New York, NY (December 1, 2008) - If you were a kid growing up in the 90’s, you knew about Loud Records.  And if you’re a fan of the guys that grew up in that era that turned out to be rappers, you owe Loud your allegiance, even if you don’t see the similarities.  Because before Suge Knight’s Death Row in the West, before the meteoric rise and evolution of Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs and before the god emcee gave Def Jam a taste, all of your favorite artists listened to the records pushed by Steve Rifkind.

Truth be told, before Akon, David Banner and Asher Roth, before pop music took over hip-hop and before the culture was dictated by the music, Rifkind was paving the way for everyone just beginning to see the different avenues hip-hop was opening up.  The current climate of entrepreneurship sees it’s roots in the Steve Rifkind Company, the street team that ruled hip-hop through the 90’s.  In fact, grass roots marketing as a whole owes their foot-soldier mentality to Loud Records.

This interview is not revisiting the past for nostalgia purposes.  This is a few minutes for you to get a sense of the man and motivation and story behind some of the biggest acts hip-hop has ever seen, which opened the world’s eyes to hard lyricism, swagger, metaphors and true street tales from the likes of Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, Xzibit, Big Punisher, Tha Liks and many more.

In Part One, Rifkind talks about the evolution of his marketing company into a record label, remembers hearing Wu Tang and Big Punisher for the first time and why he doesn’t even know why Loud Records was so important.  In Part Two, he gives his insight on the kind of rappers that were making records during the 90’s, his regret to selling to Sony, the future of SRC and the favorite part of his job.

Part One

Part 2

This is not related to hip-hop in anyway really but these dudes are nuts. Also check out the the Cali Bro’s talking about going down the hills. Fashion designer Adam Kimmel dressed these two in suits from his new collection. This must be who Juelz was talking about when he said “you surfboard dudes get wiped out. Totally!”

Adam Kimmel presents: Claremont HD from adam kimmel on Vimeo.

This dude Termanology is embodying the independent hustle these days. Check out his EPK. A lot of hip hop artists can learn from the way this guy has been promoting himself.

DP

Jerry, who works with us at SRC, set up a meeting today with video director Steven Tapia.  Steven has partnered up with a new artist from Staten Island named AC to do a bunch of video content for the web. The most impressive of these video’s being “New Soul”. They murdered it with this concept. Check it out here

Admittedly I am late on this one but if you have not seen it please check it out. You can also check out more of Steven Tapia’s work at http://steventapia.com/

New York, NY (July 16, 2008) - Just Blaze got busy battling DJ Delinger at the Rebuilding the Bridge Benefit at the Michael Schimmel Center of the Arts at Pace University in NYC this weekend. Nas was also there. Go here for some additional footage. It was a benefit for disaster relief funds. Holler.

Just Blaze Vs DJ Delinger from Nile Ivey on Vimeo.

New York, NY (July 16, 2008) – Common chops it up across the pond with Timmy about parties and bullshit. Does Common ever sound overly modest to you? Is he really that chill of a dude? Eh. At least dude admits to being overly fond of A. Keys.