Editorial----Urban Scene Magazine @ Urbanscene.net
2004 has arrived and the time for the Midwest to take it's rightful place on top of the music industry draws nearer and nearer. With Twista's long awaited new release debuting at #1, Chingy, Nelly, Eminem, King Gordy, Tech N9ne, Do or Die, the soon to be released Urban Scene Magazine and so many others who continue to do this Midwest thang so well, we give much thanks and send our blessing that you all will continue to be successful at what you do.
To all those who have eagerly anticipated the release of Urban Scene Magazine, we have obviously run into some delays. Pretty typical for independently owned and funded organizations but we continue to keep our spirits high and refuse to give up, not only on ourselves but on the unity of the Midwest and all the supporters who have been with us thus far.
So that being said, I thought it would be fair to everyone to let you know the status and what we see for 2004. The new release date for the first issue has yet to be set in stone but we could be looking at late February and possibly March. We will let you know as soon as we know. The complications have come with our distribution channels. Since this is a free publication there are certain distributors that will not distribute a free publication since their profit comes from the cover price.
In our attempts to keep this publication free to the public we have chosen to say "Fuck Em'" and continue to build an underground independent distribution network backed by a national distribution company who WILL distribute Urban Scene Magazine, to newsstands and outside receptacles, etc. around the country.
As much as we hate to miss deadlines, we believe that it is more important to establish a solid foundation for Urban Scene Magazine so it won't turn out to be a here today, gone tomorrow type of deal. We created this magazine for you....the Midwest....so if you are going to put your faith in us, it is important that we don't let you down. That to me is more important than anything...including money.
So, thank you all for your patience. Thanks to all the supporters, contributors, graphic designers, web designers, especially BDGnetworks.com, all the major labels who have shown this new entity so much love:
Atlantic Records
Sony Music
Priority Records
Aftermath Records
Rap-A-Lot Records
Universal Music Group
Deathrow Records
and others....
To all the independent artists and labels (too many to list) thanks for all the love and support. Remember, we are here for you and we are here to help.
Now, for those of you that know me, you know it wouldn't be a Homegrown editorial if I wasn’t lettin' somebody have it. So here goes...my personal beef lies in the Midwest as a whole.
First up is this beef between 50 Cent and Chingy. Now, I have a lot of respect for what 50 Cent has been able to do with his career and the boat loads of records and merchandise he has sold but to all you in the Midwest, especially you artists, please tell me how in the fuck you gonna let some New York cat start dissin' one of our own? We don't go to New York talkin' shit on their artists so why are we letting them do it to us? Everyone of you should have jumped to defend Chingy and stood up for the Midwest but it seems many of you are too scared to defend the Midwest because you are too busy trying to impress the major labels which mostly reside on the East and West Coasts.
Others, choose to stay out of it because. "They don't want no beef with nobody." What kind of pussy attitude is that? If we aren't going to stand up for ourselves, trust and believe that no one else will. We are the shit! We are the cream of the crop. We hold the best selling artists in the game right now and NOONE can compete with that. But if we are ever going to get that 10+ year stay in the game, we have to pull together. We have to stand up for one another; we have to be responsible for unifying ourselves. And defending our hometown favorites is the first step in TAKING our respect from the industry.
To 50 Cent, I love what you do. Your records are hot! Shit, I bump it all the time but that is irrelevant to the topic at hand. So, watch your fuckin' mouth and what you say about the Midwest and it's artists because if it weren’t for the Midwest, your ass would still be on the block or wearin' a wire for the feds or whatever it was you were doing before Eminem put you on. RESPECT THE GAME.... OR BE REMOVED FROM IT! This holds true to all you other outsiders.... respect us and we will respect you. We ain't askin' for none but at the same time we ain't duckin' none. Mutual respect is all we ask so let's be professionals about this and let's get this money.
Secondly, I turn to those that live in the Midwest yet continue to attack Midwest entities. This to me is crazy and while many of you are smart enough to attack various entities with false names, your attacks are not helping the situations that we face in the Midwest. If you have a disliking to a certain business, artists, label etc, that's fine. Find your own ways to contribute to the success of the Midwest instead of being a part of the problem. The Midwest has enough hatred coming from the coasts to last us a lifetime so we sure as hell don't need more coming from our own region.
Artists like Twista for instance. Look how long he's been in the game. He's arguably the greatest rap to ever live but yet he just now is getting his just due. Do you think that's because he didn't want it? Of course not...he's been taking all the crap and paying all the dues for everyone who will come out in the future. The same hatred we are dishing out to ourselves is the same hatred he's been taking from the entire industry all these years. So let's stop attacking ourselves and start backing ourselves.
Next on the list is Strange Music previously based in Kansas City and recently relocated to L.A. Now, here's a Midwest entity (or former Midwest entity) that has got to be one of the top independent labels in the Midwest lead by their star artist, Tech N9ne and yet they seem to have been to good to even grant us with a simple interview for this Midwest dedicated magazine. Now we have interviews with top artists like Murphy Lee, Do or Die, Twista and many more but here a hometown label that believes they are bigger and better than them and shouldn't waste their time with an independently organized publication.
Now the point of this is not to bash Tech N9ne. Tech N9ne will forever be the one from Kansas City that took all the shit and made all the mistakes and got fucked over, etc. for all the independents coming behind him. He forever will reign as the originator of this Kansas City rap scene and whether or not he ever brings that platinum plaque home, he will forever be the Godfather of the Kansas City rap scene. The point of this is to point out to the region that no matter how good you think you are or how much clout you think the industry is giving you or how much money you have made, it is your responsibility to continue to support the entities within the region that made you who you are and not forget where you came from.
No, Urban Scene Magazine did not make Tech N9ne who he is but the same fans that DID, are the same fans that support our efforts to unify and expose our scene.
This hold true to all of us whether we have sold 1 record or 1 million records or more. Urban Scene Magazine cannot be the only entity dedicated to supporting and unifying this scene. We cannot do it by ourselves. Our prideful tactics and jealousy of one another caused us to miss our stay some years ago and now we are in danger of making the same mistakes. Stay true to this Midwest thang...support this Midwest thang...don't ever give up on this Midwest thang because our time to shine is based on our own abilities to make it happen.
My final beef is with the independent artists who want to be featured or have interviews in Urban Scene Magazine. Remember, there are thousands of independents throughout the Midwest. You can't expect to get supported if you don't support. This is a FREE publication and in order to keep it that way and expose all you independents to the nation, you have to dig into your pockets and start supporting our efforts to keep this thing alive. That is easily done through donations, advertising, Artists Pages (available on our website) helping us promote, organizing street teams, pulling together retailers, finding new artists and an infinite number of other ways to help out.
This is Amerikkka and ain't shit free. So I say again, if you want the support we are trying to give you then you better start supporting us or else you can take your chance calling the Source Magazine and see how eager they are to promote your ass. I think you all know where I'm coming from because you know there isn't a single publication out today that gives two shits about the Midwest with the exception of Murderdog's attempts at some cool thangs within Kansas City. But would we the Midwest really support an outside entity before we would support ourselves? I hope not, but only time will tell.
In closing, let's make 2004 the year that we put aside our differences. That we focus more on unifying our scene and creating a network of individuals that can no longer be bullied by the "Industry Bigdogs". We are in control of our own destiny and as a unified entity no one and nothing can stop us. That is all for now.
Homegrown
Urban Scene Magazine, LLC
Co-Owner and Founder
Kansas City, MO
[email protected]
2004 has arrived and the time for the Midwest to take it's rightful place on top of the music industry draws nearer and nearer. With Twista's long awaited new release debuting at #1, Chingy, Nelly, Eminem, King Gordy, Tech N9ne, Do or Die, the soon to be released Urban Scene Magazine and so many others who continue to do this Midwest thang so well, we give much thanks and send our blessing that you all will continue to be successful at what you do.
To all those who have eagerly anticipated the release of Urban Scene Magazine, we have obviously run into some delays. Pretty typical for independently owned and funded organizations but we continue to keep our spirits high and refuse to give up, not only on ourselves but on the unity of the Midwest and all the supporters who have been with us thus far.
So that being said, I thought it would be fair to everyone to let you know the status and what we see for 2004. The new release date for the first issue has yet to be set in stone but we could be looking at late February and possibly March. We will let you know as soon as we know. The complications have come with our distribution channels. Since this is a free publication there are certain distributors that will not distribute a free publication since their profit comes from the cover price.
In our attempts to keep this publication free to the public we have chosen to say "Fuck Em'" and continue to build an underground independent distribution network backed by a national distribution company who WILL distribute Urban Scene Magazine, to newsstands and outside receptacles, etc. around the country.
As much as we hate to miss deadlines, we believe that it is more important to establish a solid foundation for Urban Scene Magazine so it won't turn out to be a here today, gone tomorrow type of deal. We created this magazine for you....the Midwest....so if you are going to put your faith in us, it is important that we don't let you down. That to me is more important than anything...including money.
So, thank you all for your patience. Thanks to all the supporters, contributors, graphic designers, web designers, especially BDGnetworks.com, all the major labels who have shown this new entity so much love:
Atlantic Records
Sony Music
Priority Records
Aftermath Records
Rap-A-Lot Records
Universal Music Group
Deathrow Records
and others....
To all the independent artists and labels (too many to list) thanks for all the love and support. Remember, we are here for you and we are here to help.
Now, for those of you that know me, you know it wouldn't be a Homegrown editorial if I wasn’t lettin' somebody have it. So here goes...my personal beef lies in the Midwest as a whole.
First up is this beef between 50 Cent and Chingy. Now, I have a lot of respect for what 50 Cent has been able to do with his career and the boat loads of records and merchandise he has sold but to all you in the Midwest, especially you artists, please tell me how in the fuck you gonna let some New York cat start dissin' one of our own? We don't go to New York talkin' shit on their artists so why are we letting them do it to us? Everyone of you should have jumped to defend Chingy and stood up for the Midwest but it seems many of you are too scared to defend the Midwest because you are too busy trying to impress the major labels which mostly reside on the East and West Coasts.
Others, choose to stay out of it because. "They don't want no beef with nobody." What kind of pussy attitude is that? If we aren't going to stand up for ourselves, trust and believe that no one else will. We are the shit! We are the cream of the crop. We hold the best selling artists in the game right now and NOONE can compete with that. But if we are ever going to get that 10+ year stay in the game, we have to pull together. We have to stand up for one another; we have to be responsible for unifying ourselves. And defending our hometown favorites is the first step in TAKING our respect from the industry.
To 50 Cent, I love what you do. Your records are hot! Shit, I bump it all the time but that is irrelevant to the topic at hand. So, watch your fuckin' mouth and what you say about the Midwest and it's artists because if it weren’t for the Midwest, your ass would still be on the block or wearin' a wire for the feds or whatever it was you were doing before Eminem put you on. RESPECT THE GAME.... OR BE REMOVED FROM IT! This holds true to all you other outsiders.... respect us and we will respect you. We ain't askin' for none but at the same time we ain't duckin' none. Mutual respect is all we ask so let's be professionals about this and let's get this money.
Secondly, I turn to those that live in the Midwest yet continue to attack Midwest entities. This to me is crazy and while many of you are smart enough to attack various entities with false names, your attacks are not helping the situations that we face in the Midwest. If you have a disliking to a certain business, artists, label etc, that's fine. Find your own ways to contribute to the success of the Midwest instead of being a part of the problem. The Midwest has enough hatred coming from the coasts to last us a lifetime so we sure as hell don't need more coming from our own region.
Artists like Twista for instance. Look how long he's been in the game. He's arguably the greatest rap to ever live but yet he just now is getting his just due. Do you think that's because he didn't want it? Of course not...he's been taking all the crap and paying all the dues for everyone who will come out in the future. The same hatred we are dishing out to ourselves is the same hatred he's been taking from the entire industry all these years. So let's stop attacking ourselves and start backing ourselves.
Next on the list is Strange Music previously based in Kansas City and recently relocated to L.A. Now, here's a Midwest entity (or former Midwest entity) that has got to be one of the top independent labels in the Midwest lead by their star artist, Tech N9ne and yet they seem to have been to good to even grant us with a simple interview for this Midwest dedicated magazine. Now we have interviews with top artists like Murphy Lee, Do or Die, Twista and many more but here a hometown label that believes they are bigger and better than them and shouldn't waste their time with an independently organized publication.
Now the point of this is not to bash Tech N9ne. Tech N9ne will forever be the one from Kansas City that took all the shit and made all the mistakes and got fucked over, etc. for all the independents coming behind him. He forever will reign as the originator of this Kansas City rap scene and whether or not he ever brings that platinum plaque home, he will forever be the Godfather of the Kansas City rap scene. The point of this is to point out to the region that no matter how good you think you are or how much clout you think the industry is giving you or how much money you have made, it is your responsibility to continue to support the entities within the region that made you who you are and not forget where you came from.
No, Urban Scene Magazine did not make Tech N9ne who he is but the same fans that DID, are the same fans that support our efforts to unify and expose our scene.
This hold true to all of us whether we have sold 1 record or 1 million records or more. Urban Scene Magazine cannot be the only entity dedicated to supporting and unifying this scene. We cannot do it by ourselves. Our prideful tactics and jealousy of one another caused us to miss our stay some years ago and now we are in danger of making the same mistakes. Stay true to this Midwest thang...support this Midwest thang...don't ever give up on this Midwest thang because our time to shine is based on our own abilities to make it happen.
My final beef is with the independent artists who want to be featured or have interviews in Urban Scene Magazine. Remember, there are thousands of independents throughout the Midwest. You can't expect to get supported if you don't support. This is a FREE publication and in order to keep it that way and expose all you independents to the nation, you have to dig into your pockets and start supporting our efforts to keep this thing alive. That is easily done through donations, advertising, Artists Pages (available on our website) helping us promote, organizing street teams, pulling together retailers, finding new artists and an infinite number of other ways to help out.
This is Amerikkka and ain't shit free. So I say again, if you want the support we are trying to give you then you better start supporting us or else you can take your chance calling the Source Magazine and see how eager they are to promote your ass. I think you all know where I'm coming from because you know there isn't a single publication out today that gives two shits about the Midwest with the exception of Murderdog's attempts at some cool thangs within Kansas City. But would we the Midwest really support an outside entity before we would support ourselves? I hope not, but only time will tell.
In closing, let's make 2004 the year that we put aside our differences. That we focus more on unifying our scene and creating a network of individuals that can no longer be bullied by the "Industry Bigdogs". We are in control of our own destiny and as a unified entity no one and nothing can stop us. That is all for now.
Homegrown
Urban Scene Magazine, LLC
Co-Owner and Founder
Kansas City, MO
[email protected]
