ProHipHop: Hip Hop Marketing & Business News

L-R-G Hayabusa From Suzuki, L-R-G & 2Wheel Tuner

L-R-G's 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa

L-R-G and Nick Anglada designed and built the L-R-G Hayabusa pictured above.

From the press release:
American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC), in partnership with Lifted Research Group, better known as L-R-G, and 2Wheel Tuner magazine, today unveiled a fully customized 2008 Hayabusa sportbike at the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show (IMS) at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, Calif.

Designed by L-R-G and built by Nick Anglada of Custom Sportbike Concepts (CSC) of Winter Garden, Fla., the L-R-G Hayabusa blends the panache of one of the hottest urban brands in fashion with the iconic personality of Suzuki's fastest production motorcycle. The L-R-G Hayabusa will be on display at the Suzuki booth through Sunday, Dec. 9 and featured on the January 2008 cover of 2Wheel Tuner.

Official Site:
L-R-G: Lifted Research Group

Jay-Z Rumors ARE News: Contract Negotiations in Flux

Jay-Z is said to be in contract negotiations with Universal Music which may have broken down over "excessive" demands from Jay-Z.

According to a "source":
He wanted big, big money that was way out of sync with the realities of today's record business...People have lost count of how many times he's come out of retirement...Everybody knows he's not around the office much. Everybody at Universal loves him, but they can't justify paying him the money he wants when so many people have been laid off.

Overpaid executives are a common theme across industries and music industry execs recently received a very special "open letter for CEOs to ignore" suggesting they start with personal pay cuts.

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Will Jay-Z Pull a Madonna w/Live Nation?
Jay-Z Quits Def Jam Presidency, Still On Roc-A-Fella
Jay-Z: J Hotels, Def Jam Deal, Branded Entertainment Co.

Wooohah! Film/TV: Xzibit, Andre 3000, Common, Mos Def

Hip hop film and tv news from WoooHah.com:

Xzibit as FBI agent in new "X-Files" movie.

Andre 3000 in new "Semi-Pro" movie trailer.

Common still on hold as the next Green Lantern.

Official movie poster for Mos Def's next film "Be Kind Rewind".

First look photos of Common in action film "Wanted".

Diddy: CNBC's I Am American Business, Raisin in the Sun

Sean Diddy Combs for CNBC

Sean Diddy Combs is part of CNBC's I Am American Business campaign.

Video via WoooHah.com.

In related Sean Diddy Combs news, peep the trailer for Raisin in the Sun.

ProHipHop Style Guide Claims First!!!:
ProHipHop has decided to remove the quote marks typically surrounding Diddy in Sean "Diddy" Combs.  For all practical purposes, mainstream coverage now treats Diddy as Sean Combs' middle name, so it's time for the final step and the shift to Sean Diddy Combs without the quote marks.

Another ProHipHop EXCLUSIVE, WORLDWIDE, FIRST OF IT'S KIND, uh, Step Forward for Mankind Hip Hop!!!

2008 Lincoln Navigator Commercial f/Common

Common for Lincoln Navigator

Thanks to Corporate Takeover we can view this nice rip of Common's Lincoln Navigator commercial.

Via Nah Right.

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Common's Lincoln Mercury Deal Goes Beyond Endorsing the 2008 Lincoln Navigator

Duck Down Records: Gangland Theme, ESPN, YouTube, History Channel, Kidz In The Hall

The Rap Up has the Gangland theme from Duck Down records who are making some great moves including a deal with ESPN.

At Hip Hop Press:
Duck Down Records Partners with YOUTUBE & The History Channel
KIDZ IN THE HALL INK DEAL WITH DUCK DOWN RECORDS

HoustonSoReal: Damage Control Tribute to Pimp C

HoustonSoReal's Matt Sonzala returns to Damage Control radio for a tribute to Pimp C.

Via Vibes and Stuff.

Leaders 1354, PHLI Worldwide & Self Conscious Form Brotherhood of Sneaker Boutiques

We Need PHLI Self Conscious Leaders

Three Chicago area sneaker boutiques, Leaders 1354, PHLI Worldwide, and Self Conscious, are joining together as The Brotherhood.  Enstrumental created the "We need PHLI Self Conscious Leaders" t-shirts to symbolize the partnership and they're all celebrating with a series of events in Chicago on December 19th.

Leaders 1354 in Chicago

For more info on the individual boutiques:
PHLI Worldwide
Leaders 1354
Self Conscious

Singles: Flo Rida's Low #1 on Hot Digital Songs

Not much excitement in the top 10 on the Hot 100 singles chart but Flo Rida's Low featuring T-Pain hit no. 1 on the Hot Digital Songs tally.

Top 10 Singles on the Hot 100:

1. Alicia Keys - No One
2. Chris Brown - Kiss Kiss
3. Timbaland - Apologize feat. OneRepublic
4. Flo Rida - Low feat. T-Pain
5. Colbie Caillat - Bubbly
6. Fergie - Clumsy
7. Kanye West - Good Life feat. T-Pain
8. Soulja Boy - Crank That (Soulja Boy)
9. Rihanna - Hate That I Love You feat. Ne-Yo
10. Finger Eleven - Paralyzer

And some good news for Snoop:
With the No. 76 debut of Snoop Dogg's "Sensual Seduction," the rapper extends his streak of having at least one song chart per year to 10.

Last Week Kanye West's Flashing Lights Was Hot Shot Debut

Oops, forgot all about the Hot 100 singles chart last week.  I am posting it now for historical purposes.

Top 10 Singles on the Hot 100:

1. Alicia Keys - No One
2. Timbaland - Apologize feat. OneRepublic
3. Chris Brown - Kiss Kiss
4. Flo Rida - Low feat. T-Pain
5. Soulja Boy - Crank That (Soulja Boy)
6. Colbie Caillat - Bubbly
7. Fergie - Clumsy
8. Kanye West - Good Life feat. T-Pain
9. Rihanna - Hate That I Love You feat. Ne-Yo
10. Baby Bash - Cyclone feat. T-Pain

Good news for Kanye West:
Kanye West has the Hot Shot Debut this week with "Flashing Lights" featuring Dwele at No. 75; the song also shoots 36-24 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

Kanye West Leads Grammy Nominations

Grammys.com isn't loading, possibly due to high traffic from the fact that they've announced the nominees:

Kanye West tops the nominations with eight [including Album of the Year], Amy Winehouse garners six, and the Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and T-Pain each earn five nods. Akon, Dierks Bentley, Chris Daughtry, Feist, Tim McGraw, John Newton, Ne-Yo, Rihanna, and Bruce Springsteen receive four each.

Here are some hip hop highlights from the press release:

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration nods go to:

"I Wanna Love You" -- Akon Featuring Snoop Dogg
"Kiss, Kiss" -- Chris Brown & T-Pain
"Let It Go" -- Keyshia Cole Featuring Missy Elliott & Lil' Kim
"Umbrella" -- Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z
"Good Life" -- Kanye West Featuring T-Pain

Nominees for Best Rap Song are:

"Ayo Technology" -- N. Hills, Curtis Jackson, Timothy Mosley & Justin Timberlake, songwriters (50 Cent Featuring Justin Timberlake & Timbaland)
"Big Things Poppin' (Do It)" -- Clifford Harris & Byron Thomas, songwriters (T.I.)
"Can't Tell Me Nothing" -- A. Davis & Kanye West, songwriters (Kanye West)
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" -- Soulja Boy Tell'Em, songwriter (Soulja Boy Tell'Em)
"Good Life" -- A. Davis, F. Najm & K. West, songwriters (Kanye West Featuring T-Pain)

For Best Rap Album, the nominees are:

Finding Forever -- Common
Kingdom Come -- Jay-Z
Hip Hop Is Dead -- Nas
T.I. vs T.I.P. -- T.I.
Graduation -- Kanye West

It's showtime:

The 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on "GRAMMY Sunday," Feb. 10, 2008, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and once again will be broadcast live in high definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

Looking Back: Conceit Wins YouTube's OnTheRise Contest

Conceit - Scissors & Glue

In the news I skipped department, Conceit won YouTube's OnTheRise Rap Edition back in September.

Zoneil Maharaj checked in with Conceit in October while the details were still being sorted out.

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
50 Cent, Common & Polow Da Don Judge YouTube Rap Contest

Bloggers: In Vibe.com & Radar, Oh Word @ Ning, A Business Minute, Beats & Rhymes Radio, Sneaker Art Battle

Che Sing The Cool's Small Eyez is getting some love from Vibe.

Eskay is named one of Radar's New Radicals.

Oh Word launches a social network.

J. Jesus Garcia launched A Business Minute.

Del from Vibes & Stuff helped launch Beats and Rhymes Radio, an online streaming channel from Exclaim!

Ian threatens to participate in Converse's Sneaker Art Battle in NY this weekend.

Pitbull's The Boatlift Debuts at #50

Pitbull - The Boatlift

Now That's What I Call Music 26 is the closest thing to hip hop in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 album chart but Pitbull's The Boatlift is this week's highest debut at no. 50 with 22k sold.

Top 10 Albums on the Billboard 200:

1. Josh Groban - Noel
2. The Eagles - Long Road Out of Eden
3. Alicia Keys - As I Am
4. Now That's What I Call Music 26
5. Garth Brooks - The Ultimate Hits
6. Soundtrack - High School Musical 2
7. Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/Meet Miley Cyrus
8. Celine Dion - Taking Chances
9. Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride
10. Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas Song

Video From Reach: Scion NextUp Emcee '06 Winner

Reach - Comin' For You

Kansas City, Missouri rapper Reach won the Scion NextUp Emcee competition around this time last year.  According to Tony's Kansas City, the video for the winning song, Comin' For You, has finally made its way from Scion broadBand to the land of YouTube.

Luther Campbell's Luke Entertainment Group Goes Public on Pink Sheets, Not Nasdaq

I recently received a press release stating that:
Luther Campbell today announced the creation of the Luke Entertainment Group (www.lukeentertainmentgroup.com), a multi-media company that will be operated on the NASDAQ pink sheets symbol (LKEN).

I declined to run it at Hip Hop Press because of the obvious inaccuracy.  The NASDAQ exchange has nothing to with Pink Sheets or other Over The Counter means of trading so-called "penny stocks" that do not trade on the major exchanges.

Since I hadn't heard back from my follow-up note, I decided to see who picked this up as is and the first result was XXLmag.com, one of many reputable publications to make this easily made mistake, one that is also indicative of how inaccuracies in press releases from major pr agencies become news items in legitimate outlets.

The accurate symbol for Luke Entertainment, Inc. is LKEN.PK and it trades on the Pink Sheets.

Unfortunately there are many legitimate reasons to avoid these stocks due to the nature of the markets in which they trade in addition to the issue of properly analyzing companies that reveal little internal data.

No advice here except to educate yourself if you're involved with any stock market.  And, if you do go public, make sure that your press releases are accurate about all statements related to your company's status.  You don't want to take a backdoor route to an SEC violation!

Official Site:
Luke Entertainment Group

Photo Shoot for Pharrell's Louis Vuitton Jewelry Line

Billionaire Boys Club has photos from Pharrell's Louis Vuitton shoot in preparation for the launch of his Louis Vuitton jewelry line next month.

Resources: Press Release Distribution, Ad Networks & Tools, Web Coding

Mashable has:
20+ Free Press Release Distribution Sites
30+ Ways To Advertise Yourself
250+ Tools and Resources For Coding the Web

Mashable has a lot more of this kind of thing but I can't find any categories or tags on their site.  You can scroll down to the bottom of each post for more links but somebody's missing something.  If it's me, please clue me in.

There is a link on some pages to TAGS but that goes to a networking feature.  I can't believe I wasted my time trying to find something so basic and still can't.

This works: Search Mashable: Toolbox

Jam Master Jay & the J.A.M. Awards: Celebration & Stress

The NY Daily News has photos from last Thursday's J.A.M. Awards held to honor the memory of Jam Master Jay.

Glenn Gamboa reviewed the event and Steve Knopper interviewed DMC for Newsday.

Stress continues between primary characters from the last days of Jam Master Jay who have strong feelings but don't seem to have done a lot for the ongoing investigation.

Showbuzz coverage leads with a plug for the JMJ Foundation For Music which the event was intended to benefit and which is missing out on the benefits of an active, up-to-date website.

Pimp C Passes in LA

Pimp C was "found dead this morning (Dec. 4) in his room at the Mondrian Hotel on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip. He was 33. Police found the rapper, whose real name was Chad Butler, dead in his bed after responding to a 911 call."

Update:
More from MTV with official statements and some history as well as a biographical feature.

Bun B & Swizz Beats Kick Off Zune Takeover 2

Swizz Beats at the Seattle Takeover 2

Microsoft's Zune music/media player is teaming with "lifestyle retail boutiques" for a series of Zune Takeover 2 events that began in Seattle November 30th with Bun B and Swizz Beats.

Zune 80 by GOODS

GOODS was the cosponsoring lifestyle boutique and designed a limited edition 80GB Zune 80.

Swizz Beats and Bun B for the Zune

Bun B and Swizz Beats discussed the Zune Takeover events during an interview in Format Magazine.

Blogs Is Watching has concert footage and a video of DJ B-Mello interviewing Swizz Beats and Bun B.

Interview w/Street Swag's Joanne Portal

Format Magazine interviews Joanne Portal, head buyer for DrJays.com's Street Swag.

Hip Hop Featured at MTV Arabia Launch

Associated Press: Launch of MTV Arabia

MTV Arabia launched November 17th in Dubai and the musical entertainment had a hip hop focus featuring Ludacris, Akon, Qusai and Desert Heat.

Hip Hop 2.0 w/Mike Jones: Watching the Frappr Map

Mike Jones - Watching The Frappr Map

This is a unique cosign for Frappr's social map though Mr. Jones finally gives up shouting out to each location.

More such Mike Jones Hip Hop 2.0 moments can be found on Mike Jones' YouTube Channel.

For the extreme fan:
Mike Jones Watches the Mike Jones YouTube Channel

ProHipHop is Down for the Count

I'm sick.  So much for getting caught up.

OZONE Mag Sex Issue Featuring Lil Wayne Now Available

OZONE Magazine's Sex Issue is now available online.  Somehow a cover featuring Lil Wayne doesn't call out to me in the context of sex but whatever works in the marketplace.

Via Writer's Block Media.

Rumors & News: Layoffs at Island Def Jam, Whither Jay-Z?, Sony BMG, Stolen Transmission

Universal's Island Def Jam Music Group is laying off employees and rumors are swirling regarding Jay-Z's plans.

Layoffs are also said to be about to hit Sony BMG.

Sarah Lewitinn at Stolen Transmission puts things in context and discusses life after Island/Def Jam which has already begun.

Hip Hop Album Releases for Dec. 4: 2Pac, Birdman, Drama, Eazy-E, Ghostface, Mack 10, N.W.A., Scarface, Styles P, Too Short, Westside Connection, Wyclef Jean

Too Short - Get Off The Stage

This is a big week for West Coast releases with multiple best of collections, an N.W.A. Straight Outta Compton: 20th Anniversary Edition plus Mr. Too $hort.

To receive this report separately each week, please visit Weekly Hip Hop Albums and sign up for our free weekly newsletter delivered every Monday with Tuesday's releases.

The following new releases are available from Amazon.

The Best Of 2Pac, Part 1: Thug
The Best of 2Pac, Part 2: Life
The Best of Fiend: Mr. Whomp Whomp
The Best of Mack 10: Foe Life
The Best of Westside Connection
Birdman - 5 Star Stunna
Cool Nutz - King Cool Nutz
DJ Netik - DMC Presents Champion Sounds
Drama - Gangsta Grillz: The Album
Eazy-E - Featuring Eazy E
Filero - Million Dollar Mexican
Gangsta Rap Meets Hip-Hop Legends
Ghostface Killah - The Big Doe Rehab
Jefes De Latin Hip Hop 
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton: 20th Anniversary Edition
Pittsburgh Slim - Tastemaker
Scarface - MADE
Styles P - Super Gangster: Extraordinary Gentleman
Too Short - Get Off the Stage
TVT Records - Crunk Hits Vol. 4
Wyclef Jean - Carnival II: Memoirs of an Immigrant

For a database of upcoming and past releases with updates,
please see Hip Hop Albums @ netweed.

Hypebot: Blog Awards, Doug Morris Pilloried, WMG, Pepsi MP3 Giveaway, Label Business Models, WE7's Steve Purdham, EMI's Mark Piiba

Music industry news from Hypebot:

Nominations are open for Hypebot's First Annual Best Music Blog Awards. Nominate your favorite blogs here.

Universal CEO Doug Morris spoke candidly with Wired Magazine about the music industry and his lack of knowledge in dealing with file sharing and the rapid changes caused by internet. One cartoonist had a field day with his comments.

Warner Music Group announced a drop in profits and a major 360 deal with the Frank Sinatra estate and his family.

With a pending Pepsi promotion giving away 1 billion tracks via Amazon and more action from the labels the slow march towards DRM free music is becoming a sprint to the finish line.

An essay on "The New Record Label Models: Which Will Survive?" sparked a real debate among industry pros that you can join here.

The 4QFor (Four Questions For) Series continued with an exclusive interview with ad supported download site WE7's founder and CEO Steve Purdham.

EMI named Mark Piibe SVP Business Affairs for its North American Digital Division.

Hypebot expanded its Music 2.0 resources section and New Music Business Bookstore.

See ProHipHop's Hypebot Industry News category for past roundups.

ProHipHop Album Coverage Continues at Albums 07

ProHipHop's hip hop album coverage continues in our Albums 07 category.

ProHipHop Chart Coverage Continues at Charts 07

ProHipHop's album and singles charts coverage continues in our Charts 07 category.

ProHipHop Fashion Coverage Continues at Fashion II

ProHipHop's hip hop fashion coverage continues in our Fashion II category.