Crib Notes

Jay-Z's camp tapped Goose's talents as a producer, but ultimately passed on his tracks.

Welcome to CL’s annual catalog of impotence: the 11 Least Influential. You’ll meet folks who tried to achieve an ambitious goal, but fell short (or, in Goose’s case, more than made up for the difference); people who’ve devoted themselves to a personal mission in near-total obscurity; and ordinary Joes who can’t get anyone to pay attention to them. Every day until the full issue hits the streets on Nov. 11, we’ll bring you a new story of failure — some noble and heroic, others abject and pathetic.

Subject: Alex Goose
Failing: Can’t get any play from Jay-Z

Atlanta-based music producer Alex Goose has big dreams, and bigger gonads.

After being contacted this summer by a New York-based A&R rep working closely with Jay-Z, the burgeoning producer jumped at the chance to submit beats for the legendary MC’s album-in-the-making, The Blueprint 3.

He says the A&R rep was so impressed with his work for such Atlanta-based artists as Brittany Bosco and Danny! that he came to Atlanta to hear what the Goose was cooking. “He was telling me, ‘I’d love to get some of these [beats] to Jay, for sure,’” recalls Goose, who estimates he submitted 20 to 25 tracks for consideration. “A few months later he hit me up and was like, ‘Hey, I got word back from Jay that he didn’t really hear anything that he wanted to use for the album.’”

With such name-brand producers as Kanye West, Timbaland, the Neptunes and No I.D. getting first dibs at the highly-anticipated release, a virtual unknown just didn’t have the pull to earn himself a placement.

“You know it kinda sucks,” he says. “Jay would say, ‘It’s politics as usual.’”

Continue reading “11 Least Influential Countdown: No. 8 — Alex Goose”

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Which came first, the BET Hip-Hop Awards or Atlanta’s steady flow of garbage-ass rap music?

The chicken-or-the-egg question occurred to me as I watched last night’s broadcast of the awards show, which should’ve been renamed the Gucci Mane Awards for the number of performances (3?) featuring the East Atlanta-bred MC.

It typified a night in which the show took every possible opportunity to reference Atlanta — which is odd considering the crowd is made up entirely of industry fucks (artists, publicists, label reps, promoters, radio heads, etc.) and almost zero fans. (more…)

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Kenny Burns‘ upcoming documentary on himself looks fierce. The trailer for the doc, entitled B.U.R.N.S., offers a sneak peek behind the scenes of the Atlanta-based cultural connoisseur’s success, with clips featuring early collaborators Diddy, Dame Dash and Jay-Z. Dig it:

B.U.R.N.S means Be Ultimately Realistic & Never Sellout.

Far to many times I hear people idolizing or worshiping the “Entertainment Bizness”.
The crazy thing is half the time they don’t even know what they want from it, or better yet what it will TAKE FROM THEM!
B.U.R.N.S is the story of My Grind and hopefully will show YOU that YOU don’t have to be somebody’s slave to make it in the Entertainment Business (or The World). I NEVER WALKED TO BROOKLYN FOR CHEESECAKE!

As of late, he’s also added Huffington Post blogger to his long list of credentials.

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Not since N.W.A. dropped “Fuck the Police” 20 years ago has hip-hop sounded this defiant, this jaw-dropping, this groundbreaking.

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MOVIN' THE CROWD: Rakim

SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM RAKIM’S SHOW

You know the feeling you get when the DJ makes the last call for alcohol?

You know you probably don’t need another Blue Moon, but what the hell? You’re there; you may as well. Same goes for the A3C Festival. With more than enough acts to chose from, attendees staggered from one venue to the next looking for one last shot to keep them properly buzzed until next year.

Though the entire final day was full of joyful hip-hop activity, the most potent shots of the night belonged to Rakim, Mike Bigga (Killer Mike), J. Cole and … Grip Plyaz? (We’ll get to that later).

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Since KRS-One lives in Atlanta these days (I believe), he’s fair game for this blog’s criticism. In any case, his recent comments about Def Jam deserve a dissection.

“Def Jam is the dopest label in hip-hop, in the culture of hip-hop,” he said. “There really would be no hip-hop as we know it today if it wasn’t for Def Jam. But you don’t get that respect without also being the label that single-handedly destroyed hip-hop.”

Not surprisingly, he goes on to blame that great hip-hop boogeyman of commercialization for ruining things, as if that’s something that can or should be controlled. (If hip-hop weren’t commercial he would be out of a job and — his worst nightmare — no one would be listening to him.)

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Last night’s scheduled Jay-Z concert, with special guest Ciara at Atlanta’s Chastain Park Amphitheatre, was canceled due to heavy rain, lightning, and an otherwise impressive array of multi-colored rain gear.

No homo.

The date hasn’t been rescheduled despite Jay-Z telling DJ Drama on-air after calling into Hot 107.9 (WHTA-FM) last night that he might be able to return in August.

Per Live Nation:

Due to unsafe weather conditions, the Jay-Z concert scheduled at Chastain Park Amphitheatre on Sunday, July 12^th was cancelled. The show will not be rescheduled at this time. Ticketholders should go to point of purchase to receive a refund.

His album, Blueprint 3, is due in stores on 9/11/09.

(Photos by Joeff Davis.)

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Jay-Z used his appearance at last month’s Summer Jam concert to perform the first single from his upcoming The Blueprint 3 album, “D.O.A (Death of Auto-Tune).” The beat is nice, particularly the improv jazz-style opening and squealing electric guitar hook, and hell, I suppose Jay’s many years of hit making give him the right to compare himself to Sinatra.

The song’s premise is dubious, however. By denouncing the robotic-sounding vocal effect that’s ubiquitous on hip-hop radio, Jay is clearly trying to stay ahead of the curve. But in the process he’s demonstrating how out of touch he’s become.

For starters, it’s clear that Auto-Tune isn’t going away just yet. Many folks have noted that Hot 97 — Summer Jam’s sponsor — was playing Auto-Tuned tracks within a half hour of “D.O.A.”’s debut. One of the song’s producers, Kanye West, is one of Auto-Tune’s biggest proponents, for chrissakes.

Still, there’s no doubt that Auto-Tune will die off eventually. As with disco and nu-metal, it will inspire a massive backlash and we’ll all get on with our lives. Personally, I’ll miss it; I’m a huge 808s & Heartbreak fan and think that, when used right, the effect can make a track bigger and more fun. I don’t think it’s a panacea for rap’s problems, but I strongly disagree with those people, like Jay, who maintain that it’s somehow harming the genre.

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BET premiered the Anthony Mandler-directed video for Jay-Z’s new song “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” after the airing of the BET Awards last night (where he also performed it live). That’s Warner Music Group CEO Lyor Cohen chauffeuring Hov in the beginning of the video. The two were long time business associates during the Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam days. Now that Jay-Z’s upcoming album Blueprint 3 will be released by WMG subsidiary Atlantic, the cameo is fitting.

Harvey Keitel and Lebron James are also featured.

The highlight comes four and a half minutes in when Jay finally gets his overgrown sheepskin fro shorn in the barber’s chair. He’s been catching hell about that unkempt ’do for months. Some things, not even multi-millions can excuse.

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1. Spaceships, “Oblivion” and heavy metal? Only in the world of Mastodon. (video via Rolling Stone)

2. Jay-Z’s got 99 problems but Auto-Tune ain’t one — Atlanta rappers beware! (via Spin)

3. Poor Wavves lead Nathan Willams. You know your career is on shaky ground when Jared Swilley of the Black Lips calls you out for being a dick onstage. (via Pitchfork)

4. Danger Mouse refuses to compromise creativity of Dark Night of the Soul, despite dispute with EMI. (via New York Times)

5. Dear Chris Brown, we’re not scared of someone who does Doublemint commercials, we just like Rihanna more than you. (Listen to Brown and rapper Maino’s new, oddly-timed release, “Don’t Be Scared” via Spin)

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Seems like there was more action behind-the-scenes than onstage, despite the 20-plus performances at this year’s Grammy Awards.

Chris Brown reportedly got gangsta with his girlfriend Rihanna, causing them both to cancel their performances. The alleged reason behind the smackdown should bring a whole new meaning to their upcoming collabo, “Bad Girl,” produced by Atlantan Polow da Don for the Confessions of a Shopaholic soundtrack. Meanwhile the real “gangstas,” Lil Wayne and T.I., delivered upstanding, redemptive performances — neither of which required NARAS President Neil Portnow to excuse their inclusion in the program, the way he had to when Eminem performed to the chagrin of gay rights activists in 2001.

Of course, the Recording Academy continued this year with the ultra-lame generational mashup theme that made for some of the oddest pairings ever.

Surely, Stevie Wonder would’ve been insulted if only he could’ve seen how silly he looked on stage with the Jonas Brothers. The Al Green/Justin Timberlake pairing was quite a yawner, but perhaps we should be thankful that Timberlake didn’t attempt to rip Green’s shirt off for a grand finale. And did we really need to see B.B. King and John Mayer trade ugly guitar faces for the second year in a row?

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Ok, so if I remember correctly, in the late ’90s the biggest stars in America were an armada of Nordic Supersoldiers. Acts like 98°, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, ‘N Sync, Backstreet Boys and Christina Aguilera dominated the charts with their vacuous “teen” ballads.

Pop music was a future Stepford Wife proto-High School Musical prom afterparty. All the girls were sassy and all the boys had six packs. Then, 9/11 happened.

Americans suddenly thought (and quite reasonably) that we were finally the underdogs. The prosperity of the ’90s began to fade, setting a new precedent. In short, things got complicated.

Everyone still wanted to party, but pain was back. Sept. 11 gave us pain for months (years). As we got further away from that day, record companies needed to manufacture gravitas where there wasn’t any. I solemnly believe that besides the talent of artists like T.I., 50 Cent, Bruce Springsteen, Kanye West, Eminem and Arcade Fire, their greatest asset is their constant triumph over adversity.

Triumph is why superhero movie franchises have been so successful recently. A nerdy frail wimp transforms into a web-slinging smart ass who gets with Kirsten Dunst and saves all of New York City (Ground Zero, ding!). A corporate war profiteer escapes from a terrorist (Al Quaeda ding!) camp and defeats his own greed as well as the powerful traitors in his circle (the White House maybe?). We love to see people over come. Remember that song “We Shall Overcome?” That was a really big hit.

“I Put On”

Kanye West’s production catapulted Jay-Z into solidified classic status all while remaining in virtual anonymity. Next thing you know, he falls asleep at the wheel and gets in a nearly fatal car accident. Instead of wallowing in self pity he, 3H and Damon Dash turned his misfortune into the ultimate backstory for a man who was perhaps neither Gangster nor conscious enough to be understood by record execs. Starting with “Through the Wire,” Kanye built an entire career with two key foci: decadence and perpetual underdoggery. He’s made pop rap songs about vague everyday trials and tribulations (“All Falls Down”) and continuously assails his doubters to this day (“Can’t tell me Nothing”). Even though, no one really doubts him anymore, it is completely necessary for him to continue this fight against the now imaginary naysayer (remember that MTV Awards bullshit).

The most compelling development in Kanye’s trajectory is the tragic death of his mother. She was a victim of the mindless vanity and decadence embodied in many of his songs. I ponder how her death provided real life meaning to the vague conflicts in songs like “Stronger.” (more…)

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AGING GRACEFULLY: The queen of hip-hop soul, Mary J. Blige, and the King of New York — or hip-hop as it were — show the youngsters how to get ‘er done at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Tues., April 8. (Photos by Perry Julien)

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Dear Andisheh,

My heart goes out to you. And my ears. Though I didn’t suffer from sinusitis, I did buy an iPod for the first time in ‘07 and, yeah, it did kinda freak around with the way I listen to music.

In some ways that was a good thing. But whatever the iPod and downloadable music has done to my listening experience, I’m just glad it hasn’t deterred artists from making (or attempting to make) real albums — rather than random songs strung together on one CD. Of course, some succeeded while others sucked.

Here are some of the overrated, underrated and old albums I dug and dismissed in ‘07. Maybe some of these will help you get over your ‘year in music’ blues:

1. Best and most slept-on album (I think): Saul Williams, The Inevitable Rise and Fall of NiggyTardust — I’m starting with the big category first because, as you revealed, the iPod has your attention-span all jacked up and I know I could lose you quick. So you know the story with Radiohead, Prince, the Eagles — they all dropped nontraditional releases (online, Wal-Mart, etc.). Well, Saul Williams did, too. But instead of limiting his boldness to his method of distribution, he actually hooked up with Trent Reznor who produced the album. Need I say more? Actually, I will. You can download it for free, with liner notes and artwork included, or you can pay $5. Who does that? The reason why I “think” it was the most slept-on is because I just haven’t heard much buzz about it. But it was better than his first two albums, and it was free. Uh, I mean $5. (Think I just told on myself.)

2. Most disappointing album: Wu-Tang Clan, 8 Diagrams — Turned out all the talk leaking out of the Wu camp was semi-correct. RZA produced a pretty uneven album, shifting between that “ooh baby I like it raw” Wu fans have come to expect and some borderline campy stuff. Not necessarily commercial, but compromising (the joint with George Clinton is straight corny). I was surprised. If anything, I expected the complaints from his crew about his beats meant he was leaning too far to the left. Guess it’s hard to score Hollywood flicks and keep it grimy simulaneously. Oddly, RZA sounds better rapping over his own beats than he ever has.

3. Most over-hyped album: Kanye West, Graduation — Yep, there were a lot of Kanye West dick-riders in ‘08. And honestly, I don’t blame them. It’s hard out here for a mainstream critic. A lot of disposable music rises to the top. And I think that’s because, like the industry, a lot of music writers are still depending on the old label system for the bulk of their music. But I digress. Kanye West put out another damn good album; I can’t hate. But it was a minor triumph next to Late Registration. It makes sense that he thinks Graduation is his best ever, as he spouts in every interview. He accomplished what he sought out to: achieve stadium-status by making an album full of big, bombastic songs. You can’t compete with “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”; it’s the song of the year — not “Stronger” as Spin magazine proclaimed. And the ode to his tenuous relationship with Jay-Z, “Big Brother,” is probably one of the most honest sentiments expressed in a rap song since Scarface said “day by day it’s more impossible to cope/I feel like I’m the one that’s doing dope.” I could go on, but the point is Kanye made some of the best songs of his career. Just not the best album. (more…)

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