George C. Marshall - "Don't fight the problem, decide it."

M. Kathleen Casey - "You are the only person on earth who can use your ability."

SO FUCKING TRUE.

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From http://adambernard.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-make-great-rap-album.html

Last month I posted up a story titled How to Ruin Your Rap Album. The point of it was to show the tired clichés being used far too often in rap music today and how the vast majority of albums have become nothing more than cookie cutter - fill your name in the blank - affronts to the brain. Quite a few message boards picked up on the article and PackFM hit me after reading it to ask if I could follow it up with a post on what qualities I feel make for a great rap album. Well, since it was asked for, and since I love being on the positive tip whenever I can, here goes.

Start With a Thought – I know, this sounds like something that should be common sense, but the vast majority of songs I hear nowadays seem to be started with no real thought in mind. The only idea is “I’ll rhyme words about stuff.” That doesn’t cut it in 2007-2008. We’ve had over 30 years of Hip-Hop and the bar has been raised significantly. You need a real idea, a real thought, to start with. The MCs that conjure up the most interesting thoughts are usually the ones I enjoy most. And if the only thought you have is of how great you are…

Be Creative Lyrically – Bragging is OK, though as stated in the previous article one shouldn’t be bragging at the expense of the listener, i.e. directly telling the listener you’re better than they are. If you decide you want to brag on record there’s one very important rule to follow; be original with it. Every rapper has bragged at some point in time so there are clearly a lot of ways to say you’re the man. Be witty about it and if you have nothing new to say find a new way to say an old thing.

Be Honest – Nobody is one way all the time. No one is 100% gangster and no one is 100% socially conscious. Be honest with yourself and your listeners. You have likes, dislikes, hopes, fears, causes and a myriad of other things that make up who you are as a person. Make sure those things are also in your rhymes. Nobody would want to hang out with a person who is only about one thing all the time, so what makes you think that ideology would work for an album?

Make Me Feel an Emotion – If you can get listeners on board with you emotionally you will instantly win. What do I mean by this? Well, think of your favorite album and how you feel when you listen to it. Maybe it gets you amped, maybe it makes you smile, or maybe it simply eases your mind. Even if you can’t put that feeling into words it’s something distinct and you should want your album to create a feeling like that in listeners. If an album doesn’t make you laugh, cry, smile, or pump you up, what’s the point of it?

R-E-S-P-E-C-T – Respect the listener. They’re the ones who are going to make or break you by buying your album or leaving it on the shelf. Respect their knowledge. Don’t talk down to them and don’t insult them. Also, show a little respect for women and the society we all live in. Talking about “bitches and hoes” and dealing drugs has been done to death. I’m not saying you have to suddenly start talking about female empowerment and “say no to drugs,” but just by leaving the negative side of such topics off your album, or at least cutting down on them, you’ll make it immeasurably better.

Find a Producer You Mesh With – One of the biggest problems with rap albums today is that artists attempt to get multiple top producers on their album in hopes of having a number of hit singles. While this might generate a few hits it will also make the album sound incredibly awkward. Think of your favorite albums, most of them probably only have one or two producers on them and all of them had multiple great songs. This is because the artist meshed with the producer and they created magic in the studio. Just because Timbaland has hits with Justin Timberlake doesn’t mean he can do the same for you. That guy down your block that you grew up with, however, or even an artist you met online, might be a perfect fit and if you continue to work with him (or her) you could develop a sound all your own that will make you unique and interesting.

I’m sure I could continue to go on and on with this list of ways to create a great rap album, but I’ll stop at an even half a dozen. Of course, there’s one major provision to all this, you have to have skills! That being said, if you have lyrical ability and try out some of these ideas I’m willing to bet you’ll create something memorable. ATLiens anyone?

Related Links

Adam’s World: How to Ruin Your Rap Album
http://adambernard.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-ruin-your-rap-album.html
Adam’s World: Super Producers – A Double Edged Sword
http://adambernard.blogspot.com/2006/11/super-producers-double-edged-sword.html

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I just saw GZA on Friday. The dude is amazing, but I think he hates me. I've seen him twice in the last 5 months, and he TOTALLY gives me the "meh" treatment, like he knows me from somewhere else. Does he use Philaflava.com? LOL! I love Wu no matter what, I don't get it... either way, I still love the dude, and love to read what he has to say. Peep it:

Jon Michael: The Wu-Tang album drops in a couple of days, you excited about that?

GZA: Ummm, I’m aight, I’m kinda excited. I never really got all hyped about album releases. It feels good though. I’m happy to get back on the road.

Are you happy with how the album turned out?

I like it, yea, I like it. It’s growing on me more and more. The more I hear it, the more I like it.

When Raekwon spoke out and said he wasn’t really feeling the album, was he speaking on behalf of everyone in Wu-Tang?

Nah, he was speaking for himself. I mean, that was Rae speaking. There's always room for improvement. Personally, I feel I could have done better on the album but you have to consider the time it took to put it together.


Raekwon also mentioned that he may have had some issues with money. Did you ever experience that?

I’m not even gonna get into all that. Raekwon was speaking for himself. That’s my brother just like RZA is my brother and I won't go against that. Raekwon does represent us as a group also. Maybe he had more concerns among other thing that the other members or his beef went to a different extent.

I’m not gonna go against that. I don’t air out problems, when it comes to my family. If I have money problems I deal with it. There are always problems with a group or family but that’s with everybody.

Your debut album Liquid Swords solidified you was one of the Wu’s best lyricists. How did you feel when you were putting that together?

I felt good and that was because I was coming’ off a disappointing moment. Previously things weren’t so good. I was on Cold Chillin’ and the record got no promotion so I got another deal and it was a good time because Wu-Tang was blowing up. It felt good. Everyone was coming through the studio, the whole vibe was great. It was a good feeling.

Do you consider the era you come out of as the Golden Era?

I wouldn’t really call it the golden era; I mean we were around in the golden era. I mean it is. We as artists and lyricists consider the golden era to be like 85,86,87,88. That’s the golden era. You know maybe Biggie, Jay-Z, and Wu. That was another era, the platinum era (laughs).

Wu, Nas, Jay Big, all dropped around the same time. You see any similarities between you guys?

I would say our sounds were different which was a good thing. That’s the golden era. I think that’s what great about the golden era was that there was so much material and it was all different. Nas was different from Mobb Deep, Mobb Deep was different from Wu, and Wu was different from Jay. Everyting was different, not like today were a lot sounds so much the same. We didn’t have musical relationships but maybe in other ways like the way we laid it down. The way we entered the business and capitalized off certain thing but musically, so different.

How do you feel about hip-hop today?

I don’t really listen to a lot of stuff. I might hear it if I have the television on or if I'm listening to the radio and something comes on in the car or what other people are playing in the streets, that’s how I hear it.

And do you like any of it?

The majority of it? No. Every once in a while ill hear something that’s catchy.

Are there any new MC’s that you check for?

Nah, nah, nothing really grabs my attention but hip-hop is like that. It’s changing, it’s forever changing. Its music that started in the streets, in the basements, something that was a hobby and we're the biggest selling music to this day. It’s the only music that’s recorded in almost every languge. There's no other music like that.

Do you feel politics play a big part in today’s music industry, even moreso than when you first came into the game?

Of course politics always have a hand in something. They’ve been involved from the earliest days. They had a spot on 20/20 about hip-hop in 1980 or 1981. Barbara Walters was like, how long will it survive? That was politics they were downplaying it in a sense but politics go way back even to the days of like Ice-T with "Cop Killer".. Politics played a part then. Politics played a part with Snoop and C.Dolores Tucker. It’s playing a part now with the "N" word. The more money that's being made the more politics is gonna be a part of it

How do you feel about Nas’ use of the ‘N’ Word for his upcoming album?

He's entitled to it. Nas is a poet man, he's a great lyricist, he's a poet, and he makes great music. I will always take time to listen to what he has to say and make sure you quote me on that. He has done so much for hip-hop just with the songs he’s recorded. He's one of the greatest. He’s always doing more good than any bad. He could call it what he wants to because he has a reason just like when he said 'Hip Hop Is Dead'. In a sense it was dead and I’m sure he has his own definition. He may have felt that way and if he calls his album that then he has a right to do that. Why make a big deal now?

The thing with politics is they see rappers and they think they get too much money or it’s a lot of ignorance being spread. Richard Pryor had an album called That Nigga's Crazy" in the 70’s, a comedian album, it wasn’t a big deal then, so why now? Why wait till rappers start wanting to use a word to jump down on it, big deal.

I’m not saying it should be a word that should be out of the youth’s mouths every 5 words or every sentence. Whats funny is that those same politicians use the word. I’m pretty sure Al Sharpton uses that word on a regular basis. I’m pretty sure he does. I use other words; I don’t use too many negative words or profanity. I don’t make a point of it, its just not in my writing and hasn’t really been since Liquid Swords. I just choose to use other words; there are over 100,000 words in the dictionary.

It's funny though because to me that word can be used like if I see a cat in an alley, I'll be like, 'Where that n*gga go?', 'That n*gga went under the car!'. I mean that’s how it is. I also think we should use other words because there are people that are offended by it. That was a name given by slave masters but now that we chose to accept it, they wanna stop us from using it, it’s a bunch of bullshit. What ever happened to freedom of speech?

Do you feel hip-hop is dead?

Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I feel it’s at a point where it needs help. It’s not dead, that means no longer here or no longer around. I don’t wanna contradict his statement because I see where he’s coming from. How could hip-hop be dead if Wu -Tang is forever? Nas made some good points though. A lot of MC’s are brilliant in their own way. They're smart and clever but their subject matter isn’t there.


I’m gonna say 95 out of 100 rappers don’t speak in their natural voice. Its like I gotta do this just because. They’re not playing this at the club or they’re not playing this on the radio so we need to make a club banger or we need a street song. Music has to be made from what we see.

Music should be like drawing where you just do what you see. You should be inspired by something. You might be inspired by a great story. American Gansgter might inspire you but you’re whole life story doesn’t have to match that. Its all the same, 'I got a gloc, I’m in the spot'. It’s all said in the same way. You can reword it.

Do you prefer independent labels or majors?

Ups and down pros and cons. It all depends how you're looking at it. I could be on a major and sell 500 thousand and make a lil' money or I could be indie and sell 100 thousand and make a lot of money. It depends on your situation, what your deal is worth, if I sell 200 and I’m getting 8 a record I’m caking up. It's all how you're deal is structured. On a major it’s not always like that. I’ve put out albums that didn’t see the light of day but it depends. Sometimes you should be on a major. You might get good exposure.

Indie is the thing today, which is good because it gives you the power to get an album done and put it out. It cuts out red tape, cuts out the middleman. At an indie it's like, here's the money what do you wanna do? You don’t have to go through a lot of people.

Its cool lately in the last 6,7,8 years its been a lot of cool artists that have been doing it independent and having great success. It’s a funny business. Like I could sell a million on a major then sell 400 and get dropped, then ill sell 200 independent and the majors will come back with a lot of money.

You’re on an independent label right?

Yeah, I'm doing a project with Babygrande. I saw an ad out there where it’s promoted as a GZA album. I'll probably be on most of the tracks but its supposed to be a compilation album, there’s various artists on the album. That’s almost finished and then I’ll start working on another GZA album with RZA.

When is that going to be dropping?

Sometime next year we don’t even know yet but we have options.

What else can we expect to see from you?

I’m working on a few things. I have a graphic novel, I been working hard over the summer with. It should be coming out soon. I have some ideas for a second novel; I’m building the foundation. I’m into scripts and novels. I like film, I want to knock out a couple of films and let RZA score it and then throw out the soundtrack too. It doesn’t stop you could look forward to hearing some great projects coming from myself in the near future.

Anything you’d like to say to the fans?

8 Diagrams, December 11th , if you don’t have it by the time you’re reading this.

www.sixshot.com

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Crooked I - the future of the West coast. Enjoy!



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Rediscover the greatness of this Big Boi song:



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RZA speaks part 3. I'ma get Wu-Tang's 8 Diagrams in a few days, woo-hoo!!!



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and yeah... life has become WONDERFUL for me lately.
the darkness is starting to fade... the light is starting to shine again. I can feel change manifesting. I feel the dream dying and the reality rising. First, my boy Gerald came thru on Friday and we had an awesome time driving out to Oshawa to... SEE U-GOD, RAEKWON AND GZA!!! They actually all made it across the border!!! HOLY FUCK, it was REAL! And it was super fun! Then on Saturday, I saw Stones Throw, which was fucking amazing, because I saw it with my homegirl Gracie Clare and a bunch of other wonderful people I love, like Mary Zondanos, her lovely friend, and Sabrina, who I danced with and made out with in the Opera House for what felt like an eternity... yesssssss, finally: club action LOL! Going home, I got a ride from Corey, Rob T's homie, and I loved the whole night! I walk in the door and find my baby love Diane with all her amazing friends: Rosemareeee, Frankah, Laurache, Angieeee, and Tanyamama... all the women I love to death. Such wonderful souls, ALL of them. We danced and partied until the wee hours of the morning... then I fell asleep watching Airplane!

Life is getting good again... let's ride this wave until everything becomes love again! I can feel it coming... I can see it coming... I can believe it's coming.

Thank you for your faith and friendship, everyone! The journey continues...

Love,
Adhimusical

The beautiful mutant has been unleashed!