"STOP SCHEMING & LOOKING HARD"

“STOP SCHEMING & LOOKING HARD”

  I have decided to preface this blog article with this opening statement: I am not a professional writer, and I did not go to school for journalism. Also, in full disclosure I have been featured in a publication by one of the companies mentioned in this blog, Coast 2 Coast Magazine. That article can be found here: C2C Feature

  So if you decide to read on, understand that this blog is not supposed to be in competition with anyone who actually went to school and spent money to learn how to be a “professional” writer. However, when I do decide to write a blog, especially this one in particular, I probably have more real world first hand experience than most “professional” writers at Complex, Fader, XXL, Digital Music News or any other music publication you can find out there.

  Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get down to business.

  I’ve been aggravated by a series of articles and situations that have been popping up lately in music industry articles, blogs, social media rants and beyond. When it comes to being an independent musician and dealing with platforms that market to them, I have over 15 years of experience in the field. I have seen many artists and platforms that provide services to those artists come and go. I have seen schemes, backs stabbings, ruined relationships and thousands of dollars stolen or lost. In every situation, whether I was directly involved or not, I tried to learn something from the negative outcomes.

  You want to know one of the biggest lessons that I learned? A little bit of simple research and patience could have prevented most of the drama I witnessed. Something as simple as actually going to an event that you are thinking about participating in before you decide to invest your time and money in it really helps. A simple Google search or a few inquiries about a particular person or platform to others in your network (assuming you actually have a real network in the field) can prevent a lot of grief. But before any of that, having a clear understanding of exactly what you are looking to achieve, and what a particular person or platform is claiming they can provide you is the starting point. This is where dreams, expectations and reality collide. The results are often accusations someone of “scamming” or someone being called a “broke ass artist”.

  I’m fucking sick of it all. Remember, this is the “No Chaser” blog, I’m not here to be “professional”, I’m here to give clarity, say what needs to be said in plain, easy to understand language and keep shit 100. From here if you read on, I will probably offend and/or piss you off no matter what you claim to be or do in the music industry. You have been warned. 

  First of all, yes there are plenty of scams in the music industry. I have personally been scammed so I know they exist. I have been unwittingly involved in a scam and I didn’t even know it until it was too late. That is because I broke my cardinal rule: I did not do my research. Had I done my research on the people involved, the very thing I mentioned earlier, I could have saved myself some grief. But like many people, my focus was on what I thought I was going to get out of it. So I ended up not only being scammed, I actually had a hand in scamming others and helped promote a scam, and it was the most embarrassing shit I ever had to deal with. I had to issue a formal apology to everyone in my network on social media and in an Email. (Note to self and you: NEVER believe a muthafucka can actually have a TV show on VH-1 and that same muthafucka can’t afford to pay the cast and crew up front…damn I was stupid)

  Since I can personally attest that REAL industry scams exist, and even a fairly smart person like myself can be duped into one, my scolding in this article is not aimed at the people who have been legitimately scammed. That shit sucks, and I understand your pain. This scolding I’m about to give is aimed at two groups of people: the ones who call a legitimate service a scam because they had the wrong expectations about what the service provided or don’t agree with their methods, and the people who run those same services and end up being called scammers because they walk too fine a line between what they can actually provide, and the what they know people want to hear.

  To be specific, I will point out two of the latest scam accusations that pushed me over the limit and triggered this blog article:

•        The DJ Booth article about Real Rap Promo’s XXL offer http://djbooth.net/news/entry/2016-03-15-xxl-freshmen-issue-scam?noredirection=true
•        The Digital Music News article about Coast 2 Coast   http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/01/21/70725/ 
•    and Coast 2 Coasts subsequent legal response http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/03/21/coast-2-coast-threatens-legal-action-against-digital-music-news-for-calling-it-a-scheme/

  Before you read any further, if you are not familiar with those current situations/allegations being hurled around, you may want to go ahead and read them first it will help for context. From this point on I will assume you read the aforementioned articles above and know a little bit about the blogs and companies involved in the melee. It's basically two popular promotions companies being called scammers by two pretty reputable music blogs because they feel like that those companies are "preying on the dreams of aspiring artists".

 Let’s be clear on the definition of the word scam which is: “a confidence game or other fraudulent scheme, especially for making a quick profit; swindle; a dishonest scheme; a fraud”

  By definition, the words “making a quick profit” is maybe why the people over at DJ Booth and Digital Music News must be feeling some type of way about Real Rap Promo and Coast 2 Coast respectively. It’s those words that, to me at least, are the only parts of the definition of  the word “scam” that you can pin down and associate Real Rap Promo and Coast 2 Coast with. Because when you check into what each one of them are listed as, which is more like promotional services, what they tell you they can provide you for the money you spend, it’s hard to pin them down on “swindle”, “dishonest scheme” or even “fraud”.

  Right now some of you are going berserk and you may be ready to say I am defending known scams in the industry. That’s because most of you people don’t fucking read or do any research about shit before you spend your money on it. If you feel like these kinds of companies who offer their promotional services are scams because you read their pitches and somehow came up with “we can help you get a record deal and become a star” that totally is a you problem. Because companies like Real Rap Promo and Coast 2 Coast don't boast that they are record labels or that they can get you signed to a record deal or any of that shit. What they sell is a form of attention to you or your brand aka PROMOTION. Oh, they both definitely walk a murky and fudged line, and neither is completely free of blame in all of this. But coming up with slick wordplay and ways to make money by doing the sort of promotion they offer doesn’t automatically make them scam artist.

  I didn't want to harp on those specific companies or blogs too much because then it will seem personal. But this blog is about having an understanding of the music business as it is in 2016. Thing’s have changed so much and so quick in the digital age that people still cling to old ways of thinking and making money. Just like someone could call me, or any other blogger a “hack” writer because we did not go to college to be journalist (hell that would include MOST bloggers, people who run blog sites and many popular "media" entities)

 In turn, I take issue with calling someone who charges for what’s essentially a promotional service a “scammer” just because the way they make money may not sit well with you. In the age of Google, the Internet, and social media, I don’t see how someone can be “scammed” easily in the actual definition of the word. I keep hearing people ask: “who has Coast 2 Coast ever put on or who has gotten a deal from hitting their stage?” The answer is probably no one, and if that’s the answer that should be no surprise because that is not what the hell a promotions company is set up to do anyway.

  If you have a problem with “paying to play”, that doesn’t make the platforms like open mics, or showcases that charge for access to the audiences they've built up and provide a "scam". Which reminds me, I have NEVER heard of anyone who performed at A3C or SXSW getting a “record deal” or being “put on” from a performance on a main “official” stage by either of them. Somehow though, they never come up in angry blogs or rants about “preying on artists dreams” or “scams”. Is that because they have large crowds or well known “headline acts” at those events? Oh wait, the artists didn’t pay to hit the stage you say? I beg to differ, because I hear SonicBirds has a fee associated with applying for those. Someone told me SXSW pays $250 to artist (which doesnt even come close to covering travel) so you don't make any REAL money performing at those festivals. Not to mention, MANY of the promoters who have “official satellite” stages A3C & SXSW indeed charge artists to touch those “officially sanctioned” stages at those festivals. Plus, either way the artists still paid to travel to those events, and more than likely the event/stage got a ton of FREE promo to everyone in the artists’ networks because they are so proud to be hitting that stage.

  To me, this whole “scam” word is being thrown around when it doesn’t fit a little too much for me to sit back and say nothing. One Google search on me, not the K-100 Radio brand, but ME personally, BLIZM, will tell you all you need to know about whose side I am on in the music industry. That is and will always be the ARTIST. But to be more specific, it will be the side of the hard working, truly talented, humble, grinding artists that understands the music business and investing in themselves and their dreams. Not the ones who think a write up in a magazine, a stage at a festival, a spin in the club or a mixtape hosted by a certain DJ, not any ONE thing can make them skip the real grind and shoot to fame and fortune. All of those are good and can help when done right, but they must be used in conjuction with each other, and that takes a budget and planning. 

  And right now, I see too many publications, artists, managers, PR people and more that are quick to cosign the bashing of anything they feel should be free or cheap for them to access. I see a lot of people that call promotional services scams because they charge for shit. It’s like these “PRs” that tell me “you should never pay for media coverage” and turn their nose up at our interview services. They really expect me to plan, promote, allow access to our broadcast services and use of our studio time/equipment we paid for to interview and focus on their artist, for FREE. We don’t promote our services as a way to get a record deal. We don’t even guarantee how many people will hear it because we simply can’t make such a guarantee. But we do exactly what we advertise we will do every time without fail. I will be dammed if we provide all of that for FREE to someone with no real return in the form of new listeners or growth of our brand. If you or anyone else has an issue with that logic and stance I simply don’t give a fuck.

  And that's what this is all about: knowing and then getting what the hell you are paying for. If a company like Coast 2 Coast charges you $300 bucks to hit their stage, and they say they will have certain judges there, it’s up to you to decide if that is worth the $300 bucks. But it is NOT a scam if you pay, and when you show up the stage is set, the judges are there at the venue they advertise, and you get to perform. YOU GOT WHAT YOU PAID FOR! No one should expect to “get on” from a damn Coast 2 Coast stage or ANY stage because ONE performance will NOT put you on! ONE little article in a popular publication like XXL will NOT put you on. But if Real Rap Promo says “for $875 we can put you on our page that we have in XXL” then its up to you to decide if $875 bucks is worth having your face in XXL. But if you pay them, and your picture and article is in that issue, YOU DID NOT GET SCAMMED.

  What you DID do to me, and many others it seems, is invest your money unwisely. That is ON YOU. You did NOT do your research on what it is these companies provide. Then again, if you REALLY want to perform in downtown ATL, or at SXSW and you have NO PLUGS to ANY venue in Atlanta or in Austin and have a small budget, then guess what? Maybe the ONLY way you can make that happen IS buy paying people like Coast 2 Coast, who already has all that shit in place, the $300 bucks or whatever the SXSW ticket is they charge to perform on their stage. Is that a waste or unwise? That depends on exactly what the hell you expect from it.

  This damn blog is already MAD long and I still could go on and on about all of this. But I’m going to cut it short because unless you really think everything should be free just because as an artist you are “talented” or because you feel like as a manager your artist is “hot” or as a PR your client is “buzzing” then you get the gist of what I am saying. To all of you bloggers or writers who are quick to attack something YOU don’t FEEL makes sense to pay for, yet YOU DON’T FILL THAT SAME NEED OR OFFER THE SAME SERVICE/PLATFORM IN ANY WAY, OR POST A FREE ALTERNATIVE, you can shut the hell up too frankly. If the people over at DJ Booth had been as equally harsh on XXL, that actual damn publication that Real Rap Promo ran their chopped up AD page in, as they did Real Rap Promo themselves, it might not have bothered me as much. If Digital Music News didn't plug in promo for an artist they are friends with (Produkt) within the same damn article about Coast 2 Coast I might have left them out of this shit.

 Unless you can PROVE a company is literally taking money for a service and NOT providing the service (not what you think they are IMPLYING they can provide, but what they actually OFFER) then stop with all the LOOKING HARD at what someone is charging artists for.  If you are a platform, quit SCHEMING up slick ways to colorfully advertise what the fuck you really do! Don’t masquerade as a platform that can “help get you signed” or “make you an artist to watch” if all you do is provide a stage to rock or a promotional service, either in print or digital publications. The shit goes both ways and as you can see will hit the fan if you keep that up.

  All of you just STOP SCHEMING & LOOKING HARD.  Advertise what you really do and we won’t have this bullshit going on. Artists and their representatives need to again, understand and research what people do and provide. If it isn’t for you, KEEP IT MOVING. If you are a writer, offer your opinion AND INCLUDE ANOTHER WAY for artist to get the same thing you called a scam for FREE or again, shut the hell up. We know already know that paying $800 bucks to WorldStar for a video placement that rarely if ever generates real fans and only attracts troll comments is a waste. As much as I hate that kind of shit, at the end of the day if you pay it, it gets posted. Lets look at all of this the same way. 

  Because we all know that NO ONE is opening up for major acts, or getting in XXL, or performing in other cities or at large music festivals for FUCKING FREE unless they have WORKED HARD, HAVE REAL TALENT, SPENT THOUSANDS IN PROMOTING THEMSELVES AND THEIR BRAND, BUILD UP A REAL LOCAL BUZZ, TRAVELED TO OTHER CITIES AND BUILD BUZZ, AND REALLY HAD A MEAN GRIND.

But, who wants to do all that though, right?

BLIZM

Program Director

K-100 Radio

www.K100Radio.com

via GIPHY

SXSW 2016 Media Matters Event Coverage

Check out the live interviews we did at SXSW 2016 at the Media Matters event held by our partners Makin' It Magazine. We did interviews live on the scene at VooDoo lounge on 6th St. in the heart of all the action at SXSW. We chopped it up with Colonel Loud, Young Booke, Mike Sick, Teddy T and MANY more. You should definitely SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube page so you don't miss any exclusive content we post there. But we decided to share it here just it case.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL OF THE INTERVIEWS & COVERAGE

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO YOUR YOUTUBE PAGE 

MLK His Dream and Our Reality

"HIS DREAM & OUR REALITY"

  I'm not a historian, although I do try and learn as much about the past as I can whenever possible. I'm also not a social activist, and I am not a journalist. I preface this blog by saying my expertise is not in politics, sociology or religion. The man at the center of the discussion in this blog embodied all of those things. He lived them and died for his beliefs. I am nothing like Martin Luther King Jr. in a professional sense. But the one undeniable thing we do have in common, was a major center piece for his work and movement: He was a black man in America, and so am I.

  This is not a history lesson. If you want to know about Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy, work, speeches and so forth, may I suggest Google. They even have a pretty nice tribute to him on the search engine page today (Kudos!).

 This blog is about being a black man in America. This is about one mans dream and life work that landed him in an early grave. It's about a government who admitted to being a part of a plot to murder one of its own citizens. It's about a legal and judicial system that hasn't changed much in the almost 50 years since his death. This is about reality. A very sad present day reality that was a future MLK fought hard to avoid.

  I will assume if you have the intellect to decipher and comprehend the words of this blog, that by now you have heard MLK's "I Have A Dream" speech. I will further assume that you have at least seen a documentary, read a book, saw a movie, or at least half way paid attention in school when his life and legacy was taught. So I'm skipping all of that and getting right down to where we are now. Are we as a country anywhere near the dream that MLK had for the future? Was all that work, the marching, the sermons, the back room politics, the arrests, did it really change things? As a black man in America, my answer is a resounding NO. 

  You can argue that some things have changed for the better, and I will not deny that depending on exactly what things you are specifically talking about. The very center of MLK's work and one of his biggest issues he championed for was the right for black people to legally vote in all elections. While that goal was accomplished, I will point you to the present day concerted effort made by many Republican lawmakers to make it increasingly difficult for people of color and low income to be able to vote in elections. These "Voter I.D." laws are set up and designed to make it hard for a certain demographic of people to vote in present day elections. That's pretty much the same exact thing MLK was fighting to end 50 years ago. Oh wait, you don't know about those? Here you go: WHY VOTER ID LAWS ARE UNFAIR 

  Unless you have no access to TV, newspapers, books or the Internet, then I know you have seen plenty of the images of police brutality and domestic terrorism by hate groups being done to black people in MLK's day. Are you really going to sit here and try to make an argument about what's going on present day in this country as it pertains to this? Seriously, do I need to mention the countless murders of black men by law enforcement that has made national and world news over the last few years? Do you need links and pictures to remind you about a white kid walking into a black church and murdering 9 people simply because they were black in South Carolina? If you need proof that MLK's dream has definitely not become reality in this regard, you are simply in denial or stupid, more than likely both.

  It's 2016, and in the last 2 years there are plenty of examples of injustices hurled upon black people by the same justice system we are supposed to trust. We had top news stories, trending hash tags on social media, marches, protest and even all out riots that are addressing pretty much the exact same things MLK addressed long ago. The emergence of the first non white president in this countries history seemed like we were on the right track. But ultimately all that did was uncover and expose the deep seeded racism from citizens, to politicians and more that just laid dormant in this country. When we add to that recent examples, like a whole city of predominantly poor or black citizens being essentially poisoned via the water supply by their state and local government, it's pretty clear this dream of MLKs is not reality.

 FLINT WATER CRISIS IS ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM 

  What can we do NOW to try and make the dream that this great man gave his life in pursuit of a reality?

  We elected a bi-racial President and then gave him 2 terms at that, but did that change anything? We had two million man marches, and a few all out riots in major US cities. But for the black man in America, not much has changed in the grand scheme of things. We still don't own much land or our own businesses. The black church has had enough scandal and super rich pastors flying around in luxury jets to pretty much discredit most of what they preach. This is the reality that we live in, and I'm almost positive that this was nothing that MLK dreamed about.

  To top it all off, we haven't had any one step up and fill the shoes of MLK. There is no one that I can think of from his generation, mines or even my sons generation that has been able to pull off half of what he did. Leaders are important in any conflict, and yes this is indeed a conflict we find ourselves in right now. Dare I say an all out war, but that scares some of you to the point you that you want nothing to do with what's really needed to bring change. You would much rather live in this reality than actually lay your life on the line as MLK did. And I get that, because the truth is people like him aren't the norm in our society or species. 

  In honor of MLK and all of his work and sacrifice, I am writing this blog because there will never be change without openly admitting and recognizing the problems and issues that need to be fixed. He did a lot more speaking, preaching and writing to help get people in the right mind frame before he took any action. But, the action is where real change will ultimately come from. 

  Collectively, there is a sickening complacency that has set in amongst many black people in America. Because we can go home and watch a little TV, afford decent meals and entertainment now and then, maybe even splurge on fancy houses and cars, many of us forget MLK's dream is not yet reality. 

  Then a guy gets choked to death by the cops, no one is held accountable and we say "how is that possible?" We have countless family members in prisons for years behind this facade called "the war on drugs", while white Wall Street bankers don't even stand trial for basically looting and bankrupting the nation. This is possible because we have distractions from the reality in which we live that has made us lazy, complacent enablers to it all. 

  In closing, I would like to send out a sincere apology to the late Martin Luther King, Jr. I am sorry that I have in some ways myself been a party to shaping this reality for me and my children to live in. You worked very hard to give us a good starting point, and we blew it big time. May you rest in peace, and hopefully your dreams will indeed one day come true. I hope that your ultimate sacrifice doesn't end up just being another paid day off and a reason to put your face on a club flyer to promote a party. You made us all proud, and I don't know where the hell that pride went good sir. 

BLIZM

Program Director,

K-100 Radio 

www.K100Radio.com

NIGGAS & PARIS

"NIGGAS & PARIS"

The Completely Ridiculous Controversy   

    Like most people, my life experiences often shape my view of the world. So before I get to it, I wanna share a quick story with you. I was in the US Navy in 1995 stationed aboard the USS Nassau, an amphibious assault ship. We stopped at various ports in the Mediterranean Sea like Naples in Italy, Haifa in Israel, and Toulon in France. It was the first time  I was away from my home state on my own and my first time leaving the country. 

   While in Toulon, France I had my first experience of racism in a country other than America. I'm from the south, so it wasn't like I've never experienced racism. But when you get it from a person with a deep French accent who barely speaks English, it hits you that it's way bigger than you ever could have imagined.

  I was in civilian clothes at some store like place, and I was struggling to figure out the currency situation at hand. Some French man wanted me to hurry up, obviously I was not moving fast enough for him. I sensed his frustration, although I don't know if he sensed mine. He was obviously upset and his English wasn't  too good. Then he said something I clearly understood:  "dumb nigger". 

  They tell you off top on the ship that when you go out into foreign countries to see the sights when you are over there while in port, you are responsible for your own actions. If you go to jail, the ship will not wait for you to get out. Long before it was a TV show, I was about to star in my own personal episode of "Locked Up Abroad" right then and there. I would like to thank my friends and shipmates that I was with that day for stopping me from going to jail in France for assault. I snapped, lunged at the guy and they held me back. It all happened really quick.  

  That was on the first of three days I spent there and I could tell you a few other obviously racist things that happened to me in France. But the point I want you to gather is I know first hand racism is a global issue. Black people being treated like second class humans, no matter what uniform we may wear, how we may talk, or where we may be from is not a figment of my imagination. That's important to the overall message of this blog, which I am about to go into now.

  A group of individuals attacked multiple targets simultaneously in Paris, France killing over 100 people. Bombs and guns were used, and it was coordinated attack not on a military institution, but on regular civilians going about their normal day. I need to be very clear about something and I'm only going to say this once. That shit was horrible and I hope whoever did it rots in whatever hell they feared while living.  Anyone who helped carry out the plan that didn't die in the attack should be killed. I don't really care what rationale or reason anyone tries to spin and justify that incident, it was cold blooded murder. 

   I don't feel the need to give a lesson about all the things America and France have done to Islamic people or people of color throughout history. This isn't about Haiti, it isn't about the colonization of Africa by the French, nor is it about how Obama has handled ISIS. None of that really has anything to do with the real issue that's bugging people. Most people don't even know history well enough to make intelligent remarks about historical events. 

  You see, this blog is about the world media, and how it influences social media. This whole fake ass "controversy" can be credited to the overall disproportionate coverage of atrocities that happen to other races juxtaposed to atrocities that happen to people of color. If you think its about anything else you are probably making a fool of yourself on either end of the argument on social media already. 

   It's like a fire was set in the woods in the middle of a drought and left to die out unsupervised. All you need is a little spark and things can quickly escalate into an all out uncontrollable wildfire. If the #PrayForParis hash tag sparked the proverbial flame, then Facebook doused it with gasoline in the form of a simple question: "Do you want to change your profile picture to show your support for the Paris victims".

That's all you need, a spark and an accelerator. BOOM!! 

  Facebook is the biggest social media platform in the world, and they gassed up a firestorm among users by doing one simple thing: giving you an option. But it isn't the option itself that makes them guilty of this digital arson. It's when and why they decided to give people the option to make the change. More importantly again, it's also about when they didn't ask that same question to its users. And now you have two groups of people at each others throat, in the middle of a fire, wearing gasoline soaked clothes.

  If you have uttered the words "Fuck Paris" in the last few days either out loud or by typing it on a post or comment, let me say this: you are an idiot. If you think that what happened in Paris can be justified by some sort of twisted sense of "justice" for some shit the government of France did decades or centuries ago, again you are an idiot. If you think people shouldn't send up a prayer for the victims of any tragedy, be it Paris,  New Orleans during Katrina, a Church in South Carolina, a school in Kenya, for the last time YOU ARE A IDIOT.

   Really, who says fuck praying for someone that was just a victim of a senseless murder? Some of you assholes went completely left and made this about the actual crime that happened instead of what its all really about. And that is again, how the world media covers and treats crimes and tragedies that happen to people of color as opposed to the way they cover tragedies against others. The #PrayForParis hash tag should have been no big deal. It should have just been a way for rational people to say "damn that was messed up, I wish the victims and their family well". But no, it just couldn't be that simple.

  So, I did not change my profile picture to "show support for the victims in Paris". I'm also not one the assholes who feel like what happened over there isn't tragic, and that a prayer for the victims of the tragedy is something I should say "fuck that" too either. There is a clear and simple reason I didn't do it, and it wasn't because I didn't think it was tragic. I'm going to tell you why I didn't change my profile in a sec, but I have one more thing to clear up that is pivotal to my reason that you need to know.

                

  Let's keep shit 100, when it comes to social media, your profile pic is important. It doesn't matter what your reason is for being on any social media platform, the profile picture is most often going to relay something you care deeply about. It can be your kids, it can be your business, it can be your current school, or favorite sports team. But that simple little square image really matters to people. Lets not kid ourselves, because if it didn't matter, these last few days of ridiculous back and forth about the Facebook option wouldn't be an issue at all. We treat our social media account password like its our ATM code for a reason.

  So let me say this to all of you: I just didn't care about it ENOUGH to change my personal profile picture. My profile picture has always been an image of something that is important to me ever since I started using social media. Like most people, if it changes in anyway, it's either a business decision, a significant event, or I just simply got tired of it and wanted to switch it. If it's the latter, whatever it is switched to still falls up under one of the aforementioned categories of importance.

  Lets put it all in perspective. I did change my profile picture to me wearing a hood at the height of the Trayvon Martin case. That was because I cared deeply about that issue. That issue was important enough to me that I didn't need Facebooks help to let the world know I was pissed about what happened to that kid and I cared a lot about it. I changed that image on my own. It was also trendy to be honest, but the issue was something that I connected with personally far deeper than what happened in Paris. 

  You see where I'm going yet? The reason so many black people are up in arms about other black people who changed their profile pics is more about the fact that Facebook gave you the option to do so. But Facebook did not come up with a catchy quick way to show support for the the countless black victims of police brutality. They did not come up with a catchy way to let you show support for the students murdered in that college in Kenya a few months ago. They did not come up with a way to show support for the innocent people slaughtered in a church in South Carolina. Many of you black folks have your anger misguided and targeted all wrong this time. You are lashing out other people because they showed support for those victims in Paris, but really its simply not them that's eating at you.

   Does this mean that the ones who did change their profile pic are on some sort of higher moral ground than those that didn't? HELL NO is my answer to that. If we exclude the people who all of the sudden changed their pic in "support" because it was simply controversial and to make some sort of "Its my page I can do what I want" statement, it really wasn't that many people at first. Look, if you REALLY cared that much, I have no problem with that. Some people are compassionate like that. But frankly I actually know some of you people in real life, a fact people sometimes forget about when dealing with the digital world. Some of you really don't care that much about your own damn family, let alone some people you never met halfway around the world. It was just something you did because it was trendy. So well, fuck your profile pic if that's you.

  Loss of life for no good reason is tragic no matter what. But I'm not about to sit here and tell you some bullshit lie and act like I care about what happened to those people in Paris more than I cared about Eric Gardner. Truth is I care more about one than I do the other. And I'm perfectly comfortable with admitting that to the world and I'm unapologetic about it. Sometimes all the obvious bias that is shown in media coverage and by large cooperate platforms like Facebook for other races can make black folks lash out at the wrong thing. This is an example of one of those times, but the underlying anger is still warranted.  

  In closing, I will give you the blunt Ebonics laden truth. Niggas is mad about that hash tag and those profile pics because they sick of the whole damn world always caring about bad shit happening to other people but not really giving a fuck when bad shit happens to them. So, niggas is like "FUCK PARIS" because once again the whole world seemingly feels their pain, but when we say #blacklivesmatter some of you muthafuckas say shit like #alllivesmatter instead of simply saying your absolutely right. The media is the main culprit and it's bad enough that white America and most of the world tend to follow suite, but you got some black people who do this as well. Then the biggest social media platform on the planet lined right up and did the same thing.

  We all pick and choose what we care about, it's human nature. But fake caring about something just because you have been told that it's important and you should is just as bad as not caring about some of the really bad shit that goes on in the world. I don't fake anything. I cared that people died in Paris, I just didn't care enough about the issue to take any action other than thinking to myself, "damn that's fucked up". I'm not mad if you felt a deeper connection to the issue. Don't be mad because I didn't.

BLIZM

K-100 Radio
www.K100Radio.com  

  

The Recording Academy & Grammy Voting Explained

In this VLog BLIZM, Program Director of K-100 Radio, explains the process of becoming a member of The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, aka the people who vote on the Grammy Awards. Still the most prestigious award in music, the Grammy Awards are often criticized by many in the Urban Music industry for not getting the award right, especially in the Rap and R&B genres. BLIZM addresses the issue of the lack of minority and Urban music professional members in the Recording Academy and also breaks down how the voting ballot is structured.

https://youtu.be/rnfKsQYsCXg

#JusticeOrElse : An Open Discussion Live on K-100 Radio

Listen as BLIZM hosts this live interactive talk segment on K-100 Radio. The subject is the Million Man March 20 Year Anniversary and Louis Farrakhan's speech at the rally. Live callers give their accounts of the rally if they attended, and their feelings on the ‪#‎Justiceorelse‬ hashtag and movement. 

https://youtu.be/aBnUwVzmWmU

K-100 RADIO'S BLIZM FEATURED ON THE BIG HOMIE SHOW

CHECK ME BLIZM, THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR OF K-100 RADIO ON "THE BIG HOMIE SHOW" WITH VIC XL & HOMEBWOI ON RIDING DURTY RADIO

This is a dope podcast. We of course keep it all the way 100 about a myriad of things, the music industry and more. #salute to these guys..tell Combat Jack they COMING

http://soundcloud.com/ridindurtyradio/the-big-homie-show-hip-hop-feat-blizm-of-k100-radio