Witness Explains Why Life is Beautiful and Dope

Posted by Justin Boland on Jan 08, 2008 | 0 Comments

When I first met Witness, we had both showed up at a gig we’d planned 2 months in advance.  We had arrived to find out there was still no sound system for venue.  There had been no promotion, and the venue had submitted the wrong lineup and mispelled his name in both local papers.  It was probably the worst-managed, most-pathetic Music Biz Moment I saw in 2007.  Witness was completely unfazed and very kind about the whole thing.  It turned out his attitude worked: we wound up finding a sound system, an audience, and an actual venue all during the next 2 hours.  Witness and Unsung went on to deliver killer sets in front of a tough audience.  The toughest, really: the “I’m just here for pizza why are you rapping at me” demographic, notoriously hard to please.  Witness pleases everyone. He graciously answered some nosy questions from Audible Hype:

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The Straight Dope on the Rawkus 50

Posted by Justin Boland on Jan 07, 2008 | 0 Comments

Rawkus Records, the independent hip hop label who collapsed in the ugliest possible way, are suddenly back on the scene with a new business model.  They’ve gotten a lot of free publicity for it: a mix between a classic talent contest, a digital distribution scheme, and good old “major label” promotion.  They’ve got a talented lineup, too-from total unknowns to longtime underground hustlers. 

But it’s worth taking a closer look at their business model-how different is the Rawkus 50 from the Bad Old Days of record labels exploiting their artists for token peanuts?  How do the artists on the Rawkus 50 feel about the benefits they’re recieving from the label?  Can you really benefit from mass promotion when there’s 49 other acts nobody’s heard of on every advertisement?

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