Hip Hop Herald 01.25.12: Swizz Beatz & Megaupload, LL Cool J Hosting The Grammys, More
Posted by Bill Wannop on 01.25.2012
News and thoughts on LL Cool J being named as the host of this year's Grammys, the curious relationship between Swizz Beatz and beseiged filesharing site Megaupload situation, the headliners for the 2012 Paid Dues Festival and more!
Welcome one and all to the Hip Hop Herald. The column will deal with anything related to hip hop whether it be underground, mainstream, or the new-age pop infused rap (you know the stuff Timberlake and Timbaland make). We will cover news, opinions, release dates as well as feature some music and of course videos.
Be for we start, be sure to check out some of our exclusive interviews as well as follow me on Twitter.
Music Intro
Starting off with the music intro this week, we have none other then Tech N9ne, who recently dropped the new video off his album All 6's & 7's, "Am I A Psycho" which features B.o.B. and Hopsin. The video fits the song perfectly, and again I must say that B.o.B. comes hard on this track, complete with Tyler the Creator and Odd Future disses.
News
Swizz Beatz & Megaupload
The big story of the week has to do with the fact that Megaupload has been taken down and raided by the feds, as well as the fact that super producer Swizz Beatz was on tap to take over the company as CEO before all the drama happened.
Despite the fact that Megaupload was put in the government's crosshairs last week, Swizz Beatz is still interested in pursuing a CEO position at the company. A source tells MTV News that Swizzy was in negotiations to take on an executive position once the legal issues clear up, and while they prematurely pulled the trigger by adding his name to the staff list last week, he's not turning his back on the opportunity.
"He's not walking away from this," the source told MTV News. The tipster also confirmed that Megaupload put his name on its site before it shut down before any deal could be executed. "They put that up prematurely."
The news comes in the wake of last week's crackdown on Megaupload. On Thursday (Jan. 19th), the feds shut down the site and arrested a handful of employees. Swizz was not named in the legal documents.
When is the music industry going to learn that every time they take down one site, many more will pop up in their place? The recording industry states that this site cost them upwards of $300 million dollars, however for them to believe that every person who downloaded something off the site would have legally purchased the same music if the site did not exist is crazy. purchased What makes this much more interesting is that Swizz Beatz is a big name in music and he was able to get support from some other big names in music before megaupload was taken down, names such as Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Chris Brown and Will.i.am.
The fact that musicians are supporting sites that supposedly promote the end of the world, in this case illegal file sharing, must be very frightening for the music industry. I think finally most musicians are realizing that with the power of the internet that they do not need this massive record labels anymore. Artists are starting to realize that the big record labels are trying to stop evolution of music in order to keep getting a large cut of the profits.
People will pay to download music, it just has to be quick easy and simple.
Paid Dues Festival
It's that time of year again, as the initial lineup for the 7 annual Paid Dues Festival has been announced. The festival takes place on Saturday, April 7, 2012, and this year boasts Wu-Tang Clan and Odd Future as headliners. More than 20 acts will be announced ahead of the event, taking place at the NOS Events Center in san Bernardino, California.
In addition to the headlining acts, Living Legends, Dipset (Cam'ron + Jim Jones + Juelz Santana + Freeky Zekey), Hieroglyphics, Kendrick Lamar, DJ Quik, Psycho Realm and Dilated Peoples have also been scheduled to perform.
The Paid Dues Festival is the best indendant hip hop music events in the world. It is a showcase of legends, newcomers and overall greats in hip hop. Although I am a little surprised by Odd Future getting a headlining act (they are hardly equal to Wu-Tang), the lineup looks great and should continue to grow in the coming weeks.
LL Cool J To Host The Grammy's
Two-time winner LL Cool J has been tapped to host the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards, making it the first time in seven years that the Academy has enlisted a host.
"I'm thrilled to be part of Music's Biggest Night," said LL. "I will always have fond memories of my first GRAMMY Awards and to now be hosting the GRAMMY show, in the company of so many other incredible artists, is a dream come true. Great performances and great music it's gonna be a great night!"
The event will take place on February 12th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, and will be aired on CBS from 8-11:30 p.m.
LL Cool J is an interesting choice as host and is somewhat of a gamble. Sure, most people know who he is, but he really has not been in the music limelight for a while. As well it will be interesting to see how he is able to carry the show and if he is able to be entertaining enough for the duration of the event.
Release Dates & Album Updates
Albums of the Year (already released)
The main album release news, comes from Nicki Minaj who announced that her latest album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded has been pushed back and will now be released on April 3rd as opposed to Valentines Day. The reason for the delay was due to Minaj wanting to add more surprises' to the album. Kid CuDi and Dot Da Genius have revealed the tracklist for their upcoming debut WZRD, dropping February 28th.
The rest of the dates can be seen below (new updates are underlined, while anticipated releases are highlighted in RED). No other real changes to the schedules as we near the end of the year.
January 24
Saigon & Just Blaze - Warning Shots 3: One Foot In The Grave
Planet Asia - Black Belt Theatre
February 14
M-Phazes & DJ Rhettmatic of Beat Junkies - Phazed Out
Sean Born - Behind the Scale
Various Artists (John Legend, The Roots, Wyclef, etc.) - Soundtrack For a Revolution
February 28
Obie Trice Bottoms Up
Mad Child Dope Sick
Planet Asia Black Belt Theatre
E-40 - The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil
Ja Rule - Pain Is Love 2
Copywrite - God Save The King
Kid Cudi W Z R D
March 13
B.o.B. Strange Clouds
March 27
Apollo Brown & O.C. - Trophies
DJ Premier & Bumpy Knuckles - The Kolexion
Gift Of Gab (Blackalicious) - Logical Progression
April 3 Nicki Minaj Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
Pushed Back
Chino XL RICANstruction
Swizz Beatz - Haute Living [2012]
Fabolous Loso's Way 2 [2012]
Big K.R.I.T. - Live From the Underground [January 2012]
Rick Ross God Forgives, I Don't [2012]
Other Recent Announcements DPG Alumni [Early 2012]
T.I. Trouble Man [March 2012]
Chris Brown Fortune [March 2012]
Asher Roth Is This Too Orange [March 2012]
Masta Ace & Doom MADOOM [2012]
Kool G Rap & Necro The Godfathers [2012]
DJ Khaled Kiss The Ring [2012]
