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Press Releases

Renowned Hiero Imperium Records Ready To Extend Legacy In 2010 2010 Will See Releases from Tajai, Chosen Few, Opio, Pep Love, Casual, And Others

Renowned Hiero Imperium Records Ready To Extend Legacy In 2010 2010 Will See Releases from Tajai, Chosen Few, Opio, Pep Love, Casual, And Others

Critical Praise for Montezuma’s Revenge:

“…this has the makings of a brand new classic set to shake things up all over again. 9/10” – RapReviews.com

“…Souls Of Mischief’s Montezuma’s Revenge is a solid testament to their staying power, and also should be used as a blueprint for up-and-coming groups that strive for longevity—because learning from a collective that’s been doing it since “93” isn’t a bad studying block to start from.” – ihiphop.com

(January 22, 2010 – Brooklyn, NY) 2009 may not yet be a distant memory, but Hiero Imperium Records is already looking to the future with their energetic plans for the new year. The Oakland based label is poised to be at the forefront of underground hip-hop in 2010 with releases from Tajai, Chosen Few, Opio, Pep Love, Casual, and more.

Hiero Imperium Records triumphed in 2009 with the celebrated album, Montezuma’s Revenge from West Coast legends, Souls of Mischief. The album, lauded by both fans and critics alike, not only cemented Souls of Mischief’s stature in the hip-hop community but also sparked off a string of successful global tour dates. Fans were also enthusiastic to show their love for the Soul’s legacy, as a ’93 Til Infinity’ inspired tee shirt made in conjunction with streetwear staple Adapt sold out within 24 hours of its release. Eager to build upon its hip-hop hot streak, Hiero is now gearing up for an equally successful 2010 with an extensive slate of offerings from its famed roster.

The new year kicks off with music from trio Chosen Few, who will dropping the Opio laced single “Elevation” on February 9th, followed by the release of their debut album New World Symphony on April 6th. Fans will be excited to learn that the Opio extravaganza continues with the summer release of his highly anticipated album, Vulture’s Wisdom Volume 2, sure to extend the emcee’s linguistic legacy. Label-mate Pep Love plans on keeping busy in 2010 with a one-two sonic combo in form of pre-album project, The Rigamarole, and full-length album, Reconstruction, while Phesto Dee readies the release of his long-awaited Background Check for the masses.

Also on deck for Hiero is a new Casual project and a release from Tajai, who plans on dropping Rap Noir by years end. Not content to rest on their lyrical laurels, the label is also looking to unite its hip-hop superpowers and put out a Heiro-crew album, and, to top it all off, Tajai promises that more surprises are soon-to-come courtesy of the mighty Souls of Mischief. “2009 was a fantastic year, and we’re thankful for that,” explains Tajai. “There’s plenty more goodness to come in 2010 from the legendary Hiero Imperium Records.”

Souls Of Mischief – “Proper Aim

Video:

About Hiero Imperium Records:

Founded in 1997 in Oakland, CA, Hiero Imperium Records is Del The Funky Homosapien, Casual, Pep Love, Domino, and the Souls of Mischief, made up of A-Plus, Opio, Phesto and Tajai. Coming off waves of success from earlier releases like Souls’ ’93 Til Infinity, the Hiero crew had already established themselves as a name in mainstream and underground hip-hop, and soon released their first collective project Third Eye Vision. Since then the Hiero team has been thriving in the hip-hop world, releasing a number of projects within the label as well as branching out for collaborations with the likes of Jurassic 5, George Clinton, Dilated Peoples, Q-Tip, Xzibi,t and Gorrillaz.

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Fugees Wyclef Jean

Grammy® Winning WYCLEF JEAN To Release Explosive New 13 Song EP: “FROM THE HUT TO THE PROJECTS TO THE MANSION” On November 10! Iconic Wyclef Jean Is Toussaint St. Jean — Featuring DJ Drama, Eve, Cyndi Lauper, Timbaland, and others!

Grammy® Winning WYCLEF JEAN To Release Explosive New 13 Song EP: “FROM THE HUT TO THE PROJECTS TO THE MANSION” On November 10! Iconic Wyclef Jean Is Toussaint St. Jean — Featuring DJ Drama, Eve, Cyndi Lauper, Timbaland, and others!

“I’m not sugar-coating anything with this EP. It’s spontaneous, yet has a backstory concept that is fresh and challenging.” – Wyclef

October 13, 2009 – Wyclef is hip-hop’s cultural ambassador. Not only is he a music legend, but his humanitarian efforts have made him the conscience of music. On November 10, 2009 Wyclef returns to hip-hop with the gritty release of From The Hut To The Projects To The Mansion on Carnival House via Megaforce/Sony Music.

Wyclef is a great American success story of an artist that came from Haiti to rise above all obstacles. He found success with The Fugees and numerous solo efforts, selling over 30 million albums worldwide and he was recently featured on 60 Minutes® about his efforts to help Haiti.

Wyclef is also one of the hottest music producers working with every major artist from Shakira to Santana. His 2007 written and produced “Hips Don’t Lie” featuring Shakira, was a # 1 hit around the world, further expanding his utopian multi-cultural appeal.

The people react to Wyclef like no other artist. His inextricable relationship with fans is unprecedented. In a matter of a few months, Wyclef’s Twitter following was over 1 million — in a sense, his fans are considered an extension of him.

Wyclef now returns with this brilliant hip-hop EP with all new material collaborating with DJ Drama. It’s the concept mixtape he has wanted to make and features a gritty, yet melodic effort with some amazing guests such as Eve, Timbaland, Maino, Cyndi Lauper, and others.

“I wanted to do this release with Megaforce/Red as I want to hi my hip hop can college fanbase and who better to do that than an indie label/distributor,” says Wyclef.

Toussaint St. Jean, the title character of Wyclef’s new EP, is a persona suggested to Wyclef by his friend and collaborator T.I. The character Toussaint is loosely based on the 18th-century Haitian revolutionary hero, Toussaint L’Ouverture, a figure who brought Haiti to significance on the international stage.

Inhabiting the role of Toussaint on these songs, Wyclef recreates himself in the spirit of a noble fighter, a man who says exactly what is on his mind. Toussaint’s rhymes hit hard, in a “militant style,” and make his words felt – and remembered.

And so what is the difference between Wyclef and Toussaint? “Toussaint is more direct,” Wyclef says. “He ain’t going to sugarcoat nothing. Whatever he’s thinking, he’s going to tell you. It’s like, I’ve still got this machete – my tongue is sharper than it’s ever been.” To help create suitable musical settings for the grisly tales Toussaint has to tell, Wyclef turned to DJ Drama, who has worked extensively with T.I. “I asked myself, ‘Who’s the toughest guy out there?’” Wyclef says. “Then I said, well, DJ Drama is pretty badass. So I called him and asked if he’d be interested in doing a mixtape. He heard what I was up to and he said, ‘We gotta do a book – this is a novel!’ He got excited, and it became more like an EP than a mixtape.

The track that best captures the feelings that motivate Toussaint St. Jean is the intensely dramatic “The Streets Pronounce Me Dead,” a chronicle of Wyclef witnessing his own metaphoric funeral. It’s a commentary on Wyclef’s sense of himself as a forgotten man on the hip-hop scene, despite the groundbreaking impact of his former group, the Fugees, whose 1996 album “The Score” is the best-selling hip-hop album of all time, with sales of nearly twenty million copies worldwide . The song cites the flood of younger rappers – Akon, Lil Jon, Kanye West, among them — who have risen up as Wyclef has gone onto prominence as a solo artist and producer for the likes of Shakira, Mick Jagger, Bono and John Legend.

Tracks like “Warriorz,” “Letter From the Penn” and “Toussaint vs. Bishop” paint riveting pictures, “hood stories,” as Wyclef describes them, of street life and its consequences. The gripping storytelling in those songs recalls the raw environments in Haiti and Brooklyn from which Wyclef emerged – “from the hut to the projects to the mansion,” as he memorably puts it in “Slumdog Millionaire.” It’s a story arc that these songs make compelling.

Wyclef views the message of “Toussaint St. Jean” as “not everything that appears bad is really bad, because the real bad men move in silence. So be careful what you emulate, because it’s could get you six feet deep. If you don’t see me with a gun, it doesn’t mean that the guy with the gun is badder than me. I’ve been in those communities, but you’ve got to rise past that world.”

And, as always with Wyclef, there’s more to the story than meets the eye. “Toussaint St. Jean” represents just the first step on the road to another album he intends to release in 2010 titled simply “wyclefjean.” The album will reflect a three-dimensional portrait of an artist for whom the gritty sagas of Toussaint St. Jean are just one part.

Wyclef Jean remains signed to Columbia Records/Sony Music and is set to release his self-titled LP “Wyclef Jean” in Spring 2010.

Song List:

1. Interlude – From The Hut, To The Projects, To The Mansion

2. Warrior’s Anthem

3. The Streets Pronounce Me Dead

4. Slumdog Millionaire feat. Cyndi Lauper aka Luscious Loo

5. Interlude – Every Now & Then

6. Walk Away

7. More Bottles feat. Timbaland

8. You Don’t Wanna Go Outside

9. Toussaint vs. Bishop

10. Interlude – The Struggle

11. We Made It

12. Suicide Love feat. Eve

13. Letter From The Penn

14. Robotic Love

15. Gangsta Girl

16. Interlude – Tell The Kids The Truth

17. The Shottas

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Press Releases

ATLANTIC RECORDS GROUP CELEBRATES 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF BLACK MUSIC MONTH WITH ONLINE PROMOTION; “ATLANTIC IS BLACK MUSIC” CAMPAIGN TO FOCUS ON COMPANY’S LONG HISTORY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARTISTRY; FEATURED STARS INCLUDE T.I., ESTELLE, CEE-LO, LAURA IZIBOR, MAINO, TREY SONGZ, AND OTHERS

ATLANTIC RECORDS GROUP CELEBRATES 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF BLACK MUSIC MONTH WITH ONLINE PROMOTION; “ATLANTIC IS BLACK MUSIC” CAMPAIGN TO FOCUS ON COMPANY’S LONG HISTORY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARTISTRY; FEATURED STARS INCLUDE T.I., ESTELLE, CEE-LO, LAURA IZIBOR, MAINO, TREY SONGZ, AND OTHERS

For more than 60 years, Atlantic Records has been home to the most innovative, compelling, and enduring artists in African-American music, spanning soul and R&B, jazz and hip-hop. To commemorate this month’s 30th anniversary of “Black Music Month,” Atlantic has launched a dynamic online promotional campaign, dubbed “Atlantic IS Black Music.”

“Atlantic IS Black Music” will see a video content link running all month long on the Atlantic Records homepage, located at www.atlanticrecords.com. A stunning array of current Atlantic Records Group artists will be featured, including superstars like T.I., Estelle, and Cee-Lo, alongside rising new talents such as Laura Izibor, Trey Songz, B.o.B., Maino, Pleasure P, Young Steff, Sophia Fresh, and Janelle Monae. The “Atlantic IS Black Music” video content will be updated daily throughout June.

In addition, Interactive One, the #1 African-American digital platform, super-serving more than 10 million monthly users, has partnered with Atlantic Records to celebrate the label’s many accomplishments and impact on Black Music over the past 60 years. Interactive One will provide its vast online community with the ability to engage and share in the celebration at partnering sites including BlackPlanet.com, TheUrbanDaily.com, NewsOne.com, and HelloBeautiful.com. Each week Interactive One members will receive special Atlantic Records gift packs and other prizes – please visit http://www.blackplanet.com/atlanticrecords/ for details.

* * * * *

When the music industry first united in 1979 to create the annual Black Music Month celebration, Atlantic Records already had a long tradition in presenting African-American artistry. In fact, it was exactly 60 years ago that the label scored its first major hit with Stick McGhee’s 1949 smash, “Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee.” From there, Atlantic became the preeminent R&B label of the 1950s, boasting a roster which included the likes of Ruth Brown, Big Joe Turner, Ray Charles, the Clovers, the Drifters, LaVern Baker, and the Coasters.

Atlantic’s influence on the course of black music certainly didn’t stop there. The label pioneered the soul revolution with such stars as Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Solomon Burke, Ben E. King, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, and Booker T. & the MGs. Jazz was represented by such influential luminaries as John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Atlantic continued to lead the way with Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, the Spinners, Chic, Sister Sledge, Levert, and many more.

Today, with artists ranging from hip-hop superstars like T.I., Lupe Fiasco, and Flo Rida, R&B icons like Musiq Soulchild and Toni Braxton, and new soul men and women like Trey Songz, Estelle, and Laura Izibor, Atlantic’s incredible legacy continues on into a new generation.