Groove Candy / Blunt Club article portion poorly written and racist.

[ILL AL]

The Willy Northpole article was dope and let me say that I support Willy North's career as well as Hot Rod and Juice. 5th coast & Man Up are all dope to me. I like the music coming out from all of these crews, labels and artists.

That said, while I was reading through the article written by Niki D'Andrea I was taken back by some of the things she wrote regarding The Blunt Club and Groove Candy.

Now, everyone knows there are different styles of Rap/Hip-Hop music. Just as there are different styles of Rock, Country, Jazz or what have you. This isn't...news. It's always been that way.

Arizona is no exception to this. There are club/radio friendly artists and groups and then the socially concious/culture artists and groups. Both are important and both are racially diverse.

Some how in this article, a depiction that there is a tear between these two really great events is being made. That some how one events following isn't down with the other...or is in competition. This is not true. There are a lot of people I know that frequent both Groove Candy as well as The Blunt Club because the two events offer a different flavor of Hip-Hop/Rap music and vibe.

What's worse, is this false statement made by Niki D'Andrea...

"White college students constitute a large part of the audience. With a few exceptions (like McVay and a guest appearance by Public Enemy in 2007), most of the performers at Blunt Club are white, too."

Firstly why is race even a subject here...who cares.

...Anyway, I'd like to see the census that was done that showed this blantently false result. The Blunt Club is not predominantly made up of white college kids any more then it is predominantly any other specific racial background or level of education. It's VERY diverse. The Latin community has a very large presence as well as Native American and Black. White people would actually usually be the minority at a glance, with no real majority to speak of. The event is actually put on by mostly non-white people.

Saying that Emerge and Public Enemy are the acceptions is just piss poor reporting on Niki D'Andreas part. Blunt Club has had lots of racially diverse performers. Why is this even a part of this otherwise great article about some AZ mcs blowing up and doing well?

Just for the record...the list of black & latino performers are way too long to list but...Black Sheep, 2Mex, Scarub, PSC, Life Rexall, Mr. Lif, Akrobatic...not to mention Proof from D12 (RIP) performed at the BC and kicked it. Guru of Gangstarr just hangin out at The BC. What the fuck was she thinking...exactly she wasn't thinking.

I don't see why race would even be an issue with any of this anyway.

Another stupid comment by Niki D'Andrea in an attempt to "stir shit up"...

"But it's rappers like Willy Northpole — guys who look like they're from the streets of L.A. or New York — who are making an attempt to represent Arizona hip-hop in their music and their lives, not the MCs at Blunt Club, who may occasionally reference the city in their lyrics but keep the local pride insulated."

Willy North is repping for AZ, Hot Rod is, Juice, 5th Coast, Cinque...all AZ hip-hop artists are repping for AZ. That's what all AZ mcs do, we rep for our state with everything we do. Wether or not we use a hand sign, t-shirt, hat, video, song, tour, performance...wether we want to or not...we are repping AZ to the rest of the world.

Now I see what she's trying to do with saying, "guys who look like they're from the streets of L.A. or New York"...she's attempting to say guys who look like "The Rapper" on MTV. Because saying someone looks like their from the streets of LA or NY could damn well mean anything. Define what a person looks like from streets LA or NY percisely. That's way too broad of a statement. She means "The Rappers on MTV" or big city successes. Ok, so is that to say that because one person fits a look more so to a popular MC that they rep better or harder?

Ofcourse they don't.

What Willy North or any other major label AZ artist looks like has nothing to do with how successful they become or how hard they rep for AZ.

What they sound like does.

They are blowing up based off of their talent. The kind of music they make is popular music. It's GOOD music. It's what the majority in hip-hop want. With that type of appreal they can do amazing things for AZ hip-hop exposure...but it doesn't mean the independed music side doesn't rep and we keep our pride, as she put it, "insulated".

To try to compare commercially viable hip-hop music to underground concious music and say one is better then the other is something the media will always try to do to get people to read the article. It's bullshit though. Because I know for a fact that Everyone at Blunt Club has love for Willy North, Man Up, 5th Coast etc...

By the way...what the fuck is a Blunt Club MC? There is no such thing. I can only assume she is refering to the groups she mentioned in the article that she associated with The BC...(East Valley MCs)

Again...she said...

"not the MCs at Blunt Club, who may occasionally reference the city in their lyrics but keep the local pride insulated."

How is it that (East Valley MCs) don't rep for the local hip-hop scene? Last time I checked that's all groups from AZ do. I've been on tours with Drunken Immortals, Antedote...AOTA (AOTA isn't even East Valley)...they all rep for AZ. Some even over seas. The Insects are there all the time repping AZ hip-hop. There are fucking youtube videos of Brad B on stage in France yelling AZ hip-hop at large crowds of people eating it up. Whole songs about Arizona in general being sung back in broken English from people over seas at these shows...to say "they" (East Valley) hip-hop artists, don't rep or keep their local pride insulted is a fucking lie.

Also, I frequent The BC mainly (because I'm more into that vibe) but I'm not an East Valley MC. I'm from Central Phoenix...but by her definition I guess I'd be a Blunt Club MC? Which means I don't rep or do shit for AZ...right. Haha!

Anyway, I have love for all the people she wrote about in the article. I have have love for both of these really great hip-hop events. I have love for Karlie Hustle, M2, The Blunt Club and the New Times.

I do not have any love for this piss poor writer (Niki D'Andrea) an outsider of our AZ hip-hop culture trying to stir shit up in order to get more reads.

It's funny how she wrote in a way to commend unity amoungst the people within our scene...but if you read carefully, all the talk of unity was spoken from people within our scene. Meanwhile she made unfair, inaccurate comparrisons throughout the article using race and styles of music...

She should have just focused all of the attention on the main subject at hand..Willy North and AZ hip-hop finally getting some national attention.

That's my $0.02

[Trife Lo]

Originally Posted by ILL AL

The Willy Northpole article was dope and let me say that I support Willy North's career as well as Hot Rod and Juice. 5th coast & Man Up are all dope to me. I like the music coming out from all of these crews, labels and artists.

That said, while I was reading through the article written by Niki D'Andrea I was taken back by some of the things she wrote regarding The Blunt Club and Groove Candy.

Now, everyone knows there are different styles of Rap/Hip-Hop music. Just as there are different styles of Rock, Country, Jazz or what have you. This isn't...news. It's always been that way.

Arizona is no exception to this. There are club/radio friendly artists and groups and then the socially concious/culture artists and groups. Both are important and both are racially diverse.

Some how in this article, a depiction that there is a tear between these two really great events is being made. That some how one events following isn't down with the other...or is in competition. This is not true. There are a lot of people I know that frequent both Groove Candy as well as The Blunt Club because the two events offer a different flavor of Hip-Hop/Rap music and vibe.

What's worse, is this false statement made by Niki D'Andrea...

"White college students constitute a large part of the audience. With a few exceptions (like McVay and a guest appearance by Public Enemy in 2007), most of the performers at Blunt Club are white, too."

Firstly why is race even a subject here...who cares.

...Anyway, I'd like to see the census that was done that showed this blantently false result. The Blunt Club is not predominantly made up of white college kids any more then it is predominantly any other specific racial background or level of education. It's VERY diverse. The Latin community has a very large presence as well as Native American and Black. White people would actually usually be the minority at a glance, with no real majority to speak of. The event is actually put on by mostly non-white people.

Saying that Emerge and Public Enemy are the acceptions is just piss poor reporting on Niki D'Andreas part. Blunt Club has had lots of racially diverse performers. Why is this even a part of this otherwise great article about some AZ mcs blowing up and doing well?

Just for the record...the list of black & latino performers are way too long to list but...Black Sheep, 2Mex, Scarub, PSC, Life Rexall, Mr. Lif, Akrobatic...not to mention Proof from D12 (RIP) performed at the BC and kicked it. Guru of Gangstarr just hangin out at The BC. What the fuck was she thinking...exactly she wasn't thinking.

I don't see why race would even be an issue with any of this anyway.

Another stupid comment by Niki D'Andrea in an attempt to "stir shit up"...

"But it's rappers like Willy Northpole — guys who look like they're from the streets of L.A. or New York — who are making an attempt to represent Arizona hip-hop in their music and their lives, not the MCs at Blunt Club, who may occasionally reference the city in their lyrics but keep the local pride insulated."

Willy North is repping for AZ, Hot Rod is, Juice, 5th Coast, Cinque...all AZ hip-hop artists are repping for AZ. That's what all AZ mcs do, we rep for our state with everything we do. Wether or not we use a hand sign, t-shirt, hat, video, song, tour, performance...wether we want to or not...we are repping AZ to the rest of the world.

Now I see what she's trying to do with saying, "guys who look like they're from the streets of L.A. or New York"...she's attempting to say guys who look like "The Rapper" on MTV. Because saying someone looks like their from the streets of LA or NY could damn well mean anything. Define what a person looks like from streets LA or NY percisely. That's way too broad of a statement. She means "The Rappers on MTV" or big city successes. Ok, so is that to say that because one person fits a look more so to a popular MC that they rep better or harder?

Ofcourse they don't.

What Willy North or any other major label AZ artist looks like has nothing to do with how successful they become or how hard they rep for AZ.

What they sound like does.

They are blowing up based off of their talent. The kind of music they make is popular music. It's GOOD music. It's what the majority in hip-hop want. With that type of appreal they can do amazing things for AZ hip-hop exposure...but it doesn't mean the independed music side doesn't rep and we keep our pride, as she put it, "insulated".

To try to compare commercially viable hip-hop music to underground concious music and say one is better then the other is something the media will always try to do to get people to read the article. It's bullshit though. Because I know for a fact that Everyone at Blunt Club has love for Willy North, Man Up, 5th Coast etc...

By the way...what the fuck is a Blunt Club MC? There is no such thing. I can only assume she is refering to the groups she mentioned in the article that she associated with The BC...(East Valley MCs)

Again...she said...

"not the MCs at Blunt Club, who may occasionally reference the city in their lyrics but keep the local pride insulated."

How is it that (East Valley MCs) don't rep for the local hip-hop scene? Last time I checked that's all groups from AZ do. I've been on tours with Drunken Immortals, Antedote...AOTA (AOTA isn't even East Valley)...they all rep for AZ. Some even over seas. The Insects are there all the time repping AZ hip-hop. There are fucking youtube videos of Brad B on stage in France yelling AZ hip-hop at large crowds of people eating it up. Whole songs about Arizona in general being sung back in broken English from people over seas at these shows...to say "they" (East Valley) hip-hop artists, don't rep or keep their local pride insulted is a fucking lie.

Also, I frequent The BC mainly (because I'm more into that vibe) but I'm not an East Valley MC. I'm from Central Phoenix...but by her definition I guess I'd be a Blunt Club MC? Which means I don't rep or do shit for AZ...right. Haha!

Anyway, I have love for all the people she wrote about in the article. I have have love for both of these really great hip-hop events. I have love for Karlie Hustle, M2, The Blunt Club and the New Times.

I do not have any love for this piss poor writer (Niki D'Andrea) an outsider of our AZ hip-hop culture trying to stir shit up in order to get more reads.

It's funny how she wrote in a way to commend unity amoungst the people within our scene...but if you read carefully, all the talk of unity was spoken from people within our scene. Meanwhile she made unfair, inaccurate comparrisons throughout the article using race and styles of music...

She should have just focused all of the attention on the main subject at hand..Willy North and AZ hip-hop finally getting some national attention.

That's my $0.02

for once i actually co-sign wit u

co-signage 100%.

[@2ToneDaSupastar]

Aint really trippin on it.....The New York Times is 100% worst than this shit....I feel u though anglo

[ILL AL]

Niki D'Andrea from The New Times


We need writers for our local magazines that understand our styles, struggles and culture within AZ hip-hop.

[Make Hip-Hop Live]

Originally Posted by Hejus Trife

for once i actually co-sign wit u

thank you.

[Karlie Hustle]

PROPS TO ANGLO...your perspective is needed and respected.

The whole thing was a travesty, and meant to stir shit up and move papers. In talking to Justus from CTL (who convinced the publication to do an article on the Phoenix Hip-Hop scene in the first place), we were able to science their every move...this was the plan from jump. They INSISTED on doing the photoshoot at Groove Candy even after I told Justus I thought it should be done somewhere else (downtown on a building over a skyline?). They had a plan it seems, to create a fabricated issue in order to ruffle feathers and gain interest. Maybe they thought no one would care about Phoenix Hip-Hop if it didn't include equal portions of beef and bling. They made Groove Candy and Blunt Club look like 50 Cent and Ja Rule. Seriously ridiculous.

[@2ToneDaSupastar]

Seriously Karlie....Nobody in AZ is holding hands and singing Kumbyya...Alot of *****z is dick riding, falling in line, talking behind *****z backs, using *****z, smiling in faces, fake whats ups, and there is beef going around.....Positive news dont sell in the world we live in.....Arizona is the state of hate cuz we dont know who we are....The article was a mirror for *****z to wake the fuck up....

Originally Posted by Karlie Hustle

PROPS TO ANGLO...your perspective is needed and respected.

The whole thing was a travesty, and meant to stir shit up and move papers. In talking to Justus from CTL (who convinced the publication to do an article on the Phoenix Hip-Hop scene in the first place), we were able to science their every move...this was the plan from jump. They INSISTED on doing the photoshoot at Groove Candy even after I told Justus I thought it should be done somewhere else (downtown on a building over a skyline?). They had a plan it seems, to create a fabricated issue in order to ruffle feathers and gain interest. Maybe they thought no one would care about Phoenix Hip-Hop if it didn't include equal portions of beef and bling. They made Groove Candy and Blunt Club look like 50 Cent and Ja Rule. Seriously ridiculous.

[RTC Shogun]

Originally Posted by ILL AL

Niki D'Andrea from The New Times


We need writers for our local magazines that understand our styles, struggles and culture within AZ hip-hop.

Wasn't he the bass player for Dokken??

[Karlie Hustle]

Originally Posted by 2-TONE DA SUPASTAR

Seriously Karlie....Nobody in AZ is holding hands and singing Kumbyya...Alot of *****z is dick riding, falling in line, talking behind *****z backs, using *****z, smiling in faces, fake whats ups, and there is beef going around.....Positive news dont sell in the world we live in.....Arizona is the state of hate cuz we dont know who we are....The article was a mirror for *****z to wake the fuck up....

I hear what you're saying Tone, and I validate some of it as well. I do believe that the very same issues could have been addressed in the article in a way that didn't come off so irresponsible, reckless, and false. A lot was truly overblown and just plain silly.

[ILL AL]

Originally Posted by Karlie Hustle

PROPS TO ANGLO...your perspective is needed and respected.

The whole thing was a travesty, and meant to stir shit up and move papers. In talking to Justus from CTL (who convinced the publication to do an article on the Phoenix Hip-Hop scene in the first place), we were able to science their every move...this was the plan from jump. They INSISTED on doing the photoshoot at Groove Candy even after I told Justus I thought it should be done somewhere else (downtown on a building over a skyline?). They had a plan it seems, to create a fabricated issue in order to ruffle feathers and gain interest. Maybe they thought no one would care about Phoenix Hip-Hop if it didn't include equal portions of beef and bling. They made Groove Candy and Blunt Club look like 50 Cent and Ja Rule. Seriously ridiculous.

Wow.

You know what would be dope, if some kind of publicized events took place where, Blunt Club Hosted Groove Candy and Groove Candy Hosted Blunt Club. Just to show people that it's not like that.

Blunt Club with guests Karlie Hustle and M2.

Groove Candy with guests Dj Element and Pickster Uno.

[@2ToneDaSupastar]

true story....

Originally Posted by Karlie Hustle

I hear what you're saying Tone, and I validate some of it as well. I do believe that the very same issues could have been addressed in the article in a way that didn't come off so irresponsible, reckless, and false. A lot was truly overblown and just plain silly.

[Karlie Hustle]

Originally Posted by ILL AL

Wow.

You know what would be dope, if some kind of publicized events took place where, Blunt Club Hosted Groove Candy and Groove Candy Hosted Blunt Club. Just to show people that it's not like that.

Blunt Club with guests Karlie Hustle and M2.

Groove Candy with guests Dj Element and Pickster Uno.

I've been talking with Dumper and we are partnering forces to throw a charity show with folks from both scenes. It was Bombatomik's idea, and we are both down to make it happen.

I also like the venue-swapping. That would be super dope.

[Trife Lo]

Originally Posted by 2-TONE DA SUPASTAR

Seriously Karlie....Nobody in AZ is holding hands and singing Kumbyya...Alot of *****z is dick riding, falling in line, talking behind *****z backs, using *****z, smiling in faces, fake whats ups, and there is beef going around.....Positive news dont sell in the world we live in.....Arizona is the state of hate cuz we dont know who we are....The article was a mirror for *****z to wake the fuck up....

thats gotta be the smartest comment u ever made real spit

[ILL AL]

I agree that beef sells.

But, this beef has absolutely NO grounds in reality. It's like, national enquirer status. I wonder if The New Times has sunken that low now.

haha

[ILL AL]

Originally Posted by Karlie Hustle

I've been talking with Dumper and we are partnering forces to throw a charity show with folks from both scenes. It was Bombatomik's idea, and we are both down to make it happen.

I also like the venue-swapping. That would be super dope.

This is great news. If you need anything from me I'm down.

[Karlie Hustle]

Originally Posted by ILL AL

I agree that beef sells.

But, this beef has absolutely NO grounds in reality. It's like, national enquirer status. I wonder if The New Times has sunken that low now.

haha

seriously...i didn't see this one coming AT ALL. it was really left field. i need to learn to be even MORE jaded than i already am. new times always is inaccurate with anything they've covered on groove candy, but this one really takes the cake.

[ROKNOWLEDGE]

anglo what you said is 100% on point sir!

[Phil Hanson]

Originally Posted by 2-TONE DA SUPASTAR

Seriously Karlie....Nobody in AZ is holding hands and singing Kumbyya...Alot of *****z is dick riding, falling in line, talking behind *****z backs, using *****z, smiling in faces, fake whats ups, and there is beef going around.....Positive news dont sell in the world we live in.....Arizona is the state of hate cuz we dont know who we are....The article was a mirror for *****z to wake the fuck up....

I was going to say maybe they read local AZ forums.

[Karlie Hustle]

Originally Posted by Phil Hanson

I was going to say maybe they read local AZ forums.

::

[TRUE]

Originally Posted by ILL AL

The Willy Northpole article was dope and let me say that I support Willy North's career as well as Hot Rod and Juice. 5th coast & Man Up are all dope to me. I like the music coming out from all of these crews, labels and artists.

That said, while I was reading through the article written by Niki D'Andrea I was taken back by some of the things she wrote regarding The Blunt Club and Groove Candy.

Now, everyone knows there are different styles of Rap/Hip-Hop music. Just as there are different styles of Rock, Country, Jazz or what have you. This isn't...news. It's always been that way.

Arizona is no exception to this. There are club/radio friendly artists and groups and then the socially concious/culture artists and groups. Both are important and both are racially diverse.

Some how in this article, a depiction that there is a tear between these two really great events is being made. That some how one events following isn't down with the other...or is in competition. This is not true. There are a lot of people I know that frequent both Groove Candy as well as The Blunt Club because the two events offer a different flavor of Hip-Hop/Rap music and vibe.

What's worse, is this false statement made by Niki D'Andrea...

"White college students constitute a large part of the audience. With a few exceptions (like McVay and a guest appearance by Public Enemy in 2007), most of the performers at Blunt Club are white, too."

Firstly why is race even a subject here...who cares.

...Anyway, I'd like to see the census that was done that showed this blantently false result. The Blunt Club is not predominantly made up of white college kids any more then it is predominantly any other specific racial background or level of education. It's VERY diverse. The Latin community has a very large presence as well as Native American and Black. White people would actually usually be the minority at a glance, with no real majority to speak of. The event is actually put on by mostly non-white people.

Saying that Emerge and Public Enemy are the acceptions is just piss poor reporting on Niki D'Andreas part. Blunt Club has had lots of racially diverse performers. Why is this even a part of this otherwise great article about some AZ mcs blowing up and doing well?

Just for the record...the list of black & latino performers are way too long to list but...Black Sheep, 2Mex, Scarub, PSC, Life Rexall, Mr. Lif, Akrobatic...not to mention Proof from D12 (RIP) performed at the BC and kicked it. Guru of Gangstarr just hangin out at The BC. What the fuck was she thinking...exactly she wasn't thinking.

I don't see why race would even be an issue with any of this anyway.

Another stupid comment by Niki D'Andrea in an attempt to "stir shit up"...

"But it's rappers like Willy Northpole — guys who look like they're from the streets of L.A. or New York — who are making an attempt to represent Arizona hip-hop in their music and their lives, not the MCs at Blunt Club, who may occasionally reference the city in their lyrics but keep the local pride insulated."

Willy North is repping for AZ, Hot Rod is, Juice, 5th Coast, Cinque...all AZ hip-hop artists are repping for AZ. That's what all AZ mcs do, we rep for our state with everything we do. Wether or not we use a hand sign, t-shirt, hat, video, song, tour, performance...wether we want to or not...we are repping AZ to the rest of the world.

Now I see what she's trying to do with saying, "guys who look like they're from the streets of L.A. or New York"...she's attempting to say guys who look like "The Rapper" on MTV. Because saying someone looks like their from the streets of LA or NY could damn well mean anything. Define what a person looks like from streets LA or NY percisely. That's way too broad of a statement. She means "The Rappers on MTV" or big city successes. Ok, so is that to say that because one person fits a look more so to a popular MC that they rep better or harder?

Ofcourse they don't.

What Willy North or any other major label AZ artist looks like has nothing to do with how successful they become or how hard they rep for AZ.

What they sound like does.

They are blowing up based off of their talent. The kind of music they make is popular music. It's GOOD music. It's what the majority in hip-hop want. With that type of appreal they can do amazing things for AZ hip-hop exposure...but it doesn't mean the independed music side doesn't rep and we keep our pride, as she put it, "insulated".

To try to compare commercially viable hip-hop music to underground concious music and say one is better then the other is something the media will always try to do to get people to read the article. It's bullshit though. Because I know for a fact that Everyone at Blunt Club has love for Willy North, Man Up, 5th Coast etc...

By the way...what the fuck is a Blunt Club MC? There is no such thing. I can only assume she is refering to the groups she mentioned in the article that she associated with The BC...(East Valley MCs)

Again...she said...

"not the MCs at Blunt Club, who may occasionally reference the city in their lyrics but keep the local pride insulated."

How is it that (East Valley MCs) don't rep for the local hip-hop scene? Last time I checked that's all groups from AZ do. I've been on tours with Drunken Immortals, Antedote...AOTA (AOTA isn't even East Valley)...they all rep for AZ. Some even over seas. The Insects are there all the time repping AZ hip-hop. There are fucking youtube videos of Brad B on stage in France yelling AZ hip-hop at large crowds of people eating it up. Whole songs about Arizona in general being sung back in broken English from people over seas at these shows...to say "they" (East Valley) hip-hop artists, don't rep or keep their local pride insulted is a fucking lie.

Also, I frequent The BC mainly (because I'm more into that vibe) but I'm not an East Valley MC. I'm from Central Phoenix...but by her definition I guess I'd be a Blunt Club MC? Which means I don't rep or do shit for AZ...right. Haha!

Anyway, I have love for all the people she wrote about in the article. I have have love for both of these really great hip-hop events. I have love for Karlie Hustle, M2, The Blunt Club and the New Times.

I do not have any love for this piss poor writer (Niki D'Andrea) an outsider of our AZ hip-hop culture trying to stir shit up in order to get more reads.

It's funny how she wrote in a way to commend unity amoungst the people within our scene...but if you read carefully, all the talk of unity was spoken from people within our scene. Meanwhile she made unfair, inaccurate comparrisons throughout the article using race and styles of music...

She should have just focused all of the attention on the main subject at hand..Willy North and AZ hip-hop finally getting some national attention.

That's my $0.02

Peace, there's a Black Sheep in AZ?

Yo Anglo, I understand what you mean and what not, but unfortunately the way you look does matter alot to labels and they try to sell many artists as the next 2pac (Ja Rule? DMX) 50 and and Jigga all the time. They'd probablly try to sell me as the next Wayne, Clef or Lil Jon just because of the dreads.

And I know for a fact that everyone at the Blunt Club doesn't have love for all those you mentioned, let's just keep it all the way TRUE (see Tone's thread) but u aint got to dig someone's music to still have respect.

[micdevious52]

thats the same bitch that dogged my album in her review without even fuckin givin a review!!.....blaze you member right??...bitch didnt even talk about the song content..or the fact i had signed artists on it.......she jus went on to say i said my name too much...and i was an eminem clone(which those that know me are like "huh?")...oh and im homophobic...lol!!..bitch dont know shit bout hip hop,so it dont surprise me she wrote this shit and got people pissed off....honestly i stopped reading it halfway thru cuz i was like "look at the source of this bullshit"....YA'LL DONT BE PISSED...SHE DONT REP THE WHOLE STAFF AT THE NEW TIMES..THEY JUST SHOULDA PICKED A HIP HOP CRITIC TO WRITE THIS....NOT SOME CHICK WHO DONT KNOW HER ASS FROM HER ELBOW.....AND THEY NEED TO STOP LETTING HER CRITIQUE ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH HIP HOP.....OUT!!

[BlackMatter]

on point.

[STLknwsBEST]

JUST CUZ SOME1 WHO LIKES RAP OR HIP HOP DOESNT MAKE THE WIGGAS WHY DO WE HAS HUMANS SAY THAT? PPL LISTEN TO IT CUZ THEY LIKE THE MUSIC AND THE STYLE. I READ THE NEW TIMES EVERY WEEK. THE THE ARTICLE ABOUT FLUSHING THEM OUT WAS MESSED UP THO I FELT BAD FOR THOSE PPL THERE WERE IN THERE ROOM AND GOTN BEAT N SHIT. WHY WE CANT ALL JUST GET ALONE, WHY BECAUSE OUR GOVERMENT DOESNT WANT US TO. OH THAT JOE DUDE IM NT EVEN FROM HERE N I DNT LIKE HIM. HOLLA!

[MISTER RIOT]

Originally Posted by ILL AL

The Willy Northpole article was dope and let me say that I support Willy North's career as well as Hot Rod and Juice. 5th coast & Man Up are all dope to me. I like the music coming out from all of these crews, labels and artists.

That said, while I was reading through the article written by Niki D'Andrea I was taken back by some of the things she wrote regarding The Blunt Club and Groove Candy.

Now, everyone knows there are different styles of Rap/Hip-Hop music. Just as there are different styles of Rock, Country, Jazz or what have you. This isn't...news. It's always been that way.

Arizona is no exception to this. There are club/radio friendly artists and groups and then the socially concious/culture artists and groups. Both are important and both are racially diverse.

Some how in this article, a depiction that there is a tear between these two really great events is being made. That some how one events following isn't down with the other...or is in competition. This is not true. There are a lot of people I know that frequent both Groove Candy as well as The Blunt Club because the two events offer a different flavor of Hip-Hop/Rap music and vibe.

What's worse, is this false statement made by Niki D'Andrea...

"White college students constitute a large part of the audience. With a few exceptions (like McVay and a guest appearance by Public Enemy in 2007), most of the performers at Blunt Club are white, too."

Firstly why is race even a subject here...who cares.

...Anyway, I'd like to see the census that was done that showed this blantently false result. The Blunt Club is not predominantly made up of white college kids any more then it is predominantly any other specific racial background or level of education. It's VERY diverse. The Latin community has a very large presence as well as Native American and Black. White people would actually usually be the minority at a glance, with no real majority to speak of. The event is actually put on by mostly non-white people.

Saying that Emerge and Public Enemy are the acceptions is just piss poor reporting on Niki D'Andreas part. Blunt Club has had lots of racially diverse performers. Why is this even a part of this otherwise great article about some AZ mcs blowing up and doing well?

Just for the record...the list of black & latino performers are way too long to list but...Black Sheep, 2Mex, Scarub, PSC, Life Rexall, Mr. Lif, Akrobatic...not to mention Proof from D12 (RIP) performed at the BC and kicked it. Guru of Gangstarr just hangin out at The BC. What the fuck was she thinking...exactly she wasn't thinking.

I don't see why race would even be an issue with any of this anyway.

Another stupid comment by Niki D'Andrea in an attempt to "stir shit up"...

"But it's rappers like Willy Northpole — guys who look like they're from the streets of L.A. or New York — who are making an attempt to represent Arizona hip-hop in their music and their lives, not the MCs at Blunt Club, who may occasionally reference the city in their lyrics but keep the local pride insulated."

Willy North is repping for AZ, Hot Rod is, Juice, 5th Coast, Cinque...all AZ hip-hop artists are repping for AZ. That's what all AZ mcs do, we rep for our state with everything we do. Wether or not we use a hand sign, t-shirt, hat, video, song, tour, performance...wether we want to or not...we are repping AZ to the rest of the world.

Now I see what she's trying to do with saying, "guys who look like they're from the streets of L.A. or New York"...she's attempting to say guys who look like "The Rapper" on MTV. Because saying someone looks like their from the streets of LA or NY could damn well mean anything. Define what a person looks like from streets LA or NY percisely. That's way too broad of a statement. She means "The Rappers on MTV" or big city successes. Ok, so is that to say that because one person fits a look more so to a popular MC that they rep better or harder?

Ofcourse they don't.

What Willy North or any other major label AZ artist looks like has nothing to do with how successful they become or how hard they rep for AZ.

What they sound like does.

They are blowing up based off of their talent. The kind of music they make is popular music. It's GOOD music. It's what the majority in hip-hop want. With that type of appreal they can do amazing things for AZ hip-hop exposure...but it doesn't mean the independed music side doesn't rep and we keep our pride, as she put it, "insulated".

To try to compare commercially viable hip-hop music to underground concious music and say one is better then the other is something the media will always try to do to get people to read the article. It's bullshit though. Because I know for a fact that Everyone at Blunt Club has love for Willy North, Man Up, 5th Coast etc...

By the way...what the fuck is a Blunt Club MC? There is no such thing. I can only assume she is refering to the groups she mentioned in the article that she associated with The BC...(East Valley MCs)

Again...she said...

"not the MCs at Blunt Club, who may occasionally reference the city in their lyrics but keep the local pride insulated."

How is it that (East Valley MCs) don't rep for the local hip-hop scene? Last time I checked that's all groups from AZ do. I've been on tours with Drunken Immortals, Antedote...AOTA (AOTA isn't even East Valley)...they all rep for AZ. Some even over seas. The Insects are there all the time repping AZ hip-hop. There are fucking youtube videos of Brad B on stage in France yelling AZ hip-hop at large crowds of people eating it up. Whole songs about Arizona in general being sung back in broken English from people over seas at these shows...to say "they" (East Valley) hip-hop artists, don't rep or keep their local pride insulted is a fucking lie.

Also, I frequent The BC mainly (because I'm more into that vibe) but I'm not an East Valley MC. I'm from Central Phoenix...but by her definition I guess I'd be a Blunt Club MC? Which means I don't rep or do shit for AZ...right. Haha!

Anyway, I have love for all the people she wrote about in the article. I have have love for both of these really great hip-hop events. I have love for Karlie Hustle, M2, The Blunt Club and the New Times.

I do not have any love for this piss poor writer (Niki D'Andrea) an outsider of our AZ hip-hop culture trying to stir shit up in order to get more reads.

It's funny how she wrote in a way to commend unity amoungst the people within our scene...but if you read carefully, all the talk of unity was spoken from people within our scene. Meanwhile she made unfair, inaccurate comparrisons throughout the article using race and styles of music...

She should have just focused all of the attention on the main subject at hand..Willy North and AZ hip-hop finally getting some national attention.

That's my $0.02

I'm coming in a little late on this, but Al - this is worth more than 2 cents.

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