There’s Good News And There’s Bad News

Fans and Rappers alike rallied over the news that rapper Jamal “Shyne” Barrow, who changed his name to Moses M Leivy while incarcerated, would be released from Woodbourne Correctional Facility October 6^th but his future is unclear. The 30 year old has been released from Woodbourne but is now “being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at an unspecified facility in Western New York State” MTV News reports. Officers are not determining whether they should deport the rapper who was born in Belize. Shyne, his fellow rappers, and friends will just have to sit tight and wait on the officer’s decision

Shyne was incarcerated following a shooting incident at a New York night club involving Diddy and then girlfriend Jenifer Lopez. He pleded guilty to 1^st degree Assult, 1^st degree Reckless Endangerment, 2^nd degree Assult, and 2^nd degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon and sentenced to 10 years, New York Department of Corrections said. At the time of his sentencing, an official with the Department of Correction confirmed to MTV News that Shyne would have to complete at least eight years and seven months of his prison sentence. This set his release date for October of this year. I just want to wish Shyne and his family good luck and God bless.

Related Links: MTV News Article, RapWeekly.com Article

Jay Made Oprah

When Jay-Z said, “I don’t know why they worried bout my pockets/Meanwhile had Oprah chillin in the projects/ Had her out in Bedstuy, chillin on the steps/Drinkin quarter waters gotta be the best,” on a song on his latest album, The Blueprint 3, entitled “On To The Next One” I thought he was kidding and trying to be flashy but apparently he wasn’t.

The September 24^th episode of the Oprah Show featured special guests Barbra Streisand and Jay-Z. On this episode we learned that Oprah indeed came out to Brooklyn, New York to interview Jay-Z for “O  The Oprah Magazine.” Jay-Z, a rap artist, on Oprah; this is a big deal for the Hip-Hop culture. It just shows us how far we have come and how far we can go. Another fact that proves the relevance of Hip-Hop is with the release of his latest album Jay-Z now has 11 chart-topping albums. This breaks the previous record of 10 #1 albums held by none other than Elvis, the king of Rock N Roll. A rapper being compared to Elvis; again this is a big deal.

Jay-Z is more than just another rapper but a Hip-Hop mogul. He has 11 #1 albums, sold more than 30 million records, won seven Grammys, owns the Rocawear clothing line which grosses just 700 million a year, owns part of the professional basketball team the New Jersey Nets, and the icing on the cake he’s married to Beyonce Knowles. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

The complete interview is available here

The appearance on the Oprah show can be viewed at:

Part 1: here

Part 2: here

Lyrics to “On To The Next On” available at: here

Rappin’ With Pops

My father used to be an on-air personality, DJ, for a few local radio stations in Little Rock. While I was growing up a loved going to the radio station and this is probably where my love for Hip-Hop originated. So I felt what better way to start off the interviews then by interviewing my dad. Enjoy!

So what was your professional title while involved in music?

I was a DJ, and then umm I moved up to music director, and when I left, got out of radio it was program director.

What station(s) did you work at? How long?

My first radio station was a community radio station 88.3. Then I left there and went to KWTB 106.3. Left there and went to KOKY it was AM 1250. And left there and went to Power 92. And after that it was Hot 96.5, well actually it was Hot 97. Then I left there and got on Hot 96.5.

What were your job responsibilities?

My job responsibilities were to DJ, play music. Of course we had to do commercials after our show was over or before our show was over. We had to do club dates. Umm…We had to do remotes, which are when you go out live somewhere and broadcast live. Those are the responsibilities.

Did you do anything other than those things under that professional title?

Naw that’s about it.

Did you work at any radio stations or did you just do parties?

Yes of course you have parties. That’s what I meant by going to the clubs, and DJing parties, and stuff like that.

Why did you choose this career path?

I love music. As they say music makes the world go round. Sometimes you listen to a song and it makes you feel better.

What is your fondest memory of your time as that professional title?

One of my fondest memories is when I was working at Power 92. And you probably don’t remember this but Yo-Yo; she was a rap artist that came in town to do a show. She came up to the radio station and you happened to be there. And I think me and her were shaking hands. She said hi to you and you said, “Get out my daddy radio station.”

Hahaha! Ok so how has hip-hop impacted your life?

Musically it changed a lot for me cause we used to listen to artists like Al Green and Marvin Gaye. Then came along Hip-Hop with Grand Master Flash, the Furious Five, Curtis Blow. Then came along NWA and west coast rap. It changed a lot from just rapping about anything, where you live at, to rapping about shooting and killing somebody. It changed a lot.

What is your favorite era of hip-hop? Is it the beginning with DJ Kool Herc and Curtis Blow? Is it the NWA era? Is it the east coast west coast era? What is your favorite era?

Honestly I like the west coast sound, I just didn’t agree with all the lyrics they had. One of my favorite rappers was Tupac, who is dead and gone now but he is my favorite rapper, and then its Ice Cube, but I like that year

What is your fondest hip-hop related memory?

Probably when I MCed a concert down in Pine Bluff. And at this time Ice Cube was my favorite rapper, he was in Pine Bluff and I got to meet him. He was pretty cool. Also Lil Jon and the Eastside boys. Got to meet them too. They were cool too.

How do you feel about the state of hip-hop right now? For the better or worse?

I think it’s going for the worse. You got these songs out here now like “Do Tha Stanky Leg.” Right now if you come with a good beat and throw and crazy lyrics behind it you got a hit song. And back in the Tupac era he told stories, he didn’t just rap. He told stories about what’s going on in his life or other people’s lives. Take the song “Brenda’s Got A Baby” talking about a young woman who’s pregnant, not married but got a baby. That goes on and happens every day. He was talking about real life stuff. Rap nowadays…I don’t even listen to it anymore.

What do you think needs to be done to get hip-hop back on track or what needs to be done to help further the evolution of the hip-hop culture and how can us as individuals take part in this?

We got to demand that of the artist, I think. They go back and start doing things like making music like Tupac and all the other artist used to do. Ice Cube and NWA. Saying something, you know make something about saying something. Not like “Stanky Leg” and all the other mess they got out right now.

Many people relate hip-hop rappers with negative images of gangsters and thugs when most people involved in the music industry are college educated. How do you think this misconception can be changed?

First of all they need to pull they pants up and stop acting like a fool. And stop trying to live that thuggish lifestyle. You got rappers that’s making millions and millions of dollars but they feel they got to have guns, they got to be in the club all the time and when they go to the club they got to have guns, they got to have protection. Some rappers will go out and commit a crime, do a little time, and when they come out they blow up. I don’t see why. Our culture now is more of if you been to jail its glorified. Glorified going to Jail, that’s just not right.

So you believe that it starts with the audience, the listeners?

We gotta demand better than what we getting. Until we demand better, stop buying all that garbage they putting out, its gone stay like it is.

What do you feel the media’s role is in Hip-Hop and does it have a positive or a negative effect on the culture?

It’s definitely a negative effect and most of it is not the media it’s the fault of the rappers. They want this image of being a gangster. But people are not gangster they just pretend. Most of it is the rappers fault but media really emphasizes that.

Ok like you said most rappers just pretend. It’s true that not everything that rappers do is in order to get hype or be a gangster. Some rappers do things like giving to charities and organizations of that sort. Do you think that those things are less glorified and less emphasized by the media and the listeners and why?

Most definitely it’s not really glorified and they don’t really say anything about it because it’s just like the news. If it’s all good news people don’t wanna read that, when its bad news people wanna read that. Not to say everyone doesn’t wanna read anything good but the media is not gone. Say a rapper give away $100,000 to charity you not gone hear about that, but if a rapper does something wrong you’re going to hear about that.

So how do we change that? How do we make the emphasis more on positive than negative?

Like I said it’s about the music. The only way we can change that is people will have to stop listening to the negative and force the media to give us some positive news about what rappers do. You know I look at a news cast here and they have a little segment of positive news about somebody doing something good, instead of the same ole news about somebody got shot or somebody robbing somebody. And people asked for that and they did it.

Ok and my last question is who is the greatest DJ in the land?

Well it was me when I was doing it but umm….. I really don’t know. To be honest I’ve been out off the game so long that I really don’t know.

What is Hip-Hop?

I want to start this blog by giving a brief description of what hip-hop is. I feel as though you cannot know where you are going if you don’t know where you have been. So I will start by letting you know that hip-hop is more than just a genre of music but a way of life. It started in the Bronx, New York and there are four main elements of Hip-Hop and they are DJing, MCing, Breaking, and Graffiti.

DJing was where everything started and is the art of creating and playing rhythmic beats by looping small portions of songs emphasizing a percussive pattern called breaks. DJs did this on two turntables. Later innovations such as scratching, a technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while manipulating the cross-fader on a DJ mixer, were introduced.

MCing encompasses the vocal aspect of Hip-Hop. This is of course rapping or a rhythmic style of chanting in which the MC delivers rhymes. The MC raps over the rhythmic beat composed by the DJ to move the crowd or entertain the people but rapping can be done without accompaniment. Innovations to how MCing is performed have come as time has passed.

Breaking, also known as B-boying or breakdancing, is a dynamic style of dance which developed as part of the Hip-Hop culture. The term “B-boy” originated from the dancers at DJ Kool Herc’s parties, an early DJ. These dancers saved their best dance moves for the break section of the song, the section that displayed the beat. Breaking is a physical expression of Hip-Hop.

Graffiti was brought to the Bronx, New York around the same time the other elements of hip-hop were evolving as art-forms. It was previously used by political activist and gangs to mark territories but was used by graffiti artists as a visual expression of Hip-Hop. Some modern uses are memorials for pivotal figures in the evolution of hip-hop who have passed away.

Related Link: here