PHILLY IS IN THE MFH!CURRENTLY I AM A&R DIRECTOR FOR XTREME XPOSURE TV AND ALSO NEEDHIPHOP.NET. I CHOOSE EVERY UNSIGNED ACT THAT IS PLACED ON THESE NETWORKS. ALONG WITH BEING A HIP HOP CRITIC AND SUPPORTER I ALSO BRING THE HIP HOP NEWS, GOSSIP, AND RUMORS FOR THE NETWORK. I GOTTA.....OOPS.....I HAVE A DEGREE IN COMMUNICATIONS. ABOUT,THREE YEARS AGO I JUMPED IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA IN A PURSUIT TO SCRATCH MY JOURNALISM ITCH. WRITING, INTERVIEWING AND REPORTING HIP HOP NEWS IS WHAT I DO! FOR YEARS I HAVE WRITTEN POETRY AND PERFORMED SPOKEN WORD. MARKETING AND PROMOTIONS IS A FAMILY BUSINESS THAT HAS SUCCESSFULLY PAVED THE WAY FOR "XTREME XPOSURE INC." NO I AM NOT JUST A PRETTY FACE AND IF YOU ARE A "READER" AND NOT JUST A "LOOKER"....YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO ASK WHAT I DO!
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I AM HIP HOP!Hip hop is a cultural movement, of which music is a part. The music is itself composed of two parts: rapping, the delivery of swift, highly rhythmic and lyrical vocals, and DJing, to compose either through sampling, turntablism, instrumentation or beatboxing. Another important factor of hip hop music is the fashion that originated along with the music. These days the underground hip hop community is a growing force .., led by social network video sites like RapSpace.TV Modern Rap often contains lyrics which make it popular with the youth, primarily because of the choice of vocabulary and the issues it addresses, often relating to modern day problems and suffering which the listeners can relate to.Beats (though not necessarily raps) in hip hop are almost always in 4/4 time. At its rhythmic core, hip hop swings: instead of a straight 4/4 count (pop music) hip hop is based on an anticipated feel somewhat similar to the "swing" emphasis found in jazz percussion. Like the triplet emphasis in swing, hip hop's rhythm is subtle, rarely written as it sounds (4/4 basic; the drummer adds the hip hop interpretation) and is often played in an almost "late" or laid back way.This style was innovated predominantly in soul, disco and funk music, where beats and thematic music were repeated for the duration of tracks. In the 1960s and 1970s, James Brown talked, sang, and screamed much as MCs do today. This musical style provides the perfect platform for MCs to rhyme. Hip hop music generally caters to the MC for this reason, amplifying the importance of lyrical and delivering prowess.Instrumental hip hop is perhaps the lone exception to this rule. In this hip hop sub genre, DJs and producers are free to experiment with creating instrumental tracks. While they may mix in sampled rap vocals, they are not bound by traditional hip hop format.HIP HOP HAS SO MUCH POWER IN THE MARKET PLACE THAT ONE ARTIST CAN INFLUENCE A FASHION.THE WALLSTREET JOURNAL ONCE REPORTED THAT WHEN JAY Z SAID IN A SONG "I DON'T WEAR JERSEY'S , I'M 30 PLUS" RETAIL SALES OF NBA BASKETBALL JERSEY'S IMMEDIATELY DROPPED OFF NATION WIDE!..........Master P Takes Hip-Hop To Wall Street11/21/2006 12:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Billy Johnson JrMaster P plans to take his hip-hop empire to the stock market. He is not content with simply running his own record, retail and custom rim businesses. He wants his companies to be publicly traded."Pro-athletes and entertainers can make millions," Master P says, "but people with a mission and financial knowledge can make billions.""LOOK SMART"FIND ARTICLES....."Hip-hop continues to take on Seventh Avenue. We know Russell Simmons for his megasuccessful fashion lines, Phat Farm and Baby Phat especially, as well as his musical pedigree. Other artists and music executives are following his lead. Manager-turned-fashionista Ryan Glover started RyanKenny, the upscale men's clothing line, in 2002, with partners Kenny Burns and Derek Dudley. With early support from such artists as Jay-Z and Usher--both wore the signature shirts in videos and at awards shows--and music impresario Simmons as a mentor, the fashion trio parlayed its street cred into high-end sales. Now RyanKenny's sharp woven shirts and suits are in boutiques like Fred Segal and upscale chains like Bloomingdale's.UNLIMITED ACCESS PASS....TO HUNDREDS OF HIP-HOP MOVIES, MUSIC AND CONCERTS....New Titles Weekly
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"Bling" era (1998-Present)
Album cover by B.G.In the later half of the 1990s, the South would grow more popular among hip hop fans for wildly popular acts such as OutKast, No Limit and Cash Money Records. In the 1990s and into the following decade, elements of hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music; neo soul, for example, combined hip hop and soul music and produced some major stars in the middle of the decade.1998's emergence of Big Pun did much to revive a waning mainstream interest in skill-oriented rap; before the rapper died in 2000 of obesity, he garnered much attention as an extremely skilled MC without a "gimmick" or a marketing ploy that was becoming common by then. In that year, DMX also released his debut It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, a very dark and gritty-sounding album that stood out amongst the newly-popular glamour lifestyle-oriented raps popularized by Puff Daddy and Jay-Z.In 1999, Dr. Dre released his second album 2001 to an audience that had been impatiently anticipating his next release. Powered by the chart-topping single "Forgot About Dre" featuring Eminem, the album and the Up in Smoke tour that accompanied it did much to revitalize the status of Dre's pet project, Aftermath Entertainment. Eminem released his major label debut The Slim Shady LP in 1999 and, powered by his spot on the 2001 single, controversy over his subject matter, and a mass of white suburban fans who identified with him, sold millions. This and his later albums would help to bring millions more Caucasian fans and several performers into the genre, after years of the genre being dominated by minorities.In 2001, a feud between Nas and Jay-Z (by then two of the most popular performers in the genre) came to a head; public slander flew back and forth between the two rappers and their camps, resulting in huge sales of both artists' 2001 releases (Stillmatic and The Blueprint respectively).Eminem would further cement his status as a pop culture icon in 2002, when he won the Academy Award for Best Song for his single Lose Yourself. His movie, 8 Mile, became a box office success and its soundtrack featured his protégé and signee 50 Cent's first hit single, "Wanksta." That protégé's one-time mentor, Jam Master Jay, was shot and killed that year served also to increase his popularity.In 2003, 50 Cent released his first Album. A New York rapper with a penchant for singing his hooks, he had essentially invented a now-popular fad of flooding the mixtape market with mixtapes to try to get one's music played everywhere and all the time. 50's debut sold several million copies, giving he and his G-Unit group Eminem's audience of suburban teens and a powerful position as one of Interscope's top-selling artists. 50 Cent stole the record off Snoop Dogg for the most number of albums sold for a debut act for his album Get Rich or Die Trying.In 2004, producer Kanye West released The College Dropout, a highly selling album that re-popularized the style of speeding up old Soul music samples to create the melody for a beat. This album's success along with the retirement of Jay-Z and a beef between Beanie Sigel and Ruff Ryders artist Jadakiss brought attention back to Roc-A-Fella Records; attention which, in turn, facilitated the "Dipset movement", a bout of mainstream popularity for (at the time) Roc-A-Fella signee Cam'ron's Harlem-based DipSet group. West also revitalized the career of fellow Chicago-native Twista, giving him a guest spot on the chart-topping single "Slow Jamz" and producing another highly popular single, "Overnight Celebrity", for the rapper's album Kamikaze.2005 saw West coast rapper The Game release his commercially successful album The Documentary, which brought the L.A. and even West Coast hip hop scene back into the spotlight after years of East coast and Southern dominance. It also brought about the mainstream popularization of Chicago rapper Common, also the work of Kanye West, and saw improved popularity for producer Danger Mouse, who had produced an illicit Jay-Z/Beatles remix album the year before. Raekwon also announced his upcoming sequel to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, to be titled Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, which is now highly anticipated. Also in the same year the Texas rapper Chamillionaire released his debut album The Sound Of Revenge, furthering the already-established success of the distinctive Southern hip hop sound.In 2006, so far, Ghostface Killah has released his seventh album; Mobb Deep their G-Unit debut, DMX released his sixth, Kanye West released his second; and Ice Cube and Busta Rhymes' latest records; albums from acts such as Lupe Fiasco, The Roots, OutKast and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are highly anticipated, meanwhile Detox (album) by Dr. Dre has been on the wanted list for quite a while.Meanwhile, Jay Z, after retiring from active rapping announced his celebrated return to the mic. Around this time, Nas and Jay Z squashed their beef at the "I Declare War" concert. Soon after Nas controversally signed to Island Def Jam Records where Jay Z was President. In November, Jay Z released Kingdom Come. In December, Nas released the controversial Hip Hop Is Dead which declared the death of Hip Hop and incited responses from many in the Hip Hop industry.
Cool SlideshowsTRIP HOPTrip hop originated in the '90s in Bristol, England, during a time when American hip hop was taking over Europe's music industry. British DJs decided to put a local spin on the international phenomenon and developed hip hop into a different style, marking the birth of trip hop. The originators in Bristol developed hip hop with a laid-back beat (down tempo). Bristol hip hop (trip hop's predecessor) is characterized by the emphasis on slow and heavy drum beats and a wide open sound that draws heavily on acid jazz, Jamaican dub music and electronica. Massive Attack's first album Blue Lines in 1991, is often seen as the first manifestation of the "Bristol hip hop movement" (known as the "First Coming of Bristol Sound"), but in fact Massive Attack drew heavily on the pre-existing British hip hop scene, and their sound is remarkably similar to that pioneered earlier by Marxman, an Irish-Jamaican hip hop crew that was popular in the UK in the 1980s.1994 and '95 saw trip hop near the peak of its popularity. Massive Attack released their second album entitled "Protection." Those years also marked the rise of Portishead and Tricky. Portishead's female lead singer Beth Gibbons' sullen voice was mixed with samples of music from the '60s and '70s, as well as sound effects from LPs, giving the group a distinctive style. Tricky's style was characterized by murmuring and low-pitched singing. Artists and groups like Portishead and Tricky led the second wave of the Bristol Movement (a.k.a. "Second Coming of Bristol Sound"). This second wave produced music that was dreamy and atmospheric, and sometimes deep and gloomy. The British press termed this style of music "trip hop," referring to this evolved style of hip hop.Incidentally Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky all had a common history. Massive Attack's three members used to work with Tricky, under the group "The Wild Bunch" (headed by Nellee Hooper in 1982), explaining why many Massive Attack songs feature Tricky. Portishead member Geoff Barrow also previously helped produce Massive Attack's "Blue Lines."D.Don ventures back into the kitchen, and deserves to be called the Original Hip Hop Chef....www.bonaficial.com/chef-chardon.htm
Poetry (from the Greek , poiesis, "making" or "creating") is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning.Poetry has a long history. Early attempts to define it, such as Aristotle's Poetics, focused on the uses of speech in rhetoric, drama, song and comedy. Later attempts focused on features such as repetition and rhyme, and emphasised the aesthetics which distinguish poetry from prose. From the mid-20th century, poetry has sometimes been more loosely defined as a fundamental creative act using language.Poetry often uses particular forms and conventions to expand the literal meaning of the words, or to invoke emotional or sensual responses. Devices such as assonance, alliteration and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Poetry's use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony and other stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations. Similarly, metaphor and simile create a resonance between otherwise disparate images—a layering of meanings, forming connections previously not perceived. Kindred forms of resonance may exist, between individual verses, in their patterns of rhyme or rhythm.Some forms of poetry are specific to particular cultures and genres, responding to the characteristics of the language in which the poet writes. While readers accustomed to identifying poetry with Shakespeare, Dante and Goethe may think of poetry as being written in rhyming lines and regular meter, there are other traditions, such as those of Du Fu and Beowulf, which use other approaches to achieve rhythm and euphony. In today's globalized world, poets often borrow styles, techniques and forms from different cultures and languages.Spoken word is a form of literary art or artistic performance in which lyrics, poetry, or stories are spoken rather than sung. Spoken-word is often done with a musical background, but emphasis is kept on the speaker.One of the most common sorts of spoken word performances is performance poetry, where a poet either reads previously-published poems, or reads poems specifically written to be performed aloud. Another kind that has gained popularity in recent years is political and social commentary, done in such a way that it is, while still prose, somewhat more artistic than a typical speech. Spoken word artists are often poets and musicians. Spoken word gained notoriety in the late 1980s and early 1990s through the emergence of "poetry slams," where spoken word artists would square off in cabaret-style duels.During the early 70s, a Jamaican DJ called Kool Herc arrived in New York City. Herc introduced the Jamaican tradition of "toasting," or boasting impromptu poetry and sayings over Reggae, Disco and Funk records. Herc also was the originator of break-beat deejaying, where the breaks of funk songs—being the most danceable part, often featuring percussion—were isolated and repeated for the purpose of all-night dance parties. Later DJs such as Grandmaster Flash refined and developed the use of breakbeats, including cutting. Herc's idea was soon widely copied, and by the late 70's a myriad of DJ's were releasing 12" cuts where they would rap to the beat. Popular tunes included Kurtis Blow's The Breaks, and The Sugar Hill Gang's Rapper's Delight.Hip hop as a culture was further defined in 1983, when former Black Spades gang member Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force released a track called Planet Rock. Instead of simply rapping over disco beats, Bambaataa created an innovative electronic sound, taking advantage of the rapidly improving drum machine and synthesizer technology. Many credit the sensation caused by the track as the defining moment in hip hop music and culture. The mainstream media began to focus on one of the greatest impacts of hip hop; instead of fighting with guns and knives, former gangmembers had a new way of battling--though break dancing, rapping, turntable mixing, and tagging (graffiti). By 1985, youth worldwide were laying down scrap linoleum or cardboard, setting down portable stereo and spinning on their backs in tracksuits and sneakers to music by Run DMC, LL Cool J, the Fat Boys, Herbie Hancock, Soul Sonic Force, Jazzy Jay, Egyptian Lover, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde and Stetsasonic, to name a few.BIG SHOUT OUT TO DJ CASH MONEY! I'M FROM PHILLY HE'S FROM PHILLY WE FROM PHILLY! IIGTH!
SAMPLING MUSICIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or element of a new recording. This is typically done with a sampler, which can be a piece of hardware or a computer program on a digital computer. Sampling is also possible with tape loops or with vinyl records on a phonograph.Often "samples" consist of one part of a song, such as a break, used in another, for instance the use of the drum introduction from Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" in songs by the Beastie Boys, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mike Oldfield and Erasure, and the guitar riffs from Foreigner's "Hot Blooded" in Tone-Loc's "Funky Cold Medina". "Samples" in this sense occur often in industrial, often using spoken words from movies and TV shows, as well as hip hop, developed from DJs repeating the breaks from songs, and Contemporary R&B, but are becoming more common in other music as well, such as by Slipknot's sample player Craig JonesIn the summer of 2001, Mariah Carey released her first single from "Glitter" entitled "Loverboy" which featured a sample of "Firecracker" by Yellow Magic Orchestra, no less than a month afterwards, Jennifer Lopez released "I'm Real" with the same "Firecracker" sample, Mariah quickly discarded it and replaced it with "Candy" by Cameo. The controversy here is that it is rumoured that Tommy Matolla, Carey's ex-husband, gave specific instruction to Lopez's producer to make the two songs as identical as possible. No one is sure if this is true, or why, possibly after Carey's departure from Columbia to Virgin, but only the parties involved know for sure.In 2001, Armen Boladian and his company Bridgeport Music Inc. filed over 500 copyright infringement suits against 800 artists using samples from George Clinton's catalogue.Public Enemy recorded a track entitled "Psycho of Greed" (2002) for their album Revolverlution that contained a continuous looping sample from The Beatles' track "Tomorrow Never Knows". However, the clearance fee demanded by Capitol Records and the surviving Beatles was so high that the group decided to pull the track from the album.Danger Mouse with the release of The Grey Album in 2004, which is a remix of The Beatles' White Album and rapper Jay-Z's The Black Album has been embroiled in a similar situation with the record label EMI issuing cease and desist orders over uncleared Beatles samples.On March 19, 2006, a judge ordered that sales of The Notorious B.I.G.'s album Ready to Die be halted because the title track sampled a 1992 song by the Ohio Players, "Singing in the Morning", without permission.Social impact
Hip hop music is a part of hip hop, a cultural movement that includes the activities of breakdancing and graffiti art, as well as associated slang, fashion and other elements. The popularity of music has helped to popularize hip hop culture, both in the United States and to a lesser degree abroad.
Cool SlideshowsThe late 1990s saw the rise in popularity of the "bling bling" lifestyle in rap music, focusing on symbols of wealth and status like money, jewelry, cars, and clothing. Although references to wealth have existed since the birth of hip hop, the new, intensified "bling bling" culture has its immediate roots in the enormously commercially successful late-to-mid nineties work (specifically, music videos) of Puff Daddy and Bad Boy Records as well as Master P's No Limit Records. However, the term was coined in 1999 (see 1999 in music) by Cash Money Records artist B.G. on his single Bling Bling, and the Cash Money roster were perhaps the epitome of the "bling bling" lifestyle and attitude. Though many rappers, mostly gangsta rappers, unapologetically pursue and celebrate bling bling, others, mostly artists outside of the hip hop mainstream, have expressly criticized the idealized pursuit of bling bling as being materialistic.
All Eyez on Me (1996) was a highly influential album for the genre and is one of the most successful rap albumsThe widespread success of hip hop ? specifically gangsta rap ? has also had a significant social impact on the demeanor of modern youth. The sometimes egotistic attitudes often portrayed in the lyrics and videos of certain hip hop artists have repeatedly shown negative effects on some of their idolizing fans. While the attitudes of specific artists certainly do not represent the rest of the hip hop community, and the effect of lyrical content on youths who are part of the hip hop culture is debatable, very often such youths adopt the much glamorized "gangsta" persona while not being members of any gang. Often these personas incite anti-social behavior such as peer harassment, neglect towards education, rejection of authority, and petty crimes such as vandalism. While the majority of listeners are able to distinguish entertainment from lessons in social conduct, an evident pseudo-gangsta sub-culture has risen amongst North American youth.Because hip hop music almost always puts an emphasis on hyper-masculinity, its lyrics have been said to reflect a homophobic mindset. It is often suspected that there are a great number of gay or lesbian hip hop musicians who do not come out of the closet, for fear of the decline of their career. Rumors of such have involved hip hop artists such as Queen Latifah, Da Brat, and several others. In 2001, the first annual PeaceOUT World Homo Hop Festival, which features performers by openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered rappers was held in Oakland, California, and the festival has continued on an annual basis since then. In 2003 the openly gay hip hop and rap artist Caushun, was signed to the label Baby Phat; however, his record was apparently never released. In 2005, the documentary Pick Up the Mic was released, focusing on LGBT hip hop performers, such as Deep Dickollective.Hip hop has a distinctive slang, that includes words like yo, flow and phat. Due to hip hop's extraordinary commercial success in the late nineties and early 21st century, many of these words have been assimilated into many different dialects across America and the world and even to non-hip hop fans (the word dis for example is remarkably prolific). There are also words like homie which predate hip hop but are often associated with it. Sometimes, terms like what the dilly, yo are popularized by a single song (in this case, "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" by Busta Rhymes) and are only used briefly. Of special importance is the rule-based slang of Snoop Dogg and E-40, who add -izz to the middle of words so that shit becomes shizznit (the addition of the n occurs occasionally as well). This practice, with origins in Frankie Smith's non-sensical language from his 1980 single "Double Dutch Bus," has spread to even non-hip hop fans, who may be unaware of its derivation.
In Asia, the Philippines is said to have developed the first hip hop scene in all of Asia and the Pacific islands. The birth of Filipino hip hop music, or Pinoy Rap, occurred in the early 1980s with songs by Dyords Javier ("Na Onseng Delight") and Vincent Dafalong ("Nunal"). The genre developed slowly during the 1980s but soon hit the mainstream with Francis Magalona's debut album, Yo! which included the nationalistic hit "Mga Kababayan" (My countrymen). Magalona, who rapped in both English and Tagalog became a pioneer in the genre and a superstar as a result. Mainstream stars rose to prominence in the Philippines, led by Michael V., Rap Asia, MC Lara and Lady Diane, and in Japan, where underground rappers had previously found a limited audience, and popular teen idols brought a style called J-rap to the top of the charts in the middle of the 1990s.In Seoul, the Korean hip hop scene has expanded into a form of cultural phenomenon. Some fans assert that Korean hip hop artists possess skills that can rival their U.S. counterparts. Notable performers include Jo PD, Drunken Tiger, Psy, and Epik High. Some suggest that Korean hip hop music firmly stands as the respectable and socially-conscious antithesis to an often superficial and confused pop genre that pervades the Korean music industry.Hip hop music started gaining popularity in South Korea in the mid-1990s. Famous mainstream Korean hip hop performers often resemble R&B or pop music with artists mimicking the vocal (and dance) styles of rap acts from the United States. Early performers—who rarely penned their own songs—included Kim Gun Mo, Seo Taiji and Boys, Deux, and DJ DOC. The Korean language was initially used almost exclusively, unlike modern Korean hip hop songs that heavily incorporates -grossly broken- English. Seo Taiji, coming from a questionable heavy metal music background, often featured heavy metal guitars in his mixes, and other artists also incorporated techno influences.A few artists, including Seo Taiji and MC Sniper, also incorporated influences from traditional Korean music such as pansori or nongak (farmers' music). It was evident that the first acts were mimicking popular American acts. For instance, Seo Taiji's "Come Back Home" has vocal/production style resembling Cypress Hill. The first "rap" album that featured rap in every track was Kim Jin Pyo's first album in 1997. According to Epik High's rapper Tablo, "The form [of Korean Hip Hop], at least, has definitely been mastered now — the beats, the rhymes, the performances, the look — it’s indistinguishable from the United States scene. The social relevance, however, has a long way to go. The message is slowly catching up to the medium."Many rap artists have been successful in the mainstream of Korean music. These include performers such as Jinusean, 1TYM, MC Sniper, Jo PD, and Epik High. Other lesser known underground artists who focus mainly on using non-flashy beats and lyrical skill include Quiett, PaloAlto, TBNY, etc.Korean American hip hop began in the United States in the mid 1990s, mainly attributed to the efforts of the Korean rapper duo Tiger JK and DJ Shine of Drunken Tiger. Drunken Tiger was created after the song "Black Korea" by Ice Cube and used music as a means of cultural exchange and as an attempt to promote racial harmony. Following the success of Drunken Tiger, many new groups and production companies emerged to further popularize the musical style. In order to represent the elite group of Korea's best rappers, Tiger JK and Drunken Tiger formed The Movement Crew (Bobby Kim, Drunken Tiger, Eun Ji-Won and Tasha Reid).Japanese hip hop (nip hop or j-hip hop) is said to have begun in 1983 when Charlie Ahearn's Wild Style was shown in Tokyo. The movie focused on graffiti artists but also featured some early old school MCs like Busy Bee and Double Trouble, DJs like Grandmaster Flash and breakdancers like the Rock Steady Crew.Following the showing, street musicians began to breakdance in Yoyogi Park. Crazy A soon emerged as a prominent b-boy, and he eventually founded the Rock Steady Crew Japan, while DJ Krush has become a world-renowned DJ after arising from the Yoyogi Park scene. More DJs followed, beginning in 1985. A year later, an all hip hop club opened in Shibuya. There was some hesitation at the time that the Japanese language, due to the lack of stress accents and highly variable verb endings, might prove unsuited for rapping. A few rappers emerged, however, including Ito Seiko, Chikado Haruo, Tinnie Punx and Takagi Kan.In the 1990s, teen-oriented J rap music appeared, and hip hop entered the Japanese mainstream. The first hit was Scha Dara Parr's "Kon'ya wa Boogie Back". The following year saw "Da.Yo.Ne." and "Maicca" by East End X Yuri go platinum. Lately hip-hop in Japan has split into two forms: normal, "hardcore" Japanese hip-hop, and the somewhat "weaker", more R&B influenced J-Urban. The group most commonly cited as the originator of J-Urban music is the group m-flo (AKA "mediarite flo). Originally composed of a single Japanese DJ (DJ Taku) and a single Korean-Japanese emcee (Verbal), they combined with a singer named LISA who is of Peruvian-Japanese descent. Their debut album, Planet Shining was released in 2000, and since then, many J-Urban acts such as Crystal Kay, AI, Heartsdales, and even collaborations with popstars like Namie Amuro and BoA. Other popular J-Urban acts like RIP SLYME have worked with m-flo.Starting in the late 1990s, hip hop began gaining greater popularity in Greater China, beginning in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and eventually spreading to the Mainland. Taiwanese rapper MC Hot Dog gained stature with his creative beats, off-kilter flow, and vulgar depication of life for disaffected middle class youth in the island nation. The hip hop collective Lazy Motherfucker, representing Hong Kong, have often been described as the Chinese Wu-Tang Clan given the large size of the group and their ill flow. However, frequent aesthetic misappropriations and shiny pop stylings have often left undeground heads wanting.It was hard for Asian hip-hop artists to break into the mainstream in the United States, but in 2002 Chinese-American rapper Jin Au-Yeung (better known as just Jin or Jin Tha Emcee), created a buzz. He won Freestyle Friday seven consecutive weeks on BET's 106 & Park, a show dedicated to hip-hop, and was retired. Jin announced he had signed with the label Ruff Ryders after he won the battle on his final week. This was a breakthrough for Asian-American artists, as he garnished much attention. Two years later, he released an album under Virgin/Ruff Ryder titled "The Rest is History". Jin became the first Asian-American to put out a solo album on the mainstream, though the album was not successful. Many hip hop lovers believe this was because of a lack of promotion as well as the album being pushed back seven months. MACHI Entertainment is one of the largest Asian hip hop/rap record labels. It was founded in Taiwan by Jeffrey Huang and Bobby Sheng. The label is independent of WARNER Music Taiwan. Jeffrey Huang and Bobby Sheng founded TheOne Technology Group back when they were still based in Los Angeles. TheOne Technology Group specialized in bridging the cultural and language barriers for Internet based projects. Together, they acquired a stellar clientele list including IBM, Nike and Hewlett Packard. In 2000 they orchestrated a $60,000,000, three-company merger that combined TheOne Technology group and Dynalab with DynaComware. Together, they re-structured the company in Japan and has positioned it for an IPO on the Japan Stock Exchange in 2005.Their new venture, MACHI Entertainment is their respond to the emerging entertainment sector and the demand for urban music in the entertainment industry in Asia. In 2001, they founded Machi Entertainment Group, the leading music and television production company for the "Urban" genre in Taiwan. Machi established itself as the leader in Music production in Asia with leading talents such as Jeffrey Huang, Jae Chung, Missy Elliot, A-Mei, Stanley Huang, Jolin Tsai, Vanness Wu, Elva Hsiao, Coco Lee, Brandy, Nicky Lee, Melody Yeung, and solid partnerships with Warner Music, Virgin EMI, and Sony. Machi Entertainment's investment in foreign distribution and television production has also established Machi as a young and innovative entertainment company.MACHI collaborated with well known hip-hop artist Missy Elliot after meeting in New York. Missy Elliot was impressed by Taiwanese rap and remixed her well-known song Work It with Machi's Jump 2003; resulting in the debut crossover Work it, Jump 2003. Producer Floss P, from Dr Dre's Aftermath music label, also produced a track You Can't Do It for MACHI on their Second album "2nd Opus" in July 2004. MACHI then looked around Asia and teamed up with Asia's top Turntablist DJ TOMMY from Hong Kong on their third album Superman.
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"HIP HOP INC.".........."At the heart of hip-hop -- the most vigorous, electric development in the music world since the advent of punk rock -- are its brilliant entrepreneurs. Some have demonstrated business instinct and marketing savvy that would..."YA GOTTA GO READ IT!!!!!! ~YOUNG FAME~ MIZTA FILTH HIMSELF!