By Tai Saint Louis
Duck Down Records’ Sean Price is promoting his official mix CD, Kimbo Price, by joining Raekwon on the East-Coast leg of his current tour. Price, aka Ruck made his first appearance on Friday (November 6) in Providence, Rhode Island before continuing on to Northampton and New Haven, Connecticut over the weekend. Raekwon and Price will next perform in Philadelphia at the First Unitarian Church on Tuesday (November 10), after which they will hit Baltimore for two shows: at Bourbon Street Ballroom on November 11 and University of Maryland on November 12. Sean Price is currently working on his next album Mic Tyson as well as a joint project with Guilty Simpson and Black Milk under the group name Random Axe.
Author and radio host Michael Eric Dyson and Sohail Daulatzai, an assistant professor in African American Studies at the University of California, have recruited several Hip-Hop scholars, including Bobbito Garcia, to contribute to a biography of sorts about Nas’ seminal debut album Illmatic. The new book Born To Use Mics: Reading Nas’ Illmatic examines the change then 19-year-old Nas effected on the Hip-Hop landscape by analyzing each song on the classic 1994 release. Born to Use Mics, which draws its title from the single "N.Y. State of Mind," will be available December 28.
Former syndicated radio personality Wendy Williams was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame on Saturday (November 7) during a black-tie gala in Chicago. Williams was part of the first class of inductees to be selected by entirely by fan vote, after being nominated by a 27-member committee charge with preserving the rich history of radio and recognizing its role in society. In July 2009 Williams cancelled her New York-based "The Wendy Williams Experience" after eight years on WBLS-FM and in syndication. Former co-host Charlemagne tha God presented Williams with the honor.
Before Redman releases his seventh solo album Muddy Waters II in 2010, his alter ego “Reggie Noble” will be making his Def Jam solo debut. According to Redman, Reggie Noble 9 1/2, due out December 8, is a departure from his previous releases as it is a conceptual album, complete with Auto-Tune usage and a pop record. No word as to whether Muddy Waters II will also be released via Def Jam.