Roosevelt Franklin Releases New LP Online For Free

Roosevelt Franklin, the funky, funny, sarcastic and talented duo comprised of Mr. Len and Kimani Rogers, have decided to release their second album online for free. Following a growing trend, as can be seen by a few recent releases such as Serengeti's Race Trading album and Myka9's Citrus Sessions album, the group decided to make their work freely available for mass consumption with the hope that it would be listened to by as many people as possible. They even passed on a deal with BadBoy! Probably 'cause they knew it meant Puffy would have to rhyme or hum or hiss or do whatever he does over the lead single. Here's the proof:

other sites have questioned why we are doing this. they think it is a bad idea on our part, and that we are devaluing our music. and as i see there perspective i would have appreciated it if they would have first asked us our motivation. we didn't do it because we couldn't find a label to put the record out (more on that in a minute). my personal reasoning was so that elisha cuthbert might by some chance hear my song. if you think that is a stupid idea, well then i don't know what to say. now we in fact did get a couple offers from some major labels. to prove it to you i will show you the emails that we got in response. i promise i did not write this shit myself. to: roosefrank@gmail.com from: diddy@badboy.com dear roosevelt franklin, first let me just say that your insights towards making the band season 4 were very helpful and we have taken note. not surprisingly you seem to be the only person who has demanded that there be more dylan dillinger on the show. as for the record. i sir diddy did enjoy it. we however have 20 new biggie smalls posthumous releases slated for 2006. we have the biggie duets album featuring biggie along side bobby brown and johnny gill. the best of worst worlds record with biggie and r kelly. the long lost dvd of biggie playing with the harlem globetrotters. and 17 others which i haven't fully conceptualized yet. we would like to sign you to a spec deal for the sum of 5 pounds of sean john clothing, and a bunch of leftover g dep cd's. the contract is in the mail sean "diddy" combs bad boy president

But in all seriousness, it is refreshing to see artists begin to grasp the great potential for mass exposure the internet offers. And they are not succumbing to Itunes deals or IODA affiliations to gain this exposure. They are depending on free services that provide hosting and bandwidth and, of course, they are relying on the belief that they are creating quality and worthwhile work. rooseveltfranklin.blogspot.com (via the stranger)

Day By Day Cosmetics

According to this myspace page Day By Day Entertainment has ventured into the cosmetics industry. Interesting. Link

Day By Day Cosmetics is a division of entertainment conglomerate, Day By Day Entertainment, inc. We have recently partnered with Nicole Randelman of Marigold Makeup to bring you a brand new line of celebrity cosmetics.

P2P Impact On Sales Questioned

The CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association), the Canadian version of our blessed RIAA, tripped themselves up a few weeks ago by releasing a study that countered many of the general beliefs associated with their battle against online file sharing. As originally pointed out by Dr. Michael Geist, the study provides proof that the people who download the most music are the same people that buy the most music. Link (via marketwatch)

In summary, CRIA's own research now concludes that P2P downloading constitutes less than one-third of the music on downloaders' computers, that P2P users frequently try music on P2P services before they buy, that the largest P2P downloader demographic is also the largest music buying demographic, and that reduced purchasing has little to do with the availability of music on P2P services. I've argued many of these same things, but now you don't have to take my word for it; you can take it from the record labels themselves.

Existereo Rocks

Existereo rocks. He sent us an audiocast a few months back that was either lost or confiscated by the authorities, damn it. Photo by Tenya Hills. Website coming soon. Link

Get Your Money Right (Get your site right?)

We got this press release about the "Get Your Money Right" panel discussion that's coming up in Detroit. Sounded interesting so I went to the hsan.org (HipHop Summit Action Network) site to find more information. Unfortunately the site doesn't provide direct access to its content unless you register. Well, I tried but there seems to be a problem with the server. Not to put HSAN on blast but can y'all get your site right? Anyway, anyone have any info on the success of these panel discussions in the past? From what I've read big toothed Suze Orman herself has made appearances alongside various artists. Link, press release

New La The Darkman Mixtape

J-Love just dropped a La The Darkman mixtape with a lot of unreleased songs you probably haven't heard, I'm coppin' that! La was also just interviewed for Allhiphop. He addresses something I was always curious about, the tracks he did with Vanilla Ice ice baby. We can put them up later if anyone wants to listen to them. mixtape, interview

AllHipHop.com: Let me ask you this then. You did a song with Vanilla Ice and Insane Clown Posse. I understand you spent some time in Michigan, but was “Unbreakable” something you genuinely wanted to do? A lot of people scratch their heads. La the Darkman: I know they scratch their heads. I did that song in 2002. Nah, I did that song ‘cause it’s a whole ‘nother market. I respected Insane Clown Posse as businessmen, to have a catalog like they have, independently. Vanilla Ice sold 10 million records, had Taco Bell commercials, I wanted to mix the lines. I got paid good too. We was vibin’. I’m a student of this whole thing. I’m tryin’ to be Kobe Bryant in this thing. I got a ring before – 300,000 records. I’m ready to get rings without Shaq now.

New Black Sheep Album

New track from Black Sheep is dope. They have an album coming. blacksheeponline.com (via latinrapper.com, via Spinemag)

Current TV - VC2

Current TV, which I'm sure some of you have heard about by now, appears to be a great service for independent artists, or should I say independent content makers?. The channel isn't so much for displaying art but for displaying content about art, or any other subject for that matter. The national television channel is more about public reporting than anything else. They basically collect their news content from their viewers and have an online voting system to see what gets broadcasted. So, lets say you have a short documentary you've been working on or maybe a 5 minute video montage/report on why HipHop shouldn't be banned from public universities in Nevada, than head on over there and register for free to contribute and possibly get it beamed all over the US (I'll vote for ya!). Oh, and if you're wondering why there's a doofy picture of Gore it's because intially he was the new company's biggest spokesperson and possibly helped to develop the concept (no time to check the facts, oh well). And VC2 is their trendy way of saying viewer created content. current.tv, faq

Soundclick Digital Distribution

A friend of ours, who recently finished Volume 2 of a compilation series, put us on to Soundclick's new digital distribution service. The already popular site for indie artists recently decided to sucker punch Itunes, and MySpace for that matter, by providing their customer base with a means of digital distribution for their product. Without having to put up with Itunes' convoluted application process, independent artists now have the ability to host, distribute and collect payment for their work digitally. Ever wanted to get your work on Itunes but didn't have the support of an established label or distributor? Ever wanted to sell those few songs you recorded without having to put together a full album? Ever wanted to let people download your work for a fee but couldn't afford the hosting and bandwidth costs? Or just couldn't figure out what the hell they were? Now any individual can work towards becoming a full fledged independent recording company with worldwide digital distribution, for a fee I would consider reasonable - especially for a first mover like Soundclick. I have yet to fully disect the agreement or fee structure but I am none the less excited about the service and the progress (for the music industry) this service symbolizes. Link

The 902 by Warren Jeffries

Don't know much about this documentary except it follows some artists around from Nova Scotia, including Buck 65, Skratch Bastid and DJ JoRun. People with access to IFC Canada can tune in to the program titled The 902 on April 25th. In addition, the channel has a great line up of documentaries focusing on musicians for the month of April. Link

Rock out with IFC this April as “documania” hits the airwaves. From musical icons to a pair of revolutionary newbie protesters, IFC has a line up of cool documentaries airing throughout the month of April during its Month of Cool Docs......IFC’s Month of Cool Docs wraps up on Tuesday, April 25 at 7 p.m. ET with the network premiere of The 902 (2004). The docs name stems from the province of Nova Scotia’s telephone area code and follows local musical artists Buck 65, Skratch Bastid and DJ JoRun as they attempt to hold on to their early hip hop roots while trying to achieve commercial success.

Turntable Timmy

Pretty interesting. A book soon to be turned animated series depicting Turntable Timmy and his gang trying to save HipHop from corporate perpetrators. This is for the chirren. turntabletimmy.com

Wax Tailor Release In US

Big up to deconmedia for putting me up on some good fresh music, which is all I really want in life (sigh). It seems Wax Tailor has been releasing albums for some time now (in France?) but this is my first time stumbling upon his work. I've only heard three tracks so far but they left me with a desire to hear more. I also peeped this video, which I can't help but feel left me with a subtle, possibly subconscious yearning for something else. It's for an instrumental song titled Hypnosis Theme (caution: not work safe) from his Tales of Forgotten Melodies album. The director did a great job although if you're under 18 you might need your parent's permission to watch. Deconmedia has also graciously made availabe another instrumental which is to be the single from the same album. Look out for the lp's US release on May 30th. Do not sleep. And if anyone knows of any other foreign artists or music which has a greater chance of not getting play in the US of A, please send it on in. Download Wax Tailor - Que Sera waxtailor.com

Board Of Regents Wants To Ban HipHop In Nevada University Campuses

Stavros Anthony, a Regent from the Board of Regents in Nevada, has proposed to ban HipHop from the campuses of all public universities in that state. How ridiculous is this? Aside from the fact that this could possibly be the most ineffectual theory on controlling violence I have stumbled across for a long time, the fact that it was developed and proposed by a University manager - someone the tax paying public entrusts to help properly run a major public educational institution, a place where freedom of expression should be instilled, not curtailed - is absolutely absurd. Link

Bigg Jus Audio Interview / Company Flow Reunion

Short profile and audio interview of Bigg Jus conducted by Christopher Johnson for NPR. Towards the end he mentions an upcoming Company Flow record. This is the second time I am hearing about a possible reunion. Link, previously: Company Flow To Record Again?

The Go! Team's Ladyflash Video

I like this video. It works really well with the song. The Go! Team are from the UK. You can probably tell by the grime-type vibe they have going on. If you get the ep there are some rjd2 remixes for some other song. Ladyflash is definitely the standout though. Link

Vinyl Records Collector

Very informative site on the history of vinyl. Goes into technical aspects as well.

vinylrecordscollector.co.uk Vinyl Record Collectors provides a massive amount of information covering the history of vinyl records ranging from Thomas Edison cylinder phonograph to the gramophone and then to the jukebox that will bring back memories of the 78rpm record, the 33rpm record and the 45rpm record, if you are a lover of the vinyl format and enjoy record albums/LP's or vinyl records! Also covered is an extensive catalogue of vinyl online record stores from different areas from around the world.

Tekitha - Rhythm And Blues, The Way It Should Be

Have you ever wondered what Tekitha has been up to ever since the idiots at EPIC decided to shelve her full length? Did you ever wish you could get your hands on a copy of the album that never was, Wisdom Body? Well if you have, don't hold your breath, because it will probably never see the light of day (someone please correct me if I'm wrong, I hope I'm wrong). But you can visit her mysp*ce page for some songs you probably never heard. The first one is free to download. Link