An ode to Gold

Is a gold plaque actually worth more than a platinum plaque?

Raekwon had the right idea on Cuban Linx, because as of today, Gold is priced at

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Movie Music

Producing an album is similar to making a movie.

The producer works with the artist to make a cohesive sounding project from start to finish. In the film world the

Hip hop’s techno influence

Hip Hop has always been experiementing with electronic music. Hip hop producers use many of the synth arpeggios used in electronica.

The legendary Afrika Bambaataa first fused electro funk and hip hop back in 1982, when

The effect of digital music stores on album sales

Previewing music has usually been a good way of creating interest for a record. An ad in a popular magazine or a small billboard is useful but nothing beats hearing a new record played by a dj or in store before you buy.

Traditionally, the single acted as a commercial for the album. With this kind of approach, it’s easier to see why

Trends: Mafia Rap

Kool G Rap: Road to the Riches is regarded as the first Mafia rap album (1989). 

Kool G Rap set the standard for rappers to talk about tales of organized crime, whilst making references to mobsters and drug traffickers (whether real or fictional).

Sonically, the sub genre was heavily influenced by mob movie scores. For example,

The New Deal: 50 Cent’s 50/50

From what I’ve gathered from reports, 50 Cent has started to offer a new type of deal to artists signing to his label.

For example, 50 cent would pay for the artists overheads, such as recording & promotion.

Once the overheads are recouped, the profit is split 50/50. This differs from the traditional recording contract and the more recent 360 deal in several ways.  This method was used for

Sales: First week sales in 2011 for Hip Hop

1st week sales tend to be used as a barometer to determine the week by week sales figures of a release.

The figures tend to drop to around 50% by week 2. Most of the releases in 2011, have been from

Trends: The Jiggy Era

The Jiggy Era was an experience to say the least.

Even back in the mid 90’s, some people were complaining that

Should artists make videos for older album cuts?

Death of the Mixtape

The mixtape was originally a compilation of songs from different artists. Mixtapes wern’t exclusive to just the hip hop community. They were also popular with the House music and indie rock subcultures since the 1970’s.

They were substantially cheaper than albums, but often contained more tracks then the