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RAP ATTACK's
own DJ
Static (center) from Canada's
CKUT "We Funk" took home a Stylus DJ Award
for "College Radio Show Of The Year!" |
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WAKE UP!
(l-r): Planet Asia,
Carmelita, King Tech & DJ
Revolution! |
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NASTY "1991"
FLASHBACK
The King of Bass, DJ
Magic Mike & Nasty-Nes |
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[[ June 18, 2007 ]] |
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What's
upper?
Congratulations to RAP ATTACK MIXTAPE DJ
outta FL., Menace on the birth of his newborn
Alexa Lynn Albert (4lbs. 7 oz)...
Attn
MySpace heads! If you haven't joined our
exclusive RAP ATTACK page on MySpace, log
on NOW & join at:
http://www.myspace.com/rapattacklives...
Blue
Scholars
have an awesome new video for the single "Back
Home" and you can peep it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En8DwCeKa6M.
This video is deep & hits a homerun dealing with our men
& women fighting in Iraq. I got so caught up in this
video that it brought a tear or more to my eyes. Great
to see my boys outta the "206" puttin' it down with a
hot single & video that'll get lots of love & respect
for years to come...
My dawg outta
Bedstuy,
New York,
Poison Pen is about to drop his "Picture Poison
The Mark Of The East" (Fontana/Universal)
mixtape album. This promises to bring some serious heat
featuring Immortal Technique, BeatMinerz
and Diabolic to name a few. I asked Poison Pen
what he thinks heads think about him & he replied, "I'm
a fat loud mouth kat who's always smiling! Sure I keep
it street but I don't take take things so serious! I
smile in my pictures." You can hit up Poison Pen for
drops, interviews, etc. online at:
poisonousmaximus@yahoo.com...
Hip
Hop May Not Be Dead, But Internet Radio May Soon Be
by
Davey D
A few years a ago I ran into former FCC Chairman
Michael Powell as he was leaving Jesse Jackson's Wall
Street Project conference in New York. He was the man of
the hour due to the fact that over 3 million people had
hit up the FCC demanding that he abandon his plans to
allow big media conglomerates like Clear Channel to
further consolidate.
I confronted Powell about many of the complaints I was
hearing from media reform activists around the country
including the Bay Area's People Station Campaign,
Detroit's Black Out Friday campaign and the 'Turn off
the Radio Campaign' which drew 1500 people including
Chuck D, Afrika Bambattaa, Doug E Fresh and numerous
other rap stars and launched in a Harlem church the
night before.
It was there that members of NY's City Council held a
tribunal and listened to over six hours of testimony
where person after person complained about lack of
musical diversity resulting in listeners having to
endure the same ten songs in row, the lack of local
airplay for independent local artists and an abundance
of harmful stereotypes being broadcasted everyday
resulting in Black and Brown communities being
marginalized. The most troubling was the management of
NY's then number one station Hot 97 allowing their on
disc jockeys to constantly use the N and B words on the
air.
Powell listened and then dismissively told me the
solution was not to regulate radio and prevent further
consolidation but for concerned listeners to turn to the
Internet radio. It was there he stated that people could
find all the diversity and niche programming their heart
desired. I tried to explain that a lot of people
especially in poor communities where broadband was
scarce, couldn't listen to Internet radio. Sadly Powell
wasn't trying to hear it and he bounced.
Fast forward 4 years later and people faced with little
changes in radio found their way onto the Internet and
an industry that once boasted a scant few million
listeners a month now has mushroomed to a medium that
attracts over 70 million people. Apparently people got
Powell's memo.
In a cruel sense of irony, what has become a viable
alternative and a place of solace for many is
threatened. In recent weeks while the country was
focused on Don Imus, the major record labels along with
their organization Sound Exchange successfully
petitioned the
US
Copyright Board and convinced them to increase royalty
fees a whooping 300-1200% to be applied retroactively.
The rates which were supposed to kick in May 15th
threatened to bankrupt the Internet Radio industry.
Just to give you an idea of how that looks, locally
based Soma FM in a recent Eastbay Express article
explained that they had an annual webcasting bill for 10
thousand dollars. Under the new rates they would
immediately owe 600 thousand dollars. I spoke with owner
Rusty Hodge who noted that the high rates are the result
of him having lots of people who listen for long periods
of time. He also noted that if he manages to stay afloat
in 2007 he will owe the labels over one million dollars.
The largest Internet Radio company Live 365-also locally
based explained to the
Washington
Post that their annual 1.5 million dollar bill would
increase to 6 or 7 million and bankrupt the company.
What makes this new ruling even more insidious is that
all webcasters no matter how big or small would be
required to pay 500 bucks annually on top of the
increased rates, meanwhile commercial broadcasters who
have in recent months been aggressively pushing their
own online stations and HD broadcasts along with
satellite radio would NOT be paying these increased
rates.
If you listen to commercial stations all around the
country you will hear many of them pushing for listeners
to check out their new on line spin off stations. The
ultimate plan of action for many stations is to launch
specialty stations that focus on a specific genre. For
example in New York City, Hot 97 now has a online
station called the 'Original Hot 97' where listeners can
hear the station in its original dance music oriented
format. Here in the Bay Area Kiss FM which plays classic
R&B and soul has launched an online station where they
play classic commercial Hip Hop.
Now this in itself is not a bad thing except the playing
field is not even. For starters the commercial outlets
at the very least will be able to barter with major
labels to overlook online fees in exchange for
terrestrial airplay. What also is not being stated is
that for the commercial giants this will be the place
where they can legally exercise pay for play (payola)
especially if they wind up being the only game in town.
A likely scenario that will soon emerge if it hasn't
already is that labels seeking airplay will hit off
these commercial giants with a set amount of money and
then after the stations 'determine' that the songs are
doing well online will then bounce them up to regular
rotation on the terrestrial stations. The pay for play
scheme online will be a welcome cash cow for commercial
stations while labels will be able to exercise control
over projects that they are promoting.
For those who don't know, the way things work now, is
that a major label comes up with a marketing campaign
for a particular artist. They set up a marketing
campaign with the album's first single followed by a
video. They depend upon broadcasters to go along with
their game plan. They expect stations and video outlets
to play the second and third singles at the prescribed
time and will actually discourage programmers from
playing album cuts or upcoming planned singles 'too
soon'. In some instances labels will use their muscle
and threaten to stop servicing stations with music or
will prohibit their artists from doing interviews or
summer jam concerts if the broadcasters don't cooperate
with the marketing plan. This focused marketing is what
many of these label executives feel will lead to
increased album sales and hence that's the main reason
you hear the same ten songs being played on air from
coast to coast.
Internet Radio helped break that strangle-hold. With the
average webcaster it's usually been people first not
labels first. The industry seems bent on changing this
dynamic The first step is to eliminate all these
independent Internet Radio stations by making it too
costly.
For those who think what I'm saying is far fetched, talk
to any online broadcaster and ask him/her about the 1998
DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) which governs
Internet Radio and was pushed through Congress by the
RIAA and the major labels, it is technically against the
law for Internet radio to play songs from the same
artist 2 or 3 times in a 3 hour period. Hence unlike
commercial giants who can break format and do a Prince
special or have a Jay-Z or Public Enemy hour, webcasters
are forbidden to this by law.
When James Brown passed late last year and Rick James
passed the year before, radio stations all over the
country broke format and played hours of music from
these legends. Thanks to the DMCA, Internet radio was
forbidden to do this unless they got special permission
from the labels which was damn near impossible for most
people who actually go out and purchase their own music
as opposed to commercial stations which get it sent to
them for free and have relationships with record label
promoters.
The Sound Exchange people said they need to raise rates
and make all these rules for the benefit of the artist.
They said that because album sales are down and that the
industry needs another income source. Webcasting fees
will help offset the economic downturn. They also stated
that they were doing this for the artists who they feel
need to be paid.Well according to Wendy Day of the well
respected artist advocacy group Rapcoalition that's not
exactly true. Day who is responsible for brokering deals
for artists like Master P and Cash Money stated;
"From the negotiation standpoint in the music industry,
the major labels are fighting hard to retain as large a
percentage as possible for digital rights. Much like
record deals of the past (old formats such as records,
cassettes, and CDs), the labels retain the lion's share
of the profits giving the average artist a lowly 12% of
the selling price AFTER they've paid back every
recoupable expense from their share of the royalties.
That business model still stands in digital formats. The
labels still keep the lion's share of the money, using
the artists measly percentage to pay down the debt. I
have, personally, seen labels budge on allowing artists
to be non-exclusive to their label, but not give an inch
in negotiating digital rights. Artists still get pennies
in comparison to the labels' dollars".
The Sound Exchange people have also stated that
webcasters can easily pay the increased fees by selling
advertising. That's a huge fallacy. To start, what
wasn't stated by SE was the fact that these small
webcasters are now in direct competition with
traditional broadcast giants who are going after those
same ad dollars for their own online webcasts.
In short the chips are stacked against the average
online broadcaster who was chased on line by Powell and
the lack of response by broadcast mediums to their
initial concerns. The little guy who does this as a
passionate hobby where he was willing to pay reasonable
rates is suddenly up against a huge company with a sales
staff that at the end of the day can barter for ad
dollars with a variety of on and offline platforms. As I
said before Internet and digital broadcasting is new
terrain that the industry wants cleared out with them
being the only game in town. If that happens all the
same complaints consumers had and continue to have with
traditional radio will resurface with these commercial
online outlets.
So disconcerting is this latest assault that there has
been a groundswell of support and broad coalition of
groups opposing the rate hikes ranging from Christen
broadcasters to Yahoo radio. The end result are two
bi-partisan bills being pushed through Congress and the
Senate. In the House its HR 2060 and in the senate S1353
the Internet Radio Equality Act. Which would repeal the
rates. People are asked to call their representative and
get behind the bills or risk seeing the Internet radio
landscape permanently change and be a thing that only
the rich and powerful can afford to do. You can go to
SaveNetRadio for more info on this:
SaveNetRadio.com...
Be
the first to peep out Skull's new 3-D/animated
video for "Boom Di Boom di" here:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?
fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2025458205...
Public Enemy
has
been added to the all-star line up of artist performing
at this years' "Rock the Bells" Hip-Hop festival
scheduled for August 11th in San Bernardino, CA.. The
festival, at the National Orange Show Events Center will
also feature Cypress Hill, the Roots,
Mos Def, EPMD, the Coup, MF DOOM,
Jedi Mind Trick, Murs and Sage Francis.
The festival will also hit Randall's
Island
in New York City
on July 28th and McCovey's Parking Lot in
San
Francisco on August 18th. The San Francisco show will
have Nas headlining and he will join Wu Tang
on 15 more "Rock the Bells" dates in other cities to
be announced soon. In response to the 20-minute sell-out
of the previously announced Saturday, July 28 Randall’s
Island/New York City date, Guerilla Union in
conjunction with Live Nation have revealed they
will add a second ROCK THE BELLS festival show at the
venue for Sunday, July 29. Confirmed artists for both
NYC-area shows are headliners Rage Against The
Machine, The Wu-Tang Clan, Cypress Hill and many
more. This second Randall’s Island/New York City show
now marks one of five opportunities where fans can
experience the highly anticipated return of Rage Against
The Machine which includes Coachella and other
Rock The Bells shows: Saturday, August 11 at the NOS
Events Center in San Bernardino, CA and Saturday, August
18 at McCovey Cove Parking Lot in San Francisco, CA.
Tickets for ROCK THE BELLS Sunday, July 29 at Randall’s
Island go on sale Friday, May 4 at 10:00 am via
Ticketmaster...
Rap
Attack takes a "WHAT'S UPPER" look this week with:
D-Tragic
(805HipHop.com):
"Just another quick note to let ya all know where you
boy is at now!
I HAVE A NEW SHIPPING ADDRESS - PLEASE UPDATE YOUR
RECORDS
SEND ALL PROMO ITEMS AND SERVICING TO:
805HIPHOP.COM
att: D-TRAGIC
1560
Santa Ynez St.
Ventura, CA. 93001
THAT
IS MY NEW ADDRESS!!! PLEASE UPDATE YOUR CONTACT BOOKS!
I'd HATE TO MISS YOUR PRIORITIES!!!
Also, if you have artists seeking exposure thru Street
Team, Live Performances, Record Play, Working Radio in
our market, PLEASE HIT US UP! We cover the Ventura and
Santa Barbara Counties of the 805 Area. We service
records to 2 BDS Detected FM Radio Stations KCAQ/Q104.7FM
and KVYB/103.3 THE VIBE. We are also
working College Radio @ UCSB on 91.9FM.
I would like to Offer our connection at our nightclub
called "THE CONNECT". This is the new spot in our market
for all the Hip-Hop Heads! If you know groups looking to
book acts, or do promo tours, add us to your contact
list! We got your spot between the Bay and LA all day!
Looking to blow this summer up with some real great
acts! So far since late April weve featured: TASH -
N2DEEP - YOUNG BERG - MR. CAPONE-E - CHINO XL - ROC-C ,
OHNO & DJ ROMES - WILDCHILD - KANKICK - ORIGINAL SIN -
FAMEUS - DUJEOUS - DECAL - POKDOG - RAS REBEL - 12 GRAND
and MANY MORE!!!! Lets blow it up this summer!
Contact Me @ 805.302.4855 and let me know If there is a
way We can help you out with your summer promos!!"...
PrizMatik
(Sprint
Radio): "Ch-ch-cheaahhh... Keepin it movin as usual.
Below is my updated drop scripts. Got that heat? Get
your artists to bang out some dope drops, the more
creative the better. Bold type is the important
info to include. Drops are a great incentive for DJs to
hype up your project and give it the attention it
deserves. Don't sleep...
DROP
INFO
1) Yo its ____. Right now you are checkin out
Showtime Radio w/ DJ PrizMatiK (Pronounced
Pr-is-matic) & Wildman Steve on 101.7 The
Beach.
2) This is ______ chillin wit my main man DJ
PrizMatiK (Pronounced Pr-is-matic).
3) This is _____ reppin that real hip hop, along side my
favorite DJ of all, DJ PrizMatiK (Pronounced
Pr-is-matic). Keep it locked, right here on Skeet
Skum yall. Peace.
Drops should be sent via
email in high quality mp3 or wav format to:
DJ @Prizmatik.com"...
Nesto
(WODU-VA):
"What's good people? Is it just me or are violent crimes
by young people getting more common place, and worst.
DAMN.. I mean I knew back in the 80's that teenagers
were going to be one of the main groups to get caught up
in crimes in the 90's and, but now you got young ass
kids doing some unspeakable shit.. What the hell is up
with these kids parents??
Yo Nes, good look on that Blue Scholars
video link. That track is dope, and the video couldn't
have gone any better with the track. It's wild because
that song brought out a lot of emotion in me both good
and bad. Bad, because I feel that this current war is
something we should have never have gotten into, and no
reason's out there could make me believe otherwise. If
you ask me it was all about the oil bottom line. Some
people may feel that is unpatriotic of me to say that,
but that's how I feel.
On the good side, I'm glad to see younger people taking
a stance and making music like this to address the
current happenings in our country, and to show support
for the troops. Even though a lot of people feel this
war is the biggest mess we've ever been part of in
recent history, the troops still need our support, and
we do need to get them back home. Being a veteran of the
military I'm always going to have that tie to the men
and women in service, and always support them because
they are just following orders even if they don't want
to be there.
Big ups to Blue Scholars for this track and video"...
Damian Rodriguez (KGNU-CO):
Ghetto highlight of the week:
At a friends house for an after hours thing, and to make
the long story short, A mom is currently taken the
daughters boyfriend, the daughter doesn't know about it
yet. She said she likes'em young. I did a video
interview, debating if i should post it on youtube. Oh,
she also had a husband & another boyfriend to add to the
WTF part of the story. Moms late 30's, daughters 19ish.
Moral:You're
ghetto when you see nothing wrong with Jerry springer,
or taking your daughters boyfriend & not telling her"...
Jason-D
(RadioBoise.Org): "I shouted out the new
Evidence tracks a few weeks back and the good folks
at ABB (Malachi I see you) hit me off with
the new Weatherman cd. Funny how all these
rappers are talking about bringin back NY Hip-Hop. That
Evidence cd (note: he's from Los Angeles) is the most NY
boom bap cd I've heard in a minute. I highly recommend
it. Speaking of NY Hip-Hop, I heard that the legendary
Marley Marl had a minor heart attack. Definitely
wish him a speed recovery. On a final NY note, it's hard
to believe but it's just four short months until
CMJ (10/16-10/20)"...
Kazzeo
(KHDC-CA):
"So that was it for The Sopranos huh? At best, it
was a 50/50 episode. I think that the build up to
Phil Leotardo getting clipped was too long. There
were too many "is this it" scenes before he finally got
it. As soon as they knew where he was, the next scene
should have been him getting his head crushed. Also,
there should have been a scene where the guy Carlo
was visually revealed as the rat. Plus the end
should have been Tony getting indicted by the
Feds at the diner. I really thought that Adriana
and Furio would be back in this episode in some
way but that never happened. Not to mention another
appearance by AJ's ex Blanca would have
been nice. And speaking of AJ, what's up with him
breaking the law with a high school chick? How funny
would it have been if Chris Hanson & Dateline
NBC showed up at the front door? I thought it
was an excellent choice of song for the final scene. The
scene between Uncle Junior and Tony was really
strong. But the shining scene had to be at the
post-funeral meal where Paulie Walnuts sits at
the table with the kids. He subtly flirts with Bobby's
niece and then undoes his pants because he so stuffed
from the meal. I can tell you from experience, that was
a dead on old school Italian move. I think the ending
message that Chase was going for was that even in
the midst of all the chaos, The Soprano family managed
to stay united and have a normal night out. Tony found
closure with Junior. He and Janice had a pleasent
sibling conversation. And the final thing he saw before
the show ended was his baby girl. That's what it means
to be Made In America.Even though they keep denying it,
I see a Sopranos movie before 2010"...
Garbs
Infinite
(WRUW-OH): "Some of you might remember last year
when my partners and I put together the 1st annual Ohio
Hip Hop Awards, well we are back at it for the second
installment! The first one was a huge success, but this
year is going to be even bigger and better! The event
will take place September 22nd @ The Galleria at
Erieview
1301
East 9th Street,
Cleveland, OH 44114. Google it and you'll see what I’m
talking about!
We
have just recently launched the Official website,
www.ohiohiphopawards.com. This year,
leading up to the Awards ceremony we will be doing a
handful of showcases in different cities around the
state which will give a number of artists the
opportunity to win a chance to perform on the historical
night! Visit the webpage to download the
sponsorship package; we have numerous options that will
appeal to the small independent businesses all the way
up to the largest corporations. Check it out!! We write
history as we go. Mark the date on your calendar"...
Jaws
(KSJS-CA):
What up ya'll! It's been a minute since I spoke on
thangs here at KSJS. Usually I just drop our rotation
charts on ya, and let that speak for how we get down
over here. But, with the change of the seasons comes
change in general, so I'ma put you up on game.
Summer time is here and school is out. Ya boy has
graduated, and is now offically a graduate. I finished
classes back in December, but just barely got the Degree
in the mail and just walked in the ceremony this past
weekend.
Anyway, I've been working hella hours (like 60 a week)
at two major radio stations here in San Jose, California
and still trying to hold down my duties at KSJS, but
it's been hectic (please forgive me if it took a long
time for me to holla back at some of you).
I've
been delegating some of my work out to my two assistants
over the last 6 months, but I've been handling the
emails, and listening to product myself to formulate the
charts. I've strived to accurately chart music that is
actually getting played at KSJS, rather than doing what
some do: paper charting wack tracks that don't even
deserve play. That's why our charts look different than
everyone else's, and we report to everyone to show that
we're not slaves to the industry.
On a
side note, KSJS is also not fully equipt to deal with
college radio's major push to go mostly digital. I
know ya'll labels are trying to save money on
manufacturing and shipping, but damn... it ain't all
good. KSJS is still working with CD players and
Turntables ya'll. The station doesn't even have a CD
burner, and I can't do all that on my joint, so most of
the MP3 priorities (if you noticed) get kicked to the
curb... and actual product gets play here. Sounds wack,
but not every station is rollin in fetti (actually this
whole push toward mp3 priorities is what's wack).
Anyway, I've heard that KSJS is going to try and make
that change soon though, so MP3's will be making it into
our rotations once that move gets made. But, when will
it? I can't say. The General manager has to clock that
loot, and then break it off. So it's up in the air.
Lastly, Ya boy is out of the Urban Music Director
position in a few weeks. It's been a cool, and long,
year and a half. But the next director will be solid, so
don't trip. There are several canidates, but they're all
straight. I'll introduce ya'll to the Winner via email
soon, and ya'll can build from there. But, I'll be
working with them behind the scenes, showin them
everything I know, until they got all the knowledge
they'll need to keep their game tight.
I am
still staying at KSJS, but rather doing the regular
format of spinning the new cuts in rotation with a mix
of classics for four hours like every other urban DJ
here, I'll be doing a 1/2 hour specialty show where I'll
be examining choice cuts off of classic rap albums every
week and breakin'em down for the listening audience.
I'll be expanding that formula to include new albums in
future so expect me to holla"...
Solo
(WECI-IN):
"I am calling my reporting days to a close. Numerous
reasons apply, but the main one is my family needs me
right now. My wifes stress level is thru the roof and my
daughters autism is wreckin havoc. I am moving into my
new house at the end of this month and I have a feeling
I will be without internet for a while. Verizon
is some slow ass bitches. As far as radio goes, I still
plan on rockin the airwaves like always, but you know as
I do the music industry isn't the same anymore. Hit me
up any time and take care"...
Here
is our address for 2007 to send material for review, etc
(vinyl & cd's)! Same address, just a new Ste. number:
RapAttackLives.com
4750 Kester Avenue, Ste. 11
Sherman
Oaks, CA 91403
Attn: Nasty-Nes
nastynes1@aol.com
SHOUT
OUT TIZIME:
Happy
Birthday this week to my mare'4life DJ Lucky
Lou celebrating this Wednesday, June 20th, to DJ
Creativity (KCAQ-CA) celebrating this
Thursday, June 21st & to my dad, Vincente L. Roldan
celebrating this Friday, June 22nd (R.I.P.
Dad & I Love & Miss You Very Much)...
PEACE, LOVE & HIP-HOP UNITY (God Bless & Isa Mahal),
Nasty-Nes
http://www.myspace.com/nastynes
http://www.myspace.com/rapattacklives
(Pinoy
Pride4Life
/ John 3:16) |
