StumpyPete1975: someone asked if you had anecdotes that are examples of hip-hop losing its fire
JoeTheEngineer: how about an artist interrupting his session to meet with the designer of his new line of jeans?
StumpyPete1975: HAHA
StumpyPete1975: amazing
StumpyPete1975: yeah, I'd say that's not entirely street
JoeTheEngineer: I guarantee Biggie didn't do that when he was making Ready To Die

Your questions answered after the jump!

StumpyPete1975: so some of the idolator readers gave me some follow up questions
StumpyPete1975: I thought I would run them by you, if that's cool!
JoeTheEngineer: cool
StumpyPete1975: I like this question: Why is there such a fetish for recording on tape? Don't we end up having to digitize everything anyway?
StumpyPete1975: what say you to that?
StumpyPete1975: is there a tape fetish?
JoeTheEngineer: haha, I think so
JoeTheEngineer: Certainly among the indier side of rock
JoeTheEngineer: the funny thing is, a common way to work with tape is to record through the tape so to speak
JoeTheEngineer: you record to tape and record the output of the tape machine straight into pro tools
JoeTheEngineer: so what you get is the sound of tape but the flexibility of having it digital
StumpyPete1975: and is there a tape sound?
StumpyPete1975: I tend to think there is, having worked primarily with tape
JoeTheEngineer: yeah
JoeTheEngineer: technically, what tape does is a cross between compression and a little bit of distortion
JoeTheEngineer: the harder you push it, the more of an effect you get
JoeTheEngineer: and I think there is something about that sound that resonates with a lot of people
JoeTheEngineer: whether that is because we grew up listening to records that were done with tape, or because we actually prefer the sound, is a whole other debate
StumpyPete1975: well, to be fair, everything was tape until a decade ago, right?
JoeTheEngineer: yeah thats what I mean
JoeTheEngineer: its a sound that we are all very accustomed to
StumpyPete1975: things went protools quickly
JoeTheEngineer: very quickly
StumpyPete1975: I tell people that I made an album on tape and they act like I fell off my dinosaur and broke my wooden underwear
JoeTheEngineer: HA!
JoeTheEngineer: that's crazy
StumpyPete1975: which do you prefer?
StumpyPete1975: tape or digital?
JoeTheEngineer: I generally choose to work in Pro Tools or Logic
JoeTheEngineer: I do love the sound of tape, but especially with our clientele, its just not practical
StumpyPete1975: yeah I can imagine
StumpyPete1975: those early records were all punches and splices!
JoeTheEngineer: crazy, huh?
JoeTheEngineer: I mean, people record their hook and then say, "Now fly it throughout the song"
JoeTheEngineer: that's hours if we are using tape, seconds in Pro Tools
StumpyPete1975: do you think it's damaged songcraft or opened up possibilities?
JoeTheEngineer: Well, I have to cop out and say both
StumpyPete1975: I find there certainly is less respect for the craft of recording amongst the ProTools cowboys
JoeTheEngineer: yeah, I can see that
JoeTheEngineer: but like anything, there are guys who take the convenience of Pro Tools for granted and act like they don't have to push its limits
JoeTheEngineer: And then there are guys who have really taken what it can do and used it in a very creative manner
StumpyPete1975: spankyjoe asks: How much input do most rappers or singers have once they come into the studio? Have they already worked with the producer to get beats/backing tracks to their liking, or are they simply there to get in, do their thing, and get out? Presumably, bigger artists have more pull and thus more creative control, or is this all dictated from on high at the record companies?
StumpyPete1975: now, we addressed this some last time
JoeTheEngineer: right
StumpyPete1975: but let's elaborate a bit and tie it to protools
StumpyPete1975: how savvy are the artists to the process in general?
JoeTheEngineer: OK, well its pretty different between rappers and singers
JoeTheEngineer: Rappers generally tend to write in the studio
JoeTheEngineer: So I put on the track that they've brought (or someone sent) and loop it at high volumes and they write
JoeTheEngineer: Sometimes an A&R is there, but not really giving any input in the writing process
JoeTheEngineer: they go in and do their hook and verses and go home with a rough mix of what we've recorded
JoeTheEngineer: often times the producer isn't even around, in some cases may not even know his track is being worked on!
StumpyPete1975: whoa!
JoeTheEngineer: yeah, its a weird thing
JoeTheEngineer: but in most cases, producers send out their beats to a number of artists
JoeTheEngineer: and if an artist feels like working on it, they just give me the instrumental and we can make a song to it
JoeTheEngineer: of course they can't use it until the business side is taken care of
StumpyPete1975: jeez
StumpyPete1975: it's so...factory-like
JoeTheEngineer: sure is.....
JoeTheEngineer: As you can imagine that leads to a lot of confusion
StumpyPete1975: I can bet
StumpyPete1975: does this get back to your point about hip-hop losing the fire? that it's too workmanlike?
StumpyPete1975: someone asked for you to elaborate on that!
JoeTheEngineer: yeah I mean, in the early days of hip hop, they were certainly not making records like that
JoeTheEngineer: you had much more of a relationship between producer and artist
JoeTheEngineer: Guys like DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock were very hands on and involved
JoeTheEngineer: often times producing an entire album which you don't see too much of anymore
StumpyPete1975: do some folks still make records?
StumpyPete1975: or is it just a bunch of tracks?
JoeTheEngineer: some still do, there is hope!
JoeTheEngineer: Guys like Outkast, Lupe, Q-Tip, etc. still seem to believe in the aesthetic of keeping a tight production team and having them involved in making a cohesive album
StumpyPete1975: yeah
StumpyPete1975: someone asked if you had anecdotes that are examples of hip-hop losing its fire
JoeTheEngineer: how about an artist interrupting his session to meet with the designer of his new line of jeans
StumpyPete1975: HAHA
StumpyPete1975: amazing
StumpyPete1975: yeah, I'd say that's not entirely street
JoeTheEngineer: I guarantee Biggie didn't do that when he was making Ready To Die
StumpyPete1975: for sure
StumpyPete1975: Al Shipley asks: Do you EQ a lot of the pre-programmed backing tracks, or make any major editorial decisions as far as the sound of the beat, or is that all pretty much set by the producer beforehand and/or by a mixer later on?
JoeTheEngineer: That's a great question
JoeTheEngineer: Another thing that has changed a lot in the past few years
JoeTheEngineer: Like I said we are usually just tracking to the instrumental mix given by the producer
JoeTheEngineer: Most producers have a pretty decent set up that they make beats on these days
JoeTheEngineer: So they have pretty much EQ'd, compressed and done a lot of mixing on the beat already, as well as made it as loud as possible
JoeTheEngineer: This sometimes leads to disputes when it comes time to mix
JoeTheEngineer: Like the producer is happy with his mix, and just wants you to add the vocals to it
JoeTheEngineer: The artist wants his mix engineer to have all the tracks to work with
JoeTheEngineer: and usually, whoever has more clout, wins
StumpyPete1975: that's pretty interesting
JoeTheEngineer: yeah, a new wrinkle to deal with
StumpyPete1975: Also this question from Al: Do many of the rappers or singers you work with express preferences or knowledge as far as what kind of microphones they want to use?
JoeTheEngineer: Most don't show any type of preference for microphone
JoeTheEngineer: A few have their own that they bring
JoeTheEngineer: Some ask why the mic is so old and crusty looking
JoeTheEngineer: Not realizing that it is one of the best mics on the planet
StumpyPete1975: haha
StumpyPete1975: Neumann?
StumpyPete1975: what's that?
JoeTheEngineer: Yeah, we certainly have a few $15,000 mics that look like something you would find in your attic but sound amazing
StumpyPete1975: This is from Al, too: Have you ever seen an artist attempt to use Autotune and end up completely unable to work well with it? Did they scrap that track or end up putting it out Aututuned anyway? Because a lot of the major artists out there using it these days (coughLilWaynecough50CentcoughKanyecough) sound absolutely awful, and it's amazing that there's noone in the studio stopping them from using it or offering any constructive criticism.
JoeTheEngineer: I'm guessing they are referring to using autotune in the effecty way that T-Pain made popular
StumpyPete1975: yeah
JoeTheEngineer: Yeah its weird, but you can actually be good or bad at singing with the autotune
JoeTheEngineer: T-Pain is a guy that is actually a decent singer and has seemed to figure out how to control his vocal so that the autotune effects it the way he wants
JoeTheEngineer: Its not necessarily intuitive, and yeah, some guys are not pulling it off
JoeTheEngineer: Or in some cases, engineers may not be using the settings properly to get the desired sound
StumpyPete1975: have you ever had to stop anybody and just say "no?"
JoeTheEngineer: No way, we get paid by the hour!
StumpyPete1975: haha
StumpyPete1975: final question!
StumpyPete1975: Eriq78 asks: Can you tell us about the mixing process and over-compression? Any entertaining anecdotes about an artist or producer (against all logic and common sense) insisting on participating in the process mixing?
JoeTheEngineer: Sure, mixes vary pretty widely these days
JoeTheEngineer: You have some sessions that are just the mix engineer, creating a balance and sending off his final passes to the artist or label to approve
JoeTheEngineer: More often, an artist or A&R from the label attends and involve themselves to varying degrees
JoeTheEngineer: they usually let the mix engineer do his thing for a few hours and then make some comments when the thing is getting closer to completion
JoeTheEngineer: Over-compression could be a whole article's conversation
StumpyPete1975: really!
StumpyPete1975: what are your quick thoughts?
JoeTheEngineer: Well, its become something that is sort of expected out of engineers
JoeTheEngineer: So to be fair, if we don't give an artist a very loud, compressed mix in comparison to whats on the radio, they aren't going to be happy with it
JoeTheEngineer: The more you compress, the louder all the elements are, and the more it punches you in face when you press play
JoeTheEngineer: for some pop and hip hop, it doesn't bother me too much, because there aren't a whole lot of dynamics to begin with
JoeTheEngineer: In material where there should exist an ebb and flow to the volume, its disturbing to have that taken out
JoeTheEngineer: Like when a singer is whispering during a breakdown, the vocal shouldn't be as loud as it is when she is screaming on the final chorus
JoeTheEngineer: but it often is
StumpyPete1975: interesting
StumpyPete1975: for the laypeople, what is compression?
JoeTheEngineer: It's a process in which shrinks the dynamic range of material
JoeTheEngineer: it essentially reduces the volume of your loudest portions, so then you can turn everything up while avoiding distortion
JoeTheEngineer: What was a jagged line becomes closer to straight
StumpyPete1975: and it's everywhere
JoeTheEngineer: sure is
JoeTheEngineer: It's another one of those things that can be used creatively and effectively
JoeTheEngineer: but also can be something you just slap on there because you know its supposed to be loud
JoeTheEngineer: To me, compression, autotune, pro tools, are all great things as long as you think about them and listen while you use them

Want a Round 3 with Joe The Engineer? Hit us up in the comments. Want to go anonIMous with us? Email us at tipsATidolatorDOTcom.

StumpyPete1975: today's pop stars
StumpyPete1975: I think there's the impression that they just show up for a day or two
StumpyPete1975: lay down some vocal tracks
StumpyPete1975: and then it's autotune away
StumpyPete1975: true?
JoeTheEngineer: right
JoeTheEngineer: well, most pop artists don't write their own stuff
JoeTheEngineer: so they come in and I play them a reference, which the writer laid down with all the vocal parts
JoeTheEngineer: then the artist goes piece by piece re-singing whats already on tape
StumpyPete1975: are you serious?
StumpyPete1975: so it's like Pop Star Hero?
JoeTheEngineer: yeah
JoeTheEngineer: I mean depending on the artist sure
JoeTheEngineer: but this is common
JoeTheEngineer: I've certainly seen a few big ones that were spoon fed all the lines they sang

The whole thing after the jump!

StumpyPete1975: you're an assistant engineer, correct?
JoeTheEngineer: right, but as a senior assistant, I end up doing quite a bit of engineering as well
StumpyPete1975: cool
StumpyPete1975: and y'all work with some big-time artists
JoeTheEngineer: yeah, I would say just about any top hip hop artist you can think of has been through here
StumpyPete1975: wow
JoeTheEngineer: as well as a slew of pop and R&B
StumpyPete1975: so not small-timers
StumpyPete1975: people we've all heard of
JoeTheEngineer: definitely
StumpyPete1975: what's your book rate there?
JoeTheEngineer: most rooms are in the low $200s/hour
StumpyPete1975: wow
StumpyPete1975: and that's just room rental, right?
JoeTheEngineer: right
StumpyPete1975: so engineers are more?
JoeTheEngineer: yeah, many bring their own engineers
JoeTheEngineer: but if they need one, the studio provides and charges extra
StumpyPete1975: wow
StumpyPete1975: how much do engineers make an hour?
JoeTheEngineer: for recording, it ranges from $30/hour to $75/hour
StumpyPete1975: wow
JoeTheEngineer: for mixing, guys get from $1000 to 3 or 4 per mix
JoeTheEngineer: 3 or 4 being the top in the business
StumpyPete1975: and then producers get their own cuts, which I know are not set in stone
JoeTheEngineer: right
JoeTheEngineer: and has greatly changed with the onset of urban music and their version of "producer"
StumpyPete1975: yeah
StumpyPete1975: what makes it different than say the rock producer?
JoeTheEngineer: well, just that most rock producers don't get writing credits for what they work on
JoeTheEngineer: so their fee and any royalties they can get on the album is all they get
JoeTheEngineer: whereas most hip-hip/R&B producers are taking a writing credit for providing beats
StumpyPete1975: do you think they deserve it?
JoeTheEngineer: yeah sure, if they provided some composition, they should get their percentage
StumpyPete1975: now I've always functioned under the assumption that with modern pop and R&B and hip-hop
StumpyPete1975: not a lot of actual old-school engineering goes on
StumpyPete1975: the producer shows up with tracks and stuff
StumpyPete1975: and they just lay stuff on top of it
StumpyPete1975: that's a simplification, of course, but how much engineering do you do?
JoeTheEngineer: well, it depends quite a bit on the type of session, which I would say is either (in urban music) tracking vocals, tracking beats, or mixing
JoeTheEngineer: mostly when people track vocals nowadays, they just record to an instrumental of a beat that someone gave to them
StumpyPete1975: really?
StumpyPete1975: and then what happens?
StumpyPete1975: how do you build a track from that?
JoeTheEngineer: well, when it comes time to mix, the mix engineer now has the headache of getting the multitrack from the producer and combining it with the vocal from the artist
JoeTheEngineer: which is 99.9999 percent of the time all done digitally now
StumpyPete1975: it's funny how quickly things moved digital
StumpyPete1975: ten years ago analog still ruled the day!
JoeTheEngineer: true
JoeTheEngineer: and even the old timers who hated Pro Tools, have basically come around now
StumpyPete1975: yeah
StumpyPete1975: do you find that there is a lot less artistry now in the digital world?
StumpyPete1975: I think the common protools complaint is that things are fixed that should have been laid down right the first time
JoeTheEngineer: right
JoeTheEngineer: certainly it requires less performance skills
JoeTheEngineer: a session guitarist now is a lot different then a session guitarist in the 70's
JoeTheEngineer: and the thing is, now that artists are gaining knowledge about digital recording, they know what can be done
JoeTheEngineer: so instead of trying a take again, they just ask you to edit or tune it or whatever
StumpyPete1975: "fix it in the mix" right?
JoeTheEngineer: exactly
StumpyPete1975: I just recorded an all analog record and man
StumpyPete1975: it pushed us
StumpyPete1975: my drumming is very very simple compared to what I would normally do
StumpyPete1975: its tough!
StumpyPete1975: but ultimately I like it way better
JoeTheEngineer: yeah, it forces decision making
StumpyPete1975: I was gonna ask
StumpyPete1975: have you ever had to fix a track that was just horrid?
JoeTheEngineer: sure
StumpyPete1975: what do you do in that situation?
JoeTheEngineer: I mean, with a bad performance, you are usually talking about a couple things
JoeTheEngineer: timing, pitch, or just plain not keeping up with the part
JoeTheEngineer: for timing, if you have a good ear for feel, you should be able to edit it
JoeTheEngineer: for pitch there is of course Autotune (and now Melodyne and Waves Tune) that pitch correct, not always bulletproof though
JoeTheEngineer: if they simply cannot record the part through the song, you hope to find a good snippet and loop it throughout
StumpyPete1975: wow
StumpyPete1975: I keep saying wow
JoeTheEngineer: If they can't get through, rappers and singers often punch quite a bit
StumpyPete1975: well, that's okay
StumpyPete1975: rock is all punching, right?
JoeTheEngineer: sometimes
StumpyPete1975: sometimes?
JoeTheEngineer: not when they are punching every word though!
StumpyPete1975: oh god
JoeTheEngineer: yeah, a few punches is always cool
StumpyPete1975: I've heard that modern rock is the same way these days
StumpyPete1975: autotune and crazy punching
StumpyPete1975: how about Sound Replacer?
JoeTheEngineer: Sound Replacer is a pretty hip plug in that (like everything really) can be abused
StumpyPete1975: see, in hip-hop, I think it would be totally great
StumpyPete1975: come up with new sounds
JoeTheEngineer: yeah
JoeTheEngineer: well in hip hop most drums are done as MIDI
StumpyPete1975: oh cool
JoeTheEngineer: so to change the sounds, producers can just have their MIDI data play a different drum sample
StumpyPete1975: getting back to the producer thing
StumpyPete1975: have you encountered any who were really hard to work with?
StumpyPete1975: where you just felt like they didn't know what they were doing?
JoeTheEngineer: oh yes
JoeTheEngineer: haha
StumpyPete1975: what's the worst experience you ever had?
JoeTheEngineer: oh jeez
JoeTheEngineer: I mean certainly having a gun waved around the room was unpleasant
JoeTheEngineer: or are we talking musically?
StumpyPete1975: um
StumpyPete1975: I meant whatever
StumpyPete1975: certainly a gun counts!
JoeTheEngineer: yeah, seen a few pistols in the studio
JoeTheEngineer: which was a first for me
StumpyPete1975: why was the gun being waved around?
JoeTheEngineer: Somewhat for fun I suppose
StumpyPete1975: haha...fun for everyone!
JoeTheEngineer: really feeling the song
StumpyPete1975: musically, what's your worst experience with a producer or an artist?
JoeTheEngineer: musically, probably when an artist was so far stoned that they kept telling me there was something wrong with the song
JoeTheEngineer: but couldn't say what
JoeTheEngineer: but was basically blaming me
JoeTheEngineer: very awkward and confusing
StumpyPete1975: what do you do?
StumpyPete1975: I mean, they're paying you...
JoeTheEngineer: bear with them, try to understand
JoeTheEngineer: and smile
StumpyPete1975: today's pop stars
StumpyPete1975: I think there's the impression that they just show up for a day or two
StumpyPete1975: lay down some vocal tracks
StumpyPete1975: and then it's autotune away
StumpyPete1975: true?
JoeTheEngineer: right
JoeTheEngineer: well, most pop artists don't write their own stuff
JoeTheEngineer: so they come in and I play them a reference, which the writer laid down with all the vocal parts
JoeTheEngineer: then the artist goes piece by piece re-singing whats already on tape
StumpyPete1975: are you serious?
StumpyPete1975: so it's like Pop Star Hero?
JoeTheEngineer: yeah
JoeTheEngineer: I mean depending on the artist sure
JoeTheEngineer: but this is common
JoeTheEngineer: I've certainly seen a few big ones that were spoon fed all the lines they sang
StumpyPete1975: it's not surprising, but it is, you know?
StumpyPete1975: it's weird to hear your fears confirmed
JoeTheEngineer: heh
JoeTheEngineer: yeah
JoeTheEngineer: I was shocked the first few times, now I'm already jaded and its only been 4 years!
JoeTheEngineer: haha
StumpyPete1975: what has changed in the last 4 years?
StumpyPete1975: obviously, with the economy being pretty crappy
JoeTheEngineer: well, a bunch of the biggest studios in the city have closed
JoeTheEngineer: I've heard that
JoeTheEngineer: The Hit Factory, Sony Music Studios, Battery
StumpyPete1975: oof
StumpyPete1975: why did they close?
StumpyPete1975: session prices too high?
JoeTheEngineer: well, there is the never ending quest for labels to find cheaper recording
JoeTheEngineer: there is the stupid price for real estate in midtown manhattan
JoeTheEngineer: (where all those studios were)
JoeTheEngineer: and the enormous overhead of the recording equipment
JoeTheEngineer: combined with the fact that a lot of popular music today does not necessitate a big room
StumpyPete1975: yeah
StumpyPete1975: I wonder if a lot of hip-hop could be recorded anywhere!
StumpyPete1975: home
StumpyPete1975: in a living room, etc.
StumpyPete1975: if it's midi and sound replacer et al.
JoeTheEngineer: it can, and is
JoeTheEngineer: and that has hurt business
JoeTheEngineer: absolutely
JoeTheEngineer: you can buy a set up now that would run you 5 grand tops that you could record vocals for an entire hip hop record on
JoeTheEngineer: and when you compare that to 5 grand getting you 3 days of studio time
StumpyPete1975: yeah
StumpyPete1975: but is there a place for big studios?
StumpyPete1975: I still tend to think there is
StumpyPete1975: home recorded digital stuff can sound like just that
JoeTheEngineer: I mean, rock/jazz/country/classical and more organic pop and R&B definitely benefit from a classic, big studio
JoeTheEngineer: so there will always be places to record that stuff
JoeTheEngineer: Its just owning a big studio right now is finnancial liability
StumpyPete1975: I worry it's a dying art
StumpyPete1975: studio stuff
StumpyPete1975: that in a world with no CD sales
StumpyPete1975: nobody will pay for big-sounding records
StumpyPete1975: and it's still great to hear a huge-sounding record, in my book
JoeTheEngineer: that is a concern for us all the time
JoeTheEngineer: absolutely
JoeTheEngineer: I wonder how much the public knows the necessity of the studio though
JoeTheEngineer: I'm not sure if they connect what they are hearing, to the building it was made in
JoeTheEngineer: obviously you have some experience in the studio so you know
StumpyPete1975: yeah
StumpyPete1975: I'm surprised by how little everyone, from listeners to critics, knows about the studio process
StumpyPete1975: I see critics make some of the most ridiculous statements about how something is recorded
JoeTheEngineer: even worse
JoeTheEngineer: the labels are often completely clueless about the studio process
JoeTheEngineer: which is amazing, because they are the ones who pay us
StumpyPete1975: yeah
StumpyPete1975: but who ever said that labels were good businesspeople who knew anything about anything?
JoeTheEngineer: true
JoeTheEngineer: ha
StumpyPete1975: specifically related to hip-hop and pop
StumpyPete1975: what have you seen in the last 5 years
StumpyPete1975: in terms of changes to what you do?
StumpyPete1975: anything else besides money? attitude? expectations?
JoeTheEngineer: hmm
JoeTheEngineer: I think hip hop artists have warmed up greatly in the past few years to crossing over to the pop world
JoeTheEngineer: so you get some requests from rappers that you just never heard before
JoeTheEngineer: like "Throw some autotune on so it sounds like T-Pain"
StumpyPete1975: haha
JoeTheEngineer: or "Let's go to the bridge"
StumpyPete1975: wow
JoeTheEngineer: I'm like "Bridge, this is a four bar loop!"
StumpyPete1975: but you think they see that pop success as the next step
StumpyPete1975: it's no longer just being successful hip-hop artists?
JoeTheEngineer: when it comes down to it, a lot of artists are out of their comfort zone in the studio
JoeTheEngineer: especially now that hip hop has lost its hunger
StumpyPete1975: lost its hunger?
JoeTheEngineer: yeah, you know, doesn't have the urgency that it once did
JoeTheEngineer: of course, thats not really in the past 5 years

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Download the full map (1.09 MB)

ATLANTA: Has a few groups like Success and Effect, but, according to Skyywalker, the scene and sound are basically the same as Miami's. One A&R man at a New York-based major laber [sic] laments that all of the many demos that he gets from rappers in the deep south are marred by funny sounding accents and pronunciation. Unfortunately, "it's just not happening yet."

SEATTLE: Where the aptly named Sir Mix-a-Lot (real name Anthony Ray) has earned a reputation for eclecticism by doing everything from a "Squaredance Rap" to a cover of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man." While Mix-a-Lot has his disciples (Kid Sensation), his style is almost pop at times and his ability to adapt isn't always mirrored by other, more garrulous crews from Tacoma's gang infested hilltop section(recently profiled on CBS's "48 Hours"), which has produced High Performance, America's Most Wanted, PD 2, Ice Cold Mode and Ready and Wilin'. Also part of the Seattle scene are the Incredicrew and—to give you an idea of how far rap has come and will go—a Korean group called, but of course, the Seoul Brothers.

PORTLAND: May be put on the map by U Krew (signed to Enigma) who perform a kind of "MC Hammer, but more funky" type of rap.

HOUSTON: Has been heralded as the #3 market behind New York and "The West Coast," but the Texas town already thinks of itself as #2. While not a gangster groove, the Houston sound has a rough, raw, low, slow beat coupled with a good-for-humping bass. Of the roughly 60 to 70 groups, the Ghetto Boys and Willie D stand out, along with Royal Flush, Raheem, MC Candy, Romeo Poet, OG Style, and Def IV.

THE MIDWEST: Thought to be devoid of first rate rap, though A&R men at New York labels receive up to 30 demos a day "from St. Louis to every nook and cranny imaginable." As yet unimpressed, East Coast record execs don't foresee any hip-hop from the heartland in the near future.

NEW JERSEY: 45 King, Queen Latifah, Chill Rob G, Poor Righetous Teachers, Redhead Kingpin (real name David Guppy), Ice-T, Ice Cream Tee (born in Gainesville, grew up in Philly, studied at Rutgers), K.C. Flightt, Twin Hype (emigrated from South Carolina), King Sun (6'7" tall, speaks French and Spanish and his godfather is Muhammad Ali), Righteous Lakim Shabazz, K-9 Possee (met at Farleigh University and include Eddie Murphy's brother).

CLEVELAND: Where the rappers Bango (signed to Epic) and Chunky A are from.

(MAJOR thanks to Dickdogfood)

"I want to talk to executives at these conglomerates who've never taken a public position on what they produce," Rush said. "But it's been surprisingly very difficult to get them to commit to appearing."

Rush had planned the hearing twice before and had to postpone both times to accommodate execs' schedules. "But after a series of long conversations and other communications, they know this hearing is going to go forward, and they will be coming — reluctantly, if I might add."

Witnesses include toppers Philippe Dauman of Viacom, Doug Morris of Universal Music Group and Edgar Bronfman Jr. of Warner Music Group.

A music industry exec said the delay was more an issue of getting the right people to appear. "Not everyone agrees that the top people are the same as the right people," the exec said, noting that decisions to sign particular artists or distribute their CDs are often made at lower levels.

Also, Rush was quick to affirm his hip-and-with-it bona fides just so he didn't look like one of those stuffy moral crusaders from the 1950s:

Rush stressed that this is "not an anti-artist hearing, or antimusic or antiyouth hearing." He said he's hoping for voluntary — not regulatory — solutions. "I respect the First Amendment, but rights without responsibility is anarchy, and that's much of what we have now. It's time for responsible people to stand up and accept responsibility."

Really? I though anarchy was supposedly personal responsibility with no leaders trying to legislate things like artistic content. Did all those hours spent shopping for punk records at the leftist bookshop in Philly steer me wrong?

Ah, what can you even say about something like this? That on a base level I agree with Rush that it's time for personal and even corporate responsibility on the part of artists and the record industry to stop making a buck off of degrading their fellow men and women? That press-ganging the record execs into cleaning up their act through televised embarrassment before a legislative body is eight kinds of gross? That it won't probably make a whit of difference either way? That if it actually happens it should at least be as enjoyable for us watching at home as the classic PMRC hearings of yesteryear? Come back, Dee Snider. We need you more than ever.

Congress Holds Hearing On Hip-Hop [Variety]

A number of downtown establishments within Colorado Springs have "Hip Hop" nights at least one night per week. Within this genre of music, there are artists that glorify criminal behaviors with a style of music commonly called "Gangsta Rap". This style of music has the tendency to attract gang members which often results in criminal activity requiring a police response. We urge parents to be aware of these concerns and do some screening as they see appropriate in terms of where their children are allowed to go as it relates to teen nights and concerts. Additionally, some downtown bars have after hours parties that are being held after the bar closings and these events also draw gang members to the downtown area which have resulted in numerous disturbances.

Sound familiar to you, too? Yeah. But what made the Times story about this controversy stick out to me was the dateline: Colorado Springs, which was profiled in Harper's two years ago as a super-religious "shining city on the hill" shaped by the since-disgraced megachurch pastor Ted Haggard. And some observers say that the problem isn't hip-hop as much as it is the fact that Colorado Springs—which is also home to the Air Force Academy—has grown at a pace that's much faster than its infrastructure can handle, which has helped fan racially tense flames:

Others here say the police are focusing on hip-hop instead of addressing the growing pains of this largely white, conservative city, home to the evangelical groups Focus on the Family and New Life Church.

Since 1990, the metropolitan area of Colorado Springs, which sits south of Denver, has swollen to nearly half a million from 397,000. Though outright racial tensions, which led to marches here in the 1970s and '80s, are largely of the past, there remains a sense of benign neglect toward minorities, said Dr. José J. Barrera, former director of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. That neglect has translated into a chasm between the city and its minority youth, Dr. Barrera said.

"If you examine the history of ethnic and race relations in this community, you will detect a pattern of ignorance of minority cultures and problems," Dr. Barrera said. "No serious observer believes that current manifestations of youth culture and pop culture actually fuel criminal activity."

Well, sure, they aren't serious, those observers. But they do seem to get quoted an awful lot.

Colorado Police Link Rise in Violence to Music [NYT]

Q. Why does The Times devote as much space as it does to covering rap and hip-hop? Indeed, one might ask why it gives any coverage at all, but I won't go that far. It would seem that the audience for this type of ephemera is not generally likely to be reading The Times, though I have been wrong before.

More to the point: while rock criticism may have seemed like a silly venture when it started, considering the thinness of the material, it would seem like deconstructing Beethoven and Rilke when compared to analyzing the trite, repetitious, crude, and juvenile stuff that is the mass of hip-hop.

— Peter G. O'Malley, assistant U.S. attorney, District of New Jersey

A. Counselor! Don't badger the witness! The Times covers hip-hop — and rap, and trip-hop, and rock, and cabaret, and folk metal and jazz and French electronica, and the whole pop music shebang — because it's an art form. You may find some of it trite and repetitious, crude and juvenile, but it is. It may be that you're just not listening hard enough.

Take as just one brief example, the rapper T.I.'s monster club hit "What You Know," on his CD "King." As Kelefa Sanneh wrote in The Times, T.I. used the song to set his raspy drawl against the sizzle and pop of a synthesizer track. The lyrics at first sound merely like a bunch of taunts, street-corner threats:

See all that attitude's
Unnecessary, dude.
You never carry tools.
Not even square — he cube.

Here's Mr. Sanneh, explaining that: "Listeners transfixed by his entertaining interjections ('O.K.?!') and exaggerated pronunciation might easily have overlooked the rigorous poetic construction. But that's a neat little quatrain: four lines, six syllables apiece, each building to a trisyllabic oblique rhyme. Somehow, T.I. delivers supertechnical raps without ever sounding as boring as that last sentence."

Kids today, huh?

Not how I'd have put it—that would have been something closer to, "Because it's outselling all the crap you listen to, jerk." Oh wait—that's not me, that's my alter ego, M.A.T., talking. Never mind.

Talk to the Newsroom: Culture Editor Sam Sifton [NY Times]

Key points from the Daily News' "Doing hip hop dirty":
- Pop music is currently experiencing its "most squeaky-clean phase...since Pat Boone came in to shoo away all the sex and cool from the likes of Little Richard in the '50s," as evidenced by the success of High School Musical, American Idol, a glut of inoffensive R&B heartthrobs (Ne-Yo, Mario) and a sales chart topped by the likes of Tim McGraw and Norah Jones.
- Mims' "This Is Why I'm Hot" uses the word "bitch," but it's as a verb. Also, the "n word" ends with an -a, not an -er. Take that, Malkin!
- Older listeners are old, and have therefore forgotten that young people were put on earth to piss them off.
- Inquisitive concluding sentence: "Those who are young - either in their bodies or just in their minds - understand the nods and winks that inform the words, the camp and contexts that lie behind them. Such codes help define a vital youth culture. Has everyone else forgotten that? Or were they never young to begin with?"

Key points from the Times' "Don't Blame Hip-Hop":
- The 60 Minutes piece did little to address the sociological causes of the "stop snitching" movement.
- Simmons' proposal that "ho," "bitch" and the n-word be scrubbed from the airwaves is "modest" but "workable."
- As sales for certain artists decline—Cam'ron, for example, hasn't been doing so hot lately—it's not inconceivable that labels would eventually drop controversial hip-hop artists altogether, choosing to "spend that extra money on a clean-cut R&B singer, or a kid-friendly pop group."
- Hip-hop is nowhere as people make it out to be these days, thanks to dance hits from the likes of Huey, Swizz Beatz and Crime Mob. Plus, have you seen those kids on 106 & Park? They're "fresh-faced," while the show's hosts are "relentlessly positive"!
- Inquisitive concluding sentence: "What if hip-hop's lyrics shifted from tough talk and crude jokes to playful club exhortations — and it didn't much matter? What if the controversial lyrics quieted down, but the problems didn't? What if hip-hop didn't matter that much, after all?"

As for our own inquisitive kickers, we must ask: Is this just another non-controversy that will fade away once Sharpton, Oprah and CNN find new targets? Does either writer really think that "but rap music is so nice this week!" argument is going to work? And who the hell approved that Times illo in which Cam'ron is haunted by the disembodied head of Anderson Cooper?

Doing hip hop dirty [NY Daily News]
Don't Blame Hip-Hop [NY Times]

GIBSON: I don't let the mother off the hook, Chuck. But I also think that the hip-hop industry has a lot also to do with the way young, especially African-Americans, but also white kids, behave. And this is one of those instances where I do not have to go very far in my hip-hop collection to find guys talking about these blunts, and that is specifically what these teenagers were doing with these kids.

CREEKMUR: I mean, was there rap in the video or was there something in the video that suggested that they were listening to rap and then started doing what they did?

GIBSON: These are 15-year-old African-American boys, right?

CREEKMUR: Right.

GIBSON: There is little chance they are listening to Karen Carpenter or music from my era.

What's that they say about making assumptions? Something about making an ass ... anyway. One note: If Close To You isn't in these kids' CD collections, at least they won't develop eating disorders. Right, John?

Hip-Hop to Blame For Pot-Smoking Tots? [FOXNews.com, via Nah Right]

In the 1970s, Boladian and Bridgeport managed to seize most of the copyrights to [George] Clinton's songs. How exactly they did so is highly disputed. However, in at least a few cases, Boladian assigned the copyrights to Bridgeport by writing a contract and then faking Clinton's signature (as described here). As Clinton put it in this interview, "he just stole 'em." ...

The company, suing in Nashville, Tenn., located every sample of Clinton or other owned copyrights it could find. It took the legal position that any sampling of a sound recording, no matter how minimal or unnoticeable, is still a violation of federal law. Imagine that the copyright owner of The Lord of the Rings had sued every fantasy book or magazine that dared used the words elf, orc, or troll. That gives you an idea of the magnitude of Bridgeport's campaign.

As you may have suspected from the manner in which Boladian got the rights to these songs, the company isn't giving the money won in these judgements to the original copyright owners, like the sampling-positive Clinton; instead, those funds are being plowed back into Bridgeport's coffers, to no doubt pay for more lawsuits. With one appellate court already on Bridgeport's side, things may look grim for sample-happy artists unless, as Wu suggests, Congress intervenes, and adds a "sample code" to the country's law books.

The shady one-man corporation that's destroying hip-hop. [Slate]

Lloyd Banks' Rotten Apple (Interscope) has moved only 234,000 in four weeks, with nearly 61% of that coming in the first week. After debuting at #3, Rotten Apple's next three weeks were #15, #33 and #43. The critically loved Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor (Atlantic) by Lupe Fiasco has moved a scant 184,000 in seven weeks and has dropped to #94. At #95 is Young Dro's Best Thang Smokin' (Atlantic) with 281,000 in ten weeks...

Sure, there are a few artists hanging in there. Ludacris has moved 642,000 units in six weeks and is still in the top 20. Rick Ross's Port of Miami is slugging it out in the bottom half of the top 100 and has sold 594,000 in 13 weeks. But wasn't he supposed to be the second coming?

Missing from this analysis is TI, whose King has been certified platinum, and is still in the Top 200 eight months after its released. But it looks as though even the rush of last-minute hip-hop releases—including Young Jeezy, Nas, and, of course, Life magazine cover boy Jay Edgar Hova—-aren't going to be able to make up for the whole year (as for Clipse and Ghostface, we doubt they'll be able to move far past their hardcore fanbases).

So what happened? Too much downloading? Too many unfunny skits? Or did people get one listen to Port Of Miami and Press Play and realize they're just plain awful?

Hip Hop's Transformation Into A Singles and Ringtone Business [Coolfer]