Afu-Ra Album To Be Released

KOCH/ Fat Beats will release the debut album from Afu-Ra entitled, Afu-Ra (Body Of The Life Force) this October. Afu- Ra is not your ordinary MC. He is a father, a devout reader, a dedicated Tae Kwon Do student and Rastafarian. Hip-Hop fans around the world will recognize Afu-Ra from his involvement on both Jeru […]

KOCH/

Fat Beats

will release the debut

album from Afu-Ra entitled, Afu-Ra (Body Of The Life Force) this

October. Afu- Ra is not your ordinary MC. He is a father, a devout

reader, a dedicated Tae Kwon Do student and Rastafarian. Hip-Hop

fans around the world will recognize Afu-Ra from his involvement

on both Jeru the Damaja’s albums and world tours. Jeru released

a record in 1994 that would usher in a new era of lyrical innovation.

Jeru with the aid of Afu-Ra helped bring notoriety to MC’s from

the east when at the time most of hip-hop’s gold and platinum

acts resided on the West Coast.

In

1996, Afu-Ra co-starred in Jeru’s video for “Ya Playin Ya self”

from the album Wrath of the Math to great critical acclaim. This

successful collaboration gave Afu-Ra the confidence to break out

on his own with the help from D&D Records and legendary hip

hop producer DJ Premier as executive producers.

Afu-Ra’s

fiery vocals combined with other notable knob-turners such as:

Wu Tang’s True Master, DJ Muggs from Cypress Hill and Da Beatminerz

from Black Moon fame offers new beats to the MC’s rhyming rants.

Afu-Ra explains, “my new record made me bring my lyrics more

down to earth for the streets.” Regarding the collaboration with

KOCH, Afu-Ra adds, “KOCH is the label that believes in me and

I believe the combination of KOCH, FAT BEATS and D&D gives

us the ability to come from many different angles from experienced

music companies.” Afu-Ra was released from his contract when

Virgin Urban closed its doors.

Executive Vice President

of KOCH Entertainment, Alan Grunblatt says, “Hip Hop is now the

rock n roll of the 21st Century. What a better way to find new

talent than hooking up with Fat Beats.”

Fat Beats first opened

its door as a small, vinyl only retail store in a basement location

in Manhattan’s East Village. Since then, its founder and president,

Joe Abajian has seen his small retail store explode all over the

world. Fat Beats retail has locations in New York, Los Angeles,

Atlanta, and Amsterdam. Fat Beats Distribution is the premier

independent distribution company specializing in vinyl.

Fat Beats Records

has an open door relationship with all of the hottest, young,

underground producers and emcees in the hip hop community. The

Fat Beats artist roster has included: D.I.T.C. (Showbiz, AG, Diamond,

Lord Finesse, Big L. Buckwild O.C. and Fat Joe), Jurassic 5, Mos

Def, Pharoahe Monch, Dilated Peoples, Bumpy Knuckles The Outfit,

and many more.

Fat Beats owner, Joe

Abajian says, “Fat Beats strength has always been establishing

new and unknown artists in the hip hop community. So many of the

artists we’ve worked with have gone onto deals with major labels.

KOCH joining forces with Fat Beats demonstrates exactly how committed

KOCH is to reaching success in this world. The signing of Afu-Ra

is a perfect example of this.”