… I’m bored, and I’ve just stuck Collateral on. Whilst Jamie Foxx arranges his dream post card in his head rest, I’m going to continue to day dream about what I posted about only the other day.

That post has certainly given me something to think about.

I spent a few hours today looking at how feasible it is to set up an internet business, and just how much traffic you would need to make the kind of money you could live off. (You should, by this point, realise that this could be quite a boring subject if you’re not interested in internet stuff).

After looking at all the standard kind of ad formats - banners, footers, half page ads, small ads and so on and so forth - all of which charge per thousand views, I came to the conclusion that with four or five differing ads on each page I could amass around £28.50 for all the ads every thousand times they’re seen. Of course, £28.50 isn’t a lot of money, but should any website be successful and bring in 100,000 views a month (bare in mind thats 100,000 views not 100,000 people) then £28.50 per thousand views becomes £2,850 a month. That’s a lot of money as far as I’m concerned.

How feasible is it that I could attract 100,000 views to the website in question, and how likely is it that I could sell ads? Well, if the figures are there then the advertisers will come, and after looking at my traffic the other day, my hip hop station averaged between 4,000 and 5,500 views per month. On its best month it achieved 7,749 page views (that would have earnt me about £200 if I’d been selling advertising).

At no point did I promote my dissertation website in any way shape or form during its inception. Everybody that found their way to the site found it through google, or other search engines, or some other way. All I know is that I didn’t promote it one bit and I got nearly 8,000 views in one month - but I averaged near enough 5,000. Now… the million dollar question is… if I promote it… can 5,000 views become 100,000 views?

As I said before, that’s views not people.

If I could do it, that’s near enough £3,000 a month in my pocket. Which is £36,000 a year - self employed. And that’s if I’m selling ads for as little as £5 per thousand views (specialist ads on successful sites can be as much as £15-30 so I’ve read). So there’s scope for improvement, and I’m working with the bare minimum in my plans.

The real trick for this would be to get other DJs on board. DJs from across the world - Australia, throughout Asia and Africa, different European DJs and of course ones from the other side of the Atlantic. I alone attracted 5,000 views a month, so a team of 10 or more DJs would most definitely attract around 50,000 I reckon. If I was willing to open my pockets to them then I’d sure I’d get even more on board…

It’s all theoretical right now, and I’m planning with a very positive mind set (of course). The stats are fairly simple - I have a website that is already more popular than some existing radio stations (worldhiphop.fm is more popular in America than Sunderland’s biggest radio station, for example). I have 5,000 views coming into that site per month and the website has shot up nearly 5 million places to become almost the 3,000,000th most popular website on the net. Those are all fact.

I’m going to talk it out with my Dad, and if he thinks its a good idea then I’ll probably have to seek professional business advice before pursuing this. But at the moment, all of this sounds much better than earning minimum wage in a grotty bar in the North East of England, don’t you think?

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 1:11 am
Filed under Me, WorldHipHop.fm | No Comments »

The other day I wrote about how this ‘blog’ was the 5 million and something-th most popular website on the net.

I’ve just this second checked out my uni project, www.worldhiphop.fm, to see how popular that was out of curiosity.

3,635,501st is the answer. Up 5,000,000 in the last few months!

And its the 1,145,277th most popular site in the United States!

Damn!!!!!!!!! I might have a think about launching that station for real. Shit more people are interested in that than what I’ve got to say on here haha! Hmmm… certainly food for thought…

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Filed under Internet, Me, WorldHipHop.fm | No Comments »

I mentioned last week that I had submitted my dissertation project – www.worldhiphop.fm.

Today I handed in the production file.

Except its more like an encyclopedia.

I took some pictures because there’s a good chance I may never see this file again, it could very well be shipped to a museum on how production files should be put together.

300-400 pages I reckon. If it doesn’t get me a first class mark I’ll be amazed.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Filed under Uni, WorldHipHop.fm | No Comments »

Just handed in my radio dissertation, so the end of uni is in sight.

Unlike most forms of academia, media degrees allow a great deal of flexibility in dissertation projects. I could have opted to write a lengthy 10,000 word document, but instead I decided to work on something more practical, something I could show prospective employers. So I settled on creating a web radio project, a web music station, and of course it would be hip hop music - one of my major passions.

Check it out - www.worldhiphop.fm.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Filed under Me, Radio, Uni, WorldHipHop.fm | No Comments »

The follow up to the article below, which I wrote back in January as well.

—

At the start of the year we released our shortlist of “10 to watch for in 2008″ consisting of ten artists who we believe will make big steps in hip hop in the next 365 days.

But, of course, there were some tough decision there in selectin our top 10.

Some were easier choices than others - Saigon, Papoose and Termanology are all relative no brainers. And off the back of his Hip Hop Weekly series, Crooked I, as well as Dr. Dre’s latest Aftermath protege, Bishop Lamont, were obvious favourites over on the west coast.
But, with our ‘Leaders of the New School’ show this week, we thought it give us a decent chance to introduce 10 more artists who are set to make an impact on hip hop music throughout 2008. 10 who didn’t quite make the cut for our last list.

ALI VEGAS

Ali Vegas has been in the game for a while now, plying his trade on the underground east coast scene. he first emerged in the 2000 Blaze Battle, which was a televised freestyle battle on HBO Representing Queens to the fullest. He’s been dubbed the ‘new Nas’ by a few people, but unfortuanatley he’s had a string of record label problems. Ali appeared hungry on the underground scene for years, constantly putting out new material. He’s just jumped on a track with Termanology, and he’s signed to Basketball player Lamar Odom’s “Rich Soil Entertainment” music label. He’s already recorded around 10 mixtapes and 6 music videos as he prepares his debut LP, which is slated to feature production from heavyweights Kanye West and DJ Premier, so the signs appear good for Ali Vegas. If he can sort his label problems out, and build up a bit of a buzz, he could quickly emerge as one of New York’s next big artists.

BLU

You’ll probably have heard of Blu from the duo Blu & Exile, who released one of the best albums of last year. Blu is the rapper, Exile is the DJ, and they are the one of the most hotly tipped rap acts to come out of Los Angeles since the turn of the millenium. Don’t mistake them for the gangsta-rap, Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg style combo. They’re more along the lines of the conscious Lupe Fiasco/Common type. Blu, however, has started to work on side projects and with other DJs and producers as he expands his profile. He’s been involved in the Cali underground scene for a while now, but last year’s “Below the Heavens” was quite possibly the surprise album of the year. It was the subject of hip hop message boards all around the world. Expect Blu & Exile to reemerge with more material throughout 2008. For now, check out the “Soul Amazing” video in our media section.

THE COOL KIDS

The Cool Kids are a hip hop duo from Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan. the duo consists of Antoine “Mike Rock” Reed and Evan “Chuck Inglish” Ingersoll. They’ve been an overnight sensation on Myspace, where the bulk of their material has been released, and they’ve signed a number of independent record deals already. The duo were formed in 2005, and cite Eric B. & Rakim as inspiration (which is always a good thing). Their first single, “Black Mags”, has done the rounds on MTV and the video has been banded across most hip hop websites on the net. They’re set to rock the SXSW festival this year as people continue to bump their “Totally Flossed Out EP”. They’re alternative rap at a time when Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and the likes are outselling the 50 Cent’s and Ja Rule’s of recent times, so expect The Cool Kids to be a name you see a lot in 2008.

FLO RIDA

Flo Rida, born Tramar Florida Dillard, exploded onto the charts at the back end of last year with the club anthem “Low”, featuring T-Pain and closely followed that with another high profile collabo, this time “Elevator” featuring Timbaland. It has been a quick journey to the top of the charts for the Miami born rapper, who first started to appear on the mixtape scene back in 2006. After signing to Poe Boy Entertainment in 2007, he quickly aligned himself with a string of success Florida-based rappers such as Rick Ross, Trina and Trick Daddy. After making it on to DJ Khaled’s “We The Best” album, Flo Rida then made the cut on Rick Ross’ “Speedin’” remix alongside hip hop heavyweights such as Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne and Fat Joe. Whilst some artists have to wait years for their opportunity to come around, Flo Rida seized the new found publicity and quickly enlisted the help of ring tone record breaker T-Pain for his club banger “Low”, which he quickly put out for digital download. The rest, as they say, is history and he’s one of the surprise acts to arise for 2008. His debut album, “Mail on Sunday”, is due out in March and features production from will.i.am, Timbaland and J.R. Rotem as well as guest appearances from Rick Ross, Lil Wayne and Birdman.

GEMSTONES a.k.a. Gemini

You might know him as Gemini, you might know him as GemStones, or you might not know him at all. GemStones is a rapper out of Chicago signed to Lupe Fiasco’s 1st & 15th record label. Through collaborating with Mr Fiasco on both ‘Food and Liquor’ and ‘The Cool’, the rapper formerly known as Gemini, has gained a steady following and a fair share of curiosity. His debut album, ‘Troubles of the World’ is slated to arive “soon” through Lupe’s label. The Chicago emcee is known for the ability to rap at Twista-paced speeds, but also to tone it down and sing choruses as well. He has a few mixtapes out, some of which are available to download here on WorldHipHop.fm, but if not, expect to hear more collaborations with Lupe Fiasco some time soon.

GLASSES MALONE

Charles Penniman, better known as Glasses Malone or G.Malone, is another West coast rapper who could turn heads in the following year or two. He signed to Sony Records for nearly $2 million after turning down offers from Def Jam, Interscope, Atlantic and The Game’s Black Wall Street. His 2005 mixtape “White Lighting (Sticks)” sold a whopping 30,000 copies and he plans to release his debut album, “The Beach Cruiser”, some time in 2008. “Fuck Wit Me”, “Malone” and the Akon collaboration “Certified” have all been released as singles, but it seems the 29 year old LA rapper is biding his time before he throws out his first full length LP. Glasses Malone is more of a traditional West coast rapper, and if as we expect, Jay Rock, Bishop Lamont and Crooked I resurrect the west in the following year, expect Glasses Malone and some of the others on this list to tag along.

STAT QUO

Stanley ‘Stat Quo’ Benton has been signed to Shady/Aftermath since 2003. He was the second artist, after 50 Cent, to sign to Dre and Eminem’s imprint, and has been co-signed by southern legend Scarface of the Geto Boyz too. The future looked bright for Stat way back in 2003, but 5 years on we’re yet to see the ‘Statlanta’ album we were promised. The southern rapper was signed at a time when Southern hip hop was on the up, and if he’s not careful, will be released while that subgenre is on the decline. Videos and singles have come and gone, and the talent is clearly there, but the record label’s motivation to get his material out there is definitely questionable. Stat is no dummy though. The Atlanta, Georgia born rapper has a degree in international business to his name, but some might be wondering if signing to Shady/Aftermath was the right bit of business for him after all. If he drops his debut in 2008, some 6 years after signing, expect him to light up Southern hip hop.

WALE

Wale, pronounched Wha-Lay, is an emerging artist out of Washington D.C. and he’s been making small moves in hip hop for a few years now. His first single, “Dig Dug”, was the most requested single of all time by DC’s biggest hip hop station. He performed at the MTV 2007 Video Music Awards with Mark Ronson, and has been co-signed by the likes of Lil Wayne, Bun B and Rhymefest. After numerous features in XXL, The Source, URB and tonnes of hip hop websites, it looks like 2008 is going to be Wale’s year. He’s recorded tracks with the three artists we just mentioned, and he’s going into the studio with The Roots at the moment for a guest spot on their forthcoming album Rising Down. The bidding war for his distribution deal must surely be underway, and we’ve no doubts that the “Nike Boots” star is sat back in his DC home watching the offers roll in. Expect big things from this man in 2008.

WIZ KHALIFA

Wiz Khalifa is doing for Pittsburgh what Wale is doing for DC. That is leading the movement of hip hop right now. Wiz has been featured in XXL, Rolling Stone and Vibe in recent times - as well as recording several mixtapes, one of which was hosted by the world famous DJ Green Lantern. As he readies his full length studio debut under Warner Brothers Records, expect this promising young artist to drop The Steel City’s finest hip hop album for some time. He’s already performed alongside Ghostface, Lupe Fiasco and Little Brother, so he has already proven he can hold is own, but the test will come in creatng a buzz in an already fiercely competitive hip hop market. Our money is on this boy dropping a seriously good album by the end of ‘08 though. You can download his ‘Prince of the City 2′ mixtape right here in our media section.

YA BOY

The Game’s Black Wall Street record label seems to have unearthed a couple of gems from the West Coast - Ya Boy is one, Juice and Clyde Carson are others - and all of the aforementioned appear to have both crossover appeal from the underground & the streets to the mainstream and back again. Whether they will get the promotion or the funding they need as they ply their trade beneath Cali emcee The Game, well that’s another thing, but Ya Boy is one of the more promising offerings. He’s been down with The Game ever since Black Wall Street was created, and his versatile spitting ability makes him a standout. He has the ability to paint vivid pictures, whilst also throwing out punchline after punchline. He’s already put out a number of quality mixtapes, one of which “Optimus Rime” you can download here on the website, and having released his first single “Holla at Ya Boy” (produced by Cool & Dre) it looks like the Bay Area MC is going to carry on working the mixtape curcuit until he gains a nation wide buzz.

—

Wale, Wiz Khalifa, The Cool Kids, Flo Rida and Blu (of Blu & Exile) look like they’re going to come good.

Certainly doing better than the first list of mine! Wale’s just jumped on the new Roots album, The Cool Kids rocked the SXSW festival, Flo Rida was #1 for like 10 weeks in the U.S. and every man and his dog was dick riding the Blu/Exile album last year.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 28th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Filed under Hip Hop/Rap, Music, WorldHipHop.fm | No Comments »

An article I wrote for www.worldhiphop.fm way back in January on the next generation of rappers… trying to disassociate the genre with shit like Souljah Boy…

—

“10 to watch for in 2008″

It’s a new day, and a new year, so it seems like a good time to look ahead at the new artists who are going to dominate 2008. 2007 saw MIMS come in to the limelight for a while, and how can we forget Soulja Boy? But who’s got next? Some of the guys on this list you may have heard of, some you may not have, however one thing’s for sure - the buzz and expectation that surrounds each and every one of them is huge. Signed to multi million dollar deals and simply waiting for the right opportunity to launch their albums, here are ten emcees that we think will have huge succcess in 2008…

BISHOP LAMONT

Born Philip Martin on October 31st, 1978. Better known as Bishop Lamont, and as the latest protege of West Coast legend Dr. Dre. Bishop Lamont hails from Inglewood, California and met Dre whilst on the set of The Game’s music video “Dreams”. Dr. Dre signed Lamont back in 2005, just as the he’d found his way into The Source’s Unsigned Hype section. Just as any Aftermath signee will tell you, the buzz and anticipation that follows is huge, and Lamont quickly found himself on the soundtracks of Madden, NBA Live and NFL Street. He featured heavily on Warren G’s “In The Mid-Nite Hour” album as well as putting out a well received series of mixtapes called “Who I Gotta Kill to Get a Record Deal”. It is thought that Bishop Lamont will be one of the main artists on Dre’s “Detox” LP when it eventually hits the stores, but until then Martin is working on his debut album “The Reformation”. Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent are all expected to feature - as well as production from Dre (of course), DJ Premier, Scott Storch, The RZA, Pete Rock and others. “The Reformation” has no solid release date as of yet, but expect to see it mid to late 2008.

CROOKED I

Starting to become known as “The Hip Hop Weekly” guy, Crooked I has been in the hip hop business for a long ass time. Since 1995 to be exact. He’s been signed to DPG Records with Snoop, he’s been signed to Death Row records with Tupac and he nearly found his way onto Dr. Dre’s Aftermath imprint around the same time “2001″ and “The Marshall Mathers LP” came around. He had two solo albums recorded during that time, but neither saw the light of day, and it wasn’t until he formed Dynasty Entertainment in 2004 that it looked like Crooked I would get his career back on track. The West Coast artist really came into the spotlight in 2007 with his “Hip Hop Weekly” series, recording a new topical freestyle on a weekly basis. All those freestyles are available for free, here. Crooked I now seems set to make a big impact on hip hop, particularly in the West Coast, as he readies his debut album some 13 years after he came into the game. “B.O.S.S. (Beginning of Something Serious” will be released some time in 2008 and features the track “N.W.A. (New West Anthem)”.

GUILTY SIMPSON

A favourite of the late, great J. Dilla, Guilty Simpson seemed to come out of nowhere in 2007. After a guest spot on Black Milk’s “Sound the Alarm” as well as verses on J. Dilla, Jaylib, Peanut Butter Wolf and Percee P tracks, Guilty Simpson is now being talked about as one of the most promising rappers in hip hop. Guilt hails from Detroit and is signed to Stones Throw Records, which has a reputation for low profile artists with real critical acclaim. Simpson is currently hard at work on his debut album “Ode to the Ghetto” which features production from Mr. Porter, J. Dilla, Madlib, Oh No and Jake One. His latest mixtape, “Stray Bullets”, is available on the Download section of this website completely free. While Guilt is unlikely to take the charts and MTV by storm, he is proving to become a real force to be reckoned with and his debut album “Ode to the Ghetto” promises to be one of the better releases in 2008.

JAY ROCK

Another West Coast artist, Jay Rock was born in Watts, California’s notorious Nickerson Gardens Projects. He’s earned a deal with industry powerhouse Warner Bros. Records which also home to artists like Lil Jon and Talib Kweli. Jay has rose to superstardom on the internet, through his “Watts Finest” mixtape series and a video for his banging track “Lift Me Up”. While the media buzz surrounding Jay Rock seems significantly less than the other artists on our 10 to watch for list, he is starting to appear in various magazines, and he recently collaborated with high profile West coasters The Game & E-40. His website, topdawgprodcutions.com, promises that his full length LP will be released ‘real soon’, but if you want to sample some of his material, check out his “No Sleep Til NYC” mixtape on our Downloads section or check out the video for “Lift Me Up” in our Media section.

JOE BUDDEN

It seems strange to be talking about Joe Budden as a promising rapper when he raided the charts for the first time back in 2003. Most people will remember Budden for his club tracks “Pump It Up” and “Fire”, but the New Jersey rapper has been on a somewhat frustrating journey since his self titled debut shifted half a million copies five years ago. Def Jam, where Joe Budden was signed to until recently, were reluctant to put out his sophomore record for various reasons. Some cite a falling out with label boss Jay-Z, others believe disappointing sales following a lot of promotion led to the fall out. Whatever the reason, Budden started to release his “Mood Muzik” mixtape series on the Internet and the music showed a more emotional and personal side to Budden. Mood Muzik 2, released in 2005, was a huge success and Jumpoff Joe has literally had the Internet following his every move ever since. Now looking for a new home to resurrect his career, it is safe to say that if Internet buzz is anything to go by, Joe is one of the biggest rappers out at the moment. Look out for his sophomore album “Padded Room” coming in summer ‘08.

JOELL ORTIZ

“The Brick (Bodega Chronicles)” was one of the best albums out in ‘07, put out on Koch Records by Joell Ortiz while he waits to ready a major label with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath imprint. While doubts surface about his situation over at Aftermath/Interscope, Ortiz’s talents remain unquestioned. XXL recently featured Joell in their “Leaders of the New School” article, and the Brooklyn born rapper has also collaborated with hip hop legends KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane and Kool G. Rap in recent months. Joell passed on both an academic and basketball scholarship when he was on 17, ten years on he looks set to be one of the hip hop’s rising stars over the next few years. Ortiz won the 2004 EA Sports Battle which earnt his song “Mean Business” a place on NBA Live 2005. However, it was his signing to Dr. Dre’s Aftermath that really made people’s ears prick up. Whether Ortiz continues to put out music on Koch or whether it’s on Aftermath, 2008 should see more dope hip hop coming from the Puerto Rican rapper.

PAPOOSE

Papoose, born Shamele Mackie, has long been talked about as the heir to thrown of “King of New York”. Born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Pap has been putting out mixtapes frequently since 2004. You might recognise him as the guy on Busta Rhymes’ “Touch It” remix, but the truth is that Papoose has bullied his way into the rap game by dominating the mixtape scene. Using DJ Kay Slay as his promotional tool, Pap signed a $1.5 million record deal with Jive records back in 2006. Tracks like “Alphabetical Slaughter” and “Change Gon Come”, a song dealing with the murder of Sean Bell, have led people to describe Mackie as the future of hip hop. His debut album, “The Nacirema Dream”, was expected in 2007 but it seems almost certain that it will drop some time in 2008.

SAIGON

Whether you know him as Saigon or Saigiddy or The Yardfather or that dude signed to Just Blaze’s record label, what you will know is that Saigon means business. His debut album, “The Greatest Story Never Told” has been pushed back so many times that Sai nearly retired, but thankfully the Brooklyn born emcee is going to endure the label wrangles and hopefully have “TGSNT” in stores some time in 2008. Just Blaze and Saigon ensure us that the album is a wrap, and includes 13 guest appearances - all of whom are ‘legends’. Tracks like “Come On Baby” and “Pain In My Life” have been hugely successful, and the videos for both tracks are available here on the website. You’ll be sure to hear a lot of Saigon on our shows, and it goes without saying that if “TGSNT” drops in 2008 it will surely be a contender for album of the year.

TERMANOLOGY

Termanology is a half Puerto Rican, half French rapper from Lawrence, Massachusetts. Term exploded onto the hip hop scene with his DJ Premier produced-track “Watch How It Go Down” in the rear of 2006. What followed were a string of collaborations with artists such as Nas, Royce Da 5′9″, Papoose, M.O.P. and Terror Squad. Better still, he continued to work with DJ Premier, and the 25 year-old emcee recently featured on Statik Selektah’s “Spell My Name Right” album. Termanology has gained a small underground buzz with his “Hood Politics” mixtape series, and he’s currently label shopping to find a home that best suits his needs. If the Massachussetts rapper secures more Premo beats on his album and continues his high profile collaborations then he really is going to be looking at a contender for album of the year 2008. Check out the video for “So Amazing” in our Media section to see what all the fuss is about.

UNCLE MURDA

The buzz around Brooklyn-born Uncle Murda seems to have died down in recent months, but the gangster rapper was for a short while considered to be the next big thing in New York hip hop. Often considered “too hard for hip hop” such is his lyrical content, Uncle Murda has been involved in a number of altercations, including one high profile incident with Papoose and his entourage. Unc recently got a guest spot with Fabolous and Jay-Z on the track “Brooklyn”, and while he continues to put out mixtapes, he is also preparing to put out a debut LP. If you’re a fan of NY hip hop, gangster hip hop and the hard hitting lyrics of groups like D-Block then check out Uncle Murda. With a bit of label backing Uncle Murda could be looking forward to a good 2008.

—

I’m not saying it’s a good article, but seeing as I write mostly about hip hop and football here I figure there was no harm in putting it up.

I wrote this two or three months ago and I’m still waiting on one of these three to come out with a damn album and prove me right. My money’s on Saigon and Termanology first and foremost.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 28th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Filed under Hip Hop/Rap, Music, WorldHipHop.fm | No Comments »