September 2005 Archives

Kanye sparked a big Conversation with his now famous "George Bush doesn't care about Black people" statement. He did his part, now let's leave him alone.

It's up to the political, community, and religious leaders to help us through the issues of race and class that have resurfaced because of Hurricane Katrina. Let's not be foolish and ask artists like Kanye to do anymore then what he has already.

So, if you ever get a chance to interview Mr. West, here are three questions you shouldn't ask...

I just read Oliver Wang on his MSN Music Filter blog discussing Holy Hip-Hop:

"One problem however is that Christian rap tends to only be sold and marketed in Christian bookstores, and at current, there's been little effort to push the music at a wider audience. In other words, they're literally preaching to the choir"

This is progress for Christian rap, and it follows the trend of regionalization in hip-hop. The new Houston emcees no longer emulate L.A. rap. Toronto hip-hop is no longer a Canadian version of the NY rap scene. And religious rap has given up trying to follow or cater to the general rap audience.

The past jokes I've made about VH1 on this blog and others- I take it all back!

Being in the audience for the taping of VH1's Hip-Hop Honors was a special experience. There was Nelly doing his best LLCool J impression, Salt-N-Pepa getting their grown and sexy on, and Big Daddy Kane showing the current generation that it's ok to be an emcee who dances. (for a complete run down of what happened see here. For the red carpet report, see here and here).

The show convinced me that VH1 isn't competing for the young heads that MTV and BET already have on lock. They're going after that 30 plus crowd that television producers have left behind.

In New York radio, Hot 97's Miss Jones and Power 105's Star are beefing on air again.

For the uninitiated- Star and Jones used to do the morning show together on Hot 97. Star was fired, Jones took the spot, then Star popped back up on Power 105 to compete in the same time slot. So far Star is beating Jones in the ratings and Power 105 as a station is now even with Hot 97, after spending years in the second spot.

Did you guys read that new Village Voice article about Blacks in the industry trying to sell out our music in order to make a buck off of White artists like Paul Wall, Miri Ben-Ari, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Bubba Sparxxx, and them?

The article is filled with suspicion of every White artist who does Black music, and the record execs who back them. I think we should be careful to examine the popularity of these artists, however the Voice peice makes it out like Whites are taking over and leaving other artists in the cold.

I was in the middle of wrting a thouasand word response when I saw that Dan Charnas beat me to the punch (click through and read the whole thing. It's long, but it's good, no homo). To summarize- yes, other Black art forms have been whitewashed by the masses, but this has not happened with hip-hop. Eminem shares platinum sales with Kanye West, 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Nelly. Bubba Sparxxx will be lucky to ever go gold one day.

Kanye West's official fan club is open for business!

As part of the paid membership you can get stickers, a T-shirt, and your own Kanye blog. Yes, your own blog!

Just hand over 3 times what you paid for Kanye's CD, and you get the privilege of writing about your favorite rapper with a "Benz and a backpack"!

I'm listening to Tony Yayo's album as I write this. I have to admit- I'm impressed by this disc. It's a solid album, that's menacing and gagsta, yet smooth and celebratory at the same time. Yayo is barely a second tier emcee, but he has fun on every track which makes me have fun listening to it.

But that doesn't much matter. Yayo barely stands out, and that's probably on purpose. All I hear is that G-Unit sound that 50 Cent has tuned to platinum perfection. Everything 50 puts out is quality material, from the clothes to the Vitamin water. And especially the music.

I'm breaking up with BET.

No hard feelings. We've just grown apart. BET and I have different expectations of each other, and I'm seeing that I have needs that the Negro Channel won't fill.

So, it's best to leave now, before I become bitter.

It's obvious that Chamillionaire, the Houston rapper who used to roll with Paul Wall, is trying to win by biting 50 Cent. Peep:

Who does that look like? Wait, it gets worse...

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the news is focused on why the the federal government is so slow to help. For America this is an unprecedented disaster, but so far we have not seen an unprecedented response. I am reading some reactions in the press I've never seen before.

The ego-maniac at it again:

"Kanye appeared on 106 & Park to talk about the upcoming release of his album, Late Registration, when he expressed his feelings about a quote in Time Magazine that said that he used to "leave meetings crying." The misquotation led Kanye to state his new policy -- to approve all articles before they run."