Monthly Archives: January 2009

Badboy set to release Notorious Soundtrack

Bad Boy Records has announced the upcoming release of “NOTORIOUS: MUSIC FROM AND INSPIRED BY THE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE.” The musical companion to the hugely anticipated Fox Searchlight motion picture event features timeless Notorious B.I.G. classics like “Juicy” and “Hypnotize” alongside never-before-released demos and new tracks by some of hip-hop’s biggest stars, including Jay-Z and Jadakiss. The album arrives in stores and online on January 13th, while Notorious hits theatres nationwide on January 16th.

The “NOTORIOUS” soundtrack is heralded by the Kanye West-produced single, “Brooklyn Go Hard,” performed by Jay-Z and featuring Santogold. The track has just shipped to multi-format radio outlets across the country, including Urban, Rhythmic, and Mixshow.

Furthermore, the soundtrack showcases an additional single, “Letter to B.I.G.” by Jadakiss (Feat. Faith Evans). Other highlights of the album include a new version of the Notorious B.I.G. milestone, “One More Chance/The Legacy (Remix),” featuring CJ Wallace and Faith Evans.

But at the heart of the soundtrack is the everlasting music of the Notorious B.I.G. Among the classics included on the collection are “Warning,” “One More Chance/Stay With Me Remix,” and “Kick In The Door” (see attached tracklisting). The album is highlighted by a number of previously unreleased demos, including “Microphone Murderer” and “Guaranteed Raw,” as well as the Notorious B.I.G.’s first-ever officially released track, “Party and Bullsh**,” (originally found the soundtrack to the 1993 film, Who’s The Man?).

A special edition of “NOTORIOUS: MUSIC FROM AND INSPIRED BY THE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE” will be available exclusively at Target stores nationwide. The two-disc set includes an all-new documentary DVD,

Remembering Christopher Wallace, featuring exclusive, never-before-seen private interviews with the family members who carry on the Notorious B.I.G.’s memory, including his mother, daughter, and son.

Notorious is the extraordinary larger-than-life story of the late, great Notorious B.I.G. Born Christopher Wallace, the Notorious B.I.G. rose from the streets of Brooklyn to become one of the most influential hip-hop artists of all time. Truly a towering figure in the history of modern music, the Notorious B.I.G. was a one-of-a-kind MC, a gifted storyteller whose lyrical narratives about violent life on the streets were marked by a gritty, objective realism that gave a voice to a generation. Hailed by many as the greatest rapper of all time, the Notorious B.I.G.’s life was tragically cut short in March 1997, but more than a decade later, his music and message live on. A prolific poet of the streets, a charismatic performer, and an honest, impassioned storyteller, the Notorious B.I.G. remains a true superstar to this very day.

Directed by George Tillman, Jr. (Soul Food, Men of Honor) from an original screenplay by Reggie Rock Bythewood and Cheo Hodari Coker, Notorious stars Angela Bassett (ER, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns) Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher, Friday Night Lights, Miracle at St. Anna), and in his motion picture debut, Jamal Woodward as the Notorious B.I.G. The film is produced by Voletta Wallace, Wayne Barrow, Mark Pitts, Robert Teitel, and Trish Hofmann; the Executive Producer is Sean Combs for Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment.

(TRACKLISTING ATTACHED)


“NOTORIOUS:

MUSIC FROM AND INSPIRED BY THE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE”

Release Date: January 13, 2009

  1. Notorious Thugs (Featuring Bone Thugs N Harmony)
  2. Hypnotize
  3. Notorious (Featuring Lil’ Kim and Puff Daddy)
  4. Juicy
  5. Party & Bullshit
  6. Warning
  7. One More Chance/ Stay With Me Remix
  8. Brooklyn Go Hard (Performed by Jay-Z, Featuring Santogold)
  9. Letter to B.I.G. (Performed by Jadakiss, Featuring Faith Evans)
  10. Kick In The Door
  11. What’s Beef
  12. The World Is Filled (Featuring Too Short and Puff Daddy)
  13. One More Chance/ The Legacy (Remix) (Featuring CJ Wallace and Faith Evans)
  14. The Notorious Theme (Composed by Danny Elfman)
  15. Microphone Murderer (Demo)
  16. Guaranteed Raw (Demo)
  17. Love No Ho (Original Demo Version)

Keelay & Zaire – “Exclusive Sh!t” featuring Supastition


The Song:

 In anticipation of their debut full-length album Ridin High, Keelay & Zaire are releasing a free EP this month to give us a taste of what they can bring to the table. Entitled Prelude To Drive, the EP is riddled with impressive guest artists. “Exclusive Sh!t” features Supastition, a North Carolina native, who provides a heavy hitting flow to the track. He wants us to know that he’s head and shoulders above his competition when it comes to his prowess on the mic and his lyrics get right to this point. Put his in-your-face style on top of Keelay & Zaire’s gritty and well produced beat, and you’ve got a classic hip-hop jam in the making.

The Background:

Keelay & Zaire are a bi-coastal team that operates with only one concrete rule; creating music with unlimited range. Complementing each other’s styles with precision, Kee & Zee work as a sole production machine that spawns gritty classic hip-hop, soulful R&B, and any other medium that requires an exclusive sound from the team. With Keelay out west in San Francisco, and Zaire in the east, holding it down in Virginia, the two have almost unlimited resources from which to draw talent and inspiration. In their debut LP Ridin High, the pair’s versatility takes center stage, backed up by a talented cast of emcees and singers including Phonte of Little Brother, Supastition, Blu, Cali Agents, Darien Brockington, Tash of Tha Liks, Saafir, Fortilive, The Park, Emilio Rojas, Surreal ,Slo-Mo, Mario Dones, The A.V.E., J.Fish, Jony Fraze, Whooligan, and Tiffany Paige. Keelay & Zaire’s Ridin High will be released in early 2009 by MYX Music Label.

Illa J – “Sounds Like Love” featuring Debi Nova

“Sounds Like Love” is a song that speaks true to its title. The combination of Illa J’s sexy LL Cool J approach to his verses with the smooth jazzy vocalizations of Debi Nova on top of the soulful beat produce the sounds of love in this joint. But this isn’t the type of love you might assume; instead Illa is speaking about his devotion to his relationship with one particular lady. You learn very quickly that he’s wrapped up in this girl when he says, “And if we have a problem, we speak face to face, start solving / This relationship I put my all into.” Debi Nova echoes her affections in the chorus, singing passionately of her feelings in return.

The Background:

When Jay Dee passed away from complications relating to lupus in February 2006, he left behind an extraordinary legacy of production work, including hits for Common, Janet Jackson, and Busta Rhymes. One mother lode of previously untouched beats dates from his time working on the Pharcyde’s sophomore album, Labcabincalifornia (Delicious Vinyl, 1995). As Delicious Vinyl owner and founder Michael “Mike Floss” Ross explains: “From ‘95 through ‘98 Jay Dee was my go-to guy for hot beats and remixes. He was always making beats, always. So there was a select amount of tracks that he composed for me during that time, tracks as good as anything he’d done, only they never got used. When I finally met Illa J last year, I gave him a CD containing those unreleased beats.”

In a case of pure serendipity, 21 year-old Illa J had just relocated from Detroit to Los Angeles and constructed a studio built using Jay Dee’s recording equipment. He dubbed it Yancey Boys Studios in tribute to their fraternal bond. “Dilla was 12 years older than me,” Illa J says. “So back in the day in Detroit I was just a little kid, sitting on the stairs in our house, watching him make those first beats for Slum Village. I always felt my brother’s tracks and had an instinct for what I wanted to do over them.” When Illa J set to work in early ‘08 recording the album, the project flowed quickly as he entered the proverbial can’t miss zone. The name of the studio rightly became the title of the finished album, Yancey Boys, which is available online and in stores everywhere on Delicious Vinyl Records.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=293350507&s=143441