Kem at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta

For the past few years, Detroit has been plagued by an unemployment rate of nearly 50%, a crumbling education system and chronic homelessness. As a “call to service” R&B recording artist, Kem has teamed up with Mack & Third for a day-long free concert & food drive to benefit the homeless. Special musical guests to this worthy cause will be Morris  Day & The Time.

Per the official press release:

DETROIT, MI – Detroit’s own GRAMMY-nominated Motown Recording Artist, KEM, is pleased to announce that people who donate five dollars ($5) or more, in support of Mack & Third recipient organizations to assist Detroit’s homeless community, will be eligible to win the grand prize of a free two (2)-year lease on a Chevy vehicle, at the Mack & Third event on August 28. Other prizes will be awarded throughout the day, including KEM merchandise, gas cards and gift cards. (more…)

Are you ready to not only give up the FUNK but to be educated about the FUNK as well? Well hit that button and get ready to meet some of your esteemed Funkologists for Year Two of Bootsy Collins’ Funk U.

GFM fam we wanted to take a little time out today and help to spread the awareness about the current state of health of one of the pioneers of hip hop Kool Herc. For those not familiar with his pioneering work in the Boogie Down Bronx the above video should create a very sufficient context for his importance. Please follow this link to DJ Premier’s blog that has information about Herc’s current health status as well as information on where donations may be sent to help with the costs of a much needed surgery.

Herc is without health insurance and is need of financial assistance. I think it goes without saying that the father of what has become a multi-billion dollar industry should find support in his time of need from many corners: from fans, artists, record companies etc., on down the line. Because of Herc’s pioneering efforts many an industry and career have been fostered. We have to figure out a way to better care of our pioneers, this same story repeats itself far too often with our musical innovators…

Here’s the address as well for all donations: Kool Herc Production PO Box 20472 Huntington Station, NY 11746

1/31 Update below from the DJ Premier Blog:
or you can wire you donation internationally via paypal to this address:

cindycampbell1@aol.com (his sister)

His sister is taking care of everything. Press release is coming later today. He’s now home ok, but he’s in need of surgery which you can help him pay it. I’ll post if there are any more updates. Hip Hop is so beautiful… Thanks to everyone for the love… Kool Herc is a trending topic!

Here’s something special for our soldiers overseas. CNN & Headline News has created a way for people to send their loved ones a digital salute with custom audio, photos, and messaging! Below, you will find a link that demonstrates how to create the digital salute.

Create your own ‘Salute to Troops’ tribute here: http://bit.ly/SendSalute

Here’s a quick recap of the top 10 most popular stories, tweets and random foolery from this week:

1. [Video] Atlanta Tastemakers Respond to the T.I. and Tiny Arrest [SFTA]
2. Facebook Ads For Musicians – Ultimate 1 Cent Click Guide [RockStars]
3. Janet Jackson considers Independent Record Deal [MR]
4. Apple’s Stealth Plan to Conquer the Media Industry [DF]
5. Miles Davis: The Muse Who Changed Him and the heady Brew that rewrote jazz [Guardian]
6. Kanye West Apologizes To Taylor Swift: “I Wish They Could Accept That I’ve Grown” [NB]
7. iTunes Ping Draws Fire From Facebook & Indie Music Community  [Hypebot]
8. Congratulations to all of the winners of the 2010 Black Weblog Awards [BWA]
9. [Free Download] The Foreign Exchange – Maybe She’ll Dream Of Me [FE]
10. Kelly Price Interview Pt 2. “Music & The Machine” [GFM]

Bonus: Where are they now? 5th Dimension [ST]

Updates: Gauge the reaction on Twitter.

Myspace/Imeem Deal Leaves Thousands of Artists Unpaid

MySpace Continues To Get Trashed Over Imeem Shutdown

Well, after many months of turmoil and speculation, it is now official: MySpace Music has purchased Imeem for the fire sale price of reportedly $1 million dollars. For this, MySpace gains access to imeem’s 16 million users, their mobile applications (iPhone and Android), 4 key executives including CEO Dalton Caldwell as well as the technology for their other services. What is shocking is the speed and way in which the transition is being handled. News of the deal closing officially hit yesterday and Imeem users were immediately cut off and redirected to MySpace.

Additionally, access for developers and users of their powerful API platform has been terminated and left many scrambling for options. MySpace has stated that they are currently working to integrate portions of Imeem, but the details of when and what that really means remains to be seen.

Grand Opening, Grand Closing
A significant portion of the GFM model was built around access to these services. Therefore, we regret to announce that the December launch of GrownFolksMusic.com has been postponed due to these developments. While we have long known that this was a possibility and have a mitigation plan in place, we’ve decided to take some time to assess our position going forward. We’re hoping for the best, but given Rupert Murdoch’s disposition towards a more closed internet….. your guess is as good as ours!

Rest assured, that in the meantime we’ll still continue to bring you the best in GFM via this blog. If you have any suggestions as to what you’d like to see from us, please let us know!

We thank you for your patience, continued support and look forward to exciting developments in 2010.

Image Source: MySpace

Updated: Here is is:

What do you think??

The first single off her highly anticipated album will be “Soldier of Love” and is scheduled to drop tomorrow. Sade co-produced the single ‘Soldier Of Love’ with Mike Pela and it was written by Sade along with longtime collaborators Andrew Hale, Stuart Matthewman and Paul Spencer Denman.

The track, featuring a pulsating and anthemic drum beat along with the haunting vocals that Sade is known for, is set to hit airwaves on 8th December.

It will kick off the countdown for the album, which was recorded in England and is set for release worldwide on 8th February.

Source

OFFICIAL UK SOUL CHART DEBUTS ON STARPOINT RADIO……

A new soul chart has emerged from the UK. The official national top 30 soul chart is a major addition to the soul scene in both the UK and Europe. Broadcasting from the studios of Starpoint Radio in London and hosted by renown broadcaster JL the chart mixes the best of independent and mainstream international soul music. Since airing in July it has quickly established itself at the forefront of new music for soulful groovers and is unique in that it also airs contributions from the artistes themselves. To date the programme has featured amongst others , Teena Marie, Candy Cream , Excellent Gentlemen, Scherrie Payne and Tour de 4Force, Kenny Barnes, Aaron Mason, Down to the Bone and Astral 22 who have all appeared live on the show. Programme host, JL states ” What gives this chart the cutting edge apart from the fact that there is no other programme like it is the research by the team and listeners at Starpoint. A large number of tracks that chart have not actually been officially released yet and so I am literally preparing the programme right upto going live on air and this energy is projected to the listeners who themselves are keen to listen and support the new music. Its a very fast atmosphere where the quality of the music rises above all other considerations including the fact that I have to get through 30 tracks in two hours!”

The official UK soul chart airs every Saturday at 11am GMT at www.starpointradio.com and is repeated every Tuesday at 11am GMT also.

This post was submitted by JL.