R.S.: Press

"R.S., the too-rare artist unwilling to dumb down, is currently making waves in the influential world of financial media – yes, the same folks Jay-Z is trying to reach with his Forbes interview with Warren Buffett – by making a rap song dedicated to a new law known as the ‘Dodd-Frank’ bill which impacts many – for better or worse. President Obama signed the bill, with much criticism, this Summer (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/business/22regulate.html), and it is commonly referred to as ‘an overhaul of the financial system.’

Some say the ‘overhaul’ protects the poor and middle-class and others say, it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing that still benefits those responsible for the financial crisis of 2007 to 2008. R.S. sees the matter more personally because it apparently has the potential to cut into his cash flow, derived from profits he makes as a trader of foreign currencies. And he is not alone, I know of several Hip-Hop generation entrepreneurs making paper from gambling on the direction of the dollar, yen, euro and the galaxy of foreign currencies.

Fighting back in his self-interest and referring to the government as ‘babysitters,’ R.S. made a track “CFTC (Babysit Me)” to popularize his plight as an entrepreneur-trader. The CFTC is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, created by Congress in 1974 to regulate commodity futures and option markets in the United States (http://www.cftc.gov/). The song is now taking off, with a cult following."

Read the rest at http://www.allhiphop.com/stories/editorial/archive/2010/09/29/22413447.aspx

or

http://www.cedricmuhammad.com/enlightened-self-interest-jay-z-builds-with-buffett-and-rs-takes-on-the-cftc/

"The talk about the new CFTC rules created a lot of angry reactions. Here’s a more creative one – a hip hop song by R.S. featuring L~Reece. The musical production is serious and the words are quite funny."

Read the rest at: http://www.forexcrunch.com/cftc-babysitting-traders/

Traders everywhere have been dealing with the new regulations required by the Dodd Frank FinReg bill since this summer.

What's great about this new song, which vocalizes the frustrations of the every day Forex trader now that FinReg is in place, is that it's catchy and up-beat, so despite the "Eff it all" lyrics, you get a feeling there's reason to be optimistic about the future. But at the same time, you can also see this song being the perfect soundtrack to kicking your own a$$ at the gym.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/cftc-financial-regulation-rap-song-2010-9#ixzz10P5xSQUU

My team and I visit FXstreet.com daily, so I was honored and excited to find CFTC (Babysit Me) featured on the blog of Francesc Riverola, CEO of FXstreet. The song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFZrUGHurB0)and FXstreet's coverage of it have been the only bright spots associated with the leverage reduction proposal and the possibility that UK subsidiaries of US brokers will follow FXCM in shifting accounts back to the US. We’re still trying to get clarity on whether it will be worth our time to continue trading after October!

Read Francesc Riverola's blog at: http://blogs.fxstreet.com/francesc/2010/09/22/cftc-why-wanna-babysit-me-hip-hop-hit

To all our Japanese supports: Peep this review of R.S.'s "Louder Than Words" from www.boutrecords.com
ニュージャージーを拠点に活動するラッパーR.S. a.k.a. RONALD STEPHENSONによる2005年のニュー・アルバム！！ALL TRACKSがアダルトな薫り漂うJAZZフレイヴァーに包まれた本作、R.S.自らが制作したロマンティックなバック・サウンドにシルキーな歌声を聴かすフィメール・シンガーSHERRAE SPENCERが全曲でフィーチャーされており、これぞ落ち着いた大人のメロウHIPHOPといった仕上がり。もちろん捨て曲などは一切なく、全曲驚くほどハイ・クオリティ！“TIME GOES BY”, “GET AWAY”, “HEAVEN”, “FROM HERE”, “SO I SAY GOODBYE”, “LOVE AGAIN”等、タイトルからも恋愛をモチーフにしたロマンティックな雰囲気が満点で、大切な人との時間をムーディーに演出するでしょう！メロウG-RAP好きには是非とも聴いてもらいたいオススメ盤！！(DJ CHACHI)

BLACKELECTORATE.COM is a leading daily news analysis website covering politics, business, religion, culture, national affairs, and international affairs as they relate to Black People anywhere in the world. Recently, Black Electorate.com featured an article written by R.S. for their Hip-Hop Fridays section. Enjoy!

*********************** I am a 28 year old who has been listening to Hip Hop as far back as my memory takes me and I continue to listen and buy albums on a consistent basis. But, I can’t help but remember a time in Hip Hop where there were several themes running throughout mainstream Hip Hop simultaneously. We had artists with a wide range of subject matter like Public Enemy, NWA, Big Daddy Kane, A Tribe Called Quest, and Cypress Hill all present and successful at the same moment in time. There is still diversity in Hip Hop, but it is not currently reflected in the mainstream. We have several artists tackling subject matter that differs from the standard thug fantasy in 2005, such as Common, Talib Kweli, Masta Ace, etc., but it has been extremely difficult for most of these artists to be seen by the masses and their album sales have suffered as a result. As I remember seeing it covered on Black Electorate, even when a rapper like Styles P, who received radio rotation with both his song “Get High” and his appearance on Akon’s “Locked Up,” comes out with a first single title “I’m Black,” and speaks to Black pride, he is silenced. “Getting Low” appears to be the order of the day. I remember an episode of The Simpsons where Homer Simpson remarked, “Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974; it's a scientific fact!"

Read the rest at http://www.blackelectorate.com/articles.asp?ID=1395

"The World from a Hip Hop Perspective." Updated on a daily basis, Daveyd.com features music, editorials, and news relevant to Hip Hop. Recently, veteran Hip-Hop journalist Davey D republished an article written by R.S.; read it here: http://politicalpalace.yuku.com/topic/4096/t/Adult-Contemporary-Hip-Hop.html