New York, NY (November 19, 2008) - These types of conversations might be considered once in a lifetime, at least for a fan like myself.
Clark reaches into the Godfather bag for a minute in Part 3 and gets to discussing the performance skills of folks like Talib Kweli and Kardinal Offishall, revealing who the greatest West Coast rappers and emcees are and why any rapper would be kidding themselves if they thought they made a better album than Slick Rick. He also co-signs a dude you might be familiar with right now… the homie Curt@!n$.
Part 4 is all about emceeing and who does it best. Superman fleshes out his rationale behind tabbing Jay-Z as the No. 1 emcee and Biggie as the No. 1 rapper, the difference between emceeing and rapping, where Eminem and Andre 3000 fit in, and why everyone nowadays thinks they can rap.
New York, NY (November 20, 2008) - Courtesy of Shake & Meka. I was supposed to be at this event, but Pop was in town and we grabbed some dinner over at Frankie & Johnny’s. For all you steak lovers, that is the spot. La familia > all, anyways. It’s an Italian thing. Expect to see some more Jon Hope on the site though, dude is grindin. Be watchin for that Sha Stimuli blog today, too.
Download the Obama mix of “Destined To Shine” here and Statik Selektah’s “Stick To The Script” album version here.
New York, NY (November 18, 2008) - Dante Ross again comin through with the footage. Here in Part 1, we got three tracks from Devin, live from his show at Highline Ballroom (would he perform anywhere else?) in NY last night. Check out “Blow Some Weed,” “Lacville 79,” and “She Wants That Money.” Score.
New York, NY (November 18, 2008) - R&B’s next sensation Shontelle brings her radio smash “T-Shirt” and the bubbling dedication to Obama “Battle Cry” to the masses with her new album, “Shontelligence,” in stores today. Get over to iTunes and cop it today! Below are some pictures of a recent showcase with candid shots from Steve Rifkind, Shontelle, DJ Cassidy and a few other heavy hitters.
New York, NY (November 18, 2008) - In the age of the Internet, it seems like more factoids and information are being crammed into increasingly smaller venues and permutations. Everyone’s favorite ‘what are you doing right now in 10 words or less” site Twitter has now spawned a similar music review version called Musebin. Musebin basically wants to become the twitter of music reviews sites. The site’s format is really simple. Anyone can upload an album review, but only in the form of a 140 characters or less single line, which is very similar to Twitter’s format. People can then vote either yay or nay for each review, and the most popular reviews stay at the top of the site, and the shoddy ones fall to the bottom. It’s a very simple structure that couldn’t be less confusing; its success will really be determined on how necessary / effective people find this style of reviews.
Musebin’s launch is also partially in response to the overly wordy music critique blogs that have become really predominant over the last few years, as shown in this quote from Musebin CEO Greg Galant: “Blogs have kind of killed the editor. It used to be that anything that was written would be edited by people who read [the style guide] Strunk & White…. Blogs came along with no limit, and anyone could write anything. I think music reviews — which were already kind of long-winded — maybe got a little bit worse. You’re going to talk about some experience that happened to you in high school, and this and that. [We want to] capture the essence of an album so someone knows whether or not they should listen to it.”
Its interesting that Galant sees Musebin as almost a retaliatory method to drawn out blog entries, but do you fix their long winded nature by concentrating them down to basically a sentence or two? I definitely understand what he’s referring to; sites such as the infamous Pitchfork definitely have started a trend of almost Ivy League style reviews where you almost have to have a dictionary nearby just to get through the intro. Sites like Pitchfork take it too far some times, but there’s definitely a middle ground between their dissertations and trying to explain what E-40’s new album accomplishes sonically in a single sentence. The Internet repeatedly tries to cram massive amounts of information into a space that can barely fit whatever micro-servers Twitter runs their warehouse off of.
There must be something to the idea of Twitter though; they’re currently at a million users and counting, so it definitely has a unique functionality other programs lack, but do these unique ideas translate to music reviews? Even if someone is having a conversation with you about a new album, it’s still hard to convey a full-fledged idea of how you feel in one sentence, and that’s just in a casual conversation. To sit down and pick exactly 140 characters that perfectly sums up a record is actually a lot harder then casually writing about the different components. It’s almost like speech writing where absolutely every last word has to hit a certain note, or transition seamlessly to the next concept. Musebin definitely has potential to blow up, especially with the precedent set by Twitter, but it’ll be interesting to see to what extent people really need music reviews that can fit in the palm of their flash drive.
New York, NY (November 18, 2008) - Props to Synthtopia for the video assist. FYI, the first buyer of the collection on eBay turned out to be a fraud.
Hip-hop is probably one of the only genres in modern music that still has a relationship with records. Records… you know, those UFO shaped pieces of vinyl that people used to use for music listening? Yeah, hip-hop actually still has love for vinyl, whether it’s the mixtape DJ who’s been spinning for years, or the diligent producer digging in the dusty record shops for a perfect sample.
Anyone that has any love for vinyl probably owes at least a little bit of it to Paul Mawhinney, owner of the world’s largest record collection, the 3 million strong RecordRama Archive located in Pittsburgh. Mawhinney started collecting in 1951 at the age of 12 and hasn’t stopped since; he’s devoted his entire life to acquiring every recording issued in the U.S. He also ran a RecordRama store for 40 years until it closed in February, and now he’s putting his entire $50 million dollar collection up for sale at the closeout price of $3 million, mostly because the economy is scaring him. More then anything else though, Mawhinney wants to find a single venue for his collection to prolong his legacy: “My goal is to find a home for the history of music,” the 69-year old Pittsburgh native says.
His archive actually began in 1968 when he opened a 16,800 square foot warehouse when his collection was only at 160,000 records. In the mid-70s he actually started cataloguing his music on computer, which at the time, was an idea that was light years ahead of any of his peers. “I created the Music Master database, which is the largest database in the field of popular music,” he explains. You can search for a track or keyword in the electronic database, and it’ll direct you to the record’s exact location on the shelf.
A real interesting aspect of Mawhinney’s collection is that 87% of the music can’t be found on the Internet, as determined in a study by the Library of Congress. This fact alone should make any hip-hop producer salivate just anticipating the endless rare gems Mawhinney has tucked away in his stash. On top of that, he’s literally had an effect on rock history. He single-handedly pressured RCA to re-release David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” to radio stations after it sat stagnate in their vaults for three years. Another amazing contribution Mawhinney has made is providing masters for record companies that want to reissue rare albums. “The manufacturers still don’t even understand what I did,” he says. “They don’t even have their own records. RCA, Columbia, Rhino — when they want to reissue a CD, they’ve come to me to get a master. Nobody was organized like I was.”
It’s also no surprise that Mawhinney opposes the big franchise stores like Walmart and Best Buy because of their low prices on music versus their independent competition. He makes a really good point in that the industry is partially responsible for its current state by cutting deals with the big distributors that eventually put the indie stores out of business; they couldn’t match their prices. Especially in 2008, it’s easy to forget people used to almost exclusively buy music from Mom & Pop stores instead of the behemoths that now occupy every street corner and strip mall.
It’s really cool to see there are still guys out there like Mawhinney who seem to really care about the preservation of music culture versus the possibility of monetary gains. “I think that saving my collection is going to have a real wonderfulness in 20 or 30 years,” he says. “If this collection gets broken up and sold as crap, everybody loses big time.” Its amazing that someone who humbly started an archive in the bedroom of their own home now has an organization like the Library of Congress contacting them for possible inclusion; that is, of course, if they can pony up the funds. “Every curator has wanted my collection there for the last 25 years,” he says. “But they don’t want to pay.” Is $3 million dollars for a copy of every record ever released in America really too much to ask?
New York, NY (November 17, 2008) - In response to the recent complaints about voting and questions into the methodology behind the way SRC and Loud.com chooses it’s finalists, VP of SRC Dante Ross takes a few minutes to clear things up. Hopefully, this will put an end to the chatter and can be understood as a message that myself, Loud.com and all the SRC staff in a position to see this contest succeed are committed to keeping an open dialog with our users and community about all concerns and questions.
Thanks again for riding with Loud.com. We always appreciate our members regardless of what their opinions of us are, and I say it all the time: at the end of the day, this site exists as a service for all unsigned, independent artists to develop a community of believers in their music and art. Handle yourself accordingly and good things will happen. Peace.
New York, NY (November 17, 2008) - The Internet has created so many different ways to listen to music, that it was only a matter of time before someone came around and offered a new service plan that actually seems to benefit the user more than anyone else. Datz Music Lounge is a site recently launched in the UK that’s attempting to become the premier one-stop shop for music by offering downloads of its entire catalog for a one time yearly fee of £99.99 (which translates to roughly $162). Datz also offers a pay-per-track option, but their one-time subscription fee definitely seems to be the best deal for the savvy customer.
The thing that separates Datz from other subscription based services is that there’s absolutely no catch. You can download any amount of their DRM-free MP3s from their current catalogue of 1,382,671 songs (and counting) and keep them forever, with no questions asked. You get to keep everything you download, and your subscription lasts 12 months from your signup date.
This is a really interesting fiscal model considering almost every other MP3 site usually offers a combination of these services, instead of all of them under a single site. Commonly, Rhapsody boast a huge catalogue weighted by a subscription service, but you never get to actually keep any of the files; Itunes lets you own any files you purchase, but its specifically on a pay-per-track basis, which could easily get as expensive as Datz’s yearly fee very quickly. Datz Music Lounge seems to offer the best aspects of the most popular services by combing a massive database with the consistency that comes with a subscription service.
The one downside of Datz is that the site’s layout isn’t the most conducive for easily finding what you’re looking for. It’s the type of site that’s perfect for someone who already has a vast knowledge of music, but for the more inexperienced user who likes to browse, Itunes is probably still a more suitable environment. Not that Datz isn’t easy to use, its just their content isn’t organized in a way that makes it easy to discover new music.
To browse by genre, for example, only brings up a list of songs, albums, and artists that loosely apply, instead of grouping them by popularity or a similar style or content, even. On their homepage, there’s definitely real estate for featured albums and featured singles, but anything slightly obscure might take a little effort to uncover. You could almost compare to it to a slightly disorganized record store with a lazy clerk; it will take you a little more time to find exactly what you want. Its also really interesting that major labels EMI, Warner Music, and the huge indie label Beggars Group have all already signed on to be part of Datz’s database, which is probably the main reason they’re nearing 1.5 million files.
It’s only a matter of time before other majors and indie labels hop on Datz’s all-encompassing sprawling site. Once their database even starts to near Itunes’ numbers, they could really become competition because of their anything-goes policy that really seems to give the user the most value for their dollar.
New York, NY (November 17, 2008) - VP of SRC Records Dante Ross was out and about at the Woodies and he snuck a camera into the spot to capture this set with Asher Roth performing a snippet of “I Love College” and The Cool Kids spitting bars from “Delivery Man.” Peep the stage dive.
New York, NY (November 17, 2008) - Well, he’s working hard and people are starting to know his name. The kid has a video that’s up for rotation on mtvU, so if you’re a fan or just want to support indie hip-hop, get over to this link and vote for his new joint, “I Am Moving,” directed by Don Hankins, the next single off of his upcoming album, “Minute After Midnight.” It will be showing now until November 28th.
New York, NY (November 14, 2008) - In anticipation of his new record, “808’s & Heartbreak,” it seems there’s been a deluge of Kanye West appearances in the media, both positive and negative. Maybe the deluge is always running and it’s only now more apparent because he’s got an album coming out, but either way, if you’re a fan or a hater, there were a few articles floating around this week that should satiate your appetite for the biggest ego on Earth. Maybe I’m alone here, but I’ve pretty much OD’d.
In this article, Kanye calls himself the voice of a generation, something akin to Michael Jordan. Maybe. But here’s my question: Can you really be the voice of a generation just because YOU say you are? I know he’s not my voice, and in all likelihood, he’s not your voice, either. And I can speak confidently that there are many other more important voices that people have gravitated to since “Blueprint” put him on the map, and even more, in my lifetime.
Maybe I’m not sure what “Voice of This Generation” is supposed to mean? Did the Beatles actively call themselves that? Or did they wait until a writer or commentator did it for them before acknowledging it? I have no shrine built to Kanye West in my apartment; and I don’t look to his music to guide me through the down times or lift me higher during the good ones. In fact, he’s probably the last person I’d go to for that. I dunno, when someone SUGGESTS to me that they are the voice of my generation… I’d probably have to tell them to shut the fuck up.
Fader: great magazine; stylish; cool stories; ahead of the curve. A great rag to even be associated with. So… what’s the problem? I don’t know. It’s a picture dude posed for. I’ve seen a lot worse from Ye and many other celebs. Shit, if this is bad, I’ve taken atrociously awful photos then. When was the last time anyone, celeb or scrub, took a nostril shot that came out good, though? I mean, c’mon; I get it. But… really?
From everything I’ve heard from people that have worked on Ye’s concerts, if homie doesn’t like something, he’s not afraid to let you know right then and there. And I can’t imagine that a person with that sort of personality, coupled with his star power, would even take this sort of picture if he or she didn’t approve of it first; and if he or she DID agree to take it, they would at least demand to see the results before they were broadcast to the entire world. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but there are some artists who would kill for that type of exposure. I can think of a few on this particular site.
Having to endure the loss of his mother, I understand where these comments come from. It’s a hardship that can shape the rest of your life, having a loved one taken so suddenly. And let’s face it: everyone is looking for love, at least at some point in their lives. Some people are lucky to find it; some never will. If they do stumble upon it, though, a good number of fairly intelligent folks have blindly pushed it aside for material or personal pursuits when the demands became too great. Others keep it close, but are keen on abusing it more than embracing it.
Whatever you do with love, though, it’s a tough thing to find at all, and when it is finally found, realizing the impact it can have on your life takes awhile. Which is why a lot of people remain unhappy; even when they’re IN love. Your chances of meeting the person you’re going to be with are highest when it’s through someone that you trust. It’s not likely she’s going to be in gold paint, though. Again… just sayin.
I’m not trying to hate on the dude, but I’ve seen him be whisked out of the Knitting Factory in NYC without so much as being touched. In a hallway about 3 feet wide. Into a waiting car that had the engine running and about 300 screaming kids around it, all with picture phones, video cameras and dirty hands. In about 60 seconds flat. The physics were actually pretty astonishing. Which leads me to my question: how can he escape unscathed from a place like that, yet, at a posh nightclub with security and a spacious exit surrounding him, manage to mush a photog’s camera, who was likely behind a velvet rope, that is solely there to give him more publicity? Smh.
Epilogue:
Look, I’m not trying to bash the dude. He’s achieved a lot in a short time. And he’s worked hard for it, without a doubt. And I won’t lie, I’ve danced to his songs; there’s been many times where the words have been stuck in my head. “Gold Digger” is a great party song and “Stronger” is a work of genius. I got chills the first time I heard “Through The Wire.” And it’s human nature that EVERYONE will make mistakes or be hypocrites or say things in the heat of the moment that have other people perceiving them a different way than is intended. It happens to me daily. And probably to everyone reading this. That’s really the best thing about Kanye: he is unabashedly exposed at all times (pause) and doesn’t seem to mind.
However, it’s when those moments are overshadowed by a non-stop ego-trip, set inside the life he lives, peppered with an attitude like the world owes him something… I have to draw the line. I can’t get down with people like that on a personal level, regardless of inner-demons or circumstances I may not fully understand or the dopeness of the instrumentals they make. It just doesn’t process. Sort of like when he says we’re not allowed to feel sorry for him because he did a Louis Vuitton ad, right? Ok, but… what if I could give a fuck about a Louis Vuitton ad in the first place? What then?
I dunno, I guess you can just call me the silent scream of the minority. In the background, doing my best not to pay attention to the noise. Hoping things will eventually fade to black, but still loving the culture despite the bright lights. At least until cardiac arrest takes over.
New York, NY (November 16, 2008) - Over at Knitting Factory. Great line-up including the homies Majesty, Hasaan Salaam, hosted by Sucio Smash. Get your drink on. Possibly your smoke on. The rest I leave up to you.
New York, NY (November 16, 2008) - Spotted on that Nah Right Lite section. This one comes from Unkut and asks the yearly question: Blogs or Magazines?
Portability - It’s kinda hard to read blogs on the can, unless you want to risk dropping your iPhone into the john.
Winner: Magazines.
Affordability - Free = the price is right. Although when you add up the cost of your laptop and internet connection, it’s a tough call.
Winner: Blogs.
Photography - Google image search stays losing.
Winner: Magazines.
Audio - A free CD tacked to the front is always nice, but it doesn’t exactly compare to being able to download the latest Blaq Poet banger.
Winner: Blogs.
I say yearly, because, as the number of magazines going under continues to climb, the validation of blogs and free media gains credibility. But does it? Personally, I’m always going to favor a magazine or newspaper’s opinion more than a bloggers. Why? Because writing is a craft that takes time to perfect and blogging merely takes time. Perhaps it’s ingrained into my head from journalism school that hard copies offer a more authoritative opinion and tangible facts than a blog; but that of, course, begs the question: What if someone like Mike Lupica started his own Sports Blog and was no longer affiliated with The New York Times… would that make him any less credible?
No, it wouldn’t, but he’s established his credibility through years of toiling in newspaper ink, mixing it up with the people on the ground and field, asking the tough questions and being an asshole. Bloggers, for the most part, are armchair reporters. For me, unless your voice is as dirty as your hands, I can’t take your pristine keyboard for what it’s telling me.
New York, NY (November 16, 2008) – Spotted this over at Miss Info’s last night, meant to get it up after the Lesnar/Couture debacle. Yeah, I’m still pissed about it. Old man was winning the fight before that cheap behind-the-ear shot.
Anyways, this makes some amends and scores one for the old school heads in retribution. I saw BDK at the BK Hip-Hop Festival a few years back and was truly blown away by how he owned the crowd. Having a limited appreciated for the god up until that point, I was truly made a believer that night. If you’ve never seen him rock a show, let it be known: Ain’t No Half-Steppin. Dude goes in. Below is the proof:
New York, NY (November 16, 2008) – Having landed a fulltime gig as Jimmy Fallon’s band when duke takes over for the god Conan O’Brien in March of 2009, the almighty Roots crew will take an extended break from their exhaustive touring schedule, effective immediately. However, ?uestlove explains to OkayPlayer that it’s not as bad as it sounds.
New York, NY (November 14, 2008) – Couture vs. Lesnar, Stevenson vs. Florian. Great night of fighting. Peep the UFC’s remix of 50’s “Get Up” below. I’m picking The Natural in Round 4 via armbar in a back and forth battle, while Florian matches Stevenson in a jiu jitsu clinic and comes up with a TKO via strikes, late in Round 2. No way either of these fights go the distance. For more on the UFC 91, get over to Sherdog.com.
New York, NY (November 14, 2008) – Ahh, the Shiny Suit era. In tribute to the very first CD single I ever bought, here’s a little Ma$e and Puff Daddy for that ass. Aha.
New York, NY (November 14, 2008) – In the final portions of our convo, Bobby talks in Part 4 about the method of breaking records, his own personal style, how he broke Jim Jones’ “Certified Gangster” and the secret behind the now legendary story of how Flex broke “Hate Me Now” on Hot 97. In Part 5, he opens up about his Favorite DJing experience at Envy nightclub, the night the club closed and he went in for the hardest five minutes of his life. Woven into the story is midgets giving head, games of Dodge Bottle and grown men hanging off exposed pipes. Incredible!!
New York, NY (November 14, 2008) – A crazy 13-minute cipher with a few other surprise guests mixed in. Props to DJ Semtex for liberating this, Nahright on the look.
New York, NY (November 13, 2008) - With auditions closed and the field selected, the next Faces In The Crowd is set for December 9th at Rebel in NYC. We’ll have a feature with Reality and his partner Chalant coming soon, and will of course have footage of the show. Guest artists are Cory Gunz, Teyana Taylor and Squareoff. Music by DJ Llama, doors go off at 8pm.
Its interesting that Galant sees Musebin as almost a retaliatory method to drawn out blog entries, but do you fix their long winded nature by concentrating them down to basically a sentence or two? I definitely understand what he’s referring to; sites such as the infamous Pitchfork definitely have started a trend of almost Ivy League style reviews where you almost have to have a dictionary nearby just to get through the intro. Sites like Pitchfork take it too far some times, but there’s definitely a middle ground between their dissertations and trying to explain what E-40’s new album accomplishes sonically in a single sentence. The Internet repeatedly tries to cram massive amounts of information into a space that can barely fit whatever micro-servers Twitter runs their warehouse off of.
