semi-annual report

[mellowman]

what's up y'all? damn, this board has undergone a michael jackson facelift and nosejob since the last time i was here. i barely recognize any of the names here anymore. damn. i apologize if i'm posting in the wrong section. fuck it, who cares. i won't get audited by the IRS if i post in the wrong place. anyway, i just wanted to post my report for the first half of 2003. i've been and will be so busy the next 3 to 4 months i figured i better do my report today since i'm done working for the week.  i've decided to post only twice a year on this board. unless the people on the board who are familiar with me don't want me here anymore. if so i'll gladly stop for good. I left this place with a bad taste in my mouth last time and really didn't want to come back ever again. i got called a hypocrite by a person on this board that i had had a great respect for, because i came on here telling you to go support positive rap albums by the roots and talib kweli. the reasoning was that since i'm a member of the aftermath team, i was a hypocrite for supporting positive rap music, when aftermath and especially dre were promoting negativity and the root of evil in rap music. you do know me motherfuckers so don't judge me. you don't know Dre, so don't judge him. sure some of the music we do may be negative, but thats the music. that isn't us as people. as people, and as a organization, i don't know of any label that's doing more positive things. dre and the aftermath family do a lot of things in the community that you never hear about. what do you do in the community? as a label we donated 1.2 million dollars to the 3 main foundations that helped families of the 9-11 victims. what did you do motherfuckers? we donated thousands of dollars to the foundation supporting jam master jays family. what did you do? as a label we do things the right way. we give all the artists and musicians proper credits, publishing credits, pay great contracts even if an artist never releases an album, etc.  we ain't funding this label through criminal funds.  fuck it, i could go on and on but whats the use. people will think what they want to think regardless.  i post to the people who support and appreciate what we do. i don't give a fuck about the haters, the non-believers. i don't give a fuck about all the people on this board that are ungrateful, spoiled, unrealistic, closed minded, ignorant, and inmature . there are a lot of good people here, but there are also a lot of people who need to grow the fuck up and treat people with respect. if you don't believe me, or you hate me or you disagree with me, or you don't like what i like, or you don't like the music we do - fine. thats okay. but if your gonna comment, do it with respect. if your gonna criticize, do it with constructive criticism and in a positive way. if you don't got something good to say, don't say anything. i don't got a problem if you hate dre or 50 or em, fine. i wouldn't want everyone to like the same thing. thats what makes music the greatest form of artisitic expression ever. by all means disagree and offer varied opinions but do things in a respectful and positive way. treat people on this board and the artists that rap music represents with respect.
sorry for the rant but the last board visit was very sad and disappointing. i just wanted to say my peace. NOW, lets get to the real shit, the music. i'll continue this post with a reply to this thread.  i'll do that in a few minutes. i gotta go work on an idea that just popped in my head.

[The Watcher]

good to see you back

[mellowman]

alrighty then. lets get to the shit that really counts. first up, let me comment on 50 cent. the last time i posted i didn't mention 50. at the time i did not really agree with signing 50. we have enough beef against our label, without adding more by signing 50. i had heard of 50, but i hadn't really ever listen to much of his stuff. i'm bored to death with 98 percent of rap music anyway.  i wasn't sold on 50 til i listened to some of his music. even then i still was kind of agaignst it. dre went through the process of why he signed 50 and the reasonings behind it. i was satisfied with his explanation. dre gushed about 50's charisma, his sing song style and his talent. 50 was an
unpolished diamond as he likes to call his young talent that he molds into superstars. dre wasn't even sold on 50 when em first brought it up. it wasn't til dre met with 50 the first time. dre said 50 was extremely inteligent and had a vision for what he wanted to do. Andre quickly realized that unlike his own Dr. Dre alter ego 50 cent was a real life "ghetto vietnam soldier". the brothers on
the street think so highly of 50 that dre knew that people from all corners and classes of the record buying public would love 50's music.  my biggest concern was the we were putting 50 in front of rakim.  i want so badly for Oh My God to get finished i can barely stand it.  i respect rakim so so much i want his record to get out as soon as possilbe. i was also uneasy about Aftermath's future
direction. dre told me that rakim would be out by late spring or early summer 2003. he also promised me that he would keep a diversified mix of artists, ranging from innovative r and b to hard rap to conscious rap. he even told me he'd start to reexplore his long running idea of a black "ghetto metal" band (which i've been constantly chattering in his ear).  so i was satified with the future of our increasingly powerful label. the money is gonna be there. i wanted to make sure the music was gonna be better than ever. dre wanted to get 50 cent out asap to capitalize on his enormous buzz. dre is incredibly conscious about his legacy( which is silly cause he could make shit music for 5 years and still be on the greatest producers ever). dre does not want to be remembered as the one who fucked up rakim's reputation and career by putting out a crappy album.  dre wants to take his time until its good enough to go down in history as a classic album. i'll talk about rakim later.
i was sold on 50 cent when we finished up In Da Club.  from there on i was extremely excited about the project.
it seems like a lot of people passionately hate 50 on this site. i am surpised but yet i'm not.  i am really surprised to hear people complain about the album. it may have been a bit rushed. and no its not a classic album. dre said himself that he was really proud of the album, but that he was a bit overstaded when he called it a classic. however that may change.  the only songs i would have left off were blood hound and like my style. other than that i am extrmemely proud and happy with the results. my favorite tracks were many men, in the club, patiently waiting, if i can't and the pre gunshot to the mouth 50 track life's on the line.  i thought dre was on fire on his 4 tracks. heat
was probably the weakest but even that was straight "heat". but that instrumental had been sitting
around forever. dre never found a song or artist to attach that to beat until 50. but anyone who complains about dre's production on grodt is crazy. but then again, i am biased cause i worked on a lot of the tracks on the album. i thought 50 came through and did what dre and em knew he could do. its amazing how great the album turned out all things considered. first of all it was really
rushed by Dre standards. plus all of the patchwork of the album makes the final mix really satisfying. a lot of the songs were recorded in 3 different studios. 50 and dre were hardly in the studio together. shit got mailed and fedex'ed back and forth so much i think we got frequent flyer discounts forever. dre would sent 50 an instrumental, 50 would put vocals on it and send it back.
dre would mix it, send it back with recommendations and sent it back. some songs were sent back and forth a dozen times til dre was happy with it and did his final mix of his satisfactory vision of the songs.  
if you hate 50 or hate the album, that's great cause it don't matter.  a lot of cats from the hardest of the hard and softest of the soft, black and white,  love and respect 50 and will love the album. today steve told us that first week (or 5 days in this case) sales will be close to 700,000 copies.  so hate 50 and his album if you want but you can't stop the unstoppable. a lot of you have a pre conceived notion of something before you listen. for instance if you hate 50 you're gonna go in with a negative opinion of it already. because you're coming in with a close mind you've already made up your mind. or you listen to an album on a computer and pass judgements on it. if you don't listen to it the way a record is suppose to be heard don't pass judgement. if you keep an open mind and still don't like 50 or the album that's fine. just give it a fair chance. if you aren't going to don't listen to it. the fact is that i don't care if you like it or not. just give it a fair chance.
one more response will follow to give you an update of Aftermath's near future. c you then.

[Jome]

Go on then Mellow..  
Great kick to the 50-haters btw.. they come in all sizes & shapes on this board..

Tell us a bit more about Rakim maybe..
And Cube's plans/projects..
The Game & Joe Beast.. ??

[The Big Bad Ass]

Damn, good to see you back Mellow. Thanks for the words so far.

[mellowman]

a lot of you probably accuse me of overhyping things when it comes to dre and aftermath. you may be right. but i am passionate about our music and am extremely proud and excited about how its doing. so i apologize if i get your hopes up to unrealistic levels. but if I didn't believe what us and Dre are doing is as good as anything out there, we might as well quit, burn all the tapes and cds we record the music on and switch jobs.  a lot of you will complain about dre, about us. go ahead. so many people are spoiled rotten by dre that you aren't happy with anything he does anymore. a lot of knuckleheads think dre should be able to create a new sound every week. thats so fuckin dumb thinking its laughable. first of all there is only so much you can do with music. and most
importantly, dre is a innovator and a leader, not a follower like 99 percent of producers out there.
he will unleash a new sound when he's confident it will be good enough and creative enough that the 99 percent who are followers will start to try to recreate and copy the new dre sound.  dre's upcoming revelation will not be new. nothing will ever be brand new in music ever again. dre is just going to mix, arrainge and create sounds and instruments in a way that has never been heard before- a Andre Mozart Young orchestral piece. like i mentioned before dre is always concerned about his legacy. Detox is going to be the last thing they remember dre with as an artist. he wants to drop music that people will remember forever. there is always a chance dre will play it safe and release Detox as a great final album thats nothing special.  yes the instrumental tracks for In Da Club and If I Can't were made with Detox in mind. both those tracks are as good as anything dre's done the last few years. but in the end dre decided that 50 might as well have them, because Detox would be so much different. dre has changed his mind on Detox so many times he may change his mind back to something safer than the shit we are doing now. if he does play it safe, dre may disappoint you with a very dope album, thats great but not the mind bender you were hoping for. the last time dre played it safe was on truth hurts album. i sill like the released version, but the version i was thinking would be released was so much better. for some reason dre decided against using a lot of his own produced tracks for truth's album. if he would have released what i thought he was going to release only 5 songs would have stayed. so that may happen with Detox - but i doubt it .  cause the shit we've been doing lately for Detox is bonkers man.  we got a great team back together. plus there will be some great new additions, including some really eclectic musicians.  i really can't describe the sound. just think of a wall of sound being shaken by a cali earthquake.  i don't know what else to say. i just find myself laughing at some of the stuff cause its so goofy. but the aggression of the pace combined with the crazy instrumentations and swirling arsenal of sounds makes for some funky
and crazy shit.  plus Detox will include by far the best collection of mc's for any of his solo albums. so things are looking very interesting. but there is a long way to go. and since i have no idea what will make the album i have no idea what the end result will be. all i know is that if dre
plays it safe it will be a dope album. but if dre goes crazy with this helterskelter yet incredibly funky and musical sound we're doing now - you will literally be blown away. so i hope i don't get your hopes up too much. but if things end up the way i think they will watch out. right now i don't know our final destination, but i am enjoying the journey more than anything i've ever done.  plus
plans are back on for a 5.1 version of Detox on sacd, and eventually dvd-audio. if that happens you better get lined up for that musical expreience. if you like rock music i'd get dvd-audio right now and enjoy metallica's black album, stp's core and linkin park's reanimation. dre can't wait to play with the surround sound. i guarantee that dre will mix it better than anyone. Detox will be the
first 5.1 release, but eventually dre hopes to remix and release the entire Aftermath catalogue.
Detox may disappoint, but it might, just might be the most incredible thing you've ever heard. but don't get your hopes up on my account.
and don't give up on Rakim's Oh My God. those who stay patient and keep the faith will be rewarded. dre has about 10 tracks he thinks are good enough to make the final cut. if the rest of the tracks equal these 10 you will have a classic. even if they don't your still gonna be very very happy.i wish i had better answers for you. but i don't. even if i did i couldn't tell you anyway.  I am 100 percent certain Oh My God will be released this year and it will be as good as you think it will be.
outside of rakim and detox, the other 2 releases for the year are brooklyn's really musical album and ice cube's return. cube's album is in its early stages but dre has teamed up with cream of the crop producers to work with cube and make a great album for later this year. dre is ep'in brooklyn's album and will make the decisions of the final track lsiting but only 1 or 2 songs will be dre's. so thats a positive sign. dre has a lot of great young and veteran producers signed on. i think this will lead to a quicker release of a good number of album's. but i'll believe that when i see it. dre has 4 other young and talented artists right now that will be out in 2004 and 2005. right now the focus is on making Oh My God and DETOX the musical atomic bombs you all are fiending for. please believe that Dre and the entire Aftermath are giving our heart and soul to these projects and everything else we do. i just hope you appreciate the incredible amount of work we do. and those of you who are underestimating or being ridiculously critical of dre, remember your words when Dre detaches your head from your neck with Detox.  someday when dre is not making music anymore, maybe you'll appreciate the genius of arguably the most influential, creative, consistent and innovative producer of all time. but i won't get my hopes up.
thats it till i come back the second half of next year. right now i need to get home so i can take my queen out for a beautiful evening. i've been logging so many hours in the studio she might not remember what i look like. but how can you not keep working, when the micheal jordan of music is working 72 straight hours in the studio, when he doesn't have anything left to prove. there's a reason he's number one. his greatness cannot be acheived without making music his life and his passion. a big reason he's working so hard is for you - all of you. just remember that next time you criticize.

[mellowman]

real quick, The Game is a big talent. hopefully you'll hear from him on detox. you should hear all of our new artists in some form or another soon. however, kids like the game are a ways off so dre don't want to put them in your ears too quickly cause you're gonna have to wait for a while. joe beast is melvin's project. yes mel is alive and kicking. but his future is still up in the air. we love mel and will support him as he goes through some things. but hes fine. we want to make sure he's fine as a person first before anything else. i'm confident he will be. melvin's situation is personal. if he wants to address it he will on his own accord. but until he does just leave him alone. the music he's doing is as good as ever so no worries there.  damn, i gotta go. thanks for all your support. we appreciate it more than you know. peace. oh yeah props to the guys at dubcnn. keep it up and dre may do something with ya down the line. but don't get your hopes up

[P Nelson]

Thanks for the dope infos

[Hittman2001]

Thanks for the news, mellow

[Twentytwofifty]

Don't get upset and shit with the peeps that question Dre and basically talk shit, cause they all love the music and they expect big things from Aftermath cause all the talent that's there.  We just gotta have discussion about this till then.

I really don't care how long it takes for Oh My God and Detox as long as the finished products are what we expect.  I got enough dope music to listen to till then.

Also, I'm too tired to read all 3 statement there (it's 2:30am) so if you mentioned this forgive me, but, it's bullshit that Dre rejected Premo's beat for Ra's album right?  They are just trying to suprise the audience and create mystery for the album, right?

[Don Seer]

wooo thanks mellow always a pleasure.. glad to hear mel-man isn't out of the picture. theres been a few whispers here and there.

you might not recog peoples names atm because we've been playing a silly game... lol


Overseer

[Rud]

Thanks For All The Info & Comments. Like C2Knuckles Said, I Dont Think People Here Hate Dre & Aftermath Its Just Discussions People Bring Up That Can Escalate...Other Than That Its Often Expectations Are Soooooooo High That Its Hard For People Not To Be Dissapointed!

Thanks Again Mellow, And The Fact You Know Of & Mentioned dubcnn Almost Made Me Fall Off My Chair!   Thanks!

[Nima - Dubcnn.com]

Thanks For All The Info & Comments. Like C2Knuckles Said, I Dont Think People Here Hate Dre & Aftermath Its Just Discussions People Bring Up That Can Escalate...Other Than That Its Often Expectations Are Soooooooo High That Its Hard For People Not To Be Dissapointed!

Thanks Again Mellow, And The Fact You Know Of & Mentioned dubcnn Almost Made Me Fall Off My Chair!   Thanks!

yeah lol same here!

again, gotta give it up for you for takin the time to hit us with all this info once more, its amazing. your posts are as informative as 25 mtv news reports about dre.. IM LOVIN IT!!!

oh yeah, about our names, like overseer said we're just playin a silly game so our names are a lil twisted!

Nima

[Suga Foot]

Yo, thanks for stoppin by again Mellowman, it always a pleasure to hear what you have to say.

 -Suga Foot

Oh yeah and "what's the difference" was sampled too.  

Charles Aznavour "La Boeme"

[CharlieBrown]

MellowMan it's always a pleasure reading your posts, but how about getting dre to release a Presents...The  Aftermath 2, with him producing maybe 2 songs and it being a comp of all the aftermath artists and producers?