Random thoughts about the West Coast, Rap, etc. etc......

[ability]

The west is to big to get anything mainstream without rappers having that big name co-signing for them.  We need to understand that we do not make anymore stars(Death Row 90's), the industry does, and shoves pure wackness on us like the CIA did crack.  Too many kids are getting fed this music that some of us think is corny.  We used to have to go to swapmeets to get these (great) records that radio would not dare to play, now it is dictating what we want to hear.  Not knocking anyone, do you, but do not get upset that your favorite rapper is not where you think he should be. 

[Turf Hitta]

R-Tistic on purpose as usual.

[Teddy Roosevelt]

I was going to start a thread about my thoughts on about the West Coast. O well, maybe I'll still do it.

Thanks R-Tistic for dropping some knowledge in this section. Something that was badly needed. I love Hyphy/Bay Area music, but I think people are overestimating this "movement" way too much. A side from E-40 nobody is selling shit in the Bay. Ghetto Report Card will definatly open some doors for the Bay, but so far it hasn't really accomplished anything commerically as far as sales go (E-40 went gold, but didn't even sell 500K yet).

I agree with what you said about Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube.

As far as Atlanta is concerned, I think the South will eventually lose pace if it continues it's pattern of trying to find another way to go commerical. They already get a lot of anomisty there way from the East Coast and to a lesser etent the West. The South will probably find a way to stay popular, but it won't be by fallowing the same trend.

As for what you were saying about the West Coast, we just have to accept the fact the West Coast artists just aren't marketable anymore. It is a bit of a mystery as to how this will change, but artists need to stop the constant bullshiting they are doing to themselves which includes beefing, putting out a dozen mixtapes when people aren't listening to one, rapping about the same old thing and sound, (a lot of rappers are diversifying, but not enough) , expecting a hand out so easily etc.

[Vegasmac25]

Its just nice to hear good West Coast music again.Its been awhile since we've had alot of dope Westcoast albums droping back to back like the past year and half and we still going strong.One this for sure though if you like the album please go out and buy it.

[WestCoasta]

it's all about who wants to back the music, that's it, period


the people that blow up are the ones who get force-fed by record companies


I don't get why it's such a mystery why so-and-so hasn't blown up...


when you start seein a grip of videos and you're certain there's a buzz, that's when someone blows up


and the only people who can make that kinda ripple effect is Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, that's it


not even Ice Cube... he sold good units for indy but you know that wasn't really big nationwide, ton of people didn't know he came out with an album

[R-Tistic]

The west is to big to get anything mainstream without rappers having that big name co-signing for them.  We need to understand that we do not make anymore stars(Death Row 90's), the industry does, and shoves pure wackness on us like the CIA did crack.  Too many kids are getting fed this music that some of us think is corny.  We used to have to go to swapmeets to get these (great) records that radio would not dare to play, now it is dictating what we want to hear.  Not knocking anyone, do you, but do not get upset that your favorite rapper is not where you think he should be. 

Yeah there are always a lot of reasons to why our artists never get signed and never get promoted at that level.

It's the same way for other genres of music, and even in sports. Companies push whoever they feel is most marketable and stands out the most, and when it comes to music, it's hard for anyone to really make it like that just from their own hard work.

[R-Tistic]

As for what you were saying about the West Coast, we just have to accept the fact the West Coast artists just aren't marketable anymore. It is a bit of a mystery as to how this will change, but artists need to stop the constant bullshiting they are doing to themselves which includes beefing, putting out a dozen mixtapes when people aren't listening to one, rapping about the same old thing and sound, (a lot of rappers are diversifying, but not enough) , expecting a hand out so easily etc.

I agree that many rappers need to stop doin that shit. As far as our rappers not bein marketable, it's a bit of a chicken vs. egg situation. Right now, we can tell that what is "marketable" or what is hottest as far as rappers and their images are concerned just don't really match what most west coast rappers are. The Ying Yangs, D4Ls, Franchise boys, Lil Jon, and some of the extremely ignorant images out there are a lot more marketable than a clean cut, normal talkin, laid back dude who's from the west. There are the T.I.s who may have a "suave" kind of appeal to them, and there are west coast artists that could probably fit into that kind of image, but many of them don't have that total package. But we all know that these images are hella trendy, and five years from now, they might be on something completely different. Even Kanye's image changed the game a whole lot.

[R-Tistic]

it's all about who wants to back the music, that's it, period


the people that blow up are the ones who get force-fed by record companies


I don't get why it's such a mystery why so-and-so hasn't blown up...


when you start seein a grip of videos and you're certain there's a buzz, that's when someone blows up


and the only people who can make that kinda ripple effect is Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, that's it


not even Ice Cube... he sold good units for indy but you know that wasn't really big nationwide, ton of people didn't know he came out with an album

Yeah, that's always a MAAAAAAAAAJOR issue.

I remember when Game first started to get out there. Even though I was down with his camp, I was still tellin people outside of California that Crooked I was my favorite west coast rapper, and that he was the best one that we had. However, nobody really cared because of the fact that Game was the one who was always on TV. I had a debate with somebody from the East about that, and he was basically saying that Game had the image that Crooked I and others didn't have, and I was saying that the image itself is important, but if a record company pushes something, it will usually sell regardless of what all is hot.

It just seems like many companies are scared to push something that is new or different. But when they do, they usually succeed, because people are hella bandwagon and usually jump on whatever seems to be hot. So on one side, we can say that our rappers don't have that image, but on the other side, it may deal more with the companies feeling that the image they have won't sell, even though it could if they tried pushin it.

[Tha G In Deee]

it's all about who wants to back the music, that's it, period


the people that blow up are the ones who get force-fed by record companies


I don't get why it's such a mystery why so-and-so hasn't blown up...


when you start seein a grip of videos and you're certain there's a buzz, that's when someone blows up


and the only people who can make that kinda ripple effect is Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, that's it


not even Ice Cube... he sold good units for indy but you know that wasn't really big nationwide, ton of people didn't know he came out with an album

^True...& it's always the same people bein' used over & over again (Snoop, Cube, Dre) & aren't really givin' them at least a litle shine & that's why the new West artists are gettin' all shook up about it, I don't blame 'em...

[WestCoasta]

  to R-Tistic and UTI

[XaNdEr]

 R-Tistic got a lotta truth in what he said

but theres one thing i gotta say

wether a region (or coast for that case) is gonna blow up has mainly to do with backing from labels, aint not much labels fucking with the west cuz they aint making no profit from it, east coast albums sell a lot better lately (look at sound scan numbers of Ice Cube, Daz and stuff and compare them to eastcoast albums)

so yeah, unless the industry gonna back the west up nothings gonna happen wether u like it or not...shudbt be this way but it is...

[Noname]

I think the West is the next in line to take the crown fro the South. Sooner or later people will get bored hearing the same music. We just need a couple of REAL and NEW West Coast cats, to take the crown. Maybe in combination with some old skool rappers. Thats why im giving Snoop much props for what he's doing.

[Bay Area Jat]

R-tistic i pretty much agree with everything you said. One thing that seperates us from Atlanta is album sales. It seems like every album coming out the ATL no matter how shitty it is goes gold. We need to start supporting our artist more. The only way were gonna get major labels looking our way is if we start selling more units.

[Bay Area Jat]

according to that dubcnn interview with snoop hes supposed to be heading up Koch west which should open the door up for more rappers that are on the verge of blowing up to get there music out to the masses

[Teddy Roosevelt]

As for what you were saying about the West Coast, we just have to accept the fact the West Coast artists just aren't marketable anymore. It is a bit of a mystery as to how this will change, but artists need to stop the constant bullshiting they are doing to themselves which includes beefing, putting out a dozen mixtapes when people aren't listening to one, rapping about the same old thing and sound, (a lot of rappers are diversifying, but not enough) , expecting a hand out so easily etc.

I agree that many rappers need to stop doin that shit. As far as our rappers not bein marketable, it's a bit of a chicken vs. egg situation. Right now, we can tell that what is "marketable" or what is hottest as far as rappers and their images are concerned just don't really match what most west coast rappers are. The Ying Yangs, D4Ls, Franchise boys, Lil Jon, and some of the extremely ignorant images out there are a lot more marketable than a clean cut, normal talkin, laid back dude who's from the west. There are the T.I.s who may have a "suave" kind of appeal to them, and there are west coast artists that could probably fit into that kind of image, but many of them don't have that total package. But we all know that these images are hella trendy, and five years from now, they might be on something completely different. Even Kanye's image changed the game a whole lot.

Interesting point about the "chicken vs. egg situation". When you say a record company can market anyone that is true. However they only want to market people that are what they think are marketable artists, which definatly isn't WC artists in there eyes. They can market anyone, but from a business stand point why would they when the can just pick the most marketable. As for your point about taking the risk usually pays off you mentioned before, they'd rather take the safe bet and make garunteed money instead of risking losing it. But a couple risks by these record companies would pay off eventually if they weren't so stupid. Even if it didn't work out, the record companies would still at least break even the way they rob there artists.