• Dance Music & Doctors Without Borders Team Up Through Zenter Music for Massive Prize Giveaway

    A new company, Zenter Music, which launched in November 2014, acts as conduit for the dance music community to the charitable space by being an events company, promoter and record label, while also connecting with large charities and donating funds to that cause. Each month, Zenter chooses one charitable organization to donate 50% of its earnings to and in January, it chose French medicinal organization, Medicines Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders). It has also teamed up with some large labels and DJs to include a large prize giveaway to those who donate to the organization.

  • NYPD Officer's Turn Their Backs as Mayor De Blasio Eulogizes Officer Wenjian Liu

    NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is going to have a real uphill battle in regaining the trust and respect of the NYPD. Tensions between officers and City Hall appear to be at an all-time high in terms of strain and while there have been calls for civility towards the mayor, it seems the NYPD is still too angry to be anything more than disrespectful. On Sunday morning, the second officer assassinated while eating lunch in his patrol car in Brooklyn a few weeks ago was finally laid to rest but not without officers turning their backs, yet again, on the Mayor.

  • O.T. Genasis's 'CoCo' Gets Video Makeover with Cars, Women, Coco [WATCH]

    O.T. Genasis burst onto the music fan's consciousness with his cocaine-inspired single "CoCo." It has caught on like wildfire, glorifying the "love for the coco." Now his single has gotten a new music video with all the hip-hop music video stereotypes of fancy cars, scantily clad and beautiful women, big boats and, of course, Genasis's beloved coco.This new, higher-budget video comes as Genasis gets signed to Busta Rhymes's Conglomerate Records and thus more resources at his disposal. There was something raw about the original, but the new clip makes the track more accessible to mainstream viewers.Filmed in some large waterfront Miami mansion, there are plenty of twerking women on Ferraris, large piles of baking soda and overly exaggerated hand gestures. He even gets his own coco cake at the end, presumably using all of that baking soda or flour in the video.As one might expect, Busta and O.T Genasis get a few celebrity cameos from DJ Khaled, surprisingly without his headphones, and Ice Cube, who just sits off to the side in a room of his own with some random woman.

  • B.o.B. Drops New Mixtape 'No Genre: The Label' [LISTEN]

    Already several days deep into this new year, hip-hop fans are seeing quite the promise in music for the year ahead, with artists discussing their upcoming plans with tour dates and music releases galore. Hopefully, artists will continue this momentum into the month ahead, and B.o.B. is already off to a great start.The Atlanta rapper is gearing up his new year with a proper introduction to his label, No Genre, with a new mixtape titled "B.o.B. Presents: No Genre: The Label."The mixtape features 18 tracks with guest appearances including from Lin-Z, Jake Lambo, London Jae and Scotty ATL as well as featuring production from the likes of K.E. on the Track, JaqueBeatz and the man himself, B.o.B., also known as Bobby Ray.B.o.B. shared with Rap-Up TV that the label allows the rapper to roll with the mindset and movement that, “It quite simply means I can do what the f--k I feel like doing."As reported, this spring will see B.o.B.’s fourth release since his 2010 debut, "The Adventures of Bobby Ray." His next album will feature a vast amount of his own production and also have a mixtape-reminiscent rawness to it.

  • Mark Ronson Talks Amy Winehouse, 'Uptown Funk' Success in New Interview Ahead of 'Uptown Special' Release

    Mark Ronson gave the public a small taste of his upcoming fourth album "Uptown Special" with the single "Uptown Funk" featuring Bruno Mars. The pair performed the tune on "Saturday Night Live" at the end of 2014, and it even climbed to No. 1 on the United Kingdom's singles chart and No. 2 on "Billboard's" Hot 100. The musician/producer took some time to reflect on his year with "The Guardian" as well as one of his favorite collaborators, Amy Winehouse.While he was in the studio working on the new album, due out later this month and which features guest spots by Stevie Wonder, Ronson claimed his health declined due to his exhaustive work effort. In one instance, he even fainted."We did 45 takes of it and I just couldn't get it, it sounded like horrible bulls--t, so we went to lunch, walked down to a restaurant. Everyone was saying: 'Dude, what's wrong with you? You've gone totally white.' Because I was going on pretending everything was just fine; you don't want to admit that you're just not there, you're not where you want to be. And I went to the toilet and just ... fainted. I threw up, and fainted. They had to come and carry me out of the toilet," he said.The album will be a follow-up to his 2010 release "Record Collection." Ronson has kept busy in recent years, working on albums by Paul McCartney, Rufus Wainwright and Mars. Still, Ronson's greatest contribution to pop music might be Winehouse's groundbreaking 2006 release "Back to Black."

  • Death Grips's 'Jenny Death' Release Date and Tracklist Possibly Released

    When experimental hip-hop group The Death Grips abruptly broke up July 2, 2014, canceling all subsequent tour dates in the process, they announced that the second disc, "Jenny Death," of their final album "The Powers That B" would be released at the end of the year. The first disc, "N---as on the Moon," was released in June 2014. The end of 2014 came and went without a new album from Death Grips, though new information was released on the album, including that it was finished and artwork was revealed to fans. The album still never got released, though that may soon change. According to reports and online retailers, the album could be arriving in the next month and a half and a rumored tracklist has been compiled as well, via Pigeons and Planes.According to Amazon, who inadvertently broke the news on J. Cole's album "2014 Forest Hills Drive," "Jenny Death" will be released in North America Feb. 10, a person said on Reddit, and then according to a Japanese retailer, HMV, the album will be available Feb. 25. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but this looks pretty definitive.The group released the lead single from the album, "Inanimate Sensation," Dec. 9, which would make this release date plausible. Below is a rumored tracklist for "Jenny Death" that sounds like a Death Grips-y album, though we will not know until it is officially announced.

  • Front Porch Step Tour Suspended After Sexual Assault Allegations

    Jake McElfresh — aka Front Porch Step — has faced serious heat in recent days after several sexual assault allegations cropped up against him on social media. The singer is charged with, among other things, sending lewd photos to underage girls.With these accusations at the forefront of the rock news cycle, McElfresh is suspending the rest of his current tour."I am taking the appropriate time to assess these very serious allegations against me and I am not taking them lightly," he said, via AltPress. "Until I can do that in a complete manner with all the information I have at my disposal, I will not be continuing with any current touring activities for the time being."Recent tour partners Have Mercy and future tour partner Allison Weiss had already backed out of any forthcoming shows."We, Have Mercy, in no way condone the alleged actions that have come to light over the past week, and hope that message above all is clear to our fans," the band said. "Safety in music, and life, should never be risked for selfish decisions. We were incredibly excited at the opportunity to hit the road this spring, and that is still our top priority."There has also been a petition to boot Front Porch Step out of this year's Warped Tour lineup. McElfresh, who began recording as FPS in 2012, dropped his debut album "Aware" in fall 2013 and recently followed that up with the "Whole Again" EP in December.

  • Iran to Ban Rap Music? Ministry Sees Hip-Hop as 'Problem'

    A few months ago, we reported that India was finally coming around to hip-hop. While the gigantic country does not host many rappers compared to the United States, it was a place for free expression and growth in the genre. Now, the somewhat-established Iran rap scene is in the news for a completely opposite reason: The country is trying to shut it down."The Jerusalem Post" reports that the Iranian government sees hip-hop as a threat to traditional music and a "problem."From the story:"For now and in the foreseen future, there is no real possibility that the Islamic regime will permit rap music concerts, in spite of a big underground music scene which includes this genre. In recent years, the Iranian regime arrested many Iranian rap band members and denied permission for concerts."All public concerts must be approved by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, while any requests must go through a bureaucratic process that "can take a few months.""This music encourages wild behavior that could have a detrimental effect on society," a spokesman said. "We don't want to have it and we will prevent any unwanted incidents normally associated with such concerts and other events."

  • 'RHOA' Phaedra Parks Insists She Was Faithful to Apollo Nida, Will Always Love Him

    "The Real Housewives of Atlanta's" Phaedra Parks has been dealing with the fallout from her imploding marriage and then watching her husband Apollo Nida turn himself in to begin serving an eight-year prison term in just the last several months alone. She has had more than enough on her plate, not to mention a plethora of messy feelings to sort through when rumors made things even tougher.According to a variety of sources, not too long ago the gossip mill started buzzing with a story about Parks cheating on Nida. She has always tried to carry herself well, and that has been tricky while living her life under a microscope, and while there are many things Parks will not respond to, this allegation was different."It's very hard to be in the public eye, under such public scrutiny, have the type of trauma that I'm having in my personal life, and have it aired for everyone [to] make their own crazy suggestions. It was very troubling. For one moment, I broke my Southern belle code and whipped my purse around. If you're already at your breaking point because you really have so much on your plate and someone throws out such a ridiculous accusation, such as me cheating ...," she said."I believe in the sanctity of marriage. I have been a very faithful wife. I think I've been an excellent wife. I have two small children, and I'm raising my sons to respect women. It's ridiculous to think I would ever do anything inappropriate, and there has never been any documentation of any such thing," explained Parks in a recent "Access Hollywood" interview.She has also admitted to still loving Nida, in spite of everything.

  • St. Vincent Talks About David Bowie and Artistic Authenticity at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art [WATCH]

    David Bowie's influence on popular music has had a lasting effect on numerous artists over the years. There is no other act from 2014 that carries on Bowie's chameleon spirit like St. Vincent's Annie Clark, though. The artist's fourth, self-titled album was a big hit, and Clark stopped by Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art to discuss Bowie's influence.As "Consequence of Sound" points out, the MCA has hosted a special exhibit titled "David Bowie Is" since September. It features more than 300 items from the artist's personal collection, and the museum has also hosted live events in addition to the exhibit. Clark talked about some of her own career experiences before launching into Bowie."I am curious to unpack this idea of authenticity," Clark says in the video below, "and when did it become more authentic to just stand onstage with no lights or costume or theatricality and just stand up there with a beard and your feelings? Bowie's heroes were people like Little Richard who did '50s queerness with a wink and a smile because that was all that was palatable for the time."
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