Posts Tagged ‘Piracy’
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 | 
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Young Guru Speaks On Piracy vs. Invention in Hip-Hop (Video)
January 17, 2013
Young Guru has mixed most of Jay-Z’s albums over the years. He has been Jay-Z’s tour D.J. for years. Safe to say he knows a thing or two about Hip-Hop. Well, the NY Hip-Hop aficionado goes in-depth on the thin line between piracy and invention in the genre.
“When we study hip-hop we are actually studying the history of piracy. If we go back and study all piracy, we see that most things that were created in the world are a remix of something else.â€
– Young Guru
Now, don’t let that quote make you defensive Hip-Hop heads. Watch as Young Guru takes us on a journey of modern human history referencing the history of Hip-Hop to show how our ‘remixing’ things in industry over time is good for all overall… we just have to address some tough questions of who owns what, who should should get paid, what we consider ‘piracy’ (versus ‘new creation’) and more. Very interesting.
It has been said that ‘there is nothing new under the sun.’ Play the video clip above, and watch more after the jump, to get Young Guru’s application of that in the study of Hip-Hop.
Posted in EVENTS, Hip-Hop, History, Producers, Technology, Videos | Tags: Invention, Piracy, Pop-Tech, Young Guru | No Comments »
