Lord Finesse, one of the great, unsung producers of hip-hop, just delivered a sonic time machine. The SP1200 Project: Sounds & Frequencies in Technicolor is more than just an instrumental album—it’s a testament to the rich, textured sound of hip-hop’s golden era, crafted by one of the Bronx’s finest. A Response to Over-Compressed Modern Soundscapes … Read more
With all the interviews, news, and acclaim surrounding Lil Wayne’s "A-Milli", there’s been little mention of producer Cha-Lo’s role in the creation of the track. However, it seems that with all of the recent attention this may have become somewhat of an issue. Decide for yourself as Raheim touches a little further on the topic, … Read more
For years there’s been much talk of DJ’s somehow banding together, unionizing, and leveraging their power of influence in clubs, radio, and other media. Formed July 2008 to serve as an "advocacy group on a range of public policy and rights issues," the The International Disc Jockey Trade Association (IDJTA) boasts a number of notable … Read more
Loyal readers already know by now that I have strong feelings about the future of the recording industry and importance of artists, especially producers, fully realizing their value. You may have caught this weekends thoughts about the role current and future technology will play in the independence of musicians; here’s a concrete example of the type of ingenuity and independence that I was referring to.
Q-Tip once again shows his loyalty to the Akai MPC 2000XL for the November 4th release of The Renaissance.
Norwegian production team Stargate (Nas, Beyonce, Rhianna, Ne-Yo, Tre Songz) have teamed up with Jay Z to form a new label named StarRoc. Word has it that the producers have already relocated their studio to Roc The Mic in order to begin work. [via MIC]
Hardware manufacturer Akai has just announced the release of new operating systems for every current MPC. Perhaps this large batch of fixes is a reaction to the popular trend of MPC bashing resulting from the botched release of the MPC 5000. Regardless, early adopters of the MPC 5000 will be relieved to know that OS v1.02 has resolved 14 issues and now allows the loading of MPC 2000 programs into the unit.
Now if we could only convince the execs at Akai to bring back (or at least continue to support) the rock solid MPC 2000 XL… the world would be a much better place!
According to the bulletin sent by Digiwaxx Media, one of the largest free online MP3 record pools, their website has been hacked. Again, nothing unusual considering the recent comprising of urban websites, but here’s where it gets really strange… their domain digiwaxx.com now redirects to Funkmaster Flex’s Franchise Record Pool!
Digiwaxx states:
"Many of you may have noticed by now when trying to access www.digiwaxx.com or any of our related sites that you were directed to a different, unaffiliated web page. Please note, this was NOT our doing. OUR SITE WAS MALICIOUSLY COMPROMISED by a person that wishes to do harm to theCompany. (Hi Haters!)"
On a less positive note, in the documentary entitled 1 More Hit, Pharcyde producer J Swift warns us of the dangers of drug addiction and the struggle to get his life together after falling victim to crack cocaine. [via Nodfactor]
Madlib’s younger brother is a little upset with artists abusing his beat CD’s by snatching already used instrumentals and releasing unauthorized, subpar tracks on blogs, mixtapes, and MySpace pages. Oh No says that he has, "no time for cats giving songs out to Internet sites without proper mixes n shit…. no time for artsts throwing … Read more