LOOP DIGGIN’ THURSDAYS, News & Rants 01.05.06
Posted by Phil Watts, Jr on 01.05.2006
The return of Baatin of the Slum Village. Plus depressing soundscans, MC Lyte, and future Justus League material.
Welcome to 2006.
Unfortunately, I started my new on a fucked up note. For one, my computer became some screwed up that I couldn't do anything with it, so I was forced to ERASE EVERYTHING! Pictures, archives, everything. Then I had to REINSTALL everything. Then the moment I get everything back in order, I find out that 411 got a complete facelift, and now I have to re-learn everything when it comes to posting things here. One day I might make heads or tails of this site...
...but enough about that.
Someone from UndergroundHipHop.com posted these SoundScan numbers, and I almost choked. I mean, this is some serious bullshit. See for yourself:
2 Mex B-Boys... 1,117 2/22/2005
2K6 - NBA Compilation 2K6 - The Tracks 4,661 6/1/2005
9th/Buckshot Chemistry 17,410 7/12/2005
Access Immortal Shades of Reality 54 5/31/2005
Aesop Rock Fast Cars..EP 29,382 2/22/2005
Atmosphere You Can't Imagine... 64,793 10/4/2005
AZ AWOL 42,068 4/26/2005
Big Shug Who's Hard? 4,141 9/13/2005
Black Market Militia Black Market Militia 4,036 03/2005
Blackalicious The Craft 37,901 9/27/2005
Blockhead Downtown Science 3,076 10/18/2005
Blueprint 1988 10,985 03/2005
Boom Bap Project Reprogram 5,381 6/21/2005
C Rayz Walz Year of the Beast 8,390 05/2005
Cage Hell's Winter 11,303 9/20/2005
Casual Smash Rockwell 3,039 9/6/2005
Cesar Comanche Squirrel... 724 9/20/2005
Dangerdoom Mouse and Mask 82,706 10/11/2005
Edan Beauty and the Beat 9,102 03/2005
Felt Felt 2 23,176 7/2/2005
Ge-ology Ge-ology... 976 6/21/2005
Grayskul Deadlivers 6,079 2/12/2005
J-Live The Hearafter 5,543 5/24/2005
JuJu Mob Black Candles 793 5/17/2005
Jus Allah All Fates Have Changed 4,995 5/10/2005
Kev Brown I Do... 1,863 9/20/2005
Lady Sovereign Vertically Challenged 4,745 11/15/2005
Ladybug Mecca Trip the Light Fantastic 2,352 6/7/2005
Lawless Element Soundvision... 1,679 7/26/2005
Little Brother Chitlin Circuit 19,902 6/21/2005
Little Brother Minstrel Show 56,629 9/13/2005
M.O.P. St. Marxmen 8,783 10/18/2005
Maspyke Static 321 9/20/2005
Mathematics Problem 11,797 6/28/2005
MED Push Comes... 4,228 3/22/05
Muggz/GZA Grandmasters 25,244 10/25/2005
Necro Sexorcist 6,039 8/2/2005
Ohmega Watts The Find 3,067 9/13/2005
One Be Lo Sonagram 13,313 02/8/2005
Perceptionists Black Dialogue 16,567 3/22/2005
Platinum Pied Pipers Triple P 6,334 5/10/2005
Pumpkinhead Orange Moon... 824 8/23/2005
Purple City Road to the Riches 35,418 03/2005
Quasimoto The Further Adventures... 27,418 03/2005
R.A. the Rigged Man Die Rugged... 9,793 11/16/2005
Reef the Lost Cause Feast... 693 9/20/2005
Sadat X Experience... 2,007 10/25/2005
Sage Francis Healthy Distrust 42,559 02/2005
Self Scientific Change 1,258 10/25/2005
Skillz Confessions... 3,650 9/13/2005
Slum Village Slum Village 9,480 9/27/2005
Strong Arm Steady Volume 1 1,650 10/4/2005
Supastition Chain Letters 739 10/25/2005
Supernatural SPIT 1,861 11/15/2005
Think Differently Wu-Tang Meets 24,096 10/18/2005
U-God Mr. Xcitement 3,694 9/13/2005
Vast Aire/Mighty Best Damn Rap SHow 3,566 5/4/2005
Now, even though these may or may not be the exact numbers, whether it's just domestic numbers, in-store numbers, whether or not it includes foreign numbers, numbers made from Internet stores like HipHopSite.com, SandboxAutomatic.com, etc. etc....it's all irrelevant. I wish there was an easy answer to these horribly low sales, but there isn't. Some people blame Internet downloading, which I'm kinda iffy about. There was once I time I hopped aboard the Napster bandwagon right along with the rest of you (using the excuse that there is no other way I can get the songs but through downloading them), until I decided to take a chance and try buying from online stores...and have been doing that ever since. Some people say that some of the albums just aren't that good, which is personal opinion (the vast majority of these albums made my best-of list, with a handful making my 'disappointment' list...but, hey--one person's treasure is someone else's trash). Some even say that the artists aren't trying hard enough to make their music heard. That might be the case with some artists, but not with others. I know there are a lot of artists that break their fuckin' necks doing backflips just to promote their shit, only to see numbers like what I listed and get disheartened. The current state of Hip-Hop isn't helping one bit, with the focus being put squarely on such nigtastic shit like "Laffy Taffy" and "Grills"...but then songs like Nas' "Made You Look" can get lots of airplay (and help GOD'S SON do respectable numbers), and someone like Kanye West went from being a name in the production credits to being a multi-platinum artist (dipshit interviews notwithstanding),all while albums that do have songs being played to death (Cassidy, Fat Joe, Slim Thug, etc.) wind up being financial flops. So there might be some hope for the pendulum swinging the other way.
In the end, I don't know what the answer is. All I can do is wonder how the fuck Access Immortal only sold 54 copies (and how even more fucked up it is for producer/Hip-Hop columnist Eric Vanderslice--who did a few beats for the album--to get forced to do a bid over some bullshit before the album came out).
***
Speaking of Soundscans, here are some of the numbers (courtesy of UrbanConnects.com) from older albums:
Pete Rock & CL Smooth/Mecca & The Soul Brother/1992-06-09/392,466
Nice & Smooth/Aint A Damn Thing Change/1991-09-13/326,001
Jeru The Damaja/Sun Rises In The East/1994-05-20/276,167
Redman/Whut? Thee Album/1992-10-02/411,732
Beatnuts/Intoxicated Demons/1993-04-06/82,463
Diamond D/Stunts Blunts Hip Hop/1992-09-22/102,383
Group Home/Livin Proof/1995-11-21/129,078
Showbiz & A.G./Runaway Slave/1992-09-22/54,056
Brand Nubian/One For All/1990-12-04/359,589
K-Solo/Tell The World My Name/1990-06-12/81,375
It must be stated that Redman's WHUT album did go Gold. It's weird that back then, we didn't have SoundScan numbers readily available for everyone to see, thus no one was concerned about it...except the artists themselves. Plus, these songs had a lot more airplay and promotion when they came out, unlike the first list of Soundscan numbers I posted.
***
Switching gears for a moment...
With the two remaining Slum Village members, T3 & Elzhi, having released their self-titled album last year, and J-Dilla, formally 1/3 of the original SV trio, set to release two albums this year, the question remains...
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THAT CRAZY, TURBAN-WEARING FOOL THAT USED TO BE DOWN WITH THEM?
Guess what? That 'Crazy Turban-Wearing fool', BAATIN The Slum Lord, is about to release his own solo album, entitled TITUS, CHAPTER 10, VERSE 13 (Okay...) on OX: Operation Unknown Records. No release date given so far, but the wonderful people at Renaissance Soul (RenSoul.com) did post snippets from 3 songs ("Hawa", "Marvelous", and "Wasi"), and despite the ODD song titles, these songs are pretty dope. Hop on over there and check them out for yourself. (In fact, check out the MEDIA section...a lot of good audio clips over there!)
It's just too bad Baatin ain't rockin' the turban no more...
***
With the barren wasteland that the female MC scene has become, it's good to hear MC LYTE make a comeback. It's even better that she decided to go to DJ PREMIER for her first joint back in the spotlight. The song in question is called "Wonder Years", which has been posted on Odeo.com, and probably a few other places. I hope they make a 12" out of this because people need to hear it. MC Lyte is still every bit as ill as she used to be, and I don't have to tell you that Primo definitely brings it...as usual. Hopefully, this translates to a remotely decent album, something she hasn't had since ACT LIKE YOU KNOW. And PLEASE...DON'T EVER WORK WITH TEDDY RILEY ("Ruffneck") OR THE NEPTUNES ("I Can't Make A Mistake") EVER AGAIN!!
***
Here's a ‘late-pass' news items I missed out on while doing my Best-Of 2005...
Ray Benzino continues to prove to the world that he's the dumbest nigga alive. For someone who loves to tell anyone who'd listen that he's the realest thug that ever was, he sure does throw lots of girly-fits every time someone says something MEAN about him. The people at Ozone Magazine ran their little Best-Of 2005 list and listed Ray-Ray as "Most Successful Extortionist" and shitted on him for owing them money. Ray-Ray was so happy about the feature that he decides to shoot a voicemail to the editor, Julia 'JB' Beverly, where he utters these sweet nothings to her:
Heh JB, or whoever the fucking phone is this of Ozone Magazine. This is Benzino. My number is 917-502-6719. If I gotta read another negative shit about my magazine or me and your magazine, when I see you I'm gonna spit in your fucking face. Aight? You stupid fucking bitch. 917-502-6719. You fucking slut monkey.
If I read one more thing in your magazine I'm gonna come see you JB. You stupid bitch. You fuckin' cracker bitch.
Yes...just in case you were wondering, the moron gave out his CELL PHONE NUMBER!! Stupid muthafucka.
He then gives her another voicemail. While this one is barely audible, he does get these gems in:
"Ugly bush pig, slutmonkey whore..."
"Maybe your ass would get licked if you looked like half a something..."
"You look like a fucking man, you fucking transvestite..."
Wow. This will go over REALLY well during that sexual harassment lawsuit that's been pinned against him! Nothing else needs to be said about this. Just read that shit without laughing.
***
Now, after BET FINALLY gets to playing Little Brother's "Lovin' It" video (4 months after the fact), the trio announce that the will soon release a 'DIRECTOR'S CUT' of the MINSTREL SHOW album. This 'cut' of the album will feature bonus tracks, remixes, and a bonus DVD.
Other Justus League albums set to release this year are:
Joe Scudda: OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Chaundon: NO EXCUSES
Chaundon & L.E.G.A.C.Y.: THE EMBASSY
Darien Brockington: THE FEELING LP
9th Wonder: MR. DREAM MERCHANT VOL. 2
...and PERCI-CUTED: The NEKKIT SOUL OF PERCY MIRACLES!!
No release dates on any of them, yet.
***
It looks like every rapper wants to do movies. The latest that caught the acting-bug is COMMON. Common is set to be featured in a movie called SMOKING ACES, where--get this--he plays AN ASSASSIN (!?!) named Sir Ivy, who Com describes as 'one of the fiercest killers in the movie'. The movie also stars Alicia Keys, and the man who took one of my favorite comics from back in the day and turned it into a mediocre movie, Ben Affleck! Let's hope that Com and Keys shows some kind of promise in here, as I'm not very optimistic about this movie.
By the way, Com is one of the many ghostwriters signed to make Puff more 'spiritual' in his next album, the others being Pharoahe Monche and Kweli. Frankly, I don't care how many people write his shit, not only will Puff never be worth a shit a shit on the mic, there is no way he can convince ANYONE that he's politically and spiritually minded, especially after over a decade of 'I got more money, cars, mansions, and bitches than you--and you're JEALOUS OF ME!' in every fuckin song. You're the reason people voted Republican in 2004. Now, you want to make another attempt at a 'conscious' image and make people vote Republican in 2006.
This is supposed to be his 'final' album. Whatever. Do me a favor, Puff. Just go away. You haven't been relevant in years.
