This isn't the Nas that I Know :(

Is everyone geeking out on this new "Kanye West" phase. This isn't the Nas that I know :(. You can check Nas out in the new Complex Magazine.

New Media Pioneer: Vonnie “Honey” Woods of the Honey Soul Blog

New Media Pioneer: Vonnie “Honey” Woods of the Honey Soul Blog

Honey Soul Blog
http://honeysoul.com
“Anything great always starts with love,” says soul-music aficionado Vonnie “Honey” Woods, whose means of expressing her sincere, simple passion for the music and its artists, has grown from a small mailing list about new music finds, to an internet show called Soul 2 Soul (projectvibe.net, rawcast.com), a morning radio show called Honey Soul’s Sunrise (90.1 FM, KPFT Houston), and HoneySoul.com, a site that receives visitors from at least 15 countries, including the U.K, Canada, Netherlands, France, Sweden, Japan, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, Jamaica, The Philippines, Brazil, Germany and Austria. The site has ranked as highly as #15 of out 198 million “soul music” searches on Google, and it has been referenced and/or acknowledged by Prince’s official site, Vibe.com, Eurweb.com, Capital Records, Okayplayer.com, AOL Black Voices, and Philadelphia Weekly - all in only two years.

Q: What is the story behind you actually starting Honey Soul Music Blog?

A. In 2004 I started an email list to share something that was very close to my heart, music. I'd search online for music that had elements of what I listened to growing up and was not being played often on radio. I call it soul music but it really is any meaningful music that you can feel. One day I stumbled across something I had never heard of, blogs. I loved the personal point of view and at that time I couldn't find many that talked about soul music. In October 2004, I started my blog, Honey Soul Music to share my passion for soul music. It grew into much more than I could have planned or imagined.

In 2005 I started asking artists for interviews. I recorded them and posted them on the blog. It seemed like a natural evolution and because this was about nine months after starting the blog I jokingly say this is when Honey Soul was born. Traffic increased dramatically and others started to take notice of my relaxed and conversational style. Soon after labels and publicists started contacting me to interview their artists. The icing on the cake is that I've been recognized as a tastemaker and an authority on soul music, been referenced on other sites from AOL Black Voices to Vibe.com and landed some opportunities to do local and internet radio. In 2007 HoneySoul.com won a Black Weblog award for "Best Music Blog." Plus I've had the honor of interviewing some of my music idols like Chaka Khan, Maurice White, Ron Isley and Teena Marie as well as talking to some of the most gifted, up and coming new artists. Talk about living your dream. I'm blessed.


Q: What's the biggest challenge you've faced as a blogger?

A. My biggest challenge has been finding balance. Things change so quickly on the internet and everyday there are more who do the same things you do. Remaining fresh, relevant, different, creative, and maintaining motivation can be a challenge. There is also a unique balance between sticking to your roots, the things that made you successful and growing. Yet through it all I want to remain a valuable and useful source for both the music lover and the artist. Ultimately there is a balance between doing what I need to do versus what I want to do. I've learned not to take it all so seriously. I remind myself why I started the blog, for nothing but the love of music. Anything else that stems from that is a blessing and the mistakes and missteps have been learning lessons. It's always a matter of perspective.

Q: How do you go about choosing which CD's you are going to review?

A. We receive quite a few music submissions from artists, publicists and labels. We also get recommendations from our readers, DJ's, promoters, friends, and fellow bloggers. I select albums that I personally like or that I think our audience would enjoy. They are CD's that in their entirety evoke a certain feeling or emotional response because that's what I feel soul music does best. We are also fortunate to have a talented group of contributors who discover new music on their own and write great reviews.

Q: As far as bringing more traffic to your site, what are the two best tips you can give other bloggers?

A. My best tip would be networking and that takes several forms. Network with other bloggers, your audience and those in your field because word of mouth is wonderful for building traffic. Network by joining social media sites, online communities and forums if for nothing else than leading traffic back to your blog.

I'd also suggest building traffic through sources that don't originate online. While they are great ways to build traffic through search engine optimization there is nothing like building your brand the old fashioned way, face to face. If you've got access to social and business events in your area use it. Pass out business cards and make contact with other movers and shakers. Recently I've added blog contributors. Not only is it a great way to give back by allowing them to spotlight their voice to an established audience but it can also bring new eyes to your blog and it gives your audience a fresh, new perspective. Be consistent, be patient and take chances on something new. Nothing worth having is easy to get and it certainly doesn't happen overnight.

Q: What song is continuously playing in your ipod right now?
A. Although I have favorite artists (Prince, Dwele) and favorite songs of the moment (like Jill Scott's My Love), I rarely listen to anything on repeat. Because of HoneySoul.com I'm lucky to always have a steady flow of new, exciting music. Contrary to what you hear on commercial radio these days, for me there never seems to be a shortage of good music.

Jermaine Dupri Makes NO Sense Sometimes....

I've kind of gotten hooked to Jermaine Dupri's You Tube Channel. He's been pretty consistent with posting videos at least once a week

One video that caught my eye was the video he posted on May 28. He is back in NY at Def Jam doing an interview with Forbes Magazine and I think his answer is HORRIBLE.

The video is a bit long because he also does a premiere of the new 9th Ward video "New Orleans" which I think is a bit too much violence in it :(

To view more pf JD's videos you can view his You Tube Channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/JD1472

New Media Pioneer: Cedric Shine of the Notes of this Native Son Blog

New Media Pioneer: Cedric Shine of the Notes of this Native Son Blog
http://nativenotes.wordpress.com/

Notes of this Native Son blog brings you a daily dose of songs and messages from author Cedric Shine. Written by a motivated young black man who is dedicated to giving our voices a platform to speak from!

Q: A lot of the writing on your blog is very uplifting. What inspired
you to start the Notes of This Native Son Blog?

A: Honestly, I have always had a passion for writing but in the past I was hesitant to share my writing with other people for fear that they would judge my writing style and how I convey messages. I started out on my myspace where I would let my thoughts fly, but there wasn’t too much traffic there. Earlier this year I began writing spiritual messages titled “Pardon me” every morning and sending them out to close friends. The small list grew to over 100 people rather quickly and the responses I would receive were so uplifting and motivational that I felt selfish for not having an avenue to share those responses with the other readers. Thus I created Notes of this Native Son so that there could be an interactive community that would be spiritually connected and serve as a support group for others who wanted to explore their spiritual side without being judged.

The Harlem Renaissance was a time of creativity; there was literature, music, politics, spirituality, dance and other types of expression that characterized the intellect and creativity of the people. Notes of This Native Son is inspired by such a time period and I hope that as young artisans we can inspire a resurgence of creativity in our own communities. The site also serves as forms of expression for some of my close friends whose writing has been featured on the blog; Nightday, Maat, Rums, and Jazz are all people who have posted pieces on the site that have added to the overall movement of something different that we are trying to accomplish.

Q: Is there a specific audience you are trying to reach?

A: Honestly, if you go to the blog on any given day the only thing that will be consistent is the Pardon me message, the Quote of the day and the Song of the day. Other than that the Notes of This Native Son can not be pigeon holed into one category because I believe we as people no matter what ethnicity, gender, or spiritual background are truly too dynamic of a people to be placed into closed jars and labeled. We have many different interests and thus there are several different niche groups that are represented here on the World Wide Web. One day I am all about the political scene, the next day I am very focused on music because I love music and feel it leads as a soundtrack to our lives. But then there are social issues, funny youtube videos, you name it and I will post it if I feel it relates to me as a person, or offends me and I want to have an open dialogue with the rest of the internet about it. So I cannot say that there is a specific audience that I am trying to reach because the people who give me the most feedback about the site come from a plethora of backgrounds. Their one commonality is that they are all searching for knowledge of self and like to be well informed about assorted issues. Whether that’s Lil Wayne sipping syrup, a Confucius quote, or institutionalized racism and how it affects people and their surroundings, people really just want to absorb knowledge.


Q: What's the biggest challenge you've faced as a blogger?

A: The biggest challenge I have faced as a blogger is also the best challenge because there is an enormous amount of blogs on the Internet. All of these sites have different content and many of them can be extremely creative but I think the ever-growing amount of blogs can saturate the market so much that you feel like a grain of sand on a 7-mile beach. So I think the biggest challenge is staying relevant and trying to encourage a culture of bloggers and blog viewers to check out something that is not celebrity oriented but more so caters to their unique and individual ideas of expression.

Q: On your blog you feature a song a day. How exactly do you choose which songs fits the day?

A: The song of the day is a reflection of how I am feeling at the moment. Sometimes they are influenced by the spiritual message or the quote of the day. Other times I like to bring an artist who is less mainstream to the forefront and acknowledge their talent. For instance last week I featured Bad Boy recording artist Janelle Monae and tons of people hit me up saying that they really liked her music and appreciated her sound. That brings joy to my ears or eyes when I am reading such an email because often artists are judged on everything but their art.

Q: As far as bringing more traffic to your site, what are the two best tips you can give other bloggers?
A: I think being involved with communities of bloggers is extremely beneficial. I am a member of theurbanblogger.com and I think that as a community my affiliation with this spectacular group of bloggers has doubled my traffic and allowed me to network with other bloggers. Also, I think finding a balance between your own creativity and topics that are hot topics that people will want to read about will encourage more readers to browse through your site. We have to learn to take advantage of all avenues whether it is search engine optimization or networking with a revolutionary idea like your own where we can be featured via an Internet pr site, like Ariel Publicity.

New Artist Feature...

Tori Lewis

http://www.myspace.com/torilewismusic

Attitude, her debut album is a mixture of Pop and hip hop-influenced R&B tracks that breathes life back into the genre with solid lyrical content and fresh new sounds crafted by the talented producer “Water”.

When contemplating a name for her album, the word “Attitude” just seemed to fit. Attitude is a way of thinking or responding. If you think you can, you’re right! If you think you can’t, you’re also right. "Since I have a choice, why not choose to think that I can. That’s Attitude, that’s me….Tori!"

"Rock"

New Media Pioneer: Jason "Macedonia" Smith of Radio BSOTS

New Media Pioneer: Jason “Macedonia” Smith

Radio BSOTS : Both Sides of the Surface

http://www.bsots.com/

BSOTS: A cyberspace archive of life commentaries and music reviews written between 1999-2005, as well as a portal to artist and record label sites and online music stores, also the home base for the Radio BSOTS podcast playing electronic soul, funk, and hip-hop.

Q: What's the biggest challenge you've faced as a podcaster?

A: My biggest challenge is (and continues to be) successfully navigating my way through this world of new media and social networking. I consider myself an old head using new technologies in order to express my love for music and support for its artists. I am flesh, blood, and bone, but to be a part of the podcasting game you must learn the language of ones and zeros to some degree, whether it's RSS feeds, tagging blog posts, search engine optimization, or whatever new social platform will premiere in the next five minutes. All of these things fight for my attention; as a result, time management and prioritizing become rather challenging. Never mind that real life demands that you go to your day job, make sure your child gets to day care, etc. I can only speak for myself: I do not have a mind for marketing or metrics. I do, however, have a mind for music. My passion for music drove me headfirst into podcasting.

Q: I've noticed you tend to feature on your podcast more unknown and indie hip hop artists what's your reasoning behind that?

A: Radio BSOTS was created because I had so many friends that were making great music - MCs, DJs, producers, and beatboxers. I just wanted to be a platform for them, an avenue for them to get some exposure. So right from the beginning, championing the unknown and independent artists was key to the show. In my opinion, their efforts can stand alongside and even outshine so much of what's being released within mainstream circles. Soul, funk, and electronic sounds add to the musical makeup of the show, but hip-hop remains at its core. To be honest, I didn't even realize how much of a hip-hop head I was until I started doing this podcast.

Q: Any words of wisdom ... anything you've learned so far in podcasting that you'd care to share?

A: What's true for an artist goes for a podcaster: this has got to feel good to YOU, first and foremost. Podcasting is too much work for it not to be fun, so what got you excited about it in the first place has to remain present in order for you to continue doing it. All artists go through their creative slumps or feeling of apathy about their craft. However, if those times start to outweigh the good times, you seriously need to reassess your situation. Beyond that, there is no "right" way of doing this. Since August of 2005, I've been podcasting on a dial-up modem and a computer that still had Windows Millennium Edition on it. I just got a new computer in the past month, but the dial-up situation remains. I didn't let that stop me, though. When you have something that you're passionate about, you find ways to make it work.

Q: I see you are very active in the Twitter world. Why do you think Twitter is important for a Podcaster, Internet Radio Station, etc.?

A: Honestly, it was the simplicity of Twitter that got me hooked. It's a microblogging tool that's perfect for a person like me who's constantly on the losing side of time. With Twitter, you're forced to get your point across quickly and in a limited number of characters. Somewhere along the way, I started notifying people whenever a new episode was posted. A number of my followers tend to go check it out within minutes after that. For a musician, blogger, or podcaster, that's valuable real-time feedback from people who have a vested interest in your content. And if you're involved with communicating with your followers, it's only a matter of time before relationships build into something more tangible. What you have is a potential community.

Q: What's next for Radio BSOTS?

A: Right now, I just want to continue putting together the best shows possible. There's so much incredible music out there it's almost overwhelming. As much as I like putting together freeform shows, I see more genre-specific episodes in the future, as well as shows dedicated to one record label's output. With the summer coming up, it's a great excuse to put more continuous mixes together as well. The month of August will mark the third-year anniversary of Radio BSOTS and I've been trying to figure out how to celebrate. Maybe I'll unveil some "behind the scenes" recordings or audio collage craziness from my college days, who knows? What's next is more music, more episodes, and more reasons to spend your cold hard cash in support of talented artists so that they can continue doing what they love.

Rihanna - Take A Bow

Im so in love with this song and video.

Eventhough it's an UPGRADED version of Beyonce's "Irreplacable" it's still hot, and im all for WOMEN EMPOWERMENT :)

Work It Rihanna!!! She looks so HOT in this video!



Funny Fact: Ne-Yo wrote this song and Beyonce's Irreplacable