West Coast Connection Forum
DUBCC - Tha Connection => West Coast Classics => Topic started by: R-Tistic on September 12, 2006, 01:21:20 PM
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I have some random thoughts and opinions about things that I didn't want to create separate threads for each one.....so I'll drop mine....you can drop yours as well, along with comments about everyone else's......
-This year, The West has had about 10-15 songs that could have been hits if they had received promotion........Eastwood n 40 "Bay to L.A.", DPG "Sittin on 23s" and "Crackin all night", Federation "Only wear my white tee once" and it's remix, and several others. They were easily adaptable for any club nationwide.
-"Candy" can be a major hit if it's pushed right. Many of us don't like it, but most of us didn't like "Drop it like it's hot" when we first heard it either. I am feelin this track a lot, and I appreciate it's "Whisper song" inspired beat and the vibe to it. Almost everybody I've played it for loves it, especially club heads.
-The Bay's hyphy sound is hot to me, and the most refreshing thing I've heard from the West since the 90's. However, SOME, not all but SOME cats from the Bay are gettin way too cocky about it. When people from L.A. bump it, or try to dance by goin stupid and all else, some of em say "see these LA cats are biters, they wanna be like us, they love our style"...but when some L.A. cats don't like it or feel it's corny, they say "see these LA cats are notorious for bein haters!! They just mad that they ain't got shit goin for em, and they are jealous and biased! Fuck L.A.!!"....and I see those comments a lot on Siccness, which is why I stay away from there. But overall, I like the cockiness they have...I wish L.A. had somethin to be cocky about right now. But they need to realize that we had much more of a "right" to be cocky in the 90's than they do now, because hyphy still ain't moved a lotta units outside the Bay.
-L.A. rap has lost it's personality, and most L.A. rappers are tryin to be east coast styled rappers, which isn't good at all. Just because it worked for Game doesn't mean it'll work for everyone, and we will never come back if we try to do it from soundin like somebody else. I am NOT sayin that anybody who is lyrical and uses complex rhyme scenes or topics that aren't about bangin sound east coast...that's hella false. I am talkin bout the ones who try to emulate the east coast "swag", imitate their accent and the way they talk, use their slang, use their drug and gun references, and drop 100s of mixtapes that lack creativity.
-There are many talented West Coast unestablished producers....however, there haven't been many lately that have tried to push the envelope and evolve into their own sound. Most of them sound like somebody we've heard before, and we need to start experimentin so that we can really make an impact. We need a modern sound that contains elements here and there of what we are known for and what we did in the 90's, but it has to be fresh enough to catch new ears.
-I really don't think Atlanta is really gonna burn out within the next 2-3 years. Whenever they have one thing that we start to get tired of, they come with somethin brand new that people end up lovin, regardless of how corny it may seem to some of us.
-Daz's delivery and flow is a whole lot better than Kurupt's is right now, and so are his lyrics.
-Snoop still has one of the best presences in rap history, meaning that him being on a song can make it ten times better, even when he doesn't spit anything special on it. He has the personality to carry almost any song that has a decent or average beat. And his flow is still Top 5 of all time when he wants it to be.
-Ice Cube's flow sounds outdated at times, which is one reason many people say he has fallen off...but his voice, delivery, and aggression are still unmatched.
-There aren't many, if any, young west coast rappers I see as a "record company's dream" that really has the overall appeal of certain rappers such as Ludacris, Lil Wanye and T.I....meaning a rapper who has the look, image, personality, confidence and cockiness, fashion sense, along with being able to create complete songs, dope verses and lines, catchy lines and hooks, dope mixtape material, and stand out on guest appearances. We have many rappers who can "mark off" some of these categories, but we barely have any who can hit every single one of those marks. The fact that the west coast image isn't "in style" hurts this as well.
-"Tell me when to go" has made the biggest impact for a west coast song this decade, because of how it exposed a completely different and unique culture, along with a variation of dances and styles, to the entire nation with just one song and video. It wasn't the biggest west coast hit at all, but it single handedly made the Bay a national phenomenon. Drop it like it's hot, How we do, and even "Next episode" and some of those songs were much bigger hits, but they didn't expose anything new about California.
Damn....I can keep goin, but I'll leave it at that for now. Drop yours!
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On Tell Me When to Go, Dont you think Super Hyphy was just as big for the Bay?
I think just as big...
I think Kurupt has flashes of great flow and lyrics, But Daz comes more conistent these days i feel but only after hearing So So Gangsta.
But Listen to Westside Ridin, Kurupt comes real nice in that No bitch or Gotti Hitler, etc etc.
But i think the hyphy movement makes the bay look almost like it has no lyrics...
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On Tell Me When to Go, Dont you think Super Hyphy was just as big for the Bay?
I think just as big...
I think Kurupt has flashes of great flow and lyrics, But Daz comes more conistent these days i feel but only after hearing So So Gangsta.
But Listen to Westside Ridin, Kurupt comes real nice in that No bitch or Gotti Hitler, etc etc.
But i think the hyphy movement makes the bay look almost like it has no lyrics...
I loved Super Hyphy and it was easily my favorite song last year, and prolly my fav. since "How we do"....but it was nooooooooooooooooooooowhere near as big as "Tell me when to go".
Tell me when to go was played in clubs nationwide, and had people in every city tryin to go dumb, and had them all talkin about it. The video was on 106 n park, and they even had a grip of Jamster advertisements for it. Super hyphy was bigger in California, but not at all nationwide.
Kurupt has had a few flashes, but he sounds hella lazy and unmotivated on most of his modern tracks.
Hyphy does make the Bay look like it's no lyrics, but it's club music, and lyrics aren't nearly as important as catchiness.
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On Tell Me When to Go, Dont you think Super Hyphy was just as big for the Bay?
I think just as big...
I think Kurupt has flashes of great flow and lyrics, But Daz comes more conistent these days i feel but only after hearing So So Gangsta.
But Listen to Westside Ridin, Kurupt comes real nice in that No bitch or Gotti Hitler, etc etc.
But i think the hyphy movement makes the bay look almost like it has no lyrics...
I loved Super Hyphy and it was easily my favorite song last year, and prolly my fav. since "How we do"....but it was nooooooooooooooooooooowhere near as big as "Tell me when to go".
Tell me when to go was played in clubs nationwide, and had people in every city tryin to go dumb, and had them all talkin about it. The video was on 106 n park, and they even had a grip of Jamster advertisements for it. Super hyphy was bigger in California, but not at all nationwide.
Kurupt has had a few flashes, but he sounds hella lazy and unmotivated on most of his modern tracks.
Hyphy does make the Bay look like it's no lyrics, but it's club music, and lyrics aren't nearly as important as catchiness.
thats true, but i know id rather listen to Yukmouth or Ya Boy, someone that spits serious bars, even E-40's last cd was not up to his past cd's lyrically...When im listening to shit i want lyrics. When im dancing at a club thats different, then i just want whatever gets the bitches goin ;D
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I agree with mostly everything you said except this part
-Ice Cube's flow sounds outdated at times, which is one reason many people say he has fallen off...but his voice, delivery, and aggression are still unmatched.
You said his flow sounds outdated at times but his delivery/aggression is still unmatched... wouldnt delivery/aggression be part of the flow? contradictions it seems
But i agree Ice Cube is unmatched.. he proved it with Laugh now and cry later.... he is still one of the best in the rap game
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I agree with mostly everything you said except this part
-Ice Cube's flow sounds outdated at times, which is one reason many people say he has fallen off...but his voice, delivery, and aggression are still unmatched.
You said his flow sounds outdated at times but his delivery/aggression is still unmatched... wouldnt delivery/aggression be part of the flow? contradictions it seems
But i agree Ice Cube is unmatched.. he proved it with Laugh now and cry later.... he is still one of the best in the rap game
Nah, I used to get em mixed up a lot....flow, delivery, aggression, and voice are all separate but very close.....almost like speed vs. quickness.
Flow is more of how he rides the beat, meaning two rappers can have the same exact flow but different deliveries and aggression, such as how Game n 50 did on "How we do". Aggression is how angry somebody sounds, which is part of the delivery. Many rappers will perform their songs, especially Quik T.I. and Luda, and they will use the same flow when they perform their single, but their voice always sounds a lot different when they perform because of the energy they will have.
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I agree about the singles especially White Tees and sitting on 23s. IMO those could have been big club/popular songs but did not see much burn outside of the westcoast heads. Both songs are better then Vans and more catchy to me.
Disagree about LA hip hop losing its feel/identity...LA hip hop has its identity you just see other people emulating what LA has been doing and it makes us look like we are doing what everyone else is doing. Got Dipset in NY trying to make blood music, got 50 cent trying to make g-unit a soft serve version of NWA, then you have the south talking about low riders and candy paint (not that they didnt talk about that before but that influence came from the westcoast)
Ice Cube does not sound dated at all and his album is the best album of the year.
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Sum good points there R-Tistic!
I agree that Daz is a long way ahead of Kurupt at the moment lyrical wise.
Snoop does hav the ability 2 make a record/track. It seems hes finally got 2 that stage where he is considered a legend by the majority of ppl music wise and not just by ppl on the west. Hes proven that by the way he can take himself 2 different roles such as his tracks with JT & Pussycat Dolls and his film roles.
Tell Me When 2 Go was massive, and 40's bin worklin 2wards that 4 a long time.
Plus 1 thing that u dint mention was the fact that Too Short is gettin radio play all over the world wit that track of Kelis, after 18 solo albums! Its bin a long time comin!
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Sum good points there R-Tistic!
I agree that Daz is a long way ahead of Kurupt at the moment lyrical wise.
Snoop does hav the ability 2 make a record/track. It seems hes finally got 2 that stage where he is considered a legend by the majority of ppl music wise and not just by ppl on the west. Hes proven that by the way he can take himself 2 different roles such as his tracks with JT & Pussycat Dolls and his film roles.
Tell Me When 2 Go was massive, and 40's bin worklin 2wards that 4 a long time.
Plus 1 thing that u dint mention was the fact that Too Short is gettin radio play all over the world wit that track of Kelis, after 18 solo albums! Its bin a long time comin!
Ya cant believe we all forgot to mention Too Short. Even tho his album is not burning the charts he is still very relevant.
IMO Westcoast hip hop is on the upswing and we have the most diverse sound...Can someone tell me what region has the kind of sound we do?
We have the latinos with Cypress Hill, Psycho Realm, Mr. Capon-e, Baby Bash, etc etc
We have the underground with Dj Shadow, Dialed peoples, Visionaries, Strong Arm Steady, Heiro, Blackalicious, Planet Asia, Rasco, Living Legends, Souls of Mischief, etc etc etc
We have the gangsta music with Snoop, Game, Daz, Kurupt, Quik, San Quinn, Mitchy Slick etc
We have the pimp music with Too Short, E-40, Suga Free, etc
RAW spitters like Ras, Crooked I, Sly Boogy, Ya Boy, etc
Hyphy movement with The Team, Federation, Keak, Mac Dre (RIP), and E-40 dabbin in it
We got the more concious MCs like Cube, Kam, etc
We got political MCs like Paris
We got the DJ game on lock....
We are in the upswing right now and we really need to put our weight as fans of westcoast music behind the movement...
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props nice read.
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-There are many talented West Coast unestablished producers....however, there haven't been many lately that have tried to push the envelope and evolve into their own sound. Most of them sound like somebody we've heard before, and we need to start experimentin so that we can really make an impact. We need a modern sound that contains elements here and there of what we are known for and what we did in the 90's, but it has to be fresh enough to catch new ears.
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Disagree about LA hip hop losing its feel/identity...LA hip hop has its identity you just see other people emulating what LA has been doing and it makes us look like we are doing what everyone else is doing. Got Dipset in NY trying to make blood music, got 50 cent trying to make g-unit a soft serve version of NWA, then you have the south talking about low riders and candy paint (not that they didnt talk about that before but that influence came from the westcoast)
I definitely believe that the other coasts have stolen many things from the west coast, especially as you mentioned with Dipset tryin to be bloods and all that. But as far as L.A. rappers who try to use an east coast accent which is clearly not ours, and focusing 90% of their style on punchlines, spittin those acapella verses slowed down, talkin bout how much crack they push when it's not enough crackheads in L.A. for EVERY cat to push at that extent, those things clearly didn't come from us. I don't think every L.A. rapper has to sound like Snoop or Cube at all....but it just seems like many that I am hearin are aimin to sound more like Jay, Beanie Sigel, Cassidy, and other east coast artists. But yeah, the other coasts are heavily influenced by what we talk about.
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Sum good points there R-Tistic!
I agree that Daz is a long way ahead of Kurupt at the moment lyrical wise.
Snoop does hav the ability 2 make a record/track. It seems hes finally got 2 that stage where he is considered a legend by the majority of ppl music wise and not just by ppl on the west. Hes proven that by the way he can take himself 2 different roles such as his tracks with JT & Pussycat Dolls and his film roles.
Tell Me When 2 Go was massive, and 40's bin worklin 2wards that 4 a long time.
Plus 1 thing that u dint mention was the fact that Too Short is gettin radio play all over the world wit that track of Kelis, after 18 solo albums! Its bin a long time comin!
Ya cant believe we all forgot to mention Too Short. Even tho his album is not burning the charts he is still very relevant.
IMO Westcoast hip hop is on the upswing and we have the most diverse sound...Can someone tell me what region has the kind of sound we do?
We have the latinos with Cypress Hill, Psycho Realm, Mr. Capon-e, Baby Bash, etc etc
We have the underground with Dj Shadow, Dialed peoples, Visionaries, Strong Arm Steady, Heiro, Blackalicious, Planet Asia, Rasco, Living Legends, Souls of Mischief, etc etc etc
We have the gangsta music with Snoop, Game, Daz, Kurupt, Quik, San Quinn, Mitchy Slick etc
We have the pimp music with Too Short, E-40, Suga Free, etc
RAW spitters like Ras, Crooked I, Sly Boogy, Ya Boy, etc
Hyphy movement with The Team, Federation, Keak, Mac Dre (RIP), and E-40 dabbin in it
We got the more concious MCs like Cube, Kam, etc
We got political MCs like Paris
We got the DJ game on lock....
We are in the upswing right now and we really need to put our weight as fans of westcoast music behind the movement...
Yeah the west definitely does have a very large arsenal of music. I really can't speak much for the East coast, but it seems like they are a whole lot closer to being diverse like that than the south is. I've been in college down here since 2002, and I can tell you that 85% of the rappers here definitely sound the same...and for those who aim to be conscious and all else, there aren't many who are really good at it like that. I think the south has a lot of hot unestablished and established producers, and of course there are dope unknown rappers here n there....but as far as those who have some kind of small buzz, most of them are too similar to differentiate.
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I also have to add that we need to make a big, independent West Coast station & a big, independent West Coast label (on its own & not part of a bigger company) that can sign dope West Coast acts & get more West Coast songs on the radio & give them the promotion/radio time they deserve...KDAY was a little close to being like that but now it's pretty much the same as Power's rotation minus Julio G's show & a few other portions they play...
I feel that the West Coast is starting to get more producers that are able to make their own sound but still have that West Coast flavor to them...THX, Dae One, Terrace Martin, Diverse, Problem, Jelly Roll, etc. come to mind...they don't sound like the typical "g-funk", 90s style that people are used to hearing but they still have that West Coast flavor to their beats...
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Sum good points there R-Tistic!
I agree that Daz is a long way ahead of Kurupt at the moment lyrical wise.
Snoop does hav the ability 2 make a record/track. It seems hes finally got 2 that stage where he is considered a legend by the majority of ppl music wise and not just by ppl on the west. Hes proven that by the way he can take himself 2 different roles such as his tracks with JT & Pussycat Dolls and his film roles.
Tell Me When 2 Go was massive, and 40's bin worklin 2wards that 4 a long time.
Plus 1 thing that u dint mention was the fact that Too Short is gettin radio play all over the world wit that track of Kelis, after 18 solo albums! Its bin a long time comin!
Ya cant believe we all forgot to mention Too Short. Even tho his album is not burning the charts he is still very relevant.
IMO Westcoast hip hop is on the upswing and we have the most diverse sound...Can someone tell me what region has the kind of sound we do?
We have the latinos with Cypress Hill, Psycho Realm, Mr. Capon-e, Baby Bash, etc etc
We have the underground with Dj Shadow, Dialed peoples, Visionaries, Strong Arm Steady, Heiro, Blackalicious, Planet Asia, Rasco, Living Legends, Souls of Mischief, etc etc etc
We have the gangsta music with Snoop, Game, Daz, Kurupt, Quik, San Quinn, Mitchy Slick etc
We have the pimp music with Too Short, E-40, Suga Free, etc
RAW spitters like Ras, Crooked I, Sly Boogy, Ya Boy, etc
Hyphy movement with The Team, Federation, Keak, Mac Dre (RIP), and E-40 dabbin in it
We got the more concious MCs like Cube, Kam, etc
We got political MCs like Paris
We got the DJ game on lock....
We are in the upswing right now and we really need to put our weight as fans of westcoast music behind the movement...
Word i think we are more diverse than any region. But Bay heads need to stop hating on l.a. for real. L.A. niggas dont talk shit about ya'll. When ya'll are sporting rags (Big Rich), trying to be bloods (Messy) and throwing up Turf(gang) signs (Turf Talk) yeah we might use ya'll lingo but bay cats immulate us too.
We need to stop hating and understand this is west coast. U dont see NY saying on Phili is biting our style...hell no! Its not that serious..but instead u see Beans and Freeway fucking with Jay. Also what does NY sound like? lyrics? i totally agree that we need to step our lyrical game up so if that means spitting metaphores and anologies then so what. why does every rapprer from the west have to sound like BG knocc Out or some bullshit. thank god Mitchy fucks with s.a.s. they made him get his bars up!
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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.
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R-Tistic on purpose as usual.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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:sign_werd: to R-Tistic and UTI
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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...
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.