Tuesday, November 11, 2003
More CBS/Reagans fallout, the return of Alicia Keys, Asian hip hop gets gully, Dizzee Rascal hits the US & the Source Awards are back
More fallout from the CBS/Reagans controversy as network head Les Moonves defends their actions in shifting broadcast of the docudrama to sister cable network Showtime ("CBS denies folding over Reagans" Source: BBC News World Edition).
Alicia Keys's long-awaited follow-up to her multiple Grammy-award winning debut Songs in A Minor titled Diary of Alicia Keys is scheduled to drop on December 2. You can preview tracks from it here. I never was fully-convinced of Keys's talent the way I was by Lauryn Hill and the songs I've heard so far from the new album haven't changed my mind. It's gonna be interesting to see how many of the 5 million Songs in A Minor buyers come back for a second helping.
Looking for info on hip hop on TV this week? Click here (Source: SOHH.com). Of special note: the annual hip hop celebration, the Source Awards are airing tonight on BET. Click here for additional details.
I thought Jin Tha MC was strictly a punchline, battle rapper but I guess he's taking the motto of his adopted clique the Ruff Ryders ("Ride or Die") to heart and battling off-stage as well as on ("ASIAN RAP SHOOTING IN CHINATOWN" Source: NY Post). Guess we should just be glad the Mountain Brothers weren't there as well.
This might be as good a statement as any about the state of progressive urban music (or the music industry overall) in the US that no label specializing in urban music here picked up the biggest urban artist in the UK (possibly the 2nd biggest urban market after the US): "Dizzee Rascal, the 18-year-old British rapper who won the most recent prestigious Mercury Music Prize, just signed with indie powerhouse Matador Records. The label will be releasing the album Boy in Da Corner in January." (Source: Youth Intelligence/TrendCentral)
Finally: is this more Strokes bashing here courtesy of my man Sahsa Frere-Jones? (Source: Slate/MSN)
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Alicia Keys's long-awaited follow-up to her multiple Grammy-award winning debut Songs in A Minor titled Diary of Alicia Keys is scheduled to drop on December 2. You can preview tracks from it here. I never was fully-convinced of Keys's talent the way I was by Lauryn Hill and the songs I've heard so far from the new album haven't changed my mind. It's gonna be interesting to see how many of the 5 million Songs in A Minor buyers come back for a second helping.
Looking for info on hip hop on TV this week? Click here (Source: SOHH.com). Of special note: the annual hip hop celebration, the Source Awards are airing tonight on BET. Click here for additional details.
I thought Jin Tha MC was strictly a punchline, battle rapper but I guess he's taking the motto of his adopted clique the Ruff Ryders ("Ride or Die") to heart and battling off-stage as well as on ("ASIAN RAP SHOOTING IN CHINATOWN" Source: NY Post). Guess we should just be glad the Mountain Brothers weren't there as well.
This might be as good a statement as any about the state of progressive urban music (or the music industry overall) in the US that no label specializing in urban music here picked up the biggest urban artist in the UK (possibly the 2nd biggest urban market after the US): "Dizzee Rascal, the 18-year-old British rapper who won the most recent prestigious Mercury Music Prize, just signed with indie powerhouse Matador Records. The label will be releasing the album Boy in Da Corner in January." (Source: Youth Intelligence/TrendCentral)
Finally: is this more Strokes bashing here courtesy of my man Sahsa Frere-Jones? (Source: Slate/MSN)
