I had to spend some time in the room the I used to work at this weekend for some odd reason and the group there spend a good amount on the net. Their place of perusal, Myspace. A couple of them (probably all of them) have accounts. One of them was telling me of some issues one his boys were having with his now ex group, Stuck Mojo, and pointed me to their page to look at something. Well, later on that night and the next day, I starting thinking about how many artists have a page on Myspace. It's kind of REE-diculous.  So, the next night during a lull (read: my co-worker was gone so I could do it with good conscious. That's another story.), I just randomly tried to find pages for artists I knew of on a whim. With the exception of two that were under different names (somebody else had it already), everyone I plugged in, was there. Including a group I thought had broken up (Portishead*), which also was under another name. I have a list. Keep in mind that I had already mentioned a few people myself a while back. Also, keep in mind that I know I could have just looked on Myspace's music page. I told you, there was a lull and for once, I got bored. Wanna see the list? Like to see it here it go:
 

• http://www.myspace.com/mfdoom*
  
  http://www.myspace.com/Fieldmob
  
  http://www.myspace.com/Audioslave
  
  http://www.myspace.com/REM
  
  http://www.myspace.com/Cultureclub
  
  http://www.myspace.com/Thomasdolby
  
  http://www.myspace.com/delasoul*
  
  http://www.myspace.com/talibkweli*
  
  http://www.myspace.com/mosdef*
  
  http://www.myspace.com/dmc*
  
  http://www.myspace.com/originalhumanbeatbox* - Doug E Fresh
  
  http://www.myspace.com/templeofhiphop - KRS One**
  
  http://www.myspace.com/theroots - The Roots**... Wait. When did they get on Def
  Jam?
  
  http://www.myspace.com/lilkim

Those I did that night. These I did while writing up this post.

The aforementioned Portishead

• Fred Hammond
• Kirk Franklin
• Tye Tribbett & G.A.
• Lalah Hathaway*
• Maysa*
• Anita Baker** - My favorite female artist!!! In case you didn't know
• Jaguar Wright

And speaking of Jaguar Wright, she has a song on her latest album, 'Divorcing Neo 2 Marry Soul', that has a song called,'My Place'. On this song, the hook goes like this:

"Let's go to my place,
Let's go to my place,
Let's go to my place,
Up in my place, Up in my space"

     Or something like that. Is it a coincidence? Yea, probably, but the point is, there are a lot of artists on the site. However, you can't possibly tell me that 90% of the people I listed are that savvy enough to get it. Thomas Dolby? Believe it! MC Hammer? He's been getting it. The Roots, I can see it. But REM? Lil Kim? Anita Baker (I love you but no). Jody freaking Watley? CULTURE CLUB????? NO! Maybe i'm not giving them enough credit. Or maybe I know the real deal.

     Myspace is a marketing wet dream for A & R. This is not totally a bad thing. For them, it's smart. All the kids are there, so that's where they are pushing their artists. Independent and Major label artists alike are flocking there. The independents have good reason. They are trying to get heard. You can tell also because they are 'friending' the artist and you see comments like: "come to my site", "Please listen to my demo", etc. Major's are doing it because they can and it's "free". The thing is, it'll only last until the kids leave and find somewhere cooler and less commercial. It's an Internet fact. So, junkies, enjoy it while you can. In fairness, it is a good source to try out and hear new songs, but the rest of it is bunk and garbage. No disrespect to those with pages. My 'I See Stupid people' colleague, The L, has a page that I have yet to check out there. So do a few other people I know (someone has one they don't know about). I can't do it, but I suppose I can't knock those who do. Some of the pages I have seen are ugly, for real. That's my problem with it, though. Anyway, the catalyst for this tirade was sparked by this article from CNET News.com. Go check it out.

MySpace blurs line between friends and flacks | CNET News.com

and some more food for thought.

In the meantime, here are a few more i've found.

• 4hero - Producer, Jill Scott, Ursula Rucker, Etc.
• Ursula Rucker* - Soul Sista, Spoken Word artist, One Bad Mommy!
• Little Brother*
• N'Dambi
• Roy Ayers*
• Yes, even Prince*, but that's no surprise. He's been net wise since it was the net. One of the first to want to put their music out their, too.

Anyway, Try it yourself. Type in: www.myspace.com/whoeveryoulike and see if they come up. Make it a game if you're bored. Bonus points for the most obscure person you can find. Post in the comments. And no I do not and will not have a page, L Boogie.

* - Hell YEAH!! Seal of Approval