interesting take on the state of hip hop and music; for social change to occur more leaders need to be present in any particular movement.
"if you're gay, rep your set"
He does make a good point though from a marketing perspective. Its a huge untapped market in hip hop, and seeing success that Lady Gaga has achieve by being openly supportive of the LGBT community hasn't hurt her career in the slightest.
Come kick it with Akapela Jonz at The Commonwealth Lounge on Tuesday May 25th! You can watch him bring down the house performing his single "I'm here now" along with new songs off his "will you be my fan?" mixtape that is available on Tuesday May 25th for early download exclusively on www.akapelajonz.com! (check back soon to see when the mixtape will be in stores!)
Tickets are $10 pre-sale/$15 Day of the event (So get your tickets before they are sold out!) For Tickets call (714.525.8888)
I was at a friends house playing some tracks on shuffle on his iTunes and came across this song: "Cause The Beat Hot" (download the instrumental here)
Now is this a musical genius or just plain coonery? Sure the beat is simple and the most work, I think, was put into this was chopping up the "meow" mix. Today it seem like you can make music, if you want to call it that, from just about anything! the art and creativity of making something has been lost with the thought of making a quick buck.
Then later in that day I saw THIS by Lil' B (if you don't know who he is he's from Souljaboy's camp):
Today, I don't think anyone truly knows what music was meant for? It had a message, a meaning, a purpose! I ask you, artists and producers, what does our music mean today? what is our music saying right now about our time? And most importantly when did music, let alone hip-hop, stop saying something MEANINGFUL?
Just recently I have encountered a month long case of writers block. I was feeling like everything I wrote down had the same tone and similar concept. To most rappers that's not an issue at all because that's what they build their careers on. Some talk about how much money they've got, some talk about how dope their bars are(without ever proving to the masses why. I'm still waiting for MIMS to tell me why he's hot), and others just talk nonsense about nothing but the witty randomness draws people in. In the recent weeks I took a step back and listened to recordings I had done in the past couple of years and had a thought. As much as I have grown as an artist I am still far away from where I want to be. Even though people close to me and others I have shared my music with love the music I've been a part of I couldn't say the same. Not to sound condescending to myself at all but any true artist will tell you they're the worst critic of their own work. Through these past few weeks the reaffirmation of a revaluation has led me to this rant.
Stop trying to rhyme the most catchy words and shocking phrases together if you're a rapper. For R&B and Pop songwriters I propose a question for you, how many times are you going to write about how people get drunk in the club, how girls look in the club, how much money you spend in the club, how much you spend in the V.I.P in the club? Do you live in the club? Lets face a reality, its okay to listen to rich people sometimes to give us hope. If they made it so can I. But for the millions of us who don't have millions, who don't live for the club(or in the club) we need real music that we can relate to. People wonder why Taylor Swift is one of the top selling artists now while others are struggling to sell half a mill in a month. Its not rocket science people, she writes songs that people can relate to(mainly teenage girls in suburbia). But her fans feel like she goes through what they go through. That's the key to success, connecting with your audience and becoming human in your music.
So I say all this to say stop trying to out do the lyrical stylings of whoever or copy someone else's cadence of singing pattern. We already had a Micheal, Jay-z, Beyonce, Madonna, etc. Live your life and write whats on your heart that's how you become great. Honesty will take you alot farther than any variation of gimmicks will. This entertainment field has been merciless since the first deceiving record deal, couple that with the bad economy and the ADD(that's Attention Deficit Disorder if you didn't know)that the industry has brought upon us through the ignorance they've called entertainment and you have a nearly impossible chance of being successful. But that's if you want to play by the rules of the major labels game(which is doing well...right...okay surviving...okay...honestly dying). It is time we return back to when music was pure, revolutionary, diverse, honest. So as I hone my skill to bring a message to the world in a unique manor I urge you to do the same. The world is changing, entertainment is changing, we are changing, since we are the future why don't we change the world(through our music, our films, our art, and our God given creativity)
