• » Name: Nino Bless
• » Location: Brooklyn, NY
• » Member Since: 11/09/07
• » Syndicate: RSS

• » Blog 1: The Beast Mode Edition
• » Who is the Best Rapper Alive?
• » Nino is Name Dropping, Oh no!
• » Why does Hip Hop suck? Politics as Usual
• » Let's Ride

	November 2008
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30
« Oct

beef • bet • chamillionaire • crooked i • emcee • four in a clip • ghostwriter • hate vs opinion • hip hop • industry • jay-z • joe budden • joell ortiz • kool g rap • lane • leak • lyrics • mixtape • mtv • name dropping • new york • nino bless • producers • projects • rap game • record labels • records • retire • rip pimp c • saigon • shady • slaughterhouse • smart hater • styles p • swag • termanology • untold scriptures • urban legends • violence in music

• » MySpace

• » Opinion
• » Politics

Blessed to Be Where I'm Headed

Nino is Name Dropping, Oh no!

For those of you who haven't peeped the Mixtape its hosted by Big Mike, Mick Boogie, & J Love and its titled "Untold Scriptures." You can download it off www.Ninobless.com for free or if you want a hardcopy its only $5.99 right off my site.

This Mixtape was way overdue and honestly this past year was a tough year for me personally so to get this out there under all the personal matters in my life was a big accomplishment to ME in itself. So I finally got the Mixtape done and so far the feedback is everything I hoped it would be and more. Some of ya'll here know how I started and the direction I was taking. I was basically just hungry and ready to set things up to hopefully get it where I pretty much have it now. You can have an idea and expectations of what you think some of the shit you'll be getting is like but when it finally comes its a bit different. Especially the love from the fans, etc. I thought I knew how it would feel but you never know unless you are actually there. These cats that run this magazine called Foundation Magazine hit me up. 50 and G Unit are on the cover of the next issue they are a Mixtape magazine. These cats threw the word "classic" around and they were blown away by my Mixtape. That shit felt good cause you don't normally get industry cats hitting you up and showing you that type of love. They have too much ego for that. Anyways I will be in the next issue of Foundation Magazine and many other things to come. I got a few industry cats calling me and hitting me up like crazy but these cats stood out cause they slipped me in the issue last minute just cause they thought my project was ill so I want to big them up and thank them. Good Looks to everybody else who reached out off the strength of just digging my music.

So I leaked "Name Dropping" the day of the Mixtape which was May 20th. That got a ridiculous response as well all around. That’s a joint that took about 2 days to write maybe 3. I had the idea for a long time (6 years) especially of how I wanted to use everything like a double meaning. It takes mental stamina to something conceptual. Its not like just thinking of words to rhyme or sticking to a subject. You have to figure a way of how to throw each name in there and make it stick. I tried to do "Name Dropping" like if you didn't know any of the MC's names it would just be a regular story. Not easy to pull off but I mean if you sit and dig deep in ya mental.. it'll eventually come together. Now that song for those who knows me I wrote and recorded it about a year and a half ago and some heard it when it had no hook in the beg or end. Anyways a year later I'm like "let me re-record this" and B. "let me finally get a hook on this." The homie Scram Jones came through for me. He's a great producer and a dope ass MC. What most cats don't know unless you seen him spin live is that he's an incredible DJ. He been backing away from it cause his success right now is driven from the beats but I needed Scram Jones the DJ to come out of retirement. He blessed the kid and the night before the day of my release! This dude literally mixed and put the scratches on the record like hours before my deadline. I don't know whether to thank him again or say "fuck you bastard don't do that shit again." The result was great so I have to thank him again. Message to Scram though "fuck you fam don't ever do that shit again."

Let me get up out of here but first stay tuned next week as DX will world premiere a record with Crooked I and myself called "Lift Em Up." Crooked asked me to be on his Block Obama Mixtape and how could I say no or slack? I know he had a strict deadline but I did what I had to do for Crooked cause I'm fully supporting what he's doing. Be on the look out for that and the homie and myself are doing a Mixtape at the end of the year as some of you already know. Shit is going to be crazy as Crooked and myself are hard at work to make the shit a banger for the fans who are checking for us. Its crazy cause I know I still don't have fans yet. I have dudes that are checking for me or respect me. A lot of rappers get what I have and say "my fans are this and that." In reality they don't have FANS rather dudes who like their shit a lot. A FAN is somebody who will camp out all night or drive 5 hours to see you perform. They buy the tickets months before you arrive and shit. I know I have a LONG way to go. I'm building my name right now and getting some notoriety. So trust me when I tell you, there's no room for slacking on my part I will continue to bring the heat. If your diggin what I'm doing now keep fucking with ya boy cause I'm gonna stay relevant for a while. Stay up 1

www.myspace.com/ninobless

Untold Scriptures OUT NOW! DOWNLOAD OR COP off www.Ninobless.com ya bastards!

0 Comments             

Hittin 2nd Gear

What up ya'll. I've been slacking with the blogs. I have to apologize for those who thought I went Hollywood. I got a few myspace messages I didn't respond to. Hip Hop fans tend to get bold which I love. One guy said "dog you're going Hollywood you falling off with the blogs and ain't leaking records, you probably got a deal and you’re gonna end up like every other rapper you criticized in your blog, I wish you well." I'm far from sensitive I took that with a grain of salt but if that’s wishing me well then Roger Clemens is 100% innocent. I leaked 3 major records that did a lot for me. Four in the Clip ft Styles P, G Rap, Ortiz; Times Are Hard ft Joe Budden, prod by Focus; and a 5 minute street joint Urban Legends all within a month's span. I know I ain't drop the mixtape yet but I was entertaining some offers give me a break.

Right now I'm about to leak another major collabo and then a solo single and then the Mixtape will drop. We're doing the tape a bit different then we planned on doing. Things picked up. I didn't plan on getting radio spins from Hot 97and Power 105 in New York. I didn't expect to get spins on BBC 1xtra in the UK, major radio in France, and the Sirius/XM radio love the way I been getting. So I got offers from a few people I wanted to listen to before I dropped the Mixtape since they wanted to be "involved" in my process. Shit Joe Budden pushed MM3 back 5 times if I push my shit back a month and a half it ain't a big deal you’re not Hip Hop unless you push something back [laughing].So where we at now is we about to hit 2nd gear with this. Leak another big record or 2, go hard with a press run, do some video's, drop the mixtape, and wait for everything to come together. Most of the offers and people who were interested that got at me were bullshit I have to tell you.

What I like about DX is that some kids on here actually know the fucking game. They support artist who actually go hard with the grind and put our quality music but aren't necessarily getting MTV or radio spins. Kids are on here cause they digging for real shit. I read the comments. Some kids are clown shoes without a clue and don't know what they are talking about at all. Opinions count but some shit is just plain illogical. Other kids understand the game and are real intricate with their opinions, etc. I'm going to tell ya'll about a situation. Recently I was plugged with one company which I was interested in doing a JOINT venture with. That means you do something TOGETHER. We work in conjunction with each other. These dudes basically said my music was tight it was getting good feedback but they wanted to help me grow. They said "your shit is like Nas and Budden your doing good in that realm but where is your Fat Joe record." Apparently they wanted me to go a little bit more pop with mine. They wanted to overlook all my songs, beats, and LYRICS. The funny thing is this was set up for an independent project! They were willing to put up good money though for it. Nino of course said "sorry." I'm winning right now why the fuck would I change a formula that is working pretty good. Me and my team have done a good job at what we're doing and no disrespect to anyone but I don't want a Fat Joe record right now. I didn't try and put out a single that would get major radio play or anything. I'm just putting some shit out for the core Hip Hop fans and showing them that I can make good music and showing off how I put words together.

It’s funny cause I put out 3 records and if you google around, call up any of your friends that heard them as well, talk to any DJ's who are up on it and etc... the records got great feedback all around. With the exception of some "oh man that sample was used" or "I heard somebody else do this." With the exception of some insignificant responses like that it’s pretty much been "this shit is crack" or "this is what the game is missing blah blah." Why would I change what I'm doing? You know to REAL artist out there who want to make a strong impact on the game. Never give up your creative control cause essentially that means you’re giving up on yourself. If somebody doesn't believe in your product enough or the direction you’re headed; don't try to cater to what they think you should have them come around to you. I give that advice because I've turned down 2 situations where I could have gotten at least 60 grand in my pockets and a good size of money put towards my shit. I rather stick with what I'm doing. As long as the cats checking for the music ain't complaining and I stop raising eyebrows or grabbing some ears there's no point to give up with what I'm trying to do. It sucks for artist like Joell Ortiz who builds a huge buzz for himself, a core following, and makes an impact on the rap scene but his own company that signed him wants to alter his vision. I love Focus of Aftermath that’s my dude. In a recent interview though he said he wasn't surprised Joell got dropped because Joell's music is and I quote "too New York." That shit is silly to me. I guess being too New York which worked for Wu Tang, Nas, Biggie, Jay Z, etc just isn't good enough anymore. If I have that same issue then you guys won't ever see my sign with a major label. Obviously the game has changed from what it was we all know that. I don't mind doing what I'm doing and just grinding it out Indie with CREATIVE CONTROL. To the companies that wanted me to budge all I have to say is this.... read my blog where I talk about record labels with their criteria and formula. Good luck with that!

0 Comments             

Fuck This Game, I'm Done!

What up ya'll week 2 of this year with the blog. The past couple of years we've heard from more rappers than we should about "retirement." Anybody who believes anyone of these brothers is naive or simple minded. Fact is Jay-Z tends to start trends without even knowing. That whole retirement shit sounds good for rappers to say but fact is this ain't nothing like sports. In sports the stats will just show you when it’s time to quit or your knees will blow out. This rap shit ain't like that at all. If your knee's go out on stage then you don't need to retire from Hip Hop, you just need to upgrade your body with calcium. Real is real it seems corny with all these MC's talking about retirement especially when some of them ain't even been in the game a decade strong. With Saigon I don't think it was a cry for attention. I think he truly meant that shit and that’s how he felt at the time. He was frustrated. With these other dudes, I think it’s a ploy like when a female wants to hear dudes say "you’re so pretty" even though it’s obvious that they are. They just trying to hear "no please we need you don't go." Dudes is all of a sudden retiring from rap. What the fuck is this? In the words of Killa Priest ... "What part of the game is that."

I'm a move on now cause "Urban Legends" (http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.4044) has caused some controversy. For the record I was not getting at Nas or 50. I don't understand why cats don't listen. Right after the 50 line I said "that’s stricly bullshit." One blogger that I found on google said I claimed to have known who killed Jam Master Jay. LOL What the fuck? When did I claim to have any information on that case? I said "he got clapped for some shit that I can't really say." Shit who said I knew any information? Then there's the Nas line. "know mad niggaz who if they see you bling it’s a fact/ in public, like Nas ... they don't know how to act." I'm referring to the fact that I know people who if they see jewels shining even in public they don't know how to act ... like NAS. I'm not saying my boys robbed Nas at all. I'm saying my boys don't know how to act ... like NAS. Ever seen Belly? Nas is one of my top 3 favorite rappers so this ain't a diss on dude. He's one of my top 3 favorite rappers but on the same token he's one of the 5 worst lead actors I've ever seen as well. Who cares if Nas is an actor though? He's an MC and that I will NEVER discredit him for. Sorry if that line went a bit over your heads.

Also, there's no dry snitching on that record as some lame or misunderstood fans said. Nobody is going to jail because of that song. Everything I spoke about cats either said it in print, have said it on a DVD, or on wax. If there was something fresh you never heard on the record before which there was a few things, trust me it wasn't dry snitching. No street dudes is trying to chase me down cause they can catch a case cause of it. Anybody who thinks that doesn't understand what it is. Just cause you watch "Street Smarts" on TV doesn't mean you know what’s going down in the hood. Fact is when you watch you probably get some of the answers wrong. It’s ok I understand. Now with all this misunderstanding of my record I'm feeling like I want to retire. So please post comments and tell me how I shouldn't cause I will feel so much better about my day if ya'll did that. You know nobody gets "Urban Legends." They thought I snitched, they thought it was a publicity stunt, they got my words misconstrued. Fuck this I'm done with rap. Thank god my boy manages Best Buy. I'm going over there and fuck this rap game. Ok hope some you understand I'm not serious. Don't sit here and put me in that box and respond like "no name rapper quits before he started"......Hey you never know! I know a few people who don't catch on to basic sarcasm. They Hip Hop fans too!

Hopefully that cleared a few things for you nincompoops who said silly ass comments. If it didn't then think as you wish. You can take my words and interpret them as you please. As long as you’re listening that’s fine by me. Grafh (of Black Hand) who's affiliated with so many respected OG's across the globe put it best. "Bless ain't snitch he's just describing niggaz strengths and weakness points. Too bad for them they shouldn't get mad. They should just get stronger." Real OG's in NY I have spoken to from the Black Hand fam (do your research) to cats affiliated with some of the things I said on the song. They all know what it is. One person I know was there for like 3 of the situations I spoke about in the song. He knew what it was. For all you cats that thought I was just a knuckle head kid who did that not knowing what I was doing, sorry but you were wrong! I choose my words very carefully at all times. I knew when I was writing it what the difference between my song was versus somebody who put shit out there that will have his door being knocked on by the smurfs. I don't talk much about me personally. I don't claim to be no gangster or no superthug. I'm not a featherweight though when it comes to street shit. It is what it is, I'm no slouch. If you thought I was then that sucks for you. I meant everything I said on the record if cats got mad. Even if you’re an artist. If you got offended then don't worry we'll eventually talk or whatever. I won't get caught sleeping not knowing that I can be accountable for my words. My show dates will appear online or whatever so I ain't hard to get at in person. Not hard to contact either you can myspace me and I will respond personally right back to you we can build on the phone, meet up or whatever you want. For now, it’s a dead issue cause I got more music to release.

www.myspace.com/ninobless

Til next week .................YURP!

Get ready for the "Untold Scriptures" mixtape!

0 Comments             

Getting Things in Motion

Week 7 with the blogs. Finally got this posse cut done! Peep the joint (http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.3876) properly titled "Four In The Clip." 4 bullets in the clip and each one goes off and that’s what Hip Hop is about to me at least. I missed the days when I just heard dudes spit some raw shit over a beat. This one doesn't need a hook or a bridge you got 4 and a half minutes of lyrical gunfire. Shout outs to Styles P who came off, Joell Ortiz as well and the legend who stole the show (again) Kool G Rap. How many times has Kool G Rap outshined cats on records man? This shit is starting to get too fucking old. In the late 80's he outshined Kane in my opinion where he rapped til the tape popped. Some say he hung with Kane and others think he outshined him, I'm one of those. Mobb Deep caught it hard on "The Realest" on Murda Muzik. As much as I like Saigon's "Letter P" verse I thought G Rap did him in too. That’s 3 different decades! Now that defines longevity! How the fuck does G get overlooked? G Rap to me is the most consistent MC of all time and that to me makes him top 5 ‘cause he did it in every era. Never did the times pass him by and what rapper doesn't have G Rap in them? Talk street shit, hustling, trying to make it big from the ghetto, kick word play with intricate rhyme schemes? Well whether you know it or not G Rap fathered you.

It’s crazy to me though cause on this particular record it wasn't about 4 cats battling to get the best verse. Too often Hip Hop heads want to make us compete with each other. Why can't rappers just do music together rather than always be compared? I can't front sometimes it’s just obvious and blatant but other times I just like to hear a song without comparing the MC's to each other. On this song I hope people acknowledge how sharp everybody came across. As of me I was just trying to hang with these lyrical flame throwers. As for my first line "you know I'm sick of what these lames be spittin/ like 50 Cent hooks I'm what The Game's been missing" ... no it’s not a diss. Everybody who's heard it says "ahh you getting at Game." No I'm seriously not. It’s a slick double meaning punchline. I'm just stating the obvious as well. Then again, aren't we all missing 50 Cent hooks? Shit a 50 hook won't hurt nobody, I don't care what ya'll cats say about the man’s flow, rhymes, or image. That dude could write the shit out of a hook. Hate it or love it... no pun intended. So I'm excited that we got one of the big joints out the way. There are a few others coming real soon. I'm dropping the single off the mixtape. Mick Boogie has just agreed to be a part of my mixtape which is called "Untold Scriptures". Which if all the chips fall into place like they should, comes out in January. Mick is obviously very credible and he's on top of his shit so this should make this a bigger project now that he's involved.

I had to keep this short man peep "Four In The Clip" if you still care about lyricism and raw shit in this Hip Hop shit the joint is for you and there's more where that came from. Gotta get to work and wrap up this mixtape in time. Get at me…

myspace.com/ninobless

til next.... yurp!

0 Comments             

Something Bad Happens, Blame Hip Hop. Why?

Week 5 with the blog… but first off RIP to Pimp C. I know his family and close one's are hit hard by this unexpected situation. Bun B man hold ya head I spoke to you a few times and you a real good dude. That dude was as loyal and ride or die for Pimp as you would see anybody else be with anybody. Sad shit and a huge loss for Hip Hop. UGK set a trend that’s still relevant today if you don't see just listen to anything dirty south and grimey hard hitting 808's and bassy talking that gutter shit and that’s all influenced by UGK. Geto Boys were out before UGK but they didn't do southern shit the way UGK did they did different type shit that even New Yorkers knew what time it was. UGK was the first of its kind and at first wasn't accepted like that cause they shit was so different but set off a trend and it’s the reason why every south artist paid respects to Bun and helped dude out and eventually he made himself so hot he established a name for himself as a solo artist. Bun kept the buzz alive for UGK and they got some of the respect they deserved recently. Hate him or love him, Agree or Disagree with him but Pimp C said what was on his mind and didn't sugar coat and for that I always respected the man. We need more cats like that in the game.

Now let me get to my blog if I can. So Don Imus is back on radio. The funniest shit about this dude is he's like the White OJ yo. This guy blatantly does some foul shit and then rubs it in your face a lil bit later like "ha ha I got away with it." He goes on radio with 2 black comedians and says "I got my black buddies here and they are going to let me know when I say something wrong." Are you fucking serious? Whats funny is how he said Hip Hop influenced him to say that and he's like "they say that themselves, I thought it was ok to say that." Word, I remember that song "nappy headed hoe" went to the top charts this past year. That definitely influenced him I must say. It gave some right wing dickheads in the media the space they needed to sit back and say "oh Hip Hop is at fault here lets attack them." Man they are so fucking stupid if they think Don Imus is bumping Jay Z, 50, and 36 Mafia in the whip. Is he serious? "I thought it was ok to say that Hip Hop said so." Forget the GZA. He's the GENIUS! I never knew what he looked like but when I seen him I wasn't surprised to see he looked like Robert Redford aged 16 years and dressed up to host a redneck raffle right after he volunteered to go to Citizens Border Patrol. No disrespect to Robert Redford, dudes a great actor shout outs to "The Natural."

So now Hip Hop is to blame for all the violence? For all the negative shit going on in the world and to the young generation of today's fucked up mindstate. Isn't the young generation always fucked up? What about the Hippy era where they tried any drug they could find. Before Hip Hop the young generation was always influenced and there's always something to blame it on. What bothers me and seriously saddens me is when Hip Hop Media themselves target artists as well. When they sit here and say "rappers need to be more responsible." I was listening to Peter Rosenberg's show, the clip with him and Joe Budden. Now this is no disrespect to Pete cause he's a true Hip Hop head and is stating how he feels but why the fuck do rappers need to be responsible with what they say? We make our music and that’s that. We aren't raising your kids, you are! Why do we have that responsibility to teach your kids how to do right? This shit is silly. Music is a reflection of what rappers have seen and etc. It ain't always about what they've done. Is it too negative at times? I'll admit it, yes it is. This is entertainment though. Try doing a movie or a show without negativity like drugs, domestic abuse, death, suicide, and etc. Let’s see how interesting that’s going to be.

So all this bullshit had me pushing the pen and I just did a freestyle. Shake should have it up by Sunday night or Monday the latest. This is wack to me, you have artists like Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Black Thought and more who don't talk about how they're killing, hustling, pimping, and running the streets. They talk about reality as well and how these things go down but overall they don't "promote" the negativity. Who sold the most records in Hip Hop this year? Kanye West! So what’s the issue here? Hip Hop isn't just limited to one form of music. You have artist who talk about negative shit but you know what? If it wasn't for that, some people in the mid to late 80's and early 90's wouldn't be aware about some of the problems that exist in the ghetto believe it or not. We educated many people and pointed out what was really going on. It was rappers who talked about police brutality, how shit is set up for us and many other issues. We utilized the mindset of men like Mumia, Marcus Garvey, Malcom X as well as others who have our struggles. We had a huge outlet too; millions of people across the board were listening. We made people aware as much as anything. Media wasn't covering most of the shit we were broadcasting on our music. They were distracted with "bigger things." Hip Hop woke people up with all the "negative" talk. "I'm hungry nigga, I gotta rob somebody to eat." Oh wow and some people related; even in the ‘burbs they were like "oh I would rob somebody too if I had no other way to eat." They had a question though "Why do you have to rob though?" AHHHH. This is where we've influenced and educated more young minds than anything else since the late 80's. Don't try and sit here and blame us for all the fucked up shit going on in society. This was going on long before Hip Hop came along. Cut it out people.

You don't want to listen to the negative shit in Hip Hop then don't. Go turn on something else. It’s not for you then and if you’re a Hip Hop fan bitching then go bump some Common, Talib Kweli, Kanye West, Black Thought, Lupe Fiasco, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Beastie Boys, Biz Markie, Slum Village, Dilated Peoples, Little Brother and stay away from that horrible negative thug, killing MUSIC!. Here's a list of a few other heads on a lower scale if you want to try: Aceyalone, Abstract Rude, Gift Of Gab, Supastition, Murs, Atmosphere, Tonedeff, Blackalicious, Solilaquist of Sound, Brother Ali, and many others. These men all make music without killing people in it 24/7 and promoting constant negativity. You see Hip Hop isn't limited at all. We have all different forms of music. What these labels decide to broadcast or what fans tend to support more is beyond our control but Hip Hop has MANY MANY different forms of music. Fans all over have their own taste and what they tend to like. Some people like hearing about murder just like people like action movies with shooting scenes. Some people want to hear conceptual and well thought our music just like people like watching suspense and thriller flicks. Some people like hearing spirited and uplifting music and others don't want to hear cursing. You have all of that in Hip Hop and if you don't like Hip Hop there's many other genre's out there go listen to what you want that’s why God gave mankind freewill. You all have a choice. One thing I tell you folks though. Don't criticize something you don't understand. Whether you care or not, you look and sound more ignorant than you care to do so. Understand what you are criticizing before you get into details. As for me I don't give a fuck. I was just listening to Outkast, Talib and now I'm bumping some Mobb Deep street shit. BLAM BLAM MURDER DEATH KILL! GRRRRRR. I'm about to go outside and clam me a nigga for fun!

www.myspace.com/ninobless

P.S Dude who said last week if I blow up don't stop with the blogs. Never that! Let’s hope DX keeps me on board ya heard! Freestyle Sunday night or Monday. It’s a good one I promise; it’s like the soundtrack to what I just wrote. Posse cut next week!

Til next week, Yurp!

0 Comments             

Finding My Own Lane

What’s good ya'll. I must say the first week of my blog went pretty good. Those that read it gave solid feedback and I'm glad ya'll feeling what I'm doing and the message I was delivering in week 1. I got some personal messages directly that made me feel like this blog serves its purpose. Anyways moving on, I'm getting ready right now and I'm wrapping up my Mixtape with Big Mike & J-Love. I wanna get into the transition I had to make from just writing some shit for other people to doing my own thing. When you write for somebody else as I have in the past, in a way it’s fairly easy. You are just telling it with their vision and their outlook in mind and what you think they should be presenting. I don't own 4 cars, a clothing label, Gucci, none of that; so when I'm writing for somebody; if this fits their image I can just throw them shits in there. Me as an artist however, that’s not my steelo. I was born and raised in Brooklyn (Flatbush), I’ not making it rain money wise, I don't own 6 whips or a jet, I grew up and got into shit I should've never got into, but at the same time I try to let these kids know what the deal is. I put my experiences and what I've seen into my own shit. The toughest part for me though was finding my own lane. I tested the waters with various different things.

One thing I learned is that EVERYBODY has different ears. With music it’s all about OPINIONS. There are no stats to back up how you feel like with b-ball or something. I can get numbers to back up my argument as to why I think Lebron is better than Carmelo and T Mac. "He averages more assists and more rebounds”; “he’s 70% of their offense" and etc. With music there are no stats except for record sales unfortunately which doesn't showcase how good the music is; rather how many people were exposed to it and bought it. Somebody might hear a record, get something from it and consider it a classic and the next person might be like "what the fuck are you talking about this is cold trash." I've had people tell me "you should have done or said this different." Sometimes you have to realize who's telling you this. If it’s Jay-Z, you sit back and say "word, let me see how I could do that better." If it’s ya man Tony from around the corner you gotta be careful with whose advice you take. I had people tell me "try this and that." Some of the shit ain't work for me. You know some people are very particular and limited with how they want certain shit to sound so they might say you should have said it like this, that or done this different. 3 thousand other people might disagree. Sometimes an opinion can help you but sometimes it can hurt you. Finding what works for you personally is essential. Some people's advice is based on what they personally prefer to listen to rather than generalizing. You can't please everybody. Some people wanna hear some hardcore street shit; others like that laid back and calm vibe. Some focus on lyrics; others focus on how the song is structured... you get the idea. It’s all different.

A lot of niggaz complain about a million things in the game. For the most part I can't front, there's some shit to complain about. But too many cats "bitch" too much cause the game don't work in their favor. Man up homey and just create your own lane. You ain't gotta do a bunch of commercial records and fit the radio formula if you don't want to. There's an indie scene that supports brothers like MF Doom, Brother Ali, Jedi Mind Tricks, Immortal Technique, Atmosphere and so on. Those cats all make a living off this rap shit without an Interscope budget. They get paid off record sales and shows and are doing pretty good. These cats all make a few G's a show when there's an artist signed with millions behind him that can't sell out a show in his own city. Believe it, this is the game. I'm going into my own lane. I'm going to do what I want to do and come as raw as I can with the lyrics, word play, and good shit for you to listen to. I don't do that shit where you make "nigga" & "trigga" rhyme unless it fits in my multi-syllable rhyme scheme. I try and make a bunch of words rhyme at the end and in between. That’s my shit and that’s what I do. Sometimes you gotta just keep it simple for a few bars for it to have the content you need ‘cause I often see too many niggaz trying to get wordy and don't say shit in the process.

Too many dudes jeopardize their lyrical content thinking that’s what they have to do to reach a much wider audience. Which I understand to an extent but I don't understand why they separate themselves so much from who they truly are. Nas did "One Mic," bodied it all round and that was successful. Eminem did "Way I Am" and he came off with intricate rhyme schemes on a commercial record. Now, not everybody has the presence and appeal of Nas and Em but I don't see why you should quit being who you are as an artist on any level to reach more people. I think that means you just don't have "it" and that "it" is what it takes to reach the masses. Maybe that’s not you and you need to do something else, go another route and figure out what works for you. I'm sitting back and just doing me. I check for feedback from my peers and all that but most of the time it doesn't have any influence on me anymore like it once did. Occasionally I'll take what they said and be like "oh ok I see what they saying." Either way I just trust my own ears at the end of the day.

Back to my mixtape. The shit is dropping real soon and last week I leaked a freestyle with Grafh (check the Audio section!). The shit was just us getting wordy, showing off and talking shit. This weekend I'm leaking a joint (on HipHopDX of course!) with the god himself Kool G Rap. G Rap asked me to be on this record and how can I say no? He was like "add a verse to this joint." Say no more G Rap, I got you. This joint actually didn't make my mixtape. It’s a bit older; it’s a joint in the stash. I might throw it on though, we'll see. It’s some hard shit for the streets…what else you expect from G Rap but gutter shit?

Next week I'll be back doing what I do and fill you in more in depth with what I'm doing with Big Mike & J-Love. Some good things in the works, real talk.

MySpace plug right here: myspace.com/ninobless

Reach out to the kid, ‘til next week. Yurp!

0 Comments             

The Tale of a Ghostwriter

Peace y’all, I go by the name of Nino Bless. Most of you have never heard of me and are probably wondering, "Why the fuck does this kid have a blog here?" To answer that, point blank, I'm tired of taking the backseat. I was behind the scenes helping other rappers and producers pop off with my business partner with marketing and also ghostwriting for other artists. I never had the intentions of trying to be an artist full time until I met a particular client of mine who so happened to be the legendary Kool G Rap.

Out of the blue one day I kicked a rhyme to him and he just spazzed out and was like "Dog, your shit is fire. You're an emcee, not a marketing cat." That right there gave me some serious confidence. I mean that's G Rap, ‘nuff said. A little later Chamillionaire and I was building for a minute and it was interesting to find out that this multimillionaire dude also came up doing marketing for other artist. I'm sharing some thoughts with him and next thing you know we're rapping back n’ forth to each other and his reaction was similar to G Rap's. That's when my mentality changed.

I realized I wanted to pursue this music shit full time. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place though. My income and bills is being taken care of off marketing for other cats. The ghostwriting shit was a good outlet and I got some connects in the industry. My main thing was if I want to be an artist fulltime, I had to take losses. I lost a lot of money turning down clients left and right. You see if you really want to pursue something, nobody is going to give you anything, you have to make it happen yourself as cliché as it sounds. I basically invested in myself. Shit, who else was going to? I stayed ghostwriting though, ‘cause it was bringing in income and it was also a good way to stay sharp.

When you ghost write for somebody it works like this: your client gives you a beat, you write to it, lay down the reference, send it over, and then they record over your reference. Some get picked, and some don't. Some clients have different ideas about how they want their shit to sound others just don't have any direction, so you have to just go off what you think will sound right for them. The main rule as a ghostwriter is to copyright all your submissions and make sure the paperwork in lawyer lingo says, "This is how I get paid." Paperwork is the most important shit with everything. Get your paperwork taken care of every chance you get with anything. Make sure a lawyer goes over it and explains to you ever detail. Keep asking questions, I've been fucked and seen it too many times. You would think cats would learn.

If you have something you want to do, and you believe in yourself to the utmost, invest in yourself in any way possible. Don't take no for an answer and disregard all criticism and doubters. I stared at a man on his deathbed once and he told me "I don't regret anything; I lived it how I wanted to live it." So yeah I'm taking losses but I'm doing what I wanna do. If you want to rhyme, produce, be a ball player, write books or whatever, just work ya ass off and hit up any outlets and expose yourself. Yeah, I have connects but I made those by busting my ass and pulling off some 36 hour days, real talk - ghostwriting for other heads, taking in some marketing accounts for some income, all at the same time working on my own music. So if you really want it, don't half ass. Multitask. Work a day job; take care of your bills but come home and start working on your craft. These days, you gotta network too and I realized that. That plays such a big part in the game. Most of the cats I personally know that are on, had to network hardbody! Immortal Technique for example he's my dude, and that nigga at one point acted as his own booking agent, publicist, A&R, and distributor. He sells out 4,000 seat venues by himself now but I recall when he was running in The Source by himself harassing Gotti who did the “Unsigned Hype” column. Later on he got the “Hip Hop Quotable” as an indie act in an issue where 50 Cent was on the cover. This dude has turned down major label offers at times because he can. He put himself in that position.

So I know the hard work that this is gonna take. I'm wearing too many different hats but at the end of the day, this shit is worth it. I'm about to drop two mixtapes and then move to either a street album or an official indie release. The first mixtape is being released soon before the year ends. I have two good hosts (Big Mike and J-Love) and some features. G Rap came through for me, Ras Kass, Immortal Tech, Joell Ortiz and a few more I can't give away. The first joint I'm a leak on this blog is a freestyle with my dude Grafh. Grafh comes with it every time he spits if you recall he outshined Cassidy, Jae Hood and Shells on that Kay Slay record. I knew I had to come with it even if it was just for a freestyle. Peep the joint and shoot ya feedback. I appreciate the good and the bad. Some cats call negative comments "hate,” I call it a fuckin’ opinion. Everyone is entitled to one so whatever, you gotta take the good with the bad. It's just funny how everybody is an A&R these days and knows what "people like." I hear that shit oh so too often. "The people want,”...you’re speaking for yourself not for the people. Don't give me that shit. This industry can be corny at times so real niggas just gotta block it out.

Nino Bless & Grafh - Freestyle (Click to listen!)

Peep my myspace if ya'll wanna get at me with some beats, politic, or just wanna get at some chicks who are on my page. (Come on we all do that shit) myspace.com/ninobless

Till next Friday ... Yurp!

0 Comments             

50 cent • bet • common • crooked i • dope • ghostface • hip hop • jay z • jay-z • kanye west • lil wayne • little brother • mixtape • music • nas • nino bless • phonte • racism • rap • rock the bells • sha stimuli • stimuli • termanology • ugk • west coast