So Many Books, So Many Authors, No Time

I've always been an avid reader even before we started our review website. So being able to discover and interview new authors this past year has been exciting. But I have a problem:I can't get to everyone!!!! I knew that when we started the website that we would able to reach established and newbie authors. I just didn't know how many. We literally get at least 2 emails a week from authors who want to be featured on our site, and an endless amount of books.

The thing that suprises me the most is the amount of authors that still want promotion for books that are 1 and 2yrs old. This signals to me that the African-American book industry is a crowded and competive place. Even if you're signed to a major publishing house, you still have to do everything you can to stand out from the rest. That's why the author interviews and reviews that I do on the website are and always will remain free. Ofcourse we have paid advertising like any other website but that's as far as it goes.

Unless you're a big name like Terry, Eric, E.Lynn, Walter and other NY Times bestselling authors, you are out there grinding with day jobs. These authors have limited resources and budgets already. Why make it more difficult by charging for interviews and reviews? Authors need as much free publicity as possible. My payment is getting the review copy. My reward is knowing that I gave an author the much needed good publicity that they so desperately need.

Radiah
http://www.urban-reviews.com
info@urban-reviews.com

Man allegedly shot by rapper Proof dies

Man allegedly shot by rapper Proof dies
Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2006
By: The Associated Press, APonline

DETROIT (AP) - A man who police say was shot by rapper Proof, just before Proof himself was killed, died of his wounds early Tuesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Keith Bender had been in critical condition since being shot in the head a week ago at the CCC, a nightclub on Eight Mile Road, the boundary between Detroit and the northern suburbs.
Bender, 35, died early Tuesday, said Wende Berry, a spokeswoman for St. John Hospital and Medical Center.

Police have said witnesses told them that Proof, a hip-hop artist and friend of Eminem, shot Bender during a dispute at the after-hours club. Bender's cousin, Mario Etheridge, then shot and killed Proof, whose real name was Deshaun Holton, they said.

Etheridge, 28, has pleaded not guilty to charges of carrying a concealed weapon and discharge of a firearm in a building. His attorney, Randall Upshaw, said the shooting was in self-defense.

Proof, 32, was a member of the rap group D12 and was the best man in Eminem's January wedding. His funeral is scheduled for Wednesday.

Three 6 Mafia won an Oscar!

Three 6 Mafia won an Oscar for the song
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," from "Hustle & Flow."

CONGRATULATIONS!
Watch it at the link below!!!!!
http://crunktastical.blogspot.com/2006/03/three-six-mafias-oscar-performance.html

Urban Fiction - Part II

Here is a link to a Roundtable featuring Urban Fiction author Relentless Aaron, Malaika Adero (senior editor for Atria Books), and author Nick Chiles who recently had a story on Urban Fiction in the New York Times titled "Their Eyes Were Reading Smut."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5225091

I personally thought this was an interesting disscusion. After listening to this, I was even more confused about Nick Chiles opinion. On NPR, he said that he didn't have a problem with street lit when according to the NY Times article it is evident that he DOES. He claims that he has a problem with walking into the African American Fiction section and the first thing he sees is street lit. He also said on NPR that he didn't have a problem with street lit being in the same section as other African American Lit. That is not what I got from the NY Times article. I mean in the article he even named actual titles of the books that he called smut! He had such a scathing opinion piece in the NY Times, but on NPR he changed his opinion...which is ridiculous! I felt that he changed his opinion because he was in the presence of a book editor and a street lit author. Nick Chiles waffled his opinion on NPR. I don't agree with Nick Chiles but if you have that strong of an opinion on something, you need to stick to it.


Radiah
http://www.urban-reviews.com
info@urban-reviews.com

Times...They Are A-Changing....Sam Goody Closes 100s of Stores

Being a music enthusiast since I was a child, it's a no brainer that I've put in my time as a sales clerk, assistant manager, and manager for some music stores in my young adult years. I worked for 3 years at Vibes Music (which was under National Record Mart) on Marquette University's campus in Milwaukee, WI. That store closed in May 2001 due to being an 'underperforming' store for the chain. Ironically, it wasn't just our store because The NRM chain would fold totally by the end of 2001!

Luckily, I found myself another job with Tapeworld which would soon convert to FYE in the summer of 2001. But alas, the ever-changing music market and tough competition from big box retailers caused the Milwaukee location to close in January 2003. So the only major music entity that existed in the city from that point on was Sam Goody. They had a store in the Grand Avenue Mall where FYE was located and was it's only competitor. They also had stores at Bayshore Mall, Mayfair Mall, and nearby Brookfield Square mall.

Fast forward to February 2006 and ALL FOUR of these local Sam Goody stores are now closing...leaving Milwaukee in a strange situation of NO NATIONAL MUSIC CHAIN in the city. There's no Virgin Megastore, no Tower Records, no nothing. The only thing we have now are non-traditional stores (Borders, Barnes and Noble), big-box retailers (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc) and smaller local shops (Exclusive Company, DiscMan, Atomic, etc).

Read the story about the 341 Musicland locations that are closing at the link below. This includes Sam Goody and Suncoast stores. Some locations are losing both...and some just show a Sam Goody or just a Suncoast closing (for us in Milwaukee, it looks like both are closing at all locations even though they aren't listed that way in the story.) Feel free to leave your comments on this topic......

http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/7861.shtml

UPDATE: I've seen a LOT of blogs saying that Sam Goody/Suncoast everywhere are closing. This is a link to the .pdf about Musicland's reorganization (Chapter 11). It looks like it's about half of the stores closing.....not ALL of them. But you never know what has changed in recent weeks. Here is the link from Musicland's website: http://www.musicland.com/pdfs/GeneralFAQs.pdf



Charles
http://www.Urban-Reviews.com
info@urban-reviews.com

R.I.P. JAY DEE aka J Dilla (1974-2006)

R.I.P. JAY DEE (aka J Dilla)
~Super Producer/Solo Artist/Former Slum Village member~
(1974-2006)

Show him some love here or at Okayplayer.com
You will be truly missed.
If you have Winamp, copy and paste this online tribute of
300 Jay Dee songs.

Keep him in your hearts and your decks forever.

Charles
http://www.urban-reviews.com
info@urban-reviews.com

IS IT ME????? - GRAMMY EDITION

Here is the latest installment of IS IT ME?...this time dealing with Hip-Hop and R&B stars on tonight's GRAMMY show. Leave your comments if you agree or disagree with my comments. (this is just meant to be funny, y'all..don't get all bent out of shape if I talk about your favorite person in this post...that includes you too, Radiah!) [wife is a huge fan of Mariah Carey]

IS IT ME???...or should Ciara have kept this beautiful white dress on rather than that 'street corner wear' she had the nerve to appear onstage with?

IS IT ME???...or are you appalled that the Black Eyed Peas won for best 'RAP' anything?

IS IT ME???...or is this picture of Common and Taraji P. Henson enough proof that he's gotten Erykah Badu out of his system?

IS IT ME???...or were more disturbed by the 'possible' breathing tube that was strapped to the mic than Sly's out-of-this-world mohawk?

IS IT ME???...or did Kanye West's outfit in this pic make him look like he was the love child of John Travolta (think Saturday Night Fever) and Kool Moe Dee?

IS IT ME???...or did Kanye West redeem himself with this homage to the Black College staple of marching bands and Greek stepping?

IS IT ME???...or was Mariah LOOKING better than ever yet SINGING worst than ever?

IS IT ME???...or are you just as happy that 'G.O.O.D. MUSIC' is finally being recognized with Mariah, Kanye and John Legend all capturing three statuettes each?

IS IT ME???...or did Terrence Howard look like the lost member of the 'Five Heartbeats' with this ridiculously shiny suitcoat on?

IS IT ME???...or were you just as shocked as me when you saw De La Soul opening the GRAMMYs with the Gorillaz?



Charles
http://www.urban-reviews.com
info@urban-reviews.com

Is It Me? - Post #1

This is a section that I used to have in the 1990's when I had my own website of music reviews and had some special features. It's kind of like 20 Questions in Vibe, but better (at least that's what I believe!) So, here is my current list 'Is It Me?' questions....and if you have some, feel free to comment by clicking the small link in the bottom right of this post. I will post them in the next posting of the 'Is It Me?' section!

1. IS IT ME?...or does Charlie Wilson have the biggest teeth you ever saw in your life (they're even bigger than Ron Isley's!)

2. IS IT ME?...or does the relationship with Beyonce and Jay-Z need to go to the next level?

3. IS IT ME?...or are you surprised that they gave Queen Latifah a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame before Will Smith?

4. IS IT ME?...or did Lou Rawls always look like a jive turkey when you saw him?

5. IS IT ME?...or do you wish movie soundtracks were as good as they were in the early 90s (i.e. Menace II Society, Boyz N Da Hood, Juice, New Jack City, etc)

6. IS IT ME?...or has Omar Gooding been stealing some limelight from his incognito brother Cuba?

7. IS IT ME?...or shouldn't the popular TV Show 'Everybody Hates Chris' change its title to 'Everybody LOVES Chris'?

8. IS IT ME?...or are the recent firings of David Mays and Benzino from The Source a day late and a dollar short?

9. IS IT ME?...or are you just as shocked that The Simpsons are still on the air?

10. IS IT ME?...or should Bun B receive the Rap Hustler of the Year award for being on practically every album that came out last year?

Charles

http://www.urban-reviews.com

info@urban-reviews.com

Best Albums of 2005

Wow....I can't believe we are in 2006, and 2005 is a just a memory.
(Memorieeeeeeeees...I've had a fewwwwwwww!!!!!!)
~Sorry about that~

Anyways, Here is my list of best albums for 2005. I decided not to put them in any particular order so I would not put one album ahead of another one by mistake!


BEST OF 2005 - HIP-HOP
Common - Be
Beanie Sigel - B. Coming
Slim Thug - Already Platinum
Paul Wall - The People's Champ
Little Brother - The Minstrel Show
Kanye West - Late Registration
Slum Village - Slum Village
Talib Kweli - Right About Now
Cuban Link - Chain Reaction
Bun B - Trill
Miri Ben Ari - The Hip-Hop Violinist
Lil Kim - Naked Truth
David Banner - Certified
Ludacris presents - Disturbing The Peace
Big Boi presents - Got Purp, Vol 1


BEST OF 2005 - R&B
John Legend - Get Lifted
Raheem Devaughn - Love Experience
Lyfe - 268-192
Eric Benet - Hurricane
Kindred - In This Life Together
112 - Pleasure and Pain
Mary J Blige - The Breakthrough
Jamie Foxx - Unpredictable
Anthony Hamilton - Ain't Nobody Worryin'
Leela James - A Change Is Gonna Come
Dwele - Some Kinda
Kem - Album II
Chris Brown - Chris Brown
Keyshia Cole - The Way It Is
Syleena Johnson - Chapter 3: The Flesh
Marques Houston - Naked
Jaguar Wright - Divorcing Neo 2 Marry Soul
Trey Songz - I Gotta Make It
Amerie - Touch
Floetry - Flo'Ology

Charles

Urban Fiction

In past year, I have read and heard a lot of opinions in regards to the African-American book industry. The main topic seems to have been the popularity of Urban-Street Fiction or "Hood" books. Some like it, some don't. Here's my take on it. As you've seen on my previous 2005 book list, I read a variety of books including urban fiction. I think that the urban fiction that I've read is wonderful. The books are entertaining and fast-paced.

Now there are some that have numerous errors in it, but there are some errors that I've found in other genres of books so sometimes that happens. As long as it doesn't distract me from reading the book then I'm fine. I think the problem that people are having with it is that a lot of teens are reading these books and they feel that this isn't "good reading" or they're not reading the "classics". Well, at least they're reading something (I know I'm going to get hate email for this one.) If a teen is reading urban fiction, they will read another book in another genre if you steer them to it.

What's good about the African-American book market today is the variety of books and genres to choose from. It wasn't like that 10yrs ago. Urban Fiction is just like hip-hop music, they said that wouldn't last but it's still here. If you don't like hip-hop, don't listen to it. If you don't like Urban Fiction, don't read it. I don't think it would be fair to hate on these authors and publishers for doing what every author is trying to do: sell books. Urban Fiction has always been there with Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim. Urban fiction is here to stay.


Radiah
http://www.urban-reviews.com
info@urban-reviews.com

The Best Books I've Read In 2005

Hello Everyone. Happy New Year!

I can't believe that it's already 2006. Time sure does fly. It seems like it was only yesterday that our website was launched. I want to thank everyone for their continued support of the website. As of right now, we have over 4200 visitors to the website and over 100 mailing list subscribers. Not bad for a website that launched in July 2005! Ok, now back to the matter at hand. In 2005, I had the wonderful opportunity to read some really great books. So here's my Best Books I've Read in 2005 List. These books are in no particular order, and some of them didn't actually come out in 2005.

Best Books I've Read in 2005
1. Swingers by Torrian Ferguson
2. F.R.I.E.N.D.S & The Choices That We Make by Valerie A. Withers.
3. Friend or Foe by D.L. Moore
4. Brooklyn Jewelry Exchange by Meisha C. Holmes
5. A Dream Come True by Michael T. Owens
6. A Dollar Outta Fifteen Cent by Caroline McGill
7. Urban Affair by Tony Lindsay
8. Choose Me by Xenia Ruiz
9. Hoodlum by K'wan
10. The Amen Sisters by Angela Benson
11. The Velvet Rope by Brenda Thomas
12. Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This by Mary Morrison
13. In Sheep's Clothing by Mary Monroe.
14. Gettin Hers by Donna Hill
15. The Untelling by Tayari Jones
16. Groove by Geneva Holliday
17. Genevieve by Eric Jerome Dickey.
18. 72 Hour Hold by Bebe Moore Campbell.
19. Little Black Girl Lost by Keith Lee Johnson.
20. Candy Licker by Noire
21. The One That Got Away by C. Kelly Robinson.
22. Don't Get It Twisted by Eric Pete.
23. The Glamorous Life by Nikki Turner

There are so many other books that I can add to this list but then it would be about 100 plus books on it so I'll stop now. LOL!!! 2005 was a great year for books, and I know 2006 will be another great year as well. Happy Reading!!!


Radiah
http://www.urban-reviews.com/
info@urban-reviews.com