Part 4 of 4 of Chris Shaban’s In Defense of Drake! Like I said in the last post, to read this article the way it’s truly meant to be read please visit Chris’ blog: www.farbeyond.ca. Basically, he’s written the piece in a new style he’s invented called FOOTNOTES. It’s kinda like pop-up video the way the FootNotes pop-up on the page but we unfortunately can’t get the coding to work on our blog. The FootNotes here are after the jump! Alas…read it here, read it there, just read it.

Part IV

So this is it, the final chapter: In Defense of Drake.  For the people that have stuck around since the beginning, it’s nice to have you back[i].  For anyone that’s new to FootNotes, please feel free to begin here with Part IV; however, just for the full effect, or to learn how to read the actual FootNotes themselves, it would be cool if you started back at Part I[ii].  Here, in this last edition I put the pen down.  Straight up, I have no further questions.  So now it’s up to the Prosecution to bring forth their case against Drake[iii].  To help the cause they have reached out to one of the biggest and most well known haters this side of Michael Moore and Bill O’Reilly[iv], your friend and mine, Ricky Rapper, Esq.[v].  I’ll be sure to hop back in every now and then to supply you with the FootNotes because Ricky doesn’t have that kinda pull around here.

Briefly, I want to speak on the structure of Blog.FarBeyond.ca, or FarBeyond FootNotes, moving forward[vi].  These are long writings, stretched out even further because of the FootNotes.  You see, all of the articles that will be posted here every Friday were originally intended to be just individual one-piece essays[vii].   However, due to the fact that these bad boys are not being published on MacLeans.ca or NewYorker.com, I felt it was best to try and feed it in bite-sized doses[viii] in an effort to hopefully keep your attention[ix].  Anyway, now that the first FootNotes submission is complete, please feel free to read all four parts, in order, as one complete article.  Read it the same way you’d sit down to read a book like ‘Good to Great’, ‘Freakonomics’ or ‘The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding’[x].  What’s Next?  Well, funny you should ask, because on Friday November 6^th, Pete is presenting what might be one of the most important pieces about music that you’re going to read this year.  It’s entitled ‘Sounds Good? – Why you should HATE the way you’re listening to music.’

Blog.FarBeyond.ca

Also, I want to tell you guys about Not For Everyone clothing.  The labels creator Stephen Lee just put me on to this stuff.  Think urban chic, mad Grown & Sexy.  Check out his blog at http://www.n4e1.com/blog/

Enough plugs[xi], Let’s Go…

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From Littles The General TV via HHC!

The Offense’s Littles The General gets his viral game on with a freestyle (Release Therapy ’09) and then riffs on the Halifax club scene in a segment called “Generally Speaking”.

To me this is the bar artists need to hit for quick turnaround viral campaigns.

Ok, here’s the deal. Chris Shaban has put together this dope piece on Drake. The thing is, to experience it in its full glory you need to read it HERE (true FootNotes style). Reading it here is cool too but we can’t seem to get the coding right on our page to allow the FootNotes (pop-ups) to work. Alas, here is Pt. III of In Defense Of Drake by Chris Shaban. FootNotes are after the jump and correlate to the roman numerals:

Part III

Out of the gate, I’d like to thank you again for coming back to Cityonmyback to continue reading this blog [i].  As you’ll notice again, I have cut and pasted the FootNotes right after the citation in an effort to encourage people on this site to read the blurbs.  I think that even Ty and Digi would agree though, if you want to take it in nice and smooth and in a way that is VERY EASY to read, click here (it takes you to FarBeyond.ca).  I want to take a brief moment to clear up some potential misconceptions that have arisen since Part I if you don’t mind [ii].  Not really a big deal, just more of a reminder about the nature of this article.  It is more than fair to say that this weblog has been quite one-sided since it began [iii], however, it’s important to remember the point of why this article was written.  Yes, as I have consistently mentioned, I’m speaking to corporate partners and Post-Secondary programmers in an effort to help us all understand this genre a little better.  However, over the past two weeks [iv] it seems that I have adorned another cap that I never really intended to wear.  You see, if you’re not feeling Drake, then this piece is meant to try and provide you with enough solid and potentially new information to sway your opinion.  To help in relating, it would be most safe to compare this writing to how a criminal lawyer would defend the position of his client in front of a judge and jury [v]. I’ve tried to steer clear of many obvious references that folks would think necessary to speak about when writing such a long piece on one topic [vi].  But the fact remains, I have to keep it real [vii], so until Part IV, never was heard a discouraging word.  Back to the lecture at hand…

Whether you’re reading this through HHC.com, Cityonmyback.com, blog.farbeyond.ca or any of the other great sites that are running this, it is truly a treat to be able to communicate with you [viii].  I promised to make Part III strictly about the lyrics because, for better or for worse, that is truly what ‘authentic’ fans of Hip-Hop music appreciate the most [ix].  While to most people that generate income from the music business, a rapper whose overall best quality is being lyrically ferocious, usually provides them nothing more than entertainment; but to real Hip-Hop fans it separates the men from the boys.  Metaphors, similes, double entendres, wit, all tied together and delivered in the cleverest[x] punchlines; now that’s a REAL rapper.  Well, to be completely honest, and I’m truly sorry if this is the first you’re hearing of this, that stuff usually doesn’t mean anything if the beat, melody, momentum, and more, are not on point in the song [xi].  Although the whole cipher may scream and yell, the fact is, if the song is only lyric deep, then it usually doesn’t register where it counts [xii].  However, the jury I am speaking to today holds lyrics in the highest regard, as do I, so that is why it is our next topic.  You see, although I say that lyrics[xiii] aren’t very often the most important part of a song, the best Hip-Hop artists can balance the fine line between writing hit records and speaking strictly to the heads and the dreads [xiv].  Is Drake soon to be one of those types (already changed) of rappers?  I think you know my answer on that, On Wit Da Show[xv]…

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From FarBeyond Entertainment’s Footnotes blog!

Part II of Chris Shaban’s editorial piece “In Defense Of Drake”:

You’ll read this if you’re a real hip-hop fan.

Part II

Thanks for coming back here to read Part II at Cityonmyback.com. To be totally honest, I wasn’t expecting so many rap peeps to get at me, especially with cool sites like this one picking it up, so I have tried to make this edition a little more Hip-Hop than Part I (Which after reading it online sounded more like a biography on a person (me) that you’ve never heard of and probably don’t care about.)  I got enough ‘Shabby, what the bloodclotare you talking about?’ to last me a lifetime. Because each site is different, I have worked with Ty to post it here in a unique way.  To make it easier to read on this site, the FootNotes will actually appear right after the sentence in parenthesis and blue text.  It makes its seem really LONG that way, but it’s super easy to read.  If you want to view it in actual ‘FootNotes’, where you can roll over the word with your mouse and the blurb pops up in a neat little box, click the link above that says ‘FootNotes blog!’ right under the Drizzy studio picture.

As I previously mentioned, the idea for this article was originally two fold. First was to help the my company’s current and potential corporate partners understand a little bit about the benefits of investing advertising dollars in Canadian Hip-Hop (I guess it’s a little disappointing that we have much less issue acquiring support and booking shows for other genres, but still struggle with Rap. Now, of course, the blame isn’t 100% on the shoulders of the companies and schools for that. It is VERY fair to say that the quality of music and level of execution by many folks (but not all, mind you) who consider themselves to represent Hip-Hop on a boardroom level here in Canada just hasn’t been getting the job done. And that’s not really an opinion, right? Like Maestro Fresh Wes was more than 20 years ago, and we still really don’t have too much to show as far as financial or mainstream success goes in Canadian Rap music. However, within that fact, the companies and schools aren’t totally off the hook on the matter as there is still something to be said for being ‘ahead of the curve’. We still have a long way to go but I hope even this little blog and any other positive efforts for the cause will keep the forward momentum going.) The second being the need to relate to College & University Event Programmers in an effort to see an increase in the Urban shows at campuses across the country. That is why the original blog is still housed at blog.farbeyond.ca. But, hey, this bad boy can also be taken as strictly entertainment, and I’m ultra cool with that too…

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Seen on HHC!

Part 1 of a 4 part editorial piece by Far Beyond Entertaiment’s Chris Shaban:

Sample of this article:

“You’ll read this if you’re a real hip-hop fan.

I will make this intro ultra quick. First, thank you for taking the time to come here and read FootNotes. This all started because Famous told me that I have to start getting out in public more to interact with ‘people’. Well, it’s been about 6 years almost to the month that I got home from touring as the host of 2003 VJ Search for Much and CIM. I had decided to fall back and focus on building my personal business. But, on the other hand, The Kid’s right, I’m not in the mix enough. So with that in mind, I started FarBeyond FootNotes. I am going to use this mainly as a vehicle to speak to business partners. However, in my heart, I really hope that hip-hop fans will read this too. And that is why you’re reading this here on HipHopCanada. Although the actual FootNotes blog is housed at my site, FarBeyond.ca, I felt like it was important to have it up here too. I have been friends with Jesse ever since I first started writing on this site in 2002 and it’s been an ice-cold minute since then. I’m happy that he still thinks enough of me to post this.

Now, to be straight up, you may have to read this whole piece slowly, maybe even go back over a certain line once or twice. I am known for talking too fast and saying too much, so that is the main reason I created FootNotes. It’s a kind of like ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’. You can read through this blog without ever reading a FootNote and it will still make complete sense. If you want to give’er, then I’d suggest you digest the little blurbs. If you go to blog.farbeyond.ca to read this you’ll be alerted of a FootNote because the word will be a different colour. You can just roll your cursor over it and the text will appear very neatly in a box above the word. Here on HipHopCanada for the sake of logistics, and because I promised Jesse the article a day early, you can click on the bolded words and they will take you to the corresponding footnote. When you’re done reading the footnote, simply click ‘Back’ and it will return your place in the article. Of course, you can always scroll down to the end of the piece to see all the notes, if you’d like. I can’t emphasize how much better the article is when you read the FootNotes.

Enough blah, blah, blah – Let’s Get Down To Business. I’m happy to take y’all FarBeyond FootNotes . . . Enjoy.

Full article: http://www.hiphopcanada.com/_site/entertainment/articles/ent_art176.php