The kid with the green backpack is making damn sure you remember his 2011 as more and more releases keep popping in. The Kansas chief has been balling with a budget as of late—literally as the video for NBA 2K12′s “Awesome” just hit the scene. It’s good to know that somebody out there has the league’s best interest in mind. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s better than NBA players trying to pursue rap careers? Well, a lot of things but one in particular is seeing them lend their celebrity to help others come-up in their respective hustle. This week’s beneficiaries just so happens to be the talented trio of Pac Div and they’re all putting on for titanium powerhouse, Phiten in a new musical ad. Read the rest of this entry »

Kendrick ain’t the only kid from Compton TSS has love for. If you refer to the 12 NBA Young Guns To Watch (If There’s A Season) post, you’ll notice a fundamentally sound yet capable of the flash, sharp-witted point guard by the name of Brandon Jennings holding court in Milwaukee. Read the rest of this entry »

Everybody has a lil’ Captain in them, PAUSE. The Legendary Roots Crew recently took on the task for remixing (in other words) reformulating the theme song to Captain Morgan’s “To Life, Love and Loot” campaign and they tackle the assignment with the same intensity that occurs when the famed spiced rum hits the bloodstream. Read the rest of this entry »

As if he already couldn’t taste the hate with every ounce of 14kt he drapes his body in, Drake is The Source Magazine’s cover boy for the very first time and he’s putting his mouth where (some) of his money is. Read the rest of this entry »

Come one, come all to all the collectors of limited edition collectibles and alluring household objects. Lucky Bunny a.k.a. Rich DeSimone has concocted a sequel to his signature successful piece, the Grenade Bunny toy with an extremely limited release that sports a hand painted rust finish and oxidized appearance. Read the rest of this entry »

MTT:

Why get merch made?

Music merchandise has always been important to bands, both as a source of revenue and to help raise awareness of your ‘brand’. Fans love buying merch too – the music we like is closely tied in with our identity Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Robertson

A federal judge ruled in the favor of Michael Robertson and his MP3tunes.com music cloud locker site, and essentially all others like it in a not guilty verdict for copyright infringement. Lawyers for EMI and 14 other record companies argued that Robertson’s streaming service was akin to a public performance and demanded a royalty–33,000 to be exact, Read the rest of this entry »

In this day and age of co-signs and alliances…oh wait, I already said that today. It just seems like more and more musicians turned moguls are relying on publicity opposed to pushing the music to the people and allowing it to make a gradual impact in their lives. Read the rest of this entry »

As if anyone expected anything less from the biggest iTunes album of all time, Jay and ‘Ye nearly score a gold plaque within Watch The Throne’s first week with 436,000 units moved. Only Lady Gaga’s most recent album, Born This Way, stands in front of the collaborative effort with a bigger Twenty Eleven. Read the rest of this entry »

We over here at The Smoking Section consider ourselves major along with everyone else we associate with. Our friends DJ RTC and Virgil Solis over at Ruby Hornet recently got pinged by Bing to discuss the principles of friendship and how they continue to boost their brand. Read the rest of this entry »

Dr. Dre may have maxed out on the recently released 2011 Hip-Hop’s Cash King list at #6, yet his latest business scheme may lead him to the top of next year’s list. Read the rest of this entry »

For each and every person who felt alienated by every reference Jay-Z made to a cabana in an exotic location or scoffing at the NBA fining him $50,000 on his latest album, Watch the Throne, take solace in knowing that unlike most rappers in these times, your man Shawn Carter is telling the truth. Forbes released a preliminary report back in March with Diddy edging out Jay-Z for richest Hip-Hopper in the biz but the official numbers are in and Jay is #1 in the bank account department with a reported $37 million in earnings. Read the rest of this entry »

From breaking through the artistic ceiling with his much publicized free LP, Nostalgic.ULTRA to joining Jay-Z and Kanye West in the kingdom with two appearances on Watch the Throne, 2011 has been very generous to Frank Ocean. As he readies his next maneuvers, the accolades have begun to pour in, including his first major magazine cover with The FADER doing the honors. Read the rest of this entry »

If you thought the music to Jay-Z and Kanye West’s forthcoming Watch The Throne album was too rich for your blood, the independent retailers of the land feel the same way about the duo’s means to move the product all the same. Set for a release date of Aug. 8, the high-end rappers struck a deal with Best Buy and iTunes–two of the, if not the biggest names in music distribution today–for the exclusive rights to their move their record before everyone else. Read the rest of this entry »