“Created in 2006, this remembrance piece is created as a tribute to the memory and legacy of James “J Dilla” Yancey. This is a piece designed for his fans and supporters who knew of his accomplishments before February 2006 and those that have grown to appreciate his genius. Here, we gain a greater insight and understanding about our musical icon.”

(2:55) – Work Ethic Starts In The Basement
(7:35) – What To Listen For in A Dilla Beat
(9:10) – J.Dilla’s Range As A Producer. The King of Reinvention
(12:16) – Going Beyond His Influences
(14:39) – The Dilla Approach To Production
(20:21) – Jay The Producer vs Jay The MC
(26:08) – The Personal Side of J.Dilla
(29:04) – A Soldier Unstoppable!
(32:05) – Venturing Out. (as explained by Phat Kat)
(33:59) – Heading Home… Job Well Done.
(34:48) – We Salute You.

Happy birthday J Dilla! Shouts to the homie FWMJ on the heads up.

PREVIOUSLY: DJ Houseshoes Presents J Dilla: The King James Version (MIXTAPE)

“Andrew Munger is a documentary filmmaker from Toronto who, in 1994 made a film about hip hop culture. Make Some Noise is a document of underground hip hop in Canada. With a cast that includes appearances by Ghetto Concept, Thrust, a youthful Mos Def, Dan-E-O, Wio-K, Jelleestone and Farley Flex (to name a few), Make Some Noise received ample press coverage, it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was even offered distribution by TV Ontario and garnered interest from the CBC.”

Big shouts to my homie Jomo on the linkage!

“My homie Strick told me to finish my breakfast” – Jay-Z

Classic footage of the famous Rucker Park tournament which further aggravated the bad blood between Fat Joe and Jay-Z. A little lengthy, but definitely worth the watch, with commentary and highlights from more than a few NBA superstars, as well as the origin of the famous Hov lyric above.

You saw DJ A-Trak paying hommage to Fat Beats, now here’s additional footage of DJ Premier, Just Blaze, Cipha Sounds, DJ Eclipse & more bidding farewell to the legendary New York location, as the store moves online. Eclipse & Cipha Sounds also speak on the nostalgia of Fat Beats and the digging culture.

“Let’s look at what the value of a record label is in this day and age. We’ve already cut artist development, so you need to get your music right on your own without A&R guidance.

Promotion and marketing: Labels are good at going from 60-100, but not 0-60; artists still need to get their buzz going themselves.
Videos: Labels can provide the true budgets needed for traditional videos, but now with technology, artists can team up with great up and coming directors to create visuals for next to nothing.
Radio: Labels again are good at going from 60-100 but often look for early starts they want the artists to contribute.
Setting up distribution and monetizing: Selling/getting your records in stores is obviously important, and, to their credit, labels have gotten better in the last year at monetizing other avenues, yet still aren’t great—a good manager and team is much more crucial in this role, in my opinion.”

An extremely well-written article by DJ Skee for XXL Magazine in which he analyzes whether Drake would have been better off continuing on his independent route instead of signing to a major label. Personally, I agree with a lot of what Skee says, as with the digital revolution, it is now possible for artists  take advantage of new technology (with a little bit of creativity and connections with the right people) to make their product as professional as someone with a major-label budget. In my opinion, signing to a major label in this day and age is the right thing to do only when you have already firmly established yourself and need them to supply more capital to take you to make you a household name. I think Drake probably felt that way and also felt a certain sense of loyalty to Wayne, which might played more of a factor than anything in his decision, and I can definitely respect that, but like Skee said, he had the perfect setup to change the game. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE and drop your comments below.

- (Man Like)Keezy

Second installment of my man Tochi‘s “Retrospective” series, in which he previously featured the legendary DJX. In this episode, Tochi lined up another Toronto legend, K-Cut of Main Source. I’ll let him tell it though:

“K-Cut is one of Canada’s most respected hip hop producers. He is a member of the legendary group Main Source and has produced classics for artists on both sides of the border, from Maestro (Conductin’ Thangs) to Madonna (Human Nature). There are too many songs to mention. In this episode, K-Cut talks about his records with Big Pun and Citizen Kane.” – Tochi

Hit the jump for some outtakes from the interview, including one in which K-Cut talks about the infamous Jay-Z line to Nas “I was the first to show you a tec on tour with Large Professor” and its authenticity.

- (Man Like)Keezy

My man Tochi just started a new series spotlighting Canadian legends that paved the way for shows like ours. It is actually very fitting that the first episode is with the legendary DJX and his Power Move show, which was an inspiration for all of us here at the The Real Frequency. We ended up taking over the time slot (1pm-4pm) on Saturdays at CKLN 88.1 until we moved to FLOW  93.5 several years ago.

“Canada has a hip hop legacy, but nobody talks about it! That’s about to change! “Retrospective” is a mini doc series focused on Canadian legends. In this first and very special episode, DJX highlights his legendary “Power Move” show. He reveals his ego clash with Mastermind, the artists he put on through the Power Move, significant and sometimes scary moments, and what he’s up to now – including the possibility of a debut album!”

Enjoy the episode and make sure to subscribe to Tochi’s channel. Feel free to hit him with comments, good or bad, because he’s never shy to give his haha. Another legend is up next but I’m not gonna blow up the spot just yet.

- (Man Like)Keezy

Here’s a nice little article from Lissa Monet’s blog giving some more insight into why Drake chose to sign with Young Money and why artists shouldn’t be looking to get signed as quickly as possible to the first label they can find in this digital age:

“When I first heard Aubrey was messing with Lil Wayne, I didn’t get it. I got it, but I didn’t. I saw short term, I didn’t see long term. I never thought it was the perfect fit. To me, the dynamic was completely different as far as ideologies and context of music. Even when they complimented each other on tracks from So Far Gone. I just didn’t get it.

I constantly worried about this as I read stories online about the business riffs between cash money and their former artists. But then again, what independent [or boutique] label run by a chart-topping, platinum selling rapper hasn’t had those problems? I’ve always said, successful rappers who start their own labels have to be finished with their own careers first before focusing on someone else’s.

But to hear about Drake’s deal with Young Money and how it was handled and negotiated, totally made me geek down. I remember having conversations with Drake, he would tell me stories about labels and producers approaching him and wanting him to sign on the spot. It was always some major label or a superproducer trying to get at him or fly him out to some city and i was like, ’sooooo whats the problem? why haven’t u signed ?’ I always thought his indecisiveness was lack of artist management or development, but little did I know this dude was just waiting for the right group of people to come along and show genuine interest in his career. And it doesn’t hurt that they could, with his talent, change the infrastructure of the current state of the music industry at the same time.

Here’s the breakdown of Drake’s record deal:

* Drake is signed with Aspire/Young Money/Cash Money Records and is distributed by [not signed to] Universal Music
* Drake got a $2 million advance – i think the last lucrative advance given to a rapper was Shyne’s $1million – i could be wrong.
* Drake retains the publishing rights to his songs and only pays 25% of his music sales revenues to the label as a “distribution fee”

hellooooo young moola baby.
Do you see why ive started preaching about artists unnecessary obsession with being signed to a major?

The homie Dexter Bryant Jr. breaks down the lesson he wants ALL artists to take from drake’s record deal [you may want to print this out and keep for future reference]:

Record labels do not control the music industry anymore. Artists (once they have proven their talent and profit potential) are in a position to strike the kind of deal that fits their goals and their vision. Drake proved his profit potential with the 600,000+ digital sales of his single “Best I Ever Had”, which was available for free (on his mixtape So Far Gone) four to five months before it was released on iTunes.

Essentially Drake hired his record labels (Universal/Young Money/Cash Money/Aspire) to distribute his music in stores. Drake’s record labels do not own the masters to his music and they do not control his career, he does (with help from his management team, of course).

Obviously Drake did not sign the first deal that was offered to him. If he did he would have regretted it and he never would have gotten the spectacular deal he has now.

You might not have Drake’s management team but you do have common sense.

With that in mind, would you sign a recording contract that leaves you with 0-50% ownership of YOUR masters and YOUR publishing rights? Would you sign a deal that says you only earn 10-18% of YOUR record sales? Would you sign a 360 deal that allows your record label to automatically earn 50% or more of YOUR touring, merchandising, and film/TV licensing revenues?

OF COURSE NOT!

But you know what? All of those things I mentioned come standard in a typical record contract. The powers-that-be in the music industry set this whole system up in their favor, not yours. But while their minds were busy focused on screwing artists (that’s you!), they forgot one important little detail:

Record labels need you–you don’t need them. No record label can operate without an artist roster (or at least a catalog of past hits). What can a record label do if they have no arists to market and no music to sell?

See how badly they need you?

With the internet (and a little bit of money to invest in your future) you have all the tools you need to record, distribute, and promote your music. So why would you ever pay a record label over 75% of the record sales for songs/albums you write?

Be smart. Don’t do it.

Alright students I hope you’ve learned your lesson for the day. Now go out, be independent and make some music!”

- (Man Like)Keezy

True Hip-Hop Stories: Big Daddy Kane from D-Nice on Vimeo.

D-Nice continues his True Hip-Hop Stories series, this time getting Big Daddy Kane to open up about how “Ain’t No Half Steppin” came about.

- (Man Like)Keezy

My personal favourite song from “Murs For President”. Lyyyyrics!

- (Man Like)Keezy