Hip Hop under the kosh...

First it was the fallout from the Don Imus 'nappy headed hoes' comment now it’s the 'stop snitchin' theology. If you haven't already heard hip hop has been getting a lot of flack, and with that a lot of airtime, in the u.s recently.

Last week Russell Simmons led a hip hop panel including Common, Kevin Liles and Dr. Benjamin Chavis (president of the Hip-Hop Summit Network) on Oprah to discuss the use of sexist and misogynistic language in hip hop - or more like get berated by black women who just 'ain't gonna take this shit no more.'



Now Russell is calling on the hip hop industry to ban three words from the mainstream media: n****s, h**s & b*****s. And there's me thinking these words were already banned from radio edits.

Then earlier this week Cam'ron appeared on a CNN show called 60 minutes which was looking at the affect rap's 'stop snitchin' campaign has had on crime in urban communities.

When you wanna portray the worse in hip hop you can always rely on Cam...

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What’s funny is that Cam got great promotion in the show; further demonstrating how all this negative stuff is good for business. Anyway who made these guys the rule makers? What has to be stressed to the kids is that these guys will say anything to get that money... its strictly business. They're millionaires. Like 50 said it’s a different financial space, you have to have a different mind-state, they're just acting ghetto to maintain their income.

Don't believe me - look at what happened with the Diddy and Shine case. Diddy took the stand and he's out getting more money than ever before and he's still running the city. Shine felt he would be betraying his principles by getting on the stand; so he didn't and the last time we saw him was when mtv did that interview with him from his jail cell but at least he always gets shouts on tracks hey...

***In case you got the wrong idea: Coffee does not encourage snitchin of any kind***lol

Truth's Documentary pt 1

Ride Out's Truth Documented performed with Beatnik at the re-opening of the Apple Mac flagship store on Regents Street last month.


T.D. works closely with the duo (Dj Nikki & Statis) and features on their upcoming album.



Beatnik is a brother and sister duo consisting of Dj Nikki & Statis. The group has its own 'fly-on-the-wall' documentary on B.E.N. The programme focuses mainly on the life of Dj Nikki - past shows have seen her playing at the Jay Z GQ award party and the Williams v Harrison fight night after party.

Their dubbed the British urban White Stripes... it's funky stuff check it out...

The Story So Far...

Way back in 1998 a young man had a dream. Lynn ‘Janeiro’ Manuh envisaged that he would be the head of a successful record label. Remembering one of the few good rhymes he himself had written, Janeiro decided to call his label Ride Out.


Janeiro with Big Touch

In 2000 Michael-Kojo adopted the term - after being motivated by its meaning - as a banner for club nights he was running while at uni. Having booked circuit performers such as So Solid and Oxide & Neutrino before they went mainstream he realised his younger cousin’s dream was an achievable target.


Michael-Kojo

With the monies raised from his promotions Michael started paying for artists (his younger siblings) he had been working with to record their songs.

The label introduced itself to the public in 2006 when it released the promo and The Product Of Hard Work mixtapes simultaneously. The promo also included the street video R.I.D.E. which received regular spins on Channel U and Passion TV.

Later the same year the label was involved in a joint venture with upcoming mixtape producer DJ Ames. Together they released the Raw Talent Vol 1 album, which featured their own artists alongside some of the best and well-known talent in the UK.

“We are unique in that every artist is his own manager. We do not just give these musicians an outlet to express their art we give them ownership of their destinies,” says Michael-Kojo, chief executive.

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