Music, Money & Madness: Why the COICA Act is Worthless
The buzz right now about the internet censorship bill has really just started: 2 sites going off the grid (one of my personal faves in OnSmash) and it seems that everyone has an opinion of it either for or against the bill. As I’m far too lazy to regurgitate what the bill says verbatim but the essence is that if your site is suspected of providing either direct downloads or links to illegal content, you can get iced by ICE. No ifs, ands or buts.
Piracy is piracy. There’s no real defense for thieves when you look at it in legal terms, and that to me is what stirs the hornet’s nest more than anything. The law, in its effort to be both as clear and all catching, leaves much to be desired. And that’s with ANY law. No matter how you slice it, somebody is going to be unhappy because at the end of the day, it all comes down to morals and each person has their own definitions of such.
Personally, I make it a point to only download free mixtapes from the artists I dig. My mp3 player (eat a dick Apple) is filled with un-mixed mixtapes, semi-mixed mixtape compilations and DJ Whoever hollering all over the track in between sound effected quasi-turntablistic hodgepodges.
One, because I know the amount of time, money and effort that goes into conceptualizing, recording, mixing, mastering and promoting a record. Two, because 99.9% of the hip hop albums I’ve come across in the last 5 years or so have fucking sucked. Yeah, I could’ve said “have not been up to par with yesteryear’s greats” but I wanted to convey the fact that I have been bitterly disappointed with albums as of late. Am I complaining? No, because, like I said, I bang mixtapes mostly anyway.
Here’s what I propose:
Since the blog is the new DJ in the “breaking records” department it seems, sites should drop out of the arms race for new music from mainstream artists. There are literally hundreds of thousands of indie guys who will give you new, hot and even exclusive joints with no worry of tattle-telling because THEY NEED THE EXPOSURE. Let the majors buy advertising but no page time whatsoever.
If they want to post music, there needs to be an accountable paper trail with expressly written consent to post up. This will avoid your site going down over bullshit and keep things fair. I mean, when was it cool for every station to be playing the same 5 songs every hour? Even worse, every blog in your bookmarked sites has the same 5 updates? I go to y’all for the NEW shit, not the NEW ON EVERYONE ELSE’S BLOG shit. Diversity will keep me coming back, even if I don’t particularly like that day’s offering.
We keep hearing people talking about “the decline in sales versus the uptake in illegal downloads” when really it should be “the decline in music people actually wants to buy versus the uptake in virtual weed tray action”. People download the albums, yes, but they don’t keep them. They listen to it once and delete it from their hard drives forever after being severely disappointed. You want people to cop? Make it more than music, make it an event.
Make it a real, tangible, moment in time that people appreciate. Usually the leaks come out 2 weeks before the release date—why not stream the album on the artist’s website, not snippets, the whole thing, for people to hear? When it comes to $16.99, $9.99, hell, even $4.99, I want to know what I’m going to get before I buy it. If you didn’t know, we’re in a recession.
My last point is this: when Nas said that hip hop was dead, he wasn’t talking about the culture. There are more events celebrating it than ever before. When Nas said that hip hop was dead, he wasn’t talking about the physical aspect of creating music either; anyone with a pirate copy of FL Studio can make a beat and record on it. The majors aren’t going away tomorrow. To me, what he was saying is that the anticipation of future classics and the celebration of new good music itself is dead.
Imagine you had an office on the second floor of a building and somebody in your office routinely raids your desk for cash that he then throws out on the street below. Who are you going to be mad at? Is it the people who pick the free money up or the person who threw it out in the first place? Shutting down sites will do absolutely nothing. Find a better way to protect your music and you won’t have to worry about people downloading your trash ass music.
Okay, so everyone is well aware of the shady industry practices. We know how non-beneficial it is to sign with the majors and be susceptible to the 360 deals. We know that doing it yourself is undoubtedly the most profitable way to go about making money off your music just like we know hype sells products better than quality products. We know all this but what I'm not seeing is a solution that would completely X out what we know is a truly bad thing. It'd be easy to say that starting your own record label and putting out your own records is the singular action that will make everything okay but it's not.
Although it's considerably cheaper to produce yourself than ever before, the fact still remains that most cats can't afford the pennies on the dollar cost to go head up with the conglomerates and make a full turn. I know the hardships faced from being both an artist and a label employee on both indie and major labels and man, there's still a gaping hole in the game as young (not in age but experience) still can't procure the funding required to make their journey to the big leagues quicker. My homegirl Wendy Day and I talked a while back about the industry thus far and she told me about the countless artists and baby labels she worked with who did a double take when she informed them of how much it would realistically cost ($300k-$1m) and that got me thinking of alternate ways to do things.
All of the elements are more accessible than they've ever been and more affordable than they've ever been. What I would like to see happen is a union, a league or confederation of indie artists who come together under a single banner to work out a package deal with the distributors, radio kin and online advertisers to provide their services for less than they would normally in exchange for a collective due. I'm sure there's something similiar out there that I'm not aware of, but I mean an organization for this purpose implicitly. The logic behind it is simple: we know execs need their palms greased just like we know radio DJs do. We know magazines sell their covers and we know bloggers sell exposure. It's a given that payola runs things because everyone expects to get paid. I'm not putting any moral implications on it because I understand business, especially the music business and as another of my guys said, "you can't play chess with checker pieces". Dame Dash called the business model of the industry "wack world" and I'm inclined to believe him. It's broken, dusty, out of date and clutching on to an era where you actually NEEDED them. there are millions of somewhat and fully savvy cats that could band together and make it more than a level playing field; they could manifest a T-1000 Terminator type takeover.
It's 2010 and people are still bitching about music leaks. I won't point fingers at particular artists, record labels or DJs but what I will point a big, red, over-sized finger at is how stupidly flawed the argument is against songs and albums being leaked in the first place. What I'm going to do here is break down biggest reasons we've heard for anti-leaking and spin a case where it has worked to an artist's advantage in some aspect. Because the last thing I want to see when I log on to my favorite hip hop blog is a tearful account from someone who's angry about their music being in the hands of their fans. And you call yourself a hustler.
It takes lots of money to record quality music
The budgets for recording albums have been so inflated in the last 20 years that I could totally see why marketing execs get mad over the possible loss of lavishness that they're accustomed to. It's not a secret that the industry is based on the high/lo system: round up costs so you can sell a 12-16 song CD for $20 at the premium outlets. Not only is that not worth the money (as only 3-4 of those songs actually bump) but it goes to show how much time and effort is put into sustaining greed--this isn't a humanitarian effort with flies landing on random kid's eyeball--this is a business and a very profitable one at that. Instead of recording at the high end studios with millions of dollars worth of pricey equipment and paying exorbitant production fees, why not keep it low tech and encourage more independent recording means? I find it ridiculous that the average album budget ranges from $300,000-$1m. I'm pretty damn sure you can get comparable sound from smaller but still professional setups. And it might help end the decibel war.
It depreciates the connection between artist and fan
No it doesn't. If anything, it strengthens it. The only way I wouldn't be a fan of an artist that I liked just fine 20 minutes before I heard the leak is if the album was terrible. Not the quality of the leak, mind you, but the quality of the music is the only thing that will keep me from buying your record. If the music is good, you will more than likely see some money come from me even if I don't buy the album. I'll buy a T-shirt from the merch stand at your show that I also paid to get into. Look at Wayne's Carter III if you need to see a positive outcome from a leak. He turned that into a situation where he was able to sell a gang of more records than he probably would've otherwise. Not to mention his fan base grew because of it.
Speaking from my own opinion, music leaking is something that has always happened (to a certain extent) and will always happen (to a certain extent). What you do when it happens is what separates you from the cats on the curb. I would like to see it come to the point where artists are giving albums away for free and just charging for the shows. If your record company is taking too big a bite with your 360 deal, go indie and do it yourself. Divorce your restrictive contracts and kick the big guys out on their asses. Y'all just aren't being creative enough.
The majority of hip hop music is focused on one omnidirectional compound thought: how closely their "real" life embodies the diamond studded/overly expensive car driving/champagne swilling/ridiculously named weed strain smoking/promiscuous with promiscuous model-esque fame claim jumping jump off sexing/not a killer but don't push the issue military issue having gang affiliated tales drawn out in the span of one verse, one song and one album. Everybody's the man in their hood, all the women have splash waterfall juice boxes and everybody has pulled akickdoes or touched Tony Montana sized mountains of dope and everybody else is just a lame sitting in the corner trying to copy that lifestyle. And then when the feds come knocking they "just talk about what goes on in their ward" albeit never indulging.
Holier than thou rap
Where the hell's the accountability? Even better, where's the hip hop edict saying that in order to write a song, at some point within it you have to make reference to either a snitch who sent your people upstate, a hater who's jealous of your good fortune or some cat so obviously clueless to the game that he couldn't possibly be on your level on your worst day?
Kill all that elements talk; let's talk real rap
The first thing brought up is how battling is the essence of hip hop and being competitive means dissing everyone around you in some form or fashion. Being competitive means that I have to listen to song after song of you literally tucking your head between your legs and kissing yourself on the ass every verse? What part of the game is that? It's cool to audibly celebrate your success but I'd be uber grateful if you peeled back on the audio bravado a little bit. And conscious rappers are not exempt from this either. I don't really care how much more clever your rhymes are from MC GetBusy's, I just want to hear you spit some knowledge before I throw on some Drake for my chick. Yeah, he style raps too but he's for the ladies anyways. He couldn't go gangster if he tried to; good thing he knows his pocket and throws out hits like Drew Brees (Who Dat!).
It's all entertainment so stab a lady with a box of frosted flakes why don't ya?
The way I see it, rappers who have to constantly "style" on others is a little like that bitch ass jock dude in high school who proved his alpha male status by picking on those smaller in stature than him (I never had a problem with those types, my mouthpiece was golden enough to keep us cool ) or the verbal representation of one of those old school Cash Money album covers with the gazillions of jewels on tables, bottles of champagne (that were somehow also iced out) and cars --gaudy, totally photoshopped and severely overstated in the undertaking. I understand wanting to sell the lifestyle to the fans but we all know that 99% of music videos are rented and with the IRS cracking down on unpaid taxes publicly, we can tell who's really papered up or not so why not focus your rhymes on something really worth our buck? Crickets, 808s and braggadocios and vague accounts of getting money. I can't knock the hustle but I can try to improve it.
I think Waka Flocka is an artist that others should listen to when it comes to making records. Musically, that's up to you but when it comes to the making of music that produces income, he has his head on straight. I can already hear my inbox getting firebombed for this one; before you get all upset over my statements, read on and you'll see precisely why I think Waka could potentially have a lasting career (if he doesn't go out like 'Pac first). If you're a hip hop stan, you probably are going to call a lot of what I'm saying blasphemy to the grand rap gods/dragons/mafioso types; others with an inkling of business savvy will be more receptive to my reasoning.
He doesn't care about culture
A lot of what trips up hip hop artists in general is the incessant need to vie for the attention and affection of the forefathers, critics and upwardly-turned noses that say that hip hop and rap aren't the same. They talk about the "elements" that make/made hip hop great and love to lob shots at southern artists about not being a part of the culture and the ruiner of their most sacred art form.
Damn all that. My sentiments echo those of the late Pimp C when it comes to that: put a southern record next to a conscious emcee's and see whose sells the best and the quickest. As much as it hurts the lot of you backpack wearing '94 throwbacks still marching to the beat Rakim left, the truly lyrical emcees tend to not get as many shows as the swagger era rappers. Waka understands this and, rather than try to go for the Rap Olympics anytime soon, makes music that people want to listen to and go to clubs to see him perform. Why would someone go to the club just to have to crack a dictionary on the dance floor.
Show money is more important than Billboard stats
Don't believe me? Look at all these sucker ass 360 deals that labels are trying to get rappers to sign. I can't remember how much Waka said he gets per date but I'm sure that it's more upfront money than he'd ever see in a modern deal. Good shows leverage themselves into more good shows--if you sell out a club, not only will the club owner ask you back but usually will mention you to other club owners in the area as a hot ticket and get you more shows. So if Waka can pack houses , the touring circuit will continue.
This is precisely why he said that he doesn't need an album--he has material on his mixtapes that he can do and get the same effect. Not to mention that with mixtapes, he doesn't have to worry about a major label trying to clip some of that royalty money; they're sold primarily in the streets, online and at shows so he nets more of the profits.
Buzz isn't built correctly anymore
The name of the game now (and again, I blame the labels for this) is for artists to throw everything they can at the fans and hope something sticks. How ass backwards is that? Some dude in the marketing department thought up the brilliant idea to have artists drop an album every calendar year, extend their respective brands into partnerships with any companies talking money and be in everybody's face everyday on every blog possible. Overexposure is the quickest way for people to get tired of you and you'd think that with this happening to Drake more labels would clue in on just how far a little mystery can take you.
From what I've seen Waka gets this too and is very selective of the exposure he gets. A song here, an interview there, all to court the fans and the press. As against his music as you may claim, if there's a pretty dime on the floor moving to "O Let's Do It", your reservations for the song will quickly be pushed aside. With as many cats jumping on the remix bandwagon as there has been, the song is a certified banger that can set him up for a wider reaching song.
To wrap it up, if you're making music for the sole reason of soul gratification, you might as well keep doing it in your mother's basement. It's called "music industry" for a reason. Even the most lyrical cats have made songs for the radio (think Talib's "Never Been In Love" or Mos Def & Pharaohe Monche's "Oh No") and that wasn't a bad thing--artistry is subjective to the person listening to it.
Get at me.
So Wayne got popped for gun possession and was sentenced to 8 months up in Rikers. Big deal, right? I'm sure the near 5 star accommodations and preferential treatment he's likely to receive will make that time fly like nobody's business. Call it a little vacation (especially since Birdman said he's got "a milly" on the books for him and he's going to kick his feet up. Natural. Take him out of the equation and what exactly do you have left? A headless (and dreadless) rap Voltron and a community of hungry rappers happily licking their jowls in hopes of claiming some of his market share. If you want my opinion on what the rest of the game and his own people should do, I'm one step ahead of you.
Young Money/Cash Money crew(s)
Since there is virtually no Cash Money records outside of Birdman and Junior, Baby would profit best from cracking that vault of features his son has stashed away and sling 'em in true dopeboy fashion. There should be so much music by him on the radio and on other people's albums that even after he comes back home people are going to ask "When's he going in again?" Along with this, cool out on rapping yourself, play the background (not because you're wack or anything like that but because Junior should be Drew Brees'n the show)
Drake, Nicki Minaj & company should strategize how they're going to attack the different and varying aspects of the game under the YMCMB banner. Nicki should continue on as she's been doing with the guest features on R&B singers and female rapper's projects; Jae Millz and Mack Maine go in for the mixtape buzz and each have at least one Gangsta Grillz under his belt before Wayne comes home and the rest of the crew do your best to make a name for yourself otherwise you will get buried under the weight of Drake and Nicki's name and the sheer anonymity given by the two promotional Young Money music videos and the ganglion of Birdman/Drake/Lil' Wayne songs on Birdman's Pricele$$ album. I'm not even being funny when I say most don't even know you exist.
The rest of hip hop
Besides the Young Money crew, the rest of hip hop should be looking at this an opportunity to increase your respective buzzes by doing viral music videos, more features and free mixtapes and trying to get crossover appeal. If you're already doing this, you have an 8 month window to ramp it up harder and get noticed. I'm telling you this because the same thing that happened with Pimp C's release will happen with Wayne--he's going to get out and be sought after to see if he's still got it and he's going to be hungry, not regular rapper hungry where they go and record a new song with cheap DVD music video accompaniment, hungry like get on everything with everyone, drop four mixtapes in a month and tour the next year straight. Love him or hate him, he has an incredible work ethic and being away from the mic is only going to increase that exponentially. If I were y'all, I'd be scheduling a lump of advance to get in the streets working.
Hear an analyst say it, every industry in the world is so bloated and over-saturated that those that rise above the over-saturated-ness is blessed by some big bosom, pale as death Greek goddess with shimmering golden hair. I'm the first one to say "get that bullshit outta here!" If that were the case, the rap game would be like the three circles of hell with newbies fighting the underground notables and the underground notables clawing at those with mainstream appeal.
And then you have a new breed; those that move outside the norms and realized that by doing things a little bit differently you can get results others might not be privy to. Cats like Curren$y, Drake, Wale and Wiz Khalifa aren't giving you recycled beats with hookless "freestyles" with a million unfocused bars. Instead they've taken it upon themselves to provide you, the listener, with first rate and original quality music to tide you over until the full length drops. Let's look at a project from each in turn and I'll show you why these guys deserve the recognition they're receiving.
Drake- So Far Gone
Sure, everyone knows Aubrey was on Degrassi for a minute and this mixtape has been around for a good long while before it garnered him notice. With 17 tracks you get a chance to see what the kid has to say and because he can croon as well as spit you're likely to hear your girlfriend bump his joint more than you will and still be okay with it. Add in that he successfully sold most of the same songs in stores long after it had been given away for free on the internet really and truly shows just how marketable he is--and he knows this. The only grievance I have is I wish he would focus more on his Canadian roots and bring more of that flavor to his songs rather than come across as Birdman Jr. Jr.
Curren$y- Everything past Fin...
Curren$y was getting stepson'd for a while when he dealt with No Limit and later Cash Money (considering that he was the best thing on the label I can't see why) and when he stopped caring about what the labels do and say is when he came into his own. Seven mixtapes in 7 months showed his hunger but it wasn't until he dropped Jets Fool, Jet Files and How Fly with Wiz that people really began taking notice. No more industry instrumentals or terrible Soundclick free beats; straight up indie production that was unique enough to make his tapes from then on collector's items. Recently hooking up with Dame Dash and forming the super group with Jay Electronica and Mos Def doesn't hurt either.
L.E.$.- Settle for L.E.$. (The Fixtape)
L.E.$. got my attention after he hooked up with DJ Mr. Rogers for this "fixtape" of all original mood music consisting of laid back beats and rhymes. I've found myself listening to this when I hop in the whip and cruise on a late night excursion with a lady friend; the reason being the quality of the music. The concept is a throwback to when you didn't have to skip tracks and letting it ride all the way through was the norm and not the exception. Coming from Texas, the vibe reverberated with me and if y'all ain't up on this dude, you might need to peep him out. Nothing but good shit coming from the aptly named Shit Factory. Can't wait to see what comes out next.
To wrap it up, you can apply what I'm saying to whatever it is you're doing and if you just so happen to rap, heed my words even more. I don't care if you're giving it away for free, I'm not about to sit here and listen to sixty minutes of you Blackberry freestyling over a DJ Toomp track you didn't buy. Be creative. Isn't that what artistry is for?
5 Things You Can Learn From Soulja Boy.
By CZA The CEO
Soulja Boy may not be one of your favorites on a purely artistic level but there's no question about the kid's hustle and that's what more people should focus on. Damn near every rapper in the world dropped a verse on or remade "Crank Dat" when it was bubbling so I don't want to hear any talk about his relevancy. What I do want more people to start scrutinizing, far more than they do already, is how authentic an artist's work ethic is and what kind of moves they make independent of their respective record labels. Right now is probably the best time ever for the artist to take control of their brand image and create good situations for themselves that they can prosper from for a long time to come. That being said, here's five things that Soulja Boy has done that you can integrate into your grind:
Use What You Got
Starting out, I'm sure SB didn't have multi-million dollar recording studio access, professionally done music videos and top of the line distribution; that one scene from "Turn My Swag On" where he sat in his bedroom rapping into a $20 Radio Shack mic was probably more that likely what he was on. He used what was right in front of him instead of wishing for a Pro Tools set up to fall in his hands. People didn't know him from a hole in the wall and the only thing that would separate him from the pack was his creativity. By hitting up free services like Youtube, Soundclick and Myspace promoting his music he was able to counteract the fact that he was working with a shoestring budget.
Hold That Win
When "Crank Dat" hit he couldn't have known how big it would eventually be but he knew that he couldn't rest on his laurels; hit songs are made every day and if he wanted to stay in front of the people, he would need to do something about it. In his case, following up the song with a massive amount of touring and consistently new music helped satisfy those that were getting tired of hearing "Crank Dat" on the radio a million times a day while giving those that wanted that one hit a chance to see him live. He held that win until he had another and stacked them up like bricks, building a catalog of songs show goers would pay for.
Stay The Same But Switch It Up
Realistically, how much different is one SB song from another? Not very and that's due to him catering it to his specific audience who have bought it now and will buy it later. Musically, there is no real need to change up anything; his beats got better but lyrically he stays on the same topics to keep his fan base happy. In some cases that would make an artist irrelevant but once again he led the pack by putting more visual content out than other rappers via the mainstay Youtube and the new drug of choice, Ustream. The best part about it is that he doesn't really even have to do anything but sit in front of a webcam and be him! People flock to it and it gives him an opportunity to create impressions and advertise whatever he wants. I think he's even doing themed shows now that can cater even more. Don't get it twisted, the kid ain't dumb.
Don't Be Afraid Of Detractors
Ice-T told him to suck his dick. Charles Hamilton called him an opportunist who hurt the game. In both cases Soulja handled it so well I swear he took a page out of 50 Cent's How To Cook Beef With 50 with how he went about dancing around these two. Both Ice and Charles came at him wrong in their approach. Tracy came on a straight up disrespectful tip, one that he might have gotten away with if he was around the same age but because of the massive age difference (T being around 50 at the time) he just looked like an old washed up cat bitching at a young guy from the porch. When the rebuttal was well articulated and made sense, the world's eye came back on him in disapproval and he quickly came back with an apology for being so gully to the kid.
For Chuck-o, who made the mistake of coming at dude on some super-intellectual-save-the-industry shit, a few punchlines detailing his love of video game characters was enough to make people side with SB. Trading out Sonic for Super Mario? I laughed hard from that one. Quiet as kept, I think he helped pull the curtains on Charlie Ham's career.
Diversify Your Hustle
The last thing you might soak up from Soulja Boy is always be on the lookout for opportunities to extend your brand; he probably thought that writing on a pair of shades was cool for comedic effect, not realizing just how many kids would run out to grab a pair of sunglasses that looked like his so they could write on them too. Google "Soulja Boy shades" and see how many sites advertise knock offs. The same goes with Yums; I've seen multitudes of people rocking the shoes and clothes he put out. There was an interview back in '07 where he said he wanted to venture into those markets and he did. Y'all better stop sleeping on this cat, he's about his business and I can't do anything other than tip my hat to his hustle.
About CZA: Drawing upon several years experience in the lifestyle and entertainment journalism field
working with reputable print and online publications such as The Source, Basic magazine,
BallerStatus.com, YoRaps.com amongst many others, CZA (pronounced CEE-ZAH) possesses an expert insight and in-depth understanding of the key factors that cause success and now focuses primarily on motivational authorship and speaking.
Currently, he is penning The CEO
Theory: How Changing Your Mindset Can Change Your World, a “why-to” on the virtues of self
branding, self-actualization and molding the entrepreneurial mindset from the viewpoint of
someone versed in both the corporate and street corner perspectives and knows how to deliver
that to the everyman and woman.
1/25/2010: #1
Yep, The Saints Won...
Most people have a fucked up mentality. Wait, let me start again.
Top of the grind to all my CEOs out there (and if you don't know why the hell I'm talking about CEOs in a hip hop site hold up a minute scrap, I got you) going hard for the win in the last part of the new year. Some might recognize me but for those that don't I go by the name CZA The CEO and I write books, blogs & random shit, produce a lil' bit speak publicly about how to hustle better by thinking better. Now that that's done, let me get back to business as usual.
Truth be told, most people have a fucked up mentality and go around bullshitting and sugar-coating every chance they get because that's what they've been trained to do. I know I'm not the only one sick of it and is willing to come real, nevermind "keeping it real", 100% "how you see it is how it is" real. I'm not gonna tell you that by buying my book when it drops is going to solve your problems--it will be a good read and you'll help keep me from going back to ramen noodles--but everything you need to get right is within yourself; think of me as your guide. If anything, what I hope to accomplish here is to drop a couple gems that you can read real quick, log off and apply to your day cause real talk, that Red Bull ain't gonna cut it potna. We good? Alright, let's chop up game.
As I'm writing this I'm looking out at the black Los Angeles night thinking about what I'm going to do tomorrow and happy that the Saints are going to the Super Bowl. At one time or another we're all like the Saints, years spent trying to blow but never quite making it there. Then we get hit by an obstacle that almost kills us (like hurricane Katrina did to the city) and even though we could've let it go and chalk it up to whatever deity you believe in flushing the bowl on us, we get up still and keep going until we do like they did tonight and get closer than we've ever gotten before to winning.
It isn't over yet, they still gotta win the bowl but it still is a victory and you should feel the same way every time you face an issue and come out on top. You'll be better for it in some way. Sports analogies aside, if you're still wondering what a CEO is, what I am and what you can be, it is someone who Creates Every Opportunity and Conquers Every Obstacle. They are hustlers, moguls and people who wake up ready to stand up like the man or woman they are and take pride in their day. This is the kind of stuff you'll get from my journal here, my view of the world, hip hop and getting up and over. Real. Motivation.
05/13 - 
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Music, Money & Madness: Why the COICA Act is Worthless
I Got $5 On It...
Do We Really Care About Leaks?
...Stylin' On You
The Flocka Flame Theory
When Lil' Wayne's Away...
Simple As A Mixtape
5 Things You Can Learn From Soulja Boy. 
Yep, The Saints Won...
