Wow. I found this out while listening to the Giant Bomb podcast this morning: Oakland’s own Raphael Saadiq (Tony! Toni! Toné!, Lucy Pearl) has a video game company called Illfonic! This kind of blows my mind. And they have a game coming out shortly as part of Microsoft’s Xbox Live “Arcade House Party” promotion.

The game is called Nexuiz and drops February 29th for about $10. It’s a first person shooter powered by Unreal Engine 3 and it doesn’t look bad at all. Check a screenshot below:

Looks kinda dope, right? It’ll also be released on PC via Steam and on the the PlayStation 3 Network (PSN) at a later date.

I’m a huge fan Saadiq so this odd pairing of homeboy and games caught me off guard. But apparently he’s a huge gamer. Speaking with TheBoomBox.com, Saadiq had this to say:

“We all play video games all the time, and a friend of mine works for Russell Simmons and she works on a video game and she was coming to town to do voice overs for Snoop and I told her I wanted to be in the game, but just playing. She said, ‘Well, we don’t let R&B singers in the game.’ And I was like, ‘Well, I’m going to make my own game and I’m going to call it ‘Ghetto Golf.” I was just joking and laughing with her, but when she left, Chuck [Brundgardt, my recoding engineer said], ‘Hey, you serious? You really want to do that?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, we should,’ and he [said], ‘You know I went to school for that.”

Saadiq and Chuck created Illfonic in 2007 and have been hitting up indie game shows and conventions such as PAX every year to spread the word about their fledging studio and publishing arm. “IllFonic is committed to delivering AAA games digitally to consoles and PC at an affordable price,” reads the website.

I don’t know. I’m still kinda buggin. Check out the links for more info. And congrats Saadiq, Chuck & Illfonic. An independent videogame company may be a first in the world of R&B/hiphop.

Additional links:

- Illfonic Website
- Interview with Saadiq at TheBoomBox.com
- Nexuiz at Xbox.com

In 1999 I asked my friend, a fellow up-and-coming music producer from the UK, to remix a song of mine. Since we were both fresh faces in the producing game, everything was done innocently enough “on the strenf”…”for the love of the game”. That is, no contracts, no money exchanged. Just homies making music together.

The remix was dance music, different than the hiphop music I was making. Which is why I asked this producer to remix the track, for a little something different. In all honesty, the finished product wasn’t very good. And I struggle to recall what exactly I did with it. MP3.Com was popular at the time and it’s likely it ended up on there as a free download, but I can’t quite call it. In any case, the track was shelved and forgotten.

10 years later, this remix producer is pretty famous. Famous is perhaps a relative term, but he’s been quite successful in the genre he helped pioneer.

Which brings us up to present day: A couple of months ago, I went back to my mom’s crib in Philly and was going through a bunch of old stuff and I came up on the original CD the remix producer sent me featuring the track. “Oh snap!”, I had forgotten all about it. And better yet, this producer had a new release right around the corner. What a dope little “easter egg” for me to post as a free download on my site, I thought; a curiosity from “the olden days” when we were on the come-up.

And so I did. And I was proud I found the song and happy of the success my man has had over the years. And I thought he’d feel the same, but when I tagged him on Twitter with a link to the blog post all hell broke loose. Dude was PISSED. More than surprised, I was shocked by his reaction. Perhaps he thought I was trying to capitalize on his new album release with a few clicks to my website? He never explicitly expressed that, but I couldn’t come up with any other reason why he would react so negatively to the tune. I denied his initial request to remove the song from my SoundCloud account as I tried to contact him personally in Twitter Direct Message to work it all out.

That was at nighttime for me in the United States. And I soon had to go to sleep. But in the UK, where the remix producer was located, his day was just getting started. And boy oh boy was he a busy bee.

As I slept in the U.S., the U.K. producer acted quickly to do what he felt was right and issued a Copyright Infringement claim to SoundCloud. I’m not sure how the remix producer framed the copyright violation — as to what context he presented his claim — but SoundCloud was swift in their reaction. By the time I woke up the following morning, let’s say roughly 8 hours later, the remix had been removed from my SoundCloud page and I received this email from the Copyright Infringement department at SoundCloud:

(Edited for space)

Subject: Copyright infringement

Hi there, Yameen,

This is [redacted] from SoundCloud. I’m getting in touch regarding some sounds in your SoundCloud account.

We’ve received a report that the following sounds contain material that infringes somebody else’s copyright:

http://soundcloud.com/yameen/remix-song-link/ [Link has been replaced to conceal song name - Yameen]

If you don’t own all the relevant rights in these sounds, or don’t have permission from the rights holder to upload, publish and distribute these sounds, then we can’t host these sounds on SoundCloud.

If you believe that there has been some mistake – in particular, if you do have the necessary rights, or if you think the copyright material has been identified incorrectly – please get back to us via the link below:

http://soundcloud.com/settings/disputes

Now, a lot is going through my head when I receive this email:

- Why didn’t my mans work this out with me directly? Why did he go directly to SoundCloud and not talk it out?
- How is this a “copyright infringement” when the remix was produced *for me*?
- How could any Joe Schmoe simply write a letter to SoundCloud, point a finger and claim “Copyright infringement!” and have tracks removed nearly instantaneously?

This last point is the most important one. The remix producer, as revealed in later emails between he and I, simply did not like the song. He felt he had outgrown the song and it was a blemish on his burgeoning music career. Now, as a producer, I get that. I can respect that. But that remix did happen. It exists. It came from you. And for you, the remix producer, to claim ownership of this song to the extent you feel it is within your power to wield a copyright infringement claim is as gray an area as it is for me to claim ownership of the song. Because despite the fact your production is a remix of my original work (which is wholly mine), no legal contarct beyond email exchanges and physical letters was ever produced and no money exchanged. And as a businessman, I get that too. But wow. Has it hit you yet, dear reader? If you simply don’t like a song on SoundCloud’s service, you can email them at copyrightagent@soundcloud.com, claim you are the owner of the work, and issue a copyright takedown.

SoundCloud never contacted me about the claim to get my side of the story. They didn’t hesitate to remove the song once they received the remix producer’s email. His word was good enough. Apparently by law (The Digital Millenium Act to be precise), they have no choice but to remove the song.

I discovered this after I replied to the SoundCloud letter above, stating my side of the story. I wrote:

“I am disappointed to say the least that anyone can hit the ‘File a copyright claim’ button on SoundCloud and remove tracks at will.”

To which SoundCloud replied:

“Please understand that it is not up to us to decide whether a takedown claim is valid or not. By legal regulation we are obliged to act on content being reported as infringing others’ copyright. We received the takedown request from [Remix Producer (remix.producer@email.address.com)]. You would need to get in touch with them directly to resolve the situation.”

And that was it. Did I want to involve my lawyer in this and pay his associated fees for what amounted to probably zero return? Nope. The song wasn’t what mattered to me anymore. It was the precedent this situation and its extremely swift reaction presented that impressed me the most. And that is what is so scary about bills like SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act). There is absolutely no due process in the way those bills (and apparently even the current bill, the aforementioned Millenium Digital Act) are written. All it takes is a pointing of the finger and boom: Your track is removed from SoundCloud. Or your website is now unaccessible to the public. All, potentially, while you are asleep like I was, unable to even present your case.

So take heed: SOPA & PIPA may have been de-toothed, but they and other bills like them will be back. And they will be much more clever and sneaky the next time around.

(Click to enlarge. This is from the DMCA’s website, linked below.)

As for me and the remix producer, you may be wondering? We’re cool and no hard feelings. As I said, as a music producer myself, I can respect he didn’t want that old sound out there presented in a modern context. It’s all good. He apologized for the copyright infringement claim and admitted he acted in haste, heated as he was in the moment. And while I still feel a remix produced for a song I created, without a contract, is as much mine as it is potentially his, I’m not going to let it wreck a friendship.

Additional links:

- SoundCloud.com: Procedure for Reporting Copyright and other Infringements for Rights Owners in the United States
- SoundCloud.com: Disputing a copyright claim (Image)
- SoundCloud.com: Contest copyright claim form (Image)
- Copyright.gov: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 [PDF]
- DMCA: “Do-it-yourself takedowns!“
- Ars Technica: Articles on SOPA
- ChillingEffects.com / EFF: Twitter’s public listing of DMCA takedown requests

At long last, Sir Jarlsberg hath released his debut video, “Teach Thee How to Curtsy” for thou to enjoy! Find it embedded hither:

If thou durst seek more info on Sir Jarlsberg, thou canst click on thy linketh: Party Fun Action Committee Returns.

Here’s a little remix I did to the Pharrell / Jay-Z joint, “Frontin’”. Enjoy:

Download it for free on SoundCloud:

http://soundcloud.com/yameen/pharrell-frontin-feat-jay-z

Machine Language, the latest album from Tajai of Souls of Mischief / Hieroglyphics, features two Yameen songs:

“Formless” from Nuntype
“Hemingway” also from Nuntype

Additionally, Tajai has included an updated version of “Matter of Moments” with a new beat on Machine Language, a song which was originally cut from the Nuntype album (You can download the original here).

Machine Language is available now from Bandcamp.

You can also pick up the full length Nuntype album featuring me and Tajai in high quality FLAC, 320kbps MP3, or WAV from Bancamp now for the first time ever in such high fidelity digital formats.

For more on Tajai, click here.

Now here’s a treat. Philadelphia photographer, Dominic DiGiorgio has shared these classic black and white photographs with us featuring The Roots at the Do You Want More?!!!??! album release party at Tower Records on South Street in Philly, 1995.

If you’re interested in using or reproducing the photos, please contact Dominic for high-res, non-watermarked versions.

These pictures are mostly of Aes recording in the studio, including a pic of Aesop and Percee P. In that picture, I can’t quite call it, but it looks like Aesop is wearing one of the classic Hiero medallions we used to sell on the Hieroglyphics.com website.

There’s also a pic I found of Aesop’s first cassette demo. Or at least the first cassette demo Blockhead gave me. This jawn is extremely rare. It’s from 1998 or so.

Speaking of the old AesopRock.com website, we have it preserved at the link below exactly as it appeared in 1999:

» Archived AesopRock.com from 1999

I’ve talked a little about the political hiphop group, Big Brother Resistance (BBR) I was in during the late 90′s before on the blog. But I wanted to do a proper post, influenced as I have been by the Occupy Wall Street movement going on nationwide at the moment.

This song, Newspeak, was one of three on our first studio demo that we published ourselves on cassette-only in 1998. We even have a video for the track which I’ve embedded below.

I produced the beat — which is still one of my faves to this day. But the lyrics on this joint are the clincher for me. Tim T and Paul P dig deep and drench the track in Orwellian motifs, government/mafia analogies, heeds of warning pertaining to cybersecurity and much more. And the hook is catchy as hell.

I’ve asked the guys to transcribe their lyrics and they’ve graciously provided them below. Check out the track and read along! Then peep the video. Comments as always welcome!

Down with Big Brother! Truth Shall Be Uncovered! Broad is My Mind’s Landscape, No More Checkmate!

» Download – MP3 (4.7M)

Lyrics:

(Paul P:)
Yo, the Men In Black flashin
Lower class, they try to move up
Proles can’t do shit, they silent like a tulip that’s hiding this mic, wired to the C.I.A.
Yo, the military secret agents, ain’t of age
Class wars is race wars
Ignorance shall suffice,
Bliss by soma, but only by your own knife
Shall you die, in your dreams?
The mentals come from the neuron streams and
War is peace, yo,
Ignorance: strength
You see, that freedom is slavery,
Slavery this wrench that’s,
Tightening around you,
Starting with your head,
Having thoughts ganked, means that you’re dead
Reduction of the language is happening today,
Narrowing our thoughts, and moving it they way
Ebonics and slang, they’re dissed by the media,
The government started it, but yo it wouldn’t seem that way,
Same as Newspeak.
Thoughts of 1984
Everlasting shall be the next World War,
But it won’t matter, ya’ll
Cause war will be standard, see?
Economically-beneficent they planned it, so…
Check ya self, don’t be played by The Man
Because he ain’t white or black, it’s just for what he stands so,

Down with Big Brother!
Truth Shall Be Uncovered!
Broad is my mind’s landscape,
No more mental rape

Down with Big Brother!
Truth Shall Be Uncovered!
Broad is my mind’s landscape,
No more checkmate!

(Tim T:)
Like rats, we scurry and fight for scraps
And get phone taps
For trying to beat raps,
The Heat, for pulling little con games,
Rackets and hustling and putting poor suckers to shame,
Now The Government’s the newest crime wave on the block,
Cause they put the Italians to their grave,
FBI,
Or should I say Henchmen?
And face the Cappadon when you look up at the bench, man
Police petty thugs trying to shake you down,
It’s just The Man,
Trying to take you down, man…
Can’t sell buddah,
Unless you pay the mob tribute
In the form of taxation, and there’s no dispute
Keep it on the d-low,
That’s the steelo.
Really it’s the only way that you could move a kilo,
That’s why,
Resistance must live in secret
The system’s in our face, so that’s how we beat it
That’s why,
Resistance must live in secret
The system’s in our face, so that’s how we beat it

(Paul P:)
Tech-nique, Tech-nology, they got the same preface,
Totalitarianism in the future shall surface so,
Watch your back, son,
And don’t burn these books
Because I keep them from being banned,
Yo, I be a crook
Or a bad boy
I read the ones up off the shelf,
If you don’t know how to get em, son, you best go use some stealth
Or, check the new school: We be some cyber ninjas,
Log on to the Internet, but watch cause we’ll get in ya,
Systems like Jobe, Java Program, break the code,
I find ya shit: S.S. numbs and then download
It’s all real in these days, we got the crazy tech,
Proceed to number 9, kid, ya best protect ya neck,
And your brain, heart, yo, especially your mind,
You let em read your thoughts, and then youse left behind
You see, your nervous system, son?
It be your worst enemy,
And only I shall see the message that you’re sending me,
When intra-personal becomes inter-personal,
Communications happening and then all is well
Except for the fact that,
In this time and space,
Some forms of communication are a disgrace so…

Down with Big Brother!
Truth Shall Be Uncovered!
Broad is my mind’s landscape,
No more mental rape

Down with Big Brother!
Truth Shall Be Uncovered!
Broad is my mind’s landscape,
No more checkmate!

» Higher resolution version hosted at Vimeo

I’ve been going through my MiniDV tapes (remember those?) and found the recording session for what would become “Center of Attention” (off of DJ Babu’s, Duck Season Vol. 1) featuring Souls of Mischief, Pep Love and Dilated Peoples. The video and recording session took place at Evidence’s Los Angeles-based home studio in March of 2001. Higher resolution video link after the Youtube embed below:

» Higher resolution version hosted at Vimeo