The festival will be held September 1 & 2 at Philly’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Fairmount Park. Tickets go on sale Wednesday. More acts to be announced between now and then.
Jay-Z, Pearl Jam, Skrillex, Miike Snow, Afrojack, Calvin Harris, Odd Future, D’Angelo, Maybach Music (feat. Rick Ross, Wale, Meek Mill), Passion Pit, Santigold, Dirty Projectors, X, Janelle Monae, Prince Royce, Rita Ora, Savoy (DJ set), The Knocks.
Alongside the mayor, Hov is announcing his 2 day music festival in Philadelphia over Labor Day Weekend. It will include 3 stages and all genres of music. New York Times article below.
Jay-Z may have one of the most successful and lucrative careers in hip-hop, a talented and renowned wife, a much cooed-over baby girl and part ownership in the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets basketball franchise. But does he have his own two-day music festival? Well, he’ll soon have that, too.
On Monday, it is expected to be announced that Jay-Z will be the curator of and headlining performer at the first Budweiser Made in America music festival, a two-day event that will bring as many as 28 musical acts to Fairmount Park in Philadelphia on Sept. 1 and Sept. 2. (Sorry, Brooklyn, but hasn’t Jay-Z done enough for you already?) The festival, which will be produced by Live Nation, is to be formally unveiled at a Monday morning news conference with Jay-Z and Mayor Michael A. Nutter of Philadelphia and will assemble an eclectic lineup of “rock, hip-hop, R&B, Latin and dance” musicians, according to a news release from its organizers. No other acts chosen by Jay-Z were immediately announced, but when you have Kanye West on speed dial and share a home with Beyoncé, presumably opportunities are rife.
Tickets for the festival, which will give an unspecified portion of its proceeds to local non-profits via the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, will go on sale at ticketmaster.com and livenation.com on May 23.
Armadale D’usse poppin now, only bring a nigga more… No official word on how Hova has his hands on the brand but it’s plain to see.
Bacardi unveiled its latest addition to the brand – a new ultra premium Cognac brand christened D’ussé, pronounced as ‘dew-say’. The Cognac was witnessed for the first time at the private tasting for a few journalists at New York. The product is yet to be launched (next month) and would be available for sales in the month of September (in the USA).
With the addition of D’ussé Cognac, the brand would now make its presence felt in the U.S. Cognac category. The VSOP Cognac will retail at around $44.99 per 750-ml bottle.
Full Story: DailyBhaskar
Roc Nation will be in the building fro the Olypmic Festival in London this summer. Report from Businessweek below.
Rihanna and Jay-Z will be the two headline acts in the popular music lineup for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The pair will star in the BBC Radio 1 Hackney Weekend 2012 (June 23-24) a month before the Games, said organizers of the Olympics cultural festival, releasing the program at a news conference today. Comedians Stephen Fry and Tim Minchin will be among other entertainers cropping up in venues across Britain.
“There will be absolutely something for everyone: from Beethoven to Jay-Z, from Shakespeare to Mike Leigh,” Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said at the news conference in the Tower of London. Leigh is a film director.
The festival organizers conveyed the size and scope of the event.
“The London 2012 Festival will be the biggest cultural celebration in our lifetime,” said Royal Opera House Chief Executive Tony Hall, who chairs the Cultural Olympiad board.
Hall said more than 18 million people had already taken part in 9,000 performances and almost as many workshops.
The U.K. is rolling out dozens of arts events around the Games, which run from July 27 to Aug. 12. Some have been long planned and some commissioned as part of a four-year, 97 million pound ($157 million) cultural program.
Other headliners of Hackney Weekend — set to draw an estimated 100,000 fans — are Florence + the Machine, Jack White, David Guetta and Tinie Tempah.
Earlier today, Def Jam announced that Q-Tip has signed a joint venture with Def Jam & G.O.O.D. Music. The press release is below.
“I am thrilled to be working with Q-Tip once again,” said Mr. Weiss, who helmed the artist’s releases on Jive Records in the 1990s as a member of A Tribe Called Quest. “He is a respected voice in the music community as shown by his acclaimed solo albums and countless contributions to the work of other artists. His creativity continues to surpass all boundaries of hip-hop, R&B, pop, and jazz. We welcome Q-Tip to the G.O.O.D. Music / Island Def Jam family.”
“I’m excited to be a part of the great iconic Def Jam label,” said Q-Tip. “I’m humbled to be a part of such a storied history. To reconnect with Barry Weiss is a great thing. As far as G.O.O.D. Music, I’m excited to solidify my working relationship with Kanye, and I look forward to all the opportunities that lie ahead in our partnership. I will do my best to present the most cutting edge music I can.”
Q-Tip has been credited as a producer on Kanye West’s revered “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” as well as West’s much-anticipated 2011 collaboration with Jay-Z, “Watch the Throne.” Q-Tip has been in the studio working with Rico Love, Marsha Ambrosius, Kendrick Lamar, and Fiona Apple. He also produced songs on the just-released fourth solo album by bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding.
Q-Tip along with former co-members of hip-hop collective A Tribe Called Quest produced and was heavily involved with the documentary, “Beats, Rhymes, and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest,” released in July 2011. Viewers were able to revisit the group’s rise to prominence and glimpse the start of Q-Tip’s solo career. Fans are eagerly awaiting the next chapter of the Q-Tip story leading up to the 2013 release of THE LAST ZULU.
I can only imagine the amount of drugs that will be consumed throughout the duration of this tour. The cities he chose were to be expected. Dates below.
04-15 Indio, CA – Coachella
04-22 Indio, CA – Coachella
04-25 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
04-26 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
04-27 Boston, MA – Royale
04-28 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
04-29 Philadelphia, PA – TLA
05-03 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
05-06 Los Angeles, CA – Fonda Theatre
05-08 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
06-02 Barcelona, Spain – Primavera Sound Festival
06-09 Porto, Portugal – Optimus Primavera Sound
08-03 Chicago, IL – Lollapalooza
Just when I thought Dame Dash was cooking up some more “roc” this happens. Hopefully Curren$y keeps working those guys up there though.
Rapper Curren$y’s music is NOT to be trifled with — and to prove it … the MC is suing famed music producer Damon Dash, claiming he is hocking several Curren$y albums without permission.
Curren$y filed the lawsuit against Jay-Z’s old biz partner and former co-owner of Roc-A-Fella Records — claiming he and Dash tried to negotiate an agreement to release music together in 2010 … but the deal never materialized.
Curren$y claims Dash released two of his albums in 2010 — but the two still couldn’t reach an agreement … so Curren$y signed with Warner Bros. in January 2011.
But according to the lawsuit, Damon was unmoved — and CONTINUED to release Curren$y’s music despite the new WB contract, which gave WB exclusive rights to Curren$y’s jams.
Now, Curren$y is demanding the producer quit profiting off him in any way. Curren$y also wants $1.5 million in damages.
But Damon fired back at the accusations with his own response — claiming, he has the right to release the albums in question because he was given permission. What’s more — Damon says Curren$y stabbed him in the back, reneging on his agreement with Damon and signing with WB instead.
A judge has yet to rule on the case.
I have a feeling this project will be accepted the way Watch The Throne was. At first it will go over heads then end up finding a spot at the top of the list.
“The cool thing about G.O.O.D. Music is it’s a bunch of great ideas and I’m one of those ideas,” he told MTV News on Thursday at the South by Southwest festival. “[Kanye's] trying to find the most talented producers, most talented artists, put ‘em all in a room and say, ‘Go for it. Y’all energy, like whatever is creative to y’all.’ ”
It all sounds pretty organic. “I just kinda went to the Watch the Throne concert. Word got back that I was in there and we linked up from there,” Fresh said about his and Kanye’s initial meeting. “Next thing you know, I was at his crib playing beats, [and] he was just like, ‘Dude, I like mostly everything you played. Sign right here.’ ”
It’s still unclear whether Fresh has actually signed on with G.O.O.D. Music, but he has clearly been putting in a lot of work with the team, which includes Yeezy, Big Sean, Pusha T and producer Hit-Boy. “The cool thing is, in hip-hop history, when have we ever got along? It’s a cool thing that we’re sitting at the table, all of us get along on one accord trying to make something great — G.O.O.D. Music,” Fresh said.
As you can see from the tweet above, Jay Electronica, f$*% that… Jay Elec-Hanukkah is finished with Act II. The turnaround from turning in an album and it being put out is fast nowadays so we should be expecting this soon. Hopefully what you see below will NOT happen though.
Game’s video for “The City” featuring Kendrick Lamar will finally be dropping in the next couple of weeks. He’s also working on a new mixtape. His 5th studio album will be titled F.I.V.E. (Fear Is Victory’s Evolution). He explains below.
The meaning behind that is like—me as a rapper, you as a journalist, Kobe as a basketball player—you gotta be afraid to do something, or have those butterflies in your stomach. We all get that feeling. Before you did your first interview, you probably was like, ‘Damn, I don’t want to ask the wrong questions. I want to do this right.’ Me, before I wrote my first rap, or the first time I was in the booth. Fear. But then fear is victory’s evolution. After a while, you become a dope journalist, I become a dope rapper, Kobe is Kobe. You achieve and you pass over that fear. Now it ain’t fear; it’s just victory. It’s victory of all.
”I never learn, even after I took a couple shots. I just got me some Band-Aids and bought a couple Glocks. Had to go on a rampage and hit a couple blocks. Once they hear that 12-gauge, that’s when the trouble stops” – Young Buck, Work Magic
Young Buck was shot at 11 times in Nashville early this morning, but fortunately he wasn’t hit. Article below.
NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
Metro Police say a woman was shot while riding in a vehicle driven by rapper Young Buck early Sunday morning.
At approximately 3:30 this morning, a white Chevrolet Tahoe drove past the rapper’s SUV, and opened fire, according to police. The vehicle was hit 11 times.
A female passenger was hit once in the shoulder. Police say she was treated and released at Vanderbilt Hospital. Another passenger in the SUV was not injured.
A Nashville native, Young Buck, whose real name is David Brown, gained national publicity as a member of G-Unit, a group led by Grammy award-winning rapper 50 Cent. He told police he was back in town for a music project. According to his Facebook and Twitter pages, he held a cookout for fans during a video shoot Saturday afternoon along Ashland City Highway.
Calls to the rapper’s manager were not immediately returned.
So MTV came up with 25 of the hottest MC’s (in their opinion). Shaheem Reid won’t be sitting on the roundtable this year though. How J Cole didn’t make the list is beyond me. The top 10-6 will each be revealed next week and the remaining 5 on Sunday, February 19th at 10:30 p.m. on MTV2.
2 Chainz
50 Cent
Big Sean
Common
Drake
Eminem
Fabolous
French Montana
Jadakiss
JAY-Z
Jim Jones
Kanye West
Lil Wayne
Lloyd Banks
Maino
Meek Mill
Nas
Nicki Minaj
Red Café
Rick Ross
T.I.
Wale
Wiz Khalifa
Yelawolf
Young Jeezy
The new course will be available in the Fall 2012 semester and is titled, “Politicizing Beyoncé.” To be honest, I haven’t read the article yet but if you would like to it’s below.
After Jay-Z was honored with a Georgetown University sociology course named after him, wife and new mom Beyonce has become the subject of a university course of her own. Rutgers University’s Department of Women’s and Gender Studies now offers the course ‘Politicizing Beyonce,’ which examines the social and cultural significance of the superstar’s music and image.
Rutgers PH.D. candidate Kevin Allred teaches the course and explained on the school’s website, “This isn’t a course about Beyonce’s political engagement or how many times she performed during President Obama’s inauguration weekend. She certainly pushes boundaries. While other artists are simply releasing music, she’s creating a grand narrative around her life, her career, and her persona.”
Allred continued, “It’s important to shift students away from simply being consumers of media toward thinking more critically about what they’re engaging on a regular basis.”
The course description reveals that students will explore the ‘Run the World (Girls)’ singer’s alter ego Sasha Fierce, the extent of her control over her own aesthetic and whether her racy image is a demonstration of female sexual empowerment or complicit with gender stereotypes.
While the course is named for Queen B, she is not the only famous female singer being discussed in the class. Lady Gaga and icons Billie Holiday and Nina Simone will also be examined.
We have to admit, we were tickled when we stumbled upon the slightly facetious article ‘Beyonce Songs Re-Imagined as Undergraduate Theses in Women’s and Gender Studies’ on The Hairpin back in November. The article turned Bey’s song titles like ‘Cater 2 U’ into mock college research papers like ‘Female Subservience and the Reinforcement of Hegemonic Gendered Power Structures.’ But it looks like Queen B really has had a significant influence on gender politics today!
I’m excited to see what these guys will do with a budget this time around. Their album, welcome to: OUR HOUSE is set to drop May 15th. Tour dates below.
March 8, 2012—Trees/Southside Dallas, TX
March 9, 2012—Warehouse/House of Blues Houston, TX
March 10, 2012—Beauty Ballroom Austin, TX
March 11, 2012 – White Rabbit San Antonio, TX
March 16, 2012—House of Blues Myrtle Beach, SC
March 17, 2012—Beachem Theater Orlando, FL
March 18, 2012—Revolution Miami, FL
March 22, 2012—Masquerade Atlanta, GA
March 23, 2012—The Cannery Nashville, TN
March 24, 2012—The Fillmore Charlotte, NC
March 25, 2012—SoundStage Baltimore, MD
March 26, 2012—Wilbur Theatre Boston, MA
March 27, 2012—Trocadero Theatre Philadelphia, PA
March 28, 2012—9:30 Club Washington D.C.
March 29, 2012—Best Buy Theater New York, NY
March 31, 2012—Lava Lounge (West KY Univ) Bowling Green, KY
April 1, 2012—Metro Chicago, IL
April 2, 2012—Royal Oak Music Theatre Detroit, MI
April 5, 2012—The Clubhouse Tempe, AZ
April 6, 2012—Music Box Los Angeles, CA
April 7, 2012—The Regency Ballroom San Francisco, CA
April 8, 2012—Hard Rock Cafe Las Vegas, NV
April 9, 2012—The Galaxy Santa Ana, CA
April 10, 2012—Porters Pub/4th and B San Diego, CA
April 11, 2012—Velvet Jones Santa Barbara, CA
April 14, 2012—Showbox at the Market Seattle, WA
April 16, 2012—Harry O’s Salt Lake City, UT
April 17, 2012 – Sunshine Theatre Albuquerque, NM
April 18, 2012—Cervantes/Bluebird Denver, CO
April 19, 2012—Fox Theatre Boulder, CO
April 20, 2012— TBD
April 21, 2012—Granada Lawrence, KS
April 22, 2012—Epic Minneapolis, MN
April 24, 2012—Rave Milwaukee, WI
April 25, 2012—Kalamazoo Theatre Kalamazoo, WI
April 26, 2012—The Vogue Indianapolis, IN
April 27, 2012— TBD
April 28, 2012—House of Blues/Grogshop Cleveland, OH
April 29, 2012—Omni Toledo, OH
April 30, 2012—Headliners Louisville, KY
May 1, 2012—Toad’s Place New Haven, CT
May 2, 2012—Lupos Providence, RI
May 3, 2012—Wilbur Theater Boston, MA
