Tupac-Shakurspeare

[Zmily]

Before the world-famous hip hop performer moved to Marin City, he was known in Baltimore as MC New York


Tupac Shakur may have started his professional career in show business in the Bay Area, but a new album will feature rhymes from his old school days in the Bay City, Baltimore.

Shakur got his first job in show business performing as a dancer with local legends Digital Underground before eventually becoming a worldwide phenomenon with the release of multi-platinum album Me Against the World.

Titled Shakurspeare, the album is the work of Born Busy Record's Darrin Keith Bastfield, who named his label after the group he and Shakur briefly formed while attending the Baltimore School for the Arts together as teenagers.

Even then, Shakur had lofty ambitions -- the title of the new album is based on the desire to become known as a Shakespearean actor he expressed to Bastfield.

It's not a far a stretch as you might think, as both Shakur and Shakespeare traded in couplets.

Shortly after, Shakur and his mother moved to Marin City, Calif. where he was discovered at a Tamalpais High School talent show by Digital Underground's Atron Gregory.

While his earliest, but probably not best, work -- and can be easily criticized as another attempt to cash in on the artist's legacy -- the album will probably be a must-have for fans of Bay Area Hip Hop and completist collectors of Shakur's ouvre.

Jackson West was never a huge Shakur fan, but respects and recognizes his contributions to the hip-hop arts.

[Boka]

pai si cand iese?

[Zmily]

in toamna citisem

[Kashim]

HHDX zice ca pe 13 septembrie.

[preacher]

super. inca un album 2pac. si toti fraerii il cred mort.

[Kashim]

Eu l-am vazut acum cateva zile! Dadea concert cu MJ!

[DFB]

^hahahahahah, tare...
Mie imi place cum se arata Death-Row-u' nou..

So, Death Row is now the New Death Row or Wide Awake Death Row (as opposed to seedier past versions like The Untouchable Death Row or The Row). Wide Awake being the parent company, headed by Lara Lavi, which bought the once mighty Death Row at an auction earlier this year for $18 million…

And Wide Awake Death Row is releasing a remastered Dr. Dre Chronic album, to be called The Chronic Re-lit and From the Vault on Sept 1….adding 7 unreleased songs recorded “around the same time as the Chronic.” (Word? Please let there be some unearthed Danny Boy x Jewel duet ; )

Lara Lavi spoke to Spate Mag, and it definitely sounds like she’s very well versed in the history of the Death Row and the industry overall….But more interesting was the revelation that Lavi is trying to make amends with Death Row’s “marquee” artists….and even offering reparations royalties.
Here are some highlights from the interview:

Lavi says that Death Row has renewed ties with Afeni Shakur and the Tupac Shakur estate…. so they’re putting out 13 new Pac songs on his 2010 birthday. (is that where these new Pac songs are coming from?)

Lavi also says: “It should be instructive to the other artists that we actually are putting our money where our mouths are…but with the other artists we’re meeting with a lot of resistance…the challenge is, because of the sins of the prior management…how do you rebuild with them when there’s so much distrust?…I was joking around that I was gonna print out giant Ed-McMahon-sized checks and for the first royalty we were gonna go around with a camera and deliver them to everyone’s door…These guys have never received a royalty check and that makes them angry, and I understand that… As the head of this company, all I can do is behave appropriately. And not behave like the previous guy….”

listen to the Lara Lavi x Spate interview, and read more highlights…. after the jump…

Lavi talks about about the future of Death Row and the catalog that they’re sitting on…(WideAwake says that to date, only 10% of the Death Row catalog has ever been released!):

“…I also know we’re gonna have to branch out and create some new applications for this music. We have some graphic novel ideas, and film ideas and gaming ideas, and apple apps….its gonna be one day at a time.
We’re not aggressively signing right now, because we’re sitting on thousands of masters that are unreleased….(Spate: are you work with Suge Knight or Dr. Dre or Snoop?) Suge Knight would not be coming back. That would probably not work for any of the artists. But we’ve been in dialogue with [Dre and Snoop's] people, I’ve tried very hard to talk to them. But there’s an unrealistic element to where they think the map is, in terms of us correcting the wrongs of the people before us….”

Oddly enough, Levi also has a story about Drake, because as a fellow Canadian, she says her son is also a child actor who has the same agent at Drake…so once Drake came through to ask for advice. Lol. Small world.

[Deez]

mai interesant mi se pare asta:

Press release: "London based entrepreneur and former worldwide partner of Death Row, Ron Winter, and platinum producer Daz Dillinger announced the formation of a joint venture entitled Neu-Ro Records to specialize in Death Row music and record, produce and release the catalog of former artists.

The label announced that it has essentially resigned all of the original first generation Death Row artists and that Snoop will executive produce all projects with Daz. The artists associated with the joint venture will include, Daz, Kurupt, Snoop, Nate Dogg, Soopafly, Lady of Rage, Big Pimpin Delemond, RBX, C-Style, G-Funk Twinz, and various other DPG artists.

The projects slated for release are intended to be the best of the old and the new from all of these artists and group touring is expected to be worldwide following the release of a Hollywood style Documentary Movie and Soundtrack about the Death Row experience entitled: “That Was Then --This is Now” which is expected to rival the success of the Tupac documentary.

Original Death Row cartoonist and graphic artist, Joe Cool, who is Daz and Snoop’s cousin, has also signed on to set up and create a merchandise line featuring the original Dogg Pound characters, including the first ever Urban Children’s book division based on such characters with first release: “Snoop Dogg’s Where’s the Cheese?”

Ron Winter met with the team on Snoop Dogg’s Simply Stupid Tour recently where the parties entered a Memorandum of Understanding in respect of which millions of dollars were committed. Daz said: “Ron Winter knows the brand and how important the brand is and how important it is to have the artists who developed the brand to jointly assist in running the operation.” Ron said: “I could not pass up an opportunity to continue the success of the Death Row’s operations after Suge withdrew and the catalog fell into hands of banker types.” The company’s breath will be world wide with offices in Los Angeles and London with its operations overseen by Ron Winter, and Daz/Snoop, and Bret Lewis (legal) and BigA (promotions) and distribution will be through Universal.