What I See - February⁰⁷ by D2Nott

Black History month. Remembering all the people that fought and struggled so that African Americans can be in the positions they are in today. Read, Langston Hughes' - "Let America Be America Again"

For all you Mensa (high IQ - top 2%, smart MFs) candidates this is a review; hence view of the stuff that happened. I got some feedback on the January Review, thanks for the positive comments. I am not in the industry, so I don't have access to all the marketing and promo stuff sent out to those who are; I just give you my view on what I see and hear. From the book of Jay-Z quotes "Can I Live!"

The Grammy's came and went with a lot of hip but not much said and not much noise for Hip Hop. The expected winners in each category won; interesting that Hip Hop was not the main draw in this year's awards show. No Kayne blowing up backstage, no Jamie Foxx getting awards, no record breaking album sales, no real reason for white folks to take notice of Hip Hop, hence the de-emphasis. Why the mention of Kayne and Jamie, on the real, it is "Show Business"; Kayne was controversial with his Bush comments, and Jamie is that cross-over comic and folks didn't know he could sing.

Why mention white folks taking interest? Because white folks in the suburbs purchase 75% of Hip Hop music. When you stop being entertaining to your main purchasing audience, then you cease to have a job!

My bad; Luda won (he looked clean, low cut and shades), Mary J. Blige won 3 Grammy's, but is she Hip Hop or R&B. Another interesting moment from the show; dressed as airline pilots, circa 1978, Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse began "Crazy" solo and in the round, performing on a small stage in the middle of the GRAMMY audience. Cee-Lo then walked down the aisle to the main stage, joined by Danger Mouse (on piano), a 16-piece orchestra, an orange-jumpsuit clad female choir and a kicking rock quartet. If you are going to do Crazy, then do Crazy; you can't really put the old Atlanta Hip Hop heads (Goody Moob, Cee-Lo, Outkast) in a box; they keep expanding the concept of music and Hip Hop. Big ups to Forest Witaker winning an Oscar; remember that Three six Mafia won last year becoming the first rap group to win such an award. Turn the light up so we can SHINE!!

If you are the Hip Hop community will you claim whomever? What is Robin Thicke? Is he a white boy who likes to hang with the brothers from the hood? Is he the new lighter shade and face of R&B? Is this just a marketing hype for a white guy who makes music with some crossover appeal? If you don't know, then at next years Grammy's look for Robin Thick to be nominated in several categories other than Rock and Pop. Remember I told you, I may not be the first to say it, but I put my thoughts in writing every month, so you can come back and reference my comments.

With all major pathways leading in the same direction, everyone's just out to get money, which is understandable. With album sales declining and rappers showing up in all types of advertisements; Hip Hop isn't dead its just going commercial. So much so that CNN did a show focusing on Hip-Hop's effect on black culture trying to understand Hip-Hop and if it is a true "reflection of life in the ghetto".

Expect more fallout with the DJ Drama issues. DJ Drama won't be the only arrest. The music industry is changing right before our eyes, so pay attention to the folks pulling the strings in the background and side stage. Not to speak to soon, the charges DJ Drama faces are real but it has not seemed to affect the scheduled release for the "Gangsta Grillz" album.

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, wrote an open letter to the music industry right after the Grammy's asking for open DMR (Digital Management Rights), the software in iTunes and on iPods that limits your ability to transfer music between devices; iTune accounts for 80% of all online music sales. Jobs' proposal requested Music label companies to let users download tracks without digital rights management (DRM) antipiracy protection. Jobs criticized the labels - Warner, EMI, Sony and Universal - for demanding DRM on music sold online at the same time that they sell billions of CDs containing unprotected tracks. If the music companies are selling over 90% of their music DRM-free, what benefits do they get from selling the remaining small percentage of their music encumbered with a DRM system?

Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman rejected Steve Jobs' suggestion earlier this week that the major music label companies should abandon digital tunes copy protection. For more details and background read "Worm in the iTunes Apple."