Days of Lore

The whole thing makes me [sic]
Ahh … hip-hop rivalries. They’ve been around as long as the music itself.
Boogie Down Productions vs. The Juice Crew. Nas vs. Jay-Z. Li’l Kim vs. Foxy Brown. J Budleit vs. Wingy D. The list goes on and on.

I don’t think we’ve ever had a proper hip-hop beef in Chico. Until now. Thing is, these beefs usually involve the players … err, the playaz themselves, not a third party.

The CN&R (and a few other key playaz in the local scene) received the following e-mail last week from someone who goes by Stunna Wonda, with his (her?) beef on the results for the CAMMIES Readers Choice award in hip-hop.

to whom it may concern

I’m sure both the Hooliganz and the Dr. Becky Sagers Ph.D. camps are ready to wage rhyme warfare. And by looking at the online petition, and its four signatures (including DBS Ph.D.'s Aye Jay!), it looks as if the wheels of justice are squeaking right along.

And since it seems we here at the CN&R like to use heavy-handed threats to coerce readers into voting for our friends, I want to know how the hell Three Fingers Whiskey won over Moriss Taylor. Guess we can put ol’ Moriss and the Hooliganz up there with the West Memphis Three as true victims of the miscarriage of justice.

Staying alive
Webcasters who have spent the past couple of months wondering if they would live to play another song received some good news this week:
SoundExchange has offered to extend the rates and terms of the Small Webcaster Settlement Act (which expired two years ago) through 2010. Now, instead of paying on a “per play” basis—which would have pulled many Internet radio stations under—small webcasters will pay only 10 percent of all gross revenue up to $250,000 and 12 percent of gross revenue above that amount.

Of course, SoundExchange, which made the offer May 22 after a request from the House Judiciary Subcommittee, still stands by the Copyright Royalty Board’s March decision to up the royalty rates.

“The judges determined fair rates based upon marketplace evidence provided by all parties,” Michael Huppe, general counsel of SoundExchange, said in a press release. “Nobody is questioning the integrity of the CRB process.”

More radio
OK, so I lied. I promised I was going to immerse myself in the scary underbelly of commercial radio this past week to see if I could find some good in all the bad. While I’ve conducted some preliminary research, my study is far from complete. Stay tuned … I know you’re holding your breath.