Mark Ronson NYC Concert Recap Round-Up

As reviewed by Puja Patel / Village Voice

Mark Ronson & the Business Intl. played their second homecoming show last night (Tuesday - October 12, 2010) at Webster Hall. The cast of characters for both Ronson's new album and last night's show includes vocalists Alex Greenwald (of Phantom Planet) and Rose Elinor Dougall (of the Pipettes), Amanda Warner (a/k/a MNDR), rappers Q-Tip and Pill, and the surprising, warmly welcomed return of MC Spank Rock. It's an even weirder mix than his first full-length attempt, but if the new one's title, Record Collection, says anything, it's that his mash-up-DJ know-how has continued to translate into a smooth pop sensibility. Basically, if you can do a little bit of everything, and as long as it sounds cool, why not try?

Read the full concert review

Set-list:

Circuit Breaker
Just
Lose It
Ooh Wee
Oh My God
California
The Night Last Night
--- DJ Set---
Bump
Race Riot
Introducing the Business
Sparrow
Bang Bang Bang
Hey Boy
God Put A Smile
You Gave Me Nothing
Stop Me
Record Collection
------------------------
Bike Song
Valerie

Photos:
Flickr
Facebook pt.1
Facebook pt.2

(video courtesy of oxywally, FrostoEnt, TLCblogtube and terrence20)

Bun B: Best Of Both Worlds SXSW 2010 Showcase Austin, TX

Atlanta's breakout artist Pill is out in front at Ace's Lounge (Wednesday, March 17) while Bun B is set to go on. Not sure which is more fun to watch the crowd or Bun B.



(video courtesy of Motion Family)

SXSW 2010 URB Showcase Austin, TX

URB.com Presents SXSNext 100 Showcase
Light Bar
408 Congress Ave
1-7pm

Pill: Word Of South Interview

WordofSouth.com: It’s good to hear that you could take something so negative and turn into positive energy. Moving on and speaking of positive, congratulations on the Asylum deal.

Pill: Appreciate it bro.

WordofSouth.com: How did that come about?

Pill: 45 minutes after I dropped the “Trap Goin’ Ham” video, they contacted me. They were trying to give me a deal back then but I wasn’t interested in signing a deal yet. I wanted to keep doing what I was doing and make things bigger. I wanted to get the people hooked on Pill. I wanted the people to be more open to my music and to establish a strong foundation with my music where I can put out whatever and they will understand that it was from the heart and this is what I love. Asylum respected that. They kept going hard while all the other offers came in. no matter what offers came in; Asylum said they could do better than that.

Damn near every label in the game offered me a deal. Asylum always upped the deal or changed the terms of the deal; they did whatever they had to do to make sure they got me on the roster. I respect them for that because they went hard from day one. They were the first label to even contact me. I kept grinding, mashing, recording, doing my shows, doing my interviews and everything else to keep going hard and make people aware of who Pill is as a person and as an artist. They respected my grind and they also implemented all of the terms that I requested and all of the monetary value I felt I was worth. I respect them for that and I want to shout out Joey IE and Todd Moscowitz for that. They stayed down with me from day one.

WordofSouth.com: You showed a lot of confidence in yourself by not jumping at the first offer they put on the table. Most independents are signed as soon as that first deal comes in, they jump all over it. You understood the grind or buzz wasn’t as strong as it could be; you waited it out. I like that.

Pill: I appreciate it. I just wanted the label to respect me as a business man. I wanted them to understand that I’ve had good money before. The money they were offering, I was like damn, I was blowing that at the mall when I was trapping. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen that dollar amount before. A lot of independent artists haven’t seen any money. They see that dollar amount and ho jump right on it. The first thing they think is they may not see an offer like that again, I mines will go jump on it. Me personally, I had seen that kind of money for years; I’ve blown it on cars, clothes and hoes. I did that, I’ve lived that life. I had the fast life, the money came and I spent it. I was like this little shit is nothing to me – this right here is club money, tennis shoes money and strip club money. I believed in myself and I kept grinding. I knew for a fact that I could keep making quality music so I didn’t give up or give into the first offer. I think they respected that as well.

WordofSouth.com: And by not giving into the first offer, you were able to build a larger buzz. What steps did you lay out for yourself to build such a strong buzz, and to catch the attention of the majors in the first place?

Pill: I made sure I did a lot of shows and I made sure the music was available for free download. I even had some physical copies available for the free download. I made sure I was humble to the people whenever I was out there. I kicked it with whomever and hit blunts with n****s and I don’t even really smoke like that. I still hit weed with n****s, drink with n****s and get f**ked up. I showed them how real this sh*t is. People would understand that and when they would see me out, they would approach me and tell me that my shit was real. They told me they haven’t heard real shit like this in a long time. They could hear it in my voice that this shit is real. I wanted the people to understand that. The real always overpowers the fake. I think people buy into a real product and enjoy real music.

I just made sure I kept it real. I implemented all of the things that were instilled to me as a youngster. You have to go after what you want in life. I made sure that I stayed down with whatever I believed in. the buzz grew larger thanks to my hard work and thanks to the hard work of my manager Derek, Chris Bone, Jazzy B, Shawn, Ryan, Maurice Garland who was behind me since day one, Rap Radar, the magazines, a lot of the blog spots like DJ Burn One’s site, they showed so much love. All of those people showed me in love. I’m very appreciative of the people that gravitate towards me and understand that this is a real testimony. It wasn’t something that was prescribed from prior events of stuff on TV or a story or something.

Read the full interview here:
Down of South - Pill Interview

Hip Hop Comes To SXSW with Pill, The Pack, Killer Mike, Mistah FAB, The Jacka At Showcase

via the press release

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- 02/16/10 -- SMC Recordings Inc. artists will have major exposure at this year's South By Southwest (SXSW) Music and Media Conference in Austin, TX. This annual event showcases hundreds of musical acts from around the globe, and brings out approximately 17,000 people. A highly influential not to be missed event for entertainment and media professionals, it helps break new artists and create a buzz for the year's upcoming projects.

This year SMC was invited by SXSW organizers to host an official showcase and is teaming up with HipHopDX, one of the most influential hip hop sites in the Country. Together they will bring an incredible variety of talent from around the country.

The HipHopDX / SMC SXSW 10 Showcase will be held on March 18th, 2010 at Klub Krucial in Austin, TX. SMC artists, Killer Mike, Mistah FAB, The Jacka along with new signees the Pack will headline the event along with; Pill -- Asylum's new act that has been creating major buzz, Cool Nutz and locals Gerald G, Da C.O.D., and Lowkey.

Atlanta based Killer Mike has been featured in Grammy nominated songs, movies, and cartoons; his 2009 SMC release "Underground Atlanta" enjoyed tremendous press and acclaim. Mistah FAB, a media darling has been featured everywhere from MTV, VH1, Fox News Hannity & Colmes the Washington Post and even performed on the soap opera "One Life To Live." He released "Da Baydestrian," his first Nationally distributed release on SMC, which catapulted him to even greater National recognition. The Jacka, lauded for his underground legend status in the Bay Area, has broken through into the National scene with his 2009 release "Tear Gas," as evident by fans all over the country supporting him.

The showcase will introduce new-signees the Pack as a new SMC group, formerly on Jive Records; their single "Vans" has sold hundreds of thousands of copies to date. This will set the stage for their anticipated 2010 release as well as those of Killer Mike, Mistah FAB and The Jacka; performing in front of a crowd of media, taste makers and fans.

Pill: After Label Bidding War Signs With Asylum Records

via XXL

The labels went Ham over signing Pill and XXLMag.com has confirmed that the November ‘09 Show and Prove candidate has signed with Asylum Records, joining a roster that includes Gucci Mane, Lil’ Boosie and Cam’ron.

XXL reached out to P-I Double to find out the details of the deal. “They were the first to reach out to me and if you look at the urban side of the music they got control over that shit right now,” he said. “They smashing radio right now. And if you look at the other labels I haven’t really seen them break an artist in I don’t know how long, I mean a new urban act…most of these labels are breaking R&B artists. I was like damn, I got in a spot where I can actually be heard and not be overpowered by some big R&B pop star.”

According to the Atlanta-native, every major label, from Universal Motown to Def Jam, to Atlantic to Interscrope were reaching out to get him to sign on the dotted line but he was most intrigued by the Warner offshoot. “It’s almost like Asylum got like three or four top urban acts that been gaining in the last couple quarters,” he explained of his decision. “With Gucci and then New Boyz smashed, the Boosie, you seen him everywhere. The promotions team, the marketing, all that shit is crazy. I need that type of marketing if I’m gonna take it to the next level.”

While Pill’s manager Derek Schklar was tight-lipped about the exact amount of advance money Pill was awarded he had this to say, “It was a very unconventional deal for Asylum.”

Over the course of 2009, the up-and-coming MC made a name for himself with two critically acclaimed mixtapes—4180: The Prescription and the 4075: The Refill—as well the draw dropping video for his buzz-inducing single “Trap Goin’ Ham.” He was also included on Killer Mike’s Underground Atlanta compilation.

As of press time there is no set date for Pill’s major label debut, The Medicine.

Pill Performs at the AC3 Music Festival in Atlanta, GA

Fan shot video, images good and audio fair.



Pill performed at the Five Spot Thursday October 1 as part of the AC3 Music Festival.

(video courtesy of Famous89DeVille)