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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Simplicity




This goes out to the rest of you who also hate geometry, variables, and any other form of math other than counting money. =) -"CAPS" 1/3 of the Piece Riot crew

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Chillin at the 'Well' bar on Argyle and Sunset with Bishop Lamont and Damon Whitaker. Talkin bout future ventures and life as artists. What a blessing. -"CAPS" 1/3 of the Piece Riot Crew.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

After Aftermath: Bishop Lamont Discusses Leaving Dr. Dre's Label, His Future Plans and the State of the West Coast




Check out the latest interview in the Los Angeles Times, discussing my big bro Bishop Lamont and his recent public statement on Shade 45 about leaving Aftermath Ent. As some of you may or may not know, I've been working as his Art Director for the last 4 years and it's been quite the journey. So many of you that support his music have asked me about details in terms of what's next and when you can expect more fresh music from him. Well, this should answer all your questions. DIOCESE! -"CAPS" 1/3 of the Piece Riot Crew

After Aftermath: Bishop Lamont Discusses Leaving Dr. Dre's Label, His Future Plans and the State of the West Coast

Written by Jeff Weiss of the L.A. Times

Call Bishop Lamont hip-hop’s Conan O’Brien. Like the lanky late-night talk show host, the Carson-raised rapper ostensibly received the keys to the kingdom when he achieved the dream of every local MC: signing to Dr. Dre’s Aftermath, “The Tonight Show” of record labels. But things didn’t go according to plan. Despite dropping several highly regarded mix tapes and scoring a hit radio single with the Dr. Dre-produced “Grow Up,” Lamont was left to languish on the sidelines. To add insult to injury, the label sent a cease-and-desist letter to Power 106, barring the station from playing the tune -- a bizarre move that seems opposed to conventional music industry logic. (Aftermath did not respond to requests for comment.)

Of course, common sense has paid few house calls lately to the laboratory that Andre Young built. Since Busta Rhymes’ “The Big Bang” in 2006, Aftermath has released just three records, a pair from 50 Cent and another from fellow longtime meal ticket Eminem. The Interscope subsidiary handed Rhymes, Chef Raekwon, Rakim and Joell Ortiz their walking papers. As for Dr. Dre's “Detox,” the long-awaited “Unicorn of Rap,” both Raekwon’s laughably tardy “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2” and Guns N’ Roses’ “Chinese Democracy” beat it into stores. At this point, cynics cluck that it ought to be called “Botox,” considering we’ll all need cosmetic work by the time it sees the light of day.

Yet through it all, Lamont remained the loyal soldier -- clearly frustrated with the foot-dragging but unwilling to criticize his mentor (other label executives were a different story) and laboring diligently on Dre’s “Detox” and his own debut, “The Reformation.” Over the last year, rumors swirled that Lamont had been dropped from the label, with the rapper born Phillip Martin vehemently denying the accounts. But last month, he revealed that he had parted ways with Aftermath, telling Shade 45’s “The All Out Show” " that it was like “ 'Shawshank Redemption'… I still love them over there, but thank God… I was going out to the prison yard, shaking gravel out my pants…trying to crawl through the sewer."

Lamont declined to comment further on the disarray at his old home, but spoke to Pop & Hiss about the 700 masters he left with, his forthcoming releases, hanging out with Ram Dass and his future plans for his own imprint, Diocese Records.

You were able to secure your masters per the terms of the severance agreement with Aftermath. What exactly is contained on those recordings?

We’re about to finally bless the world with a lot of music. It got to the point where it wasn’t fair to the fans or to myself to have to keep on waiting. I understand that labels have obligations, but it was difficult to have fans coming up to you and asking when I was going to get a release date. There’s a lot of crazy records I got to take with me. There’s a J Dilla record that I got with the blessing of DJ House Shoes. Tracks from DJ Khalil, Lord Finesse, 9th Wonder, Mr. Porter, Focus, basically a who’s who of underground hip-hop.

And tracks from Dr. Dre?

Yes, there are tracks from the good doctor in there.

What’s the status of your relationship with Dre?


It’s as good as it’s ever been. In the course of the time it took to get out of the Aftermath contract, I never wanted it to cause our friendship to suffer. He's like my big brother. I understand that business is business, and I’m hoping to continue working with him in the future.

What’s the plan for your next release?


I’m going to put out “The Shawshank Redemption,” a mix tape with Bink and DJ Drama that will talk about what I've been going through.

You’d been working on a follow-up to “Caltroit,” the sequel to the original collaboration with Black Milk. What’s the status on that?


There was so much going on over the past year that it had to take a back seat. But we did a record called “Fat Gold Dookie Rope” that’s probably going to be one of the first singles off the new project that we release.

At one point you were planning to release a tape called “No Country For Old Men,” in which you were going to take shots at West Coast veterans for not supporting younger artists. What happened with that project?

Snoop actually reached out to me, which was really dope. I’ve known him since I was a teenager and his brother and I are friends. A lot of people thought it was a ploy for attention, but it was about older artists supporting the younger artists. Those guys are heroes to us and it’s important to carry on the tradition. But we had a heart to heart and he explained that he’s willing to support all of us, which you can see now.

It’s important to keep the West from falling into the standard boxes you think of when you think of West Coast artists. There’s a lot of talented people out here who don’t get the shine they deserve: Pac Div, U-N-I, Med and Rocc C and Oh No from Oxnard, and a bunch more I’m forgetting at the moment. I’m liking the direction we’re going in, but there needs to be more unity and I’m in a great position where I can lead by example and move at my own pace.

You’re not the only West Coast artist who has had difficulty getting a major label to release your record. At the moment, Glasses Malone, Nipsey Hussle and Jay Rock have all been able to land singles on Power 106 and still don’t have a release date in sight. Neither do Pac Div. What do you make of that?

It's ridiculous. Nipsey's been doing his thing, Jay Rock had a hit song with Lil Wayne and will.i.am. and no one can get a release date. People sometimes get it twisted that I hate the skinny jeans kids, but that's not true at all. I love that The New Boyz are speaking for kids their own age in a way that hyphy never had the chance to do. But none of the labels are giving the West Coast artists a chance right now, they're busy trying to figure out a new design for the business -- all of a sudden the machine they created is working against them. That's one of the reasons why I'm working toward getting Diocese Records off the ground.

I'm trying to build a label for everything from rap to R&B to jazz to alternative rock to country. We're trying to do everything in-house, with videos done by DJ Skee and Matt Alonzo, and radio and Internet promotion done right. Artists would come to me when I was at Aftermath and I told them that their best bet was to avoid signing with a major. They thought I was hating, but the labels want to give you 360 degree deals and take all of your publishing and your merchandise and publishing. If an artist can sell 40,000 copies on their own, they're rich. If they sell 40,000 on a major, they get dropped.

What's the status of your own album, "The Reformation?"


It's almost finished. There's so many records, but I've had the blessing to be able to sit with Ram Dass lately in Maui, and the books he's given me and the things I've learned have been so dope. I'm almost overwhelmed. It's hard to know where to begin. I've been sitting down with so many amazing people lately and learning and evolving so much, that's it's just crazy. There's nothing better than being able to have my freedom.

-- Jeff Weiss

Monday, January 25, 2010

Saber on MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan Show

Chat Roulette!



Ok, so there's this site called chatroulette.com. The homie Big Cat put me up on it. You cam chat with random people all over the world. Picks people by chance...don't wanna talk to their ugly ass? Hit the "next" button and it finds another random person. Today, like 20 seconds after I signed on..I see this chick. She says "what's up," I respond back. Then I realize it's fuckin Jessica Alba! No shit, swear on my life! LOL! She asked me how I was doing and I responded..."Jessica?" She looked puzzled for a sec and asked me why I called her that. I said, "either your Jessica Alba or her damn twin!" She laughed and said, "Ok, good call dude! You got me!" Then she hit next and the cam changed to someone else...I was like "NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Whether you believe me or not, that shit really happened. I'm still trippin out. LOL!

AND...after about an hour and a half later...who do I run into AGAIN! Yup, that's right! The universe did not want me to go with just a story and no proof! God is good! =) So before she had the chance to NEXT me again...I grabbed the snapshot! She said..."You look familiar, lol" and bounced.



-"CAPS" 1/3 of the Piece Riot Crew

Sunday, January 24, 2010

EXCLUSIVE SIGNED PRINTS!

Happy sunday to you all! The rain has finally let up and the L.A. air is clean (for once...tomorrow it'll probably be shit again). Hope ya'll had an amazing weekend doing whatever it is that you do; relaxed movie date with the main squeeze, zen-like walks along the beach while poking washed up dead sea creatures with a stick, hunting wild blue footed booby, or finding new ways to masturbate. Whatever makes you happy, we got something that will bring MORE joy to your world! The next 50 art prints sold (any size) from our PIECE RIOT online store will be SIGNED BY THE ARTISTS themselves! Are you excited?!?!?! If so, we love you and want you to bear our children. If signed copies of mad cool art by non-famous artists doesn't even remotely get your juices flowin...then you just suck balls we hope you contract cholera. BUT FOR THOSE THAT ARE STILL EXCITED, you'll have signatures from each participating artist on the particular piece you ordered. Will it be worth a million dollars one day? Shit, think of it like this...once we die then the value is sure to go up somewhat! Make an investment, add some color and life to your living space, feed some starving artists. =)

Blessings, love and light.

-"CAPS" 1/3 of the Piece Riot Crew.

Friday, January 22, 2010

PIECE RIOT APPAREL


Thnx for stoppin by and checkin out the Piece Riot blog! We're thankful you took the time to roll through. Those of you that know us are aware that this Piece Riot project started with the intent of developing apparel (which we are in the process of doing), but for the meantime to satisfy your artsy itches...we put up our online store with the artwork available in large high quality photo chemical process prints (perfect to cover up that boring ass blank wall space in your bedroom or living room). Those of you who are hearing about us for the first time, all you need to know is that we're fucking awesome. You'll come to find that we're even MORE awesome when you meet us in person. So until the garment production is complete, here's a sneak peak of a few of the tees (to your left) which are hitting retailers and our ONLINE STORE in 2010! STAY TUNED! Blessings, love and light... -"CAPS" 1/3 of the Piece Riot Crew