Ice Cube has returned to his rap music roots with his latest album, “I Am The West,” his first album since 2008′s “Raw Footage.” To date, I Am The West is receiving a lukewarm reception from rap music critics, who charge that the former NWA star is sticking too close to home, while the rest of the rap music genre has moved on.

Rapper, Actor, Director, Producer

Ice Cube hasn’t been sitting still. His initial work in rap music put him on pace to release a rap album once per year, something he did from 1990-1993. After that, he released an album (War & Peace, Volume 1) in 1998, having spent the intervening time establishing his acting career, working steadily (and mostly) in films as both an actor and producer. He’s recently picked up a television series, “Are We There Yet” where he pulls double duty as a cast member and also serves as the show’s executive producer.

That schedule hasn’t left much time for music. He released War & Peace, Volume 2 in 2000 and Laugh Now, Cry Later in 2006. With I Am The West, critics say that Ice Cube is still spending his time producing gangsta rap when the rest of the industry has moved on. Today’s rap music, they say, is more than guns, women and drugs.

For his part, Ice Cube simply doesn’t care. I Am The West is a protest album of sorts. Ice Cube rails against contemporary rappers, whom Ice Cube plainly and decidedly says he’s not. He’s happy creating gangsta rap and knows that his latest music will appeal to his dedicated fan base. While today’s celebrated rap artists find more inspiration in human relationships than in drug deals gone bad, Ice Cube is happy to make the kind of music he’s always made – California-centric street rap.

While his music may have an increasingly limited popular appeal, the rap music industry needs more artists like Ice Cube –not because there’s a pent-up demand for gangsta rap (there’s not), but because Ice Cube is willing to make the music he wants to make without bowing to today’s rap music style.

Rappers who want to make their own music and who aren’t interested so much in what the critics have to say as they are in being comfortable where they’re at are the artists that will ensure that rap music is around for generations to come. Ice Cube’s lyrics may be less meaningful to the masses, but as an artist, he still possesses the power to move the genre forward.

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September 27 marks not only Lil Wayne’s birthday, it’s also the release date for Weezy’s latest beat making album, “I Am Not A Human Being.” Weezy himself won’t be doing a lot of celebrating; the rapper is finishing out a little stretch in New York’s Riker’s Island state prison and won’t be back home until November.

Rap Music Album Has 12 Tracks

Originally, “I Am Not A Human Being” was supposed to be a free EP release, but along the way it turned into a full 12-track album of what Weezy’s manager Cortez Bryant thinks will precede a different sound that emerges when Weezy’s released. The new album features Drake collaborations entitle “Gonorrhea,” “Right Above It,” “With You,” and “I’m Single.” It also features a Nicki Minaj track entitled “What’s Wrong With Them.”
Lil Wayne may be cooling his heels in prison, but that doesn’t mean he’s sitting around. Both the artist and his manager say that Weezy’s spent his time productively, writing new songs that will be recorded after he’s released. Already in the works is another planned mixtape, possibly with DJ Drama.
The Lil Wayne case illustrates that you can create music no matter where you are. If you already have the music in your head, producing music is easy if you have the right tools. One great tool to consider is Sonic Producer. Sonic Producer is available for both the PC and Mac platforms and enables you to create all of the royalty-free music you want.

Sonic Producer comes with tons of samples that you can plug right into your songs. Use Sonic Producer to create your own sound, mixtapes or full length self-produced albums. There’s no need to buy any additional equipment. As long as you have a computer and Sonic Producer, you can create your own professional-sounding music. Export your tracks to MP3 and listen to them on your own, share them with friends or make them part of a live-music show.

Sonic Producer puts you in control of your music. It’s simple to use – even a novice can do it. Sonic Producer also comes with video tutorials to show you how to make your own beats. With Sonic Producer, there are no limits to what you can do. Make and publish your own rap music. Don’t sit around waiting to be discovered. Discover yourself and put together the music you want to hear!

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According to Nielsen’s SoundScan service, weekly album sales have hit a record low mark for the third time in 2010. For the week ending September 12, SoundScan reports that album sales were 4.83 million, drop from the 4.95 million mark hit on August 15, and the 4.98 million mark recorded on May 30. This is the third time in 2010 that weekly album sales have failed to meet the 5-million mark. Hip hop music sales are reportedly off by more than one-fifth. The only music genres seeing lower sales are Latin music, country and classical.

What Does This Mean For Hip Hop Music?

Some analysts attribute the decline in sales to the recession and music piracy. Digital distribution is also cutting into album sales, but digital music sales are also reported to be down. The album format isn’t as popular as it may have been at one time in part because digital distribution enables people to buy the songs they want without having to buy an entire album.

The popularity of music services like iTunes should convince at least some people that consumers are willing to buy music. The advantage that iTunes offers is that it enables people to buy music economically and choose only the songs they want to hear, without having to pay for songs they don’t. It’s popular because it delivers exactly what the consumer wants.

Still, industry analysts are left with the nagging impression that music sales should be higher. They base this conclusion on the fact that there are a lot of MP3 players, and sales of MP3 devices are relatively healthy. They reason that if people are buying the players, they should also be buying the music to go along with them, right?

MP3 players are for more than just digital music though. A lot of people have converted their existing music libraries to digital format. This provides the listener with what they want at no cost since they’ve already purchased the media. People choose to listen to other audio products like podcasts.

People also choose to produce their own music. Self-produced music is growing in popularity and people now have the tools they need to make the sounds they’re interested in hearing. Sonic Producer is a great example of a complete music production software suite. With Sonic Producer, even a novice music producer can create the sounds s/he wants to hear and export professional-sounding results to MP3. Don’t believe me? Download your copy of Sonic Producer today and find out just how easy it can be to self-produce your own music.

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The hip hop beats industry probably wouldn’t be what it is today without the early influences of places like Fat Beats. Fat Beats opened 16 years ago in New York and did more than simply specialize in selling hip hop vinyl records. Fat Beats nurtured the fledgling DJs of the New York hip hop scene and helped to create the market it aimed to serve.

Digital Music Catches Up With Fat Beats

At Fat Beats, it was not at all unusual to find professional and amateur DJs, and fans alike crowded around the store’s turntables to hear the latest that the musical genre had to offer. DJs and MCs were free to promote themselves among true hip hop aficionados. New sounds and new techniques were the order of the day at Fat Beats and many new artists found their inspiration there. The staff were hired based on their knowledge and love of hip hop,

Scratching has given way to electronic sampling and sound generation. Selling music has also been replaced by the digital download. And ultimately, that’s what’s brought Fat Beats to its current state. When it comes to music, digital is the way to go from production to distribution. Electronic music formats make not only professional production and distribution easier, it also enables self-publishing for individuals who – no matter how talented – escape the notice of the music publishing industry.

Fat Beats has closed its last retail store, but the company isn’t gone. It’s merely moving into the next phase of its existence. It has reinvented itself as a music label, and an online music retailer. Yes, it will still sell the vinyl that made its name, but it will also distribute music. Hip hop music fans can still count on Fat Beats to provide the best hip hop music collection available.

Digital distribution outlets like iTunes and Fat Beats give self-publishers a real opportunity to make the kind of music they want to make as well as an opportunity to be heard. Self-published music defeats the record label “‘gatekeeping” system that’s been established. The traditional system of music publishing meant that “hit” sounds and styles were copied precisely because the originals were successful, even though it meant that other original sounds – which might have had more public appeal – went unnoticed or unpublished.

Today, self-publication makes music anyone’s game. Anyone can come up with a club hit, a YouTube smash or just consistently good music that’s followed by a limited number of loyal fans.

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Busta Rhymes and the other members of the now-defunct Leaders of the New School have been slapped with a copyright infringement lawsuit that claims the rap music group illegally sampled Dyke and The Blazers’ tune “Let A Woman Be A Woman, Let A Man Be A Man” in a 1991 song called “Case of the P.T.A.” Leaders of the New School broke up in 1993. Elektra Records is also named in the suit.

Drive-In Music Company, which owns the rights to Let A Woman Be A Woman, Let A Man Be A Man, says it didn’t notice the infringement until recently, but filed the suit almost immediately after the infringement came to their attention. The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages, a permanent injunction to prevent future sales of the Leaders of the New School album “A Future Without A Past” on which the disputed song appears, and to have any remaining CDs removed from store shelves. The track in question is still available as a download.

Sampling is an integral part of rap music, but it tends to cut down on the artist’s profits because typically, samples are used with permission in an arrangement called a “split.” A split is a negotiated share of a song’s earnings that go to the sampled artist.

For new music producers, including samples can be particularly dangerous. In this case, the alleged infringement happened nearly 20 years ago and the current and future commercial value of both songs in question is small. Using royalty-free samples is one way to avoid this kind of problem, even into the future.

Music production software like Sonic Producer features thousands of royalty-free samples that can be used on any music track created with the software. There will be no future royalty payments on any work using a Sonic Producer sample. This makes Sonic Producer the ideal tool for both beginning and experienced rap music artists who want to self-produce their music.

Sonic Producer works on both the PC and Mac platforms and requires no additional equipment or software to work. You can add your own music, samples and lyrics and create professional-sounding tracks that you can export and share. Sonic Producer is a great way to break into the music business. Learn how to create your own music, mix your own sounds and get your music out to the world. Download your copy of Sonic Producer today!

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