33jones.com has two joints from the new Willie The Kid mixtape. Both tracks feature La The Darkman. Link
Calico Flow featuring LA The Darkman
We Pimpin’ featuring LA
previously: Aphilliates Music Group Signed, La The Darkman + Willie The Kidd = When The Money Come (video)
Great post by Dan Charnas describing the misunderstanding that led to the Chino XL / Tupac beef. Brings back lots of memories, like rushing to get home in time to catch Rap City knowing they would play the video for No Complex (by the way, Charnas’ characterization of Tupac as a poet more so than an mc is on point, in my opinion). No need to rush anymore. Isn’t youtube great? Someone even uploaded the video for Kreep. Link (via) previously: Chino XL Is Confident, For Good Reasons; Chino XL also featured on Audiocast No. 041106 and 011106
Read what else former Loud Records founder Steve Rifkind has to say. Interview
Do you think there is a loss of vision? People don’t know what to focus on today?
I don’t blame the artist on that; I blame the record company. My whole thing is when Loud signed Three 6 Mafia, we were known as a bi-coastal label and then we signed this group from the South and the media ran with it, “What do I know about the South?” There has to be communication, these labels don’t know anymore.It’s all so generic.
Exactly, it is about the hottest producer and the hottest sound. Then, they talk about how bad the record business is right now and it is bad, but it is the best time to be in the record business. In two or three years, there is going to be different avenues in making money and be creative. Take some chances, stake left.
I got my ticket earlier today but it looks like the show might be sold out as far as online pre-sales. Maybe there will be some available at the venue. Link
Nas
Doors open @ 7:30pm
Nokia Theatre
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
11/30/2006 Portland, ME @ Space Gallery
12/04/2006 Brooklyn, NY @ North Six
12/05/2006 Columbus, OH @ Oldfield’s On Fourth
12/06/2006 Fort Wayne, IN @ Legends Sports Bar
12/08/2006 Madison, WI @ Glass Nickle
12/09/2006 Minneapolis, MN @ Dinky Towner
Blogs that focus on music can sometimes walk a fine line between constructive sharing and just straight up illegal distribution. Big record companies do not seem to worry about audio blogs as much as file sharing programs since most sites have a relatively low number of visitors (in the thousands) and because a lot of these mp3 blogs tend to focus on indie or out of print projects. In addition, the more knowledgeable sites tend to limit their posts to sample tracks or snippets which amounts to free promotion for artists. Indie companies, on the other hand, probably should be more concerned about the negative impact on sales. For small organizations trying to get by on a few thousand presses at a time, a site that provides an entire album for download to a few hundred or potentially more visitors is a significant hit. Promotional sites that offer a track or two and provide links to purchase probably benefit indies more than not, but that’s a tougher argument when sites offer entire albums. We’re not trying to take sides here. We recognize this medium for promotion and sales is still relatively young and is working itself out. And it’s probably a safe prediction to state that record companies will eventually figure out a successful way to let mp3 blogs post audio and at the same time offer direct-download sales and a share of the revenue (we can’t wait for that!). In addition, we also recognize a lot (and by a lot, I mean at least 800,000 people who bought the Jay-Z album) of people do not realize how easy it is to download music from the web. But we are still concerned about some sites that seem to neglect their own potential for impact, which brings us to the main reason for this fast rant. Lately, we’ve been coming across a slew of audio blogs focusing on indie rap. These sites have been standing out to us because they offer entire projects, sometimes even with cover art, for download. Initially, we weren’t going to list them but in the interest of transparent discussion, why not? And c’mon, anyone with google can get to these with a few clicks.
wakeyourdaughterup.blogspot.com
def-jux.blogspot.com
masscorporation.blogspot.com
szyszkin-hhbest.blogspot.com
crooklyns.blogspot.com
arnie-bossplayer.blogspot.com
strictlybeats.blogspot.com
This is actually a rescheduling of an earlier show, complete with lineup changes and a new host for the evening, Marley Marl. Buy Tickets, Venue Info
Featuring:
Slick Rick
MC Lyte
Kool Moe Dee
Dana Dane
Sugarhill GangNewark Symphony Hall
1020 Broad Street
Newark, NJ 07102
Featuring:
Dan The Automator
Casual (Hieroglyphics)
A.G. (D.I.T.C.)
Domino (Hieroglyphics)
Chali 2na (Jurassic 5)
Gavin (Dredg)Doors open @ 8pm
11/29/2006 San Luis Obisbo, CA @ SLO Brewing
11/30/2006 San Francisco, CA @ Mezzanine
12/01/2006 Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst
12/02/2006 Chico, CA @ The Senator Theatre
12/04/2006 Portland, OR @ Berbatis
12/05/2006 Bellingham, WA @ Nightlight
12/06/2006 Seattle, WA @ Neumos
12/08/2006 Park City, UT @ Suede
12/09/2006 Aspen, CO @ Belly Up
12/10/2006 Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
12/12/2006 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theatre
12/13/2006 Flagstaff, AZ @ TBA
12/14/2006 San Diego, CA @ Canes
12/15/2006 Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey
Props to all the performers that came through and held it down like Juggaknots, A.G., Dres, CL Smooth, King Sun, Stetsasonic, Freddie Foxxx and, our hosts for the night, Prince Paul & The Ill Out Crew. Big shoutout to Brooklyn Bodega for only charging a penny for tickets. Check out some of the pictures and video clips I added recently. My favorite would have to be CL Smooth performing T.R.O.Y. but I also got some good video of Breeze Brewin’ performing What U Got & Pain and an A.G. acapella. pictures, more video
How did the Christina Aguilera project happen?
We got a call from her office saying that she wanted to rock with us. She flew us out to LA to kick it, and when I chopped it up with her, she was like, “Yo, I love ‘Kick in the Door’ by Biggie, I love Group Home.” I was like, “Word? So, we’re gonna be aight. Let’s do it.” And her husband is a big, big hip-hop fan. He’s a DJ. So I’m sure he had a lot of influence on her, but she was totally with all of my ideas and she knew what she wanted. Every track that we laid down, she was like, “Keep recordin’.” I was supposed to just do one song, it turned into five. And I did the intro to the album. I was honored that she was like, “You’re gonna start the album with a dope intro.” There’s crazy scratching and everything, but not where it’s a hip-hop intro, it’s a Christina Aguilera intro. I kept it like what I do. It’s cool how it starts off because it goes into three different parts before she actually comes on to sing, and then it cuts off after one verse—boom—into another song. It’s dope.
![DJ Red Alert’s 50th Birthday Celebration in NYC [REMINDER]](http://grandgood.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/djredalerts50thbirthdaycelebrationreminder.jpg)
Just in case you forgot about DJ Red Alert’s 50th birthday celebration, here’s a reminder. Taken from a recent D-Nice newsletter.
TONIGHT!
Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006
Chris Lighty & D-Nice Presents
“Hip-Hop, And We Don’t Stop”DJ Red Alert’s Birthday Celebration
at The Canal Room
285 West Broadway - corner of Canal Street - New YorkPerformances by Slick Rick and Nice & Smooth (And A Few Surprises!)
Music by D-Nice and Q-Tip
(Spinning Classic Shit ALL NIGHT!)Doors open at 9 PM
GUEST LIST CLOSES AT 11pm!
FREE UNTIL 11PM IF ON THE GUEST LIST
$25 ALL NIGHT!
Need proof you were lead singer for that punk band? Link
At least it’s free. Link
The ultimate lo-fi weapon, iZotope Vinyl uses 64-bit processing and advanced filtering, modeling and resampling to create authentic “vinyl” simulation, as if the audio was a record being played on a record player.
Wish I had this in my collection. When I’m able to do the whole cassette to MP3 transfer, maybe I’ll put up Buck’s Year Zero project (if he doesn’t mind). It was released prior to the Language Arts series and each cassette features a different hand-drawn cover by Buck. Link
. . . you lack the minerals . . . my life revolves around the spherical orbit of earth . . . no dessert until you finish your vegetables . . .
