We told you we were making moves in 2007! As Shaman Work continues to expand and take the music game by storm, we would like to announce the addition of three new members to the family: J. Coleman, Javon Frazier, and Torrey Crowe. We are very proud to make this announcement, as it continues to show the growth of the label. Each of these individuals brings their own unique talents to the roster, working behind the scenes to turn Shaman Work into the hottest hip hop label on the planet. The following is a brief profile introducing our new members to the world:J. COLEMAN

Shaman Work is proud to announce the newest addition to the label, a partnership with Charlotte’s very own Grand Imperial Entertainment. Lead by J. Coleman, Grand Imperial Entertainment will be responsible for promoting Shaman Work albums and artists as well as strengthening its online presence in the south-east.

Promoting events since 2001, Grand Imperial Entertainment is a marketing and promotion company created to help independent labels and artists create awareness for their releases and products through its it’s digital record pool system, all female street team, and online newsletter. In addition to producing various recording artists, J. Coleman hosts a weekly poetry/hip hop night at a venue in Charlotte known as the SK Netcafe. More information about this event can be found at the following link: www.myspace.com/grandpoetry.

In their first project, J. Coleman and Grand Imperial Entertainment will help assist the marketing of Edgar Allen Floe’s album “Floe Almighty,” and the tribute mixtape for J. Dilla, as well as the upcoming release from DJ 2-Tone, entitled “The Black Gold Mixtape.” Grand Imperial Entertainment and J. Coleman will use their various resources to raise Shaman Work’s profile in the area.

As the roster grows daily, Shaman Work is entering an unprecedented era in the company. We are excited to see all this growth, for all the Shamz, be on the lookout for all future moves from SW. We are going to another level.

You can find J-Coleman and Grand Imperial Entertainment on MySpace at myspace.com/jcoleman and myspace.com/grandimperialnet.
Examples of his production can be found at soundclick.com/jcolemanbeats.

You can join the Grand Imperial Entertainment mailing list by signing up at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Grand_Imperial_Entertainment/

JAVON FRAZIER

Shaman Work is proud to announce the newest addition to the label, a partnership with the independent entertainment consulting firm and music label, Mad Maestro Entertainment (MME). Lead by President and CEO, Javon Frazier, Mad Maestro Entertainment will be responsible for working with Shaman Work in the realm of Business Development and Strategy. Most notably, Frazier and MME will seek to further develop the company’s management platform to allow for an integrated distribution plan across channels and geographies.

Founded in 1999, Mad Maestro Entertainment orchestrates hip-hop’s evolution through creatively inspired marketing, management, video services, music production, and digital distribution. The company offers artist development services that are virtually unparalleled. Furthermore, through MadMaestro’s web portal, the company provides exposure and promotional opportunities for artists with the intent of developing an online revenue stream and generating artists’ sales. As artists themselves, they understand both the time commitment and the financial burden of recording a project. Therefore, they work with clients to develop cost saving strategies to provide effective results Most importantly, Mad Maestro is the sum total of its members… the most witty, fanatical team of creatives who are dedicated to changing the face of the game.

Through a series of initiatives scheduled for early 2007, both Shaman Work and Mad Maestro Entertainment will engage in various revenue opportunities that will serve to expand both company brands.

For more information about Mad Maestro Entertainment, please visit madmaestro.com. You can also visit MME on MySpace at myspace.com/madmaestromusic.
For more information on Javon Frazier, please visit myspace.com/maestroceo.

TORREY CROWE

Shaman Work Recordings is proud to announce newest addition to the label, Torrey Antonio Crowe, a.k.a. TCrowe.

Torrey Crowe, born and raised in Compton, CA, completed an undergraduate degree in Business and Management from the University of Redlands and a Masters in Management. His record industry experience began as a college intern for Big Beat/Atlantic Records under National Rap Manager Senior Vice President Michael Caren in promotions, marketing and retail department. He was responsible for Los Angeles Street Promotions as well as tracking sales of artist in East coast record stores. During this internship, Torrey worked the projects of Junior Mafia, Mad Skillz, Artifacts, and Po’ Broke and Lonely.

His work with Atlantic Records impressed the legendary singer Kashif and he was hired to do promotions for his company Brooklyn Boy Music / Book Publishing. Torrey was a very instrumental part of the group, applying his skills to the initial promotional campaign for Kashif’s “Everything You Betta Know about the Record Industry” book around the United States.

After this experience, Torrey applied to Sony/Columbia Records as a College Street Team and Promotions intern. Torrey Crowe was hired and placed on the Columbia side of the Sony umbrella under National Rap Manager, Hakeem Mohammed Jaheemjamah where he promoted rap records and other genres. Torrey Crowe worked on many projects that included Mariah Carey, Destiny’s Child, Wyclef Jean, Maxwell, Kenny Lattimore, SO SO Def All-Stars, Psycho Realm, 808 and Alicia Keys.

In addition to the music industry, Torrey was offered many side opportunities from various record and film companies. He was responsible for LA’s premier of the independent feature film “Trois” by Rainforest Productions. He also worked with Stevie “Black” Lockett as a video production assistant working on video sets of Queen Latifah and many others.

Proving truly multidimensional, Torrey is also musician, songwriter, rapper and artist manager to rapper Ab-Soul from Carson, Ca.

You can find Torrey Crowe on MySpace at myspace.com/torreycrowe and myspace.com/dacrowesnest

PODCAST ALERT! PODCAST ALERT!

The whole podcast phenomenon is growing like crazy, so you know that Shaman Work had to get involved someway. Here is the first edition from the Shaman Work president, John Robinson. Please check it out an post your feedback as JR is dropping heavy exclusives and a thorough preview on what Shaman has in store for 2007!!!!

Scienz Jazz and Politics (Show #1)
February 17, 2007 05:01PM
Official Podcast

1. Intro - John Robinson
2. Blackberry Jones - Na Na Na Na - Catch xxii
3. K Banger - All I Need
4. John Robinson - J.R. Meets Invizible Handz
5. Flying Lotus - Rickshaw(Inst.)
6. U George (of the Killa Wails) - Hip Hop 101
7. Dilla-Lude - Exclusive Dilla inst. - J.R.
8. J Dilla - Wild - Rough Draft LP
9. Sean Price Feat. Sadat X - Da God
10. Talib Kweli - Fallen Stars
11. CL Smooth - CL Smooth Unplugged - American Me
12. K Dubble Interlude - Exclusive Inst.
13. Tiffany Paige - Sumthin - Breaking Boundaries MIX CD
14. John Robinson - Making of U (IG Culture UK Remix)
15. Jay Loves Japan - Exclusive!!!!! Feat. Jack Davey

THE KID SPEAKS OUT ON BLACK HISTORY MONTH

In other news for Mr. Robinson, be sure to check out JR on BET all this month as he is being featured in the black history month PSA’s that are running for February.

TRUMP ON CSI:MIAMI

We brought it to you a few weeks back, but that boy Trump’s “Keep Ballin” was indeed featured on the hit CBS show “CSI:Miami” this month!!!! Hope everyone had their Tivo set and got to catch the preview of the lead single from Trump’s upcoming album “I Love My Life”. Be on the lookout for Trump’s official mixtape hosted by Tampa’s own DJ Smallz coming SOON.

We’ve started 2007 with a bang. We have a lot of plans going on behind the scenes. Keep checking back here for more big announcements.

Growing up in NYC I didn’t really become familiar with the gang scene in LA until the emergence NWA.  And even after they came out, crews like the Decepticons, A.T.C, and the Hollis Crew were fierce and time consuming enough that the Bloods and Crips barely entered my imagination. As I matured and “gangsta rap” and west coast rap artists become more popular so did the Bloods and Crips.  The movie Colors also, played a major role in spurring my voyeuristic intrigue about what was really happening over there in LA.  When the Stop the Violence and We’re All in the Same Gang movements took hold, I was one of the many people asking why are we killing each other, but asking this question from the comfort of my Jamaica Queens home, that was divorced from the gang conflicts in LA.  We may have had crews, crack and kingpins in New York, but it’s hard for New Yorkers to really fathom the genocide that has been slowly mounting in Los Angeles.  Worst of all, we may have mocked our brothers and sisters out west, threw up W’s, and shaken our heads as our younger cousins Crip-walked, but for the most part most New Yorkers of my generation were spared the atrocity that our friends in Cali lived through.

New York, as is the case with many urban centers across the country has been infiltrated by Bloods and Crips offshoots in the last decade, a situation that became increasingly prominent during my time away from the city from 1998-2003.  When I returned home in 2003, it was unsettling hearing younger cousins talk about friends who professed to being down with the Bloods, and watching news broadcasts of raids occuring in Brooklyn.

When The Game came out in 2005 he professed to put the West Coast back on the map and help set the record straight, and in some ways he did.  He’s the anti-Ice Cube in the sense that Cube was the gangsta that Amerikkka was not ready for, while Game was the latest in the calvalcade that America has been perversely embracing.  With Game’s record contract came shoe endorsements, a movie deal, none of which could have materialized without a platinum selling album, and the transposition of the Bloods from the organization that Americans hated and feared to the one that became a common place marker for the expendability of black life, and the indiscriminate nature of consumerist appetites for entertainment.

Now, in 2007, filmmakers Antoine Fuqua and Cle “Bone” Sloan have done what rappers have failed to do in 17years, put LA gangs in their proper context.  Bastards of the Party documents two organizations, the Bloods and Crips, that are as American as the Democrats and Republicans, Coke and Pepsi, Yankees and Red Sox, except rather than settle their battles with ballots, bottles or baseballs, they do it with bullets.  Bastards of the Party is a narrative about forty years of political disenfranchisement that stretches from the tail end of the Vietnam War to the current war in Iraq, a time period that also features the dramatic historical markers known as the Cold War, Iran-Contra, Apartheid and now Darfur.

It’s an incredibly moving experience told through a cinematic lens as eloquently honest as a Morrison novel, and just as brutally vulnerable.  Sloan’s vision is not that of the outsider, but rather the insider.  Like all great narrators he’s the soldier that survived the war, the death camp and in return for escaping the grave, he’s offered a medium through which to tell his story.  Watching the documentary you’ll notice that he’s not as much offered a medium, but rather called up or haunted upon to bring this story to life.

In a generation that has long lived on the false dreams that Biggie or Tupac may have been the next Malcolm or Martin, Cle Sloan has come along to give us hope yet again, not that these slain civil rights leades will be revived, but instead that someone, somewhere will again show an appreciation for black life.  This film asks if not now, when?  If not Darfur, Haiti, then how about Compton?  If not reform our schools, our streets, then how about our prisons?

I urge everyone to check their local listings to see Bastards of the Party, because as the documentary grimly implies, as each passes, so do the lives of the men and women seeking nothing else except survival.

HBO Viewing Schedule 
NYTimes Review 

While talking about the NBA with my brother the other day it finally dawned on me that the 2003 NBA draft is the most important draft of this decade, and may well have decided the future of some NBA franchises for the next twenty years.  In fact, one can make a case that the 2003 draft was more important than the 1984 draft that yielded Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and John Stockton.  It remains unclear whether the 2003 draft will produce as many Hall of Famers as the 1984 class, but from a sure business model for many franchises, if not the league as a whole, it will have a far greater impact.  The teams with the last two picks in the first round the Phoenix Suns, did better than most of the teams in the middle with their selections of Leandro Barbosa and Josh Howard respectively.  The Bulls found a point guard in Kirk Hinrich and with this group the NBA found a nice blend of international and American talent that helped the league make further inroads in the worldwide market, while restoring the interest of fans in the United States.

You must think that I am crazy for saying that there is a more important draft than the one that produced Michael Jordan.  And if you think that’s crazy, listen to this, I think Darko Milicic was a more important draft pick for the future of this league, than Michael Jordan.

Blasphemous.  I know.  But hear me out, I am not suggesting that Darko is a more important player for the history of the league, just a more important draft pick.  My brother didn’t buy it either, but I’m still going to try to persuade y’all.

It was amazing to hear Darko blame the Pistons for the setbacks in his career while reading a recent article on him in the NYTimes.  In his mind, it’s as if there was no way off of the bench for him.  The strange thing about this is that Darko has been a bench player during his entire career.  He was on the bench on his club team in Europe, rode the pine for the Pistons, and is now riding the pine for the Orlando Magic.  Given that piece of information, it seems ludicrous that an organization would invest upwards of 15million dollars in a player with that resume.  Making matters worse, is that he was surrounded by the most talented group of players to be appear in the same draft in years; Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Josh Howard, Kirk Hinrich, TJ Ford, Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw.  If you’re keeping count that list includes the league’s current scoring leader, Anthony, a defending championship MVP, Wade, and the reigning most improved player, Diaw.

In hindsight everyone knows that Jordan would go ahead of Hakeem and Bowie, but Bowie was an All-American at Kentucky and were it not for the injuries that derailed his career, he would’ve still been a lottery pick.  The comparison to Kwame Brown is also off base because Brown was selected over high school peers Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry, neither of whom have become the superstars that Darko’s classmates have become, and in the case of James and Anthony, already were.

If you’re a Pistons fan it must pain you to watch Chris Webber limp up and down that court knowing that your team could’ve easily had a frontline of Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace and Chris Bosh.  Worst of all, it must really hurt to hear Joe Dumars refuse to admit his error.

But none of this really explains why I think Darko might be the most important draft pick in NBA history.  There have been other players who did not live up to expectations, and Darko may very well end up being another Raef LaFrentz, who is the player he most reminded me of when I heard about Darko in 2003.  However, there has never been a player in the annals of sports so gratuitously mythologized—nor has there ever been an organization to so blatantly fall for that myth.  Sure the NFL produces a workout freak every year during its draft, but those players are still often alumni of top football programs, and not semi-pro players off of the street, which is essentially what Darko was when the Pistons drafted him.  I’d go a step further and say that Darko was the NBA version of the fake pitcher that Sports Illustrated chronicled in an article in the late 80s who had a 110mph fastball and sundry other skills that were off the charts.  In that article SI was poking fun at the cult of baseball scouting and the legendary characteristics often attributed to phenoms.  No baseball team was misguided enough to draft that player, but for some reasons, with a wealth of NBA ready talent in their backyard, the Pistons saw fit to travel to the outskirts of Europe to check out the 18 year old seven footer who can run, jump, shoot threes, block shots and chew gum at the same time.

How ironic, that while Darko continues putting up inconsistent nights for the Magic and tries to convince himself that he’s actually an NBA caliber player, the magical 18 year old prototype who the Pistons were fawning over will be making his first all-star start.  Although his name isn’t Darko, it’s Chris Bosh.

As of now we should be prepared to measure Darko not by his career output, especially in comparison to his other draft classmates, but to critically consider how deftly he and his agents, and their number one cheerleader at the time ESPN’s Chad Ford, hustled the Pistons into drafting him.

Jordan may have pulled many a magic trick during his NBA career (especially when playing the Knicks), but he could never have pulled off the caper that Darko pulled off on draft night 2003.

The Nightshift Chronicler