AHH Stray News: M.O.P., Nelly, Grandmaster Flash, SRC/SoutEast Music

M.O.P.’s latest single "7:30" has been picked up by CBS Sports and The New York Knicks and the song will be included in various promotional spots. The song is taken from M.O.P.’s upcoming G-Unit release reportedly titled Yearly Physical, which is slated to hit stores in May 2007. The video for the song is being […]

M.O.P.’s latest

single "7:30" has been picked up by CBS Sports and The New York Knicks

and the song will be included in various promotional spots. The song is taken

from M.O.P.’s upcoming G-Unit release reportedly titled Yearly Physical,

which is slated to hit stores in May 2007. The video for the song is being edited

and will hit video outlets nationwide on Mar. 1. In related news, M.O.P. has singed

on to promote the Sizzurp brand of liquor. Sizzurp, which was sold to Straight

Up Brands last year, will be featured in M.O.P.’s music videos, on tour worldwide

with tour van wraps, stage banners and "on-stage pours." M..O.P. is

also in the process of planning their first worldwide tour. Rapper

Nelly hasn’t released a CD since 2004’s double release, Sweat and Suit,

but he’s still St. Louis’ all-time best selling artist. Nelly has sold more than

22 million records world wide – more than St. Louis natives Chuck Berry, Tina

Turner and jazz legend Miles Davis combined. Additionally, the rapper’s 2000 release

Country Grammar has sold over 9 million copies, making it the biggest album

to ever come out of St. Louis. Sheryl Crow is the region’s best-selling female

artist, with 16 million records sold. Grandmaster

Flash has been selected to perform at the 2007 Ingenuity Festival of Art and Technology

in Cleveland this July. The third annual event takes place July 19-22 and celebrates

the mixture of art and technology. Organizers had sought to book Flash for the

event since its inception in 2004. "I think somebody like Flash is sort of

a product of the intersection between art and technology, the consummate DJ. He’s

sort of an icon of what Ingenuity is," Festival director James Levin told

Cleveland’s Plain Dealer. "Also, as an artist, there are few that really

transcend racial, ethnic, cultural and age barriers as much as somebody like Flash."

The 2006 Ingenuity Festival takes place in the Playhouse Square district and is

expected to draw over 80,000 visitors. All outdoor activities are free, while

weekend passes to indoor technology events are $25. Loud

Records’ founder Steve Rifkind and music industry executive Lee “Skill”

Resnick have announced a strategic alliance between Rifkind’s marketing company

SRC and Resnick’s SouthEast Music. The new company will specialize in creative

marketing and promotional strategies to reach the urban consumer and build brands.

"This pairing between Lee and I is a long time coming," Rifkind said.

"His ideas about Urban marketing are a logical extension of my own street

team concept in the early ‘90s. This combination is the perfect example of

the whole being stronger than the sum of its parts." The new company’s client

list includes labels like Jive, Aftermath, Geffen, Def Jam, G Unit, Warner Bros.

and others.