Rap

Dj Khaled is one of the top Dj's in the industry today. Khaled has collaborated with a lot of big names in the business; names which include: Lil Wayne, Ti, T-Pain, Young Jeezy, and Rick ross just to name a few. The question still remains how; how does this "DJ" still remain relevant in an industry ruled by the artist and there ego? We are roughly twenty years out of the Jazzy Jeff era, about 10 years from the Michael Watts, Dj Clue mixtapes, any yet one Dj still reigns supreme.

One of Khaleds biggest pros is that he plays his position as Dj and does not try to get into the realm of becoming an artist or just stepping beyond his borders. He [Khaled] knows how to get the crowd hype, but also knows how to remain behind the scenes to better promote the artist. When you look at a video Dj Khaled is in notice he may be seen on camera but he is always hyping up the artist or the song, never stealing the limelight. Khaled plays his position and seems fine with just being a foundation for artist to collaborate with each other while knowing they're creating a hit. Everything Khaled seems to touch reaches a top spot on the charts. Khaled is putting the role of the Dj on his back and carrying the art form, but will he be the last of the Dj's?

What Do You Think?

Well America you voted, and your vote for Best New Artist was Tyler The Creator. Let me begin by saying the first time I ever heard of this guy was at the 2011 VMA's, so how did he sneak up on this award. His style is very vulgar and obscene but his word play is quite good; it had to be to beat out the big names such as Wiz Khalifa, and Kreayshawn who was also up for the award. Even before the show begin Tyler did an interview for the pre show where he did nothing but use profanity and joke around. I don't think he even thought that the award was in his reach. He is not the most fan friendly guy and can even be a little rude at times, but with over 20 million views on Youtube he has gained a pretty secure fan base. His lyrics and word play reminds you of Eminem; not the Love The Way You Lie Eminem, but the earlier Slim Shady Eminem. While winning his award at the VMA's, Tyler also give a shout out to his good friend Earl Sweatshirt who is another artist from his OFWGKTA crew who is equally as lyrical and obscene as Tyler. If this is the direction Hip Hop is going we probably need to brace ourselves.


 

What Do You Think?

Lil Wayne is arguably the biggest name in music today, but how has this transformation taken place and at what expense. Lil Wayne was the youngest member of the Cashmoney Hot Boy group, but during the groups early years Juvenile and B.G. were what the streets wanted to hear; their dark visualazition of urban life along with celebrating new foud wealth perfectly into the post pac years. Although Wayne was a member of Cashmoney before Juvenile and Turk ( appearing on B.G.'s True Story Album '95) he had to wait his turn do to his mother not letting him use explicit lyrics, but in 1999 with the release of his first solo album The Block is Hot The artist steaked his claim as a future major player in hip hop

After the release of his debut album the his group the Hot Boys disbanded and Wayne remained the only artist on the Cashmoney roster. Through hard work and determination he was able to bring his company out of an almost certain extinction. Wayne had to regroup his whole persona. He released a couple of underground mixtapes with his group squad up. During the time he is recording with squad up it seems that Wayne is transfoming himself into more of the lyrical artist that we know him as today. You can hear his style become more witty and his word play begins to devlop into something that is one of his strongest weapons.

Now down to the question at hand. Is Lil Wayne bigger than the Beatles?

Lil Wayne is one of the; if not the most known musician in the United States. At the age of 28 he is still in the prime of his career, and he doesn't look like he is slowing down any sooner. Wayne is so recognized that President Obama referred to the artist while giving a speech. If that's not popularity I don't know what is. The Beatles were big don't get me wrong, but we are now in the Igenration were downloads are just as good as album sales and music is demanded more than ever for everyday life. Most Americans today with portable music devices are more than likely to have at least one Lil Wayne song on their device. You be the judge Lil Wayne or the Beatles who will be more remembered for their contributions to music.

What Do You Think?

The Games Red album has dropped and it's doing quite well. Reports surface that the Compton native has passed Jay Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne album to become #1 on the Billboard top 200 album charts. We have to give the game credit; aside from his twitter fiasco he has given fans the long awaited album they have been waiting for. Although he has not matched the same success of his LAX album which sold over 235,000 copies in its first week. 

Congratulations to the Game, but he's still not safe. The Carter IV is out and it's coming for the #1 spot  





****Watch the Credits****

Jay Z and Kanye West are being accused of copyright infringement for using a sample of Syl Johnsons song "Different Strokes" on the Watch The Throne album. According to sources Johnson himself was never given credit for the song in the albums credits.

Johnson was reportedly supposed to let West use the sample for his My Dark Twisted Fantasy album, but the song did not clear in time to be used on the album. "The Joy" is the song in which the sample is used; it appears as a bonus track on the "Throne" album. The has gone gold selling over 600,000 copies since it's release. Seems as though there was a lot of miscommunication on the sides of both parties. 


***Planet Rock: The Story of Hip Hop and The Crack Generation***

Vh1 has produced another one of its classic Rock Docs and this one will be very controversial. VH1 will explore "CRACK" and how it has influenced hip hop. Vh1 looks to highlight the past epidemic with interviews from artist about the drug and it's influence and destruction of an entire generation. Is this really necessary to secure ratings? Who knows. The minds at Vh1 are all about controversy and keeping things messy.