A Gaga Breakdown

Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" sounds like Madonna's "Express Yourself." The Amp hears it. Fans hear it. Evidently Madonna hears it. But Lady Gaga... not so much.

"I am not stupid enough to put out a record and be that moronic," Gaga told the NME (via the Prophet Blog) at the top of a rant that began with denial then quickly transformed into rage, indignation, devastation, and religious pandering. It's her very own version of the Five Stages of Grief! We've helpfully diagrammed the conversation below:

Denial:
"No. Listen to me. Why the [expletive]...? I'm a songwriter. I've written loads of music. Why would I try to put out a song and think I'm getting one over on everybody? That's retarded."
[We agree! Tell us more about this, Lady Gaga. Also, we know there was no room for "retarded" among "gay, straight, bi, lesbian, transgender, black, white, beige, Chola, and Orient" on "Born This Way," but it's not nice to use that term as a pejorative, either.]

Rage:
"What a completely ridiculous thing to even question me about. I will look you in your eyes and tell you that I am not dumb enough or moronic enough to think that you are dumb enough or moronic enough not to see that I would have stolen a melody. If you put the songs next to each other, side by side, the only similarities are the chord progression. It's the same one that's been in disco music for the last 50 years. Just because I'm the first [expletive] artist in 25 years to think of putting it on Top 40 radio, it doesn't mean I'm a plagiarist, it means that I'm [expletive] smart."
[Actually, it's not just the chord progression, it's the melody of the chorus. Here, this video that puts the songs next to each other, side by side, will help explain their striking similarities to you. Give this mashup a whirl, too.]

Indignation:
"Nobody in this room at any point looked around and said, 'Oh my God, it's 'Express Yourself.' Not once. Listen. I swear to you. ... It's so funny to hear you say, 'It must have been a homage,' I'm like, NO. When I homage, I [expletive] homage with a big sign saying I've done it. Why would I not do that now?"
[Ooh, juicy stuff! So nobody on your team had the guts to mention this striking similarity to you? Because it's impossible that nobody in your organization heard it, but everyone else on Earth did. Also, tiny nit-picky thing, but we don't think homage is a verb.]

Devastation:
"I just don't want my fans... I don't know. This is exhausting. I just don't wanna perpetuate that [expletive]. I'm sure you want to address it but it's just so ridiculous. I was just [expletive] shell-shocked by it."
[That's fair. And frankly, we admire you for answering questions about it. Most stars would have said "no comment" or had their publicists rush to the rescue. Have we mentioned we love "Telephone"? One of our favorite songs ever!]

Religious Pandering:
[Starts crying] "I feel like honestly that God sent me those lyrics and that melody. When you feel a message to give to the world and people are shooting arrows at it... there's no way for something that pure to be wrong."
[And... you just lost us.]

Between these comments and the unpleasantly schizo "Judas," we're starting to get concerned about Gaga's hearing. But you know what really doesn't help? A few quotes from the new GagaVision video released today, in which the singer explains her writing process as 15-minute purges of creativity. "And then I spend days, weeks, months, years, fine-tuning," she adds. The real question, though, is who is Norm! And why is he filling in for Ed?! Click over to the video to see what we're talking about, and enjoy one of the "Born This Way"/"Express Yourself" mashups here:

by Caryn Ganz in Amplifier

Combining Forces = WINNING!

Being an independent artist doesn’t mean you need to take the word ‘Independent’ too literally. Chances are, you’re missing big opportunities to take your career to new levels if you’re not actively looking for chances to join forces with other artists and industry pros. A piece of something big is worth a lot more than all of little or nothing. If you feel like you’re bashing your head against the wall trying to get people to your shows or to buy your music on your own then changing your approach can make all the difference in the world.

What could you create if you partnered with the right people? For example, I have a friend who’s planning a regular monthly gig at a venue here in Los Angeles. Her husband is a world-class magician. They have friends who are world-class comedians. There’s no law that says you can’t put on a show with musicians, magicians and comedians!
Personally, I can’t wait to see these shows. I’ll go to every one. Any one of the performers individually would put on an excellent show, but combined it’s a must see. It’s an event. More people will come and people will stay longer. The audience gets more, the performers get more and the club owners get more. It creates a synergy. It becomes a combination of forces that’s greater than the sum of it’s parts.

Internet marketers are another great example. They form networks whereby they promote each other’s products to their mailing lists. The ones who do really well are the ones who find a tight group of compatible partners and generously help promote them and give them value. They know that if they help each other they can do much better than they could on their own.

When was the last time you sent out an email to your mailing list asking them to check out another artist’s new CD? I believe that in the future, there will be much more co-operation between independent artists. Some day in the not-too-distant future there will be a growing number of artists who offer commission to other artists for helping them sell their music….and they will sell more music!

Smart artists in today’s economy always keep an eye out for other bands and artists who ‘get it’ and are also looking to connect and give value to other bands. A lot of good can come when the right people get together.

With that spirit in mind, I’ve reached out to some amazing people and asked them to be a part of my blog at IndependentRockstar.com. We’re now going to feature daily content that covers everything from fitness to contract law to marketing to website tips and a whole lot more. I’m really excited because the blog is going to become so much more than I could ever make of it on my own.

I hope you can find your own opportunities to form exciting new partnerships with other friends, artists and professionals inside and outside the music business. You just might be able to create something that’s more inspired and exciting than you previously thought possible!

Article by Scott James of The Independent Rockstar Blog.

Read more: Combining Forces = WINNING! — Echoes - Insight for Independent Artists http://blog.discmakers.com/2011/03/combining-forces-winning/#ixzz1JtPdqD00

Jay-Z under investigation by the NBA

When Jay-Z dropped by the Kentucky locker room on Sunday after the Wildcats clinched a Final Four berth with a victory over North Carolina, the rap mogul shook hands with the players, signed autographs and posed for pictures.

It was an innocent moment in everyone's eyes except perhaps the NBA's.

According to CBSSports.com, the NBA is investigating whether Jay-Z's presence in the Kentucky locker room is a violation of league rules prohibiting team personnel from having contact with college players before they declare for the draft. In addition to his rap career, Jay-Z is also the part owner of the New Jersey Nets.

The advantage Jay-Z could gain by mingling with Kentucky would be the chance to spend time around potential draft picks in order to make a better informed decision on whether to invest in them or not. The Wildcats have several potential lottery picks, including guard Brandon Knight and forward Terrence Jones.

The situation is reminiscent of one that occurred four years ago involving Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge and then-Texas prospect Kevin Durant. Ainge was fined $30,000 for sitting with Durant's mother during a Big 12 tournament game before the freshman forward had declared his intent to enter the NBA draft.

In that case, Ainge's intent was fairly obvious considering the Celtics were certain to have one of the top picks in the draft and Durant was a potential target.

It's harder to envision Jay-Z gaining much inside information from a few minutes inside the victorious Kentucky locker room, but it's also understandable that the NBA doesn't want to set a precedent by letting this slide.

-Courtesy of Yahoo Sports

'Ready to Die' Baby All Grown Up

Besides perhaps the Nevermind baby, the child sporting a giant Afro pictured on Notorious B.I.G.'s classic debut Ready to Die is the most iconic infant in album-cover history. As the music world commemorated the 14th anniversary of Biggie's death on March 9th, many fans began inquiring about the Ready to Die kid. Diddy simply told Rap Radar, "That was a baby we just found... We did a little casting for somebody that looked like Big," and the Bad Boy offices had long lost any concrete form of documentation.
But now, the New York Daily News has uncovered the 18-year-old who claims to be the mini-B.I.G.: Bronx native Keithroy Yearwood.

"I just want people to know that's me. The truth is finally coming out," Yearwood told the Daily News, who corroborated his claim with Yearwood's baby photos. The story of how the teen landed on the cover also seems to match Bad Boy's assertion that the baby came from a modeling agency: Yearwood's mother Delcenia Burns says her son was recruited by the now-defunct modeling agency Chicky's Kids, and that she has the paperwork to prove it.
That Yearwood was a paid model would come as a surprise to two people involved in the shoot: Designer Cey Adams and the cover's photographer Butch Belair, both thought that the Ready to Die baby was the child of someone who worked at Bad Boy.
"When I first found out about it, it wasn't a big deal to me. Now, of course, it's a big deal to me," Yearwood, who plans to study sports management in college, said of his claim to fame. "It's an honor to be on this album."
Yearwood says he only received $150 for being on the cover of Ready to Die, but his place in music history is priceless.

Another Legend leaves us RIP Nate Dogg

(CBS) Nate Dogg, one of the most recognizable and smooth voices in rap and R & B, has died. He was 41.



Born Nathaniel Hale, Nate Dogg suffered from ill health for years. His death was first reported in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.



The cause of death is not immediately known, though the Press-Telegram reports that he suffered two strokes, one in 2007 and another in 2008. TMZ reports it's confirmed Nate Dogg's death.



The hook singer first came to national attention on Dr. Dre's 1992 masterpiece "The Chronic." Nate earned the first of four Grammy nominations in 1995 for "Regulate," a collaboration with Warren G. His fourth and most recent nomination came for Eminem's "Shake That" in 2007.



Since the news broke of Nate Dogg's death, his friends and collaborators have sent messages out about him. "We lost a true legend n hip hop n rnb. One of my best friends n a brother to me since 1986 when I was a sophomore at poly high where we met," tweeted Snoop Dogg, who continued on for several tweets before concluding, "RIP NATE DOGG."



On Twitter, "Nate Dogg" quickly became a trend.



Nate Dogg released several solo albums, including a self-titled effort in 2008.

R.I.P. B.I.G.

Rest in Peace to two of Hip Hop's Legends

Killing Music with the Kardashians

As much as I hate to even type about this, it is absolutely relevant, and it’s pissed me off enough to share with you, so here goes…

We all know that Kim Kardashian has amassed a significant, albeit completely undeserved, level of fame, we may not all know how she’s done it, so let me break it down for you.  Actually before I list her “accomplishments,” and trust me I use that term as loosely as grammatically possible, let me say this: The real reason that Kim K. is famous is because America is full of brainless zombies controlled by television.  Moving on… Miss Kardashian’s claims to fame include:

Filming an absolutely, ridiculously boring sex tape

Having a slightly larger than average butt (for a white girl)

A pointless “reality” show

Being a jock chasing slut

And a Super bowl commercial that was somehow more of a pointless bore than her sex tape and her stupid show combined.

Now with all of the notoriety that she’s gotten for basically doing nothing, you would think that would be enough, but not for our little busy bee. Now this self absorbed bitch has decided to spread her brand of idocity into the music business. BITCH!

I have a myriad of problems with this foolishness!  First off, the song is even more boring than her and Ray J rolling around in bed!  Second, this bitch can’t sing! I mean the song may have all of 8 notes, #CmonSon  The fact that she convinced The Dream to produce this garbage is a detriment to his reputation in my opinion, although after he decided to step away from the board and behind the mic, his reputation ain’t been worth shit anyway.  She says she will donate half of the proceeds to cancer research.  Now you may be asking, “What’s wrong with that?”  The answer: nothing.  Well, nothing except for the fact that the real reason she’s doing this is because her publicist needed her to do something that said “Look at me, look at me!” so she could make more money.  Because let’s be real, let’s say she sells 100,000 downloads, that’s $50,000 to cancer, and $25,000 in her pocket.  Makes her look like a saint right?  That’s the point!  Where she’ll make the real money is all of the publicity this will give her; all of the talk shows, radio shows, etc. The only thing that money is going to is the cancer that she (and those in her ilk) is contributing to the degradation of music.

But worse than ALL OF THAT is the fact that she will probably sell more than real musicians will this week. It’s no coincidence that this song, for lack of a better term, is hitting the net on a Wednesday.  She’ll probably outsell Tiësto vs. Diplo’s “C’mon (Catch ‘Em by Surprise)” and they had a 3 day head start.  If that happens, it will truly show that Americans don’t actually listen to music at all.

A t this point, I’m just praying that they don’t decide to shoot a video *sigh*

Here’s the song if you feel the need to torture your eardrums: Kim Kardashian's "Jam"
-Se7en Owt

Top 5 Music Business Mistakes

The following article was originally posted on Music Consultant Rick Goetz’s website – MusicianCoaching.com.

I’ve never been one for top 5 or top 10 lists, but I have seen these mistakes so many times in the past year, I figured they needed to be documented.

#1 Waiting

Sounds innocuous enough, right? We should be good at waiting given all of the waiting that goes on with the craft of music.

Waiting on our fellow notoriously late collaborators, waiting on getting things tracked right in the studio, waiting to load in, waiting on sound check. There are a million things that we have to hurry up and wait for before we even get to the business side of things. This, of course, is not the waiting I am talking about.

The biggest mistake I have seen in the past year (admittedly, it is NOT unique to 2010) is that people wait on outside help to starting their businesses. Anyone who has tried to raise money can tell you that it is much easier to raise when you have momentum with a project than when you only have a blueprint and some high hopes. This is in no way saying I think people should do everything themselves. DIY, in my opinion, is a condition of last resort – but a condition that almost all of us are stuck with at some point or another.

Keep this in mind – when you are someone looking for outside help from someone like a potential manager or an agent, you are asking someone for their time. Given that time equals money, you are, in fact, asking someone to invest in you and your company. When you are preparing to approach someone for help of this kind, ask yourself “What would make me invest in an artist’s career?”

When I ask myself this question, I almost always come up with “wanting to see that my time and money would be going into a business is already showing signs of life.” I would want to see that, in spite of or in addition to what my eyes and ears tell me, that real consumers are responding to this musician’s material. Generally speaking, those artists who have a spark and have a fledgling business are people who didn’t wait on outside help to get those businesses going.

I’ll let you in on a little insider secret – since the un-bundling of the album, EVERYONE is making things up as they go along. There is no hard science to the initial stages of breaking new artists – it is a series of best guesses. Since no one is ever going to care about your career more than you do (at least I hope not), you may as well give it a try for yourself. Even if you fail you will no more about the job and be better qualified to find the right person who complements your strengths and weaknesses.

There will be times when you are forced to wait for circumstances to change. It happens to all of us no matter what business we are in, but I urge you to find ways of making these periods productive. No matter what major event in your career is looming large – get out and play, meet people, and record as much as possible, and remember: there is never going to be a perfect time to start that next phase of your career. Something will always be in your way if you let it.

Ready for more? Check out Mistake #2 on Rick’s website – MusicianCoaching.com.

Rick Goetz is a music consultant and musician coach by way of a fifteen year career at major record labels and various online and television projects. For more articles like this you can visit his site, musiciancoaching.com.

The Biebs and Selena Gomez: It’s official

Not that I personally give half a shit about this, but I like the writing. *shrug*

Anyway....

Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez appeared together Sunday at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, where Gomez wore a floor-length red Dolce and Gabbana gown to complement Bieber’s black Dolce and Gabbana suit. It was the first “official” outing for the two lovebirds, cementing months of speculation between those aged 8 to 18 and bored gossip columnists and the commuters who read her.

Since they never went to a traditional school, we’re sure this was like prom for the two child stars. But instead of being held in some dingy gymnasium that smells of years of sweat and burgeoning hormones, it was at the most exclusive party in the entire world. Still, you have to feel for Justin Bieber — he might be a millionaire a hundred times over, but he’ll never know how exciting an illicit sip of Mad Dog 20/20 tastes in the parking lot of a school’s gym. Then again, we’ll never know what it’s like to have Jeff Bridges as a chaperone, so we’re calling a draw.

By DOROTHY ROBINSON

Jay and Bey on the Brink of Bye Bye?

Well that's the rumor anyway...

According to Media Take Out the superstar couple have been fighting like cats and dogs for over a year.

"The biggest thing [they argue about] is about kids," reveals the source. “[Jay Z] wants them and Beyonce doesn’t. It’s all about her career, and she doesn’t want to slow down.”

The insider claims, “For now [Jay Z's] going to be staying in LA. Beyonce will be in NY. . . The hope is that with the time apart, the couple will decide to either have kids, or go their separate ways.”

MTO has secondary back-up on this story coming from additional snoops.
Seems, several celeb guests on Saturday’s RocNation lunch, claim there was “definitely something wrong” between Jay Z and Beyonce. As one attendee put it, “They didn’t even look each other in the eye.”

That's the word on the streets, but only time will tell.  I personally don't believe it.  I don't have any solid reasoning for not believing it, I just don't.  Maybe part of it is that the information came from Media Take Out, with me, they hold ZERO credibility.  The other part is that I would like to see their relationship succeed.

Statistically, 52% of all marriages in the US end in divorce, and I'm sure that number goes up astronomically when talking about very public relationships between superstars such as Mr. and Mrs. Carter.  None the less, the Barack and Michelle of Hip-Hop seemed to be defying the odds.  They kept their relationship under wraps for quite a while, their careers never suffered, all in all, they seemed (dare I say it) happy.  But the key word there is "seemed."  There is no way for me, or anyone outside of them that knows for sure. 

I hope, for the sake of all of the youngins out there that worship and idolize superstars, that they can work it out. The little idiots, that our generation is rearing need to see an example of a successful marriage.  Because clearly we're not teaching them anything at home, but that's another blog for another day.

Good luck to Jay-Z and Beyonce, whether they stay or go, we'll all get some passionate songs out of it one way or the other...

At the end of the day though, I don't care, because my life won't change as a result of whatever they do *shrug*

-Se7en Owt

Billy Ray is worried about his baby *update*

So Mr. Cyrus is worried about his daughter.  Here's my question: What the hell took you so damn long to be worried Billy? SMH check out the OMG! Yahoo! post below so you can say, "Duh" like the rest of sane America.

Billy Ray Cyrus's heart is achy, breaky and bitter.
In an uber-revealing, uber-melodramatic interview in GQ, the country star blames "Hannah Montana" and the evils of Hollywood for tearing his family apart.
"I'll tell you right now -- the damn show destroyed my family," he tells the magazine. "And I sit there and I go, 'Yeah, you know what? Some gave all.' It is my motto, and guess what? I have to eat that one. I some gave-all'd it all right. I some-gave all'd it while everybody else was going to the bank. It's all sad."
When asked whether he viewed his family as under attack by Satan, the God-fearing singer and showbiz dad responds: "I think we are right now. No doubt. There's no doubt about it. ... There has always been a battle between good and evil. Always will be. You think, 'This is a chance to make family entertainment, bring families together ... ' and look what it's turned into."
Photos: Miley's Most Outrageous Outfits
Cyrus' personal life is in shambles: He filed for divorce from wife Tish last October amid reports she had an affair with Bret Michaels, of all people. He fears for the future of his megastar daughter, Miley, as she grows up and makes mistakes in the public eye.
"I'm scared for her," he says. "She's got a lot of people around her that's putting her in a great deal of danger. I know she's 18, but I still feel like as her daddy I'd like to try to help. At least get her out of danger. I want to get her sheltered from the storm. Stop the insanity just for a minute."
Cyrus regrets that he treated Miley like a friend and not a parent; when she recently celebrated her 18th birthday at a nightclub in L.A., he put his foot down and refused to attend.
"It was wrong," he complains. "It was for 21 years old and up. ... I said, 'This whole thing's falling apart up there and they just want to blame all this stuff on you again.' I'm staying out of it."
Photo: See Miley's Newest Tattoo
Fired up, Cyrus rambles on about such casualties of fame as Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith and Kurt Cobain, drawing a somewhat bizarre analogy between the late Nirvana frontman (who committed suicide) and his "Party In the U.S.A." daughter (who seems legitimately confident and self-loving).
"That's why I'm concerned about Miley," he says, referring to Cobain. "I think that his world was just spinning so fast and he had so many people around him that didn't help him. Like Anna Nicole Smith -- you could see that train wreck coming. I was actually trying to reach out to Anna Nicole Smith, because I kept telling Tish and everybody around me, going, 'This is a disaster.' Michael Jackson -- I was trying to reach out to Michael Jackson. I knew he had kids, and I was going to invite his kids down to a taping of "Hannah" -- I just felt it would be good for Michael."
Related: Miley To Host SNL
Lest we all brand Cyrus a less evil, equally oversharey version of Michael Lohan (in terms of using the media to get his message across to Miley), he works some preemptive damage control into the GQ interview.
"For the record," he says, "to set it straight, I want to tell you: I've never made a dime off Miley. You got a lot of people have made percentages off of her. I'm proud to say to this day I've never made one commissioned dollar, or dime, off of my daughter."

*********************************U-P-D-A-T-E************************************

In light of Mr. Cyrus' comments in the GQ spread, Disney has cut all contractual ties with the Cyrus family. "We saw it coming for a long time," a source at Disney said. "She wanted to mature herself, but it kind of backfired. Her future eithout Disney is TBD."  Not sure if this is what he wanted, but Mr. Achey Breaky won't have Disney and nem to blame for his lil slut's daughter's issues. Hmmmm... Disney brat, Southern girl wanting to be "more adult" this sounds eerily familiar... OH that's right this is exactly how Britney Spears started out.  That worked out GREAT for her *insert sarcasm here* let's see what Miss Miley does with her new found freedom and adult hood.

-Se7en Owt

Licensing Your Music Ain’t Easy – Be Cool

From Echos blog:

I recently had lunch with the founder and CEO of a popular website for independent artists. It was great to catch up and hear about all the exciting things going on with the site. On the other hand it was a bit of a concern hearing about some of what he and his staff have had to put up with recently in dealing with some of the more, shall we say, frustrated and/or unstable musicians that use his services.
On the site, artists can submit their music for a nominal fee to listings for licensing and other opportunities. As you can imagine, only a relatively small percentage of the music submitted can be accepted. There are high standards for anything that’s going to be used in film and TV and chances are that most of the submissions will fall short of this standard. Also, factor in that with licensing, it’s a bit of a crap shoot. You may have a better song than the next guy, but something about the other song just works better for the scene or they happen to have a lyric that fits perfectly for what they’re looking for. There’s no way around it – a lot of artists are going to end up frustrated.
The ones who ‘get it’ realize that you have to keep pushing forward and that you have to plant 1,000 seeds to grow 10 trees. The ones who don’t ‘get it’, in my experience, are poor judges of their own material and put too much importance on each submission. They also tend to underestimate how much work and perseverance it really takes to develop themselves to the point that they can produce broadcast quality music and get it placed. They fall into the trap of thinking that other people are responsible for their success or failure. Their minds play tricks on them and they imagine scenarios where the cards are stacked against them.
I remember when I first learned ProTools and started recording from home. I spent A LOT of time working at it. Before long I started to feel like the quality of my recordings were good enough to start getting placements. I signed up with some submission services in hopes to get some good breaks. I was sure that I was only a few months away from being able to make a living at it. WRONG! I was a lot further than I thought. My ears and brain just couldn’t tell what was lacking in my recordings. It all sounded great to me.
I remember the frustration well. I think one of the most difficult things for humans to deal with is when we can’t see the correlation between our actions and our results. I literally could not tell why I wasn’t getting the results I expected. A lot of explanations went through my head, but none of them gave me any peace. Eventually I ended up with a roommate who was much better at recording music than me and thankfully wasn’t afraid to call it like he heard it. It was painful to hear the truth at times, but I finally started to hear some of the things that I needed to improve. After several months of my roommate’s feedback I started to make money with my recordings.
Until you break through and have some success it can be a lot easier to blame someone else for your frustration. It requires a lot more effort to actually get the job done. Unfortunately, some people are so sure that their success is being thwarted by some evil-minded, greedy company or person that they will act like spoiled children and absolute jerks. This strategy only causes pain for all involved.
What I’d like for more people to realize is that when you submit your music for opportunities, the people who are screening your music are people who care, just like you and I. In most cases they’re musicians too. They probably understand and empathize with your frustrations more than you realize and they don’t enjoy having to deny anyone opportunities.
Even if you don’t understand why you’re not having the success that you believe you deserve I urge you to withhold judgement and to just stay at it and get as much honest, constructive feedback as you can. When your results in the outside world match your hopes and expectations then you’ve reached the point where you truly know what it takes and can judge your own work. Until then, you don’t and you can’t. If you’re not there yet then take 100% responsibility for getting yourself there, even if you don’t know how you will. If you have faith then you’ll have the strength to stay at it long enough to figure it out. In the meantime, be cool and treat people with kindness and respect.


Read more: Licensing Your Music Ain’t Easy – Be Cool — Echoes - Insight for Independent Artists http://blog.discmakers.com/2011/01/licensing-your-music-aint-easy-be-cool/#ixzz1DUoPDxUq

Do some Hoe shit

LOL the Music business according to Miss Badu. I saw this on my Homie Yazza's blog, and had to post it, but go to her page to see it! http://vaggaswagga.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-make-it-in-industry-according-to.html

For what?

It's bad enough that Wiz Khalifa's annoying ass song Black and Yellow is on the radio every 2 minutes, but now I have to hear Lil Wayne's annoying ass voice do a remix? Ugh kill me now!  If you haven't heard Lil Wayne has up and decided that his favorite football team is the Green Bay Packers, this realization prompted him to write Green and Yellow. His ode to the Cheese Heads... The fuck outta here dude! I refuse to believe he is an actual fan of the Packers, but to be fair the song isn't completely terrible.

It ain't hard to tell that Lil Wayne ain't my favorite rapper, but I'm no hater and will give props where I feel they are do, with that said, have a listen to this...

Although Wayne mars this track with his terrible voice, this is was one of the few tracks he's been on in a while that he actually said something that made sense, so for that I commend him.  I'm not convinced he's a fan, but he predicted Aaron Rodger's MVP award, so *shrug* who knows...

Se7en Owt

Chalie Boy is 'Here'

Greetings Good People!

As a fan of Chalie (and no that isn’t a typo) Boy of Dirty 3^rd Records, I feel compelled to share with you his latest video.  My writing partner Note would probably be appalled by the fact that I put this up on the blog, but he ain’t here, so fuck him! LOL I kid it’s all love my man.

Without further adieu, here’s the video:

Like I said I am a Chalie Boy fan, and as such I can criticize without being a hater.  So here goes my criticism. This is the second video to come off of the I’m Here mixtape which dropped back in February of last year. Much like its predecessor Déjà Blu (Which happens to be one of my favorite tracks from the Double Disc mixtape) the video just doesn’t do the song justice.  I like this video much more than the previous entry; hence my reason for blogging about it, but it still doesn’t meet my expectations.

When I listen to this song I hear the passion in his words, and I see the picture that the lyrics pain; that of a young hungry artist eager to make a name for himself and make his hard work pay off.  Unfortunately, the video doesn’t show me that.  It attempts to, but it falls short.  None the less, this is still a good song, and kudos to Chalie Boy for all of his hard work.  Keep doin ya thang mane!

Se7en Owt

Is Omarion Gay?

According to the singer himself he isn't, but arecent press release stated the contrary. But you be the judge. Check out the link. Omarion talks to funk flex about the recent allegations, and says "I love ladies." Check it out

Now put that on Your F*ckin Wall

After seeing the 7 year old ‘gangsta rappers’ yesterday, I was happy to run across this today. I can't lie, when I saw this I couldn’t help but laugh, but that's part of the point. Take a look.

Sad part is, he'll probably be investigated on child abuse charges. This is one story that Oprah SHOULD pick up, but we won't see this on any daytime talk shows, although it’s a perfect example of parenting.

Say what you want. This is a lesson learned, and I hope this uncle followed through and made his nephew put this video on his wall. Kudos to you sir, there may be hope for our youth after all! Just wish I knew this man so I could thank him, maybe buy him a drink or take him to a strip club.

A lyrical 'Whipping'

For everyone that was dumb enough to believe the rumor that Soulja Boy penned Willow's Whip My Hair  Check out what JukeBox (who actually worked on it) has to say about it:

Where is yo momma?

After watching this video I was left with the question:  Where is yo damn Momma?  According to the caption these are 7 year olds.  Now I am well aware that the world is a different place than it was when I was 7.  I am also aware that children are exposed to more than most 7 year olds were when I was a child, but that doesn’t excuse this.

These are children rapping about shooting, and fucking!   Where in the hell did they even learn this?  I’m sure they got it from Scarface, Z-Ro, Devin, or any other Houston rapper that they’ve heard, but what gives them the gall to use such language?  

I got my first rap album at 10 and it was Eazy-Duz-It by the late Eazy-E, but I knew better than to repeat what the NWA posse was saying.  As a child I would have never said anything like that because I would have feared for my life.  I was deathly afraid of my father, and anytime I did something remotely wrong I just knew he would find out and beat my ass for it.  That’s what these kids need. A good old fashion, passionate ass whoopin!  My guess is they probably haven’t felt the painful sting of a leather belt across their naked asses.  If they had, they wouldn’t be so brave. 

What’s sad is we can’t blame the children.  Children only imitate and emulate the adults in their lives.  If the children of the world don’t have better examples than this, then we are in trouble folks.  So who do we blame? Their mother? Their father? The idiot bastard filming this shit? Or all of the above?  (The latter gets my vote) I don’t know who the adult is behind the camera, but he deserves the ass whooping more than they do, because he is the one who should know better! 

I’m disgusted.  As a parent if ANYONE ever hears my child speaking in such a way, I grant you full license to pop her one good one.  Then call me, and I’ll take over from there.  SMH This is a perfect example of what the hell is wrong with Black America.  This is not the Dream that Dr. King had for us.  If this doesn’t appall you, then do the world a favor and jump of f of the nearest overpass, to remove your ignorant ass genes from the pool.  You don’t deserve to procreate.

In closing I ask you all to go out and find a child and teach them something positive.

Se7en Owt

Everybody knows Monsters can't act!

The past few days everyone has been all atwitter about the Monster video with Kanye, Nicki, Jay, and Rick Ross, and it took me a couple of days, but I finally got the chance to watch it.  Before I comment on the video, I want to express my feelings about the song.  If I had to sum it up in 2 words I’d say “Fuckin Awesome” *Jay-Z voice* The song, in my opinion, is what Hip Hop should be.  I mean three Lyricists just being lyrical. There’s nothing better for a Hip Hop head like myself who loves the artistry involved in putting words together.  The poetry of delving deep into one’s vocabulary and pulling out the best and delivering it ferociously is truly music to my ears.  Now, before all of the haters start throwing stuff at their computer screens, let me clarify.  This isn’t the best song I’ve ever heard, nor is it the best verse I’ve heard from either of these artists. With the exception of Miss Minaj, I haven’t heard her go harder (not that she hasn’t, but I’m not a fan and haven’t listened to her much).  But this is the type of stuff I like to hear when artists come together; MAGIC. 

Now on to the video, first off Officer Ricky shouldn’t be in the video, just like he had no reason being on the song (somebody should lose a week’s pay for that dumb ass decision).  The video was god, but it didn’t live up to the hype, and it definitely didn’t do the song justice.  While it was creative (as most of West’s videos are), it wasn’t the 2011 version of Thriller that it was hyped up to be.  And yes, before you ask, someone did indeed call it that. 

Kanye’s section was good, it went well with his verse, and it was probably the most conceptually appealing piece of the video.  Jay-Z’s part, on the other hand, was just terrible.  For all of the visuals that his words convey, they did nothing in the video to match it.  He basically stood there for 16 bars; POINTLESS.  The lone bright spot in the video, the play on Roman vs. Barbie was good.  It wasn’t done as well as it should’ve been given the unbelievable amount of stardom involved in this project.

I’d like to redo the video and show them how it should have been done, hmmmm maybe that’s a new project for me. Stay tuned…

Se7en Owt

Happy New Year!

As customary, Skillz has blessed us with his year end rap up, and as usual, he killed it. Enjoy!