Hope For Haiti Now, the telethon and organization put together by George Clooney and MTV has raised over $58 million dollars for the Haiti relief effort to date. All of the songs from the broadcast are available on iTunes (Hope For Haiti Now album) and it is currently #1 in 21 countries around the world. All proceeds will benefit the victims of the earthquake.
This was a great use of influence, technology and talent by all parties in coming together to make this event a tremendous success. Please continue to donate to the organization of your choice, as the need will be present for years to come. You can check out some of the clips from the event after the break.
If you’ve been following the PFCF project, this episode shows a major accomplishment: the Ntonga Music School in Gugulethu, South Africa, PFCF’s very first completed school! The school now has a full schedule of music classes servicing youths ages 8-18 in this township just outside Cape Town. The episode also includes interviews from Mark Johnson and Whitney Kroenke Burditt about PFCF, its founding, and its mission.
Please consider following and supporting this fine organization.
There are some incredible tributes, mixes, blog posts and personal recollections being shared all around the web. We’ll be updating this for some time with the best of what we find. If you know of others, please leave us a comment and we’ll update with those as well. Check back often, as we continue to update this post.
Quincy Jones:
“I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news. For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words. Divinity brought our souls together on ‘The Wiz’ and allowed us to do what we were able to throughout the ’80s. To this day, the music we created together on Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad is played in every corner of the world and the reason for that is because he had it all…talent, grace, professionalism and dedication. He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.”
Diana Ross:
“I can’t stop crying, this is too sudden and shocking,” Ross says in a statement. “I am unable to imagine this. My heart is hurting. I am in prayer for his kids and the family.”
‘I am shocked and saddened by Michael’s passing,” Turner says. “I, along with his millions of fans, looked forward to seeing him tour one more time. Now, may he rest in peace.”
Chaka Khan and The Funk Brothers (aka “The best kept secret in the history of pop/soul music“). Is there anyone badder than Chaka? Or the Funk Brothers? Really?
As you can see, T.I. has been killin’ the charts. Gotta give respect, where respect is due & Paper Trail is a nice album. In our latest edition of “This is a samplin’ sport“, we take a quick look at the ’swagga’ phenomenon.The track is built around M.I.A’s “Paper Planes”, which interestingly enough, also uses bits of “Straight to Hell”, (Combat Rock, Epic/1982) from The Clash. The audio isn’t the best, but see if you can catch it.
