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Time is Illmatic

Time Is Illmatic, a documentary film that explores Nas’ 1994 debut album, Illmatic. The film is set to debut at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 16 and will hit theaters shortly after. This documentary was Directed and Produced by a friend of mine, One9, and pretty much since I made his acquaintance he has spoken about this project.

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As a hip hop fan (the 90’s was my era), I can’t wait to watch the film and for my friend, I am thrilled and excited for him to finally get to share his hard work, dedication and passion for “Time Is Illmatic” with the world! Watch the trailer below…

Time Is Illmatic is a feature length documentary film that delves deep into the making of Nas’ 1994 debut album, Illmatic, and the social conditions that influenced its creation.

Twenty years after its release, Illmatic has become a hip-hop benchmark that encapsulates the socio-political outlook, enduring spirit, and collective angst of a generation of young black men searching for their voice in America.

Time is Illmatic tracks the musical legacy of the Jones family, handed down to Nas from his jazz musician father, Olu Dara. It also examines the social conditions and environmental influences that contributed to Nas’ worldview.

Along the way, Time Is Illmatic shows how Nas—with the support of his Queensbridge neighborhood crew, the loyalty of his younger brother Jabari “Jungle” Fret, and sacrifices of his mother, Ann Jones—overcame insurmountable odds to create the greatest work of music from hip-hop’s second golden era.

With support from Ford Foundation & Tribeca Film Insitute.

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OG X J. COLE

A friend of mine, OG, who is a very talented director & photographer, recently released behind the scenes video and photos from a documentary series he’s been working on with hip-hop artist J.Cole. He went on tour with Cole all over the US and Canada, as he promoted his sophomore effort, “Born Sinner” album…with the Dollar and a Dream Tour!! Check it out here >> http://ogdirector.com/jcole/

And — here’s an embed of the video too…

J. Cole – Dollar & A Dream Tour NYC from LUXURY MINDZ on Vimeo.

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Magna Carta Holy Grail

I may be a little late, as this video debuted last week…BUT better late than never!! It’s hard to get “excited” about new hip hop music these days…but I’m definitely looking forward to Jay Z and friends latest project. And — it’s so refreshing to see the artists that I grew up on in the 90’s still doing the DAMN thing!! Okay, so I’m not exactly their age (I’m slightly younger), but it’s definitely my generation’s artists and music!! I fully expect the release to be nothing short of epic, created by hip hop’s royalty elite….
 

JAY Z’s new album “Magna Carta Holy Grail” comes to Samsung Galaxy fans first. Be among the first million to download the app on June 24th and get the album free July 4th, three days before the rest of the world. Learn more: http://magnacartaholygrail.com

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Watch The Throne

I was lucky enough to attend “Watch The Throne” in Miami last night, courtesy of Dontaira and Kia… 🙂 The Jay-Z and Kanye concert is nothing short of fabulous, amazing, exciting and inspiring!! The energy inside American Airlines Arena was unbelievable, not an empty seat in the house..and of course plenty of star sightings with DWade and LeBron leading the way, (on what could’ve been a HEAT game night at Triple A), but nonetheless, thousands upon thousands of Hip Hop fans threw the Roc in the air to party with the best of ’em – myself included! 😉

I borrowed the above pic from @CCole_E twitter, cuz apparently her tickets were slightly closer then mine…LOL!! I’m not complaining though…I had a great view of everything I needed to see.

The set design and staging for the show were extremely well done, they had a main stage with a platform that went up and down centered in front of it, then opposite there was another platform which could be raised as well, bringing the artists closer to the crowd across the main stage.

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The lighting and use of lasers, fire and effects = mind-blowing…I was seriously mesmerized.

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Obviously I wouldn’t expect anything less from Hip Hop Royalty, but all the staging, paired with SO MANY hits…all that music…WOW, just WOW!

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During the 2 hour show they each had their own sets in addition to performing several songs together from Watch The Throne and elsewhere….but more than anything, I loved hearing Jay’s hits that took me back a good decade + … and being surrounded with everyone else who felt it too.

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And — the best part, they did “Ni**as in Paris” 5 TIMES!! Twice to close the show and 3 times for an encore….and each time they re-started the crowd loved it that much more! “THAT SHIT CRAY!!!”

Shouts to my concert date Kimi..it was her FIRST EVER rap/hip hop concert!! I know, right!?!? It was a hot, sweaty, humid mess inside the Arena, but worth every beat that we danced too.

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How many artists can make tens of thousands (grown ass adult fans) throw the Roc symbol in the air and all be on the same beat…. If they’re coming to an arena near you…you DON’T want to miss it…simply EPIC.

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GREEN GOBBLIN Video Release Party

Last week I orchestrated the “Green Gobblin” Video Release Party at Club Play on Miami Beach. The event was a huge success… Blackwatch Studio edited an awesome video loop that played on the club’s screens throughout the night, including a HUGE panoramic, 3-D screen. Video Director Antwan “Shake” Smith showed up in support along with the video’s makeup artist, stylist and video girls…yours truly (producer) was hanging out too!! YMCMB Mack Maine showed out to support, along with Short Dawg…also spotted were Trey Songz and lots of SEXY Miamians. A BIG Thanks you to our partners for the event Headliner Market Group, Music Matrix and 305 Movement! Below check some flicks from the shin dig and video highlights too!

Jae Millz

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Little J, Jae Millz, Little Pookee

Jae Millz – “Green Goblin” Release Party from Merge Hip-Hop on Vimeo.

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GREEN GOBBLIN [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

The Official music video for Jae Millz ft. Chris Brown is (finally) here!! One of the many hats I wear is as a manager to Young Money artist Jae Millz, so I shifted into PRODUCER mode to get this video done. It’s a really fun video, that I think is so refreshing in the music/rap/hIp hop game… The “Dead Presidents” (face-paint) theme is taken from thE movie and also Millz’ same name mixtape released over the summer where the Green Gobblin track first appeared. The song will now be the first single off his forth-coming debut album, “Nothing Is Promised,” slated to release next summer. Everything was pretty much shot on green screen with the exception of the opening (alley) scene. There are lots of fun visuals and it’s definitely a song you want to move to and this pairing works well with CB doing his dance thing and RAPPING, while Millz adds his Harlem-bred talent! Check it out, let me know what you think… Next stop is a red carpet awards show! 😉 FOREVERMILLZ.COM

Directed by Antwan Smith of Vigorous Films
Edited by Lution Media
Produced by Sway Mendez, Aubrey Aquino and Remy Pierre
Make-up – Kimberly Keppard
Stylist – Abriel Bolton

***ALSO for you novice and aspiring video directors/editors/producers, we teamed up with MusicMatrix.com for a video editing contest and you can go in and remix the video with unused scenes, etc… AND THERE ARE PRIZES!!!***

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BTS: GREEN GOBBLIN

A video project I have been heavily involved in is the “Green Gobblin” music video by my artist, Jae Millz featuring Chris Brown. The video was shot recently in Miami, while I was in Mexico…so there was a lot of careful pre-production that went into it, to minimize my phone time in Mexico! lol BTW, it’s GOBBLIN with two “b’s” because as Jae said….there’s 2 “Goblins” in the video…him and CB! Oh isn’t he SOOO creative!?!?

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At any rate, now the video is in post, being edited, and I’m overseeing/supervising all the cuts, effects, etc… This is my first hands-on experience with a “music” video, but I’m finding that my editing know-how as well as (news) writing, reporting, producing background is actually helping a lot. And — I just know what I want, how I want it and definitely what I don’t like!! So, along with a few other key opinions (director, Jae, other producers and editor) this is going to be ONE HELLUVA MUSIC VIDEO!! CB is rapping, we’ve got the Dead Pres theme, Mack Maine makes a cameo and we linked up with Music Matrix for a video remix contest!! The Official GREEN GOBBLIN music video is set to premiere on http://musicmatrix.com on Dec 15, and we’ve also got a South Beach launch party in the works! Be on the lookout, you’ll be sure to see this vid popping up everywhere and getting a strong buzz! Red Carpet..here I come!! 🙂 In the meantime, here’s some behind the scenes videos and photos.

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Thank you’s to everyone on Team Millzy: Director Antwan Smith, Producers Sway Mendez & Remy Pierre, Makeup Artist Kimi, Stylist Brie, my models Jovana and Carin and everyone else who’s supported and helped make this video a reality. And I can’t forget our sponsors – Fever, Nuvo, Ciroc and Music Matrix! Green Gobblin…December 15!!!!

Jae Millz OFFICIAL website http://ForeverMillz.com