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You're Dead Thread
08-31-2012 09:55 PM
vega Vegatollah Kheomini

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Icondead You're Dead Thread
Post up celebrity deaths in this thread here, do we already have on of these threads? I didnt check? If we dont we do now.

RIP Chirs Lighty
Dude was a real famous manager of many hiphoppers including 50 Cent killed himself yesterday

NYTIMES
Quote: When LL Cool J filmed his 1997 commercial for the Gap, it was a milestone: never before had a rapper been called on to endorse as mainstream an apparel company. The commercial was minimal and cool: LL Cool J, rapping a cappella in front of a white background, quick camera cuts matching the speed of his verse.

“G-A-P gritty, ready to go,” he rapped, “For us, by us, on the low.”

See what he did there? In one of the slicker guerrilla marketing maneuvers in recent times, LL Cool J managed to promote the rising black-owned clothing line FUBU (the label stands for For Us, by Us) — in which he had a financial interest — by sneaking a reference to it into an ad for an exponentially larger brand. (He also wore a FUBU hat in the clip.)

A little something for them, a little something for us: that’s how Chris Lighty, LL Cool J’s manager, liked to do business.

Mr. Lighty, who died on Thursday in an apparent suicide, at 44, was one of the most powerful managers in hip-hop, an executive who distinguished himself by knocking down the often stiff wall that separated hip-hop culture from the mainstream, back when those worlds were far apart and still regarding each other warily.

The LL Cool J Gap commercial was just one of several high-profile corporate relationships he arranged for his rapper clients. This was before hip-hop’s great age of pop compromise. Back then hip-hop was still outsider culture, and still proving itself, both commercially and socioculturally.

Acquiring wealth was an obvious strategy against irrelevance or being overlooked. So the goal was to build rappers — and their brands — from the streets up, without ever sacrificing their connections to their background. Scale big and don’t dilute: those were the rules. That meant endorsement deals, vanity clothing lines and more, anything that could bear the weight of a rapper’s image, anything that could extend a reach.

So when Mr. Lighty partnered some of his clients with Sprite, the results were some of the most viscerally hip-hop ads of the day. Or even later, when he helped negotiate 50 Cent’s stake in Glaceau, the company that makes Vitaminwater, it was with an eye toward not just lending his client’s credibility but also letting the client do so on his own terms. Mr. Lighty didn’t change his artists; he encouraged them to infiltrate.

That was at least partly because of his background. A child of the Bronx, Mr. Lighty was attracted to New York artists, many with a toughness about them. He grew up at a time when hip-hop was growing quickly but was still seen as a sound and style that was best kept at arm’s length.

In his own career he saw hip-hop through all its stages of success. He began by carrying crates for the venerable Kool DJ Red Alert; eventually became a road manager for Boogie Down Productions and the Jungle Brothers; and then an artist manager, with a roster that at various points included 50 Cent, LL Cool J, De La Soul and Mobb Deep. He also formed a label, Violator Records, which signed New York artists like Fat Joe and the Beatnuts, back when New York rap was both a distinctive style and a potential breadwinner.

His company, Violator Management, had in its earliest years an aesthetic point of view. Mr. Lighty preferred streetwise artists to those who might have an easier time crossing over (LL Cool J excepted, of course).

In addition to Violator, he held executive positions at Def Jam and other labels and, before forming Violator, worked at Rush Artist Management under Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen, two of the executives responsible for bringing hip-hop into the boardroom.

Early on, through Red Alert, Mr. Lighty became close with the Native Tongues, the naturalist New York hip-hop crew of the late ’80s and early ’90s. He even got to rap a verse on Black Sheep’s “Pass the 40.”

Over time, though, it was his name that would pop up in lyrics, whether being celebrated by his clients and peers, or sometimes taking shots from adversaries. In at least one case, the shots were real: in 2003 the Violator office was strafed with bullets. It was an awful part of the cost of doing business.

As hip-hop became a money game, the people responsible for the cash flow became as important as the artists themselves. In the mid-1990s only a few rappers could be considered true pop stars, but at the same time hip-hop was becoming a commercial juggernaut on its own, whether or not the mainstream played along.

But Mr. Lighty’s success ended up changing the landscape to the point where his rule book was decreasingly relevant. Hip-hop specific brands aren’t as potent as they once were, because hip-hop has long completed the path to assimilation — it stands apart far less than it ever has. By getting hip-hop in more homes, in more ways, Mr. Lighty helped sandpaper its rough edges, helped weaken the defenses and the preconceptions that had been keeping it outside. Hip-hop isn’t a subcultural curiosity or even an outsider success story: it is in the grammar of youth culture, of the whole country.

A result: now it’s taken for granted that rappers can be pop stars and brand ambassadors and fashion icons and global role models. Because of Mr. Lighty’s vision, there can be no more “for us, by us,” because now it’s “by us, for everyone.”

[Image: 2_23_02_14_6_10_46.jpeg]
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2012 06:39 AM by vega.)
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09-01-2012 06:26 AM
louie Above The Clouds

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RE: You're Dead Thread
Can't remember if I did a Dead Pool thread this year or last year

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09-01-2012 09:22 AM
Specter Above The Clouds

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Post: #3
RE: You're Dead Thread
Yo! This dude was Awesome! He was in the A Tribe Called Quest documentary and I think he was even in the Just For Kicks doc too. Wow, that sucks man, 44 is way too young to go especially when you've got the paper he had but at the same time we don't know the demons he had or problems he was going through.

[Image: 21mzxw6.jpg]
"I know who I am. And after all these years, there's a victory in that."
-Rust
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09-01-2012 02:58 PM
vega Vegatollah Kheomini

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Post: #4
RE: You're Dead Thread
Cormega Remebers Chris Lighty

Quote:Did you ever see a karate movie where the student impatiently wants to do more then the chores the master gives him; only to later find out that the chores are key parts to the training. That’s what my relationship with Chris Lighty was like. He was Steinbrenner and I was Billy Martin (he just never fired me as much). He was a leader, a true leader is measured by the success of those he leads and Chris led a multitude of artist,producers, and DJs to success. When I came home from jail I was supremely ignorant. Intelligent yes, but ignorant when it came to the music industry. I thought being a good emcee meant I would automatically be successful. I thought I was somebody because I was known and respected in the streets. Chris taught me that respect in the street means nothing in the industry and that being a MC and being a recording artist are two completely different identities. He advised me not to bring certain friends around. At the time I didn’t understand or appreciate that advice, but sure enough the same people he spoke of I don’t associate with anymore.

He invited me to a barbecue at his house. The invite was for Mega and one person. I came alone and was upset when I saw my peers with more than one guest. Later I realized why my invite was for Mega and one person. Most rappers aren’t known street figures and I was still one foot in the industry and the other in the streets. Now I understand exactly why my invite was Mega and one person! Honestly, now that I have a house, I would do the same thing. Home is where family is and for him to even invite me to his home was a gesture of trust. He gave me a tour of his house just he and I and said in so many words this is what its about, not the streets. He had the basketball court in the back and when I got some money (years later) I got myself one similar to his. So yes I swagga jacked Chris.

My album sat on the shelf for years but Chris (and he alone) tried to put me on the “Survival Of The Illest Tour.” I wanted to prove to him that I was ready and by most accounts I was. So when the tour was over and I was on a few albums, I felt I was ready but I didn’t feel like I was a priority at Violator, so I told them to release me from my contract. I had to speak to another exec at Def Jam and finally I was released, free to sign elsewhere or in my case go back to the streets.

I bumped into Chris years later and he hooked me up with someone who wanted to do business with me. I respected that, but I fell out with him months later when I discovered that he was managing my then rival (a rapper you may have heard of). I felt betrayed because Chris was like a big brother to me. I said things in interviews about Violator because I was hurt. Truth be told when I later put out The Realness, it was for the fans, but it was for me to prove to Chris, that I had what it took to succeed.

About a year ago DJ J. Love called me and said my name was brought up and Chris’ response was “that’s the one that got away” I was happy to hear that he said something positive. Just last month we saw each other and it was like we never parted. But now we part! Chris is always going to be who I aspire to be like in the industry. He represents WINNING, LOYALTY, and CONSISTENCY and to this day I’ve never heard an artist say Chris jerked them. Even though Testament wasn’t released by Violator, I will say this, he gave me 100 % publishing and I had nice point percentage. My first deal was the biggest at the time for a new artist. A quarter million and that was because of Chris. My first recording plaque came from Chris, first tour came from Chris, and the first true sorrow I ever felt for a music executive dying is from Chris. – Cormega
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2012 03:15 PM by vega.)
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09-03-2012 10:18 PM
vega Vegatollah Kheomini

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RE: You're Dead Thread
[Image: s-MICHAEL-CLARKE-DUNCAN-DEAD-large.jpg]
Quote:LOS ANGELES -- Michael Clarke Duncan's fiancee says the Oscar nominee for "The Green Mile" has died while being hospitalized following a July heart attack.

Publicist Joy Fehily released a statement from Clarke's fiancée, the Rev. Omarosa Manigault, saying the 54-year-old actor died Monday morning in a Los Angeles hospital after nearly two months of treatment following the July 13 heart attack.

The 6-foot-5, 300 pound Duncan appeared in dozens of films, including such box office hits as "Armageddon," "Planet of the Apes" and "Kung Fu Panda,"

Duncan had a handful of minor roles before "The Green Mile" brought him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor. The 1999 film, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, starred Tom Hanks as a corrections officer at a penitentiary in the 1930s. Duncan played John Coffey, a convicted murderer.
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09-04-2012 06:06 AM
Specter Above The Clouds

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RE: You're Dead Thread
Aw man! Dude, that sucks.

R.I.P. John Coffey.
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09-04-2012 08:07 AM
louie Above The Clouds

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RE: You're Dead Thread
yeah RIP big fella
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09-04-2012 06:53 PM
vega Vegatollah Kheomini

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Post: #8
RE: You're Dead Thread
RIP to the God Mother
[Image: griselda-blanco.jpg]

Quote:If you ever saw the shocking 2008 documentary Cocaine Cowboys II: Hustlin' With the Godmother , then you know exactly who Griselda “La Madrina” Blanco is.

It's being reported by Miami New Times that an assassin on a motorcycle let off two bullets into the head of the drug queen pen inside a Medellin, Colombia, butcher shop. Cristian Rios, a family friend of Blanco, confirmed reports by Colombian news outlets that Blanco succumbed to her injuries after being transported to a nearby hospital.

According to the newspaper El Colombiano, a pair of suspects riding a motorcycle stopped at the open-air butcher shop, located in the Medellin neighborhood of Belen Parque. An unknown man riding on the back of the bike got off and walked toward Blanco. He fired two shots at her head from close range.

If you're not familiar with "La Madrina"—or "The Godmother"—Blanco was a pioneer in the coke trafficking industry during the 1970s and early 1980s. According to law enforcement, she oversaw a billion-dollar criminal organization that transported 3,400 pounds of perico a month into the United States.

It's sad to say, but when you live by the sword...well, you know how that saying goes.
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09-04-2012 07:24 PM
fiend Administrator

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RE: You're Dead Thread
wonder how many were deaded on her orders ...


R.I.P green mile dude ...
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09-04-2012 07:42 PM
vega Vegatollah Kheomini

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RE: You're Dead Thread
(09-04-2012 07:24 PM)fiend Wrote:  wonder how many were deaded on her orders ...


R.I.P green mile dude ...

the rumor is over 200 people
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