bigted

It's definately cheaper to download music than it is to go to the record store and buy 10 albums, I gotta admit I download some as well 'cause there's a lot of stuff out there and I can't afford it all right away, they do got sales on music at ebay and BMG, that's where I get a lot of my music these days when I get albums, computers are real cheap now as well, even kids in the ghetto could have computers, btw the boxoffice numbers for films have been kinda low these days as well, more probably downloading films these days as well instead of going to the theaters, btw I don't even see Janet on that list for the UK :shake:

People might hate on Jay-Z a lil' bit too much 'cause they might expect a miracle with him "Taking Over" Def Jam but really he ain't doing that bad as some of us might put it out to be, we might be overreacting a lil' bit 'cause if you think about it there ain't really many major labels that'll even release albums by real artists like Method Man and The Roots, just releasing them is something positive, real artists get shelved on other labels, Def Jam really promotes hip-hop better still than other labels still as well, DMX left Def Jam and he still flopped on Columbia like he would've if he stayed there, he topped the rap charts for the sixth straight time but Columbia gave up on it after "Lord Give Me A Sign" faded off the airwaves, then again a rap about God to get on the radio is an accomplishment in itself, in reality DMX was fortunate to go platinum all those times, he really raps like an underground artist so you figure sooner or later he probably wouldn't sell much, that's just the way it is, real artists don't sell much now, it's rumored that LL might be going to Columbia too but that don't mean that the grass'll be greener, he could go to Interscope, Columbia, Virgin, etc. and still complain about sales, it's the reality of the music industry and the way they work, hip-hop and music in general ain't selling right now, it ain't all Jay-Z' fault, in reality artists shouldn't care so much about sales/promotion and just do their thing, just like Slick Rick not putting out an album until they promote him better, that's stupid man just put out a damn mixtape you're an artist, either way they're all getting paid better than most of us on the sidelines, then of course you can't really have sympathy for Jay-Z getting criticism when he makes commercials saying he's the CEO of hip-hop, that kinda hype will bring hate, lol, KRS will tell you that nobody owns hip-hop, it is a free culture

That's true everyone misinterpreted his comments about what he said about Jay-Z, he was talking about Def Jam in general, he made the statement the week that the Roots and Method Man came out, he was referring to how they weren't getting any promo I think, LL didn't flop, he went gold, which is more than a lot of rappers this year, he could've went platinum though if he had a third and fourth video, but even the G-Unit rappers he's outselling already and only a handful went gold this year so the album sales were closer to success than a flop, even pop singers like Jessica Simpson ain't even gold, he don't need 50 to boost his sales when 50 ain't boosting his own group, then again LL's looked at as the rapper that goes platinum the most consective times, he's like Cal Ripken playing everyday so him going gold instead of platinum is looked at like Cal sitting down for a game, going platinum is expected for LL Cool J, in reality he'd actually do better with less guest appearances 'cause that's when he was the most popular, a lot of people were thrown off by that, people like Diddy and Kanye need guests 'cause their rapping is boring but LL could carry albums by himself, btw that's awesome you got to see LL perform

Yeah LL's too worried about selling records right now, he should be more concerned about making a better album, the streets know that he could come stronger than he did on "Todd Smith", if he makes a classic album like Busta and Ice Cube did this year, FP did last year, I wouldn't care if he flopped, he should be doing songs with legends like Janet and Rakim not a wannabes like Teiarra Mari and Juelz Santana as well

I just changed it to October 30th at 4:30PMEST, the day before the season begins, that way we could add more by the end of the weekend

Slick Rick, Rakim, PE, Talib, KRS, etc. are like Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Dominique, etc., they're the best rappers that don't have Grammy's(like those guys who never won NBA titles) while these wack rappers are like benchwarmers on the Lakers that rely on their producers to bail them out(Dr. Dre and JD=Kobe and Shaq), lol

But the good thing about with people downloading so much now that there's not that many garbage artists selling much either, a lot of wack artists are flopping too, even these watered down pop artists are flopping which is something I could say that's on the bright side, no watered down singers or rappers are going diamond anymore, Diddy only sold 170,000 the first week instead of going platinum the first week if it was 10 years ago which is a good thing, btw I heard that Xzibit album is one of his best albums, with him hitting it big in movies and his MTV Pimp My Ride show I thought he'd sell better than 17,000 in his first week, wtf's up with that

Real hip-hop's never been about who gets the most sales though, there was always wack stuff playing on the radio, Rakim and Slick Rick never sold 10 million albums, hip-hop still got quality music even though it don't sell, with albums out by mcs like Method Man, Public Enemy, KRS, etc., hip-hop ain't dead

Looking at Soundscan makes me :damnlorettas: Quality music doesn't sell that much, I think DMX's album didn't even go gold :sick:

Well there's a lot of great albums that flop as well, and what about all that crap that's on the radio all the time with weak albums selling? Quality music has nothing to do with record sales, LL's "G.O.A.T." didn't really sell a huge amount more than "Todd Smith" did even though it's much better than that album, "10" outsold both of them and that's probably LL's worst album, lol, Jay-Z put out some weak albums in his career and they sold 'cause he had a lot of songs playing on the radio and his best album "Reasonable Doubt" is his lowest selling album, quality ain't got nothing to do with sales... Busta Rhymes had Dr. Dre producing on his album and released a lot of singles off of his album and he really didn't sell that much more than LL did, sometimes promotion backfires but at least Busta got all the singles he wanted to get out, that's basically all an artist could ask for, I don't understand why Will didn't criticise Interscope 'cause he wanted to release "Tell Me Why", I wonder why he didn't speak up, maybe he didn't care? btw since LL's working with 50 he might get some beats from Dr. Dre since Dr. Dre produces a lot for 50, that'd be the only good thing that I'd look forward to with them doing an album together, other than that I'm not really looking forward to it, "Bump This" is ok but it sounds too much like a remake of "In Da Club", LL needs to come with something more original than that EDIT: I found some pictures on LL's board from his tour this summer, he's actually still doing shows I think, he's doing his part in promoting his album, it's up to Def Jam to give the same amount of effort he does:

LL's a big name artist, he deserves more than 2 videos, I'm sure that Jay-Z' gonna give himself more than 2 videos for his album....

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/artic...%20flop_1012057 JAY-Z 'NOT RESPONSIBLE' FOR LL COOL J FLOP Hip-hop mogul SHAWN 'JAY-Z' CARTER has hit back at claims he scuppered LL COOL J's album success with poor promotion, insisting his "commitment" to the project was 100 per cent. Carter - who recently laughed off rumours he's planning to leave legendary rap label Def Jam - believes his company went all out to publicise his hip-hop rival's latest album effort TODD SMITH. And he refuses to take the blame for poor sales since its release in April (06). He says, "I think that we went above and beyond with his project. We shot two videos before the project even came out. That's not, especially in this climate of business, that's not typical. You know, people get one video, if that. We shot two videos with HYPE WILLIAMS. Got JENNIFER LOPEZ in the video. "The commitment to the project was clearly, clearly there. How much can you give a man?"

:yeahthat: Happy Birthday Wes, Enjoy It!!

Hey the more the merrier, it's all good, btw is this draft time still convienent for everyone here or should I push it back a lil' bit?

Only one day left guys....

Hip-hop really is a combination of many forms of music as well, the originators like Afrika Bambataa say that all the time

Well we just gotta keep an eye to see if he posts something on his myspace or even here in this forum like he said in the message, we'll know when it comes out

Well Slick Rick did a lot of party songs in his career as well, Slick Rick the ruler loves the jewlery, the partying, the women, that was his image throughout his career, he might have grown out of that a lil' bit now that he's older, he probably doesn't want to come off as conscious as Common and Little Brother, but maybe he might want to do a "Lost and Found" or a "G.O.A.T." type album where it's a mix of fun and serious songs and he probably could have success at that but maybe it's a thing where nobody wants to sign him, we see how Def Jam's going right now, they're out with the old/ in with the new on the most part and most labels don't sign ol' school artists, that's probably what he meant I guess, but the way I see it he shouldn't worry about what the record labels are doing though, he should just get on his grind and put out a record himself, do some shows, open up for Outkast on tour, he's Slick Rick the ruler, there's people out there that'll check for him, a lot of those older fans still listen to his songs and're probably waiting for him to drop something new, even a new generation discovers his music since a lot of rappers sample him

There's a market for mature rap though since there's artists like FP, Common, LL, Nas, etc. that's selling records, I don't get where he's coming from with that, I'm sure a lot of those people who buy those albums would be interested in another Slick Rick album, he should make a guest appearance on FP's next album, another "So Fresh" type song would be awesome, of course right now probably all that drama with deportation he probably ain't really thinking that much about music at this point, hopefully he keeps his head up with everything in his life, I'm keeping him in my thoughts

I actually checked Kel's myspace site just now and noticed that it don't mentioned that he wrote on Diddy's album anymore, his tracks probably didn't make the cut I guess, the same thing happened when he wrote for Nick Cannon's album a couple years ago, the tracks didn't make the cut, he probably still gets paid either way though, lol, btw Diddy doesn't make it a secret that other artists write on his albums, although he said that he actually did some writing himself this time, I found an article on XXL about who's writing Diddy's album and it didn't mention anything about Kel Spencer writing anything, it appears that the tracks that Common wrote didn't make it either: http://xxlmag.com/online/?p=5617

He's probably getting a nice check this week since Diddy's album is at #1 and he did some writing on that

Slick Rick Can I Live? To us, he’s a living legend with personality to spare. To the Department of Homeland Security, he’s an ex-con who they desperately want to deport. With his case being reopened yet again, we spoke with The Ruler about the government’s lack of compassion and his plans to help hip-hop finally grow up. Posted In: Features Interview: Brendan Frederick Slick Rick is not a terrorist. Sure, he has an eye patch, but he’s not even a freaking pirate. Slick Rick is a 41-year-old legend of American popular music, and yet, our government wants him to get the hell out. That’s right, the Department of Homeland Security has once again urged a court to reopen Rick’s case, which could result in him being deported back to his native England. It all started 16 long years ago. At the height of his recording career, Rick went to prison for committing a felony. After serving three years, the government said he was rehabilitated and he was released. In 1996, a new law was passed that said aliens who have served five years could be deported back to their homeland. Luckily a judge ruled that Rick, who was born in England and immigrated to the United States at the age of 11, had served less than five years, so he was permitted to stay. Things were fine until the events of September 11, 2001 prompted the Department of Homeland Security to step in and do everything they could to get potentially dangerous aliens out of the country. Gone were the nuanced, personalized decisions—Ricky D was just a number to them. After performing on a cruise boat off the coast of Miami, Ricky D was arrested and thrown in jail without bail for 17 months while they decided his fate. A judge in New York once again came to the same decision—Rick was not a threat and was well within his bounds to stay in America. In late 2003 he was able to resume his life, until recently. Despite the fact his crime was committed and tried in New York, the government is now trying to re-try Rick in a Florida court, where he was detained back in 2002 for “deporting himself”. XXLMAG.COM caught up with the Ruler to discuss the government’s campaign again him and other immigrants, as well as the lack of mature music in hip-hop’s marketplace. Herrrrre we go. It’s pretty clear that you’re not a terrorist. Why can’t the Department of Homeland Security get that through their heads? The law says that if you’ve served more than five years, you can be automatically deported. I had only served three years. The other four years were served fighting the immigration, so that brought us to seven years. It’s just a basic common sense thing. The judge already had granted me my freedom on those grounds [in 2003]. The only reason I can think that they would bring it up again would be because of everything that’s happening now with trying to fix their immigration situation. The attitude since 9/11 is that we have to give up some of our individual freedom in order to make everyone safer. What do you see as the alternative? It needs to be more humane. Everything can’t be like, robotic or mechanical. You can’t lose compassion for mankind along the way. I mean, we’re talking about something that happened 16 years ago. Some of the things are kind of obvious. This was a law they had passed after I served the sentence. If you serve your time, you’re rehabilitated, you’re in the streets, everybody is content, fine. And then you have to go back to jail for four and a half years to decide if you should be deported? That’s longer than the time you did for the crime! And then 16 years later, for you to bring up the case again? I’m serving more time playing political games than becoming a rehabilitated human or whatever. You have the press conference with the Hip-Hop Action Summit coming up tomorrow. What do you hope that will accomplish? To give awareness to the public, and to keep their minds on what’s going on around them in the world. There’s not much people can do right now. Maybe later on they can sign a petition, but right now the idea is to just to open up everybody’s mind. You don’t see too many [immigrants] who have high exposure to the public, except for people like myself, which isn’t even that high. Imagine if I was John Lennon or something? The problem is we don’t show a side of compassion in our theories. We’re talking about abuse of the judicial system. It’s not that you can blame one person or two people, it’s just that sometimes you’ve got to look at people as humans and not as machinery that can be moved around for the benefit of Homeland Security or whoever. Have you thought about what you would do if you lost and had to be deported? Well, if you lose and you get deported, what are you gonna do? You gonna pack your suitcases and you’re gonna leave, ain’t you? There’s only so much you can do. If it doesn’t work out in your favor, then you just gotta move on to the next thing. Do you feel like you have any connection to England at this point? Not really. I left in 1976, so it would be like a fish out of water. I was 11 years old. Have you been recording much music lately? Well, not right now. I’m waiting for a market to open up for a [more] mature audience to see where we can fit in. We need to be inspired. Right now, the market is pretty much…it’s not bad, but it caters to the youth. And the youth market, they really talk about stuff that we’ve already talked about. Going to the club, meeting girls, trying to be the tough guy here and there. All of that stuff we did in our 20s, and I’m 41 now. I’d rather talk about things that 41-year-olds talk about, but without sounding preachy, just having a good time. This how we talk, this is how we move. We just keep it sensible and true. Why do you think hip-hop has so much trouble with maturity? You gotta look at it like this: hip-hop never had a blueprint. It was just something that was brought up for fun. And now hip-hop is about 40 years old. But it doesn’t act like it’s 40 years old, it acts like it’s in some kind of remission stage and it can’t get past 20 or 25. Like once everyone hits about 25 or 26, they start lying about their age. It’s just the pressure of the market. The market forces you to be younger than you are. When you hit a certain age, the record companies are not that interested in you. And then you lose inspiration too, because you don’t want to feel like you’re competing with children for a children’s market. You wanna be like Prince, or these older artists that have their own audience. What about all your fans from when you first came out who are now grown up? Aren’t they looking for something more mature? Yes, I definitely think there’s an audience. If you’re a hip-hop fan, you’re not gonna want to listen to childhood raps if you’re like my age, but it’s not really happening. Music has become more commercial. It’s no longer free spirits that were blessed with a talent that had a market to sparkle. Now it’s just become an industry, a business that just puts a Black artist on a song to sing about sex and girls and that’s it. Everything is pretty routine and monotonous now. What would have to happen for that market to really open up? I guess it would just take real genuine people with genuine talent to be able to present their gift up front. Like, for example, when Avril Lavigne came out. That’s her name, the young White girl? Yep. The way she sang that song, “It’s a damn cold night/Trying to figure out this life/Is there anybody out there?” That made mature sense. Even with the other guy, what’s his name…“We’re just ordinary people…” John Legend? Yeah, see what I’m saying? Songs like that, you don’t hear [in hip-hop]. People are not relating as a whole anymore. Only certain songs inspire us as a whole, and there’s not too many. Just so you know, the rumor going around is that you’re working on a new album called The Adventure Continues. [Laughs.] I mean, that’s a good title to tell you the truth. What’s your relationship with Def Jam like nowadays? Right now, like I said, they’re catering more to a younger market. They pretty much put us on the shelf, you know, until we can finesse a record deal with somebody else or just say I want to be dropped or anything of that nature. I just hope that this record label gets to see that there is a market for this mature rap. I’ve heard from a few different artists who were signed to Def Jam in the ’90s that they stopped being attentive to them when the regime change happened. I wouldn’t just say it’s Def Jam, it’s the whole industry in general. Too much catering to the youth mentality. Imagine if all our stars—the Beatles, whoever—all they sang about was womanizing, and stuff that we did as kids but have now grown up. It would get tiring after a while. You won’t even enjoy yourself when you go to a disco and a club anymore because everything sounds shallow. So if the market does open up and it comes time to release another album, would you look at other labels, or would you stay on Def Jam? If that’s what it comes down to. Right now, my record label has the option to do whatever they gonna do. Once they decide what they’re gonna do, then I can decide what I’m gonna do.

Chauncey Black from Blackstreet and Chilli from TLC have solo albums by the end of the year, all these albums are probably coming out now 'cause the holidays are coming, they make good stuffing stockers

That's awesome to hear, definately looking forward to the king of pop's return

Ruben Studdard's album came out last week