A Million DJs To March on D.C. This Weekend

Washington, D.C. - This Friday, August 29th will see the beginning of the two days of activities that make up the inaugural Million DJ March event. Consisting of a day of panel discussions and an evening celebrity basketball game on Friday at the D.C. Boys and Girls Club, and ending with the March itself on the lawn at National Mall on Saturday, August 30th, the 2 day event is expected to attract DJ’s from all over the nation.

The event will not only be an opportunity to protest unfair compensation practices but will help DJs organize their businesses, sign up for health insurance, and learn about the legal issues mixtape DJs face.

Saturday’s schedule, which begins at 11AM will consist of a day of speeches by the likes of The Wondertwinz, Jazzy Jay, Jeannie Jones (WKYS), Superstar Jay, Chuck T, CL of Digiwaxx, B Mack of Foundation Magazine, DJ Nabs, DJ Reg West, Roger Toussaint, the owners of RapMullet.com, members of the D.C. City Council and KRS One, tailored to issues pertaining to the DJ community with intermissions of live performance by artists and DJ’s such as KRS One, Dirty Harry, Joell Ortiz, Saigon, Keith Murray, Cory Gunz, Bang Bang Boogie, DJ Famous, Kia Shine, Gillie Da Kid and Nina B.

The entire event will be broadcast live on XM Satellite’s 66 Raw station (Million DJ March Mixmaster Weekend) and webcast live on http://www.thatshiphop.com

MILLION DJ MARCH TIME TABLE

Friday, August 29th - The Boys and Girls Club (2500 14th Street NW, Washington DC 20019)

4PM Panel Discussion with DJ Leggs

6PM Insurance Dinner with DJ Roz

7PM Celebrity Basketball Game

8PM - 3AM Official Million DJ March Red Carpet Media Kick Off @ The Felix (2406 18th Street NW, Washington D.C. 20009)

Saturday, August 30th - National Mall (on the lawn), Washington D.C.

11AM - 8PM Main event with special performances by: KRS One, Kia Shine, Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz, Cory Gunz, Saigon, Gillie Da Kid, Nina B, DJ Geometrix, Chuck T, DJ Self, Jazzy Jay, DJ Nabs, DJ Aaries, Joell Ortiz, The Dey with special unannounced performances planned.

Dr. Dre’s Son Found Dead

According to Allhiphop.com and the L.A. Times Andre Young, Jr. was found dead in his Woodland Hills Home on Saturday August 23rd. He was only 20 years old.

Young went out on Friday night and came in about 5:30 A.M., but his mother found him unresponsive when she checked on him at 10 in the morning. The cause of death will be revealed after a toxicology report.

For more on this developing story check allhiphop.com.

88 Keys and Q-Tip Buggin Out, Taking “Viagra”

In preparation for his debut CD, The Death of Adam, producer 88 Keys has released this commercial/news report on the demise of his lead character:

Now only if he can get Q-tip to put out that CD…Consequence seems to know something we don’t..

Also, peep the new joint from 88 Keys featuring Kanye West “Stay Up” (Viagra)

DJ KHALED GOES GLOBAL WITH THIRD ALBUM

(New York, NY) — Miami radio personality, label head, and Terror Squad/KOCH Records recording artist DJ Khaled is set to release his third album, We Global on Tuesday, September 16, 2008.

DJ Khaled recently leaked “Go Hard,” the 2nd single from the forthcoming new album.
“Go Hard” featuring Kanye West and T-Pain can be heard here:

“This is the biggest record in music right now! ‘Go Hard’ is what we doing to survive in this world,” DJ Khaled says of the song. “This anthem is timeless!!!! There are so many hip hop quotables on this record!!!!!”

The first single, “Out Here Grindin’,” is currently Top 20 at urban radio and features Akon, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Lil Boosie, Plies, Ace Hood, and Trick Daddy with production from The Runners.

We Global, features Kanye West, Fabolous, Fat Joe, Nas, Ace Hood, Sean Paul, Busta Rhymes, Flo Rida, Akon, Rick Ross, Trick Daddy, Plies, Lil Boosie, Trey Songz, Lil Scrappy , Birdman, Bun B, Pitbull and many more.

Producers The Runners, Danja, DJ Nasty, The Inkredibles, Cool and Dre, Goldrush, Isaac Opus, Lu Diaz and of course Beat Novacaine, are handling production on what are sure to be the hottest tracks of 2008 on We Global.

DJ Khaled was recently nominated for a 2008 BET Award for Best Collabo for his song “I’m So Hood (Remix)” feat. Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Big Boi, T-Pain, Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne and Birdman.

For more info on DJ Khaled, please visit www.MySpace.com/DjKhaled

Source Mag Picks Twenty Greatest Producers

For their 20th Anniversary Issue The Source magazine has picked the top 20 producers of the last 20 years. In the articled titled ,”Sound Control,”  they list in alphabetical order their favorite geniuses behind the boards:

1. Bomb Squad
2. DJ Paul and Juicy J
3. DJ Premier
4. DJ Quik
5. Dr. Dre
6. Erick Sermon
7. Jermaine Dupri
8. J Dilla
9. Kanye West
10. Lil Jon
11. Marley Marl
12. Mannie Fresh
13. Pete Rock
14. Puff Daddy & The Hitmen
15. RZA
16. Scott Storch
17. Swizz Beatz
18. The Neptunes
19. Timbaland
20. Wyclef Jean & Jerry Wonder

The issue, which features four covers of Nas, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah and Ice Cube, also has DJ Beverly Bond leaving little to the imagination in “dime piece” and has a pic of Q-Tip sitting on a keyboard wearing a three-piece suit holding an MPC in “Back to The Lab.”

Joe Budden Talks About Producers for Padded Room

Jersey MC Joe Budden is getting ready to drop his CD, Padded Room and has relied heavily on up-and-coming producers like Klasix and Blastah Beatz for his instrumentals.

“You can hit me on Myspace and if I’m in a good mood I’ll hit you back,” he told Nodfactor.com. His “Who” trilogy was produced by Blastah Beatz, a producer from Portugal who has been profiled on Nodfactor.com. “I don’t believe you need a humongous budget to get these big name producers to produce good music.”

You can listen to the rest of the interview below:

To get more Joe Budden and his thoughts on Jay-Z, Prodigy and Gloria Velez hit up www.theurbandaily.com.

Pharcyde Producer J-Swift Releases Video About Crack Addiction

For the past few years J-Swift, producer behind The Pharcyde’s classic “Passin’ Me By,” has been planning a documentary called “1 More Hit” on his battles with crack addiction. Once meant to be a reality show on MTV he is now releasing it independently. As a prelude to the full length doc, the 36 year old from Los Angles has created a video/psa on his crack addiction called “Stack My Chips.” Watch below…

Stack My Chips…

CunninLynguists Producer Calls Out MF Doom

Kno, producer and member of the Kentucky rap group CunninLynguists has written an open letter to MF Doom about his no-show antics. It seems that Doom’s habit of not showing up to concerts and sending body doubles is making some promoters reluctant to book hip-hop acts. For independent groups that don’t sell hundreds of thousands of records, shows and touring are the main source of income.

“I’m writing this as a concerned artist, business-owner and generally even-keeled loather of all things douche-like,” he begins in the letter posted on QN5 music blog. “It came to my attention in late 2007 that you pulled a series of no-shows and Super Dave-esque stunt double lip-syncing fiascos in Pomona, San Diego, San Francisco, Rock The Bells in San Bernardino and then in Atlanta. The latter saw the crowd throwing beer at your body double, who subsequently exited the stage only to steal all the merch money and door receipts, insuring noone would be granted a refund for your clone’s piss-poor Milli Vanilli routine. Classy.”

(watch a clip of an angry crowd at Rock The Bells below)

He goes on to write that, “You pissing on your most dedicated fans by cheating them out of their hard-earned cash, while being completely foul, was ultimately no business of mine…but on the flipside, seeing talent buyers publically saying they’ll only book “alternative artists” like Sage and Atmosphere (Holy awkward racial undertones, Batman) in the future because of your method of handling business? Now I have an issue.”

You can read the rest of the letter here…

CunninLynguists are a trio from Lexington, Kenucky consisting of MCs Deacon The Villain, Natt and DJ/Producer Kno. Their debut LP, Will Rap for Food, was released in October 2001. Their second LP, SouthernUnderground, was independently released April 1, 2003 on Freshchest Records. Guests included Masta Ace, Supastition and others, with production from Domingo, RJD2 and DJ Kno. Their third LP, A Piece of Strange, dropped in 2006 on Caroline Records and Groove Attack Distribution and is entirely produced by Kno. Their latest LP, Dirty Acres was released in 2007 and features appearances from Devin the Dude, Phonte of Little Brother and Witchdoctor.

-JLB

Producer Isaac Hayes, III Speaks on Father’s Death

Producer Isaac “Ike Dirty” Hayes,III who has produced tracks for Redman, Keith Murray and The Ying Yang Twins, has released a statement on the passing of his iconic father, Isaac Hayes.

“I spoke to my father just recently about working on his album, and he was excited as though this were his first project. I want people to remember my father for the creative, soulful, inspirational force that he was to music and African American people. He was legendary and shared his genius with the world. I also want to thank all of my peers and music industry colleagues who have reached out to express their love and prayers.”

Ike is following in the footsteps of his father as a music producer who has worked with other chart-toppers like Redman, Keith Murray, Chamillionare, KeKe Palmer, Too Short, Blaque, Ruff Ryders, Black Coffey and Raz-B too name a few. Ike reached his first milestone in achieving a top hit single with Lil’ Scrappy “Money in the Bank” and recently produced The Ying Yang Twin’s single, “Drop.”

Ike also posted his feelings regarding his father’s death on his blog - Dirty N The Beest:

“I’m sad, I’m angry, I’m happy all at once right now. I have so many memories of being my father’s son. Little things that make all the difference. Things that help me maintain right now. I can’t be too sad though. My father did great, great things as a Musician , Humanitarian , a Father and a Black man . I’m so happy he touched and inspired so many people in a positive way. I am more proud of my father than anyone could know.”

A memorial service will be held for Isaac Hayes on Monday August 18th at Hope Presbyterian Church, 850 Walnut Grove, Cordova, Tennessee from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. to celebrate the life of pioneering soul icon Isaac Hayes, who passed away on Sunday August 10th at the age of 65.

Soul Legend Isaac Hayes Dies at Age 65

In what is turning out to be a sad weekend for Black entertainment soul legend Isaac Hayes has past at the age of 65, a day after comedian Bernie Mac died in a Chicago hospital. The contributions Hayes made to both soul, pop and hip-hop music can not be overstated. From Hot Buttered Soul to Shaft to Black Moses Hayes was an influence even to greats like Barry White.

A self-taught musician, he was hired in 1964 by Stax Records of Memphis as a backup pianist, working as a session musician for Otis Redding and others. He also played saxophone.

He began writing songs, establishing a songwriting partnership with David Porter, and in the 1960s they wrote such hits for Sam and Dave as “Hold On, I’m Coming” and “Soul Man.” All this led to his recording contract.

In 1972, he won another Grammy for his album “Black Moses.” Hayes composed film scores for “Tough Guys” and “Truck Turner” besides “Shaft.” He also did the song “Two Cool Guys” on the “Beavis and Butt-Head Do America” movie soundtrack in 1996.

As for Hip-Hop, the list of songs that have sampled Hayes is longer than a gas line during the 70s oil crisis. Everyone from Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel and Mary J Blige to MF Doom Ghostface and LL Cool J has sampled his music. Click HERE for a link at the-breaks.com and for a complete account of Hayes’ death go to Newsone.com.

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