Posts Tagged ‘Faith Newman’
Presenting Faith Newman, One Of The Architects of “Illmatic†(Video)
April 24, 2019
We certainly felt that this was a classic in the making…
Wow. An actual A&R. You see kids ‘A&R’ stands for ‘Artist & Repertoire’… a term from a bygone era of the music business when there were folks (called A&R) whose jobs were to find talent, make them commercially viable (e.g. transform raw talent into something that makes cash registers ring), and act as liaison between the label and the artist all the while. Make no mistake, A&Rs work for the music label. So, while Faith was likely enamored with Nas’ talent from the jump, she had to see DOLLAR SIGNS when she thought of his potential back in the day. She had to BELIEVE in Nas as someone who the Hip-Hop world would willing to spend money – for labels to develop as an artist and marketable ‘product’ AND for fans to buy music and tickets.
How much did she believe in Nas, even BEFORE “Illmatic” was made? Well, she went to Queensbridge to get him back in the day. And… um… you can bet she ‘stood out’ when she did. Moreover, she put herself out there and took on high risk based on her belief in the future G.O.D.M.C.
And here she is, 25 years later, talking about how glad she was that she did.
Faith Newman signed Nas to Columbia Records in the fall of 1991, but even she couldn’t predict the heights he’d be taken to after the release of “Illmatic.” Heights that “probably none of us could imagine.”
– Mass Appeal
Indeed. But the streets knew, especially the bootleggers. Turns out Faith has spoken on that before… at length (see link here).
EARLIER POST: THE MASSIVE BOOTLEGGING OF NAS’ CLASSIC “ILLMATIC” ALBUM
Posted in Business, Hip-Hop, History, Interview, Producers, Series, Videos | 
Tags: Architects of Illmatic, Faith Newman, Mass Appeal, The Architects of Illmatic | 
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The Massive Bootlegging Of Nas’s Classic ‘Illmatic’ Album
April 10, 2014
Interesting share from Revolt TV, appropriately timed with the release of “Illmatic XX” – Nas’ 20-year commemoration of his legend-establishing album “Illmatic.” Taking us back to 1994 with talk about the classic’s release, MC Serch and Faith Newman tell us how far bootleggers and music fans would go to get their hands on the eventual G.O.D.MC’s LP.
Newman – a former A&R at Columbia Records and the executive producer responsible for wrapping up “Illmatic” and releasing it to the world ahead of schedule – explained, “We would’ve liked to record more stuff, but we had to get it out in a hurry, because there were so many bootleg copies. Like so many.”
MC Serch goes on to admit, “We were breaking into garages in the Bronx, because counterfeiters had 70,000 cassettes of “Illmatic,” with a drawing of Nas on a cross, crucified…And Donnie Einer, who was the chairman of Columbia, calling me like, ‘Yo, we’re pushing up the release date.'”
These are stories behind the story of an album, that took nearly two years to record, rushed out to beat back the bootleggers already in the marketplace with copies.
Today, leaks and copies (digital quality, of course) in the hands of the masses… well, that’s just what is… but back then when there was barely an Interweb and no mp3’s… This was insane!
READ AND VIEW INTERVIEWS: MASSIVE BOOTLEGGING OF NAS
Posted in Hip-Hop, History | Tags: bootleggers, Faith Newman, illmatic, ILLMATIC XX, MC Serch, Nas, Piracy, Serch | No Comments »
