The 2012 Grammy Award nominations are out and many of the usual rap music suspects have been nominated for consideration. The award ceremony is set to air in February, and the nominations feature some classic rap artists against the industry’s young guns, along with a few surprises.

Something For Everyone

In the Best Rap Performance category, the nominees are:
• Black and Yellow – Wiz Khalifa
• Look At Me Now – Chris Brown
• Moment 4 Life – Nicki Minaj and Drake
• Otis – Jay-Z and Kanye West
• The Show Goes On – Lupe Fiasco

No major surprises but it’s notable that given the “Collaboration” category below, the Best Performance nods include two collaborations.

Speaking of working together, the nominees in the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category are:
• All of The Lights – Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Fergie
• I’m On One – DJ Khaled, Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne
• I Need A Doctor – Dr. Dre, Eminem and Skylar Grey
• Motivation – Kelly Rowland and Lil Wayne
• Party – Beyonce and Andre 3000
• What’s My Name – Rihanna and Drake

Recognizing standout rap music songs is one thing you can count on from the Grammy Awards. The 2012 nominees for the Best Rap Song are:

• All of The Lights – Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Fergie
• Black and Yellow – Wiz Khalifa
• I Need A Doctor – Dr. Dre, Eminem and Skylar Grey
• Look At Me Now – Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes
• Otis – Jay-z and Kanye West
• The Show Gees On – Lupe Fiasco

The Kid Cudi nomination is a little unusual, given that Kid Cudi announced that he was leaving rap behind back in 2010. I guess he hasn’t gotten around to that, yet.

These nominees are a little disappointing, since these nominees were all recognized in either the Best Performance or Best Collaboration categories. There’s a lot more to rap music than just these tunes. The nominating committee could have done a better job on these categories.

Finally, the nominees for the Best Rap Album are:
• Lasers – Lupe Fiasco
• My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West
• Pink Friday – Nicki Minaj
• Tha Carter 4 (IV) – Lil Wayne
• Watch The Throne – Jay-Z and Kanye West

This list is also a little disappointing. There’s no nice way to say this: Lasers just doesn’t belong in this category. Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy definitely holds up to the hype and is poised (fairly) to win the category, but Pink Friday, which is mostly a C-level effort, ends up being, on the whole, only marginally better than the long-awaited Tha Carter IV, and not quite as good as Jay-Z’s Watch the Throne. The nominations leave out some more worthy contenders like Saigon’s The Greatest Story Never Told, Phonte’s Charity Starts At Home, All 6′s and 7′s by Tech N9ne and Royce da 5’9″ Success is Certain. Even Drake’s Take Care ends up being better than everyone nominated, except Kanye’s Fantasy.

If you’re thinking that you can do better than most of the nominees here, and you’re into making your own music, check out Sonic Producer and get your rap career in high gear!

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Iconic rap music artist Heavy D died unexpectedly on November 8 in Los Angeles. Heavy D, whose given name was Dwight Arrington Myers, collapsed as he was returning to his Beverly Hills home. He was rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he died. Prior to his death, the rapper had complained of breathing problems and was diagnosed with pneumonia.

Unique Style Earned Heavy D A Place In Rap History

As Heavy D, Myers was among the most recognizable rap music acts of the 1980′s and 1990′s. His style was a mixture of reggae and swing, and his lyrics were free from profanity. Myers was the lead artist in the group Heavy D and The Boyz and first charted with their debut album, Living Large. The group recorded a total of five albums between 1987 and 1994, only the first two of which included Troy Dixon (Trouble T-Roy), who died following an accident in 1990. Eddie Ferrell (Eddie F) is the co-founder of Uptown Records, the label on which Heavy D and The Boyz released their albums.
After the fifth group album, Heavy D went on to a solo rap career, releasing four more albums, the last of which, Love Opus, debuted in 2011. Heavy D also performed live for the first time in 15 years at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards in October. Myers demonstrated that rap music artists could succeed with unique styles and approaches to lyrics. While many of today’s rap music artists rely on the shock of foul language, Heavy D’s lyrics were always clean, yet engaging.
Myers also worked as the president and CEO of Uptown Records, and was instrumental in the development of Mary J. Blige. Myers also hired Diddy Combs early in his musical career. Uptown Records, renamed Uptown Entertainment folded after Myers left the organization to pursue acting opportunities.
In addition to his work as a music producer and recording artist, Myers also made guest appearances on several television series, an off-Broadway play, had a recurring role on Boston Public, and occasionally acted in motion pictures. His last appearance on the big screen was in “Tower Heist,” released in the US just four days before Myers’ death. Myers also provided the theme music for several television shows, including In Living Color and MADtv. He also made guest appearances for Michael and Janet Jackson, BB King, and appeared in the video for One More Chance by Notorious B.I.G.
Myers was nominated for Grammy awards in 1992, 1995, 1997, and most recently in 2009, and also received four nominations for Soul Train awards, winning Best Rap Album in both 1988 and 1990.

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In case you’re wondering, Rolling Stone magazine has crowned Eminem the King of Hip Hop. That comes as no big surprise, given the rap beats the rapper laid down on Relapse, Recovery and his latest work with Bad Meets Evil. The only contenders to the throne were rappers who had released at least one solo album between 2009 and mid-2011.

Numbers Game

Between his 7.5 million album sales, his number one rank on Twitter in terms of followers, more than 40 million fans on Facebook and more than 1 billion hits on YouTube, it should come as no surprise that Eminem is on top of the rap heap. No other rapper comes close to those numbers, but the love of one’s fans doesn’t always translate into financial success.

Not to say that Eminem isn’t very well off – he is. But there are other rappers who don’t rap quite as much who end up making more money than him, according to Forbes Magazine. In fact, the King Of Hip Hop found himself in a 3-way for 14th place, along with 50 Cent and Young Jeezy. How does that happen? While other rappers make music, more of their earnings come from sponsorships, product endorsements and production deals than from rap music. For Slim Shady, the money comes from the music and the fans love him for it.

Eminem’s income may get a bump from the $1M+ Chrysler commercial he shot for the Super Bowl, and the deal with Lipton Brisk iced tea, but don’t expect a lot of merchandizing deals from Slim just yet. At 38, he still believes he’s got a lot of rap beats to lay down before he assumes other roles in the music business.

Even though Eminem has a significant lead on other rappers in terms of sales and fans, there’s still plenty of room for new rappers in today’s rap and hip hop music scene. The art form has spent nearly 30 years building a diverse fan base, and rap has been used successfully as a way to reach out to a broad audience.

The genre is far more open to new talent than other musical styles and still represents one of the best, most efficient routes into the music business today. It still takes an investment of time to make the music people want to hear, but new rappers can get into the business by self-producing their own tracks, using something like Sonic Producer. With distribution channels like iTunes readily available to new rappers, there’s no reason not to join the party!

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C. KhiD, an emerging hip hop music artist, has announced that his new album “New Hip Hop Songs” will be available for free download starting October 25. C. KhiD works with producers Johnny Juliano, Bravestarr Beats, and LOSBeats.com on this new collection of hip hop music.

Free Hip Hop Music Is A Way To Build A Fan Base

C. KhiD says his songs appeal to the “under-30″ crowd, and says that he and a handful of hip hop music artists are changing the way hip hop music appeals to fans. Producers Johnny Juliano and Bravestarr Beats have recently created rap beats for hip hop music artists such as Wiz Khalifa, Travis Porter, and Nipsey Hussle.

Fans who want to download the music, or want to hear C. KhiD for the first time can visit C. KhiD’s Web site (ckhid.com) beginning Monday, October 25 to get the new tracks. C. KhiD’s producers say they expect to see 100,000 downloads in the first month. C. KhiD has already been building a quiet following on YouTube and on his own site. His YouTube hits have exceeded four million and his site boasts more than 100,000 hits each month. In addition, ringtones featuring C. KhiD’s music have been downloaded more than 350,000 times.

C KhiD’s approach underscores the importance of being yourself when it comes to producing and promoting your music. “I’ve had a lot of success on-line because people like who I am authentically. I love entertaining, I love music, and I love having fun. Will Smith, Heavy D, and Teddy Riley might have been the last successful people to do what I do and be successful,” says C. KhiD.

Online distribution is just one way in which independent hip hop music artists can promote their work. C. KhiD is also looking for support from local DJs and party promoters to help spread his music to new fans.

Independent artists can be successful when it comes to music self-production and self-promotion. One key in producing great rap beats is to have the right tools on hand for the job. One great tool to have is Sonic Producer. Sonic Producer is a software program that can not only help you put together rap beats, but also can show you how to put together the music that people want to hear. Check out Sonic Producer and see how it can help you get your music career started.

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Rap music artist T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, lent a hand to Atlanta police by successfully talking a suicidal man down from the top of a building. Harris, who is from Atlanta, was giving a radio interview when he heard about the suicidal man. Since the man’s location was nearby, T.I. drove to the site and offered his help. The man agreed to come down from the building after spending a few minutes talking with the rapper.

Rap Music Can Speak In Other Ways

The episode illustrates how powerful rap music and rap artists can be. One reason rap music is so influential is because it resonates with the fans. The artists also have their own resonance; they’re ordinary human beings, too. T.I. spent a year in federal prison on weapons charges, and was on supervised release when he and his wife, “Tiny” Harris were arrested on drug charges. The judge in T.I.’s case wasn’t moved by the rapper’s admission that an unaddressed drug addiction caused him to violate his probation, and the rapper was sentenced to an additional 11 months in prison.

Rap music artists are more than gangsters, however. T.I.’s suicide intervention and his charitable works show another side of the rap culture, which fans understand and appreciate. Rap music is more than just a genre; it’s part of a larger culture and a larger community.

Getting into the community isn’t as hard as you might think. Many artists have entered the rap music scene on a shoestring budget. Having music and the ability to make meaningful music is just the first step. Making the club scene and getting promoted by local DJs is another important part. That enables you to build a loyal – if local – fanbase.

Self-producing your own music isn’t hard. Start with a great product like Sonic Producer and you’re halfway there. Sonic Producer won’t help you with your lyrics, but it can teach you how to make beats and provides thousands of royalty-free music samples to choose from. You can mix your own beats and start making your own mixtapes.

Export your music to MP3 format and share it with your friends and with the people you meet. Sonic Producer is great because it helps you produce music anytime. You don’t need studio time or special equipment. Sonic Producer works on any computer and is available for both the Mac and PC platforms. If you want to be part of the rap scene, get your music together with Sonic Producer!

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