• » Name: Nino Bless
• » Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Blessed to Be Where I'm Headed

Record Labels and Their "Criteria" ... Shit Makes No Sense

What up y'all Week 4 with the blog. It's funny how when you make a comment there's always one person that can misinterpret what the fuck you said. I ain't even mad if you do so, but it's funny how I said "Hip Hop needs Joe Budden and Saigon to release an album and receive mainstream success," and there's that one person who suggest I meant they should sell out in the process. I can't get mad at anybody, 'cause misinterpretations happen all the time but this is what Hip Hop I guess has turned into. Mainstream means selling out and nothing else? You know it ain't just that one reader its many people who feel like that. "Oh don't go commercial you don't need to do a snap song." Damn man this is what Hip Hop has turned into? I can't make a album and drop it on a major label and be on BET or MTV without being a sell-out? 

Something that bothers me with this game and why I feel it has taken a turn for the worse is when I see people stretch and try and find reasons as to why lyrics aren't important anymore. It's funny when cats say "it ain't being lyrical its about blah blah." I grew up in an era where "The World Is Yours", "Dead Presidents", and "Warning" were singles. You could spit some shit and still get radio play. Shit even "Quiet Storm" was a single and was bumped heavy in the clubs and that was real hard Hip Hop record. Now the whole idea of what a single is has changed. It has nothing to do with the fans or even artist. Nah, one day these suits woke up and decided what type of records were going to circulate on rotation. Their idea of what that shit is fucking corny to me. Labels have tried to limit us as artists. I heard Beyonce tried to drop "Crazy In Love" as a single and Sony wasn't haven't it 'cause there were too many horns and shit. B's team had to get Jay on it to  convince the suits it was a strong enough single to push and next thing you know that shit won like 5 Grammy's. Rest assured, Jay wasn't the main reason that happened. That record was a smash! Jay obviously added on to it but that record was a smash. It goes to show what these cats really fucking know. 

I'm gonna finish this off without really promoting my shit or anything. I don't understand how Joe Budden, Grafh, Saigon, and Joell Ortiz could be signed to majors and get no type of push from their labels. All these fucking artists who come out within this time span and none of these cats could see the light of day? Not even get a real shot? You know if a true artist can't get a shot 'cause what he's doing doesn't fit with your formula then I think you need to adjust your formula. Biggie Smalls, Tupac, Big Pun and Nas didn't have to get some type of BDS spins and "buzz" or anything before a label proceeded to push they product. They were talented enough so the label put everything in motion and eventually set them up. Next thing you know "boom" dudes sell records and everyone is happy. Talent never ever fails. Record sales suck but I mean its obvious that people ain't supporting these artist past a single anymore. I know there's many different variables but part of it is cause they don't have quality music beyond one lil' radio hit. The dudes who did have quality shit beyond their singles back in the days prospered and established strong careers. The dudes that didn't came and went. Now these days we have too many of these type of dudes. You wanna know why? 'Cause an artist like Joe Budden, whose "Mood Musik 2" was better than 90% of the albums that have dropped in the past three years, Saigon who's "Yard Father 1 and 2," ditto, Grafh's "Oracle" as well, and Joell Ortiz who fucking moved 50,000 units alone with Koch and built a huge buzz by himself; can't cut a fucking break 'cause they don't fit the "criteria" labels need to push. What the fuck is this "criteria" doing to the game? I'll tell you ...making it worse! Now you got Joell Ortiz saying "get me out of here if you ain't doing shit with me."

Suggestion labels: I know you need some tax write off's and shit but if you want those why don't you waste them on those rappers who have those singles and nothing more. Try and push an artist who overall has quality music. You can get the spins, you have the money and the connections and where there's a will, there's a way. Stop being lazy and only try and push artist who have set you up 'cause they generated most of the BDS spins and following on their own. You'll be surprised what can happen if you actually go hard at it. You might end up finding the next Biggie, Nas, or Jay Z even. You're not going to find that type of artist if you aren't willing to believe in talent but rather numbers on a fucking paper or screen that shows this artist has value. Maybe they don't want to find that artist, who the fuck knows. Shout out to Joell 'cause I respect that dude's grind. I seen it firsthand and that cat was everywhere and doing everything he could to be known. Another rapper suffering from this lame ass "criteria" and not getting his proper shot. Real talk who knows if its just "here say" but honestly Joell has built a stronger buzz for himself than most these labels have done for their own artist. I believe if this "criteria" was all that mattered 15 years ago or so a lot of great emcees would have never came about. Fix this fucking formula or whatever it is, 'cause it damn sure ain't working.

Get at the kid myspace.com/ninobless

Til Next Week Yurp!

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Too Much Beef These Days

Wut up ya'll week 3 with the blogs and I'm on schedule (but the blog's posted a little late because my man Shake is a lazy bum! Jokes) A lot of cats don't remain consistent with their blogs but I'm gonna stay consistent even when things get hectic. Speaking of hectic; it was a hectic week for some hardcore Hip Hop fans and media people (Especially for those who cheer and support the up and comers). I wanted to talk about a few different things this week but my plans changed. I don't like to see young brothers beefing with each other. Saigon is my dude and I know him personally. When he got the "Hip Hop Quotable" I was one of the first cats he called up on the spot even before the issue was out cause I used to build with him real early before he popped like that. I respect Sai and a lot of cats don't know how hard the grind is. They see lil shit now and say "man why ain't ya album out" or say "why don't you leak out more music." I don't think cats know how hard it is to constantly make music and stay inspired to write dope shit. Saigon has leaked over 60 songs out there for free before his album. He's grinded and I recall him doing shows to just get his respect and props from his peers and the underground scene in NY. This shit ain't easy, he's been at it for a while. Dude is tired and frustrated with the game so be it. Let the man be. Unless you in the man’s shoes don't speak on his actions like you know everything that’s going on. That cat has been through a lot at his young age both in real life and with this music.

Joe Budden is cool peoples. We've spoken a few times. He's a class act and a good dude. I really hope this shit gets squared away. These dudes aren't just "rappers" at the end of the day. They are real people. Not fuckin’ characters out of a comic book. This shit is all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. I hope the beef doesn't escalate into something serious at all and is just a major misunderstanding. Also all those cats that say "this beef would be good for hip hop"; I disagree. These cats making music together, dropping an album and receiving mainstream success would be “good for Hip Hop.” These 2 gunners are some of the most important up and coming cats for the next generation. As a true MC, I'm pulling for the both of them. I don't know what Hip Hop is turning into man. It’s like the music is the last thing cats care about these days. You know what’s funny to me? Hip Hop is weird man. People say "somebody needs to stand up for this Hip Hop shit the corps have taken over." Somebody like Nas says "Hip Hop is dead" and "save the music and the culture." He gets nothing but grief for that shit. When nobody says shit everybody is fuckin pissed but the minute somebody as credible and relevant as Nas is says something it’s like "whatever." What the fuck do people want? How was he so wrong? Aren't many aspects that the culture was based on being misrepresented across mainstream media today? Oh no my bad, it’s just evolution! RIGHT! Hip Hop heads scream for shit that they want and when they get it; they're like "fuck that." Shit makes no sense.

I was supposed to leak that G Rap song (hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.3670) last week and here it is actually. I apologize for that there was some technical difficulties. We about to get serious right now and whoever is reading this blog is about to start seeing me across the board on many other outlets. The concept of this blog is so you can follow the progression of a man stepping from behind the scenes and trying to step into the light doing his thing. Some of you will observe my mistakes. Hopefully you learn. I'm going hard on a promo run and I just signed a situation I can't speak too much on but it’s pretty much got me exactly what I been grinding so hard for since the day I decided this is what I wanted. So far so good and I'm excited. My team and I are in place to do some real good things and I think the timing of everything is benefiting me. I'm about to leak a song in 2 weeks, MAJOR posse cut. I promise! You'll get it here on DX first, best believe that. I got a beef or 2 with a few rappers out there that I haven't settled yet as well as with some clients I wrote for. Its lame at the end of the day but you know the quality of music is first. I'm about putting some quality shit out there and giving ya'll raw shit. This mixtape will give you exactly that. Hopefully I'll start buzzing real soon and I ain't gonna forget what it’s about. It’s about the music first. Fuck all the record sales, Myspace hits, who's fuckin who, who's signed to who. Who the fuck cares! Who has more money than him and her. Who the fuck cares! Start saying some hot shit when you rhyme. That’s all I give a fuck about.

Holla at the kid: www.myspace.com/ninobless

Til next week. YURP!

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Finding My Own Lane

What’s good ya'll. I must say the first week of my blog went pretty good. Those that read it gave solid feedback and I'm glad ya'll feeling what I'm doing and the message I was delivering in week 1. I got some personal messages directly that made me feel like this blog serves its purpose. Anyways moving on, I'm getting ready right now and I'm wrapping up my Mixtape with Big Mike & J-Love. I wanna get into the transition I had to make from just writing some shit for other people to doing my own thing. When you write for somebody else as I have in the past, in a way it’s fairly easy. You are just telling it with their vision and their outlook in mind and what you think they should be presenting. I don't own 4 cars, a clothing label, Gucci, none of that; so when I'm writing for somebody; if this fits their image I can just throw them shits in there. Me as an artist however, that’s not my steelo. I was born and raised in Brooklyn (Flatbush), I’ not making it rain money wise, I don't own 6 whips or a jet, I grew up and got into shit I should've never got into, but at the same time I try to let these kids know what the deal is. I put my experiences and what I've seen into my own shit. The toughest part for me though was finding my own lane. I tested the waters with various different things.

One thing I learned is that EVERYBODY has different ears. With music it’s all about OPINIONS. There are no stats to back up how you feel like with b-ball or something. I can get numbers to back up my argument as to why I think Lebron is better than Carmelo and T Mac. "He averages more assists and more rebounds”; “he’s 70% of their offense" and etc. With music there are no stats except for record sales unfortunately which doesn't showcase how good the music is; rather how many people were exposed to it and bought it. Somebody might hear a record, get something from it and consider it a classic and the next person might be like "what the fuck are you talking about this is cold trash." I've had people tell me "you should have done or said this different." Sometimes you have to realize who's telling you this. If it’s Jay-Z, you sit back and say "word, let me see how I could do that better." If it’s ya man Tony from around the corner you gotta be careful with whose advice you take. I had people tell me "try this and that." Some of the shit ain't work for me. You know some people are very particular and limited with how they want certain shit to sound so they might say you should have said it like this, that or done this different. 3 thousand other people might disagree. Sometimes an opinion can help you but sometimes it can hurt you. Finding what works for you personally is essential. Some people's advice is based on what they personally prefer to listen to rather than generalizing. You can't please everybody. Some people wanna hear some hardcore street shit; others like that laid back and calm vibe. Some focus on lyrics; others focus on how the song is structured... you get the idea. It’s all different.

A lot of niggaz complain about a million things in the game. For the most part I can't front, there's some shit to complain about. But too many cats "bitch" too much cause the game don't work in their favor. Man up homey and just create your own lane. You ain't gotta do a bunch of commercial records and fit the radio formula if you don't want to. There's an indie scene that supports brothers like MF Doom, Brother Ali, Jedi Mind Tricks, Immortal Technique, Atmosphere and so on. Those cats all make a living off this rap shit without an Interscope budget. They get paid off record sales and shows and are doing pretty good. These cats all make a few G's a show when there's an artist signed with millions behind him that can't sell out a show in his own city. Believe it, this is the game. I'm going into my own lane. I'm going to do what I want to do and come as raw as I can with the lyrics, word play, and good shit for you to listen to. I don't do that shit where you make "nigga" & "trigga" rhyme unless it fits in my multi-syllable rhyme scheme. I try and make a bunch of words rhyme at the end and in between. That’s my shit and that’s what I do. Sometimes you gotta just keep it simple for a few bars for it to have the content you need ‘cause I often see too many niggaz trying to get wordy and don't say shit in the process.

Too many dudes jeopardize their lyrical content thinking that’s what they have to do to reach a much wider audience. Which I understand to an extent but I don't understand why they separate themselves so much from who they truly are. Nas did "One Mic," bodied it all round and that was successful. Eminem did "Way I Am" and he came off with intricate rhyme schemes on a commercial record. Now, not everybody has the presence and appeal of Nas and Em but I don't see why you should quit being who you are as an artist on any level to reach more people. I think that means you just don't have "it" and that "it" is what it takes to reach the masses. Maybe that’s not you and you need to do something else, go another route and figure out what works for you. I'm sitting back and just doing me. I check for feedback from my peers and all that but most of the time it doesn't have any influence on me anymore like it once did. Occasionally I'll take what they said and be like "oh ok I see what they saying." Either way I just trust my own ears at the end of the day.

Back to my mixtape. The shit is dropping real soon and last week I leaked a freestyle with Grafh (check the Audio section!). The shit was just us getting wordy, showing off and talking shit. This weekend I'm leaking a joint (on HipHopDX of course!) with the god himself Kool G Rap. G Rap asked me to be on this record and how can I say no? He was like "add a verse to this joint." Say no more G Rap, I got you. This joint actually didn't make my mixtape. It’s a bit older; it’s a joint in the stash. I might throw it on though, we'll see. It’s some hard shit for the streets…what else you expect from G Rap but gutter shit?

Next week I'll be back doing what I do and fill you in more in depth with what I'm doing with Big Mike & J-Love. Some good things in the works, real talk.

MySpace plug right here: myspace.com/ninobless

Reach out to the kid, ‘til next week. Yurp!

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The Tale of a Ghostwriter

Peace y’all, I go by the name of Nino Bless. Most of you have never heard of me and are probably wondering, "Why the fuck does this kid have a blog here?" To answer that, point blank, I'm tired of taking the backseat. I was behind the scenes helping other rappers and producers pop off with my business partner with marketing and also ghostwriting for other artists. I never had the intentions of trying to be an artist full time until I met a particular client of mine who so happened to be the legendary Kool G Rap.

Out of the blue one day I kicked a rhyme to him and he just spazzed out and was like "Dog, your shit is fire. You're an emcee, not a marketing cat." That right there gave me some serious confidence. I mean that's G Rap, ‘nuff said. A little later Chamillionaire and I was building for a minute and it was interesting to find out that this multimillionaire dude also came up doing marketing for other artist. I'm sharing some thoughts with him and next thing you know we're rapping back n’ forth to each other and his reaction was similar to G Rap's. That's when my mentality changed.

I realized I wanted to pursue this music shit full time. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place though. My income and bills is being taken care of off marketing for other cats. The ghostwriting shit was a good outlet and I got some connects in the industry. My main thing was if I want to be an artist fulltime, I had to take losses. I lost a lot of money turning down clients left and right. You see if you really want to pursue something, nobody is going to give you anything, you have to make it happen yourself as cliché as it sounds. I basically invested in myself. Shit, who else was going to? I stayed ghostwriting though, ‘cause it was bringing in income and it was also a good way to stay sharp.

When you ghost write for somebody it works like this: your client gives you a beat, you write to it, lay down the reference, send it over, and then they record over your reference. Some get picked, and some don't. Some clients have different ideas about how they want their shit to sound others just don't have any direction, so you have to just go off what you think will sound right for them. The main rule as a ghostwriter is to copyright all your submissions and make sure the paperwork in lawyer lingo says, "This is how I get paid." Paperwork is the most important shit with everything. Get your paperwork taken care of every chance you get with anything. Make sure a lawyer goes over it and explains to you ever detail. Keep asking questions, I've been fucked and seen it too many times. You would think cats would learn.

If you have something you want to do, and you believe in yourself to the utmost, invest in yourself in any way possible. Don't take no for an answer and disregard all criticism and doubters. I stared at a man on his deathbed once and he told me "I don't regret anything; I lived it how I wanted to live it." So yeah I'm taking losses but I'm doing what I wanna do. If you want to rhyme, produce, be a ball player, write books or whatever, just work ya ass off and hit up any outlets and expose yourself. Yeah, I have connects but I made those by busting my ass and pulling off some 36 hour days, real talk - ghostwriting for other heads, taking in some marketing accounts for some income, all at the same time working on my own music. So if you really want it, don't half ass. Multitask. Work a day job; take care of your bills but come home and start working on your craft. These days, you gotta network too and I realized that. That plays such a big part in the game. Most of the cats I personally know that are on, had to network hardbody! Immortal Technique for example he's my dude, and that nigga at one point acted as his own booking agent, publicist, A&R, and distributor. He sells out 4,000 seat venues by himself now but I recall when he was running in The Source by himself harassing Gotti who did the “Unsigned Hype” column. Later on he got the “Hip Hop Quotable” as an indie act in an issue where 50 Cent was on the cover. This dude has turned down major label offers at times because he can. He put himself in that position.

So I know the hard work that this is gonna take. I'm wearing too many different hats but at the end of the day, this shit is worth it. I'm about to drop two mixtapes and then move to either a street album or an official indie release. The first mixtape is being released soon before the year ends. I have two good hosts (Big Mike and J-Love) and some features. G Rap came through for me, Ras Kass, Immortal Tech, Joell Ortiz and a few more I can't give away. The first joint I'm a leak on this blog is a freestyle with my dude Grafh. Grafh comes with it every time he spits if you recall he outshined Cassidy, Jae Hood and Shells on that Kay Slay record. I knew I had to come with it even if it was just for a freestyle. Peep the joint and shoot ya feedback. I appreciate the good and the bad. Some cats call negative comments "hate,” I call it a fuckin’ opinion. Everyone is entitled to one so whatever, you gotta take the good with the bad. It's just funny how everybody is an A&R these days and knows what "people like." I hear that shit oh so too often. "The people want,”...you’re speaking for yourself not for the people. Don't give me that shit. This industry can be corny at times so real niggas just gotta block it out.

Nino Bless & Grafh - Freestyle (Click to listen!)

Peep my myspace if ya'll wanna get at me with some beats, politic, or just wanna get at some chicks who are on my page. (Come on we all do that shit) myspace.com/ninobless

Till next Friday ... Yurp!

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