Fuck the Radio....

I think some people have the wrong idea about Hip hop....for one, this isn't just music. People don't realize this is a culture...I mean, the way we walk, the language we walk, the way we dance, the way we wear our clothes, the visual art, all that jazz. So when I see MUSIC artists having to compromise their style in records just so their shit will sell, it makes NO sense to me....I mean if you are SELLING to HIP-HOP heads, you shouldn't have to make "mainstream" music, since hip hop isn't meant to coincide with "mainstream" society. WE ARE OUR OWN SOCIETY. If someone outside the society wants to give a listen, that's cool, but don't focus your shit on selling to them, WE are the ones giving you fame and recognition and supporting you, to an extent anways, since niggas don't go around buying albums these days, but that's another topic for another day.

I mean for anyone who STILL listens to the radio, every time I turn to stations like Power 106 I go, "WHAT THE FUCK?!!?" It's usually some pop-sounding record which is sometimes followed by a techno-blend of some bullshit, not to diss anyone that listens to techno, but Power 106 claims the notion of "Where Hip-Hop lives..." Seems to me Hip-hop was evicted from the radio station awhile ago, but they still keep its name on the residence list...I mean if you honestly have skills, with a classic-sounding beat, you CAN'T be played on the radio in heavy rotations for whatever reason. It makes NO sense....The only hip-hop artists to make the radio are BIG names like Drake, Wayne, Eminem, Kanye West, etc. And the only type of songs to make the radio are the "pop" songs within the Hip-Hop genre. Like take Ludacris for example. His Theater of the Mind album was DOPE. Songs like One More Drink and What Them Girls Like are club songs which got a lot of spins....cool...Has ANYONE ever thought if MVP or Do The Right Thang could've too? Because if I remember correctly, I Do It For Hip Hop only got spins...Only because Nas and Jay-z were on the track...you can argue if you want, but that's just the reality. There's NO way Ludacris could've spit three verses on his own with that beat and take it to a station (outside of Atlanta anyways)

I guess this rant is due to me going through my Itunes library and going through different albums listening to songs and trying to remember which ones, if any, got any spins (that means radio play if you haven't caught on). Now, EVERY song doesn't have to be super lyrical or whatever. But I think the real problem is that you can't be REAL on a song and expect it to sell....Which is weird because if you go around asking people some of their favorite songs, they ARE the "real" ones, the ones that touch your soul when you listen. Or maybe that's the circle of people I tend to kick it with. Once again, ain't nothing wrong with Pop songs, but that's all I hear on the radio. I mean be real, when's the LAST time you heard a REAL R&B song? Nothing too upbeat, just someone pouring out their soul on a track, and have it make the radio? (I'll wait).......

This may sound like an attack on radio stations (because it really is), but really it's really just something that's been bugging me for a couple of years now. I honestly can't remember the last time I WANTED to turn the radio on to listen what's in rotation. If I ever do nowadays, it's either by accident or I have no CDs in my car that I haven't gone through 100 times already...So to all artists out there, make the music YOU want to and Fuck (sorry for such harsh language) being compromised for the sake of selling. Because if it's dope, we are going to buy it anyways!



M.A.R.S.