DJ Drama has had a trying year so far and we’re not even half way through it. Well all know about the over exaggerated arrest that was made against him a few months ago.
And if the RIAA breathing down DJ Drama’s neck wasn’t bad enough he’s now being forced to change the name that everyone knows him to be. Read more after the jump.
DJ Drama is still hawking his new album to anyone who will listen and this time he’s turned his story to Billboard in a recent interview.
He opened up pretty candidly about his arrest situation, among other things.
"A lot of the impact is still up in the air because people are waiting to see what comes of our situation," Drama says of his arrest. "But, I try to look at everything in a positive manner. The mixtape game needs to change for the better. People need to learn from this."
Continue reading "DJ Drama Talks The Future of Mixtapes!!" »
DJ Drama and his Aphilliates camp spoke to Hot 107.9’s Durrty Boyz, recently. In the interview Drama addressed his arrest, (sort of), his new album (sort of), and what’s next for the mix tape general, again (sort of). The video quality isn’t the greatest, but I know how many die hard fans Drama has in the “A” so far be it from me to deny y’all any Drama information.
Continue reading "DJ DRAMA Speaks To Popular Atlanta DJ's About Arrest (SORT OF)!!!" »
Throughout all the “drama” that has been swirling around DJ Drama lately. He’s still trucking forward with his solo project. His new song has leaked online, and ironically its called “Feds Takin Pictures”.
Continue reading "DJ Drama Drops New Single-Do We Care?!?" »
Yo, I peeped this article written by Mossi Reeves about DJ Drama and DJ Cannon in this week’s Creative Loafing.
While I can’t post the entire article on this blog, because its way to long, I will post important points that were made.
• The Gangsta Grillz series was so hot that major labels often hired the Aphilliates to create mix-tape CDs for their artists. (Just before Gnarls Barkley dropped its Grammy-winning album St. Elsewhere, DJ Drama and Gnarls Barkley issued A Trip to St. Elsewhere.) The DJs' personal profiles grew, too. Drama and Cannon performed at the 2006 BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta. As rapper T.I.'s official DJ, Drama is depicted alongside the platinum-selling rapper on the March 2007 cover of XXL, America's most popular hip-hop magazine.
It looks like DJ Drama and DJ Cannon are starting to crawl up from underneath the rock they’ve been hiding from. After their highly publicized piracy arrest that sent shocks throughout the Hip-Hop industry. Tyree and Donald are coming back to reclaim their radio spot for HOT 107.9 radio. According to Hot 107.9 program director Jerry Smokin' B, DJ Drama will bring his immensely popular "Gangsta Grillz" radio show back to Hot 107.9 on Saturday's at 8pm.
Continue reading "DJ Drama and DJ Cannon Return To Radio!!" »
Even MTV is getting in on the DJ Drama-DJ Cannon controversy. While many of y’all got so upset over me calling DJ Drama’s mixtape “business”—bootlegging. According to authorities that’s exactly what it is. Bootlegg/Pirated is any material that is NOT copyrighted. I understand the importance of mixtapes in hip-hop. They are the life blood of hip-hop, where artists drop new songs and unreleased tracks to keep their names in the streets. T.I., Lil Wayne, and Young Jeezy owe a large part of their success to the mixtape industry. But, when your dealing with “the man” AKA –white people, you got to make sure that everything you do is 100% legit.
Picture provided by SandraRose.com
Finally after almost a week of silence DJ Drama has issued a statement about the bootlegging arrest that took place on January 16, 2007
This is what he had to say:
This is an attempt by the government to paint an image of those involved in Hip-Hop as criminals...Don Cannon and I are being negatively depicted despite the fact we are legitimate businessman, highly involved in the community and college graduates that have never been arrested. We are being accused of damaging the music industry, when in fact, we are hired by record labels to help develop and elevate the careers of their artists by previewing unreleased material to the masses."
DJ Cannon has also released a statement:
Our track record for success has made us some of the most sought after music producers and DJ's in Hip Hop...We are looking forward to being exonerated of all charges and continuing to build our brand."
According to various hip-hop sites, the popular DJ’s are now preparing their legal defense and have hired attorneys to represent them. DJ Drama has enlisted the services of Ed Garland, while DJ Cannon has hired Janice Singer and Don Samuel.
Isn’t life ironic? Yesterday morning when I got out of bed I usually check the newspapers and online headlines to see if any local or national celebrity has acted up while I was asleep. Yesterday however, I didn’t do that, and the one-day I omit my researching skills. It goes down with arguably one of the most popular and sought after DJ’s in the South— LRG spokesperson himself, DJ Drama.
DJ Drama (Tyrie Simmons), along with DJ Cannon (Donald Cannon) was hauled off to jail late Tuesday night on charges of music piracy. The Fulton county S.W.A.T. team, along with Clayton County officials, raided DJ Drama’s “Gangsta Grillz” recording studio in downtown Atlanta. That’s right people, piracy. The current Grand Hustle Records affiliate had the streets buzzing in a frenzy over the shocking arrest. He along with DJ Cannon was both charged with the white-collar crime in the wee hours of the morning.