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Happy Fourth of July!
Stay safe and have a happy independence day. Shout outs to the Army, Navy Air Force and Marines!
Bishop Lamont - Grow Up (Produced by Dre)
So Bishop Lamont’s first single premiered on California radio last night. It’s called Grow Up and it’s produced by Dr Dre. Like most people, I was expecting a How We Do or In Da Club type track but Bishop really brought something out of left field and I love it. Dues have been paid, plans have been set, It’s time for Bishop to blow up and I think this single is step one.
The beat is classic Dre with an amazing baseline, crisp drums and a g-funk whistle thrown in for good measure. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s extremely well done and it fits Bishop’s flow like a glove. The orchestra parts really make this song sound big and to those saying Dre “Lost it”are most likely eating their words and crying in a corner right about now.
Reagarding the raps, Bishop touches on the topics that were on rap fans collective minds, but seems like they were afraid to acknowledge or even talk about. Some people may catch feelings, but thats only going to prove Bishop’s points from the song.
All in all this is a very strong track with an important message. I *hope* radio jumps all over this based on the fact that it’s a great track and it has Dr Dre behind it. I’ve also included the latest version of Skee TV of DJ Skee and Bishop talking about the track and those Beats By Dre Headphones.
Click here to Download Bishop Lamont Grow Up
Skee TV
Ice Cube - Do Ya Thang Video
So the promo for Raw Footage is ramping up as the album drops August 19th. Cube recently filmed a video for the albums official single Do Ya Thang. We’ve got the rough cut for you below. The sound is a bit iffy, but it’s a tight video. Enjoy.
People Like Free, But Will it Translate Into Sales?
So I had my iTunes on shuffle trying to come up with something to write about when it dawned on me: The West Coast is at the forefront of marketing in the music industry. iTunes played me Crooked I’s Hip-hop Weekly #19. That track was followed up by Bishop Lamont’s City Lights, which was followed up by Problem’s I’m toe up remix. The West Coast is putting out quality music for free, so how will artists make money? Will this tactic of “free music” pan out or will we see another generation of angry West Coast rappers shunned by the industry?
Think about it for a second: Crooked I put out 52 weeks of free music. That’s nearly four albums worth of free music. Bishop Lamont has put out three album quality mixtapes in a little over a year. Artists regularly put fully mixed and mastered tracks on Dubcnn, Lyay.net and countless other media outlets for free. This is a brand new way of marketing and it’s time for artists to take advantage of this new model. Welcome to music 2.0.
Artists are building grassroots fanbases , but are they utilizing them accordingly? In order to succeed, touring, direct to fan sales, and other revenue streams should be examined. For every artist that puts out a track for free, there should a plan to make money behind it. Will that track get that gets the club jumping translate into touring money? Can you license that song about your favorite booze to the booze company for a commercial?
For the New West artists reading this - Imagine for a second that you NEVER made a cent from selling a physical CD or a track online. How would you make money from your music? If you can list three things off the top of your head then you’re in good shape. If not, get brainstorming. Like I said in my last blog post: Throw some sh*t at a wall and see what sticks. Think about different ways of monetizing your music in other ways than just selling tracks or CD’s.
The music industry is going through a sea change, but with the right angle the West Coast can come out ahead. The sooner artists realize the way of making money in the music industry has changed, the sooner they can come up with new ways to get their paper.
DJ Quik & Kurupt Album Due in October
So in the past couple of Kurupt interviews, Young Gotti talked about one of his upcoming projects being a duo album with DJ Quik. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard artists talk about upcoming projects never to hear about them again. Both Kurupt and Daz are notorious for doing this, and I thought this was another instance of an empty promise to fans. Well once again it turns out I was wrong as DJ Quik put out a MySpace bulletin saying the first single from West Quest (I’m assuming this is the name of the album?) would be dropping July 4th. Here’s the direct quote:
DJ QUIK & KURUPT
CD IN STORES OCT ‘08
OFFICIAL STREET DATE FOR SINGLE-JULY 4 ‘08
Quik also put up a picture of a ProTools session called “Ray Ray KURUPT VERSE1″
LAX Official Release Date: August 26
So the week my internet was down a BUNCH of Game news and audio dropped. I’m sure you’ve already seen this, but here’s a roundup.
First, we reported earlier that LAX was being pushed back and The Game confirmed it this week. It’s been pushed back to August 26th. As hard as it is for people to swallow (No homo) The Game made it up to fans by putting out his next single Dope Boys and a remix to Game’s Pain. Check below for the info.
Dope boys ft Travis Barker is extremely tight and is just the type of Game track I like. Driving, angry, and super West Coastish®. Dubcnn has the download here. I was worried about the Travis Barker feature on Dope Boys, but it turned out excellent. Barker recently put out a video of him playing the drums to the track. It’s fucking amazing so peep that below.
Finally, The Game put out another MONSTER remix (One Blood Remix was huge) to his single “Game’s Pain”. The lineup reads like a veritable who’s who of hip hop. Young Buck, Jadakiss, Bun B, Pusha T, Fat Joe, and Queen Latifah. They switched the beat up and its sure to blaze up the airwaves. The remix along with the origianl and T-Pain’s Silver and Gold are my favorite summer songs for 08. Dubcnn has the Download for you as well!
Sorry For the Lack of Updates
Sorry for the lack of updates. We’ve had several problems with our internet over the last week and only recently got it sorted out. Updates should resume normally.
Ice T Replies to Soulja Boy
For those that missed it, here’s the back story: Ice T hosted a mixtape by DJ Cisco and had a few choice words for Soulja boy. If you haven’t heard the track, you can check it out here. A few days later, Soluja Boy posted a response that was half pre-teen comedy, half intelligent response. Check it out here. Ice just released a response explaining his comments which you can view above.
LAX Delayed Until August?
Rumors have been circulating that The Game was on San Diego radio station Blazin 98.9 Friday (6/20) and talked about his album being pushed back to either August 12th or August 19th. This is kind of dissapointing but hopefully this will give him some time to put out his next single Dope Boys produced by 1500 or Nothin’ and featuring drums by Travis Barker. Another rumor states that Dope Boys should be leaking within the next week or so and a video will be shot soon after. Maybe the delay will give Game time to put together a collabo with ex-g-unit member Young Buck.
New Ya Boy - Shoebox [NO DJ]
Infra Red just hit us up with another untagged exclusive track by Ya Boy called Shoebox. It’s scheduled to be released on Rap or Die Vol 6 by DJ Ill Will. Another up tempo and tight track for you to feast your ears on. If you missed it last week, We also have Wide Open by Ya Boy up for download. Be sure to check both of these tight tracks out! Be sure to add Infra Red and Ya Boy on MySpace
Click here to Download Shoebox in CD Quality without any DJ Tags