Charles Kettering - "Thinking is one thing no one has ever been able to tax."

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NAS IS A BLACK SUPERHERO LIKE 'HANCOCK'.



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LIL WAYNE: A MILLI VIDEO. WEIRD AS FUCK. AS EXPECTED.



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Hustle Harder: Building Your Buzz Locally
Published: Friday - June 20, 2008
Words by Donny Goines

Donny Goines

Photo: Don Hankins
The other day I had a conversation with my boy Ox about how he wanted to build up his buzz. We both live on the same block, but have different views on how we want to come within the music game. While I am focusing outward (more towards a national and global view), he is focusing inward (on the neighborhood and areas in Harlem), and truthfully I would say that's the smartest way to go about it.

You see, when I decided I wanted to rap seriously, I used the Internet as my path. I sat down and really thought about the situation as a whole and figured that this was my best route. Now though, I have to get the people in my neighborhood and surrounding areas to support me because I did it slightly backwards. Anyone will tell you though, starting from your hood and spreading outwards is usually the best way to go. Think about it. When you secure your hometown ,you will always have a solid fanbase within a certain area that you know well. You also will be a big fish in a small pond because your name is buzzing in one area, city, town, etc. So when people visit that location and ask "Who's doing they thing out here?" Guess who's name they gonna mention? Building your buzz locally also helps to narrow down and target specific demographics (certain age groups, nationalities, genders, etc.) versus doing it on the Internet where you really don't know who's listening. There are many advantages to building you buzz locally and many artists have built their careers with this blueprint -- Young Jeezy, Dipset, etc. And by building that core fanbase, they are able to sustain their movement whether or not other people outside of their region supports or not.

So how do you go about doing this? There's no one set way to go about this. In all honesty that's the beauty of doing it, because you know your area better then anyone else, so all you really have to do is analyze and do your research. Take me for example, I live in Harlem right? If I were focused on building my buzz locally, I would hit all the mixtape spots, the barbershops, even the bodegas in my hood and just provide them with CDs to give away to their customers. Then I would stand on 25th and pass out promotional items such as stickers and other misc. things to the people. After that I would drive around my hood and put up posters anywhere I think people would see them. I would also use the people within my neighborhood as my street team to help push my music hard in the hood. This is just an example of how I would go about doing it (and in time when I acquire the financial resources that's exactly what I'm going to do), but your plan may vary from mines. Again, you have to figure out what is the best way to get your area buzzing. Maybe you could hit all the local open mics? Or you could go on public access television? There are many ways to go about this, you just have to figure which way best suits you.

Me and my boy Ox tend to disagree on a lot of things, but when you're right, you're right. Building your buzz locally is a great way to spring board your career and is a method I would highly recommend. If your in Harlem and don't know who I am yet, don't worry. I also follow my own advice. Much love.

For more on me and my music visit my Myspace page at MySpace.com/DonnyGoines.

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RZA IS MY GOD AND SO ARE WU-TANG'S CLANSMEN. BROTHERS GONNA WORK IT OUT:

By Jerry L. Barrow and Ismael AbduSalaam OF WWW.ALLHIPHOP.COM

After nearly a year of public discontent being expressed from Wu Tang members such as U-God and Raekwon, the RZA has decided to clarify his position in these disputes.

Often accused of keeping the fortunes of the Wu Tang empire to himself, the RZA dismisses these claims as lacking substance and merit.

“It’s like the family stuff is definitely getting out to the public, and the issues that got to be resolved, everybody got their own manager, everybody got their own lawyer, and they got these motherf**kers that are looking at me like a hamburger,“ RZA told AllHipHop.com. “And so for the people on the outside looking in, they looking at what RZA’s doing, he’s on that, he’s on this, he must be robbing y’all or something. I don’t make money off of the Wu-Tang Clan. The money I’ve been making, I had to clear a whole new career for myself…I was telling Rae one day, ‘Yo n***a, I never got a Wu-Tang royalty check in my life. I never got a royalty check for record sales in my life. That’s why I’m letting brothers know that I’m not getting paid off the hard work we did together.”

RZA is also in the midst of being sued for $170,000 by U-God, who claims the de-facto Wu Tang leader owes him back money from previous work.

“They sayin’ U-God suing the RZA for a $170,000. You know what? I could never owe you $170,000,” RZA states incredulously. “But even if I did owe you [that], U-God, after all these years of millions you made, motherf**ka, you gonna come back and b***h about a $170,000? I’m the one who gave you, when nobody would sign U-God, I gave him a million dollar f**king deal! And of that million dollars, I put seven hundred thousand that’s in his pocket. And the rest went to making the record [U-God’s debut, Golden Arms Redemption], and I still spent hundreds of thousands on videos for ‘That’s Gangsta’ and ‘The Bizarre,’ and all that.”

The Abbott goes on to explain a similar situation with Cappadonna, who made headlines in 2001 for opting to work as a taxicab driver, rather than continue recording with the Clan.

Cappadonna claimed the steady income from the taxi position was more financial compensation than what he was getting from the group.

“Same thing with Cappadonna, he couldn’t secure a deal.” RZA said. “I’ll give him a deal with Razor Sharp. Put a record out, put out a gold album, n***a. If he listened to his manager, who was Mike Caruso at the time, he would have f**ked around, tried to go to Sony, sign to Sony without me. Put out a record out and sell 1000 units. Alright then.”

In the end, the RZA feels a lack of understanding on the financial side of the music business is the source of the infighting.

“Nobody is doing something wrong, this industry has been like this since the 60s, homey,” RZA stated. “It’s very rare that a black artist even makes it 10 years in this business. It’s very rare that Hip-Hop artists make it this far. We was getting top dollar compared to what some of these n***as was getting. You can write that off, it’s not coming back. If I give you a million and you only get a dime a record after deduction and everything, all that s**t, from that dollar, you sell 50,000 you gonna owe me. That’s the system. That’s how it is.”

RZA’s new album Digi Snacks under the alter-ego Bobby Digital was released last week on Koch Records.

To read a more detailed feature with The RZA visit www.urbandaily.com.

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CANADA - WE'RE ALMOST THERE:

By Jesse Plunkett (BIG UP WWW.HIPHOPCANADA.COM AND WWW.ALLHIPHOP.COM LINKING UP!)

Canada is an incubator for world class entertainment. Actors, musicians, and athletes have all established global success in many arenas. Our hip-hop scene, however, despite an immense amount of talent, hasn’t popped on a grand scale yet. Some chalk it up to the size of our population and a lack of local support, others point to a lack of infrastructure and flowing capital. Artists have struggled to get heard and have even more trouble getting their records distributed to the music buying public.

Likely, the true answer falls within a of all these possibilities. The solution falls within improving on these factors (where possible) and keeping the movement headed forward. I’ve witnessed a genuine growth in support in recent years and an increasingly stern sense of national pride – the type needed to emulate the success-breeding unity of the Dirty South or the raw grit and grind of the Mid-West in recent years.

On a recent trip to New York City, my eyes were opened to the amount of support Kardinal Offishall's "Dangerous" single was receiving south of the border. As one of the main focuses of Akon’s Kon Live imprint, Kardinal is preparing for the release of his 4th studio album, Not 4 Sale. With a strong a US buzz as new ground, fans and industry heads alike are keeping their eyes peeled for the type of impact Not 4 Sale will make after its late summer release.

As an avid reader of AllHipHop, I was extremely pleased when I got word from Odeisel that a Canada Week special was looming. I’m using this opportunity to put you up on some important upcoming releases from Canadian artists.

Mayhem Morearty, hailing from Toronto’s West-end (in a hood known as Jungle), will be releasing his official album debut titled The Audiobiography September 8th on Mosaic Music/KOCH.

Mayhem has established himself as one of Toronto’s hardest working artists and has the promotional discography to prove it. Countless mixtapes, videos and performances have accumulated the type of buzz needed to make The Audiobiography a success.

It remains one of the most anticipated debuts coming out of Canada’s Eastsides.

Going to Canada’s West coast, Vancouver’s Checkmate and Concise are wrapping up the release of their African Kings album under their group-name, Defenders of the Faith.

Checkmate was featured on the late 90’s Rascalz single titled “Northern Touch” which remains a Canadian anthem till this day. Vancouver producer, DJ Kemo, who produced “Northern Touch” has formed a new production crew named “The Vanguards” who were the production brains behind Kardi’s “Dangerous”.

Kemo has also been working with some of Van City’s next generation of artists including Young Kazh and Tre Nyce.

Calgary’s Deezuz recently dropped his album debut, Souldenera which has pumped new life into the scene out in Southern Alberta. The album featured various guest appearances including Kool G Rap, Sean Price and Vancouver’s, Moka Only, who recently put out Volume 2 of his album Airport.

Edmonton’s E-Dot, who resides in Brooklyn and was introduced to fans via his connection to Uncle Howie Records has connected with soulful Toronto singer and producer, Darp Malone to release a self-titled album under the moniker of HERO. Some viral internet searches should make it easy to track down the vast array of remixes and videos the duo have put out.

Heading East to the Maritimes, just outside of Halifax in Nova Scotia is one of Canada’s fan favorites. Classified has 12 albums under his belt and recently completed a sold-out Canada-wide tour for his album While You Were Sleeping, a greatest hits release used to introduce his vast catalog of material to newer fans. He’s currently working on his 13th project, The Day Before Tomorrow and developing his label, HalfLife Records which is home to various up and coming artists including J-Bru, Chad Hatcher and his younger brother, Mic Boyd.

Back to the streets of Toronto, hailing from Regent Park is a crew with one of the largest followings on Canada’s Eastside. Point Blank is currently preparing for the August 19th release of their self-titled album debut on Tilt Rock/KOCH and they’ve recently released their latest video single, “God Only Knows” which features Mark McKay. Earlier in the year, their “Born and Raised in the Ghetto” remix garnered them national attention and a high level of public anticipation for the album’s release. Keep your eyes open for that one.

Before leaving Toronto, it’s important to mention Bishop Brigante AKA The Gambling Man who is preparing for the Fall release of his album The Poker Face which was recorded in 10 days, with 10 different producers, banging out a total of 10 different tracks. AllHipHop readers might remember IllSeed’s recent posting of his “Hard Times” video or his role as the low-end dealer killed by Ray Liotta in the movie “N.A.R.C.”

A quick look into the Canadian spectrum of hip-hop wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the immense talent coming from our Francophone artists. To mention just a few, one of the biggest names holding down Real City, Montreal is Sans Pression (SP) who is likely one of the most recognizable French Canadian artists nationwide and across the Atlantic in France. SP recently put out a new album called “La Tendance Se Maintenant” which has been extremely well received by his fans. Another project, although out since the beginning of the year but definitely worth mentioning, is the latest release from Imposs titled “Mon Poing D'Vue”. Imposs is best known internationally from his group Muzion and work with artists such as Wyclef.

Ending off this summary is our nation’s capital, Ottawa. Belly is set to drop his next mixtape with Whoo Kid and will follow that up with a collaborative album with Kurupt. The 2 originally linked up on a big single titled “I’m The Man” from Belly’s double-CD album debut, The Revolution which was certified Gold in Canada and recently picked up the Best Hip-Hop Video award at the MuchMusic Video Awards.

Internally, HipHopCanada remains focused on the growth of the Canadian hip-hop scene and we recently launched our record label, HipHopCanada Digital, in partnership with KOCH Entertainment Canada. The first artist we’ve signed is Gangis Khan AKA Camoflauge who hails from Scarborough, on the Eastside of Toronto and has recently sparked a huge buzz locally that we hope to really push to the next level. We begin work on his album later this year.

Hopefully this little summary of the Canadian HIp-Hop scene gets you interested and excited. The scene is fresh and hungry and artists from East to West are looking to make that crucial impact south of our border and overseas. Stay tuned, we’re coming.

Jesse Plunkett is Founder/Co-President of HipHopCanada.com http://www.HipHopCanada.com

THAT PLACE IS DOPE. GO THERE. PARTICIPATE. FEEL THE LOVELY HATE, HA HA! (NAH, IT'S NOT ALL HATE ON THE MESSAGE BOARDS... THAT'S JUST WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE)
THEY ARE DOPE. SUPPORT THEM. ONE LOVE!

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ASHER ROTH - ROTH BOYS OVER JIGGA. ALREADY NOT THAT GREAT. HIS OTHER FREESTYLE WAS AWESOME. THIS? MEH.



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AND IN CASE YOU DIDN'T SEE AMY WINEHOUSE PUNCH SOMEONE AT GLASTONBURY, HERE YOU GO:



YES, CRACKHEADS CAN SOUND LIKE ANGELS TOO.

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THE DAY IS MEANINGLESS WITHOUT MAKING MUSIC.


LOVE,
MINDBENDER SUPREME