Somebody PLEASE explain this to me, cuz I'm FUCKIN HEATED!

[jeromechickenbone]

I swear to God, the music industry is failing because it has some of the most clueless fucks in the world running it.  Seriously.  I don't know the exact number, but hasn't 2pac sold like 30 million albums?  And the vast majority of those sales span from 2pacalypse Now to what, maybe UTEOT?  Everything since UTEOT has sold less and less.

Is it because all of the sudden 2pac became less of an artist?  Is he dropping wack lyrics now? Thats impossible cuz the niggas been dead for 10 years. I know, the verses that they are using now are horrible throw away tracks that Pac would have never used.   I know what it is, he's been gone for so long now that the youth doesn't really know who 2pac is and he is not appealing to them whatsover.  *Sam Jackson Voice*  WRONG ANSWER MOTHERFUCKER!

So again, why are these albums not selling like they used to?  I'll tell you the answer - IT'S BECAUSE IT'S A BUNCH OF BULLSHIT!!!   The assfucks in charge of these posthumous releases have completely desecrated 2pac's music.  They destroyed his SONGS - stripped his vocal off of the music that HE picked to rhyme over.  They trash that music and get some asshole that has no business "fixing" his beats so they sound more modernized and radio friendly for 2006. 

Then, they trashed the featured artists that 2pac respected and worked with, and instead throw on some flavor of the week rapper / R&B singer that some businessman clown thinks is marketable to today's hip hop audience.  WHAT THE FUCK!

Then, they alter Pac's verses - speed em up, slow em down, and half the time his rap cadence doesn't even match the beat of the bullshit that they paste it to.  Then they have the fucking audacity to actually CHANGE HIS LYRICS so it sounds like he's shouting out G-Unit or whoever the fuck they throw on there.  They manipulate it to play up the "2pac is alive" angle.  Great strategy - let's get some more album sales out of some gimmickery!  Fuck the music, people will buy the album to hear for themselves if there is some juicy conspiracy theories!

These people in the industry are doing all of these tactics in an effort to tap into the new / younger market.  These kids aren't familiar with 2pac, but they know all about Lil Scrappy, 50 Cent, T.I, Ashanti.  So let's put them all over the album!! FUCKING GENIUS!!  Nevermind the 30 FUCKING MILLION people who bought his albums when they were done the way he intended.  These same people would easily purchase more 2pac music if was in its original form.  I guarantee every album would go multi plat.  But the way they've been putting these latest albums together, they have successfully turned it into completely disposable trash just like 95% of all the other mainstream bullshit released today.  The beauty of Pac's catalog to me is that I can still learn from it and interpret it differently after all these years.  This shit that they're doing today is all but completely worthless.  Congratulations on pissing on the man's grave.

They don't do this in other genres.  You don't hear about leftover Elvis joints being remixed by today's hottest producers or back by todays hottest bands.  Why not?  CUZ IT'S A FUCKING RETARDED IDEA!!!  Let's take a fuckin Elvis vocal and get the douchebags from Nickelback to be the backing band.  Let's change his shit so it sounds like he's shouting out Nickelback during the songs!  We'll market him like he's a brand new artist and we'll get incredible sales that way!

I mean why the fuck is this acceptable?  I want to hear ALL of 2pac's leftovers, mainly because everything I have accumulated over the years which was unofficially released is damn good, even classic.  The only drawback is it's not CDQ.  It's been said that at the time of his death he had approximately 200 songs that were unreleased, and a very large chunk of that was done within the last year of his death.  In that time frame, i'd say 95% of his music was top notch and not wack bullshit that shouldn't be released.  So do they not see that if they released this music in it's natural state in CDQ that the same 30 MILLION people that supported him while he was alive would likely be supporting this as well? 

Some people will say "they couldn't get the samples cleared".  Sample clearance is usually a timing issue moreso than a $ issue.  They've had ample time to clear that shit.  It's BULLSHIT!  Paying for those samples would cost as much as the corny fuckin samples that Eminem used.  They won't pay some scrill to clear a sample, but they can get peeps like 50 cent, Ashanti, T.I. on the album?  You think those motherfuckers are ALL doing it out of the kindness of their heart?  I don't.  They're not using the og samples because they're trying to update the sound

They've transformed 2pac from a true Hip Hop Icon into a generic watered down piece of trash.

[ecrazy]

It's a Business, and whatever sells and makes money makes most people in the industry happy. if the music is appealing to the masses, do you think they care about the few "Diehard" fans like you?.....that's the truth

[King Tech Quadafi]

i agree 100% which is why i dont own a single post makaveli tupac album

[NotoriousA.O.D.]

You can't look at only pac's music as being what's off and not right. All of rap is that way. Rap is dead period. It's not like it used to be and I doubt it ever will be. Don't get me wrong there are a few albums here and there that are tight but raps been slowly dying since Eazy-E passed in 95. . .

[King Tech Quadafi]

It's a Business, and whatever sells and makes money makes most people in the industry happy.

u idiot, he just finished explainin how since pacs album started gettin tampered with, sales have decreased

[jeromechickenbone]

It's a Business, and whatever sells and makes money makes most people in the industry happy. if the music is appealing to the masses, do you think they care about the few "Diehard" fans like you?.....that's the truth

   Uh, fuck where do I start here...Apparently you fail to see that they are NOT appealing to the masses.  They're getting by on all these marketing ploys and managing very meager sales compared to what an artist of his caliber COULD be doing.  Do you think those 30 MILLION people that bought all of his past work has up and died?  Did they all the sudden decide that 2pac was wack?  No, it's a simple product that these fans have been completely alienated and don't support this bullshit that they pass off as a 2pac album.  If they kept his music in its true form these 30 million people would still have an interest.

[jeromechickenbone]

You can't look at only pac's music as being what's off and not right. All of rap is that way. Rap is dead period. It's not like it used to be and I doubt it ever will be. Don't get me wrong there are a few albums here and there that are tight but raps been slowly dying since Eazy-E passed in 95. . .

No, Pac's music DEF isn't the only thing that's off and not right.  I think it's a great barometer to measure just how much the music industry is killing itself and doesn't even realize it.  They don't understand the artistic essence of music.  They view it as a product more than they do as an art or means of expression.  They treat it like you treat any product that is sold - you develop a formula that can be mass produced, figure out a way to make a ton of it at once, make it shiny and fancy, and then sell it.  They think you can approach selling cd's the way you sell a car, toilet paper, a shirt, whatever.

But real music isn't that way, and shouldn't be sold that way.  They're trying to fit a square peg in a circle hole.  Music, regardless of genre, time, or origin has an intangible essence to it that is understood between the musician and the listener.  If a 3rd party comes in and tries to synthetically create this experience it will be obvious to both the true musician and true listener, and it won't work.

That is what has the industry so fucked up. 

[ecrazy]

It's a Business, and whatever sells and makes money makes most people in the industry happy. if the music is appealing to the masses, do you think they care about the few "Diehard" fans like you?.....that's the truth

   Uh, fuck where do I start here...Apparently you fail to see that they are NOT appealing to the masses.  They're getting by on all these marketing ploys and managing very meager sales compared to what an artist of his caliber COULD be doing.  Do you think those 30 MILLION people that bought all of his past work has up and died?  Did they all the sudden decide that 2pac was wack?  No, it's a simple product that these fans have been completely alienated and don't support this bullshit that they pass off as a 2pac album.  If they kept his music in its true form these 30 million people would still have an interest.

THEY ARE TRYING TO APPEAL TO THE NEW MARKET BECAUSE THE OLD MARKET is NOT AS COMMITTED AS THEY THOUGHT OR THEY ARE ALL DIEING OUT AND GETTING TIRED OF "NEW" PAC...i like pac, im just tired of him, i dont care if he has features or whatever on his tracks, IMO dude is too much hype, everyone always remembers the classics, california love, i get around, brenda had a baby, etc. but they could give a fuck with everything else, even the new singles that get remixed still get rotation because they appealed to a mainstream audience, (Still Ballin w. Trick Daddy, Thug Mansion w. Nas) its the way it is, people have grown tired of him, thats it, there will never be a increase in pac sales, the singles will pop up here and there, people will pay their respect, but a lot of people have lost interest...thats the way it is..

[ecrazy]

You can't look at only pac's music as being what's off and not right. All of rap is that way. Rap is dead period. It's not like it used to be and I doubt it ever will be. Don't get me wrong there are a few albums here and there that are tight but raps been slowly dying since Eazy-E passed in 95. . .

No, Pac's music DEF isn't the only thing that's off and not right.  I think it's a great barometer to measure just how much the music industry is killing itself and doesn't even realize it.  They don't understand the artistic essence of music.  They view it as a product more than they do as an art or means of expression.  They treat it like you treat any product that is sold - you develop a formula that can be mass produced, figure out a way to make a ton of it at once, make it shiny and fancy, and then sell it.  They think you can approach selling cd's the way you sell a car, toilet paper, a shirt, whatever.

But real music isn't that way, and shouldn't be sold that way.  They're trying to fit a square peg in a circle hole.  Music, regardless of genre, time, or origin has an intangible essence to it that is understood between the musician and the listener.  If a 3rd party comes in and tries to synthetically create this experience it will be obvious to both the true musician and true listener, and it won't work.

That is what has the industry so fucked up. 

thats how u gotta look at music now a days, remember its a "Business"...Creativity is part of it (but becoming less and less important) but image and mass appeal is a lot of it now, you think labels are going after the next mos def or the next E40?

[WestCoasta]

hey Jrome everything you wrote has crossed my mind before

whether you like 2Pac or not, big fan or casual fan, ya gotta admit it's really lame

like Eminem getting down on the tracks and what not, it's gotta be the biggest load of shit I've ever heard

the fact that some of these dudes have the audacity to mix the shit like they knew the guy is disrespect

as long as I've been on DubCC and these kinda albums come out, I've always stated that it's disrespectful in the first place to release it

I've always said that if the artist is not there to give his input on his album, then it's phony and it's not a real album

another point is, some of these people are making money off their shit and their dead in the ground

the only thing that could possibly be overlooked is somebody who knew him doing this... but the majority is not like that

you got T.I. and Eminem and whatever doing it and it's just not realistic....

I can't believe these guys have the balls to get down on this shit either.... how can they not feel like the biggest tools on earth?

plus they did it with that Biggie album that came out last year... I never heard it but I saw the credits...

it's almost making a mockery of what they did and you know that they'd be turning in their graves...

this isn't a 2Pac dickrider rant either, I'm just stating how slimey and shady people are to even consider realeasing a dead mans material

[jeromechickenbone]

You can't look at only pac's music as being what's off and not right. All of rap is that way. Rap is dead period. It's not like it used to be and I doubt it ever will be. Don't get me wrong there are a few albums here and there that are tight but raps been slowly dying since Eazy-E passed in 95. . .

No, Pac's music DEF isn't the only thing that's off and not right.  I think it's a great barometer to measure just how much the music industry is killing itself and doesn't even realize it.  They don't understand the artistic essence of music.  They view it as a product more than they do as an art or means of expression.  They treat it like you treat any product that is sold - you develop a formula that can be mass produced, figure out a way to make a ton of it at once, make it shiny and fancy, and then sell it.  They think you can approach selling cd's the way you sell a car, toilet paper, a shirt, whatever.

But real music isn't that way, and shouldn't be sold that way.  They're trying to fit a square peg in a circle hole.  Music, regardless of genre, time, or origin has an intangible essence to it that is understood between the musician and the listener.  If a 3rd party comes in and tries to synthetically create this experience it will be obvious to both the true musician and true listener, and it won't work.

That is what has the industry so fucked up. 

thats how u gotta look at music now a days, remember its a "Business"...Creativity is part of it (but becoming less and less important) but image and mass appeal is a lot of it now, you think labels are going after the next mos def or the next E40?

You're really not getting this...

Wow.  So now MUSIC is more about business than creativity?  You think image is what you should strive for?  LOL, you've been gassed just like the majority of these other fools out there right now. Off top man, statements like that make me never even wanna give your music a try.  No offense, but it sounds like you buy into these business men selling YOU some bullshit.   You been absorbing the wrong information homey, and you're gonna fall into that trap.  I know I've heard you say you're trying to get in the music game, but I can tell you now that you've failed before you started.  That, or you really don't understand what music is about and probably have no business with it.  Who gives a flying motherfuck what these labels are chasing?  THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK THEY ARE DOING, AS EVIDENCED BY THEIR DIMINISHING SALES, FOLDING COMPANIES & MERGERS, etc.

If your top priority as a "musician" (and I'm using that term VERY loosely in your case)  is #1 business and #2 Image  then #3 music, then you are the exact same as all these other fools running around out here wondering why the music industry is dying.  You're working backwards. 

[ecrazy]

You can't look at only pac's music as being what's off and not right. All of rap is that way. Rap is dead period. It's not like it used to be and I doubt it ever will be. Don't get me wrong there are a few albums here and there that are tight but raps been slowly dying since Eazy-E passed in 95. . .

No, Pac's music DEF isn't the only thing that's off and not right.  I think it's a great barometer to measure just how much the music industry is killing itself and doesn't even realize it.  They don't understand the artistic essence of music.  They view it as a product more than they do as an art or means of expression.  They treat it like you treat any product that is sold - you develop a formula that can be mass produced, figure out a way to make a ton of it at once, make it shiny and fancy, and then sell it.  They think you can approach selling cd's the way you sell a car, toilet paper, a shirt, whatever.

But real music isn't that way, and shouldn't be sold that way.  They're trying to fit a square peg in a circle hole.  Music, regardless of genre, time, or origin has an intangible essence to it that is understood between the musician and the listener.  If a 3rd party comes in and tries to synthetically create this experience it will be obvious to both the true musician and true listener, and it won't work.

That is what has the industry so fucked up. 

thats how u gotta look at music now a days, remember its a "Business"...Creativity is part of it (but becoming less and less important) but image and mass appeal is a lot of it now, you think labels are going after the next mos def or the next E40?

You're really not getting this...

Wow.  So now MUSIC is more about business than creativity?  You think image is what you should strive for?  LOL, you've been gassed just like the majority of these other fools out there right now. Off top man, statements like that make me never even wanna give your music a try.  No offense, but it sounds like you buy into these business men selling YOU some bullshit.   You been absorbing the wrong information homey, and you're gonna fall into that trap.  I know I've heard you say you're trying to get in the music game, but I can tell you now that you've failed before you started.  That, or you really don't understand what music is about and probably have no business with it.  Who gives a flying motherfuck what these labels are chasing?  THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK THEY ARE DOING, AS EVIDENCED BY THEIR DIMINISHING SALES, FOLDING COMPANIES & MERGERS, etc.

If your top priority as a "musician" (and I'm using that term VERY loosely in your case)  is #1 business and #2 Image  then #3 music, then you are the exact same as all these other fools running around out here wondering why the music industry is dying.  You're working backwards. 

Music always comes first, but what you package yourself as counts just as much....seriously, if a crossed eyed midget made the dopest most lyrical album ever, you think it will push units? Indies are coming up, but majors will always have the control power...and just to make clear, im a musician, but im not working to push out my stuff, i want to be an artist manager or booking agent, im getting to know the real business, i know a lot of true heads want the good music to be appreciated more, but lets face it, a majority of the people in the world are stupid, how the hell did becoming retarded and riding the short bus to school become the best thing in music?

[jeromechickenbone]

hey Jrome everything you wrote has crossed my mind before

whether you like 2Pac or not, big fan or casual fan, ya gotta admit it's really lame

like Eminem getting down on the tracks and what not, it's gotta be the biggest load of shit I've ever heard

the fact that some of these dudes have the audacity to mix the shit like they knew the guy is disrespect

as long as I've been on DubCC and these kinda albums come out, I've always stated that it's disrespectful in the first place to release it

I've always said that if the artist is not there to give his input on his album, then it's phony and it's not a real album

another point is, some of these people are making money off their shit and their dead in the ground

the only thing that could possibly be overlooked is somebody who knew him doing this... but the majority is not like that

you got T.I. and Eminem and whatever doing it and it's just not realistic....

I can't believe these guys have the balls to get down on this shit either.... how can they not feel like the biggest tools on earth?

plus they did it with that Biggie album that came out last year... I never heard it but I saw the credits...

it's almost making a mockery of what they did and you know that they'd be turning in their graves...

this isn't a 2Pac dickrider rant either, I'm just stating how slimey and shady people are to even consider realeasing a dead mans material

Exactly my man.  It doesn't matter if your a 2pac fan or not.  It's the act of what is being done that is disgusting.  Like him or not, the guy had artistic integrity and they completely whored that out.  So called "Hip Hop" today is so devoid of originality and creativity.  It all sounds the same, it's all about image and connections, and copying exactly what the next man did.  Quality Music is way down on the priority list.  

[WestCoasta]

So called "Hip Hop" today is so devoid of originality and creativity.  It all sounds the same

waaaaaaaaay ahead of ya

[Sikotic™]

It's just sad how they're manipulating Pac's verses like that. It is all about making money any way possible, even at the expense of Pac's legacy.