The One & Only Michael Jackson - The King of Pop

Today the King of Pop has passed away but he will forever be remembered. No one can come close to the iconic worldwide superstar of Michael Jackson. He has influenced and inspired so many and it is so sad that we will not be able to see and hear more from him. Michael Jackson was in preparation for a tour in the UK, a new album and a full comeback, but to the disappointment of the world we will never be able to see him perform live again or hear his new music. May Michael Jackson rest in peace and we pour out our condolences to his family and friends. The music business will never see another artist like Michael Jackson and he will always be the stellar performer and artist that all others will look up to.

Mos Def Releases His Album on a T-shirt

Mos Def in connection with Invisible DJ and LnA clothing have launched the first ever "Music Tee" for Mos Def's latest album, The Ecstatic. The t-shirt has the album artwork printed on the front and the tracklist on the back. The tag has a code which you can enter online for the digital version of the album. Other artists due to release "Music Tees" are Santigold and Miike Snow also from the Downtown Records camp. What better way to integrate apparel and music which are the cornerstones of the hip hop lifestyle? For more details on this story, check out Pitchfork.com.

Beyonce Concert at Madison Square Garden

Beyonce was amazing at MSG on Sunday and Monday - the realization of a true superstar. Jay-Z made an appearance and dropped his verse on "Crazy in Love." Beyonce went through a few outfits and lots of booty shaking moves. She was also hoisted up in the air and flowing over the crowd. Beyonce makes sure to give her fans a real show and a great experience. For more photos, visit my Flickr page.

Maxwell - "Bad Habits"

Download Maxwell's second single, "Bad Habits" off his upcoming album, BLACKsummers'night. Video featuring Kerry Washington to follow...

The Demise of the Grand Record Store

Everything must go and it has...this past weekend I am sad to say that the Virgin Megastore in Union Square has officially shutdown. New York no longer has a flagship record store and this is truly the demise of the grand record shop. What was great about Virgin, is that it was a cool spot to browse and preview some albums, perhaps pick up one or two CD's and spark up a conversation with music lovers. But all that is no more.

Dozens of smaller record stores are still open in New York, and at least 2,000 independent shops exist around the country, according to the Almighty Institute of Music Retail, a market research company. Many of those independents have banded together to promote events like Record Store Day, which had its second anniversary in April. They are also promoting Vinyl Saturday on June 20, which will feature specially produced records by artists like Wilco and Modest Mouse to draw customers.

Looks like Best Buy and iTunes it is. Check out the NY Times for more.

Hot 97's Summer Jam 2009

Summer Jam 2009 was my first summer jam ever. Hot 97 delivered again this year with a slew of artists both upcoming and established. The-Dream, Day 26, T-Pain, Elephant Man, Juelz Santana, Jim Jones, Mavado (So Special), Young Jeezy and many more all came to the stage and showed love at Giant Stadium this past Sunday. I especially enjoyed Mary J Blige's performance, heartfelt, energy driven as always and her sound was on point with a fantastic band supporting her. It was so awesome when she started singing "You're All I Need" and Method Man came out and did his part! Then in the middle of her set Redman came through and performed with Meth...I was waiting for the whole Wu to come out but to no avail.

Nonetheless, I was still pleasantly surprised with a performance by Jay-Z delivering "Death of Autotune" - Blueprint 3 coming. The whole stadium went crazy of course. My boy Drake also came by surprise and performed "Best I Ever Had" - I wish he could've done more. All in all it was a good show but was disappointed with the Dip-set not going hard at the end.

The Recording Academy and T-Mobile Sidekick Present Estelle and LL

Estelle was lovely last Thursday at Terminal 5, performing all my favorite songs - "Magnificent," "Come Over," and "No Substitute Love" with a rocking live band! She was graceful to share the stage with some attendees to groove it out. Check out additional pictures via Flickr.
LL Cool J was absolutely phenomenal! So much energy, I was bopping my head and dancing like crazy to "Rock the Bells," "Doin' It," "Don't Call It a Comeback," "Momma Said Knock You Out!" and "Around the Way Girl." My first time seeing LL perform live and I was very impressed with his performance...excellent delivery and crowd interaction. Next time we'll have to see LL and Estelle share the stage...their names just sound so good together..

Higher Music Fees at Nightclubs

In Australia, nightclubs pay record labels and artists a royalty fee of 7 Australian cents per guest but "under a recent copyright settlement [the] rate has risen to 50 cents per customer, and it is set to jump to 1.05 dollars, or 84 U.S. cents, in a few years." The Phonographic Performance Co of Australia chief executive, Stephen Peach argues that "Without music, there wouldn't be a nightclub," therefore paying only 7 cents out of a $10-15 cover for music plus the money that comes in from people buying liquor just "doesn't seem right."

The international body that governs record royalty payments, IFPI notes that royalty revenue has increased for the record industry by 16 percent, while music sales have fell by 8 percent. IFPI is urging that other countries follow Australia's lead because it is aggressively pushing to raise royalty revenues for the industry. Do you think nightclubs should pay fees for playing music? They pay fees for selling liquor, so why not? But it would have to be reasonable because owning and profiting from a nightclub is hard enough. We'll see if this discussion gets here soon as the concern now seems to radio. For more info on this visit the NY Times.