West Coast: Solutions & Suggestions...No Negativity

LIL C.S. · Mar 24, 2003

What do ya'll think we need to do? I know there's been a lot of posts on BART similiar to this, but in this post please only post solutions and suggestions. Not what we're doin' wrong. If you're tired of seein' posts like this, then don't respond to it. Simple as that!

Now, I was just watchin' 106 & Park, and Snoop's "Beautiful" is the first West Coast song in as long as I can remember that made it to #2. Personally I like the song, even though I don't have Snoop's album. I like it from a mainstream standpoint because it's not the same West Coast subject matter c-walkin', khaki's, lowriders, bangin' etc. We need more songs like that (e.i. diff. subject matter) to get the rest of the country likin' us again. Think of all of the popular artists fromthe East to the South and the hits they have, most of em' are club songs, or songs about females. How the game is now as I see it, I don't see how anybody can REALLY blow up without a club hit! Sometimes the West think we're too hard to make songs like that. Now I'm really only speakin' on our mainstream artists cuz they're the ones in the position to get us bac on top, not the underground artists. Personally my thing was always to be versatile with my songs from Sic Wit' This, Lil CS street history lesson, to Thug Tears, to Faded & X-Rated. Some people like that, and some don't. That's why Pac was so successful though because of his ability to be versatile with his subject matter, and make hits (I'M NOT COMPARIN' MYSELF TO PAC, JUST MAKIN' A POINT). To me a real muthafucca is a rapper who can express not just his hard shit, but sad shit, party shit, sex shit, cuz every nigga I know is not a hard killa 24/7. So all I'm sayin' is I hope some of our artists that are out there in the limelight already express diff. subject matter, and all aspects of what they go through, relationships with females, gangsta shit, sad times, happy times, a little comedy etc. There were a couple of songs on the Luniz Silver & Blac album that I felt could've been radio/club hits if they had a video and the right push, plus at the same time Yuk showed his lyrical skill, even on a club song. Shit WC should've made a video for "Flirt". I want to see the West bac with hits. Up until Snoop 106 & Park countdown wouldn't even have West Coast artists in it. And it's not just cuz it's Snoop, cuz from the chuuch to the palace didn't blow up. It's the subject matter on "Beautiful", and the danceable beat. I just want the west bac, but the artists already on the majors are the ones that are going to have to get the attention bac on us, then maybe they'll peep other shit. Look at 50, he reeled everybody in with "In The Club", and 90% of his album is killa gangsta shit. He threw "21 Questions" on there, which will be another hit if they release it as his next single, but still the majority of his album is gangsta shit similiar to the West Coast subject matter. So my suggestion would be diff. subject matter from what usually the West Coast talks about for singles.(mainstream artists, cuz if you're underground you can make radio songs all you want, but without a major it won't get the needed exposure), and also to get the country's attention again we need club hits, but from people with a respected stree rep, and from the people who can get the right push.

I'm not sayin' that I'm right, and I have the answers, just my opinion on the matter. 1

LIL C.S. aka C.S. Heat

MOESES SOULRIGHT THE 2nd · Mar 25, 2003

schoolin em

i feel you on the Killer 24/7 shit...
i have never once in my life met a one sided person, and we say that Rap is our way of expression...so express to me more then just the ONE SIDE you WANT to show...express to me every singel aspect...that's what made Pac in my opinion, is that he didn't hide himself, later in his career i think he did a bit, but before that PAC showed every single side of him with the same pride and humility at the same time...

i think a big factor though is, greedy producers, i'll stick by that thought for life...

Tooper · Mar 25, 2003

9 times out of ten i'm not feelin an album if it's sum killer shoot you this way kill you that way on every song.i like a mix of things too but most important the mentality behind the song thats whut i like to hear if you wanna talk about sumthen.i said it before i'll say it again.

jesse james · Mar 25, 2003

To get back on top, it's starts on the home turf............Yall gotta get back on your toes in your own town...........U don't want mofos from out of town to catch u sleeping on your heels, when u do u get picked off...........Like with Warfare we flooding STL this time around, we gonna lock the town and then spread........

In the STL our radio stations show alot of love to local acts..........build relationships with the radio directors, and to cats who don;t like mainstream shit, they the gay lil fellas acting like a wallflower in the clubs while i'm ho go gettin in the middle

I'm Little

Willy Jones · Mar 25, 2003

When an MC meets the following criteria - the west coast will rise again:

1) He is from the west coast.
2) His rhymes are technical enough to appease the hip hop crowd (like the faggot nigga Wack-Up Show).
3) His rhymes are real enough, due to the fact he's lived the life at one time or another, to appease the gangsta crowd.
4) His beats are pop-oriented, but still have that cali gangsta touch (no west coast producer really has that touch anymore except Rick Rock). Big Hollis beats will never blow up anywhere in the whole world besides sac town.
5) His punchlines and his material are original and catchy enough to really catch your ear and make you listen.
6) He has a fresh voice.
7) Above all else - he has to GET ACROSS THE NATION AND PROMOTE - and go to NY and kick it

Nobody on the west coast currently has any of that, althought Crooked I is very close.

LIL C.S. · Mar 25, 2003

Willy Jones said:

Good shit homey. I feel the same way. I feel Crooked is hella close to all of that, but I just need to see if he can make HITS. He's a lyricist, but can he make the catchy hooks, and the concepts that everyone likes. That's why I'm waiting on his album. Hopefully he can, but if that "So Damn Hood" was an example of him tryin' to make a nationwide radio hit, it's not going to crac. He needs a club banger! I think Yuk has a chance. I believe he has it in him to make another radio smash, and if he got like a dre, or even the neptunes he has a chance of doin' it mainstream again. 1

LIL C.S. aka C.S. Heat

Wallnutz · Mar 25, 2003

my question is...are the majors and the radio stations truly willing to play shit from out west thats not Snoop or Dre??

i also would like to see what happens in the coming year or 2 as far as what the public wants...these young kids only seem to want club hits and a r&b collabos...what if the tide changes to something else?? i personally think that the bling bling era is coming to an end and that more serious shit may be what people are looking for again....i mean we are in the midst of a war and hip hop isnt even reflecting it right now....i dont mean to come off sounding like Chuck D or one of those backpack dudes but this jiggy club save a hoe shit thats on the radio now(Fab Ja Rule etc.) that shit doesnt really do anything for me....

but for now...west coast artists need to hook up with the same 5 producers and the same 2 or 3 r&b broads and be signed to a Universal subsidiary and see how it works like everybody else

Eastside B-Down · Mar 25, 2003

For what its worth.....All some of us want to hear is the "wearing khaki's, dipping in lowriders, stopping at the corner liquor store on a street in California (insert Crenshaw, Rosecrans, Market, Euclid, Imperial, Aranbe, Slausson etc etc). That's why the underground Dago stuff appeals to me personally. Its still got that underground gang-bang mentality from homies still putting it down for the hood. This is what makes a Mitchy Slick album so much better and more credible than an Xzibit album...Just my $ 0.02

ChopShop · Mar 25, 2003

There's a lot of good points here, and I think Lil C.S. is right on with people needing to change the subject matter and be CREATIVE while trying to come with something that won't be confined to just one region. The point is to make good music. If you make gangster shit, then make good gangster shit.. you want to blow up, then put your own style and be creative on something that actually has a shot against other songs in the club. That's my 2 cents and hopefully my shit will be seen as something like that so that you can HEAR my example.

@YoungMoe- I feel you that many producers are greedy and want way more than a lot of their tracks are worth (shit, I had a No Limit producer saying his beats, which were garbage to me, could be hooked up for a sweet deal of $1,500--WOW!) but at the same time I know some HARD producers who charge very little or a price that isn't out of reach. I know one producer for example that says 1/2 of the rappers that come at him don't offer any money and say their rapping and style will compliment the beat... well that's all good if they feel you and want to work with you, but otherwise it has to be recognized that this is a BUSINESS and if you are not willing to invest any money in yourself, then why should they invest in you.

You gotta bring some money to the table for people to take you serious (and thank God for financial aid, cuz without that I might not have any material).
Another thing, you don't need the BIGGEST producers to blow up (Khyree, Mosely, Ric Roc), you just need the tightest material, the cleanest mix and masters, and to know a few people in the right places.
This isn't all just directed at you Moe, but I read you might be in Dago for the Fashion Show... hit me up and maybe I can hip you to a few peeps. Grant Theft

GRANT THEFT- AUTOMATIC (EP) commin soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MITCHY SLICK · Mar 25, 2003

OH SHIT!THIS EAST SIDE B-DOWN CAT IS MY NIGGA.YOU FEEL ME.O.K. YALL AINT NEVER REALLY HEARD MITCH,KICK NO SHIT FOR YALL ,BUT I GUESS IT'S TIME.I BEEN IN THE GAME FOR ABOUT 5 YEARS NOW.I KNOW ALOT OF WEST,MAJOR ARTIST PERSONALLY.FROM SNOOP AND DRE TO 40.THE WEST COAST IS IN A SLUMP BECAUSE OF A NUMBER OF THINGS.HERE'S JUST A FEW REASON'S.(1)B.E.T. AND SOURCE MAG.THE INDUSTRY IS BASED ON THE EAST.WE DON'T STAND A CHANCE ON 106 AND PARK.BENZINO AINT FINA LET THE WEST OUT SHINE HIS HOMIES.WOULD U?(2)THE DJ'S ON THE EAST DON'T PLAY WEST SHIT AT ALL.YOU MIGHT HERE PAC AND DRE OR SNOOP BUT LIKE JIGGA SAID,THATS WHERE IT STOPS.(3)MOST OF THESE WEST COAST DJ'S DONT EVEN FUCK WIT STREET WEST COAST MUSIC NOWAY.THEY MOSTLY ON SOME BACK PACK SHIT.(4)YOU CAN HERE EAST COAST SHIT 80%OF THE DAY ON WEST COAST RADIO.THEY GOT STRAIGHT BACK PACK RADIO SHOWS OUT HERE,STRAIGHT HIP HOP.WE DON'T EVEN GOT ALL WEST COAST GANGSTA RADIO SHOWS OUT HERE.(5)EAST COAST NIGGAS BIZ IS TIGHTER.THEY GOT FRIENDS IN BETTER POSITIONS.ALL THE BLACK SCHOOL GRADUATES GO ON TO WORK FOR THOSE EAST COMPANYS.THE "WHO YOU KNOW" THING.THERE AINT ONE BLACK SCHOOL ON THE WEST.THEIR POLITICIN SHIT IS MORE KRACKIN.THE WEST RADIO IS RAN BY EAST COASTS STAFF'S.(6)THE TOP DOGS ON THE WEST WON'T PUT NOBODY ELSE ON.WE NEED NEW BLOOD.LIKE THEY GOT 50 ,CAMRON.ROCA FELLA EVEN PICKED UP TWISTA.THE WORLD WANNA HEAR NEW NIGGAS....THIS AINT EVEN HALF THE REASONS. IM JUST TALKIN TO MUCH PEACE..........

MITCHY SLICK · Mar 25, 2003