Rap music has taken a lot of heat lately for promoting criminal activity and a criminal lifestyle, but you’re likely to find a deep division among people about whether that criticism is valid. While it’s true that some rappers choose to make music about their criminal exploits (real and imagined), you’re likely to find just as many rappers who use the music to express more universally acceptable themes like love and peace.

Rap Music Can Be Positive, Too

Rapper K’naan is a great example of how rap music can be a positive influence on listeners. K’naan, who hails from war-torn Somalia, is one of the most gifted rap music lyricists making music today. His music doesn’t focus on crime and the criminal element. Instead, it focuses on his experiences with war, and how they changed him forever.

K’naan is probably best known for his “Waving Flag”, which was used by Coca Cola during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. K’naan is also releasing a new album, “God, Country or the Girl” this month. The rapper also serves as a reminder that rap music can offer a positive influence to listeners.

The commercial success of K’naan’s approach to rap music proves that there is indeed a place in the market for rap music that doesn’t support, promote or glorify the criminal element that has been associated with rap music.

This comes at a time when self-produced music is finding relatively easy entry into the marketplace, and independent music producers are getting the technical support they need to create, publish and distribute their own music.

Computer software like DubTurbo enables music producers to create their own sound. By providing all of the tools required to record music professionally, DubTurbo supports the move toward self produced music and may help change the face of rap and hip-hop music for good.

With DubTurbo, new musicians have a complete, professional studio recording package on their computer. Better still, DubTurbo comes with a library of sample sounds that musicians can use royalty-free, as well as a library of tutorial videos that show users how to get the most out of DubTurbo.

If you’re a new musician and you’re looking to break into the rap music scene, don’t spend thousands of dollars on renting studios. Record your own rap beats and get the professional sound quality you expect at a fraction of the cost. Download your copy of DubTurbo today and start making your own beats!

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If you’re not familiar with the Beastie Boys, you’ve missed out on one of rap music‘s original acts. The Beastie Boys, who first hit the charts in the 1980′s, introduced rap music to scores of white, middle-class suburban kids. Last week, The Beastie Boys, also known as Adam Horowitz, Adam Yauch, Michael Schwartz and Michael Diamond, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Honor For Just The Third Rap Act

The Beastie Boys are just the third rap group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, behind Run-DMC and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Rap masters LL Cool J and Chuckie D formally inducted the group.

In its earliest years, the group was associated closely with producing legends Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin at Def Jam Records. The group credited other acts in the emerging rap music genre for their influences, including Bad Brains, The Slits, the Treacherous Three and XRay Spex. Four of the group’s eight albums reached the top of the Billboard Album chart, including Licensed to Ill, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty and To the 5 Boroughs. The group continues to perform today, and most recently released an album entitled Hot Sauce Committee Part Two in 2011.

Their first release, New York Thrash, was a forerunner of the modern mixtape and preceded the release of their first EP, Polly Wog Stew (1982). Originally, the band worked in the hardcore metal genre, but successfully made the switch to rap early on. Since the group’s inception, they’ve sold more than 40 million albums world wide, about half of which were sold in the United States.

The Beastie Boys made it big with the help of an established music producer, but they also helped to open the door for artists who want to produce their own music. The Beastie Boys were considered a “groundbreaking” act in the 1980′s and served as many fans’ first introduction to the rap music genre. The group paired famously with Run-DMC for its Raising Hell tour in 1985 and first cracked the R & B and Dance charts in the same year with “Hold It Now, Hit It.”

The Beastie Boys demonstrate that anyone can break into rap music and deliver a successful sound. For aspiring new musicians in the rap music genre, one of the best tools to have is DubTurbo, a complete music-production software package that lets you create your own musical style!

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Rap music can be a highly influential form of music, but are some music producers taking advantage of certain areas’ crime rankings to promote their music? That’s what some analysts are suggesting. Is crime an effective way to sell rap beats? No one can say for certain, but certain music producers don’t mind the association.

Do Crime And Rap Have A Solid Association?

While many rappers write lyrics about their criminal exploits, and more than one rapper’s career has ended in a hail of gunfire, music producers are quick to point out that music, by itself, doesn’t promote crime. That doesn’t stop rappers like Fresco Clean and Black Lung from using Rockford’s position as #9 on the FBI’s list of the Most Dangerous Cities in the US as a way to market the group’s music and elevate its profile among the gangsta crowd.

The group’s first EP, Whiteboy Wasted, has recently been released by producer Soleternity, and hopes to appeal to a largely white middle- and lower class youth audience. They’re also hoping to catch the attention of college-aged students who are part of the fraternity/sorority scene and other middle class demographics who are looking for a voice. The songs on Whiteboy Wasted are largely about partying and having fun, and could be a nice way to kick off the summer.

The EP is Fresco Clean’s recording debut, but the 22-year-old is a veteran battle rapper and has traveled the world in rap competitions. Black Lung has already released a number of indie beats, and has already released an LP under his own name.

The potential rap and hip-hop audiences are large, and there’s plenty of room in this growing medium for many more talented musicians. Getting started has never been easier. All the tools you need to self-produce your rap beats are available in a single, awesome package. Dubturbo combines the best tools with the easiest-to-use interface in a single software package. DubTurbo is available for either the Mac or PC and enables you to mix your own beats. Better still, DubTurbo comes with a library of royalty-free beats you can use to enhance your own sounds.

Need more? How about a library of tutorial videos to help you learn how to make the most of this outstanding music software package? DubTurbo is a great way to get started in the rap music industry and gives you everything you need to record and mix a professional sound.
Download your copy of DubTurbo today and start working on your next great career move!

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If you’ve never heard of Bliss n Eso, you’re probably not alone, but it might surprise you to find out that Bliss and Eso are Australia’s premiere hip hop music artists, and have a professional music career that spans more than a decade. Bliss n Eso is actually a trio of musicians. MC Bliss, also known as Jonathan Notley, is an American. MC Eso, an Australian, is also known as Max MacKinnon, and DJ Izm, a Moroccan, known as Tarik Ejjamai, rounds out the group.

Trio Takes To North America

The group met in high school and has performed together since that time. They occupy Australia’s top spot in terms of hip-hop artists, in a field that’s becoming more crowded every day. The group focuses on its lyrics and beats but has tried to avoid developing a predictable style.

They regularly perform live and still include traditional rap techniques like scratching and beatboxing to achieve their unique sound. While they’ve moved around from label to label, the group has also opened for some of rap’s most recognizable acts, including 50 Cent, G-Unit, and Lil Jon. Bliss and Eso have been nominated for ARIA awards, Australia’s version of the Grammys.

Bliss n Eso aren’t your typical hip-hop musical act, and have been very active in a number of charitable causes. The group’s work has helped fund relief work in South Africa as well as in Victoria, Australia. They’ve toured the US several times and have released four albums, one of which was certified gold and the group’s most recent release, Running on Air, was certified platinum.

If any of this surprises you, it shouldn’t. Hip-hop, as a musical artform, has demonstrated itself to be among the most culturally flexible, and has inspired musicians and artists from all over the world. New musicians find the genre to be welcoming, and relatively easy to break into, compared to other musical genres like rock.

Hip-hop, when combined with the ability to self-produce, self-publicize and self-distribute music, turns out to be highly appealing to listeners all over the world. There’s no easier way to start in the music business today than by producing your own hip-hop and rap beats.

Unlike other genres, it’s both acceptable and expected that artists who are just trying to break into the music scene will create and distribute free mixtapes of their music. If you’re an aspiring artist and are considering going this route, check out some of the best tools available on the market today, like dubTurbo and Sonic Producer. Download your copy of one or both of these applications, and you’ll be making your own unique sounds in no time!

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If you doubt the influence of rap music, take a look at some of the latest headlines. You’ll find a dog-sled racer who makes his own rap beats. You’ll also find Christian rappers, Asian hip-hop fusion beats and Korean rap artist topping the charts with their own brand of hip-hop and rap beats. Rap music is here to stay and it’s moving the music world in ways OG’s never dreamed of.

There’s Enough Room For Everyone

Rap and hip-hop are great musical genres because they’re flexible enough to incorporate local, regional and cultural tastes, while still staying true to the music. What’s even better is that it’s never been easier for new artists to enter the medium.

Today new artists can create, produce and distribute their own music, often for a fraction of the cost it would take to go through agents and established music distributors. This ability to access the audience directly and at a low cost means that musicians and artists no longer need big studio help to find their way into the center of the music scene.

The tools available to new artists today have never been better. Take DubTurbo, for example. DubTurbo enables you to produce your own music, comes with thousands of royalty-free sounds, samples and instruments, a full four-octave sampling keyboard, and tutorial videos and delivers the highest quality .WAV sound files you need to produce crisp, clean recordings that are ready for distribution.

DubTurbo is an awesome, powerful music production software package that’s available for both the Mac and PC. That means you don’t need to purchase any additional recording equipment or computer equipment. You can just download the software and start working on your musical career.

A licensed copy of DubTurbo is a fraction of the cost of renting a professional recording studio and bringing in musicians. With DubTurbo, you have full creative control of your tracks and the program is easy to use. It also comes with a library of video tutorials that can help you get the most of DubTurbo. All of the included samples are royalty-free, which means that you can mix and remix the samples into your own work any way you like. With the built in sampling keyboard, you can also make your own samples and create or enhance the sound library that comes with DubTurbo.

There’s no reason to wait. The rap and hip-hop worlds are waiting for you to make your own impressions. Download your copy of DubTurbo today and start producing your own style of hip-hop or rap music!

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