The Original and Official Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards & Induction Ceremony (HHHOF), is set to return to National and International Television, taping in New York City in June 2010, "Black Music Month"!

The HHHOF Awards Show will feature a "Week of Activities" throughout New York City. They will include Celebrity Community Outreach, Hip Hop Symposiums, Gospel Night, VIP Reception, Parties, and other Programs featuring Celebrities, Community, Industry, and New York City Leaders.

Tickets will go on sale late February 2010, and fans can received discounted tickets and Free "Official Merchandise Gifts" with purchasing a HHHOF Fan Network Membership at HIPHOPHOF.TV that will be going live.

The HHHOF "Hip Hop-A-Thon" promotional campaign will kick-off with The announcing of the 2010 HHHOF Inductee Class, to be followed by a series of promotions and activities over 90 days culminating with the unveiling of the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Museum & Entertainment Complex Building in New York City.

'The HHHOF Museum building will be the first of its kind, dedicated to the entire culture of hip hop, from the deejay, the MC, the B-Boy and B-Girl Dancers, the Graffiti Artists, the Music, to the Businesses, Leaders, and People who have shaped and influenced the culture since its inception in all phases.

This will be monumental and be around for many generations to come,' says Easy AD Harris, SVP of HHHOF Museum Foundation, and Iconic member of the legendary Cold Crush Brothers.

Fans and supporters can participate in real time at the official HHHOF multi-media social networking site HIPHOPHOF.TV after February 2010, and follow us at twitter.com/hiphophof, myspace.com/hiphophof, facebook.com/hiphophof, and at blackplanet.com/hiphophof.

The production company and creative team is currently finalizing agreements with Celebrity Talent for the show, and are expected to make continuous announcements over the next few weeks in regards to the Celebrity Hosts, Performers, and Presenters, plus the Panelists for the HHHOF Symposium.

Super-Producer Easy Mo Bee, has been named the Music Producer for the HHHOF Awards Show, and he will be producing the theme song for the event, That will be packaged with the HHHOF 16th Anniversary DVD set for June 2010.

"We are very excited to be returning to Television, as Hip Hop has been Commercialized from the Streets, and has re-emerged as the major Youth "Marketing and Economic" driving force influencing over $250 Billion+ in sales across all service and product categories.

This event will help re-establish the HHHOF brand in the marketplace for decades to come." We will make a final decision on the Broadcast Network in April 2010, " says show Creator and Executive Producer J.T. Thompson.

We are "Often imitated, but will never be duplicated"! This will be the first broadcast of the Original and Officially Trademarked, Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards Television Show and HHHOF Museum Complex, since its airing in National Television Syndication and on the BET Cable Network in the 90's! That show featured the inductions of Run DMC with Jam Master Jay an original HHHOF Board Member, Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool DJ Red Alert, Grandmaster Flash, to name a few, And those clips will be premiering bi-weekly at HIPHOPHOF.TV during the promo campaign!

The Selection Committee of Pioneers, Artists, Writers, Publishers, Executives, and Advisors have reconvened to expand the process and the amount of inductees for the Hall of Fame, just in time for the NY Museum.

For more information, media & press inquiries or interviews, celebrity bookings, sponsorship opportunities, and partnerships contact Adrienne Smith, or J.T. Thompson at 917-418-7971 or leave a message at 212-330-8738 . All other Inquiries can reach us at hiphophof@gmail.com.

ABOUT THE OFFICIAL HIP HOP HALL OF FAME AND PRODUCER J.T. THOMPSON

Originally created in 1992, the awards show was the first independently produced Hip Hop Awards Show on the BET Network Syndication arm in 1995, and was Label mates with the Source Awards. The Creator, J.T. "J-Train" Thompson, is a Brooklyn Born, Queens, and Harlem raised Hip Hop Connoisseur, transplanted to Los Angeles in his early years where he entered the business as a concert promoter and television producer as a guest of former MCA/Universal artists Pebbles, and the R&B Group the Deele, that featured multi-Grammy Award winning artists/producers BabyFace, and current Island-Def Jam Head L.A. Reid. While a free agent professional athlete and businessman, Legends Eazy E, Ice Cube, Yo Yo and Publicist Lynn Jeter, gave J.T. his big break in promotions and productions, as he went on to emerge as a major force in the "Hip Hop Fight the Power Leadership" era of the early 90's, even standing with Sister Souljah. As one of the main Co-Founders of the historical L.A. Gang Truce Alliance, during the 1992 Riots, J.T., took the lead in empowering community, private, and public economic development partnerships, and helped push for the National Empowerment Zones from Los Angeles, to the new Harlem USA projects. His story was highlighted in the Movie Redemption Starring Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, as J.T. utilized Gang Members on Projects including Restoring the Sear's Hollywood. Despite the HHHOF and J.T. producing numerous albums, movies, concerts, step shows, special events from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, and NYC, Hip Hop took a negative turn during the media hyped east-west turmoil and the Hip Hop Hall of Fame suffered in the downturn, only to rise again today with a vengeance to finally complete the NYC HHHOF Museum and Entertainment Complex "Coming in 2010."

Hip Hop artist/icons can now continue to make their mark in the future of Hip Hop Culture for years to come.

"This one is a gift to our dear french followers, as well a preview of a story we’ll publish on feb 15th. Monday will mark the anniversary of BIG L’s passing, a decade and a year ago."

Providence, Rhode Island's indie-hop MC Sage Francis is set to release his fourth solo album, Li(f)e, which is due out May 11 on Anti Records.

The title of the new release is a deliberate amalgamation of the words "life" and "lie," a theme that Francis tackles on the album.

Li(f)e marks an evolution in Francis' music; the rapper now has his own backing band that consists of producer Brian Deck (Iron And Wine, Modest Mouse), and Jim Becker and Tim Rutili of the Chicago experimental post-rock band Califone.

Francis' latest effort features collaborations with musicians and songwriters who have never worked with a rapper previously. Solo artist and ex-Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle provides the instrumental behind the song "Little Houdini," and Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla contributed the music for "Three Sheets To The Wind." Other collaborators include Tim Fite, members of Calexico and DeVotchKa and Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous, each of whom provides a canvas for Francis thought-provoking rhymes about hypocrisy, organized religion and American culture.

Tour Dates For Sage Francis:
02/09 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave (Benefit For Haiti)
02/27 - Providence, RI -Jerky’s

Track Listing For Li(f)e:
01. Little Houdini
02. Three Sheets To The Wind
03. I Was Zero
04. Slow Man
05. Diamonds And Pearls
06. Polterzeitgeist
07. The Baby Stays
08. 16 Years
09. Worry Not
10. London Bridge
11. Love The Lie
12. The Best Of Times

www.myspace.com/sagefrancis

Tokyo, Japan -- Hip-Hop monk, MC Happiness has started rocking audiences in Japan by rapping traditional Buddhist sutras over thugged-out beats.

Kansho Tagai was blown away when he first heard hip-hop because even though he couldn't understand the English lyrics he still felt the vibes.

He likened it to reading sutras at his temple - as most of his audiences are unable to understand the ancient language in which the sacred texts are written.

Inspired by the accessibility of rap, he set about trying to spread the word of Buddha to a younger generation by writing rhymes that teach old-skool lessons in modern Japanese.

He began inviting children, students and artists to visit his temple for some untraditional teachings - and they were impressed by his mad skills.

Buddhist follower Yuriko Watanabe said: "He really amazes everyone with his talent. When I first saw him on the stage, I was like 'Wow!'"

Tagai now holds it down in front of audiences full of streetwise kids dressed head-to-toe in sportswear.
But he isn't stopping there - he has big plans for the future.

He's perfected the moonwalk, he plans to break out his first freestyle rap any day now and soon he is hoping to drop bombs on the dancefloor with a new twist on the genre - hip-hop tap dancing.

Tracklist and Download
1. Green Lantern Intro
2. Self Titled (off R.E.K.S. album) (produced by Statik Selektah)
3. I Don’t Play (LFHQ Dj Premier Exclusive)
4. Understand (produced by Lee Bannon)
5. Rap-a-nomics ft. Slaine & Torae (produced by Statik Selektah)
6. Count If Off ft. CurT@ins (produced by Statik Selektah)
7. 2012 (produced by Statik Selektah)
8. God Damn! ft. Freddie Gibbs (produced by Statik Selektah)
9. I Too, America (produced by Statik Selektah)
10. 7am ft. Termanology, Steven King, J-Status, & JFK (produced by Statik Selektah)
11. That’s What’s Up ft. Bossman (produced by Statik Selektah)
12. Hennessy (produced by Statik Selektah)
13. Henny @ Halftime ft. Ron artest (produced by Statik Selektah)
14. Dangerous (Showoff) ft. JFK, Statik Selektah, & Kali (produced by Statik Selektah)
15. 21st Century Rap (prod. by Anthem)
16. Banner City ft. Termanology & Easy Money (off Dj Deadeye album, prod. by MGI)
17. Diesel ft. Chi Knox & Lucky Dice (produced by Rain)
18. City Night Stories ft. Nature, Soul Theory, and G Huff (produced by Soul Theory)
19. Down Like That (Lawtown) (produced by Statik Selektah)
20. Evil That Men Do ft. JV (produced by DEMOBeats)
21. Problem ft. LMS and Saheed (prod. by OZNY)
22. In Between The Lines Freestyle (prod. by Infinite Archetype)
23. Lucky Man (produced by Statik Selektah)
24. International ft. El Da Sensei and Insight (produced by Insight)
25. Something From Nothing ft. Mr M.O.E. & B.R. (ATL) (produced by S-Type)
26. Jena Side (produced by 1914)
27. Invasion Outro
Download
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