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APRIL 2007 / Volume 1 - Issue 4
Real Talk
NAPPY HEAD HOES
Now just wait one G-- D--- minute, you telling me that rap music is to blame for Don Imus calling a predominantly black female basketball team a bunch of “nappy head hoes.” Well if you let Oprah Winfrey or the ladies of Spelman tell it, you might be led to believe Don Imus was bumping the new Young Jeezy CD on his way to work that morning. It’s crazy how the media has spun a cut and dry case of bigot making an obviously racist statement into a crusade against hip hop. For the second time in less than a year (Don’t forget about Kramer)
The Plug
a white man has made a racist outburst and instead of us examining the institutionalized racism that permeates every aspect of American culture Oprah Winfrey and the Ladies of Spelman have chosen to focus on rap music. Now, I got nothing but love and respect for Oprah and the ladies of spelman but they have clearly got a problem with hip hop. The way Oprah has used this racist outburst to rally her followers against rap music, reminds me of how Bush used 9/11 to invade Iraq. I must say I was very disap-
GOT A HOT SONG????
Attention all independent hip hop and R&B artists! Do you have a hot song that you think could be the next big hit? Well if you do, Makin’ It Magazine has got a great opportunity to help you get your song poppin’ in the streets. Every month we get emails from hundreds of artists asking for advice on breaking their records, so we’ve decided to give you guys a hand. Makin’ It Magazine will be releasing the first of its “On
The Grind” Mixtape series, showcasing the hottest independent artists that the game has to offer. We will be distributing 5,000 copies of each volume for FREE to the public throughout metro Atlanta. Here’s how its going to work. Starting May 1st Makin’ It Magazine will be accepting song submissions for On The Grind Mixtape Volume 1. Only the top 17 songs will be selected for a placement on the Mixtape. After those slots are filled
pointed to see Oprah and the ladies of Spelman attacking rap music and blaming it for the downward spiral of the black community, but I suppose that’s much easier than looking at the role they play in the situation. It has become increasingly obvious to me that the primary concern of our so called best and brightest has turned from collectively advancing our people to distancing themselves from them. Those who are socially and economically in the best position to bring about change do not. They are more concerned with bettering their situation
A RESOURCE GUIDE FOR ASPIRING: RAPPERS SINGERS PRODUCERS MODELS DJ’S AND INDEPENDENT RECORD LABELS Published by CJC Media Services (678) 528-6925 myspace.com/MakinItMag www.MakinItMag.com info@makinitmag.com
WORD FROM KC:
Yo, What’s good people. I’d like to thank everybody for taking time out to pick up this issue of Makin’ It Magazine. For those of you who are faithful readers and make sure that you pick up an issue, you may notice the retro look we’re sporting this month. Well here’s the deal. Two days before we were scheduled to go to print my hard drive crashed and I lost everything on it including the company logos, business plan and worst of all the May 2007 issue of the Magazine. Now that was a real kick in the crotch, but I know you guys couldn’t go a full month without your scheduled fix of Makin’ It Magazine so I had to release something to tide you over. So I scaled things back and put together the newsletter. Don’t worry we’ll have everything back together for the June issue so just hold tight and enjoy. “Life happens when you least expect it.” Oh, Yeah by the way you guys probably haven’t seen me out in the streets as much cuz I just had my son March 31, 2007 and I’ve been busy doing my Daddy thing. : )
QOM:
QUESTION OF THE MONTH
After all the backlash from this whole Don Imus situation it has been suggested that rappers refrain from using the word N---- in their music. “If every rapper agreed to do such a thing what difference do you think that would make on our society?”
Send your answers and thoughts to qom@makinitmag.com
NAPPY HEAD HOES Continued from Page 1
than that of their community. When I look at the ladies of Spelman I see a group of privileged girls attending a college that costs over $25,000/year to attend and they are sitting on national television criticizing artists who come from the hood. In my opinion they are more concerned with making a point than making a difference. After all, this is the same school that protested a charity event to raise awareness and money for leukemia research because they didn’t like the Tip Drill video. I wonder if the media coverage they received was worth the lives that could have been saved from that bone marrow drive. I’m not gonna front like rap music is the most wholesome thing on the radio but at the end of the day it is just entertainment and like any other form of entertainment when the demand dies so will the supply. So ultimately your beef should be with the consumer because the music is just a reflection of their tastes and as long as there is a demand for it someone will supply them. So how can you honestly attempt to change rap music when you are doing nothing to heal the community and social climate that produces it. When
you get your college degrees and graduate into the upper echelon of black society what will you ladies of Spelman do to improve the situation. Will you open businesses in the hood and help bring jobs into the community or will you take your money and spend it on BMW’s and looking fly totally removing your money from the black economy? Will you move to a house in a nice subdivision never to visit the communities of which you so passionately talk about in academic conversation with other members of the Afristocrasy or will you be an agent of change. Will you be a role model for the young woman who feels her only asset is her a--, because at the end of the day rappers will be forced to stop putting half naked women in their videos the day that they stop showing up on the set. Rappers will stop disrespecting women when they start demanding respect. In case you didn’t know women account for a majority of all CD sales in America. But at the end of the day if you don’t like a song, or the video you always have the power to turn it off. “Bad things happen when good men do nothing. What are you doing?”
GOT A HOT SONG???? the selected artist will be notified and the Mixtape will be released. All selected artist will also receive copies of the project to distribute at their shows and performances. These 17 slots are first come first served. If you want a spot on the mixtape you need to submit your songs ASAP! Artists may submit their music by mail or online at www.MakinItMag.com/ onthegrind. We are looking for both hip
From Experirnce
Continued from Page 1
hop and R&B music. The cost to submit your music is only $10 per song. To submit your music by mail just send us a copy of your song on audio CD with your Name, address, telephone #, email, website, and a money order made out to Makin’ It Magazine for payment of all songs you wish to submit. Makin’ It Magazine 3939 Lavista Rd. Suite E-249 Atlanata, GA 30084
BACKING UP YOUR DATA
One week before we were scheduled to go to print I found out that I would have to be going out of town for a funeral. So I loaded up my laptop and headed out to Indianola, Mississippi. I spent the next five days with my family and by night putting the finishing touches on the May 2007 issue of Makin’ It Magazine. I must say I was pretty proud of the new issue I had totally revamped the lay out and the cover story was going to be one of the best I had ever written. I had only one story to finish before I could send everything off to print. I decided to write it on my phone during the return trip to Atlanta. Well after we got back to Atlanta I was up till 5AM catching up with paperwork and emails. The next morning I grabbed my external hard drive and a power adapter out of my laptop bag. I hooked it up to my desktop so I could copy all the files for the May issue and send them to print but for some reason my hard drive wasn’t connecting. The lights just kept flashing on and off. After five minutes of tinkering with it, I realized that I had the wrong power adapter plugged into it. I had accidentally grabbed my laptop (AC) adapter instead of the (DC) one for my laptop. I immediately rushed my hard drive to a computer specialist and found out the drive had been fried. I then took the drive to a data recovery company
and found out that they could retrieve the data for $1,400. All it took is a one simple mistake and in less than 30 seconds months worth of work and planning were gone like that. Not only did I loose the May Issue, but I lost the newly designed template for the magazine. I lost my business plans, My Forms, My Contacts, I didn’t even have a copy of the company logo and all it took was one simple mistake and less than 30 seconds. Learn from my mistake and make sure you regularly backup all of your important data. You never know when you may be a victim of natural disaster, theft, or just plain bad luck. Follow these following tips and protect yourself from my misfortune. 1- Backup any files that can not be easily recreated. (i.e. Protools Sessions, Graphics, Beats or Business Data) 2- Make regular backups (Monthly, Weekly, and Maybe Even Daily) of any files that change often. 3- All of your important data should be stored in three separate places. One of these locations should be offsite. This is incase you are the victim of natural disaster or theft. If your office studio burns down and all your backup data was in there you will be in the same position as if you never had it. 4- Don’t procrastinate. Had I taken 15 minutes to follow this advice I could have saved myself $1,400 in data recovery fees and months worth of work.
EVENTS If you hav an open mic or networking event that you would like to see added to this list please call (678) 528-6925 MONDAY Monday Night Hustle and Flow @ Club Crucial (2517 Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy) Doors open at 9pm show starts at 11 pm with a $10 cover at the door. For more info call (404) 794-2114 This is Why Im Hot Open Mic Mondays at Club Miami. Doors Open at 9Pm. Show starts at 11Pm wth a $10 cover at the door. Cash prizzes and a great opportunity to network. For More info call 404 456-1463 WEDNESDAY ATL’s Most Wanted Talent at The Peacock hosted by Akini of Hot 107.9’s A-Team Morning Show. Doors open at 8PM.Show starts at 9:30 with a $10 cover for the men and a $5 cover for the women. Cost to perform $5 for the fi rst $25 and $50 for the 26-30. Win a chance to get your song into rotation on Hot 107.9 for more information cal (404) 246-0621 FRIDAYS
Phlash Friday at Seasons (2077 Northlake Parkway). Networking event for models, photograpers and make-up artists mix and mingle. For more info call (404)558-3036
Producer’s Corner
HARDWARE VS. SOFTWARE
For years, the studio was the central location for music production. A mixing desk, filled with hardware synthesizers, samplers, and sound racks feeding it. However, the evolution of technology has changed this by providing substitutes for all those machines created in software, making hardware less necessary. In the last few years, computer software such as Fruity Loops and Reason began to find their way into music production and all the same results could be found in digital hardware synthesizers and samplers such as the MPC, Motif, Phantom, etc. When you don’t have access to all the most expensive gear, you can do alot with a little these days. While software is cheaper than most samplers and keyboards, the argument always comes up that software is designed to imitate hardware. It’s also said that software doesn’t have the same quality sounds like hardware.
PART 1
Nowadays, there is nothing about using hardware that you can’t do with software. Any knob you can turn on a sound rack, you can do the same with the click of a mouse. The importance of personal computers in modern music is something people are going to have to get used to, because for every new keyboard that’s out, there’s a software program that can do the same thing. With that being said, if you like to use hardware, then use it. If you like computer based programs, learn how to use them and I guarantee you’ll have them sounding just as good as hardware. At the end of the day, people don’t care how you make your beats, or what equipment you use to make them. Just make sure they sound good. Let us know what you think just hit us comments@Makinitmag.com