Enjoy Hip-Hop Responsibly

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…it was how can I get on.

I was just thinking the other day about how things were when XM Satellite Radio agreed to bring Sphere of Hip-Hop onto the air. After reading through some early emails from around then (I was cleaning an email folder for the show) I noticed a disturbing trend of emails not saying “Congrats” or anything like that but “How can I get my radio show on XM?”

Seriously? Then I remember how annoyed I was and remembered the culture of vultures in our scene. Everyone cries about unity but when the time comes to unify behind something potentially great… it’s not “how can I help” or “how can I support” or even “how can I pray” it was… “How can I get on.”

Through the grapevine I’ve heard the skinny about how cats are talking about what we did with the show. “Oh, he won’t play so and so for such and so reason.” Really? Did it ever occur to you to ask me why? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I never received their music for play? It’s far easier to jump to conclusions isn’t it? It’s too bad because that type of stuff is what is really wrong with our scene. What happened to going to the source and seeing what’s up? It’s a lost art or something.

What is annoying about this is the lengths at which I’ve tried to include everyone over the last few years in things I’ve been doing namely this radio show. Emails don’t receive responses and phone calls go unreturned. If you know me personally, I don’t like to chase after people… especially if I am going to do work they should be doing on their own already.

If you do this… don’t do it anymore. Golden opportunities are missed all the time because folks aren’t willing to swallow their pride to jump on board with what God is doing with someone else. Think about it.

Music sales are in a sharp decline. Labels and artists are fading away. Quickly. It’s a shame because there are some very good people being hurt by music piracy.

Reasoning with the folks that do it is usually a dead end. Most know that it’s not lawful but don’t care because they just want to “preview” the music that they full well won’t spend a dime on. That’s the rationalization of it all for many. Of course there is a small minority that just take for the sake of taking without caring one bit about the impact.

You wouldn’t jack a CD off of a stores shelf but you will download an album from a “protected” website? Doesn’t the “protected” and “under ground” nature of most of it give you an idea as to whether the practice is right to be doing?

I love the art. The delivery of it is somewhat flawed but to absolutely devalue it because you can’t physically touch it is ludicrous. The practice of illegal downloading hurts REAL people. Most sensible people wouldn’t want to see their favorite artists quit doing music (most in pure disgust because of the rampant theft of their music) would they? What about that hard working guy or gal who is helping that artist be able to concentrate on music? Put yourself in their shoes.

My suggestions…

Record labels - be forward thinking and creative in how you present your music/product to consumers. I know the current climate is tough and it makes you nervous but engage people. Most people when given the choice to do right will choose right and purchase your music. Position yourselves with EASY ways for people to have access to information and previews. Have good products. Good music will sell itself and will flourish if you promote it well enough to media/radio etc.

Artists -ditto.

Fans - Support the music. Yeah, $17.98 was a lot for a CD wasn’t it? Well, buy the record before it drops and you’ll usually get some free bonus stuff AND save a few bucks. Plus you can’t beat what it does for the release… more sales usually mean more media / radio attention. Your few bucks of support can have far reaching effects. Consider it the exact opposite of music theft (which does hurt in tangible ways) where you can give a favorite artist a boost.

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Sound off in the comments and read Part 1

“You are right, I did mess up. I am sorry”

One of the hardest things to do is to admit fault. I know personally it’s difficult to not become defensive and thus make excuses.

What happens next is what matters.

Post your comments.

Today I received a package with CDs inside for review. Every day is about the same, I get anywhere from 1-5 review packages. This one was “special” however because I had to PAY to receive it! What?!?!

POSTAGE DUE

Don’t ever ever send anyone you want support from a package without the proper and correct postage on it. I am an understanding a forgiving guy when it comes to stuff but this one made me upset. Seriously.

Don’t be like this guy.

as much as I want to quit at times, I can’t avoid the fact that hip-hop is what I know and God wants me to use what I know to glorify Him. - JustMe

This is the single thing (the last part) that keeps me going. It’s the only thing that’s worth it anyway.

I pray that each of us would adjust our thinking to see how we can truly serve Jesus with our time and talents. Maybe some of these frustrations will never go away but at least as individuals we will know that we’re having an impact (for better) on people.

I now work a day job 25-30 hours a week because I was getting stiffed by PR/Radio clients more often than I was getting paid. LOTS of money. I mean, a lot and for me it was enough to pay our family bills AND cover the website debts. This was the single most crushing and discouraging time of my life and it really messed me up. I thought “How could Christians, especially those in such leadership positions, do this to me?” I allowed it to steal my motivation and crush my passion.

It was hard to deal with the fact that I was chosen, entrusted with so much etc. Quickly I became bitter and frustrated. A few of you reading this have heard me at my worst on the phone sharing how broken this all felt to me.

In the last 12 years I have given up hobbies, free time, enough money to buy a house + pay off all my debt + buy 2 new cars, etc… to serve. BUT… If given the choice to do it all over again, I would without hesitation. I’ve been blessed to help illuminate the path to Jesus for many people. I’ve been blessed to help equip hundreds of artists to do their thing. I’ve been blessed flat out to serve and give.

The beef… if we’re serious, is small potatoes when it comes to kingdom building. It’s painfully obvious, to me at least, anymore when someone is really focusing on the right things and not of trivial side shows. I often got caught up in that. Too much. I try to flee from that focus stealing sin as quickly as I can anymore.

Not sure if this means anything or not… I would encourage each of you to continue on and worry only about pleasing the Father and following His Word. Pleasing man isn’t worth the time or frustration.

I wrote this a few days ago here. Then I wrote… How Do We Fix It?

The other day I received a coverage solicitation. Names have been removed.

Hello my name is [removed] and i am the Music Manger of [removed] and [removed] please review the intro. bio of both artist and also go to there page and listen to there music at myspace.com/ [removed]  myspace.com/ [removed] can call me direct or email me [removed] cell number is [removed]

I’m no English Major myself but… this is my first impression of you! You’re a “Manger”? Spell check homey! I’m not trying to pick on folks but you’ve got to do a better job at presenting yourself. This is the stuff that people at magazines laugh about during break times. We get stuff like this all the time. It’s not only a waste of my time but yours too.

When you put yourself out there on your own or someone elses behalf, are you sloppy? Professional? Consider stuff like that before you hit “send mail” or before you seal up that mail package.

Something I said during a conversation about the factions in our scene… It’s a pretty strong statement, maybe too bold but has some element of truth. What do you think?

“It is predicated entirely on COMFORT rather than talent or truly digging into content… If I HEAR the right stuff, it must be good. Right?”

Is merely saying the right things (the appearance of good) “enough”? To some folks that seems to be the case.

Every once in a while I want to hip you to some other blogs. A good friend of mine happens to be a rapper and a family man. Check out his blog…

JustMe Scribbling