Born To Use Mics: Reading Nas’s  Illmatic analyzes one of the most influential albums in hip hop history, authors Michael Eric Dyson, Sohail Daulatzai  and others reflect upon and engage on one of the most incisive sets of songs ever laid down on wax. So if any of the lyrics went over your head read the book  to get a better understanding. Via: RealTalkNY

Nas and Damian Marley talk about their album “Distant Relatives” on BET’s The Deal.

Nas in the studio with winner C-Sick a producer who won the Red Bull Beat Contest. Video shows the studio session of the two working on a track entitled Film.

DOWNLOAD: Nas featuring Choklate – Film (produced by C-Sick)

Props: 2dopeboyz

Fila will be releasing their iconic velour track suit with a new twist in the coming months. Nas, who signed an endorsement deal with the Italian company, will not only be promoting the track suit in ads and appearances but he also had a hand in the overall design as well. The jacket will come in black, navy blue and red. You can see Nas here in these recent Fila ads with the black version on. (Source)

Japan drops another hot exclusive tee in celebration of Nas’ upcoming December performance in Tokyo. Clothing brand Stussy and Nas collaborated together for this limited edition tee that will go on sale December 9th in Japan and Nas performs on the 12th. Nas usually shys away from the mainstream promotions and endorsement, but has recently opened up having recently signed a major promo deal with Fila in July. (Source)

Famed author Michael Eric Dyson, named by Ebony as one of the hundred most influential black Americans, is the author of sixteen books and a University Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University. He also is fascinated with Nas. Dyson will be releasing his seventeenth book entitled “Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas’s Illmatic” on January 12th, 2009 according to their official site.

“Every song on Illmatic will be analyzed, interpreted and then re-articulated in a kind of intellectual sense from his own base in Hip Hop and we‚Äôre trying to deal with that seriously,” Dyson told AllHipHop on Wednesday.

The book will be published under Civitas Books with major retailer and online distribution. Official description as follows. No word yet on the book cover art but it can be assumed it will be based off the “Illmatic” album. (Source)

From the moment then nineteen-year-old Nasir “Nas” Jones began recording tracks for his debut album the hip-hop world was forever changed. Released in 1994, Illmatic, was hailed as a masterpiece and is one of the most influentialalbums in hip-hop history. In Born to Use Mics, Michael Eric Dyson and Sohail Daulatzai have brought together the brightest minds to reflect upon and engage one of the most incisive sets of songs ever laid down on wax.

Although Tyga released his debut album “No Introduction” in June, his manager Anthony Martini recently went on record stating Tyga’s bigger and better plans for the future. These plans include shunning major record label support and instead shopping a partnership between Tyga and a major consumer brands company.

“With Tyga, we have all the control,” Mr. Martini told brand trade magazine Ad Age. “We don’t have to go through the record label system.”

To Tyga and Martini, the future of hip-hop is not with Def Jam or Sony Records, it is with the likes of major brands such as Coca-Cola, RIM Blackberry or Ford Motor Company. Before the online age, it was every aspiring hip-hop artist’s dream to sign the record label deal, get the advance money, make a lavish music video and see your album sell millions of copies at Tower Records and The Wherehouse.

Those days are long gone. Tower and The Wherehouse have gone bankrupt, labels have cut back from funding million dollar videos and they have made contracts even more stringent reducing royalties on everything from tour money to merchandise. With the emergence of online distribution, the record label is becoming less and less attractive and artists and are turning elsewhere to find the funding necessary to launch and promote an album.

It’s no secret that the music industry and especially hip-hop has turned to the millions of promotional and media dollars that consumer brand companies possess in order to help underwrite album promotional costs. Recent deals where brands are footing promotional costs include:

TAG Bodyspray – The much publicized partnership with Jermaine Dupri and Def Jam to create an entire new record label called TAG Records. Under the deal, TAG will pony up the promotional and media dollars necessary to launch the new artists from the emerging label

Fila - Nas signs his first major promotional deal with a brand company in order to fund his multi-million dollar ad and tour campaign for his latest album. In exchange, Nas lends his likeness to promote the Fila brand in print and outdoor ads

Drinks America – Dr. Dre teams up with Drinks America to launch Aftermath Cognac which was planned to be timed with the release of his long-anticipated album “Detox”

Sears – In a fully integrated marketing campaign, LL Cool J will be releasing his LL Cool J branded fashion line at Sears in conjunction with the release of his new album. Sears will pony up the money for promotional dollars that will be split between promoting the clothing line and the new album.

Verizon – Hollywood hipster rapper Shwayze signs a deal with Verizon Wireless which has Verizon as the exclusive online distributor for his next single “Corona & Lime” and will pay for all other promotional costs in order to push the single

So does the future of hip-hop rest in the hands of Corporate America? Just as long as we don’t see a Charmin Toilet Paper Records or “Crest Toothpaste Presents Eminem” album…then perhaps this is not such a bad thing. After all, hip-hop has always been a tale of survival and in these trying times for the music industry it is definitely survival of the fittest. And what about Tyga? Considering his recent single “AIM” perhaps a deal with American Online is in his future.

Unlike some corporate partnerships with hip-hop stars, Nas has been making good on his one-year partnership with Fila. Inbetween having the #1 album of the week, Nas is also busy pushing Fila’s new Italia oldschool hightops which come in three different colorways. Continue Reading…

Nas announced his one-year partnership deal with Fila earlier this month which calls for Fila to financially back Nas’ print and TV ad campaign in support of his new album. Continue Reading…

Nas and Kelis have officially cancelled the filming and production of their short-lived MTV reality show “Mr. & Mrs. Jones.” Various online sources state the show was canceled due to the controversy surrounding Nas’ recent album while Nas’ states “It was boring. We were too guarded. We weren’t ready.” Only two episodes were reportedly filmed. The video here is a sneak peek at one of them.

Nas has been one of the few big hip-hop artists to stay away from Corporate America partnerships for years…until now. Nas has just signed a one-year partnership deal with Fila who has aggressively been trying to play the urban market. As part of the deal, Fila will financially back Nas’ print and TV ad campaign and his upcoming tour in support of his new album, due July 15. In return, Nas will wear Fila and even create an apparel line that draws from fashions of the late ’80s.

“My best friend Will and I loved Fila,” Nas tells Billboard. “It represented prestige and everything that was cool to us. When Will passed, we buried him in a black Fila sweat suit, so doing a deal with them has a lot of significance for me.” This deal just shows the direction the music business in general has gone. With limited marketing budgets, artists are now looking for partners to help front costs for the expensive media dollars. Can’t wait to see what Nas comes up with for his Fila line. Via: NahRight