Sure the NBA teams are allowed budgets to campaign and sign on but ,the cities themeselves, with high unemployment and state budget woes, there is just something unsettling about cities with love/hate relationships with millionaires. You know wanting someone who can bring money to a state or city, where there is already suppose to be industry, its like an unofficial anointing…kinda creepy.

See for me, its about who ever gets him that will base the next fiscal year on the money made by non-Lebron people. While there is money made in merchandise, for cities that are currently in the Red, which so happen to be all the cities vying for him, can a location with only so few millionaires, accidently turn into a real monarchy or an Egypt style government? I mean if you look at a Chicago or even Cleveland, can they really afford to sustain his livestyle? Not that he’s a flashy dude but, what do they have to offer him? There is not much investment potential in many of these cities.

For example a place like Chicago, Jordan was actually hated on for not investing in the city where there was not return. They just wanted money from him to floss. Jordan said no, got called an A-hole but he was actually smart because most of the financial deals were shrowided in politial controversy. See most business dealing in Chicago are fueld with politics. And political business dealings, I always see as some old dude’s M.O, not someone with actual earning potential.

Hell look at Antoine Walker. All that money, there was nothing there to sustain his monies aside from some run down places, baby momma beauty supply stores and a sneaker shop. What could Lebron be offered aside from lake front property?

These cities, aside from being broke, are not the most rich friendly cities. Like a LA where there many Venture Caplists and of course a New York or Miami where there is constant enterprise outside of real estate. Trust he’s taking this into consideration, not the franchise.

Being the richest guy in town can accidentally turn Lebron’s theoretical King title into an inevitability. People don’t realize Jordan didn’t live live in Chicago. He lived on the outskirts away from the “Help A Brutha Out” foundations and the “What’s in for Me” shake downs. And those kinds of mentions are only rampant in a broke ass city. Places that make money are not bombarded with that and mainly have a “we got a venture you should invest in,” vibe.

Its no secret Chicago is plagued with a lot legitimate crooks. Remember the robbing epedemic a few years ago with the athletes. It got so bad, Tank Johnson got caught up like T.I trying to protect himself from the streets that he “forgot” to pay back. (But that’s his fault) but I speculate.

Aside from playing in a humble town like a Minnesota or Denver where things can get upscale but obviously stay demnure, places like a Chicago or Cleveland are “big cities” yet there is a attitude against capitalism. They play union but want non-union money and Mr. Nike aka Big Box, brand name may get the life sucked out of him, and then robbed. No matter what city he chooses unless he knows something we don’t know about the future of team he joins, it’s going to be less about the team and more about the area’s current or potential industry that will land Lebron.

As he started becoming familiar, with the help of the blogs, these series of unfortunately events started happening to him. First some guy got shot at his concert in Chicago…which I guess was his pre promo tour, very Backstreet Boyish of him. Then he broke his knee or something, I’d take this cartoon’s word for it and say ACL, then had to sit down to perform at the last leg of his tour (no pun seriously), then he performed “The Best He Ever Had” at the BET awards, still sitting down the entire time, with a bunch of nine year of girls dancing around, which we’d later find out was Tiny and Toya’s new group the OMG girls…meh..

Then that part of the awards was cut from the million -o reruns BET shows every year, due to the horrible and age questionable performance, then he let Mr. West an employee of ROC, direct his video which not only became an epic fail, he got flack from Black women for the lack of melanin in the video (Which I though might have been directed more at Mr. West since he took soo much credit for directing it) and then the possible nail in the coffin… Drake fell trying to promote himself while his knee/err leg what ever was not yet healed and he fell and busted his stuff on stage, while the lip-sync track continued to play.

Now I’m no expert even though I thought I could be but, someone or something does not want him to make it lol. Only time will tell. And no despite the contrary, he is not wheelchair bound, just someone wants him to be.

C’est la Vie, Drake from jeff on Vimeo.

So, the blogging/journalist juggernauts went into detail about Asher’s potential success, and is he really a good emcee and simply who really gives’ah? I’m assuming because he’s White, and the music (Hip Hop marketbility) is sucking really bad. And the White thing, business wise, was the factor for Eminem getting people back to buying music at the height of the Napster movement. Some even say, he saved the Hip Hop industry..before it was cool (& annoying) to call everyone a savior. So why not a a young Jew that raps heresy, have the potential to save the industry? no Jesus piece. (*whispers* just joking Jesus..)

Read their discussion in Gawker:  Asher Roth: Do We Care? 

I find it interesting that, we all really are not facing the truth…rap has gotten really corny. And the less serious you take it, the cooler you come across. I mean De La Soul did it when Gangster rap was at a premium. So it’s either take it too serious, or be bitter old heads, clinging on by settling for Beta rapper, like wives married to DL dudes. Seriously its okay, you have options you know.

Another question, I also found it ironic that this White kid is saying he loves college, while we were inundated with the “college dropout” theme for the past 5 years.  These were the same Black rappers who either dropped out or secretly loved college. See that..crazy.

Tom Breihan (Pitchfork)  hit it on the head, Asher’s marketing is genius for this neo-hip hop climate. It’s not rhyming skills nowadays it marketing skills, which is why Souljah Boy won something at one point. Another thing is the Eminem comparison. Asher you have to take it. I mean everyone see’s Black rappers as the same, fitted cap, with or without scarf/ tight jeans or bedazzled belt and chain, rapping about _____. See what I mean. Rap is a character now, nothing more.

In the mist of this Hip Hop economy bubble, is it even nessary to care who’s hot anymore? I’ll just say it. Because  hip hop is big business, only a few are allowed to be famous. The same people own everything and therefore, I don’t accept anyone as “King” or the “Best.” It’s easy to be the greatest when all the best players are banned from the game. So I stopped being annoyed officially last year. Oh and Asher Roth is not selling to Black people, so he has no need to be and act..err Black. Toure touched on this too but, Roth’s team see’s it like this. Why please Black fans when Hip Hop has now, no longer become a Black thing..I know he’s thinking let’s just skip the middle man and go make money.

And thats the thing, all Black people don’t listen to all rap. Seriously did you listen to Swazye? Can you get a dude over 18 that has actually heard of Madlib or hell Q-Tip’s last album? That doesn’t mean they like bad music that just means, Hip Hop needs to update its genre presentation.

Does anyone else find it hilarious how you expect a different voice to come out of him? If he sounded like Conan Obrien, maybe there wouldn’t be the Eminem comparison.

* UPDATE: BOL’s “ASHER WATCH” pointed out Asher’s sales would suck balls…if I recall and apparently BOL, right again…but wait… first week sales may just be different now days…I still say this guy is one MTV reality theme song/Apple commercial away from being a hit. Its not about rooting for this guy as we are trying to prove a point about the industry, NO ONE CARES anymore, no matter who you are.

Then again, unlike Black people, middle America’s not to fond of Jewish people either…well except Jesus, so their infinity for the new Eminime might be stronger. And we all see how M.I.A suddenly got big from a damn soundtrack and had to come out of retirement for dealing with the bullshit of the industry…so we shall see and kudos to M.I.A for sticking in there (or selling her or her baby soul) either way..get your money.

via Karma Loop. Thanks Chelsea

I guess even blogging is too played out..video blogging is the next step…awh.shucks

Newbos are young African-Americans who rely on working-class values, a capitalistic philosophy and entrepreneurial instincts to create wealth and fame that would be unimaginable to their forebears. Largely male, they are using entertainment, professional sports, and media as foundations upon which to build diversified enterprises, some already worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Droves of other young blacks are building businesses and careers in industries that have sprung up around these sports, entertainment and media figures, including sports and entertainment agents and lawyers, producers, financial advisors, publicists, composers, choreographers, stylists, personal trainers and security professionals, among others.

Unlike previous generations of blacks striving to succeed in a white-dominated world, these young moguls and their retinues have found their economic power in refusing to assimilate. Recognizing that institutional racism and other social and cultural barriers often block their way forward in a traditional white-dominated economy, they embrace and commercialize their interpretations and versions of black style and culture, a trend that reflects the emergence of non-traditional, creative leadership — think Bill Gates and Steve Jobs — in every aspect of the American economy. Their rapid rise from almost nothing represents a shining new aspect of the American dream, but also creates unprecedented challenges in their lives. [Full Article]

Its about damn time.

You can purchase the book on Amazon

Will Smith a charismatic dude with excellent vocabulary, realized this was need to actually be an actor. I guess that makes sense on why rappers and r&b singers, that can’t talk in real life, have problems legitimately acting. Will as always respected the craft and truly learned how to be a believable actor. Yeah it took him time to be serious in a movie but, less we forget, Six Degrees… and that acting dug him out of his tax evasion and bankruptcy hole. And I know that made people stand up and take notice.

So, nearly 20 years later, Will had been slated as the richest actor for 2008, far from broke and now, the last migration of rappers entering hollywood has happened. As Busta said that hollywood money is long money, and that he made more in 5 minutes than he did with a whole album. It’s not like rappers now days are making money in..um rapping. You gotta be a gimmick just to sell anything nowdays, more than ever. And when Black musicians who set the culture of cool standards, start jacking White culture for creativity, its time to call it a wrap, just saying. I mean really do most top 10 rappers still even like rap?

Master P’s son Romeo? I recall he doesn’t really even want to be a rapper, he wants to direct romantic comedies or something. And even Biggie’s son, who plays a young Big in the Notorious movie, said, something to the effect of a strong love for film and acting and ehhh on rapping.

So here we are, Hip Hop’s new media is now reality TV, webespides have replaced mixtapes, Diddy stop making remixes and just redoes his TV shows, and for every subpar movie’s/performance a Black theatre acting dying a little . Just imagine, if most rappers are still too lazy to up their skills in Hip Hop, do you really think we’ll get better actors? It is a strong irony that intelligent emcees are usually the best “lyrical” emcees, and the best lyrical emcees have not disappointed with the acting (Mos Def, T.I, ), granted they don’t do dumb stuff like bad money management. I mean going broke with hollywood money is a douche move if I’ve ever seen.

When you think about, Hollywood actors, back in the 1930′s-50′s used to be multi-talented and for the sake of giving a show-goer their money’s worth. I mean, those were hard times. Let’s see if todays talent can repeat the process.

The whole “in the tabloids” and gossip sites would have made her an automatic celeb, Britney Spears style. But, this is not um let’s say, Interscope, this is a Black managed label so talent, not dirt has a talented feature. The group will be a trio which I can see cause Shannon’s dance game picked up ALOT. So, here we go, Diddy’s Black president motivation has let MTV’s mainly white audience understand, White and popular doesn’t necessarily make it profitable. If you want to debunk that “paranoia” find me three people of color on a major magazine…I’ll wait……..

For the guys, he will HAVE to break Q away eventually. I bet he’s in star training cause he’s the youngest and they will break him in, then have him go solo. Willie will end up working behind the scenes like Mario Wayans, with guest appearances and eventually a grown folk album release. Brian and Mike might eventually leave to a down south or LA label, who knows, they have a whole season before they start having issues. We remember Danity Kane was VERY happy while their second album was in progress… time will tell. Donny, I noticed he’s already picking up Diddy mannerisms, he’ll be used in fashion campaigns and eventually move get to work with bigger producers, with a harder edge. But, hay, I saw Donny as a solo artists when they tried out, maybe I’ll be two for two.

Dimewars showcases the top 2008 Hip-Hop Cash Kings [Dime Wars]

So on MTV.com, Juelz denies getting tricked out with this statement:

Three years without a new album? Sparse guest appearances in the interim? In this hip-hop climate, a lot of artists would be irrelevant by now. Juelz Santana hasn’t been silent in the time since he released his second LP, What the Game’s Been Missing. The mayor of “Santana’s Town” has been embroiled in behind-the-scenes contractual turmoil with his onetime mentor Cam’ron.

Now that he recently got out of his legal obligation to Cam’s Diplomat Records, the 23-year-old is signed directly to Def Jam. Cam actually broke the news to New York radio personality Miss Info, saying he’d sold Juelz’s contract over to the label for a handsome price.

“I was upset about the part of me being ‘sold for $2 million,’ ” Santana told MTV News, standing in front of his New Jersey studio on Thursday. “At times like this, nobody is trying to ‘sell’ me. I could have come out and said, ‘Oh, yeah, Cam got bought out.’ But I didn’t go that route. They just gotta watch me move. We gonna make it hot.” [MTV]

The bottom line, Cam’ron is short on cash and rough edge Hip Hop,esp NY hip hop is not selling like it used to. It is ironic that out of Dipset, the manager became the biggest star/artists of the group…..Jim Jones.

While Jay-Z topped Forbes.com’s inaugural Hip-Hop Cash Kings list of the top-earning people in the business last year, in 2008 he cedes the throne to Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who raked in $150 million over the past 12 months–almost twice what Jay-Z made.

The new king of hip-hop wealth banked $100 million after taxes on one deal alone when his stake in VitaminWater’s parent, Glacéau, was bought by Coca-Cola [[KO]]as part of a $4.1 billion deal. 50′s portfolio also includes the popular G-Unit clothing line and record label, plus films, videogames and a slew of platinum albums, including last year’s Curtis. Also in the works: a mining partnership with South African billionaire Partrice Motsepe (“[Forbes Full List]