Get F'ed Up With Bear: Chingo Bling Doesn't Like 'Friends'
Published: Thursday - April 19, 2007
Words by Bear Frazer
Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross. These six individuals roamed the streets of New York with their lives on display for the entire world to see.
But not everybody liked what they saw.
Chingo Bling
I recently spoke to my homeboy in Houston, Chingo Bling, about why it has taken so long for Latino rappers to emerge into the national spotlight and while he was spreading his business savvy, our conversation and train of thought somehow shifted to an open discussion of "Friends" and "Girls Gone Wild."
At the end of this conversation, you'll have a better understanding of Chingo Bling and his take on Latino rappers in the mainstream... and his views on "Friends."
Bear: There were Latino rappers like Fat Joe, Big Pun, Pitbull and Daddy Yankee who have received a lot of commercial attention, but up until recently, it seemed like it has been harder for Latino emcees to enter the mainstream. Why do you think that is?
Chingo: Harder to enter the mainstream... I can theorize that, but I don't know. I really don't know why. Maybe you gotta have... maybe the stars gotta align. I'm not gonna blame mainstream media and I'm not gonna say the powers of be just don't allow it. I'm not gonna say that because I think, for example, Pitbull is there for his own merit. I'm not gonna say mainstream media allowed him to get there. I think he fuckin' fought hard to get to that slot. He probably had to battle a lot of people, jump on a bunch of different mixtapes and prove himself over again, so people can give him his props, so TVT could see and say, "This kid is getting ready to do a record. We should partner up with him." I think as artists, we gotta get our shit together.
If you don't have distribution, then guess what? You might not get heard by as many people. If you haven't found a way to tap into the ear of these program directors, you might not get on the radio. You gotta play your cards right so you could be doing an interview with my dawg, Bear. I feel that regardless what mainstream media may wanna hear or may wanna allow, I am going to give myself credit and say I've played my cards right to accumulate a fan base, work hard and get milestones under my belt, so I can get to this point, where this may be another milestone to get to another level. Like I chose to partner up with Asylum. I was being courted by many labels, but at the end of the day, I chose the deal I got because I felt I needed creative control, and needed their machine and their distribution pipeline. I guess it's long winded because a lot of us don't have the opportunities or haven't created opportunities to harness our resources to get these kinda things going to break into the mainstream. You gotta have skill and a business sense.
Bear: So you don't think it's a conspiracy?
Chingo: Aw, nah, man! Don't get me wrong; I do conspiracy theories like a muthafucka, but when it comes to this, I think people's buying habits dictates what a lot happens. Let's say you have NBC, a big television network, who just doesn't get it and they wanna keep on pumping "Friends." Let's pretend "Friends" didn't really have no viewers and wasn't really a hot show. Let's say NBC wants to keep pumping something like "Friends" and you have someone like myself who says, "Hey, I know 'Friends' isn't a hot show," but for some reason, NBC keeps on pumping money into this show that is getting no ratings. I'm gonna go with the consumer. I'm gonna prove to NBC that I know what I'm doing because I'm gonna accumulate a million viewers on my internet television show or DVD series. So all of a sudden, someone is gonna have to take notice, whether mainstream media wants to or not, or NBC just stays their ground and says, "We're not doing what he does, we're gonna stick to 'Friends.'" My point is, consumers and people will demand what they want.
Bear: Something tells me you don't like "Friends"...
Chingo: Nah, nah! I just use it as an example, really...
Bear: That sounds convincing.
Chingo: Well ... I'm not a big "Friends" fan. Well, I don't really have a problem with it, but, in other words, when NBC doesn't like to cater to me, I don't look at is as opposition. I look at it as opportunity. That's just me as an entrepreneur. I look at it like the light bulb goes off in my head and think, "Girls Gone Wild" only likes to play a certain kind of music, and it's not that entertaining being where I'm from and what I'm all about. I'm gonna create a theory where the girls will have a stretch mark here or there, and will have some raw rap in the background and I'm gonna tell jokes in between, and it's gonna sell like hotcakes. So I look at it like, "Thank you NBC" or "Thank you 'Girls Gone Wild,'" or whoever it is isn't what I'm tapping into.
So in summary, Chingo Bling isn't a big fan of Ross or Chandler, or even Joey Tribbiani for that matter, but sexy college chicks with stretch marks. At the end of the day, that's all that matters. Watch out NBC, watch out.
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