From a label perspective, what's your take is on Spotify so far?
I enjoy, appreciate and embrace anything that gets people to discover music. So I would say in the last 12 months, from the United States perspective, Spotify has been one of the most exciting places to discover music.
The traffic and the amount of action on Spotify is just fantastic. That's clear. The amount of people sharing music through their Facebook application on Spotify is great. The people who run Spotify -- Steve Savoca, Daniel Ek and Sean Parker -- were very sensitive to the North Americans, because they flushed out so many issues in Europe and the U.K. before it got to America. So, it's been really good what Spotify has done.
"The significance of Don Cornelius to American culture — and to the American culture business — is told nowhere more eloquently than in one brief exchange between Cornelius and singer James Brown, a story that Cornelius himself recalls in VH-1′s excellent 2010 documentary Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America."
"These popular misconceptions might have to do with his biggest hit. For all of its impact, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" had the side effect of narrowing the memory of Gil's work. That tiny string of words wasn't a mission statement, just one small fragment of his message. And a tongue-in-cheek one, as well. The poem was heavy with bluster but weighted with wordplay. In it, Gil critiqued crass sloganeering, mocking everything from Agnew to Ajax campaigns. The bitter irony, of course, is that it became a slogan itself. "He was commercialized by the [current] generation," says Leon Collins, who lived with Gil in D.C. throughout the 60s and 70s. "That's been co-opted and exploited a billion different ways." As time passed Gil himself seemed mostly indifferent to these developments, though quick to clarify his original intent."
"[The revolution] is not all about fighting and going to war-- it's about going to war with a problem and deciding how you can affect that problem."
Soulja Boy, Keri Hilson & Ray J for Black History Month
Ok, I admit I'm not keeping up with Soulja Boy and I don't know what changes his fashion style's going through but, damn, don't he look like Wiz Khalifa in a Yankees cap?
[UPDATE: I swear I never heard about Inked and Tatted! Yeah, I may be out of touch, but I sense this sh*t! By the way, that's a redundant title, but I'm sure that "controversy" has been blogged to death, lol.]
Wiz Khalifa - Black And Yellow
I assume Music Choice's "I Am Black Music" Campaign will include a solo spot for Soulja Wiz, so we'll see what's up!
By the way, even though I'm white, every month is Black History Month at my house cause you just can't keep up with the reality of America without keeping up with black people. No, I'm no w*gger, I just know what's up!
Naledge of Kidz in the Hall has taken up the Eat to a New Beat Dance Off Challenge sponsored by Applegate Farms.
From the press release:
"Kids are invited to visit www.EatToANewBeat.com to download "Change the Game," and make their own dance video submission. The current video on the site stars Naledge and The Happiness Club, a group of Chicago kids who dance to make a difference. Kids can view and vote for videos on the site through June 1, 2011. The video submission with the most votes will win $1,000."
Naledge Accepts the Challenge
"This song and the dance off is close to my heart," said Naledge. "Much of my music is about encouraging kids to be their best, especially when it comes to school, and what they eat at school is a big part of that success."
Note: Naledge doesn't show till about halfway through the video. I think he does a nice job with the lyrics cause that can be rather tough on these educational projects.
How to Enter the Dance Off Challenge
"Kids between the ages of 13 to 18 can submit videos at www.EatToANewBeat.com through June 1, 2011. Winners will be selected by the most votes and notified on June 15, 2011. The participants in the winning video will receive $1000. Second and third place cash prizes also will be awarded in the amounts of $500 and $250, respectively."
[Update: Please see the comments for Jay Smooth's well-reasoned response. Maybe he's not so bad after all! lol]
Recently I've been reaching out to a few folks from my days as a more serious hip hop blogger including some left/lib types that I was unduly insulting towards because I disagreed with their political choices. One of them is Jay Smooth who I mostly think of as a smart, funny guy who means well and sometimes does some really cool things.
"So for those who still struggle to make sense of Waka Flocka Flame, think of him as the leader of hip-hop's Tea Party movement. The other Tea Party has built up a passionate following by appealing to people's desire to rebel against the Washington elite, and to vent its frustration with the establishment by aligning themselves with outsiders who hold up their lack of Washington's traditional qualifications as the most attractive asset you could have."
"A movement fueled only by catharsis can be hard to sustain in the long-term, and you might well question whether Waka Flocka Flame or the Tea Party will still be viable around 2012. But for the moment it shouldn't be hard to understand the allure of the untutored outsider that's made Waka Flocka Flame such a big hit. Those Americans who can't align themselves with the Tea Party might even want to try Waka Flocka Flame, as an alternative way to shout their stresses away."
Come on, Jay. What the f*ck?!? That is some deeply offensive nonsense.
We saw the Tea Party emerge as a cover for anger that a black man became President. That was the real catalyst and we all saw that. They have other issues but the trigger was Barack Obama and a nation that embraced him rather than embracing some right wing ahole.
But what's the real problem here for folks like Jay Smooth? Is it that nobody gives a f*ck anymore about so-called "East Coast lyricism", a tired, outdated aesthetic that is historically implicated in the oppression of every other form of hip hop that has come along? An aesthetic that is embraced by the left because some of the artists say ideologically correct things in the right style to the right beat.
At the end of the day, Jay's take is another variation on Yankee imperialism and I don't care if you say nice things about earlier artists like T.I. and Ludacris, though I can't see how Luda's nursery school rhymes "show that a Southern rapper can have all the complexity and sophistication of their New York counterparts." Nice bone but this dog ain't biting.
Southern artists aren't outsiders. Waka Flocka charts. He just don't need you.
And not being needed is the one thing New York will never understand.
F*ck being Mr. Get Along With Whoever. I, too, will continue to go hard in the paint.
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