I grew up listening to Hip-Hop and still love it to this day. The beat, the tempos, the lyrics – those are the things that make Hip-Hop great. But there are many songs that stick out above the others. There are those songs that always make me turn up the volume and compel me hit pause at certain parts, so I can rewind, and listen to a specific string of lyrics. Sometimes I do this over and over again. These are lyrics that have stayed with me and they are words I think about in business, in relationships, and in life.

These are just a few:

“Turnin’ nothin’ into somethin’ is God work, and you get nothin’ without struggle and hard work” – Nas, Doo Rags – The Lost Tapes
“I never ask for nothin’ I don’t demand of myself. Honesty, loyalty, friends … Read More »

That was the overwhelming response I got from my friends in college. I had a beat up card board box sitting in the corner of my bedroom with 25 “skull crushers” and a square, black banner from SkullCandy.

“What are you going to do with them?” my friend asked as he was pointing to the box of headphones. “Give them away” I said. “I’m going to have the performers throw them into the crowd at the Halloween Party.”

My friend continued with the questions, “Really? Where did they come from?” I said, “The Consumer Electronics Show. This guy Rick started a headphone company. I couldn’t leave his booth. He had the sickest headphones with ridiculous designs and backpacks with built in speakers. Every design was so interesting and unique. I thought it would be awesome to give these away at the Halloween … Read More »

I always knew there was something super advanced and different about the Black Eyed Peas. My first sign was when I saw them perform at Intel’s private launch party for their Core 2 Duo processor at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (thanks to Marc Harrison – pictures below). It was the first time I ever experienced a collision of mainstream music, technology, celebrities, and media all in one room, at one major event.

Yesterday I read an article in the Rolling Stones by Chris Norris titled “40 Reasons To Be Excited About Music” and sure enough, coming in at No.1 was “The Black Eyed Peas – Will.I.Am and the Science of Global Pop Domination.”

The entire article is certainly worth a read for anyone that’s in to music, but the piece that really hit me was this…

“To Will.i.am, songs … Read More »

When it comes to Hip Hop, there are those artists that stack up on the top of my list. Guys like Nas, Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Common, The Roots, Notorious B.I.G, but one of my favorite hip hop artists is someone that most people have never heard of. His name is Yolks. A guy from Madison, Wisconsin who could freestyle and write lyrics with the best of them.

Check out some of his tracks below. My favorites are I’m Yolks, Trappin, Chop It Up, and Dem Boyz. 

Yolks – Drive Wise Volume 1 by danreich

Image by K. Todd Storch via Flickr

Forget pricey satellite radio, the crappy commercial filled FM radio, massive amounts of CDs, or your stale and unupdated iPod…

Here is how you can get free on demand music in your car:

Take out your phone and download the mobile version of Pandora or Slacker radio (they are both free)
Buy a cassette adapter for CDs or MP3 players
Buy a car charger for your phone
Connect the car charger and the cassette adapter to your phone
Go to your Pandora or Slacker application and press play

Hands-free Bonus Feature:  When people call you just put them on speaker phone. Your friends will sound like radio jockeys.

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The complete guide to listening to music on your BlackBerry (bbgeeks.com)
News: Slacker releases Radio app for iPhone, iPod touch (ilounge.com)

The inauguration is right around the corner.

There are high expectations set for the new president.

I hope when Obama steps into that oval office, he remembers and keeps all of the promises he made, and does not forget what’s important. Even though the economy is in the dog house, there are still those issues that will never go away.

My sister put together this video for her high school class, and it happens to be excellent:  Remembering what’s important.

When MySpace first announced their MySpace Music agenda, I remember thinking, “It’s ‘about fu$!ng time”.

Lately, whenever I want to listen to some tunes by a particular artist, I find myself going to their MySpace page. If I want to listen to streaming music, I’m either always signed on to Sirius, using Pandora or Last.fm, but when it comes to any one individual artist, I jump onto MySpace.

To me, MySpace is becoming an interactive record store, where artists can advertise their latest tracks or band using MySpace MyAds. You can buy the music right then and there through Amazon, and on top of that, you’ve got the artists tour dates, video messages, promotions, and whatever else they think is good to throw at you.

As the RIAA continues to straighten out its own agenda, with their latest announcement…

Music Industry to Abandon Mass … Read More »

There was Rock and Roll, Billy Joel, Greatful Dead, Allman Brothers….and then there was Hip Hop. Our generation has grown up with Hip Hop, and along with technology and a few other big cultural game changers, it has defined our time. Our generation.

With the election right around the corner, it seems as if EVERYONE has a say about these candidates and this election. But will the younger voters make it to the voting booths (And I don’t mean the young voters in the video)? My friend is currently exploring this very issue, and it is called Project Youthanized. The issue of apathy within our generation.

It is amazing how many people I know weigh in on the election, yet could not or did not make it out to the primaries. Will they make it out on Nov 4?

Thanks to Jake S … Read More »

If Sony BMG, Universal Music, Def Jam, Motown, Warner Brothers, or any of the big music labels were to create their business model today, what would it look like? First, a quick glance at their methodology:

The old model was simple:

Provide the artist with resources to create an album (Studio, equipment, personnel)
Manufacture the Album (CDs)
Distribute the Album (Stores)

Clearly this model has failed while trying to apply it to todays marketplace. Here is why:

Provide the artist with resources to create an album (Studio, equipment, personnel). Artists can download superior programs and can obtain quality hardware.
Manufacture the Album (CDs) Everything is digital. No need for tangible items.
Distribute the Album (Stores) Distribute the Song/Album (iTunes, MySpace, YouTube, etc).

Because these music labels have not completely adapted or changed with the times, they have been resorting to legal action. (Larry Lessig goes into great detail about … Read More »