HipHopMusiq.com

“I use to give a fuck, now I give a fuck less, What do I think of Success it sucks too much stress”
Jay Z - Success

Earlier this week there was an video floating around on the internet with Ghostface Killah making a mea culpa to his fans to buy his last album “The Big Doe Rehab”. Now I haven’t listen to this album so I am going to talk about the artistic reasons that you should buy or not buy this album. No, what I am going to discuss is the reluctance of an artist to understand that the game is change and if you really want that money from music you are going to have to work for it. The genies is out the bottle and it is not coming back in. All of the government regulation in the world will not stop downloading so you have to add to your hustle.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am a huge capitalist but I also understand that the writing is on the wall. I believe that the artist and the people behind the scenes should get paid for their album sales and their hard work. Guess what, they will still get paid. It’s just that the revenue model has changed. The first people to take advantage of this was the so called ringtone rappers. They found the first in what will become a hundred new ways for artist to get paid. These new revenue streams will be extra beneficial for second tier artist by a long shot. In today’s market if your not going platinum then you are paying back that advance money. The system right now only works for artist that are huge pop stars. So we get less street albums and more albums that are carefully crafted to a formula that targets all markets at the same time. Club song here, Street song here, Love song here, mix and stir. I want the artist to be able to go into the studio and put out what his soul feels.

I am waiting for the Master P of the internet. Along time ago when nobody was checking for the south a hard headed hustler named P decided that he was going to make his own market. There were other rappers that had come from the South but he started a movement and showed the big record companies that being country can get you paid. And guess what people were boot legging his albums as well but he got over that hump and brought his music to the masses. You can argue that downloading is a lot worse than boot legging. But guess what, You also get ten times the exposure on the internet than you do anywhere else. You yourself can become a brand on the net. Your name alone will get you bigger payday for shows, merchandise and club appearances. I believe that if you have a good product then you will gain such a good following on the internet that somebody will find you and invest money into you.

It might be coincidence that at this very moment that C.R.E.A.M. by Wu Tang Clan came on Last.FM at this very moment. One of the truest songs that has ever been made. I respect and can feel it now more than ever.

Today as everybody should know is a holiday for Martin Luther King Jr birthday. It’s nice that we have celebration for Dr King but we should remember to live out his dream everyday. When people think of Dr King a lot of people only think of his message of unity. That was an important, arguably his most important lesson but it was far from his only lesson.

A lesson that I hold dear from him is a lesson of progress. I guess that would go with my personality because I am a progressively thinking person. I am always thinking ahead try to plan out my next moves and also my best guess of other peoples moves. The tone of the nation right now is one of progress especially after the 8 year reign of he who shall not be named. The candidacy on the democrats side is definitely one of change and progression. If either Hillary or Obama wins the general election then that would be a huge sign that America is beginning to become true to the words of the tag line “melting pot”. This is what Dr Martin Luther King was fighting for, not entitlement.

I believe that social programs such as welfare, affirmative action are still needed in this day and age. But I also believe that they can be used as a crutch and need to be more heavily regulated for abuse. A lot of people still have that 40 acre and a mule mentality, not me. You don’t owe me reparations from slavery, what I am owed  is the right of my child to get an equal education. That includes proper school facilities, updated computers, up to date text books and teachers that give a damn. Not just a law that says I have equal education but the actual implementation of it.  I will take that over a damn check any day.

Today there is more of a class warfare going on than a racial one. This is where John Edwards gets it right. I am a capitalist too and through but I do believe that there has been abuse of corporate  knowledge  to further this gap.  I love economics and  and I love studying these tricks but I will not dig too far into that right now because that deserves a post all its own. The whole point of this post was to talk about what progress should really mean. We have to stop asking for handouts and start asking for true equality, the right to try and progress myself and not let skin color be a factor. I want Latisha to get the same education as Buffy. If Latisha doesn’t capitalize then thats her fault. But she should have a chance to turn it down. Education is the key my people not more handouts. Do not give me $300 of tax rebates, give me $300 of textbooks to be put into my schools so my child can learn and be on par with your child.

I took off a couple of weeks from updating this site. I sat there and was thinking to myself what I wanted to see this site be about. I think it was turning into a cookie cutter Hip Hop news site . Just posting videos and news from the day. While I like posting that stuff I also wanted to be about much more. I have three loves as far as interest goes in my life. Hip Hop, Business, and Computers(programming, design, etc). So for now on I will be mixing in those interest as well as the usual Hip Hop news and videos. It will make it more interesting for me and also show my viewers a lot more stuff than they would normally be exposed too. I may lose some people on this path but I feel that the people that I keep and the ones that I add on will allow us to build a more diversified learning environment. So in the words of the great GZA “Diversify your Bonds nigga”.

Chris Rock in New York City at Madison Square Garden. This is just a couple of short clips of Chris Rock performing new material. The quality is bad but the jokes get through. He also has a surprise for the audience who are expecting either Jay Z or Rihanna.

This is a new video by Joel Ortiz call Ups and Downs. This is definitely one of my favorite new rappers out right now. He to me even more than Lupe Fiasco has a real 90’s throwback style that you love to hear. He reminds me not of gangsta shit but that raw hardcore Hip Hop shit.

This is the new Ice Cube Video “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It”. Its has some pretty interesting commentary on how the outside world views gangster rap and its general influence.