Jay-Z is getting back into the groove of making music by pulling together a 2-day music festival in Philadelphia on September 1 and 2. The three-stage Made In America festival will feature a number of different musical genres, including rap beats, rock, rhythm and blues, dance and other acts.

Jay Z Has Other Projects In The Works

The music festival was announced at the beginning of May and will come together over the summer. Confirmed acts for the festival include Jay-Z, Pearl Jam, Skrillex, Mike Snow, Afrojack, Calvin Harris, Odd Future, D’angelo, Rick Ross, Wale, Passion Pit, Santigold, Dirty Projectors, Janelle Monae, Prince Royce, Rita Ora, Savoy and The Knocks. Some observers speculate that Bruce Springsteen will also make an appearance at the festival, partially because he is already scheduled to perform in the city on September 2 and 3.

Jay Z promises that there will be plenty of headline acts as well as some new musical talent that he will be showcasing. The show is a charity benefit and proceeds will support the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. Tickets for the event are already on sale. General admission tickets for the two-day event are being sold for about $150 per person. Platinum VIP tickets, which include exclusive access to VIP viewing areas, stage-side seating, preferred parking, access to the VIP lounge, VIP concessions and bar areas, plus a VIP host, are being sold for about $950 per person.

Catching Jay-Z’s attention may not be the easiest thing in the world to do, but there’s a great tool available for you that can help you get noticed in the rap music industry. DubTurbo is a music production software package that’s available for both the Mac and PC.

DubTurbo allows you to create, record, mix and publish your own music. It also comes with a large and growing library of royalty-free music samples. This feature alone makes DubTurbo worth the price.

DubTurbo has a lot of excellent features that other music production software packages don’t have. One of the key differences between DubTurbo and competing products is the ability to record your music as .WAV files. You’ll get high quality master recordings that you can use to make MP3 copies for distribution when you use DubTurbo. With other products, you’ll start out with a lower-quality MP3 file, which will reduce the quality of the copies you distribute.

Download your copy of DubTurbo today and start making your own music!

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Rap music has been around for decades but it is in a perpetual state of rediscovery. Diverse races, cultures and ethnicities have adopted rap music and have created an amazing array of rap beats that define the evolving face of rap music. While rap may have gotten its start on the streets in the United States, today it is possible to find rap music from all over the world. The music isn’t limited to one particular group’s experience, and lyrical beats are often included in other musical genres.

It’s Still Easy To Get Into Rap Music

One of the most unique characteristics of rap music is that it is easy to get into. Unlike other musical genres, which may require a great deal of training, practice and experience, rap music is unusually accessible, even to the most novice rapper. The qualities that make rap music attractive are beat, lyrics and flow, and anyone who can master these can have an exceptional career in the rap music world.

Music publication has also changed dramatically in the past several years. Advances in computer technology allow would-be musicians to record, mix, and publish their own music. Better still, programs like DubTurbo come complete with everything a musician needs, including music samples. This lowers the cost of entry into the business even more.

DubTurbo make getting into rap music easy because it comes with a library of tutorials that you can use to help you develop your signature musical style. The tutorials will help you learn how to use the software to its fullest potential, and will help you create a professionally recorded product that you can distribute or use during live performances.

While many music production software packages allow you to create MP3s, professional recordings are more often .WAV files. MP3 files are essentially copies of lower quality than the original recording. With DubTurbo, you can create high quality .WAV files that will help preserve the best audio qualities of your recordings.

DubTurbo gives you everything you need in a single package. It’s available for both the Mac and the PC, so there’s no additional equipment to buy and you’re not locked into a particular computer platform.

By far, the best part of DubTurbo is the free sample library that comes with the program. Sampling is a critical component of beatmaking, and DubTurbo sets you up with an excellent library of royalty-free samples to use in your own beats. These royalty-free samples are yours to use with your music!

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If you’re not familiar with the Beastie Boys, you’ve missed out on one of rap music‘s original acts. The Beastie Boys, who first hit the charts in the 1980′s, introduced rap music to scores of white, middle-class suburban kids. Last week, The Beastie Boys, also known as Adam Horowitz, Adam Yauch, Michael Schwartz and Michael Diamond, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Honor For Just The Third Rap Act

The Beastie Boys are just the third rap group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, behind Run-DMC and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Rap masters LL Cool J and Chuckie D formally inducted the group.

In its earliest years, the group was associated closely with producing legends Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin at Def Jam Records. The group credited other acts in the emerging rap music genre for their influences, including Bad Brains, The Slits, the Treacherous Three and XRay Spex. Four of the group’s eight albums reached the top of the Billboard Album chart, including Licensed to Ill, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty and To the 5 Boroughs. The group continues to perform today, and most recently released an album entitled Hot Sauce Committee Part Two in 2011.

Their first release, New York Thrash, was a forerunner of the modern mixtape and preceded the release of their first EP, Polly Wog Stew (1982). Originally, the band worked in the hardcore metal genre, but successfully made the switch to rap early on. Since the group’s inception, they’ve sold more than 40 million albums world wide, about half of which were sold in the United States.

The Beastie Boys made it big with the help of an established music producer, but they also helped to open the door for artists who want to produce their own music. The Beastie Boys were considered a “groundbreaking” act in the 1980′s and served as many fans’ first introduction to the rap music genre. The group paired famously with Run-DMC for its Raising Hell tour in 1985 and first cracked the R & B and Dance charts in the same year with “Hold It Now, Hit It.”

The Beastie Boys demonstrate that anyone can break into rap music and deliver a successful sound. For aspiring new musicians in the rap music genre, one of the best tools to have is DubTurbo, a complete music-production software package that lets you create your own musical style!

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Rap music can be a highly influential form of music, but are some music producers taking advantage of certain areas’ crime rankings to promote their music? That’s what some analysts are suggesting. Is crime an effective way to sell rap beats? No one can say for certain, but certain music producers don’t mind the association.

Do Crime And Rap Have A Solid Association?

While many rappers write lyrics about their criminal exploits, and more than one rapper’s career has ended in a hail of gunfire, music producers are quick to point out that music, by itself, doesn’t promote crime. That doesn’t stop rappers like Fresco Clean and Black Lung from using Rockford’s position as #9 on the FBI’s list of the Most Dangerous Cities in the US as a way to market the group’s music and elevate its profile among the gangsta crowd.

The group’s first EP, Whiteboy Wasted, has recently been released by producer Soleternity, and hopes to appeal to a largely white middle- and lower class youth audience. They’re also hoping to catch the attention of college-aged students who are part of the fraternity/sorority scene and other middle class demographics who are looking for a voice. The songs on Whiteboy Wasted are largely about partying and having fun, and could be a nice way to kick off the summer.

The EP is Fresco Clean’s recording debut, but the 22-year-old is a veteran battle rapper and has traveled the world in rap competitions. Black Lung has already released a number of indie beats, and has already released an LP under his own name.

The potential rap and hip-hop audiences are large, and there’s plenty of room in this growing medium for many more talented musicians. Getting started has never been easier. All the tools you need to self-produce your rap beats are available in a single, awesome package. Dubturbo combines the best tools with the easiest-to-use interface in a single software package. DubTurbo is available for either the Mac or PC and enables you to mix your own beats. Better still, DubTurbo comes with a library of royalty-free beats you can use to enhance your own sounds.

Need more? How about a library of tutorial videos to help you learn how to make the most of this outstanding music software package? DubTurbo is a great way to get started in the rap music industry and gives you everything you need to record and mix a professional sound.
Download your copy of DubTurbo today and start working on your next great career move!

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The Sundance Film Festival normally features independent films. Alongside the films, the festival also pays homage to the music that makes films so great. This year, the Celebration of Music in Film will feature hip-hop music for the first time in the festival’s 34-year history.

Top Hip-Hop Acts To Be Featured

Ice-T, Chuck D and Grandmaster Caz will perform at the Celebration of Music in Film. The performance is related to Ice-T’s documentary film, Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap, which will also be featured at the film festival. The film will also showcase music from some of rap and hip-hop’s most enduring acts, including Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Ice Cube, KRS-One, Mos Def, Nas, and Snoop Dogg.

The festival will also feature live musical performances from artists whose music appears in films shown at the festival. This is the first year organized musical performances will be included. In the past, musicians performed at private parties that were related to, but not sponsored by, the Sundance Institute. This year, musical performances will be incorporated into the official festival program, with live performances from at least two artists per night.

Ice-T produced Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap to examine the musical genre. The film features interviews conducted by Ice-T with more than 50 rap and hip-hop artists who try to define what rap music is today and where it came from. The film tries to capture rap’s roots and share some musical history with a generation of rappers who may not understand the forces that brought rap music into the forefront.

In the film, Ice-T says that he had to make the film because rap made his life. Ice-T is just one more in a growing line of old-school rap artists who are concerned about the genre and where it’s headed. Dr. Dre, Eminem, Jay-Z and others have all expressed concern that today’s up and coming rap stars don’t understand what rap music is all about.

Ice-T is expected to perform in Park City, UT at the festival on January 21, and indicated in at least one interview that he may be joined by other rappers who are interested both in promoting the film and supporting Ice-T in his effort to preserve a bit of rap music’s history.

Ice-T had a significant career as a rap artist, beginning in the 1980′s. He also began his acting career at that time. In 2000, he appeared as a regular character on Law and Order, and has since concentrated primarily on acting. His most recent album, Gangsta Rap, was released in 2006.

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A growing debate among rap music industry observers centers around whether or not free mixtapes are the right way to go. The strategy involved in mixtapes, of course, is that you put out a mixtape with some great free rap beats and build a fan following. The free mixtapes are supposed to provide a boost when you release an album.

Mixtapes Now A Standard Strategy

Releasing free mixtapes may have been a novel strategy a few years ago, but today, they’re standard for the rap music industry. The question is, “Can rap music artists still build and retain fan followings without releasing mixtapes?” Some artists don’t question the strategy much; mixtapes are simply part of the business and a way to put out some music outside of a full album release. Others have deliberately maneuvered around mixtapes and major labels, and have still built a solid fan base.

So, are mixtapes strictly necessary? If you talk to artists like Lil Wayne or Drake, the answer is clear. They both release mixtapes religiously and they’re massively successful. If you talk to artists like Tech N9ne and Odd Future, they don’t release mixtapes and they’re arguably very successful, too.

Part of the answer depends upon how you define “success.” From a business perspective, success is measured in dull fashion, by counting product sales and performance revenues. From a critical perspective, success is harder to define. Do you put on a good show? Do you get a lot of airtime? Is your music standard on the club circuit?

Tech N9ne and other independent artists prove that releasing mixtapes isn’t necessary to build a fan base or keep fans interested. Mixtapes provide a great way to introduce a new artist. For established talent, mixtapes are a good outlet for music that’s stylistically good, but not good enough to be featured on an album. They can also be used to promote upcoming albums without a lot of effort.

Ultimately, the mixtape comes down to this: do you want to swing for the fences on every track, or is a base hit good enough? If you want to be a home run king, it’s best to consider each song’s potential as an album and make sure it’s as good as it can ever get. If you don’t want to work that hard, the mixtape is a good way to publish music that’s better than average and keep the fans interested, but you’ll still need to deliver on your album work.

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If you’re into making your own rap music, you may have seen Web sites where you can pay a membership fee to download rap beats. If you really want to save money, download Sonic Producer instead. Sonic Producer comes with a complete library of royalty-free rap beats at no additional cost. You can start out with a whole library of rap beats that are included with the software.

Free Library of Rap Beats

With a monthly membership, you’re paying month after month to get access to rap beats. With a licensing arrangement, you’re paying hundreds or perhaps thousands of dollars for access to a single sample. With Sonic Producer, you get complete access to thousands of royalty-free samples that you can use and re-use however you want.

When you’re done making your music, you get the rights to all of your sounds. You can distributed, perform, or sell your music with no worries about paying royalties to anyone. Your music – your sound – is all yours, with no additional fees or royalties owed to anyone.

You can distribute your music to your friends, perform it live or even sell it on iTunes. The entire library of rap beats that come with Sonic Producer might cost thousands of dollars if you licensed each beat individually. Fortunately, the entire collection is included with the cost of the software.

Not only that, you also get a library of tutorial videos that can help you learn how to make the music that your fans want to hear most! Get your sounds down, get your music down and get your music career in high gear with Sonic Producer. Sonic Producer is available for both the Macintosh and PC platforms, so you don’t need any special computer equipment beyond what you already have. You also don’t need expensive recording and mixing gear to get a professional sounding recording.

With Sonic Producer, you get professional sounding recording capabilities and the ability to mix your music to MP3 for easy distribution. You also get a full library of royalty-free sound samples, and a free library of tutorial videos that are definitely worth the price! You can make your own rap beats and get yourself into the music business without spending thousands of dollars on equipment, studio time and licensing fees! Why would you pay for a monthly Web site membership, when you can get a full library of rap beats included with a great product like Sonic Producer?

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Rapper Lex Luger released a couple of free rap beats last week for any aspiring rap musician to use. The beats, which Luger released via Twitter offer up-and-coming musicians about eleven-and-a-half minutes of mellow backup to work with. Luger comes with a pretty good rap pedigree. He’s recently worked with Waka Flocka Flame, Kanye West, Rick Ross, Lil Scrappy and That’s not the only way aspiring musicians can get their grooves on, however. No one can beat the collection of free rap beats offered by Sonic Producer.

Free is Key To Making Hot Rap Music

Most rap music contains beat samples from other songs – either from rap or from some other genre. When a rapper samples the music of another artist, typically he or she splits the proceeds of the song with the original artist as a way to license the music. If a rapper can come up with his or her own beats, or uses music that is royalty-free, there are no splits involved. All of the money stays home with the original artist.

Sonic Producer offers a library of thousands of royalty-free samples that aspiring musicians can use, without having to worry about splitting the proceeds of any songs. Royalty-free music samples can cost hundreds of dollars when purchased individually. The exceptionally large collection of royalty-free rap beats is what makes Sonic Producer stand out from the crowd. The beats alone are worth a fortune!

Aside from the great free rap beats, Sonic Producer also provides video tutorials to help new music producers learn how to get the most out of the Sonic Producer software. Sonic Producer is easy to use, but there are a lot of features that new music producers may want to take advantage of. The tutorials show you how to make the best music possible.

Sonic Producer contains all of the features you need to make professional-quality sound recordings. You don’t need additional equipment and you don’t need the services of a professional sound engineer. Everything you need is right in the box! Once your music is arranged the way you want it to be, lay it off to MP3 and start sharing it with your friends, your fans or with anyone! Sonic Producer enables you to make high-quality recordings that you can even sell on iTunes.

Create a name for yourself with your rap beats by creating and distributing your own mixtapes. Let everyone hear your raps and get your name out in the open. Give your mixes to the local DJs and help them help you promote your act. Download Sonic Producer today. It’s available for both the Mac and PC platforms. What are you waiting for?

Photo Credit: Lex Luger, via Facebook

CKHID’s Web site now offers free downloadable rap beats to help encourage up-and-coming rap artists. The artist says that giving away free rap beats is necessary to the survival of the rap music genre. Citing a host of major rap artists who started their careers by using free rap beats, CKHID offers career-starters in a special section on his Web site.

You Need More Than Free Rap Beats

If you’re trying to make it in rap music today, you need more than free rap beats. That’s why Sonic Producer offers a full software suite, including royalty-free rap beats plus the software you need to mix up your own music. Start simple by making your own mixtapes. Then add your own instrumentals on our full-featured software.

If you’re not sure how to create the rap beats people want to hear, Sonic Producer has you covered there, too! Sonic Producer offers a collection of unbeatable video tutorials that show you how to use the software and make the beats that rap music fans are dying to hear. Once you’re done with your mix, export it to MP3 and give it to local DJs, your friends or keep it to yourself.

Sonic Producer lets you experiment with rap beats to create your own unique sound. Whether you want to get into the club scene, or just write your own raps, Sonic Producer can help. Sonic Producer is available for both the Mac and PC, and there’s no special equipment for you to buy.

Sonic Producer has a built in 16-track mixer to allow you to make professional-quality sound recordings. Make rich-sounding beats using the royalty-free beat samples you find on Sonic Producer. Sonic Producer has thousands of sound samples, too. The royalty-free beats alone make Sonic Producer worth the investment you’ll make.

Once you have your beats laid down, you can accompany your music or just listen to your own creations. You can even collaborate with other up-and-coming artists. Make and share your own tracks, sample each others tracks and put together your own mixtapes featuring local talent!

You can get started with Sonic Producer right away. Simply download the program and get going. There’s no additional equipment to buy and no royalties to pay later on. You get really powerful beatmaking software, thousands of royalty-free samples, and video tutorials that can help you make the most of Sonic Producer. Don’t wait! Start making your music today with a little help from Sonic Producer.

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