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Jay Smooth sheds some light on the seemingly self-destructive behavior of rapper Charles Hamilton.
“I see a group home kid who became an internet celebrity when he wasn’t ready…”
– Jay Smooth-
Charles Hamilton The man needs a hug and some understanding. Maybe?
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In the 12 years that Steve Jobs has been back running Apple, the company revolutionized the computer business, created the mobile device market and attacked traditional media as effectively as anyone ever has. Imagine if he brought his ideas to radio?
Monday, June 15, 2009
http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2009/06/steve-jobs-replaces-john-hogan.html
Apple CEO-Steve Jobs-His innovativeness put APPLE on top. Imagine if he was to run Clear Channel?
In the 12 years that Steve Jobs has been back running Apple, the company revolutionized the computer business, created the mobile device market and attacked traditional media as effectively as anyone ever has.
Apple did eight great things in that time span that not only affected the geek end of their business but redefined the ego driven entertainment side.
Obviously, while record companies and radio groups slept, Apple was busy at work.
The return of Steve Jobs was in and of itself a remarkable feat. He was kicked out of the company he co-founded and Apple had a near death experience at the hands of CEO Gil Amelio.
Then in 1998 came the iMac that once again revolutionized the personal computer business and pressured the competition. Apple was back.
In 2001, the new Mac operating system was introduced – the one that’s cool, reliable and defies viruses.
That same year Apple created a new market for itself by inventing the iPod. You may remember that Mp3 players were all the rage before the iPod but they were clunky, unreliable and filled with potential — not consumer satisfaction.
One of the reasons the iPod worked where previous competitors failed is because in 2003 the iTunes Store came into full prominence. iPod customers had a cool place to plug in and fill up their devices. Nevermind that they had to pay 99 cents for the music, many were willing. Simultaneously, the filesharing market continued to grow and there was plenty of room for pirated music on an iPod.
In 2006, Apple switched from PowerPC chips to Intel – faster, better. Another improvement.
The iPhone was born in 2007 and the rest is history as the only thing holding the iPhone back from total domination is Apple’s agreement with AT&T (that will hopefully get modified soon).
Learning from the success of the iPod/iTunes model, Apple created the wildly popular App Store that resides in iTunes and helps consumers fill up their iPhones with neat and useful applications designed by all types of individuals and developers.
There is a rumor that Apple is getting ready to unveil a tablet-sized device – larger than an iPod Touch and able to play movies, videos, pictures, applications and some call it the Kindle killer because it will no doubt thrust Apple into the digital book market.
All during this time, Jobs led his company in the opposite direction of most digital businesses.
He started brick and mortar retail stores in high-end locations.
Keeping with the company’s image, the design of their stores was cool and artistically pleasing. The Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York City is all underground with a big glass entrance leading to the escalators. The rest of the expensive real estate is “just” a plaza for pedestrians.
The new Apple store in Scottsdale – minutes from me – just opened a few days ago with high ceilings and glass walls on two sides so you can see through it. Take my wallet away, please!
This guy doesn’t quit – and during those 12 years Jobs’ health deteriorated, he fought deadly pancreatic cancer and currently is recuperating from the effects of his life saving surgery.
Now that’s putting meaning to the Apple motto “Think Different” with no excuses for personal health problems or low stock prices (remember, Apple stock was once very cheap).
In approximately that same time period, the radio industry and the record labels did what?
I’m waiting!
Let’s see.
HD radio that would revolutionize broadcasting and provide more channels to greedy consolidators.
And rather than gloss over this, remember the time, money and attention that was invested in the uncoolest consumer product since the Edsel.
Then there was satellite radio – the terrestrial killer.
Turns out satellite radio was not much better than over-the-air broadcasting and it cost $12.95 a month.
The radio lobby, NAB, made a fool out of itself by spending millions of dollars to try and kill satellite radio off when all it had to do was step back and watch. It’s like Iran. If you want to damage Iran, just let them hold elections and get out of the way.
Any new formats for radio?
Nah. Just the ninth generation hybrid of music formats that sounded similar to the eight others that preceded them.
Of course, there was new technology that made voice tracking possible, but didn’t this hurt the consolidators more than help?
How about a new generation of radio personalities.
No again.
Howard Stern changed addresses. Don Imus got more decrepit and talk radio pumped itself full of hot air pandering to the same aging audience that advertisers don’t seem to want.
I didn’t see anyone spending the fortune that it takes to start an all-news station.
How about the record labels, maybe they fared better?
Think again.
Suing consumers in their ill-conceived strategy to stand up to music pirating blew up in their face. In fact, the RIAA is about ready to have its lunch eaten – perhaps to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars – if Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a 32-year-old mother of four and self-described “huge music fan,” wins her rematch in a Minneapolis court.
This time instead of employing a “Sonny Bono” defense strategy, she has herself a couple of sharp young lawyers – one from Harvard that are working “pro Bono” (free!) to play pin the tail on the donkey. If she succeeds, the labels may find themselves actually owing the “sued” back pay.
What about digital initiatives?
No, while Jobs was thinking different, the labels were thinking the same. Trying to hold onto a shrinking CD market because, after all, record labels are just widget makers at heart.
They blew buying Napster. Sued them instead.
John Hogan runs the Huge Clear Channel empire-With it headed to bankruptcy obviously he wasn't able to bring fresh ideas to the table.
Tried to cram their misguided belief that labels actually could set prices for music even while Apple became the music industry’s de facto number one record label.
I could go on and on and you probably could insert mistake after mistake from both radio and the music during the same period of time that Steve Jobs was building a hardware and entertainment giant.
Same period of time.
Same number of recessions.
Same stock market and Wall Street piranas.
Same time frame.
Same next generation coming of age except Jobs embraced them while radio and music execs tried to change their demands.
All things being equal.
Apple won. They lost.
But it is deeper than that.
Imagine for a minute – as I have done in past pieces – that Steve Jobs ran Clear Channel.
I can guarantee you Clear Channel would be a public company with a stock price over $100 and no Mays children in site.
What would Jobs have done as CEO of Clear Channel?
Let’s use our imagination.
1. He would have sought a partnership with Apple or Sony or someone to help design new age “radios” – perhaps they were like iPods and they probably would not – I repeat not – carry the terrestrial signal. Jobs would have realized that young people listen to media on-demand. Hell, if you gave Jobs the talent of Clear Channel programmers and talent, he would make you forget about Ryan Seacrest by redeploying them to digital media.
2. Jobs would have hired not fired. Firing is what losers do. Hiring is what achievers do. He would have raided Citadel, Cumulus and some of the smaller well-run groups and created the nucleus for new age plans.
3. He would control the content for new podcasting and streaming using radio talent. As head of Clear Channel, we are presuming he would also not be working for Apple so he would get ready to revolutionize the radio and record businesses with other partners. You see, radio and records fit together. Apart, both industries are weaker.
4. Jobs might have created radioandrecords.com (by buying the newspaper) and turning the name into iTunes except it would be owned by Clear Channel and the record labels. That’s where consumers would buy music, watch videos, connect with each other and artists and contribute content – right there on the very site Steve Jobs built for Clear Channel. Can you imagine the Mays’ doing this?
5. He’d sell the outdoor division while it was still worth something, get additional funding and own the WiFi space in partnership with his manufacturing sources. Jobs would know that eventually WiFi would dominate and that content is what his Clear Channel should be doing. That terrestrial radio had a short shelf life in the future.
6. Jobs would start selling the radio stations off to local operators who recognize that analog radio works. It’s kind of like what he does right now with application developers. They create the content and he controls who gets to air what where. In this case, Jobs would turn the dying terrestrial radio business into a thriving one by renting out signals to entrepreneurs who promise his Clear Channel a clean percent of the cut.
I don’t know about you, but I am getting too excited to type.
Let’s say I’m wrong – still, this is more like it.
Imagine the difference that a smart, generationally-wise CEO could have made at Clear Channel.
Or at any other consolidated radio station or record label.
One that anticipated the digital future and aggregated talent instead of spending. It would then be possible to think differently about what “radio” could have become.
Instead, we’re all increasingly asking what went wrong and what could have been had even a semi-competent CEO ran but one consolidated radio group.
John Hogan.
Steve Jobs.
Lew Dickey.
Steve Jobs.
Fagreed Suleman.
Steve Jobs.
See what I mean, the radio industry didn’t die.
It was murdered.
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On The Line With….
2PAC SHAKUR
The Lost Interview…1991
 One of the most interesting and intense interviews, I’ve ever conducted was with Tupac Shakur.. He had just hit it big with the movie Juice and and everyone wondering was he just acting or putting forth his real life persona in the movie.. Although I had known him for a couple of years it was hard for me to tell.. cause he had a loaded gun on him as we spoke…If I recall it was a 38….Pac explains in this interview his then recent encounter with the Oakland Police Department which resulted in him getting beat. I had run excerpts from this interview in a newsletter I used to publish back in the early 90s. I had completely forgotten about this interview and had misplaced the tape.
A couple of months ago while working on liner notes for Digital Underground‘s Greatest Hits which recently came out on Rhino records, I came across a tape that had an old interview I did with Shock G. I flipped to the b-side and to my surprise I discovered the missing 2Pac interview from 1991.So today in celebration of his birthday we are sending off the transcript of the entire interview. We are also going to be playing the entire interview on our Hard Knock radio show. If you happen to be located in the San Francisco Bay Area or anywhere throughout Northern and Central california tune into KPFA 94.1 FM… If you happen to be listening to us up in Seattle where we are also heard tune into Radio X. Everyone else peep us out on line at KPFA.org or radio-x.org. We will be putting excerpts of the interview up on the site tomorrow. Enjoy the interview.Tupac Shakur considers himself the ‘Rebel of the Underground’ [Digital Underground] and for good reason. He stirs things up and does the unexpected. Such a person is bound to generate excitement because they have impact on both the people and situations around them. 2Pac in 1992 promises to have major impact in the world of hip hop. He’s kicking things off with a sensational acting debut in the movie ‘Juice‘ where he stars as the character Roland Bishop. His debut lp ‘2Pacalypse Now‘ is beginning to cause a bit of a stir on retail shelves around the country. And if that’s not enough Tupac is branching out and signing new acts to his production company including his older brother Moecedes who raps in the Toni Tony Tone song ‘Feels Good. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing this out spoken and very animated individual at his apartment where he told his tale.
2Pac: I’m from the Bronx, NY. I moved to Baltimore where I spent some high school years and then I came to Oaktown. As for hip hop…all my travels through these cities seemed to be the common denominator. Davey D: 2Pac… Is that your given name or is that your rap name?
Davey D: You lived In Marin City for a little while. How was your connection with hip hop able to be maintained while living there? Was there a thriving hip hop scene in Marin City? 2Pac: Not really..You were just given truth to the music. Being in Marin City was like a small town so it taught me to be more straight forward with my style. Instead of of being so metaphorical with the rhyme where i might say something like… Davey D:Why was that? 2Pac In Marin City it seemed like things were real country. Everything was straight forward. Poverty was straight forward. There was no way to say I’m poor, but to say ‘I’m po’…we had no money and that’s what influenced my style. Davey D: How did you hook up with Digital Underground? 2Pac: I caught the ‘D-Flow Shuttle’ while I was in Marin City. It was the way out of here. Shock G was the conductor. Davey D: What’s the D-Flow Shuttle? 2Pac:The D-Flow Shuttle is from the album ‘Sons of the P‘ It was the way to escape out of the ghetto. It was the way to success. I haven’t gotten off since… Davey D: Now let’s put all that in laymen’s terms 2Pac: Basically I bumped into this kid named Greg Jacobs aka Shock G and he hooked me up with Digital Underground and from there I hooked up with Money B… and from there Money B hooked me up with his step mamma… and from there me and his step mamma started making beats…[laughter] Me and his step mamma got a little thing jumping off. We had a cool sound, but Shock asked me if I wanted a group. I said ‘Yeah but I don’t wanna group with Money B’s step momma ’cause she’s gonna try and take all the profits… She wants to go out there and be like the group ‘Hoes with Attitude’, but I was like ‘Naw I wanna be more serious and represent the young black male’. So Shock says we gotta get rid of Money B’s step mamma. So we went to San Quentin [prison] and ditched her in the ‘Scared Straight’ program…[laughter. After that Shock put me in the studio and it was on..This is a true story so don’t say anything.. It’s a true story. And to Mon’s step mamma I just wanna say ‘I’m sorry, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. I’m sorry but it was Shock’s idea-Bertha.. but don’t worry she can get her half of the profits from the first cut after she finishes doing her jail time. [laughter] Davey D: What’s the concept behind your album 2Pacalypse Now’? 2Pac: The concept is the young Black male. Everybody’s been talkin’ about it but now it’s not important. It’s like we just skipped over it.. It’s no longer a fad to be down for the young Black male. Everybody wants to go past. Like the gangster stuff, it just got exploited. This was just like back in the days with the movies. Everybody did their little gun shots and their hand grenades and blew up stuff and moved on. Now everybody’s doing rap songs with the singing in it.. I’m still down for the young Black male. I’m gonna stay until things get better. So it’s all about addressing the problems that we face in everyday society. Davey D: What are those problems? 2Pac: Police brutality, poverty, unemployment, insufficient education, disunity and violence, black on black crime, teenage pregnancy, crack addiction. Do you want me to go on? Davey D: How do you address these problems? Are you pointing them out or are you offering solutions? 2Pac: I do both. In some situations I show us having the power and in some situations I show how it’s more apt to happen with the police or power structure having the ultimate power. I show both ways. I show how it really happens and I show how I wish it would happen Davey D: You refer to yourself as the ‘Rebel of the Underground’ Why so? 2Pac: Cause, as if Digital Underground wasn’t diverse enough with enough crazy things in it, I’m even that crazier. I’m the rebel totally going against the grain…I’m the lunatic that everyone refers to. I always want to do the extreme. I want to get as many people looking as possible. For example I would’ve never done the song ‘Kiss U Back’ that way.I would’ve never done a song like that-That’s why I’m the rebel.
2Pac:We’re letting the law do its job. It’s making its way through the court system.. We filed a claim… Davey D:Recount the incident for those who don’t know.. 2Pac:For everyone who doesn’t know, I, an innocent young black male was walking down the streets of Oakland minding my own business and the police department saw fit for me to be trained or snapped back into my place. So they asked for my I-D and sweated me about my name because my name is ‘Tupac’. My final words to them was ‘f— y’all’ . Next thing I know I was in a choke hold passing out with cuffs on headed for jail for resisting arrest. Yes.. you heard right-I was arrested for resisting arrest. Davey D:Where is all this now? 2Pac: We’re in the midst of having a ten million dollar law suit against the Oakland Police Department. If I win and get the money, then the Oakland Police department is going to buy a boys home, me a house, my family a house and a ‘Stop Police Brutality Center’ and other little odd things like that.. Davey D:In the video for the song ‘Trapped‘ do you think that would’ve had the police want to treat you aggressively? After all, the video is very telling especially in the un-edited version where you have a cop get shot. 2Pac: Well the ironic thing is the cops I came across in that incident didn’t know about that video. The second thing is that everything I said in that video happened to me. The video happened before the incident. In the video I show how the cops sweat me and ask for my ID and how I can’t go anywhere… Davey D:Let’s talk about the movie ‘Juice’. How did you get involved? Where’s it at? and what’s it about? 2Pac: MMM what led me? Well, we have the Freaky Deaky Money B and Sleuth [raod manager for DU]. Money B had an audition for the movie Sleuth [road manager] suggested I also come along so I went. Money B read the script and said to me’ this sounds like you- a rebel. he was talking about this character named Bishop. I went in cold turkey, read, God was with me… Davey D:Have you ever had acting experience before? 2Pac: Actually I went to the school of Performing arts in Baltimore and that’s where I got my acting skills. Davey D:Ok so you weren’t a novice when you went up there… So what’s the movie about? 2Pac:The movie is about 4 kids and their coming of age. Davey D:Is it a Hip Hop movie? 2Pac:No, it’s not a hip hop movie. It’s a real good movie that happens to have hip hop in it. If it was made in the 60s it would’ve depicted whatever was ‘down’ in the 60s…My character is Roland Bishop, a psychotic, insecure very violent, very short tempered individual. Davey D:What’s the message you hope is gotten out of the movie? 2Pac: You never know what’s going on in somebody’s mind. There are a lot of things that add up. There’s a lot of pressure on someone growing up. You have to watch it if it goes unchecked. This movie was an example of what can happen… Davey D:Can you explain what you mean by this? 2Pac:In the movie my character’s, father was a prison whore and that was something that drove him through the whole movie… Davey D: This was something that wasn’t shown in the movie? 2Pac: Yes, they deleted this from the film. Anyway this just wrecked his [Bishop’s] mind. You can see through everybody else’s personality, Bishop just wanted to get respect. He wanted the respect that his father didn’t get. Everthing he did, he did just to get a rep. So from those problems never being dealt with led to him ending four people’s lives. Davey D:Do you intend on continuing making movies? 2Pac: It depends on whether or not there are any good parts. I want to challenge myself. Davey D:What is your philosophy on hip hop? I’ve heard you say you don’t to see it diluted? 2Pac: Well when I said that, it made me think. It brought me to myself. Now I have a different philosophy. Hip Hop when it started it was supposed to be this new thing that had no boundaries and was so different to everyday music. Now it seems like I was starting to get caught up in the mode of what made hip hop come about. I would walk around and hear something and start saying ‘That’s not Hip Hop’. If someone started singing, I would walk around and say ‘That’s not Hip Hop’. Well, now I’ve changed my mind. That could be Hip Hop.As long as the music has the true to the heart soul it can be hip hop. As long it has soul to it, hip hop can live on. Davey D:I guess my question would be, how do you determine what’s soul and what isn’t? 2Pac: Well you can tell. The difference between a hit like ‘Make You Dance’ [C&C Music Factory] and ‘My Mind Is Playing Tricks On Me’ [Geto Boys]. You have to ask yourself, ‘Which song moves you’. Davey D: Well actually both. Both songs move me 2Pac: Really? well… ok there you go Davey D:So they both would be Hip Hop, right? 2Pac:I guess so, at least in your opinion. ‘The Make You Dance’ song didn’t move me. But the Geto Boys song did move me Davey D:Well for the record Bambaataa says both of them are Hip Hop. I asked him what he thought about groups like C&C Music Factory. He said they were part of the Hip Hop family…But that’s his philosophy on things. So what’s your plans for the next year or so? 2Pac: To strengthen the Underground Railroad. I have a crew called the Underground Railroad and a program called the Underground Railroad…I wanna build all this up, so that by next year you will know the name Underground Railroad… Davey D:So what’s the concept behind The Underground Railroad? 2Pac:The concept behind this is the same concept behind Harriet Tubman, to get my brothers who might be into drug dealing or whatever it is thats illegal or who are disenfranchised by today’s society-I want to get them back into by turning them onto music. It could be R&B, hip hop or pop, as long as I can get them involved. While I’m doing that, I’m teaching them to find a love for themselves so they can love others and do the same thing we did for them to others. Davey D: How many people in the Underground Railroad? Is it a group that intends to keep constantly evolving? Also where are the people who are a part of Underground Railroad coming from? 2Pac: Right now we’re twenty strong. The group is going to be one that constantly evolves. The people that are in the UR are coming from all over, Baltimore, Marin City, Oakland, New York, Richmond-all over. Davey D: What do you think of the Bay Area rap scene compared to other parts of the country?
2Pac: Right now the Bay Area is how the Bronx was in 1981. Everybody is hot. They caught the bug. Everybody is trying to be creative and make their own claim. New York just got to a point where you could no longer out due the next guy. So now you have this place where there isn’t that many people to out due. Here you can do something and if it’s good enough people will remember you. So that’s what’s happening. here in the Bay Area, it’s like a renaissance. Davey D: In New York the renaissance era got stopped for a number of reasons in my opinion. What do you think will prevent that from happening in the Bay Area? 2Pac: Well at the risk of sounding biased, I say Digital Underground. They are like any other group. I’ll give that to Shock G. He made it so that everything Digital Underground does it helps the Bay Area music scene. It grows and goes to New York and hits people from all over the country. That helps the Bay Area. Our scene is starting to rub off on people. We want everyone to know about Oakland. When other groups come down, like Organized Konfusion or Live Squad and they kick it with Digital Underground, they get to see another side of the Bay Area music scene.It’s a different side then if they kicked it with that guy… I don’t wanna say his name, but you know who he is he dropped the ‘MC’ from his name [MC Hammer]. Davey D: So you think Digital Underground will be more strength to the Bay Area rap scene because they help bring national attention. What do you think other groups will have to do? 2Pac: What we have to do is not concentrate so much on one group. We have to focus more on the area. It’s not about just building up Too Short, Digital Underground and Tony Toni Tone and say; ‘That’s it. They’re the only groups that can come from the Bay Area’. We have to let the new groups come out. Nobody wants to give the new acts a chance. Everybody wants to only talk about Too Short and Digital Underground…We have to start talking about these other groups that are trying to come in that are coming up from the bottom. Davey D: When you say ‘come up’ what do you mean by that?
2Pac: It’s like this. Instead of letting them do interviews where nobody ever reads them, let a good newspaper interview them. Instead of putting them on the radio when nobody is ever going to hear them or where nobody is going to hear them, have them where people can hear them and get at them where they had a better chance, just like if they were Mariah Carey.
Davey D: Do you find the Bay Area sound is being respected? Do you find that people are starting to accept it around the country?
2Pac: I feel that the Bay Area sound hasn’t even finished coming out. It’s starting to get respected more and more everyday.
Davey D: Your brother Moecedes is a rapper for the group Tony Toni Tone. What’s the story with him? Are you guys gonna team up?
2Pac: He’s in the Underground Railroad. He’s also about to come out with another guy named Dana.
Davey D: Who produced your album and are you into producing
2Pac: I co-produced it with the members of the Underground Railroad which is Shock G, Money B, Raw Fusion, Pee Wee, Jay-Z from Richmond, Stretch from the Live Squad. It’s really like a life thing-this Underground Railroad. It effects everything we do.
Davey D:Is there anything else we should know about Tupac?
2Pac: Yeah, the group Nothing Gold is coming. My kids are coming out with a serious message…NG is a group coming out that I produce.. All the stuff I say in my rhymes I say because of how I grew up. So to handle that, instead of going to a pyschiatrist, I got a kids group that deals with the problems a younger generation is going through. They put them into rhymes so it’s like a pyschology session set to music. It’ll make you come to grips with what you actually do..
Davey D: What do you mean by that? Are they preaching?
2Pac: No they’re just telling you straight up like Ice Cube or Scarface. They’re being blunt and it comes out of akid’s mouth. If you’re a black man, you’re going to really trip out cause they really call you out and have you deal with them…NG will make us have responsibility again. Kids are telling you to have responsibility…
Davey D: What do you think of the current trends in Hip Hop like the gangsta rap, Afrocentric Rap, raggamuffin and the fusion of the singing and rap? Some people call it ‘pop rap’.
2Pac: I think all the real shit is gonna stay. It’s gonna go through some changes. It’s going through a metaphorphis so it will blow up sometimes and get real nasty and gritty, then the leeches will fall off and Hip Hop will be fit and healthy. Hip Hop has to go through all of that, but no one can make judgments until it’s over.
Davey D: What do you think the biggest enemies to Hip Hop are right now?
2Pac: Egotistical rappers. They don’t wanna open up their brain. Its foul when people are walking around saying things like; ‘Oakland is the only place where the real rappers come out. New York is the only place where the real rappers come out. They booty out there or they booty over there…’ All of that just needs to die or Hip Hop is gonna have problems. Its gonna be so immature. Thats just conflict in words. We can’t be immature we gotta grow.
Davey D: Cool I think we got enough out of you 2Pac.
2Pac: yes I think you got enough
Davey D: Peace.
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Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner
Below is the actual Breakdown FM recordings of the interviews
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This is a walk down memory lane where we celebrate the life and times of Tupac Amaru Shakur. He was born June 16th 1971 and died tragically September 13 1996. Featured on this Tribute mix are Sway from MTV, author Dr Michael Eric Dyson, 2Pac’s first manager Leila Steinberg, Big D one of 2Pac’s first producers, West Coast pioneer Julio G Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, Shock G of Digital Underground, YoYo and yours truly Davey D.
Sit back and enjoy his words as we celebrate the accomplishments of one Hip Hop’s greatest rappers.. Big shout out to Big Jon Manual of KYLD radio and Alex Mejia of audio main frame produced segments for this tribute
click the link below to check out the Birthday tribute mix
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As we take time out to remember the life and times of 2Pac on what would’ve been his 38th birthday we went digging into the archives and broke out with one of 2Pac’s most controversial and colorful interviews. Its the westside radio interview which took place at the height of the East-West Coast beef (Bad Boy vs Death Row). Pac had lots to say..as he pulled no punches..which is why we loved him.. enjoy..
 Earlier this year..Friday April 19 1996, Tupac Shakur graced the airwaves of KMEL Radio’s Westside Radio program in San Francisco. Here, in an historic interview he let the entire Bay Area know exactly what he was feeling and thinking at that point in time. For those who weren’t up on the backdrop at the time that interview aired, 2Pac had not spoken to anyone extensively since joining Death Row. His album, ‘All Eyes On Me’ was the album of choice for more then a few headz especially here in the Bay Area. The Bad Boy/ Death Row conflict was at an all time high… No one from the Death Row camp had spoken on co-founder Dr Dre‘s departure. More importantly, 2Pac had not been through the Bay in what seemd like years…My boy Sway of The Wake Up Show was the person asking the questions..
First of all 2Pac congratulations on your success…Most people from the Bay Area couldn’t be there by your side..but we felt like with every episode you went through we were there..we saw you through the media and we were right there. Brothers gotta a lotta love for you here in the Bay Area and we wanna know when you’re planning on coming back? 2Pac:I’m comin’ back for sure..and I love the Bay. Everywhere I go..and every episode I’ve been through, I always felt like I was sharing it..both the good times and the bad times with the Bay Area. I felt like whatever I am the Bay Area had something to do with making me. So if I’m bad they had something to do with making me and if I’m good they had something to do with making me. Between the east coast, the Bay Area and LA and Baltimore, those places made me….I owe them everything. It’s not like I just got love for one block. I got love for those communities.. I got love for those areas because everything about those areas made me who I am…From the crack heads to biggest ballers to the teachers to the principals in schools to the police that pulled me by the arm to the mammas on the block. To everybody who help raise me and I appreciate it…With all my fans I got a family again.When I started rappin’ I was talkin’ about broken homes and now everybody is alright again just because of my fans being behind me..they made it more then just an artist thing..instead it was like them saying ‘hey that’s our homeboy and we support him. I appreciate that… I went to jail and they made me number one.. I appreciate them stickin’ up for me when everyone was kickin me when I was down… That’s love and I’ll never trade that..so for the Bay and Philly and all those areas and all those ghettos and towns..I love y’all..don’t let this east coast west coast thing get to you… I love you with all my heart with everything. I do this for y’all….
It seems like every time you come up something happens to bring you back down.. When you’re caught up like that what is it that goes through your mind when you got millions of fans wondering about you? 2Pac: It hurts me in one way because they be lookin’ at me saying ‘Damn you got everything why are you doing this?’ In my heart I’ll be saying ‘Damn you know I don’t wanna go to jail..I’m trying to live.’ On the other hand, I can’t really take it personal because I’m a reflection of the community… All young Black males are going through that..It’s happening with a lot of young Black females also young white males… A lot of minorities are going through that where they try to come up and get pulled back five steps…To me it’s not personal because they’re all going through it. The only thing that makes it different and original with me is that people get to watch it from beginning to end like it’s a soap opera. You get to watch mine and with everyone else they get to hide and go to their homes and get over it. With me you see me dealing with my greatest pains. You see me get over things…. What went through your head when you got shot in New York and that whole complication? Brother you must be truly blessed to go through all these trials and tribulations you’ve been through and you’re still maintaining. Even now they’re still comin’ after you. You got these demons and obstacles that keep comin down harder and harder. It seems like everytime you turn around, you got somebody knockin’ on your door trying to take something from you….2Pac: They come harder and harder. It’s like everytime I think this is it and I go all out to beat that and I win or I lose…I come into the next one and it’s worse. It’s like the twilight zone. It’s like some evil, unstoppable shit that won’t let me go. It’s got it’s hands on me and it wants to see me fail. In my mind sometimes when I’m drunk or I’m just laying down..I keep thing to myself, ‘Damn is this true?.. Am I gonna fail? Am I supposed to fail? Should I just stop trying and give up? But then I’m like ‘Naw, hold up hold on..that’s exactly what they’re waiting on me to do’… They’re waiting for me to give up. So now this is just a fun little game that I cry at sometime..that I laugh at sometime..that I smile at and have good times and bad times..But it’s a game. It’s the game of life….Do I win or do I lose?. I know one day they’re gonna shut the game down but I gotta have as much fun and go around the board as many times as I can before it’s my turn to leave… How did you first get down with Suge Knight and Death Row?2Pac: I used to always see Suge. When they did the soundtrack for Murder Was The Case and I was going through all those legal problems..He was like ‘Yo give me a song dog’. I gave him a song and I got the most I ever got for a song. It was damn near an album budget. I got something like 200 thousand dollars for one song and they didn’t even use it. But I still got paid for everything I did for the sound track. I remember when he did it.. He did it not because he was jocking me, but because he knew I was having crazy legal problems and I was a man. He had asked me to come to Death Row and I told him I wasn’t ready,. Instead of taking it personal he did that for me and I appreciated that. So when I was in jail just sittin’ there..I was gonna quit rappin’ but then Puffy and Biggie came out in Vibe Magazine and lied and twisted the facts. All I wanted to do was end everything and walk away from the shit. I wanted to get out the game. I’m trying to get out the game and they wanna dirty up my memory. They wanna dirty up everything I worked for. So instead of quittin’ it made me wanna come back and be more relentless to destroy who used to be my comrades and homeboys. These guys were my closest click. I worked hard all my life as far as this music business to bring about east coast west coast love and make everybody feel comfortable. I dreamed of the day when I could go to New York and feel comfortable and they could come out here and be comfortable. So when people ask me about this east coast/west coast thing it’s not silly at all…but you can’t disrespect the love. You can’t disrespect the peace treaty.. That’s just like when the Indians made deals with the white dudes and they would just come and rape their women and shoot’em up and leave…of course the Indians aren’t gonna love white people no more.. They’re gonna want to kick up some dust until people think about it and re negotiate the terms of the treaty and that’s where this east coast west coast stuff is at right now. We gotta have this beef and these words and this dialogue until we can re negotiate the terms of the treaty. I love the east coast..I from the east coast, but they have to understand you just can’t be saying shit about us and think we’re not gonna take it personally… You just can’t be calling us fakers and pretenders and non-creative and say we can’t freestyle..and we just sit back and say ‘Naw it’s cool ’cause we love them because they started hip hop’. Hell no, we’re gonna take it personal, just like a kid would when his bigger brother who ain’t doing his shit steps to him. That’s like a little brother making lots of cash and the bigger brother comin’ along and sayin’ ‘You owe it all to me’ That’s wrong.. Don’t be mad because the little nigguh is comin’ up Pac you gave a lot of love back to some Bay Area artist like E-40, Rappin’ 4Tay, Dru Down and the whole crew…talk about what made you decide to work with them Now is the east coast /west coast beef, really both coasts? Or is it Bad Boy and Death Row ?2Pac: It’s not both coasts. What it is..is the people on the East coast are real proud and real cultural and real strong like we are on the west coast. What happen was Biggie came at a time just like Hitler did with the Germans. Biggie came at a time when they were open to somebody saying ‘We’re the master race and these guys [west coast] are nothing. They’re pretenders and this is why we’re not makin’ it in the business. It’s because of these guys. This is why we’re not doing nothing. So the east coast really not hatin’ us or knowing anything about us..have just been listening to their supposed to be leader. They were listening to the person who’s supposed to be representing’ for them… They didn’t know that what they were doing was ending our culture. We [west coast] held it down for you all. That’s how I felt. I was in tears.. When LL was out there dancin’ with women in silver suits which I’m not mad at..because I might do that one day.. But when the East coast was trying to be creative and test other boundaries we were holdin’ it down with this hardcore shit. It might not have been what you [east coast] wanted but it kept rap alive for years. It kept money comin’ in. It let them [the world] notice us. So how could you [east coast] look at us and say ‘You’re not good enough’? We’re from a broken home. Y’all [east coast] didn’t teach us this.. we ain’t got no subways and graffiti. In spite of the gangs and all of that we still came up with this culture. I feel like we never got what we deserved. I took it personal because I’m from the East coast and I know about that culture but I know about this [west coast] culture because I was here when it was being put down…So now I’m doing what the East coast would’ve did if the west coast did this to them… I’m riding..for my side. You’re wrong..It’s not right.. Recognize us. The only way the east coast is gonna recognize us if for us to do it on record, by money, by sales and by representing. Just like KRS-One…when PM Dawn got on stage and he had been talking shit about him..what did KRS-One do?….[He bum rushed him] So why are people telling me I’m wrong for doing what I’m doing. They love KRS-One.. He is hip hop..am I correct? I’m mad at Biggie and I’m rushin’ the nigga. What’s the problem? As soon as the east coast separate themselves from Biggie we will do shows in the east.. Everything is beautiful..But so far the east coast has been with him. Everything I read..every letter I read. every interview I read .nigguhs keep saying ‘Fuck 2Pac..Biggie Biggie this and Biggie Biggie that like he’s representin’ everyone from the east coast.That’s why I attack the way I do.. I’m a general and I’m a smart general and I’m not gonna attack at no blind soldier. I’m gonna attack those who attack me. The only reason why people was mad was because I came out of jail and made this a reality. When I got out of jail the east coast west coast shit was really started. California Love, when I was singin’ put it down. and now nigguhs is mad because money is fucked up, attitudes have changed..it’s not as safe as it used to be. Nigguhs gotta think about their business and that’s what I wanted to happen..Now let’s go to the table..Let’s talk..Let’s make peace..let’s work it out…let’s give the community the money. So are you saying a conversation with Puffy and Biggie would… 2Pac: I wouldn’t sit down and have a conversation with Puffy and Biggie..because that’s like Scarface sitting down with the dude he’s hoping to rule. They are not on my level..but I can sit down with the OGs and from there [back east] which we are doing. People need to now we’re not beefing with the East coast.. We’re about to start Death Row East with Eric B and all the OG nigguhs out there. We got Big Daddy Kane.. Christopher Williams..we’re trying to get Bobby Brown. We’re trying to get the East coast Death Row to be like the West Coast Death Row and make it major. We’re not doing that until we get this business settled.. Even while we’re doing this we’re trying to get Wu-Tang.. I feel as though they represent the east coast the way we represent the west coast and I love them. If everybody’s raps is what they really think then everybody should understand what I’m doing. It’s gangsta shit..It’s warrior shit.. and it’s all by the rules of the game. I’m calling for dialogue. I’m gathering attention for dialogue which is what you do in a struggle for power. What’s going on with Dre and how does that effect Death Row ?2Pac: Dre is doing his own thing.. It doesn’t effect us..My take on what happened was that Snoop went on trial for murder for his life..somebody said Dre was in the car.. The jury believed that c we needed Dre to be able to say he wasn’t there..once they would’ve saw that he wasn’t there that would’ve saved Snoop’s whole case. They would’ve saw that the witness was lying. Dre never showed up. He said he was too busy. That’s how they told me..When they told me that I was like no matter how dope he is and Dre was one of my heros in the music industry..If he’s not down for his homeboys.. I don’t wanna be a part of him or around him. Plus I feel that what was done in the dark will come to light. There are secrets that everybody’s gonna find out about.. and you’ll know what I did it. I swear to god y’all we are living by the rules of the game. Hey Pac why don’t you talk about the project you are doing with Jodeci right now…2Pac: My next single is gonna be ‘How Do You Want It‘ , Amerikka’s Most Wanted, ‘Hit ‘Em Up‘ and ‘California Love‘ .. the version people couldn’t buy. Hit ‘Em Up is a song which is a classic hip hop record..meaning it’s a straight battle record to all the Bad Boy staff.. It’s to Puffy, to Biggie to Lil Kim..to all of them. What about Mobb Deep?2Pac: My little homies is attacking them. That’s why I’m not even addressing the Mobb Deep issue. They’re not even on my level. I find it disrespectful that they would even think they can attack me or the West Coast… So I don’t even address those busta ass fakes.. Please print that…. It is on and poppin’. If you don’t see me rushin’ them that means it’s cause they bowed down. Those Mobb Deep fools they don’t want it.. Chino XL, Mobb Deep , Bad Boy, Biggie , Lil Ceasar, Junior Mafia all of them is on our hitlist and I’m getting with them with my new click called The Outlaws. They’re some Jersey dudes who are keeping that east coast flava poppin’ . It’s some west coast dudes, southern dudes.. It’s the epitome of what I represent. I got Big Syke from Thug Life … We got ‘How Do You Want It‘ with Ron Hightower doing the directing with me and we got all porno stars. I got Nina Hartley from the Bay..and all the big time people. It’s the dirtiest nastiest video I’ve ever done. I got a playboy version and a regular version. We got nudity. It’s the most amazing video you’ll ever see. We just did the video for ‘Amerikka’s Most Wanted‘ which is the classic dis video. We got ‘Piggy’ and ‘Buffy’… We’re doing videos fro ‘All Eyes On Me‘, ‘I Ain’t Mad At Ya‘, ‘All About You‘ .. The record company got all the money in the world so we’re just gonna put it out…. When things get real slow, we’ll release a home video with ‘Ambitions Of A Rider‘, and a couple of the hardcore songs….I just did a remix to ‘What’s Your Phone Number‘ with all new lyrics. We took that MC Lyte beat from her new song she has out..[Keep On Movin’ Up] It’s so freaky you won’t believe it… I got a whole new album out…waiting for the sound track. It’s clean..all positive..all in the vein of songs like ‘Keep Your Head Up‘. and ‘Brenda’s Got A Baby‘.. It’s that type of stuff. I just put out a hardcore double album.. and next I’m gonna put out an introspective album.. It’ll be like a ‘Me Against The World pt 2′ That’s what I think my fans are looking for… I’m gonna show that I appreciate your support. … So you worked with Janet Jackson.. I was wondering if you can hook me up with her number?2Pac: If anybody finds Janet, tell her I’m looking for her. That’s why I said that shit in my song ‘My Minds Made Up‘, but give me Janet. I feel like she got shit twisted and people gone made her my enemy. She ain’t my enemy.. I ain’t mad at her. I want her to know that. It ain’t even like that. She met me at a time in my life when I was real immature. I was comin’ up and going through a lot. Now she probably sees me in a whole different light. Maybe not and maybe she will. I want that opportunity. When I see Janet, I ‘m gonna try to make right where we made wrong. Let’s talk on some other things like your new movie and soundtrack you’re working on? 2Pac: We got a movie called ‘Gridlock‘ coming out which is a mainstream movie. It’s me coming back into the theaters with Tim Ross from Pulp Fiction.. I don’t know who it is, but there’s a big name female in the movie. I’m the music supervisor for the sound track. It’s my first chance ever doing something like this… We got Allanis Morresset and all these other big name alternative groups . It’s supposedly people I would never get with.. I got them all on the sound track just to show what kind of range I got.. I’ll be putting that type of sound track out and then I’ll be putting out a rap sound track. I’m gonna do it like a 2Pac album with me doing a whole bunch of solo songs and Snoop on there doing some songs. This is just to show I have a business mind as well as a creative mind. I can make my way in this business besides rapping. What’s the one thing you would like people to know about you?
Now I understand what its truly like to be a fine female who goes to a club and all the guys just rush you before you’re ready to be rushed. Everyone is touching you before you’re ready to get touched. So now I have a better understanding of what it’s like to be a woman..I have a better understanding of fans not making you do things. I’m gonna do it because I love y’all.. I do appreciate what you did ..But if you make me do it..then I don’t wanna do it.. I don’t care how many albums you brought. My fans to me are people who follow me who are down for me..who understand me and no matter what people say, they know me…because they’ve followed me through my career. A lot of people just brought my album.. I buy albums all the time. I just buy them to listen to…If you brought my album, you brought it for the music. You didn’t buy it so when you see me, I just break down and start eating you out. I don’t like that.. Don’t start extorting me for an autograph. I’m real. I give autographs when I want to…I wanna be in this game for a long time. I don’t ever wanna hate the fans That’s what these other nigguhs do. They might give you autographs all the time, but they hate you. They never even look at you like people. I do look at you like people. That’s why I feel like I can look you in your eye and say ‘Yo I don’t feel like doing that right now.. I don’t feel like signing no autographs. and you should understand. I look at you like a human being. Let’s kick it..Lets not take pictures..let’s kick it. Do that.. I want some females to do that… Every female wanna come up to me and show me how much they’re not attracted tome.. Do the opposite cause these ghetto girls..these minority women..they’re the only women I can get cause every one else is scared of me. Their parents tell them not to mess with me.. Y’all can’t fade me. Y’all can’t turn on me Don’t change on me.. Stay down for me..’cause I stay down for you and don’t extort me unless you intend to do it forever. Five years from now what do you see yourself doing?2Pac:.. I see myself having a job on Death Row…being the A&R person and an artist that drop an album like Paul McCartney every five years. Not that I’m like Paul McCartney but there’s no rapper who ever did it so that’s why I use him as an example… But I wanna do it at leisure. My music will mean something and I’ll drop deeper shit. I’ll have my own production company which I’m close to right now…I’m doing my own movies. I have my own restaurant…which I got right now with Allanis or Suge or Snoop. I just wanna expand. I’m starting to put out some calendars for charity. I’m gonna start a little youth league in California so we can start playing some east coast teams..some southern teams …I wanna have like a Pop Warner League except the rappers fund it and they’re the head coaches. Have a league where you can get a big trophy with diamonds in it for a nigguh to stay drug free and stay in school. That’s the only way you can be on the team. We’ll have fun and eat pizza and have the finest girls there and throw concerts at the end of the year. That’s what I mean by giving back. Interview by Sway of The Wake Up Show…it first aired on KMEL’s Westside Radio on April 19 1996.. c 1996 Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner
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Jay-Z has been making his rounds to speak on the demise of Auto-Tune, from his point of view. KRS has been doing the same. With alleged come-back tracks on the way from other artists, Jay had to recently explain what originally made him take a closer look at how Auto-Tune was changing the way people viewed the culture.
“I just think in Hip Hop, when a trend becomes a gimmick, it’s time to move on,” Jigga told Chicago radio station WGCI earlier this week, echoing statements we reported on yesterday. “I saw a Wendy’s commercial and they’re using Auto-Tune. They’re joking on it. It’s like, OK, enough of that. … It was a trend. It was cool in the beginning. Some people made great music with it. Now it’s time to move on.”
Marco Alpert, VP-marketing for Antares Audio Technologies spoke on his product, telling SongsforSoap.com that their will always be a need for his product in music. He also said that their company had no problem with what is being said about its product or how it is used in the Wendy’s ad.
“We’re thrilled to have our brand out in the general world of pop culture. When it’s made it into Wendy’s commercials, we know that we’ve definitely moved beyond the rather rarified boundaries of the professional audio-technology world. Controversy is good for the Auto-Tune brand, and kind of fun to boot.”
source: http://theurbandaily.blackplanet.com/music/auto-tune-responds-to-jay-z/
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Thursday, June 11, 2009
Clear Channel is done.
The next six to nine months will constitute what I believe will be their swan song as a consolidated radio company. None of us can take any joy in this.
The economy isn’t helping.
It’s killing over-leveraged radio owners on their debt repayment. Some stations are actually making money, but not enough to pay down huge corporate debt – the debt that was purchased when they put together their radio clusters.
This piece is about what radio will be like after Clear Channel is broken up.
But first, the reason why we’re having this discussion in the first place.
The investment companies of Lee Capital Partners and Bain Media made a mistake when they went through with the acquisition of Clear Channel (radio and outdoor) to the tune of about $20 billion. The banks gave them an out. Lee & Bain refused to take it.
They knowingly walked down a dangerous path acquiring a company in a declining industry with a recession bearing down.
I’ve asked financial analysts to try and explain to me how smart investors could do such a thing and the answer I received was – for the fees.
Lee & Bain profited by closing the deal. Perhaps they didn’t think things would get this bad, but they have.
Recent attempts to bully their lenders into a more favorable debt arrangement seems to be failing. Clear Channel could be in bankruptcy by the end of the year or the first quarter of 2010.
The company appears to be battening down the hatches for the inevitable.
Wall Street buyout companies are used to winning and losing. They have done plenty of both. It comes with the game. But the one constant – fees – is what drives the buyout market.
I believe that Lee & Bain will be uprooted from this situation if and when the company seeks bankruptcy protection.
Bankruptcy is a slippery slope to say the least.
The fate of the company is in the hands of a bankruptcy judge. Other interests, including those of the investors and creditors seeking to avoid a full haircut are also a factor, but…
It is more likely in my view that much or all of Clear Channel will eventually be broken up – sold off to raise as much revenue as possible.
The present management may also be kicked aside – again, a bankruptcy judge has a lot of influence here.
Clear Channel is already acting like there is no tomorrow.
What do you call gutting the stations, cutting every possible expense and using repeater radio content from national syndicators and their network to fill up the airwaves? Even Clear Channel Radio President John Slogan Hogan isn’t that dumb. He’s taking orders. I don’t believe he would do this without a gun to his head.
What employees are left when the end comes will not exactly be in a strong position. And former employees with severance agreements or retirees could have their futures jeopardized.
Again, the court makes the call.
It should also be noted that Clear Channel isn’t the only large radio group to face bankruptcy. I believe Cumulus and Citadel are goners as well. They may be lucky enough (or unlucky enough as the case may be) to turn more of their equity into debt repayment but eventually they will have to pay the piper.
And, there doesn’t seem to be a huge interest among debt holders to own more of these mismanaged, over-leveraged radio companies.
As an aside, I want to remind you that you and I didn’t cause this problem so when we discuss it — as depressing as it is — do not forget how radio got to this juncture. You could look the other way, believe the happy talk that radio associations and others try to peddle or you could deal with the inevitable.
Because ultimately, the decline of three of the biggest radio consolidators will affect many of you.
If Citadel goes down before Clear Channel, it would be less devastating than the number one consolidator going bankrupt. As we have learned from the past in strategic financial management, programming or sales, when Clear Channel gets a cold, the radio industry gets pneumonia.
Having said that, there is an interesting scenario I see ahead – not all bad or all good and certainly with many risks.
Let me take you through radio after Clear Channel, in my opinion, step by step:
1. There is unlikely to be a buyer for the entire Clear Channel radio chain.
2. There may be a buyer for the outdoor division – maybe.
3. Clear Channel’s radio stations will eventually be sold off to offset the massive losses incurred in advance of the bankruptcy filing.
4. Multiples for radio stations – please sit down here – will be for the best price offered in some markets and no higher than 4x cash flow on average in the largest markets. Radio is a damaged business thanks to consolidation and it will be reflected in the painful process of selling off stations that were once overpriced for a lot less.
5. Many stations will be returned to the marketplace where eager buyers – those who have radio in their blood – will be ready to put together a group to operate. This is a good thing for the audience and not necessarily a good thing for the buyers. Turning radio around will be tough.
6. As in the past, any new buyer who picks up stations in the Clear Channel bankruptcy will have a hard time making it work if they do not buy the station with debt they can handle in a recession and in a world where the next generation will not be their audience – ever.
7. Thus, good radio people who have been waiting for this moment may be the unwitting victims of consolidation one more time – the inability to build a growth franchise on only two generations – X and Baby Boomers, both aging.
8. There is an unintended consequence from Clear Channel’s eventual demise and that is the detonation of terrestrial radio in the eyes of advertisers and agencies. The way back is to build local stations with a local presence – and the next successful radio owners will probably know how to do this.
9. Then there is the legacy factor – Clear Channel will be leaving systems in place that new owners may end up embracing including voice tracking (hey, it’s okay on the all-night show and some weekend dayparts, right?) and no traffic directors. In other words, once an owner, some of these good-hearted radio operators may find it hard to undo less is more.
Radio after Clear Channel will not be radio as if Clear Channel never existed.
Reread that line because you can take it to the bank.
Our fantasy is that once rid of these evil consolidators, radio can return to its former position of prominence.
But it will be hard to simply go back 15 or 20 years before duopoly and consolidation.
It will take a Steve Jobs-type to say, “Mr. Hogan, tear down this wall”.
Some cost efficiencies will be retained in spite of the “unpeople-friendly” or anti-audience effects they may have.
And there is always the possibility that some “little” Clear Channel’s will emerge from the rubble and make you wish for the day the Mays boys were back in charge (let’s hope not, but it is possible).
So, the net effect is that many stations are about ready to come home to radio people in an industry drastically hurt by consolidators.
Some of them may buy the stations and over-leverage themselves and you know what will happen to them.
Others will find local niches and return to a model similar to but not exactly like local radio of the past and rebuild or grow good franchises in the short term.
Only owners who also know how to build new media businesses – podcasting franchises, new non-terrestrial radio streams, mobile content, capitalize on social networking and new media – will really be set for the future.
For the rest, the last insult may not be the demise of the Evil Empire but the lure of purchasing radio stations at long last for favorable prices at a time in history when an entire generation is not available to be a growth engine.
I would buy a radio station not because it makes money or could make money again, but because it has a brand — a real strong brand – that could lead into a digital media platform. A digital media platform is not defined as streaming the station on the web or having your morning personality do a podcast.
Without the strong brand, well meaning and good intentioned radio operators may wind up eventually being the victims of radio consolidators one more time – with the Clear Channel, Citadel and Cumulus groups out of harms way and new owners directly in it.
The best advice: buyer beware.
source:
http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2009/06/radio-after-clear-channel.html
Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner
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This weekend’s election results from Iran are back in. It looks like some glaring, real super shady stuff went down and folks are now rioting in the streets. They’re rioting not unlike the way we are in the aftermath of the LA Lakers winning the NBA championship. They’re rioting because they saw their freedom and votes snatched away. They’re rioting in spite of the fact they have a repressive government that has outlawed demonstrating. They’re rioting in spite of the fact that the government has placed a former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi who was the main candidate in the opposition party under house arrest. Can you imagine if we had placed Senators Al Gore or John Kerry under arrest after the 2001 and 2004 elections?
Yes they are rioting in the streets of Tehran. They’re rioting the way we should’ve when we saw elections stolen from us here in this country. They’re rioting the way we should’ve after the coup that took place last week in New York where some outrageous shenanigans occured and two Democrats were taken into a backroom, some things were said to them by a rich GOP backer and the next thing you know they came out and aligned themselves with the Republicans. The end result was NY’s first African American speaker of the house, Malcolm Smith being ousted from his position and the GOP suddenly controlling the Senate.
Yes, they are rioting in the streets of Tehran and when I say riot, I don’t mean they went down to the police station, paid some money and got a permit to protest. They didn’t wait around to get a grant or funding for the demonstration. Folks were not distracted by petty rap beefs, Hollywood spats or Jay-Z announcing he’s bringing death to the autotunes. The riots in Tehran where dust is being kicked up is because people feel like wrong is wrong and right is right. It’s wrong that Iran’s current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hardliner who is repressive to women, says that Gays don’t exist in Iran and believes the Holocaust never happened suddenly beat a guy who is being depicted as a Barack Obama like challenger, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, who awoke and inspired all these voters under 30 (1/3rd Iran’s voting population) to go to the polls in record numbers by the millions. It’s interesting to note that Mir Hossein Mousavi has been described as moderate but according to Iranian progressives he’s actually quite conservative, but nevertheless the news narrative we been treated to is that he’s gonna bring about change.
Going into the election it looked like Mousavi was gonna win and when the results came out and it was reported that Ahmadinejad beat him by a landslide, people were stunned. When Ahmadinejad took to the airwaves, declared victory and started announcing that Democracy is beautiful thing and that we’ve seen it work, people yelled ‘fraud’ and have been going off ever since.
They’re rioting in Tehran the way they did this in Kenya last year when the elections were stolen. They did this in Mexico when the elections were stolen. Although I will admit, we seem to be getting more news coverage to the election uprisings in Iran then we did in neighboring Mexico. Maybe it’s because at the time our government ala George Bush was supporting the man and the party that stole accussed of stealing Mexico’s elections-Felipe Calderón. In fact US news coverage was so scare in spite of the massive demonstrations and riots in Mexico City the news blackout made Project Censored Top Censored stories for 2006. Thank God for twitter and other forms of modern technology we are able to keep abreast the riots in Tehran
Vice Presisdent Joe Biden is speaking out about voter fraud in Iran, yet he didn't vote to investigate voter fraud here in the US after the 2001 elections
What I find most interesting and a bit ironic is the critical reaction and anger being expressed by folks sitting in our government who roam the halls of power. We have our own government officials crying foul. They wanna know how could such a thing like this happen? They are outraged and expressing disbelief. How could Iran be so blatant in stealing an election? All sorts of criticisms and insults are being tossed at a Ahmadinejad, a guy who Vice President Joe Biden once described as a ‘wacko’ and a ‘madman’. But sadly with each pointed remark and as more and more fingers are wagged at Iran and its fraudulent elections a mirror is raised up. It’s the proverbial mirror that forces us here in the US to look at ourselves. It’s the proverbial mirror that calls us into question. Lemme sums things up with this tweet I got the other day from popular Bay Area DJ Sake 1.
“Dear USA, u have no fucking right to question tha legality of other countries’ elections, nor to say they’re ruled by “religious fanatics” …u lost that right at inception BTW. But if u need a more recent reference point you got GW Bush”.
Yep, that about says it all. Remember we allowed not one, but two elections to be stolen from us. Sure people were angry for a quick minute, but after things died down sort of we went back to business as usual. By the time the next election cycle came around we went and re-elected people back into office people who didn’t lead a charge to correct the theft of our Democracy. For example, I find it ironic that Vice President Joe Biden who called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a ‘wacko’ is the same Joe Biden who didn’t raise his hand and demand that the votes be recounted and an investigation take place during the 2001 fiasco that led to George Bush being ‘selected’. He remained silent with all the other Senators even as member after member of the Congressional Black Caucus came before the them demanding rand begging for redress for the stealing of votes.
I find it ironic that Biden and others who are so vocal about what took place in Iran were dismissive when allegations of voter suppression emerged in the 2004 elections in Ohio. You didn’t see too many people in Congress or the Senate running around bringing attention and promoting documentaries like American Blackout which offered up some keen insight to the egregious flaws we have in our voting process.
Its ironic to hear some of our esteemed politicians yelling voting fraud in Iran while they never addressed the voter suppression that took place even when Barack Obama was running against Hillary Clinton. Yes, he eventually made it into the White House, but I haven’t forgotten the disturbing stories and all the madness that went down during the primaries. I have friends who are still paying a price for scandalous things that took place in in states like Texas, Nevada and even in California. The bottom line here is as we talk bad about Iran we need to get the shadiness out of our own elections.
Its great we are supporting the outrage going on in Tehran for elections being stolen, how supportive were we when Black folks in the US had their votes stolen in Florida and then Ohio in '01 and in '04?
I’ll add one other thing, I certainly hope those who are not in office who crying about the disenfranchisement in Iran were crying about the disenfranchisement of millions of Black folks in Florida. Again this comes down to what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong. I realize there are some people who are new to politics and thus they weren’t up to speed back in ’01 and ’04, but there are a lot of folks who don’t fall into this category who were. up to speed. Y’all know who you are. You’re the ones sending me emails and links to articles, getting all excited about riots in the streets and insisting that we go out and be in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Tehran but couldn’t do the same when similar things were happening here.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m down for that-100% especially if its young people making noise and yelling something is wrong. To me, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems crazy even though some of us backed him when he has stood defiant to the US and asserted that Iran has a right to develop its own nuclear weapons. He’s disconcerting even when some of us backed him when he stood defiant to Zionist backed Isreal and gave money to Lebanon to rebuild after Isreal bombed her a couple of years ago. There are many who backed him when he asserted that Iran should be a major player in the Middle East and not just the countries we in the US are backing.
So if we can back Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for standing up to imperialist US policies and interests and we can back the students who are rioting in the streets because they are standing up to the repressive policies of Ahmadinejad can we at the very least stand in solidarity those communities of color who got votes stolen here in the US?
I mean it was just this year after Barack Obama got elected that the great state of Texas which has a long sordid history of thwarting votes attempted to pass a controversial Republican backed Voter ID bill which was gonna have all these stringent requirements for pictures and documentation that people would need to vote. Basically it was designed to intimidate voters in Black and Brown communities and low income areas. With Texas’ voter population changing and the state on the verge of eradicating its super red state status, many had been working overtime to not let that power shift happen. Passing a Voter ID was the Texas GOP’s number one priority over the economy, health concerns and a host of other issues. This was their baby that they pulled out all the stops for. They wanted to hold on to power at all costs.
As this was happening we’re we in solidarity with those communities of color opposing this measure? Did we even know about it or care? It was voter suppression being legalized right before our very eyes without much fan fare being made by the Joe Bidens of the world as well as the folks sending me emails to be in solidarity with Tehran. In any case lets keep our eyes on Tehran and see how things unfold and let’s keep our eyes on voter problems at home. Many of the concerns raised in American Blackout have not been resolved even with the election of a popular president. So lets strive to get rid our own flaws so we won’t appear to be hypocritical when we step to a country we allowed our own fraudulently selected ex-President George Bush call one of the Axis of Evil in our name.
That’s some thing to ponder…
Davey D
As co-founder of Amway, the 83-year-old DeVos has amassed a fortune of more than $4.4 billion. Through Amway, he popularized the concept of what is known as network marketing, where salespeople attempt to lure their friends and neighbors into buying products. Sixty percent of what Amway salespeople traffic are health and beauty products.
June 5, 2009
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http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090622/zirin
Sports writer Dave Zirin
As the Orlando Magic face off against the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2009 NBA championship, casual hoops fans may wonder where their rooting interests should lie. If the players or teams don’t excite you, I humbly suggest that you choose your team based not on players, colors or coaches but on owners. Why? Because the victorious owner, whether Lakers boss Jerry Buss or Magic helmsman Richard DeVos, stands to make a fortune by winning, as well as elevate his personal profile. If you do choose to root for a team based on its owners, there is absolutely no contest for progressives: break out the lavender and gold and pray for a Lakers victory. It’s not that Buss is any great shakes; it’s the fact that DeVos operates the Magic like the sporting arm of a radical right- wing empire whose reach extends from makeup to militias.
As co-founder of Amway, the 83-year-old DeVos has amassed a fortune of more than $4.4 billion. Through Amway, he popularized the concept of what is known as network marketing, where salespeople attempt to lure their friends and neighbors into buying products. Sixty percent of what Amway salespeople traffic are health and beauty products. The rest of their merchandise is a veritable pu pu platter of homecare products, jewelry, electronics and even insurance. To put it mildly, DeVos doesn’t do his political business off company time. Amway has been investigated for violating campaign finance laws by seamlessly shifting from network marketing to network politicking. DeVos has used not only his company but his own epic fortune at the service of his politics. He could be described as the architect, underwriter and top chef of every religious-right cause on Pat Robertson’s buffet table. The former finance chair of the Republican National Committee, DeVos is far more than just a loyal party man. For more than four decades he has been the funder in chief of the right-wing fringe of the Christian fundamentalist movement. Before the 1994 “Republican Revolution” made Newt Gingrich a household name, Amway contributed what the Washington Post called “a record sum in recent American politics,” $2.5 million. In the 2004 election cycle Amway and the DeVos family helped donate more than $4 million to campaigns pumping propaganda for Bush and company, with around $2 million coming out of Devos’s own pocket.
Orlando magic owner Richard Devos is abig player in the conservative far right Christian movement
During the Bush years DeVos received a decent return on these investments, with tax cuts that saved him millions and tax exemptions for people who sold Amway out of their homes. He then used these extra gains to further empower his nonprofit, the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, to direct millions to groups that support radical reparative gay therapy, antievolution politics and other “traditional” family values. The organizations they support include Focus on the Family, the Foundation for Traditional Values, the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute and the Media Research Center, among many others. They also supply grants to the Free Congress Foundation, which claims that its main focus is on the “Culture War.” It hopes to “return [America] to the culture that made it great, our traditional, Judeo-Christian, Western culture.”
DeVos is also a senior member of an organization called the Council for National Policy. Imagine the most shadowy right-wing organization, and CNP is the sort of group that rests in its shadows and inspires fevered talk of “vast right-wing conspiracies.” The CNP makes members of the Masons look like paparazzi-hungry starlets. Its membership includes the elite of the John Birch Society. Richard DeVos served on both the executive committee and the board of governors for the CNP.
Another leading member of the CNP was fellow Michigan-based billionaire Edgar Prince. In what Nation contributor Jeremy Scahill has described as a royal coupling in the tradition of feudal Europe, Prince’s daughter Betsy married Richard’s son Dick Jr. Scahill also writes, “[The DeVos family was] one of the greatest bankrollers of far-right causes in U.S. history, and with their money they propelled extremist Christian politicians and activists to positions of prominence.”
Betsy Prince’s brother, and Edgar’s son, Erik Prince, would become first a Navy SEAL and later founder and CEO of the infamous Blackwater corporation. Blackwater is the company of private mercenaries hired to help occupy Iraq, Afghanistan and even post-Katrina New Orleans. Famous for rolling through Baghdad in black SUVs, rock music blaring and making far more money than US soldiers, they are an outsourced army, unaccountable to the government and inciting resentment and anti-Americanism wherever they are stationed. Since 2000, Blackwater has received nearly $1.25 billion in federal contracts, of which $144 million came in small-business set-aside contracts. This isn’t a vast right-wing conspiracy: it has been an openly incestuous and highly beneficial coupling between the DeVos/Prince clan and the Republican Party.
None of this would matter to sports fans if the DeVos family kept its politics out of the Orlando Magic or if it didn’t rely on public funds for the team. Neither is the case. At Amway Arena, the DeVos hold Faith & Family Nights, multiple home-school nights and other events replete with Christian rock and player testimonials.
When you rooted for Orlando, were you rooting for Superman or the conservative policies supported by owner Richard Devos?
DeVos’s use of the team for his own profile and profit has spurred protests in Orlando. To get people to protest in Orlando, you have to know you’re doing something wrong. Outside Amway Arena, there have been demonstrations to raise awareness among fans of DeVos’s contribution of $100,000 to Florida4Marriage, a group that supports Amendment 2, which would add Florida’s existing ban on gay marriage to the state Constitution. Protesters believe the amendment could halt all domestic-partnership benefits for even straight unmarried couples. “He’s the biggest contributor to the amendment from Orlando,” protest organizer Jennifer Foster told the Orlando Sentinel. “And he’s getting $1 billion in taxpayers’ money to build the arena. That sends a bad message.”
It’s more than a bad message. The DeVos model is organized theft of public funds that then turns arenas into slush funds for radical right politics. As Foster mentioned, ground has now been broken for a $1.1 billion Orlando mega-entertainment complex, the center of which would be a $480 million new arena. DeVos and his people have publicly boasted about how much they are donating to the project. But as Neil deMause, co-author of Field of Schemes wrote, “The actual Magic contribution toward the $480 million price tag, then, is probably somewhere around $70 million.”
It’s a frighteningly effective political money-laundering scheme: our tax dollars are being funneled through a stadium and into the pockets of the DeVos family, where they are then spit out into think tanks, activist organizations and political efforts that most Americans would find noxious. For these reasons, I will do my political duty and root for the Lakers to win it all. We should all want to kick back, enjoy this series and keep politics and sports separate. Unfortunately, Dick DeVos won’t let us.
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Comedian and talk show host Bill Maher came with some sobering heat the other night when he broke out some ‘new rules’ for President Obama.. He said its time for the President to stop trying to be a celebrity that is liked by everyone and get a bit more of of George Bush attitude in his day to day swagger. He said its time for Obama to start kicking some ass on some of these issues and stop backpeddaling..What do y’all think of this?
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