Honestly, there aren't too many hip hop artists I really consider myself a FAN of, but Ice Cube is definitely one of them. I'm always hyped when I hear that he's dropping a new album, and his latest "I Am The West" is no exception. But what really got me anticipating it was an article from HipHopDX.com which pointed me towards his blog. In it he talked about "Left coast emcees...trying to change their sound to cater to all the followers" and his intention to create an album of "...no apologies, west coast gangsta shit". He went on to talk about how "radio fucked us up" and how even our own DJ's have used the phrase "too west coast" in criticism of some of our music.

Of course, I'm far from what you'd consider a "gangsta rapper" but at the same time, I've been one of the most vocal about some of the things Cube was speaking on - it's just that my voice doesn't carry as far (yet). I've never been so pro-West that I'm against music from anywhere else (sheeeit, while "Bowdown" and "To Live And Die In L.A." were the hottest songs on the radio, I was proudly mixing it up with Group Home's "Livin Proof" and Sadat X's "Wild Cowboys"), but I've never been so naive to think that different regions don't have their own sounds. People who wanna take the cynical approach and say "what is the so-called 'West Coast' sound anyway?" know this - there IS a West Coast sound, a Southern sound, an East Coast sound, and so on and so forth. But while the East and South have remained true to their roots, we've abandoned ours to the point where we no longer have our own tree! We're borrowing to the point where we have no identity of our own. If I wanted to hear some Southern hip hop, why would I listen to a West Coast rapper that sounds Southern, when I could just listen to a Southern rapper?

I love East Coast hip hop and Southern hip hop. Hell, when I was recording "Middle Class Blues" practically all I was listening to was UGK, Devin, Trae, & Z-Ro. I think we've all influenced each other as regions, and it's particularly visible in the South, where you can tell they came up on a hearty diet of West Coast sh*t, but what they did was take that and mold it into a sound all their own. They never lost the elements that make the sound uniquely theirs. As the late Pimp C acknowledged, hip hop started "in the East...then it went to the West Coast and they did it a little bit better".

Thing is, since radio has traditionally been the main vehicle of promotion for artists, it has taken more and more control over what artists put out. In the 90's, what made hip hop great was that the listeners decided what was good and what was hot and the radio followed suit; we all know it's quite the opposite now. Sorry, but I'm not one to believe that you can reverse the effects of greed and commercialization. Once corporate America has gotten its hands into something that was grass roots, I feel that it's time to move on and try something new. Power 106's DJ Syphe was a good homie of mine before he was on the radio. Not just a homie, but we were part of the same rap group! His response to my biggest song to date ("Feel So West Coast")? It's "regional". It was funny too, because at the same time, Ja Rule had just come out with the song "New York" and it was getting plenty of radio/video rotation.

Regional? I said to myself, "radio IS regional". Can you hop in your car in South Dakota and listen to LA radio? You gotta wonder what type of thoughts get put into people's heads when they're surrounded by the corporate vice grip (and benefiting from it). Flash forward to the present day, and Ice Cube's blog took me right back to that moment.

I'm glad that we have our Myspaces, Facebooks, Twitters, and most importantly, YouTubes. Now you don't necessarily need the radio to become successful. Of course, anyone can (and has) become an "independent music artist". But I'm a firm believer that standout material will do just that.

I'm supporting Ice Cube all the way. For him to call his album "I Am The West", well...I can't argue with it! I think it's time to forge our style as relevant in today's hip hop scene and, while Dre takes his sweet time with "Detox", we need someone to step up and make that first move.

On a side note, I also wanted to say something about UNI's reaction to Cube's statements, which was also reported by HipHopDX. I don't think that Cube was lashing out against the "non-gangsta" acts of the West Coast (i.e., the underground hip hop artists), he was talking more about the gangsta or mainstream rappers who have found success while abandoning the West Coast sound. If anything, artists like UNI have kept it more true by maintaining that style of West Coast hip hop. The underground sound here is different then it is on the East. I'd say it's more fun, more bouncy. I love it because I'm right in the middle - I'm bringing that level of fun to "traditional" West Coast production; even if the beats sound "gangsta" to you, the lyrics are all about having a good time. In the 90's it was the Pharcyde and Souls Of Mischief; now artists like UNI or Blu are taking that torch. No one really needs to "bring back" that style because it has remained constant; it's definitely not the "signature" sound of the West Coast, but it's a relevant sound nonetheless.

Does the West need to be "brought back"? Yeah it does. It's up to us to do it, with or without the support of mainstream radio. Man, I need to find my Westside Connection foam hand LOL...

Here's a quick YouTube video of me getting my hair braided before a show or photo shoot, honestly I forget LOL...

Here's the first video project from our newly founded company R.O.T.S. Media. I like to think of this as the only commercial you won't wanna fast forward through, the commercial for my "Middle Class Blues" album...Check it out and let me know what you think!

This track isn't new, and a lot of my Japanese homies will already be familiar with this one...For those who aren't this is a track I produced for Japanese rapper YZ...Just a lil something to show you how worldwide this music thing is...

Dir. by Cyrrus1 - song is featuring J.P. on the hook - let me know what you think of me and Sly in our acting roles as goons...LOL

As you know, the 626 has been on fire (literally, not in a musical sense) and I was live on the scene to cover it.  First I took a video on Sunday, August 30 during the afternoon, that was in Hastings Ranch in case ya wanted to know.  I'm like the 626 version of Walter Cronkite!!! You couldn't tell from the video but the flames were visible, and you know that's rare during the day.  The second video was taken passing through La Crescenta, a little northwest of Pasadena, when I was on my way home from a session with Sly Boogy and Coolwadda.  Helluva sight, no doubt.  Check these videos and leave your feedback:

Did I really pay $300 to get Autotune? No, not really – it was on sale when I got it last year from Guitar Center, although the price of the iLok I had to buy along with it pretty much offset that. Oh well, as a hip hop/R&B producer, you gotta stay with the times to some degree, so I considered it an investment.

Now Jay-Z is coming along killing it? Man…If you gonna just bring about its sudden death like that, can I get a refund check from you? At least for the depreciated value of the software?

Nah seriously, “Death Of Auto Tune” was a cool song. It’s always great to hear Jay when he reverts to that mode. And since we’re on the subject of anti-Autotune anthems, I did try to find the Wyclef/Nick Cannon song (“Mr. Autotune”) but when I Googled it and couldn’t find any streaming audio within the first 10 hits I got lazy. So sue me…

My thoughts on Autotune may surprise you. I’m sure for those of you who are familiar with my work, the fact I even dropped the paper to get Autotune may be surprising enough. The truth is, I don’t share Jay-Z’s views on it (and thus, I guess I don’t share a lot of you, the reader’s, views either) though I will concede it has been overused & abused over the past few years. You can’t blame T-Pain for that, only his imitators (sometimes, I’m one of them I suppose). Why? Because T-Pain can actually sing! You can go on Youtube and see all kinds of tutorial videos where amateur producers teach you how to get the “T-Pain effect” by tweaking a few of Autotune’s controls, but check any one of them out and you will notice one thing – 9 times out of 10, it doesn’t sound very good. Yes, they apply the effect successfully, but the vocal they applied it to was not good to begin with (in the videos I’ve seen, the producer will just lay down a quick vocal himself to use for the demonstration), and thus it does not even get close to the T-Pain level. Autotune will not magically fix your voice for you; you need to be able to hit notes. Even if you can get a decent lead recorded, try stacking it even 2 or 3 times – you’re gonna through hell because if you’re not exactly on point each time, it will show…BADLY!!! Ever wonder why it sounds so “wobbly” when Wayne uses it? Because he’s a rapper, not a singer, so when he does his thing, the Autotune doesn’t know which way to go to correct his voice (up a tone or down?), and thus you get that wobble effect, which wouldn’t sound good by any stretch of the imagination if one were really trying to get that off as a legit sung vocal. Besides that, the computerized feel that you get from applying the “T-Pain effect” to your voice is not exactly subtle – do you really think anyone who uses it is trying to hide their sour notes?

Autotune does have a practical use outside of the “T-Pain effect”. By simply lowering the retune speed of Autotune (you can confirm this on Youtube), you can actually correct a slightly off-pitch vocal, to a certain extent, without it being so obvious. This comes in very handy for me. Those who know me personally know that I’m an introvert; a loner in a lot of ways, and I’d rather sing my own hook in most cases (my voice is decent but not spectacular) if it means that I can stay in the lab by myself instead of waiting on a singer who will likely arrive 2 hours late and bring a whole suitcase full of personal issues to the session with them. Remember this if you remember nothing else - I would much rather capture a good feeling than capture a recording that is technically pitch perfect, but lacks that “vibe”. You know what I mean – that feeling that everyone who was involved with a song’s creation was just in the studio having fun with it.

My own selfish indulgences aside, I’ve always wanted to take a good vocalist and have him/her sing some of the vocal parts from a Roger & Zapp classic, say, “More Bounce”? If they were to sing that and then have the T-Pain effect applied to it, would it not sound something like the talkbox? And since I know there’s a lot of West Coast hip hop fans reading this, I know a lot of you thought the same thing I thought when my ears first noticed Autotune: What is that talkbox effect they’re using on his voice? If you are anti-Autotune, I bet you weren’t hating at first.

Again, I feel the same way about it being overused, but even though it is a part of some of the worst mainstream records out now, it continues to be a part of some of the best as well – “Blame It On The Alcohol”??? Who can deny that one!!! Still, it’s something of a musical paradox, since you almost have to use it to be in step with the current trends, yet using it so much will surely undermine its own popularity, if that isn’t happening already.

Maybe Jay was right…

-XL Middleton

P.S. Don’t worry, I didn’t use a lot of Autotune on my new album.