I was sent this video that I MUST share with you all.

When it comes to star qualities, I think this guy has it all:

• A versatile style (can jump from rap to pop and back without issue)
• A unique fashion sense (go go gadget!)
  
• A rockstar attitude (don’t you pick up that mic!)
• An ill b-boy stance… uhh lean… no, I mean stance.

What do you guys think?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr96WdqmmUw]

This post has nothing to do with the music business, but I just wanted to share it with you guys.

This picture was taken by European astronomers a few days ago, and nicknamed, The Eye of God. It’s approximately 700 light years away and so wide that the light takes two and a half years to travel from one end to the next.

I find myself staring at this picture several times throughout the day – enough so, that I even made it the background image on my Macbook and my Blackberry so that I can see it repeatedly for inspiration:

You can find bigger versions of this picture, and pictures of other “Eye of God” moments by clicking here. You can also read about the picture here.

I feel like doing something different today, so for the day, I’ve decided to dedicate my Twitter stream to a theme: Reasons I’m Thinking Of Becoming A Rapper.

If you’re on Twitter, add me to stay tuned to the updates.

If you’re not on Twitter – well, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be – so just join & then add me (or you can simply view my page for the updates).

I’ll update this post at the end of the day with the entire compilation of Reasons I’m Thinking Of Becoming A Rapper (no, I’m not serious and yes, it’s meant as a playful meme).

UPDATED:

Below is the compiled list that I posted throughout the day on Twitter:

1. So I can date Mya (that’s her only pre-req right?).
2. So I’m allowed to drive motor vehicles while intoxicated. Yung Berg told me it was legal if I’m an artist.
3. So I can talk like E-40 for a day and nobody would sue my childhood schoolboard.
4. So I can make money while rehearsing for a spelling bee. (d-a-m-n-f-a-b-o-l-o-u-s-a-n-d-b-o-o-s-i-e).
5. Groupies.
6. So I can make 1 semi-hit & stay relevant for years thanks to roundabout mixtapes, street DVDs & WorldStarHipHop.
7. So I can get a deal, sign all my bwoys so they can move out of their mommas & then drop em when I realize how much they mooch.
8. So I don’t have to pay for clothing, restaurants, equipment & can get paid to go to the club.
9. So I can blame everybody else around me when my record doesn’t sell & I can’t book a show.
10. So that I can be on MTV, BET & VladTV.
11. So that I can get my own shoe line & possibly make $100 million off of fancy Kool-Aid.
12. So I can hire T-Wayne for a hot single, have it blow up and then realize they got paid more than I did on my own record.
13. So I can hire Cory Gunz to ghostwrite for me & Marcus Troy to ghostblog for me.
14. So I can end up in random facebook pics with people pointing at me or doing the “kiss peace” pose.
15. So I can complain about how I’m portrayed in the media & then do an even worse job with my own web videos.
16. So I can rent out a mansion, luxury cars & print stage money for my video, then go home & ask my mom what’s for dinner.
17. Whooty.
18. So I can get signed to a label, get paid a retainer to stay on the roster & never have any products released. Just 1 guest spot.
19. So I can land a movie role without any acting experience & being spoon-fed the audition.
20. So I can charge upcoming rappers for a recycled verse that I do on all their songs. JR Writer told me it was cool.
21. So I can impress girls with a shopping spree that’s actually being paid for by the bigger rapper that I signed to.
22. So I can call myself a smart rapper if I sell & a conscious rapper if I don’t.
23. So I can lose the few fans I did have by videotaping myself burning a brick of cash ($100,000) during a recession.

This was a freestyled idea that I thought of doing 10 minutes before I posted it; and true to a freestyle, I’m sure there are several things I probably could’ve mentioned but didn’t think of on the spot.

Regardless, it was just for jokes. Nothing more.

Now I have to think of something else to do next.

Seeing how it’s Christmas Day, I thought I’d to leave a couple Christmas eGifts under the MakingTheMogul.com tree for you to download and enjoy.

Click on the mixtape covers to download:

Download “A Funkadelic Christmas” from Funkadelic Freestyles,
DCtoBC & ThatRealIsh

Download Marsha Ambrosius’ new mixtape, “Yours Truly”

Download Mick Boogie Presents Adele – 1988

Download “Who The F#*k Is B.o.B”

Stay blessed, stay safe & please remember not to drink & drive.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

This is an off-topic blog post, but I gotta show some hometown love to my city and post this audio from The Masked Avengers, a comedic Montreal radio duo that is notorious for their prank calls.

Earlier today, they pulled off another major prank on none other than Sarah Palin.

Pretending to be French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, they threw a few things her way, like referring to the Canadian Prime Minister by the wrong name and congratulating her on her feature movie, “Who’s Nalin’ Palin” by adult entertainment empire, Hustler.

Needless to say, she didn’t catch on.

Below is the official press release (yes.. there is a press release for a prank call) as well as the audio of the prank:

MONTREAL, Nov. 1/ – The Justiciers Masqués (Masked Avengers), Marc-Antoine Audette and Sébastien Trudel, pulled off another great coup today at the height of the presidential campaign in the United States by tricking vice-presidential candidate, Governor SARAH PALIN. Pretending to be the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, the Justiciers managed to speak with
Governor SARAH PALIN for several minutes on the pretext of wanting to wish her the best on November 4th 2008.

It was Marc-Antoine Audette who spoke to Governor SARAH PALIN in a crazy French accent conversation. He told her she would be a great president and she replied “maybe in 8 years”. When he referred to the Prime Minister of Canada and the Premier of Quebec by the wrong names she did not seem to realize they were the wrong names. He also said as President of France he could see Belgium from his home.she replied “yes, it is great to work with
your neighboring countries.”

The fake President then said he loved to hunt and it was wonderful to kill animals, but had never done it from a helicopter .she suggested they could go hunting together. When he asked not to bring Vice-President Cheney, she laughed and replied “No. I`ll be a careful shot” and that by hunting together, “they could kill two birds with one stone.”

Governor Plain was asked if Joe the Plumber was her husband she said, no he is a regular hard working American.

She gushed over how beautiful Sarkozy`s wife is and how she really energized France and what a lovely family they have. Sarkozy and Carla Bruni do not in fact have children together.

Just before PALIN ended the call, the fake Sarkozy congratulated her about the new documentary made on her life : Nailin’ Palin by Hustler’s Larry Flint to which she replied “thank you”.

When told she had been pranked by The Masked Avengers, she abruptly ended the call after asking what call letters the radio station used, then handed the phone to an assistant muttering something in the background. 

The SARAH PALIN prank call is available for free on www.justiciers.tv or www.funtv.tv and will be broadcast on Monday November 3rd at 3PM on CKOI 96.9 FM in Montreal.

In the last few years, the Justiciers Masqués have snared many big names, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, rock legend Mick Jagger,pop-star Britney Spears, Sir Paul McCartney and Microsoft Bill Gates. Their call to former French President Chirac was rated by the BBC as one of the top 30 best moments in radio history of all time.

The Justiciers Masqués (Masked Avengers) entertain CKOI 96.9 FM listeners Monday to Friday from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM. They’re winners of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Gold Ribbon Award for best comedy show in Canada.

If you’re curious why some of the spelling, grammar & punctuation is off; it’s pretty common in Quebec when the original document is in French and then gets quickly (and poorly) translated to English. I didn’t bother editing it myself, but rather just posted it as is.

Here’s the audio. Enjoy!

Audio of Sarah Palin prank call
[See post to listen to audio]

I just saw this video and had to share it with you guys.

I’m surprised I’ve never seen in it before though, since it’s apparently a very popular viral video.

No matter what kind of mood you’re in; you will definitely laugh and smile watching it.

This video took Matt Harding to 42 countries in 14 months and the best part about it all – it was all paid for by Stride Gum. How awesome is that?

[EDIT: You have to wait until about 1 minute into the video to understand why this is such a great and hilarious video.]

[Source]

There might be more to this whole Sarah Palin/Tina Fey comparison.

Maybe McCain-Palin is just a big joke?

I came across this website a few weeks ago and wanted to share this with the producers and beatmakers out there.

This website, Hobnox.com is offering $30,000 to contestants who submit their music productions into their Evolution 2 contest. They have 3 different categories for their contest; Music, Film & Culture – each with its own $30,00 prize.

Usually, I wouldn’t post something like this, but like I mentioned yesterday; conferences, showcases and contests can be incredibly helpful to your success, so I wanted to share this with you guys to give the producers and beatmakers a chance to take advantage of one of these opportunities, regardless of what city you’re in.

Check out the video below to take a quick tour and then click here to find out more information about the Evolution 2 contest.

I saw this and had to post it.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know my daily obsession with watching Fresh Prince of Bel-Air re-runs.

Well, Canadian rapper, Shad, decided to drop this hilarious parody music video for his song, “The Old Prince Still Lives At Home”.

You have to watch this video; it’s too great not to.

Shout out to Shad and his crew for a great concept and execution.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHhxbMSk7J8]

If you’re an aspiring artist, producer, DJ or professional, you should already know how important conferences, showcases and contests can be. If you don’t already know; then I’m telling you now; they’re important.

I make it a point to attend several of these events, even if it doesn’t necessarily pertain to my profession, mainly because of the networking opportunities they present. If you know how to carry yourself and you have the necessary self-promo tools (business cards, CD, DVD, etc), events like these should not be missed.

If you’re in Atlanta, or will be on September 11, 2008, make sure you attend The Demo Clinic being held at Django.

For more information on this event, please check out the official page at http://rahiemshabazz.blogspot.com/2008/08/demo-clinic.html.

Finally got my Blackberry Bold today.

For those that follow me on Twitter, I did my first live videocast yesterday, after UPS dropped off the package.

It didn’t end up recording, so I was planning on doing another short video clip, but as the people who logged onto the live videocast know, I don’t have much of a voice right now (lost it a few days ago), so I decided against it.

I’m definitely going to be incorporating more videocasts into the blog though, so there’ll be more to come. If you have any suggestions for what you’d like to see, please feel free to leave a comment and let me know.

Also, if you have any questions about the Bold, just ask and I’ll do my best to fill you in.

I just wanted to drop a quick post to let you guys know that I finally got my MacBook Pro back!

I got it back last week actually; 11 days after it decided to die. I wanted to post sooner, but since it was my hard drive that crashed, I’ve spent the past week just catching up on projects and re-creating files from scratch.

Not fun.

Needless to say, I definitely made it a point to pick up an external hard drive to keep a full system backup of everything in my laptop.

I wasn’t sure what brand or model to go with, so I posed the question on Twitter and everybody led me toward the trio of Western Digital, Maxtor and LaCie.

After some consideration at the store, I decided to go with a 750GB LaCie hard disk. The box says it was designed by industrial designer, Neil Poulton.

His design?

A shiny black box.

Anyhow, it serves me right to experience this situation. If you take your business seriously, invest in it appropriately and make sure you’re well covered in case of ANY emergency or disaster.

Whenever you implement any new tool or piece of equipment into your business, make sure to have a way of still functioning in case it malfunctions or gets stolen.

Luckily, I have my business email hosted through Google Apps, so all email that goes through my email or the email of anybody else on my team, is backed up online – free.

We can even share documents and edit them collectively, in real time, as opposed to emailing a document to each team member and having 5 different edits.

If you’re running a small business, or consider yourself a business (even if it’s just you), I highly suggest checking out Google Apps. It’s free and it’s a lifesaver.

Today is Day 6 without my MacBook Pro.

And it hurts!

For the past 6 days, I’ve MacGuyver’ed my way around this major inconvenience by juggling between my Blackberry, internet cafés and others’ computers.

I also got my old temperamental PC working a little again. It feels like going back to an ex with shame and admitting that your new situation didn’t work out as well as you hoped.

But at least there’s some good news. The Apple Store just called saying they’ve received the parts needed to repair the centerpiece of my connected life.

Hopefully, I can get it back by the weekend – although I highly doubt it.

I’m off to drop it off at the Apple Store now. I think it’s time I finally go ahead and buy an external hard drive to keep my system backed up at all times and prevent losing ALL my files again.

Yeah.. it’s that bad.

The latest single from Lil Wayne’s infamous, The Carter 3, just dropped. The track is called “Got Money” and features T-Pain and my bwoy Mack Maine. 

Everybody already knows who Lil Wayne & T-Pain are, but let me give you a quick rundown on the homie Mack Maine:

• From New Orlean’s Hollygrove district
• Been a member of Young Money since its inception
• Can be seen at Lil Wayne concerts everywhere providing on-stage backup
• Featured on numerous Lil Wayne & Young Money mixtapes
• Has 2 mixtapes out with DJ Smallz (G-Series 101 w/ Currency & B*tch I’m Mack Maine)
• Featured on “Shovelin Snow” from Birdman’s “Fast Money” album

I’m happy to see Maine get more spotlight like he’s sure to get from this video. I mean.. a video with Lil Wayne & T-Pain? With the amount of attention and airplay both these artists get, you couldn’t possibly ask for a better outlet to the mainstream audience.

Lil Wayne. T-Pain. Mack Maine.

Hey… all three of their names rhyme. It’s kinda fun to say. Try it out.

Lil Wayne. T-Pain. Mack Maine.

Lil Wayne. T-Pain. Mack Maine.

Lil Wayne. T-Pain. Mack Maine.

Okay, anyways, here’s the video:

Lil Wayne, T-Pain & Mack Maine – “Got Money” 

I’m still kinda mad that we lost mackmaine.com to a corny landing page, but regardless, mackmaineonline.com will offer a full user experience once launched and in the meantime, you can check out Mack Maine at http://myspace.com/maine4president

I don’t know if it’s because of my newfound love for Macs, but I found this video pretty dope.

AC’s being making noise for a couple years and now he’s decided to go a new route with his latest mixtape, “Attack Of The Blogs”.

AC released 20 different songs to 20 different blogs which pulled together as a scavenger hunt style contest. The mixtape came out about a month ago, but I just saw the video about 10 minutes ago and thought I’d give AC and his team props for their creativity; not only for the song and video, but also for their approach. They’re thinking of new ways of marketing and having fun with it.

Anyways, I usually don’t do spur of the moment blog posts (I’m going to try to do them more often though), but here is a link to download AC’s new mixtape, “Attack Of The Blogs”.

And here is the video that made me post this:

(Props to the director, Steven Tapia, for his creativity on this one)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLN6jIt9VwU] 

I know you’re thinking, “Another one?! Seriously?!”, but this is the first time I’m posting anything about “A Milli”, so I’m allowed to get away with it.

Probably the most rapped on beat in hip-hop history (if you can think of another, let me know), “A Milli”, has been done by every rapper, singer and any other kind of vocalist there is. Yet, there’s still more coming out.

At this point, if you’re going to do a remix to “A Milli”, it better be worth it.

Well, there’s one more. And yes… it’s worth it.

After being bombarded on his MySpace page by fans requesting a verse, Asher Roth delivers the goods on the notorious beat by Shondrae “Bangladesh” Crawford.

Oh, and by the way – turns out Chamillionaire just did his own “A Milli” remix as well; in which he mentions Asher Roth around 2:50 into the song.

Check out both of the tracks below, and also make sure to add Asher Roth on Twitter – http://twitter.com/asherroth.

Asher Roth – A Milli (By Popular Demand)
[See post to listen to audio]

Chamillionaire – Chamilli
[See post to listen to audio]

This isn’t a “new music” blog, but I’m in the mood to share some new music with you so figured I’d do that today since it’s Monday and nobody feels like fully waking up on Mondays.

Sarah MK – Good Life (Remix)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CffhQ9-aV7c]
Check out the new track from upcoming singer/songwriter, Sarah MK. Let me know what you think of this song in the comments section. 

David Sides – Love In This Club (Piano Cover)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f6kHN2_Gok]
Check out his other covers. Talented dude, no lie. 

Naturally 7 – Wall Of Sound
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=cgL9HhiSd-A]
I wanted to show you another segment of their performance, but couldn’t find the video anywhere.

I finally got a chance to see these guys perform live at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and believe me; they are INSANE! This video, or any other video really does not do them justice. If you’re not already familiar with their name, I’m sure you’ve seen their YouTube video that was spreading like wildfire last year all over sites like Facebook.

Don’t call them beatboxers though; these guys take it to a whole different level.

Dondria a.k.a Phatfffat – Promise (Ciara Cover)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkxHl6TJDS0]
I know this video is old, but it’s still hot! I thought homegirl was lip synching for a minute. Forward to 1:00 in, if you want to skip the talking and get straight to her singing.

Enjoy!

WOW! I might be forced to change my line of work.

Apparently, I’m a little more popular than I thought. Check out the video and tell me if you think I should go for it or not.

What up Barack?!

(Watch at the end of the video. Even the elderly got my back.)

The other day, my retarded PC (which I’m positive came from hell) decided to take it’s best shot at vexxing me, by completely refusing to turn on.

Press the power button.

Tower beeps.

Black screen with a whole bunch of gibberish shows up.

Little Windows screen shows up with the blue progress bar underneath.

Wait a bit.

Same screen.

Wait a bit more.

Same screen.

I got impatient so I decide to go get a massive salad bowl full of watermelon to munch on. I come back hoping to see Windows fully booted and ready for me to do some work and catch up on the tons of email killing my inbox.

What? Same screen?

Long story short, this scene repeated itself for about an hour and a half.

I got too frustrated to deal with it so I decided to step out and go for a quick jog to re-energize myself and clear my mind.

When I got back, the computer still wouldn’t load! I decided to change real quick and head on over to the mall. After about 45 minutes of being lost in this massive maze of a mall, I found this big shiny store that looked so welcoming, I had to walk in.

Inside this very clean, organized and symmetrical store, a lineup of staff members wearing blue and orange shirts, stood along the main isle staring at me with smiles that could cut the sides of their faces.

Creepy, yes; but half of them were pretty cute girls so I was smiling and staring right back at them without any concern of walking into something… or someone.

I was approached by a girl in an orange shirt. “How can I help you?”, she asked me cheerfully.

Trying to keep focus on her eyes, I reply, “I’m not sure. Just thought I’d look around.”

“Sure, no problem! Just let me know if you need anything. Whatever you need, we can help.”, she tells me while returning to that face cutting smile.

I look around for a little bit and begin to ask myself if I really need anything from them or if I should just leave before I make an impulse purchase that I’ll regret later on.

Not even a minute later, I’m ambushed into a corner by the same girl. I smile for a second, but then see she brought along a friend – one of those guys in the blue shirts.

“Huh? Why is he here? I don’t want to talk to you man. I want to talk to her. Alone. Please leave.”, I think to myself.

The guy tells me that he is there to help and that he can answer any questions I may have.

I explain to him that I don’t even know why I’m there in the first place and that I just walked in to see what was inside.

“Are you happy with your current ’situation’?” he asks. “If not, or if you feel like you just need something more, we can show you the answers. Believe in us. Follow us.”

This whole scenario seems really creepy to me. I begin to sweat a little and ask myself a ton of questions, “What did I just walk into? What did that sign outside say? Is this guy trying to convert me to a different religion? What is going on??”

He asks me again, “What are you looking for? What is it that you want?”

I don’t know what came over me, but within the matter of 5 seconds, I broke down and started telling him all my problems. I told him what’s happened to me in the past, what’s happening to me right now and what I ultimately want in the future.

He looks over at the girl, who’s still standing beside him, and they both smile perfectly in sync.

“Don’t worry. We have the solution for you. Everything will be fine. Trust me.”, he promises me with a mellow voice and creepy smile.

At this point, I’m completely spellbound, so I followed them over to the other side of the room where they begin to ask me for my personal information. I answer all their questions and eagerly await to feel like part of the family. Like I belong to something great!

I finish answering all their questions and I turn around to make my way out and enter the world as a new man with a new faith.

The guy calls me back and says we’re not done yet.

“Sorry Moe, but before you leave, there’s still the issue of payment”, he tells me.

Without even thinking, I just reached into my pocket to pull out my wallet. As I look for my card, I remember that I accidentally de-magnetized my card a few days ago and had to take out extra cash from the bank until my new card comes in the mail.

In a Frank Lucas moment, I pull out a fold of bills larger than I’m used to carrying and hand it over to them. They look up at me suspiciously and begin to whisper to one another as they run each bill past a counterfeit detector. Once the total amount clears, they change their facial expressions and look back at me with those creepy face-cutting smiles.

I walk out with this large box they just handed me and begin finding my way back outside of this mall. People are staring at me as if they could tell something just happened, and I start to think how I’m going to break the news to people.

Once I get back home, I see my broken computer just sitting there. I look at it with an evil eye but then remember where I just came from. I disconnect my old, broken computer and place the big box on its side, while emptying the contents onto my desk.

Now, I sit down at my desk, feeling calm and at ease; as part of a new family… with my shiny, new MacBook Pro.

I’m now officially part of the cult that is Apple.

And they were right – this was the solution to all my problems.

Here are a few videos of some tracks that are in rotation on my personal system that I figured I’d share with you guys.

Pitbull ft. Machel Montano & Lil Jon – The Anthem Remix
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3fngqaWrFU]

I’ve always been a fan of Pitbull. His flow is always on point, his swag is his own and he’s a very well-rounded artist.

This song is straight bananas. And the craziest thing about it… Machel Montano is on the track!

Upcoming DJs, pay attention: If you ever think you’re losing the crowd on the dancefloor, use the tool that every bonafide DJ has used several times to revive the party and bring it to a whole different level – Machel Montano.

Machel is like crack to a party. You can’t possibly put on a Machel chune and expect the place not to explode. I’ve been a fan of his since… damn… over 10 years now. He’s absolutely one of the most energetic and incredible artists and has been so for over a decade.

Man, I still can’t get over the fact that Machel is on the song.

PUT YOUR RAGS IN DE AIR!!!

http://www.pitbullmusic.com
http://www.machelmontanohd.com

Charles Hamilton, Kanye West & The Game – Freestyle Cypher
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzQBiekZqIM]

For about 2 months now, everytime I open up my web browser and go to any site, I always see the name Charles Hamilton.

I kept asking myself, “who the f*ck is Charles Hamilton?”

Now I know. Dude is a dope emcee and a freestyle beast! If you don’t know about him yet, you better get familiar before everybody else is in on the secret. Believe me.

Shoutout to Aura & Franz for putting me onto this cat.

http://www.iamnotcharleshamilton.com

Famous ft. Trinity Chris – Big Man Tings
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urVl-oso9A0]

Canada’s Kid Famous has been making a lot of noise this year and just dropped his first video alongside Trinity Chris.

Actually, I’m going to cheat and double up with a second video from Famous. (It’s my blog, I’m allowed to cheat).

Famous ft. Andreena Mill – Canadian Boy
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iitowlzyib8]

This is a great remix of Estelle’s “American Boy”. I don’t know what word to use to describe Andreena Mill, other than “crazy talented”. Okay, so that’s two words.

If you’re not familiar with her work, check her out at her myspace link posted below. Crazy.. just pure crazy.

I still remember when Famous used to jump into freestyle battles or do the Diddy dance during performances back when we were in college and I was managing my first group. Good to see he’s doing his thing and staying consistent.

Famous.. you know I couldn’t end this segment without saying – I BLOG NOW!

http://www.myspace.com/thekidfamous
http://www.myspace.com/andreenamill