  Diehard Member Username: Diehard Post Number: 403 Registered: 03-2005 |
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20080318/M ETRO/803180371/1409/METRO | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 11839 Registered: 12-2003 |
JUST what this state needs...a REFORMED ex-con to succeed greatly and help others stay away from bad choices and negative influences...causing all naysayers and anti-reform idiots to STFU. | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 126 Registered: 08-2007 |
Perhaps the family of the man he killed can file a civil suit for the damages he caused them by their brother's untimely death. When Nathanial Abraham reaches out to them in a meaningful way, then I might consider him sincere and remorseful. | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 1490 Registered: 11-2003 |
Diehard... does Detroit have a huge population of ex-con rappers that you know of or are you making an ASSumption? I don't have a problem with him doing something that keeps him out of trouble and off the streets. I don't know how successful the album will be knowing how Detroiters don't support local rappers. Until he does something to get arrested again or put in jail, I'll be optimistic about his career and won't shoot it down based on a stereotype. | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 1491 Registered: 11-2003 |
"When Nathanial Abraham reaches out to them in a meaningful way, then I might consider him sincere and remorseful." ^what do you consider meaningful? Do you know of anything personally he has or has not done in regard to the victim's family? | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2856 Registered: 04-2006 |
Is he even a Detroit resident? | ||
Nainrouge Member Username: Nainrouge Post Number: 1061 Registered: 05-2006 |
Pontiac. | ||
Genesyxx Member Username: Genesyxx Post Number: 878 Registered: 02-2004 |
I'm still trying to figure out why this is front page news? Or even mentionable here? | ||
Nainrouge Member Username: Nainrouge Post Number: 1062 Registered: 05-2006 |
This was the guy who killed a man at the age of 11. It was all over the news. Then he was in the news again when he was released at age 21. | ||
Diehard Member Username: Diehard Post Number: 404 Registered: 03-2005 |
does Detroit have a huge population of ex-con rappers that you know of? There are many, many aspiring gangsta rappers in the city. Just hang out at an inner-city gas station on a Saturday and you'll see them hawking their CDs. Of course I don't know whether they're ex-cons, but I haven't heard one yet that had a positive, anti-crime message. And of course none of them have the free publicity that this guy got from murdering someone. I'll be optimistic about his career and won't shoot it down based on a stereotype. My point was that it IS so stereotypical... the state bends over backwards to give this guy a real chance to prove he's grown up, and what does he do? Drop out of school and put out a gangsta rap CD. The first line of his single is "Get money" and his myspace backdrop is piles of cash with "makin $$$ 24/7". Not to mention his earlier recordings where he said he "used n*ggas for target practice." Real nice. I'm not wishing for him to fail, by any means. I'm just saying, could he act any more like the stereotype he's trying to disprove? btw, the single's not bad. | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 1493 Registered: 11-2003 |
"There are many, many aspiring gangsta rappers in the city. Just hang out at an inner-city gas station on a Saturday and you'll see them hawking their CDs. Of course I don't know whether they're ex-cons, but I haven't heard one yet that had a positive, anti-crime message. And of course none of them have the free publicity that this guy got from murdering someone. " Ok... 1) rappers selling CD's at the gas station may have an anti-crime message in their songs but you wouldn't know that by just reading song titles or from their appearance. Maybe you should buy a CD and give them a change before sterotyping them. 2) Yeah he got publicity for what he did- there is nothing we can do about that. He made a statement about using niggas for target practice... what was said before and after that statement in his song? Let's not be like bible thumpers who pull certain portions out of the scripture but make no mention of the before and after sections to make a more compelling argument. I don't know Nate but I want people to sit back and really think about the things they say and where they get their information from. You mentioned free publicity and by creating a thread on this list you just gave him another reason for his name to show up in google. | ||
Diehard Member Username: Diehard Post Number: 405 Registered: 03-2005 |
OK, tell you what... if you have any local gangsta rap CDs you've bought from a gas station parking lot that have a positive message, list 'em here and I'll find the artists and give them a listen. No more talk about this dude then (I don't think I mentioned his name anyway.) I DO want to give him the benefit of the doubt - but damn, he makes it hard. | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 427 Registered: 12-2007 |
Tell you what...as far as Wangsta rappas go...hes set... 1.) Already killed someone, so he got that out of the way early 2.) Served a sentence...he's got the street cred | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 1494 Registered: 11-2003 |
Diehard... I'm not trying to be an ass, but you would be surprised what some rappers who look thugged out or hood actually have to say... don't assume. | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 430 Registered: 12-2007 |
Yeah Diehard...it's almost like Blue Clues and the Mickey Mouse Club sometimes...don't let the glocks fool ya* *poor attempt at humor | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 1495 Registered: 11-2003 |
Very poor | ||
Detroit_stylin Member Username: Detroit_stylin Post Number: 5624 Registered: 10-2003 |
I am inclined to agree... | ||
Melody Member Username: Melody Post Number: 165 Registered: 11-2007 |
I agree with a lot of what Diehard said. I met Nathaniel last year at the Detroit Music Awards (he seemed like a nice guy). He was there with his mentor at the time and they were passing out his demo at the time and trying to connect with people of the local music industry. I didn't listen to the demo but I heard it was violent gangster rap and that just didn't make sense to me. It seems he wants to just be normal and left alone, but he also wants to be a rap star. Can't have both, kid. Also, he accepts money from a church to live off and doesn't have a job? As far as Detroit not supporting its rappers, I both agree and disagree. Hip-hop shows in small clubs are notoriously hard to put on and difficult to deal with (please don't think I'm stereotyping - all musicians can be hard to deal with, I know). Also hip-hop acts don't operate and promote the way rock or folk bands do. I've seen tons of rappers selling their CDs on the streets (how well can that work?). In nearly 9 years of working as a music writer of sorts, I can't remember getting more than 4-5 press kits for local hip-hop groups. I get press kits and emails from bands of other genres on a daily basis. Also, live hip-hop doesn't come off well. Most small-club sound techs don't know how to mix hip-hop and it comes off as a bunch of guys on stage just yelling. | ||
Rocknrollscientist Member Username: Rocknrollscientist Post Number: 103 Registered: 05-2005 |
From experiences with concert promotion, friends in the industry, and DJing, I have to say that Melody's right. Detroit is a tough place for a rapper to get noticed. You have local acts like Slum Village who have a ton of positive and well-produced output who get serious respect from the international hip hop community but can't sell out a show in Detroit. Or how about producers like Black Milk? They can go on tour outside of this state and do really well, but Detroiters only like it if it's on the radio constantly. Sorry to threadjack, but this is a topic that I could write a book about. It's so frustrating. | ||
Nainrouge Member Username: Nainrouge Post Number: 1066 Registered: 05-2006 |
It looks like he took his single off his web page.... | ||
Patrick Member Username: Patrick Post Number: 5273 Registered: 10-2003 |
Anyone know why Detroit is such a bad place for an aspiring rapper? is it the geographic location? Bad blood? Bad image? | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 1496 Registered: 11-2003 |
For one, there isn't any major recording studios here. There are many reputable ones, but at the same time many locals have never heard of them and when a CD comes out its like... who the f_ck is that. Then you have the situation in the case of Aaliyah and Eminem.. They were great artists but the widespread attention came when they stepped out of Detroit and got national attention. We have a huge underground independent music scene in Detroit but when it comes to national acts in rap and r&b that comes from Detroit... it's like a ghost town. I don't get it. Same thing happened with Slum Village, they get mad love outside Detroit as does Dwele. The flip side to the coin is that many local performers don't want to be anything other than a ghetto celebrity and they are fine with local attention and hood status. I see it all the time as a photographer working with newspapers that do interviews on them. Also everyone and their mom has a record company- that worked in the motown days because their was quality music produced and today there is no definition of the sort. The market is saturated with horrible music, lack of professional management, lack of management experience and the list goes on and on. So as a national label or distributor- I see why they skip on Detroit and why Detroiters don't support music as much. | ||
Bragaboutme Member Username: Bragaboutme Post Number: 67 Registered: 02-2008 |
Vision you are right, but there are so many styles in detroit it all sounds the same (you can understand that) Local,I think thats what i'm trying to get at. Everybody and there mama think they know the right formula instead of creating music, that the final product sounds like either you like it, or hate it, but never love it unless its from somewhere else. Detroit has many of talents Jitting, techno music, Etc., but someone has to find a way to market it to our region before it can reach the masses. | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4637 Registered: 10-2003 |
I find the story very encouraging. The kid made a bad mistake at 11 and paid ten of his best years for it. Everything is the story seems to indicated that he is straightened out and getting on with life in positive ways. Who knows? Let's hope it works out and the rest of his life helps make up a little for the past. | ||
Shark Member Username: Shark Post Number: 339 Registered: 12-2003 |
Doesn't want to learn. Doesn't want to work. Wants to be a rapper... He had better hope he succeeds before the gravy train leaves the station. Someday his benefactors will be gone. It is one thing to pony up for a young ex-con who has never really experienced life, but I'm betting people won't be so charitable in a few years. He'll need to pay rent and all the other things adults need to do, but will he have the skills to do that? | ||
East_detroit Member Username: East_detroit Post Number: 1578 Registered: 11-2003 |
He shouldn't get schitt. Other musicians work their way up the club ladder from 5 people in a car wash at night to maybe something with 50 people, if they work hard at it. He gets instant publicity not from hard work but from killing someone. Same dude wore the pink shoes and pimped out for his court date. Now he wants to sell his music and he kinda regrets the shoes... and maybe regrets blowing someone's head off. He paid his debt to society, but now he needs to work, not make money off of the notoriety of killing someone. | ||
Folk313 Member Username: Folk313 Post Number: 5 Registered: 01-2008 |
ya'll, what's the big deal? the guy wants to be a musician. so do i. so do you probably. what's the problem? why should you get so worked up? | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 1511 Registered: 11-2003 |
^^they have nothing else to do. |
