Champions have a thing for Lil Wayne

 

For anyone who has been paying the slightest bit of attention to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, it is hard not to hear the name Michael Phelps.  In case you have not heard, he won his 10th and 11th gold medals in swimming on Tuesday, beating out Carl Lewis and Mark Spitz, making him the most decorated Olympic athlete in history.

Before every race, Phelps can be seen with a pair of headphones.  The Today Show interviewed Phelps and asked him what he listened to before a race.  With a slight hesitation, he responded with “I’m Me, by Lil Wayne.”  

This came as a surprise to most, who did not expect an Olympic athlete to be a Lil Wayne.  Apparently, Weezy knows no boundaries.  Robin Thicke even called him a genius in a recent interview.

 

 

Saigon: Does he even need a record deal?

The hip hop world has been very patient waiting for Saigon’s first album, yes, his FIRST album, “The Greatest Story Never Told.”  In the meantime, the New York MC has made a name for himself on the mixtape circuit with the “YardFather” series and Drama’s “Welcome to Saigon” Gangsta Grillz.  He’s been signed to Atlantic, dropped from Atlantic, become a regular on HBO’s hit series “Entourage,” and featured in Time Magazine as “someone to watch” all without an album. 

Some might be interested how the 31 year-old rapper has managed to stay in the lime light without a release.  When asked this question by DX’s Willima Ketchum, Saigon responsed with, ”I paved my own way, I started from scratch and I built my brand up one day at a time.  It took my six and half years to get where I am but I did it on my own, and I think that’s why I’m gonna last longer!”  

Aside from music, Sai has made a name for himself with guest appearances on HBO’s emmy winning series, “Entourage.” Entourage is executive produced by Mark Wahlberg, and chronicles the life of actor Vincent Chase. Saigon plays himself, and is introduced when Vince’s lifelong friend Turtle discovers Saigon’s demo in their stolen Maserati. Sai also appears in the new season, which airs on HBO on September 7th.

Since leaving Atlantic Records, Sai has linked up with super producer/friend Just Blaze and Fort Knocks Entertainment.  In a recent interview with Hip Hop DX, the rapper talks about his relationship with Just Blaze, and how he will not release the album without him. 

My advice Sai, forego signing a major deal. You’ve got friends with money, find an investor, retain ownership of all your masters, and release the record yourself, digitally if you have to. You’ve built a strong, loyal fanbase, and people are going to buy this album when it drops. Don’t forfeit profits.

To read the full article, [click here].

Jay Z joins Kanye, announces Blueprint 3

On Thursday, August 7th, Kanye’s “Glow In The Dark Tour” hit Madison Square Garden. This tour has been strictly Kanye, no guests, no features. However, he did break his own rules Thursday night, and invited New York native Jay-Z up on stage to perform a cut called “Jocking Jay Z.” The beat, lead by a sample repeating “Jockin Jay Z,” was created by West for Jay’s new album, entitled “The Blueprint 3″ which Hov confirmed on Sirius’ Shade 45 radio show Friday morning [click here to listen]. Here is the Youtube clip:

Mobb Deep, Manager Mishap

Hip Hop DX recently reported that infamous rap due Mobb Deep, comprised of Prodigy and Havoc, are filing suit against former manager and owner of Street Core Music, Normal “Purfek Storm” Bell. Bell was manager from May 2004 to November 2007. During that time, Mobb Deep believes Bell promoted, distributed, and sold unreleased tracks without the proper authorization from the group. Tracks were released to on several mixtape series’ including Mobb Deep: The Infamous Archives and The Purfek Storm Mixtape Vol. 1 and 3.

Like most disputes between artist and manager in this business, the majority of them could be resolved overnight by looking at the original language in the artist management contract. However, and this happens way to frequently, Mobb Deep claims that had an “oral agreement” with Bell. The lawsuit filed states that they “never warranted him the power to distribute unreleased music.”

As hopeful as this sounds for Mobb Deep, all of this could have been avoided if they had an artist management contract. By laying out the details, roles, and responsibilities of the involved parties, when disputes come up, just look at the contract. If they had a contract with Bell, it should have explicitly stated what he was, and was not entitled to do with their music.

My advice for Mobb Deep and anyone else thinking about “signing” on with a manager: Get an extremely detailed contract that outlines the roles and responsibilities of the artist and the manager.

Time Magazine Crowns Lil Wayne

July 14th’s edition of Time Magazine features the Cash Money Millionaire himself, Lil Wayne. This might come as a surprise to some; after all, Time’s cover has been graced by the likes of Mother Theresa, Ben Franklin, and Hitler. It is a stretch for Wayne to even be in the same breathe as the aforementioned, but American’s most famous news magazine saw something special in the 25-year old emcee that just sold 1.01 million copies of his latest album…in one week.

Just 20 words into the article, journalist Josh Tyrangiel compares Dwayne Carter’s raspy voice to “Red Foxx covering Bob Dylan.” He gives a brief synopsis of Wayne’s childhood and the early years with the Hot Boys, eventually crowning Weezy as the undisputed “best rapper alive.”

Regardless of what we might think about the emcees absent minded rhymes, its hard to dispute his genius, and being the “Dylan of his day” might not be that far fetched. Dylan’s most celebrated work dates back to the 1960’s, where he made a name for himself chronicling American unrest. Many of his tunes became anthems for anti-war and civil-rights movements. His music was never confined to a single genre, and his lyrics touched on everything from politics, and social commentary, to philosophy and literature.

Wayne comes along at a different time, but his influence is just as strong. Its hard to call him a writer since he does not write anything down, in fact, he claims all his rhymes are random streams of conscious thought. Freestyle or not, we are still coming back for more, craving those next 16 bars from a 14 year vet who is only now, at the top of the mountain. Kinda makes you wonder where he will go next.

One thing is for sure, wherever it is, we will follow.

Nas “Untitled” appears to be a Classic

 Nas’ “Untitled” album, set to drop on July 15th, has been both criticized and praised. Originally named “Nigger,” the album received some negative attention from activists and music outlets for its controversial title. Mass merchants like Wal-Mart and Best Buy even threatened to not stock the album in its stores. Although Nas did eventually change the title, the hype surrounding the release has not simmered.

Whether or not he wanted to release an album with that title is irrelevant. What it did for his promotion is unbelievable. They say that any news is good news, and when Al Sharpton is making remarks about the title of your next album, your getting a good amount of press. Hip Hop DX released an official album review on June 7th dubbing the album “a classic.”

Last week, a majority of the album was leaked online through the New Music Cartel. When asked about the leak, Nas responded with “You know we got leaked. You know I’ve been getting leaked forever. And it’s so fucking exciting!” His new single “Hero” has hit radio, and you can check out the official video for “Hero” here

Track List:
01. Queens Get The Money (Produced by Jay Electronica)
02. You Can’t Stop Us Now (Featuring Eban Thomas of The Stylistics & The Last Poets) (Produced by Salaam Remi)
Nas – You Can’t Stop Us Now (Feat. Eban Thomas)
03. Breathe (Produced by J. Myers & Dustin Moore)
04. Make The World Go Round (Featuring Chris Brown & The Game) (Co-produced by Cool & Dre & The Game)
05. Hero (Featuring Keri Hilson) (Produced by Polow Da Don)
06. America (Produced by Stargate)
07. Sly Fox (Produced by stic.man of Dead Prez)
08. Testify (Produced by Mark Batson)
09. N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave And The Master) (Produced by DJ Toomp)
10. Untitled (Produced by stic.man of Dead Prez)
11. Fried Chicken (Featuring Busta Rhymes) (Produced by Mark Ronson)
12. Project Roach (Featuring The Last Poets) (Produced by Eric Hudson)
13. Ya’ll My Niggas (Produced by J. Myers)
14. We’re Not Alone (Featuring Mykel) (Produced by stic.man of Dead Prez)
15. Black President (Featuring Johnny Polygon) (Produced by DJ Green Lantern)

50 redies “Before I Self Destruct”

According to HipHopDX and MTV, 50 Cent’s much anticipated 4th album will be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year. Many had expected the album to appear on shelves around the same time as “Curtis”, but 50 said he wanted to add some material to the album. “I had enough music for the album, but my creative juices were flowing so I wanted to keep recording,” he said in an interview with MTV.

50 has seen his share of publicity lately, largely due to the ongoing beef with ex-label mate and friend Young Buck. Buck left G-Unit earlier this year, amidst rumors that he had severed ties with 50 and G-Unit for financial reasons, specifically “unpaid royalties.” Shortly thereafter, Buck left G-Unit Records and has been in an ongoing verbal battle with 50 ever since.

Look for 50’s new album, “Before I Self Destruct,” later on this year, and the Hip Hop Journal will keep you posted with updates.

Major Artists Getting the Cold Shoulder from Labels

Hip Hop DX reported today that Busta Rhymes was the latest artist dropped from Interscope Records. THisis50.com reported that this was the result of a long, ongoing disagreement between Rhymes and Interscope President Jimmy Iovine.

We can put the Flipmode leader right next to Obie Trice and others, in the list of major artists that have been dropped by their labels. We are seeing a growing trend in the industry: Artists Leaving Labels. For whatever reason, whether it be labels forcing artists out or artists willingly leaving labels, there are becoming fewer and fewer, and for good reason. From Interscope’s point of view, Rhymes was not recouping album costs, it was a simple cost-benefit analysis. It was costing Interscope more to release a Rhymes record than he was bringing into the label. Labels dwindling profits have forced them to cut their rosters. They cannot afford to market and promote every artist they effectively. So, what do you do? You keep 10 artists that you know are going to sell, and you sink all of your costs into them hoping that they recoup and provide enough profit to fund the next project.

Jay Z Rocks Glastonbury ‘08

After being trashed by Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher, Jay Z took the stage in Glastonbury to a video montage of Gallagher clips bashing the MC and the selection committee for choosing him.  And just to add a little irony to the evening, Jigga began his performance with an acoustic rendition of Oasis’ smash hit “Wonderwall,” apparently to the delight of all the fans.

This was an important moment in hip hop, and in Jay Z’s career.  Not only was this a major turning point for rap music, but it exposed his music to so many more fans.  If 120,000 fans applauding for 2 hours isn’t already thanks enough, let me say that both “99 Problems” and “Encore,” have both appeared on the UK’s Top 100 after the performance.  ”99 Problems” is in the Top 40 this week and the guy has already dropped two discs since the Black Album. He engaged the audience, he gave them electric guitar on “Encore,” and he was extremely thankful for the opportunity. A gracious host in my book.

I’ve written on Jay Z before, but I really feel that he is someone to observe, and watch.  Not only is he a great musician, he is a savvy businessman.  I mean the guy doesn’t even have an album out and his old singles are popping up on Top 100 charts in major countries.  This guy does it all!  

Check out some of these clips from the show, courtesy of Youtube.

Wonderwall/99 Problems

Encore

Financing a Rap Album

I wanted to write about financing a rap album.  Traditionally, artists have gone through labels to acquire funding necessary to create and produce a major release.  However, the current industry is offering artists alternatives to labels.  This financial plan, available for download, allows artists to receive financial backing through private investment.  The entity provides funds in exchange for something of value, typically equity in the company or points on an album.  In exchange for this “value,” artists receive funds from an investor to record, press, market, and promote their album.  This is a contractual obligation, and does contain guidelines, restrictions, and safeguards to protect the investor.  

Feel free to download this sample financial plan, originally crafted for The Chopper City Boyz, or contact Andy Beal at realdeal.choppercity@gmail.com for more information regarding financial support for your album.  I hope this provides ample insight in the preparation and work that goes into financing an album.

When presenting this to an investor, you want to keep in mind that you are asking for THEIR money, you need them, they do not need you.  If you are presenting your offer, give them something they can sink their teeth into.  You must have numbers that SHOW them how you will earn them their money back.  You want to create a feeling or security, assuring them that their money is safe and in good hands.  A good financial plan will describe the entity or artist you are selling, describing in detail how you plan to penetrate the market and beat your competitors.  It will also include a implementation plan.  Layout for them exactly what you are going to do, dat-to-day, week-to-week, and how that is going to lead to a successful project.  Do not forget to include a short bio of key personnel.  Investors want to be sure that the right people are on board before they sink a couple hundred thousand dollars into the music business.

I would love to help artists out if they are looking for assistance in this area.  Please email me if you are interested.