Whoa! You guys need to check this post off of okayplayer.com. I'm skeptical, but it's a cool thought none the less: As someone who was fortunate enough to have worked in radio, advertising and the music industry I strongly believe you need to read the following: First of all I want you to understand I¡¦m not a hater or someone with an agenda other than opening your minds to your power as music lovers. I¡¦m sure those of you have noticed the downward spiral music radio has taken over the past few years. It all started when Emmis Communications decided to try an experiment which was to change the format of their New York and Los Angeles radio stations Hot 97 and Power 106 from Latin dance music to the Hip Hop & R&B format today. This became a revolution, which have spread over to their competitor Clear Channel, and others to become URBAN POP Stations. Now I¡¦m going to explain to you how hip-hop and R&B records are played on these stations. Unless you are a hermit I¡¦m sure all of you have heard of DJ FunkMaster Flex who spins 5 Nights a week on New York¡¦s Hot 97. He is also the owner of Franchise Marketing and Big Dawg Record Pool. Franchise Marketing is a music promotion company that gets paid by labels like Bad Boy, Def Jam, Ruff Ryder, Rock-A-Fella, Murder Inc, Cash Money, Arista, J, Universal and No Limit to promote records to Radio DJs like FunkMaster Flex and his crew of 25 radio DJs to convince them that a record is hot. Big Dawg record pool is similar to Franchise but its really an non-profit organization that services it¡¦s members of Radio, Club & Mobile DJ¡¦s records from the labels before mentioned. This Record Pool also has a promotions department that influences their members to report to several chart publications like Billboard, Hits, Gavin, FMQB, BRE & DMR. The United States Federal Government has a law called payola which simply means that it¡¦s highly illegal for a Radio DJ, Programmer or Radio Station to play records that have been paid for by a record company, manager, producer or artist. If you¡¦re like myself and listen to DJ FunkMaster Flex show you¡¦d realize that he¡¦ll play the same record over and over proclaiming how hot the record is. If you were to research the hot record he¡¦s so excited about then you¡¦d find out that this record has been presented to him by Franchise Marketing. This means DJ FunkMaster Flex is breaking a FEDERAL LAW and could be imprisoned like four of his former clients for 25 Years. How I know this is because I infiltrated his organization and collected enough evidence to put him and 25 other famous Radio DJ¡¦s away for a very long time. Now why would I do such a thing is because I am a patriot of the hip-hop nation and Mr. Aston Taylor (FunkMaster Flex) is a traitor to us all. If you are an intelligent person you¡¦d realize how powerful hip-hop is. Thanks to hip-hop people of all walks of life have come together and come to recognize who our oppressors are. This an open declaration of war against payola because I want FunkMaster Flex to use his limited power for good by opening his playlists to great hip-hop artists like the following: „h The Roots „h Common „h Q-tip „h Talib Kweli „h Dilated Peoples „h Peoples Under The Stairs „h Pete Rock „h Black Eyed Peas „h De La Soul „h Spooks „h 4th Avenue Jones „h Defari „h El The Sensei „h Life Savas „h Blackalicous „h Lexicon „h Mr. Lif „h Mos Def „h Nova Cain „h Phil Da Agony „h Rip Shop „h E.Dot „h Math The Designer „h Edan „h Tunnel Ratz „h Slum Village „h Marley Marl „h Mr. Complex „h J-Live „h Five Deez „h Public Enemy „h KRS-One „h Lyrics Born „h Jean Grae „h Tre Hardison And other hip artists who are make great hip-hop music. FunkMaster Flex has 20 hours a week of airtime for his show. I strongly suggest that he and his DJs remind themselves of why they became Hip-Hop DJ¡¦s in the first place. What I want you to do is call his show at 1.800.523.9797 and tell him about this post. Because I promise this is not a threat if he don¡¦t open his playlist with 60 days I will go before an U.S. Senate panel and testify against him and others within the music industry. I will also turn over all of my evidence to The New York Times and all of the major news organization. Fight the Power! http://www.okayplayer.com/dcforum/general1/21313.html
Well, regardless of how many times this guy has read The Illuminatis Trilogy, it's pretty much the truth, though it doesn't just apply to hip-hop. I'm not sure how "illegal" any of this can be- and even if it is, i don't see how Clear Channel's massive lobbying force will fail to make sure everything stays the way they like it. Really, this isn't any sort of relevation- this is just the way the business works. I mean, you all do know hip-hop's meteoric rise in the late eighties had a lot more to do with economics than music, right? Basically, record companies noticed that it was much cheaper to produce rap albums than rock albums and flooded the market with them as they represented a better risk/return ratio. So, one could argue that the music establishments "evilness" provided an ideal incubator for hip-hop. But I wouldn't choose to do so myself.
Yeah, I don't see anything coming of it either. And it's not any new information regarding payola. But it could be fun to watch.
New Erykah Badu video featuring Common: - Lower Speeds - Windows Media: http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/mca...y_life_withfilmftg/00_love-of-my-life_160.asx Real Video: http://boss.streamos.com/real/mcare...y_life_withfilmftg/00_love-of-my-life_160.ram - Higher Speeds - Windows Media: http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/mca..._life_withfilmftg/300_love-of-my-life_320.asx Real Video: http://boss.streamos.com/real/mcare...y_life_withfilmftg/00_love-of-my-life_320.ram And the new Common song: http://www.mcarecords.com/artistDow...me=Common&artistid=231&title=I+Got+A+Right+Ta The Badu video is nice. I love that girl! The new Common song is....ehhh. Not my cup of tea.
CD's I've gotten recently: DJ Jazzy Jeff - "The Magnificent" Slum Village - "Trinity" Jazzanova - "In Between" Djinji Brown - "Sirround Sound" All four are quality. I still need to listen to them more to give a final impression. But first impressions: Jazzy Jeff - Quality album. It's more an A Touch of Jazz album that Jeff, per se. And you pretty much probably have an idea what you're getting already with ATOJ. I'd describe their sound as a cleaner, slightly more radio-friendly version of the Soulquarians (?uest, Jay Dee, Poyser, et al). Some decent guests and some pretty much unknown Philly emcees. Two J-Live cuts (although "Charmed Life" was on All The Above) so that makes me happy. I was disappointed with the Jill Scott song. It's spoken word...they need to let Jilly do some singing! Plus they re-work Roy Ayers' "We Live In Brooklyn, Baby", joining the ranks of Digable Planets, Smiff-N-Wessun and Mos Def (and probably others) in reworking that song (enough is enough!). But I actually like the Shawn Stockman (Boyz II Men) song, so I guess it's a wash. None of the unknown emcees really impressed me that much, but none were horrible, either. I'd give it an early impression 3 1/2 out of 5. I'm liking Slum Village's "Trinity" alot. It's tough to put into words the appeal of Slum. I think you can tell that they're just having a good time (even if they do rap about their dicks a little too much). But as far as Trinity goes, I was a little worried to hear how they'd sound without Jay Dee. And while this album definitely has a different sound than Fantastic Vol. 2, it was definitely nothing for me to be worried about. The beats are a little bit harder compared to Fantastic. They've also got several songs with more of a minimalistic, "futuristic" sound to them. But I like the way the beats bang. It's an album that gives me energy. It gets an early impression score of a very solid 4 out of 5. Time to get some work done...maybe I'll come back with Jazzanova and Djinji Brown. I was also planning on picking up Mr. Lif and the Yohimbe Brothers (DJ Logic & Vernon Reid) tonight, but I just got some work thrown at me...
Ah, the simple joys of early 90's rap. I just found a CD that I haven't heard since 94. Rappin' 4tay's Don't Fight The Feelin' brings back the memories. Good ones. Mmmmmmm. 4tayriffic.
I've gotten my hands on the new Jurrasic 5 cd, Power in numbers (yeah, the one that comes out octobver 8th). My early impression is very favorable. Right now I'm thinking this is better than quality control.
How are the hip hop scenes in the U.K and France seen over in the U.S. I can tell that the quality being produced is pretty damn high and it can offer a welcome break from the most of the ghettosuperstar/bling,bling garbage coming out of the U.S.
I was supposed to. But I got massively ill and couldn't leave the house. It's too bad since they probably played new material. trickyfool - better than Quality Control? Serious? bocatuna - Foreign hip hop doesn't get much play over here. MC Solaar getting on Jazzmatazz is about as close as it got. I do like the UK garage sound though. I actually enjoyed So Solid Crew's 21 Seconds.
I got the new Mr Lif album yesterday- I'm still letting it work its way in before I say too much. I will say it's mostly EL-P producing, a couple of tracks from Insight, and one each from Edan and Fakts One, I think.
That is tragic. Sorry to hear it. In other news, I'm downgrading the Jazzy Jeff album. It's not overtly bad, but I wouldn't exactly say that it's good. Too many unnecessary R&B hooks.
Re: Did you know! I've really just recently been getting into some good HipHip/Rap stuff. I've always like Tribe Called Quest, and their "Beat's Rhymes and Life" cd is one of my fav's. I'd like to get some more Tribe, anyone recommend another one of their cd's? I'm really liking all the Talib, Mosdef, Roots and the new De La Soul stuff....all by far the best HipHop/Rap stuff I've ever heard.
My preference for Tribe albums: Low End Theory Midnight Marauders Peoples Instinctive Travels Beats Rhymes & Life Love Movement They're all good though.
Re: Re: Did you know! Have you just heard their solo stuff or have you had a chance to hear their group Blackstar? If you haven't I suggest you run out and buy it now.
I Don't know if I can say that the new one is better. One thing's for sure, the album's fantastic. It's darker, but it's still a feel good album. The cd is chill, sweet and mellow. That's how i'd describe it. Hey, I Never said I was a poet
Re: Re: Re: Did you know! Yeah, that's the one I have. Didnt even know Blackstar was a group, I thought it was just Talib's solo stuff with a bunch of guests. Great CD, along with the Mosdef one and another one called Rawkus which seems like more of a compiliation cd.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Did you know! Solid. Just so you know Talib's solo album is called "Reflection Eternal". I don't know if it's considered a true solo album b/c he's co listed with DJ Hi-Tek on it. YOu should pick it up cause it's quite solid.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Did you know! Nice..I'll check out that Talib album. Along with that, I need to pick up the recent Roots and De La Soul albums too. Glad I found this thread, I'm gonna have to keep an eye on it...plus I'm looking forward to that new Tribe Called Quest album their working on.
What do you think is going to come out of the M.O.P. signing w/ rocafella? them and GangStarr are the only Hip Hop i can stomach, nowadays. God, i misss the days of Jeru's "Come Clean". But hey thats just me.
You're not the only one. If this was 1992, Jay-Z would be much more tolerable and Biggie would still be alive and working with a non-Puffy producer.
My recommended list for September: Djinji Brown "Sirround Sound". It's definitely rivaling RJD2 right now for my hip-hop-related album of the year. It's a cool album, mostly instrumental, and encompasses a VERY wide range of sounds. From afrobeat, to cuban, to dance, to dub, to hip-hop, to jazz, to chill-out...definitely nice. I haven't been disappointed with a Sevenheads release yet (J-Live, Unspoken Heard, Ritchy Pitch...now Djinji) and I think this might be the strongest of the bunch. The Jazzanova album is very nice as well. A couple of hip-hop tracks on there, so I guess it's worth mentioning here. But if you're strictly a hip-hop fan, you might want to listen to the album before getting it...it might be a little too "smooth" or "easy listening" for the average hip-hop head. The new Slum Village is still getting a TON of play too. I also just put an order in for 9th Wonder's "Art of the Remix". 9th is the DJ/producer for Little Brother, and dude is no joke! Little Brother just signed with ABB Records (Dilated, Defari) and their album should be out by the end of October. But in the meantime, you guys need to check out this remix album. Every one of 9th's remixes that I've heard are completely sick! For a taste, check out: http://www.slopfunkdust.com/littlebro/launch This is the first new group that I've been genuinely excited for in quite some time. Anyways, check out the clips, then send a check for $13 to: pat douthit 1621 Crest Road Raleigh, NC 27606 Or drop him an email: ninthwonderbread@hotmail.com I don't know these dudes, but I guarantee it'll be money well spent.
God, I'm a junkie! They've got a deal on hiphopsite.com for the Large Professor CD. Order the CD, and they also throw in his "lost" album "The LP", a mix CD with alot of his Main Source stuff, and a t-shirt! I also ordered the new J5 and the DVD movie "Scratch" while I was there.....JUNKIE! And to top it all off, I'm going to buy the new Mr. Lif album and the new Beck album when I get off work today. I'm also tempted by the new Boot Camp Click CD, as well as the Nas "Lost Tapes"....should I be?
Yeah, hiphopsite has some enticing deals- that's why i went on and got the new Mr LIf from there. I got a t-shirt, two more CDs, and a lot of other junk for about 5 bucks more than it would have cost me to get just the CD at my local store. well, only three days until Public Enemy/Blackalicious . . .