Category: hip hop music

dr. boyce watkins, Hip Hop, hip hop culture, hip hop musicLeave a comment

Dr. Boyce Watkins: Black People Must Take Commercialized Hip-Hop to Task

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Tyler the Creator is destined to become the most popular Tyler in the country, if what is now called hip hop is left in the hands of corporate media. Although at this point nothing that the leader of the group Odd Future has even remotely  released would be considered radio-friendly. He has become popular among a similar population of suburbia who have supported rap in the past and made it mainstream in previous decades. Tyler the Creator’s appeal to a certain extent is his anti-establishment / anti-stereotypical portrayal of black masculinity (thug gangsta rapper, drug dealer, materialistic bling wearer) living in the ‘hood … Continue reading Dr. Boyce Watkins: Black People Must Take Commercialized Hip-Hop to Task

common, digital downloads, digital media, Hip Hop, hip hop culture, hip hop music, music industry, record industry, youtubeLeave a comment

Common Releases His Entire New Album “The Dreamer, The Believer” on YouTube [Listen Here]

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We grabbed the full version from YouTube and you can listen to it below In the world of marketing and promoting new music the rules for distribution have definitely changed. Now along comes Common, the full time rapper, part time actor and White House poet, has gone a step further beyond giving fans a free mix tape of new music. He has released his new album “The Dreamer, The Believer” on YouTube. Yes, the entire album. The physical copy and digital download of the album will be available for purchase on Tuesday, Dec. 20th. But in the meantime The YouTube … Continue reading Common Releases His Entire New Album “The Dreamer, The Believer” on YouTube [Listen Here]

African American media images, dr. boyce watkins, Hip Hop, hip hop culture, hip hop music, Jay-Z, Kanye West, media influences1 Comment

Jay-Z’s Carnegie Hall Concert Received Too Much Media Hype?

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Maybe not. But definitely for the wrong reason. Jay-Z will perform two shows at Carnegie Hall in February to benefit the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation and the United Way of NYC. Fact. Now we’re not sure if it was a slow news day or what, but the hype over Jay-Z’s concert at Carnegie Hall was way over the top. The main purpose, intended or not, that got lost in translation was that it’s going to benefit at-risk and low-income students in New York City’s public school system. Doing something about the drop out rate among high school students is a … Continue reading Jay-Z’s Carnegie Hall Concert Received Too Much Media Hype?

106 and Park, african american culture, African American films, David Banner, hip hop music, mtv, music industry, Occupy Wall StreetLeave a comment

David Banner visits Occupy Wall Street and questions Hip Hop and "Our Culture"

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Rapper David Banner made a recent appearance on BET’s 106 & Park and ranted on Black music, culture, and men putting on dresses in the movies. He also talked to MTV prior to going to the on-going “Occupy Wall Street” protest in New York and said: “One of my only criticisms of hip-hop right now is that we all … have become so corporate that people don’t even feel like we’re a part of the people especially rappers… People always felt like we were them, we were their voice. You look at what happened with Troy [Davis]. We’re still at … Continue reading David Banner visits Occupy Wall Street and questions Hip Hop and "Our Culture"

alicia keys, clive davis, hip hop music, music industry, RCA Records, record industry, whitney houstonLeave a comment

RCA shuts down the famous Jive, J Records and Arista Imprints

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The music industry continues to change especially among the major record labels. RCA executive Clive Davis with J Record artist Alicia Keys and one time Arista star Whitney Houston. On Friday (October 7) Jive Records, Arista Records and J Records all cease to exist as each will merge into one label, RCA Records. The decision is a part of the plan to reinvent RCA. From The Hollywood Reporter- “New RCA Records CEO Peter Edge, 50, even hesitates to call his company a record label. After all, it would be foolish to limit a label’s scope to the business of selling … Continue reading RCA shuts down the famous Jive, J Records and Arista Imprints

african american culture, hip hop culture, hip hop music, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Otis, power 106, Travon Free, urban culture1 Comment

What Jay-Z and Kanye’s New Track “Otis” Taught Me

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“Why do we love it so much even though for most listeners, there’s no tangible expression of these lyrics in our lives? It’s as if we’re paying people to tell us how awesome their lives are due to the money we’ve given to them because we want to hear them tell us how awesome their lives are — see the vicious circle?” -From the blog post ‘What Jay-Z and Kanye’s New Track “Otis” Taught Me’ by Travon Free FREEdom of Speech travonfree.wordpress.com I was in Hell today (also known as the 405 freeway between the hours of 1pm and 8pm) … Continue reading What Jay-Z and Kanye’s New Track “Otis” Taught Me

Chicago radio, classic hip hop, De La Soul, George Clinton, hip hop music, james brown, public enemy, record industry, sampling, sound opinion, wbezLeave a comment

>Sampling and Copyright Laws Make Hip Hop Not What It Use To Be

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>Many classic albums, like the ones pictured here by Public Enemy and De La Soul, produced in the 80’s simply could not be made today because of judicial rulings made in courts across America in the late 90’s and early 00’s. It would cost too much to pay the owners of the publishing rights for the music sampled in these songs. When people realized that Hip Hop was making major money in the music industry, the natural course of action was for everyone to want a piece of the pie. Lawyers got involved (who seemed to be the only ones … Continue reading >Sampling and Copyright Laws Make Hip Hop Not What It Use To Be

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>Hip Hop On the Radio Owes More to Harvard than to the Streets of Harlem

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> Those are the words of Truth Minista Paul Scott in a post titled “Exposing The Hip-Hop Hood Hoax.” So Method Man and Redman, who starred in the 2001 movie “How High” were actually in the right place for higher education by attending Harvard? According to Scott, Hip Hop (on the radio) has always been apart of Corporate America ever since the first Hip-Hop/Rap record was played on the radio. Scott’s intention is to expose “The Hip Hop Hood Myth”. From birth, we are taught to believe myths. We start off believing fables about tooth fairies and an old fat … Continue reading >Hip Hop On the Radio Owes More to Harvard than to the Streets of Harlem