Props: Allhiphop

De-facto Wu Tang Clan leader the RZA has announced today (September 10) a partnership with global digital music group The Orchard, which will market Wu’s extensive catalogue worldwide in digital and physical formats. The deal encompasses new material and 13 previous Clan releases that have been unavailable digitally from the Wu Tang Clan, Killarmy, Wu-Syndicate, Shyheim, U-God, Black Knights, and West Coast Killa Beez. With operations in 27 countries, The Orchard is one of the world’s largest music distribution organizations. Globally the company disseminates over 1.3 million songs and over 5,000 video titles through hundreds of digital stores such as iTunes, eMusic, Google, Netflix, and V CAST.

RZA, aka The Abbott, explained that the pact was a natural progression necessary to ensure that fans will have continued access to Wu’s catalogue in the ever-changing music industry.
“The time is right to bring some older material to the masses digitally,” RZA told AllHipHop.com. “Our fans have been dedicated and patient, and they’re hungry to hear the music that has set us apart from so many others. Hip-hop is alive in Wu Music, and with The Orchard, we’ve got a solid partner that understands our audience and is committed to doing all they can to help us reach the fans. I’m definitely looking forward to working with them to see what else we all come up with. There’s much more to come.”

Also launching is the online video channel Wu Music Tube, a forum focused on allowing the artists to speak directly with their fans.
In the ensuing months, Wu’s music and video catalogue will also be featured by various brands and ad agencies in marketing and promotion programs around the world.  Wu Music Group’s catalogue will be available worldwide for downloads on September 23.

Ol' Dirty Bastard was one of the founding members of hip-hop's Wu-Tang Clan, "the heart and soul of the group" in its early years, although he had embarked on a solo career before he died of an accidental drug overdose. A collaboration with Mariah Carey on the hit song "Fantasy" led to stardom, but ODB was primarily known during his "short, tumultuous, but somehow inspired life" (1968 - 2004) for his run-ins with the law and his erratic behavior; in one memorable incident, he disrupted the Grammys to explain why he thought Wu-Tang should have won.
Lowe, who wrote about ODB for the Village Voice after his death, has gathered what information she can on his life and career, but that really isn't enough to fill a book. Instead, she writes about her efforts to understand ODB, stretching out each interview, no matter how tangential, and circling around her main themes - such as the notion that the drug-addled rapper was, in his final years, "a curio put onstage" for the amusement of white hipsters. There are occasional flashes of insight, especially when she writes on the subject of ODB's probable mental illness, but the structural weaknesses make for an unsatisfying biography.

Props: mcarchives.com

Wu-Tang producer and affiliate True Master is one of the most prolific producers in Hip-Hop. His production has been employed by such A-list acts as Alicia Keys, Missy Elliott, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes &, of course, the Wu-Tang Clan. Now, hot on the heals of prominent production and guest spots on core Clan member GZA's recent solo LP "Pro Tools," True Master unveils his highly anticipated solo debut, "Master Craftsman." Including an unprecedented line-up of appearances by core Wu-Tang Clan members Ghostface Killah, Raekwon & RZA, as well as KRS-One, Killah Priest, Inspectah Deck, Cappadonna, Prodigal Sunn, Masta Killa & more, True Master is armed to deliver a hallmark release that's sure to mobilize the legions of Wu-Tang Clan fans and loyalists.

Currently scheduled to be released September 30th via Babygrande records.
 

Props: Cno Evil

Hot on the heels of his collaborative album “T.H.U.G ANGELZ: Welcome To Red Hook Houses” with Shabazz the Disciple, Sunz of Man and Black Market Militia member Hell Razah is returning to stores with a new solo effort “Ultra Sounds Of A Renaissance Child” on September 23rd. The album will be available digitally on Itunes a week earlier on September 16th.

“Ultra Sounds” will be Razah’s fourth release since 2007, following up the critically acclaimed “Renaissance Child,” and his joint effort with production duo Blue Sky Black Death “Razah’s Ladder.”

"This album captures my creative mind state, and shows more versatility of me as a solo artist that has matured with the god given gift of being poetic, spiritual, street, and political all at the same time, while keeping

 interesting concepts alive. I feel like majority of albums have lost that vibe in today's music," said Razah. "I called it Ultra Sounds because that's what doctors use to see a baby before its fully developed before its born. I sat in the incubator of hip hop waiting for my turn and now its time. This will be the beginning of Hell Razah Music as a label as well as a fully developed solo artist now. I want my fans to see me not only as a good feature or as a group member but to see I can hold it down alone as well.”

“Ultra Sounds” includes production from international producers Shroom, 84 Tigers, D.J. Rated R, and more.

The album will also be his last released under the moniker Hell Razah, and Razah will be known as either Heaven Razah or RazahRubiez for his next full length album in 2009.

“This project will be the last time you see the Hell side of Razah,” Razah concluded.

Props: HipHopGame

Babygrande Records, indie powerhouse behind such acts as Hi-Tek, Jedi
Mind Tricks, Jean Grae & more, has paired with renowned NY
clothing / lifestyle brand ALife and veteran A&R (and creative muscle
behind Think Differently Music's "Wu-Tang Meets The Indie Culture"),
Dreddy Kruger, for September 30th's "The Box," the debut from the buzzing emcee duo of Folk & Stress.

Brothers from Long Island, Folk & Stress' soulfully reserved
production and witty battle rhymes are complemented by guest spots  from the cream of the independent emcee crop including GZA (of
Wu-Tang), Aesop Rock, Vast Aire (of Cannibal Ox), Blu, Bronze Nazareth  & many more.

For further information, music & more, please visit:
www.folkandstress.com
www.babygrande.com


Think Differently Music: Folk & Stress: "The Box" In stores September 30th

The group now currently go by the name The Syndicate with only 2 members, Myalansky and Joe Mafia who released a street mix tape "The Syndicate Is Back" hosted by Ron G almost three years ago.

Currently, Myalansky (who has named himself after the real life gangster Meyer Lansky) is working on his first solo album which is currently titled "Drastic Measure" on Syndicate records and has just released a banging single

[Please Click on picture or this link for full interview]

Longtime Wu-Tang affiliate Killah Priest and Army of The Pharaohs core member Chief Kamachi are teaming up to release their full length collabo album “Beautiful Minds” on September 23rd on Good Hands Records.

Both considered two of the top lyrical MC’s in the game, Priest and Kamachi promise an album fans of lyricism will love.

“Kamachi and I are alike in a lot of ways, this album is going to turn a lot of heads,” said Priest.

“Working with Priest was like going to the studio with myself. It was second nature working with him. It all just came so naturally,” said Kamachi.

“Beautiful Minds” features only guest appearances from Planet Asia and DJ Rhettmatic on the track “Illest.”

“As much as the fans are going to love the non stop spitting by Priest and Kamachi, I think the production matches their efforts, we all made an effort to make sure it was really top notch,” said Good Hands Records president DJ Truth.

Production on “Beautiful Minds” is handled by Tekneek (Kurupt, Tha Dogg Pound), E . Dan (Wiz Khalifa, Reef The Lost Cauze, Kamachi), C Sik (Dilated Peoples, Strong Arm Steady), Dev Rocka, Diamond Legit, Emonex and more.

Album Sampler can be downloaded from here >>>>>>>>>>>>

01 Intromental
02 Pencil [ft. Masta Killa & RZA]
03 Alphabets
04 Groundbreaking [ft. Justice Kareem]
05 7 Pounds
06 0% Finance
07 Short Race [ft. Rock Marcy]
08 Interlude
09 Paper Plate
10 Columbian Ties [ft. True Master]
11 Firehouse [ft. Ka]
12 Path of Destruction
13 Cinema [ft. Justice Kareem]
14 Intermission (Drive in Movie)
15 Life Is a Movie [ft. RZA & Irfane Khan-Acito]
16 Elastic Audio [ft. FYRE Department & Dreddy Kruger] (Live at the Parish in Austin, TX, 5/31/2007) [bonus track]

   Willie The Kid : The Crowning Of A Prince Interview 

Picture, if you will, the future of street music. The coming of urban culture led by an artist who was born to do it. A messiah, of some sort, destine to recharge and accelerate the pulse of rap music. Inspired by the essence of the craft, Willie the Kid is that artist. Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, his is not the typical rappers tale. Located two hours West and East of Detroit and Chicago respectively, West Michigan didn't have much to offer in the early 1980s. Like many urban areas, it offered underprivileged African-American people nothing but the stark contrast between their lives and that of their upper class counterparts. With limited outlets for the urban youth, fast money became the common alternative.

Yet rather than fall prey to the convenient access to drugs and violence, Willie The Kid uses the bleak landscape of his childhood stomping grounds as inspiration for his music and motivation for his career. The son of a DJ who was down with the culture from its onset, Willie grew up in a home where Hip-Hop was the ideology of choice. My father never did anything else, he says, wasn't big on religion, wasn't big on sports. Wasn't big on anything, but the music. In my house, that's what we grew up to. We never got in trouble for throwing footballs in the house, we got in trouble for scratching a record, or playing a rap record and saying the cuss words.

The result was a 4-year-old who became king of the playground by memorizing Rakim and KRS-1 rhymes, knowing that none of his friends would have ever heard the music to which he was exposed at home. It was only a matter of time before Willie and his brother starting coming up with their own rhymes, making microphones from a pair of broken headphones, which they connected to a boom box. Around the age of 12, as his brother, La The Darkman, got his industry break through a deal with Wu Tang, Willie the Kid got his first notebook and truly started writing. This happened during the late 1980s, early 1990s, to which he refers as the Golden Age of rap music. With influences such as Nas, Wu Tang Clan, and Jay-Z, Willie the Kid is a true writer, a story teller whose word play and vivid descriptions put his listeners in a zone.

With the support of his Atlanta-based Aphilliates Crew, Willie the Kid continues to bypass the norm as he releases his music independently and build his very own brand--something which he has done since moving to Atlanta and linking with fellow Aphilliates member DJ Don Cannon. You can catch the young street visionary making apperances on every Aphilliates mixtape release from DJ Don Cannon's 28 Grams to DJ Drama's Gangsta Grillz series. The future is here, right now: Pay Attention as Wu-International chops it up with WTK, his humble beginnings, outlook on the game and his forth coming offering. Enjoy!!

[Please Click on picture or this link for full interview]