How come no one wanna talk about quality of music when we ask why the Bay isnt on top

[Gas One]

yeah, those are gonna be interesting to hear. personally im excited with alot of the releases in north cali lately and i dont think anyones done a great job showcasing it all. like all these tonite show albums and alot of things people take for granted are ally refreshing in comparison to whats going on in other spots around the nation. even if its not my stomping ground i believe that california as a whole could use a little positivity and people who look at music for what good it has instead of all the negatives..people barely pay for shit nowadays as it is....that causes me atleast, to bitch alot less...

 

[MaddDogg]

Tonight Show does a pretty good job just like Demolition Men because they take the time and effort to get exclusives and put it together the right way. I guess the positive point that I never made in this thread is people making effort and putting things together the right way should be rewarded.

As far as new talent I really like Stalin and LiveWire. There's also this whiteboy named Conceit thats laid a couple tracks that are pretty good by most standards.

As far as showcasing I always wondered why I never hear any Bay Area artists on Shade 45? That's a perfect market because the fan base is hard core Hip Hop listeners.

 

[The Evil Genius]

The quality of Bay music went down almost an entire generation ago.

U know the Bay is in terrible shape when people be running around talking about Messy, Turf Talk & A-Wax as if they are A-1 spitters.

Hell, even Mac Dre was far from a great rapper. What got him over was his character, charisma, street game & humor.

And people need to stop adddressing the Bay like its somewhere on its own island. Its in California but an ignorant person wouldn't know cuz u guys seem to stay seperating yourselves & crying about how L.A. aint giving ya'll enough props.

I also notice on these boards & in the streets how Bay natives say the the word "Bay Area" with some type of majisty as if u gotta bow down to them.

Another thing. Rap is a young mans game & a lot of rappers ya'll roooting for to blow are in their 30's already. Not saying its impossible cuz they are up in age but be a little more realistic is all I'm saying.

Mothafuckas depending on Hyphy to take ya'll to the next level need to quit. The fans are almost as worse as the artist. Ya'll act like the greatest music in the world is right in the Bay when its far from it. Maybe 10-12 years ago it was but not now. Stop worrying about the Bay & just buy good music no matter where its from.

 

[Gas One]

Tonight Show does a pretty good job just like Demolition Men because they take the time and effort to get exclusives and put it together the right way. I guess the positive point that I never made in this thread is people making effort and putting things together the right way should be rewarded.

As far as new talent I really like Stalin and LiveWire. There's also this whiteboy named Conceit thats laid a couple tracks that are pretty good by most standards.

As far as showcasing I always wondered why I never hear any Bay Area artists on Shade 45? That's a perfect market because the fan base is hard core Hip Hop listeners.

shit,id appreciate if even you said a few words down the line w/ the reviews. atleast you realize its not all bad. i have no problem showcasing horrible shit, but i think people are looking the gift horse in the mouth a little.

 

[MaddDogg]

Mothafuckas depending on Hyphy to take ya'll to the next level need to quit. The fans are almost as worse as the artist. Ya'll act like the greatest music in the world is right in the Bay when its far from it. Maybe 10-12 years ago it was but not now. Stop worrying about the Bay & just buy good music no matter where its from

I think a lot of what you drop is opinion and there are plenty of folks who would disagree with what you say about Mac Dre and even Turf Talk and folks like that. I still think if folks had to take 5 of the Bay Area's best against 5 of L.A. or S.D.'s best it be a competitive battle and part of it is my native bias but I would take the 5 best Bay Area MCs over L.A.'s or S.D.'s.

I'm just saying I think the biggest problem with the Bay is the quality of the CDs. There's not a lot of Bay Area artists pushing well rounded albums right now. When you release an album, whether its well rounded or its a collaboration or mixtape you put your name on it. Folks see the name and buy the record. If you drop a bunch of albums in a row with your name on it that don't sound well rounded you aren't going to sell records and you aren't going to get a deal.

As far as fans there are some goofy dumb ass wanna be Bay Area fans. But there's also the same type of fans in Los Angeles or the South or anywhere else. I always LMAO when I go down south and see a bunch of fraternity brothers wearing pink Hilfiger shirts playing Wayne at their parties and trying to act hood. Isn't that the same shit?

 

[leftcoast415]

This might be long...but don't be gay and read it.

I agree that the quality has to be stepped up. The Bay drops too many half assed albums between real albums to make a quick dollar. Look at how many projects keak had out between his last 2 "official" albums...probably 4-6 (not counting group albums). It's like a rapper records 60 songs for their album...15 make it...and they feel that since they recorded the other ones they might as well put them on some project (whether its mixed or not)...but the way i see it...if it wasn't good enough to make your real album, why put it out. Maybe like 10 of the remaining 45 songs will be decent...and you spread them out between like 4 side projects along with recycled songs then complain about fans downloading your shit.

But fans are also part of the problem. I can't hate on people downloading an album...but if you like it and you're not hella broke...BUY IT. If you like an album enough to bump it 20 or more times...go out and drop $12-15 to support the artist. Why give money to support someone who doesn't even know your name? So next time he can cop some even tighter beats and shoot some nicer videos. But I say support only if the music deserves the money.

Also, with so much music coming out every week (and easy access to it) I don't think fans give many albums a fair listen. They'll bump the album once or twice and then pass judgement. With me...one of my favorite albums is The Jack Artist. Probably the first 3 times I listened to it, I didn't think much of it. But around the fourth listen I had gotten used the production and started focusing more on the lyrics and it hit me how sick the album was.

Also, people are quick to label others HATERS. Just cuz you like it, doesn't mean others have to like it. It works both ways too. If you don't like it, doesn't mean others can't like it. If you hate on someone for liking a certain type of music, then you are a hater imo.

I consider myself pretty unbiased (for the most part) and the only albums I though were worth the money were the Errelevent album and the Jacka & Berner album. Other projects had really good tracks, but overall all weren't great or even very good.

That Husalah & B-Luv is cool if all you care about is how it sounds coming outta your trunk with the bass up (can't hate on that), but if you care at all about lyrics, it sounding like they didnt even try.

That Messy Marv album wasn't even bad for a side project....there's a good amount of nice tracks on it. I thinking the sound quality could've been stepped up though.

 

[SpAwNtAiNyOuS]

No, its the principal of it all. Why give someone YOUR hard earned money for their HALF ASS EFFORT? If you build a house, and you pay a contractor to do his job, but instead leaves wires hanging out, missed some drywall, or did a poor job with your kitchin tiling....are you gonna be like "oh well, here is what i oew you"? I dont know about you, but i paid for the contractor to do his job RIGHT and FINISH the job.

LMAO ...

 

[SpAwNtAiNyOuS]

This might be long...but don't be gay and read it.

I agree that the quality has to be stepped up. The Bay drops too many half assed albums between real albums to make a quick dollar. Look at how many projects keak had out between his last 2 "official" albums...probably 4-6 (not counting group albums). It's like a rapper records 60 songs for their album...15 make it...and they feel that since they recorded the other ones they might as well put them on some project (whether its mixed or not)...but the way i see it...if it wasn't good enough to make your real album, why put it out. Maybe like 10 of the remaining 45 songs will be decent...and you spread them out between like 4 side projects along with recycled songs then complain about fans downloading your shit.

But fans are also part of the problem. I can't hate on people downloading an album...but if you like it and you're not hella broke...BUY IT. If you like an album enough to bump it 20 or more times...go out and drop $12-15 to support the artist. Why give money to support someone who doesn't even know your name? So next time he can cop some even tighter beats and shoot some nicer videos. But I say support only if the music deserves the money.

Also, with so much music coming out every week (and easy access to it) I don't think fans give many albums a fair listen. They'll bump the album once or twice and then pass judgement. With me...one of my favorite albums is The Jack Artist. Probably the first 3 times I listened to it, I didn't think much of it. But around the fourth listen I had gotten used the production and started focusing more on the lyrics and it hit me how sick the album was.

Also, people are quick to label others HATERS. Just cuz you like it, doesn't mean others have to like it. It works both ways too. If you don't like it, doesn't mean others can't like it. If you hate on someone for liking a certain type of music, then you are a hater imo.

I consider myself pretty unbiased (for the most part) and the only albums I though were worth the money were the Errelevent album and the Jacka & Berner album. Other projects had really good tracks, but overall all weren't great or even very good.

That Husalah & B-Luv is cool if all you care about is how it sounds coming outta your trunk with the bass up (can't hate on that), but if you care at all about lyrics, it sounding like they didnt even try.

That Messy Marv album wasn't even bad for a side project....there's a good amount of nice tracks on it. I thinking the sound quality could've been stepped up though.

I wasnt gay, I read it ... I agree with you 100%

I anticipate these albums to come out and when they do I feel like im getting cheated out of my good money to support these dudes when they puttin out half ass shit ... There for it results in the infamous "previewing" before I decide to spend my loot now. Yet its true I blame the fans and how easy it is to get music these days.

 

[DFresh77]

there's more SATURATION than QUALITY in the bay area now a days...

 

[The Evil Genius]

I think a lot of what you drop is opinion and there are plenty of folks who would disagree with what you say about Mac Dre and even Turf Talk and folks like that. I still think if folks had to take 5 of the Bay Area's best against 5 of L.A. or S.D.'s best it be a competitive battle and part of it is my native bias but I would take the 5 best Bay Area MCs over L.A.'s or S.D.'s.

I'm just saying I think the biggest problem with the Bay is the quality of the CDs. There's not a lot of Bay Area artists pushing well rounded albums right now. When you release an album, whether its well rounded or its a collaboration or mixtape you put your name on it. Folks see the name and buy the record. If you drop a bunch of albums in a row with your name on it that don't sound well rounded you aren't going to sell records and you aren't going to get a deal.

As far as fans there are some goofy dumb ass wanna be Bay Area fans. But there's also the same type of fans in Los Angeles or the South or anywhere else. I always LMAO when I go down south and see a bunch of fraternity brothers wearing pink Hilfiger shirts playing Wayne at their parties and trying to act hood. Isn't that the same shit?

There are some goofy dumb ass "wanna be" Bay fans & their are some goofy dumb ass Bay fans. Let's not sugarcoat it alright homie. That's another problem.

And u can get 5 of the tightest Bay cats to spit against the top 5 LA or SD cats & the bay "may" come out on top but I can get the top 5 spitters from Sac against the top 5 from the Bay & the Bay would more then likely loose hands down. So ur arguement with that went no where.

The Bay might have a better brand of emcees then Dago but the quality of music coming out of Dago shits all over the Bay. Ur post didn't go anywhere homie. It is a matter of opinion but so is pretty much every post in this thread including yours.

 

[MaddDogg]

There are some goofy dumb ass "wanna be" Bay fans & their are some goofy dumb ass Bay fans. Let's not sugarcoat it alright homie. That's another problem.

You name a region or rapper in the country that doesn't draw goofy dumb fans and I'd love to hear about them. You let me know what region the "cool" cats of Hip Hop are from and I will write an essay to Bay Area fans and tell them to be like the cool people of hip hop.

And u can get 5 of the tightest Bay cats to spit against the top 5 LA or SD cats & the bay "may" come out on top but I can get the top 5 spitters from Sac against the top 5 from the Bay & the Bay would more then likely loose hands down. So ur arguement with that went no where.

I don't understand how this argument doesn't go anywhere. Opinion is opinion. If you can confirm that Bay Area artists are capable of competing with artists around California or the rest of the country you are agreeing with me. Again if you are saying the Bay Area has better MCs than another region but don't put out good CDs you are agreeing with me. If my post didn't go anywhere I guess yours didn't either since we both agree on the same things.

Name your 5 from Sacramento just out of curiosity.

 

[f31roger]

tonka boys and cake and ice cream are BOTH solid !

i been a bay listener since like 1991 yo take it from me

if keak wanna put out 7 side albums to support his coke habit thats fine cuz when Deified (the official album) dropped it was fire

people get music too easily like if u had to catch the bus to the record store and spend whatever last moneys u had on tonka boys and cake n ice cream , and barely have enough money for weed after , youd be more open to giving the shit a chance. thats how we had to do it in the 90s!

YOU SPEAK THE TRUTH!~!!!.

I was slavin to get extra money to buy a fukn tape @ $15 bucks. save up, take a bus to the record store, browse which TAPE, I wanted...

I dont know what it is today. I mean shit today isnt like what it used to be ya know?

My first joints from the bay was around E40, Spice 1, Totally Insane, 51.50, then came 11-5, 3xkrazy, and all those other kats in the mid to lake 90's. Then there was a shit load of compilations. I got the Rompulation, 4080 compilation... there was shit almost every couple weeks from the bay.

 

[The Evil Genius]

You name a region or rapper in the country that doesn't draw goofy dumb fans and I'd love to hear about them. You let me know what region the "cool" cats of Hip Hop are from and I will write an essay to Bay Area fans and tell them to be like the cool people of hip hop.



I don't understand how this argument doesn't go anywhere. Opinion is opinion. If you can confirm that Bay Area artists are capable of competing with artists around California or the rest of the country you are agreeing with me. Again if you are saying the Bay Area has better MCs than another region but don't put out good CDs you are agreeing with me. If my post didn't go anywhere I guess yours didn't either since we both agree on the same things.

Name your 5 from Sacramento just out of curiosity.

No one said other regions don't have goofy dumb ass fans. But when u referred to the Bay u said goofy dumb ass "wanna be" Bay fans as if the goofy dumb ass ones weren't officially from the Bay but wanna be's that aren't from the Bay but try to be.


I'm not gonna name my top 5 from Sac cuz this aint no pissing match of who's got the better emcees out of the Bay & Sac.

I said the Bay has a better brand of emcees over Dago IMO but the qaulity of music coming from Dago shits all over the Bay right now & it does. The Bay does produce good talent but like said before the artist ya'll bigs up the most aren't that good. A-Wax, Mess & a host of other ones. A lot of people may dissagree with me but I don't even care. Jacka gets major love on here & I think he could step his shit up a little. He's pretty tight but he aint no fuckin Rakim or D.O.C like everyone on BART makes him out to be. Ya'll be overratting the fuck out of these niggas. But every region does that with their local artist so I can give that one a pass.

 

[Gas One]

theres few people in sd that can make an album even close to jack of all trades. i know this because i know quite a few of em. i mean at the end of the day i agree with you, sd has better talent (im biased), but they aint about they business like that. buncha lazy ass mutha fuckas that say they gon drop an album and it never comes out

cuz they too busy livin' they rhymes..

thats san diego

and then when the album DOES DROP, you cant even fucking find it in your own god damn city, you have to actually get on the net and order it and this nigga might live 5 houses down, and has no cds to slang.

i wish i could walk into something liek amoeba and see hella san diego cds but like i said...the business just aint there..they know how to rap and thats about it

shit even siccness flakes on dropping long awaited SD cds.....were all still waiting on a certain crip rappers album......that was supposed to **officially** drop what...3 years ago...

 

[The Evil Genius]

YOU SPEAK THE TRUTH!~!!!.

I was slavin to get extra money to buy a fukn tape @ $15 bucks. save up, take a bus to the record store, browse which TAPE, I wanted...

I dont know what it is today. I mean shit today isnt like what it used to be ya know?

My first joints from the bay was around E40, Spice 1, Totally Insane, 51.50, then came 11-5, 3xkrazy, and all those other kats in the mid to lake 90's. Then there was a shit load of compilations. I got the Rompulation, 4080 compilation... there was shit almost every couple weeks from the bay.

I remember hustling up money & saving my lunch money back in the early to mid 90's just so I could buy a tape then CD. That's how serious I was about this muisc. Not just Bay but all rap music. There was so much dope shit out back then it was rediculous. I stayed in the record store. I was hella known in school for having all of the dopest shit. I always had all of the new shit as soon as it dropped. Everybody was coming to me to dub them a tape back then. I was also known for having all of the dope unknown shit too. Rappers that weren't popular but were hella tight.

 

[retardo]

its not all about rappin!! you need top notch production and quality sound! 40 gets it keak gets it even baby bash gets it! tahts why they get the radio love

 

[Heat Myser]

Material and lyrics are all subjective, but I just wish artists in general would start putting more money into the recording and mixing of their projects.

The thing is people are making music as a hustle these days and want to keep their costs as low as possible to maximize the profit. People should be investing in the music and creating to create good music, not to "make a come up."

 

[williambreed]

THE BAY AREA ARTIST TO ME ARE NOT STANDING OUT BECAUSE WE DONT SPEND ENOUGH TIME MAKING SURE OUR MUSIC SOUNDS GOOD WE MATSER AND MIX AT THE HOUSE THATS NOT COOL
IF YOU WANT TO SOUND PROFESSIONAL YOU HAVE TO ACT LIKE ONE AND SPEND LIKE ONE

 

[DREGS ONE]

I THINK QUALITY IS A HUGE REASON WHY THE BAY ISNT ON TOP RIGHT NOW. WE HAVE A SHITLOAD OF RAPPERS IN THIS REGION, BUT HOW MANY REAL ARTISTS ARE OUT THERE? CATS ARE JUST SHITTING OUT ALBUM AFTER ALBUM, WHICH IS COOL, BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET THE SAME TOPICS, SAME STYLE OF RAPS, SAME STYLE OF BEATS, SAME FEATURES. YOU GET STUCK WITH MORE OF THE SAME. LOOK AT ANDRE3000, WHO CAME IN THE GAME AROUND THE SAME TIME AS A LOT OF THESE BAY CATS ON SOME STRAIGHT GANGSTA SHIT BUT HAS COMPLETELY EVOLVED HIS STYLE AS A MUSICIAN

A LOT OF PEOPLE ON HERE BROUGHT UP THE 90S. WELL IF YOU TAKE A LOOK AROUND HIPHOP HAS CHANGED DRASTICALLY SINCE THE 90S. IN THE 90S THE BAY FLOODED THE SCENE WITH RAW UNDERGROUND GANGSTA RAP. AND NOW IN THE 2000S PEOPLE ARE USING THE SAME EXACT FORMULA. OF COURSE HYPHY SWITCHED THINGS UP A BIT BUT THEN IT ALL ENDED UP SOUNDING THE SAME. HOW MANY SONGS CAME OUT IN THE PAST 4 YEARS WITH 'GO DUMB' OR 'GET STUPID' IN THE TITLE?

MIXING AND MASTERING, YEAH THEY HELP A LOT BUT IF YOU TRIP SOME OF THE DOPEST UNDERGROUND ALBUMS EVER WERE PUT OUT WITH LITTLE OR NO MASTERING DONE TO THEM AND THAT GIVES THEM A CERTAIN FEEL. BUT AT THE SAME TIME YOU CAN TELL WHEN SOME JUST DIDNT PUT ANY EFFORT INTO SOUND QUALITY BUT ONE REASON WHY I HAVE FOUND MYSELF LISTENING LESS AND LESS TO BAY RAP IS BECAUSE _EVERYONE_ IS RAPPING, BUT HOW MANY RAP CATS ARE REALLY SAYING SOMETHING? HOW MANY RAP CATS ARE SENDING A MESSAGE? HOW MANY RAP CATS ARE TRYING TO EXPRESS SOMETHING, TO DO SOMETHING NEW AND DIFFERENT AND TO TOUCH PEOPLE THROUGH THEIR MUSIC? THE LIST OF THOSE IS SO SMALL I COULD PROBABLY COUNT THEM ON MY FINGERS.

BUT THEN ON THE OTHER HAND, I BE BUYING SOME OF THESE ALBUMS SOMETIMES AND WONDERING: HOW MANY OF THESE RAP CATS DONT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT WHAT THEY SAY AND ARE JUST TRYING TO GET SOME GUAP?

 

[f31roger]

I remember hustling up money & saving my lunch money back in the early to mid 90's just so I could buy a tape then CD. That's how serious I was about this muisc. Not just Bay but all rap music. There was so much dope shit out back then it was rediculous. I stayed in the record store. I was hella known in school for having all of the dopest shit. I always had all of the new shit as soon as it dropped. Everybody was coming to me to dub them a tape back then. I was also known for having all of the dope unknown shit too. Rappers that weren't popular but were hella tight.

Shit, I never had enough cash to get all the shit I wanted, but I always copped Bay Area shit. Just kuz when ever I got a compiliation, it was always sick and diverse. I just remember going to the record store and at one point THERE WAS JUST TOO MUCH SHIT COMING OUT.

Most of the time, the whole album was good. Some albums I got, maybe 1 or 2 songs.

Props to an old skool bay music kat! Yeah, those were they days.
---------------------------------------------------------------

As for quality music... I think its trends, consistancy in radio or buzz, and colabs.

Trends - I mean like Crunk or hyphy.. which is in its region not a trend, but everywhere else it is. People either feel it or keep its distance. But basically party/club music. Think Soulja boy.

Consistancy - well, people wonder why Lil Wayne cracked a million or gets alot of radio play... well because he's constantly doing something and keeping his name and songs on radio. Not to the point that you see like 5 songs at once, but enough to keep interest in him.

I guess both the above is also plays a role in public interest.

I say colabs because is someone has appeal in other regions, if that person kinda "exposes" or reintroduces someone else, that dude's stock might go up or generate more or new interest in that person.

You can be underground or unsigned and make hot music. But its connecting with the mainstream, different regions, taking your rap game up by doing something more...

"Gotta Spread yo Hustle if you down to pop, from the east to the west coast it aint gonna stop" - Spread yo Hustle