Dru Hill's 20 Year Reunion

Whaaaattt? Its been almost 20 years. 

Dru Hill is dropping another album next year for their 20th anniversary!!  I remember “We’re Not Making Love No More, How Deep Is Your Love, It’s All About Me, In My Bed, and Beauty” like it was yesterday. In SisQo’s recent interview on The Real, he divulged this secret he's been holding on to…

Tamar Braxton: Now how does the Last Dragon compare to your other albums?

SisQo: It’s funny, a lot of people ask me why I went with the name Last Dragon. And it’s actually gonna be my last album.

The Real hosts: Aww.

SisQo: Well, I’m doing something else. I’m moving into film and television.

Adrienne Bailon: That’s awesome, so we’ll still be seeing you.

Tamar Braxton: Amazing! That don’t mean you gotta stop singing though. I’m just saying.

SisQo: Well I mean, I still sing with Dru Hill. So for the record, we never broke up! And 2016 is our twentieth anniversary, so we’re gonna do another album.

Tamar Braxton: Yay!

SisQo: So I guess that will be the last one!

#LeslieMac

A Change Gonna Come!

There's a serious need for a Bullshit Regulatory Commission on music. DJs control the night and they have a reputation to uphold and that's 1 reason that new track of yours isn't getting a spin when you walk it in the club. 

Let's explore the word ‘Ritual.’ A Ritual is a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order. 

Now with that little bit of knowledge we can explore this "change". What is a DJ if he can't scratch, what is an MC if he can't rap? Those lyrics were directed at the future. Now we have "Push Button" DJs and songs are being pumped out of the studios faster than I

can listen and write my reviews on Fluence. Now, I will never knock talent or the attempt there of, but I will call attention to quality! So to answer the second question, a MC that can't rap is someone who hinders the movement. These MCs have unintentionally created the politics of the industry. Politics have their own place but in Hip-Hop? NO! What do we say to that? In the words of Hip-Hop legend Chuck D, "Fight The Power."

As the records, CDs, or even the colorful graphics display on your installed DJ program

have a revolution, the industry must have a Re-Evolution. An indie artist is born faster than

mothers delivering a baby through natural child birth. "There's a song and a remix in your inbox," is what just displayed on my computers desktop as I type. There’s passion in the production of these songs, however there's a lot of bad quality projects that are being put out. These projects hinder the good music from gaining its momentum to move from emails to ears. But that's a blog to be discussed at a later day. 

ATTENTION ASPIRED MUSIC ENTERTAINERS

Quality is priority #1! You absolutely, positively cannot cut corners on this part AT ALL. 

1. Get to a studio, with a booth and a engineer… get the sound A-1! 

2. Everyone with PhotoShop thinks they can do graphics, so not the case. Find that 1 graphic artist that really does know how to give you that quality...keep going to them. If it doesn't look good, what are we going to expect from the music?

3. Seek out a lot of good, consistent business relationships. DJs, promoters, Bloggers, fan engagement, and most of all treat your projects and talents as if they're the love of your life. 

This brings me back to Ritual… Imagine having to set the mood or tone for 100s even

1000s of people who want to hang out after work or after a long week or after monumental occasion. Well that's what DJs are tasked with when the club doors open. When fansstream mixtapes to their devices they're looking for that mood changer and motivation. Consider the daily and weekly Ritual of the DJ. Don't think you're going to just walk in and drop off some music and hear your song in the middle of the DJs set! Create a Ritual for your music and then you may fit into the DJs moment. 

I want to end with two finds that I have discovered. 

1. Next 

Next combines Instagram, Tinder, Twitter and Facebook all into one app and lets the artists, DJs, and Music fans discover new music without the garbage that can litter the information highway. Hence one way to regulate the bullshit in music. If you're not delivering a good Listening experience, they will swipe to the left. You have 30-seconds to preview your skills. New fans can view full-length videos and full profiles. No ads and it's free! Next boasts that it's app is, “A real, dedicated music community for mobile.” This is the app that requires you to look good and sound good. You have 30 seconds...GO!

2. Bandcamp 

I'm going to start with a fact....Bandcamp has paid $100 Million to Independent Artists and labels. This direct to fan (DTF) music sales platform, has been the new version of "out the trunk" since its launch in 2008. While the industry reports record sales declining, Bandcamp reports the opposite. In a interview with Billboard Co-founder Ethan Diamond stated, “Bandcamp  has increased 30% in sales last year and now average $3.5 million per month in record sales." That "works out to about 16,000 records a day...One every five seconds, twenty-four-seven." Oh by the way, it's free to join Bandcamp. The site is planning on some major add-ons, so it behooves you to get that project right or the consumers will continue with the 'boo' action. 

If you're looking for a start, submit your music to me at Fluence for immediate feedback. Be a part of the change or end up sounding like the artist that says, “ …I’m just trying to get my music played."  

#LeslieMac

Revolutionary...Scary!

Three weeks in, and this year is full of indie and mainstream releases. My inbox has reached a new level of being full. Please keep sending your material to alesliemacevent@gmail.com, and know that we are always listening. In the next week you will see a new #MacAttack with an in depth look into the DJs, producers, and artists who make our lists every week. Thanks to the collaborative efforts with @n_rotation The DJ Magazine, we are happy to bring you more than just music, we talk to every feature!

Now this portion of the blog may shake up a few of you. But truth be told the fun days of Hip-Hop are long gone or at the least the fun music is swept into the virtual trash can. 

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five "The Message" was groundbreaking and insightful to the struggle of inner city living, but now it's not how to "overcome", it's about how to "get over" and that's by any means necessary. Let me pause and state that this is about the revolution of music and nothing else! Todays “Message” isn’t far off course of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, but its aimed at the destructive nature of society. NWA talked about the streets of Compton and the music no doubt mirrored neighborhoods across the country. Promoting violence was never the intention of the group who began the “Straight Outta Compton” track with, “You’re now about to witness the Strength of Street Knowledge”. Somewhere in the days of Slick Rick & Eric B and Rakim the industry decided to focus on the downward spiral of the community and not the fun party tracks of Heavy D or Kwame’. Now, I'm a huge fan of Jeezy, T.I., The Game and Kendrick Lamar, and truly believe there's a place for them on our mobile devices and bumping them through our Beats headphones. People we can’t keep letting mindless entertainment control the outlook of the culture. Being in love with the “Coco”…Not one of Hip-Hops greatest contributions, but it finds its way into the clubs and radio... SMH! 

Meanwhile the core Hip-Hop artistry has been getting replaced by pop culture music that infuses rap talent with the catchy club tunes that don’t relate to Hip-Hop or its roots. Last year Billboard made a historical milestone. After 55 years of keeping track of what we listen to, it showed us that Hip-Hop and its culture has met its fate on the chart. There were NO black artists on top of the Hot 100 chart. And yes, the jury is still out on Macklemore claiming the #1 spot on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Not to mention that 1 album sold platinum last year…Taylor Swift. Revolution of Hip-Hop music is scary. This only proves that the market, the “public market” that is, is asking for the happy rap; which is not from its native origins. They want rap but not from the street poets or the righteous thinkers. 

For these facts and these facts alone, independent artists should be embraced and supported, provided the content is worth it. 

#LeslieMac