Orlando, FL ~ In the three weeks since its release, “Sweet Jones: Pimp C’s Trill Life Story” has already become a favorite with rap fans and historians alike. In addition to the stellar reviews the book is receiving, the comprehensive 726-page work already finds itself atop Amazon’s rap biography chart. Penned by founder and Editor-In-Chief of esteemed Southern rap publication, OZONE, Julia Beverly, with a foreword from longtime friend and collaborator of Chad ‘Pimp C’ Butler, Too Short, the book is an in-depth journey into the complicated world and mind of one of rap’s most colorful and controversial figures. It was compiled from interviews with Pimp C himself, his late mother and manager Weslyn “Mama Wes” Monroe, UGK rap partner Bun B, and hundreds of friends, family members, and collaborators like Snoop Dogg, Scarface, Too $hort, 8Ball & MJG, Jazze Pha, David Banner, Mannie Fresh, Paul Wall, Slim Thug, Trae Tha Truth, and Willie D of the Geto Boys.

With a host of a-list media already in the bag in support of her work, Julia Beverly has a nationwide book tour in the works that will include book signings, radio appearances and press interviews in each market.

Copies can be purchased on Amazon here- http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Jones-Pimp-Trill-Story/dp/0692461272

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen D.I.T.C in its entirety… RIP Big L… They came out in celebration of Stretch & Bobbito… the underground radio guru’s that provided a pulse to hip hop for years… with magnificent freestyles from the best to ever do it…

The new album by Talib Kweli “Fuck The Money” is free…

Talib Kweli revealed the new music on his website, kweliclub.com, where it’s available to be downloaded for free.

According to Billboard… On Saturday, Aug. 15, he said that it had already been downloaded a million times. “Yall love free shit,” he tweeted.

Congrats to F. Gary Gray for posting his best opening as film director… “Straight Outta Compton” was produced for 29 million… so definitly a cause for celebration…

The movie came into opening weekend with a ton of buzz behind it… and apparently the trailers running on the networks paid off…

According to Billboard… “Compton” overshadowed other rap movies like Eminem’s 8 Mile, which hit $51.2 million in 2002, and Notorious, the story of Notorious B.I.G., which opened to $20.5 million in 2009. The film could also claim the best August opening for an R-rated movie as well as the top opening for a musical biopic.

SKAM2? lets another bat loose from under the big top of his Flying Monkey Murder Cirkus with the bizarre visuals for “How To Boil Vomit”.

Multi-platinum music icon Prince, and global music and entertainment platform TIDAL, confirmed that the next release from the entertainer will be exclusively on TIDAL on September 7, 2015.

The upcoming release, the experimental, HITNRUN, was first announced by his band, 3RDEYEGIRL, on BBC radio late last month, following the release of the critically praised first single, “HARDROCKLOVER”. Minutes after the song was released on July 1^st, critics raved with The Guardian saying, “Prince is back to his old sensual self ‘ripping jeans’ and ‘making women scream’ on this minimal slow jam.” Billboard called the single “A dreamy rock song”, and Rolling Stone described it as simply “Wild”.

“Super hardcore Prince fans that know every song he’s ever recorded – we refer to them as ‘The Purple Collective’ or ‘The Purple Army’ – this album is absolutely for them, because it’s super funky,” reported 3RDEYEGIRL. “There are a lot of experimental sounds. It’s just hit after hit and definitely caters to those fans who just love to hear what Prince has to say, rather than wanting to always hear that classic Purple Rain Prince sound.” Prince worked with co-producer Joshua Welton on HITNRUN – Welton was also a co-producer on Prince’s ARTOFFICIALAGE album, released late last year.

The Prince/TIDAL partnership has been in the works for some months, but was quickly cemented out of mutual admiration and respect and a profound belief in artists’ rights. The relationship began in May with TIDAL live streaming the first hour of Prince’s RALLY 4 PEACE concert in Baltimore. TIDAL hosted live audio of the event and matched funds for donations made on TIDAL.com.

The music icon stated, “After one meeting, it was obvious that Jay Z and the team he has assembled at TIDAL recognize and applaud the effort that real musicians put in2 their craft 2 achieve the very best they can at this pivotal time in the music industry. Secondly, TIDAL have honored Us with a non-restrictive arrangement that once again allows Us to continue making art in the fashion We’ve grown accustomed 2 and We’re Extremely grateful 4 their generous support. And lastly, in the tech-savvy, real-time world We all live in 2day, everything is faster. From its conception and that one & only meeting, HITNRUN took about 90 days 2 prepare its release. If that’s what freedom feels like, HITNRUN is what it sounds like.”

JAY Z added, “Prince has always been a visionary, a free-thinker. We’re honored to offer his breadth of work, “1999,” “Purple Rain,” etc., music that has inspired so many, on TIDAL. We’re also excited to be the home for his new upcoming album, HITNRUN. Both Prince and TIDAL share the belief that all creatives should have the opportunity to speak directly to those that love and support them. This partnership with Prince represents TIDAL’s philosophy in its truest form, a 1 to 1 connection and direct delivery of artistry to the world.”

About TIDAL
TIDAL is an innovative platform to experience and discover music from artists around the world, enjoy access to exclusive and curated content, and connect and share with artists. TIDAL is available in more than 44 countries with a 30 million song catalog, and more than 75,000 high quality videos. The service offers high-fidelity CD sound quality, high quality video, expertly curated content and unique experiences.

Follow TIDAL at http://facebook.com/tidal and http://twitter.com/tidalhifi

SOURCE TIDAL

Hours before releasing his critically acclaimed third studio album Compton (Aftermath/Interscope Records), a sixteen track effort that’s musically “ornate and grand-scaled”, as noted by the New York Times, and which is inspired by the sounds and sights of his iconic hometown, Dr. Dre announced plans to fund a new performing arts center in his old neighborhood. “I’ve been really trying to do something special for Compton and just couldn’t quite figure out what it was,” he told the Beats 1 host Zane Lowe in an interview conducted late last week. The idea’s genesis came from Compton Mayor Aja Brown; “she was already in the process of working on it,” Dre told Lowe, “so I said, ‘Boom, this is what we should do!’ ”

Compton, a body of work lauded by the Irish Times as “magnificent”, with “track after track rocking back and forth with a vibrant, invigorated and pointed momentum”, is rich with imagery and ideology about life in the infamous southern Los Angeles neighborhood. It has been heralded – via Rolling Stone, who remarks Compton “contains some of his most ambitious, idea-stuffed production ever”, the Guardian, who names Dre’s “gift for rejuvenation remarkable”, and Grantland who calls it “the first undeniably earth-shifting and socially abstract eyes-wide-open moment in a solo career” – as offering a unique new view of the city’s evolution over the last several decades, since Dr. Dre and N.W.A. put Compton on the cultural map with the 1988 release of their classic record, Straight Outta Compton.

In short, there is no more appropriate source of funding for a new facility meant to serve as a haven and source of creative inspiration for Compton’s youth. “It will give kids something to do during these long summers,” said longtime Compton resident Rick Bludso, when asked about the new center by The Los Angeles Times. “It is real good thing, a real good thing.”

SOURCE Interscope Records