Crib Notes

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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Like the city itself, the music scene in Atlanta often seems fragmented, in search of its identity. And like the city, it is made up of a host of players, and it can sometimes be difficult to find consistency in its frenzied output. That ain’t all bad; smaller, more insular scenes tend to yield a homogeneous result, and the A is nothing if not all over the place. Below, five reasons to hold out hope for music in our fair metropolis.

1. Over in the trendier-by-the-second East Atlanta Village, the newish 529 has been hosting some of the best local and non-local shows in town for several months now with a decided focus on indie rock’s grittier subgenres. The space is nice, too: it’s tiny, but thanks to the outdoor patio, not claustrophobic, and the band area feels more like a house show basement than a rock club. Down the street, the Earl is still the de facto club in the Village, but 529 is quickly becoming a go-to spot.

2. In Grant Park, Eyedrum has brilliantly bridged the gap between D.I.Y. show space and legit music venue for years now. It has long been known as the place to go for experimental and noise; this past year has seen performances from Chicago avant-jazz hotshot Ken Vandermark and sample-driven duo the Books, among others. Earlier this year, they reportedly faced closure due to the high cost of maintaining the space, but it seems they’ve managed to remain solvent enough to continue for now. In addition to live music, the gallery exhibits some interesting stuff from local artists. (more…)

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Funkadelic Parliamentarian George Clinton doesn’t have any substantial Atlanta ties that I know of, but he’s been enormously influential on local artists. At least according to Dallas Austin, whom I talked to recently about his new 8Dazeaweakend project. (Its DVD, which features Clinton, just became available on iTunes, by the way.)

“He’s been instrumental to all of our careers in Atlanta, me and Outkast and everybody,” Austin says, going on to describe his exhilaration at seeing Parliament’s spaceship stage show when he was younger.

Next Thursday Austin and other Atlanta musicians will have a chance to return the favor, as they are scheduled to appear at BMI’s Urban Music Awards show in New York City, during which Clinton will be presented with an “Icon” award.

Atl types scheduled to attend the event at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall also include Keri Hilson, Soulja Boy, Polow da Don, Cee-Lo, Bobby Valentino and Big Boi. Others promised are DJ Khaled, Plies, Rick Ross and Ray J.

In fact, pretty much everybody will be there except you. There are no tickets available to the public. But your trusty correspondent has submitted a press request, so hopefully I will be able to apprise you of the goings on.

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FREE GUCCI? Not quite.

Walter Cronkite dies on Friday, and then by Sunday we’re all getting our news from an uniformed 18-year-old typing away on his Sidekick.

That’s pretty much what happened this weekend when Soulja Boy announced via Twitter that his much-incarcerated homie Gucci Mane was going back to the slammer.

Just woke up to some bullshit… my nigga Gucci back in jail.. Free Gucci…

Word on the street (er, the blogs) was that Gucci had violated his probation with some cloudy piss, and within hours “Free Gucci” was a trending topic on Twitter. (Leaving plenty of folks wondering where to pick up their gratis clutches.)

But not only were there no free bags, but Gucci was not locked up, at least according to his lawyer. (more…)

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Rank of Atlanta rapper Soulja Boy Tell ’Em’s Twitter page on a list of “businesses” with the highest number of Twitter followers: 9

Rank of CNN: 1

Total number of Twitterers following Soulja Boy: 892,491

Total number of “tweets” the rapper — or his handlers — have posted on his Twitter site: 4,412

Estimated number of tweets worldwide that were related to the Iran protests, following the country’s June 12 election: 79,000

Estimated percentage of tweets that referenced Michael Jackson in the two hours following the king of pop’s death: 30

Total number of Twitter members worldwide: 37 million

Number of other major social-networking sites that have grown faster than Twitter over the past year: 0

Number of jobs that MySpace was forced to cut following stiff competition from Twitter and Facebook: 300

Sources: Twibs.com, twitter.com/souljaboytellem, WashingtonPost.com, ColumbusDispatch.com, Mashable.com, NYTimes.com

Read more from CL’s Fresh Loaf blog.

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1. Atlanta-based bands repped our city at Bonnaroo. (via Metromix)

2. So now we know how T-Pain wooed Taylor Swift into recording a duet. He showed her his BIG ASS CHAIN. (via Concrete Loop)

3. And we thought Usher was boo’d up for life. (via Billboard)

4. Last week Jared Swilley was dishing it out. But can he take it? He might have to after this cutesy film soundtrack drops featuring a song (”Bad Kids”) from the Black Lips. (via Paste)

5. Still beating yourself up for missing Weezy earlier this year? Well, Christmas comes early for you my friend. He’s back in Atlanta this summer with Young Jeezy, Soulja Boy and Drake. (via Billboard)

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THIS BOY'S LIFE: DeAndre "Soulja Boy" Way

Hot 107.9 Birthday Bash 14 featuring Soulja Boy, Gucci Mane, Plies, OJ da Juice Man, Pleasure P, Lil’ Will and more. $10.79-$104. 6 p.m. Sat., June 20. Philips Arena, 1 Philips Drive. 404-878-3000. www.philipsarena.com.

No longer the annoying, danced-crazed kid in the white-out-splashed sunglasses, Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em has become the reigning manchild in hip-hop’s promised land.

In recent months, the rapper/producer born DeAndre Way has suddenly morphed from the butt of jokes into one of the game’s most respected and sought-after artists. (Even hip-hop heavyweight Scarface recently labeled him “the next Russell Simmons.”)

But his fame has also brought problems, including a traumatizing robbery in December. Virtually overnight, he’s been forced to grow up.

Until recently, most industry players branded him a one-hit wonder, or worse — Ice-T accused him of single-handedly killing hip-hop. Nowadays they’re scrambling to work with him. Way says he’s in current talks with Kanye West about sharing beat-making duties for the third Soulja Boy album, The DeAndre Way, due out later this year. He says he’s already worked with Diddy and Lil Wayne on the project.

Continue reading “Suddenly, hip-hop can’t hate on Soulja Boy’s swag”

(Photo by Dan Monick)

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Download or listen to DJ Drama + Soulja Boy Gangsta Grillz: Follow Me at datpiff.com.

The DJ the industry hates to love meets the rapper hip-hop loves to hate. Released today, the DJ Drama and Soulja Boy mixtape Gangsta Grillz: Follow Me is already causing a stir. Mostly, people seem surprised that they can stomach it. To DJ Drama’s credit, he’s built a career off escalating otherwise unknown or unappreciated MCs to another stratosphere (see Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane).

As for Soulja Boy, he sounds more like Soulja Mane this time out. You’ll find no instructional dance tracks here. Far from the two profanity-free albums released via Collipark Music/Interscope, the 18-year-old attempts a more menacing flow. On track 9, “Love & Hate,” he raps: “Keep a pistol in my lap as I ride through my projects/ cuz a nigga might try to rob meh.”

Imagine that, apparently Soulja Boy is wary of Atlanta’s Perception of Crime®, too.

UPDATED 11:58 a.m. 6/12/09: If you’re bored out of your mind and trying to avoid work until quitting time, here’s a treat. Soulja Boy and Bow Wow are video streaming live from first class aboard a plane, destination unknown. They’re having crepes for lunch.

Look for CL’s feature on Soulja Boy, “Too legit to quit,” next week. Tracklist below the jump:

(more…)

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ON THE GRIND: Only hours after being released from jail in March, Gucci Mane hit the recording studio.

DOWNLOAD Gucci’s latest mixtape, Writing On the Wall

During his latest stint in jail, Radric Davis spent much of his time contemplating how he could change his life. The veteran Atlanta rapper known as Gucci Mane had built a tremendous regional following based on his oft-autobiographical songs about partying, drug trafficking and street conflict. But the same lifestyle he rhymed about had repeatedly landed him behind bars, ironically stifling his hopes for national fame.

“I got a lot of ideas together,” he says of the six months he served for violating the terms of his probation, stemming from a 2005 incident in which he beat a promoter with a pool cue. “It was a time for me to refocus. I took it and made the best out of a bad situation.” He devoured all of the inspirational material he could get his hands on, he says, from the Bible and rap magazines to a title from the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

Continue reading “Fresh from jail, Gucci Mane’s star has peaked”

(Photo by Donna Permell)

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Soulja Boy covers rolling out this week

The hardest working teenager in show business?

Fresh off of his XXL cover and featured on the cover of rolling out this week, Soulja Boy (is he going to drop the Tell ‘Em when he gets older a la the former Lil Bow Wow?) keeps adding new tour dates. He’s already sweeping through the American North, South, East and West, and Pollstar confirms shows in the unlikely burgs of Blackfoot, Idaho, on June 24 and Saint George, Utah, on June 25. St. George is in the heart of Mormon country, while Blackfoot is a town of 10,000 and, you guessed it, the Potato Capital of the World.

Oh, and there’s a confirmed local date as well, June 20 as part of Hot 107.9’s Birthday Bash at Philip’s Arena. Look for a feature story on the former one-hit wonder/sudden critical darling in Creative Loafing that week, in which Soulja will talk about firing his management, his upcoming third album and his money-management secrets. Seriously.

UPDATE: See his 5/26/09 interview with the ladies on “The View” below the jump. (more…)

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Here it is — XXL’s Hood to Hood issue. And Atlanta’s at the forefront.

But they got the headline wrong. Should’ve named it after that classic MC Eiht song, “The Hood Took Me Under.”

So should we be happy that the Northern hip-hop media elite have finally embraced Southern swag? Or are they mere co-conspirators out to capitalize on the dumbing down of rap?

Disclaimer: Gucci’s Mane’s latest CD, Murder Was the Case, and Soulja Boy’s “Turn My Swag On” are both currently in heavy rotation in my Buick Regal.

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All right, I admit it. I was wrong about Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em. Since writing him off as a one-hit wonder and giving his latest album iSouljaBoyTellem two stars, I have played that thing more often then I’d like to admit. Especially the banger “Turn My Swag On” and his shockingly innocent/surprisingly tender ballad, “Kiss Me Thru The Phone.”

No, I don’t cry during the video when those old people start smooching each other remotely. Okay, maybe I do, but not that often. Okay, maybe often.

Both tracks are on Billboard’s top 40 right now — “Kiss Me” peaked at number three — and the songs are finding success on iTunes as well.

In defense of my rating — I’d give it 3, maybe even 4 stars if I had it to do over — I’m far from the only critic who has recently seen the light about Soulja Boy. In fact, suddenly SBT’E is turning into a bona fide critic’s darling.

“He writes unbelievably effective hooks, which he rattles off as if he were seeing them for the first time on a teleprompter,” gushed Village Voice writer Zach Baron recently. All of the sudden the word “genius” is being bandied around to describe someone whom critics had absolutely no patience for during “Crank That (Soulja Boy)”’s peak.

(more…)

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Funniest thing about this video: They know who Soulja Boy is.

Saddest thing about this video: They know who Soulja Boy is.

Looks like his future as a philanthropist is off to splendid start.

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Could this be the slice of irony Soulja Boy intended?

From the Eyedrum website:

About Niggaz With Gratitude
We are Niggaz With Gratitude. Based in Atlanta, Ga, we combine Hip Hop, Punk, Rock, Jazz and a few other genres to culminate our sound. Why name a group of black rockers, Niggaz With Gratitude? Because we are united as a band to say out loud, in our songs, that we are proud to be African Americans. We are forever thankful to White people for bringing our Black ancestors to this wonderful country of America. It is truly the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. As long as you pay your taxes of course… Seriously though, If our ancestors weren’t stolen and enslaved into this country we would still be in Africa. We’re happy to not be there. HIV, poverty and Maleria would be our only options. Here we have everything. And it’s because of White people that we do. We know our message might be a little unconventional, but every African American says what we say to themselves. We just have the balls to say it out loud! If we come to your town you will get ROCKED! We are on a mission from God to take rock music back for the people.

www.niggazwithgratitude.com

(note – this show is actually a film shoot for a satire mockumentary)

Surely, last week’s presidential election stole some thunder from their punchline. Shame on you, Barack Obama!

Niggaz With Gratitude perform and shoot mockumentary at Eyedrum. Donations requested. 9 p.m. Tonight. 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. 404-522-0655. Visit the band’s MySpace page to hear music.

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IGNORANCE IS BLISS

Apparently, CL’s BET Hip-Hop Awards wrap-up, Too Bootleg for TV, wasn’t the worst of the red carpet. BET correspondent and former Rolling Stone contributor, Toure, asked Atlanta rapper Soulja Boy what historical figure he most hated.

His response:

“Oh wait! Hold up! Shout out to the slave masters! Without them we’d still be in Africa. We wouldn’t be here to get this ice and tattoos.”

As CL contributor Jacinta Howard summates on her blog, 4 Cryin Out Loud:

See, this what ya’ll get for constantly defending this little dude.

“Oh, he’s only 17!”

“Oh, he’s only for the kids!”

“Oh, stop hatin! He’s smart, he knew how to work YouTube!”

Like I’ve been saying— Soulja Boy’s age is no excuse for the coonery…. Hell, even Will Smith was a teenager when he came out. “Parents Just Don’t Understand” — now that’s a song “for the kids.”

This kinda shit is what happens when you consistently excuse people’s coonish behavior….

Read her full post here.

(Photo by Tara-Lynne Pixley)

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Hip-hop heads are often baffled by rock acts and all that “crazy rocker shit” they do, like supposedly eating bat heads, pissing on stage, writing songs about Yellow Submarines, romancing dead boys, shooting up heroin, and moving to Berlin.

Perhaps because people accept the harsh reality put forth in many rap songs and the behavior of these weird dudes who can’t get jobs as the rule rather than the exception, they neglect how psychotic and insane most rappers are.

As I write this, I am trying to bypass shock and just try to look at abnormal behavior for what it is. I grew up in the ’90s and early 2000s and pretty much still have plenty growing to do, but as a result of living in these times I have come to accept a lot of ridiculous things as normal so forgive me if I overlook anyone.

Here are some of the strangest artists around and brief explanations as to why I’m so weirded out by them.

Bizzy Bone
DRUNK THUG ANGEL

He was the most controversial member of Bone Thugz N Harmony — possibly the strangest and highest selling rap group ever. They had strong Christian undertones yet dark horror film imagery (grim reaperesque wraiths wielding scythes were featured prominently in their artwork) and the structure of their names resembled the seven dwarfs (Sleepy, Dopey, Grumpy, Layzie, Krayzie, etc).

He claims to come from a background of “thugism” (whatever the hell that means) and was even abducted as child and featured as an adult on an episode of “America’s Most Wanted,” telling the story of his childhood abduction. He was kicked out of Bone Thugs over money disputes, but his expulsion from the group also seemed to coincide with a strange explosion of his already overly-religious tendencies.

Now he rolls around with weird Mortal Kombat henchmen (as seen in this video), gets more effeminate by the day, and seems to have no problem reconciling his reckless alcohol use with his love for Jesus. He’s integral to the foundations of the tongue-twisting style of rapping but now he tongue twists in tongues!!!

Bjork
SHE IS NOT AFRAID OF YOU AND WILL BEAT YOUR ASS

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YEAR OF THE RINGTONE RAPPER: Yes, it’s Soulja Boy again.

(Photo by D. Hill)

SoundScan, the technology that tracks music sales, released its final numbers for 2007. The good news is, contrary to popular belief, the recording industry sold more units — CDs, vinyl, digital downloads, ringtones, etc. — than ever before. Consumers made 1.4 billion music purchases, an increase from 1.2 billion in 2006. The bad news is that fewer of those purchases include full-length CDs: Album sales plummeted 15 percent.

As previously noted, 2007 was something of an off-year for Atlanta’s music industry. No local artist landed an album in the year-end top 10, not even T.I. with his platinum-certified T.I. vs. T.I.P. Teenage pop-rap phenom Soulja Boy’s “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” was the year’s best-selling digital song, however. Plus, “Crank That,” Shop Boyz’s “Party Like a Rock Star” and Akon’s “Don’t Matter” all landed on the top 10 mastertone ringtones list. (To learn more about mastertone ringtones, check out the Wikipedia entry on Truetone.)

Here are the lists for 2007’s best-selling albums, digital songs and mastertone ringtones.

(more…)

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SOULJA BOY: Devourer of little children.

(Photo courtesy Interscope)

One recent afternoon, I was at a laundromat washing my clothes, and I saw these kids running around and generally being a nuisance. They kept repeating the phrase “Youuuu!” similar to how Soulja Boy chants in his ubiquitous “Crank That (Soulja Boy).” They didn’t bother reciting the whole chorus, just the “youuuu” part over and over again.

That particular sound is so memorable that Soulja Boy recycled it for his second hit single, the rising “Soulja Girl.” Near the end of last summer, I bet my boss Rodney Carmichael that Soulja Boy’s debut album would open high on the Billboard charts and then brick like so many others with a ringtone-certified hit have this year (Rich Boy, Mims and Shop Boyz can take a bow) … unless he could dig up a second single. It looks like “Soulja Girl” may be that song.

Musically, “Soulja Girl” is not much. It features a repetitive hook from i15, a boy band ATL producer Polow da Don is trying to foist upon the world, and that unmistakable “youuuu” sound kids seem to like so much. But that seems to be enough. “Soulja Girl” is ascending the Billboard singles chart, and its video is in constant rotation on MTV’s video channels.

Meanwhile, Soulja Boy has become an object of ridicule, much like D4L was last year. When I saw Psyche Origami open for Little Brother at the Earl last Tuesday, DJ Dainja, one of the group’s two DJs, cued up “Crank That.” The entire audience in the sold-out room booed loudly. “All that Soulja Boy shit is dead wrong, but we keep shit dead right,” declared Wyz, the group’s MC, as the DJs began playing the Notorious B.I.G.’s “Dead Wrong.”

Is Soulja Boy the nadir in the year of the ringtone? Perhaps. But you can’t stop the kids from bothering youuuu. For more on Soulja Boy as the pied piper of gullible children, read Mr. Carmichael’s story in CL’s Oct. 4 issue here.

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