Submissions Are Being Accepted / Site Updates

Since the Reader Reviews seem to be receiving mostly positive feedback (or, at least, the concept is, even if some readers outright disagree with the opinion presented), I've decided to open up Round Three. The parameters are a bit different this time around, though, so listen up:

1. I want you to write about your favorite hip hop album, and I would prefer if it wasn't one that I already wrote about, although I will still accept those write-ups if you absolutely must write about Liquid Swords. There is one exception, which I will list below.

2. You have to send in your submission by midnight on April 18, 2009. Send it in to the email address on the right. In the subject line, you MUST use the phrase "Reader Review" followed by the album and artist, or else it may get lost with the rest of the random junk I receive on a daily basis.

3. You have to follow the format that I'm sure you're all familiar with by now: introductory paragraphs (either about the artist or how you came about discovering the album), track-by-track reviews, final thoughts, a recommendation to buy or avoid, and, in your eyes, the best songs on the disc. Don't worry if your writing becomes a bit long-winded: I will still edit them down for length and clarity, since I need an excuse to butt in with my praised italicizing. (I cannot guarantee that I will be able to run my own commentary side-by-side with yours this time around, though, so you have that going for you, which is nice.)

4. You have to justify why you think the album is good. But you already knew that.

5. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can write about the Blu & Exile album. I have other plans for that disc that will hopefully come to fruition soon. Everything else is essentially fair game.

So, that's it. Send in your submissions to the email on the right by April 18. Hopefully, expanding the rules a bit will result in some more diverse selection, but either way, the blog will go on.

Speaking of which, I'm also toying with some things behind the scenes, ways to help improve the blog, appeal to more readers, and alternatives to avenues that are being abused (*cough* the comment box *cough*). If you have any suggestions, comments, concerns, or simply wish for me to shut the fuck up and write some more, either drop me a line or leave me a comment below.

Also, I haven't missed the ongoing requests for album reviews, so I'll address a few of them right now.

(a) I don't actually own any CDs from anyone in the Bay Area, save for Motion Man. Hence, no reviews on E-40 and Spice 1...yet. You see, my own personal code requires me to actually own the disc in question (not a burned copy, unless otherwise indicated), or at least obtain a true copy (liner notes and all) from a friend or my trusty library (which, if you check, is able to get you many more rap albums than you might have believed - hell, they found me the fucking Pittsburgh Slim CD). So I'm still working on that. I wholeheartedly agree that this blog has taken on an East Coast slant (at least, when I'm not writing about Wu-Tang), and although I've never hidden my personal bias, that's not the point of the blog, so stay tuned, and hopefully I'll get on that sooner rather than later. (By the way, I see all of you wondering where the Hiero posts are - I swear to you, they're actually coming soon.)

(b) On the flipside, I do actually own more Boot Camp Clik albums than my writing may have led on: I'm just lazy. But Smif-N-Wessun's Da Shinin' has been on the pile for some time now, along with Pete Rock & CL Smooth's Mecca & The Soul Brother. So we'll see what happens.

(c) I've noticed everyone else's requests as well. I'm not willfully ignoring them: sometimes it just takes me longer to find the disc than with others. (Note to The Most Felonious Vocalist Blah Blah Blah: I haven't forgotten about your Immortal Technique request.)

So, basically, let me know what you want to see on the blog, and I'll try to help out. In the meantime, be sure to send in those requests and writing submissions, and tell your friends that another month-long stunt may be coming up pretty soon...

-Max