I'm in the same boat pimp, alot of the people I got under my belt didn't call me up asking for hella tracks, but bottom line a mothafucka produced on a pastor troy album that hit billboard #4 the first week and that's that. Check Itunes, youtube , google etc.. no matter how you got on, you still got on! Plus I just did a Freeway, Lil Flip , Hell Rell and more shit, and even tho they wasn't the ones hittin me , I got a gang of tracks on their next releases and if a song is hot, it's hot, fuck how it came to be
WHEN YOUR 15 MIN IZ UP ITS UP
- Thread starter goldenstatekid
- Start date
Look dude... let's be clear, I made a constructive statement of fact and you tried to dismiss me like like I was was the one who was lost. In reality you are the one who seems to be mixed up. I've been heavily involved in Bay Area Hip Hop since it began. I'm not some new booty lame. I helped build this shit, OK?
Now that we've gotten that straight, let me lace your boots... I don't know where you got the idea that unity played a part in the success of Bay Area Rap in the 80's & 90's cause that my friend is far from the truth. Cats was cliqued up and sub-regionalized like a muthafucka back in the beginning. It was every man/ clique for himself. Shit, everybody from the West Coast, including most of our own family members and friends didn't even believe that we could be rappers or DJ's or producers unless you was from the East Coast.
The Person who changed all of that was Short. In the beginning there were only a few rappers and he was the top of the heap. Not because he decided he was the shit, released a record, and then all the people from The Bay decided to unify for his cause, but because started from the bottom and worked his way to the top. In those days nobody even knew how to go about getting a record made except a select few older R&B and Rock cats who had paid attention to the process when they were given deals in the 60's and early 70's by the Majors.
Short started out makin' tapes for himself his family and friends and realized most of these people had never even been outside of Northern California, let alone New York, so he developed his own market for rappin about shit that people in his own neighborhood could related to. He then sold these tapes and grassrooted his way through the surrounding neighborhoods and cities with his Special Request Tapes in which he would make personalized tapes about a certain individual and/ or neighborhood or city for an extra fee. Cats seem to forget that in Short's time he had his own problems with people dubbing his tapes (today's equivalent of downloading), to the extent that by the time most people got to hear a Too Short tape it had already been dubbed so many times that it was almost unlistenable. Apparently it only helped to add to his legend, because in the end he parlayed it spot as the opening act for Run DMC, Whodini, and the Fat Boys at the Henry J. Kaiser Center. None of 'em could believe that every single muthafucka in the packed house not only knew every word of Short's raps and sang along and Short didn't even have a record out yet. I mean Short had niggas hangin' over the balconies sangin' that shit. And I know this how? Cause I was there! Shortly thereafter he signed an independent record deal, and not long after that a major deal. The rest is pretty much known, but the moral of the story is that he did on his own. Instead of some of these new cats trying to put CDs on the shelves like they're already stars, and expecting everyone to just support them, or expecting someone who is already on to put them on in a show of Bay Unity, they might want to try to get some fans in their own neighborhood and then try to grassroots their way out.
As for 40 he's another story altogether but he didn't have any help either. Nobody came down and fed him with a golden spoon. And as far as unity goes, back then cats from Oakland, and SF didn't even want to admit that Vallejo or any of the 707 was even a part of the Bay. The City of Vallejo was pretty much hated on the way cats try to hate on Fairfield/ Suisun today. 40, B - La, and D-shot put their own money behind themselves and put a twist on Shorts game and not only did they grassroots out the trunk they also started their own label, and created their own liquorstore/ Mom & Pop distribution network. Then they went on the road to different states with the same game and started to add to their little empire. They are thee pioneers of the independent game as we know it today. They sold so many records that the Majors pretty much had to take notice of them. Why? Not because they were making so much money that it was making a dent in the major's pocketbook, but because the Major's knew that if they didn't get control of the situation that sooner or later the game would spread to other independent artists and then there would not only be a dent on their pocketbook but a hole. Like I said, every dollar IN an independent pocket is a dollar OUT of the the Majors pocket. The moral of this story? Get your hustle on and understand the business. Stop walkin around thinkin' you know whats goin on, and ride around knowin what's goin on.
Finally, the last thing I wanna let you know is that the perception you have of all this Unity in the 80's and 90's is not real. At least not on the come up. Of course when cats got into position there was a limited amount of unity but pretty much cats were already where they needed to be. The only time that cats truly united was during the East Coast West Coast feuding and most of that unity was brought on by Pac and the mentality that we all had a common enemy. Otherwise it was pretty much every man/ clique for himself/ itself.
The best thing somebody said was that that Bay Rappers need to stop rappin about all this shit that is not relevant to the bay mentality. Maybe that way Bay fans Will Have a reason to support bay artists.
Now that we've gotten that straight, let me lace your boots... I don't know where you got the idea that unity played a part in the success of Bay Area Rap in the 80's & 90's cause that my friend is far from the truth. Cats was cliqued up and sub-regionalized like a muthafucka back in the beginning. It was every man/ clique for himself. Shit, everybody from the West Coast, including most of our own family members and friends didn't even believe that we could be rappers or DJ's or producers unless you was from the East Coast.
The Person who changed all of that was Short. In the beginning there were only a few rappers and he was the top of the heap. Not because he decided he was the shit, released a record, and then all the people from The Bay decided to unify for his cause, but because started from the bottom and worked his way to the top. In those days nobody even knew how to go about getting a record made except a select few older R&B and Rock cats who had paid attention to the process when they were given deals in the 60's and early 70's by the Majors.
Short started out makin' tapes for himself his family and friends and realized most of these people had never even been outside of Northern California, let alone New York, so he developed his own market for rappin about shit that people in his own neighborhood could related to. He then sold these tapes and grassrooted his way through the surrounding neighborhoods and cities with his Special Request Tapes in which he would make personalized tapes about a certain individual and/ or neighborhood or city for an extra fee. Cats seem to forget that in Short's time he had his own problems with people dubbing his tapes (today's equivalent of downloading), to the extent that by the time most people got to hear a Too Short tape it had already been dubbed so many times that it was almost unlistenable. Apparently it only helped to add to his legend, because in the end he parlayed it spot as the opening act for Run DMC, Whodini, and the Fat Boys at the Henry J. Kaiser Center. None of 'em could believe that every single muthafucka in the packed house not only knew every word of Short's raps and sang along and Short didn't even have a record out yet. I mean Short had niggas hangin' over the balconies sangin' that shit. And I know this how? Cause I was there! Shortly thereafter he signed an independent record deal, and not long after that a major deal. The rest is pretty much known, but the moral of the story is that he did on his own. Instead of some of these new cats trying to put CDs on the shelves like they're already stars, and expecting everyone to just support them, or expecting someone who is already on to put them on in a show of Bay Unity, they might want to try to get some fans in their own neighborhood and then try to grassroots their way out.
As for 40 he's another story altogether but he didn't have any help either. Nobody came down and fed him with a golden spoon. And as far as unity goes, back then cats from Oakland, and SF didn't even want to admit that Vallejo or any of the 707 was even a part of the Bay. The City of Vallejo was pretty much hated on the way cats try to hate on Fairfield/ Suisun today. 40, B - La, and D-shot put their own money behind themselves and put a twist on Shorts game and not only did they grassroots out the trunk they also started their own label, and created their own liquorstore/ Mom & Pop distribution network. Then they went on the road to different states with the same game and started to add to their little empire. They are thee pioneers of the independent game as we know it today. They sold so many records that the Majors pretty much had to take notice of them. Why? Not because they were making so much money that it was making a dent in the major's pocketbook, but because the Major's knew that if they didn't get control of the situation that sooner or later the game would spread to other independent artists and then there would not only be a dent on their pocketbook but a hole. Like I said, every dollar IN an independent pocket is a dollar OUT of the the Majors pocket. The moral of this story? Get your hustle on and understand the business. Stop walkin around thinkin' you know whats goin on, and ride around knowin what's goin on.
Finally, the last thing I wanna let you know is that the perception you have of all this Unity in the 80's and 90's is not real. At least not on the come up. Of course when cats got into position there was a limited amount of unity but pretty much cats were already where they needed to be. The only time that cats truly united was during the East Coast West Coast feuding and most of that unity was brought on by Pac and the mentality that we all had a common enemy. Otherwise it was pretty much every man/ clique for himself/ itself.
The best thing somebody said was that that Bay Rappers need to stop rappin about all this shit that is not relevant to the bay mentality. Maybe that way Bay fans Will Have a reason to support bay artists.
I'm not buying anything if its wack...and this is exactly why bay albums aren't sellin. People need to get real and admit that the Bay just isn't makin good music anymore. Not everybody but 95% of these new artists and albums just aren't good. The tracks aint cuttin it either. Beats need to be stepped way up. I don't what happened to the Bay but imo our sound did a 180 and not in a good way.
Good music will always prevail. If you make music that people love listening to they will support it period. Lets get back to the music.
Good music will always prevail. If you make music that people love listening to they will support it period. Lets get back to the music.
I THINK IN THE 90'S UNITY DID PLAY A PART IN BAY SUCCESS...MAINLY BECUZ AS A WHOLE IT WAS MORE ABOUT THE LABEL....ARTISTS WERE LOOKING 4 A HOME OR A CLICC 2 POWER UP WITH..& AS FAR AS 40 & THEM GO,YOU HAD 2 RESPECT THEIR HUSTLE BUT LET'S NOT FORGET 2 MENTION ST. CHARLES & SMG....BEING THAT IT WAS FAMILY BUSINESS THERE WERE A LOT OF MISHAPS BUT I CAN HONESTLY SAY HE HELPED IN THE PROCESS OF KICCSTARTING SIC WID IT & AWOL RECORDS....MOST OF THE LABELS WITH SUCCESS THEN HAD A TEAM & DIDN'T KNOW THAT THERE ARTISTS WERE BIG IN OTHER REGIONS TIL THE MID 90'S...MASTER P ALSO CAPITALIZED OFF OF THE KNOWLEDGE LEARNED IN THAT CIRCLE...MAJOR DEALS WERE ATTAINABLE AT THE TIME BECUZ THE BAY AREA MARKET WAS THE 2ND OR 3RD STRONGEST MARKET NATIONWIDE....THEN CAME THE EVERYBODY IS INDEPENDENT ERA WHICH TOOK THE BAY UNDER IF YOU ASK ME BECUZ INSTEAD OF 10 GOOD LABELS IT ENDED UP AT 100 SO-SO LABELS...SAME WITH SACRAMENTO...IN THE END MOST OF THESE POWERHOUSE LABELS WERE EITHER BOUGHT OUT OR DIVIDED & CONQUERED & ARTISTS SAW WHAT 40 DID & TRIED 2 RUN THEIR OWN LABELS WITHOUT BUSINESS SAVVY OR KNOWLEDGE....IT CREATED A FLOP FACTOR.....NOW WITH MYSPACE EVERY KID FROM 15 ON UP THINKS THEY HAVE THEIR OWN LABEL JUST CUZ THEY CAN PUT SONGS UP...I DO BELIEVE UNITY WOULD BE A FACTOR BUT IT HAS 2 BE POWERFUL UNITY NOT JUST ANYBODY...MONEY TALKS IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS BUT IN MY 15 YEARS I'VE SEEN A LOT OF SO CALLED LABELS SPEND MONEY IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES THEN COMPLAIN WHEN THE ARTIST DOESN'T SELL...BOTTOM LINE IS I WOULD RATHER HAVE MY HOUSE BUILT FROM THE GROUND UP...IT'S DESTINED 2 LAST LONGER & NOT CRUMBLE FROM THE SAME OLD WEAR & TEAR.....THESE POSTS SHOULD BE USED 2 COME UP WITH SOLUTIONS CUZ NO MATTER HOW LONG YOU BEEN IN THE GAME OR DESPITE WHO YOU KNOW IF SOMEBODY TRUTHFULLY KNEW HOW 2 BRING THE BAY BACC IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DONE ALREADY...I ALWAYS WONDERED WHY THERE WERE NO COALITIONS CREATED 2 MINIMIZE THE MAJORS POWER.....I ONCE TRIED 2 START AN INDEPENDENT UNION BUT MY MAIN FOCUS WAS 2 CONTROL THE SALES MARKET BECUZ I FELT THE DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES & RETAILERS WERE MAKING MORE MONEY THAN THE LABELS & ARTISTS...I'M STILL LEARNING & DON'T PLAN ON STOPPING...IF WE ALL KEEP AN OPEN MIND & STOP ACTING LIKE WE KNOW EVERYTHING MAYBE WE CAN ENJOY SUCCESS AGAIN...IT ALL STARTS WITH COMMUNICATION & UNDERSTANDING AMONGST PEOPLE...ARGUING ON THE INTERNET WILL ONLY MAKE IT WORSE......LET'S SPREAD KNOWLEDGE....NOT HATE....THAT'S THE BEST WAY 2 GET POSITIVE RESULTS..100
THAT HYPHY MUSIC FUCKED UP THE BAY GEE...THE MOBBSHIT BACK IN THE 90'S WAS OFFICIAL MAYNE I HAD ALL THEY SHIT I GUESS PEOPLE SHOULD JUST START SAYIN THE WEST INSTEAD OF THE BAY BECAUSE IT SEEM LIKE THE "WORD" BAY IS SINGLED OUT U KNOW WEST, NORTH, SOUTH, EAST IT KINDA SEEM LIKE USIN THE BAY INSTEAD OF WEST COAST IS KINDA FOUL MAYNE. YOU HEAR KATS FROM THE SOUTH SAY THEY FROM THE SOUTH, KATS FROM THE NORTH SAY DEY FROM THE NORTH,,EAST IS EAST..YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN CALI IS IS WEST PERIOD . PLEASE STOP WIT ALL THAT BAY SHIT THIS IS THE WEST COAST..C-BO IS ONE OF THE HARDEST IF NOT THE BEST GANGSTA RAPPER OF ALL TIME AND HE'S REP'S THE WEST..AINT HE FROM SAC.. YA DIG.. HONESTLY E40 AND TOO SHORT WAS HELLA HARD TO.. IM FROM DAGO AND THEY MY FAVORITE RAPPERS.. BLOOD I LOVE WEST COAST SHIT PERIOD.. PLEASE STOP USIN THIS BAY WORD AND JUST SAY WEST COAST PLEASE. E40,MAC DRE, TOO SHORT, C-BO, JT PUT THE THE WEST COAST ON THE MAP.. REMEMBER I SAID WEST COAST.. DONT BE MAD BART.. MUCH LOVE