2009 Top Rapper #1

I'm pretty sure you guys figured it out by now that Drake was going to win number one simply because the guy's mixtape got him nominated for two grammy's. I mean gimme a break this Canuck pretty much stole the show and showed all these bustas that originality is key to being successful. (like that pun) With "Best I Ever Had" he's pretty much solidified himself as rapper of the year. Once was an actor, now's he's the artist that the new blood will look up to when its their turn to start grinding. Drake has showed through hard work, originality, and being humble will get you further than you can imagine. Drake is best to listen to when you are in the mood for some R&B, you want someone to relate to, or you just wanna hear some catchy hooks. Drake, you've earned it homey. I confess, I did think you were being pubbed a bit too much, but look at where it got you. Keep up the good work. Who knows, maybe YOU that's reading this will make the list next year. Till then...KEEP GRINDING!!!

All-Together-Now

Now this has GOT to be one of the illest collabs of the year, if not the decade. I posted a question to DJ Willtothe (@willtothe) and asked him what would happen if everybody pushed they're egos to the side and came together on tracks. Do you know how much money you could make if you and another artist got together and joined forces and fans. If he has 100 fans willing to buy and you have 100 people willing to buy, that's 200 cds you guys can sell together. (by the way, if you sold each cd at $5 a pop that's $1000 you guys made. wow) Now Wayne has showed that he broke into everybody's iPod just by collabing with every artists on the planet. Now what if YOU did the same thing. Instead of charging everybody, how about you do it for free and start attracting listeners from other states. Now you got fans all over the country, and if you play it right, you'll have fans all over the world. (i.e. my first mixtape INFLUENCE: The Mixtape got me fans from Budapest and Australia, mate!) You want to do a show in Seattle, find a local artists and collab with him. Set it up to so when he comes to your town, he can perform with you, and when you go to his, you can perform with him. The possibilities are endless. You said we all can't get along!

Sir-Mix-A-Lot

I just thought I would share my 2 cents on mixing tracks, since for the majority of the time, the real work comes from the engineer. Let's be serious, for someone to sit there and get the sound just right and satisfy the artist, the producer, and the a&r's is just down right skillful. So as I sit in my personal studio mixing tracks for my upcoming mixtape entitled, "City Lights" which will feature Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne, Drake, and 50 Cent, I start to realize that no matter how great your equipment is, mixing takes time. For instance, let's say you have a condenser mic and don't have a pre-amp and you're using sonar. No matter how great your mic is or what plug-ins you have, it means nothing without actually getting in there and listening to every bit of the track. That's right Ha-Styliens, that means listening to every dub, adlib, and effect by itself and mixing it. Now of course, I know you know people that just don't mix and just pretty much press their material up and distribute the material as is. But just imagine how much greater their sound would be if they took the time to mix the track. Its a good idea for when trying to mix a hip hop track to make sure that the 808's (bass kick) and the bass line (bass melody) is hitting, and I mean hard. If the track doesn't have any bounce to it, you just pretty much ruined your first impression. I don't care how pop the song is, if your name starts with Lil' or Young you need to make sure you have a track that will have they heads ringin (Dr. Dre). When I recorded the demo for "1899", the song was lacking as far as a full sound. However, the DJ I was working with knew that it needed that 'hit' and when we got to a professional studio it sounded great before we even got it mixed by a trained engineer. Also, a tip I learned from an old roommate of mine, try to dub your vocals and pan one track to the left and the other to the right for a fuller more surround sound feel. That's all the tips that I'm giving out tonight.

Mixing is a key to a great track. Go experiment and most importantly

HAVE FUN!

Aug. 23rd Winner is...

Looks like this week's poll was good because there are three winners for "Best Mixtape Ever."

Cheap Scape!

Every band and solo artist pretty much starts out from the bottom and works their way up. Whether its the charts or album sales, anyone just breaking into this game is at the bottom of the map. (Young Jeezy) But what if the novice artist has enough money to buy the phantom powered mic, the triton, a serato mixer, and a mac book pro all in the same breath? (by the way, check out http://www.sweetwater.com for affordable studio equipment) Would that make that particular artist the best, or just someone starting out on the right foot? Take Drake for instance. He already had money pouring in from Degrassi and been around the world and had friends that were "experts" with Pro Tools 7. That would pretty much make Drake the best in T Dot right? WRONG! Ladies and Gentleman, you need more than just equipment to be the best. For all my producers out there, don't walk into Guitar Center and ask for the Pro Tools Mercury Plug-ins (which only cost $2459) and you can't even mix on Acid. Take it easy my padawans, you wanna really make some noise? Master the equipment that you've got. That $30 mic, your sister's key board and your Toshiba laptop is all you need right now if you don't know how to work it. Work your way up. If you are trying to mix/produce a song and the equipment isn't giving you a "certain" affect you're looking for, then you've probably mastered that piece and need an upgrade. Take your time and learn the ends out, cause in this game knowledge is key. As for Drizzy, well, its always good to have a good team around you to show you, and with money.

Best I Ever Had

Okay, I gotta give props to another hustler. Shout outs to the new up-and-coming.