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M1 of Dead Prez & DJ Child—”Go To War”

M1 of Dead Prez & DJ Child: “Go To War”…..2nd leak off upcoming full length studio album (M1 & Child) produced entirely by DJ Child…the TAKEOVER CONTINUES….PGM/RBG

www.projectgroundation.com

KING is a soulful, organic trio of young women here to bring a fresh creativity to music and change the world through their art.

THE STORY began on an August afternoon in Los Angeles, or in a winter rehearsal session in Boston, or in April 1986 in Minneapolis, depending on how you define destiny.

Twins Paris and Amber Strother began their musical journey by listening to favorites of their parents together from the crib, and once they were able to crawl found their way to the piano. Amber nurtured her gift for singing by absorbing everything musical around her, and in turn developed an intricate, magical tone and one-of-a-kind voice, as well as a unique skill for composition and songwriting. Through exploring a melting pot of artists, genres, musical ideas and movements, Paris found her own personal voice for the keys. The twins spent years unknowingly ripening their craft of writing together until they parted ways and left Minneapolis, with Amber to pursue studies in Chicago and Paris to enroll at music school in Boston where…

A chance meeting with a young woman with a golden voice and incredible ear changed her life. Los Angeles native Anita Bias had fallen in love with music and art as a young girl, and spent years cultivating her voice, imaginative and vivid songwriting, and creative styling. Their Boston encounter stayed fresh in the minds of both, and when fate brought Paris to California and reunited them years later at a club in Los Angeles, they knew it was the start of something special.

During Amber’s first trip to LA and the living room session that followed, the three realized that they were born to create together. At the first show of the unofficial and then-unnamed band, they, along with the audience, were said to have seen fireworks in the air. The unique blend of voices, engaging harmony, and detailed songwriting the group exhibited came completely naturally to them. Amber, who had been since moved back to Minneapolis, sent for her belongings. KING was born.

THE STORY EP is KING’s debut project, wherein all songs are written by Paris, Amber, and Anita, and fully produced by Paris. THE STORY, SUPERNATURAL, and HEY are the result of a year’s worth of loving and learning, experiencing and experimenting, and ultimately finding the music within themselves.

One of Hip-Hop’s most beloved groups of all-time returns with a new video to accompany their latest single “Say It Like It Really Is,” part of their upcoming box set release. The set will include 3 CDs full of tracks from critically acclaimed albums, DVDs that include performances, videos, and documentaries, as well as a limited edition t-shirt and photo book. It will become available on October 15th through Total Box Music. If you didn’t get a chance to download the official single you can do that here.

Is Universal Music Group facing an avalanche of increased royalty obligations, thanks to a recent victory involving Eminem and FBT Productions?  The mega-label says no way, and a suspiciously ‘anonymous’ commenter on Digital Music News recently shouted down the possibility.

Except, this is a very real possibility, at least according to one well-respected attorney.  ”If downloads are the way of the future, this is going to have massive implications,” attorney Gary Stiffelman (Ziffren, Brittenham LLP) told the Detroit Free Press. “It changes the playing field.”  Stiffelman has represented Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Toni Braxton, Prince, and Eminem himself, and has also helped to structure a number of prominent licensing deals and partnerships.

The pivotal question is whether digital formats like downloads constitute licenses – similar to TV or film – and therefore require much larger royalty percentages.  Drawing on the language of the contract, the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Em and company were “unambiguously” owed more money.  But how many other contracts have similar language, and would therefore fall under this precedent?

Plenty, according to Stiffelman, who noted that older agreements are a major vulnerability for UMG.  Of course, Universal has vowed to reverse the decision.

Mixing science with hip-hop music isn’t merely a hobby of scientists and science writers with  time on their hands. In an interview with VIBE magazine, hip-hop legend Dr Dre mentioned that he was thinking of an instrumental album called The Planets.

“It’s just my interpretation of what each planet sounds like. I’m gonna go off on that. Just all instrumental. I’ve been studying the planets and learning the personalities of each planet,” he told interviewer Jerry Barrow. “I’ve been doing this for about two years now just in my spare time so to speak. I wanna do it in surround sound. It’ll have to be in surround sound for Saturn to work.”

Of course, if Dre undertakes this project, he’ll be stepping up on the turf of some serious players.

Composer Gustav Holst. His own The Planets goes through seven of the sun’s satellites (the Earth apparently had enough songs of its own, and Pluto was not yet discovered). Characterizing them by their astrological “personalities”, he dedicated a movement of his full orchestra symphony to each. Of course, that was a hundred years ago – no need to fear getting up in Holst’s grill – and the planets are due for a modern interpretation.

As Geekosystem points out, this isn’t the first time that hip-hop artists have turned to space for inspiration, such as the Beastie Boys “Intergalactic” and Ghostface Killah’s “The Sun“

HIP-HOP.COM SPECIAL EVENT!
Mos Def & Talib Kweli reunite as The Legendary BLACK STAR for a SPECIAL SHOW Tonight at the historic FOX Theater in OAKLAND CA
plus performing Bay area’s Zion I & DJ Mr.E on the 1′s & 2′s

FOR MORE INFO & TICKETS
SATURDAY JULY 31st
FOX THEATER OAKLAND

ALL AGES

BROUGHT TO YOU BY
HIP-HOP.COM, GARDEN GROWN, ANOTHER PLANET & ANKH MARKETING

Major labels are mass marketing power giants; it’s what they do. Before the advent of the social web, they were the only way to reach the masses. Due to their influence on commercial radio stations, big-box retail outlets, and television, much of this remains to be true. If an artist wants the general public to become familiar with their music and know the all words to their songs at the next show, then having the financial support of a major label will help them achieve this feat.

What’s interesting though, is that despite decades of experience in breaking new artists, major labels still have no idea whether or not their mass marketing is working until the end. Online analytics, small boosts in sales, viral YouTube videos, and conversations—these all serve as little cues that something is starting to happen, but there’s no way to tell when the point of reaching critical mass been achieved. That is, until it actually occurs. The blockbuster album.

Now, contrast this with the experience of a direct-to-fan marketing manager and an indie artist they represent. Through its easy for both parties to default into thinking like a major label, to try and reach the masses and put off the moment of understanding how successful their marketing has been until the campaign is over—that’s just not how going direct-to-fan works. From the very beginning, the direct-fan-marketer knows if their promotional efforts are working. Why? Because they must get it right in the small. An email can be sent to 100 fans and if it gets a great response rate, only then can it be mailed off to several thousands more.

“Get it right for ten people before you rush around scaling up to a thousand,” writes marketer and author Seth Godin. “It’s far less romantic than spending money at the start, but it’s the reliable, proven way to get to scale if you care enough to do the work.” In other words, artists need to remind themselves not to go for the masses, when they can go direct, one fan at a time, slowly scaling up, until their message and their music is truly ready to be hard. After all, a failed marketing campaign is much easier to fix early on. If an artist is trying to reach the masses, then like a major label, they won’t know if they’ve failed till the end.

Band claim it is ‘ridiculous to say we play blues music‘

The Black Keys have claimed their music is more influenced by hip-hop than the blues.

The Ohio duo bizarrely argued it is “ridiculous to say we play blues music” in an interview with theIndependent.

Frontman Dan Auerbach said: “When I listen to our records, I don’t hear blues music.”

Speaking about ‘Next Girl’, a song from their latest album ‘Brothers’, he added: “It’s weird because we ripped off a hip-hop song directly [on that track].”

Auerbach also claimed that the band’s live session players appreciate their musical influences.

“These guys understand where we’re coming from, they love hip-hop, they know that the groove is king. It’s hard to teach people that,” he remarked.

Last year, The Black Keys released a collaboration album under the name BLAKROC.

The self-titled record featured contributions from hip-hop artists such as Raekwon, Wu Tang Clan‘sRZA, Mos Def and Ludacris.