Why Does the DJ Cost So Much!!??

This article is for anyone looking to hire a DJ and for DJs who need to explain their pricing. Often people who look to hire a DJ think that the DJ is “just coming over to play some music” and cannot see why a DJ would charge so much money for the task.  Professional DJ’s often find themselves having to defend their expertise against someone who holds the same title of “DJ” but advertises to do the same job for a much lower price.  All of these reasons are justified until the proper level of understanding is achieved.  Hopefully this article will aid in that understanding. (Read More...)

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Face It. Hip-hop is grown.

Written by Kool Kila - www.koolkila.com

Face it. Hip-hop is grown. Hip-hop has BEEN grown. And rap music is a full-fledged genre now. You can see hip-hop's influence everywhere, fashion, movies, food, toys, etc. with both young artists and veterans alike. Grandparents can recite Run DMC, T.I., Public Enemy and Snoop Dogg. A few select radio stations across the country now play classic rap songs lightly in their rotation. XM/Sirius satellite radio has a channel dedicated to "old school." And artists like Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, Whodini, Sugarhill Gang constantly tour. As a matter of fact, Public Enemy tours abroad in Africa and Europe more than they do in the US.

For the past four to five years, I've found myself recognizing and enjoying the aging of hip-hop culture. Although I've been in the music business for nearly sixteen years, sometimes I veer from being with the "VIPs" and go to concerts just to stand amongst the crowd. If I'm at a club event, I anticipate hearing a DJ play A Tribe Called Quest, Kanye West, Mary J. Blige, New Edition, Missy Elliott, Eric B. & Rakim and Drake. If I'm at a live concert, I love looking around to see if there are any twenty-somethings watching the legends do their thing. Examples of grown-up hip-hop I've noticed:

1. Essence Music Festival in New Orleans---every summer they invited one hip-hop artist, and Run DMC, LL Cool J, even the Fugees had everyone in the Superdome, 35yrs old and above, rhyming along with them.
2. Heineken's summer concert series---in the past, it consisted of up-and-coming soul music stars like Chrisette Michele, Teedra Moses, Musiq Soulchild. Ludacris and Bun B were featured stars last year.
3. Ebony Magazine's "Black Family Reunion" Tour---brought back R&B stars from the 80s, Klymaxx, Lisa Lisa, Atlantic Starr, but also hosted rappers like Big Daddy Kane, MC Lyte, Kool Moe Dee.
4. The Glastonbury music festival in England---the largest in the world had Jay-Z as the first headlining rap artist.
5. Branding and marketing firsts---Snoop Dogg's "Snoop De Ville" Cadillac, E-40 owning "Fatburger" chain stores, Big Boi collaborated with the Atlanta Ballet, The Roots are house band on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," Queen Latifah and Ice Cube executive producers in film and television, etc.

I've realized that the average American between 32-40yrs old was a pre-teen when hip-hop started and rap music began. Pioneers of the culture are now in their mid-to-late 50s. To put it in layman's terms, (Read More...)

DJ Judge Mental & Kaotiq Simfoni “12 Monkeys” by KaotiqSimfoni

Having just dropped off their supremely dope mixtape "God's Black Son", Kaotiq Simfoni, comprised of producers Zimbabwe Kev and Zulu Faz, have joined forces with Atlanta beatsmith DJ Judge Mental for their new project "12 Monkeys". Using the Bruce Willis flick of the same name as inspiration, "12 Monkeys" finds Kaotiq traveling through hip-hop's timeline in order to preserve hip-hop's roots. From rare interviews to classic '80s beats to rare samples, the project not only challenges musical boundaries, but smashes them.

Project is available via http://www.refinedhype.com/hyped/entry/12-monkeys/

Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne - Stuntin Like What from Killa Gorillas Tv on Vimeo.

Fat Beats: The End Of A Hip-Hop Era

DJs Nazareth Nirza (left), aka Rhettmatic, and Michael Buchanan, aka House Shoes.

September 19, 2010

Fat Beats, a world-renowned hip-hop record shop specializing in vinyl releases, will shut its last retail outlet on Sunday. The closing of the Los Angeles store follows the closing of a New York location earlier this month, and some are calling it the end of an era.

"The DJ is the backbone of hip-hop, and they play vinyl. We were catering to the DJs and any hip-hop aficionados," says Nazareth Nirza, a hip-hop DJ who goes by the name Rhettmatic. He's worked at Fat Beats in Los Angeles for the past 15 years, along with other luminary DJs and producers.

(Read full Article on NPR.org...)

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T.I. appears on The Today Show to promote his directoral debut in the new movie Takers. He clears up comparison to Ocean's 11 and speaks on his return to the stage for a secret concert in NYC.

Please listen to my demo – Commercial

By Judge Mental | July 9, 2009

Please listen to my demo Commercial?

Every since the sound of music has been recorded and delivered through a tangible form (something you can put your hands on), there has been a constant evolution towards a smaller and less tangible medium. In 1900 the vinyl record was introduced and although it took 55 years for it to become the most popular consumer container of music, only 30 years later, cassettes where the most popular container of music (and along with cassettes came the home made demo). Within 10 years CDs made cassettes obsolete and within only 8 more, most music (and demos) were no longer delivered on anything tangible.

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