Hustle and Flow

Though DJay, a streetwise Memphis pimp, has always had a way with words, that gift has long been misused; this philosopher-hustler lives a dead-end life at the fringes of society. Still, DJay wonders what happened to all the big dreams he had for his life. A chance encounter with an old friend, Key, a sound engineer who has always wanted to make it in the music business, spurs DJay: if he's ever going to make his mark, it has to happen now. He begins to write down his freestyle raps - his flow - and the two team up with Shelby, a church musician with a beat machine, to lay down bass-thumping crunk tracks. DJay's metamorphosis affects his entire house, as the women in his life - Shug and Nola - find ways to contribute to the creative process. With the impending visit to Memphis of hometown platinum-selling rapper Skinny Black, DJay has to make one last hustle if he's ever going to flow.
Genres: Drama
Running Time: 1 hr. 54 min.
Release Date: July 22nd, 2005 (wide).
MPAA Rating: R for sex and drug content, pervasive language and some violence.
Distributor: Paramount Classics

>>>> I have not yet seen this movie but intend on it, I have heard good things about it. I chose this because based on what we were talking about in class on wednesday about how anyone can get a song out there in hip hop today. Although the character in the movie is supposed to have talent, it shows this because he goes from being a pimp to recording an album, anyone who has seen it...let me know what you thought!

R Kelly

It is easy to confuse the profoundly troubled soul singer and producer R. Kelly with someone slowly going mad. His seeming descent began in February 2002, when a videotape of dubious origins was leaked to the Chicago Sun Times. It confirmed the whispers that had long hazed his brilliant, decade-long career: In clear view, one saw Kelly engaging in fairly extreme sexual relations with a young girl rumored to be 14 years old. The seducer's reputation went into free fall; even his Chicago hometown radio stations turned against him. But the backlash ended up amounting to little more than a hiccup; the popularity of his music—those obsessively itemized tributes to his own libido—saved him. In the years since, as he continues to await trial, Kelly has only grown more irrational, referring to himself as the "Pied Piper of R & B," engaging in a cred-crippling tiff with the rapper Jay-Z, and offering himself up for pop martyrdom with songs like "Heaven, I Need a Hug." Two months ago, in preparation for his latest album, TP.3 Reloaded, he released a 17-minute single—with no hook or chorus.
But R. Kelly has never made more sense. Since his debut in the early 1990s, the singer's calling card has been his audacity—in the carefully scripted world of R & B, Kelly does as he chooses, however and whenever he chooses. He is committed to the idea of the sex song in a way that makes his peers sound like novices stalled at second base. As such, he will pretty much try anything. Sometimes this means ignoring the conventions of songwriting, as with the grueling, 12-minute "Sex Me" from 1995's 12 Play; sometimes it means exploring the outer limits of simile, as when he famously praised a girl for reminding him of his Jeep—he wanted to ride both of them. Other times, his uniqueness manifests itself in a total dedication to his song's situations. Where his peers put their lovers on pedestals, one imagines Kelly erecting monuments and founding societies in praise of his. Whereas decorum compels romantic singers to convey their feelings using puffed up terms like "lust" or "desire," Kelly comes across as a plain and desperately horny man.
R. Kelly's durable appeal relies on the fact that he is genuinely unafraid of the language in his head, no matter how perverse or hokey. While the sex tapes scandalized Kelly the man, they had a liberating effect on Kelly the performer: They vouched for his out-there ambitions and confirmed his general freakishness. There was always something hugely bombastic about his career, with its epic slow jams, double albums, and the heroic shamelessness of songs like "Feelin' on Yo Booty." Now, forever shaded by controversy, the music of R. Kelly flirts with pure madness—and it's better than ever.
http://www.slate.com/id/2123058/

>>>>R Kelly always seems to make it into the news somehow. This time at least it's positive, I think this article portraying him well did some justice for him and didn't blast him too bad for his previous actions and looked at the present. I guess although he made bad choices just as others have, I don't chose whether or not I listen to an artisit based on their criminal record, I listen to their music based on content, basically if I like it I don't care, what they do in their free time is their business...I am not advocating illegal acts all i am saying is that doesn't affect my music choices and the fact is in articles such as this one, it shows that it will never leave him, he will always be known as the pedifile no matter how good the music is.

P Diddy

July 25, 2005
P. Diddy Solidifying Sean John
Though P. Diddy may be changing his name again, apparently he's moving away from branding clothes with highly visible logos and monikers. A recent meeting with Sean John designers was described in the NY Times:"There will be only three 'Sean John' T-shirts in the coming collection," he said. A few designers let out wispy sighs at such a seemingly self-destructive edict; after all, clothes with the Sean John name, initials or crest make up a big slice of his company's sales. "I'm putting you on rations," he said, laughing. "From now on, I want people to read the name without seeing the name. You get me?"
He also stated regarding the new Jack Johnson collection, named after the great African-American boxer:"I don't want you to bring me clothes with the name 'Jack Johnson' on them. We got to get away from that. And I don't want some kind of retro stuff, like clothes from 1906. I want contemporary. If somebody's wearing one of my track suits, I want it to say 'champion' from two blocks away."
That's interesting but what I can't figure out is, are they talking about the fall collection? Wouldn't that already be designed and was this just a show for the reporter? I don't know. I'm just wondering.
The article as a whole presents Sean John as a company coming off a two year plateau that's being revitalized by new management. Robert J. Wichser, the former chief executive of the Joseph Abboud Apparel Corporation, was hired in May and supposedly only took the job if he also took P. Diddy's title as chief executive of Sean John. Bringing in Wichser is part of an overall move to solidify the company's infrastructure. The next step is to find "better factories to make the goods."
P. Diddy also formed some kind of partnership with 25 year old designer Zac Posen who has yet to be fully integrated into the company but is described as a "quiet consultant" for the new women's line. Additional emphasis is also being put on licensed goods manufactured by other companies and sold as Sean John items, though "Sean John makes 70 percent of its own clothes; [while] most celebrity-branded gear is made under license by other companies." A fragrance developed with Estee Lauder is also in the works.
In related news, other celebrity designers may be blazing new trails that will eventually interest Mr. Combs. While Brad Pitt's getting into architecture, Lenny Kravitz has formed a design company, Kravitz Design, a "firm focusing on commercial, residential and product design." Plans include hotel projects in L.A. and Vegas as well as other activities that will expand on his earlier experiments buying, redesigning and reselling residences.
06:59 AM in Fashion, P. Diddy Permalink Comments (0) TrackBack
http://www.prohiphop.com/2005/07/25/index.html

Hmmm, changing the name AGAIN, changing the line to be something less? I don't quite get that, in my opinion P Diddy or whatever the hell his name is has wanted his name everywhere (my opinion based on everything he has done) i mean everyone wants there name to be know n but all the sudden he wants to "ration" it. I chose this article because I may be missing something, someone may or may not reply to it but it just surprises me but not at the same time.

pay for play

THE ASSOCIATED PRESSRecording industry titan Sony BMG Music Entertainment agreed Monday to pay $10 million and stop bribing radio stations to feature its artists in what a state official called a more sophisticated generation of the payola scandals of decades ago.The agreement springs from an investigation by New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who called the practice “pervasive” in the industry and suggested other music industry giants could face similar penalties.Pay-for-play “is driving the industry, and it is wrong,” Spitzer told reporters.Sony BMG, whose various labels include hundreds of artists from Aretha Franklin and Tony Bennett to Beyonce Knowles and the Dixie Chicks, said in a statement some of its employees had engaged in “wrong and improper” practices.The company said it looked forward to “defining a new, higher standard in radio promotion,” but did not say whether it had fired or disciplined any of those employees. A spokeswoman did not immediately return a call for further comment.A 1960 federal law and related state laws bar record companies from offering undisclosed financial incentives in exchange for airplay. The practice was called “payola,” a contraction of “pay” and “Victrola,” the old wind-up record player.Asked why he did not bring criminal charges in the case, Spitzer noted the criminal laws governing pay-for-play are more specific and difficult to violate than the civil laws.Companies in the recording industry depend heavily on airplay for their artists. It boosts sales by encouraging listeners to buy their music and helps them climb the charts, which are based on airplay.Spitzer said Sony BMG’s efforts to win more airplay took many forms, including outright bribes of cash and electronics to radio stations and paying for contest giveaways for listeners. In other cases, he said, Sony BMG used middlemen known as independent promoters to funnel cash to radio stations.The attorney general called the system more sophisticated than the 1950s and ’60s payola scandals, most of which involved direct payments of cash to DJs in exchange for airplay.“This is a more formalized, more corporatized structure to get the same result,” he said. He added, “I feel a little like Bill Murray in the movie 'Groundhog Day,”’ a story about a cynical weatherman who is forced to continuously relive the worst day of his life.Jonathan Adelstein, a Democratic member of the Federal Communications Commission, said Spitzer “appears to have found a whole arsenal of smoking guns.” “We need to investigate each particular instance that Spitzer has uncovered to see if it is a violation of federal law. This is a potentially massive scandal,” he said.The FCC has power over the nation’s radio stations, which are licensed to use public airwaves.In the Sony BMG case, Spitzer released to reporters e-mails, most of them dated 2003, 2004 and 2005, that he said showed company executives were well aware of the payola practices.In one case, an employee of Sony BMG’s Epic label was trying to promote the group Audioslave to a station and asked: “WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET AUDIOSLAVE ON WKSS THIS WEEK?!!? Whatever you can dream up, I can make it happen.”In another case in 2004, the promotion department of Sony BMG label Epic Records paid for an extravagant trip to Miami for a Buffalo DJ and three friends in exchange for adding the Franz Ferdinand song “Take Me Out” to the DJ’s station’s playlist.And in another, a program director for two Clear Channel radio stations, WKKF-FM and KISS-FM, sent an e-mail to a Sony executive saying: “Looking for a laptop for promotion on Bow Wow,” a reference to a rapper.Spitzer said Sony BMG employees sought to conceal some payments by using fictitious contest winners to document the transactions.Still, he praised Sony BMG executives for fully cooperating with the inquiry.Spitzer has asked for documents from three other major recording industry names — EMI, Warner Music Group and Vivendi Universal SA’s Universal Music Group. While Spitzer would not talk specifically about investigations into those companies, he said the payola problem goes “way beyond Sony BMG.”Sony BMG is a joint venture of Sony Corp. and Germany’s Bertelsmann AG. Shares of Sony were down 23 cents, or about two-thirds of 1 percent, at $34.40 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.Sony BMG is an umbrella organization for several prominent record labels, including Arista Records, Columbia Records, Sony Music International and So So Def Records. Star artists signed with the Arista label alone include Whitney Houston, OutKast, Pink and Sarah McLachlan.The $10 million will be distributed to not-for-profit entities and earmarked for music education programs, Spitzer said.


This type of thing doesn't surprise me, but what does surprise me is the fact that these record lables in particular are the ones paying for airtime. They are some of the biggest names in the music industry and yet they are the ones paying for airtime for their artists. In my opinion, the artists on these lables are fully capable and talented to get their own record sales as well as "requests" for their songs. I think a lot of people are bashing this in response to certain artists they feel are not "quality" or talented artists and that is why this was happening and to promote their record sales as a result of hearing the music. I don't think that talent has as much to do with it as the desire for success in the industry and making the artists on your lable the most well known and heard. I wouldn't be surprised if this is something that will happen again once the air clears

Technology allows DJs to leave secluded booths and join clubbers

Monday, July 25, 2005
TORONTO - Jude Kelly is by far the most popular guy in the room. Dressed-to-impressed clientele stop and chat with the DJ perched on a stool at the end of the bar at Muse, a downtown hangout.
Kelly, who's dishing out old-school hip hop from his laptop, is one of a growing number of DJs abandoning the traditional booth in favour of mingling with the crowd.
Pint-sized mixers, innovative software and never-ending digital music collections make it possible.
"I'm trying to decentralize the DJ," says Kelly, who DJs part-time, mostly on weekends. "Normally the DJ is in some booth where he's a God-like figure. I don't like that. DJing is about playing music, being personable. I'm trying to bring the DJ concept down to where people can mill about, see what's happening, request songs and just be part of the excitement."
Kelly usually sets himself up at one end of the bar. He's got a laptop that runs software called Virtual DJ. Next to his computer sits a controller with a built-in mixer.
As customers shout martini orders to the bartender they glance at his screen where animated turntables are "spinning" the tunes.
"When I'm playing vinyl in a DJ booth it's a separate world," says Kelly. "A lot of people have a problem with approaching me. Here, I'm at the bar where people are ordering drinks. They come up to me and ask me what's going on."
Like regular music lovers, many amateur and professional DJs started converting their music collections into MP3 files in the mid-1990s. And it was only a matter of time before software came along that let DJs mix and loop songs from a laptop using a virtual turntable.
It also means DJs can leave their heavy equipment and milk crates full of vinyl at home.
"A lot of professionals are switching, even the old-school ones," says Francis Delage, a vendor of various types of DJ technology at Moog Audio in Toronto.
"It can be dangerous to go to a club with your full collection of records . . . instead, they archive all their music in their computer."
Hardcore, more purist DJs have slowly started using software such as Serato which allows them to manipulate their digitized music collections using actual turntables and a basic USB cable, he explains.
Other software, such as the type Kelly favours, allows users to DJ entirely from their laptop computer using virtual decks and a series of filters and special effects.
"Those people don't care about the techniques. They just want to be able to share their music," says Delage of software like Virtual DJ and Traktor.
He says both groups are growing but doesn't expect one to overtake the other. "The two will co-exist," says Delage.
Evolving technology could make the DJ even more accessible in the near future, says Darren Baptiste, a computer technician who's helped several DJs in Toronto convert to portable setups.
He's currently building a miniature unit to enable DJs to roam completely wirelessly around clubs.
"Let's get the DJ on the dance floor, actually dancing while playing," he said.
Kelly can't wait for Baptiste's vision to become reality.
"I want to be in three or four different rooms, inside, outside and upstairs. DJ from the bathroom even. I don't care," he enthuses.
"I don't think the clubbers should have to go see the DJ. The DJ should come see the clubbers."
http://www.canada.com/technology/story.html?id=c95882d1-8742-453a-a212-3ac29add2f7c&page=2




>>>>>I thought this article was interesting, I am not sure what to think of this idea...I am sure that this is how a lot of people are beginning to do it and it may be more convenient but it takes away from the "traditional" old school way and idea of the DJ. I think that in part what makes a DJ more popular is what he or she can do, without actually being being in the booth the music changes it doesn't have the capability of being different than everyone elses music or mixes. I think for the sake of convenience it helps, there is less equipment and work, but in this sense you loose the idea of the DJ because anyone can sit at a lap top and "play" music, I think that people would like it if they saw the DJ from time to time on the dance floor or at the bar but not for the whole night. People go to clubs a lot of times to hear the music from popular DJ's it should stay that way in my opinion.

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