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As expected, the show was amazing and I tried to capture everything I could. RIP Roc Raida. A week or two later, I met up with Finesse for a hot minute and gave him everything. I asked if I could put some of the footage up on our yout*be channel. He said only a few and I thanked him, said my peace and was out.

Sifting through all the footage, I had the sudden urge to call Finesse up and ask him the reasoning behind not wanting all the footage from the show out there. And I don’t mean on some accusatory-type steez but more of a discussion between one of my favorite artists and me, a Hip-Hop head. At that point in time, my whole stance was the more exposure an artist could get (whether through his own distribution channels or others), the increased likelihood of acquiring new fans and keeping in touch with older ones. I guess in my own naive way, little ole me was trying to keep some of my favorite artists alive. I was trying to tell everyone (or at least the handful who watched the videos) that Lord Finesse was still around and, heck yeah, dude can still rock a show like nobody’s business.

The majority of our conversation consisted of Finesse telling me about wanting complete control and creative input over the narration of his story. When things were ready, he wanted the world to know Lord Finesse through his eyes only. And I completely understood and respected his position. At the end of the day, it was his show, his footage and his decision over what to distribute and what to keep in the vaults for later use. I totally respected that. Not only in Finesse’s case but with any footage I record and every artist I have a chance to deal with.

But what about the other artists who never get a chance to tell their story? Who will remember their contributions fifty years down the road when the next few generations of Hip-Hop heads come into the world? Will their names eventually fade out over time and be relegated to unsubstantiated rumors and pass-downed stories? Is that how the pioneers of this culture should be remembered? Or am I completely off the mark by assuming that they even want to be remembered at all? And how do they feel about people like me? Do they wish people videotaping these shows consult with them first before posting anything? Do they look at these people and call them “culture vultures?” Do most of these artists even know the footage exists? Do they even care these videos are out there? Am I just over-thinking all of this? And why do I feel so damn responsible? Why do I even care about all the fans who can’t make it to the shows? If they couldn’t make it for whatever reason e.g. no access or no money, then it’s their loss right? They missed out on a dope performance so sucks for them? Why do I care about ‘em, people I will never ever meet in my life? Am I just trying too hard? Should I just mind my own business and leave the real documenting to others? Am I sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong? Does what I do even matter in the long-run? Do people out there even care or notice?

A few weeks back, after a show at Irving Plaza, I was driving a Hip-Hop luminary home. This person made a comment about individuals who post video footage online, naively thinking they were somehow preserving the culture through the publication of these unauthorized videos. I dropped this person off and said my peace. On the drive back to the crib, I thought about that comment. Over the next few weeks, I’ve thought about that comment even more. And then I had an epiphany. That naive individual, the one who believes he can keep Hip-Hop alive through his videos, the one who is somehow “preserving” the culture for future generations to come? That’s me. And I’m not quite sure I believe it anymore.

Not a fan of lists in general but some of these selections are questionable. Made You Look beating out anything by Poet? Ether? Oochie Wally? What y’all think? link

Peace to Alex from ClassicRhymes.com for the write-up. link

Before Joseph Abajian opened the legendary hip-hop record store Fat Beats back in 1994, shopping for hip-hop vinyl in New York wasn’t easy. “I remember having to go to so many different stores to find records. It made no sense in a city where hip-hop was born,” recalls 39-year-old Abajian, whose frustration would push him to turn his relatively modest mom and pop shop not only into an iconic vinyl playground frequented by artists and fans alike, but a meeting place where the craft of hip-hop always took center stage. “A lot of people who made up the community we had at Fat Beats moved on to Hollywood. They stopped scratching, using vinyl, and many just fell off, so the energy has not been there in the store for some time. Indie retail is something that is needed in hip-hop. Best Buy, Target, and Wal-Mart have a dominant presence in the market, and if they decide to pass you have nowhere to sell your record,” says Abajian.

D-Nice giving a cool play-by-play of what’s going down at Yankee Stadium tonight. Apparently, a lot of big name artists are coming out to perform with Eminem e.g. Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, etc. And Jay-Z hasn’t even got on yet. $300 tickets get the gas face. link

I know I shouldn’t be surprised given the exponential rate of technological advancement but god damn. I still haven’t learned how to spin using vinyl………yet. link

link

Ableton and Serato — two of the biggest names in live music production — have been working in stealth mode over the past year to create what they’ve been billing as “the future of digital DJing,” and today that new product has been revealed as The Bridge. Basically, you’ve got a thin layer of software that sits between full versions of both Serato Live (or Itch) and Ableton Live that allows output from both products to flow into the other — DJ sets can be imported into Ableton with full control over effect parameters, tempo, pitch, and so on, and Ableton instruments can sit inside a Serato session. It’s an interesting advancement, and the way the companies are talking, this is just the first in a string of products of the partnership; the good news is that The Bridge will be free to owners of both products, but unfortunately there’s no release date yet, so raves are going to have to soldier on using last year’s technology for at least a while longer. Hang tight, we’re told it’s “coming soon.”

I’m not condoning @CrayonFlux‘s and @Samb881‘s behavior, but I’m chuckling as I point it out. How much more twitter-fueled assault can the Cult Of Personality withstand?

So what happened? Well, in short, technology happened. The world has sped up, become more connected and a whole lot busier. As a result, what consumers want from the products and services they buy is fundamentally changing. We now favor flexibility over high fidelity, convenience over features, quick and dirty over slow and polished. Having it here and now is more important than having it perfect. These changes run so deep and wide, they’re actually altering what we mean when we describe a product as “high-quality.”

What has happened with the MP3 format and other Good Enough technologies is that the qualities we value have simply changed. And the change is so profound that the old measures have almost lost their meaning. Call it the MP3 effect.

We’ve seen it again and again. Consider, for example, the rise of cloud computing. For years, software was something you bought and installed on your hard drive. A lot of it was made by Microsoft, which solidified its dominance by releasing ever more powerful, feature-laden updates. But with the advent of services like Gmail and Zoho Writer, many users are now turning to the Web for basic tasks like word processing, spreadsheets, and email. These cloud apps have inherent limits: They run through a browser window and can’t directly access your local hard drive or processor. They lack features. Their performance depends on the strength of your Internet connection. Nevertheless, tens of millions of people use Gmail, while Zoho Writer boasts 1.8 million users and is growing at a rate of 100,000 subscribers a month. Microsoft, of course, is now jumping into the cloud as fast as it can. Redmond says that Office 2010 will be largely cloud-based. Not to be outdone, Google recently announced a mostly cloud-based operating system that will work in tandem with the company’s Chrome browser.

Web tools are succeeding because they’re Good Enough. They do most of what we need from a word processor or a spreadsheet or an email program or even an OS. But, like the MP3, they also offer other advantages. You can access them from any computer. If your hard drive crashes, you don’t lose your work. And they are incredibly cheap—free in the case of simple tools or just a few dollars a month per user in the case of business apps.

Compare these qualities with those of the MP3 and the Flip, and a clear pattern emerges. The attributes that now matter most all fall under the rubric of accessibility. Thanks to the speed and connectivity of the digital age, we’ve stopped fussing over pixel counts, sample rates, and feature lists. Instead, we’re now focused on three things: ease of use, continuous availability, and low price. Is it simple to get what we want out of the technology? Is it available everywhere, all the time—or as close to that ideal as possible? And is it so cheap that we don’t have to think about price? Products that benefit from the MP3 effect capitalize on one or more of these qualities. And they’ll happily sacrifice power and features to do so.

Write-up in the NY Times on the recent passing of Mr. Magic and the legacy he leaves behind. link (via)

Mr. Magic, born John Rivas, was the first host on commercial radio to devote a program exclusively to rap when his “Rap Attack” began broadcasting on WBLS-FM in New York in April 1983. Disco and funk were then fading, and rap was emerging as a rebellious new art form in the streets, housing projects and parks of New York City. Mr. Magic’s big breakthrough came when WBLS-FM, a larger, mainstream New York station, decided to take a chance on rap, starting in April 1983. Soon Mr. Magic was engaged in spirited competition with a rap show on the station KISS-FM hosted by a D.J. who called himself Kool DJ Red Alert. Mr. Magic gathered a sort of hip-hop collective that included artists like Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne and Kool G Rap, and was called the Juice Crew. (Mr. Magic was Sir Juice.) Red Alert was affiliated with a rap group called Boogie Down Productions. The two sides staged elaborate battles, recording songs as insults to respond to taunts from the other side. The exchanges were wildly popular, on and off the air.

Mr. Williams said that in 1984, WBLS wanted to abandon the rap show and offered Mr. Magic the chance to host a show playing softer music. “If I stop playing, rap will die,” Mr. Magic said, and returned to WHBI. He came back to WBLS the next year and stayed until 1989. He then worked for WEBB in Baltimore until 1992. In 2000 he left to work for WQHT in New York, a station known as Hot-97. For more than six years, he had been unable to get another show, Mr. Williams said. “I watched Magic become sadder, thinner and upset,” he said. Mr. Williams said that at the time of his death Mr. Magic was negotiating to return to WBLS.

I WANT TO SEND OUT THE UTMOST RESPECT AND CONDOLENCES TO THE MEMORY OF JOHN RIVAS—-aka MR. MAGIC

HE PASSED AWAY THIS MORNING OF A HEART ATTACK…..

TRUE HIP HOP HEADS KNOW THAT HIS HISTORY IS SO LONG DUE TO HIM BEING THE FIRST RAP MIXSHOW TO EVER BE ON COMMERCIAL RADIO ON NEW YORK’S WBLS–(107.5) WITH MARLEY MARL AND FLY TY IN 1982-1984…….THEN WENT ON TO WHBI IN OCTOBER OF 1984 AND THEN BACK TO WBLS in 1985 and WDAS in Philly SIMULTANEOUSLY

HE PAVED THE WAY FOR ALL RADIO STATIONS THAT EVER DID MIXSHOWS AND ALSO SPARKED THE CAREER OF BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTIONS DUE TO THE DISS HE SHOWED WHEN THEY CAME TO SHOP THEIR DEMO TO HIM AND WAS TURNED AWAY WHICH THEN SPARKED “SOUTH BRONX” AND “THE BRIDGE IS OVER”…….

HE WAS KNOWN FOR HIS DIRECT AND SARCASTIC ATTITUDE ON THE AIR AND EVERY ARTIST WANTED HIS APPROVAL WHEN IT CAME TO BREAKING NEW RECORDS……..HE EVEN HAD SONGS DEDICATED TO HIM BY THE LEGENDARY WHODINI–(”MR. MAGIC’S WAND”) WHICH WAS SURPRISINGLY PRODUCED BY ONE OF MY FAVORITE ARTISTS THOMAS DOLBY…….

SHOUTS OUT TO MARLEY MARL AND FLY TY FOR THE CORRECT INFORMATION ON THIS……

REST IN PEACE MR. MAGIC………….DJ PREMIER

We losing too many of ours. No details yet but Rest In Peace.

Sounds like the organizers of Philly DJ Day left the only DMC champion from Philadelphia off their list of honorees: DJ Cash Money.

“Let me start by saying that this isn’t just about me, this is about pioneering and legendary DJs from Philadelphia who are not being recognized.

Just as everyone knows that Hip Hop’s founding fathers are Kool DJ Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash from the Bronx – it is common knowledge that DJ Jazzy Jeff and myself are the most famous Hip Hop DJ legends from Philadelphia. When the first Philly DJ Day took place in 2008, I was invited to attend and help celebrate its launch. DJs from every decade in Philadelphia Hip Hop history attended and many group photos were taken of us to commemorate this day of unity.

Around the beginning of 2009, the organizers of Philly DJ Day received a proclamation, signed by the Mayor of Philadelphia, confirming an official Philly DJ Day to be celebrated annually. They proudly announced it. I was excited to read it myself! To my surprise, my name was left off the proclamation though some of my friends were included…and was I naturally upset! DJs included on the first document included DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ AM (Rest in Peace), DJ Drama, Schoolly D, ?uest Love, King Britt and Rich Medina. When I called Philly DJ Day to let them know about this error, they had not noticed that my name had been left out. They claimed that it was a typo or some mistake and that they would work on it. I wondered how something so important and final could be released and signed without review or edits. By September 2009, the organizers said they finally fixed the problem, but when I viewed the updated document, it felt like my name was just thrown in for “honorable mention” and they changed the honorees around. At this point, I felt the second version aimed at pacifying me was more insulting than the first!

Please view both versions of the Philly DJ Proclamation at myspace.com/djcashmoney12

I wondered why other DJ legends weren’t included on either document like the original DJ Spinbad, Lady B, Grandmaster Nell, DJ Miz, Too Tuff, Cosmic Kev, DJ Ran, Grand Wizzard Rasheen, Tat Money, Lightning Rich, Josh Wink and the list goes on! There are so many DJs who trail blazed! Maybe it would have been better to just call it Philly DJ Day, not name anyone and have it be all inclusive. However, if the more accomplished DJs were to be highlighted, it would have been better that we all sat down had a chance to offer our input. If the proper history of the Philly DJ is not going to be told, it’s better not to do it at all. I give Philly DJ Day an A+ for effort but an F for history. Yet Philly DJ Day continues to include my likeness on their website knowing that I am not happy with the organization and therefore I do not support it. When the Philly DJ Day organizers sent DMC (the longest running, most legendary DJ competition) a sponsorship proposal for 2009, which included my photo, they were turned down because Philly DJ Day wasn’t even recognizing the only DMC Champion from Philly! DMC supports me 100%!

Thus, some may want to say that I am being egotistical or hard to deal with for standing up for what is right but I won’t be written out of history. I have been silent far too long about the cliquishness that goes down in this city. I tour all over the world repping Philly to the fullest. The fact that I won the DJ World DJ Championship in 1988 and am the only DJ to bring this title to Philly speaks volumes. I was also inducted into the Technics/DMC Hall of Fame. A great DJ is not made overnight! You have to put in time, blood, sweat and tears. You become known as a legend from your fans and fellow DJ’s. I didn’t give myself these titles, other people did. Rightfully so, I’ve earned my place in history. It’s like discussing Philadelphia basketball and never mentioning Dr. J.

I would suggest that the organizers start over, regroup, sit down with the true legends and get it right.”

Sincerely,
DJ Cash Money

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will unveil in a speech on Monday new proposals that would force Internet providers to treat the flow of content equally, sources familiar with the speech said on Friday. The concept, referred to as net neutrality, pits open Internet companies like Google Inc against broadband service providers like AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc, and Comcast Corp, which oppose new rules governing network management. Advocates of net neutrality say Internet service providers must be barred from blocking or slowing traffic based on content.

Providers say the increasing volume of bandwidth-hogging services like video sharing requires active management of their networks and some argue that net neutrality could stifle innovation. “He is going to announce rulemaking,” said one source familiar with his speech about broadband, to be delivered at the Brookings Institution, a public policy think tank. “The commission will have to codify into new regulations the principle of nondiscrimination.” The FCC could formally propose the rules aimed at applying to wireless and landline platforms at an open meeting in October.

The question: “Who is the face of hip-hop today? Whoever says ‘Jay-Z’ is an idiot,” Prof Griff of the legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy bluntly responded during a recent forum in Muskegon Heights. Griff was addressing more than 150 people who attended the event, which was held Saturday at the Muskegon Heights Boxing Club. The program, sponsored by local radio station 103.7 The Beat, is one of a series of culturally related workshops that the station is hosting this year. “The face of hip-hop today is white — white, corporate America,” added Griff.

Griff’s lecture was titled “Black Music: The Psycho Analytical Destruction of a Stolen Legacy,” and anyone thinking they could cruise through this class was quickly put on notice by “The Professor.” “You’re not going to agree with everything I’m going to say, I’m just going to tell you that from the beginning,” said Griff. “Those people who are going to get angry and red-faced with me, that’s fine too, because I have to move you out of your comfort zone. “If you listen to the local radio station and you’re digging what’s going on the station and you’re going down to the club and partying into that same madness, you’re going to have a problem with The Professor today,” he continued. “If you think — someone on the panel said Jay Z is the face of hip-hop — if you think he is, you’re definitely going to have a problem with Griff today.”

With that, Griff served up a music history lesson that highlighted the contributions of socially conscious singers and musicians such as Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Curtis Mayfield. He also pointed out that the roots of hip-hop stem not just from music, but also poetry. Some of the early rap and hip-hop pioneers include Gil Scott-Heron and Afrika Bambaataa, he said. Griff argued that the white music industry has profited from black music — including jazz, blues, R&B, rap and hip-hop — for years. The same music industry frequently rewards black performers who live up to negative stereotypes, such as the rap “gangsta,” he said.

Griff launched his most brutal salvos at black entertainers who, in his opinion, are nothing more than modern-day “minstrels,” portraying the most demeaning, stereotypical images that already exist about black people.They do that because they believe that is the only way they can find success, he said. Those name-checked by Griff included several well-known celebrities including Michael Jackson, Usher, Beyonce and his former band mate Flavor Flav. He also blasted rappers and hip-hop performers who glorify drugs and violence, and use derogatory lyrics to describe black women. Hip-hop was created to raise the consciousness of black people, not destroy it, Griff said. Black people must set higher standards for themselves and stop reinforcing those negative stereotypes, he said.

Griff also charged that those negative images are already consistently promoted in the media. For example, he referred to the newspaper USA Today, which recently published a pictorial homage to the “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson. The portraits featured in the paper were of a “very bright, damn-near white Michael Jackson that looks like a white woman,” said Griff. “And this is who they are portraying to our young people as our “King.” “What’s the subtle, subconscious symbol that they send people? That you got to be like this in order to come in and make it in this world. We have to be defendents of our culture and defend our children from this kind of madness. Are you following me? We have to at least do that.”

Not all panelists at the forum agreed with Griff. Muskegon resident Joe Walker, who has written extensively about the hip-hop culture and is a community activist, said he doesn’t always agree with some of the derogatory remarks rappers and hip-hoppers make, but he supports their right to express those opinions. Female hip-hop performer and poet Naeink, of Muskegon, disagreed. She said the black community needs to hold accountable those performers who use words like bitches and ho’s in their song lyrics. “When you have a mic in your hand, it’s a responsibility,” said Naeink. “If you put a mic in the hands of someone who is ignorant, you’re going to get nasty messages.”

New single by Infinito 2017, beat by Black Sparx.

Infinito 2017 ft. Knuckles Bandit – Land of The Ill

‘Free’ by Wired’s Chris Anderson’s is available online and as an audio book. via The Long Trail

via Soul Assassins

Killah Priest & Hell Razah – Freestyle