Ruger’s Reality Check … Vol 23

Every artist I know has had at least 1 song they’ve written and thought was a hit only to hear a song exactly like it releases on mainstream radio. Lemme tell you from experience, this sucks! I’ve had at least one from every cd I’ve released. 1st it was “Hustlin” off my cd “Shots From Tha Ruger”. 2 months after It was released and actually had a buzz to the point of being featured on Sirius Satellite Radio, Rick Ross dropped the single that put him on the map…mine was no longer in rotation. The most recent were “I’m Good” off “Lights Out” and “In My Own Zone” from “Ziplocked & Loaded”. So what do you do? Its a tough position to be in, especially if it was gonna be your lead single. With “Im Good” being so similar to The Clipse single and the fact I had opened for them a few times there was definitely some sketchiness to it but in the end my song pretty much just went from the lead single to a filler song on my cd but is still to this day one of my fan favorites. “In My Own Zone” was completely different from the single put out w/ a similar name by another artist so we just ran w/ it and kept pushing and the streets, dorms, skateparks, etc are loving it! So it’s up to you how to handle it. In my experience I always keep the song and push it as long as I can. I mean I did put all that work and brain power into making it so i’ll be damned if I ever trash a song I like whether its got the same name, style, etc of another song. What it comes down to is how you decide to promote it. If its too similar you can’t do much other than promote it to your core fans. If its only the same title but completely different you can still promote it to new fans without running the risk of them saying your “biting” their fav rapper. So no matter what that’s still your song and you gotta do what you can to get it to your fans.

Something else that happens all the time is artists using beats w/ the same samples and expecting no one else to use it. This is a totally different situation. Being that these are classic song that are being sampled the chances are you aren’t the 1st or last to do it. So to keep this part short and sweet….just make sure you do it better! Check out “Old Man” off “Shots From Tha Ruger” it’s a classic Neil Young Sample that’s been done a few times after mine BUT THIS IS STILL THE BEST!

Last but not least, punchlines! This is so common that me and my homie Ty Bru have written verses to the same song and realized while reciting them that we had almost the exact same punchlines. It happens. Just think about how many rappers there are in the world now… If someone has a similar punchline just make yours more clever. Hell you even hear mc’s paying homage to their favorite mc’s by repeating there most famous lines. Now if someone is blatantly stealing your sh#t… that’s when you take their head off. But if someone across the country you’ve never met has the same line… they didn’t steal it… great minds think alike. Now if you are 1 of these little blood suckers that lurk online all day for obscure hip hop and youtube videos just to steal lines…you should run very fast into a brick wall 100 times…face first. For all my true mc’s that put all their effort into being clever and original, just keep doing what you do. It just means you are on the right track…literally. it wont be the 1st or last time it happens so my best advice is to just make sure you are always at your best and make sure every song is top notch because there is always that chance that a similar song will come out soon…because after all, GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE!

~

The classic waffle fries! The only fast food joint I know that serves these and I love them!

Cajun Fries…the seasoning is key and these are definitely some of the best fries anywhere…well not anywhere. just in the south I do believe. so, that sucks for the rest of ya’ll

Shoe string fries and ALOT of them! They don’t skimp you on the fries and that definitely helps their case haha

The first place I remeber serving curly fries and definitely the best at it!

A Carolina staple…and some of the best seasoned fries around. If you are anywhere w/ a cookout you need to stop and grub!

~

We all have artists that we love to listen to that aren’t as lyrically inclined as some of our other favorites. Ok, who am I kidding, they can’t rap but we still love their music haha. Im not gonna get into their bio’s and what all they’ve done because we all know these guys. They may not be able to rap so to speak but they are definitely some of the best at making songs and classic singles. I have tons of music from all these artists that stay in regular rotation, so don’t take it the wrong way like im hating because im not. Im just stating the obvious and we all know that none of the mc’s im about to list are anywhere near the best lyricist. They are, however, the best at what they do. Some very real & passionate, some just grimy street raps and others are just plain fun. Take a look at the list and lemme know what y’all think!

Definitely a street rapper that has the stripes to match if you know his history and it just helps to know when someone is rapping about what he raps about that’s its true and from his experiences. Jeezy always gives me that street sh*t when I need it!

1/2 of the legendary CNN/Capone N Noreaga. NORE always seem to come up w/ a hit whether its for the clubs w/ the neptunes or the streets w/ superthug but any true hip hop head knows who NORE is. His songs are so simple they get stuck in your head forever too haha “What, What, What, What, Wh What”

This mc has made some of my favorite songs and they are classics! Dro in The Wind, Im A Thug and alot more definitely not the best rapper but one of the best at putting classic anthems out for the streets.

Shoud I even be explaing this one haha this most unpredictable,unorthodox mc’s ever. Always hilarious…if you don’t know ODB…why are you reading my blog?

The Kings of the club bangers! Im not sure if anyone has had as many club hits as 3 6. They have had a platinum single almost every year since they came out…but I’ve never been able to get thru an entire album.