| It almost felt like we were being erased from history, because our music wasn’t up [on streaming services]. |
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| Posse consists of three: De La Soul at the Arena, St. Louis, August 1989. |
| (Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) |
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| quote of the day |
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“It almost felt like we were being erased from history, because our music wasn’t up [on streaming services].”
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- Posdnuos, De La Soul
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| rantnrave:// |
2023, That’s the Magic Number
And on the third day of the new year, the three men of DE LA SOUL announced their classic TOMMY BOY albums, long missing from the commercial music universe because old-school samples, because old-school record company contracts and because the universe isn’t fair, would be arriving, finally, on (one) SPOTIFY, (two) APPLE, (three) TIDAL and everywhere else on the third day of the third month of the year. (March 3, for anyone who needs it spelled out.) The world has been promised this before: in 2019, when Tommy Boy founder TOMMY SILVERMAN regained control of his own label’s catalog and foolishly tried to rerelease it unilaterally, without squaring (or at least triangling) everything that needed to be squared with the group, and in 2021, when RESERVOIR MEDIA acquired the catalog in partnership with the trio. But, as DAVE (aka DAVID JUDE JOLICOEUR aka TRUGOY THE DOVE, for he, too, comes in threes) tells Billboard, “You think that you own your stuff and that now it’s on cruise control, waiting for the checks to come in. But it is not that way at all. There’s a lot to do.” So now in 2023, with samples cleared and publishers negotiated with (“What’s great,” says POSDNUOS, “is that a lot of these owners, writers, and publishers were De La Soul fans, and they had publicly understood what was going on”), this will be take three, and we’re going to take it for granted that the third time is absolutely, positively, undoubtedly the charm for this particular trio and that De La Soul, one of the true miracles of hip-hop’s so-called golden age, is not dead. De La Soul is the opposite of dead. De La Soul exists. May this be an omen for this new year, and may your own samples and contracts and loose ends and unfinished business get at least a little sorted out this time around the sun. Happy 2023. Now let’s start working on the BIZ.
Rest in Peace
ANITA POINTER, one of the defining voice of ‘70s and ‘80s pop as one of the four (and later three) Pointer Sisters, for whom she sang lead on songs including “Fire,” “I’m So Excited” and “Slow Hand”... GANGSTA BOO, a key figure in ‘90s and ‘00s Southern rap, both as a member of Three 6 Mafia and as a solo artist. Just a month ago, she appeared along with GloRilla on Latto's song "FTCU"... Earth, Wind & Fire drummer FRED WHITE... Modest Mouse drummer JEREMIAH GREEN... ALAN RANKINE, guitarist and co-founder of Scottish post-punk band the Associates... New Orleans guitarist/singer WALTER “WOLFMAN” WASHINGTON... CHRIS LEDESMA, longtime music editor of “The Simpsons”... Metal guitarist SEBASTIAN MARINO, who played with Anvil and Overkill and later ran a live sound company... Metal journalist, publicist and documentarian BOB NALBANDIAN... Music publisher STANLEY MILLS, who played a major role in popularizing “The Chicken Dance.”
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| - Matty Karas, curator |
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Rolling Stone |
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| The DJ and the War Crimes |
| By Sophia Jones, Nidžara Ahmetašević and Milivoje Pantović |
| Thirty years after a death squad massacred civilians in Bosnia, none of the infamous Arkan’s Tigers have stood trial for their alleged part in those crimes. And for the past few decades, one of them has been spinning trance records at European festivals and clubs. |
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The American Prospect |
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| Ticketmaster’s Dark History |
| By Maureen Tkacik and Krista Brown |
| A 40-year saga of kickbacks, threats, political maneuvering, and the humiliation of Pearl Jam. |
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The Washington Post |
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| Why mood music playlists are the soundtrack to anxious times |
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| With listeners looking to tune out of the noise of traumatic times and limitless streaming options at their fingertips, this music offers the perfect salve — even as the artists who create it remain largely anonymous. |
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Rolling Stone |
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| The Search for Guns N’ Roses’ Lost Masterpiece |
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| How a group of ride-or-die GN’R fans leaked 19 CDs of outtakes from one of the most notorious albums in history -- with painful consequences for one of them. |
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Vulture |
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| How Music Subverted Gender in 2022 |
| By Jason P. Frank |
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Pitchfork |
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| Confronting Music’s Mental Health Crisis |
| By Jenn Pelly |
| Experts and artists including Santigold, Jeff Tweedy, and Denzel Curry trace a web of pressing issues while imagining the paths forward. |
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The New York Times |
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| Kendrick Lamar’s Unconstrained Next Chapter |
| By Mitchell S. Jackson |
| In partnership with his longtime collaborator, Dave Free, the greatest rapper of his generation is pushing himself - commercially and creatively - onto unexpected terrain. |
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bobdylan.com |
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| Bob Dylan Q&A about “The Philosophy of Modern Song” [Extended Version] |
| By Jeff Slate |
| "A great song mutates, makes quantum leaps, turns up again like the prodigal son. It crosses genres. Could be punk rock, ragtime, folk-rock, or zydeco, and can be played in a lot of different styles, multiple styles. Bobby Bland could do it, Gene and Eunice, so could Rod Stewart, even Gene Autrey. Coltrane could do it wordless." |
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NewBlackMan (in Exile) |
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| RETRO MUST READ: The Thom Bell Sessions |
| By Mark Anthony Neal |
| Thom Bell, a staunchly independent, Caribbean bred musician and producer, always resisted joining the Philly International camp. Freelancing giving him the liberty to work with artists that he wanted to work with. The product of that independence are definitive Soul recordings from The Delfonics, The Stylistics and The Spinners. |
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| what we're into |
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| Music | Media |
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| “REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask ‘why?’” |
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