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« July 15, 2007 - July 21, 2007 | Main | July 29, 2007 - August 4, 2007 »
I've been getting rid of some categories and have more to go. Since many of the posts appear in multiple categories, especially posts from the first year or two, I can't tell you exactly where the posts from any one category went except that posts from Philanthropy are now mostly in Good PR, posts from Promos are now mostly in Hip Hop Advertising and posts from Media Moves are now in Slav's Hip Hop Files.
There's much more of that to come cause I've removed 14 categories with almost no visible effect! Other categories that have been eliminated:
Conferences, Domains, Entertainment Marketing, History, Inspiration, Latinos, Media Moves, ProHipHop Mobile, Spirituality and Writers
These are almost all important topics and the individual posts are being moved to or are represented in categories that receive more traffic.
The Hip Hop News Casts category has been eliminated cause there seemed to be little interest judging from traffic and lack of comments. If I'm wrong, let me know, but there are lots of great places to get hip hop news and you can also check for them at Jumpoff.tv's YouTube channel.
I'm also going through and deleting or putting posts into draft mode that don't have long term value.
Special thanks to Johnathan Andersen whose comments reminded me that such editing has long been overdue.
Tech N9ne Collabos - Misery Loves Kompany
Not much to get excited about in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart so let's give a big round of applause for that wild man Tech N9ne whose album of "Collabos", Misery Loves Kompany, enters the Billboard 200 at no. 49.
Top 10 Albums on the Billboard 200:
1. NOW! That's What I Call Music 25
2. Miley Cyrus - Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/Meet Miley Cyrus
3. T.I. - T.I. vs. T.I.P.
4. Soundtrack - Hairspray
5. Colbie Caillat - Coco
6. Fergie - The Dutchess
7. Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
8. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
9. Nickelback - All the Right Reasons
10. Bon Jovi - Lost Highway
Look, it's the top 10 singles from the Hot 100!
Top 10 Singles on the Hot 100:
1. Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
2. Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry
3. Rihanna - Umbrella feat. Jay-Z
4. Timbaland - The Way I Are feat. Keri Hilson
5. Shop Boyz - Party Like a Rockstar
6. High School Musical 2 - What Time Is It
7. Akon - Sorry, Blame It on Me
8. Hurricane Chris - A Bay Bay
9. T-Pain - Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin') feat. Yung Joc
10. T-Pain - Bartender feat. Akon
First off, the cops that are interpreting the following lines as "anti-snitching sentiments" are clearly off the mark as far as I'm concerned:
The city's police department has called for Swizz Beatz to renounce anti-snitching sentiments or it will drop sponsorship of a "Peace on the Streets" rally. In his current single, It's Me Snitches, Swizz raps: "Freeze, you know who it is/ It's me, snitches" and "I ain't gonna shoot ya/ I could just choke ya." It's lines like those that appear to advocate violence and silencing snitches — or police informants — that concern police in a city that is among the nation's most dangerous.
That seems more like a smack talk moment that's relatively gentle in a context of gangsta rap and hypermasculinity. That's been one of my favorite singles since it came out and I'm no advocate of the stop snitching movement.
You can check it out in low rez glory over at VidRap.
Sure, it's a fairly macho statement but the video as a whole is mostly fun and upbeat. There are beautiful women but they are presented in a context that most professional performers would be comfortable in. They're sexy and have on somewhat revealing clothes but nothing debasing or exploitative.
Plus, it's got some of the greatest dancing from both the woman on the platform and a kid that's just an awesome dancer.
But I don't know Swizz Beats body of work very well.
What do you think? Is this a fair reaction to Swizz Beats despite the fact that it misreads this song or is this another of what may be many incidents ahead where valid concerns about specific aspects of rap music are being turned on the wrong guy?
Given that I still regularly see news accounts of small clubs around the country getting shut down because people say they can't control certain elements that show up on hip hop nights, I'm concerned that this kind of thing has the potential to disrupt even more attempts to conduct legitimate business or even to promote peace as this event is intended to do.
Seriously, Swizz Beats fans in particular, what do you think? And how 'bout that awesome choreography. Anybody know who choreographed this?
Interesting news regarding the recently visible Complex Media Network.
COMPLEX MEDIA PARTNERS WITH FOUR BLOG-ORIENTED WEB SITES TO CREATE NEW ONLINE COMMUNITY FOR YOUNG MEN:
Complex Media LLC, the publishing and new media division of Marc Ecko Enterprises, has entered into a partnership with four blog-oriented Web sites as part of a new online initiative designed to reach the multiple interests of young men. Web sites Nicekicks.com, Bastardly.com, Slamhype.com and Nahright.com will join Complex.com, the official site for Complex magazine, to create the Complex Media Network, a community of sites dedicated to emerging trends and ideas for young men age 18-34.
That's right, Nah Right is in bed with the folks at Complex Magazine. Hmmm, that's getting to be a crowded bed!
So far, everybody's zipping their lips but I'll be following up on this one. Assuming these bloggers actually do have editorial control, as the rest of the press release clarifies, then I would assume Eskay will keep linking to XXL's web content, at least as long as he works there.
This is a great example of how the open web has changed the media game and a good look for Complex. The offline tradition of ignoring the existence of all competitors holds one back online so they're doing the right thing with their approach.
This is also an excellent example of where things are going with companies that specialized in one media, whether magazines, records or whatever physical products were emphasized, now becoming much wider ranging media companies with an online emphasis that often still has a clear niche. I'll have more soon on this topic as well.
More on the marketing tip from the press release:
The partner sites will continue to run with their existing editors, but advertising will be sold through Complex Media, allowing marketers to buy into a community that penetrates every element of this lifestyle. Brands will have the ability to participate in online sweepstakes, exclusive banner take-overs, micro sites, video ads and more. Also, similar to what is currently done with Complex magazine, the company will create custom units for specific brands that wish to reach this target online.
Closing Quibble:
The coolness factor of this announcement is somewhat undermined by use of the phrase "BLOG-ORIENTED WEB SITES". I could see the reasoning for calling a site like SlamXHype [at slamxhype.com not slamhype.com] a blog-oriented web site but, bottom line, blogs would be stronger, especially since all the home pages are blogs and blog-oriented web site is mad clunky.
Madlib - Beat Konducta in India
Madlib's Beat Konducta in India (Beat Konducta Vol. 3-4) is due August 28th from Stones Throw Records.
Promo for Madlib's Beat Konducta in India
This is a really fun promo jacking some Bollywood footage featuring a guy that I imagine is a huge star in India and wherever fans of Bollywood gather.
Via The Couch Sessions.
Time to give some credit where credit's due.
First, I want to thank The Rap Up for being the biggest source of non-Google traffic to ProHipHop this year to date. I like that blog.
I need to say a few words about Idolator, a blog on which I haven't actually slept because I was consciously ignoring its existence until quite recently.
Here's the deal. When Gawker appeared and became a huge success I was appalled because I did not yet understand that gossip blogs are the true pinnacle of web publishing. So when Idolator followed I just busied myself with the overwhelming range of online news sources and their existence gradually disappeared from my consciousness.
But now I accept the supreme dominance of gossip blogs so, when Idolator finally started linking to me, I started paying attention. Though it didn't result in a huge wave of traffic like I would have assumed from any blog in Mr. Denton's empire, it did make me feel all warm and fuzzy, especially since they didn't seem to be making fun of me.
The damn thing is, though they generally disguise their serious intent, Idolator bloggers do an excellent job of focusing on key bits of industry news. Even if you hate rock music and snarky attitudes, you can keep up with a lot of interesting stuff by just clicking through the links, though I have to admit to actually reading their posts all the way through.
There are many more blogs I follow and I can't thank them all at the moment. But if you're interested in which blogs I follow and where I get my news, more and more it's from the mixed feeds with which I've been experimenting.
Almost all of my hip hop news now comes from the blogs and news sources gathered at World Cypher. The blogs include some by folks who've dissed me in the past but I'm trying not to hold that against talented bloggers led astray by evil influences.
I keep up with music industry blogs at Music Biz Blogs and I follow Web and Media 2.0 developments via the various mixed feeds at Flux Research. I really started these as tools for my own work and interests, because I'm finding newsreaders just don't work well for me, but it just seemed oh so Web 2.0-ish to share those tools. At best World Cypher has vague commercial potential but it's not really going down like that.
So let me close by thanking the many bloggers whose work I leverage at both ProHipHop and VidRap. Without you, this "job" would really suck.
Thanks everybody!
Hey, if your rss feed plays well with others and you really think you should be included in one of these feeds, drop me a friendly note and I'll check things out:
clyde(at)prohiphop(dot)com
As per usual, all other pr should go to:
hiphoppress(at)netweed(dot)com
Trailer for Foundations Documentary
Anybody have more information on this documentary? It was posted on YouTube 5 months ago but I can't find anything on it and am pressed for time.
It's kind of a nostalgia thing for me. Outside of hip hop, this was the last big period of New York's cultural dominance in the alternative and experimental arts and I was watching it closely from a distance cause I chose to stay in North Carolina rather than heading for the East Village in the early 80s.
I would seriously regret that choice if we hadn't had so much fun in NC at the time followed by a move to San Francisco in 1989 where I caught one of the last big waves of that city's counter culture. That's not entirely gone but San Francisco was severely decimated by the tech boom's effect on rent in the late 90s for both grassroots organizations and low income artists and activists like myself.
Via Rawkus.
Freekey Zekey - Book Of Ezekial
I was going to give AllHipHop a hard time for some of the rather grand sounding claims in their latest press release regarding partnering with such entities as Amazon.com when they've actually simply joined Amazon's affiliate program and implemented their new aStore options.
But, hey, joining an affiliate program is a form of partnership and they've done a nice, straightforward integration of the aStore into their site that can be found under the top of the page tab marked estore.
And you, my friend, can do the same.
This strangely friendly tone from your resident industry watchdog is due to the announcement of a "live online video press conference" at AllHipHop for Freekey Zekey's new album Book of Ezekial.
Promo Video for Freekey Zekey's Book Of Ezekial
Though live press conferences have been held online for quite awhile, I haven't seen this on a hip hop site before [please correct me if wrong in comments with links if available] and it strikes me as a really smart move.
The conference will be held online at a promo domain, http://allhiphop.com/promo/freekey/, however, creating a separate section or stand alone site for such live promotional events focused on an entertainment niche like hip hop or a larger yet coherent niche like urban music could do quite well.
AllHipHop is in an especially good position to do this kind of thing because they're in New York, where so much hip hop promotion occurs, and they are well positioned as a leading source of hip hop news to the point that they've become a go to site to break news and to drop rumors. But many other New York based operations could do the same thing. And you don't just have to be in New York. A strong regional focus or hip hop niche could be a powerful base for becoming the center for live online press conferences and other events if you handle it properly.
Seriously, if I was part of a bigger organization with the resources to create such a site, I'd be on the phone babbling like a maniac right now. Instead, I'm just babbling at ProHipHop.
I hope to check out the live conference at 3:30. If you check it out please add your comments below or drop a link with your online response in the comments.
Update:
Just watched the "press conference" which was actually more of an online meet and greet for the fans. You know, this mislabeling and claiming history is a bad move but one that may not matter to fans at all.
The event started at 3:45 and ended at 4:05. Despite starting late, I thought Freekey conducted himself quite well and put on a good show for his fans. He rolled with some problems with a rough gracefulness and was pretty funny about it.
Interestingly enough, Freekey mentioned more than once that he wanted to be able to actually see the people sending questions and those comments, like everything he said, came across as genuine sentiments. And I say that as someone who doesn't give Dipset a pass on anything.
Apparently it will be archived. Video streaming was providing by Ustream.tv. This was a good event for AllHipHop to organize even if it wasn't what they said it was. I think they're definitely on to something.
By the way, if you were one of the 250 or so (not many people saw it live), I was the guy freestyling with Kalimania regarding purple bagels. I also was one of the NC folks representing and the one who shouted out Raleighwood. I also claimed to be Freekey and, later, Elliot Wilson to see if I'd get a response but nobody bit. Basically, it was a madhouse in the comments section so I joined in cause I don't get to do that too often.
Eating purple dipset bagels on a short yellow bus!
Update 2:
TechCrunch has a timely post from Nick Gonzalez about Ustream.tv, the company providing the services for yesterday's Freekey Zekey live fan event.
Shakur estate moves against songs' sale:
Afeni Shakur sought an injunction in federal bankruptcy court Friday claiming Death Row was attempting to sell Shakur material that belonged to the rapper's estate.
Unreleased recordings should have been turned over to the estate as part of a 1997 agreement with the record label, said attorney Donald N. David, who represents the estate.
But during Death Row's bankruptcy proceedings, "it was revealed that an album's worth of unreleased Tupac material was being advertised to potential buyers as the jewel in the crown of the Death Row assets," David said...
The court was expected to consider the request within a month when it decides whether to permit the label to release an album with the unreleased tracks to help pay off its debts, David said.
Update:
Please see the press release for more information.
Maura Johnston, editor at Idolator, let me know that rumors regarding the demise of Vibe Vixen were in play.
A ProHipHop contact at Vibe has confirmed that Vibe Vixen is no more and the staff has been laid off.
My condolences to all involved.
In related news, earlier this month Vibe Media Group appointed Steve Aaron the "new chief executive".
Best of luck in your new position, Mr. Aaron.
Update:
Here's a brief Mediaweek report.
In my update to the post regarding XXL Editor-in-Chief Elliott Wilson's appearance in a Rocawear ad on the back cover of the upcoming 10th Anniversary issue, I revealed my next step:
I am in the process of contacting bloggers with journalistic backgrounds from outside the world of hip hop to share their opinions on whether the back cover image above is or is not an example of crossing the advertising/editorial divide.
Normally I would come back with a post of my own discussing why I feel that this crossing has so obviously occurred but I want to reach some of the people who shut down when I say such things, in particular, hip hop bloggers with journalistic aspirations.
Since I was contacting very busy people with way too much work, it did not surprise me that I only got two responses, one of them telling me that they hope to get back to me later in the week. Fortunately, the other response was from one of my favorite publishing industry bloggers, Paul Conley.
You can check out Paul's background for yourself but the man is official. Here's an excerpt from his comments:
The photo in question is offensive. And in the world of news or serious journalism, it would clearly be a violation of editorial ethics...What's interesting about the XXL photo is that it may be an all-new form of unethical behavior. As far as I know, no editor-in-chief in the history of magazine publishing has ever appeared as a spokesperson for products sold by an advertiser.
Paul also suggested I contact Tony Silber, editor and publisher of FOLIO, the leading trade publication for the magazine industry, and he responded in an email:
I did a poll around the office, and everyone thinks it’s a pretty egregious violation, so we’re going to be following it up.
Mr. Silber also stated on the phone that he did think there were earlier examples of editors in ads but I think Paul's response relates just how startling this ad appears whether or not this is a historical moment. I look forward to FOLIO's coverage and will follow up as appropriate with additional comments from other industry professionals.
PS - I knew "egregious" was bad but I had to look it up to be sure:
e·gre·gious...
–adjective
1. extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant: an egregious mistake; an egregious liar...
—Synonyms 1. gross, outrageous, notorious.
As I mentioned in my initial post regarding what I consider a surprisingly blatant crossing of the advertising/editorial divide, one of my favorite hip hop bloggers took me to task for some of my claims. In addition to altering the post a bit, I've also been doing some thinking about my issues with Elliot Wilson that now really seem like an earlier chapter in hip hop blogging.
It's time to let personal grudges go because ProHipHop is moving to a different level of the game in a variety of interesting ways, some already visible, some still emerging behind the scenes, and holding on to such grudges will hold that progress back.
But I would have given anyone a hard time about that back cover and I would give anyone a hard time about some of the editorial statements regarding bloggers that Wilson was making before he added bloggers to XXL's website.
I also want to make it clear that I'm not really bringing marketers to task for the back cover. The thing I like about marketers is that their agenda is so much more straightforward than anyone else's. You know what they want and that makes it a lot easier to cut to the chase.
Plus, I really do think the advertising/editorial divide is one that must be maintained by journalists, editors and publishers because it is an important aspect of keeping the profession of journalism legitimate. If marketers feel differently about their role, I'd love to hear about it, but history tells us that "marketing" is itself a term created as an alternative to the term "propaganda".
So I want to give big ups to the propagandists who pulled this one off.
It's unfortunate that it's about to become a major embarassment for Mr. Wilson among professional journalists, as I will discuss in a follow up post, though I feel sorrier for the many excellent writers at XXL whose integrity will also be tarnished by association.
Music industry news from Hypebot:
Even though other bidders have dropped out, EMI shareholders have still not yet approved Terra Firma's bid to buy the company.
In a major victory for indie musicians and labels Clear Channel has dropped their demand that artists waive royalties to get airplay.
Blender named their music/tech PowerGeek 25 and amazingly neither Hypebot or ProHipHop made the list.
The UK's Mercury Prize nominees for "Album Of The Year" were announced and you can listen to 11 of them here.
Internet radio stations are still on the air, but the battle over proposed higher royalty rates continues.
Sly Stone did one of his first full public performances in years recently Europe's North Sea Jazz and there's video of him doing his hits "Stand" in 1974 compared to 2007.
Microsoft's Zune is ramping up promo with onsite kiosks and promotions at 28 major Live Nation concert venues this summer.
See ProHipHop's Hypebot Industry News category for past roundups.
pit bull & chicks
ProHipHop wants to encourage the Hip Hop Nation to continue to make strong stands against dogfighting, just as both Russell Simmons and Just Blaze have done. A love of hypermasculinity does not justify the brutalization of animals who serve their masters wholeheartedly.
Don't let this be spun as another example of the evils of hip hop culture and don't let it be spun as inherent to the consciousness of dogs including pit bulls.
Stop the lies. Start the healing.
A public service message brought to you by ProHipHop and The Postmodern Anarchist.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Last Chance for Animals Releases Anti-Dogfighting PSA
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