LOCALS ONLY D.O. The Fabulous Drifter may be bouncing between the east and west coasts, but the Mile High City runs deep in his veins. He’s planning to release his new album, Resilience this summer, which is a collection of tracks from other projects he’s been involved in including His & Hers, Public City, The L.A. Summer Sessions, The Go Getters Union and Tales from the Executive Side. But even though the tracks are from different projects, the former Ground Zero Movement member said that they all rock a unified sound: RetroElectro.
“RetroElectro, it’s a sound I was hearing in my head since 2004,” D.O. said. “It’s a sound that is like the '80s, '90s, and '00s had a ménage a trios and birthed RetroElectro. So I've been building on it since. That’s the best way to put it.”
The album features production from well-known local standouts like Sol Powa, Dow Jones, Noel Z, Babah Fly with appearances from singer JaQe, Dent , and Url Gravy-V. And those who do cop the album will get a copy of the Tales from the Executive Side mixtape, mixed by veteran Mile High spinner, DJ Chonz. In addition, a full album with JaQe, under the moniker His & Hers is slated to drop in early 2009.
“I’m setting the bar even higher this time because it's a whole new playing field that I'm on at this point,” D.O. enthused. Check out the first single from Resilience here:
T.I. scores three-film deal Even though rapper T.I. is set to serve a year in jail on weapons charges in March 2009, Screen Gems Films is banking on the emcee to bring them some coin. The film company signed T.I to a three-picture deal that begins with him starring in Bone Deep and action drama that star Mat Dillion and Idris Elba. The second film, Boulevard, is currently in development with the third film to be determined. T.I. has been getting attention since his roles in ATL and American Gangster.
Common launches book club Common is preparing to release his new album, Invincible Summer, next month, but the rapper found time to give something back to the kids. He’s launched The Corner Book Club through his Common Ground Foundation with hopes of encouraging teens to pick up books and spend some time reading over the summer. The club is open to students ages 13-18 and will feature a list of recommended books, a book of the month and a chance to blog about their thoughts on the books and chat with Common Ground staff. Teens can sign up at his website.
Snoop turns into cartoon for DVD This summer Snoop Dogg will turn into a cartoon for Snoop Dogg Presents Adventures of Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, an animated film featuring music from Snoop’s 2006 album, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment. The movie will feature an animated Snoop getting in different situations while running the streets of Southern California. "The movie will give you something to look at because when I was making this record I was real visual about it," Snoop told AllHipHop.com. “I had a cartoon mind while I was making it, so I just wanted to bring that to the light." The straight-to-DVD film will hit shelves on June 24 and feature appearances from Nate Dogg, E-40, B-Real, The Game, Mike Epps and Katt Williams.
NEW RELEASES:
Little Brother …And Justus For All This project was originally released as a mixtape with Mick Boogie between The Minstrel Show and The Get Back albums for free. But in case you missed out, Little Brother is releasing it as an abridged album and it still features the like of Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Rhymefest, Cormega and their Justus League crew. Even though the songs may be a bit old, it’s still worth the price of entry if you’re feeling LB withdrawals.
Pimp C The Greatest Hits Six months ago rapper Pimp C passed away and it looks as if people are already cashing in on his name. Asylum Records released a “Greatest Hits” collection this week which features songs that any Pimp C fan should already have. But even in that, it is a decent collection that those unfamiliar with Pimp could enjoy and hopefully encourage them to buy his full length albums. -- Quibian Salazar-Moreno
