Ty Reads "Kanye West Owes Me 300 Dollars: And Other True Stories From a White Rapper That Almost Made It Big"

I just recently finished the book, "Kanye West Owes Me 300 Dollars...And Other True Stories From A White Rapper That Almost Made It Big" by Jensen Karp, and this book was fantastic.

I had heard about this book on one of Karp's many podcast appearances, plugging the book a few months back. I was looking for a new book to read, something light, but also nonfiction, and this was a great choice for me. First off, I enjoy stories about the entertainment industry. I think that that lifestyle is cool, but can also be hideous. "Kanye West Owes Me 300 Dollars" has plenty of both kinds of these stories. I am also roughly the same age as Karp, so there were a lot of things that he talked about that I could relate to. He came up in the late 90's and early 2000's, during my high school days, so a lot of the musicians and people in the music business he talked about, I knew all of them. He also talks about how you can have it all one day, but the next, it could be gone. I find these stories enthralling too. He also talked about his many personal problems and hardships he had to deal with, again, very relatable for me.

For those of you that don't know who Jensen Karp is, or was, he is now a writer, comedian, and owner of an art gallery in Los Angeles. He has written for many shows and websites and magazines, he has his own podcast, "Get Up On This!" on the Earwolf Network, and he is a stand-up. Back in the day though, he was a rapper that went by the pseudonym of Hot Karl. Well, he first got his start in a R&B/rap duo with his friend Rickye, as a pre teen. They performed at local bar mitzvahs, clubs and talent shows. They even opened for some big name acts as young kids, but they got screwed by their first manager, as always seems to be the case, and Rickye walked away from music, and Karp focused on school.

Karp could not shake his love for rap music. He grew into a DJ for local house parties all over LA. He would also battle rap people all the time. For those that do not know what battle rapping is, it consists of two emcees trading jabs over one beat, and it is all from your immediate thoughts. No one writes, it is all freestyle. Well, Karp was very, very good at this. He did it al the way through high school, and continued when he went to college at USC. He was so good, he called into a radio show one day on his way to work that had an on air freestyling competition called "Roll Call", and won his first battle. Then, he won the next day, the next day, the next day, it turned into a 6 month winning streak. He could not be stopped. They even brought him into the studio, something they never did, and the guys running "Roll Call" where shocked at his appearance. He is a nerdy looking white dude, he wore ripped jeans and rock band t shirts and had black wire-rimmed glasses. Still, after seeing him in person, they kept him on, and he dominated everyone that came his way.

He retired from "Roll Call" after his 6 plus month run, and he thought it would end there. But, big names in the music industry caught on to what he was doing, and thus, Hot Karl became a hot commodity. He took meetings with some of the biggest names in the industry. He met his idols. He met up and coming people that are now mega stars. It was incredible to read these stories. The time he met Missy Elliot on the street and was forced to free style for her was uncomfortable and hilarious. His meeting with Mack 10, who literally opened a briefcase full of money for him, was awesome. It was so interesting to hear about all that goes into picking a label and starting to record an album.

Karp eventually signed with Jimmy Iovine and Interscope Records. While on the label, again, the people he meets and the stories he tells are fascinating. He gets into fake fights with Pink and Tyrese. He met Bubba Sparxxx right before he blew up with his song "Ugly". He has phone conversations with the RZA. He gets to work with a young, and hungry, Kanye West. He recorded songs with Mark McGrath, who got him super wasted afterward, and Mya. He was a hype man for Gerardo, of "Rico Suave" fame. He is told constantly that money is no object, and he is one of their top priorities.

But, as a lot of people in the music business run into, he was signed right after Interscope signed Eminem. We all know who Eminem is, but not many people know of Hot Karl. We come to learn later that Eminem may, or may not have, but I'm pretty sure he did, tell Jimmy Iovine and Interscope that he did not want any other white emcees to be as big a priority that he was, and they obliged. From there, his life spirals downward. His trip to Jamaica is frightening, and scared me to my core. I share a lot of the same mental stuff that Karp has, so it was easy to relate to what he was going through.

The story ends happily, but the journey to get there is, at times, scary, funny, bizarre, lavish, corny and stressful. I loved this book and I cannot recommend it enough. Check it out, I think you will like it.

ed note: we originally posted the wrong title for the book. It has been corrected.

Buy "Kayne West Owes Me 300 Dollars: And Other True Stories from a White Rapper Who Almost Made it Big" here.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is the current king of the rap battle in west St. Louis County. Challenge Ty by following him on instagram and twitter.

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The Greatest American Band Debate: Eric B and Rakim

SeedSing is filled with music lovers. We can not agree on who is the best band from the States. The Greatest American Band Debate will be a regular feature where we discuss and compare bands who started in the good old USA. If you have any suggestions of bands we should debate Contact us seedsing.rdk@gmail.com

For the greatest American band debate, I'm going to get back to a band, although it's a duo, and I'm going to get back to rap. The band I'm going to nominate today is Eric B and Rakim.

Eric B and Rakim may be the most influential rap group of all time, even more so than Sugarhill Gang. Eric B and Rakim proved that you could make great music with only two guys. I know that I nominate and talk about a lot of two piece bands, the White Stripes, Ratatat, Run the Jewels and the Black Keys to name a few, but, at the very least, there would be no Run the Jewels if not for Eric B and Rakim. They are the quintessential two piece rap group. They had a short, but very prolific run in the music industry.

The duo exploded on the scene very early on, only a few years after rap became a big thing. Their first record, "Paid in Full", was released in 1987 and it was a hit. It was helped by the huge single "Eric B For President".  According to Wikipedia, this album, although rushed to release, influenced huge hip hop stars like Run DMC, KRS-One and Chuck D. This record showed the world that smooth, yet profound flow of Eric B. It also introduced us to the wizardry that was Rakim. He was a master of making beats and could write the hell out of a song. So could Eric B. He was a lyrical master. The song "Eric B For President" is a master class of rhyming and flowing that hip hop artists nowadays owe a huge debt to. Without this song's structure, a lot of famous rappers wouldn't have a clue at how to put their flows to a beat. "Eric B For President" laid the groundwork for modern hip hop cadence.

After the release and success of "Paid in Full", they signed a deal with MCA. They were now with a huge label and expectations were high, and they did not disappoint. Their second album is one of the all time greatest albums. In 1988 they released "Follow the Leader". This record is a masterpiece. The title track, "Follow the Leader" is epic. The song has a great beat, great lyrics and the message is fantastic. They basically shouted to the hip hop world that they were the leaders of the movement, and it's hard to argue with them. No one, at that time, was even close to how awesome Eric B and Rakim were. They owned the throne of hip hop. "Lyrics of Fury" is another classic. This song is another example at how great of an emcee Eric B was/is. He is a lyrical genius. And the way he raps on "Lyrics of Fury", watch out because he destroys the song. It's an incredible rap song. "Microphone Fiend" is another great track on this record. I love this song and it was introduced to me through Rage Against the Machine, a band I've already written about, but Eric B and Rakim's original version is the best. I love the angst and anger that this song brings and I love that, instead of fiending for drugs or money or violence, Eric B wants only a microphone. That's what he's fiending for and I love it. He needs that microphone to spit his lyrics out to the world and we, the audience, need it as well. It's my favorite song from the entire Eric B and Rakim songbook. The rest of that record is just as phenomenal, but those are the three standouts. The fact that it took so long to be acclaimed, it didn't get good early reviews and it wasn't until the late 90's and early 2000's that it became a classic, is shocking. the first time I heard this record, as a 20 year old, it immediately blew me away. I love this album.

In 1990 they released their third album, "Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em". it was okay, but it doesn't get the critical or commercial acclaim that their first two albums eventually got. The record is still really good. Songs like "Set 'Em Straight", "Untouchables" and the title track, "Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em" are all classic Eric B and Rakim and they all still, 100 percent old up as all time great hip hop songs. This album was also the first album to get a 5 mic rating in "Source" magazine. That's a huge honor and they were the first to earn it. This is a good album.

They released their final album as a duo in 1991 called "Don't Sweat the Technique". This was just another example of their awesomeness. They weren't getting along great in the studio, but they still made a very good album. Two of the songs on the record were also used in two big time movies in the early 90's. The song "What's on Your Mind" appeared in "House Party 2" and they recorded the theme song to the very underrated movie, "Juice". Both of those movies were huge at the time. "House Party 2" doesn't really hold up, but "Juice" is just as good now as it was in 1991. They broke up shortly after this album's release and they both did solo and side projects, but they never hit the same nerve as they did when they recorded together.

Eric B and Rakim were on the ballot for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they didn't make it on their first try. That's insane to me because I believe they are the most influential rap group of all time. Eric B's writing and rhyming laid out the example of what a true emcee should sound and rap like, and Rakim's ear for looping and beat making is second to none. They belong and deserve to be in the Hall of Fame much more than some of the bands that are already in there. Eric B and Rakim are one of the best rap groups of all time and they are definitely the best rap duo of all time. They belong in this discussion for all the reasons I laid out.

Eric B for president indeed.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host for the X Millennial Man podcast. He is constantly fiending for the mic, but Ty only talks and does not rap. Yet. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: A Tribe Called Quest

We've been doing our Greatest American Band debate on the website for a little over three months now. We've discussed many great bands, old and new. Some are hugely famous, others a little more underground. What dawned on me this weekend though, we haven't discussed any hip hop/rap groups.

That's a shame.

Hip hop/rap is the only type of music that is truly American. It originated in the US and, only about 10 years ago, did it start to come from overseas. There's a plethora of rap groups that I will be writing about over the next couple of months, one every week to be precise, and today I'm going to start with my personal favorite, A Tribe Called Quest. Tribe, which I will call them the rest of this piece, was the first true hip hop group that I was exposed to that was good. I listened to people like Puff Daddy and Mase and Onyx, but those were all pretty terrible rappers. Puff Daddy is a genius producer, but a not so good rapper. Mase was cool for a minute, but he went into some weird tail spin and I believe he's a preacher now. Onyx had one really good song, "Slam", but in preparation for this blog, I listened to it again, and sadly it doesn't hold up. Puff Daddy did introduce me to the GOAT, Notorious B.I.G., but he's a solo act, so he's out of this discussion.

Once again, my oldest brother, the same one that introduced me to the Velvet Underground, introduced me to Tribe. They were like nothing I ever heard before. They had a smooth, jazzy sound. But, they also were phenomenal rappers. Q Tip was the smooth operator of the group. He had a soulful, yet political consciousness that spoke to me. He delivered his lyrics with ease. He was/is such a good rapper, he made it sound easy. It's like watching a really good NBA player, someone like Magic Johnson, who is so good, they make it look easy. I can't do the things they do, but they make it seem possible. Phife Dawg came at you like a canon. After one of Q Tip's verses, Phife would come in and blow you away with his intensity and, almost angry, delivery. He was the perfect compliment to Q Tip. One was smooth(Q Tip), the other would punch you in the gut(Phife). Ali Shaheed Muhammed was a fantastic DJ, and when he did rap, he was decent. Ali Shaheed was more of the voice of reason in Tribe. He kept them going, even when times were rough. I'll touch on the rough times later. Ali Shaheed clearly just wanted to make music. He didn't want to argue and fight and gripe with the band, he just loved music. Look at the work he's done with D'Angelo or TLC or Tony! Tone! Toni!, the guy is a musical genius. They had a fourth member, Jarobi, but he only appeared on their first album, and he was, for all intents and purposes, their hype man. Jarobi and Phife still remain close friends to this day, so, for that reason alone, he deserves mentioning when talking about Tribe.

All three(four if you want to count Jarobi) were great as a group. They knew what each of them excelled at and they capitalized on that knowledge. In the long run, they grew to hate each other(really Q Tip and Phife hated each other, Ali Shaheed just wanted to make music like I said earlier) because with genius and ego comes jealousy. Q Tip and Phife were both so great at what they did, I think they both grew suspicious of each other and that's when the infighting started. These fights led to the demise of the band, they would reunite for four years, but I will talk about that later, and they only made four albums. But, those four albums are fantastic. Their debut album, "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm" is groundbreaking. I'd never heard anything like this ever before. You had four guys interweaving jazz grooves with hip hop beats and two of the best rappers to ever walk this Earth. Talk about coming out of the box and crushing a grand slam. This album put not only the hip hop world on notice, but all of the music business started to pay attention to Tribe. This is not only one of the best rap albums of all time, it's one of the best albums of any kind of music ever made. On this album, you can hear the influence it had on other hip hop bands like Digable Planets or Dilated Peoples. Without "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm", we would never have had those groups. Sophomore albums are usually a step down from debuts, but not in Tribe's case. Their second record, "The Low End Theory" was not a slump, it was a revelation. This is, in my opinion, the greatest rap album of all time. Q Tip was always the leader, but Phife took a huge step forward and became an unstoppable force on this record. They took all their jazzy beats and bumped it to a whole other level. They matured and became better rappers than I ever thought they could be. This is a must own album for all music lovers out there. Even if you don't like rap, you'll like "The Low End Theory". It's music for all different music lovers. After this album is where the fighting started for Tribe. As I said, Phife started to become a force and I don't think Q Tip liked that. It may sound like I'm being too tough on Q Tip and, yes, Phife is my favorite of the group, but that's not the case. I just think that two geniuses will eventually grow to dislike each other when they spend that much time together, and that's what happened. They still made two more albums though. "Midnight Marauders" is a really good record. The story goes, they were fighting so much that each of them recorded in their own studio, but when you listen to this record, it sounds like Q Tip and Phife are standing right next to each other in the recording studio. This is also the album where Ali Shaheed got to do some rhyming. He was pretty good too. They recorded one last record, "The Love Movement", but you can definitely tell that they were ready to be done with each other. It's still a really good record, but you knew it was going to be their last. They put out four great, classic albums in a short amount of time, and I didn't even get to some of the songs on these records.

In fact, let's do that now. Songs like, "Buggin Out", "Bonita Applebum", "Can I Kick It", "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo", "Award Tour", "Oh My God", "Steve Biko(Stir it Up)" and many more are classics. "Buggin Out" is when Phife busted out on the scene. Go listen to his verses in this song and be amazed at how awesome he is as a rapper. He is great. "Bonita Applebum" might be one of the greatest love songs I've ever heard. If it wasn't so dirty, I'd want it as my first dance at my wedding(full disclosure, my first dance song at my wedding was "Sea of Love", a great choice in my opinion). "Can I Kick It" might be one of the most quotable songs of all time. Wherever I'm playing sports with my son and we have a ball that we are kicking, whenever he says, "Can I kick it?", I say, in my best Tribe impression, "Yes You Can!". That song is awesome. "Oh My God" is the best kind of ear worm you can get. I hear that chorus and the rest of the day, I'm singing that in my head and out loud. "Steve Biko(Stir It Up)" has one of the coolest grooves in a rap song that I've ever heard. Q Tip is his smooth self on this song and he delivers his lyrics like a god damned pro. "Award Tour" is my favorite Tribe song. The verses and the chorus are awesome, both Phife and Q Tip shine, and they give a shout out to their main man, Ali Shaheed Muhammed, throughout the whole song. It's a really, really good song. There's many, many more songs I could talk about, but these are my favorites, and the ones I listen to the most.

As I've said before, they fought a ton, but they did reunite for a brief time in 2004 until 2008. They played sold out venues and sold out festivals. Fans were eager to see them live, and for the most part, they delivered. Go watch the excellent movie, "Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest" directed by super fan and actor Michael Rappaport, and you'll see them reunite, but you also see the fights that were going on, specifically between Q Tip and Phife. This is a really good movie about Tribe and it's a must see for all fans. All of the members went on to solo careers, but Q Tip is/was by far the most successful.

Before I give my closing thoughts on Tribe today, I also wanted to mention that they were contemporaries with Busta Rhymes, Common and the great De La Soul. These two bands and two solo artists grew together at the same time. How crazy is that. Tribe is one of the greatest bands of all time, not just in hip hop/rap, but in all music. A Tribe Called Quest is, by far, one of the Greatest American Bands and they absolutely belong in our conversation. The things I've written and many, many more reasons are why I nominate them today.

Tribe rules.

(ed note: A Tribe Called Quest has also not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What they hell is wrong with the hall?)

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. At one time Ty was rocking some series dreds, he now rocks a bald spot. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.