of nine performers. The others include William "Flavor Flav" Drayton, 17 months Chuck's senior; a DJ; three members of their security guard-cum-dance troupe, the S1Ws (or Security of the First World); and backing musicians known as The Banned. The other half-dozen people occupy supporting roles: management, personal security, operation of the merchandise stall. It is about as lean a unit as can be, but it's still expensive to run.

Getting the group from the US to the UK is probably the single largest expense, but in-country costs - transportation, food and board - add up quickly, too, and help shape the itinerary. A show at a venue such as the Academy will bring in a healthy fee, but the gigs Public Enemy play before and after that - Norwich, then at the Junction in Cambridge - have capacities closer to 1,000, and aren't nearly as lucrative. "Typically, two or three shows are really paying for the whole tour, and the other shows are really just fill-ins to keep the band working each night," says Greg Johnson, who manages the touring side of Public Enemy's business, as well as Flavor Flav's career outside the group.

It would perhaps make sense, then, for the band to undertake extensive tours and to return frequently to key markets - but there are limits to how sustainable such an approach may be. Chuck recalls that a few years ago they made the mistake of playing Bristol twice in a six-month span: "The most that you're gonna get out of that is, play to anybody who didn't come to the first show."

No such mistakes this time round, says Johnson: they won't be returning to Britain for two years or so, "just to make sure we don't oversaturate the market and we keep demand high".

Public Enemy are one of the most-travelled bands working today; Johnson estimates they will be on the road for three or four relatively short bursts during a typical year. The group do not pay retainers or year-round salaries, so financial stability depends on individuals developing their own projects outside the group.

Since 1991, Chuck has been a regular on the US college lecture circuit, and his activities outside Public Enemy today include running a slew of websites, broadcasting a regular radio show, and running a pioneering online record label, Slamjamz.com. Flavor has developed a bizarre parallel career as a reality TV star with a successful series on the MTV-owned channel VH1. The group's DJ, DJ Lord, plays club and radio dates, and one of the S1Ws, James Bomb, has instigated a Public Enemy comic book which is on the verge of securing a potentially money-spinning link-up with DC's Batman. The members of The Banned are all session musicians while, as Johnson explains, "Some individuals in the group are doing well in real estate, construction and home renovation, and the S1Ws have a security consulting business." Only such a complex confluence of diverse revenue streams can keep the band afloat.

Perhaps the group's track record in the music industry is instructive. Public Enemy's initial contract with Sony-owned Def Jam records ended in 1998. Outside the Junction in Cambridge, over a microwaved plate of fish and rice in the tour bus, Chuck reveals that the band turned down a million-dollar advance when they decided not to re-sign with Def Jam. "In order for me to build something, I had to leave," he says. "They wanted to keep us around, but we would have been a token. And the advance would have been paid for with accountability, with them telling us how to spend it."

Chuck had the prescience to appreciate how the interactivity of the web could help his band and his businesses. He had already fought with Def Jam over making music available in the digital MP3 format. After the label stepped in to block free online distribution of a remix project, PE recorded a song about the spat called "Swindler's Lust", and Chuck took to referring in his blogs to the then Def Jam executives Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen as "Hustler Scrimmons" and "Liar Conman".

His first independent move was to sell the band's 1999 album There's a Poison Goin' On through PE's website. "Another thing publicenemy.com did for us was allow us to cement relationships worldwide with promoters," Chuck explains. "Before, they weren't necessarily able to get in touch with us."

Of course, the band could not have begun life in the online environment at a financially sustainable level had it not been for what Chuck terms their "name equity". The band's political views and Chuck's quotability and outspokenness have helped the cause, too. Today, they do not need the marketing muscle of a major label: instead, when they tour or release CDs in the UK, they hire an independent British publicist who has been working with them for nine years, who secures editorial coverage that would cost huge sums if they had to buy it as advertising space.

Chuck still stands for the values and attitudes espoused at the group's height - "Do I still believe in reparations [for slavery]?" he asks, slightly incredulously. "Hell yeah! Can we say that in the Financial Times?" - and still holds out against having tours sponsored by alcohol or tobacco companies, as it implies his endorsement of products he does not use. These positions help maintain the unusual level of media interest in a band a long way past their commercial prime: on the days of the shows I attend, almost 30 interviews are scheduled - mainly with Chuck - with outlets ranging from a Cambridge student newspaper to the website of The Daily Telegraph; from three BBC digital radio shows to a four-minute segment on Channel Four News.

Public Enemy seem to have found a way to make the current realities of life in the music business work for them: but as a long-term model, it has its limits.

"There's definitely a concern," says Johnson. "When the economy is not doing so well, your market for live performance is limited to those individuals who are not necessarily so sensitive to economic change."

The other big question is less an economic and more a human one. Sales of an artist's back catalogue have traditionally served in lieu of a pension for rock musicians of advancing years; with that particular well running dry, touring may take up some of the slack, but not everyone is going to be happy about gigging into their seventies. And while the superstar likes of The Police, The Eagles or Led Zeppelin could play a string of shows that would generate enough money to set them up for a comfortable dotage, the majority of artists may have to keep gigging until they drop.

"When Chuck introduces Flavor on stage, he says he's 'the world's oldest teenager'," says Johnson. Indeed, as if emphasising the point, Flavor, Johnson and a few others leave Chuck on the bus doing interviews in Cambridge and head to a nearby bowling alley for an hour. "These guys are in great shape," Johnson continues. "Flav can do this for quite some time, I'm sure. But Chuck, on the other hand, is probably gonna say, 'Hey, enough is enough.'"

Retirement from live work is not on Chuck's agenda, and it is conceivable that by the time it is, the lecture circuit, radio work and writing will bring in enough to see him through old age. He has an indomitable public persona, but it is not just his bad toe that causes him to harbour a few doubts about his continued aptitude for performance. "I'm always a person who wants to beat expectations, though I wouldn't mind just living up to them," he grins, getting to the heart of what touring is all about. "You never fully understand the circuitry in your head that makes you do what you do anyway - so at any given moment you could lose it. The whole key to live performance is exactly that - it's a performance. You have to do the songs, or they do you.

The Game: “Jay-Z Would Be A Piece Of Cake”

There’s really no sense in trying to figure out what goes on in Jayceon Taylor’s mind. As he puts it, there’s good days and bad days. The good days consist of traveling the world and racking up positive reviews of his new album L.A.X., thanks to his current single “My Life” with Lil Wayne. The bad comes from those pesky suicidal thoughts, dealing with tragedies like Sean Bell’s murder, and figuring out how he fits in to this fickle hip-hop world.

When we spoke with Game yesterday, he seemed more outspoken and at ease than ever. In this exclusive interview with Complex, he welcomes a battle with Jay-Z (relax, there’s no diss record coming…yet), explains why Dr. Dre can’t finish Detox without him, and confesses that Young Buck is one of his best friends…


Interview By Joe La Puma

Complex: After “My Life,” what will the next single off L.A.X. be?

The Game: I don’t know. I usually let the streets pick the third single. The streets, and the radio will dictate what that’s going to be. Once the album drops, we’ll pretty much know what that is. “My Life” just came out so we’re going to give that some time to breathe. It’s doing good, getting rave reviews.

Complex: The video focuses on Sean Bell, and a while back there was another video of you getting emotional over his murder. Do you think it’s easier for rappers to show their human side now?

The Game: I really don’t know about that, man. I just know about myself, and the stuff that I do. The whole situation was really heartfelt. It was a situation gone wrong, all the way down to the police officers getting acquitted, to the loss of Sean Bell. I just wanted to jump in there head first. When I speak, people listen, so I thought I’d just take some time and shed some light on that situation.

Complex: Buck took a lot of flack for the leaked phone call of him crying. Did that surprise you?

The Game: Nah, I don’t care about that. Everybody cries—men, women, children. Whenever you’re emotional about anything in life, you’re going to shed a tear. Buck shed some tears. I already knew what 50 was up to with that, trying to show a way to expose Buck. He was emotional and I understand that. As a man, I get emotional and cry sometimes. Whenever you’re touched by something that much and it’s tearing you up inside, you’re going to shed a tear. For another man to try and expose that, that’s low and despicable.

Complex: Buck was in the “My Life” video. What’s your relationship like with him now?

The Game: Me and Young Buck, it’s always been 100. We’ve been cool the whole time. We just never spoke on our friendship or camaraderie, due to the fact that he was signed to G-Unit. I didn’t want to mess up the situation. I’ve been talking to Buck ever since I got kicked out of G-Unit, that’s my man. One of my best friends in hip-hop today and it’s going to stay that way.

Complex: Did he ever imply that he wasn’t happy in that camp?

The Game: Neither one of us were feeling what 50 was doing at the time we were in G-Unit. I was just the person who couldn’t put up with it anymore, first.

Complex: Are you doing a mixtape together?

The Game: Yeah, people are making a big deal out of that, but it’s just simple. Buck and I are going to do a mixtape, we’re going to put something out in the streets and they’re definitely going to feel it because it’s me and him, and we were the dopest artists in G-Unit anyway. We held that group together. The world feels that me and Buck were the glue—once you’re done with the glue, then the fuckin’ shit falls apart. You saw what happened with their latest release. It’s trash.

Complex: Did the lackluster sales of Terminate On Sight surprise you?

The Game: No, man—they died after “300 Bars.” I went to the funeral and everything, sat in the front row with the family.

Complex: After recent interviews and imagery on covers of magazines, people have been wondering about your mental state…

The Game: Some days are good days, some days are bad days. That just goes for everyone. We have to weather the storm, and as human beings, we’re fitted enough to do that. Today is a good day—I’ve been grinding in and out of these cities. I’ve got nothing but positive feedback, everyone is feeling the project and they’re saying it’s my strongest effort. Right now, in hip-hop, it’s me and Lil Wayne. Hate it or love it.

Complex: Putting a gun to your head on the cover of the magazine…were you ready for questions about that?

The Game: You already know I don’t give a shit about that stuff. I’m ready for whatever comes to me, any questions. I never duck the truth or anything I’ve done in my life. I have no regrets about anything. I am who I am. On that day, that’s what I was feeling. Today is a little bit of different. I’m an intellect as well as street smart. People don’t understand that. They think I’m some dumb nigga from Compton, they don’t understand I went to college and got straight A’s in school. I’m no joke, in a business meeting, and in the streets on a physical level. You got the best of both worlds in me, that’s why fans gravitate towards my music. My shit is real.

Complex: Dre was in the news a few weeks ago talking about Detox. When was the last time you spoke to him?

The Game: I spoke to Dre a few months ago, and he was just calling to check in. It wasn’t really about nothing. Nothing worth talking about. I wish him well with Detox, but I don’t need Dre or anybody to make my shit come to life.

Complex: He mentioned that Jay-Z, Nas, and Wayne might be on the album. Do you think you’d be on there if you and 50 didn’t have your situation?

The Game: I don’t really care about being on Detox. I don’t think Dre can finish Detox without having me on it, man. I’m the West Coast—I am the West Coast. You can’t do anything on the West Coast without involving myself, my name, or my brand. For me not to be a part of Detox, Dre would be doing himself an injustice, not me.

Complex: For the past few years, and especially in recent weeks, there’s been jabs thrown between you and Jay-Z. Where do you think the rift stems from?

The Game: I think that came from somebody that Jay-Z spoke to. [He] said that he ain’t fucking with Game, and he’s going to wait on me to commit suicide. Wherever it came from, it came and I caught it and I responded.

Complex: There’s rumors going around that you have a Jay-Z diss coming out on a new mixtape with DJ Haze. Can you clear that up?

The Game: There’s no Jay-Z disses, that’s crazy. Haze just hit me while I was asleep, when I woke up before I called you, I seen an e-mail from Haze asking for the Jay-Z diss. I explained to him there will be no Jay-Z diss until Jay-Z disses Game. Like I said, I have a lot of love and respect for Jay, musically and in his career, but the relationship between us as grown men is a little bit different. When he bites, I’m going to sink my teeth into him.

Complex: It’s safe to say you’re baiting him though, right?

The Game: I am baiting him and hopefully he bites the bait. If I know Jay-Z like I know Jay-Z, he won’t bite the bait. He’s a smart man, he’s a legend, he’s an icon, I’m a fan of his music straight up. He can use it against me. Who the fuck isn’t a fan of Jay-Z? But, the music is one entity, and the man is something totally different.

Complex: Right…

The Game: Now, if the man wants to wage a war of words or get into some type of beef, I’m all for it. It would be an honor to beef with Jay-Z. That’s one of the reasons I try to bait him, but he won’t bite. Jay-Z’s smart and he’s going to sit back and wait for this to simmer down. Plus I’m way too disrespectful for the likes of a Jay-Z, and I go too hard. Jay-Z is a subliminal rapper, he uses his words and isolates you like that. I go hard, straight for the jugular, with a knife and I’m cutting your throat and you’re going to bleed all over Manhattan when you beef with me. It’s that serious. When I beef, it’s relentless. I won’t stop until one of us is dead, period. And that’s lyrically. I don’t have to box or fight, or take it to the streets. We’ll keep it a straight wax-war, that’s what beef is all about. But I’m too reckless for him.

Complex: So you think if you ever got into it with him, you’d be his toughest competition.

The Game: I would be the toughest competition he had…well, Nas was his toughest, he didn’t win the war against Nas. Nas dropped “Ether” and that was it. Everyone knows Nas won that beef. But I’ve never lost a beef. Jay-Z, he has chinks in his armor still from that Nas beef. Other than that, we can do it. I’ve 100 percent won all my beefs. Me, LL, Nas and probably only a couple of other cats can claim that. I killed the biggest group in hip-hop single-handedly. Four cats against me and I totally fucking annihilated them, so Jay-Z would be a piece of cake. A piece of strawberry shortcake, my favorite.

Complex: You’re the star of this new Belly 2 movie, right?

The Game: Yeah, but it ain’t called Belly 2. Me and Jimmy Henchmen and Baron Davis sold the rights to LionsGate and they own the rights to Belly, so they called it Belly 2 for promotion, to try and sell more DVDs, and the shit worked.

Complex: How do you feel about there being a Belly 2 with no involvement from Hype Williams?

The Game: I don’t care about that no way. We sold it to LionsGate and it’s their film and they can do whatever they want with it. All I’ll do is collect the check. It was my first movie, I did that movie right after The Documentary. I think it made for a good hood flick, just like State Property or Bout It Bout It, the movie Master P did. That shit was dope.

Complex: You said you’d retire after this album. What has to happen for you to come with a 4th album?

The Game: Nothing can happen, I’m gone. I don’t care what happens. It’s a wrap.

Just look at this Map.

(Click on picture to enlarge)

What Comes to your Mind?

DJ Vlad suing Rick Ross for $4 million Press Release

August 15, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On August 15, 2008, a multimillion dollar assault and battery lawsuit was filed in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York by DJ Vlad (Vlad Lyubovny) against platinum recording artist Rich Ross (“William Leonard Roberts II”) stemming from an incident that took place on August 10, 2008 at the Ozone Awards in Houston, Texas. In the complaint, it is alleged that Rick Ross orchestrated a brutal attack upon DJ Vlad carried out by his accomplices in retribution for media coverage of Rick Ross’ prior life as a correctional officer.
The injuries alleged to have been sustained as a result of the assault include, 7 stitches below the eye, 3 fractures to the face, a corneal abrasion and possible permanent nerve damage. The complaint seeks $ 2,000,000 in compensatory damages and $2,000,000 in punitive damages.


Click here to read the court document.

Just a reminder.

Do what the fuck you wanna do.

Don't let anyone hold you back from reacthing your dreams.





What are some of the things you do that make life worth living?

The Game: LAX hits stores August 26th

So, we've all been waiting since December of last year, heard a few joints and with the monumental albums "The Documentary" & "Doctors Advocate", will "LAX" be all that it's hyped up to be? That has to be a hard thing to do being in and out of jail. Nu Jerzey Devil has stated that Lil Wayne will be making a guest appearance. So far Akon, Andre 3000, Busta Rhymes, Chris Brown, Chrisette Michele, Common, Ice Cube, Keyshia Cole, Lil Wayne, DMX, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Marsha Ambrosius, Mary J. Blige, Nas, Ne-Yo, Raekwon, Raheem DeVaughn, Fabolous, Robin Thicke are all set to make an appearance.





On August 10, 2008 The Game told Friday Night Flavas that the tracklist going around the internet is fake and Busta Rhymes, Just Blaze & Tre Beats are on the album as well as a DMX Intro and Outro. He also said he will be dropping 2 mixtapes; "Superman" (all original & cut tracks) in a week and a half and You Know What It Is Vol. 5 after the album. He also blames DJ Haze for the leak of the Just Blaze produced track "Superman".





Regardless of how the album does, what has really shocked me is how the prices of CD's have come down (Game's Album available for only $9.99 on Amazon.com) and how much gas prices have gone up, witch in turn has raised the price of everything, unless it's a product of the entertainment business. Last year U.S. Album Sales Fell 9.5%, but other analysts say file sharing hasn't effected CD sales, it's been the falling economy. There's always silver lining in every cloud, you just have to know where to look. I have a hunch that the album sales won't do to well the first week, but over time sales will creep up, and he should be able to push out a good number of units to his very supportive fans, and I feel he will make some new ones along the way, he has a very diverse, super arsenal of guests to help him, and with both Lil Wayne and Plies doing big this year, the Game has a shot too.

Hat of the week [premier edition!]

 

The Commission - Rock the Bells 2008 [free] Mixtape

Track Listing:

01 nas queens get the money
02 nas nas is like
03 nas ny state of mind
04 nas fried chicken (feat. busta rhymes)
05 mos def ms. fat booty
06 pharcyde passin me by
07 method man and redman da rockwilder
08 de la soul oooh (feat. redman)
09 eric b and rakim dont sweat the technique
10 eric b and rakim pain in full
11 a tribe called quest scenario
12 a tribe called quest check the rhyme
13 pharcyde cant keep runnin away
14 nas if i ruled the world (feat. lauryn hill)
15 immortal technique lick shots(feat. crooked i)
16 wale the hacksaw jim duggan (feat. skyzoo)
17 the cool kids black mags
18 the cool kids jingling
19 dead prez hip hop
20 kidz in the hall driving down the block (feat. va)
21 a tribe called quest can i kick it
22 raekwon verbal intercourse (feat. nas and ghostface)
23 murs bad man
24 nas hero
25 ghostface mighty healthy
26 raekwon ice cream (feat. ghostface method man and cappadonna)
27 immortal technique 4th branch
28 method man m.e.t.h.o.d. man

[CLICK HERE] to download mixtape.

Please Rate the Mixtape, thanks.



Who the fuck am I to tell you whats good or not? I will not give you a half ass review here, I'm going the whole 9 yards with this bitch. Apparently the good people over at www.thatshiphop.com have no fucking clue what a real mixtape is. Or for that matter, every internet blogger that followed suite without a proper review. Don't get me wrong now, I was fooled into downloading this, just look at the track listing, it features some of Hip-hop's heavyweight MC's, and I love all the tracks. But lets get it straight in 2008, a mixtape is supposed to be mixed by real DJ's PERIOD. And by mixed, I mean the beats are matched up from one track into the next. This doesn't even remotely qualify as a REAL MIXTAPE. I really don't know what's up with the Commishion, and why they called this Rock the Bells mixtape. Please don't fucking tell me that the ROCK THE BELLS tour selected these numb nutz to do this joint, becuase they obviously didn't do their homework if they did. If the "Commishion" decided to claim the fame off someone else's name, they didn't get away with shit cause anyone who is down with any of the arists that are featured on the mix or on the past Rock the Bells tours would know what a real fucking mixtape is!

Yea, I said it. The Commishon is fucking garbage in the skills department! They should of commishioned a real DJ to do the mix.

I rate this 1 Star out of 5, and the 1 star is simply because of the playlist. If the list was wack, a zero, sraight the fuck up.

Hip-Hop top 100 Tracks & Videos of all time [30-11]

Keep checking in for the complete list. Here are tracks 30 through 11 with links to their videos.

30. Run DMC – Sucker MC’s – 1983
29. Onyx – Slam – 1993
28. A Tribe Called Quest – Electric Relaxation – 1993
27. A Tribe Called Quest – Scenario – 1991
26. De La Soul – Me, Myself and I – 1989
25. Souls of Mischief - 93 til Infinity – 1993
24. Big Daddy Kane – Raw – 1988
23. Eric B & Rakim – I know you got Soul – 1987
22. Xzibit – Paparazzi – 1996
21. Mos Def – Ms. Fat Booty – 1999
20. Eric B & Rakim – Paid in Full – 1987
19. LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out - 1990
18. Slick Rick – Children’s Story – 1988
17. Eric B & Rakim – Eric B is President – 1986
16. A Tribe Called Quest – Can I kick it? – 1990
15. Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel – Whitelines (Don’t do it) – 1983
14. Eric B & Rakim – Follow the Leader – 1988
13. Wu-Tang Clan – Protect Ya Neck – 1994
12. Boogie Down Productions – South Bronx – 1986
11. O.C. – Time’s up – 1994

Who Killed Hip-Hop? [Part One]

I grew up durring an amazing period. I was born in 1979 at the height of the disco era and the year the first rap records were being released. I never got into rap music until 1989, but what a year it was, just catching the end of what is often reffered to as the "Golden Era". I have heard all types of music over the years growing up, my father was a musician, exposing me to rock, blues and jazz, among other genres, and when around town my mom would play pop radio. 1989 was the year I fell in love with rap and the hip-hop culture.

I had moved out of state that Summer and missed my old friends and the school year hadn't started so my fathers boombox had become my best friend. I'd record tracks off the radio and make mixtapes of my favorite songs. Pop & Rock was getting dull and quickly my tapes began to feature only rap tracks on them. Rap at the time was so many things. It was edgy, raw, uncut, political, empowering, fun, funky, funny, loud, bold, in your face, all that and more. Every song had a message, Public Enemy "Fight the Power", Queen Latifa "Ladies First", NWA "Fuck the Police", DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince "Parents Just Don't Understand".


Fight the Power

In an effort to quell the surge of Black-On-Black crime in New York (and as tribute to Scott La Rock); KRS-One organizes the Stop the Violence movement with several New York rappers. Soon, the Movement goes national as West Coast MCs get involved as well. The result is two public-service singles denouncing violence, 'Self Destruction' in New York, and 'We're All In the Same Gang' in Los Angeles. You could feel the power and the unity. The movement was about empowerment and understanding, and all proceeds went to the National Urban League.


Self Destruction


We're All In The Same Gang


Then you had groups like Digital Underground, Biz Markie, LL Cool J, keeping it fun.

Jigglin Baby

1989, the nationwide demand for rap music was at an all time high and record execs from the major labels for the most part were clueless and willing to sign anyone they thought had appeal. Corperate America was ready to cash in on this new trend. Before, most saw rap and hip-hop as just a fad, but rap had established itself as a formitable genre and it's roots were firmly planted in the ground.

The story is to be continued...

STAY TUNED B-BOYS AND B-GIRLS!!!


OTHER NOTEABLE MOMENTS IN 1989
Doug E. Fresh's former partner, MC Ricky D--now calling himself 'Slick Rick'--releases his solo debut, "The Great Adventures of Slick Rick" on Def Jam Records. With a gift for clever, laid-back rhymes and vivid storytelling, Rick is immediately elevated to the top-tier of MCs.


After a controversial tour promoting 'Straight Outta Compton' with N.W.A., Ice Cube announces he's leaving the group after a financial dispute with Eazy-E and manager, Jerry Heller.


De La Soul, a young rap group from Long Island, New York (and also affiliated with the Native Tongues collective), release their debut, "3 Feet High & Rising" on Tommy Boy Records. Building on quirky samples from rock, funk, folk, country and soul and using wordplay that ranged from psychadelic musings to outright jibberish, the group is immediately hailed as the 'future of hip-hop music.'


MC Hammer releases his sophomore effort, "Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em." The album is bashed by critics and scoffed at by hip-hop purists, but becomes a mammoth hit. Spurred by the wildly popular single, 'U Can't Touch This,' and heavy video rotation on MTV, the album sells ten million copies- and with his flashy dancing and trademark baggy pants, MC Hammer becomes an international superstar.


The Beastie Boys, after a long and bitter exit from Def Jam Records, finally release their second album, "Paul's Boutique." Trading the frat-boy humor of their debut in favor of dense samples, sprawling sound collages and abstract lyrical themes, the album flops as most fans and critics don't know what to make of the record.


2 Live Crew, a Florida-based party-rap group, releases their third album, "As Nasty As They Wanna Be." It is an extremely explicit and sexually provocative--(with the lyrics reaching near-pornographic proportions), and is banned from sale in the state of Florida. The group themselves are arrested for lewdness after performing a concert in Miami. After going to court for the right to perform and write music as they want to, the group is found not guilty in what becomes a heated debate over decency and the First Amendment.


Rick Rubin leaves Def Jam and forms a new label, dubbed Def American.


Yo! MTV Raps makes it's debut, with host Fab 5 Freddy. For the first time, the entire country has a platform to watch the latest music videos by all of the top rap artists.

Impeach the Mother Fucker

G.R.L. reports for duty in the A28 army to support Dennis Kucinich's legislation to impeach Dick Cheney.

[Listen close to the comment at 1:27, lol]

Blast From the Past - The Whoridas

The Whoridas - Shot Callin' Big Ballin'
From their 1996 Delicious Vinyl album, "Whoridin".

More flavor from the Whoridas [LINK]

Blast From the Past - COLLEGE BOYZ

COLLEGE BOYZ - Victim Of The Ghetto
1992

2008 Ozone Award Winners

In case you wanted to know, all the winners weren’t announced at the show, but here are all the winners from the 2008 Ozone Awards.

BEST RAP ALBUM - Rick Ross – Trilla
BEST RAP ARTIST - Lil Wayne
BEST R&B ARTIST - Chris Brown
BEST RAP GROUP - UGK
BEST LYRICIST - Lil Wayne
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST - Shawty Lo
BEST RAP/R&B COLLABORATION - Usher f/ Young Jeezy “Love In This Club”
CLUB BANGER OF THE YEAR - Webbie f/ Lil Boosie & Lil Phat “Independent”
MIXTAPE MONSTER AWARD - Trae
MOST SLEPT ON ARTIST - Z-Ro
PIMP C AWARD (TRILLEST ARTIST) (Not afraid to speak what’s on their mind) - David Banner
TJ’s DJ’s HUSTLER AWARD - DJ Khaled
TJ’s DJ’s TASTEMAKER AWARD (Trendsetter in music, fashion/style, etc.) - T-Pain
BEST VIDEO - UGK f/ Outkast “International Players Anthem”
DJ OF THE YEAR - DJ Khaled
BEST MIXTAPE / STREET ALBUM
Tie:
B.G. & DJ Drama - Gangsta Grillz: Hood Generals
Chamillionaire – Mixtape Messiah 3
BEST PRODUCER - Polow the Don
BEST RAP ARTIST (WEST COAST) - The Game
BEST RAP GROUP (WEST COAST) - DPG (Dogg Pound)
BEST RAP ALBUM (WEST COAST) - Snoop Dogg “Ego Trippin”
LIVING LEGEND AWARD - J Prince
PATIENTLY WAITING: FLORIDA - Brisco
PATIENTLY WAITING: GEORGIA - B.O.B.
PATIENTLY WAITING: TEXAS - Lil Will
PATIENTLY WAITING: MISSISSIPPI - Lil C
PATIENTLY WAITING: ALABAMA - Jackie Chain
PATIENTLY WAITING: LOUISIANA - Mack Maine
PATIENTLY WAITING: TENNESSEE - All Star
PATIENTLY WAITING: CAROLINAS - Snook Da Rokk Star
PATIENTLY WAITING: KENTUCKY - Hurricane
PATIENTLY WAITING: CALIFORNIA - The Jacka
PATIENTLY WAITING: ARIZONA - Willy Northpole

The REAL Sen. John McCain

Pass it on...

Pot's PR problem!

Marijuana has an image problem.

That's not the only problem with it, but its image probably keeps it lurking in the shadows: People who smoke pot are unkempt, unruly, counterculture. Best just to drink scotch or pop OxyContin.

If marijuana had the ad agencies that cigarettes have had, it would be legal, too.

Bring it out into the light, regulate it, tax it, put trafficking gangs out of business and let police and courts do more important work.

Rick Steves, the travel entrepreneur from Edmonds, will be one of the main speakers at Hempfest.

We had a story in our paper Friday about a television program he and the ACLU made to get people talking about marijuana laws (marijuanaconversation.org).

Some local television stations were not willing to air the TV show, though I can't think of a station that hasn't carried entertainment programs in which weed played a part.

I guess it's like sex, which you can display a bit, but not discuss seriously.

Outlawing grass doesn't seem to have the intended effect, assuming the intent is to keep people from using. According to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, more than 83 million Americans older than 12 have used marijuana.

Marijuana production earns billions every year.

Think of what we could do with the taxes on legal marijuana. And we'd save the $7.5 billion a year the nation spends enforcing pot laws.

One of the big raps against pot is the idea that using it leads to using more dangerous drugs.

The other day, I asked a roomful of people about marijuana. One man, an educator, said that when he was in high school in 1972, he had a drug-education class.

The kids were told marijuana was the same as heroin.

The ones who experimented with it found out it wasn't, and some went on to try heroin figuring that since marijuana hadn't done them in and heroin was the same, it wouldn't hurt either. How's that for a gateway effect?

I'm sure arresting people for using pot has a gateway effect. A little time in jail gives a person the opportunity to learn more about other drugs and bigger crimes.

But if marijuana were legal, we could institute some controls and even have serious conversations about it.

I spoke with Steves, who is in Belgium. He said his interest started with "knowing so many people who were closet smokers but couldn't talk about it. I thought, 'What if everybody agreed [it should be decriminalized] but was too afraid to speak out.' "

He figured maybe people would listen to a straight-laced businessman.

Steves is pushing democracy, not pot. It bothers him that Americans shrink from discussing drug laws.

That's a truly sorry image

Nas v. Bill O'Reilly

Nas in the news again? This time, the Queens rapper is calling out multiple media entities and figures in his recently leaked single, "Sly Fox."

What Does Marsellus Wallace Look Like?

So, last night I had to DJ. Just too bad I got the call at 6:23pm and had to be in downtown by 8:00pm. The club was holding dance auditions for some promotions company. So I show up at 7:59 and the doors aren't even open, hmmmm. there was a group of young ladies talking across the street and a couple minutes go by and a photographer shows up, who tells me everyone is on their way. 8:30pm I'm all set up and the manager comes up to me and states that the promoter is taking care of me for the night. Late to hosting his own audition, the promoter shows up and tells me that the manager is paying me for the night.

THIS IS THE BULLSHIT RUN-AROUND DJ'S GET ALOT!

So the promoter goes to have a little chat with the manager, and tells me everything is fine, go start the music. Not like I had to do too much, I just ended up playing Flo-Rida's "Low" about 50 times so the ladies could learn the dance they we're being taught. After the audition I managed to get a little turntable practice in, and the manager did take care of me, but damn, it makes a guy like me wonder, how can a club promoter afford to hire some professinal dancers for some upcoming events, and not be able to break a professional club DJ off with some cash?

I'm not calling out names this time, I have a rule, the 3 stikes of bad business practice.

1.) You fuck up once, you better be sorry and pray that I will work with you again. Down on you knees.
2.) 2nd time, you're on the ho stroll now, my turn to be the pimp. I keep my pimp hand strong for those who try to pimp me.
3.) Good luck working in this town again.

well LA-DI-FUCKING-DA!

I got a blog just like everyone else and damn do I feel special. Not that anyone actually takes the time to read these stupid things anyways. I guess I have come across a few good blogs in my day and will soon post links so you can read other peoples crap too.

I get bored a lot, so check in daily, or ever better rss this shit! Mainline it straight to you deskstop. Soon enough this blog will be the very reason for you existence, and you'd sell your first born just to get another dose.

Don't say I didn't warn you. So as a disclaimer, you will not hold me, the publisher for any dumb shit you do from reading my posts, watching my videos, ect. I'm telling you this now so you will thank me later. Please use common scene and be smart.

Thank you, and welcome to my world, Bitch!