Outlandish, without warrant (well a legitimate one), and propagating plain idiocy, those where the initial thoughts wrought when I arose Wednesday morning to find the offices of DJ Drama had been raided by the police. Why would law enforcement utilize the same militaristic tactics undertaken against those suspected of narcotics trafficking, and invoke the mafia inspired RICO statute against a highly reputable legal enterprise? The official line given by the Fulton County (G.A) police, is that DJ Drama and the Aphilliates where participating in bootlegging and racketeering. Where did they come across such intel and impetus? The RIAA of course joyously blew the trumpets of supposed illegality. Now the advent of police performing hits for a trade union is far beyond disturbing, but when the logic behind the manipulation of law enforcement is mystifying at best, other rational must be extrapolated from such action. The RIAA have always been some insincere cock sukas who unabashedly claim to always hold the protection of artist interests in the forefront of their actions. The true reality of RIAA maneuvers, is they are motivated by the maintaining, and improvement of the profit margins garnered by the corporations from which it spawned from, while viciously attacking anyone one fucking with their money. To those hovering over Pyrex pots, with aspirations of turning children into bastards, sorry…these guys are more gangsta than you. Acting in conflict of ones manifesto is not a unique trait in business let alone humanity, but the recent Atlanta raid negatively affects all parties involved. Even for those who are in dire need of lasik surgery it is easily visible that the corporate titans whom run a record industry suffering from a continued advanced reduction of sales as a result of advanced modern technology and inferior product, are trying to hoard the bountiful scraps left on the music business plate. Such a summarization is reinforced by the self inflicted wounds RIAA members are willing to endure by undertaking such action. Hip Hop and the music business have always had a intriguing relationship. From being disparaged as a fad, to becoming Americas best selling music genera raps ascendance to the mainstream lends a plethora of insights into a myriad of institutions. During the late 90's and early millennium Rap finally surpassed Country and the most economically prosperous form of music in the land. The ascension had its draw backs and unexpected detriments though. Music sales where being vigorously eroded by file sharing and downloading, during a time when investment in hip hop was peaking due to its apex on the music mountain, and the quality of the craft began to fall, largely due to record label mandates and dictations wrought upon MC's to ensure (supposedly) sales. Thus while Rap dominated the charts, concurrently sales usually associated with such a position where noticeably deprecated. Ironically during this period one artist would radically adjust the usage of one of the staples of hip hop, the mixtape .Throughout the 90's mixtapes where coveted by aficionados for they broke new artist, contained exclusive material which prolly would never make the artist final album, or gave the listener at up to a 6 month advance on new singles. Many artist such as Big Pun benefited during that time from mixtapes, but do to the vast number of artist on each compilation, the main benefactors where the DJ's ala DJ Clue. Curtis Jackson before becoming the renown 50 Cent he known as today, did what would be akin to giving gunpowder to the natives, when instead of doing 2 or three songs on a particular DJ's tape, began to make his own mixtapes solely, consisting of his group or himself, which encapsulated the energy of mixtapes, but had the unmistakable feel of a album. 50's reapplication of the mixtape, propelled him from obscurity to the second most bankable rap commodity. This is where the crux lies. Labels cherish artist like 50 but they love overall profit even more. After the success of 50 and various G-Unit mixtapes, nearly every aspiring, up and coming, and established artist created there own mixtapes. What before was never a problem to the RIAA, began to arise angst for, they begin to see mixtapes as direct competition to retail cd's. The argument is palatable, but blindly ignores the fact that the mixtape product itself is far superior to the label creation, for record companies have been releasing stale sub standard hip-hop for far to long a duration. With introspection ignored, fact also was relegated to the sidelines, as labels intrinsically benefit from a MC ravaging the mixtape circurt. 2005 was the year of Young Jeezy, who without the boost that DJ Drama provided might actually be hovering over a Pyrex pot somewhere instead of being one of the industries most prized products. Lil Wayne, who for the sake of this conversation, might have captured the 2007 bitch move award for his comments on this situation, went from non reputable remaining group member to bankable star and "best rapper alive" thru the same path. In attacking the DJ's the labels are in essence killing the spawn, which is a perfectly germane policy for them, if there not seeing the percentage of profit they desire. The truly insidious nature of this raid however, lies in the precedent it sets. The administering one sole genera of music the surveillance (Hip Hop Police) is just as despicable in its genesis, then in the blasé reaction to toward it, but the assault on legitimate business and artistic expression sets a dire course. Music, no matter who usurps it, is ultimately a form of communication. What law enforcement and the RIAA have declared is, "We are the sole owners of this product". Given the deep interlocking of culture and music in the comprising of Hip Hop, and the current dynamics of its attainment, having such a standard established, maliciously attacks the freedom of expression, the RIAA claims to protect. Whether guise or not, the incarceration of artist for lacking a barcode on their product for fiscal reasons, can easily transform into the imprisonment of persons due to the content within there work. Dead Prez has a contract with Sony, Ras Kass is bounded to one with Priority. Both have a catalog of mixtaptes albums along with countless others. Let us not let become blinded by the myth of American exceptionalism, and a false belief that pure freedom of expression and speech is an inherent component of citizenship. Utilizing the ever sharpened blades of race, blatantly manipulated when the selling of mixpates was equated the illicit distribution of cocaine, and the customary constantly reinforced views of particular segments of society, law enforcement and the RIAA are attacking the innocent.
Support DJ Drama
By doing so you'll be supporting yourself.
Peace
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