Hype Hair

Although Lady Gaga has no affiliation with the Hype Hair magazine being that its main purpose is to advertise the latest hair fashions of Black entertainers, her bizzare hat, or hair, or whatever it is, is just fabulous! It is all the way hype despite what critics believe. Her style is so mysterious and unique it seems like society has a hard time accepting what is uncommon... unless they're just haters!

A different Music Industry

The Mixtape industry is a different music industry within itself. The fact that the artist are producing music that is not really socially acceptabele but is still widely distributed makes this true.Rapper Run of Run DMC says that mixtapes been around since rap came about."The tapes of these guys' live performances sold like [regular] albums are selling now. If you think about it, Flash and them been platinum. Cold Crush Brothers would have had platinum records and they would have them on their wall right now, but back in the day there was no rap records." When rap did hit the scene in the 80's, mixtapes were called "party tapes" because people wanted copies of a DJ's live performance at a club to take home with them. Although the music industry has evolved heavily, mixtapes are still produced because artist find it hard to land a deal and become excepted by mainstream America. However, even DJ clue admits that distributing mixtapes are illegal,(mtv.com)buti guess that's just like downloading music for free on the internet...Who cares!! we love music and mixtapes or illegal distribution and downloading will not stop.

Rated R

I finally got a chance to see Rhianna's Russian Roulette video. It's weird and beautiful at the same time. I love how she just continues to blossom after her "embarassing" altercation with her ex boyfriend Chris Brown. Although his career is on thin ice, Rhinanna stands on solid ground. Well I guess anybody standing behind Jay Z & Kanye on the other side would be. I also like her collaboration with rapper Young Jeezy "I'm So Hard". It appears on her new album & yes it is Hard!!

Solely Mine

For all inspiring music artis i suggest you literally get a copy of Jay-z 's BluePrint. He has developed a design that will bulid up on high. He has stepped out with a sigh of relief as he recieved the right of passage to independance. (gigwyse.com) Excluding his self from the restraints and demands set forth by major record labels. Jay-z also recieves full profit on his work. He has launched a major record label RocNation signing pop artist Kanye West, Rhianna and Neyo. With such freedom He has been able to broden his ideas. Heading a Broadway production Fela, along with co-producers actors Will & Jada Pinkett Smith.



Other Artist have taken similar paths. Multi-platinum artist lil Wayne has recently become the CEO of his indepent record label Cash Money Records. Recently introducing his newly signed artist on various talk shows The Monique Show and BET's 106&Park.

Mixtape madness

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As mainstream artist continue to do their thing comercially, artist who find it a little more harder to gain acceptance will continue to do their thing underground. Artist such as Gucci mane, Fifty cent & Lil Wayne continue to release the music that the radio's don't play all of the time, or at least not until it starts to get lot of buzz locally. I guess that's the upside of mixtapes, it is all exclusive music that music fans cant't wait to be the first to hear. Radio stations are just playing catch up!!! well hopefully they can keep up with some of the new hits from 50 cent's Last Mix Tape!! That's right 50 just announce that this will be his last mixtape. And yes the streets will miss 50's madness because we all know that his mixtape is what made him famous. And of course it's titled "Forever King"....These rappers & their Egos!

MySpace Music

When Myspace first hit the social network scene,it was the most popular site for teenagers across the country to post pictures make profiles and friends. However, with the emergence of popular sites like Facebook and Twitter, Myspace traffic has declined rapidly. So what is keeping Myspace alive? Music of course! Today, MYspace has emerged into a leading online music community and leading independent music agency as well. MySpace Music emerged in he U.S. a year ago and plans to expand worldwide. MySpace continues to be the home for many independent artist and bands who dream of being international one day. But theres more! Last year some time 12,000 independent record labels joined forces to make one "major" label called Merlin. This label is virtually supposed to be the "fifth" major label next to Sony BMG, Universal,Warner and EMI. It represents ten percent of the global music market and has now joined forces with the MYSpace Music community. This deal will allow members within the community to purchase and stream music from artsit affiliated with Merlin. Merlin labels will be able to monetize their content through MySpace and easily track their fan engagment.(press-releases.techwhack.com)

Female Rappers Fading

while it remains a struggle for many artist to get in the spot light, Hip Hop female artists seem to be fading away. When rap first came about, it wasn't as hard for groups like Salt & Pepper, Queen Latifah and Mc Lyte, because it was so cool to see women be part of a new movement. As time went on, Hip Hop was easy to adapt to, with the individual only needing a beat, a Dj, and some attractive lyrics.

Today, competition is extremely high, rap has changed a lot. Its no longer about a funny dance or who could get a party rocking, It's who appears to be more dangerous, and immora,l with men dominating the industry. In many forms of art and business it is always harder for women to be accepted and to get the same credit as men, causing women to take drastic measures. The women who rap today & do hold some credibility are Little Kim, Remy Martin (who is currently incarcerated), Foxy Brown and a new artist who is affiliated with Lil Wayne named Nikki. These women are forced to rap about what many male artist rap about sex, drugs and violence, except they are still discriminated against significantly, and look ten times worse! Lil mama who is not associated with a "thug" style of rapping at all, still finds it hard to gain respect with many who consider her lyrics as "bubble gum" rhymes. Who knows where female artist are heading in the future. Queen Latifah says, "There are not enough female rappers out there right now," she said. "The voice of the female is not strong enough in the game at all right now. It's almost nonexistent."(cnn.com)