|
|
LET'S DO IT
Yo! It's Tone
Loc & Damian "Mr Groove"
Rodriguez (KGNU-CO) gettin' ready to do
the "Wild Thing." |
|
|
NO SELL OUT!
DJ 3rd Rail keepin' it real on Chicago's
WNUR. (see article below) |
|
|
A NASTY 1988
FLASHBACK
On the set of Sir
Mix-A-Lot's "Posse On B'dway" video
shoot is Nasty-Nes & the Seatown posse! |
|
 |
[[ February 4, 2008 ]] |
|
What's
Upper?
In
one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history,
New
York
shattered
New
England's
unbeaten season 17-14 Sunday night as Manning
hit Plaxico Burress on a 13-yard fade with 35
seconds left. It was the Giants' 11th straight
victory on the road and the first time the Patriots
tasted defeat in more than a year...
Anyone catch Snoop Dogg on Larry King Live
last Friday night? It was a great 1 hour to hear about
Snoop's love for country music. Everlast aka
Whitey Ford wrote a country track for Snoop on
Snoop's new album dropping in March & yes, Snoop is a
HUGE Johnny Cash fan. With the upcoming album
about to drop, we learn that Snoop has put his ego aside
& let heads write material for his new album which is a
first. We also learn about Snoop's new respect for
women, his love for coaching a kids football team, his
passion for Roscoes Chicken & Waffles & he talked
a lot about his VH1-TV show, "Fatherhood"...
MTV's,
"Making The Band 4" made it's new season debut last week
& I'm lovin' yet. Peep it...
CHICAGO'S
DJ 3RD RAIL IS MAKIN' IT HAPPEN (see photo above):
Many
times people interview artist and ask the same
questions. I want to answer questions people are afraid
to ask. So let's begin.
For
many years people in
Chicago
have called you a hater, can you elaborate?
Hater describes someone who goes out of there way to
discredit someone who is good at what he or she does.
Nowadays everyone is good at everything, and if you say
something your a hater. The problem here is simple. For
over 16 yrs I've been on the radio and doing mix tapes.
I've heard and seen great artists. So my standards are
set real high. You have to be good on the mic and your
beats have to be on point. People feel that because I'm
from Chicago or because I do a college radio show that
I'm supposed to play everyones song or invite every
emcee or crew who's doing something down to the radio
station, or put them on my mix tapes. If you or your
beats aren't good, I don't mess with it. If you listen
to my shows on the radio or ever heard one of my mix
tapes you'll know what good sounds like.
Keep in mind with the internet people all over the world
listen to my shows, so it's important that when you try
to approach me with material it's as good as what I
play.
The sad part about this is I've been hated on for years.
These are the facts. 16 years on the radio. Over 60
different mix tapes put out. One of the organizers of
the largest
Chicago
graffiti event ever. Never selling out the culture or
the music. Yet I have 2 awards in over 20 years in hip
hop. Where's the love?
What do you think about the
Chicago Hip-Hop scene?
It's sad because we have so many people into hip hop
yet, they aren't in it for the love. Everyone wants to
make money off it. Whether your a DJ or an emcee or
producer most peoples goal is money, fame and exposure.
So most people switch styles every few months. For
example let's take the DJ scene real quick. How many
DJ's actually play good stuff all the time? They might
play a couple of good songs, but you have to listen to
crap in between. Apply that formula to every element of
hip hop. That's why it's sad.
Why aren't you on commercial radio?
Why would I take a step back? Yeah, a step back. People
feel like if your on commercial radio you've made it.
Most dj's don't have their own show., If they do it's
maybe, 1-3 hours long, tops. They play what's hot at the
time, they play commercials, they don't mix live for the
most part. So in other words, "most dj's are juke
boxes". Most mixes are about 10-25 minutes long. Let me
tell you what I have.
I have one of most powerful college stations in the
world WNUR 89.3fm (www.wnur.org).
It's 7200 watts and streams on 3 sites while we do our
show.
www.wnur.org,
www.elephantprint.com,www.truehiphop.fm
(Chicago,France,Germany). I have a 5 hour show. We play
no commercials. I'm allowed to play the dirty versions
of songs. I dj live with my own equipment and records,
for 5 hours straight. I play nothing but good hip hop
from day one to song's that aren't out yet on wax. I
don't have someone or some label telling me or paying me
to play music. I have full control of my show. People
from all over the world log in each week to listen to
me. No commercial station dj can tell me they have it
that good.
You still use turntables and records, why haven't you
changed with the times?
I'm a DJ not a CDJ, MP3DJ, IPODJ etc..... I've seen all
the advances in equipment over the years, and I laugh.
It's all a gimmick period. Each year you have to buy
different equipment. If it's not a new Cd mixer it's a
new IPOD OR a new DJ program like Serato. I've purchased
3 sets of tables my entire 20 plus years of dj'ing. One
time they broke into my crib and stole my equipment. So
that would be 2 sets.
I've heard about having your whole collection on hand or
being able to play songs you couldn't play because it
wasn't on record (wax). I've yet to meet someone who has
been able to play their entire collection, or has played
something that I'd die to have. I also have hundreds of
songs that aren't on downloads. Plus when songs are
compressed to digital, they lose quality. Not to mention
sometimes people's equipment freezes up and so you have
to carry an extra crate of records anyways. So in
essence your just carrying different stuff, just not as
many records. Ask yourself how many records you need to
spin for no more then 3 hours?
The DJ use to educate the crowd back in the day. Like I
said most dj's are juke boxes. Just put money in and
pick a song.
What is a sell out and why have so many people sold
out. Will you ever sellout?
A sell out is someone who does something that they
usually don't do in order to get money or fame. Usually
something that's completely opposite of what there
doing. They water it down. Don't get me wrong if you can
make money and gain fame from being good or great, then
it's a plus. Let's be real here. How rich is "Rakim" or
"DJ Premier"? You get the picture? So when someone
rhymes good or great and then they water it down or dumb
it down, then they sold out. If someone makes great
beats and then switch's it up or makes garbage in order
to fit in with what's happening then they sold out. If a
graf artist is dope and then does simlple bubble letters
just to get a wall or have his work in a magazine, then
that's a sell out.
People sell out all the time. they do it to make money
or just fit in. They make all types of excuses like,
"it's not 1986 or 1990" etc...; "I got seeds I gotta
feed son"; "That's what's in I have to adapted" and
"everyone else is doing it". A DJ would play dope hip
hop, but because he's at a club or a party or making a
mix tape he'll play some crab song. It might be popular
at the time, but it sucks. He or she will use one of
those excuses. If they tell you that song is dope when
you know it's garbage, then they are to far gone. Look
at all the dj's, emcee's, producers that were dope and
how good they were. Then look at the material they're
doing nowadays?
All those that sold out, how many of them are really
making it? Not even rich, just making it? How many of
those people have you seen all over the place as far
style or format?
I have never and will never sell out. I don't rely
on hip hop for my income. That's the number one reason
for sell outs. They feel hip hop is their 9-5. Who's
gonna hire you for big bucks to play crap rap, when the
next hot DJ will do it for less or for free just to get
their name out? Who's gonna buy your beat, when it
sounds just like all the other crap out? Why would they
buy beats from you if so many people make beats and
would give them free beats? Why would someone buy your
cd? It sounds just like all the other garbage out? If I
could make money playing the dopest hip hop on wax and
working with the illest producers and emcee's that would
be love. We all know that the real doesn't make money.
Yet I refuse to sell out to get whatever little money I
can. That's why I work a regular 9-5 in order to not
fall into the trap.
What's hurting Hip-Hop the most?
INTERNET & DOWNLOADS, that's what really put a hurting
on hip hop. The internet has allowed everyone to have an
opinion about hip hop. It's created countless of so call
hip hop sites, that promote what they think is good hip
hop. The bottom line is the same sell out mentality. I
remember when people started to download songs. I use to
get into it with callers on my show from all over the
world and on my web site Dj3rdRail.com about that. They
would tell me that they just wanted to take a listen and
if they liked the single or a few songs, then they would
go out and purchase the product when it came out. I
would tell them that's a lie. Why would you spend money
on something when you can get it for free? Look at it
now? I was right on the money with that one. How many
people own a real legit copy of artists material? A full
length album? Where did you get it from? Yet everyone is
up on almost everything about hip hop. Record sales are
the lowest ever. Each year fewer and fewer people can
sell millions. Great groups of the past are barely
putting out material on independent labels. Why is that?
Look around the internet at what people are passing off
as hip hop?
"SPACESHIP HIP HOP" what is that and why don't you
play it?
Spaceship hip hop is that "next level" "experimental"
obscure garbage. Yes I said it. Some people call it
"NERD" rap. Let's face it, when you have to call it
"next level" or "experimental" it's just that an
experiment. Just cause you can rhyme or use big words or
it's not talking about the streets doesn't make it good
either. If you took some of those accapellas and just
listened to them, it'll be just as bad as listening to
the commercial garbage. You don't have to have boom bap
beats to make good hip hop. Listen to some of the beats
people make and use. It sounds like pots and pans
falling. Most people, feel cause it's not commercial or
on a major label it's gotta be good.
Why do so many people say "That's your opinion"
You see it all the time on message boards everywhere.
When someone usually speaks the truth about something,
you'll see "That's your opinion". I love seeing that. It
tells me that someone got offended. Like I said the
internet has caused everyone to voice their opinion.
Some people even built a cult following. If they said
"so and so is the greatest or is great" so many people
would believe it. I don't know anything about "kicks"
"rims" "sports" etc.. get the picture? So I don't
comment on those things. I know hip hop records because
I own them. So I can speak on the subject. We all know
that "Rakim" is the greatest. "We know people like Pete
Rock and DJ Premier are some of the greatest producers
of all time, right? We know most of that "NO LIMIT"
stuff was garbage. "We know that Diddy has made wack
stuff. You follow me, right? So somewhere down the line
about 10 years ago, people started saying "That's your
opinion". That's when "your a hater" was flipped to be
used by everyone who didn't like you or your crew.
People couldn't tell you the truth. People who did were
haters. People became yes men. So next time you see
"that's your opinion", do some investigating.
Why don't you do party's often?
Most promoters are shady. They want to use your name,
but not pay you for it. Most promoters offer you
peanuts, yet they make a killing. If your throwing a
party and can't pay for your performers upfront, then
you shouldn't be throwing partys. I don't charge a whole
lot either. You see them every time they're doing an
event. They don't care about the culture, they only want
to make money. Period. Yet they front like it's about
the culture. They'll pay out of town acts big bucks, fly
them in, pay for a few home boys to come in town with
them, get the hotel room, etc...... Then someone who
lives here, they'll get a few bucks, or your name on the
flier. Maybe if the show does good they'll kick you down
a little something. This is why I don't do to many
shows. I only get down with a few people. If you see my
name on a flier it's because I can work with those
people. Those people aren't trying to get over on me or
others. Yes, I do care about other people also. Also
alot of places don't mess with hip hop either. The ones
that do are on some shadiness. I see it first hand. So a
lot of times I don't get down with the venues. I don't
rely on hip hop and never had. That's why I can go for
years without doing a party. I'm not a big fan of having
6 acts and 5 DJ'S. I do a 5 hour show, so If I can't
rock for a few hours then your wasting my time. You
don't hire Michael Jordan to play one quarter?
What's the low down on record shopping?
It's real bad nowadays. Each year fewer and fewer stores
stay open. That's just about everywhere in the U.S.A.
The records that come
out are horrible. Even the independent ones are bad.
Less DJ's each year use records(wax). So stores that do
stay open are forced to raise
prices. Some times they go over board. It's getting to
the point in some stores in Chicago that it might be
cheaper to buy online. Other stores try to pay rent with
each rare record they sell. I don't mind paying a little
extra for a good rare record. It's just hard to see a
whole day's pay spent on some of the stuff people are
selling today.
Why don't you enter DJ battles?
I don't have time to practice even for my shows, let
alone a battle. My schedule is so busy with all the
stuff I do, that I barely have time
to sleep. I do post on my site titled "IRONMAN" about
how long I stay awake. So I can't even find time to
practice for the radio shows.
Why did you decided to let the world know you're a
Guardian Angel?
For 19 years I've been a member of the Alliance of
Guardian Angels . The men and women who patrol the
streets and subways and wear
the red berets. I kept that part secret to mostly
everyone I've met. I always enjoyed helping others. I
was raised that way. Unlike other
artist that so something good and then make a big media
deal about it. I remained on the low just making a
difference. I just got tired of seeing
on t.v., on the net, and in magazines, what so called
hip hop artists look like. Either they were gang bangers
with tattoos or blinged out pimps
or fashion show divas (yes some guys are divas). The
average Hip Hop head doesn't look like that. So I wanted
to show them what real people look like.
Not all artists are gangsters and thugs. Some people
actually do positive things in life. When we need role
models in music and in general, I
felt like I needed to step up. So I let the world know
about my secret life. I wanted kids to look up to
someone that's in the streets and is doing good. I
needed to be that role model so many people don't have.
Tow Truck who is my right hand man at WNUR is also a
Guardian Angel. I met him when I joined. That's where he
go the name Tow Truck. We both come from bad
neighborhoods. He's from
Englewood
and I'm from Little Village. We both are the same. We
care and volunteer our time to not only Hip Hop but to
help make the streets safer. So next time you see a
Guardian Angel make sure you watch the 3RD
RAIL...
It's
been over 20 years since Michael Jackson released
his blockbuster album, "Thriller" (Epic).
It
feels like just yesterday I was on the radio at
Seattle's 1250 KFOX playing for the first time
ever on the air, "Billy Jean," "Wanna Be Startin
Something" & "The Girl Is Mine" to name a few. Droppin'
next Tuesday will be Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (25Th
Anniversary Edition). You will love this album featuring
of course the original hits as; "Human Nature,"
"Thriller," "P.Y.T.," "The Lady In My Life" PLUS the
original voice takes from Vincent Price as he
layed his vocals on "Thriller" and brand new versions
of; "The Girl Is Mine" f/ Will.I.Am, "Wanna Be
Startin Something" f/ Akon, "Beat It" f/
Fergie, "Billy Jean 2008 (Kanye West Mix) a
new version of "P.Y.T." & an unreleased track by MJ,
"For All Time." A must for all Michael Jackson fans!...
RAP
ATTACK
wants to welcome Amy Wiggins from Atlantic
Records to our RAP ATTACK FAMILY! Amy will be
our new College Radio connection for
Atlantic Records. She requests that you ADD her email
address to your TOP 30 Charts email list too.
Please reach out to her if you need any Atlantic product
& be sure you let her know you're a RAP ATTACK
DJ. EMAIL:
amy.wiggins@atlanticrecords.com - PHONE:
(212) 707-3151
Miami's
own, DJ EFN wants to give you the heads up that
he's startin' a weekly show on XM,this Tuesday,
Feb 5th. Here is all the info:
N.O.R.E. & DJ EFN presents: Militainment Crazy
Raw Radio on 66 Raw / XM Satellite Radio,
every Wednesdays @
8PM
ET...
Hip-hop producer/DJ/MC Pete Rock is set to
release his first album in four years. Titled "NY's
Finest," the album will be released in February 2008 in
a joint venture between Soul Survivor Records and
NY based indie label Nature Sounds. The record
features a roster of cult Hip-Hop artists that includes
Wu-Tang's Raekwon and Masta Killa,
Dipset's Jim Jones, Papoose,
D-Block and Redman amongst others. The first
single "We Roll" features Jim Jones and Max B.
The track shipped to radio in mid-October and it's
already getting spins at mix-shows throughout the
Northeast. Other tracks currently available are "914"
featuring Styles P and Sheek Louch, "The
PJ's" featuring Raekwon and Masta Killa and "Til I
Retire" featuring Pete Rock himself...
Who
is the Greatest Producer of All-time?
By Davey D
So the other night I had this interesting and
compelling discussion about who is the greatest producer
of all-time within Hip Hop. The discussion started off
with me noting how often deejays in the middle of a
party will change up the music and pay a musical tribute
to the late J-Dilla.
There's no denying the immense contributions this man
who is often dubbed 'your producer's favorite producer'
has had within Hip Hop. From his group
Slum
Village
to Common to Busta Rhymes to Tribe
Called Quest to De La Soul to Pharcyde
and beyond, J-Dilla is a giant and will forever be
considered one of the greatest to ever touch the boards.
With that being said, the question that arose during our
discussion was, 'Is J-Dilla the greatest'? How does his
body of work compare to fellow producers Dr Dre
and DJ Premier who for years have been lauded as
the very very best?
I mean when you look at Dr Dre and just the work and
impact he had from his production with his first group
World Class Wrecking Crew on up to NWA to
his own land mark solo albums 'The Chronic'
and '2001', there's no way you can even
mention Dilla in the same sentence.
If you add the production he did with artists ranging
from 2Pac to Eminem to 50 and
beyond, its simply staggering. J-Dilla may be a king but
Dre is a God. That's how the argument started to unfold.
It continued with the assertion that anyone who put
Dilla on par with Dre was just too young and thus wasn't
able to fully appreciate all that Dre did.
The counter to that argument was that some of Dilla's
best work came out at a time when Dre was also at his
height and that it was fair to weigh the two producers
side by side.
Adding fuel to this discussion was the type of impact
and respect DJ Premier has garnered. He may not
have spawned the same number of mega platinum hits as
Dre, but his influence is undeniable especially amongst
artists that are considered underground.
Premier touched everyone and when he laced them with
beats things usually turned out for the better. Up until
people started taking note of J-Dilla Dre and Primo were
always mentioned in the same breath and considered two
sides to the same proverbial production coin. From
Gang Starr to to Freddy Fox to Jay-Z
to Nas to Christina Aguiluerra and way too
many to name, Primo has and will always be the the God
equivalent to Dre
With all that being said lets take a hypothetical
situation. Let's say you are an artist ready to put out
what you hope to be a landmark album that will stand the
test of time through the ages. You're budget and label
politics only allow you to mess with one producer. Who
do you roll with Dre? J-Dila? or Premier? Are there pros
and cons when looking at their work? For example, one of
the arguments made is that J-Dilla was constantly
evolving. The more he did the better he got and that if
he was still alive he would've continued taking music to
new heights.
Dr Dre in recent days has not lived up to his stellar
reputation. For example, the production he did on
Busta Rhyme's last album was actually kind of weak
compared to what he's done in years past.
Primo was accused of having the same sound. So while
he's dope as a producer, if you stick with him for an
entire album, he would bore you to death with that same
boom bap sound.
The counter to that is that Primo has always been
diversified and that if you really take time to think
about it, he's done so much that he's often overlooked.
For example, Premier has laced artists like N'Dea
Davenport, Craig David and D'Angelo.
He's blessed everyone from KRS to Mos Def.
Primo is monster and anyone short changing him is simply
not a real Hip Hop head.
So there's the 64 thousand dollar question.. Who is Hip
Hop's greatest producer, J-Dilla, Dr Dre or DJ Premier
or should we have expanded the list to include people
like Rza, Kanye West, The Neptunes,
Timbaland and DJ Quik?
Where the Hell is Diddy During this Historic Election?
by Davey D
Two tours focusing on the election and its intersection
with Hip Hop and youth culture are set to start. They
include the 'Hip Hop For President' tour
put together by longtime activist Rosa Clemente
and includes artists like M-1 of dead prez,
Rebel Diaz and former Green Party Presidential
candidate Jared Ball. They will use this tour as
a vehicle to bring attention to issues like; Holding
elected officials accountable, avoiding the
trappings of 'Vote or Die'and uniting Black and
Brown communities.
Author Bakiri Kitwana is also putting on a Hip
Hop and Politics tour starting this spring which will
include a number of scholars along with popular icons
like Cousin Jeff of
BET.
With all that being said, one of the glaring omissions
from all this has been Sean ‘P-Diddy’ Combs. For
the life of me I can’t figure out why the guy who sold
lots of t-shirts, started an organization called
Citizen Change and coined the catchy phrase
‘Vote or Die’ has been MIA. I’m not raising this
question to be funny or make light of things or even as
a criticism, but its one of concern and deep curiosity.
Why has Diddy been absent from the hoopla surrounding an
election that may go down in history?
If you recall in 2004, Diddy was everywhere. He was on
Oprah, he was on CNN, he was on the
campaign trail sparking rallies that drew hundreds and
thousands of youth in numerous cities. Many activist and
politicos cringed when Diddy showed up. They accused his
‘Vote or Die’ campaign as being nothing but a marketing
ploy. Others felt that by showing up on the campaign
trail he was taking away from the important issues the
candidates needed to discuss. Republicans felt like
Diddy was a Democratic shield, while Democrats felt like
his ‘non partisan’ Vote or Die message was actually
inspiring GOP youth to go the polls.
Although his Citizen Change was non partisan, there are
a few of us who recall him standing on stage at a
Rock the Vote Lippert Awards ceremony in Los Angeles
where he was being honored in February of 2004. There he
promised to do everything he could in his power to ‘Kick
Bushes ass out of office'. It was bold claim that drew
loud applause and made RTV organizers nervous because of
their non profit status which forbid them advocating for
a candidate. You can peep that speech by listen here:
http://odeo.com/audio/333433/view
According to Democratic strategist
Celinda Lake
who owns of one of the nations premier polling
companies, Diddy did some good work in terms of
gathering data and polling underserved urban
communities. During our recent interview here in
Washington
DC, she pointed out that he was making headway with his
company before he stopped. The information was shedding
light that could later politically empower those
communities. Like me, she too could not figure out why
Citizen Change closed down and Diddy of all people
wasn’t out and about during this historic election
season. After all he’s not touring or promoting an
album. You don’t think he could’ve made some noise at
the very least selling Obama or Hillary shirts?
I’ve not been able to get an answer as to where and why
he disappeared off the political landscape. Everytime I
see him at a function his time to answer questions are
limited and restricted. The recent stories that came out
around his last album ‘Press Play’ didn’t
address that issue except in one instant where he said
he vaguely suggested that he was going to return.
The rumor mill and speculations have run the gauntlet
with some asserting that he was running out of money and
that Citizen Change was just another unnecessary added
expense. Others have noted that he was extremely
embarrassed by the assessment put upon on by media
pundits who claimed he failed. Many have written Diddy
off and said that he was never fully committed and that
he simply got bored with politics and moved on. That
would be an interesting turn of events considering that
Diddy prior to the 2004 election had involved himself in
the 2002 New York gubenatorial race where NY was set to
have its first African American governor Carl McCall.
Back then Diddy was all up on the radio and was pretty
firm in saying that being politically involved was
important not just for him but for his kids who he
wanted to set an example for...
Still others have theorized that he may have been shut
down by folks in power who didn’t like him stirring
things up and rocking the boat. Keep in mind he did find
himself under federal investigation not too long after
the investigation. His organization's non profit status
came into question as he was accused of campaigning for
Kerry.
What's interesting is that we never saw similar
investigations launched to see just how non partisan
many of those conservative evangelical churches were.
Nor did we see investigations launched at some of the
churches that came out in support of Bush when he took a
stand against gay marriage. Am I the only one that
remembers all those Black preachers who lined up and
cheesed for the camera and said Bush was the man to get
behind?
Say what you will, but I've always wondered if Diddy had
been victim to backroom Karl Rove-like tactics
where some holding considerable political power shut him
down by bringing up un-publicized questionable behavior
that he may have been attached to within the music
business. Maybe there was a threat to bring this too
light if he didn't chill on the political tip. And if by
chance something insidious like that took place it would
have more to do with his ability to 'effectively'
mobilize the masses and change the power dynamics. Folks
who run things aren't always willing to sit back and let
that happen without a fight. It certainly wouldn't be
the first time things like this have happened.
In any case Diddy or no Diddy, 2008 will be an exciting
year with hopefully a record number of young adults
coming to the poll. People are obviously inspired by
Obama ,and Clinton, but popular artists like
Timbaland, Lupe Fiasco, Common,
Rhymefest and others are publicly weighing in and
sharing their opinions. We seen songs put out by local
Bay Area artists like Kev Choice
http://www.myspace.com/kevchoice and D'Labrie
www.myspace.com/dlabriemusic praising Obama.
They follow in the footsteps of Rappin' 4Tay who
in 2004 put out a song for Dennis Kucinich. The
recent online passionate public debate/spat between
Lupe (Clinton)
and Rhymefest (Obama) is an indication that
politics is here to stay amongst the generation we once
wrote off.
Formerly of the group UTFO, Educated Rapper
has performed with the likes of NWA, Ice T,
Ice Cube, Run
DMC
(just
to name a few). Even further, his hit song "Roxanne,
Roxanne" has been sampled and remixed by such
artists as P. Diddy, Missy Elliot and
Wyclef Jean. Now ready to enter the music world as a
solo artist, Educated Rapper is here to bring
intelligence to the rap game and to lend knowledge to
all those who listen. With his new version, "Roxanne
208", Educated Rapper has created a definite club hit
that will draw in all those who listen. And once he's
got you hooked, that's when Educated Rapper lays the
truth on his listeners with a song like "Something for
the Head", which is exactly that. His ability to keep
you entertained and, at the same time, give you
something to ponder way beyond the music, is what makes
Educated Rapper an artist who will continue to make
history in the music world...
Reppin' Compton & Carson, Cali, Priesthood is
feeling the success of their new joint "The Way U Luv
Me" (Priesthood Music). You can peep these kats
out at:
www.MySpace.com/PhoodMusic...
Log
on NOW to:
http://youtube.com/nastynes818 & click on
"FAVORITES" & Flashback with me with music I grew up to
& played on the Seattle radio airwaves when it was brand
new! It's a visual musical journey BACK, wayyyy back,
BACK into time with:
The Spinners, Run
DMC,
The Jackson 5, The Treacherous 3, Eric B. & Rakim,
Millie "YeS" Vanillie, Stylistics, Blondie, BDP, U.T.F.O.,
Shalimar, Rick James, Musical Youth, Debarge, New Kids
On The Block, New Edition, Del The Funky Homosapien,
Jimi Hendryx, JJ Fad, Flavor Flav, Nu Shooz, Queen
Latifah, Soul Sonic Force, Lisa Lisa & The Cult Jam, The
Cover Girls, The Jacksons, Paul Hardcastle, Nice &
Smooth, The Dazz Band, K-9 Posse, Hall & Oates, Midnight
Star, Rocky, Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly, Angela Mao Ying aka
Lady Kung-Fu, Muhammad Ali
to
name a few
AND
Flashback 20 plus years with yours truly by going down
Hip-Hop history lane with me & Sir Mix-A-Lot
(Posse On Broadway, Beepers videos & more), Nastymix
Records (Kid Sensation, High Performance
videos & more), My 1978 Buick Regal Lowrider
days!!! and video footage from my cameos in "House Party
4," "Kung Pow! Enter The Fist" and more! Log on
NOW &
ENJOY at:
http://youtube.com/nastynes818...
I
want to WELCOME once again to the exclusive
RAP ATTACK family, our new reporters for
2008! These are the heads that'll make a difference in
breaking
NEW
Hip-Hop on their shows & mixtapes:
RADIO:
CFRO
- Dale Cheyne aka DJ Sage (Vancouver
BC)
KKFI
- Mz Shai (Kansas
City,
MO)
KSDT
- Rylan Bowers aka DJ Prove 1 (San Diego, CA)
WITR
- JayThreeoh (Rochester,
NY)
WMUA
- Jordan Staiger (Amherst,
MA)
WRSU
#2 - Mary Nichols aka DJ Fusion
WRSU
# 3 - Sammy Figgs (New
Brunswick,
NJ)
INTERNET:
HEAVY
ROTATION (TheBestJams.com) - AJ Woodson
HIPHOPFRIENDS (HipHopFriendsOnline.com) - DJ Spazo
THE
BEST JAMS (TheBestJams.com) - Brother John
MIXTAPE:
AL C.
aka DJ Gutta Down
BLUE
SCHOLARS TOUR DATES WITH HIEROGLYPHICS!!!!
FEB.6.2008
Blue Scholars
Media Club
695 Cambie St.
Vancouver,
BC 0
9:00 PM :: 19+
:: $10/12
with: The Seed, Paper Chase
FEB.8.2008
Blue Scholars
Sugar Nightclub
858 Yates Street
Victoria,
BC 0
19+ :: $12
FEB.9.2008
Blue Scholars
Native Sons Hall
411
Anderton Avenue
Courtenay,
BC 0
All Ages :: $15
FEB.15.2008
Blue Scholars
The Mercury Lounge
217 E. Houston St.
New York, NY 10002
21+ :: $10
with: Kidz in the Hall, Cause
FEB.16.2008
Blue Scholars
Cornell University
Bailey Hall
529 Willard Straight Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
All Ages
FEB.21.2008
Blue Scholars
University of Utah Union Ballroom
200 South Central Campus Drive
200 South Union Room 234
Salt Lake City, UT 94112
All Ages
with: Hieroglyphics, Swollen Members
FEB.22.2008
Blue Scholars
The Black Sheep
2106 E. Platte Ave.
Colorado Springs, CO 80909
9:00 PM :: All Ages :: $15
with: Hieroglyphics
FEB.23.2008
Blue Scholars
Belly Up
450 South Galena Street
Aspen, CO 81611
8:00 PM :: All Ages :: $22 / 24
with: Hieroglyphics
FEB.24.2008
Blue Scholars
Marquis Theatre
2009 Larimer Street
Denver, CO 80202
8:00 PM :: All Ages :: $15
with: Hieroglyphics
FEB.25.2008
Blue Scholars
Fox Theatre & Cafe
1135 13th St.
Boulder, CO 80302
TBA :: All Ages :: $20 / 22.5
with: Hieroglyphics
FEB.26.2008
Blue Scholars
Sandbar Vail
2161 North Frontge Road
Vail, CO 0
9:00 PM :: 21+ :: $18/20
with: Hieroglyphics
FEB.27.2008
Blue Scholars
Sherpa and Yeti's
320 South Main Street
Breckenridge, CO 80424
9:00 PM :: 21+ :: $18/20
with: Hieroglyphics
FEB.28.2008
Blue Scholars
Aggie Theatre
204 South College Ave.
Ft. Collins, CO 80524
8:00 PM :: All :: $15
with: Hieroglyphics,
MARCH.1.2008
Blue Scholars
Middlebury College
McCullough Student Center Social Space
Middlebury, VT 5753
All Ages :: $5
MARCH.8.2008
Blue Scholars
Oberlin College
Dionysus Night Club
Oberlin, OH 0
18+ :: $5
APRIL.5.2008
Blue Scholars
Grinnell College
Gardner Lounge
Director of the Forum
Grinnell, IA 50112
8:00 PM :: All Ages
Rap
Attack takes a "WHAT'S UPPER" look this week with:
D-Tragic (805HipHop.com):
"PEACE FAM! WELL, I'm back one more time to
let everyone know I have a
NEW
MAILING ADDRESS:
805HipHop.Com / 80.5FM
att:
D-TRAGIC
1780
Sunridge Drive
Ventura,
CA. 93003
(805)288-2256 - BIZ /
INFO
dtragic@805hiphop.com
SHOT
OUT TO NASTY NES & LATIN PRINCE - TRUE DJ
ICONS!!
SHOT
OUT TO AMY WIGGINS &
SAM
CRESPO
FROM
ATLANTIC RECORDS!
SHOT
OUT TO TASHA DENHAM OF 7GRAND RECORDS -
PEEP OUT" STAND UP" BY GURU feat. DAMION
MARLEY
SHOT OUT TO BRANDON HINKLE W/ DEM DERRTY
DJz! - Check out that new MURPHY
LEE
"MURPH
DERTY"...
Bri-G (RPM/Mixtapes-New
York): "Here’s
what your radio station will be sounding like in the
near future. Don’t give me the “I don’t think they’re
ready for this yet” line. You’re the DJ, you dictate
what the people are ready for. Your smarter than they
are. They listen to it because you’re playing it and if
you’re playing it, it must be cool. When Funk Flex
stepped out on Juvenile’s Ha! at The
Tunnel, he told New York that they were ready for the
South to move in. Whether they actually were or not, it
didn’t matter. He made it so.
Now
it’s your turn to move forward with the new wave of hip
hop. Djs who don’t believe that just get left behind.
DJs who don’t believe that end up old and irrelevant.
You saw it happen to a lotta guys when the 90’s east
coast movement died. You can’t hang on to one form of
hip hop when the rest of the country’s ready to move on.
I can already see it happening now with a lotta guys and
good luck to them. See where they are in 3 years.
They’ll be doing Sunday Night “Specialty Shows” like the
back packer dudes do now.
It’s
better for all of us to lose some guys along the way
anyway. Every now and then you need to thin the heard.
Every now and then competition grows so strong that it’s
good when people take a wrong turn and kill themselves.
It’s just history repeating itself. You saw it in the
mixtape game already. So if you want, please stay at 73
bpm, it’s cool. Just know I’m trying to get to 120 and
up as quickly as possible. I might even play your 73 bpm
joint, but I’m gonna play the doubled up version just do
I don’t lose any steam. I like to smile when I DJ, maybe
you don’t. I wanna go global, maybe you don’t. Just so
you know, they don’t really care about Plies and
Shorty Lo in
Australia.
They do care about Kid Sister and Santo Gold
though.
Moving on from that. I’ve just returned from yet another
trip to LA. I’m convinced it only rains in
Cali
when I’m there. I’ve been there four times in the last
two months and it’s poured every time. I definitely had
an adventurous time out there as I:
·
A)
was nearly arrested
·
B)
was nearly murdered
·
C)
still managed to pop bottles every night with
celebrities (you can see pics on wireimage for
reference)
Just
a couple words of advice for your next trip out to the
west coast. Even if your hotel is less than a mile from
the club, don’t drink and drive. Somehow, I managed to
avoid a DUI even after being pulled from my car by the
good folks at the LAPD. I guess as long as you
tell em a good story and never admit to drinking, you’re
ok in their book; even if just minutes earlier you were
pounding a bottle of Patron with DJ Irie.
Also, don’t ever venture to some crazy Mexican’s house
with E-One unless you feel like reliving scenes
from Training day. Luckily, I was allowed, and I mean
allowed to leave around 7am and thankfully escaped
injury/death.
So,
thus is my life. Thanks to Irie, Vice,
Cubeechee, Jamie Pressly, E-One, some crazy
Mexican named Paul, Jeremy Piven,
Wilmer Valderama, Jamie Fox, the Simmons
Sisters and what seemed like the entire San Diego
Chargers football team for making this a memorable
trip"...
Raw-B
(KUSF-SF): "What
up peoples! Big thanks goes out to DJ Chicken George
(repping Austin, TX) for coming through BeatSauce
this past Sunday. He is in S.F. for a week and was kind
enough to bless our listeners with his flavorful skills.
Dude comes correct on the turntables every time. Get
more info at
Http://www.djchickengeorge.com
I've also got to big up Topr of the
Gurp
City
crew
for debuting a couple songs off his new album
Marathon of Shame. Topr a.k.a. Top Rawman
is sorta like
San
Francisco's version of R.A. the Rugged Man. Dude
killed it with his freestyle. Get more info on Topr at
http://www.myspace.com/topr
Click on link below to hear more from our last
broadcast:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/9z1z8u...
Double J
(Mixtapes-New
York): "Your man is back from his latest European
adventure which included the Midem Music Market
in Cannes, and a mini vaca/biz trip to Stockholm. If you
ever have the opportunity to go to
Sweden,
I highly recommend it. There is a HUGE music scene and
the Swedes are some of the nicest people on the planet.
Good times!
I
made it back just in time for the Superbowl ] and
it was a dandy with the local NY Giants getting
the W. I’m by no means a Giants fan, but I’m glad they
won. The Patriots were getting ahead of
themselves with all the 19-0 talk.
I
should mention a change with one of our projects. We’ve
been working Kweli’s “Hot Thing” remix,
but Kweli decided he would like to switch the focus to
"Hostile Gospel," so please start charting that one. If
you need the song, grab it at
www.foundation-media.com/current.html. They just
shot a really dope video in Nigeria which will be making
its debut very soon, so keep an eye out. This is my
favorite track on the album, so I’m glad they decided to
push this next"...
Kazzeo (KHDC-CA): "Oh
boy, here we go again. You know, with each
year that goes by, I find myself more and more less
likely to hold my tongue when it comes to certain
things. That can either be seen as me being a complainer
or as me not taking shit from anyone. I prefer to see it
as the second.
So I took a little while to really think how I wanted to
present this latest rant. Now I've been in this radio
game since 1991. I've seen many changes and many ills
that come with the game. But for a long period of time
there was always a certain level of understanding
between dj's and label reps / artists when it came to
meeting commitments for interviews. The dj would contact
the the label, the label would forward the interview
request to the artists manager the artists manager would
contact the dj, and then it would be taken care of.
Then the time came when labels were dropping artists
left and right and cutting departments which made it
very difficult for dj's to book artists on their shows.
Then along came MySpace and other networking
sites which made it easy for independent artists to deal
directly with the dj's who played their music. This was
great because it also allowed the dj's a new way to keep
booking artists on their radio shows.
Now the issue which I am trying to get to not only deals
with MySpace, but it also deals with the internet in
general. But when you scrape away both of those
entity's, it comes down to artists attitudes and
responsibilities.
Here's the deal.
It's not even the end of the first month of 2008 yet and
already I have had 4 artists schedule phone interviews
on my radio show and "no show" without any excuse.
First there was a certain legendary female rapper.
Without naming names, this artist was featured on the
Hip Hop Honors show a couple years ago. I've had her on
my show back in 2005. Now she has a new single / project
out. She is on my distribution list for my weekly mass
emails of my playlists. She contacts me via email and
proposes coming on my show again to promote her new
project. No problem. We set a date and everything is
good to go. 2 hours before the interview, I text her to
make sure we're still good and also send her the call in
info. Never hear back from her and she never calls in at
the designated time. I get home that night and check my
email to see if she sent any word there. Nothing. So I
send an email asking what happened. I get a reply the
next morning telling me that "a text is not good enough
and she needs to be called directly in order to call".
Uh okay. I've always made it a routine to not have any
verbal communication with an artists prior to interview
because I want the interview to be spontaneous and
unrehearsed. Nonetheless, I reschedule with her for the
following week. This time, instead of texting, I call
her cell phone and get a voicemail. I leave a detailed
message 90 minutes prior to the interview. The
designated time comes and the designated time goes
without her calling in. Now I'm pissed.
Through a mutual friend I find out she expects to be
called 5 minutes before interview or it won't happen.
Let's see, I'm running the boards, answering the request
line, logging station breaks and psa's, and programming
the music but I'm supposed to drop all of that to call
her 5 minutes before interview to remind her? Give me a
fuckin' break. Here I am giving her airtime to promote a
project that likely won't sell anywhere close to 10,000
copies worldwide and she can't even make any type of
effort to meet a commitment? Bullshit.
2 more cases of rappers not following through on
designated phones in followed that first debacle.
Is it a wonder why so many artists are seen as one hit
wonders? 90% of them seem to have no desire to put in
the time and leg work it takes to build a career of
longevity. They all want to just record a song and hear
it on the radio and see the video. They have no clue
that it just doesn't get mailed out and ends up on the
radio. You have to do interviews. You have to do
appearances. You have to record drops. Etc. Etc.
Then there are the established artists who are trying to
reclaim some sort of success and don't want to do the
necessary work to make it happen.
It's just super frustrating putting so much time and
effort into a radio show that supports independent /
underground artists and, more often then not, being shit
on by the artists that get airplay on my show.
If it wasn't for the listeners who enthusiastically call
in every week with requests and compliments, I'd have
less motivation to keep doing it. But at the end of the
day, it is what it is.
I'm sorry I'm not part of some huge radio chain with a
hundred thousand watts behind my signal. I'm just a host
of a radio show that covers 100 miles of the central
area of
California
and plays music that people in the region can really
identify with as opposed to other stations who pipe in
their playlists from offices on the other side of the
country.
I just want to thank those artists who continue to make
themselves available when I need to book them for
interviews or to record special drops / promos for my
shows. You know who you are and, more importantly, know
how the game works. Thanks for being down.
And if this rant upsets you or burns a bridge, I don't
care. I will not be a sheep. Dj's and radio shows are
more important to artists than artists are to dj's &
radio shows. Period"...
Brian
"ColdRigourous"
Leahy (WHUS-CT): "So, I'm thinking of
buying scratch live. Actually, I'm thinking of
buying a Rane '57. Thoughts? Am I selling out my
love for vinyl? What'll I do with my rekkid
collection?"...
Rylan Bowers aka DJ Prove 1 (KSDT-San
Diego): "Its looking to be a ridiculously busy week.
Already been out twice for friend's bday's, show
tomorrow, and on and on. Hope all is well with everyone.
Don't forget to check the Web site at:
www.prove1music.com
for past show's and Hip-Hop music related
posts.
One is up about the last Yo! MTV Raps show now,
great video to watch and reminisce!"...
Edgie
Kokoski
(WUNH-NH):
"The countdown is on, and although I'm weary, I will
make it to Sunday. Everyday I turn on the TV and see
every loudmouth in
New
England
babbling on about how Eli sucks, Plaxico
sucks, and that the Giants are going to get their
heads kicked in. But us true Big Blue fans still
believe. Ok, so I was ready to trade Eli after the 4
pick game against
Minnesota.
But three playoff wins later, we can welcome the
prodigal son back with open arms like Suge Knight
did to Kurupt. Do I think the G-Men will pull it
out? I think they can. And I don't think that Tom
Brady's ankle will have a goddamn thing to do with
it.
I think what I learned from Heath Ledger is to be
very careful with your career choices. Every news story
I saw about him had the same two words in the banner
headline.
I didn't know that Rock from Heltah Skeltah
was a pimp. That was one of the interesting things
that I learned about him this week. This of course was
after he proved that 'Magnum Force' wasn't just a
marketing campaign, as he allegedly shot a rival pimp in
the neck and paralyzed him. How come we never hear about
rappers pulling people out of burning buildings, or
pushing kids out of the way of oncoming traffic? Funny
that when Heltah Skeltah came out, everyone sweated Rock
and didn't care about Ruck (aka Sean Price),
now it's the complete opposite.
The most amusing video I saw this week was
Ghostface's MySpace diatribe where he chastised his
100,000 plus MySpace friends for only buying 35,000
copies of his album during its first week of release.
GFK promised to spend time with any fan who came up to
him and actually produced a real, retail copy of his CD.
He failed to mention on camera that your chances of
hanging with Ghost increase if you are between the ages
of 18-21, and do not own a penis"...
Randy
"DJ Raize" Reyes (Mixtape/Jive Records-New
York): "I
just wanted to share with you all a short video of our
wedding in Philippines. It is about a three and a half
minutes long. Enjoy:.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW_OnLaAv2c...
Here
is our address for 2008to 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
Coming soon "
www.RockTheBeatOnline.com "...
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...
| 
