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Public Enemy Solicits Net Artists To Remix Tracks 54

Posted by CmdrTaco from the bass-how-low-can-you-go dept.
An anonymous reader wrote in to say that "Public Enemy is asking aspiring mixers/producers/musicians to mix background music for previously released accapella raps for their new album due out this fall. Courtesy of Davey D, here is the press release" I'm a huge PE fan, and while this is mostly a PR move, its a really cool contest. And while its not Open Source Music, its a really cool experiment. I'm gonna try to get CowboyNeal to scratch something up.
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Public Enemy Solicits Net Artists To Remix Tracks More

Public Enemy Solicits Net Artists To Remix Tracks

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  • REMIXES from the net ROCK!!!

    "Beck, mix of Bizness featuring AC/DC" is way better than either by them selfs... and only through net would I have ever heard "Ozzy Osbourne with Dweezil Zappa - Stayin' Alive" or "Ozzy Osbourne, DMX, Crystal Method, ODB, and Fuzzbubble - Nowhere to Run" or "Rammstein - stripped (written by Depeche Mode)."

    I had not purchased a CD for YEARS, then I heard stuff on Napster, and was at the local record store every friday asking if they had the import I wanted in yet!

    Napster brought back creativity, something that the music industry in general had destroyed 10-20 years ago!

  • I've seen some smaller artists [rubymusic.co.uk] do this before, but can Public Enemy really be considered a *big* artist anymore? They've been marginalized (by themselves, mostly) into a tiny corner of rhetoric and insequence.
  • Finally! I've finally been trolled! Gentleman, today I am a man.

    No, you ninny. You know zilch about me or the music I listen to. Now go sniff some airplane glue, you're bugging me kid.
  • Most bands do not make money from touring. Perhaps Public Enemy does. But most bands do not. Huge major label bands, maybe. *MOST* bands do not.
  • I'm not sure what 6th Street has to do with anything, since MC 900 is from Dallas. I've run into him a few times in Denton and in Dallas - last time he did anything public, he was playing trombone for a Telefones reunion. He was the best thing about that. Holy geez did they suck.

    Mark Griffin is the man. Last time I bumped into him, I made sure to ask about a new album. Don't expect anything any time soon, unfortunately. He's not even sure if he's still signed.

  • Mods! (Score:2)

    by Booker ( 6173 )
    Anyone remember the Kosmic Free Muic Foundation mod which was a remix of a Tribe Called Qwest track? It was really cool... Can't remember what it was called though. Anyway, it's a cool idea, but it's nothing terribly new... just sanctioned now, I guess. :)

  • Coincidentally, that's the number one question being asked by VA Linux stockholders these days...


    Cheers,

  • PR Stunt? Please. (Score:3)

    by Zico ( 14255 ) on Friday July 13, 2001 @07:21PM (#86035)

    More like an acknowledgment that while Public Enemy used to be mindblowingly awesome, everything that they've written themselves for the past 10 years (everything after Apocalypse '91) has been pure garbage. Can anybody even name 3 songs they've done since then? Hell, I can't even name one.

    The subtitle to this article should be, "Please write us some songs that don't suck. Please?"

    I'll probably get whacked for pointing this out, but if this is really Open Source music as you say, it just shows Open Source yet again being a dumping ground for dying entities. SGI, Corel, etc., etc., and now Public Enemy. Congrats?


    Cheers,

  • ...until you have visited the Bjork Remix web. [arktikos.com]

    Or seen a rap single with an acapella version that is there for the sole purpose of allowing DJs to work the vocals seamlessly into their live mix.

    Well, ok, this *may* still be a step forward because a website for remixes is actually being hosted by the artist themselves.. and, of course, either way it is still incredibly incredibly cool for the sole reason that, hey, this is Public Enemy.

    I was going to make some comments on what is the liscensing on reuse/redistribution of this stuff? But the faq doesn't say anything, and i haven't been able to navigate to the clickthrough liscense for the mp3 itself. So i'll leave that for someone else's post..

    Other than that my only comment is that why are they only giving out the vocal tracks? Don't they think that people would come up with something interesting if they had the music to mess with as well? That would, of course, lead to people being unduly influenced by the original music-- as they tend to be on the BRW-- but still. I've always thought instrumental remixes tended to be the most interesting ones anyway..

  • God bless Chuck D (Score:4)

    by aboyko ( 16319 ) on Friday July 13, 2001 @07:11PM (#86037)
    The guy has proven again and again that he gets it. Pulling an old track out of the vaults (this one's basically a 12 year old track, I think) doesn't cost him anything, and it might engender at least a few new, interesting tunes out of it. Plus, his voice is so distinctive you'll never miss the fact that it's a Public Enemy track, almost no matter what the backing track sounds like. A smart, talented guy and a true artist.

    My wish list for backing track producers:
    • Markus "Oval" Popp
    • Rare Essence
    • the guys from Dismemberment Plan
    • The Ruins
  • ... et cetera ...
  • I was there at Wembly, many, many years ago when Public Enemy got booed off stage while playing as support. They tried to calm the crowd by throwing freebies (cigarettes, T-shirts, albums etc.) into the crowd, but the crowd THREW THEM BACK! Exit Public Enemy, stage left, with all haste.

    In my personal opinion, they've not improved one iota. This has to be a desperate publicity stunt.

    Vik :v)
  • Call your what cynical?

  • Official Contest Rules
    Limit one entry per person or co-production team per Public Enemy "Track of the Week" contest. Contestants may not play or enter with multiple e-mail addresses, nor may contestants use any other device or artifice to play multiple times or as multiple contestants. Any contestant who attempts to play with multiple e-mail addresses, under multiple identities, or uses any other device or artifice to play multiple times, will be disqualified. Multiple contestants or co-production teams may use a single email address.
    Grand Prize.

    A One Thousand Dollars (US) Check will be made payable to each of the four (4) Grand Prize Winners selected by the Judge for the best original production work submitted for each of the four (4) Public Enemy Vocal "Track(s) of the Week". Limit one prize per person or group (using same e-mail entry address) for each "Track of the Week". Total approximate prize values of $4,000.00 US Dollars. In addition, Grand Prize winners shall be eligible for the inclusion and placement of their contest submission materials on a soon to be commercially released Public Enemy Album. The Grand Prize Winners, whose entries are selected for inclusion on the Public Enemy Album, shall be publicized and noted as album "Producers" on the future Public Enemy Album. Grand Prize Winners selected to participate in a future Public Enemy Album shall be required to further submit their original multiple track masters to Slam Jamz in compliance with all Slam Jamz technical requirements. Any contestant submissions that contain any obvious and/or known "Samples" shall not be eligible for inclusion on the album.

    Selection of Winners
    Winners will be selected by Chuck D ("Judge") whose decisions are final in all matters related to this promotion. Judge may, at his discretion, enlist public opinion regarding contest entries through use of an on-line voting system.
    Winners Notification & Verification
    Winner will be announced prior to September 14, 2001. Contestants will be notified of their winning entry by e-mail message at which time their mailing address will be confirmed. Return of any prize notification as undeliverable will result in disqualification and the selection of an alternate winner. Slam Jamz.com is not responsible for incorrect mailing information or e-mail information provided by a contestant during registration.

    Eligibility
    The competition is open to worldwide residents who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry and who have an established e-mail account as of July 12, 2001 and who have completed the registration process. Contestants may not play with multiple e-mail addresses, nor may contestants use any other device or artifice to play multiple times or as multiple contestants. Any contestant who attempts to play with multiple e-mail addresses, under multiple identities, or uses any other device or artifice to play multiple times, will be disqualified. Group contestants or co-production teams may use a single email address.
    Employees and consultants of Slam Jamz.com are not eligible to enter or receive prizes. Notwithstanding, this contest is void where prohibited by law.
    All contestant submissions must be received by Slam Jamz via digital upload, at SlamJamz.com, by and no later than August 31, 2001, or if submitted by hard copy Compact Disc (CD), than such CD shall be postmarked by sender no later than August 25, 2001 and received by August 31, 2001 at the following address:

    Slam Jamz.com Records
    8391 Beverly Blvd #352
    Los Angeles, CA 90048

  • so I take it you don't drink coke either.
  • Moby [moby.org] did a similar challenge some years ago. On an album, there was an accapella of "everytime you touch me". But the mixed song wasn't released. Moby asked people to do something with this accapella. Then, the "everytime you touch me" single was released, with Moby mixes and contributed winner mixes.
    Also, a bunch of Moby fans worked on a compilation of remixes called "Thanks" (find my "emptiness" remix there) . Moby got a piece of that compilation, enjoyed it, and proposed his help (original samples) for "Thanks 2".

    -- Pure FTP server [pureftpd.org] - Upgrade your FTP server to something simple and secure.
  • Like I could pass this up -- where the canonical baby boomer remembers where they were when JFK was shot, I remember exactly where I was when I first heard PE - it was 1987, I was driving my mom's Volvo, listening to Rap Attack on KCMU (then the Univ. of WA radio station) and the track was "You're Gonna Get Yours."

    There are only a very few artists/producers who have influenced me as much as PE/The Bomb Squad, though I've never produced hiphop, IMO this is testament to the true innovation they brought to electronic music.

    I think I'll have a lot of fun with this. It's a shame that I'll have to convert up from .mp3 to .wav or .aiff, but once the vocals are in the mix the lossy compression won't be a big deal -- plus I'm likely going to process the hell out of 'em anyhow.

    I'm also very pleased that the vocals don't sound "redone" at all, nor is there beat bleedthrough as is often very apparent on accappellas (notably Eric B. & Rakim tracks like "Microphone Fiend.")

    Now if I can just decide on a style...oh, who am I kidding? It'll be electro -- with my domain, how could I do otherwise?
  • Oh and there is no such thing as open source music!
    I know composers who have created pieces using csound [csound.org] and published the source files. What do you call that, if not open source music?

  • It's not desperation (Score:3)

    by jidar ( 83795 ) on Saturday July 14, 2001 @06:44AM (#86047)
    A lot of people here are saying that Chuck D is doing this for less than good reasons, I disagree. Public Enemy has always been force for social change and this move by them doesn't surprise me one bit. Chuck D has been a very vocal supporter of online music, including the mp3 format and Napster, as well as an enemy of the recording industry and establishment. In this day and age of "Bling Bling" and other trivial song writting in the hip hop genre it's good to see politically and social active intelligent group with something powerful to say. Even if you don't like the music, Public Enemy and Chuck D deserve your respect.
  • Fucking open source music??? section Z [sectionz.net]


    mov ax, 13h
    int 10h
  • What, no post-Apocalypse joke?

    --

  • Of course, the Evolution Control Committee [evolution-control.com] already did this on the 7" Whipped Cream Remixes. PE has a copy already in hand, or so I'm informed...
  • Yes. (and you are, oh anonymous one?). For those not in the "know", you can check out Indie-List archives (barely modified for html consumption, despite my intentions and copious spare time) at www.bloofga.org [bloofga.org].
  • The OpenMusic project of LinuxTag e.V. [linuxtag.org]

    Have fun with it... some tracks for download in OGG format. Some of them are really cool - try out "Penguin Planet" or "Open Source".

  • I think that "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" is their best. It's an angry song about breaking out of prison. It uses a haunting piano loop to convey a mood of desperation and momentum. "Cold Lampin' with Flav O'Flav" is one of the cleverest, with lots of tongue twisters and cultural allusions.

  • Lazy? (Score:3)

    by Atzanteol ( 99067 ) on Friday July 13, 2001 @07:12PM (#86054) Homepage
    I can't help but think he's just trying to get out of having to write his own music for it...

    Call my cynical.
  • I thought Swindler's Lust [publicenemy.com] had a good hook to it. And besides being a good song, it was cool that PE offered it as a free mp3 download from their official web site, at a time when everyone else was getting their panties in a bunch over that new "internet mp3 thing" that was "stealing money from the artists". Besides, it was a good enough pun on "Schindler's List" to get the Anti-Defamation League [adl.org] to denounce them. Waahh!
  • So now all of a sudden everybody can make a public enemy remix, are they desperate?
    I'm a drum 'n bass producer and I made some remixes of japanese rapmusic into something really cool, it costed me a lot of difficult phonecalls to explain what I wanted (I met these people when I was insanely drunk in a hidden club in Tokyo, 9th floor - Roppongi) After that I just got their latest cd, their manager just didn't understand English.. ok it's better than nothing, try finding it on napster!!
    I know of people using public enemy samples in their tracks ( the old school stuff like "brothers and sisters.... for the wall(or somting like that) they paid (their companies did) a lot of money to clear these flavor flave samples..
    I really dont understand what they are doing now, do they want me to download their one-liners for free and make them more popular for nothin?
    I don't think so. (already ripped clean jimi reduction - try it, if you know what I meanhendrix vocals using sonic foundries noise ).
  • PA's Tycho has been pimping MC Frontalot [emeraldrain.com] for a good reason--he rules.

    Benefit [sosickrecords.com] also gets props for doing a track like Warp to World 6-9 and for doing the PE remix for Napster last year.

    Is "Nerdcore Hiphop" a real genre yet? (Are 2 Skinnee J's considered hiphop?)


  • I went to download this "ready to remix" track only to discover it is in mp3 format. That means anyone who wants to remix in the digital domain will need to convert the mp3 to wav, only to subsequently have to re-encode the track again when the final mix is done. The resultant sound quality of that vocal track? Ass. I'll pass on that.

    maru
  • "Fight The Power" Off of Do The Right Thing soundtrack or Fear Of A Black Planet CD... Another good one is "Bring The Noise"... Off of It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back.
  • Remember what principles America was founded on - "Give me your tired, your weak, your huddled masses."

    Now, IMHO, America has grown to be the greatest nation in the world. Perhaps this will also be the fate of the Open Source Movement?
  • Bran Van 3000 [branvan3000.com] is holding this contest [acidgrandroyal.com] now... It's all online so you can listen to what others are entering and upload your own into the mix. Too bad you only have day till it's over, but hey, you can still give it a shot. They're giving you free remixing software too...

    Beastie Boys [acidgrandroyal.com] are doing the same thing, with no contest.
  • Laurent Garnier released the samples of his track "Greed" on his website and asked for remixes. He received around 250 mixes and choosed 9 or 11 of them that were released. You can purchase them on http://www.musicstack.com/item.cgi?item=5271137&fi nd=greed .
  • and the results were pretty good. See my other post.

  • eh, this is something new? (Score:3)

    by Dr. Awktagon ( 233360 ) on Friday July 13, 2001 @09:14PM (#86064) Homepage

    I remember Moby had a remix contest like 6 years ago with Everytime You Touch Me (I think). Not on the internet but he put the pieces of the track on a CD single and people sent in tapes. They all sucked. The original sucked for that matter. But I can't believe nobody else has done this yet (nobody else big at least).

    On another note, I remember seeing PE live once a while back.. I'll never forget Flav's intro: "THIS AIN'T GONNA BE THE BEST MUTHAFUCKIN SHOW YOU EVER SEEN, BUT IT'S GONNA BE THE LONGEST!"

  • Can you say parinoid, sorry but there is no jewish conspiracy. Dont try and feed slashdot your nazi crap.

    Get that out of my face! If i wanted to look at shitty idea's id open up some redhat source.
  • He Got Game Last Mass of the Cabelleros(sp?) What you Need is Jesus I I also thought that Give it Up was cool
  • dammit... /. doesn't like XHTML tags...
  • I'm suprised that no one has mentioned these guys yet. Besides being the DJ duo behind the Ninja Tune label and that funky remix of Paid In Full back in the day they're big time into open source, activists on IP issues, and they wrote their own to cut/mix video live like a traditional DJ would work a turntable (VJamm). Further, they too have done the internet remix contest deal with their tune Space Journey a few months back. If you haven't heard them before, check them out [ninjatune.net].
  • ......whatever you send to these thieves will become the "intellectual property" of some music-publishing goons.

    The commercial publishing goons will then sell the music that you created and give you a relative pittance.

    A perfect summary of the recording industry itself. Perhaps I should have said 'more open' or 'less closed'?
    s/good/less evil/

  • Its interesting to see the music industry (even a tily little faction of it.. like one band) adopting what appears to be an open source approach to music... "we write it, feel free to hack it if you want.' I personally dont care for the music, but it will be really interesting to see if any others follow suit, and what the results will be.

    Watch this Lars! sharing might be ok after all.

  • I agree.... heh... and props to dismemberment plan! jesus christ that'd kick ass.... I'd never stop messing with it.....
  • It's nice to see Chuck D still standing by the beliefs he had for leaving Def Jam [defjam.com] all that time ago. While the music may not be Open/Free it is well thought out for Indie companies to take their music to the people on-line where there menacing enemies fear the most [slashdot.org]. Other big proponents of web-served music are Prince with the NPG Music Club [npgmusicclub.com] and Ice-T [coronerrecords.com] who's last 5 (?) albums were only sold on the 'Net.

    With court battles being waged over supposed pirating I only see it as a plus for artists trying to reap the rewards of their music without being systematically raped by the RIAA and their labels.

  • The Village People?

    I mean honestly, is it the music you listen to while coding Perl or something?

  • I am unfamiliar with Public Enemy and would like to hear some of their 'best' tunes to see how I like the group. Any suggestions of preferred tracks?
  • is a remix by MC Stephen Hawking [mchawking.com].

    -d.
    --
    Slashdot: When News Breaks, We Give You The Pieces
  • That is not completely true. While that analogy may be true for mainstream rap, real rap is different. It actually has great lyrics and expresses true emotion. While I am not a fan of rap, I can always listen to my friends rap and it sounds cool.
    ---
  • to suggest that PE is dying is only showing your ignorance. i remember 2-3 years ago seeing articles in "wired" about chuck extolling the virtues of mp3 and anxiously awaiting mp4. as some one else here pointed out...in an era of *bling *bling (which i kinda like btw) we have folks like mistaChuck who consistently take risks to find new ways to express. personally, i'd suggest you check out "music in our mess age" and zero in on "Give it Up" and "Live and Undrugged" (parts 1 and 2). the second part has to be one of the most revolutionary stylistic attacks on "form" of rap presentation. years from now, we'll have forgot all the pop wonders and will be answering questions from our children about Chuck D, KRS-One, Poor Righteous Teachers, Spearhead (aka Disposable Heroes of the Hiphoprisy), Tricky and the like.
  • mistaChuck has also said that he would prefer to have downloads so he can tour more. most people seem to forget that artists really only make money from touring. the labels are the ones making money off the CD's etc. that's why they got into such hot water when their label wouldn't release their album and they just uploaded mp3's to their fansite. hats off to mistachuck. he'll always be the rhyme animal.
  • i think there's a bunch of closet vanilla ice fans who finally found a way to covertly criticize authentic hip-hop. that's what i think. call me a con sper i cist.
  • The Pete Rock Remix of "Shut 'Em Down" is by far their best track. Also, check the entire Fear of a Black Planet album (their best IMO). Stay in school.

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