Agencies & Publicists

August 23, 2011

Donald Trump Labeled Mac Miller As The Next Eminem

Business magnate Donald Trump has just given his Mac Miller his co-sign. Hosted at Youtube, Trump voiced out his obvious admiration through a video. While a real estate mogul is not generally seen as an influential voice in the hip hop scene, it didn’t stop Trump from branding the up-and-coming rapper as the next Eminem.

Mac Miller, the Rostrum Records signee, released a song entitled, “Donald Trump”. To date, the track has gained millions of followers with more than 20 million views on YouTube. Although Donald’s quipped that he has yet to her the song, being granted such overwhelming support from the host of The Apprentice is a huge career leap for Miller.

A full transcript of Trump’s video message about Miller is available. Here’s an excerpt: “A lot of people are calling me about the Mac Miller rap song. Now, it’s named ‘Donald Trump.’ Maybe you should pay me a lot of money, but it just did over 20 million people, tuning into Mac Miller. So in one way, I’m proud of him. I haven’t actually seen the language; it’s a little hard to understand on the song itself. Probably, it’s not the cleanest language you’ve ever heard, but this kid is the new Eminem. Everybody says he’s fantastic. Let’s see what it is. But the ‘Donald Trump’ song just hit over 20 million, that’s not so bad. I’m very proud of him.”

Mac Miller recently appeared on RapFix Live (the best Hip Hop talk show around) and talked about his career development and recent clothing purchases. The Pittsburgh native also hinted on introducing a video and single from his upcoming album Frick Park Market ahead of his scheduled launch of Blue Slide Park album in November this year.

Posted by Karen on August 23, 2011 in About, Agencies & Publicists, Hip Hop Files | Permalink

August 17, 2011

“Watch the Throne” Title Significant To Hip Hop Culture, Explains Jay-Z

Pre-sale tickets for the Watch the Throne tour are being snapped up left and right and the start of this partnership between hip hop collaborators Jay-Z and Kanye West draws ever closer. Still, many wonder what the title means, and Jay-Z was eager to explain the importance of the name.

Jay-Z said that this collaboration is expected to help uphold the hip hop culture. In a recent interview with Lorenzo Thomas on 99 Jamz, the 32-year old rapper says that he doesn’t bend over to popular trends when planning his next project. He emphasized that sustaining hip hop culture shouldn’t need more than a simple sales strategy. “No super over-the-top, big singing chorus or anything,” he said. “That’s how we launched our album. And it’s good that it’s been embraced the way it has.”

Jay-Z says the daring title is a means of asserting the influence of hip hop culture on society as a whole. As such, the Grammy Award-winning hitmaker maintains a conscious awareness of his authority as hip hop trendsetter and how that can influence people. With much confidence, he stated that while in previous decades the music of the youth was rock and roll, hip hop has gradually taken that place.

What “Watch the Throne” means is just that: hip hop music may be at the top of the youth’s minds but something else can easily replace it. By making sure that the hip hop industry continues to put out the best product – one that can compete with the rise of dance music and indie music – it can be assured that it remains relevant to the current generation of youths.

Posted by Karen on August 17, 2011 in Agencies & Publicists, Jay-Z | Permalink

February 09, 2011

Dancers, This is Your Time to Appear in DJ Webstar’s Upcoming Video Clip

(New York, N.Y – February 9, 2011) – DJ Webstar, Universal Music Group/SRC famed deejay and hit maker, most widely known for his hit “Chicken Noodle Soup” and “Dancing On Me”, just announced that he will be searching for the best dance crews on the east and west coast to create a dance for his new song “Fly Like A Plane” in which DJ Webstar will be shooting his new music video for his the song on Tuesday February 16, 2011 location TBA. The competition will be a continuing effort in a search for talented dance crews in various emerging styles of dance started by the “Jerk All Stars”, a group of young leaders in the southern Californian dance movement known as “jerking”. DJ Webstar will partner with Triple Fat Goose clothing, a lifestyle brand which produces men’s and women’s outerwear, along with men’s ready-to-wear apparel, and The Fashion Reporter, online magazine for all things fashion, to stream the competition on their respective websites, www.triplefatgoose.com and www.thefashionreporter.com.

The dance competition will feature nearly a dozen dance acts from all over the United States and will give local dance crews an opportunity to show off their personal style and unique form of dance. Each contestant will record a video via YouTube of themselves creating a dance to DJ Webstar’s new single “Fly Like a Plane” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFoE2YidSVU) and each week a winner will be chosen out of the video submissions to move onto an official battle, where the winning crew will be chosen.

The grand prize will consist of an appearance in DJ Webstar’s upcoming music video “Fly Like a Plane“, a $250 shopping spree,, wardrobe from Triple Fat Goose Clothing, and a spot on the DYD Tour (Do Your Dance Tour), an international tour created for highlighting and promoting specific underground dance movements, their originators, and their best dance crews. Highly popular groups “The New Boyz” and “The Rangers”, two California based recording artists and dance crews that propelled the “jerking” movement, will headline the tour as well. The tour will be presented and documented by Comcast Networks, one of the nation’s leading providers of cable, entertainment and communication products and services. Members of the tour will be outfitted by Triple Fat Goose while performing at in-store autograph signings at Shiekh Shoes, a major California based shoe and apparel retailer with over 80 stores on the west coast.

The goal of this competition is to provide the winning crew international publicity and to grant a platform to share their talent and unique vision for their respective dance style. Contestants who are creating a dance for DJ Webstar’s “Fly Like A Plane” music video are asked to upload a video to YouTube and submit their video links to [email protected] submissions for this video is due by Sunday Feb 13, 2011 and those who would like the chance to dance in the “Jerk All Stars” DYD Tour (Do Your Dance) competition on the east coast submit to [email protected]

For more information, please contact The Triple Fat Goose and Fashion reporter representative Jeremy Worker at [email protected] or McQueen Media representative Soulgee McQueen at [email protected] or Sparkle Callahan at [email protected] or 646-322-0376.

——–
McQueen Media
Soulgee McQueen
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 646-322-0376
www.trioent.com

Posted by yodee on February 09, 2011 in Agencies & Publicists, Dance/Theater, DJs/Producers | Permalink

February 09, 2011

BRYAN-MICHAEL COX, SESAC AND 100 URBAN ENTREPRENEURS SET TO HONOR SEAN “DIDDY” COMBS DURING GRAMMY AWARDS WEEKEND

New York, NY February 6, 2011 – Producer and Songwriter Bryan-Michael Cox along with SESAC and 100 Urban Entrepreneurs announced today that they will celebrate the lifetime achievements of Sean “Diddy” Combs at a private celebration in Los Angeles California on February 13^th during the Grammy Awards weekend. Cox is particularly excited about this year’s honoree largely because of Combs’ direct influence on his career “I see Diddy’s work as an artist being celebrated all the time. It was important to me to celebrate his work and honor him as a businessman who’s marketing genius changed the face of the music industry,” says Cox “Having worked closely with him throughout the years, I’ve been a direct beneficiary of his counsel and its been life changing.”

The private affair will host hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs, musicians and industry insiders who credit the career of Sean “Diddy” Combs as one of the most inspirational bodies of work in both music and business. Sean “Diddy” Combs will be honored for his continued excellence as an entrepreneur and mentor.

This year’s event commemorates the seventh annual celebration with past honorees being Nate “Danjahandz” Hills, DJ Toomp, Chris Hicks, Jermaine Dupri and Swizz Beatz.

About Bryan-Michael Cox
Bryan-Michael Cox is an award winning producer and songwriter, who has written and produced songs for leading entertainers within the music industry. Notably, Cox’s writing and producing credits have earned him accolades and awards with song – “Be Without You” (songwriter award) in 2007, a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album – The Emancipation of MiMi (producer award) in 2005 and a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album – Confessions (producer award) in 2004. In 2009, Cox was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and named by Billboard Magazine as one of the top ten producers of the decade. Cox is nominated for a 2011 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album for Executive Producing Monica’s Still Standing

About 100 Urban Entrepreneurs
100 URBAN ENTREPRENEURS (www.100urbanentrepreneurs.com) is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to helping provide a long-term economic boost to urban communities throughout the United States by supporting entrepreneurship at its earliest stages. In partnership with TheCASHFLOW, 100 Urban Entrepreneurs seeks to identify, fund and mentor 100 of the most promising young businesspeople that might otherwise lack access to startup capital and a professional network. Our goal is to provide the tools to help talented young dreamers create viable, profitable companies.

Posted by yodee on February 09, 2011 in Agencies & Publicists, Awards, P Diddy | Permalink

July 23, 2009

Comic-Con: Josh Blaylock & MURS Launch PopCult

Josh Blaylock & MURS Team for PopCult

With Coke Zero as a sponsor, PopCult is debuting at a Comic-Con afterparty on Saturday:

WHO:
• PopCult, a premier creative solutions company, unifies the masterminds behind comic culture: Devil's Due Publishing president Josh Blaylock, hip-hop star Murs, author and video game writer R.H. Stavis, film producer and former comic publisher Christian Beranek and iconic toy designer Shawnimal…For major corporations seeking to penetrate the booming ComiCulture market, PopCult delivers inside track solutions as opposed to the lesser informed marketing agencies or comic publishers with little to no project management ability.

WHAT:
• A star-studded launch event for Popcult, the premier creative think-tank at the center of ComiCulture

WHERE:
• ONYX / THIN
• 852 5th Ave. San Diego
• http://www.onyxroom.com

WHEN:
• Saturday, July 25, 2009
• 9:00 PM – 2:00 AM

[Sources: Various promo emails.]

Posted by Clyde Smith on July 23, 2009 in Agencies & Publicists, Art/Photo, Arts Fashion Film, Marketing | Permalink

July 22, 2009

Bobbito Garcia Named Chief Creative at Project 2050

Project 2050 makes a sharp move and brings on Bobbito Garcia as "Chief Creative".

Shepard Fairey joined Project 2050 as "founding Creative Director" in October 2005.

Posted by Clyde Smith on July 22, 2009 in Agencies & Publicists, Marketing | Permalink

July 15, 2009

Robert Rave Spin[s] Lizzie Grubman

According to Gawker, Lizzie Grubman’s former assistant Robert Rave has written a book, Spin: A Novel, that does quite a number on the controversial publicist:

“Spin is big and thick and getting a roll out from St. Martin’s next month, but really the first few pages of the prologue tell it all. A blowed-out, little-black-dress-clad, ogre-handed orange menace named Jennie blowing lines at 6am while complaining about black people.”

Spin: A Novel by Robert Rave is due August 18th from St. Martin’s Press.

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Publicists: Lizzie Grubman Meet Phyllis Pollack
Who’s Lizzie Grubman?

Posted by Clyde Smith on July 15, 2009 in Agencies & Publicists, Books, Books Magazines Websites, Marketing | Permalink

June 08, 2009

Vice + Virtue = Media + Marketing

The NY Times recently had a very interesting piece on the combined force of Vice magazine and the associated Virtue agency:

“Vice magazine has its own antonymous agency, Virtue, which serves as an advertising firm, Web site developer and branding partner. In what may rankle media traditionalists who favor a bright line between advertising and editorial, Virtue’s approach includes using editorial staff at Vice to help develop marketing plans for clients.”

Key point: they’re getting coverage cause their youthful tastemaker access and marketing approaches are working. But whether this is another example of the fading advertising/editorial line or is more similar to radio stations whose DJ’s do ad spots is up for discussion.

Certainly the idea of successful content creators creating marketing campaigns makes a heck of a lot of sense.

Posted by Clyde Smith on June 08, 2009 in Agencies & Publicists, Books Magazines Websites, Marketing, Publishing | Permalink

December 15, 2008

DIY Musician Podcast: Music Publicist Alex Steininger

In a half hour CD Baby DIY Musician Podcast, music publicist Alex Steininger "discusses the ins and outs of promotion in the digital age" including "how to pick a publicist, what a publicist does and at what point a musician should seek a publicist to move his or her music forward."

Posted by Clyde Smith on December 15, 2008 in Agencies & Publicists, How To, Marketing | Permalink

November 03, 2008

DCN360: Decon Records’ Indie Approach to 360 Deals

Based on their artistic output, Decon Records is a really interesting label and, according to Songs For Soap, a bigger business in growth mode than I’d realized.

Now cofounders Peter Bittenbender and Jason Goldwatch are taking their skills and experience to launch DCN360. Says Bittenbender:

"Our whole model now is to figure out how to incorporate what we’ve developed with our music and entertainment relationships and apply it to branded content to connect with the youth market…We want to use brands as a launching pad for our talent and vice versa."

To some extent this appears to be an extension of what they’re already doing including a "full-length film feature for Netflix, video production for Sony Ericsson’s fall TV campaign and soundtracks for Take Two’s 2K Sports video-game franchise."

According to "Goldwatch — who admits he shuddered when the company introduced the word ‘brand’ into its vocabulary":

"We want to do the projects we think would be great and try to attract a brand to them…I want to make new media weird alchemist sh*t, and whatever brand is savvy enough to be like ‘That’s killer,’ we’ll work with them."

Goldwatch also explains the basic value proposition:

"Sign to our label, we do all your videos and design work, we take out ads, put together your tour, and then put you in the middle."

To help develop DCN360 they’ve hired Sebastian Eldridge, who’s worked with Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners and Translation, as VP-Strategy.

Posted by Clyde Smith on November 03, 2008 in Agencies & Publicists, Marketing | Permalink