Are the record companies really serious? They're forcing YouTube to MUTE videos with audio from their artists in them. They are no longer asking for the videos to be removed. I guess they rather have the title of the song advertised for free on YouTube so the people who just wanted to sample the song are forced to ILLEGALLY download the song to sample it. Brilliant move Record Companies. With this sort of ideology, I won't be surprised when you fly into Washington to ask Barry for some of that BAILOUT money.
What I don't understand is why YouTube would allow these videos to remain on their servers and give these dinosaurs at the top free advertising. I see some new deals on the horizon and maybe even a few lawsuits could be dropped. 2009 could be the year YouTube makes a real breakthrough in online video or the year it's left in the dust by other online video sites such as Hulu. Please note that I am not talking about user created videos.
Thanks for reading.
UPDATE: I just realised this was planned by Katt and Steve after Katt called him out. My argument still stands though. The people at the top are just milking this culture of "beef" for all it has.
Let's be honest here. Katt Williams is no Steve Harvey. With that said, I don't understand why he went out of his way to attack Steve instead of delivering his originally planned material. I know you Katt fans don't want to hear this, but it probably was worst than Steve's material. And to all the folks claiming that Katt delivered a beat down, remember he was the only one fighting. To be honest, I found this funny, making this the first time since "Friday" that I laughed at a Katt performance. I just don't see what all the hoopla is about this dude. And no I'm not "hating". I respect the fact that others find him funny because the comedians I find funny, have all my friends giving me funny looks. Slightly off topic but I believe should be mentioned, is the fact that these 2 men are black. When was the last time you saw 2 white men publicly feuding to gain an audience?
In 2007 we had the 50 vs. Kanye publicity stunt which record executives put together to capatalise on the fact that they believed rap records would only sell if their is some sort of beef between 2 rappers. And since we know most rappers tend to be black, a stereotype has just been birthed. I saw a video clip on YouTube of Jamie Foxx also tearing into one of his fellow black colleagues Terrence Howard. And again, over what? A bunch of nothing. Unfortunately this type of behavior wouldn't stop any time soon because the consumers are enjoying it which translates into cash for the people at the top.
Side Note
When I just moved to NY, I visited my cousin in NJ who moved to America about 2 years prior to me. One of his first questions to me when we met was, "Who do you think will win in a physical fight between 50 Cent and Jay-Z?" He asked this because he knew I was a huge Jay-Z fan and 50 Cent was just coming on the scene. My cousin isn't a rare case. I have met too many young black people who think this way. Everything is beef, beef, beef. All rappers are doing is basically reciting poetry over a beat. How did it ever come to this?
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Just 4 days into the new year and 3 days after the car accident of superstar sprinter Richard Thompson, Trinidad and Tobago's most successful boxer, Giselle Salandy has been killed in a car accident. This madness needs to stop. The roads of Trinidad and Tobago have become a health hazard and something needs to be done to rectify this problem now.
Four national sport heroes have been involved in car accidents in the first four days of this year with Giselle being the lone fatality. As I said in my previous blog, I hope this causes them to use their star power to spread knowledge on safe driving. Last year we lost over 200 lives on the roads of Trinidad and Tobago. In the first four days of 2009 we are already at 2 deaths.
The Transportation Minister should be fired immediately. He has done nothing to improve safety on the roads. All we keep hearing is talk about ferry service which is mainly glamour. Any time the word, "road" is mentioned, nothing good ever seems to follow it. If it isn't brand new stretches of highway caving in, it's a new road fatality. We need stricter enforcement of the law and better managed traffic light plans. I never had faith in either of them when I lived in Trinidad. On my way home from school, I had to sprint across highways to get to my house because the traffic lights never seemed to be working. This was over 6 years ago and nothing has changed. Trinidadians stand up and speak out.
The high amount of road fatalities don't also fall solely upon the government. There is a culture of drag racing in Trinidad that needs to be stopped. All those young men spending thousands to increase the performance of their cars to limits way above the speed limit should also take note. Keep the drag racing legal and on an enclosed track. The public roads are not your playground.
About 8 years ago when I still lived in Trinidad, I had the best seat in the house to one of the most horrific car accidents I've ever seen. I was on my way to a wedding and there was a car on the opposite side of the highway, speeding to catch the light before it changed. While he was focusing on the lights, another car was speeding across the intersection and hit his car flush on the passenger side. The impact caused the car trying to catch the light, to make 2 full flips in mid air and land facing the car I was driving in, which was now standing at the red light it should have also stopped for. The other car came to a full stop in the middle of the highway after it made contact. The driver of that car died instantly, while the driver of the flipped car survived for a few minutes before he too succumbed to his injuries. I could still remember watching him struggling to get out, while his lower body was crushed inside the mangled car.
On Oprah a few years ago, she was interviewing two brothers who wrote a book about the countries they visited, and they specifically said that they didn't feel safe on the the roads of Trinidad and Tobago. These 2 men visited at least a dozen countries, and Trinidad and Tobago stood out because of the reckless driving they witnessed there. That says it all right there.
Trinbagonians stand up and do something. Make some calls directly to the people in charge and don't stop until they take action. Get the roads safe again.
Giselle Salandy, T&T's most successful female boxer, was the holder of eight international boxing titles including Women's International Boxing Association (WIBA), World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Council (WBC) titles, which she successfully defended in her last fight. This fight, which took place on Boxing Day against Dominican Republic's Yahaira Hernandez, took her professional record to 17 wins and zero losses.
In October 2001, on the island of Curacao, came the moment of truth which altered her professional focus on the sport. Giselle Salandy became the youngest person in history to win a world boxing title at the tender age of 14 years, smashing a world record and because of the new change of the age laws in boxing, that record will never be broken.
Update: Giselle Salandy's car after the accident.
