| I was a successful Black man that made it out of poverty. They didn’t want me living the life that I was supposed to live. |
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| Drakeo the Ruler at Rolling Loud, San Bernardino, Calif., on Dec. 12, 2021. |
| (Scott Dudelson/Getty Images) |
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| quote of the day |
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“I was a successful Black man that made it out of poverty. They didn’t want me living the life that I was supposed to live.”
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- Drakeo the Ruler
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| rantnrave:// |
L.A. Story
Los Angeles journalist JEFF WEISS met DRAKEO THE RULER in 2017, while the latter was in jail. Weiss spent the better part of the next four years chronicling what turned out to be the final years in the life of one of the most celebrated rappers of LA's past decade, while simultaneously advocating for Drakeo's freedom and becoming a close friend. "Journalistic responsibilities," he writes, "became secondary to human ones." But they never ceased. Weiss' stories for a variety of sites about Drakeo's fights with the law (ranging from his acquittal in a 2019 murder trial to surreptitiously recording a classic mixtape over jailhouse phone lines) and about his almost singleminded dedication to his art, amount to a kind of serialized biography of a great, and far too short, artist's life. So. Many. Great. Chapters. So many more that will never be written.
Weiss was there when Drakeo was stabbed to death backstage at the ONCE UPON A TIME IN L.A. festival on Dec. 18, and his firsthand account of what happened that night, woven into a larger story about Drake's rise from poverty in South Central LA, gang culture (Drakeo refused to join one, his particular friendships and sympathies notwithstanding), and a wave of violence in the city, is a beautifully written, heartbreaking, difficult read. I had to stop a couple times to collect myself my first time through. But it's as good a piece of music journalism as I've read in a long time, and crucial to understanding a city, its art and its demons. A must-read today.
Etc Etc Etc
A group of artists including JAY-Z, MEEK MILL, KILLER MIKE and KELLY ROWLAND is lobbying for a proposed New York state law that would limit prosecutors' ability to use artists' creative expression against them in criminal court. Prosecutors in New York and elsewhere have been known to use hip-hop lyrics as evidence in trials; one of the more notable recent cases, in fact, was Drakeo's murder trial. "We want our words to be recognized as art rather than being weaponized to get convictions in court," FAT JOE told Rolling Stone... The GRAMMY AWARDS, originally planned for Jan. 31 in Los Angeles, have been officially moved to April 3 in Las Vegas. And for the second straight year, the Grammys have managed to bump another awards show in the process. In 2021, it was the SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS, whose organizers were openly angry at the RECORDING ACADEMY for moving to a night SAG-AFTRA had booked half a year earlier. This year it's the CMT AWARDS, which were supposed to air on April 3. But it appears to be a friendly bump this time, between two shows both airing on CBS... SPOTIFY continues to be the world's dominant streaming music service, with twice the market share of its closest competitor, APPLE MUSIC, according to a report from MIDIA. But its lead is slipping, with YOUTUBE MUSIC and AMAZON MUSIC both growing at a faster pace, MIDIA says... For a second year, New York's GLOBALFEST international showcase (shoutout BILL BRAGIN) has moved to a virtual home at NPR's TINY DESK, which launched a three-night Tiny GlobalFest Tuesday night with performances by Finland's SUISTAMON SÄHKÖ, Lebanon's ZEID HAMDAN and Korea's ADG7. Additional sets will launch at NPR and on YOUTUBE tonight and tomorrow night.
Rest in Peace
Country (and more) songwriter DALLAS FRAZIER, who wrote hits for Charley Pride, Tanya Tucker, the Oak Ridge Boys, Emmylou Harris and Charlie Rich, as well as the Hollywood Argyles' novelty pop hit "Alley Oop"... RALPH EMERY, the "dean of country music broadcasters." The Nashville TV and radio legend ("Nashville Now") was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007 for his role in expanding country's audience... EVERETT LEE, who in 1945 became the first African American to conduct a Broadway show and, 10 years later, the first to conduct the New York City Opera. The pioneering conductor was 105... RACHEL NAGY, lead singer of the garage-rock tornado known as the Detroit Cobras... FRED PARRIS, founder and leader of the Five Satins, for whom he wrote the doo-wop classic "In the Still of the Night"... JON LIND, songwriter and A&R exec who co-wrote for Earth, Wind & Fire, Madonna, Vanessa Williams and many others... Original Ohio Players drummer GREG WEBSTER... ROSA LEE HAWKINS, founding member of '60s girl group the Dixie Cups (along with her older sister, Barbara Ann Hawkins)... MARTY ROBERTS, of LA lounge icons Marty & Elayne... DAN EINSTEIN, who co-founded John Prine's Oh Boy Records and helped Steve Goodman launch Red Pajama Records before exiting the music business to open an award-winning Nashville bakery... SONNY TURNER, who replaced Tony Williams as lead singer of the Platters in 1959 and sang in various incarnations of the doo-wop group for the rest of his life... Guitar amp designer HOWARD ALEXANDER DUMBLE... And WAVY NAVY POOH, a Miami rapper who was shot in an ambush while driving in the city Friday night. He's the second rapper murdered in the US in 2022; it's mid-January.
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| - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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Los Angeles Magazine |
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| The Assassination of Drakeo the Ruler |
| By Jeff Weiss |
| After surviving a lifetime of brutal obstacles, the 28-year-old rap star was stabbed to death backstage by a mob of anonymous invaders just before a concert in December. A reporter’s eyewitness account. |
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The Independent |
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| ‘We’re fed up’: Inside the chaos and confusion of live music in 2022 |
| By Roisin O'Connor |
| After a glimmer of hope by the end of summer 2021, the UK’s once-thriving live music scene was plunged into chaos by the Omicron variant of Covid. Roisin O’Connor speaks to artists, festival organisers, venue owners and experts on the obstacles they face this year. |
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Vulture |
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| Mitski in 9 Acts |
| By E. Alex Jung |
| If the musician has to reveal herself at all, she’d rather do it one short burst at a time. |
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Texas Monthly |
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| The Man in the Eyeball Mask |
| By Andy Beta |
| Hardy Fox, founder of the strange and influential band the Residents, developed his bizarre sensibility while growing up in small-town East Texas. |
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Medium |
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| Sharing in the streaming boom and lump sum mega-payments |
| By Annabella Coldrick |
| I think all people agree music streaming is a wonderful thing. However, what many have an issue with are outdated licensing and contractual frameworks that favour and overcompensate major labels at the expense of artists, songwriters, producers and musicians – the vast majority of whom are not sharing equitably in the streaming boom. |
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Trial and Error Collective |
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| Seeking Inspiration in Suffering: An Interview with Mike IX Williams of Eyehategod |
| By Parisa Eshrat |
| Following three years of constant touring and lineup changes, New Orleans sludge metal pioneers Eyehategod are showcasing their evolution as a band. Their newest album, "A History of Nomadic Behavior," re-introduces the group as a four-piece with a distinct variation in their sound: cleaner vocals and production, but still true to EHG's aggressive and misanthropic core. |
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| what we're into |
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| Music | Media |
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| “REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask ‘why?’” |
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