SWAGG REPORT: Swagg Boss & Alchemist Chopping It Up In Las Vegas.
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 Swagg Boss & Alchemist Chopping It Up In Las Vegas
Alchemist Interview In Swaggnews Coming Soon.
Posts Tagged ‘b boy’
SWAGG REPORT: Music Made MC Joey Stylez more than ‘just another statistic’ Black Star Album In Stores Feb 23rd 2010. Pick Up 5 Copies.
Friday, February 19th, 2010
With a new album and a video on MuchMusic, hip-hop artist Joey Stylez thinks that the reason that his freewheeling style appeals to so many is that it comes out of the tension and challenges of the hardscrabble native communities that he and his peers grew up in.
Long a powerful voice for activist First Nations youth, native hip-hop is poised to blow up outside of the underground and grab all ears.
The artist leading the way is Saskatchewan-born, Vancouver-based Moosmin First Nation MC Joey Stylez. His track “Sugar Cane” is in rotation on MuchMusic’s Rap City and won an Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Award for best music video.
The single is just one killer cut on Stylez’s debut album, The Black Star, which was named after his traditional Plains Cree grandmother’s last name. The disc veers from the geeky punk testimonial “Jail Byrd” and Weezer-y taunt “Mr. Milkman” to the Dirty South vibin’ “Living Proof” or bent rap “She Luvs Me.”
Just like his chameleonic fashion sense, Stylez’s music is able to stand up in any genre. It didn’t happen overnight.
“I’ve been going strong the last 10 years full-on,” says Stylez. “But winning that People’s Choice Award up against the likes of Buffy Ste. Marie and Crystal Shawanda was pretty surprising. I didn’t have a speech prepared because I didn’t think there was any chance of it happening.”
Obviously, his music speaks to the listeners. But he thinks that the reason that his freewheeling style appeals to so many is that it comes out of the tension and challenges of the hardscrabble native communities that he and his peers grew up in. He says that the plains areas are still a bit more old-fashioned and “cowboys ‘n’ Indians” in much of the social structure and it leads to native youth finding an outlet in the street level truths of rap.
Through family and friends, he himself is no stranger to what he calls “the jail culture,” but didn’t want to let his music dwell there.
Still, Stylez can’t go far from the urban music he came up with, but now can talk about other things relevant to his community, too. Like travelling to the Louvre or the MOMA to see great art, or about the wild cities in Japan.
“I’ve been very fortunate, very blessed to see a lot of the world and that has really given me a much more worldly sound,” he says.
“It’s true about my fashion sense, too. I make sure to focus on my look and give up a look that can attract a lot of people to my music. It’s a very cosmetic world, sadly, and you’ve got to pay attention to this.”
The other thing he insists must be followed to the letter is to keep on making music that matters to him.
“I went through a lot of ups and down and grew up in tune with the prison life and I wanted to show the world what goes down in the tiny little speck of the planet I grew up in,” Stylez says.
“If it wasn’t for music, I’d be just another statistic from there. I think a lot of people would be interested in that modern native experience.”
SWAGG REPORT: Ted Lucas, Miami Hip-Hop Producer Reveals The Secrets of His Success. A Hit Record Will Change Your Life. .
Friday, February 19th, 2010
A hit record will change your life.
That’s the hip-hop gospel of Ted Lucas, the Miami-Gardens-boy-turned-music-entrepreneur, leader of the independent label that helped put Miami rappers on the map.
The evidence of Slip N Slide Records’ success is scattered across its South Beach offices. A framed magazine cover here, a platinum record there. There are so many platinum awards that Lucas crams the extras into the space between a couch and wall.
But what he really wants you to know is that a hit record can change your life.
The saying hangs from several walls scattered across the building, along with other pieces of advice, like “a hook makes a hit record.”
“We’re not sleeping at all,” he says on a short break one Friday afternoon, after rattling off a list of releases he has scheduled for this year.
“We’ve got to make great music and work harder.”
Lucas has told the story of his success before. Sitting inside his recording studio, he tells the narrative with ease.
He grew up near what is now Sun Life Stadium and dreamed of playing professional football.
Lucas played high school football at American High, then with a scholarship went to Chaminade Preparatory High in Hollywood.
He figured the next step was college ball and spent one semester at Ranger College, a junior college in Texas.
Except money was tight, he says, and Lucas discovered that higher-level football was a lot harder than it looked.
Lucas came home for winter break in 1991 and never went back.
He made his way into the world of promoting club events through his friend Derek “Hollywood” Harris. He had some success and felt ready to move up to arena shows.
Those didn’t go so well.
He still remembers the show that forced him out at the Miami Arena.
Rain fell all night, and almost nobody bought tickets. Lucas had to pay the acts, including R. Kelly and Levert, even though they never performed.
“That’s the kind where you go home,” he says, “and you can’t sleep at night.”
ARTISTS GOT PAID
His money gone, Lucas decided to move to the other side of entertainment, working with the artists. Because, it seemed to him, they always got paid.
In 1994, his motivation grew after Hollywood was fatally shot while sitting in his car.
“It showed me that street life didn’t pay. The end of the street life is prison or death,” Lucas said.
He got his first taste of music success about three years later, featuring the street-savvy raps of Hollywood’s half-brother, Maurice Young, also known as Trick Daddy.
When Hollywood died, Trick was in jail on cocaine charges. When he got out, Lucas and Trick made a deal.
“If he stays out of trouble, I’m going to invest in him,” Lucas said. “Thank God he stayed out of trouble.”
The first album, Based on a True Story, was recorded in a friend’s house. They lined a bedroom and bathroom with Wal-Mart purchased foam, put the recording equipment in the bedroom and ran a cord into the bathroom.
Trick recorded the album in the shower.
Based on a True Story sold 500,000 copies. Then came Trick’s second album, www.thug.com.
The way Lucas tells the story, Slip N Slide hit the clubs hard during the 1999 Super Bowl weekend in Miami, tapping DJs on the shoulder and getting them to play the first single, a biting rap back and forth battle between Trick and Hollywood’s former girlfriend, Katrina Taylor. She went on to become the rapper Trina.
Lucas figured the song would sell itself.
The Monday after the game, the major labels were in his lobby. Within 24 hours, he had a distribution deal with Atlantic, which still distributes the label. Since then, Slip N Slide has added distribution deals with Def Jam and EMI.
GOLD, PLATINUM
As for the rest of the story, it’s more easily summarized in all the gold and platinum records hanging from Slip N Slide’s walls.
Among those stars remains Trina, who spent Super Bowl weekend in South Florida shooting the video for her latest single, featuring Diddy and Keri Hilson. Million Dollar Girl is filled with slick sounds and catchy groove — along with a shout out to Miami less than a minute in.
It hasn’t all been easy. Trick broke off and started his own label, Dunk Ryders. Slip N Slide diversified, signing the R&B group Jagged Edge last year and growing the rap roster to include Plies and Rick Ross.
But pieces of the original start remain. They include Trina, who is scheduled to release her next album in May. She spent this past Super Bowl weekend filming the video for its first single, Million Dollar Girl, which also features Diddy and Keri Hilson.
The music industry evolved from cassettes to CD’s to the iTunes store. Lucas’ market research includes feedback from his children about what plays on their friends’ iPods.
But one thing stays constant. Lucas is pure Miami. That’s why Lucas says he’s turned down offers to move.
That’s why, among his many accomplishments, he boasts about his Tom Dowd Lifetime Achievement Award from the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law division of the Florida Bar. The winners before him include Dolphins coaching legend Don Shula, which Lucas is quick to point out.
And like any Miami native steeped in Dolphins lore, he can’t help but talk about his business — and the importance of a hit record — in pigskin terms.
“It’s like a football team,” he says of his business. “You got a hit record, but now you have to go back to win the championship.”
SWAGG REPORT: US President Barack Obama Loves Hip Hop & Listens To Jay-Z While Working Out.
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Hip-Hop artist Jay-Z has revealed that US President Barack Obama enjoys listening to expletive-laden songs while exercising in the gym. Buzz up!In fact, Obama had his Blueprint 3 album playing during a recent telephonic conversation, Jay-Z said. He said: “Barack loves hip hop, when I called him he was playing Blueprint in the gym.” The Telegraph reported, it was during an interview for Jonathan Ross’s Friday night show on BBC One that Jay-Z made the claims, according to The Mirror. He added: “I’ve been invited to the White House a couple of times. “Hopefully we’ll keep him in for eight years so I’ll have time to get there.”
The ’99 Problems’ rapper has revealed the political leader is a big hip-hop fan and uses his expletive-riddled tracks to inspire him during his work-outs.
“I’ve been invited to the White House a couple of times. Hopefully, we’ll keep him for eight years so I’ll have time to get there.”
Jay-Z – who is married to Beyonce Knowles – recently threw a lavish 40th birthday party in the Dominican Republic and admits the best thing about the bash was outdoing his friend P. Diddy, who is famed for his extravagant celebrations.
He added to UK TV talk show host Jonathan Ross: “Puff throws the best parties ever but I got him this time. He practically MC’d my party.”
The music mogul – who has his own Roc Nation music company and was previously president of Def Jam records – recently advised record companies to become “smarter” in order to survive.
He said: “People have to be smarter about how they A+R, and what they put out, record companies need to catch up to that, someone needs to send them the memo.
“I remember the first year I was at Def Jam we put out 56 artists. There isn’t 56 great artists in the world, and this is one company. One company operating for around 80 artists in a year. That’s just too many.”
SWAGG REPORT: Swagg Boss Quote of The Day. In Order To Control It. You Got To Own It.
Friday, February 12th, 2010
In Order To Control It.
You Got To Own It.
swaggboss@gmail.com
myspace.com/bigapplesworld
SWAGG REPORT: Lil Wayne Heading To Rikers Island Prison. His Jail Sentencing Has Also Been Extended To March 2nd 2010. He Records 4 Videos In 1 Week Before He Serves His Time.
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Although Lil Wayne will spend a year in prison, fans will get to see plenty of the rapper, as he recorded four music videos this past weekend.
According to MTV News, Cash Money heads Ronald “Slim” Williams and Brian “Baby” Williams entlisted the servies of video director David Rousseau to shoot nine videos. Production reportedly began at 9:00 AM on Friday (Feb 5), and finished around 8:00 AM on Sunday (Feb 7). [Editor's Note: HipHopDX learned Thursday morning that Wayne in fact shot four weekend videos, to add to five already finished shoots.]
“We shot some shit from the [We Are Young Money compilation] album, we shot something from [Wayne's forthcoming] Tha Carter IV. Some stuff from [Wayne's recent LP] Rebirth,” said the director. “We knew what our deadline was. We’re trying to get maximum coverage for Wayne. Most of the time we only shot Wayne’s verses — we’ll finish the rest of the videos off in the next couple of weeks.”
Rousseau elaborated, explaining the magnitude of the task at hand. “Cash Money said, ‘This is our deadline. This is a hard deadline.’ It was basically a Mission: Impossible [scenario]: This is your mission if you choose to accept it. Everybody is onboard because everybody knows what’s at stake. Unlike T.I. and some of these other guys that’s disappeared while they were in, the point is to keep Wayne [visible] on TV and everything for whatever time he’s in. There was a plan in action. Slim and Baby really could foresee that. He’s at the height of his career, you can’t let that momentum slip.”
Among the videos that were recorded were “Da Da Da,” “Knockout” and “Get a Life” from Rebirth, and an unnamed “complete secret” track from Carter IV.
Well, leave it to Grammy Award-winning rapper Lil Wayne to make sure his prized possession is perfectly aligned before heading to New York’s Rikers Island prison.
The bling-bling creator managed to extend his Tuesday jail sentencing until March 2 due to ongoing dental surgery for a cracked tooth. According to the rapper’s lawyer, Stacey Richman, Wayne’s medical condition needs to be “addressed” sooner rather than later.
“It is a medical situation that, like [it would for] any of us, has to be addressed,” she said outside a New York City courtroom, adding that Wayne had plans to have the surgery done before his Feb. 9 sentencing, however his dentist was out of the country participating in charitable work.
According to the Associated Press, Wayne is scheduled to undergo surgery Feb. 12 in Miami and will need 10 days to recover. Upon Judge Charles H. Solomon’s ruling, the New Orleans native must return home to Miami on Tuesday (Feb. 9) to prevent any delays with his surgery due to weather conditions leaving New York on Wednesday.
“I don’t want this to get pushed back anymore,” Solomon said. “This is the last adjournment.” Lil Wayne is set to serve a one-year prison term stemming from a Oct. 2007 arrest for attempted weapons possession.
SWAGG REPORT: Drake Getting Ready To Get On His First Ever North American Solo Tour With K-Os.
Monday, February 8th, 2010
Grammy nominated Canadian Toronto Rapper Drake has announced his first ever North American solo tour with the launch of “The Away From Home Tour.”
Drake will hit the road for 25 dates with fellow Canadian rapper K-Os and New York City based synth-pop band, Francis & The Lights.
The 25-date tour will kick off on April 5 at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois and will wind down May 8 in Plymouth, New Hampshire at a private location.
Drake has teamed with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, to make the tour eco-friendly , by “greening” the tour using biodiesel fuel in his tour bus, in addition to using biodegradable and recycled products on his tour bus and backstage.
Drake will play a variety of festivals on the tour, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and The Bamboozle festival.
The tour is Drake’s first official tour since wrapping up the Lil Wayne
headlined, Young Money Presents: The America’s Most Wanted Music Festival Tour dates are listed below:
Date City/State Venue
4/06/2010 Charleston, IL Eastern Illinois University
4/07/2010 Columbus, OH Private Location
4/09/2010 State College, PA Penn State University
4/10/2010 Boston, MA Private Location
4/11/2010 Lock Haven, PA Private Location
4/14/2010 East Lansing, MI Michigan State University
4/15/2010 Rochester Hills, MI Oakland University
4/16//2010 Morgantown, WV West Virginia University
4/21/2010 Orlando, FL University Central Florida
4/22/2010 Greenville, SC Furman University
4/23/2010 TBA
4/24/2010 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
4/26/2010 Kansas City, MO University of Missouri – Kansas City
4/27/2010 Lexington, KY University of Kentucky
4/29/2010 Lowell, MA University Mass Lowell
4/30/2010 Syracuse, NY Private Location
5/01/2010 Boston, MA Private Location
5/01/2010 East Rutherford, NJ Bamboozle Festival
5/04/2010 Worcester, MA Holy Cross
5/05/2010 Towson, MD Towson University
5/06/2010 Cheney, PA Cheyney University
5/07/2010 Ithaca, NY Private Location
5/08/2010 Plymouth, NH Private Location
