Dre's motivation for firing Rakim.... ?

[Jome]

Think about it..

Look at the buzz Banks, The Game & 50 was generating before their albums..
They pump out dozens of freestyles, remakes and remixes, they're on every hot beat imaginable, they're all over Kay Slay, Big Mike, Whoo Kid, Green Lantern, Cutmaster C, Envy, DJ L, Capone, even on the Westcoast mixtapes like DJ Warrior, Wreck, Vlad, Muggs..
They're everywhere, they're featured on practically every mixtape out there, the G-Unit radio series is the most popular mixtape series ever..
Didn't Banks say that 50 Cent had the number to over 50 mixtape DJ's, and that he would send tracks to all of them..
The Game even flew to New York for his own money to make tracks with a dozen Eastcoast artist, and hosted 2 Kay Slay mixtapes..

All Rakim did, was feature on "Addictive".. and have a track on the 8 mile soundtrack..
Maybe that's what Dre meant when he said that their work ethics was kinda different..
Rakim didn't do much to put himself out there.. imagine how easy he could have made 10-15 freestyles, sent them to Kay Slay, Whoo Kid, Big Mike, etc. and get the buzz buzzing again after all these years..
I BET there's no mixtape DJ who would say "no thank you" to some exclusive Rakim freestyles or tracks, and he's already in New York, where all the biggest mixtape DJ's & radio stations are..
2 years on Aftermath and all we hear is 1 track and 1 cameo verse, I'd say he's lazy..

Maybe that's the reason why Hittman had to go as well..

[··: O.G Kody™ :··]

IMO a LOT more went on behind the scenes than people know about. I honestly don't think Dre's production was up to scratch.

My thoughts.

KoDy.

[PLANT]

Well I never really thought if it that way, but what you're saying does make some sense Jome, and seems quite possible too.  

[SGV]

Think about it..

Look at the buzz Banks, The Game & 50 was generating before their albums..
They pump out dozens of freestyles, remakes and remixes, they're on every hot beat imaginable, they're all over Kay Slay, Big Mike, Whoo Kid, Green Lantern, Cutmaster C, Envy, DJ L, Capone, even on the Westcoast mixtapes like DJ Warrior, Wreck, Vlad, Muggs..
They're everywhere, they're featured on practically every mixtape out there, the G-Unit radio series is the most popular mixtape series ever..
Didn't Banks say that 50 Cent had the number to over 50 mixtape DJ's, and that he would send tracks to all of them..
The Game even flew to New York for his own money to make tracks with a dozen Eastcoast artist, and hosted 2 Kay Slay mixtapes..

All Rakim did, was feature on "Addictive".. and have a track on the 8 mile soundtrack..
Maybe that's what Dre meant when he said that their work ethics was kinda different..
Rakim didn't do much to put himself out there.. imagine how easy he could have made 10-15 freestyles, sent them to Kay Slay, Whoo Kid, Big Mike, etc. and get the buzz buzzing again after all these years..
I BET there's no mixtape DJ who would say "no thank you" to some exclusive Rakim freestyles or tracks, and he's already in New York, where all the biggest mixtape DJ's & radio stations are..
2 years on Aftermath and all we hear is 1 track and 1 cameo verse, I'd say he's lazy..

Maybe that's the reason why Hittman had to go as well..

The Mixtapes, now, are for Up and comers and to generate buzz or to gain street cred. Ra is a Vet, his name along is a buzz and he has a GANG of street cred. He doesn't need the Mixtapes. I highly doubt that's the reason. I highly doubt Game funded his trip to NY. LMAO @ The thought of that. 1 call to the label and they'd fly him out. Rakim is a legend, what does he look like putting out tons of free material? People like 50, Banks, Game, Fab, Budden, etc. they're NOT legends. They still need that exposure. Ra has had his exposure. I just think him and Dre had different ideas. Dre probably wanted Ra on more commercialized tracks, while Ra more than likely wanted to keep it gutta.

[pappy]

jimmy ivonie

[Rudeboy69]

i completely agree with SGV Is Hip Hop. this guy is well known. Yea theres buzz with 50 and the G-Unit... but Rakim has been buzzin' more than anyone in the game right now... read more about the history man...

[PLANT]

I feel what you're saying SGV, but Dre's prolly looking at is like this:

Hes got artists like 50, Lloyd Banks, Game ect that are working there asses off, making tracks every day, showing up on radio, magazines, tv ect...Creating a buzz for themselves.

And then hes got Rakim, who is a legend in his own right, but Rakim is just sitting around back in New York prolly expecting Dre to just toss him an album full of beats and then hes out.

Now Dre is thinking why am I gonna give dude a) an album full of beats for nothing when dudes b) c) and d) are putting in mad work for my label and not only creating there own buzz, they are creating a buzz for myself aswell.

People (for the most part) who post on this board are knowledged hiphop heads who know about Rakim.  But the majority of people buying albums today (ages say 12-20) dont know shit about Rakim, arent feeling him anymore, or think "wasnt he that guy way back then"...

Now this is no disrespect to Rakim in anyway, but I can understand why his album on Aftermath didnt drop.

[Dip Set Movementarian 4 Life]

I think both Jome and SGV's points are both legit reasons...but i guess we wont know until Dre and Rakim both say the same thing...

[Jome]

The Mixtapes, now, are for Up and comers and to generate buzz or to gain street cred. Ra is a Vet, his name along is a buzz and he has a GANG of street cred. He doesn't need the Mixtapes. I highly doubt that's the reason. I highly doubt Game funded his trip to NY. LMAO @ The thought of that. 1 call to the label and they'd fly him out. Rakim is a legend, what does he look like putting out tons of free material? People like 50, Banks, Game, Fab, Budden, etc. they're NOT legends. They still need that exposure. Ra has had his exposure. I just think him and Dre had different ideas. Dre probably wanted Ra on more commercialized tracks, while Ra more than likely wanted to keep it gutta.

In many respects, Rakim is a newcomer again..
He has to start from scratch.
It's been 5 years since had a record out, and rap/hipop became 10 times bigger since then.
In those 5 years, he's been almost invisible.

i completely agree with SGV Is Hip Hop. this guy is well known. Yea theres buzz with 50 and the G-Unit... but Rakim has been buzzin' more than anyone in the game right now... read more about the history man...

WTF you talking about, the last buzz Rakim had was 5 years ago..

There's millions of millions of hiphop fans who don't even know who Rakim is.
The few thousand hardcore hiphop heads at forums know about him, but for Rakim to come out on Aftermath/Interscope, I doubt Dre/Iovine is happy about living off the name, and hoping that new hiphop fans will check up on his past.

I feel what you're saying SGV, but Dre's prolly looking at is like this:

Hes got artists like 50, Lloyd Banks, Game ect that are working there asses off, making tracks every day, showing up on radio, magazines, tv ect...Creating a buzz for themselves.

And then hes got Rakim, who is a legend in his own right, but Rakim is just sitting around back in New York prolly expecting Dre to just toss him an album full of beats and then hes out.

Now Dre is thinking why am I gonna give dude a) an album full of beats for nothing when dudes b) c) and d) are putting in mad work for my label and not only creating there own buzz, they are creating a buzz for myself aswell.

People (for the most part) who post on this board are knowledged hiphop heads who know about Rakim.  But the majority of people buying albums today (ages say 12-20) dont know shit about Rakim, arent feeling him anymore, or think "wasnt he that guy way back then"...

Now this is no disrespect to Rakim in anyway, but I can understand why his album on Aftermath didnt drop.

On point.
Aftermath/Interscope isn't interested in only selling to the old Rakim-fans, they want the MTV/TRL fans as well..

Back in the days, you could put out a album, go on tour and promote it, and make good money off it.
It's different today.
Money talks, and Interscope wants the biggest part of the cake.

[Dedicato]

ABSOLUTELY AGREED! CHECK THIS!  

Stat Quo:
That has to do a lot with, when you talk about music, music is about supply and demand. That’s any product you put out here. If you put Ketchup on the shelves, and you donmt market the Ketchup, it’s not gonna sell. If you don’t create an awareness for aproduct, people are not gonna buy it. So what happends is, when people sign record contracts, they say okay, now the label has to put my record out. No. What you have to do is create your own buzz. You have to get out here and do shows, you gotta get out here and do interviews, you gotta get out here and promote your own songs. You gotta get out here and talk to these people and try to get on other records. You gotta get out here and promote yourself to where you create your own fan base to where people will put your record out. If you don’t do that, then you don’t deserve to be put out. You don’t deserve to be in this business . You’re supposed to be doing something else, this is not what your supposed to be doing. This is a job.


Focus…:
To be as honest as possible, Brooklyn is my peoples and we are still cool as shit. Rak, Hit and Emperor I never knew but I knew of. Things are unfortunate. I love working and I know that Dre loves making hot music. If it doesn't feel right, then he looks and works until it does. 50 was going to release an LP regardless, he's hungry like that. Eminem is a beast and Dre saw the eye of the tiger with Em. That's really all I can say, you know.

Focus…:
Brooklyn has the 50Cent by any means neccesary attitude. She's gone drop regardless!!! Rakim is a seasoned vet. He has his way of working his craft. Sometimes artists and producers work ethics dont coincide you know.. i can't really speak on Rak. I got mad respect for him. He is one of the greatest..


So tell me ... WHAT DID RAKIM??? I GOT MAD LOVE FOR HIM, BUT THERE'S A NEW GENERATION OF HIPHOP FANS ... ASK A 14-16 yrs old FAN ... "WHO'S RAKIM?" ... WHAT DO U THINK IS THE ANSWER ...  

[Storm]

They pound out new material every day, but most of it is shit. Rakim is a vet who has proven to be one of the greats.  If Dre can't see how much more talent Rakim has then those dudes then Dre is crazy.  Rakim cares about perfecting his songs and probably doesnt want to rush making them all the time like 50 or Banks.

Peace.

[teecee]

Storm, you've got it EXACGTLY right man, props.  Who wants to hear all those garbage mixtapes anyway, or freestyles over the "hottest beats"......that shit does nothing for me, i'd rather them really take some time making some quality music, but i guess thats too much to ask nowadays

[mauzip]

Storm, you've got it EXACGTLY right man, props.  Who wants to hear all those garbage mixtapes anyway, or freestyles over the "hottest beats"......that shit does nothing for me, i'd rather them really take some time making some quality music, but i guess thats too much to ask nowadays

[Darksider]

Storm, you've got it EXACGTLY right man, props.  Who wants to hear all those garbage mixtapes anyway, or freestyles over the "hottest beats"......that shit does nothing for me, i'd rather them really take some time making some quality music, but i guess thats too much to ask nowadays

[Young Griff]

You got to keep your name out there or people will forget about you.  People talk about respect and that artists who have earned success and legendary status shouldn't have to prove themselves.  Any artist of any stature should have to prove themselves time after time, constantly.  When Michael Jordan came back this last time (even though he was past his prime) he had to put in his work to get back into the game.  He hustled to get back into playing shape, He couldn't leave the game for a few years, not stay on his toes and expect to comeback and rule the game.  Rakim is a legend and like Chris, Jome and others said, Rakim has respect from old school heads but all these new listeners don't know what he is about.  He has to be reintroduced to the game, get his name out again, put in his work, get his hustle on again.  Even some of the wackest artists out put in hard work.  

We don't know what really went down between the Dre and Ra so it's hard to put all the pieces together but if two people don't mesh they aren't going to get much done.