NEWS: Clipse Signs With Columbia

I wonder if Rick Rubin/Hip-Hop had anything to do with this. Clipse spoke to Billboard about recently signing a 5 year 50/50 profit-sharing deal for Re-Up Gang Records with Columbia somewhat similar to Jim Jones was talking about.


Photo from, coincidentally, the Columbia University Set
Clipse will own the masters for its Re-Up Gang artists, Ab Liva and Sandman, but no word on their own masters. 2008 will see a Re-Up Gang album and a new Clipse disc that for the first time will include outside producers including Timbaland, Danjahandz and Dame Grease. More here.

NEWS: Jim Jones Signs Label Deal With Sony/BMG

Ms. Info's got the 411 on Jim Jones's future. I wonder if this means his G-Unit deal is now off. Also, Jim Jones showcases another sign of having a Jay-Z fetish.


“I just left the lawyer’s office. I signed a multimillion dollar joint venture with Sony. My boss is Rick Rubin and Hip Hop (Kyambo Joshua) is doing my albums with me. What you think Jay-Z is gonna think about that? What’s crazy is that they gave me the same deal that Un and them fucked up back in the day when they got the Sony/Untertainment deal….I got that joint venture, that 50/50 split, they don’t give those out anymore. That’s a Dame Dash, Ruff Ryders deal. And I’m bout to go crazy with it. I’m gonna be a problem.” Read the full post here.

The NY Times Loves Hip Hop

I'm pretty sure everyone's already read the huge, but interesting, profile on Rick Rubin.

In 1993, Rubin saw that the word "def" was now in dictionaries, and he decided to change the name of his company. Inspired by a documentary he'd seen about the hippie movement, Rubin held a formal funeral for Def. "When advertisers and the fashion world co-opted the image of hippies, a group of the original hippies in San Francisco literally buried the image of the hippie," Rubin explained. "When 'def' went from street lingo to mainstream, it defeated its purpose." (Read full article.)


Photo cred.
They also just wrote a review for Kanye West's Graduation.

Mr. West does his own share of conspicuous consumption. He long ago named himself “the Louis Vuitton don,” and in “Good Morning,” the first song on “Graduation,” he dares to parody a hallowed phrase in African-American culture when he raps, “I’m like the fly Malcolm X, buy any jeans necessary.” In Mr. West’s older songs, like “Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix),” he questioned his need for bling. Now he’s more likely just to flaunt it. (Read full article.)