Worldwide cognac brand Hennessy has announced a four-city tour for its fourth annual Hennessy Artistry series. The event will be curated and headlined by rapper/actor Common, along with hip-hop band The Roots, who will also serve as the house band.

Each night, the event will feature performances from a variety of artists, including emerging talent, as well as high-profile special guests.

“Hennessy is the master of blending, and Artistry, is all about artistic blends of music genre, culture and style. The lineup is coming together nicely. The Roots and I are really collaborating to create a musical blend of talent that will do Artistry justice. We are planning some surprises as well, it should be quite an experience and I am thrilled to be a part of it,” says Common.

Hennessy Senior Vice President Andy Glaser stated, “Our vision is for each event to be a blend of musical, artistic, and cultural experiences that give our brand’s fans a once in a lifetime experience—a memorable legacy that will remain synonymous with Hennessy.”

Since its inception, The Hennessy Artistry series has featured a myriad of talent, both local and mainstream (Kanye West, LL Cool J, and Ne-Yo [curator of 2007 series]).

In the past 12 months, the event has taken place in various regions of the world such as Stuttgart, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Hanoi.

Below is the four-city tour schedule:

The Shrine in Chicago                                  SEPTEMBER 12

The Velvet Room in Atlanta                         SEPTEMBER 19

The Corinthian in Houston                          OCTOBER 3

“HALO” in New York at Terminal 5             OCTOBER 7

   

The Beastie Boys and Capitol/EMI are reissuing the remastered version of the group’s third album, Check Your Head, on March 30th, with pre-orders beginning at beastieboys.com.

Check Your Head’s reissue is being sold in multiple formats, ranging from a high quality DRM-free digital download (including classic b-sides and bonus tracks) to an ultra-deluxe 4 LP 180HQ vinyl version packaged in a fabric-wrapped hardcover coffee table book case (limited to 2000 copies). Not including the 4 LP version of the album, all physical editions will hit retailers April 7th.

In addition, it has been announced that the Beastie Boys will headline the Hollywood Bowl on September 24th. The group has also confirmed their appearance at this summer’s Bonnaroo festival, scheduled for June 11-14 in Manchester, Tennessee.

Originally released in April 1992, Check Your Head, which featured singles “So What’cha Want,” “Pass The Mic,” “Gratitude” and “Jimmy James,” marked the Beastie Boys’ return to live instrumentation, with the bulk of the album featuring Mike D on drums, Adrock on guitar and MCA on bass for the first time since the band’s early 1980s hardcore punk recordings.

The Coca-Cola Company and Atlantic Records have partnered together, assembling artists on the label from different genres (hip-hop, pop and rock) to record the single “Open Happiness,” as the accompanying song to the third installment in the Coca-Cola “Happiness Factory” series of commercials.   

A collection of top performers participated in the making of “Open Happiness,” including: Cee-Lo Green (Gnarls Barkley), Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy), Brendon Urie (Panic at the Disco), Travis McCoy (Gym Class Heroes), and Janelle Monae. Musically, the project was a collaborative effort between chart-topping producers Butch Walker (who co-wrote the song with Cee-Lo Green) and Polow Da Don, both men having produced for some of today’s most popular artists, such as Usher, Kelis, Pink, Fergie, Pussycat Dolls, Avril Lavigne and Katy Perry. 

Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes felt that union made sense commercially and artistically, saying, “I think Coke reaching out to up-and-coming and established artists is a really good move - everyone comes out a winner. We as artists get to collaborate with people we look up to and Coca-Cola gets a fresh new song that I think people are going to be really receptive to.” 

Adding his perspective about being asked to participate on the project by such an iconic brand, Gnarls Barkley frontman Cee-Lo Green said: “I guess what was interesting about the idea at first was Coca-Cola’s interest in me – that was appealing. Music’s marketplace can be very fickle and unforgiving and if you want longevity and you want legend, who better to ask advice from than Coca-Cola?”

“At Atlantic we strive to create career artists who make music with worldwide resonance. The pairing of the artists on this song with the Coke brand is a perfect match and we anticipate it being a huge global success,” stated Camille Hackney, SVP, Brand Partnership and Commercial Licensing, Atlantic Records. 

“Open Happiness” launched today (3-16-09) as part of Coca-Cola’s new global integrated marketing campaign, supported by a global push using popular promotional outlets such as Myspace, iTunes, and Facebook. In addition, a percentage of the sales will be donated to charitable causes through Coca-Cola’s ‘Live Positively’ platform.

 

 

   

As part of Verizon Wireless’ exclusive music series, mega-producer Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley and rock legend Chris Cornell have joined forces to create a new song titled “Stop Me,” which will debut during an invitation-only event tomorrow night in Chicago, along with a performance by the former Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman.

Verizon and Timbaland have been working together to bring new songs to BlackBerry Storm smartphone customers in connection with several special events over the past few months. Prior to the new song, Timbaland produced two other records for Verizon’s Storm program, including remixes of Rihanna’s “Rehab” and the Jonas Brothers’ “Tonight.”

This past Tuesday, Cornell released his new album Scream, making the premiere of the new single even more meaningful. “‘Stop Me’ is the third exclusive song I’ve created just for Verizon’s BlackBerry Storm customers,” said Timbaland. “It made perfect sense to debut it the same week that Scream was released since I produced that album as well.”

“It’s cool to be a part of the Verizon program because it can offer genuinely innovative ways of getting new music out to fans,” said Chris Cornell.

“Stop Me” will first become available for download by BlackBerry Storm smartphone users during evening of the performance.

    

The relationship between liquor brands and rappers have been quite unique: Snoop Dogg once promoted the liquor brands Tanqueray and Seagram’s on his classic hit “Gin and Juice”; Sean “Diddy “ Combs is part of the marketing mix of the Ciroc brand; and currently Young Jeezy is the spokesman for Belvedere vodka. Following in this tradition, the Smirnoff brand recently announced the launch of their second annual Smirnoff Signature Mix Series, a campaign that unites rappers of past and present to reinterpret popular records from some of the artists’ catalogues.

For the newest installment, Nas and Marsha Ambrosius, formerly of Floetry, pair up to perform Nas’ hit “If I Ruled The World”; Buckshot and Kardinal Offishall partner to redo Buckshot’s memorable “I Got Cha Opin”; and the duo Nice & Smooth unite with Pac Division to remake Nice & Smooth’s classic “Funky For You.”

“It was a pleasure working with Nas again,” said Marsha Ambrosius, who previously worked with the Queensbridge rapper on The Game’s “Why You Hate The Game?” off of Doctor’s Advocate. “Smirnoff gave us a great opportunity to put a new twist on a classic record, and I’m excited to be a part of the project this year,” she added.

“We’re really looking forward to adding onto the success of last year’s Signature Mix Series with these six artists, and coming up with some clearly original, reworked songs to add to the campaign,” said David Tapscott, Smirnoff Brand Director. 

Last year, Smirnoff launched the first Signature Mix Series, celebrating classic records from KRS-One (“Criminal Minded”), Q-Tip (“Midnight”), and Common (“The Light”), pairing them with renowned producers DJ Premier, Cool & Dre, and Just Blaze, respectively.

The Smirnoff Signature Mix Series campaign recently launched nationally in cities including, but not limited to: New York, Atlanta, and Washington D.C. It is to be supported by radio, digital, and video promotion, in addition to home advertising and retail point of sale.

Nas and Marsha Ambrosius’ rendition of “If I Ruled The World” is the first single, which became available on Smirnoff’s website March 5th. All three songs will be available for free download exclusively on the site.

 

 

 

   

Independent rap group Kidz In The Hall are partnering with Reebok to revise Special Ed’s classic “I Got It Made,” as part of the company’s new Classic Remix collection release series.

The footwear and apparel brand will introduce a new collection of sneakers combining retro aesthetics of the past with modern sensibilities, and have partnered with rising hip-hop artists who embody similar styles to re-interpret classic songs from the ‘80’s, which will be distributed with the purchase of the Classic Remix collection sneakers.

For each new sneaker that Reebok releases from the collection, a new artist will be featured. The first group in the series of promotions are Kidz In the Hall followed by Kid Sister and B.O.B.

The new tracks are made available for download to customers who purchase footwear from the Classic Remix collection at Foot Locker stores starting March 10th, 2009.

As part of an online Valentine’s Day sweepstakes, Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter Robin Thicke has partnered with the world’s largest florist and gift shop, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, to introduce the “Sweetest Love Bouquet,” inspired by his song “Sweetest Love.”

The legendary Motown Records and Universal Music Enterprises are celebrating the famed label’s 50th anniversary with year-long promotions and releases, including a series of online podcasts featuring rare and intimate conversations by many of label’s acclaimed singers, producers, and songwriters.

The first podcast episode featuring Smokey Robinson aired January, 12 2009. New episodes will debut bi-weekly, with segments including: label founder Berry Gordy; Nick Cannon; the late Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops; The New York Times columnist Frank Rich; the Temptations’ Otis Williams and the late Melvin Franklin; Stevie Wonder; Levi Stubbs and Lamont Dozier (of H-D-H fame); KCRW’s Garth Trinidad; Diana Ross; songwriters Pam Sawyer and Marilyn McLeod; hip-hop pioneer and Universal Motown artist Q-Tip; and songwriter/producer Dozier.

Other upcoming segments will include Marvin Gaye, the Jackson 5, the Commodores, film director Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill), and songwriter Diane Warren.

As part of the year-long celebration, Motown released a 10-CD box set, “Motown: The Complete No. 1’s,” this past December, which included more than 200 classic songs from 50 Motown artists, plus a 100-page photo booklet with rare images and an introduction by Smokey Robinson. 

In addition, the label just released “NOW That’s What I Call Motown!” (January 13, 2009), the latest compilation in the hugely successful “NOW That’s What I Call Music!” series.

Rap superstar Ludacris is collaborating with Monster, a leading manufacturer of high performance cables that connects audio/video components for home, car and professional use, as part of the “Theater of the Mind” video contest, allowing fans the chance to submit original videos to accompany music from Ludacris’ new album, “Theater of the Mind.” 

“Over the years I have been impressed by many of the videos that fans have created to accompany my music. So the Monster ‘Theater of the Mind’ video contest is a way for me to both reward my fans and encourage participation and creativity. I’m really looking forward to seeing the ideas that people come up with, and I look forward to personally meeting with the winner!” says Ludacris.

Ludacris and Monster founder, Noel Lee, will screen and select their favorite video submissions, which they might include in an upcoming cooperative project. The grand prize winner will be announced on January 9th at the 2009 Monster Dealer Awards in Las Vegas, where the winner will get to meet Ludacris, and receive a $5,000 Ludacris/Monster THX “Disturbing Tha Peace” 5.1 surround sound audio system.

To enter the “Theater of the Mind” video contest, log onto the contest website at www.monstermusic.com/ludacontest for complete contest rules and guidelines.