Chuck D of Public Enemy Suing Universal Music Group

 Chuck D of Public Enemy is Suing Universal Music Group for Underpaid Royalties

Chuck D of Public Enemy Fight The Power Artwork

Chuck D of Public Enemy filed suit again Universal Music group for allegedly underpaying of royalties on digital downloads

The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco federal court and alleges that UMG routinely miscalculates the royalties owed to artists for digital downloads, such as MP3s and ringtones, by treating them as "sales" of physical records rather than "licenses."

Chuck D Pop Rock Doll Japan

Chuck D's lawyers announced at Hausfeld LLP saying that UMG has underpaid hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties and pointed to a decision in 2010 by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that offers some precedent that digital downloads should be treated as "licenses."

"This complaint suffers from serious flaws and weaknesses, not the least of which is that the claims asserted are not appropriate for class treatment," a UMG spokesperson tells THR. "We will vigorously defend against it."

Chuck D Of Public Enemy (Fight The Power Illustration)

Hip Hop Legend Heavy D Dies At Age 44

Hip Hop Legend Heavy D Passes Away Suddenly at Age 44

90's Hip Hip Music Icon and rap star Heavy D passed away earlier today.

Heavy D who's real name was Dwight Arrington Myers, was rushed to an L.A. hospital around noon today and was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1 PM. He was 44 years old.

An emergency 911 call was placed from Heavy D's Beverly Hills home around 11:25 AM to report an unconscious male on the walkway. Heavy D apparently regained consciousness and was speaking when help arrived. He was was transported to a nearby hospital but unfortunately died a short time after arriving.

Cops are investigating the rapper's death and so far, there are no signs of foul play. Police are currently investigating the home for any other possible signs and checking for cause of death.


Heavy D's last Tweet before his death, written on Monday night, was, "BE INSPIRED!"

Just before that he Tweeted about the loss of boxing legend Joe Frazier, who passed away on Monday following a bout with cancer. stating: "SMOKIN JOE FRAZIER..RIP.. truly one of the best heavyweight champs that ever lived.. GODS SPEED,MR FRAZIER!"

Lil Kim Will Do Track With Nicki Minaj if it Means Money

Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim to produce a track together after all the beef? 

Well not quite just yet, but it may still be a possibility in the future.

Lil Kim in Black and Red Lingerie with a Crop Whip

Lil Kim is doing all she can to keep her name in the blogs and Hip Hop News. She says she will consider doing a track with "Everything about me is fake Nicki Minaj" for the right price. This is never going to happen it is just words to keep Lil Kim in the spotlight which is dimming very quickly. The Old heads don’t buy music anymore and rarely go to live appearances, so all that leaves is the young crowd to entertain and sell music to, which is a hard thing to do if you are real hip hop. Lil Kim is too real for them.

Nicki Minaj in Pink and Black Dress

When asked if there is any possibilty that she would ever do a track with Nicki Minaj Lil Kim had this to say:

"The only way that’s gonna happen is it’s definitely gonna take a check. At the end of the day, I’m a boss. I was a hustler before I was an entertainer. What I mean by that is, I love music–love, love, love music. I love entertaining, I love being in the industry, but the truth of the matter is if music and the industry didn’t bring me money, this would not be my first occupation. I also am a businesswoman and I know that living life, you have to eat. If the industry was designed where you didn’t make money from it, it was just music to produce, I would still do it, but it wouldn’t be my first occupation."

DJ Emir Mixtapes Ring In The New Year

There is something to be said for a mixtape you can listen to on a consistent basis and still enjoy every time. DJ Emir consistently delivers classic mixtapes that do just that. Whether it's his instant classic Michael Jackson Mixtape , His amazing Iron Man Mixtape, or the latest two we picked up his Gold Member Mixtape and his 18K Dancehall Mixtape, every mixtape has been of the highest quality and has provided countless hours of listening pleasure.

DJ Emir's Gold Member Mixtape (Techniques Hip Hop Mixtape Vol 11) delivers yet another hot movie themed mixtape filled to the brim with great hip hop music, reggae music and remixes to make you want to get up and dance. This time around the Mixtape has been themed to Austin Powers Gold Member so it features  several Beyonce Songs as well as a hot Austin powers remix of Lil Wayne's "A Millie" and a few classic bell bottom tracks like Kool & the Gang "Celebrate Good Times" mixed and blended in with todays hottest Music. As usual DJ Emir does a great job building the energy throughout the mixtape with tons of hot music making it a great listen that can be enjoyed for months on end.

DJ Emir's Gold Member Mixtape features 43 tracks

of hot Hip Hop Music to keep your party jumping

Another great DJ Emir mixtape to check out is his 18K Dancehall Mixtape which feateures a smooth remix of Cecile's Bam Bam Girl and over 60 tracks of the hottest Dancehall Reggae music. This is the first mixtape in Emir's new 18K Dancehall Reggae Mixtape Series and it was really good. We are eagerly anticipating more mixtapes in this mixtape series.

Check out the Gold Member Mixtape & 18K Dancehall Mixtape at www.DJEMIR.com 
- Harold P.

Great Hip Hop Music Blog

The Great Hip Hop Music Blog

Is going to be expanding in 2011. We've had fun in 2010 even though we lost a few writers and many of us have all become busy writing for other blogs but now in 2011 we plan on ringing in the New Year by expanding our blog with tons of new articles and reviews.

Hope you all had a great year a Merry Christmas and hop you all have a great New Year.

The Staff at Great Hip Hop Music Blog

Southern Rapper T.I. Sentenced to 11 Months in Jail

T.I. is heading back to prison, after a federal judge revoked the rapper's probation and sentenced the rap star to 11 months in prison for possessing drugs in September in Los Angeles. T.I. appeared in court today (October 15th) for a hearing that started at 2:00PM, flanked by his team of lawyers that included Ed Garland, Steve Sadow, Don Samuel, Janice Capek, Kristen Wright and Dwight Thomas. The courtroom was packed, as he stood before Judge Charles Pannell Jr. Prosecutors chastised the Grammy Award winning rapper for violating the terms of his federal probation for attempting to purchase machine guns and silencers in October of 2007 and wanted to send him away for two years. During the hearing, a small fire broke out on the side of the courthouse, causing a stir, but the proceedings continued. The rapper's defense attorneys argued that drugs in his system were the result of a root canal and T.I. admitted to using the drugs, after he had dental surgery. The rapper asked the judge to sentence him to rehab for a drug addiction, but he was sentenced to the 11 months in prison, instead.

The Passing Away of A Legend R.I.P. Guru

R.I.P. Guru of Gangstarr You Will Be Missed

We were praying Guru would fully recover and get well, but unfortunately Guru passed away earlier this year.   Apparently Guru had been battling Cancer for the past year and it eventually became too much stress on his body. We mourn the loss of this Great Hip Hop Music Legend and send his family and friends our condolences.

We had met both Guru and his business partner Solar back in 2007 and were quite impressed by the duo's demeanor and poise. We of course knew who Guru was and were enthralled to meet a Hip Hop Legend that had inspired us during youth. We had met Guru a while back, but this was our first time being introduced to Solar in person. At that time we had no idea that Guru and Premier had severed all ties. The amount of separation would soon be revealed in a letter released after his death.

Guru's longtime collaborator and partner Solar mourns his loss and explained that Guru had written a letter to his fans that was to be released upon his death.

"The world has lost one of the best MCs and hip-hop icons of all-time — my loyal best friend, partner, and brother, Guru," Solar said. "Guru has been battling cancer for well over a year and has lost his battle! This is a matter that Guru wanted private until he could beat it, but tragically, this did not happen. The cancer took him. Now the world has lost a great man and a true genius."

Born on July 17, 1966, near Boston, Guru rose to fame in the late 1980s as part of the duo Gang Starr with partner DJ Premier. The pair helped define the New York underground rap sound in the 1990s. Their unique sound combined Premier's production palette, which leaned heavily on sampled jazz records and scratched vocals on the choruses, with Guru's uncompromising rhymes. Although the pair would work separately as often as they did together - Guru's Jazzmatazzseries of albums and Premier's work with Nas, Jay-Z, and underground act Group Home - Gang Starr continued to release critically acclaimed material throughout the late '90s and early 2000s.

Their 1998 album Moment of Truth was among their most critically lauded collections and Gang Starr's biggest-selling project to date. Gang Starr's last group project, The Ownerz, was released in 2003.
Guru found solo fame in 1993 when he released the first volume of his Jazzmatazz series, an all-star project that featured a number of collaborations with jazz icons such as Branford Marsalis, Donald Byrd, Roy Ayers and Ronny Jordan, as well as vocals from French producer Solaar and N'Dea Davenport of the Brand New Heavies. The album's mixture of jazz and rap was considered pioneering at the time, and the record spawned the hit "Trust Me." Guru would go on to make four volumes in the series.


According to Solar, Guru wrote his farewell letter while in the hospital.

"I, Guru, am writing this letter to my fans, friends and loved ones around the world," it begins. "I have had a long battle with cancer and have succumbed to the disease. I have suffered with this illness for over a year. I have exhausted all medical options."

"I have a non-profit organization called Each One Counts dedicated to carrying on my charitable work on behalf of abused and disadvantaged children from around the world and also to educate and research a cure for this terrible disease that took my life. I write this with tears in my eyes, not of sorrow but of joy for what a wonderful life I have enjoyed and how many great people I have had the pleasure of meeting."

"My loyal best friend, partner and brother, Solar, has been at my side through it all and has been made my health proxy by myself on all matters relating to myself. He has been with me by my side on my many hospital stays, operations, doctors visits and stayed with me at my home and cared for me when I could not care for myself. Solar and his family is my family and I love them dearly and I expect my family, friends, and fans to respect that, regardless to anybody's feelings on the matter. It is my wish that counts. This being said I am survived by the love of my life, my son KC, who I trust will be looked after by Solar and his family as their own. Any awards or tributes should be accepted, organized approved by Solar on behalf [of] myself and my son until he is of age to accept on his own."

Guru very pointedly distanced himself from Premier in the letter, saying he didn't want his former musical collaborator to be able to participate in any tributes or events surrounding his death.

"I do not wish my ex-DJ [DJ Premier] to have anything to do with my name likeness, events, tributes etc. connected in anyway to my situation including any use of my name or circumstance for any reason and I have instructed my lawyers to enforce this," wrote Guru. "I had nothing to do with him in life for over 7 years and want nothing to do with him in death. Solar has my life story and is well informed on my family situation, as well as the real reason for separating from my ex-DJ."

"As the sole founder of Gang Starr, I am very proud of what Gang Starr has meant to the music world and fans. I equally am proud of my Jazzmatazz series and as the father of Hip-Hop/Jazz. I am most proud of my leadership and pioneering efforts on Jazzmatazz 4 for reinvigorating the Hip-Hop/Jazz genre in a time when music quality has reached an all time low. Solar and I have toured in places that I have never been before with Gang Starr or Jazzmatazz and we gained a reputation for being the best on the planet at Hip-Hop/Jazz, as well as the biggest and most influential Hip-Hop/Jazz record with Jazzmatazz 4 of the decade to now."

"The work I have done with Solar represents a legacy far beyond its time. And we as a team were not afraid to push the envelope. To me this is what true artists do! As men of honor we stood tall in the face of small-mindedness, greed, and ignorance. As we fought for music and integrity at the cost of not earning millions and for this I will always be happy and proud, and would like to thank the million fans who have seen us perform over the years from all over the world. The work I have done with Solar represents a legacy far beyond its time and is my most creative and experimental to date. I hope that our music will receive the attention it deserves as it is some of the best work I have done and represents some of the best years of my life."

Guru's family — from whom he was reportedly estranged, along with other past associates — had not commented on his death, and last month his nephew Justin Nicholas-Elam Ruff posted several emotional videos on YouTube saying that Solar was preventing them from seeing the MC during his illness. 

Prayers for Guru of Gangstarr After He Suffers a Heart Attack

On February 28th 2010, Guru suffered a severe heart attack and is currently in a coma. 

We were busy posting on Twitter when we heard that legendary lyricist and rapper Guru of Gangstarr suffered a heart attack and went into a coma. Guru is scheduled to go under the knife for heart surgery tomorrow and we wanted everyone in the Hip Hop community to extend a huge prayer for his well being. Thinking back on our favorite Hip Hop songs of all time Guru and Gangstarr hold three or four spots in our favorite Hip Hop songs of all time list with "Mass Appeal" "DWYK" and a few other songs.

For those that don't know him Guru (born Keith Elam, July 17, 1966 in the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury) is a Hip Hop Legend who worked together along with DJ Premier as the members of Gang Starr,
(look up Gangstarr or Guru on www.youtube.com and learn a little more about Hip Hop History and listen to some classic tracks). Guru was One of Hip Hop's second generation / golden era stars in the 80's and 90s'. Guru recorded countless hits as part of the Duo Gangstarr consisting of Guru & Now legendary producer DJ Premier. Guru also recorded a few major solo album projects labelled Jazzmatazz (a further fusion of jazz and Hip Hop that Gangstarr was already famous for) Guru and Gangstarr have had a major influence on many of Hip Hop's greats including people like Jay-Z, Biggie, Tupac, Jeru The Damaga and some of todays latest artists. 



In 2007 Guru was ranked at 45 for the Top 50 MCs of our time: 1987-2007


Guru later on took on a new producer "Solar" as a partner for many of his later projects. Guru has continued recording music through the new century and had recently posted on Twitter "Are my fans ready for a new Gang Starr Album" Many fans wondered if this also meant DJ Premier might produce a few of the tracks or if most of the tracks would be produced by Guru's new producer Solar.


Tonight before going to bed pray for his health and that he makes a strong speedy and resiliant recovery. - Get well Guru! May real Hip Hop Live forever.

Email Came in Stating: How White People Destroyed Mixtapes

This email arrived in our in-boxes this morning and had us outraged. I mean seriously, Bad mixtapes and bad mixtape DJs isn't a race issue it's a global issue and a personal issue. The guy is blaming White people for ruining mixtapes. That couldn't be further from the truth...

The people ruining mixtapes are the weak DJs that don't mix. Weak DJs that simply throw songs on and shout over them adding nothing of themselves back into the music but their egos. It doesn't matter whether the DJ is White, Black, Mulatto, Hispanic or Asian, what matters is if they have skill, creativity and the ability to make us enjoy music we would otherwise pass up. there are many songs I never gave a second thought to, until a DJ made me hear it in a different way. These good DJs remixed it, blended it or simply made it hotter by juggling it back and forth with the hardest lines from the song etc... A good DJ makes and breaks records. A good DJ can create mixtapes that can be listened to long past the music's popularity phase. A good mixtape isn't just about the music that is on it, it's also about the DJs themselves and how they put it all together.

The guy doesn't even have the balls to sign his name to the email. Which to me totally discredits his entire argument in and of itself. And all the spelling mistakes, the not understanding the difference between "There and Their" non spaced words and bad punctuation and grammar don't help his argument much either, basically he calls himself out as uneducated. But worst of all , he is blaming One race for what I personally see happening with a multitude of DJs from every race and background.

Lets get it straight: It's not white people or white DJs, it's WHACK DJS that are ruining mixtapes. And to be fair as the guy states, it's not entirely their fault. If we as educated music consumers simply did not support these weak DJs and their extremely whack mixtapes, there would be no reason for them to continue making whack mixtapes. Lets be honest, if you only picked up mixtapes that had some degree of skill in the way they were mixed, produced and created, there would only be a handful of mixtapes out there. But because people bought drop style mixtapes, bought mixtapes without any mixing, any degree of DJ skill and any kind of creativity, there was a huge surge of new DJs trying to come up by doing the same thing.

There was once a time when mixtapes were out there to highlight a DJs ability to rock the turntables, to rock the crowd and to show the diversity and music choices they make. Now it's all about dropping the newest tracks and most exclusives as fast as possible with no creativity or originality.

I posted the email below so you can see how ignorant this guy is, and how ignorant racism is, no matter which direction or angle it comes from. Basically whenever you try and blame an entire race, an entire industry, or an entire generation for a general problem, you are not looking at all the facts and you are missing the bigger picture. Many ties people don't see the entire picture and only focus on the first thing that draws their attention.

Email sent to us by "Anonymous Music Guy"
"My name is Anonymous Music Guy. I do this for no personal gain or benefit ofself. This is just a personal weekly view of the music industry. Please pass this on:

Let's face it, white people today have destroyed the mixtape scene. Theyhave pilfered off of the black generation since the days of slavery, but nowit's a new era. An era of musical slavery. Mixtapes were once an outlet foryoung people with musical energy to put out a product with out enduring thecosts of putting out an album. Mixtapes were a way for DJ's to broadcast newand upcoming talent to the underground market with fans patiently waiting tosee who is next to blow. Now it's nothing but a pure bootleg market, wherenon Black/Urban DJ's basically steal peoples albums and music and put themout solely for profit and reputation.

We have guys like The Evil Empire, The Empire, DJ Smallz, Trapaholics, BigMike, DJ Drama and etc that are fucking the game to hell. These people haveno urban roots. They never lived in a "hood" and likely never endured a real"struggle". They have no real care for this culture. All they care about isthere fat white pockets getting bigger and bigger off of each new "nigger"that comes out. They don't break artist. They break artists banks. Literallyand figuratively. They put out mixtapes with no names to identify themselveswhich is basically considered bootlegging. I even heard of one certain "DJ"having a "hacker" on his team who goes into peoples Gmail accounts to steal"exclusive" music. This one DJ recently took GRANDHUSTLE rap artist YOUNGDRO's new album and put it out on a mixtape..... WHAT KINDA SHIT IS THAT?How could you profit off of someones hardwork you did not pay for? You didntbuy the beats. You did not cover the studio time so what makes you think youcan go out and bootleg there whole album and someone be cool with that? Whatkind of shit is that? What has the game come to?

Then you have the supposed "Big Shots" like DJ Drama who give nothing backto the black community. But it makes sense since he is not* BLACK*. I erk atthe sound of him saying "*NIGGA*" constantly. This guy has been supported byso many artists and in return to the community he charges outrageous pricesto the people he supposedly supports. Homie does nothing but scream all overmusic, I don't know how that makes you an "icon" that deserves 20 thousanddollars to make a "mixtape". I'm sorry sir I'll pass. His last album didnothing and went by quickly *with good reason*. Go back up north. Goodriddance.

The young black musician of today, with music dreams and major labelaspirations has to hope and pray that one day the BWM(*Big White Man*)sitting in his chair will cut him a budget and give him the time of day. If he ever gets that time of day, it's very much short lived for the simplefact of the corruption placed in the music industry today. It has spiraledand regressed into a piece of shit where young black people will sell there souls for a little dollar. The white man who profits will never care about the damage that is done, I don't blame him. I blame the enslaved black youth for not waking up. Don't be a slave to your music, be a owner!!!

Artists have totally devalued there music and self worth in the music world. Is there any coming back?? better yet, going forward?

Call me racist, call me what you want but WHITE PEOPLE have destroyed mixtapes.
Next week, how WHITE WOMAN have destroyed the Urban Magazine Industry
please pass this along.
Sincerely, Anonymous Music Guy"

So that was pretty much his letter blaming white people in general for everything the music industry and the mixtape industry is going through. Knowing damned well that the issue is much bigger than One race. The same can be said about the RIAA blaming mixtapes for the decline in music sales, look a little more internaly and realize that music in general has been dumbed down a few knotches. Produce better music and you'll get better sales, it's that simple. You can tell the "Anonymous Music Guy" is on a whole racial war rampage cause his supposed next email is labelled "How White Women (oh sorry Woman, singular LOL) have destroyed the Urban Magazine Industry." Come on now, this is straight up right up there with Hitler using the Jews as scapegoats to blame for his whole county's troubles then unite his German people through a manufactured common hatred and distrust as a means of seizing total political power.

Racism is a double edged sword and cuts both ways. Don't buy into any kind of racism or bigotry, always look into the issue deeper and find the true causes of strife. - Trent Williams

PS:
You can all hit this dude up with your response.
or just post your comment on it here on our blog.
here is his email address:
anonymousmusicguy@gmail.com

On second thought: Even though we'd love for him to receive so many letters he gets flooded everyday I realize now come to think of it, he'll probably just start spamming your inbox if you ever send him a letter. So you may want to just comment here on this blog instead.

- Trent Williams (Annoyed Black Music Guy Who Actually Signs His Posts!)

Drake Collapses on Stage in New Jersey

Hot new R&B and Hip Hop sensation Drake collapses on stage at a performance in New Jersey.

This picture is of Drake laying down on stage after twisting his already injured knee at a concert in Camden, NJ. Drake tore his ACL in the past and was warned by doctors that if it happens again he might not be able to walk again.

Apparently Lil Wayne’s new protege Drake tore his ACL last month,and tried to perform onstage last night July 31,2009. While performing his hit song “Best I Ever Had” with Lil Wayne and the Young Money crew, he slipped and collapsed just seconds after it started, reports Access Hollywood.

There’s a reported Youtube video (below) of the incident that shows him being carried off stage while Lil Wayne finished the song by himself.



Drake confirmed that he’s doing good by tweeting on “Twitter”. He stated, “All is well.On the bus laying down… getting surgery this week but I’m walking.Thank my whole “Young Money” family for the help!”

Let's hope he will back on his feet soon and can safely continue the “America’s Most Wanted” tour. Our prayers go out to Drake that he may have a speedy and full recovery.

Superstar DJ of Epic Proportions

DJ Emir Santana, A Superstar DJ of Epic Proportions



One of the worlds most sought after DJs, Superstar DJ Emir Santana makes a huge splash wherever he goes. His larger than life DJ performances enliven every nightclub venue he plays at. With a keen sense of taste and a huge variety of music and unique remixes, DJ Emir captivates the crowd and energizes the dancefloor. DJ Emir's fans can be found in all corners of the world thanks to his travels, performances and his world famous mixtapes. Very few Deejays in the world can match Emir's energy, enthusiasm and overall skill and performance. A true artisan of the turntables, DJ Emir has earned the respect of his fans, the media, nightclub owners, colleagues and DJs around the world. He truely is a Superstar DJ of Epic Proportions.

We caught up with DJ Emir in Las Vegas where he put on an amazing show. His mixes were so crazy that we danced the whole night, alternating between dancing on the dancefloor, the mini stages and our table service booth. Everyone knows we here at the offices are all huge fans of DJ Emir's mixtapes. But as good as his mixtapes are, whenever we see Emir live we are always amazed at the much higher level of performance. There's definitly something about his live performances that just blows us away and subsequently also blows most other DJs out the water as well. He is a true DJ and a true performer always concentrating on delivering the best performance possible and providing nightclubs with the hottest most memorable parties.

We let Emir know we were in the building and had travelled from our Los Angeles offices to Las Vegas just to see him play. He thanked us for the on going support and offered to take us out on the town if we were free the next few days. Despite being a superstar DJ, DJ Emir was a gracious and very humble host, making sure we all had a great time. Knowing we were huge fans of DJ Emir's Transformers Mixtape, Emir got us in to see a premier of the New Transformers 2 Movie.

We had a great time hanging out with DJ Emir Santana, our favorite DJ and we really enjoyed his mixes and his company in Las Vegas. If you ever get a chance make sure you catch DJ Emir when he's in your City, He's a great DJ that always delivers!

With the new surpluss of weak DJs it is important to remember the great DJs that are still out there, the ones that are worth going out to see everytime they are in your town: DJ Craze, Serafin, DJ AM, DJ Kid Capri, DJ Emir, Riz and Sizzahands, Serge Sniper, and others from various cities.

Puerto Rican Born, New York raised DJ Emir has become Denver's Number One Nightclub DJ. DJ Emir, Denver's best DJ is available for bookings in Denver Colorado and all around the world with an amazing blend of Hip Hop, Reggae, Electro House and personal mashup remixes, DJ Emir blazes nightclubs like no other DJ. His amazing skills on the turntables elevate any nightclub's events to epic proportions. Don't settle for regular DJs, put this superstar DJ up in your club today and hear the difference for yourself. DJ Emir is one of the worlds top nightclub DJs for a reason. He puts his all into every mix, with personal live remixes and a love for the turntables his energy carries through and revitalizes every nightclub crowd leaving them wanting more. A Real DJ with no boundries, no specific genre and no limits. Just real turntables, real mixes, real skills... Real DJs Do Real Things.

- V. Vanguard Great Music Blog Spot

DJ Jazzy Jeff Forced Off Stage in Kansas City Racist District

Jazzy Jeff forced off stage by the Kansas City Racist District, oops I mean "Entertainment District".


Legendary party-rocker DJ Jazzy Jeff was kicked off stage during a Kansas City stop on the Bacardi B-Live tour on June 6, due to a racist establishment, the Kansas City Star alleges. According to the paper, "The black community has been in arms about perceived racism at the entertainment district, a place their tax money helped fund." The Jazzy Jeff incident clearly does not help matters for the city.

Apparently, Jeff was instructed by a Power & Light (entertainment) district official to play Top 40 hits. He was several songs into a set of pop records that included songs by Jay-Z, Rihanna and Biz Markie, when his performance was cut short due to an issue with the style of music he was spinning. "My road manager walked up to me and said they were having problems with the music I was playing," Jeff told the paper. "They said I had to kick Skillz off the stage, change the format of the music I was playing or quit. They said if I continued playing they had 30 cops ready to come escort me offstage. So I stopped."

Venues should understand that when they hire a specific national DJ for a venue that they are hiring that DJ for their particular style and crowd draw, you hire the DJ for how he or she plays not to tell them what to play. As a venue you can tell local DJs to play this way or that way, knowing that if they don't you can always get another one, but even then the DJ should be able to decide if or when to break format for a few songs etc... but when it's a national act you have hired the DJ to perform what they are known for or what they deem approriate to perform.

Jazzy Jeff, who is arguably one of the world's best party DJs, though he's best known for his affiliation with the Fresh Prince, now known as Will Smith, and for inventing a seminal scratching technique called "transforming," collected the first hip hop Grammy award and spins close to 300 nights a year. This was his first time DJing in Kansas City.

Jon Stephens, an official from the Power & Light district, where the performance took place, contended that the issue was Jeff's volume rather than his selections. "Obviously we have a desire to book a diversity of acts," Stephens said. "We booked Jazzy Jeff on a Saturday night, the biggest night of the week in the district. We were excited to have him there. It's unfortunate that his sound and management people had problems adhering to the sound and audio rules."
This is highly unlikely since there are always sound production experts working the sound board at larger events like this, that ultimately control the overall sound system. If Jazzy Jeff kept raising the volume past the levels the sound man could always bring the overall sound down to the recommended levels until Jazzy jeff would not be able to raise the volume any higher due to him peaking out on his own sound mixer. So this is an obvious bogus statement made to hide the real issue for the whole incident... a racist view of music and a fear of losing a venue because of racially driven district policies.

Jeff says they explicitly took issue with music he played and complained about his hype man, Skillz, before threatening to forcibly escort him off stage."They said they didn't like Skillz' posture. They said he made gang-like signs and grabbed at his genitals," Jeff stated. "I play rock, funk, soul, pop, hip-hop, reggae. I don't play for a certain genre, race or gender. I play for music lovers... I didn't understand what element they were talking about. I looked out in the crowd and it was multicultural, but about 75 percent white. Everyone was having a great time. I wondered what was so offensive. I never had a race issue. I didn't know how to feel. I was playing [Biz Markie's] 'Just a Friend.' Is that offensive? What element? It's uncomfortable when you feel unwanted." Jeff stated that he intends to return to Kansas City to play for the fans who missed out on seeing him perform.

Keri Hilson New Album "In A Perfect World" Available March 24th, 2009

Keri Hilson has yet another New Banger that will be destroying Dancefloors across the world.

Keri Hilson's New Single "Swag On (The Remix)" which we heard at the nightclubs recently is an absolute heater. Her new album "In a Perfect World" drops this month. It will be available in stores March 24th, 2009. So far all the singles we have heard have been amazing with tons of energy. The album will most likely be a banger, with hit singles like "Turning Me On" "Swag On" and others. We recommend picking it up when it becomes available.

You can also become Keri Hilson's Myspace friend and keep up on her tours and projects by adding her myspace page to your list of friends.

http://www.myspace.com/kerihilson

DJ Ty Boogie and Mistarello.com Blend Brothers 2008 Mixtape

DJ Ty Boogie and Mistarello.com Blend Brothers 2008 (Blends 101 Class In Session) Mixtape www.mistarello.com

This is a really good example of a classic Blend mixtape. These two DJs really did a great job mixing and selecting their songs on all the blends. There are a ton of really great classic cuts that they remixed for this blend mixtape and most of the blend beats they chose worked well with the tracks they chose to remix.

We ran through quite a few blend mixtapes before choosing this one to let you al know about. Most of the blend mixtapes we found were simply compilations of remixes and not One hot continual mix. Not only that but many of the other blend mixtapes also had bad song choices and bad beat choices that didn't really blend well together. The whole point of a remix afterall is to make the remix at least as hot if not hotter than the original song. So many of the blend mixtapes were a bit of a disappointment. So when we found this one we were really happy to hear a continual mix of really great blends and mixes.

This mixtape was pretty much a heater from start to finish. Most of the blends were done really well and the overall vibe of the mixtape was excellent. This is a great mixtape for bumping in your ride, especially if you like some oldschool remixes. We'll be looking for more from these two DJs in the future, and we'll keep you posted on other hot mixtapes as well.

Check it out at www.mistarello.com

Iron Man Mixtape Review 2 by Jay

Review 2 of The Ironman Mixtape CD by DJ Emir



Like its predecessor, The Transformers Mixtape, DJ Emir's new monster hit mixtape, the Iron Man Mixtape is making a huge splash in the mixtape circuit. After going all out on the previous mixtape and recieving several awards including the honor of VIP Nightclub Magazine mixtape of the year, DJ Emir simply had to go all out and try to out do his previous Nine mixtapes.

The monster mix session known as The Iron Man Mixtape is a monumental movement to bring back the true essence of real mixtapes, that is bring back mixtapes that are actually mixed. Real scratches, transforms, mixes, juggles, remixes, blends and dope overall DJ skills, yes folks, that's what real mixtapes are made of. Gun Shots, excessive yelling, lack of creativity and compiling songs just to get them out faster than the other guy... That's what fake mixtapes are made of.

Time and Time again DJ Emir manages to put out some of the best Real mixtapes we've ever heard. He mixes so fast and hard that Emir plays, as KRS One put it in his song the DJ "Only One to Two verses, just keep the party moving" Emir's mixes are hard fast and smooth, the entire mixtape flows from one song to the next with dope transitions and even tighter remixes. How else do you fit 62 tracks on One CD?!

Some of the remixes are so much better than the original songs that they actually became our new favorite songs of the moment. For example, DJ Emir's remix of 50 Cent Get Money was straight fire especially the spots where Emir caught the accapella and cut up the track with his scratch skills. Dude seriously was killing it on that remix! Same with his crazy intro.DJ Emir's Iron Man Mixtape is a 10 as far as DJ skill and overall entertainment go. Our advice to DJ Emir, just keep 'em coming! - Jay of The Great Hip Hop Blog

Hip Hop's Coming of Age

With it's huge popularity spike in the late 1990's and early 2000's Hip Hop now is the predominant sound heard coming out of almost every major nightclub in America. Unlike many past generations where there has been a huge jump musically, Hip Hop has spanned several generations of fans. For many new fans it may be hard to believe that Hip Hop is as old as their parents that it actually started over 30 years ago in the urban ghettos of The Bronx and Queens New York. Given that the MC appears to be at the core of Hip Hop as we now know it, it may be hard for this generation to understand that it was always the DJ that ultimately was the heart and soul of Hip Hop music and its resulting culture. But as Hip Hop continued to evolve over the past three decades it commercialized and greedy profiteers tried to seperate the elements of Hip Hop (Deejaying, Emceeing, Breaking & Art/Graphiti) deeming the MC as more important than the DJ when it came to selling "the product" and would seperate the two. But in the end it would be inevitable that Hip Hop would One day mature and want to be reunited with the creators it ran away from. Today we are witnessing Hip Hop's new coming of age.

While in many ways it may seem that the DJ has practically been removed from the equation, there is a huge movement taking Hip Hop back to it's roots. DJs are now remixing many classics and adding more classic Hip Hop and disco era tracks back into rotation. They are breathing new life back into the staggnating beats and limiting views that "Rap Music" was starting to create.

While Hip Hop once was centered around loops created from pre-existing Funk, Rock, Soul & Disco records it moved away from this practice and as a result partially lost it's soul. Beats became stagnant, and lyrics also took a dive for commercial gains. Newer generations lost touch with the music of the previous generations and many of the old fans were left to wonder what happened to their favorite artists leading to NAS' question "where are they now?"

There are a select few from these eras that still put out albums and singles that have the strength to go the distance. Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, KRS One, Guru, Too Short, E-40 and a few others along with later generations like Nas, Jay-Z, and a handful of others. All others from those eras now exist only through their fans, their legacies and the Deejays that still have their records and still play them to thousands of new fans.

Hip Hop is still evolving, it once was all about the perfect party vibe or getting out an important message then branched out to its darker side with Gangster Rap, Hardcore and more violent lyrics. It now is again evolving, taking Techno and Electro head on by actually using and modifying Electro beats and sounds and incorporating it into the Hip Hop genre. The playing speed of hip hop has widened in range to now also include Electronic nightclub music speeds making it even more accesible and energetic for todays nightclub crowds.

So now we ask once again, "what of the original Hip Hop gurus, where are they now?" They're making a comeback from the unsung heroes that have been there for Hip Hop (and music in general) the whole time, the Deejays. Deejays are digging in their crates blending and mashing up the old with the new and the new with the newer, the Rock with Hip Hop and Techno. It is Hip Hop's coming of age, it has come full circle and now Hip Hop is being created again the way it was always intended, without the boundries we later labeled it with. Boundries like "Rap Music vs Techno vs Country vs Rock" the boundries have been erased and the music that is being re-created is purely amazing. Public Enemy gets remixed over a DJ Khaled beat, Eric B and Rakim classics remixed over newer Timbaland beats, LL Cool J over DJ Feli Fel Beats, Jay-Z over Hard Rock Hits you name it and someone has masterfully re-created it. DJ's like The Rockit-Scientists, DJ Sizzahandz, John Farrugio, DJ Emir, Victor Menegaux, DJ Z-Trip, DJ AM, The Klutch Beat Boutique and countless others.



While we as huge fans of Das EFX would personally love to see the boys back in the game, we will gladly listen to their classics and remixes of their classics again and again in the clubs, on the mixtapes and in mixshow sets across the globe, from the new breed of Deejays that are breathing new life back into the nightclub scenes and Hip Hop scenes of the world.

If you want to hear some hot classic cuts revisited there are several hot Deejays that we recommend you see live. DJ Z-Trip, DJ AM, DJ Emir, DJ Craze, DJ Riz and DJ A-Trak

Amongst those Deejays that create remix blends, mashups and mixtapes there are a few choice Deejay websites of note:

www.djztrip.com Z-Trip is one of the original mashup kings, and some consider him as one of the fathers of mashup mixes. He is an amazing DJ when seen live at the nightclubs.

www.djemir.com Home of one of the livest overall nightclub Deejays in the world. The site also features several hot mixtapes including personal favorites the Transformers mixtape , the Iron Man Mixtape and the Star Wars Mixtape

www.DJCraze.com home of the multi DMC world Championship title winning DJ. If you get a chance see him Live at the clubs, the boy is insane. Open your minds and listen, watch and observe a true DJ as he shows everyone the meaning of true skill and mastery of the turntables.

www.DJAM.com One of the worlds most sought after Deejays, AM is a Friday resident at Pure nightclub Las Vegas and also resident at LAX Sunday Nights. He travels the globe Deejaying the worlds top nightclubs and parties and really knows how to put down exciting DJ sets and performances.

-

Mixtape Volume 6 Recieves 5 Stars

Hip Hop Mixtape Volume 6 Recieves another Mixtape Award Five Star Rating!
This has by far been one of our favorite mixtapes of all time. We are huge Star Wars fans afterall and DJ Emir- The Mixtape Jedi, has put together a Mixtape both Hip Hop Heads and Star Wars Fans alike will love for the ages. His mixes and his theme work together and blend perfectly together to create a complete mixtape. Something which cannot be said for many other mixtapes in the industry. While many mixtapes boast gunshots, shotguns and tons of shout outs this mixtape has taken a creative and masterfull approach, a Jedi Master's approach to be more precise!
Enough of our banter... this is one hot mixtape!
So let us give you a full sample of The Darkside...
as DJ Emir takes you on both the path of the Jedi and the path of a Dark Jedi
on his Mixtape Volume 6 "Darkside Shift"

12minutes of Mixtape Volume 8 for Free

Now you can listen to the first 12Minutes of this ultra hot Mixtape!
Trust us it only gets hotter from where the sample stops so get your's today!

dj_emir_techvol8_m...

This is one of the best hip hop mixtapes in the industry. When it comes to real mixtapes (those mixed by actual Mixtape DJs) DJ Emir's mixtapes come in as some of the top nightclub and blend style mixtapes

Mixtape Volume 8: Hip Hop Mixtape

Mixtape Vol8
Track Listing:
1 DJ Emir - Mixtape Vol 8 Intro
2 Mims This Is Why I'm Hot
3 The Game - It's Alright (One Blood)
4 Junior Reed - One Blood
5 DJ UNK - Walk It Out Remix Ft Jim Jones & Andre 3000
6 Crime Mobb - Knuck If You Buck Intermission Beat
7 Lil Scrappy - Money In The Bank
8 T.I. - What You Know About That
9 Ruff Riderz - Intermission Beat
10 Young Dro - Shoulder Lean
11 Danity Kane - Show Stopping
12 Letoya ft Mike Jones - Torn Remix1
13 Letoya ft Jermain Dupri- Torn Remix2
14 Crime Mobb - Rock Ya Hips
15 Jibbs - Chain Hang Low
16 Jibbs - Chain Hang Low Remix
17 Notorious B.I.G. - Spit Your Game
18 Duece Poppi - Did I Do That?
19 Lil Jon - Snap Ya Fingaz Intermission
20 MIMS - Black Train (DJ Emir Remix)
21 Monica ft Franchize Boys - Everytime The Beat Drops
22 Snoop Dogg ft R Kelly - That's That
23 Young Capone - What It Is
24 Yung Joc ft Playalitical - It's Going Down Remix
25 Yung Joc - It's Going Down
26 Yung Joc ft Playalitical - It's Going Down Remix
27 36 Mafia - Side 2 Side
28 50 Cent - In Da Club (DJ Emir Remix)
29 Jim Jones - We Fly High (Ballin)
30 Ali N Gipp - Go Head
31 Don Omar - Dale Don Dale Remix
32 LL Cool J - Hush Reggaeton Remix
33 Shakira - Hips Don't Lie
34 Shakira ft Fat Man Scoop - Hips Dont Lie Remix
35 R Kelly ft Sean Paul - Slow Wind Remix
36 Ice Cube - Why We Thugs
37 India Arie Ft Akon - I Am Not My Hair (Konvict Remix)
38 Akon ft Snoop Dogg - I Wanna Love You
39 E40 ft Candy Girl - U N Dat
40 Snoop Dogg ft E40, Eightball - Candy
41 E40 - Tell Me When To Go
42 Rashard ft T-Pain - Tell Em What They Want To Hear
43 J Shin ft T-Pain - Send Me An Email

Mixtape Vol8