The Hip-Hop Herald 01.01.09
Posted by Patrick Robinson on 01.01.2009
Jay-Z and 50 Cent, both suffering from the recession, ring in the New Year, while T-Pain reveals his latest signing, DMX enters an official 'Guilty' plea, Diddy helps out on New Year's Eve, and more! Check out the full column for all the details!
Welcome to 2009 everyone! I hope you had a fun night last night, I myself ended up staying home due to the fact that nothing on my car's dashboard would work properly. Basically, I have no idea how much petrol I have, what temperature the engine is at, I'm constantly going 50 km/h even when the car is turned off, and the left blinker blinks five times faster than the right.
In all, I'm sick of my car for a while.
That also being said, I forgot to put the New Years Resolution list on yesterday's column, so expect that next week. In real life, I haven't bothered making an actual Resolution, given the last two failed HORRIBLY and the year before that, I ended up forgetting half way through the year what it was.
I suppose I can just resolve to listen to more music, that's a win, win situation for everyone.
If anyone has an idea for a Resolution, I'm all ears.
NEWS TIME!
The News
Top Story
50 Cent Feeling The Recession
MTV has reportedly chosen to cancel 50's reality show The Money and The Power, due to poor ratings. 50 was using the show to seek for the next hip-hop mogul but MTV claims the show lacked buzz and had bad ratings. Only six episodes of the show were aired.
50 has also been having a hard time trying to sell his multi-million Connecticut mansion and has been forced to lower its price due to the ailing real estate market. The house was put up for sale for $18.5 million in 2006, but has since been reduced to $14.5 million. The mansion formerly belonged to boxer Mike Tyson and boasts 18 bedrooms, 37 bathrooms, a helipad and a disco.
"It's the market," explained 50's listing agent, Deborah Orr. "With a unique property, everyone acknowledges it's difficult to pinpoint the perfect market price. We feel we need to stimulate some activity, and that was the intent of the price cut."
Of course, it's the market, but it's not due to the price! With everyone scared out of their minds over the current state of the economy, who the hell needs a disco and 37 bathrooms in their house? I can understand a helipad, because if you can afford a helicopter, you need to land it somewhere, but a disco? That does conjure up a funny image of 50 dressed up in disco clothing dancing around with Tony Yayo singing ABBA or something. Speaking of Yayo, I saw him on the TRL finale, and he looked like a canary.
In regards to his reality TV show, I'm not surprised there either. He seems to have the charisma drained out of him over the last few years, as whenever you see interviews with him, he just seems bored or giving ultimately scripted answers over and over again. Plus the concept was always ridiculous. Now had it been a Making The Band style program, I can see it working, because despite the fact that G-Unit Records has essentially become an elephant graveyard for artists, you could still get some money out of them, or at least one album off through the show.
Jay-Z Also Feeling Recession
In other recession news, Jay-Z's plan to add the title of hotelier to his ever-expanding empire has been halted. The rapper/mogul's planned J Hotels, which was scheduled to break ground this year, has been postponed indefinitely, as New York's real estate development market takes a heavy hit.
The luxury hotel was proposed as the first five-star property in Manhattan's developing High Line neighborhood, on the city's Westside. After purchasing the location, a former Time Warner Cable warehouse, for nearly $66 million, long-time developer Charles Blaichman enlisted partners Jay-Z and Abram and Scott Shnay to create the new full service J Hotels brand.
Blaichman, who is responsible for SoHo House and Spice Market, two of the biggest draws in the Meat Packing district, was also planning two other properties in the High Line neighborhood. However, the struggling economy can no longer support the $370 million in loans and investment he would have needed to undertake the endeavor.
Still, Blaichman remains optimistic that his plans have been delayed rather than cancelled: "It's one of the greatest stretches of undeveloped areas. I still think it's going to take off."
With the growth rate of construction in New York City down to .08 percent from 11.3 percent last year, experts say it may be as much as two years before any new buildings appear on the city's sky line.
While I hate to see anybody affected by the economy, a selfish part of me is actually somewhat pleased with this announcement, as it means that Jay will probably be able to put a bit more energy into Blueprint 3. I'm really looking forward to that album, almost as much as I was American Gangster.
T-Pain Signs Travis McCoy
During a recent performance as a part of Lil Wayne's I Am Music tour, T-Pain announced he was signing Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes to his Nappy Boy label. T-Pain signed a deal with which provides him with the option for both a physical and a digital imprint to sign artists. "Nappy Boy is T-Pain's brand and umbrella label," T-Pain's business partner Michael Blumstein tells Billboard. "The label will be a full-fledged indie label with PR, promo and everything else a physical label has."
Nappy Boy has various major-label partners including both Jive and Atlantic Records. "I got crowned by the king himself tonight," McCoy said shortly after donning his Nappy Boy chain for the first time. "I feel like a little prince among kings, and we're gonna do it big."
It is not known if McCoy will record under the physical or digital arm of Nappy Boy yet.
A lot of people I've read on message boards are proclaiming this to be the end of Gym Class Heroes, but I'd disagree based on the fact that the fans 99% of the time want the original incarnation of the artist. For example, when Mike Shinoda recorded the Fort Minor album (which is a very good album, give it a go), the subsequent Linkin Park album had a lot less input from him than the previous albums had. Whether or not it was solely because of the Fort Minor project is not known, but it certainly would have had a hand in it.
In that sense, I think it's safe to say that Gym Class Heroes aren't going anywhere, as people will always want that sound, particularly if Travis ends up recording an album different to what he currently does with GCH. The fact that he's on a label through T-Pain won't be a bad thing in my opinion either. You may not like his music, but the man himself has a very good sense of humor and I think he has the right mindset when it comes to the business side of the music industry, two things that can make promoting signed artists easier.
DMX Pleads Guilty
DMX entered a guilty plea on December 30 before a Phoenix judge on four counts of theft, drug, and animal cruelty charges. Per the plea agreement, DMX will be sentenced on Friday January 30. The agreement will cover one count of possession of narcotic drugs, a misdemeanor county of animal cruelty, possession of marijuana, and one count of theft.
DMX was extradited back to Phoenix 10 days ago after skipping a scheduled court date.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio offered a $5000 award for the rapper's capture, which lead to an unidentified Georgia women revealing DMX's location at producer Scott Storch's Florida mansion.
The animal cruelty charges are the result of a May 9 raid of the rapper's Arizona home, where police seized 12 dehydrated and underfed pit bulls. Although three pit bulls were found buried around the property, police declared there was no evidence of dog fighting.
The ID theft charges stem from DMX's April visit to a Scottsdale, Arizona hospital. Authorities accused the rapper of giving a someone else's name and social security number to avoid paying a $7,500 medical tab.
I hope they give him rehab and not just jail and fines. He really needs help, and it's a shame because he was such a talent in the early days of his career.
"Low" Australia's No. 1 Ringtone
Telstra, Australia's largest provider of long-distance and local telephone services, officially recognized "Low" as the top-selling ringtone of 2008. The country's ringtone purchases peaked in 2007 at $50 million. Although sales were down in 2008, ringtone purchases still grossed $30 million in revenue.
See, this is why I don't like us sometimes. We have occasionally have horrible taste.
According to Australian Performing Rights Association manager Frank Roveta, "Low" might be the last of the huge selling ringtone singles.
"The novelty of phones being able to play songs for ringtones may be wearing off," he stated.
I disagree with that statement, as so long as mobile phones can play MP3 tracks for ringtones, there will always be people wanting to buy them for their phone. If the phone companies suddenly had an epiphany and decided to stop producing phones with that capability, THEN the novelty may indeed wear off.
Flo Rida's "Low" successfully beat out other songs from Pink ("So What"), Rihanna ("Don't Stop the Music"), and Leona Lewis ("Bleeding Love") to secure the top spot. To date, "Low" has exceeded over 1 million ringtones in the U.S. and is ranked by Billboard #1 on its Top 100 Hits of 2008.
Outside of the U.S., the track has hit #1 in Canada, Ireland, Switzerland, Romania, Greece, and Israel. Additionally, Billboard ranks the song as #23 on its All Time Top 100 list.
Talib Kweli's Blacksmith Label Splits
Talib Kweli and his Blacksmith Music crew had a lot on tap when 2008 started off, however, rather than a multitude of expected projects to be released this year, followers of the Brooklyn-based record label were only treated to the sounds of Jean Grae's Jeanius album. Although receiving positive reviews, Jeanius never caught enough Billboard buzz, and speculation began to brew over the status of Blacksmith's other acts and whether or not their music would find the shelf of a music store.
Rather than allow recently surfaced rumors to convey misleading information of Blacksmith Music being dropped, Kweli maintains the decision was conceptually a split:
"My label Blacksmith is no longer distributed by Warner Brothers, which means they will not put out Blacksmith future projects. I still have a deal to put out Talib Kweli and Reflection Eternal thru [sic] Blacksmith/WBR."
This would include his fourth solo album, tentatively titled Prisoner of Consciousness, and the much-anticipated second collaboration with beatsmith and close friend Hi-Tek in Train of Thought II.
Blacksmith Music was created in 2006 by Kweli and partner Corey Smith and boasts a tightly knit crew of versatile artists, including Strong Arm Steady, Jean Grae, and Toronto-songstress Anjulie. Krondon, Mitchy Slick, and Phil The Agony, who make up SAS, will once again see their Blacksmith debut Arms & Hammers be delayed as a result of the distribution split.
Warner Brothers Records has yet to comment on the current situation involving Kweli's Blacksmith imprint.
That's a real shame as I've been looking forward to a lot of those artists' releases. My friend and I in particular have been waiting for the Strong Arm Steady album.
Diddy Gives Away Free Taxi Rides
HA!
Diddy was hoping to help everyone have a safe and happy new year while he drummed up publicity for his Ciroc vodka label, by offering to chip in on New Yorker's cab rides. On December 30, Combs and Ciroc teamed up with New York's Taxi & Limousine Commission to give away thousands of $15 debit cards.
The cards were available from 11 p.m. Wednesday night until 3 a.m., or until supplies ran out. Anyone in the Times Square/Chelsea area could get one of the free debit cards from the Ciroc street teams in the area.
"New York is the world's most iconic New Year's Eve city, so let's lead by example and show everyone that a sophisticated holiday celebration doesn't just end when the ball drops, but when everyone gets home safely," Combs said.
I think that's a really admirable thing to do, and if you remember, he was actually trying to organize something similar for celebrities a while back to prevent them from occurring DUI charges. He was aiming to establish a chauffeur service, which probably would have really helped people like DMX from doing crazy stuff whilst driving.
If anybody has recovered enough from last night and used one of those cards, let us know how they went.
Queen Latifah's Jewelry Stolen
As reported by Trinidad and Tobago's newspaper Newsday, Queen Latifah was robbed out of close to $10,000 worth of jewelry this week in Tobago's Stone Haven Villas.
Consisting of a bracelet, two gold rings, a gold chain and a silver ring, the $10,000 worth of jewelry was discovered missing on Monday, December 29.
In Tobago to celebrate the holidays, she discovered her jewelry was missing shortly after attending a barbeque brunch held in her honor. A search was conducted, but police were eventually called in once the jewelry could not be located. According to police, there was no sign of forced entry leading them to believe that the theft was an inside job made by one of the ground staff.
"Several searches are being carried out and the police are trying to have the jewelry returned to Queen Latifah," Tobago's police commissioner James Philbert told Newsday. "Investigators said the larceny seems to be an inside job and efforts are being made round the clock to make a breakthrough."
Reward money may possibly be put up by Queen Latifah because the jewelry had a "sentimental value" to her. According to the villa staff, Queen Latifah is no longer staying at the Stone Haven Villas.
That's a real shame and a horrible way to start off 2009 for her. I hope they recover the jewelry for her soon.
Sales Figures
Beyonce once again took out the Number 2 spot, coming in this week with 211,000 copies of I Am…Sasha Fierce sold, with a total now of 1,458,800. Kanye cracked Platinum, with sales of 148,100 this week, bringing his total to 1,024,000.
Keyshia Cole and Jamie Foxx fall down a few spots, to Numbers 7 and 9 respectively this week. Cole's album, A Different Me sold 126,500 copies this week, bringing her to 448,600, and Foxx's album, Intuition sold 104,500 copies, with a total now of 369,900.
The other hip-hop heavyweights this week were T.I. and, not surprisingly, Lil Wayne. T.I. moved 78,000 copies, bringing his total to 1,522,100, and on his way to Double Platinum, whereas Lil Wayne sold a further 20,000 copies on top of his sales last week as well as jumping 17 positions to Number 32, with 57,800 copies bringing Tha Carter III's total to 2,874,400, well on his way to Triple Platinum.
Plies and Soulja Boy are selling, albeit not a lot compared to their previous albums. Da REAList came in at Number 36, selling 52,700 copies this week, with a total now of 167,400. iSouljaBoyTellEm sold 34,400 copies this week, still having not cracked the 100,000 mark, with a total now of just under 80,000.
Finally, Scarface's final album sold another 10,600 copies, the total for Emeritus now sitting at 79,500, and Lil Wayne's Dedication 3 rounds out this weeks figures, selling another 9,400 copies, with a total now of 17,800. Fairly impressive for something which is readily made available for free.
Before We Go…
I've got a nice day of nothing to look forward to, which is a nice change of pace from work the last few days, although that hasn't been as busy as I expected to be honest. Here's to a quiet weekend too!
