Notorious

I wanted to post this as soon as I got back from seeing this last night but I went straight to the lab as I was feeling inspired.

If you haven't already, you GOTTA go see this. I was too young when Biggie was around but as I got into hiphop I began to realise just how special this guy was and I have so much respect for him. This movie really illustrates what happened from Bad Boy's perspective. I found it particularly interesting as I came up on Tupac's music so I knew everything about that side of the story, and to be fair, not as much information has been put out from the east coast side. Personally, I find it hard to believe that the police don't know anything about who shot him, conspiracy?! I was looking forward to a film starring sylvester stallone that was about a supposed cover up in the LAPD, not sure it ever materialised. Anyway, go see this film, well worth the bucks!

For anyone wanting to succeed in life....

I thoroughly recommend this book for anyone who wants to accomplish something that may seem slightly out of reach or even impossible to get to. I read this book at a time in my life when I feel I was truly finding myself (sounds spiritual but its true!). What's funny is that all of the principles Russell Simmons (I haven't introduced him cos if you don't know who he is you need to check yourself!), lays out in this book, I had just realized for myself. The biggest lesson from this book is the title of the book "Do YOU".

See, being an RnB Producer/Writer I felt I had to act, talk, be a certain way, I however came to the realization that this isn't the way to be. I'm a big believer in "Real recognize Real", if you aren't yourself, you'll never be taken seriously, maybe by a few people- but they too aren't being true to who they really are, otherwise they'd have figured you out!

Since this realization, reaffirmed by this book, I found myself to be so much more confident, friendly and most importantly HAPPIER-hell it's no coincidence that my music making improved considerably once I stopped trying to force certain styles etc and just let it flow. I know a fair few people who have failed to realize this vital life lesson, needless to say I'm not friends with them anymore. I don't have time for fake people, I do have time for real people however.

Being yourself is the coolest thing you can be. Fronting like you're this or you're that is the most uncool, unattractive thing you can do and people ALWAYS suss you out eventually.

Russell Simmons is considered the "godfather of hip hop" and this book outlines why he is so successful. He does talk a lot about yoga and meditation and encourages being a vegan- but that's HIM. Me, I don't find that appealing so whilst I took it in, I just didn't practice any of it (anyone that knows me knows I will NEVER give up meat!! haha).

There are a few other books I recommend for success in the music industry but this one is one fore EVERYBODY to read.

So here's to a prosperous '09 and if you haven't already, make sure you DO YOU this year and for the rest of your life!

Peace

MY favourite of The Year...

This isn't necessarily who I think are the best, it's more who my favourites are. Enjoy....

Favourite Albums
HipHop:-



G Unit- T.O.S. I was a fan of 50 and the Unit before he dropped Get Rich.. and I'm not afraid to admit that I'm into more commercial sounding rap. (I came up on Tupac and Eminem, Dre etc). This album is my fave HipHop album of 08, I know I'll get some stick for that but f*ck it, I like it. Crazy hard beats, all 3 of the Unit step up their lyrical game. This CD didn't leave my car all summer.

Other mentions should go to Ludacris' Theater of The Mind, T.I's Paper Trail, Lil Wayne's The Carter III. I'd also give Kanye's 808 and Heartbreaks a great rating. As I've said to many people, if he had rapped on it I would have given it a classic rating, the album is crazy, but I wish he spit on it, even just one verse a track, it would have killed it for me and would maybe have been my fave of the year.

RnB:-


RnB is my thing,I live it, love it, breathe it. This album didn't get received too well but I think it's a complete piece of work. Usher's vocal performance is his best yet, I mean, Moving Mountains is incredible. The production team is a who's who of the hottest cats doing it in 08, the only person missing is Ryan Leslie. The marketing behind the album wasn't great and resulted in crap sales by Ush's standards. The UK edition had a few throw aways like the Forever Young intro, Revolver and a few of the tracks towards the end but the hot joints were top class, songs you'd only expect from Usher. Controversial as this sounds...I actually prefer this to Confessions....there I said it! I LOVED confessions but this is a more varied, dynamic album.

Other faves are Day 26's debut Day 26, Danity Kane's Welcome to The Dollhouse, Neyo's Year of The Gentleman, Taio Cruz's Departure, Ray J's All I Feel, Janet's Discipline, Sterling Simms' Yours, Mine and The Truth and Mariah's E=MC2.

Favourite Song:
This is tough man but...I've gotta go on the track that I thought was CRAZY from the start and I still bump it now and that has to go to........

Album Re-Releases

Picture this, I, an eager, excited fan of Chris Brown, go out and buy his album Exclusive the day of release, I've waited a long fricking time, haven't listened to the leaks etc. I spend my £9.99 at HMV in UK, take it home and listen to the album non stop for months (this is all true, except I alternated with Jay-Z's classic American Gangster, released on the same day haha).

3-4 months later, once me and all of Chris Brown's fans have purchased the album what do Jive (a label who I on the whole think are the best in terms of marketing and making good music) go and do?! Reward these fans by re-releasing the album with a few extra songs on....and expect us to pay another £9.99 for it. How much of a slap in the face is that?! We support the label, the artist, the whole album cycle with singles etc yet we get less than a new fan, someone that needed a new single, only available on the new version and probably the 4th-5th release off the album, to get excited enough to part with their cash.

Now, I understand the whole business reasons of why the labels do it, encourage more fans yada yada yada. But my beef is, why insult the core fanbase by giving us less?! If they're going to do this whole re-release idea, why not give the fans who have already bought the album these extras for free, as a little reward for supporting it in the first place? They should give a redeemable code out with the orginal album, these labels already have the re-release scheduled in the album cycle, its not a spontaneous decision.

I know we can buy the extra songs and videos on itunes without the album tracks we've already paid for but that will cost around £9.99 anyway. Now, I generally don't bootleg, if I want an album, I wait for it to be released. This is an exception, I always bootleg the new re-released songs because, really, I've already paid for it.

If all of this was offered to me at the very start, paying a premium for a deluxe version of the album, as I did with Beyonce's new joint, would not be a problem. We as consumers have the choice to pay a buck or two extra and get a whole lot more instead of being limited to the normal content of the album and then 4-5 months later seeing we have to pay double to get a few extra songs.

Take music software as an example of other industries actually treating their consumers well. I paid for Version 7 of Pro Tools and was given free updates up until 7.4. Digidesign didn't ask me to pay for it. And yes, for any smart arse c*nts, I know that the updates are to fix problems/bugs etc but isn't that what an album re-release is? The extra tracks make the album "better" in terms of it presents a more inticing package for consumers to pay for. The new songs/videos fix the problem of slow record sales.

I could go into a lot more detail but, who would actually read it?! Haha. I'm just laying out a few things for y'all to think about. I will conclude by using this as an example of how the labels' continual practice of ripping off their consumers has come right back around to bite em on the ass as illegal downloads prove to be a huge problem and are killing their revenue. Quite frankly, by doing this sh!t, they fricking deserve it!

Peace

What I've Been Up To

This is a blog for my friends, just to fill in anything I haven't told them...


So, in September I signed with SESAC, I share my representative there with a number of big names, no name dropping on this blog I'm afraid! I am in no way saying I am up there with these grammy award winners but it's encouraging to have people like that on my side, advising me!

Until now I've been building up my catalogue to 20-30 songs that are to a commercial standard, not just the first 20-30 songs I came up with (like those writers/producers reading this know, you gotta make a pile of crap before you hit the good stuff!) I've still gotta touch a few up but come January, its done. I like to use the metaphor of building a house, I've been laying the foundations and am now decorating before I move in (haha, genius!). The "moving in" portion will be getting my management (I have a few options there) sorted and then meet the labels and shop my work, looking for placements and production deals. I'm going for the 3rd and 4th quarters this year.

I've also been working with a few dope producers, writing for them, I will be posting a few blogs about them later, once I've asked for their permission, just to give them a shout out (cos all of 2 people read this blog! haha). With one guy in particular, I've penned 3-4 crazy sure radio smashes (politics aside), more details later in the new year. I'm real excited about the work I've done with them.

Don't get it twisted, the last few months haven't been that great, my music career is on the up but I've had no money and all the nice things that come with that so I can focus and do music full time and most recently my fiance who has had to go back to the UK whilst I do my thing out here. This sh!t ain't a game, I'm gonna make this happen but in order to do that, I've had to sacrifice (I'm in no way feeling sorry for myself, just being real with y'all). I think that's something budding producers/writers don't hear enough about, the struggle before the fame/success. So...I'm gonna tell you, as it happens, when it happens. I'm going through it now. I was one of the people who thought it was easy having a good 4-6 track demo, getting signed by management, publishing deal, production deals. Nope, doesn't work like that. You've gotta have product man, you can't open a shop and only have 4-6 items, you need stock and that's what I've been doing.

Anyways, thats enough for today children. Tomorrow I'm gonna vent about albums being re-released with extra songs on, man that gets on my tits, until then, much love, thanks for reading!

A Little Intro

For those who don't know me, I'm a music producer/songwriter based in USA and the UK. Music Man Did It is my publishing company, I've created this blog just to voice my opinions on music, album reviews, my inspirations, new tracks and video reviews/discussions and industry talk and practices (hell I've got a lot of b!tching to do on that!) and even advice for other up and coming producers/song writers (this may not be too soon as I am still on the verge of getting into the game so it will be a bit farcical to advise anyone now). I may also upload my tracks from time to time, they're all in the demo stages as I am in the process of placing my 20-30 song catalog but I don't want people to think I sit on my a$$ all day.

Mostly, I just want to have some fun with my other mates who blog, the links for their pages will be on mine. So if you stumble across this by mistake, don't hate haha.

Peace