Capital of Black America? (living, best, compared, places)

[detroitlove]

Originally Posted by mas23

thats kinda how kanye is with chicago. Or even North Carolina with J. Cole. I have yet to hear anyone play his music but everywhere i go all I hear is Gucci or Waka Flocka and Jeezy occasionally.

mas23

I don't know about J. Cole but the Chi supports Kanye more, much more, than Detroit supports Em.

[eek]

he pushed 50 harder because 50 is better than them combined. 50 had the streets and 50 had the mainstream.

nothing those artists had or have out are on par with the g unit radio mixtapes (all 20 something of them) or get rich or die trying.

he pretty much had to sign 50.

none of those detroit dudes are marketable. that stuff might fly in detroit or even in the csa or whatever but outside of michigan, dudes don't even have an internet following, let alone a following in the streets outside of detroit, with the exception of royce.

being that detroit doesn't have much coming out of it these days, detroit might want to get off the elitist tip and embrace somebody like em, somebody that (according to you and others) isn't from detroit but somebody that reps detroit hard as hell. he has your city on his back. who else does in the mainstream spotlight? who else repped detroit from like 99-present harder than em in the mainstream?

*waits*

and i'm not even an em fan like that.

its not like there's an abundance of artists in the mainstream that are marketable with hits from detroit.

again tho, i have a hard time believing that detroit wasn't messing with em during the slim shady and marshall mathers lp.

just like you feel a certain way about detroit and em, ppl here feel that way about jay and bk. he reps bk but isn't/didn't sign artists from bk (uncle murda...really? and he got dropped anyway). forgot where tru life was from but dude was ass from the start.

anyway again, detroit needs to stop being elitist and embrace the only person in the mainstream that reps that city. what else do you have in the mainstream thats positive from that city?? motown is done. the auto industry is done. the city is crumbling.

stop being crabs in a barrel.

[detroitlove]

Originally Posted by mas23

Most people just sign who they think will make them money and appeal to a broad fan base or sometimes who they think has the most potential. Dr Dre signed eminem but he could've easily signed someody from compton.

while this is true I can't see how D12 or Obie Trice (forget about him) made Em money since both of their albums flopped. D12 fell out with Royce so maybe thats why he didn't get promoted.

Dr. Dre signed Em long after he put on Snoop and other Cali artists

[eek]

Originally Posted by detroitlove

Germany isn't Detroit

i'm aware. all i was saying is that i find it hard to believe that the entire world was messing with em with the exception of detroit.

Secondly how do you know if they were marketable or not? Have you heard any of them?

i have access to youtube and google like everybody else on the net.

Obviously they were since right before Blade's death (and a guy name Wipeout) both the Street Lords and the Eastside Chedda Boys were beginning to get recognition in magazines like XXL (which did a whole 3-4 page layout of the Street Lords)

right...but XXL isn't a record label, is it? you know how many unsigned artists get love in the source/XXL that never make it due to not being marketable?

Originally Posted by detroitlove

and even if the whole world were buying Em first album the people of Detroit were going to the record store to cop the Street Lords, Rock Bottom and the ESCB more.

i doubt that. i don't doubt that those artists have a large following in detroit but i doubt they outsold em's first two albums in detroit.

why is it so hard for non Detroiters to believe that we all aren't or ever really was Em crazy?

honestly, IMO that attitude comes off as one of those backpackerish elitist types...and it seems far fetched.

not saying everyone was "em crazy" but the whole messing with *insert local act here* and not messing with em AT ALL...i don't buy that. i don't believe that that was the norm in the streets of detroit in 1999, 2000 or 2001 or whatever.

[eek]

hearing the above is like hearing that cali wasn't messing with the chronic or the chronic 2001 at all and was messing with mac dre, e40 or keak instead.

rather than messing with *insert local act that only gets play locally* AND dr dre.

does that make sense?

[detroitlove]

Originally Posted by eek

he pushed 50 harder because 50 is better than them combined. 50 had the streets and 50 had the mainstream.
50 had a gimmick. 50 hasn't been that hot in a while. Like I already said How many Detroit artists have you heard? So how would you know if 50 is better than all of them combined? Ha

nothing those artists had or have out are on par with the g unit radio mixtapes (all 20 something of them) or get rich or die trying.

he pretty much had to sign 50.


none of those detroit dudes are marketable. that stuff might fly in detroit or even in the csa or whatever but outside of michigan, dudes don't even have an internet following, let alone a following in the streets outside of detroit, with the exception of royce.

Again please tell me how you would know if they are marketable or not? Lol Plenty of them have people following them on the internet. Hence how Big Sean got noticed

being that detroit doesn't have much coming out of it these days, detroit might want to get off the elitist tip and embrace somebody like em, somebody that (according to you and others) isn't from detroit but somebody that reps detroit hard as hell. he has your city on his back. who else does in the mainstream spotlight? who else repped detroit from like 99-present harder than em in the mainstream?

Read my other posts. Just because a person reps a city does not mean the city embraces them
*waits*

and i'm not even an em fan like that.

its not like there's an abundance of artists in the mainstream that are marketable with hits from detroit.
This was my point in my other posts. Southern artists put their hometown people on before anybody, so did the eastcoast in the 90s and the westcoast as well. Em gets big and signs a NY rapper???? hmmmm
again tho, i have a hard time believing that detroit wasn't messing with em during the slim shady and marshall mathers lp.
You can have a hard time believing it if you want. Clearly you haven't been to Detroit.
just like you feel a certain way about detroit and em, ppl here feel that way about jay and bk. he reps bk but isn't/didn't sign artists from bk (uncle murda...really? and he got dropped anyway). forgot where tru life was from but dude was ass from the start.
NY didn't need Jay to open doors for them they already had a cluster of NY people out and people in the industry paying attention to them solely because they are from NY

anyway again, detroit needs to stop being elitist and embrace the only person in the mainstream that reps that city. what else do you have in the mainstream thats positive from that city?? motown is done. the auto industry is done. the city is crumbling.
Actually Big Sean reps the D hard
stop being crabs in a barrel.
Lmao Detroit people can feel however we want. The auto industry is having problems its not done. Or maybe you can come to Detroit and tell GM, Ford and especially Chrysler to stop with the mass hiring every couple of months, don't go ahead with plans to build new plants, oh and tell GM not to keep moving headquaters back in the city. The auto industry is taking actions to fix their problems. Turn off the news smh

my comments in red

[eek]

when you're talking about this...are you talking about 1999-2001 or are you talking about now? you mention em but then you mention big sean...

you also mention 50 now rather than 50 in 03.

before i respond i need to know the years we're talking about here.

and again, i don't have to live in detroit to hear the artists that you mentioned. i think everybody here has access to youtube, google and various music forums.

[detroitlove]

Originally Posted by eek

i'm aware. all i was saying is that i find it hard to believe that the entire world was messing with em with the exception of detroit.
PEOPLE HERE ARE NOT PRESSED FOR EM! DEAL WITH IT! Suburban people rock with Em hard but not Detroiters

i have access to youtube and google like everybody else on the net.

and??? so do I but I don't watch rappers from other cities, even Atlanta, on youtube. your point?

right...but XXL isn't a record label, is it? you know how many unsigned artists get love in the source/XXL that never make it due to not being marketable?
Yet still tell me how you know if they are or not?
i doubt that. i don't doubt that those artists have a large following in detroit but i doubt they outsold em's first two albums in detroit.
How is that hard to believe? If the Street Lords got way more Respect in the D than Em, why would people go to the record store skip over the STL and buy Em? because he's on TV? lmao

honestly, IMO that attitude comes off as one of those backpackerish elitist types...and it seems far fetched.
please explain?
not saying everyone was "em crazy" but the whole messing with *insert local act here* and not messing with em AT ALL...i don't buy that. i don't believe that that was the norm in the streets of detroit in 1999, 2000 or 2001 or whatever.
Lol once again I'm not saying EVERY LAST PERSON IN DETROIT hates Em, I'm saying collectively Detroiters support those I named much more than they support Em. Lets see in 99-2000 the two hottest albums in the D were the ESCB "Makin Chedda on the Eastside", Streetlords "Platinum Rollies Don't Tick Tock" and Rock Bottom "Who is Rock Bottom" and Blade's solo album "Blade Icewood: Stackmaster", Big Herk solo stuff (Rock Bottom) along with non Detroit rappers like Cash Money, No Limit (90s), some Atlanta artists etc

Fact is most local dudes idolized Blade and the STL, ESCB, Rock Bottom (Big Herk) etc especially in the late 90s early 2000s. The whole ESCB vs STL beef affected Detroit hip hop negatively and kind of forced Detroiters to take sides which kind of hurt our hip hop scene here

me in red

[detroitlove]

Originally Posted by eek

when you're talking about this...are you talking about 1999-2001 or are you talking about now? you mention em but then you mention big sean...

you also mention 50 now rather than 50 in 03.

before i respond i need to know the years we're talking about here.

and again, i don't have to live in detroit to hear the artists that you mentioned. i think everybody here has access to youtube, google and various music forums.

I meant in general and actually I was more so talking about old 50. I didn't say you had to live here to hear them but lets be real how many times have you searched Detroit artist on Youtube? plus in order to know who is hot here as far as local artists you would have to have some knowledge about Detroit. Its not like if nobody never mentioned Blade you would have this urge to search Blade Icewood

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by pesci

montgomery, alabama is recognized as the birthplace of the civil rights movement, not atlanta.

It was not. It was a battle ground. One of many cities Civil Rights leaders targeted with their most visual protests and demonstrations. Not to down play any Southern city's role in the Civil Rights movement since every one of them had citizens and home grown movements that contributed to "The Cause", but most of the top leadership were either native Atlantans or transplants. Also the SCLC, which was the most prominent of all the Civil Rights groups of that era, was based in Atlanta. It also speaks volumes for Atlanta that in that same time period where people in Montgomery will being chased by dogs, fire hoses, and police batons at the very idea of equality the same was not happening in Atlanta. It wasn't perfect, but the CIty Atlanta was one of the few places in the South during that time that an educated black person could make a future for themselves without the fear of having their head bashed in for even having that thought.

Originally Posted by pesci

waronxmas ~ i think aside from mlk, spike lee and alice walker (the last two only attended college in atlanta but aren't from there) you'd be hard pressed to argue that those are household names. they are local politicians, not national figures.

1. Where people, who are at the top of their respective fields, got their education is a very relevant fact. Morehouse and Spelman have churned out so many national/international African-American leaders in the arts, politics, education is just not a coincidence but a concerted effort. Of course, the AUC schools aren't the only ones, but they are the best and form a synthesis for propelling African-American leaders into the limelight.

2. Where someone grew up is not the point of my citation of Atlanta's HBCUs. It was only to highlight the numerous amount of people who have come from all over to Atlanta to be educated at them.

3. Name recognition and importance are not synonymous. For instance, name the 5 most prominent Irish Americans off the top of your head. I'm willing to be most people can't do that either.

Originally Posted by pesci

there are many other important figures from atlanta who did a lot of harm to black people. lester maddox, dr. william pierce (founder of neo-nazi national alliance), joseph paul franklin (racist serial killer), to name a few, were all from atlanta as well.

I do not conceded that point as it is not a black and white world (no pun intended). For all the good out there, there is always bad. You will never find any city that embodies nothing but good, but plenty that have a lot ironic "bad"

Originally Posted by pesci

atlanta not only had the race riots of 1906, but also was the birthplace for the ku klux klan resurgence. william j. simmons revived the klan on stone mountain and their base of operation the "imperial palace" was on peachtree street.

This is also true, but oddly enough can be viewed as a testament of Atlanta's current position with race relations and it's position as a hub of African-American culture.

For one, that kind of mess would not fly today. Certainly not with Black Atlantans, and certainly not with White, Asian, or Latino Atlantans. We are a multicultural city after all and the frame of thinking those idiots had don't jibe around here with anyone that can be taken seriously.

Secondly, the hotel where the KKK was reformed is now Black owned. In Stone Mountain where they lit their cross and was the base of operations in the early 20th century is now an affluent majority African-American suburb. Talk about ironies.

Originally Posted by pesci

here's a picture of a building on whitehall street (presently peachtree street) in atlanta, where slaves were auctioned off

And your point being? Every major city in America that was oin existence from the Civil War back to Colonial times had at some point had a slave auction house. From Charleston to Baltimore to Philly to Boston. When they abolished slavery is irrelevant to the fact that it once occurred and is a horrible stain on our history. But it is exactly that now: history. It has no relevance in today's society except for, again, the remarkable fact that 160 years later in the same city that shop existed the descendants of those sold now run that city. Irony overload.