Makin' It Magazine

Every month I find myself in a barbershop, record store, or club parking lot listening to artists claiming that record labels will sign just about anybody these days. I hear them complain about radio stations not playing their songs. I hear them talk about the lack of opportunities for artists with real talent to get heard. I’ve listened to many different versions of these same complaints for over five years as an artist, a manager, a studio owner, and a consultant. These complaints were the exact reason that I put together “The Beat Game: $5000 Rap Contest.” My whole purpose was to provide a level playing field where artists could showcase their talent and get some much needed exposure regardless of where they came from. The funny thing is, when I mention the contest to those same artists, half of them turn their nose up because they feel they are too good to be participating in such a contest while the other half will ask for more information. I’ll talk to them and explain the details but once I tell them there is a $35 entry fee all but a few will loose complete interest. I’ve had artists tell me everything from “I don’t pay to rap…” to “You should be paying us to participate…” I laugh it off because these are the same artists that sit around complaining about their situation, which brings me to the title of this article, “Why wack artist get deals!”

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So we’re back for another round of Myspace marketing techniques and advice. I’m sure if you’re a loyal MySpace junkie that you’ve logged into your account at least once in the past month only to find a post from one of your friends telling you, “All girls are str8 up lying when they say size doesn’t matter…” If you don’t know what I’m talking bout then let me elaborate on a little thing called Phishing. This is what they call it when someone uses a phony webpage (usually resembling a Myspace login screen) to steals your account email and password. They then use this information to log into your account and spam everybody on your friend’s list by posting comments for everything from penis enlargement pills to ring tone websites.

Unlike most of the spam you may receive on Myspace these are messages from people’s accounts that you know and have added to your friend’s list. The worst part about it you may even be a victim of it and not even know until someone tells you. This can easily lead to a bit of confusion and embarrassment seeing as how they are posting comments using your identity. For instance a couple of months ago I was negotiating an agreement with an artist who contacted me through Myspace when a couple days latter I get a comment from him about penis enlargement pills (LOL). Now if I hadn’t read an article about account phishing the week before, I probably wouldn’t have known what to make of it. Simply put if you receive a message from someone who you think may be a victim of phishing let them know by sending them a message. If you think that you yourself may be a victim we advise that you change your account password and remember to never give out your account information

There’s no denying the relationship between hip hop and basketball and no matter how many changes they make to the dress code, the culture is still going to bleed on to the court. In between the fact that every rapper thinks he could’ve went to the NBA and every basketball player thinks he can spit a hot sixteen, I don’t see this relationship coming to an end any time soon. Go to any basketball game and you’re likely to hear MIMS, Jay-Z, or Nelly playing throughout the arena. Turn on MTV or BET and you might just catch a story about Jay-z or Nelly buying a team.

So when John Ameachi outed himself, becoming the first openly gay man to have played in the NBA, I had to turn my head toward the hip hop world and wonder… Which one of our favorite rappers is living a life on the Down Low? Now, I’m sure Wendy Williams would love to give you a list of names with addresses and telephone numbers, but for our story we’re just going to focus on one, Kanye West. It’s no question that a lot of rumors have been thrown around regarding the Chicago rapper’s sexuality. And while a lot of it stems from his diva-esque Grammy rants and prima-donna attitude, I believe there was no bigger contributor to the rumors than his notorious outburst on MTV regarding homophobia in hip-hop. For those of you that don’t remember lets just rewind the clock back a few years to late 2005. Kanye was fi lming a special for MTV to promote his new album, Late Registration.

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Now just wait one G– D—- minute, you telling me that rap music is to blame for Don Imus calling a predominantly black female basketball team a bunch of “nappy head hoes.” Well if you let Oprah Winfrey or the ladies of Spelman tell it, you might be led to believe Don Imus was bumping the new Young Jeezy CD on his way to work that morning. It’s crazy how the media has spun a cut and dry case of a bigot making an obviously racist statement into a crusade against hip hop. For the second time in less than a year (Don’t forget about Kramer) a white man has made a racist outburst and instead of us examining the institutionalized racism that permeates every aspect of American culture, Oprah Winfrey and the Ladies of Spelman have chosen to focus on rap music. Now, I got nothing but love and respect for Oprah and the ladies of Spelman but they have clearly got a problem with hip hop. The way Oprah has used this racist outburst to rally her followers against rap music, reminds me of how Bush used 9/11 to invade Iraq.

I must say I was very disappointed to see Oprah and the ladies of Spelman attacking rap music and blaming it for the downward spiral of the black community, but I suppose that’s much easier than looking at the role they play in the situation. It has become increasingly obvious to me that the primary concern of our so called best and brightest has turned from collectively advancing our people to distancing themselves from them.

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This is the second installment of our series about myspace promotions. Last month we filled you in on some of the most common mistakes made by people new to the whole Myspace scene. This month we are back at it with a list of additional tips to help you create a powerful buzz both online and offline utilizing the power of Myspace. Just remember Myspace is only what you make it.

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