Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 12 May 2000 — Page 28

PAGEC6

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, MAY 12,200*

Hip-hop

THE SCOOP

There was once a time when you could walk into a record store and ask for your favorite hip-hop record, and the clerk would respond, “Uh, hold on. I’ve gotta get my manager." (That was a clear sign of urban music ignorance on the part of store management.) Fast forward to the year 2000, and you'll find that over one-third of all album sales in the U.S. come from the hip-hop and R&B genres. How do we know? Our research department calculated the figures from a nationwide Harris Poll funded by N’Sync. (Not really, we asked Wherehouse Music's Urban Music Director Violet Brown.) “Hip-hop itself is about 19 percent of all music sales, if you add R&B on with that, you’re going to get another 12 to 13 percent. And if you look at that, you could come to a good estimate of 32 or 33 per-

R&B account for third of album sales

cent. Which is the strongest out of all music sales.” Brown is also involved in the upcoming Urban Focus Music Conference and Festival, and the Urban Focus Music Foundation on a corporate and personal level. “It's a personal involvement because I just like what thisorganization does. They have a lot of interaction with new artists, and people starting their own independent labels. There’s also a lot of mentoring going on, and they have a conference every year. They’ve asked me to be involved each year, but I was never able to be that involved,” Brown said. “But this year, I was trying to think of something to do for Black Music Month (June). In the past, (Wherehouse) did these festivals and Bailey Broadcasting Services (EUR’s sister company) was at one of my block party events. “We used to do that every June. This year Marci Kenon, from Ur-

ban Focus, gave me a call, and we started talking about how we could do something together. She suggested that Wherehouse be the sponsor and bring in the talent,” Brown said. This year’s Urban Focus Music Conference and Festival will take place on the campus of the University of Southern California (USC). Scheduled to go down June 24 and 25, this conference is going to be one for the ages. Check out the talent that’ll be on hand. Brown said, “It looks like we’re going to have Lucy Pearl, Dilated Peoples, Busta Rhymes, and Reggae artist Sean Paul. It’s looking pretty good as far as us having gospel groups Mary, Mary and Trinitee 5:7. Jurassic 5 might be on hand, as well as. Black Eyed Peas and De La Soul.” (OK, OK hold up. All that is real nice an’ sweet an’ all, but the question that begs to be asked is: What does Wherehouse Music get

out of all this? After all, their bottom line is to make money.) “Just exposure and making ourselves visible in the community. In the past, my events were always free. This event, she (Marci Kenon) has to charge because it’s a bigger event, plus it’s on a college campus, plus we have to pay for all the sound equipment. I still think it’s cheap enough to have the whole family come out. I’m trying to get artists that are the next big act, not just acts that are already big names ... future big names.” Newsbits • During a recent dinner for the “Race to Erase MS,” Montel Williams brought all the happy faced attendees back down to earth when he reminded them about the reality of Multiple Sclerosis research. He then launched an attack on an unidentified MS organization which raised $130 million for the cause, but donated only $22 million to

research. The talk show host went on to criticize pharmaceutical companies that charge between $ 1,000 and $1,500 per month for drug treatments, and reap billions in profits. • Although NYC prosecutors are still trying to prove whether Sean “Puffy” Combs was to blame for the shooting at Club New York in Times Square, the club’s owner believes he is to blame and is suing him for damages. According to the New York Post, there is widespread feeling at the club that Puffy has damaged their rep, and has basically left them hanging. Puffy, allegedly was supposed to meet with the club’sowner in January to discuss his concerns, but apparently never showed up. The situation got really “bad” when Bad Boy Entertainment decided to host the Carl Thomas album release party at Saci, instead of Club New York. • Although DMX*s chrome

dome only graced the big screen for a few minutes in the martial arts film “Romeo Must Die,” somebody thinks he’s worth putting in pictures. In fact, “Romeo” director Andrzej Bartowiak has selected the Ruff Ryder to appear in the film “Exit Wounds” alongside Steven Seagal. The plot centers around a police officer at an urban precinct who uncovers corruption, and is aided inhts fight against the bad guys by a brother (DMX) with a mysterious past. It will be his first leading role in a major film. • Because it fell short of its circulation and advertising goals. Miller Publishing CEO, Robert L, Miller, said, in a statement, that the company shut down Blaze magazine effective May 4. Blaze was the hip-hop publication from Miller’s Vibe/Spin Ventures. The Scoop is provided by Electronic Urban Report. Visit its Web site at www.EURweb.com

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