[[  October 26, 2009  ]]

What's Upper? 

UFC 104 is history as Machida beat ShoGun by a UNANIMOUS DECISION last Saturday night...

The Philadelphia Phillies will head to the World Series to face either the Yankees or the Angels after taking Game 5 from the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-4, to win the National League Championship Series...The New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series to advance to the World Series for the first time since 2003. They will play Game 1 against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night in New York...

Congrats D-Tragic from 805HipHop.com on his recent engagement to the love of his life!...

WHO'S REALLY BREAKIN HIP-HOP? COLLEGE or MIXSHOW & WHY IS COLLEGE RADIO STILL GETTING NO RESPECT?

DJ Jason-D (RadioBoise.org): "I've been noticing that you have a new tag line at the beginning of many of your emails where you talk about your dj's still being able to break records and not have to play tracks off a playlist. "RAP ATTACK DJ's STILL BREAK NEW Hip-Hop music without lookin' at a list of YES & NO records you can & can NOT play from their PD/MD"

The timing was kind of ironic because I just ran into a guy whose buddy works at a commercial station. I think it's even worse then you describe. He basically said that with the exception of shows with live call in's, the show's are pre-produced in an itunes playlist sort of way. He said that a program director loads all of the songs, commercials, and dj talk times, etc for that show into a computer program. The "voice talent" then comes in ahead of time and just records the dozen or so 1 minute spots that would be played throughout the 4 hour show. Those are then loaded into the program so the DJ is not even there when it broadcasts.

 The DJ can usually bang out these recordings in less than an hour. So, The dj now only gets paid for the time it takes them to record those drops instead of the length of their show. And, because there are so many people willing to do this easy work, they pay only slightly above minimum wage. He basically said that most of these guys have other jobs and live thru the club guest appearances etc to get by. So the point is, they aren't even picking songs off a list. They are reading songs off a list with no influence over their show at all.

 I had thought for a long time as you suggested that they just had to rotate certain songs with a certain frequency throughout the day. Thanks to computers, they can just force that to happen. It's no wonder that satellite radio and internet radio has taken off.

The matrix is real"...

Kazzeo (KHDC-CA): "The only true employees of commercial radio in the current times are station managers, engineers, sales team, and night janitors. Street teams get paid in t shirts, concert tickets, and cd's. As you said, "air talent" get just above minimum wage. "Mixers" are pimped out to clubs and whatever the club pays them, a percentage of that likely goes back to the station or the station negotiates a higher scale of pay than the dj would usually asks and has the club pay the station directly who in turn take the cut off the top and pass the balance off to the dj who has no idea what's happening. And it wouldn't be a shock to see a station then ask for a percentage of the dj's cut since corporate radio is bleeding from loss of advertising. Many booking agents do the same with independent artists. Shady as hell"...

DJ Chill Will (WCBN-MI): "Big week at the clubs and Jay-Z was in town  for a show with NERD, Wale and J Cole. But I'm not feeling some of the decisions being made about this tour. First it's a college tour and Sony is saying, "NO COLLEGE DJ'S" will be getting hook up for tickets during the tour. Now J Cole (this weeks RAP ATTACK NUMBER ONE MOST ADDED Record) is a new artist who they want us to support and that's how they feel??? And they're labeling this a "COLLEGE TOUR???" There are people who dj at these college stations who may not have the resources that I have to get in to the show and they will be left out. I think it's bad on the labels "SONY" and bad for the artist who doesn't know anything about what's going on. Things like that can turn people away from a very talented MC as in J Cole. I hope they get it together and remember, if it wasn't for college radio a lot of artist wouldn't be were they are today"...

Congrats & props to DJ Commando who is now  the Program Director for www.Raw973.com...

KRS ONE Presents "The Gospel of Hip Hop: The First Instrument" Legendary Emcee and Activist Launches the First Book In I AM HOP HOP Series

KRS ONE's The Gospel of Hip Hop: The First Instrument - the first book from the I Am Hop Hop/powerHouse Books imprint - is set for a November release. The philosophical masterwork of KRS ONE, The Gospel of Hip Hop: First Instrument is set in the format of a self-help book. The 800-plus-page opus is a spiritual manual for citizens of Hip Hop Kulture that combines classic philosophy with faith and practical knowledge for a fascinating, in-depth exploration of Hip Hop as a life path. Known as "the Teacha," KRS-One developed his unique outlook as a homeless teen in Bronx, NY engaging his philosophy of self-creation to become one of the most respected emcees in Hip Hop history. As Hip Hop's true steward, KRS ONE painstakingly details the development of the culture and the ways in which we, as "Hiphoppas," can and should preserve its future.

The Teacha also discusses the origination of Hip Hop Kulture and relays specific instances in history wherein one can discover the same spirit and ideas that are at the core of Hip Hop's current manifestation. He explains Hip Hop down to the actual meaning and liguistic history of the words "hip" and "hop," and describes the ways in which Hiphoppas can change their current circumstance to create a future that incorporates Health, Love, Awareness and Wealth (H-LAW). 

Committed to fervently promoting self-reliance, dedicated study, peace, unity and truth, the Teacha has drawn both criticism and worship from within and from outside Hip Hop Kulture. In this beautifully written, inspiring book, KRS ONE shines the light of truth, grounded in his own empirical research over a a 14-year period into the fascinating world of Hip Hop.

KRS ONE is a philosopher, activist, author, lecturer, and emcee. Since founding canonical Hip Hop act Boogie Down Productions in the mid-1980s, he has released a granite-solid catalog of 19 full-length albums, along with a star-studded list of collaborations. In 1988 he founded the Stop the Violence Movement, a collective of artists, activists, educators, and entertainers exploring the roots of violence while working to promote the development of positive conflict resolution methods. He is currently producing an album celebrating the organizations's 20th anniversary, with contributions by Nelly, Method Man, Busta Rhymes, Game, Hakiem Green, Grant Parks, Duane "Da Rock" Ramos and many others. KRS ONE is an accomplished public speaker who has delivered lectures at over 500 colleges, universities and other venues. In addition to The Gospel of Hip Hop, he is the author of The Science of Rap (self-published, 1995) and Ruminations (Welcome Rain, 2003). Currently KRS ONE is touring the United States with Stop the Violence, urging America's urban centers to seek non-violent conflict resolution over revenge and war...

Did anyone catch the "2009 VH1 Hip Hop Honors" honoring Def Jam Records? Where was Def Jam's first artist to drop on Def Jam, T La Rock & where was Def Jam's first female artist, Nikki D.? Here's what DJ Kazzeo (KHDC-CA) had to say about the Hip-Hop honors:

"Well it only happens once a year my friends. No, not my birthday (although that is coming up soon). I'm talking about the annual VH1 "Hip Hop Honors" show. This year was the 6th edition and I have to say, despite some high points, there were a lot of low points.

So let me break it down from start to finish.

The show began with a really stupid skit where Tracy Morgan was dressed as a preacher and backed by a choir. He started running his mouth about Def Jam history. This was really boring. since he was already in costume, he should have re-enacted the Arsenio Hall scene from Coming To America instead. If VH1 was serious about honoring Def Jam, they have started the show where it all began & had T La Rock come out and do, at very least, a verse from "It's Yours". But instead they give us Reverend Morgan. Boring. And why was Ed Lover dj'ing instead of Dr. Dre? Hmmmm.

Then came a vignette of LL Cool J telling the story of how he first got signed. I've heard this story a bunch of times but the way he told it here, with the impersonations and such, was really funny.

Next up was The Roots joined by Jazzy Jeff and Eminem paying tribute to LL. This was dope. Jazzy Jeff is so damn smooth on the wheels. And you can really feel the love Em has for LL's early work. This was a real highlight of the show.

Every time they flashed to Rick Rubin all I could keep thinking was Santa & Buddha had a kid. Damn. The Rick Rubin who was on the show tonight must have eaten the Rick Rubin who was in Krush Groove.

All I could do was say "why?" when I saw Jimmy Fallon there. But okay, whatever.
Public Enemy hit the stage and sounded great but, and no dis to Jazzy Jeff, Public Enemy without Terminator X just isn't Public Enemy. And was that Boots Riley from The Coup on stage with them? And why did PE only do one song? "Welcome To The Terrordome" would have been nice.

I have a really funny story I may blog sometime about Kevin Liles and his visit to Santa Cruz back in 94/95. But for now, let's move on.

Scarface & Ludacris were next to spotlight Def Jam South. Scarface was solid but his stage presence was nowhere near Ludacris. That dude just has a really strong energy level.

The Tracy Morgan / Scoop Giles skits sucked big time. He really must have pictures of VH1 execs with farm animals in order to keep hosting this show.
The Beastie Boy tribute was next. The lead dude from Gym Class Heroes had a dope shirt on paying respect to DJ AM (R.I.P.) and Roc Raida (R.I.P.) but having tattoo's all the way up your neck looks super stupid. KRS-One's freestyle was dope. This was also the first time of the night that I asked myself "why do I not know who this Wale' guy is".

Lyor Cohen's story about meeting Warren G was boring.

Hearing Trey Songz makes me miss Nate Dogg, who actually always made me miss Mixmaster Spade (R.I.P.). Since Trey Songz appears to be a modern version of Nate Dogg, that just means for two years he'll sound good on everyone else's tracks. Then he'll make an album of his own, sell maybe 33,000, and then go into obscurity. Cool.

So Clinton Sparks shouts out DJ AM and says nothing about Roc Raida (R.I.P.)? That right there speaks volumes to me about this dude.

Redman & Method Man should have done "How High" instead of what they did. It would have been funny if the IRS would have come out mid-song and cuff up Meth. LOL. Big respect to DJ Scratch for shouting out Roc Raida (R.I.P.). Whoever was mixing the sound for the Mary J. Blige / Method Man performance should be fired. It sounded horrible. Maybe that's was the energy level didn't work for me. They just lacked the chemistry of the original record. But nonetheless, I'm a huge Mary J. Blige fan.

Out of nowhere, next came Onyx. This was interesting to me. First, I'm glad they shouted out Jam Master Jay (R.I.P.). But didn't they sign to Def Jam after they had already had all their hits and the career was basically over? I mean "Slam" & "Throw Your Guns" were on R.A.L., not Def Jam. But okay.

I really liked Chris Lighty's vignette. Very sincere in his words.

Eve walked on stage and one thing was clear. She really should have implants by now.

Ashanti & Ja Rule were next up. This performance really had no chemistry to me. My tv started to form ice when they were on. Ashanti's body is bangin' but damn girl, what was up with the hair do. Seriously, it looked like a dried out Jheri Curl, half Mullet, half Mohawk with lines shaved in the sides. There really was a lot going on there. LMAO.

As they ran another Lyor Cohen vignette, a light bulb went off above my head and I came to the realization that while he may be and incredible behind the scenes genius, Lyor is a really boring to listen to. But it was hilarious when he put Death Row & Bad Boy on blast. That was hot.

Now earlier I mentioned that VH1 didn't bring out T La Rock. So when they brought out Oran Juice Jones, I said to myself "what the f*ck". But it was funny hearing him do the rap from the end of "The Rain". Silly rabbit. Hey! Don't touch that coat. Hahahahaha.

So when I caught my breath from laughing at Oran, I saw that they brought out Kimbo Slice's fat, out of shape brother. Oh I'm sorry. That was Rick Ross. This is about the time I dropped the kids off at the pool.

I got back just in time to see some block head hit the stage to hype the crowd for "Mr. I'll steal your car at the airport and pretend to be a D.E.A. agent" DMX. The dog lover sounded good but in the back of my mind I was thinking how cool it would be to see him beat the shit out of dog killer Michael Vick. Maybe the block head who was acting as his hype man is actually his probation officer or bail bondsman.
As the show was close to ending, I thought about some really glaring omissions from the performance list. Where was 3rd Bass? Where was Original Concept? Where was Jay Z? Where was LL Cool J? Where was Boss? Hmmmm.
Now it was time for the grand finale'. I had deja vu of my junior year of high school when I saw Kid Rock sporting the LL Cool J Troop jacket. That was dope. Wait, could it be? Yes!!!! EPMD is in the house. And just when it couldn't get any better, it did. Sort of. Out came Foxy Brown with boob's a blazing. Good lord those ting were huge. And I am not complaining about that. But what I am complaining about is seeing Fabolous out there with her. Again, I was asking myself "why?". And can anyone tell me what song that was that Ghostface was doing? Totally not his best track. Then Wale' came back out to do Kanye West's "Touch The Sky". Kanye must have been somewhere else throwing a tantrum and couldn't make the show. Not that anybody missed him anyway.

Then Russell Simmons came out and did his "Goodnight & God bless" line and the show was over. That was very predictable. But okay.

So that was it for this years Hip Hop Honors. Clearly, VH1 was trying to create a sort "Motown 25" type show but it didn't work. This was not as entertaining as past shows. Hopefully they bounce back next year.

And with that, I'm out. Thanks for reading, " DJ Kazzeo...

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Please contact: info@TurntableU.com for more information...

WHAT'S BLAZIN' WITH BLAZE WONG? by: BLAZE WONG:

 Been a crazy week with CMJ in town! I managed to attend a few functions. Started by attending the special CMJ Noisemakers edition with Peter Rosenberg (Hot 97) and featuring Talib Kweli. This is a unique Q&A session in front of an audience with a live ban playing the featured artist's music prior to the Q&A. One definitely needs to check this out whenever they are in town.
I also went to the Duck Down showcase to end the week. And it ended on some real real REAL good Hip-Hop! They first started with the new faces of Duck Down - Kidz In The Hall, Blue Scholars, Skyzoo and Ruste Juxx - who all held their grounds with their unique sounds! Then ending with the proper heads, yes, the Boot Camp Clik - Heltah Skeltah (Rock and Ruck aka Sean Price), Smiff-N-Wessun aka Cocoa Brovaz, and Buckshot! Even DJ Evil Dee was there to make it happen on the decks! Masta Ace, Sadat X and Pharaohe Monch also blessed the mic with their presence! Shouts to Big Dho, Chaundon, Joe Scudda, and Pooh (from Little Brother), who also showed up to support!

The "Triple Freshness" today is served up college dining hall style for all the CMJ goers:
1. Sean Price's Kimbo Price album/mixtape - I can't pick any cut here worthy of a single, the entire CD was dope! Tell your friend to go out and support if they like good Hip-Hop!
2. Timbaland f. SoShy "Morning After Dark" (Interscope Records)
3. Sean Price & Buckshot "Can't Fight The Feeling (Black Dynamite)" (Black Dynamite Movie)

The above are available for download at www.1200squad.com and always remember, "The DJ is The Cornerstone of Hip-Hop"! Please feel free to hit me up with anything.

Blaze Wong

Cornerstone Promotion / National Manager of Urban Promotion

blaze@cornerstonepromotion.com

www.cornerstonepromotion.com

www.1200squad.com

www.twitter.com/1200squad 

Ok it started years ago with Friendster & then I joined MySpace & then FaceBook and now Twitter! Soooooooo follow me on Twitter at: www.Twitter.com/NastyNes1...

WE'VE GOT SOME OF THE WORLD'S BEST DJ's! THE RAP ATTACK DJ'S! GET TO KNOW OUR DJ's BY LOGGING ONTO:
www.MySpace.com/RapAttackLives  AND PEEP OUR UPDATED PHOTO PAGE...

Rap Attack takes a "WHAT'S UPPER" look this week with:

DJ Sage (CFRO-Vancouver, BC): "We apologize for the lack of a podcast last week! Unfortunately, we had some technical difficulties and were not able to do the show as we usually do. I was without needles, and so I had to resort to key-j'ing.
We were back on track this week, featuring Cormega's new album, “Born & Raised”, which just dropped today on Traffic Entertainment. As usual, Mega goes hard on this one and is assisted by production from heavyweights such as DJ Premier, Large Pro, Easy Mo Bee, Havoc and more. Check this one out, as you can be sure Cormega never disappoints!

We were then joined by Brooklyn representative, the one and only Fabolous. F-A-B-O discussed his new album, “Loso's Way”, collaborating with Canadian talent, memorable moments from his rise to fame and more! Hit him at www.MySpace.com/Fabolous to keep up with everything Fabolous has been up to and don't sleep on his new album!

We played a ton of goodness tonight, including Redman, Cormega, Saukrates, Freeway, Common and many more! We also had Willy-E and Bay-Bay aka Bekon, who are on their promoter grind out in Chicago come by and chill with us in the studio this week. Quality talk! Make sure you check out the podcast on www.UrbanRenewalProject.net!"...

Kazzeo (KHDC-CA): "I'm still in shock that Jamarcus Russell finally found his balls and decided to play like a real quarterback this past weekend. I'm not a believer yet though. He still sucks and now let's move on.

Operation Repo starts it's new season on Nov. 9th. I look forward to all the lunacy once it gets going again. And speaking of lunacy, I am so ready A & E to start airing the Steven Seagal - Lawman show. That show looks like it's gonna be hilarious for all the wrong reasons.

Had a chance to catch the Fresh Air Tour this past Friday night. Great show. Props to Brother Ali, Toki Wright, DJ BK One, and my homie Evidence (see photo above) for rockin' the spot.

 Shout out to Lin Que a.k.a. Isis of X-Clan for calling into the show last week. She's part of a very important project right now and you can find out all about it by going to www.wearethegirl.com...

Nate Abney (WKDU-Philly): "Wow another week in Philly and its getting closer to November. The Phillies had everyone jumping up and down with their win and now it's time to get rid of the Dodgers on Wednesday. The Eagles got sucked into the black hole and the Nittany Lions did their thing. Sorry I won't make CMJ this year. These tough times have made me make cutbacks yet again. Things look as though they make take aturn so next year looks like it's doable"...

Kevin Sakoda (KSPC-CA): "Hope everyone's doing well. If you're not in the LA-area, you can catch the show live (via iTunes) every Saturday, 5-7PM (west-coast time): http://www.kspc.org/popup.html   You can also find archived playlists and download links 24/7: http://blogs.myspace.com/kevsakoda   Enjoy!

Here is our address for 2009 to send material for review, etc (vinyl & cd's)!

 RapAttackLives.com

4750 Kester Avenue, Ste. 11

Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

Attn: Nasty-Nes

 (FOR MP3's): nastynes818@gmail.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...

SHOUT OUT TIZIME: Happy Birthday this week to DJ Radd1 celebrating this Sat, Oct 31st... To my son Christopher ( I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH) celebrating this Tuesday, Oct 27 & to my homies4life outta the "206," Ihab celebrating this Thursday, Oct 29th & a belated one to Philip Lavizzo on Oct 7th... (R.I.P.) to comedy legend Soupy Sales, the man who took thousands of pies to the face in his 5,000 plus live television appearances, has died at the age of 83. His legend spans all the way back to the '50s and '60s, thanks to 'The Soupy Sales Show' and 'What's My Line?'... Special thanks goes out to Jannelle So from LA TV's, "Kababayan LA" for having me as a guest on her show last Friday. "PROJECT ONDOY!" I'll see all my LA heads at The Cellar in the LBC on Oct 28th...
 

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)