Damon Dash's Big Wednesday

If I'd read this on Wednesday I'd have known that at Damon Dash's press conference, not only did he announce Dash/DiBello Promotions and the Damon Dash Music Group, but he also announced a line of Pro-Keds sneakers to premier today, a new Roc Box and line of watches coming soon and a future line of Pro-Keds with the Yankees' Gary Sheffield. Plus, Irv Gotti was there after being released earlier on bail because he manages two of the fighters that Dash and DiBello will be promoting. Quite a day for Dame.

Quick Takes on the News

I had planned to take off part of yesterday and focus on some related business but that didn't really happen till last night. So that means you're going to get shortchanged a bit today, though I think I can get you linked to some of the bigger stories:

Shyne wants out of his contract with Island Def Jam, according to "sources", due to what he feels was a lack of support for Godfather Buried Alive and his own negative feelings regarding Antonio Reid.

Russell Simmons and Intuit are working together on a deal that promotes Intuit's tax preparation services with an option to have one's refund deposited to one's Rush Visa card from UniRush Financial Services.

Hip hop poker will make it to Spike TV this spring with Creator and Executive Producer Pony Boi, who also has an album coming out after the debut.

P. Diddy endorses Pepsi, the first endorsement outside of the P. Diddy empire. He will appear in a televised ad with Cindy Crawford and Eva Longoria.

Kanye West, Ludacris and John Legend to perform at Grammys.

New Weekly "Column"

I've just made my first post to Blogcritics.org entitled Vibe January Issue Fails to Address Awards Show Attacks. It focuses on an earlier post about the Vibe Awards stabbing and the lack of credible response in the January issue which was supposed to address the attacks. I've taken the original post and added a little context. It's both a way to expand my audience and to start playing around with the idea of a weekly column from ProHipHop addressing issues of social responsibility and hip hop business.

If you're involved with a publication that might be interested in such a thing, please write me at my new email address:
clyde(at)prohiphop(dot)com

Update on Damon Dash Music Group

My previous post on the Damon Dash Music Group revealed my confusion about the business relationships, but it looks like that was an early, incomplete report from Billboard. Thursday's press release from Island Def Jam Music Group clarifies that this is a joint venture with Island Def Jam and that Dash will also serve as a consultant for IDJ.

So it looks like the early reports from NY Daily News were correct. This looks really good for Island Def Jam. Not only do they get the benefit of new Dash projects but they also have Dash to maintain the loyalty of Roc-A-Fella acts.