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Showing posts with label Hip Hop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hip Hop. Show all posts

By Cly! Host of "The 4/20 Lounge"!

44

Hip-House? / Spotlight: J Austin- Hear Me Tonight


So, I feel like there’s a pretty noticeable trend that’s taking place, one that unifies the once seen as contrasting sounds of House music and Hip-Hop. If it becomes as widespread as the potential allows, it could allow for some great events and collaborations, to say the least.

Hip-House? I guess we can go with that, as unity is always a GO in my book, with respect to positive forces of great strength. Rather than highlight the latest major label adaptations to this trend, I’ll just adapt my perspective and look at some of the independent artists on the rise that might have missed my sights thus far, due to their genre of music.

J Austin
 
So today the smoke cascades around a New Jersey R&B artist by the name of J Austin, thanks to my man Supaears. His latest single, “Hear Me Tonight” paints a picture that might look like a rave scene in a Jersey Shore episode. Mike’s and Snookie’s all over are bound to get familiar. ‘The Heroes’ provide that classic ‘untz untz untz’ techno vibe while Austin rides the track over various effects, providing themes of no regret, playful narcissism and routine debauchery.

The presentation is classic, I wouldn’t be surprised at any given point to hear this on the local major pop station, hopefully we don’t have to wait too long for that to happen. The vocals aren’t overwhelmingly impressive, but the song isn’t structured to be vocally demanding, as it’s carried by the catchy melody. The record sets a good foundation for Austin, as he’ll be able to say that he can make a record that fits in with the current trend, while in his youth. Even if pop music weren’t in your daily palette, you’d probably assume this song was already popular if you’d heard it.

Vibe Reading: 7/10
 
It’s a good song, with a cool sound. However, I feel like J Austin, or any polished artist of his genre could make another one of these once per week, if you asked him to. That being said, I don’t expect it to dampen the success of the song as its received by the world. Watch the video for Hear Me Tonight
 ---> HERE <--- and hit J. Austin and tell him what you think on twitter @JaustinLive



Pass it along, and let me know what you think. Wahh!

By Cly! Host of "The 4/20 Lounge"!

5

Drake, groundbreaking HIP-HOP artist, or Big Impact Pop Star, the difference may effect your EXPERIENCE…

Yow! Classic NY Sour for this one…perfect vibe. Happy Fathers Day!

Ok, so I hit this “FREE CONCERT” last week sponsored by Ray-Ban and Paper Magazine. The concert was said to feature Drake and Hansen, in an attempt to mix the crowd and express the aims of the magazine towards diversity.

What apparently wasn’t on the agenda was actually having the featured acts PERFORM! Another aspect of the show it may have been nice to plan for is the 20,000 New Yorkers that decided to make their presence felt! For whatever reason, on this particular day, one of the hottest acts in the game wasn’t supposed to attract a crowd in the busiest city in the world, during a FREE show. PM and I didn’t want to get there too late, not knowing what to expect from a free “Drake Concert”, and we couldn’t have gotten there early enough to be prepared for the situation that was about to unfold.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not a “Niggaz don’t know how to act” themed piece. This is more of a “What the fuck is going on” kind of vibe I’m working to establish. The crowd at the concert has been recently portrayed, as “the reason for the concert being cancelled” was the type of crowd that HIP HOP artists live and die to entertain. Ciphs among strangers, beach balls flying, crowd surfing, and general rare UNITY were among the features of this “angry mob”. They were actually so angry, that I was able to interview various people about current issues in hip hop. So, for the sake of not lying my ass off and going with the flow of bullshit that is the media, I deem this to be a “don’t blame us because you don’t have your shit together” themed piece. However, if we don’t hold promoters and artists accountable for things like this, how is it ever going to change?

What starts a “riot” is getting a big group of people together, and pissing them off. That’s precisely what happened. People came out to see Drake, some to see Hansen, and nobody saw anyone, except NinjaSonic, who left the scene unscathed, along with the DJ who got a few minutes to rock the crowd. Everything was fine until it came down to show and prove that you had the hottest act in the game here to perform for everybody, free of charge.

Nobody came out, hours pass as we wait for the DJ to get back to spinning. The moment never arrived, just the announcement that the concert was cancelled, and a fiery  reaction from the crowd upon seeing a TWEET from Drake, blaming his non-appearance on the NYPD, who blamed in on the unruly crowd, as the crowd blamed its unruliness on the lack of fulfillment of a promise. Up to that point, the only issue was people getting on roofs to get the best view! 

The crowd goes from unsettled, to unruly, to uncontrollable! Please take a moment to check the footage of the fights breaking out, a woman running with an infant -what the fuck she was thinking, remains a mystery-, various foods and bottles flying and landing with no direction, clear safety violations, nobody explaining anything, overly-aggressive police, and unified anger.  The worst part of all this, it wouldn’t have happened IF DRAKE CAME out. I just wanted to set the tone for this. Real MCs Move Crowds, they don’t move away from them. People got hurt, children were at risk, and more of the negative vibes that already saturate this city were incubated here. Somebody has to take responsibility, and I don’t think it’s your supporters Drake. It might actually be the photographer that was ON STAGE, TAKING PICTURES OF THE ANGRY CROWD...

Real Hip-Hop superstars would have made that scene into a moment. All the ingredients were present. What if it were Jay-Z, DMX, Jeezy, or Busta Rhymes? That scene would have been replayed for years to come. Thousands were screaming “We want Drake!”, but the question at the end is, what do you want Drake? I feel like I shouldn’t be upset, because of the repetitive claims of being in this industry for the money, but how about what your support is in it for? Does that shit matter AT ALL ANYMORE?! 

This “in it for the money” trend that’s taken over Hip Hop is translating to more than a loss of substance in the genre, but a loss of integrity and responsibility, as people don’t take the initiative to not buy your shit when you fuck them over. Congrats on the gigantic album sales Drake, I guess “Thank Me Later” was an appropriate title, because according to these interviews, one of the aspects that he's still developing is his stage presence, and I don’t see shit to be thankful for right now on these vids and pics. Except, a chance to see a lot of angry ass people that felt like he wasn't built for the NY scene. Keep that weak shit outta here...

Hold dat, WAhhh!

By Cly! Host of "The 4/20 Lounge"!

5

Performers! All-Star or Benchwarmer?

I don’t even know what this shit is called…but me n PM in a good zone,

Fresh off a nice example of “Upper Cloud” life (see previous blog), hyped off of a couple successful meetings, we get to talking about what it’d be like when the label kicks off.

We hit the “Chance to Shine” showcase at the All Star Nightclub in Elizabeth, NJ, hosted by Rix Magazine’s D. Prados. PM and I have a rundown coming, judging the performers in detail, along with VIDEO within the next few days!

The grand finale of the night was a performance by Brooklyn’s own Joell Ortiz. I’m going to keep this to the point and say he might as well have got on stage with a briefcase and syllabus, as his intention was clearly to teach how to put on a show, for those who don’t know better.

From the entrance, to the interaction with the crowd that made this a cohesive show, rather than an artist performing song after song, the 10-15 minute set didn’t leave much to be desired, other than to hear more of Joell’s music, which I’m sure is the desired outcome, at this stage in his career. Performers lately have an urgency to get that “special record” that’s gonna knock in the clubs and get them the praise and admiration that they really are seeking, rather than trying to be great, and perfect a skill.

To each his own, but know that it shows when somebody sees you on a stage. Joell Ortiz gets a B, he’s dope, but there’s always room to improve. I’d like to see him use the stage more, and something more to separate him from the rest on the come up. Artists like Busta Rhymes and Ludacris are experts at using the stage til there’s nothing left untouched. P doesn’t think Joell is gonna be able to adapt to every crowd, versatility question. I'm sure Ortiz uses these ideas to become better every day.

When one claims to live this life, leaving it all on the floor has to be the only intention. Check out the Joell Ortiz Performance for yourself. It was poppin, shouts to Jersey!


By Cly! Host of "The 4/20 Lounge"!

8

Is Diddy Trying to RECREATE Junior Mafia!





Hip Hop Cycle?

Yow from the Upper Cloud!

Grandaddy in the air, got me wantin to talk about old times! If you speak to older people, they’ll tell you that the music industry has a way of recycling itself, and over time I think we’re approaching the chance to see a perfect example of this. Being of a relatively young age 22, I had the opportunity to live through one of the more productive points of Hip Hop, especially on the East Coast. If you’re unfamiliar with who “Puff Daddy” is in relation to our present day “Diddy”/ “Ciroc Obama”, you should stop reading now.





What’s Ciroc Obama up to?! Bad Boy Rewind with Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj?!

Puffy was the people person of the streets. He brought us one of our greatest of all time with Brooklyn’s own “Teflon Don” The Notorious BIG, along with countless other classic acts like Lil Kim, Shyne, Craig Mac, and the list goes on. Before 2000, he was entertaining us with street classics, and afterwards, with a much larger pop-culture fan base to appeal to as well. I’m only so brief in my description of his epic career because we expect you to know this shit already, simply put. So, sitting in Big Red catching up on news in Hip-Hop can bring one to wild assumptions, because from his latest moves I venture to guess that Diddy’s “Ciroc Obama” campaign is gonna’ start off with some kind of reincarnation of Junior Mafia, starring Rick Ross as Biggie Smalls and Nicki Minaj as Lil Kim, as he recently began MANAGING both of them. Needless to say, reinventing Lil Kim in another artist while she just signed a deal with Jay-Z under Roc-Nation is going to have its obstacles. I have to ask if you think Diddy expected Jay to sign Kim. I personally think Jay may have caught him off guard with that one. To add to the suspicion, “Teflon Don” Rick Ross has been picking up a lot of “familiar” ad-libs, along with what I’d call a pretty controversial album name to coincide with his new management. I especially would love to hear the NY opinions on this endeavor, because I’m already feelin’ the vibe won’t be too hot from home! Nicki already had the Lil Kim comparisons coming at her from all angles. So, I’m sure this is nothing she isn’t used to handling. However, from the Upper Cloud its lookin’ like Ciroc Obama is about 2 shiny suits and one slow flowin’ ass rapper away from the 1990s Bad Boy feel I think he’s going for, and to add to it, I think they’re well aware and down to give the shit a shot. I just don’t know how I feel about it. Pass that to da left. Wahh!