thats my biggest rant, but for the other stuff u talked about - damn i was sure that the end of roc boys clip was setting up fallin’ as the next single, coz ill be damned if the video is not continued!
Everyone Nose is definitely growing on me - so N.3.R.D. should be good
and finally damn…no Glow In The Dark tour in australia (coz if u think about it, the CRS supergroup is pretty much on tour :P) and shoot me if im wrong, its Rihanna not Keyshia Cole supporting right??

Dang, Kev, it’s only January! Geez! lol

So far we’ve had 2 pretty solid releases from eMC & Torae…

Eve sucks. Sorry, I just don’t think she’s relevant anymore, not in the current climate of the music industry…it may not be entirely her fault, cuz I was feeling that Tambourine single last year, but the artist AND the team behind the artist need to capitalize behind whatever momentum is generated once a buzz gets going.

“Major” releases are gonna get postponed or shelved indefinitely because, to the record labels…

It’s pretty much common knowledge that the music industry as big business is dead. We all need to get used to it, especially the artists. It’s not lucrative anymore. The artists who have been accustomed to grinding, perfecting their craft, and getting shit done on their own will be the ones who remain relevant.

As far as the apparent “demise” of The Roc, it would seem that Jay’s focus is elsewhere. Artists that were on his team’s roster have been publicly airing out their grievances, so it’s fair to assume that Jay doesn’t give a fuck at this point. Who knows, maybe it’s all smoke and mirrors and Jay is trying to discreetly set up and be at the forefront of a new music business model under which his artists can prosper, whether it be artists he’s endorsed in the past or artists we have yet to know about. But until that actually comes to fruition, artists need to take control of their own destiny. Maybe Jay’s a snake for shitting on his former Roc-A-Fella family, but an exec can’t be there to hold hands and babysit & micromanage. Someone who needs constant attention is a liability. Beans’ antics were fodder for the redundant blogging you speak of. So, it’s all sorts of messed up on both sides: Labels. and the people who run them, have a duty to properly promote their artists and their product. It’s a damn shame Freeway’s album went copper.

Yup, it’s gonna be an interesting year for music and the people who wanna thrive off of it. I look at it like this: the people who were in it for just the money are gonan move on to something else. The TRUE artists who have passion for music and respect their craft will continue to create. The weak shit is gonna be weeded out. Sink or swim. Only the strong survive. and Fuck Corporate! haha

sorry so long dude, peace

Well, as someone that runs a site in that orbit I have a few theories.

1. You and I run sites so a lot of stuff is on our radar. But the casual reader might only rely on 1 or 2 sites. Like, if I put something up on SB that came from 5 other sites, there’s a chance that the readers that only come to SB haven’t been aware of it. I had to bite the bullet and accept that.

2. Google/Technorati rankings, pageviews, etc. They matter, especially if you’re positioning your site to be a money-maker.

3. Some bammas are just lazy. I’ve pretty much had it with folks throwing up the same press releases with no preamble, paraphrasing or angle. Or posting an embed code (youtube) and keeping it moving. Sometimes all it takes is 50-100 of your own words to put something in context.

4. PR folks send us all the same stuff at the same time. We’re all on the same distribution lists. The only reason I wouldn’t post something is if it doesn’t suit my demographic, not because everyone will cover it ad nauseum.

As a side note, a lot of hip-hop blogs are just similar, period. Mainly because they have no internal parameters and basically there are no checks & balances in the hip-hop blogosphere.