I love Auto-tune the news for two great reasons. First, they are using comedy to expose the music industry for what it has become. This particular episode starts out with a guy making strange noises into a microphone, and then adding the auto-tune to make it sound like he’s singing. That’s EXACTLY how auto-tune works. You can fart Beethoven’s 9th symphony with auto-tune. Literally. Since this piece of technology came along and destroyed the music industry, now everyone can sound like Mariah Carey or Rihanna.

The second reason why I love Auto-tune the News is because they also expose the joke our media and government has become. They seem to highlight people who say dumb things. For instance, in the last episode they made light of the heavily racist comments made by Pat Buchanan. This week they made light of one of Joe Biden’s recent speeches to the UAW. Not necessarily because he said anything dumb, but because of how trite and patronizing he sounded.

These guys are awesome. I hope they don’t go away.

I was recently asked to blog for a site called “Modern Anarchy” (http://www.modernanarchy.net) and I accepted the offer because I like the premise. I certainly believe this country needs a lot less laws, so in a way that makes me somewhat of an anarchist. I’m all about rolling back the last 100 years and getting our rights back one at a time. From the Maruahana Tax Act of 1937 to the Patriot Act in 2001, I would support removing hundreds and hundreds of laws from the book that infringe on the constitution and put everyone on a level playing field again. When that movement picks up steam, let me know.

So, for now I’m going to write all of my political commentary at Modern Anarchy and focus more on music here. I will still post links here to articles I write on that site. I would encourage anyone who stumbles across this blog to subscribe to the Modern Anarchy RSS Feed and follow Shaista on Twitter. (@modernanarchy) Shaista is a severe hottie from San Antonio and she converses with people all day on Twitter. What a job. I’m just a big fan of conspiracy theories, especially when they involve the government killing us for profit. If you’re a fan of conspiracies you’ll love it there fo sho.

Last week I had the opportunity to participate in a menu tasting at Olga’s Kitchen in Sterling Heights. Olga’s has always been a Detroit favorite of mine. Their new menu items were very impressive, and I had a great time.

The first time I visited Olga’s kitchen was when I was very young, probably about 9-10 years old. I was on a field trip in Ann Arbor for Future Problem Solving. The experience was very memorable, as it was my first time in downtown Ann Arbor. I was in awe of the place, just walking around downtown, goofing off with my friends and checking out all the shoppes. We went to Olga’s for lunch, and the food was so good that I kept bugging my parents to take me back there for a long time afterwards.

Olga’s is a staple of Michigan eateries, and well known for their founder, Olga, who sported a giant perm in TV ads, even long after they went out of style. They are known for their gyros and Greek cuisine, but they always brought a much better dining experience than your average Greek coney restaurant.

To start out we had a variety of appetizers to munch on. The Snackers seemed to be the favorite among the group, but I was particularly fond of the fried zucchini. It came with some kind of crazy horseradish that was very delish.  The snackers were also very good though and came with Swiss almond cheese.

For our entrees, they recommended that we try their new menu items, which is a line of pita burgers. I had the South of the Border Burger which came with pepper jack cheese, avocado, tomatoes, lettuce and chipotle mayo. I am always a sucker for a burger with avacado and anything chipotle, but putting the burger in a pita instead of the traditional bun made it a delicious remix of the classic hamburger. My second choice would have been the Black N Bleu Burger, which also comes wrapped in a pita and is topped with peppercorn mayo, bacon, carmalized onions and crumbled bleu cheese. Next time I go I’m definitely going to try that one.

For dessert I had one of the most amazing dishes I’ve ever had in my life. They call it “French Toasted Cheesecake.” It was cheesecake, smothered in some kind of crazy noodly thing and topped with strawberry sauce. I have always said that mankind has spent hundreds of years trying to invent a dessert that is better than the chocolate chip cookie, but has failed miserably. Olga’s came pretty close with the french toasted cheesecake, and I will definitely save room for that the next time I’m there.

I got to talk with their social networking guy, and learned some interesting things about the company. They do offer health insurance and retirement benefits to their full-time employees and there are great opportunities for advancement. They do not franchise their stores, so they are able to operate under a more lean management system than your average restaurant chain. In my opinion, this business model allows the company to take better care of the employees at the bottom, and there is a lot to be said for that in this economy. Not that there is anything wrong with franchising, but you can run into situations where some franchises are taking better care of their employees than others.

They are also making very good use of social media, including Facebook and Twitter. Social media is becoming a big part of many Michigan company’s marketing plans, and has made a big impact on the way people do business. Some companies make the mistake of misusing social media, and don’t understand the importance of using it to engage with their customers. Not Olga’s though, they are doing a great job of engaging and interacting with people, hopefully picking up new customers along the way. For a person like me, they are a friendly reminder that they are still here, and I will be visiting them more often because of that.

I’d like to give a big thank you to all of the people at Olga’s Kitchen for allowing us to participate in this menu tasting. It was fun, informative and delicious, and I would recommend them to anyone who is looking to have a good meal and keep their money circulating right here in Michigan’s economy.

I typically don’t write about new music a whole lot. The reason is because there just isn’t very much good music coming out these days. As a fan of hip hop, I have come to appreciate that there are very few artists that are doing anything new and exciting. It’s not all bad though, because hip hop is more of a collective than a focus on individual talent. Hip hop is more about hanging out with my friends and having a good time than breaking down new walls and pushing the limits of music creativity. I can’t hate, and in fact, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Every once in a while I am absolutely humbled by an artist that makes me feel the same way I did when I was a kid and I heard great songs by Jimi Hendrix, Boston and Electric Light Orchestra for the first time. It’s that feeling you get in your soul, and the tingle that goes down your spine when you hear the guitar solo in Hotel California for the first time. Sometimes I miss that feeling a great deal. This is how I feel lately when I hear new music coming from John Forte.

I wrote about him a little while back, when he was pardoned by George W Bush. His incarceration was all the proof we will ever need of how backwards the war on drugs in this country has become. While it’s upsetting that one of the artists behind the highest grossing hip hop album of all time was made an example of by the federal government, despite the fact that his crimes were not violent in nature, the real story is how prison made John Forte the man he is today. He is not out there preaching about the injustice that was done to him. Instead, he is probably the most humble man on the planet Earth, and he’s letting his music do the talking.

During the seven months since his release from prison, he has already accomplished a lot. He is currently teaching at the City College of New York, recording with Talib Kweli, writing his memoirs and working with “In Arms Reach,” a Harlem-based initiative that works with at-risk children who have parents serving time in prison.

Forte will be releasing a new EP next week, titled “StyleFREE.” Today he has released a song from the album, “Play My Cards For Me,” which John describes as “the journey of a man, and the willingness to relinquish control to his loved one in the event of his demise.” This song is truly a masterpiece in both soulful interpretation of personal strife and gratuitous display of raw talent. He plans to release a full-length album next year.

Take a listen to this song with me, and rekindle that joy you had listening to music as a kid. If by the end of this song there is a tear in your eye, take that as proof that you are still human.

John Forte – Play My Cards For Me

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The singer who influenced the artists that influenced me. The legend who sold more albums than anyone in the world. The abused son that lived a tortured life from the day he was born. There are many labels for the internationally recognized King of Pop. To me I think you can sum Michael Jackson up in one word. SOUL.

I barely remember the day Thriller debuted on MTV. Hell, it wasn’t too long after that when MTV became too raunchy and my parents wouldn’t let me watch it anymore. I was ten  years old when Dangerous came out, and it was one of the very first CD’s I ever owned.

I always had an interest in my parent’s records though. As I got older I began to explore different genre’s of music, and went through many phases, but Michael Jackson’s music always seemed to fit into my life along the way.

When I heard about the child molestation allegations, I was angry. I couldn’t believe that one of my idols could have turned into such a vile person. However, it prepared me for a lifetime of being disappointed by the people I look up to.

By the time Michael Jackson was acquitted of the second set of child molestation charges, I started to feel bad for him. I realized that he never got a chance to live a normal life. It was the people around him that made him into what he had become.

Yesterday, when I heard that he had passed away, it was shocking to me. Michael Jackson was only a year younger than my own father. I can’t imagine what his kids must be going through. I’m 28 years old and I’m not ready to lose my father.

All I can do is remember the good times that I had when his music was involved. I can continue to let his style influence my music. I can appreciate him for what he was, and what he contributed to mankind.

His music will live on forever. No one will ever forget. We will feel his pain through his music and it will help us to get through our own lives. We will dance like fools to his music when we’re having a good time. We will carry on his message, and continue to make this world a better place to live.

I just read about the beef between Will.I.Am and Perez Hilton, and I’m shaking my head in absolute disgust. This is what the music business has come to. Will has been supporting that no-talent plastic butterface, Fergie, for way too long now, and now he’s defending her against an overweight cock-sucking blogger that no one cares about? I’m not even a homophobe. Perez Hilton gives a bad name to the homosexual community in general.

I think a lot of young artists can learn from this though. There is no possible way to break into the mainstream without compromising your morals, and becoming one of these celebrity douchebags. These people only care about mundane shit like The fucking Grammys and what celebrity gossip blogs are saying about them. This is exactly the environment that breeds idiots like Charles Hamilton. Mainstream music is nothing more than a cesspool of ignorance and fraud. I could care less if my music never takes me to that level of stardom, I will never sell out like that.

It’s just sad when you see someone who would otherwise be a great artist, who has gotten so wrapped up in celebrity bullshit that they end up in an altercation with a coward like Perez. The guy sits behind his computer and talks shit, eventually someone was going to hit him. I’m not going to say he didn’t deserve it, but if it were me, I wouldn’t have let him get to me in the first place. Why not just explain to Fergie that he’s insignificant and his opinion doesn’t matter? If she really cares that much, maybe someone needs to smack her instead. I appreciate when a guy wants to stick up for a friend, especially if that friend is one of his bandmates, but are you really sending a tough message to her foe by sucker-punching a portly homosexual?

I understand that people in this business want to make money, but the game is changing. That’s why mainstream artists have to get involved in these scandals and public drama in order to be successful. They are losing profits on albums, the old methods aren’t working anymore so they resolve to petty displays of public fuckery just to keep the spotlight on them.

I think at some point every artist has to face a decision of whether they are going to keep scraping for money in the underground, or if they’re going to go mainstream and make the big bucks. It sucks, but if you love music and you’re in it for the right reasons, working harder to make a living in the business should be a hell of a lot more satisfying to you than having to parade around on E! like an idiot, or walking down some stupid red carpet to get a fake award, not because your music is the best, but because you made a lot of money and kissed the right butt cheeks along the way.

Artists, be true to yourself. Good artists get sucked into the mainstream music business every day and they are ruining what the rest of us are working hard to keep real. This is a new day and age where you can make it on your own without the help of a major label and distribution company if you’re willing to put in the hard work. If Perez Hilton talks shit about you, enjoy the free press and ignore that 12-year old like everyone else in the country. In the end, I guarantee those that don’t sell out will be richer by far in ways that money will never be able to replace, and if you make some money along the way, Great! Just ask yourself, are you in it for the right reasons? Have you compromised your values to get to where you are? When you were young and dreamed of being a big star someday, did those dreams include getting in catfights with morons who don’t mean shit to anyone?

…Or do you want to be remembered as someone who made true contributions to music, and never pretended to be someone else along the way?

I would like to preface this post by talking a little bit about J Dilla. A few years ago I befriended a cat who was a hip hop DJ in Detroit. When I met him, he had recently closed down one of the most popular hip hop record stores in the area, and had been very well known in the circuit as an accomplished vinyl collector and scratch DJ. I have always been a fan of hip hop since I was young, but I had never really delved into the world of hip hop enough to learn about the culture, the artists and the history behind it all, until I met this guy. I have learned a lot from him over the last few years, he taught me how to scratch, he taught me about different underground artists in the Detroit scene, and most importantly, he taught me about a little-known gem that came out of Detroit by the name of James Yancey, AKA J Dilla.

Being from the area, I had heard the name but I never understood the hype. I figured he must have been a good artist, but his talent was being exaggerated by the Cobain effect. Once I was introduced to his music and started to understand the contributions he made to hip hop, it was clear to me that there was no hype. Dilla not only produced the best beats coming out of the 90s, for the greatest artists on the radio and in the underground, he also proved that he could rap better than any cat out there on an album that he produced called “Welcome 2 Detroit.” Dilla had an amazing record collection, and gave birth to a more intelligent form of sampling that changed the game of hip hop forever. He is respected throughout the world hip hop community, his name is a legend, and he produced hits for such artists as Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes and De La Soul.

Needless to say, J Dilla is a sacred namesake here in Detroit. One can imagine by Detroit’s reputation that it wouldn’t be a very good idea to do anything to disrespect his legacy, especially if you are trying to make it as a hip hop artist. I think it’s safe to say that Charles Hamilton is trying to make it in the rap game. He released something like thirteen mix tapes over the span of one year, including a “tribute” he made to Donuts, Dilla’s masterpiece album of beats. Charles didn’t get much love from Detroit on the mix. It was seen as an attempt to step into the limelight by riding in on Dilla’s coattails. Aside from this, he’s an attention whore who’s always opening up his big mouth and stirring the pot, and not in a good way.

The overall attitude around Detroit was just to write the kid off. He has a big mouth and he likes to get involved in “controversies” which he thinks will help him get his name out there, so the logical thing to do is ignore him and hope he goes away. But he came out with some decent tracks, got Green Lantern to produce for him, did some joints with Common and The Game and landed himself a spot in Austin’s South-By-Southwest festival. During his performance there, he played a track he called “Shinin” featuring a beat made by a producer by the name of Black Spade. Now, hip hop artists take each other’s beats and rap over them all the time, nothing he did was out of the ordinary, but when Black Spade approached him to say that he liked the song, and that he made the beat, Charles tried to say that he made the beat. Twitter and hip hop blogs were all abuzz over this controversy.

To make a short story long, Charles went at it with a few cats on freshselects.net. The debate got even more interesting as Black Spade posted a video where he not only re-made the beat on his MPC, but also went on to further explain that the “sample” he used wasn’t a sample, but was Spade’s voice recorded into a mic. To further dig his own grave, Charles posted his Pro Tools files thinking that it would prove him right. This idiot posted the Pro Tools files with Spade’s beat as a 2-channel track, and even worse yet, it was a special version of the beat that Spade only posted on his Myspace. Spade’s video, screenshots of Hamilton’s Pro Tools file and all the bickering are posted here: http://www.freshselects.net/charleshamiltonstealsbeats. If you really want to waste some time, scroll down and watch the whole thing unfold as Hamilton goes from saying that he sang in the sample, to saying that he used a sample from the original song, to making threats at people as he finally got exposed and basically admitted to the whole thing, even though he still hasn’t given any credit whatsoever to Black Spade. Some serious hoe shit going on here.

For his next act of fuckery, Hamilton staged a “rap battle” with a woman who is supposed to be his girlfriend. She starts it off by rapping about their relationship and ends by dumping him. He then proceeds to counter her rap by airing out some personal shit about her getting an abortion, after which she rears up and punches him the face. Watch the video here:

This week, things got even more interesting as Charles Hamilton attempted to name J Dilla as the executive producer on his new album. He claimed that he was down with Dilla’s mom, aka “Ma Dukes” and some other cats that were close to Dilla, and that he was going to donate the money he made from the album, which at one point he said was supposed to a free album, to the J Dilla Music Foundation. Problem is, no one associated with Dilla had even heard of the guy, including Ma Dukes.

I tried to do a charity show back in January that was supposed to benefit the Dilla foundation, but I found out that the foundation had to be closed down because of legal issues dealing with Dilla’s estate. I only had to read a few articles on the internet to find out what was going on. Charles Hamilton didn’t even bother to do a fucking google search, let alone try to contact any of these people he was supposedly down with.

DJ Househoes breaks everything down in this Youtube vid, but I saw it all go down on Twitter.

Now, all of this douchebaggery aside, what’s really going on here is a guy that’s so desperate to break out into the mainstream that he’ll do anything to get his name out there, including dragging it through the mud. You can tell he doesn’t even respect himself, because he doesn’t respect anyone around him. What I’m saying is that none of these stunts are for real, they were all staged. He purposely stole Black Spade’s beat and played it in front of him, just to start some beef and get his name out there. The video of the girl slugging him was staged as well, it turns out that the girl in the video was his assistant. Above all this, he knew exactly what was going to happen when he put Dilla’s name on his album. He knew the right buttons to push and he knew the fiasco he was creating throughout this whole controversy, from every tweet to every word spoken on the phone, everything from the beginning was staged to create real rage around his fake charity album.

If I’m wrong though, then Charles Hamilton is the dumbest motherfucker on the planet. Either that or his life is a really bad Ben Stiller movie. I’ve never been involved with any “rap fued” and normally, when it comes to attention seekers, I tend not to give them what they want. In this case, however, Charles Hamilton needs to learn the hard way that there is such thing as bad publicity. When Houseshoes and the rest of Detroit is finished exposing this fraud for the fuckhead he is, no one is going to work with him, no one is going to want to be associated with him, and no one is going to give a fuck about him anymore. Game Over.

What’s really sad about this is that if I had heard this guy’s music without hearing about any of his antics, I might have given him a solid chance. Brooklyn Girls isn’t a bad track, and the kid certainly showed some fury by releasing a shitload of mix tapes. I would even be hypocritical to say that I don’t like rappers’ antics, because I was always a big fan of Eminem and got a kick out of everything he did off-stage. I mean, pistol whip some bitch, pull your pants down in front of the President, leak a sex tape, whatever, I love seeing the crazy shit that artists do, but above all you need to respect yourself and especially respect the craft and the people who made it in the game before you did.

I’m not even an accomplished person of any kind in the music business. I spin records, I like to go to shows, I got a few Detroit artists together and did a hip hop show for Obama’s Inauguration back in January and I have fun just being a spectator and listening to good tunes. I’m not going to act like I’ve accomplished anything more than showing love for a form of music that I have loved since I was 10 years old. I get involved when I can, and to me it’s the best hobby I could ever have. What I do have is love for this city, and the people who have made it what it is. So unless you woke up this morning and decided that you want to get beat down by the baddest motherfuckers on the planet, take a lesson from Charles Hamilton and show some love to the D.

My group, Lune Noir, and many of our Detroit area friends will be throwing the illest DEMF Afterparty in Detroit, Saturday night at The Leland Hotel in Detroit. We will be joining Joey P and the Bassline Monday crew, as well as DJ Stikka, ST33LO, ALF+WON and John’s Urban Jungle for an all-night party that is by far the best bang for your buck DEMF weekend. Drum N Bass in the newly refurbished Labyrinth, Techno/Electro in Studio 54 and House on the Mezzanine, all night long. This is definitely a good chance to come out and see what the Detroit underground electronic music scene is all about.

It’s been two weeks since I attended Startup Weekend Detroit. (#swd09 on Twitter)I have been meaning to write about it, but haven’t had the time. It was a very productive, “workshop” style gathering of entrepreneurs and social media gurus from around the area that came together to create new ideas for businesses in order to stimulate job growth in the Metro Detroit region.

The group I was involved with, Detroit Sharp (D#), came up with an idea to stimulate Michigan’s music scene by empowering artists and giving them new avenues for generating revenue. The problem we have in Michigan is that good talent tends to leave the state in pursuit of better profits, and in most cases, any profit at all. It is important for musicians to be able to sustain themselves so that they may dedicate their time to their craft, instead of having to pick up a side job to pay the bills.

We will do this by mobilizing artists, bringing the resources to them instead of following the traditional model where profits are funneled down into the record label. Many artists are willing to put in the work that is required to make it in the business, they just need the resources to stay ahead.

Check out our presentation below. If you are interested in getting involved, please visit the Contact page of our web site.

Thanks to Barack Obama, it seems lately that I’m addicted to change. Since the election, I’ve changed a lot of things in my life. Last night, I decided to make a new change by shifting the focus and direction of this site. (Formerly www.therockstarrepublican.com) I have made a few decisions that will change the way I interact with people on the internet.

• I am leaving the Republican Party. I will be registering as an Independent soon.
• I am expanding the focus of my blog to other areas I am interested in, including environmentalism, technology and social media.
• I am stepping up my efforts to contribute more to the economy here in Michigan, by buying and promoting Michigan products, and supporting ideas that will stimulate economic growth.
• I always thought it wouldn’t be possible to have more fun in life. I am now striving to prove myself wrong.

Here’s to new beginnings! Thanks for your support.