Great post...I feel where you're coming from on this. I thought about that while I was working on the mixes...I thought..."will k-os appreciate me having a different vision than his original mix,when the lyrics told me a story musically that may be different than his own"...I guess it's kind of like creating a child when you make your songs, it's hard to just hand them over to someone else to change, take apart, etc. I know that if I don't win any, it will even be hard for me, after spending so much time with your lyrics to let the songs that I made go, to record with someone else's vocals just won't seem right, because I built all of the songs around your lyrics, I didn't just make a beat, so everytime I get to a certain part of the song, while recording something else, I will remember all my favorite k-os parts of the song.

I also think that yes, there are a lot of talented people who may not be signed, sometimes they just need the opportunity to be heard by the right people. It probably never happens for most. I can only ever keep grinding away, while doing what I love.

Well, even though it was a battle for you, I know that it is much appreciated that we had the opportunity to do this. It was a fantastic experience and I loved every minute of it.

I hope the remixes created of your songs opened up new possibilites and different perspectives.

Responding to what you said about only certain people matter in music, I must disagree. There is a purpose for anyone's music. The very nature of the word music, coming from a muse, to be inspired, portrays to me that music is how someone responds to a certain inspiration. No one less, no one more.

BUT I think that there is a criteria for what most people would say is a good remix of their song. Things like key, tempo, dynamics, and orchestration and arranging are all things that a musician must think about when re-creating a song to a different feel. Those things DO separate the men from the boys, if you will. I don't mean to denigrate the value of these people's music, just attempt to understand and empathize with your (K-OS's) concern. The re-mixes are someone's creation, to reiterate what Do1 had said previously about the children. They deserve a chance, but not all kids make it into college, or are even meant to go!

So, to connect that with the ideas and entries people have submitted, I feel like most people are just trying to make a dope beat that will stand out and then put K-OS's vocals over it. Certain styles evoke a certain emotion. If the mood is completely NOT akin to the message, the mix sounds awkward. It was something I was noticing with a LOT of the entries. It's just something that we all must think about.

All the people here have my respect and admiration for the effort and intensity in which they went about creating their own music! Truly! And K-OS, what you have done here is to help people see that they have a chance and their musical voice be heard. Not all will make the cut, probably not even me, but it is about learning, not about how dope of a beat we can make. There will be one mix that will speak your language, and at that point, the contest will be a success.

Thanks again, Shalom,
joshuabreed

Well said.
Just think about the music that was generated in this contest, 11 songs times say 65 entries each is 715 songs, around 42 hours of music! Did it cost anything? Is anyone "signed"?

Music is back to the masses, like before the last 90 years of anomaly. I suppose the business part won't really go away, there will still be hits and stars, but it's more like pre-electricity when musicians eked out a living performing music because it was in them. Only now it is "long-tail" digital download sales and shows/DJing anywhere you can get in.

No diggidy... It's been fun re-working your concepts. Wish I could have gotten more entries in!
G-d bless brudda!

I used to be overly concerned w/ not being 'signed' yet- but now I just want to be heard. Of course, I want to make money for my music but I love doing it and will continue as long as I can be heard.

i always thought this contest was your idea K, as i thought you were looking out for the little people. either way it was a great idea. i honestly felt as if I was working with you on a personal level when I was remixing your track. i can't wait to hear the original versions of the tracks because some of the stems sounded sooooo good. and props for quoting concerto of a desperado, illadelph halflife is one of my fav cds, actually i have always nominated black thought as greatest lyricist of all time. speaking of dope lyrics, i was bumpin musical essence and i still remember all the words, "i pop in a tape and proceed to bob my head and disregard every single word that they said, cause music is life and life is not pleasant when your not rolling with the musical essence. soooo dope.

Dude....I would have a hard time letting people re arrange my songs....it is almost like having a producer .say...ummm.....I think you should do it this way...ok go....I do agree with the cream of the crop rise to the top thing. It's not saying that the ones in the basement are not amazing...cause writing songs and being a freakin star are two different sides of the same coin..some may not have the confidence to go out on stage and rip it up....and that is why they are not on stage...I know I walk a fine line when it comes to what I want and what I think I want....anyways..it was cool borrowing your voice for a few moments in time..cheers. Good luck with album.

well said! sample on! sample on! i'll do it again! anytime! - Jus Bus

Well, to touch on K OS' quote, at the moment, no don't 'get my loot from Jive/Zomba', but to be honest, I'm not worried about that for now. I think the last couple of years put a spotlight on the fact that talent and heart are not the underlying factor as to just who may be put in that spotlight. I'm not going to hate on anyone making it big right now, but it is a great concern of mine, that the masses have now been spoon fed so much, they'll simply latch on to anything that is 'marketed' to the airwaves or pimped on video. There in lies the problem. I remember a time when 90% of the Hip Hop I dug for, never even saw the light of day on popular radio waves. Save for the gems on the old Mastermind show, and college radio like 88.1 (DJ X), real Hip Hop was not part of popular culture north of the 49th at all like it is now.
I know the main point of your blog K OS, was to highlight your reservations of handing over your art to the seemingly unexperienced and unsigned at first, but I think the switch in culture has drastically changed WHO gets put on and when. Before when I was a young kid, it seemed like marketing took a waaaay back seat to talented young people making good music. Now it seems like a marketable rockstar image is made to be the foundation and whatever mindless, catchy, jingles/hooks the 'artist' can come up with is simply layed on top of that. That's the recipe for success these days? These people have NO DOUBT worked very hard to get that opportunity and I wouldn't dare take that away from them. We are however, now so far away from the basis of Hip Hop culture that we are simply idolizing those who fit into the current Pop culture/rockstar obsession. In turn, I think the record companies are simply capitalizing on this current shift of emphasis and signing those who fit that archetype. I guess I said all that to say what I'm about to.
I hope that we can once again regain what it truely means to be a Head and understand the culture that Hip Hop music is part of. I don't think I've ever seen any graff or breakers or even DJ's in any of these auto tuned (sorry Kayne, if 808's and... came out at a time aside from all this mess, I'd feel it easier) videos. I truely hope, the talented, real heads interested in the preservation and creation of the music and culture now and now forward, can start to see just some of the 'gifts' the HIP POP artists are reaping now. Indie labels stand up.
I do have to give props to you K OS though, while not admittedly not a card carrying kiss-ass, I have definately felt and appreaciated what you have done over the years. Even in your most progressive and decidedly non -traditional Hip Hop tracks, there seems to always be the presence of the elements. I guess that's just B-Boy music; No matter what form, it's still B-Boy music. Thanks for the opportunity to work with your art and child man, that takes mad courage. I hope we treated it well, whether we have the resources of a proper mix down or mastering studio or not.
Much Love,

Wise

Hey man. Just wanted to say thanks for giving us all the opportunity to interpret your voice & artistic ideas in our own way! I appreciate it.

It was a lot of fun & an enlightening experience - i only had time to remix one track, but i'm really glad i participated. It was nice to be part of something big.

As can be seen (& heard) by all the wicked mixes on here from all over the globe, there are definitely a lot of brilliant artists out there who unfortunately go unnoticed. Luckily contests such as this give everyone hope as well as a chance to display their talents to a global audience. I hope Indaba will be doing a lot more of these.

Music is, undeniably, the universal language - what we have all witnessed here is global mass communication on a grand scale.

Thanks for giving both myself & everyone else a chance to express ourselves through your work! :)

Peace & Respekt.

- Cybermatrix

p.s. Definitely looking forward to the new album, sounds great! I love "4 3 2 1" and "The Aviator"!

Well K-OS,

I just discovered this post from you, and it looks like I´m the last one here. :) lol
The final decisions on the winners are tomorrow. I´d just like to say thank you for offering your tracks in this contest. .At first I thought this was a Mix Contest, not a Remix Contest, and since mixing and mastering is what I do for a living, I had planned to mix and master all of your tracks. But I had a December-January Special Offer on CD mastering, and was so booked up, that I only had time to do 4,3,2,1, which is probably my favorite track on your CD. Since I had no reference track to what the original sounded like, and ALL the vocals were on 1 track with effects already on them, I just went for a great mix and master of an already great song. I´ve done remixes for people before, but I prefer to have a reference track of the original, and that all of the vocals be on separate tracks without effects. That´s just how I´m used to working, others here didn´t seem to have a problem with that.
I thought that a lot of people in the contest had some great ideas, and some where professionally done. While others had good ideas, but their mixing skills were terrible. My first thought was you as a rapper/singer would want your lyrics and vocals to be heard, while many here had them buried in their mixes with loud synths, or whatever as the lead instruments. I found that very unprofessional from a mixing point of view, and didn´t think you´d be too pleased with those mixes either. I finally got to hear a reference mix of your original song 4,3,2,1 on the widget. It was only about 30 seconds, but I compared it to my mix, and found my mix to be much better. :) lol Seriously,I would love to mix (not remix) your next CD. I´m sure I could do an excellent job.
Anyway, even if I don´t win this contest, it was a lot of fun, and I now have an excellent mix of a song from a major artist that shows off my mixing and mastering skills. That´s great for business. :)
Anyway, thanks again, and good luck with your CD.

1
DICARLO

Hi K OS,
There were some very good remixes in the contest, but unfortunately you didn´t pick any of the best. :(
And the ones you picked will need a lot of tweaking. Some need to be mixed and mastered again.
You can send them to us for the tweaking, mixing, and mastering. :)
Anyway, good luck to the winners, you´re gonna need it.

OMM Team

Added; K OS, You must have a lot of money to throw away, because you just threw away $11,000 on some BS. :) LOL
Good luck to you.

Thanks KOS. Although, I question your motive in picking the winners.

Thanks anyway. Whether you think the mixes picked were whack or not, they are k-os's choices. Those are the mixes that he wants to represent himself. That's his perogative I guess. It would explain why they never play his music on any stations here in Detroit.

Still have pride in your mix B...and use it to the best of your ability. I'm still proud of my mixes, although now they are now beats for my other artists' to use. Just because you weren't picked doesn't mean it isn't good. Heck, my mixes on myspace recieved great response from k-os fans, and led to me being able to get my remixes and my own music on the radio, and in some sports videos....so I know they are solid tracks. They approached me about using them, I didn't contact them, so they obviously liked them. I guess I have to contact the radio station to get the remixes cancelled. Hope it's not too late because they are slated to air tonight.

But apparently he didn't want tracks as good as the original songs because none of the remixes are as good as the originals. Zach has timing issues starting at .54 in and notes that don't match the lyric melody, Herr buried the vocals so far under the music in the intro, and the music is so loud thru the rest it's almost unlistenable. Ric Notes, again buried the intro vocals, and notes don't match the lyric melody, not matching notes seems to be a problem, as Jalyn has it too. Most of the remixes would never be signed or get airplay with that quality of work.

When I came across Indaba, I was blown away by the amount of really talented people here, yet I don't hear any of that talent in the winning remixes. To be honest with you most of them are garbage with the off lyrics, timing problems, off note structures, etc. So I do wonder with Nate, what was the motive in picking the winners..to make sure they won't outshine the original song?

The thing that I find most sketchy about the contest is the fact that SoundCrate couldn't keep a secret, and was in session with k-os on his mixes at least 2 to 3 weeks before the submission deadline. Which means that the last 2 weeks of submissions had no chance to win. Which is fine, but Indaba should have called those tracks done or halted the submissions. So not to make a fool of anyone who submitted in the last two weeks. Also to put up those two tracks as the winner, but to post the updated versions, which if anyone did listen, and look at the wav and spectrograph...they were not the original mix that were originally submitted. k-os should have told everybody how to fix their mix so he would like it better. That hurts the integrity of Indaba and the contests. How do we know that if we join another contest late, that the winner hasn't already been picked and is being tweaked while many are still working on their mix to make it a great edit? I guess I should have submitted a really rough mix, just hoping the artist will hear one sound they like, pull me in and work with me to get what they want. If that is the way it works, then don't have a contest. Just have an artist browse Indaba to pick an artist they like, and work with them to get the exact song they want. The contest should have been named win a chance to create a remix with k-os.

It may sound like I'm crying like a bitch, but I know a good mix when I hear one. I may not be a super producer, but I know enough about music to make sure timing, and editing, and note structures are tight. But anyway...I can't wait to hear some of the remixes on the radio, they are the winners, they should go up as is. k-os may look like fool, it could ruin his career, but that would be up to the critics. I tried to give him some remixes that would compete with top 10 artists in the US, without having to rework the entire song. Maybe there should have been 2 contests...a remix contest,and a rework the remix contest.

I hope Indaba will tell us in the next contest if the winner is picked before the deadline submission, let us know. We may cry about it, but life goes on. Either way, I'm still gonna keep trying...it's all I can do.

But anyway...you can listen to my music tonight 6-8est at http://whfr.fm/ and click the listen live button. If you live in the west side of Detroit area just tune your dial to 89.3 WHFR FM Not sure what which ones they will play, it's probably too late to get the k-os ones pulled, but I guarantee you they won't have timing and editing problems...k-os didn't help me rework them...it was all me.

MANTIS, you worked at Blue Note Records!?!! ...I wanna know if there any other of pee wee mckay's birdland introduction's in the blue note archives I havent heard... Mantis hook me up man... I dont need an autograph of a CD Im gonna grab anyway....give me something I have no access to Please...a new funky drummer...an amen break... common man.....I got these cheessssburgersss man....

Khv I personally think (my own opinion) that the poorest country's in the world, where no label would dream to go...you can hear music more alive and pure than any belonging to labels. Remix's are up there in terms of bad idea's but there have been some (over many years) that have been a nice take on the originals. I wish I submitted my track with 99% my own thing and then just tossed in a 3 sec clip at the last second saying 'mista telephone maann'...The originals are all gonna be great...why the hell would you mess with original material...I donnoo...but it was a good learning experience.

I hate to wine, but I have to agree that most of the winning mixes are wack. What a shame.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
I knew those last comments were going to get deleted. lol
But thanks for the props for my first comment. :) I was just trying to help K-OS out, because there´s no way he can put those remixes on any CD the way they sound now. No one will buy it. You couldn´t even give it away. lol But that was a good idea when you said " Why don´t we have a contest to mix and master the winners remixes". :)
I like that idea. Too bad they deleted all your comments, that last one was cool, and had no bad language in it.
No reason the delete it really.

OMM

Man yall some haters for real on here. Leave K-os and the winners alone lol. Its a contest...and the judge is K-os and the other 2 guys...their last word is the only word that counts...if you cant handle losing then dont enter a SUBJECTIVE music CONTEST, just make MUSIC for you and your peeps. Peace

Wow, gotta' love the positive vibes coming thru on this thread, lol... not.

Anyway, I thought this was a great contest, I had a lot of fun working on the tracks, hope Indaba continues with this sort of thing. Congrats to the winning submissions, I checked 'em all out and thought there was a lot of great stuff going on in them.

Thanks to K-OS for releasing the tracks to the public, the album sounds great, I'm looking forward to picking it up and checking out the show when you swing through E-Town.