Ecko Might Finally Be Done For...

According to a NY Post article, clothing designer Marc Ecko has hired investment bank Peter J. Solomon to help refinance at least $170 million in debt owed to two key business partners. With lenders scarce, sources say his empire may be dismantled as he sells off assets to pay creditors.

Here's what the Post reports:

After a disastrous holiday season that forced heavy markdowns at department stores including Macy's -- where Marc Ecko is the largest supplier of young men's clothing -- sources said the company owes more than $100 million to Li & Fung, a global trading company that helps manufacture Marc Ecko's inventory.

To make matters worse, Marc Ecko has defaulted on a term loan of more than $70 million from a syndicate led by commercial-lending giant CIT, sources said.

While Marc Ecko has won forbearance on the loan, CIT "wants their money," and will have to be paid in full by July and possibly sooner, according to one source. Accordingly, Ecko is "scrambling to avoid bankruptcy so he doesn't lose every stitch of equity he's got," the source added.

"We're pretty confident that this isn't an issue that's life-threatening at all," Michael Golden, chief marketing officer at Marc Ecko Enterprises, told The Post. "In our case, we have more than enough assets to pay off that term loan, and we have more than enough time."

Golden characterizes the $100 million due to Li & Fung as "normal trade payables" that fluctuate with seasonal inventory. And while he admits that "some businesses are doing better than others," Golden noted strength in the company's licensing and international units.

Nevertheless, sources said Marc Ecko's executives and bankers alike have been lobbing phone calls to rivals, trying to unload the company's brands in exchange for cash. Having slashed its bloated expenses in half, Marc Ecko is desperately trying to lease out chunks of its 280,000-square-foot headquarters on West 23rd Street -- which includes a half-size basketball court.

The dire scenario is a far cry from a few years ago, when Marc Ecko had entertained potential offers from Jones Apparel Group and Tommy Hilfiger. At one time, both firms were weighing bids for Marc Ecko in the $500 million range, according to one source.

T.I. Performs With B.O.B. in Atlanta - Freestyle: VIDEO

Sentenced to jail during the day… Performing on stage the same night. T.I. lives a interesting life.

So this weekend I went to see B.O.B. and Wale perform in Atlanta. There were a lot of surprise guests which included, Grand Hustle Family - Killer Mike, Big Kuntry and low and behold T.I. Bun B also popped up on stage with Wale during the show.

Check out footage sent to us by the good people at Thekaoseffect.com

Explicit Ills featuring Black Thought

I bet you saw this title and was like, "Yes a new Black Thought track"! Well not exactly my brother (or sister). Black Thought of the legendary Roots crew has a part in a new flick named "Explicit Ills". Directed by Mark Webber. With Rosario Dawson. A drama of four interconnecting stories revolving around love, drugs and poverty in Philadelphia. A group of people on the low end of the social scale scramble and struggle just to deal with the daily necessities of life: medicine for a sick kid, drugs for a habit that's out of control, the right clothes to impress that certain girl. You know the deal, this is a limited release movie and is currently being seen in major markets, so check your local listings to see if it's being played in your city. Check out the trailer below:

T.I.'s Fate Will Be In The Court's Hands

While the rapper made a plea deal, his sentencing isn't set in stone.

On October 14, 2007, on the eve of the BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta, T.I. was arrested after attempting to illegally purchase weapons, and a search of his home turned up even more firearms. He was convicted on the felony weapons charges, and it seemed as if his career could be in jeopardy and he would be sentenced to years behind bars.

But Tip was able to secure a plea deal last March that suggested if he completed 1,000 hours of community service before sentencing, paid a $100,000 fine and agreed to complete another 500 hours of community service after his jail time, he would be sentenced to a year and a day in prison. The sentence is notable, according to legal experts, because of the specific length. If T.I. were to be sentenced to one year in prison, for example, he would be required to complete the entire sentence. But, similar to Lil' Kim's case a few years ago, a sentence of one year and one day could allow T.I. to be released earlier for good behavior, if warranted.

From the series finale of Tip's MTV show "Road to Redemption," which aired on Tuesday (March 24), we know that his upcoming sentencing on Friday isn't a slam dunk — and we don't know what will follow immediately afterward, either. According to Vibe's April cover story, Tip will most likely report to jail within a 30- to 60-day time frame.

Nothing is guaranteed Friday beyond Tip's appearance in court. What allowed T.I. to strike his unique deal in the first place was a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January 2005 that said federal sentencing guidelines were suggested and not mandatory.

It's not the ideal situation to be in, but T.I. seems to be handling it well. Late last year, he told MTV News he was mentally preparing for his prison time. He said he would spend his incarceration planning his activity after his release, which is expected to include writing rhymes. Earlier this month, he said he has at least 19 new songs recorded already for his next album.

Source:MTV

De Notes & Mick Boogie Present Mae Day - Cherish The Day

MAN THIS RIGHT HERE IS STRAIGHT FIRE!!! Every now and then I run across a mixtape that just stands out in a sea of dull and garbage mixtapes. But this right here is yet another example of true Hip Hop.




Track List :

1. Maeday Maeday! // Fear
2. DJ (Same Song) // King of Sorrow
3. Hold On // Nothing Can Come Between Us
4. Crime // Is It A Crime
5. Give It All // Give It Up
6. Jezzebelle // Jezzebel
7. Sweetest Taboo // Sweetest Taboo
8. No Ordinary Love // No Ordinary Love
9. Still Love H.I.M. // Your Love Is King
10. Keep Looking // Keep Looking
11. Cherish the Day // Cherish The Day

*all songs produced by DeNotes Productions*

All the songs on the tracklisting is the title then the sade song it sampled.

Click Here To Download

Or Just Sit Back and Listen!!!

De Notes and Mick Boogie present....MAE DAY "CHERISH THE DAY"

Nike Air Yeezy’s Glow In The Dark Now Included

Submitted By 100Stax.com

Look familiar? They should, since these are the Zen Grey colorway of the Air Yeezy’s which are slated to release April 4th at select Nike retailers.

Turns out these bad boys really do glow in the dark and I think its a nice touch. It won’t sway my decision in trying to get these, as they never looked tight to me to begin with. However, if I was in middle school and hitting up the skating rink every Saturday, I wouldn’t have minded having these to stunt in while walking around or playing laser tag. Over in ‘Ye’s Universe it was suggested that these would kill in club.

First of all, good luck getting in the club with these. The hate will be strong from the bouncers if you come strolling up to the door in these. Secondly, these joints will get utterly destroyed between people spilling drinks and stepping on your feet. I’d really like to see someone rock these because I’m pretty sure they’d be fighting before the end of the night.

THE BIG DADDY KANE STORY video

Is Blogging the New DJ of Our Time

Okay so it’s been a while since I sat down and wrote or updated my blog with an article straight from the mind of UrbanEstablished.com. Well this weekend I was really burning up my twitter account when I saw an interesting tweet from TJ’s DJ’s. If you are in the music industry then you should know TJ’s DJ’s and all the good work he does for breaking new artist and music. Basically TJ was talking to a lot of industry cats about how bloggers are the new DJ’s of our time. That really got me thinking because I can really see where TJ is coming from. When was the last time you heard a DJ break a new song? If you listen to radio you hardly ever hear of new songs being broke. Now most stations have play lists that have to be strictly followed by their DJ’s. Not only does this limit the amount of new music we hear on the airwaves, it locks the music into a so called “box” that can only be broke by the music director or program director. Okay so lets flip it a little bit, when is the last time you been in a club and you heard a new track? Chances are you might hear some new music, but that’s it! You hear it one time and may not ever hear that track again.

So how is new music or an artist introduced to the consumer? How do they get a buzz on the street about a new artist or song? We all know that you need talent, hard work and determination, but what else? If it can’t be done on radio or if it can’t be done in the clubs then how do you break new music? Well the answer is literally in front of your face. I mean it, literally in front of your face.

Back in the day DJ’s broke all of the hot music. It was done by radio or the all famous mixtape which once was the best way to generate buzz. But now with advances in technology i.e. the internet, a song can be broke all over the world in minutes if it is done by the right person with enough influence on the industry. The music industry is built on being heard and the internet is the perfect vehicle on being heard if it is used correctly.

So now how does blogging play into the mix of all of this? Today bloggers can spread news, videos, music etc in minutes. How many of you read blogs? How many of you go to blogs to catch up on gossip, news and music. Blogs are built so that anybody can read them. There is no need to be part of some exclusive industry network. No need to be a label exec or program director. All you need is access to the internet and know what blogs to go to. The best thing about using blogs to promote yourself as an artist or your music is that it can be viral. By this I mean one day you might have one blog with a hot track on it. That track really sounds good and people like it, next thing you know it’s on nine more blogs and a week later it’s on twenty blogs. If the person who created the song is using the internet correctly he’s having that blog about his track connecting with his Myspace, Facebook, Twitter or Soundclick site. They are using blogs to build an internet presence, he showing his numbers to industry cats so that he can prove that he has a buzz and maybe they should check him out. He’s now using that buzz to get on mixtapes and features. He’s using bloggers as his modern day DJ to get his music heard.


Here are some blog sites that push new music:

Digiwaxx: http://blog.digiwaxxmedia.com

Promo Leak: http://www.promoleak.com/

Buck Marley: http://www.buckmarleyxxx.com/

New Music: Tanya Morgan "So Damn Down"

Tanya Morgan "So Damn Down"



Tanya Morgan's third album, Brooklynati drops on May 12th!

Download Here

100 Hip-Hop Heads You MUST Follow on Twitter

100 Hip-Hop Heads You MUST Follow on Twitter

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The Homeless Emcee

Written by: Daniel Shine "Philadelphia Hip Hop Music Examiner"

I really want to personally thank D-Nice for what he is doing in Hip-Hop right now. In my opinion he is helping to sustain the culture in a way that is reflective of the art, the heart and soul of hip-hop and not the mundane commercialization of the genre.

If you have not checked out his True Hip-Hop Stories series, I invite you to go to D-Nice and check out the stories behind some of Hip-Hop’s classic songs and groundbreaking artists.

His piece on the Homeless Emcee hit close to home for me because I met that man this past summer. When I tell you the brother got flows for days, he asks you “what you want to hear, commercial ish, conscious rap, what you want?” His skills blew us away; we took a few pics with him and skated off to enjoy the rest of the night.

But watching this piece just brought me back to that night. To his “will rap for food” mentality and how serious his situation really is. I didn’t have any money to give, but I would hope that I’m one of the cool people he spoke about, the ones who kicked it with him and just kept it real.

The gentleman has talent; I don’t think the bars he spit on this video speak to his lyrical skill and ability to wow you. Props to D-Nice for this one

GHOSTFACE DEDICATES SONG TO RIHANNA

Rapper GHOSTFACE KILLAH has shown his support to RIHANNA following her alleged fight with boyfriend CHRIS BROWN - by dedicating a song to the R&B star.

Brown has been charged with charged with assault and making criminal threats following an alleged altercation with Rihanna a month ago (08Feb09), which left the Umbrella singer battered and bruised and in need of medical attention.

The song's lyrics include, "This is for all my women out there that be getting beat up. You know what I mean, struggling, welfare, sometimes the jobs ain't right, they going through mad trauma, especially when they don't really need that s**t, Rihanna, they know what they going through.


To hear this exclusive track go to the UrbanEstablished.com Social Network and you can hear it on our play list located at the top of the page. The track is named "Message From Ghostface".

DMC To Star In Conscious Reality Series

SOURCE:(AHH) Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Darryl “DMC” Daniels is currently developing an innovative new reality show competition entitled The Kings of Rap.

The IME Entertainment-backed series offers an unprecedented twist to aspiring artists joining the show

In The Kings of Rap, young rappers are tasked with creating music that does not “glorify violence, degrade women, or include the use of profanity.”

The series is based in New York City, and will feature filming from famous locations such as the “Abbey Road of Hip-Hop,” Chung King Studios.

In surveying the landscape of Hip-Hop, DMC argues the culture now embraces the negativity it once rallied against and sought to change.
“There are so many talented kids out there who don’t get heard or don’t get signed because they’re not controversial enough, or they’re too positive. That amazes me,” DMC explained to AllHipHop.com. “The spirit of Hip-Hop was always about changing the world or yourself, not with a gun or with denigrating or offensive words, but by being effective with your mind.”

As a member of the groundbreaking collective Run-DMC, DMC helped push Hip-Hop into mainstream consciousness through unprecedented advancements in rhyme structure, production, and fashion.

Referencing the popular change mantra of last year’s presidential election, DMC states the first and most important change that can be made begins with the spoken word.

“This is a time when everyone is talking about change and we as a country have the opportunity to make a difference,” DMC explained. “We can start by changing what we have to say to each other, and what we say to our kids through music.”

Nike + Kanye = Air Yeezy's

They are set to drop around April or May and cost between $200 - $300.