How good are you? Do you think you have what it takes it to make it? For a hot 20 - 50 dollars any joe blow can go in the studio and lay a track. For another $100 you could look like one on the hundred or so cd’s you pass out. Rap is an open leauge, no discrimination or qualifications, anyone can do it. Can you get paid off it though? This is the difference between the regular season and the playoffs of hip-hop. The good side allows you to drop cd’s whenever you like, tour globally on a consistent basis and offers opportunities in other arenas, but how long can you sustain success? (more…)

What did you wake up to this morning? Was it breakfast and coffee, cereal and sportscenter, or bad news and oatmeal? When was the last time someone got killed in your neighborhood? a house broken into? How often do you see pregnant teenagers in your neighborhood? Do you have streetlights? It’s hard to comprehend hip-hop coming from the “dreamworld”. When you’re born into opportunity deserved or not, and have resources available at the tip of your fingers it’s hard to understand what people in the real world go through. People try to use the few examples that make it out to say “if they could do it, you could”, but that’s not really true.  How easy is it to say no to drugdealing when your lights and water are off, and your refigerator is empty?

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Hip-hop isn’t what it was ten years ago. Ten years ago it wasn’t what it was five years ago. What happened? Did the music decline or did it change? It’s easy to say it declined but the answers are always at the foundation. Rap started out as a way to express issues, the music was raw and untampered and thus the explosion. Along the way to riches the focus of the game changed from a musicians league to a hustler’s league, it sort of transformed. It also got soft over the years. If you’re not a groupie you’re classified as a hater, swag battles are self explanatorily (probably made this word up) homosexual, and the music caters to a much different crowd than it did at conception.

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What’s the difference between a blogger and a journalist? Is the comparison square and rectangle, water and ice, or night and day? Let’s start with responsibility. Journalism has a responsibility to present info in a non-biased manner. Blogging (talking about professional bloggers, people who do it for a living) has no responsibility at all. How many times have you read a rumor on a blog that turned out to be false? Bloggers simply offer their opinion as if it is the law,  like their view of the world is more important than everyone else’s. What would you call each if you knew them personally? You’d probrably call a journalist a brave, maybe nosey/curious, smart guy. (more…)

Filter -A device which separates a suspended, dissolved, or particulate matter from a fluid, solution…. or other substance any device that separates one substance from another. Imagine a filter for rap. Who would make it through? What would be the filter? A rap bar exam. How would it work? The bar would be graded in seven different areas,on a scale of 1-7 for every category.

1.Consistency - how many of their songs do you skip/skim through, how many throw away fill in bars do   they have?
2.Potentcy - Are they an abc rapper, mediocre or is their wordplay superior?
3.Relevance - What are you saying? Can people relate to your music years after you drop it, or is it trend music.

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Beef, violence, scandal, rumors, and convictions headline almost evey major radio station and online hip-hop site. You’ll probably hear about an artist’s finance troubles, criminal conflict, etc.. before you get the weather and traffic report, but what about the MUSIC? You can hear a trickle of hope sometimes bundled between inconsistency and ego. Time is a rare unreplaceable resource. A pie graph of your personal time sheet could probably explain your current circumstances better than you could. Tick.., tick.., and it moves on with or without you. Time has exposed the people’s decreasing interest in the actual music, proof being evident in sales… (more…)

My understanding to this day can’t explain a hater to me. People you haven’t stole from, physically harmed, threatened their families, or even acknowledged have a fierce dislike for you. Isn’t that an illness, a mental retardation? I came to the conclusion that they’re just bored so I’m sponsoring the first annual Hater Olympics. Maybe the winners can see what it’s actually like to accomplish something, and hopefully they’ll realize that it’s better to be a small something than a big hater. Let the events begin.

Events
1. Jock Jumping
2. Spongebob Sprint
3. Jealous Javelin
4. Rumor Spreading Relay    (more…)

The Director… “My style is foreign to the ear, that’s what Bangladesh means”.  Our foreign fetish as a country might explain the industry’s infatuation with the fan nominated and entertainer endorsed instrumental of the year.  Drop the “A Milli” beat in the club and you might feel like you’re at a Diddy’s party, controlled chaos with a guest list that includes Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, Corey Gunz, Lil Mama, etc…. not bad when you didn’t send out any invitations.  (more…)

No you won’t be getting any free money. I’m not throwing you a barbecue, and there won’t be a party either. Learn to work before you learn to celebrate. Times are hard, you can help yourself or depress yourself, but there aren’t many more options.  

Here are a few suggestions for people barely holding on to help you stack a few extra dollars.

1. Invest in Making money - Get with four or five of your friends and throw a party, make a mixtape, get a pressure washer, get a dealer’s/business license, get a tow truck, open a booth in a mall/discount mall, sell newspapers, braid hair, fix a car, learn how to do nails, or something. You have to start somewhere and all of these ideas take less than a week to do. You’re going to spend the money anyway you might as well put a few dollars into trying to make more money.

2. Eliminate Unnecessary Bills/Spending - If you have an extra phone line you don’t use, memberships to gyms you don’t ever go to cancel them. Buy more groceries, leave your rent money at home when you go the club, and manage your money in abundance, don’t wait until your almost broke to try to be an accountant.

3. Put some money away for a rainy day - If your check was three weeks late, would that be cool? If not you should definitely throw something away for emergencies, life can change fast, be prepared. You could easily end up pawning your chain, selling your car, or something of that nature thinking short term.   (more…)

With countless infractions of swagless behavior sweeping the nation it was deemed necessary that an official step in to decree the magnificent from the tasteless. Sponge Bob behavior thus forth will be rewarded with severe ridicule. All appeals will be dismissed. You will be flagged and penalized on sight of the questionable behavior. Repeat offenders will become hermits. Negative yards, try again. 

 HERE’S THE LIST:

1. Jeans with the spandex bottom to show off your shoes.  - Relax…

2. Fresh Pedestrians - If you’re polo to the socks and still not whipping….got to check    yourself and…. (more…)