*

FNV In Today's Issue: July 28 2000
*Things To Make You Say Whoa!
[Snoop, Mike Tyson, Pras, Cypress Hill, DMC, Juvenile, DMX, Eminem]
*Napster Shut Down..But For How Long? Not Long!
*Al Sharpton To Redeem The Dream
*Lets Take IT Back To The Old School.. Washington DC, Bronx[Riverdale],NY

Send comments, questions and concerns to
mailto:kingdave@sirius.com
The FNV Newsletter
written by Davey D
http://www.daveyd.com
http://www.rapstation.com
c 2000
All Rights Reserved

============================================

Things To Make You Say Whoa…...

Snoop Dogg is set to continue his foray into the arena of being a music executive and CE. He recently announced to Launch.com that he's getting ready to release an all-female group called Doggy's Angels. He was inspired by the Charlie's Angels series and thus has put together three female emcees which include Coniyac, Kola and Big Chan. Folks may recall Kola as being an LA based rapper who dropped an album on an independent label a few years back. It wasn't that bad. In any case, Doggy's Angels first single is a song called "Baby If You Ready" and was produced by Battlecat. The album will drop sometime in October

Mike Tyson and Cash Money are sitting down and set to combine forces. Big Mike has a fledging record label which he wants Cash Money to help blow up. Cash Money is in the process of developing boxers and they want the expertise of Mike Tyson. This should be interesting to see how this unfolds.

Looks like Eminem may soon catch some heat for his remarks against Christine Aguilera. There's an MP3 song floating around in which a Christine sound a like drops some choice rhymes over 'The Real Slim Shady Beat'. She starts off the song by mimicking Eminem with a nasal tone announcement 'Will The Real Slim Shady shut up'. She then launches a number of barbs about how Slim's girl is cheating on him and how she turned Slim down for a date. She also raps about how 'Fred Durst and Carson Daily came much closer to then he did because he's a jerk'...The Aguilera sound a like also raps about how Slim has been packaged up so he could sell units and a year from now he won't be known. She also accuses the rap star of living off the fame of Dr Dre.. The chorus is hilarious as she raps about The Real Slim Shady sounds like Peter Brady and his song is irritating. 'You're getting on my nerves, you're getting on my nerves'. If ya wanna peep the song head on over to MC Lyte's site and hear for yourself.. http://63.205.159.115/tango2000/mclyte/diary.taf?_lay=features&feature_id=100034

Pras of the feuding Fugees has just formed a film company called "Warning Films'. He's set to release his long awaited film "Ghetto Superstar". Look for it to drop right after Labor Day under it's re-titled name 'Turn It Up'. He is also working on another movie called 'Higher Ed' which is about a track star who gets a scholarship to Southern school and is hounded by gang members from New York City.

Speaking of movies, It looks like DMX is headed back to the silver screen to star in the Crow: Lazarus. This will be the fourth movie in the on going Crow series. This was the same series which featured Bruce Lee's son Brandon back in 1994. Folks may recall he was tragically killed during the shooting of this movie. In this new movie featuring DMX, the story line centers around, a rap star who leaves the music biz in order to be with his woman. He is killed in a drive by shooting by a gang. DMX resurrects himself as the Crow in order to take revenge..Production should start as soon as November. DMX is currently in Toronto shooting the movie Exit Wounds' which features Steven Seagal.

Cypress Hill has followed in the footsteps of Snoop Dogg by syndicating their popular Soul Assassins Show. It's a two hour show that first premiered on Power 106 in LA. It was later brought to 106 KMEL in the Bay Area where hosts B-Real and company chronicled the Smoking Groove's Tour. Afterwards the show was brought to KKBT The Beat and now is going nationwide.. Props to Cypress Hill.

DMC of Run DMC has announced that he will be releasing a solo album before the end of the year. It will be entitled Checks, Thugs and Rock-n-Roll and will reflect the physical and psychological changes he has been undergoing in recent years. As was pointed out in the VH1 series 'Behind The Music', DMC had undergone a severe voice change. In addition he could no longer 'feel' the energetic, bigger than life, hard rock DMC character we have all come to know and love over the years. His new album will be a mixture of Hip Hop and rock.. His first single will be a Hip Hop remake of the Rock-n-Roll 1975 classic 'Feel Like Making Love' by Bad Company...

Cash Money rap star Juvenile has been running into a string of bad luck as of late. About a week and a half ago he along with several of his partners were hemmed up by police in San Diego after he made an ATM withdrawal in an upscale neighborhood. In what appears to be a serious case of racial profiling, Juvenile was detained by police for several hours until they confirmed his story. He ironically happened to be in San Diego shooting a special for MTV. Last week, Juvenile found himself arrested and charged with five counts of aggravated assault and battery. The charges were levied by five exotic dancers who were hired for his house warming party in Mandeville which is outside of New Orleans.

The women told police that Juvenile became enraged when he discovered a running bath tub had overflowed and water had seeped through the floors of his new house. He accused the women of being careless and stared shoving them and being verbally abusive. he grabbed one by the neck and kicked them all out of his home. He threatened to shoot them and wound up chasing them down the street with an ice pick. The women sought refuge at a neighbors house who called police.

According to Juvenile, nothing could be further from the truth. He noted that he never threatened to shoot anyone and never laid a hand on the women. He accuses them of making up the story because he kicked them out of his house. We will have to keep a close eye on what happens with this case. Lets hope Juvenile is a victim of a vicious set up. If convicted he could get up to six months in jail. He goes to court on September 11.
=====================================


++++Napster Shut Down But For How Long?++++++++++

By now everyone has gotten word of a San Francisco Federal judge-Marilyn Hall Patel, ordering an injunction against Napster until they and the music industry which is represented by the RIAA go to trial. Patel sided with the RIAA in her ruling when she noted that Napster users were engaged in wholesale copyright infringement by trading their favorite songs. She rejected Napster's arguments that the service was designed so users can 'share' music with one another. She stated suggested that the minds behind Napster have created a monster and thus should've come up with a way to protect the interest of the music industry when designing this system. This is clearly a major set back for Napster which maintains it will go to trial with this whole thing. There is speculation that in a full trial they will be found guilty of piracy.

While record labels are rejoicing, this battle is far from over. Napster was the tip of the iceberg. There are other programs and services out on the net that will allow users to share and trade music. Scour Exchange, iMesh, Gnutella and Freenet are just a few of the programs that are available. Many of these distribution programs are for free and unlike Napster do not have a central server. Yesterday's ruling does not effect them. And even if there was an order to shut them down. The question would be 'shut down what'?

As for Napster, they experienced an unprecedented amount of visitors who came on board attempting to download songs before the Friday deadline takes place. Music fans to the site have been angry about the decision and have been pointing their fingers at Metallica and Dr Dre as the main spark plugs. Some have suggested a boycott against them and any other recording artist who has come out against Napster. Drummer Lars Urlich has repeatedly said that he cares little about a boycott against his band. In fact he has gone on record requesting that fans who disagree with his harsh stance should do just that. He claims that he doesn't want Napster users as fans.

The big question is what does this all mean? Clearly the record industry was out to lunch when Internet technology came down the pipe and they got caught slipping. They are now trying to play catch up and maintain their middleman stronghold and position over the consumer and the artist. You can say what you will, but this scenario maybe just a temporary victory for the RIAA. As they struggle to apply old school techniques to a new technologically savvy world, they may find two things happening. First they will have under estimated the consumer and the frustration many of them feel about being pimped by these labels which often lose site as to the reason people went on line in the first place. Second, by trying to exert full control over the music distribution, they may find themselves killing the goose that laid the golden egg. The keys to this equation are the fans. Napster and the music biz depend solely upon their desire to head in one direction or another. Hopefully the major labels figure this out and come up with a plan that will leave everyone satisfied. One thing is for sure, according to recent surveys, most consumers aren't feeling going on line and paying a subscription fee to download music from a label site. Chuck D of Public Enemy and Rapstation.com said it best when he noted; "If Patel was the key judge at the last turn of the century, we'd still be relying on horses and buggies and trains to get around. Stopping the process of file sharing is like trying to control the rain."

Update: Well it appears that Chuck D's words were correct.. cause as we all know Napster was granted a stay of execution.. Ironically all the threats of shut downs.. boosted their traffic by as much as 90%.. Wow!
====================================


++++AL Sharpton to Redeem The Dream Against 5-0 ++++++++++

The Big Apple as well as people concerned about the increase in police brutality were handed down a shocking blow yesterday [Thursday July 27]. A NY Grand Jury to failed to criminally charge the police officers responsible for shooting Patrick Dorismond. For folks who are unfamiliar with this case, a few months back, Dorismond left a midtown Manhattan tavern when he was approached by plain clothes officers and asked if he wanted to sell drugs. Dorismond who hails from Haiti took offense to the request and argued with the officers who never identified themselves as cops. Dorismond was upset at the fact that he would be stereotyped and asked such a question. Words were exchanged and a scuffle ensued. The end result was an unarmed was shot dead in the streets. The killing which happened in the wake of Amadou Diallo being shot at 41 times and another Haitian American, security guard named Abner Louima having a stick shoved up his rectum at the hands of police, left the Big Apple visibly shaken.

Adding insult to injury was NY's controversial Mayor Rudoulph Giuliani going to the press and maligning his reputation by recanting Dorismond's childhood brushes with the law. It was absolutely inexcusable and really quite irrelevant. As a grown man Dorismond had come a long way. Still city officials took matters a step further when they crashed his hugely attended funeral. There were well-publicized incidents of brutality including a news personality for WBAI radio who broadcasted his beating at the hands of cops live on the air. With all this going on, folks in NY just knew there was going bed some justice. Thus far that has not been the case.

Reverend Al Sharpton held a press conference yesterday in which he and the family of Dorismond expressed their outrage. Sharpton demanded that the Clinton administration and the Federal government intervene. He even went so far as to put NY senate candidates Hillary Clinton and Rick Lazio on notice. He said that community support for either one of their bids would be based upon their response to this crisis. When Dorismand's mother spoke she was impassioned as she literally begged President Clinton to intervene. She was so moving; there wasn't a dry eye in the place. Sharpton along with rap mogul Russell Simmons and Martin Luther King III are in the process of putting together a huge march against police brutality. Its called Redeem The Dream and it will commemorate the March on Washington DC back in 1963. There are currently plans in the works to bring a large contingent of Hip Hoppers to DC. Sharpton and company want everyone to march on Washington to protest against police brutality and racial profiling. All this is going down on August 26 2000. For more info so you too can get involved call 1-877-9-Redeem.

The march seems to be picking up speed and causing quite a buzz as everyone from LL Cool J to Jesse Jackson, from MTV to BET and Radio One have gotten squarely behind this effort. As folks prepare to shake up the nation's capitol, New York's Hip Hop community are preparing an event called Rap Against Racism. This will be a gathering of Hip Hop's best including, pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, Mos Def, Busta Rhymes, The Roots, Common Sense, Pharoahe Monch, Snoop Dogg, dead prez and Eminem to name a few. They will be descending upon SOB's sometime near the end of August just before the march. We'll keep you posted as this develops more. It's good to see the Hip Hop community coming together for this issue. When I asked Al Sharpton what else the Hip Hop community could be doing to combat police brutality he said we should be 'Hipping and Hopping on down to the justice department and demanding that they take action in some of these cases.

=====================================

Lets Take It Back To The Old School....... Washington DC and Riverdale, NY

We're looking for you to send us your old school tales.. Let us know what Hip Hop was like back in the days.. We need folks from the South and overseas to represent. Who were the first rappers? The earliest radio shows? What was the fashion like..etc? send memories to mailto:kingdave@sirius.com



Remembering when... {Washington DC}

...WOL 1450 AM was the only station to play hiphop and the only station to
play GoGo

...Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie used to be seen in twin Benz's in many a
gas station and malls in PG County

...EPMD & Crew played with JunkYard at Triple's and Redman had a nasty
freestyle before he was even heard of (on Ed O G's "I got to Have it" beat):
"Hit more skins than lay's potato chips"

..."GoGo meets Rap" concerts at the Capital Center, where no one would
really move until Rare Essence or Junk came on, which was usually last

...Dougie Fresh made many appearances in DC and rapped with Biz Markie while
(I think it was) JunkYard backed em up

...Who's House Concert featuring Run DMC and Public Enemy was the SHIT

...breakdancing, graffiti, hiphop AND GoGo were mixedup among the youth

...Essence hit "Mr. Big Stuff" and "Freaks Come Out at Night", and of course
"Do You Know What Time it Is"

...Junk hit "Sweet Love" and "Lady I love You"

...Everybody sang in the hallways "My Mic Sounds Nice" and many other songs
by SaltNPepa

..."Shake Your Thang" with SaltNPepa & EU was the SHIT

...Mc Lyte was the SHIT

...Hustlas had Jettas

...Ronnie T, Stinky Dink, D.C. Scorpio and other local rappers used to rap
with the bands

...we wore Le Coq Sportif & Sergio T jumpsuits with ropes

...we had 3 finger rings

...rap actually mattered to more than just college students and whiteboys

There is much more to reminisce on, that was before the serious violence
took DC by storm... (after coke did)

Brandon
-----------------------------------
Bronx [Riverdale NY]

Yo,

I remember when the only way I could hear Hip Hop was when this cat
named Davey D came through Skyview park with either a Grandmaster Flash
tape (hunted down like Platinum), Johnny Wa & Rayvon, Wiz Kid, The
Soulsonic Force b/4 "Planet Rock, or The "L" Brothers (Grandmaster Caz &
Jerry D. Lewis) b/4 Coldcrush 4 fame. We would be wide open off all
these cats. My man Dave's homemade tapes, pre-turntables, with the
almost undetectable smoothness of the almighty pause button, had us
fiending to get on and try to freestyle with the old "yes yes ya'll ya
don't stop-check it out keep on."

On the strength though, those days were 100% pure and my life changed from the first taste my ears got. Almost like a drug, but straight clean to the head. Good looking out
Dave, you put mad brothers on to the real before most kids had a clue.
All I can add is The Tee Connection, Ecstasy Garage, The Fever, 361,
Broadway International, & of course Harlem World. Me & my crew had to
sneak out the house at 13-14 years old to go to "the jam" to see it for
ourselves.The gear, the graph, & the girls blew our minds. It was just a
moment in time that cannot be duplicated no matter how hard videos try
to look "old school." Oh yeah, the flyers were off the Bench too."Up in
the Bronx where the people are fresh...". Peace.

Shardonia

========END OF NEWSLETTER================

Send comments, questions and concerns to
mailto:kingdave@sirius.com
The FNV Newsletter
written by Davey D
http://www.daveyd.com
http://www.rapstation.com
c 2000
All Rights Reserved

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