Nipsey [Hussle] was the American dream. Started from the bottom, not with some 'small' million dollar loan from his daddy, but the hard way. He developed his musical talent and sold mixtapes on the streets. Worked in the neighborhood. Went to school in the neighborhood. Got his first job in the neighborhood. If you're from around here, probably got your order for fish from him at the Bayou Grille in Inglewood. | | | | Unidentified couple in the late 19th or early 20th century, or last week in Silver Lake. You decide.
(Archive Photos/Getty Images) | | | | | |  | "Nipsey [Hussle] was the American dream. Started from the bottom, not with some 'small' million dollar loan from his daddy, but the hard way. He developed his musical talent and sold mixtapes on the streets. Worked in the neighborhood. Went to school in the neighborhood. Got his first job in the neighborhood. If you're from around here, probably got your order for fish from him at the Bayou Grille in Inglewood."
| | | | | | rantnrave:// Between a revealing NEW YORK TIMES story on how the "BLURRED LINES" case has spooked songwriters—and changed how they work—and a great package of VULTURE pieces on songwriters' (surprisingly frank) thoughts on borrowing and appropriating, on plagiarism through the centuries and on the ridiculous number of plagiarism accusations swirling around ARIANA GRANDE's "7 RINGS," we've gotten a master class in the past couple days on the practice and philosophy of influence appropriation plagiarism coincidence homage (which should be one long blurred word but then this sentence would look like a mess but feel free to join them back together in your head). In short: This isn't new. MOZART did it and got away with it for more than a century. Everyone at least flirts with it every time they pick up a guitar, keyboard, sampler or blank sheet of music paper because it's a) literally impossible not to and b) part of most humans' creative process in one way or another. Everyone is OK with it and kinda sorta does and kinda sorta doesn't know exactly where the line is, and there might not be a line. No one thinks "Blurred Lines" plagiarized "Got to Give It Up" (except of course the U.S. legal system, but, hey, tomato tomahto). The market for musicologists is hot; some songwriters even hire them to vet their own songs. A BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD sample once cost PUBLIC ENEMY 175 percent of the rights to a song, which, as CHUCK D explains, means "they take another 75 percent out of another song." Suddenly the 90 percent of "7 Rings" that Ariana Grande handed over to the owners of "MY FAVORITE THINGS" sounds like nothing, right? People are sharing songwriting credits and publishing like TIC TACS. A good rule of thumb, courtesy BEBE REXHA, that probably should apply to everything you do 24 hours a day seven days a week no matter who you are: "As long as you're not trying to f*** people over, then you're good." Four must-reads... Remembrances, eulogies and love continue to pour in for NIPSEY HUSSLE, who was a rapper, businessman, hustler, tech incubator, philanthropist and a few other hyphens, but who maybe most significantly was a lifelong resident of South LA who committed his life to lifting his community up. A life cut way too short. MusicSET: "Nipsey Hussle Left Hip-Hop, and Los Angeles, Better Than He Found Them"... Not everyone is mourning him as a hero though... LA police have identified a suspect... There's another The RECORDING ACADEMY's board of trustees has chosen a successor to president/CEO NEIL PORTNOW via "silent ballot," VARIETY's JEM ASWAD reports, "and few people will be informed of the result until a contract is signed." I'm going to pretend the board had a deck of Oblique Strategies cards on the table as it voted and someone drew either "Listen to the quiet voice" or "Don't break the silence"... You'll be able to POSTMATES your food and drinks at COACHELLA. But sadly, no delivery. Pickup only... WEEZER at the TINY DESK... Best wishes to MICK JAGGER... RIP ARMANDO VEGA-GIL (complicated details behind that link) and BILLY ADAMS. | | | - Matty Karas, curator | | | |  | Vulture | | Allegations of copying and cultural appropriation are hardly new to popular music, but today, it can feel like nearly every big hit becomes a target. Social media fuels the rush to litigate whether familiar riffs and rhythms are exclusive or communal property -- debates that are fueled by a history of racial injustice in the music industry. | | | |  | Rolling Stone | | From Mudhoney to Mother Love Bone and beyond - the finest releases from the maladjusted new breed that remade rock. | | | |  | REDEF | | He was a rapper, businessman, hustler, tech incubator, philanthropist and a few other hyphens. And maybe above all, he was a lifelong resident of South LA, and he committed his life to lifting his community up. A life that was cut way too short. | | | |  | Pitchfork | |  | The Miami Herald | | Miami and Key Biscayne residents say they can hear Ultra's blaring beats and music from Virginia Key. Whether it's a bother is up for debate. | | | |  | Highway Queens | | Men need to take women seriously whatever they are (or aren't) wearing. And we all need to be less judgemental about how other people present themselves. | | | |  | Pollstar | | The first quarter for the live business is generally a slow time of year led by such holiday fare as Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Mannheim Steamroller. But, then again, the first quarter doesn't usually have a searing-hot rapper like Travis Scott. | | | |  | The New York Times | | The fastest-rising pop star of the moment is 17 and writes off-kilter songs with her older brother. Go behind the making of "Bury a Friend" and their new model for making it big. | | | |  | MTV News | | Pop's arc lately bends toward harsher sounds. | | | |  | Innovating Music | | In this week's podcast, Amadea Choplin, the COO from Pex, takes us down the online music data rabbit hole. She shares how official music distribution is just the beginning of the adventures of distributed songs, and how on average 99% of top artists' music use has moved beyond the original uploaded accounts to be reloaded into other spaces and purposes across the viral web. | | | | | Pitchfork | | As the borders that once defined genres continue to dissolve, what are the rules and who gets to make them? | | | |  | Complex | | With his show 'Trigger Warning,' Killer Mike demonstrated some outside-the-box, solution-oriented thinking. How could he apply that to the music industry? | | | |  | Billboard | | The Grammys had to move their airdate, but maybe they should pushed it later, not earlier. | | | |  | Highsnobiety | | Artists like JPEGMAFIA and Juice WRLD represent a significant shift in how video games are utilized in the world of hip-hop. | | | | | Rolling Stone | | "His image was too much overwhelmed by his death," Goldberg says of what inspired him to share his own memories of the late icon in new book 'Serving the Servant.' | | | |  | The Undefeated | | 1972's 'You're the Man' project is a reminder of post-civil rights America -- and Tupac. | | | |  | The Verge | | The 'Future Pop' tour is a dazzling collision of technology and choreography. | | | |  | Paper | | The 1975's Matty Healy (himself the target of ardent online and offline fandom) became one of few big names to call out paid meet and greets, the time honored tradition of forcing 13-year-old girls to pay $350 for a new lock screen. | | | |  | The Guardian | | From pop to UK rap and Afro-bashment, black women artists are rarely heard in the charts -- and the blacker your skin, the more invisible you are. | | | |  | Noisey | | "I have no idea who most of these artists are, to be honest," one guy who was there in 1969 told Noisey. | | | | |  | | YouTube | | | | | | | | | | | I'd love to read an academic paper on the persistence of the "modern music makes me sick" school of songwriting over the decades. | | | | | | | | © Copyright 2019, The REDEF Group | | |
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