De La Soul Release Discography For Free
De La Soul celebrated Valentine's Day and the 25th anniversary of their seminal album, 3 Feet High and Rising, by releasing their entire library of music for free on their website today. Beginning at 11 a.m. EST, the full discography of one of the most iconic and progressive rap groups of all time for 25 hours. It's an unprecedented dumping of music by the NYC trio and a furtherance of major artist's use of the Internet to market their music and keep their names in the news cycle. In December of last year, Beyonce dropped her latest album, a 14-track 'visual' album by surprise on the web without any prior marketing or advertising around it. That project went on to shatter sales numbers for the year.
With this move, De La Soul really isn't tearing down too many borders (their discography is easily available via illegal torrent sites), although it could go a long way in re-introducing what many consider a 'golden age' of hip-hop music to a new generation. It's crazy that De La is celebrating a 25 year anniversary, and it would be a fitting homage to their first project if the re-release of their initial offering to fans causes a resurgence in younger listeners. Click here to pick it up for yourself.
[First Look] Kitty Cash
Photography By Julian Schratter
Over the past year and a half or so there has been a hip-hop resurgence in New York City that has had many, including Hot97's Peter Rosenberg, calling it a "Renaissance of Hip-hop". Then sentiment isn't just because of the music, which has spilled from the city's streets for generation, but rather the re-incarnation of hip-hop culture in society on a real level. Perhaps no one else in the scene embodies that realness as much as Brooklyn native, Kitty Cash, who firmly established herself with an eclectic, thought-out 19-track mixtape, Love The Free, which dropped just before the new year. The project featured a smattering of original tracks from an assortment of artists from across the country, including the like of Vic Mensa, Kilo Kish, Phony PPL, Jesse Boykins, The GTW, Jean Deaux, Justin Rose and more. It's a fun project that calls to mind different aspects of growing up through the 90s and early 2000s, as the newly-minted 25-year-old can attest to. The official DJ for Kilo Kish, who provides the introduction to Love The Free, Kitty Cash has been able to observe things from behind the scenes a bit, and used those experiences to put together the debut release. I had the chance to catch up with Kitty Cash just after the new year as she was preparing for her birthday and thinking about what's next, read it all here.
