New York, NY (January 6, 2009) - New Jim Jones, remixing Asher Roth’s almost-lead-single, “I Love College.” Prepare to be… perplexed. And coming within the next 30 minutes, the video from Rosenberg talking about how the collab came together. Props to OnSmash for the linkage. Word!
Download: Jim Jones - I Love College (Remix)
New York, NY (January 6, 2009) - Apple Juice Kid shot this over to me today, it’s been getting some burn on BET. I have no words other than: FRESH.
New York, NY (January 5, 2009) - Well, well, well. If it isn’t MTV, once again, slow on the uptake. While the rest of the world is off stuck watching reruns of Real World and being ignorant to the fact MTV used to actually play music videos, a small but dedicated number of people moved on and have, in secret, developed their Internet savvy gene and are finally seeing the faces they enjoyed 8-12 months ago get the shine they do (or don’t, in some cases) deserve on a larger stage.
Here, MTV introduces “them” (I say them because you and I already know, which means “us” in this instance) to B.o.B, Charles Hamilton, Asher Roth, Wale and Kid CuDi. Now, for the uninitiated or those who refused to pay attention, all of these cats have co-signs out the ass and represent 50% of the coverboys on the XXL Freshmen cover from November (or was it December, I forget; it’s been ages in Internet years). In any case, find B.o.B on TI’s latest album with a huge boost from TJ of TJ’s DJ’s; Charles Hamilton is signed to Interscope and got his boost from Jimmy Iovine and DJ Skee (I wonder if he’ll have a certain someone as a guest on his album?); Asher Roth is signed to SRC and has co-signs from pretty much everyone, including Don Cannon and DJ Drama; Wale inked to Mark Ronson’s label earlier this year, and is the first emcee to emerge from the D.C. area (I hear he parties hard, too); and lastly, Kid CuDi, the “is-he-signed-or-is-he-not-signed?” to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music label makes an appearance.
All of these guys had careers that started on the web, and effectively represent the first Netcee generation. Whether they belong solely on the Internet remains up for debate tho. Which is why I ask the question… what do YOU think?
New York, NY (January 5, 2009) - Skyzoo is kicking off 2009 with some new joints and an exclusive Internet show with JamNow.com. Produced by Algorythm, “Bells & Whistles” is the first leak off of Sky’s upcoming mixtape, “The Power of Words” and is some true-school Brooklyn heat! Tune in to JamNow.com/Skyzoo for his upcoming show, this Wednesday, January 7, beginning at 9pm. He’ll be performing both some new and older material, as well as have a sit-down interview. Stream it live and enjoy!
Download: Skyzoo - Bells & Whistles
New York, NY (January 2, 2009) - And one more before I’m off to the mall and dinner with the gf. From The Abstract’s show in Hawaii amidst a driving rain storm, originally spotted at Nahright. I would have loved to been with Loud.com when they were out there for Rock The Bells last year. I suppose I’ll just have to politik some more with Lex about it. Word.
New York, NY (January 2, 2008) - Don’t say that you don’t love music when there’s this much dope shit to go around. FOR FREE. The SAS joint is crack, and Term did his thing for the most part. And I held off posting the Freeway joints until this was gonna drop as a personal preference, but dude got BUSY. Banks and Stat Quo I’m not sold on, but we’ll see what they put together. Props to 2Dopeboyz for the assistisses.
Oh, and if you haven’t already, download the new Idle Warship joint, “Try It On (Howwedoitoverhere).” Yes.
1. Intro
2. QuoCity (Produced by Sultan Beats)
3. It Ain’t Fair
4. In California (Produced by Focus)
5. Get Up Again (Produced by Maliguti)
6. J Newt Speaks
7. Liars (Produced by Trak Dealaz)
8. Intermission (Produced by Billy Drease Williams)
9. Stripper Skit
10. Suck Ma Dick (Produced by Dub Z)
11. Deliver Me (Produced by Lyr1kz)
12. Swaggin’ On The Beat (Produced by Dub Z)
13. Other Niggas (Produced by Dub Z)
14. Inaugurated Skit
15. One
16. The Wind (Produced by Focus)
17. Outro
Download: Stat Quo - QuoCity
01. Eminem Intro / Increase The Gritty
02. New Pu$$y
03. Ice Box
04. Cold Corner
05. On My Way
06. Neighborhood Watch
07. On The Arm
08. What Am I Doing Here
09. My Brothers Keeper
10. The Reason
11. Be That Way Sometimes
12. Good Company
13. Do It For This Block
14. Another Day Another Dollar
Download: Lloyd Banks - The Cold Corner
Download: Strong Arm Steady - Gang Mentality
Download: Termanology - If Heaven Was A Mile Away
01. Month Of Madness (Produced by Phoenotes)
02. Everlast (Produced by Blunt)
03. Count On Free (Produced by Jake One)
04. Look Around (Produced by Tryfe)
05. Gonna Get Mines (Produced by Blunt)
06. I’m Great (Produced by Tryfe)
07. MindState Takeover (Produced by Cardiak)
08. Blauh (Produced by Jake One)
09. Together (Produced by Dilemma)
10. Tell You Something (Produced by Erick Sermon)
11. Movin’ Out (Produced by Phoenotes)
12. Straight Madness (Produced by Cardiak)
13. I Can Deal With It (Produced by Blunt)
14. Really Rough Out Here (Produced by Blunt)
15. Street Music (Produced by Blunt)
16. Start Wildin’ (Produced by Erick Sermon)
17. Doing Anthing (Produced by Dominic McFadden)
18. Get It Started (Produced by The Alchemist)
19. Rap Spitters (Produced by Don Cannon)
20. Diesel (Produced by Needlz)
21. Long Money (Produced by Sapp)
22. Do It To Death (Produced by Tryfe)
23. There You Go (Produced by Don Cannon)
24. For The Better (feat. Neesh) (Produced by Blunt)
25. As I Ever Been (feat. Hezekiah) (Produced by Oddisee)
26. When I Die (feat. James Blunt) (Produced by Oddz-N-Endz)
27. I Wanna Be Free (Produced by Blunt)
28. NP Finest (Produced by Cardiak)
29. Bank Rollz (Produced by Don Cannon)
30. Back For More (Produced by Cardiak)
31. Don’t Tell Me It’s Over (Produced by Blunt)
32. So Cold (feat. Klass) (Produced by Oddz-N-Endz) (Bonus)
New York, NY (January 2, 2009) – Courtesy of The Coolfer. This first one is particularly interesting. For more, visit my new favorite blog, Robin Good’s MasterNewMedia.com. Informative as it is slick.
Sustaining A Fanbase Through Blogs?
The Wall Street Journal overstates the probability of finding a sustainable fan base through music blogs. Each and every year, there are more lottery winners than blog favorites than can retain the buzz for over 12 months. Touring and a record label’s promotion are two underestimated factors in every blogger favorite’s success (feel free to choose your own definition of success).
University P2P Plan Gets Big Vote of No Confidence
Choruss, a proposed non-profit organization that would collect fees from universities while granting the right to download music “without the fear of legal reprisal,” got a harsh vote of no confidence in a ContentAgenda post by Rick Carnes (president of the Songwriters Guild of America) and Chris Castle (managing partner of Christian L. Castle Attorneys).
There are a few holes in the pair’s arguments. For example, previous investments in “legitimate music and video services” should not prevent the adoption of alternative models. What has been spent is in the past and does not necessarily indicate the best path forward (otherwise the best business plan would always be the one with the greatest investment). And Choruss would not disproportionately reward artists backed by the largest marketing budgets. Indie artists are downloaded on P2P and on other “reactive” technologies. The majors would be at no greater advantage.
But overall, the post lays out some shortcomings of Choruss. Without the participation of all rightsholders, Choruss would not be able to provide indemnification to a university or ISP. The Choruss “covenant not to sue” is, as Carnes and Castle wrote, “a nuanced, untested, flimsy, and complex legal strategy” that would leave participants open to legal problems.
Migration From Album To Singles Continues to Kill Music Revenues
Nielsen’s 2008 SoundScan figures were released yesterday and they show greater physical losses, slowing digital gains and a net decline in revenue. In 2008, consumers purchased 88.8 million fewer CDs than they purchased in 2007. That’s a 19.8% drop, far sharper than the declines in previous years. Brick-and-mortar retail continued to cut shelf space. Retailers staggered from the worsening financial climate. People continued to adopt digital music — which often means buying individual tracks instead of albums.
Labels Eyeing Hulu for New Video Partnership
Labels are in talks with Hulu that could result in a new music video destination. “Representatives of two music companies, who would not be named, said they were in discussions with Hulu, adding that no partnership announcement was imminent but that the site appeared to be the favoured partner. ‘If it happens at all it will be with Hulu,’ one said. Both added, however, that any such deal to create a standalone music video service would not replace existing deals with YouTube, and that there was interest in supplying content for a potential premium service on YouTube, which has begun to offer high definition videos.”
Rumors of Facebook + Lala Continue…
Facebook wants to let its users freely listen to and share music - and it’s considering a partnership with music site Lala to help it do so, industry sources tell us. Lala’s model, though, doesn’t exactly fit what Facebook has had in mind. Facebook originally envisioned offering unlimited streaming music to its users, comparable to MySpace Music - and Lala doesn’t provide that. Instead, the service lets you listen to a song for free once, then choose to buy it or otherwise listen to a 30-second clip.
Questions loom about licensing, streaming and other partnerships. For its part, Facebook responded to my query about this article with the following: “We don’t have more to add than what we’ve said previously. Clearly, the music vertical is an edge case with a lot of complexity around rights and licensing. And music is an area where it would make sense to partner with a company that can bring relevant expetise to deliver an experience to Facebook users that we cannot. We’re not going to confirm discussions with specific companies, but we will continue to explore the various options.”
So nothing’s decided. Lala may drop out, a new partner may rise, or Facebook may decide to build a music service on its own - or kill the project entirely.
New York, NY (January 2, 2009) - Something dope here from Billboard. Slick Rick clocks in at #24, Michael Jackson at #15, both as part of the GTA series. Outside of NIN and “Quake,” it seems there’s only a few games that actually employ non-original songs, as GTA, Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk dominate this countdown, though. Check out the extreme typo on #1, tho. Not sure how you confuse Rage with James Brown, but uh… yeah. From Jeff Vrabel at Billboard:
…It’s not hyperbole to say that as today, as of this very minute, the recent crop of games may be helping saving rock n’ roll, if not all of music. Suddenly, 10-year-olds know who Thin Lizzy and Mountain (!) are, suddenly Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” can be heard sung aloud in high-school cafeteria lines. Those wondering how crucial the connection between music and gaming has become need only really know two things: Lars Ulrich is making his music downloadable to “Rock Band” franchise, and that the same series will be home to the first new official Guns N’ Roses song in 78 years.
As such, we humbly present this admittedly subjective survey of the best video game songs. For the purposes of this article, that means actual, real-live songs, not the boss-battle music from level 5 of “Ninja Gaiden,” or the “Fever” music from “Dr. Mario.” No covers, no instrumentals, no MIDI versions on the NES. The songs here were picked not only because they’re awesome in their own right, but also because they somehow augment or accentuate game play in a way that an anonymous shreddy instrumental couldn’t.
#13 - “My Adidas” by Run-DMC
Hip-hop used to be able to pull off so much with so little; with little more than a snare button and some occasional effects, Run-D.M.C. brought the noise and hit No. 5 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in 1986 rapping about the shoes they “like to wear when [they] rock the mic.”
New York, NY (January 2, 2009) - I believe this was recorded in Vlad’s office/studio. Serius went in, Sky we want more!
New York, NY (January, 2, 2009) - Some familiar faces that owe at least the beginning of their careers to friendly blogs and the Internets. SRC Records’ Asher Roth is on the list, as well as the homies Emilio Rojas and Donny Goines. Props to the rest! JumpTheTurnstyle.com’s Top Blog Rappers of 2008
New York, NY (January 2, 2008) - Words by Lola P. Great sit down interview with Bobby Ray. Click here for the whole story:
TSS: Let me just rewind back to when you were younger before talking about the now. Even though your popularity grew exponentially in the past year, you are not a new artist. You have been making music…your own music since you were younger. Matter of fact you sold a beat when you were 14 years old. Why did it take so long for you to breakthrough? Or was it just about timing?
B.o.B.: It took so long for me to break through because I’m not really a conformist type of person. I’m not really looking to perform or fit in. It wasn’t that I was trying to be different, but over the years I have been slowly what I could be. It’s crazy because I used to be an engineer and people used to come over the house and record. The hype would be all about them and then eventually people starting taking more and more notice of the music I was making. Then I set out to just be B.O.B. and I performed at an open mic one night, slowly branding myself. People got to know me more and not just what I do in the industry.
TSS: What is your brand? Is there another way to describe you…besides exceptional?
B.o.B.: (Laughing) I leave the door open so that I can do a lot of things. Like with the “AutoTune” video. I want to do different things; whether it’s comical or serious or whatever it may be. I just want to be me, and I don’t want to limit it to just music.
TSS: In your latest song “I’ll Be In The Sky” you say “Nowadays folk would rather rap than go to school/cause they feel that if they black they gotta have it too.” It’s a real quote. A lot of people start rapping because of the stereotype of what rappers should be. How did you know rapping or making music was more for you than school or any other profession?
B.o.B.: School is not designed for the thinking…Wait, let me rephrase that. I just knew what i wanted to do…(both laughing) and I just knew that school was definitely not the road I wanted to go down in order to do that. I express myself…my intelligence creatively. I could have done math and algebra; I understood it well, but it was boring as hell to me. I couldn’t see myself spending the rest of my life with numbers. I’m going so deep in life in doing music and understanding the art of it all. I got to a fork in the road where I had to decide between music and school, and didn’t hesitate to chose music.
For some more entertainment courtesy of TSS, check out their series with former Loud.com Finalist Curren$y and North Tower Media called (appropriately): Mythblazers. Here’s Episode 1 and Episode 2.
New York, NY (December 30, 2008) - As we get ready to ring in 2009, it’s only right that there’s about a million and one wrap-up lists. There’s really only one I’m waiting for, though. And while I’m not sure WHEN it’s going to drop… I’ll be checking back.
UPDATE: Ahh, yes, the man came thru. While I was out DJing, Skillz dropped his 2008 Wrap-Up. Much needed, much appreciated sir! Check the DL’s… nearly 50,000. Too bad the freeloaders didn’t scoop “Million Dollar Backpack” in those kinds of numbers. SMH.
Allhiphop - Who Took the Biggest L?
AHH checks in with a few celebrity rapper personalities and gets their input on who had the biggest fail in 2008. The usual suspects mention the usual things. How… lame.
Smoking Section - Worst Albums
Oh, man, the homie TC went IN. I disagree on the Murs inclusion, and a few others I’m on the fence about (I understand the Weezy phenomenon, but son is garbage!!!!). But he hit the nail on the head in the range of 95-98% on this one. I’m diggin the writing style too. A little bit of snark is good for the soul.
The god Henry Adaso offers his insight on some of the BEST albums of the year. As coincidence and differing opinions might have it, a number of his albums are included on TC’s list, which, in a perfect world, would make for a nice discussion. Hip-hop needs more open dialog about the music. Fucka bruised ego.
Hottest Hip-Hop of 2008 - DJ Nak (the mainstream version)
[2008] Rap | Hip-Hop Collection
Hottest Hip-Hop of 2008 - DJ Skee (the less mainstream version)
This list was posted in August, and I’m sure will see 50 Cent tumble down the list, as his musical ventures have been, uh, woefully misplaced, by his constituents. What does that mean? Who knows. But you can see the Forbes remix for “I Get Money” as an example. Infer what you will.
The digital giant offered up some of it’s top sellers for this year. Click the above link to check out all of their Top Sellers for 2008. Nice to see The Roots on the list!!
New York, NY (December 30, 2008) - This is almost the official version. Ripped from the radio, off the upcoming, soon-to-be-leaked (around the movie, most likely) demo that supposedly got Biggie signed. Can not wait to hear that shit…
Download: Notorious B.I.G. - Microphone Murderer
New York, NY (December 30, 2008) - Props to OnSmash. Peep the link to see the rest, I’m about to skate out of Richmond back up to Jersey. Featuring A. Pinks, Emilio Rojas, Donny Goines, Che Grand, Gata, David Rush, Goods and Murda Mook also hosted by AG aka The Voice of Harlem! Holler.
New York, NY (December 30, 2008) - I can’t believe we’ve been lied to this whole time! An article in the UK Telegraph, citing research by American professor Ferenc Szasz, asserts that the centuries’ old Scottish tradition of “flyting,” where poets would engage in hurling dirty insults back and forth in rhyme form, was the true precursor to battle rap.
…According to the theory, Scottish slave owners took the tradition with them to the United States, where it was adopted and developed by slaves, emerging many years later as rap.
The most famous surviving example of flyting comes from a 16th-century piece in which two rival poets hurl increasingly obscene rhyming insults at one another before the Court of King James IV. Titled “The Flyting Of Dunbar And Kennedy,” it has been described by academics as “just over 500 lines of filth”.
Professor Szasz cites an American civil war poem, printed in the New York Vanity Fair magazine on November 9, 1861, as the first recorded example of the battles being used in the United States.
Professor Willie Ruff, of Yale University, agreed that Scottish slave owners had a profound impact on the development of African American music traditions. Comparing flyting and rap battles, he said: “Two people engage in ritual verbal duelling and the winner has the last word in the argument, with the loser falling conspicuously silent.”
Word? I’m not denying that the link could exist. It’s certainly possible. And while the culture of hip-hop and Scottish poets in the 1500’s are undoubtedly different, the influence upon slaves at the time could have very well meshed with their own African culture and been passed on. However, until further proof arrives that a flyting occurred between the 100+ years that Vanity Fair article was published and Kool Moe Dee v. Busy Bee, looking and sounding like a real rap battle… I think the Bronx still wins. NYMag and a few others on the coverage.
New York, NY (December 30, 2008) - Ahh. The sound of incredible hip-hop has arrived. Indulge at your own risk. You might become a fan. Props to Silvaboombaye for coming thru with this gem. This an unofficial compilation, but none-the-less… don’t sleep. And… in case you didn’t notice… one of our Loud.com Finalists is included.
Download: Brother Ali - The Rope-A-Dope
New York, NY (December 30, 2008) - …in Rosenberg’s living room. He could start a little series on some Wayne’s World shit. Although the creepy factor of random emcees coming thru your living space might be a little much. This, however, is fresh!
New York, NY (December 30, 2008) - New Watts for the hungry out there. Included a little video promo, too. The track, he says, was inspired by the movie “Juno,” which I never saw but heard was excellent. “The Gray Area” aims to capture “the sarcastic humor that occasionally arises out of the male/female relationship.” Ahh, yes. That. Let us give a listen. Produced by Golden Child, in case you were wondering.
Download: J.A.M.E.S. Watts - The Gray Area
New York, NY (December 29, 2008) - Latest walking commentary and shout outs from Soul Purpose emcee Mazzi. I was at two of those shows aha. Holler!
New York, NY (December 27, 2008) - Each of the contestants got their tracks played on multiple radio stations… some overseas, some via the Internets, all of them got on major radio. Two of them didn’t, however, and one of them had to go home. Watch below to find out who got cut. Loud.com Season 2 rolls on!