Enjoy Hip-Hop Responsibly

Check this out at Manasseh’s blog. Giant MPC sampler.

You know the type… the artist that has only one ambition… to promote his/her music and that’s about it. It comes before caring for others in various forum communities and also at the true expense of effectively promoting their music. People are quick to dismiss or otherwise ignore such a face time strategy. I know better, I learned it the hard way many many years ago.

As a person who wants to see more folks succeed, it bums me out when I see artists posting stuff up on every forum on the planet while ignoring the better opportunities available to them. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because it’s:

• Easy
• Cheap
• Seems like a good idea
• Others do it
• Short term it works

I don’t really know how to help fix the issue. When I see it happening and have a relationship with the person doing it, I try to step in and give some loving advice.

When I started to look at the bigger picture I learned that it might be okay for now but the truth was that I was marginalizing what I was trying to share with the world. You become “that guy” who just posts his messages and doesn’t actually interact with anyone. While I do still make the rounds, I do my best to be a genuine participant in each community. Making friends and building relationships… maybe that’s what is worthwhile after all. Think about it.

Most people who are into music (and various other goods) are well intentioned people when it comes to consuming it. You’ve got others who find no wrong in ’sharing’ this music with others… without permission to do so and often very much against the wishes of those who created it. Why?

I’ll detail a few reasons I’ve done some thinking on…

It’s easy to steal - If something is easy to do and seems to also be a ’social norm’ then it becomes like a white lie. If it doesn’t really hurt someone, it’s not so bad right? Besides, if you’re not being caught and there are no felt penalties… it’s easy to become complacent in feeling okay about it. The trouble is that if you apply the same thinking to other things, the same person wouldn’t do it.

It’s free - There is no cost to it. The common rationale is that “I’ll try it and if I like it, I’ll buy it.” Really? It makes one wonder what the follow through rate on such justification.

This also points to a weakness in the promotional department for many artists/labels. Are you offering previews? How about a free song or two? One would assume that simply offering the chance to preview the tunes would discourage a certain amount of piracy and even sell more music in legitimate fashion.

It’s just a few bucks - Well, sort of. You can find a plethora of spots selling pirated music that pay ZERO royalties to those they sell music of. You know, full albums for a dollar or unlimited songs for like 7 cents each. Most based out of an Eastern European nation or even Russia. If it’s too good to be true — it is. Plus knowing these unscrupulous types, you’ll also end up with some bonus “junk” on your computer.

I can’t afford it - Try that at the grocery store, or the car dealership, or at the video rental store… just because it’s downloadable, doesn’t mean you can take it. Again, rationalization downplaying what the act does is dangerous.

It’s out of print or I can’t find it for sale - Most of the time this is a legitimate excuse. Sometimes it’s simply laziness. Especially in our niche of the hip-hop scene, it’s not too hard to find a copy at an online store such as Sphere of Hip-Hop. Sometimes an email to a retailer like Sphere will shed details on the products availability.

I can speak for Sphere in saying, we stock deeply and make every effort to keep pushing older titles. Why? Because if we’re selling… you’re finding past releases AND the artist is usually encouraged to keep the title available… because it sells! This is really where the piracy bug hurts. Sales are down and there is no disputing it. Those albums that are years old may now not be worth printing more copies because of the pace of sale. I know from experience that I think twice when it comes to spending $2,000 on printing another run of CDs that will take years to break even on AND have more boxes taking up space. Consider this from the perspective of an artist or record label and now you’ve got some insight into why albums go “out of print”.

I’ll drop a second installment soon with some ideas and suggestions. Enjoy your hip-hop responsibly.

A buddy of mine mentioned this… awesome for so many reasons. Bummer for Buckner.

I’ve been enjoying some of the tunes from this upcoming release for a minute. It’s refreshing and I think you ought to give it a shot. Preview Reiterate here.

If you’re ready to pick up a copy, show your support at the Sphere of Hip-Hop Store.

Two emails I received

Maybe it’s merely a product of the volume of email I receive… Today I found a message in my news submissions (only) inbox requesting information on a review. To find that inbox, the submitter needed to ignore what the button said and what the entire page said. In addition, the entire message was one run-on sentence. I’m no English Major but I do try to make it easy to read and comprehend my communication. Isn’t that the point of communicating anyway? Needless to say, I deleted it without response. I don’t have time right now to chase people down to do their job correctly.

A few days ago I received another email requesting airplay. No information, no punctuation, no full words (”yo” in place of “your”), no capitalization… very unprofessional. Deleted.

Here is the jewel…

This doesn’t work. If this is you, change. If you don’t know how to present yourself to media and radio people then by all means learn how from someone who does. Moreover, be teachable. I shake my head at artists that “have it all figured out” and yet continue to make major mistakes.

Would you go to a job interview with dirty disheveled looking clothing and with your hair all jacked up? I doubt it. Well, this is essentially the perception I get of people when receiving sloppy submissions. At least I am understanding of it and am willing to look past it. Most others will not. You’ll get the delete button or the trash can with the quickness.

Once you have something of a relationship with an organization, then you probably have a bit more grace for being casual.

If you’re not willing to spend the time to do stuff properly, don’t waste other peoples time. Keep in mind… these people are doing you a big service.

This one certainly got my attention. I’m not quite sure what to think of the stunt.

This priest decided to get a bunch of helium filled party balloons and use them to float across the Atlantic ocean. I’m thinking to myself… this doesn’t sound like a good idea.

It’s one of those things that makes you think two different things…

1. What was this guy thinking?

2. On a serious note… What was he trying to really accomplish?

The event could be viewed as a tragedy… in both senses of the word. I just cannot figure it out.

Here is a link to the news piece. Body ID’d as priest who flew on party balloons.

Janny and I had an eventful vacation in Chicago. We took in a lot of sights downtown and also caught a game at Wrigley Field. The Cubs beat the Pirates 8-5 on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Always a highlight for me is Dunkin Donuts. I love the peanut donut. Yum.

While I don’t have any kids of my own… I can identify with this track. All of my friends locally have little kids and I hear the stories. One I heard just a few days ago made me think about this video. Our friends little boy wouldn’t sleep and refused to lay in the bed. 3am style.

Dope track and a cool video to boot.

Yeah, I know… another video. I only post the stuff you should be watching anyways so check this one.