|
November 1997
 Lot's of stuff going down this past week here in the Yeah Area.. First
every rapper worth his or her weight in salt swung through here.. There was
a huge underground concert that maybe shown on HBO for pay per view.. It
was called The Break Out Concert and five hundred lucky headz got to go to
this abandoned fort underneath the Golden Gate Bridge for a concert.. I
mean everyone from Naughty By Nature to Run DMC to Mack 10 to Snoop Dogg to Da Brat .. Heck even Kool DJ Red Alert was on hand for the festivities..Also congratulations to Red who just celebrated his 14th year on radio..He's definitely an OG this game of hip hop.The concert was filmed over a 3 day period and for the most part was off the hook.. Originally it was supposed to take place on the now vacant Alcatraz Island within the old prison walls.. but there were some snags.. so it got moved over to the Old Fort... The person who pulled this whole thing together was a guy by the name of Michael Francis.. Also 2Pac's old manager Leyla Steinberg was on board helping to run the ship. The word around town was this was Michael's way of paying restitution to society for his prior years of involvement with the Mob.. The beneficiaries for this event will be the Inner City Kid Foundation.. It was definitely a dope set up.. During the concert I got a chance to catch up with some old friends.. For the first time in all my years in radio I finally saw how the politics can be messed up.. I went to interview Red Alert and he told me that he wasn't allowed to bless Northern Cali with his hip hop wisdom because his radio station Hot 97 in New York is owned by Emmis Broadcasting which is a competing company to my station.. KMEL's Chancellor Company... I didn't quite understand the relevance because Red was 3 thousand miles from home..and here in Northern Cali where there isn't any competition between the two corporations..However, Red explained that he got stepped to last time he interviewed on our airwaves...and he didn't wanna rock the boat... While I totally respected and understood Red's dilemma.. it angered me to see first hand just how Hip Hop gets distorted and compromised.. Hip Hop should ideally have no boundaries.. It was bad enough that we had this whole East/West Coast War.. which was orchestrated by media outlets.. Now we have boundaries being drawn by radio corporations.. It hasn't gotten out of hand.. But I wanna point this out so folks can see the handwriting on the wall early on... Let's look at what Northern Cali lost because of radio politics.. About 1.5 million listeners did not get a chance to hear some insightful words from one of hip hop's legendary pioneers.. A guy like DJ Red Alert did not get a chance to pass down some critical information and insights to a younger generation of hip hop headz.. We lost an opportunity to build off the science that Red Alert could've provided.. The blow was intensified because another pioneering hip hop legend was also in town for the concert.. Kurtis Blow.. Right now Kurtis is doing an off the hook oldies show on Power 106 in Los Angeles.. I mean he's definitely bringing the noise on the airwaves.. and I gotta give him much props... However, with this whole radio politics thing going on.. I wasn't gonna be able to interview Kurtis because he works for the same media company as Red Alert.. To make matters worse his company and my company have a major radio war going on down in LA... The Beat 92.3 vs Power 106.. So again 1.5 million listeners didn't get a chance to learn from a guy like Kurtis Blow who not only help put i down.. But he just wrote a book explaining how he did it.. What a shame... I won't digress too much.. But I will say this.. For years.. the radio politics have not been a infringing thing for us headz out in Cali.. Yes I remember the good ole battle days of Red Alert vs Mr Magic and The Juice Crew.. But we supposedly learned our lessons from that.. I know that although on competing stations Sway & King Tech have maintained their friendship with Tha Baker Boyz.. And even here in Northern Cali.. DJs like Mike Nice still spins for DJ Kevvy Kev on Stanford's Sunday Nite Hip Hop Show.. They still hang even though during the day Mike and Kev work for competing commercial radio stations [which ironically are owned by the same company.. Heck just the other night all of us 'competing djs went out to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner... There's a time and place for everything.. Hip Hop has enough boundaries that have unfortunately been generated by our own ignorance... i.e. old school vs new school, east coast vs west coast., gangsta rap vs real hip hop, commercial vs underground etc.. We certainly don't need any more divisions.. I for one will always welcome my hip hop brethren no matter what radio station they're from.. Heck I've known Red Alert long before he was even on radio.. To not be able to have my boy come on the air when he's 3 thousand miles from home and help define hip hop to the new generation because of some corporate radio politics was wack... All I can say folks is watch how outside forces define us folks.. Watch what images they allow and disallow for the public to consume.. The best thing for us to do is to create our own outlets and direct everyone's attention to arenas that don't limit hip hop's growth.. Thank God for email and the internet...
 In other news.. I caught up with Run of Run DMC and he says he has a
Christmas album that's gonna drop before the month is out.. It has everyone
from Jermaine Dupris to Puffy Combs to Snoop Dogg.. It's pretty phat.. He also
said he's getting ready to start a new label called Def Gospel.. As you
know Run is now a Reverend..He didn't name off the acts he has coming out
on that label.. but he seemed pretty confident that stuff would fly...He
also said he's about to put out a book.. So I guess now we can add Run to
the list of other hip hop authors which include Queen Latifah, LL Cool J,
Chuck D and Kurtis Blow... I hope I didn't forget anyone..I caught up with Treach and Vinnie from Naughty By Nature.. Treach seemed very much to himself.. I know he was filming a prison scene for the concert.. so he may have been in acting mode.. I gotta give my man his props... He's definitely come up in a major way..on the acting tip... I think he said he has a couple of new projects coming down the pipe.. Vinnie who's always talkative noted that the NBN crew is no longer with Tommy Boy Records and so they are shopping around for a new deal... The album should hopefully be dropping by the first quarter of 98... He also said his web site is still kickin' and that they'll be doing some major upgrading and stuff once they get a new record label... If I recall correctly I think I heard him mention some guy named Mr Gates in the whole web site discussion.. But then again I'm always hearing things.. :) Also on the film tip.. I gotta give props to my girls from around the way.. The Conscious Daughters.. They've just got back from Detroit where they finished filming a flick called 'Ballers'.. It's about a woman's gang and how they cope with the death of one of their members.. Carol aka Special One plays the role of the bully/enforcer while Carla aka CMG plays the role of the one who provides reason to all the gang bangin' madness.. If all goes well the picture should be picked up by Columbia pictures... D-Shot and Nate Dog were hanging out at the club the other night.. D-Shot explained that all of them {The Click, Nate Tha Dogg Pound etc} have been doing some collaborations... One of the things they're currently working on is a film.. It's gonna be an independent film that both D-Shot and Nate wrote.. so be on the look out.. He told me the basic premis.. But because it was Halloween Nite and I had a couple of beverages.. I can't quite recall everything D-Shot said.. I called his crib this morning for some clarification.. But he was still a sleep so I'll have to lace y'all up next newsletter... Also on the film tip are the Hudlum Brothers who are currently working on a movie called I-95.. It's about the traveling adventures of a crew of rappers who are driving from New York to Miami for a video shoot.. Folks like Malik Yorba of New York Undercover, Missy Elliot, Ed Lover and Doctor Dre are all supposed to be on board for this film.. The sound track is shapin' up to be pretty nice.. so hopefully the movie hits as well. Finally I caught up with Hip Hop 's classiest divas.. Salt-N-Pepa.. They are by far among the most down to earth folks I know in Hip Hop.. They're always pleasant and very much on top of this whole music industry game.. Of course.. if Salt was to ever offer me her hand in marriage I would not turn it down :) Anyway.. I caught up with them in LA and they explained that they are working on a number of projects including a couple of sitcoms.. You may wanna peep out the interview upon the web site www.daveyd.com.. For the record their album 'Brand New' is bangin'.. Yes it has a pop feel.. But there's nothing wrong with that.. Remember hip hop has something for everyone.. The next single should be a song called 'Gitty Up'.. I suggested to them to include the track 'Brand New as a b-side cut for all us headz who like things a bit rough and rugged.. I think they're gonna follow through on the suggestion.. If they do.. you will probably hear Salt-N-Pepa bumpin' on more then a few underground mixtapes.. . Props out to Capone & Noriega.. The word around town is that their debut lp is about to go Gold.. That means they will have sold at least half a million copies... That's not bad for a group that has received very little airplay.. Also when you take into account that Capone is currently doing time in upstate New York for a 1-3 year bid [weapons possession/parole violation] you have to tip your hat even more.. Right now Noriega is working on a solo project and has been touring with The Firm.. He also just did a song with Kool G Rap called 'Rikers Island Revisited'... That track is off the hook.. As for Kool G Rap.. the word on the street is he may sign with Dr Dre's label Aftermath.. He's also doing some work with Marley Marl.. We'll keep you posted... Props to the folks in LA who run the club Phat Beats.. I was down there the other night to witness a rare occurance.. All 13 members of the hip hop dj crew The Beat Junkies were together in one spot.. They all came out along with rapper Mos Def to celebrate the Club's One year Anniversary.. It was a nice little event.. The Beat Junkies definitely wrecked shop when they had 4 djs rocking the turn tables in unison.. It was off the hook.. The Invisible Scratch Pickles..minus DJ Q-Bert were on hand .. Short Kut and Yoda both got busy with their own turntabalist routine.. Before I forget.. next time you see DJ Q-Bert congratulate him for winning the prestigious Golden Ring Award which is basically the Asian equivalent to the Oscars/ Music Awards Show.. It's a really top notch, Black Tie type of affair.. Q-Bert got to perform that night and left everyone speechless..
 Finally lets give it up to Ice T who's been making some major moves.. First
I'm not mad at his new show Players which comes on NBC on Friday Nites..
It's like a hip hop version of the A-Team or Mission Impossible.. I think
if given a chance.. the show will develop a cult following.. and will hit a
steady pace.. Right now the acting could be a bit tighter as well as the
writing.. But to be honest I'm really not mad at it.. and I'm certainly
glad to see Ice T step up..
He's also been making noise on the radio side.. He now does a coast to
coast show on Monday Nites.. He drops some music, commentary and other Ice
T'sms on Power 106 in LA and it's sister station Hot 97 in New York.. Folks
have been making a big deal about the show.. And some have gone so far to
say that Ice was the first to hook things up nationwide.. . Not to take
anything away from the show which is pretty saucy... There have been a few
coast to coast hook ups.. Funkmaster Flex was heard both in LA and in New
York 3 or 4 year ago.. Also the Wake Up Show with Sway & King Tech simulcast
every week with Marley Marl and Pete Rock... The benefit to all this is
that the lines of communication open up... and everyone gets to see that we
have so much in common...
Davey D c1997 Go Back To Hip Hop News Directory
|