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Hip-Hop News Plus Tupac Shakur Info |
50 CENT SET TO GROW BIZ EMPIRE
Sources: Live Nation Clinches Jay-Z Deal
Lil Wayne To Star In Sports Film 'Patriots'
Beastie Boy's Hoop Dreams: Rapper Pays Tribute to Basketball in New Film
Jean Grae Retires?
Photos Of Snoop Dogg On ABC's Soap Opera "One Life To Live"
50 Cent & Val Kilmer star in "Microwave Park"
Survive police interrogation by Ice-T
Jay-Z to open a 40/40 Club in Las Vegas.
Music video budgets meet the YouTube aesthetic.
Eddie Griffin's use of the N-word got him kicked off the stage at a Black Enterprise event.
Ghostwriting, a recurring theme in an art form haunted by authenticity. Ooo-eee-oooh!!!
Aesop Rock's new video is available for viewing if you can run the gauntlet of trivia questions.
Idolator essayist Jess Harvell has some choice words for journalists who are only now discovering that rappers are all about getting paid.
Three 6 Mafia has a new clothing line out that builds on and for the current emergence of a new rap/rock crossover.
Straight Up Brands releases Lucky Nites Golden Liqueur with the help of Lil' Flip.
5WPR makes the 2007 Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies in America.
Epic reaches out to Koch in order to outsource their urban marketing.
Romeo buys Rap Snacks.
It's fascinating to watch New York's current embrace of the South. Despite all the previous anguish and hand-wringing, cats follow the money.
The SMES Southeast Music & Entertainment Summit kicks off in Myrtle Beach on July 26th.
Leonardo Caprio may be planning a Live Earth for Hip Hop. To save the earth, not rap music.
Rawj shares Rap Club: Rule 1 and Rule 2.
Though big stars like Timbaland may feel it's ok to screw over club patrons, less successful artists should consider a different path given the decline of cd sales and hip hop albums.
Clothing company Sedgwick & Cedar is launching Sedgwick & Cedar Records as a division of Platinum Ice Records.
Forgot to link to these photos from NYOIL's record release party. Looks like fun!
Twista's begun a promotional onslaught for his next album, Adrenaline Rush 2007, with a preview at 247HH and a NASCAR tie-in, said to be the first with a hip hop artist.
Steve Rifkind will help MediaREADY promote the "newly announced MediaREADY Blingplayer".
DrJays.com will provide exclusive online distribution of Ladies First, a women's clothing line from Vin Rock of Naughty by Nature.
Kelly Cole has released an audiobook on Making Money With Streetball. More info at $BMM.
Red Bull is sponsoring Rock Steady Crew's 30 Anniversary events.
Women in hip hop face business as well as social/artistic challenges. For example, Jacki-O declared bankruptcy to get out of her record deal and take charge of her career.
Ron Spaulding launches The Spaulding Group focusing on "sales, marketing, promotions, and full label/distribution services for artists and select labels."
Michelle Blue teaches kids about business by producing hip hop cds.
The 40/40 Club's getting sued but Shawn Carter is not included in the legal love fest.
DJ Meta Smith joins the G-Unit Books crew.
HipHopSite.com goes all digital as they prepare to shut down their offline retail location.
Vibe partners with KickApps to powers its VIBE Verses Rap Battle presented by the Company "Formerly [Known as} Cingular".
Smart SMS Corp. has signed on as lead sponsor for this fall's Grooveline Magazine college tour.
Cedric Muhammed starts CM Cap, the "first firm dedicated to helping Hip-Hop artists start non-music industry-related businesses".
John Pasmore addresses the drop in hip hop cd sales discussed in a recent article in USA Today.
El-P has one of those mystery promotions happening that really deserves a post of its own.
Suge Knight's mansion is for sale.
Needlework Records says goodbye.
Marc Cuban advocates the revival of the music kiosk.
HoustonSoReal has photos from the Red Bull Big Tune Beat Battle.
The BBC reports that hip hop built the town of Cognac's reputation despite the town's hopes to draw attention to a film festival held there.
Vibe snags Barack Obama for their cover.
DJ Z-Trip produced the soundtrack for the All-Pro Football 2K8 video game due in July:
Cross-marketing includes a 2K Sports/Decon Records soundtrack CD ("All Pro"), a Z-Trip headlined tour featuring a several of the game artists and an iTunes/label promotion offering exclusive bonus tracks. Game track samples will be available later this month on 2K Sports' Web site.
Jermaine Dupri is reported to be opening Studio 72, inspired by Studio 54, in Atlanta later this month.
Lil Mama breaks down the lip gloss game for the NY Times.
Apparently not all celebrity djs suck. Enter DJ AM stage right.
Sucker Free has the ad for the green/Africa line from Simmons Jewelry featuring Kimora Lee Simmons that will appear in the July issue of Vanity Fair.
A high school in Little Rock, Arkansas has created an afterschool hip hop program that includes the "fifth element" of business.
BET announces the complete list of nominees for the 2007 BET AWARDS.
E.R.R.U.P.T Studios opens in Jacksonville, Florida with "high quality recording services (which include recording, mixing and mastering)...graphic design services, full-service printing, and CD duplication."
Hardcore student business plan competition includes a plan from a Brown University team:
Fantasy Hip Hop...Multiplayer online game that simulates the hip-hop industry.
U.S. Sentencing Commissions recommends crack sentencing reductions in its special Cocaine report.
Hector "Heist" Alvarez considers the possibilities for the Spanglish rap market.
The Virtual Publicist launches with a service that may be of use to up and coming hip hop acts targeting indie rock media.
Damon Dash and Timbaland make Details' 2007 Mavericks list though I'm not sure why, just as I was puzzled by the Global Achievement Award for Economic Empowerment that went to Beyonce's folks.
K-Fed has his own K-Fed branded search engine.
Though G. Love only occasionally appropriates hip hop, his good experiences on a small label are worth considering.
On a related note, Koch got more NY Times love last month.
The Ghetto Big Mac continues its reign of terror!
Are Nascar & hip hop long lost cousins? It doesn't quite work but I like the "hustler past" comparison since my grandfather ran moonshine back in the day.
A jury is considering the death penalty for Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, who bought the rights to a Donald Goines novel that seemed similar to his own life.
Aesop Rock has created a "45-minute continuous mix" called All Day for Nike's workout series available on iTunes.
Diddy, Jay-Z and the Weinstein brothers recently met with Comcast to discuss an urban video-on-demand channel.
9th Wonder leaves Little Brother and it's not a big surprise. Big Pooh and Phonte also want/need to leave Atlantic.
The career of songwriter Kevin Kendrick may be topped by his songs for Outkast but it all started with the support of music publisher Buddy Killen.
I bet Terrance Dean's Hiding in Hip-Hop: Confessions of a Down Low Brother in the Entertainment Industry, due out next year, is already making people sweat just wondering what gets revealed.
Late last month, Rocawear ditched model Danielle Lloyd for racist remarks on Big Brother, a UK reality show.
K-Fed's Nationwide commercial for the upcoming Super Bowl is taken as an insult by a restaurant trade group.
Common launched his Soji hat line this week and Jeremy Piven played host.
Hip Hop Weekly gets a cease and desist from The Source for their use of "creators of The Source" on their publication. The dynamic duo are not amused.
Serius Jones signs with DTP Records.
Jerry Heller, Johnny J and Pablito Vasquez have launched Streetlife Records.
Mele Mel is turning his wrestling dreams into reality with the WWE.
Rawkus Records is working with Voxonic to translate a single by Naledge into multiple languages.
5W PR set up camp at Sundance with a variety of celebrity events.
Jay-Z joins Mr. Diddy in the raccoon dog skinning hall of fame.
Diddy is holding boy band auditions for Making the Band 4.
Randy Kearse, author of STREET TALK: Da Official Guide to Hip-Hop & Urban Slanguage, has a new book out called Changin' Your Game Plan on the topic of "How to use incarceration as a stepping stone for success".
Three 6 Mafia to explore Hollywood's realness in Adventures In HollyHood.
Avenue Report (AR) Magazine will be launching soon with a focus on the "professional, fashion conscious, and business savvy African-American male".
The Worldwide Music Producers' LISTEN AND EXCHANGE is coming to Houston in February.
Inside The Music Business presents Strategies for Success Seminar and Showcase in Ft. Lauderdale in April.
Though hip hop at the Bonnaroo music festival has always been more of a sidestage affair, the news that organizers have purchased the festival site is a positive sign for such live events.
MediaZone's Social TV platform is launching in beta with multiple ad-supported streaming video channels including:
Urban Sky – Hip-hop music & lifestyle programming compiled by Chuck D.
Warner Music Group and MobiTV are partnering to create "artist-branded TV channels" that will include artist created video content.
Rick's Cabaret is expanding its chain of Club Onyx gentlemen's clubs, "upscale nightclubs featuring topless entertainers and catering to African-American businessmen and professionals", with a second club in Houston and a conversion from a Rick's Cabaret in Charlotte.
Hoodgrown Magazine relaunches online with a print edition planned for July 2007.
Koch Records may be for sale to a company "apparently known for investing in under-performing businesses and making them profitable by cutting expenses (aka people)."
China Law Blog weighs in on Diddy's fake fur outsourcing disaster as an example of the need for due diligence when partnering with Chinese companies.
Hoover promotes vacuum cleaners by dissing the Dirty South.
Wyclef Jean takes up a position in marketing as a roving ambassador for Haiti.
The Rap Up offers links to videos of Nas talking in-depth at a Hip Hop Is Dead wake listening party. [Note: Rizoh isn't kidding when he describes Nas as a difficult interviewee. Though I've never interviewed him, it's been a passing topic of conversation with journalists from both the States and Canada that it can be extremely difficult to get anything out of him worth printing.]
General unruliness cuts the Bay Area Rap Scene Awards short while the 10th annual Mixtape Awards closed down even earlier due to similar nonsense. Ah, East and West united in foolishness!
The release of ODB's A Son Unique is held up due to financial disputes.
[Via Eskay]
Although most of the article is behind a subscription wall, the news that next year's Buffalo Addy Awards, an annual advertising awards show in Buffalo, NY, will be themed "ghetto fabulous" makes me think a lot of white people are going to embarrass themselves in a manner that has led to on-campus controversies.
The Wire's commitment to Baltimore flavor has helped raise local artists' visibility.
Bang Bang Condoms is using hip hop to target the Canadian youth market.
Creative Loafing's Mara Shalhoup kicks off a three part series focused on "Big Meech" Flenory and the Black Mafia Family that I found via Eskay:
Hip-hop's shadowy empire
A county judge shuts down a planned rap cd release party in Chicago due to police concerns about gang violence.
New Category: Hip Hop Biz News
I'm starting a Hip Hop Biz News category similar to the old Quick Takes but for roundups of hip hop business news only. I'll be trying to make this a regular feature.
Forbes does a follow up on last year's announcement that Steve Stoute was gathering celeb investors together to invest in Carol's Daughter, a cosmetics company with which he has become closely involved. In fact, though he is described as having "half the business", the Forbes article presents him as the defacto owner and founder Lisa Price as the "back-story".
Making Music In The Beauty Aisle:
"After five months of negotiations, Stoute ponied up a reported $1 million for half the business. . . he recruited Clarisa Wilson, a vice president at L'Oreal USA who had managed a hair-care line called Mizani, aimed at African American women. Combing through reams of sales data, Stoute and Wilson whittled Carol's catalogue to a manageable 185 products."
"As for distribution, Stoute settled on a three-pronged attack: national chains, his own stores and the Internet. In February, Stoute inked a deal with Sephora, which now carries Carol's in 28 stores. Now he plans to take on $15 million in debt to build 20 Carol's stores--to go with his flagship store in Harlem and another in Brooklyn--in seven states on the east coast over the next three years."
"Other operating capital will come from friends Will Smith . . . his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, Interscope chief Jimmy Iovine, former Sony . . . music chief Tommy Mottola and, of course, Jay-Z--all of whom have invested a combined $10 million in exchange for 30% of the company's equity. (Price stays involved, providing a back-story a la Estee Lauder, another outfit that started on someone's stovetop.)"
There's also an accompanying slide show of Stoute's Greatest Marketing Hits accessible via the article.
50 On Hot 97 [with audio links]
The NY Post has a great piece on The Source's problems including the possibility that they have defaulted on a loan for $20 million and that Black Enterprise's investment of $17 million has not shown a return. The Publisher's Information Bureau states that The Source's ad revenues continue to slip and a spokesperson for the Audit Bureau of Circulation said that they had suspended their service to The Source. Meanwhile, Benzino stated in a phone interview from Miami that he was "looking out over the bay and eating stone crabs" while repeatedly telling the NY Post's reporter that the Post is "irrelevant."
Yesterday in Baltimore, the Hip Hop Summit Action Network held another in a series of summits focused on financial empowerment. Russell Simmons, Rev. Run and Lt. Gov. Michael Steele also appeared at Bowie High in a school assembly with the theme Make Your Future Phat.
The Finish Line hired Chosen Dance Company to perform at their national manager's meeting in Indianapolis wearing their Back-to-School line.
G. Roberson and Kyambo Joshua of Hip Hop Since 1978, associated with Kanye West and Just Blaze, have extended a deal with Atlantic Records and will also become Vice Presidents of Urban A&R.
Bridgez, a magazine originally focused on African-Amercian males, will relaunch in April with an emphasis on hip hop targeted towards young, urban Latinos.
A deal between Sounds 24-7 and Hip Hop Beverage Company will offer consumers of Pit Bull energy drinks and energy bars the Jasmin Music Card providing free one-a-day song downloads.
Lucas Design International is partnering with Rocawear to create a jewelry line that will include key chains and cufflinks.
MTV will launch its 100th channel focused on Africa with MTV base 100th LIVE!, a concert sponsored by Nokia SA as "part of a major integrated marketing deal designed to build connections between Nokia and African youth." The event will feature Will Smith, Ludacris, Lebo Mathosa, Mandoza and Seun Anikyulapo Kuti with Fela's Egypt 80 Band.
P. Diddy's menswear company Sean John is beginning its international expansion in Canada. The Canadian Press considers P. Diddy's visit in the context of his growing empire.
According to an SEC Filing from Brilliant Digital Entertainment, Russell Simmons has resigned from the board. Brilliant Digital Entertainment has a troubled history and strong ties to Kazaa, a filesharing company recently in the courts in Australia.
Indie game developers The Collective and Backbone Entertainment have announced a pending merger. Although the merged company will retain offices in multiple locations, a stronger presence in Los Angeles should be announced soon. GameSpot spoke briefly with Doug Hare and Jon Goldman about the merger. The Collective is currently developing Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure which will be released in September.
Xingtone and Roxio have signed an agreement in which Roxio will handle brick and mortar distribution of Xingtone's ringtone making software.
Singles chart report.
Linkin Park donates 100k to tsunami relief.
Hip Hop Blogs' Hashim Warren adds his take to Mark Cuban on hip hop culture and the NBA.
Brand Autopsy's John Moore elaborates on NPR's CD Baby report.
Way back before Christmas, Wyclef Jean was interviewed by Brian Braiker.
Not quite so long ago, Shaheem Reid considered T.I.'s road to success.
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