Critically-Acclaimed Singer Anthony Hamilton Returns With New Album The Point Of It All In Stores

Critical Praise for Anthony Hamilton:

“One of the most important R&B artists of his generation” – Newsweek

“One of the music industry’s best-kept secrets.” – People Magazine

(December 16, 2008 – New York, NY) Seven-time Grammy-nominated recording artist Anthony Hamilton is gearing up for his third So So Def/Zomba album release The Point Of It All, set to arrive in stores today, December 16th. The release comes as the talented singer earns a “Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance” Grammy nomination for his collaboration with Al Green, on “You’ve Got The Love I Need.”

The Point Of It All contains a wide range of raw soul-infused music with Hamilton at the helm co-writing and co-producing on the album with his longtime collaborators, producer/songwriter Kelvin Wooten and Mark Batson. Wooten produced “Prayin’ For You/Superman,” the sultry ballad “Her Heart,” and the lead single “Cool” featuring David Banner, which is steadily climbing the Urban Adult and Urban Mainstream charts. Batson produced the powerful track “Soul’s on Fire” and “Fallin’ in Love.” Additional producers on the album include The Avila Brothers who produced the title track “The Point of It All” and Jack Splash who produced “Please Stay.”

Like his previous efforts, Hamilton’s new album is already receiving early rave reviews: The Wall Street Journal observes, “Mr. Hamilton’s new album features tight R&B productions, [and] vintage instruments…” and goes on to compare Anthony Hamilton to “the great vocalists who influenced his style, including Marvin Gaye and Al Green…” Entertainment Weekly adds, “The onetime barber and backup singer is a late bloomer steeped in the conversational soul of Bill Withers and Bobby Womack.”

Last year Anthony Hamilton made his big-screen debut performing in the Oscar-nominated movie, American Gangster. Hamilton has established a loyal following from his 2003 platinum-certified debut album Comin’ From Where I’m From, which spawned the hit “Charlene,” climbed to #3 on the R&B Albums chart and garnered three Grammy nominations, to his 2005 release, the gold-certified sophomore effort, Ain’t Nobody Worryin,’ which sparked the #1 hit “Can’t Let Go.” Hamilton, an all-around gifted artist, has collaborated with a wide range of his peers including: Buddy Guy, Al Green, Dr. Dre, Santana, Angie Stone, Young Jeezy, Nappy Roots, Musiq Soulchild and more.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=299162112&s=143441

Hamilton just completed his critically well-received “Playin’ It Cool” tour- check two of his shows:
http://vimeo.com/2403867

http://vimeo.com/2452240

GORILLA ZOE GETS “LOST” WITH LIL’ WAYNE !!

GORILLA ZOE GETS “LOST” WITH LIL’ WAYNE;

ATL-BASED RAPPER TO JOIN THE SUPERSTAR

ON HIS “I AM MUSIC” ARENA TOUR;

NEW SINGLE, “LOST,” BLOWING UP AT URBAN RADIO

IN ADVANCE OF EAGERLY AWAITED SECOND ALBUM;

“DON’T FEED DA ANIMALS” DROPS ON MARCH 17TH

Block Entertainment/Bad Boy South recording artist Gorilla Zoe has announced plans to join Lil’ Wayne on his hugely anticipated “I Am Music” arena tour.  The dates – which feature a multi-artist bill that also includes Gym Class Heroes, T-Pain, Keyshia Cole, and Keri Hilson – kicked off this Sunday, December 14th at Miami’s American Airlines Arena and is now travelling all over North America through mid-January (see attached itinerary).  Among the tour’s certain highlights will be a New Year’s Eve extravaganza at the Philips Arena in Zoe’s hometown of Atlanta.

Zoe is currently exploding at radio with his new single, “Lost.”  The track – which will be featured on the ATL-based rapper’s upcoming sophomore album, “DON’T FEED DA ANIMALS” – is now climbing the top 25 at Urban outlets nationwide after impacting as the #1 Most Added track at both Urban and Rhythmic.

In addition, the single’s companion video clip has been confirmed for “Heavy” rotation on BET’s daily hip hop show, The Deal.  The video is slated to premiere on The Deal on Tuesday, December 16th (check local listings).

“DON’T FEED DA ANIMALS” is without question one of 2009’s most hotly awaited new hip-hop releases.  The album – which follows last year’s smash debut, “WELCOME TO THE ZOO” – arrives in stores and online on March 17th.

Zoe firmly established himself as a truly original hip-hop voice via 2007’s top 10 rap smash, “Hood Figga,” not to mention his featured role on Block Entertainment/Bad Boy South labelmate Yung Joc’s hits, “Coffee Shop” and “Bottle Poppin’.”  As if that weren’t enough, he joined forces with superstar rap combo Boyz N Da Hood for their 2007 release, “BACK UP N DA CHEVY.”

Since then, Zoe has lent his distinctive style to a variety of hip-hop hits, including tracks by Cheri Dennis, Shawty Lo, and Rick Ross.

He has also appeared on a variety of mixtapes, including the just-released “FEEDING TIME,” available for free download at www.myspace.com/gorillazoe.

Nokia launches pioneering ‘Comes With Music’ digital entertainment service

New service offers customers unprecedented freedom and value
EMI Music, independents and music publishers join offering

Nokia announced the debut of its pioneering Comes with Music digital entertainment service, which offers consumers a new way to discover and enjoy music. Customers who buy a Comes With Music device will be able to explore and enjoy a diverse catalog of music of international and local artists with unlimited access to millions of tracks for a year, keeping the music once the year is over and revolutionizing their digital music experience.

“Comes With Music sets a precedent for consumer value and convenience that the rest of the digital entertainment industry is already copying,” said Tero Ojanperä, executive vice president and head of the Nokia entertainment and communities business. “Trying out a music recommendation is spontaneous as customers can download without worrying about the cost of an album or a track – the freedom and simplicity of the service is unparalleled. And Comes With Music gives you unlimited access to the millions of tracks in the Nokia Music Store and the music is all yours to keep – because it’s not a revolution unless you get to keep your music.”

Comes With Music offers one year of unlimited access to the entire Nokia Music Store catalogue and customers can keep all the music that they have downloaded at the end of the year to continue enjoying their music collection. Comes With Music will be available across a range of Nokia devices, including the new Nokia 5800 XpressMusic – also announced today and the Nokia N95 8GB and Nokia 5310 XpressMusic. With more than 10 million units sold globally since its introduction last year, the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic is the best selling music phone in the world.

EMI Music has joined as the latest major label to support Comes With Music.

“With the launch of Nokia’s Comes With Music, fans now have a new avenue to find and enjoy music from EMI’s catalogue, and our artists have a powerful new way to reach their fans,” said Douglas Merrill, president, digital business, for EMI Music. “By encouraging music discovery in an innovative and consumer-friendly environment, Comes With Music will continue to push experimentation in the digital music industry.”

Comes With Music will also feature a tremendous selection of independent music, courtesy of deals with The Orchard (NASD: ORCD), Beggars Group, IODA, the Ministry of Sound, PIAS and Pinnacle. These companies join Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group in supporting Comes With Music. Nokia has also secured music publishing rights from CELAS on behalf of EMI Music Publishing, GEMA on behalf of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, SACEM on behalf of Universal Music Publishing, as well as the MCPS-PRS Alliance.

The United Kingdom will be the first market to offer Comes With Music with sales starting now and the United States sales are planned for 2009. The Nokia 5310 XpressMusic Comes With Music edition is expected to cost GBP 129.95 and people can pre-register their orders for Comes With Music devices from Carphone Warehouse at http://www.carphonewarehouse.com.

http://www.nokia.com/comeswithmusic

Notes to editor:
For print quality photos, please visit www.nokia.com/press/photos

About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. We make a wide range of mobile devices with services and software that enable customers to experience music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games, business mobility and more. Developing and growing our offering of consumer Internet services, as well as our enterprise solutions and software, is a key area of focus. We also provide equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.

About EMI Music
EMI Music is the recorded music division of EMI Group Limited, one of the world’s leading music companies. EMI Music represents artists spanning all musical tastes and genres. Its record labels include Angel, Astralwerks, Blue Note, Capitol, Capitol Nashville, EMI Classics, EMI CMG, EMI Records, EMI Televisa Music, Manhattan, Mute, Parlophone and Virgin.