Report from squatting festival in Lund, Sweden 16-17 may « squatting in the news
Report from squatting festival in Lund, Sweden 16-17 may
12. Juni 2009
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For many years in Sweden, squatting houses has been something not
attempted very often, a lot because of the no-tolerance laws and
practice by the Swedish state. The attempts during the last 15-20 years
met heavy sentences and the interest in squatting sank to a low level.
After the eviction of Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen many were inspired by
the resistance and the movement that arose around the fight for a youth
house, and the idea started to seem more real again. During the
international squat days of action in April 2008 several houses were
squatted in many Swedish cities, purposely during a limited time to make
public activities.

The temporary squattings continued after the action days and in the
October 2008 a house in Lund was squatted, later called
„smultronstället“ which lasted for about a month. It was publicly
squatted and the squatters intended to live there as long as possible.
As it happened the housing situation in Sweden in general was going
towards an extreme level compared to the comfortable existence most
people took for granted after years of social democratic rule in the
supposed model society. Lund, a small town mainly based around its
university, had reached a very difficult housing situation especially
for young people from the area. It was even harder for them to find a
flat than for students moving there from other towns. They quickly
gained a big and broad support among neighbors and the people from town
with their open and inviting attitude and many came by to visit. The
local media also portrayed the whole thing surprisingly good.
Negotiations were started with the municipality that hadn‘t dared to
give the eviction order yet as they were blamed for the housing
politics. But after weeks of meetings and promises from the side of the
politicians the squat was evicted without any notice before. The night
of the eviction a big demonstration was held through the city center and
shortly after, two new houses were squatted, though they were evicted
the same day.

Metamorphosis Song
Metamorphosis Song
Author: Jeff Hoagland

12 Jun

There is not enough time to get thoroughly lost in the wonder of the season. I listen to the sound of blue jay fledglings being fed in the ash tree. The mother chickadee makes a different music, bringing her family to the suet feeder. The house wren nestlings create a tiny commotion from inside their house, begging for food. As I study the ant farming the aphids on a goldenrod in the backyard, I can almost hear their music.

On our patio, we have a pot with a compromised broccoli plant growing. It is a rescued “thinning”, a plant that was removed from a row in the garden in order to let the more vigorous plants grow and give us food. We chose to thin it in part because we watched a cabbage butterfly land on it and lay an egg. We wanted to share the wonder of metamorphosis with our guests.

Just about every-other day Emerson and I check our plant and notice the irregular shape of the leaves. Then we hunt for the latest hiding spot for the fleshy green caterpillar. Today we looked and looked again and could not find our caterpillar. Did it turn into a chrysalis? In the Kate Gorrie Butterfly House the cabbage caterpillars crawl high up the wall before going through that magical change into a chrysalis. At home we searched the plant and looked up and down the wall and could not find a chrysalis.

The Finest’s put us on the music map—Knighthouse | Vanguard News
The Finest’s put us on the music map—Knighthouse
x Jun 13, 2009

By Lolade Sowoolu
Three young guys with great prospects finished university education and decided not to look for jobs. They chose to form a media solutions company called Knighthouse with main stay in audio production.

Aderogba Arimoro, Lanre Oladimeji and Temitope Gomez met in Lagos and a common passion bonded the trio. Sometime last year, they embarked on a project- compilation of 21 Hip Hop songs, which they entitled Street Scriptures Vol. 1. Not so many of us cared about the group until ‘The Finest’ hit us.

The song, the second single off the album, has not only found its way into Showtime Chart but it’s stayed a couple of weeks, no thanks to the glamorous video that keeps playing on tv. Today, Knighthouse reveals how easy it was getting our attention and how challenging it is staying on the music map.

What’s Knighthouse about?

Knighthouse is a media solutions provider. Our main stay is audio production. It’s made up of three individuals: Aderogba Arimoro, Lanre Oladimeji and Temitope Gomez. At one point in time, we all wanted to be a group of artistes but as time went on, we felt we needed to leave that to a fresh generation and take up the bigger responsibility because we had other passions apart from music.

Passions like advertising and content development made us decide to form a media production company. We cater for services like audio production, script writing, jingle production and content development in general.

Don’t let the music die: Jazz band program in jeopardy
Whidbey Island Life
Whidbey IslandSan Juan IslandsPuget SoundWashington SoundSeattle
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Don’t let the music die: Jazz band program in jeopardy

Essentially Ellington Festival 2008
An empty stage at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederic P. Rose Hall during the Essentially Ellington Festival in 2008.

This morning I awoke to the familiar strains of Gustav Holst’s The Planets. It’s a beautiful piece and always brings tears to my eyes. Why? My son played it as a member of the South Whidbey High School Wind Ensemble. That was more than a decade ago, but as with many sights and sounds, it washes over me like a long, lost friend.

I attended a fun event at Useless Bay Coffee Company last night in Langley. It was fundraiser for the Langley Middle School Jazz Band, which is in jeopardy of becoming a non-performing band if they don’t raise $8,000 (read more about it in The South Whidbey Record). The evening was a sell-out (60 tickets at $40 each), and as I told a fellow diner (yummy Latin inspired food by Des Rock with Marty Fernandez), the evening had the three key ingredients for a successful fundraiser on South Whidbey: food, wine and music.

FMQB: Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more!
High School Radio Station Boycotted musicFIRST Artists
June 12, 2009

Earlier this week, the musicFIRST Coalition filed a formal request with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), asking them to investigate and take action against radio stations over reports that some of them are refusing to air music from artists who support the Performance Royalty. The filing does not name call letters, but it does say that a Delaware station boycotted all artists affiliated with musicFIRST for an entire month.

It looks like that station was WMPH Radio, a Broadcast Learning Center of the Brandywine School District in Delaware. The station posted a message on its website, WMPH.org, saying, “WMPH made an educational boycott for one month simply to make a statement in the music industry. The musicFIRST coalition wants radio stations to pay the artist for playing their music. From mid-June through mid-July 2007, WMPH refused to play songs by any artist affiliated with the musicFIRST coalition.”

The posting goes on to point out that, “Radio has always been the best friend of the music industry. Without radio playing new songs released by the record labels, there would be no ‘pop’ music. Since the early days of rock and roll, radio has helped define the culture of America and build the careers of many artists.” It also links to a list of artists who belong to musicFIRST.

“During the month of our boycott, few listeners even missed the boycotted artists,” reads the posting. “WMPH and other stations across the country continue to unite against the musicFIRST coalition by making verbal and written statements. The boycott was lifted, at least for now, because we wish to restore harmony in the music community. We hope that the artists realize that radio stations are their friends in a mutually beneficial relationship.”

Speaking out for the other side of the debate is longtime WXRT/Chicago deejay Lin Brehmer. After the station sent an e-mail to its database under his name asking listeners to lobby Congress in opposition to the Performance Rights Act, Brehmer took to his Facebook page to distance himself from the e-mail.

Gypsy spirit infuses Bregovic’s life, music
Gypsy spirit infuses Bregovic’s life, music

Elena Park, Special to The Chronicle

Goran Bregovic calls Gypsy music “a metaphor for that part of the soul that defies gravity.” That sense of being transported describes the effect he has on fans - not only on his former Yugoslavian countrymen, who are able to dance and celebrate their shared Balkan heritage, but also on the audiences who have flocked to hear his concerts around the world. Currently on an eight-city North American tour, Goran Bregovic and the Wedding and Funeral Orchestra touch down at the Masonic Auditorium next Sunday.

This 19-member ensemble includes two female Bulgarian singers, a six-piece Gypsy brass band (including the mesmerizing singer and drummer Alen Ademovic), six male voices and a string quartet. Critics use words like “catharsis,” “ecstatic” and “joyful” to describe the live experience, while others have called it “exciting tightrope walking” and “the most breathtaking music on the continent.”

Essence Music Festival is back
Essence Music Festival is back
June 12, 8:51 AM · Add a Comment
It’s been a long time coming, but the wait is finally over. The Essence Music Festival is coming back to Cleveland on Wednesday June, 24 2009 at 7 p.m.

This is a traditional event that features a musical showcase. It will take place at The House of Blues located at 308 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, Oh 44114.

This years artists will include Joe and Chico Debarge, two of R&B’s finest crooners. Together on stage they will make guests, especially the ladies sway back and forth to their love ballads and mid tempo groove songs.

Joe, a long time heavy hitter in the R&B arena, has hits like: ” I Wanna Know ” and ” ” All The Things Your Man Won’t Do ” .

This event also sparks the return of the Debarge family’s prodigal son, Chico Debarge. Despite controversy in his personal life-Chico is a heavy hitter in his own right, and one of the ladies favorites, rightfully so.

Tuned In: Australian producer invades Chicago house | ScrippsNews
Tuned In: Australian producer invades Chicago house
Submitted by SHNS on Fri, 06/12/2009 - 14:49.

“HOUSE MUSIC,” Kikumoto Allstars (International Deejay Gigolo)

Chicago acid-house music isn’t as aggressive as other sub-genres of electronica, but it’s subversively compelling.

Australian DJ/producer Cam Farrar, who adopts the name Kikumoto Allstars in deference to electronics pioneer Tadao Kikumoto, faithfully exploits the Chicago-house milieu on his new, to-the-point “House Music.”

If a sect needs music for indoctrination, this is it.

“House Music” mesmerizes through shameless redundancy. The 12 tracks average more than six minutes in length, and each has a steady and persuasive rhythm that gains momentum with the constant addition of nuance (clanging beat, clapping, jolting noises, etc.). The reverb is typically heavy, and once listeners are pulled in, they’re buried under and numbed so that they’re incapable of escape.

The aural chloroform is surprisingly simple and retro. Track-to-track distinction comes by way of modified flutters and hums of Farrar’s machinery.

Music Review - Marshall Allen - Marshall Allen Is Honored at a Jazz Festival - NYTimes.com
Honoring One Man in 2 Guises
Julieta Cervantes for The New York Times

Marshall Allen at the Abrons Arts Center
By NATE CHINEN
Published: June 12, 2009

The alto saxophonist Marshall Allen assumed two guises, earthly and celestial, at the Abrons Arts Center on Wednesday night. Appearing as the guest of honor at the 14th annual Vision Festival, he took the stage first in civilian attire, playing freely and fiercely in an aggressive all-star quintet. Later he re-emerged in the spangly vestments of his office — a sequined robe, a priestly hat — to conduct the famously otherworldly Sun Ra Arkestra in a performance that was more strictly codified but a great deal looser-limbed.
Mr. Allen, who turned 85 last month, has been a member of the Arkestra for more than 50 years: he joined the ensemble almost at its origins, spearheading its reed section and faithfully minding the various edicts of its namesake leader. When he took the helm himself in the mid-1990s, after the deaths of Sun Ra and the tenor saxophonist John Gilmore, Mr. Allen set his sights on continuity. He has kept the band together and working, with one eye trained on the legacy of an expressly future-oriented music.

It’s no wonder the Vision organizers chose to give Mr. Allen a lifetime recognition award. The festival, an artist-run nonprofit organization, convenes each year to celebrate the precise set of values that has animated his career. Recent editions of the event similarly honored veteran jazz iconoclasts who had served, at one time, as guardians of a social order. Last year’s recipient was Kidd Jordan, a tenor saxophonist and educator from New Orleans.

Madisonville, KY | Hopkins County, KY Free Local News
Open House - Live Music - Madisonville PDF Print E-mail
Friday, 12 June 2009

celebrate.gifMadisonville, KY - Open House with FREE hamburgers, hotdogs, and live music Saturday from 9a-4p on Center Street. Four businesses have joined together to host an event celebrating their business and customers: Center Street Customs / Top Notch Professionals / Discount Carpet World / J&D Screen Printing. You are invited to join them for the day, lunch, or a couple of hours.

These businesses are located at 532 East Center Street in Madisonville Kentucky. Music is scheduled for 1p-4p.

Submitted by: S. Carver

Public Arts : After the Flood: Iowa Makes Music 2009-06-12
After the Flood: Iowa Makes Music
One year after the flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, From the Top and Orchestra Iowa celebrate the community through music residency.

Last June From the Top Tour Producer David Balsom was preparing to visit Cedar Rapids, Iowa to plan out a yearlong residency program with Orchestra Iowa formerly known as Cedar Rapids Symphony when he received a frantic email from the symphony’s executive director. “The email said: flood waters are coming, we’re evacuating, don’t come.”

“I thought it was most likely the end of the project,” said Balsom, referring to the Iowa Makes Music program piloted by From the Top and Orchestra Iowa this year. Over the course of the past nine-months this residency has integrated broadcast tapings of the NPR show with educational outreach programs to generate increased enthusiasm and participation in classical music throughout the state of Iowa.

Yet in June 2008, the likelihood that this ambitious program would get off the ground was grim.

Joshua Glazer: Jazzy Jeff Booted from Kansas City Club for Playing Hip-Hop [Updated]
Jazzy Jeff Booted from Kansas City Club for Playing Hip-Hop [Updated]
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Read More: Bacardi, Censorship, Dj Jazzy Jeff, Dress Code, Kansas City, Power & Light District, Skillz, Entertainment News

On Saturday, June 6th, DJ Z-Trip performed at the Power & Light District in Kansas City, followed by DJ Jazzy Jeff, then MSTRKRFT. That evening, Jeff’s set was unexpectedly cut short by the venue. While speculation continues as to the reasoning behind this action, Z-Trip was present at the time of the debated incident.

While soundchecking, Z-Trip was asked by certain venue employees to “not play any rap music.” As one of the founders of the mash-up movement, hip-hop is heavily prevalent in Z’s repertoire. He proceeded with his set as planned, playing ODB and Pharoahe Monch.

Z-Trip watched Jazzy Jeff go on immediately following, joined by his MC, Skillz, playing a set full of Top 40 Hip-hop which included Jay-Z, Rihanna, Neyo, and TI. Mid set, Z-Trip, while standing on stage, witnessed Jeff’s tour manager relay the complaints the venue had about the music he was playing. “I was really surprised the venue were upset by Jeff’s set. This is Jazzy Jeff we’re talking about, the guy who won the first Rap Grammy,” offers Z-Trip.

Wake Your Daughter Up - Hip Hop and Audio Blog ::WYDUblog.com
DJ Eclipse’s “Rap Is Outta Control” Show 6/07/09
Ok folks, here it is. First show back on Sirius XM (from last night). With the release of J Dilla’s “Jay Stay Paid” album this past week I thought it only right to get Ma Dukes, mother of the late great J Dilla, on the phone. Good music and good conversation. Enjoy.

E

DOWNLOAD LINK: http://www.zshare.net/audio/6110621047f3199c/
FILE NAME: RIOC 6-7 pt 1.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~69.56 megabytes

DOWNLOAD LINK: http://www.zshare.net/audio/61107055e853c7bc/
FILE NAME: RIOC 6-7 pt 2.mp3
FILE SIZE: ~74.71 megabytes

“Rap Is Outta Control” 6/7/09 Playlist

1. La Coka Nostra feat. Bun B “Choose Your Side” prod. by The Alchemist
2. Method Man & Redman “Dis Iz 4 All My Smokers” prod. by DJ Scratch
3. Sadat X feat. KRS-One & Rahzel “Blow Up Da Spot” prod. by DJ JS-1 & Johnny Walker
4. Marco Polo & Torae “Get It” prod. by Marco Polo
5. DJ Scratch & Busta Rhymes “The Fate Of The World” prod. by DJ Scratch
6. Blaq Poet feat. N.O.R.E. “Hate” prod. by DJ Premier
7. DJ JS-1 feat. O.C. & Pharoahe Monch “Ridiculous” prod. by DJ JS-1
8. L.E.G.A.C.Y. “The Greatest” prod. by Khrysis
9. Finale “Heat” prod. by J Dilla
10. J Dilla feat. Illa J & Que D “See That Boy Fly” prod. by J Dilla
11. Big Tone “Squo” prod. by Big Tone
12. Guilty Simpson feat. Noelle “Stress” prod. by J Dilla
13. Marco Polo & Torae feat. Saukrates & S-Roc “Crashing Down” prod. by Marco Polo
14. Fashawn “The Outer City” prod. by Exile
15. Marco Polo & Torae “Word Play” prod. by Marco Polo
16. Saigon “Change Gon Come” prod. by The Kickdrums
17. DJ JS-1 feat. Large Professor “Like This” prod. by DJ JS-1
18. Soulbrotha feat .Sadat X, Craig G & Nut-Rageous “Are You Ready” prod. by Soulbrotha
19. Big Tone feat. Breeze Brewin “Broken Logos” prod. by Big Tone
20. Self Scientific feat. The Game & Talib Kweli “Everywhere I Go” prod. by DJ Khalil
21. DJ Scratch & Busta Rhymes feat. Show Money “Give A Damn” prod. by DJ Scratch
22. Method Man & Redman “Dangerous MCees” prod. by Erick Sermon
23. J Dilla feat. Bun B & Termanology “Make It Fast” prod. by J Dilla
24. Skyzoo “Alphabet Soup” prod. by J Dilla
25. MED “Soon Find Out” prod. by Madlib
26. Krumb Snatcha “Yesterday” prod. by Pete Rock
27. Sadat X feat. Brand Nubian “Brand New Bein” prod. by DJ JS-1 & Johnny Walker
28. KRS-One & Buckshot “Robot” prod. by Havoc
29. Soul Khan feat. Koncept, Homeboy Sandman & 8th W1 “Knuckle Puck”
30. Method Man & Redman feat. Raekwon & Ghostface “Four Minutes To Lock Down” prod. by Bink!
31. J Dilla feat. Havoc & Raekwon “24K Rap” prod. by J Dilla

AllHipHop.com Daily News - : Maino Dropping Autobiographical DVD ‘Unstoppable’
Maino Dropping Autobiographical DVD ‘Unstoppable’
Published Monday, June 08, 2009 3:00 PM

By Ismael AbduSalaam

In preparation for the release of his June 30 debut album, Brooklyn’s Maino has announced an autobiographical documentary entitled Unstoppable presented by Best of the Block/Hustle Hard.

Maino’s film will center on the rapper’s transformation from convicted drug dealer to rising Hip-Hop star.

In the mid 90’s, Maino was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a drug-motivated kidnapping.

During his time away, he focused on honing his rap skills as a tool to remove himself from a life of crime.

After being released in 2003, he gradually networked with notable industry contacts like Lil Kim, while making a name on NY’s mixtape circuit.

Now after the 2008 national success of “Hi Hater,” the Brooklynite finally feels he’s in a position to take New York Hip-Hop to a higher level.

“I don’t want to say let’s bring New York back, but let’s bring New York forward,” Maino explained to AllHipHop.com. “And the only way to bring it forward is to breathe new life into it. That’s how you keep Hip-Hop alive; you give birth to the new. I want to be the one bringing that new life.”

The Unstoppable DVD will feature re-enactments of pivotal moments in Maino’s personal life and professional career.

Birmingham Mail - News - Top Stories - Hippodrome hip hop tribute show for Letisha and Charlene
Hippodrome hip hop tribute show for Letisha and Charlene

Jun 8 2009 by William Oliphant, Birmingham Mail
A FULL house turned out to honour the memory of gun-crime victims Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis at a “hip hop showcase” at Birmingham’s Hippodrome.

The We’ve Been Blessed show, at the Hippodrome’s Patrick Centre, was organised by Rochelle Robertson from Edgbaston, to raise money for the Letisha and Charlene Education Awards scheme.

Rochelle is one of more than 40 young people who have been given cash from the scheme to help further educational goals.

“I just wanted to give something back to the scheme because it helped me,” said the 22-year-old who hopes to inspire young people to avoid becoming involved in gun crime.

Rochelle, a student at Aston Manor School at the same time as Letisha and Charlene, was given money to help with travel and books for her studies in youth work at De Montfort University. She received a grant from the Birmingham Community Foundation to help put on the Hippodrome event.

“Because I’m a youth worker I know quite a lot of talented young people that helped me to pull it all together,” she said.

“We were really pleased with how it went. We had a full house and everything was really successful.”

The show featured dancers, singers, speakers and comedians as well as Mercury Prize-nominated musician Soweto Kinch. Rochelle expects to bring in several hundred pounds for the award scheme.

Hip Hop Press: Chuck D and DMC on hip-hop and America
Chuck D and DMC on hip-hop and America

DMC says ‘Hip-hop created journalists, designers, graffiti writers’

June 8 - “Rock and roll and hip-hop are brother and sister,” Daniel “D.M.C.” McDaniels tells Chuck D in the latest On The Real, Off The Record video. RUN D.M.C. was recently inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame, and D.M.C. relishes the idea of being revered in the same space as rock idols like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

“This whole thing about this hip-hop culture [is that] we were responsible for our own well-being, we were responsible for our information. Rap would give these kids stuff they would never hear. If you look at hip-hop now, they’re getting the same thing over and over and over now.” D.M.C. says that his suggestions to current hip-hops are not expressions of hate or jealousy, but rather, they are serving of reminders of the origins of hip-hop as a socially conscious medium.

“It existed, it existed, it will always exist,” D.M.C. says of the social awareness that old hip-hop used to convey. “All of that information exists but nobody of this generation currently doing hip-hop is talking about it so people of the last fifteen years don’t think that’s what we should be doing.”

VH1 Pays Homage to 25 Years of Def Jam Records in Its Sixth Year Celebration of ‘VH1 Hip Hop Honors 2009′ : Urbanmecca.com | African American News
VH1 Pays Homage to 25 Years of Def Jam Records in Its Sixth Year Celebration of ‘VH1 Hip Hop Honors 2009′

June 8, 2009

defjam1Back for its sixth year saluting the best in hip hop, VH1’s Hip Hop Honors 2009 will celebrate the achievements of one of hip hop’s greatest brands — Def Jam Records. The music event will tape from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn, New York, and air on VH1 on Tuesday, October 13 at 9 PM ET/PT.

VH1’s Hip Hop Honors 2009 celebrates the 25th Anniversary of Def Jam in a show filled with the stars of this venerable label, as well as funny, painful and inspiring stories from its most renowned creators. Hosting for the third time is “‘30 Rock’s” Tracy Morgan. This year, the music, the influence and the artists from Def Jam’s history past and present will be recognized through performances in collaboration with some of today’s hottest talent. Generations of hip hop will bridge the gap for one exceptional night to set it off with the original style and flavor that sparked and inspired the evolution of this now global music phenomenon. Previous celebrations have honored hip hop luminaries who broke new ground and propelled the genre into the true cultural phenomenon that it has become. Last year’s honorees included Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Naughty by Nature, Slick Rick and Too $hort. Additional talent will be announced as it is confirmed.

The Buzz International Group Welcomes Hip Hop/R&B Recording Artist Tylibah
The Buzz International Group Welcomes Hip Hop/R&B Recording Artist Tylibah
The Buzz International Group Welcomes Hip Hop/R&B Recording Artist Tylibah

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Jun 08, 2009 – The Buzz International Group (Buzz) is proud to announce the newest client to their roster, Tylibah. A lyricist, singer-songwriter, author, and much more, Tylibah has been building her career as an artist and entrepreneur, and has garnered the respect and recognition from some of the industry’s biggest names. Now with Buzz, Tylibah seeks to further unlock a multitude of opportunities for her blossoming career in the entertainment industry. As Tylibah’s public relations agency of record, The Buzz International Group is excited to be along for the ride to take her there.

As a rising star, Tylibah already has achieved things in this industry many seasoned artists are striving for. She has shared the stage with legends such as Maya Angelou, Cicely Tyson, Phylicia Rashad, Avery Brooks, and Delroy Lindo and opened for India.Arie, Cam’ron and Wu-Tang Clan. She is featured in music industry legend Thembisa Mshaka’s just-released book Put Your Dreams First: Handle Your Entertainment Business, joining famed names like Missy Elliot, Vanessa Williams and Mona Scott.

Currently, Tylibah is hard at work, laying down tracks for her debut album. Intelligent, sassy, and street-wise, Tylibah is creating timeless hip hop music and is giving the industry what they have been searching for over a decade now, a true lyricist and singer. Her first single “Y U Mad?” out on digital release this summer, will be an anthem for the masses, urging everyone to follow their dreams and telling haters to step aside. Look for more music out soon and to listen right now, go to www.myspace.com/leebahbaby1. In addition to her debut album, Tylibah will also be releasing a mixtape this summer featuring M-1 from Dead Prez, Queen Pen, Joell Ortiz, Unique and Ron Artest.

“Death of Autotune”: As Proclaimed By Hip-Hop Legend Jay-Z Feature Story
Death of Autotune”: As Proclaimed By Hip-Hop Legend Jay-Z
8-Jun-2009
Written by: Ivory Sherman

Jay-Z releases a new song calling for the death of autotune

Rap artist Jay-Z is causing commotion in the hip-hop community with his newly debuted single that calls for the end of the voice-manipulating program called Auto-tune.

The song entitled “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)” was debuted June 5 on Hot 97 in New York. In the song he says, “This is anti-auto-tune, death of the ringtone” and that rappers are “singing too much / Get back to rap, you T-Pain-ing too much.”

Rapper Kanye West told MTV that Jay-Z is fighting against the use of Autotune by not having any hint of it on his new album, Blueprint 3. “We actually removed all the songs with Auto-tune to make the point that this is an anti-Auto-Tune album, even though I released an album that has all Auto-Tune!” said West.

Although Jay-Z commends artists such as T-Pain, Kanye West, and Lil’ Wayne for using the program to make good melodies, he says, “it’s time to move on.

New Music Tuesday: Black Eyed Peas come to party on new album ‘The E.N.D.’
Black Eyed Peas–’The E.N.D’Article Rating

New Music Tuesday: Black Eyed Peas come to party on new album ‘The E.N.D.’

Tuesday, June 9th 2009, 8:22 AM
Poroy/AP

The Black Eyed Peas released their fifth CD, ‘The E.N.D.’

Years before people came to admire hip hop as an art form, they loved it as a party. The earliest rap records in the ’70s sprang from the loins of disco, mimicking its outsized bass lines, extending its happy patter, even sampling its beats.

Few modern hip-hop acts make those connections more blatant than the Black Eyed Peas. And never have they made cannier use of it than on their fifth and latest CD, “The E.N.D.”

It’s a nonstop incentive to dance, merging every song into the other so as to leave nary a second’s pause for reflection or rest.

Such energy, and intoxication, has made the Peas one of the most popular and radio-friendly acts of the last decade, as well as one of the most reviled. Ironically, it’s hip-hop fans who do most of the reviling.

“Sellouts,” they hiss. “Pop hacks,” they sneer.

The question is — are those things really so bad?

“The E.N.D.” argues otherwise. It’s every bit as flip, silly and cravenly mainstream as it could be. The beats challenge no norms. The melodies aim straight for the Top 40, and the lyrics make “Boogie Oogie Oogie” seem downright Shakespearean. Yet “The E.N.D.” does exactly what it sets out to do — deliver a stupid/good time. (Remember, this is the group that named one of their top hits “Let’s Get Retarded.”)