Hip Hop Mogul Sha Money XL Dropping Beats With Eidos for Traxxpad: Portable Studio
Thursday June 14, 9:00 am ET

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 14 /PRNewswire/ — Eidos Interactive Ltd., one of the world’s leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, today announced a new collaboration with hip hop super producer Sha Money XL. As G-Unit executive and CEO/Founder of Money Management Group, Sha Money XL is currently regarded as one of the top producers in the hip hop industry. Sha Money XL has now signed on with Eidos to provide exclusive materials including graphics and skins from his Money Management Group brand along with some of the first downloadable content for Eidos’ upcoming PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) title Traxxpad: Portable Studio.

“I’ve always been about the best beats, not just the biggest names, and Traxxpad: Portable Studio puts the spotlight on the next generation of producers and beat makers,” says Sha Money XL. “Traxxpad is gonna change the game.”

Sha Money XL is credited with successfully bringing rapper 50 Cent into mainstream hip hop and has since produced numerous hit singles for artists such as Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, Slim Thug, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Geezy, DJ Premier, Hi-Tek, and the latest 2Pac release, Pac’s Life. He recently formed Money Management Group, an independent firm of producers whose goal is to ensure new musicians a stabilized and flourishing career in music. Sha Money XL’s career vision and passion is to offer unique opportunities in the music industry to upcoming talent. This includes hosting the first annual One Stop Shop, a producer’s conference where attendees from around the world enroll in workshops centered on everything from publishing and production to studio equipment and artist management.

“We are excited to have such an influential hip hop icon contributing to Traxxpad: Portable Studio,” says Senior Marketing Manager for Eidos North America, Kevin Gill. “Sha Money XL is an undeniably talented producer with an outstanding list of hit singles. His support and involvement with Traxxpad: Portable Studio speaks volumes not only to the fact that it is an incredibly powerful music application but it is also software which can inspire everyone from garage musicians to professional music producers.”

“Sha Money is without a doubt one of the best in the business,” says Studio Director for Definitive Studios, Troy San Jose. “Between the concept of Sha’s One Stop Shop and how Traxxpad brings music production to a platform accessible to everyone, this collaboration is a perfect match.”

Traxxpad: Portable Studio utilizes a range of high-end, music making applications which focus on different aspects of music creation. It harnesses the power of drum machines, samplers, sequencers and a mini keyboard and puts them into the palms of your hands. Traxxpad is accessible enough for first time users to pick up and play, while the depth allows industry pros to access tools never before available on a handheld.

Fully compatible with PSP® system microphone, Traxxpad: Portable Studio allows users to sample any sound, then use the wave editor to trim, adjust gain, normalize or reverse the recording. It is also equipped with over 1000 sounds ranging from drum beats to scratch samples to complete the mix. Finally, Traxxpad: Portable Studio allows users to export their beats to MP3 files to burn music cd’s, transfer to an MP3 player, or even make it a ring tone.

Developed by Definitive Studios, Traxxpad: Portable Studio is set for release exclusively on the PSP® system in North America this June 2007.

About Eidos Interactive Ltd

Eidos Interactive Ltd is part of SCi Entertainment Group Plc (SEG) one of the world’s leading publishers and developers of entertainment software. Eidos consists of publishing operations across Europe and the US and several development studios including Crystal Dynamics, IO Interactive, Beautiful Game Studios, Eidos Studios Hungary, Eidos Sweden and Pivotal Games. The Group has a valuable combined portfolio of intellectual property including: Tomb Raider, Hitman, Deus Ex, Championship Manager, Carmageddon, Battlestations: Midway, the Conflict series and Just Cause.

Some of the titles currently in development include: Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Crossfire and Highlander.

About Definitive Studios, LLC

Definitive Studios is based out of San Francisco, CA and is dedicated to creating innovative cutting edge titles. http://www.definitivestudios.com, http://www.traxxpad.com

About Money Management Group

Money Management Group is an independent firm founded in 2002 in New York City, MMG is a premiere artist management company. See highlights from the 2007 One Stop Shop — Producer Conference at http://www.moneymanagementxl.com

“PlayStation”, “PS” Family logo and “PSP” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Memory Stick Duo(TM) may be required (sold separately).

ATLANTA, GA June 14, 2007 Less than six months after the most catastrophic event of his career rocked the mixtape industry, DJ Drama makes his triumphant return to feed the streets. Mr. Thanksgiving aka Barack ODrama announced today the release of Gangsta Grillz 16. Forgoing the tradition that has made the Gangsta Grillz Hip-Hops hottest mixtape series, the upcoming release, entitled The Streets Been Waitin, will not boast a celebrity host, with Drama doing the honors himself. Gangsta Grillz 16 will of course pack the usual mix of exclusive new releases and unreleased remixes, including cuts by Young Jeezy, Lil Boosie, Gucci Mane, Big Kuntry and the Aphilliates Music Groups own Willie The Kid.

Hip-Hop Press

Dramas latest effort marks the first official Gangsta Grillz since he and Aphilliates co-founder DJ Don Cannon were arrested earlier this year, sending the mixtape community in an uproar. The two found themselves in a see of turmoil after their Atlanta offices were raided on the evening of January 16, 2007. While most were shocked by the RIAA sanctioned raid and many within the Hip-Hop community voiced their support, Drama feels more needs to be done to protect the important resource mixtapes have become. All these artists and DJs who have benefited off the mixtape game and found success need to step up and take charge, says Drama. The mixtape game is too important for us to let it go to the wayside.

Pledging to feed the streets for the rest of his life, Drama is already hard at work on the next few installments of the Gangsta Grillz series. Over the next few months, fans can to see collaborations between Drama and Fabolous, Gucci Mane, Gorilla Zoe, and Willie The Kid, to name a few. He is also completing Gangsta Grillz the Album, though a release date has not been set by his label, Atlantic Records.

DJ Drama continues to hold down his duties as T.I.s official tour DJ. He also hosts two weekly radio programs alongside DJ Don Cannon and DJ Sense, the third founding member of The Aphilliates collective. You can catch them each Friday from 8-10pm on Streetz Is Watchin on Sirius Satellite Radio station Shade 45. Saturday evenings, the trio hosts Gangsta Grillz Radio from 8-10pm on Atlantas Hot 107.9 (WHAT-FM). For more information, please visit www.gangstagrillz.com or www.myspace.com/djdrama.

Contact:
Tai Saint-Louis
An What?! Marketing
anwhatmarketing@aol.com
(678) 499-8933

Its Official… Dallas , TX is home to The Core DJ’s Retreat VII

The Core DJs Retreat VII

Presented by Crest Cadillac & T-Town Music
August 3 – 6, 2007
Dallas , TX

June 18, 2007 – “Its Official… Dallas , TX is home to The Core DJ’s Retreat VII”. The Core DJ’s Retreat is a semi-annual reunion of DJs, industry professionals, labels, and artists, designed to be an exclusive networking event to introduce new industry trends, new artist, and music to key players in the music industry. Though there is a registration fee for other participants, the Core invites all DJs to participate at no cost for registration. The Core DJs have successfully branded themselves with past retreats in Chicago , Miami , St. Louis , Houston , and Atlanta ; and will continue to do so, making their mark in every city that is part of the movement within the music industry. The Core DJs have decided to bring the Retreat back to Texas and make Dallas their next stop during August 3 – 6, 2007.

The Core DJ Retreat acts as a union for DJs by inviting all DJs to network with one another while attending various listening sessions, artists meet & greets, and several artists/label showcases which have seen participation from Atlantic Records, Warner Brothers, Def Jam, Virgin, Sony BMG, Rap-A-Lot Records, Jive, Bad Boy Entertainment, and a host of others.

About The Core DJs and The Core DJs Retreat
Tony Neal, founder of The CORE DJs, founded the coalition in December of 2003. Tony’s purpose for organizing a DJ coalition was to create a vehicle that would empower and educate the core of the music industry, the DJs. Today, some of the most influential DJs are members of The Core DJs. To date, this is the only DJ Coalition in the country!

Twice a year, The Core DJs organizes The Core DJs Retreat. Now on the 7th retreat, The Core DJs Retreat is considered the premier event for DJs by DJs. The Core DJs Retreat provides complimentary advance registration to all DJs, not just Core DJs. This bi-annual retreat for the DJ community consistently boosts over 300 of the countries most influential DJs. Successful retreats have been organized in Chicago, IL (Aug 04), Miami Beach, FL (Feb 05), St. Louis, MO (Aug 05), Houston, TX (March 06), Atlanta, GA (Aug 06) & again in Miami Beach, FL (Feb 06). In addition to hundreds of DJs that attend the retreat, previous Core DJ Retreat participants include:

Jermaine Dupri | Bun B | Trick Daddy | Mr. Colipark Mc Hammer | DJ Red Alert | Slim Thug | Mob Deep Yung Joc | Luke | Nelly | Dre (from Cool & Dre) | Tony Yayo | Twista | John Legend | Chingy | Rick Ross | Daz Dilinger | Trina | Timbaland | TI | Dallas Austin | Young Jeezy | Mc Lyte | Cameron | Toomp Young Buck | Lil’ Scrappy | Kool Herc | Young Dro

The Core DJs Retreat is not a music conference or a record pool meeting so you won’t attend panel discussions. Instead, the retreat is the premier direct marketing vehicle to promote, showcase and/or to introduce music or recording artists directly to DJs through various sought after events. This is the only event of its kind for DJs by DJs with complimentary DJ registration regardless of affiliation.

For more information on The Core DJs and The Core DJs Retreat VII, contact Donata Davis by emailing donata.kiamor3@gmail.com or call 877.333.9940 ext2. For sponsorship information or host hotel information, contact Kia Robertson by emailing kia.kiamor3@gmail.com or call 877.333.9940 ext3. For press credentials, please contact Alia Lacey by emailing alia.kiamor3@gmail.com or call 877.333.9940 ext5.

Who: The Core DJs Retreat VII

When: August 3 – 6 2007
Where: Doubletree Hotel Dallas-Campbell Centre
8250 North Central Expressway
Dallas, Texas 75206

Tony Neal, the Core DJ’s, Alan Powel of T Town Music, & Crest Cadillac are looking for plenty of press about this especially in Dallas. This is the biggest & best thing happening in the Dallas Music Scene! There will be some of the hottest artist and biggest names in the music industry at this retreat, in addition to many major record labels, the Industry’s most powerful MD’s, PD’s, DJ’s and Radio Personalties from all over the country will be here in Dallas the weekend of Aug 3-6. Get ready, the Core DJ’s are invading D’Town. Interested members of the media (in Dallas) contact D’Lyte for pre-press opportunities (be the first to put this story in your publication or on your show):

Contact // Dallas Core DJ Member:
Dalyce “D’Lyte” Kelley
ExQuisite PR/97.9 The Beat KBFB
214.560.8811 cell
972.999.1677 office
Coredjs@onairdivas.com

On Hip-Hop Press

By Shaheem Reid

QUEENS, New York — One of the saddest things to fans mourning the loss of Stack Bundles is that the shining underground-hip-hop crowd-pleaser wasn’t able to realize his potential as a mainstream great. On Monday morning (June 18), as people walked down Linden Boulevard on the way to the J. Foster Phillips Funeral Home, “barbershop talk” spilled over into the streets, including memories of how nice Stack was on the mic and how he should’ve been talked about in the same breath as rap’s current household names — not as another MC to be mourned.

“He was like a Jay, 50 and Nas rolled into one,” one man, sitting on the roof of a Ford Explorer, said to his friend. They were playing at full volume an old DJ Clue mixtape in which one of Stack’s myriad of freestyles was a highlight. The DJ’s voice echoed “Clue, Clue, Clue” as Bundles laced the ambience with punch lines.

Down the block was a white stretch Escalade with “R.I.P. Stack Bundles” written on the black tinted windows.

On Monday morning, DJ Clue was at the service with many of his Desert Storm partners, such as Skane Dollar and DJ Don Juan Demarco. Producers DJ Twins, Joe Budden and Brooklyn MC Maino also came out to join family, fans and other friends in giving Stack a final send-off with a viewing and a funeral.

In the casket, Stack wore a red T-shirt, sunglasses and jeans. Outside, “R.I.P. Stack Bundles” was painted on all types of tees, while others were decorated with pictures of Bundles.

“He looked like himself, they really did him right,” one woman who said she is Stack’s cousin, said to another after the viewing. Several dozen people were lined up in front of the funeral home to get in, while a couple of dozen more stayed across the street, looking on and playing music. Meanwhile, most of the family and friends had to weather getting through a back entrance that was just as jammed. It was at times very chaotic getting in — the place was packed so tight, in fact, that the front door had to be closed off.

Shortly before the services began, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana arrived in a caravan of cars. Jones wore a black T-shirt, while Santana was clad in a white tee and his trademark bandana, which he removed before entering the funeral home.

“Definitely a lot of supporters out there,” Joe Budden said shortly after the funeral. “He was a great guy — great personality, very humble, just a character in his own right. He was very intelligent; book smart and street smart. It’s a shame he’s gone at such an early age. I’m sure God called him for a reason.

“I made it my business to go out there and show him respect,” he continued. “A lot of people came out to show him respect. It was sad, though. I can’t even lie: I was disappointed. I just feel bad. It could have been anybody [who was killed] — me, anybody. The fact that he never got the point he was striving to get to was a dream deferred. Damn.”

Inside, the minister presiding over the services agreed that life is too short and encouraged the congregation to “tell the person next to you that you love them.”

“You know why?” he asked. “We don’t know when we might have the opportunity again.”

Stack, born Rayquon Maurice Elliott, was killed on June 12 not far from his home in Queens’ Far Rockaway neighborhood (see “Jim Jones Associate Stack Bundles Killed”). Police, who are investigating the death, said that the rapper was shot in the head and neck in the early morning as he entered his apartment building. He was 24.

He started to get his name buzzing thanks to DJ Clue’s mixtapes, on which he rhymed with everyone from Joe Budden to Fabolous. More recently, Stack became a member of Jim Jones’ Dipset ByrdGang, and besides Jones having major plans for him in his camp, Stack had his own crew: the Riot Squad.

Some questioned why Stack still loved the ‘hood, but those who knew him said he refused to leave until he could bring everyone with him.

“The Stack Bundles that I knew, I’m 80 percent sure is different than the Stack anyone else knew besides maybe his family,” Budden said. “The Stack I knew is very much like myself; he was open-minded and eager to learn. … Everyone knows about his potential and talent and [swagger], but when I think of Stack and myself’s relationship, I think of two young n—as from the urban area that would do any and everything to get out and take all of their people with them. The difference is, I’m old enough to differentiate when to [be in] the ‘hood and when not to do it. I don’t think Stack was old enough to make those same decisions.”

“It’s a wake-up call,” said Maino, a frequent Stack collaborator. “What’s unfortunate about the industry is you get famous before you get rich. Your face is on magazines and your face is on DVD [covers]. Everybody knows you. But you don’t really have the money and means to get up and do what you want to do — for some people.

“The ‘hood is going to be the ‘hood,” he added. “People are still hungry and envious over what they perceive to be success. … When you in the ‘hood, you could be doing a’ight, but if some people might feel you’re sh—ing on the ‘hood because you coming through in your Caddy truck or Benz. People be like, ‘He thinks he’s all that.’ You trying to keep it real, but sometimes you can’t keep it real in the ‘hood, because it’s a lot of ignorance that keeps going [on] there. … It’s certain things you can do, certain things you can’t do. Stack’s situation reconfirms that.”

No arrests have been made in connection with Bundles’ death.

“It’s sad,” said a stoic Lupe Fiasco as he exited the funeral service. “Product of the environment. But you know, honor him. Honor him always. Rest in peace, Stack Bundles.”