July 28, 2008 | Tags: none

Before I get into a blog about how cats get punked out west, or how you DON'T root for the bad guy (fuck what you thought), I figured I'd just throw some bullshit up...u know, see if it sticks.

Like I said before, I've been going pretty hard at this 6:30-to 6:00 shit (That's the schedule I've been trying to start working so I can cut out Saturdays and still do 15 over). It leaves me exhausted, but the paper is worth it. Besides...I find it somewhat fun getting paid to fuck peoples credit up. Besides the extra bread I get for working over, my job throws me (or at least they used to, they stopped last week) gift certificates depending on how many hours I work. I can pick from damn near anywhere I want, but everytime I've picked somewhere it's turned out to be a bad decision. The first one I picked was to Foot Locker...which sucked cuz I didn't really realize that I don't buy shoes from Foot Locker. Most of the time I just roll with Best Buy. That's pretty much a can't lose pick right there. However, with the last gift card I got, I found it quite hard picking what I wanted to roll with. I was gonna throw it towards a Wii, so I can complete the trinity of current gen consoles (although Wii isn't current gen...oh well), but then I decided nah...how much would I really play Smash Bros and Mario Galexy (since that's damn near all I'd buy for that). Then I was gonna stock up on even more Blu-Ray movies, then I realized I damn near had all the ones I wanted. The obvious choice of what to roll with somehow couldnt' find it's way to the front of my mind until earlier today. I had been telling myself two weeks prior to the Nas album dropping (you know, when it leaked) that as soon as this shit dropped, I'm buying it. My oh my how shit changes. Not like the album got weaker to me, the shit got even better, and it stays in heavy rotation on my Zune. (Fuck a IPOD). It's just I've gotten so used to snatching shit off online and not buying it, I completely forgot I was supposed to buy it. Don't get me wrong, I do buy CDs. I copped that last Atmosphere CD. Shit, I've bought every Murs CD I own (except for two, but hey, I go to every "Paid Dues Festival", and I went to the show dude put together out here in Long Beach on Christmas night, and I had to go to work the next morning). It's just that I'm not used to buying shit. I used to buy CDs, before I crackhead stole 250 purchased CD's out of a friends car while I was buying liquor and he was out side hollering at a hooker, but that's a whole 'nother story. Point is, since then, I've been hesitant to buy shit. Today I started what I believe will break that habit buy picking up the Nas "Nigger" album (cuz I'm still calling it that) and The Roots "Rising Down" (I also picked up "I Am Legend" on Blu-ray). When I got home I started questioning my purchases.

"I am Legend" was cool, but was it really worth putting in my Blu-Ray Collection? That has nothing to do with this blog, but hey, it's still in it's wrapper and I still have the receipt just in case. Considering the Nas album leaked two weeks prior to it's release date, and was automatically followed by a video of a not-too-upset Nas saying this is gonna be interesting, and the circumstances behind the change of the official name of the album, I don't think Nas was too happy with his label situation. It's a crazy coincidence that I also copped the Roots today, considering their on that same label. As much as people love to believe their helping support their favorite artists by "buying their CD and putting money in their pocket", with a situation like say, Nas, how much of the money you spend do you think Nas gets? My guess....about 90 cents. That's right, not even enough for a double cheeseburger at Mickey D's. That number was given to me when I asked somebody significant how much they think some other artist was getting on a major label about 6 years ago. Things have changed, so Nas may not even be getting that much. In all reality, your money goes all sorts of places when dealing with an artist on a major label. You'd probably be better of going to a concert and throwing 5 dollar bills at cats you think are dope. Then again, considering the whole Diddy and Shyne situation...maybe not. Anyways, point is, alot of your money you spend, finds it's way into the pockets of the big wigs you loathe so much for forcing said artists to change his album title. The same cats that wanted you favorite group to stick with that Blink 182 sounding song, are eating off you purchase of their CD. What is a hip hop supporter to do???

Buy the album you fucking idiot! Even if your favorite artist can't go buy a new Bentley off your purchase, what your purchase does do, is it tells labels that people are looking to buy THIS type of music. If Lupe Fiasco goes gold with record sales being the way they are, who knows what Atlantic will support next?(probably garbage...but maybe things will change) More importantly, if you DON'T go support an artist that cares about lyrics, A&R's will probably convince midget moguls the wise thing to do is to sign the next Youtube sensation, instead of the cat with the dope 16. If you REALLY wanna support your favorite artists, buy the CDs, then go to the show, then buy a T Shirt of somebody connected to the artist. No, not that cat in the parking lot with the Nas Illmatic album cover T's, I mean, go to the booth Nas shouts out when he's on stage. Go to the booth Mur's moms is at selling the Cd's. Go get the Self Scientific CD from Dj Khalil. If you care about the music like I do, and you SAY you do, do that. If not, shut the fuck up, and stop bitching because Emcee grassroots can't push units and won't come to your city.

At the end of the day, it is what it is, REALITY IS REAL, bust a grape, or shut the fuck up.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

They can't walk in HIS shoes either

July 02, 2008 | Tags: none

                Every time I step it up in the game of life I find myself surrounded by people who have never been where I just came from. They’ve never been as low as the level I just stepped up from. Most of my “new peers” have been at the level I just arrived to for quite some time. They can’t possibly understand where I’m coming from, and definitely not where I’ve came from prior to that. I like that. You’re promised nothing in life except death. You don’t have to pay taxes, and as Jacko has proved, you don’t have to stay black either (that is if you’re black). It’s not given, you have to go get it. Fine, I like the sense of accomplishment attained from “getting it”. I take it as motivation to go “get it” some more. I know it’s possible, because I’ve seen it. Watch basketball. You hear all the time of people who come from war torn parts of Africa, whose parents may have been executed, etc. etc. I’ve been around people from other countries who originally didn’t even speak English, yet now speak it well enough to purchase million dollar homes. However, before all this, it was somebody else that told me to go take what I want.

                On the internet I’ve been called a hater and Stan of many people/things several times. The fact of the matter is, when it comes to artists, celebrities, companies, products, I have no bias. None of them keep my lights on, or keep me fed. While I may applaud someone, I’ll also speak out when I feel they do something stupid. While I may absolutely hate someone, I have to acknowledge when they do something right. I feel it’s only right. However, no matter what it is I’ve said about a certain artists, I have to admit, he’s part of the reason why I do a lot of the shit I do. Call it what you want, but at the end of the day, it is what it is. Along with several real life experiences, words from elders, mistakes made by myself, and those I’ve witnessed made by other people, big homie has been an inspiration to someone who didn’t have the Cosby show type of family. You should already know who I’m talking about, cuz nobody has done it on the levels dude has with so many different things. When you speak of major players in the history of rap, several names will come up, but at the end of the day, about 5 of the top 10 names mentioned should belong to one person. The REAL President Carter, (as referred to by T.I) has done it and continues to do it until he says he’s done, and it looks as if he’s done it again.

                Winning over that crowd at Glastonberry, or whatever the fuck it is those Brits attend, is small compared to the many things Jay has accomplished, but I’d have to imagine it felt pretty damn good. There’s been several occasions where Jay has been told “NO” only to have the same people who refused him cheer him, or beg him to come back. See, far before rappers were all bitches, whining because labels won’t buy 500,000 copies of their own CD’s to make them feel better, Jay was unsigned. Not only was he unsigned, nobody wanted to sign him. He made his own way. He got to the fork in the road and went straight. Look at him now. You can say what you want about dude, but at the end of the day, he’s not winning, he’s already WON. The game is over. He hit the walk off grand slam, and after he got to home plate, he decided to keep running around the bases. Your right, he doesn’t have money like Bill Gates…and? Bill Gates isn’t the richest person in the world, but nobody ever says “Oh Bill Gates? He ain’t fucking with Warren Buffet” or, “He wasn’t getting it as young as Mark Zuckerberg,” There’s a double standard, and it’s not white people saying that shit, it’s Jay’s own people. I see it, I’m sure most of you see it, and I’m definitely sure he saw it. Yet and still, he put in the work to get to where he’s at, he fought through the hate, and he’s still pushing forward. A lot of these rappers don’t have that in them. Even the few that do may never make it to Jay’s spot because to get that high, you have to have a little luck, and sometimes you have to be at the right place at the right time. However, after the work he put in, now if need be, he can cop 500,000 of his own CDs just so the sheep can still think he’s hot. He got to represent for the Nets at the NBA Draft lottery, and now his name is all over ESPN with stories about how Lebron may go to the nets because of Jay. HE DOESN’T EVEN OWN A MAJORITY SHARE OF THAT TEAM! Yet, at the end of the day, if you ask someone to name 5 NBA owners, I bet his name will come up far before Donald Sterling’s all of a sudden not so cheap ass.

                The funniest shit, dude chills on the sands of foreign lands and what do rappers have to say “Dog, wearing sandals is gay,” It’s no wonder these fuckers keep finding themselves locked up. Where is Dip Set now? That’s why these cats are nowhere near the top. If they spent the time they spend hating and whining about label situations, promoting themselves, and getting their bars up, maybe they could find themselves at a place where it’s quite OK for a gangster to wear sandals. That’s what this blog is about, that’s what the last blog was about, and quite frankly that’s what life is about. It’s possible. Don’t believe me, watch Hov. People can’t say he’s not as dope as he used to be (maybe he’s not). They can say he bites BIGs lines too much (he gets his lines stolen probably twice as much). When it’s all said and done, Warren Buffet may be 50 Oprah’s, but there’s several reasons why you’d be happy being Hova.

                I’m sure I’ll be a Jay Stan now. That’s cool, cats can say what they want. At the end of the day, I’m tryna to get mines like he did, and I hope you are too. If you put the hours and effort in, you may not make it to where he did, but I can pretty much guarantee you’ll be in a better place than where you started.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

Can't walk in my shoes.....

July 02, 2008 | Tags: none

The world can rejoice! The rapper Game is not gonna retire! I used to relate to rappers complaints about the rap game. I’m a big fan of a lot of underground cats, so please believe I’ve heard ALL the complaints. However, as I sat at my desk at work today, feeling horribly tired anticipating having a 2 day weekend (since I work 6 days a week), all that sympathy vanished.

Why should I give a shit about these rappers? My week starts on Monday with me waking up at 5:30 in the morning and getting fresh for work. I have to get ready in my one bedroom apartment sharing the bathroom with my girl. If I’m not out the house by 6:45 I’m late. I get to work, scan my badge to get in, then go sign in on my slow ass computer upstairs. I work form 7-5:30 Monday through Friday and 7:00-3:30 on Saturday. This is the easy part, because soon, I’ll have to go back to school, and add at least 3 hours after work every day Monday through Thursday. I attempt (unsuccessfully) to go to sleep at 10:00 everyday (it’s 9:54 as I’m writing this), which leaves me with 4 hours Monday through Friday to do something other than work (chill with my girl, bootleg shit, play video games, smoke, drink). Don’t let somebody call me to go help them with something, or I get out of work later, cuz then my time is cut back even more. Oh yea, don’t forget I get fresh before I go to sleep, that takes like 30 mins every night. These hours I work and time I lose aren’t mandatory. I could work 7-3:30 Monday through Friday like a lot of other bums at the office. However, doing that would cut back on money. For right now, this is what I do to get cream. If I want some new J’s without really cutting back on everything else, this is what I do. If I want to switch from a Dash to a Sidekick LX, and then to an Iphone within a month, I can do that because of the crazy hours I put in. If I feel like going to Rock the Bells VIP in Los Angeles and San Francisco along with the rent a car, plane ticket, and Hotel Room needed for SF, I can do that. The extra hours I put in gives me the right, and more importantly, cash to do these things. All these rappers wanna claim to be hustlers, this is what I do. I work hard at my job to earn the ability to work overtime, then I work damn near every extra hour possible. (I could come in the morning at 5:30, and work 5:30 to 6:00, doing 12s Monday through Friday, and then Saturday 5:30 to 3:30…but fuck that) Besides that I come up with side hustles to throw extra money in my bank account. (360 games…holla) This is backbreaking labor, it’s mental work mostly, but yet and still, the hours are tiring. I want money, so I do it. I’m sure I’m not alone, I bet a lot of the readers of my blog work in offices, and they pick up extra hours when possible. They may do it for Rims, a nice vacation…whatever; you do it because you want the money. You understand the more you work, the more money you see. It’s that easy. Which makes me question the logic of some of these rappers.

What time does a rapper’s schedule start? I don’t know. Let’s figure this in, radio morning shows start around 7:00 or 8:00, so a rapper on a bad day may have to be up at the same time as me. To get more money rappers have to work harder and longer hours just like me or you. Hit more radio shows, hit more TV shows, do more interviews do more shows. How many hours of their day is ACTUAL work? I hit these shows a lot man. I get to the show before it starts. When I get there, the headlining act isn’t there yet. Half of these muthafuckas aren’t ready by their start time. Translation: I pay to get there early and stand around listening to trash opening acts, while these cats get paid to show up later, and chill in the back, then perform for an hour. The show may last for 10 hours (Rock the Bells). The headlining act may not show up till the 8th hour, then perform for the last hour. I pay 200 to get a seat two drinks and a backpack, the headlining act may get paid up to 10gs, fed, free drinks, and a nice spot to chill in the back until they go on. Understand, I’m not hating, shit, I’m paying to go to two of the shows, so I gotta love it. My problem is half these muthafuckas is bitching. Back when Jay was on top of Def Jam and all these cats was bitching about lack of promotion, I was somewhat bothered. Maybe I saw the other side of the fence because I’m a fan of Jay, but, what the fuck we’re these rappers doing to deserve the promotion? Half of these rappers were either around, or seen how it used to be when having a good hip hop release could land you a million copies sold and a good stack of cash, but shit, now, you have to actually WORK. I know Meth was upset because before just being down with Def Jam made him the center of attention (that, being dope, and down with Wu), but now he has to actually work. Imagine if Paris Hitler was actually forced to work for cash. Now, I’m not saying rappers had it that easy, but I’m saying, cat’s got a little too comfy not working.

Underground acts may not have had it as easy as all the artists who were getting “raped” by Def Jam, but shit, they don’t have it like me or you either. Let’s say a cat get’s $1500 a show. (I’m sure the figure is higher than that). If the show is out of their range, on average, it costs $500 to fly round trip anywhere in the US. Shorter distances cost less, and artist most likely probably paid for having to travel. (or at least that’s taking into consideration for how much they get paid). If they do two shows a week, at least that’s 3000 a week. I’m not gonna say how much money I make, but, I will say it’s under 40,000 a year. At $1500 a show (which remember is way below the actually payment) it will take emcee backpack less than 30 shows to get over 40,000. There’s 365 days in a year. Add in the dollars they’ll see for all 300 copies of their album they sold, all sorts of free shit, including meals, clothes etc. etc., that they don’t have to pay for, at shit…that sounds pretty damn good. So what you gotta hit the road, would you rather sit in front of the same damn slow ass computer I sit in front of 6 times a week and get paid less? What the fuck are they complaining about? Is it because there not seeing as much money as emcee gangsta sellout every year, when they feel they are clearly better? Stay outta the next mans plate! You get your hands smacked for that. On one of the episodes of a promo show for Atmosphere’s last album, Slug was asked via e-mail what he thought about music downloading, his response was something like “It sucks, but you can’t download a concert T-shirt,” Find other ways to get money. Shit, break Meka off, he’ll help you invest your funds into some washers and dryers. (He’s right, launder mats are making bread in the hood).

Then you got these cats talking about retirement 3 albums deep….WTF. I was talking to one of my higher ups about a 401K. They were telling me how if I took the money out before 59, I’d get penalized. Rappers don’t have to wait to 59 to cash in on a 401K. Shit, if they were half as smart, they’d be saving up their extra cheese now so they could retire after three albums, invest the saved money, and live off it. So what are they bitching about? How many other careers can you retire after 4-5 years and be straight? Sure, there all not easily sitting on millions, but like anything, the harder you work at it, the more money you can make. At the end of the day, even the lazy ones are probably seeing more money than you or I. If they really want the cheese, they have to grind. That’s the problem with New York, and some cats out West, and that’s why the South has been eating. Shit, if rappers don’t like it, they can always come and TRY to do my job. There’s a reason why they don’t work 9-5s. No matter how much they complain about the rap game, they’d much rather do that, than do what we do. Yea, I know what people are gonna say, the rapper’s generate money…..At my job I deal with 50+ loans on a daily basis. On average, most of them are around 5-10g’s. However I get like 8-9 that are 20gs plus, and 1 or 2 that are 80gs plus. Shit….I generate a lot of money. How many people does McDonald’s serve daily? Burger flippers generate a lot more than they get paid. Who doesn’t generate a lot more than they get paid? At the end of the day, as long as you’re getting paid (unlike collegiate athletes), you can take it or leave it. Rappers can always apply and be sitting next to me at my job, I promise I won’t have their last album I bootlegged up too loud. If your not gonna do anything about what you do, do what you do, learn to love it, and do it 'till you die like George Carlin.

PS. RIP George Carlin

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

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They can't walk in HIS shoes either

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Can't walk in my shoes.....

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