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Akon schools his talented new group Rock City on how the music industry works

“Rock City” is probably one of the most talented up & coming groups in the game right now. They have tremendous buzz & is slowly working their way to becoming bigger household names. In the following video you can see they maybe getting a little frustrated with where they are at the present time which is not uncommon for many artists waiting for their debut album to be released. Akon is actually schooling these brothaz that timing is everything in the entertainment industry & one false move can derail your career regardless of how much talent you have. I’ve interviewed Akon a few times many years ago before he became a household name & can recall the ups & downs Akon endured before getting to the place where he is at now. Akon is definitely speaking from experience when he tells the brothaz how things really are when you don’t have any real support.  The best thing they can do is to continue to make good music, tour, do MANY interviews & overall stay relentless in their pursuit of success. 

One of the main outlets new artists neglect is in doing more interviews with college radio stations. College radio is a way to get more shows at college campus’s around the country thus putting a log on the fire in terms of buzz.  In the 90′s, many artists in urban music made stops at college radio stations & made connections with the schools for shows & events. Too many artists overlook these avenues & fail to see the success they may already be having on youtube, blogs, & other internet outlets.  All the rest is simply timing from a business perspective.  Do most record labels move slow or drop the ball on many projects? That’s an emphatic YES, but as an artist it’s your responsibility to ultimately take charge of your career & make the connections necessary to grow.  Becoming a star in the hip hop game is a lot like running for President of the United States. You gotta get out there shaking hands & kissing babies. I’ve personally witnessed Ludacris, Kanye West, Akon, Rick Ross, Trick Daddy, The Roots, & many others do it successfully. Check the following video & this should be an good lesson for up & coming artists who maybe signed to a major label about how things work.  For artists that may not be signed to a major label or under a major artist it’s best to do as much as you can on your own like Akon did when he first started out.  I can vouch for Akon that he really didn’t get any support back in the day & he’s been in the game for far longer than you think.  He’s only been a “star” for a far shorter period of that time.  

Ludacris & 9th Wonder laughing at K-Ci & JoJo

Check out this video of Ludacris & 9th Wonder in the studio together laughing at the recent video of K-Ci & JoJo’s flawed performance in Australia.  Hopefully 9th Wonder & Ludacris are working on a song together because just seeing them in the studio has us heavily anticipating a few hot joints.  We’ll see come November 11th when Luda’s album “Theatre Of The Mind” drops…

The 2 Live Stews discuss black men dating younger women

The “2 Live Stews” are probably the only commercial radio show that I listen to other than satellite radio. They can be heard on 790 the Zone from 1pm-4pm here in Atlanta, but they are also syndicated nationally. They have one of the most fun sports talk shows to listen to because it feels like I’m with my friends talking about everything from women to sports.  Check out this video from their television show where they discuss why brothaz date younger women.  It’s pretty interesting & sounds like conversations I have with some of my friends on a regular basis.   

R.Kelly’s interview regarding his previous trial. Says he’s innocent, but we’ve seen the tape.

In case you may have missed it, check out this interview of R Kelly speaking about his recent trial in which he was found not guilty. One thing is for sure R Kelly, or some political or underworldly figures around him, must be really connected to get him off.  We’ve seen the actual videotape so our opinions are not going to change no matter what he says in some interview.  BET has the exclusive interview which makes political sense for R Kelly because he needs BET to continue to play his videos & promote his music. It also benefits the “Pied Piper” because BET has a history of not interviewing black entertainers well who’ve run afoul of the law.  They all run to BET because they never want to be grilled by the more mainstream media with tougher questions. For those of us who’ve seen the sex tape, this interview is actually hilarious.  

Tommy Hilfiger makes an appearance at Lenox & things have changed since the early 90′s

This past weekend Tommy Hilfiger made a special appearance at the Macy’s store up at Lenox Square Mall. Tommy was there promoting and selling copies of his book Iconic America and signing autographs for hundreds of fans. His appearance coincided with Macy’s 150th anniversary as a department store. It was a large turn out but one thing I noticed was there was hardly any people of color in the crowd. I thought it was rather funny because I remember when wearing Tommy Hifiger was staple in hip hop culture. In the early nineties Hip Hop artists such as Grand Puba and Q-tip not only mentioned Tommy in their lyrics, they were also sporting it as well. Back in 1994 I recall when Snoop Dogg perfomed on Saturday Night Live dressed from head to toe in Tommy Hilfiger exposing it to a national audience. That same year Tommy Hilfiger sales skyrocketed to over 90 million dollar in gross revenue. I’m sure yall have heard the rumors about Tommy not wanting to be associated with Hip Hop culture and selling his clothes at an astronomically high price so that people of color couldn’t afford them. I dont know if this is true but I do know that the upstart of more urban clothing companies such as Phat Farm, Rocawear, and Sean Jean have caused Tommy lose his edge with the urban audience. Tommy Hilfiger had to close many of his specialty stores and his sales at department stores are half of what they were five years ago. Tommy maybe be still doing well (by the average person’s standards), but it’s crazy to see the how the lack of urban influence has greatly affected his sales. If Nelly is making millions in selling Apple Bottom jeans then other brothers can come up the same way. Tommy sorta paved the way.

Wednesday Classics: Mary J Blige & Rakim

Rakim showing why he’s one of the greatest lyricists of all time

Mary J. Blige looking good & getting her rhyme on in a classic episode of Yo MTV Raps! What ever happened to Grand Puba?

Raphael Saadiq’s new album is out now. Did you cop it? Video

Raphael Saadiq’s new album dropped yesterday….did you cop it? Peep the interview below

CNN gets "got" by two dudes wilding out behind a reporter during a live newscast

CNN gets pranked by two male Howard Stern employees supposedly kissing each other in the background of a live newscast.  The hilariousness starts around :42 seconds into the video below…..

Former Atlanta Hawk, Josh Howard, says he doesn’t celebrate the National Anthem or "any of that sh*t"

“They should have never gave you n*ggaz money!  —Dave Chappelle

Wasup with these brothaz making big money in pro sports who make these dumb moves that will only serve to further separate them from their money.  Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks was a recent participant of a charity flag football game for Allen Iverson not long ago.  Josh was taped making some comments that’s sure to get him traded, fined by the NBA, & further separated from his money.  The former Atlanta Hawk player let it be known that he doesn’t believe in the national anthem or Barack Obama in so many words.  With so many people with video cameras recording your every move athletes need to be smarter in their decision making.  Josh probably could have articulated his point better, but then again it was probably not the forum for it.  It’s not really about what he said as opposed to how it could affect his bread.  The statement occurs around the 1:44 mark….