Tribute: RIP MICHAEL, YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obit_michael_jackson
Michael Jackson, the moonwalking former child star who became known the world over as the "King of Pop" before his life and career deteriorated in a freakish series of scandals, died Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. He was 50. The person said Jackson died in a Los Angeles hospital. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told the newspaper.

Jackson's death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music's premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves, his high-pitched voice punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove and tight, military-style jacket were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance. Over the years, his skin became lighter and his nose narrower.

This past Saturday, the 5th annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival went down, bringing together some of rap’s most established vets, as well as upcoming and talented rookies. The lineup included acts such as dead prez, Styles P, Pharoahe Monch, Smif N’ Wessun, DJ Premier, J Period, Tanya Morgan, Torae, a special surprise appearance from Black Thought of The Roots, and many others.
To many fans the event is considered conscious Hip Hop’s form of Summer Jam or Rock The Bells and fills the void that the latter events have somewhat neglected, many feel.
"We do it every year because we really feel that Hip Hop needs it” said Executive Director Wes Jackson to LiveSteez.com. “Unless you’re playing Summer Jam or Rock The Bells, there’s really no place that showcases your progressive artists or quality old-school or quality local guys and female artists. For conscious and progressive Hip-Hop, this is the biggest venue that we got and we almost feel like this is our duty to make this thing happen.”
Although the heavy rain may have dulled the mood temporarily, it did not prevent countless fans from attending the eight-hour event, which was held under a tent. Festival attendees watched D-Block member Styles P perform “Get Busy” with Black Thought, while headliner Pharoahe Monch performed widely recognized songs such as “Oh No,” and “Simon Says,” and dead prez shared the stage with DJ Green Lantern performing “Hip Hop” as well as new material.
M-1 of dead prez said of the event, “[The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival] is where we battle the police and party in peace. We’ve done it all there and cut our teeth in that community and Brooklyn has supported us for years and we’ve helped build with it and help continue this kind of relationship and this festival is in the same spirit of everything else that we do in our way. It’s giving us the opportunity to holler at our folks who we haven’t seen in one summer or so and put our RBG (Revolutionary But Gangsta) on.”
Tickets for the festival were donation-based, and according to the BHHF website, virtually all of the artists performed for free.

Wu Tang - Evil Deeds

Roughly a week after the 38th birthday of deceased rapper Tupac Shakur, WIDEawake Entertainment Group, the company that recently acquired the assets of Death Row Records, has announced that they will be releasing an album of unreleased music from Tupac as well as other releases from former Death Row artists in the near future.

The new releases stem from a deal between WIDEawake and music publisher EverGreen. As part of their deal EverGreen will be responsible for compositions and master recordings in the Death Row catalog.

"After purchasing the Death Row catalog in January, WIDEawake began looking for a partner to help monetize their rights," David Schulhof, co-CEO of EverGreen explained to Billboard. "We already had a relationship through the estate of Tupac Shakur; WIDEawake was looking for an exclusive boutique company to help focus on licensing in the film, television, video game and ad world; and because we own the catalogs of Tupac and 2 Live Crew and Teddy Riley and others, they knew we already had experience in the genre. So, it just felt like the obvious choice for them to partner up with us for Death Row."

Aside from the Tupac album which will be released in June 2010, just in time for the rapper’s next birthday, WIDEawake also plans on releasing The Chronic Re-Lit. The Chronic Re-Lit, which will include four bonus tracks and a DVD featuring footage of Dr. Dre and other artists, will be released September of this year.

In mid-January Blender magazine reported that Death Row Records had been auctioned off to WIDEawake Holdings for the sum of $18 million.