@EdSheeran Performs At The Artists Den

At the historic meeting house of the New York Society for Ethical Culture on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Ed Sheeran needed little more than his voice and a guitar to whip a crowd of 700 fervent fans into a frenzy of mass sing-a-longs or hush them into enraptured silence. The rising British star bounded effortlessly from the hip-hop infused pop of “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” the latest single from his acclaimed debut album +, to the traditional folk of the Irish traditional “The Parting Glass” and Grammy-nominated hit single, “The A Team.” – TAD

Fan Throws Ice At Lil’ Wayne During Concert In New Jersey; Weezy Was Not Pleased

Courtesy of LilWayneHQ, where you can also check out some revealing dancers during his performance:

Above, you can watch some footage of Lil Wayne talking to the crowd at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey last night for a stop on his America’s Most Wanted music festival.

During Weezy’s speech, someone in the audience throws some ice at him to which Wayne then responded with: “Don’t throw no ice at me homie, because listen, not none of these security, none of these niggas around me, it will be me that fucks you up!”

Birdman Speaks On Reebok & Mountain Dew Dropping Rick Ross & Lil’ Wayne Over Lyrics

From MTV:

The #1 Stunna feels so strongly about his current artists and their music that on Wednesday’s episode of “RapFix Live,” he revealed he’d considered a boycott against Mountain Dew and Reebok, when the companies dropped Wayne and Rick Ross, respectively, over controversial lyrics. (While Ross is not signed to Cash Money, he and Birdman are close friends and frequent collaborators.)

“Really, we could’ve reversed that [termination of endorsement deals] because my whole take was, ‘Since they wanna clown, I can clown and group all my people up.’ But on the respect I have for Swizz [Beatz, a Reebok partner], that’s why I didn’t clown,” Birdman told Sway. “I could’ve put all my people together and say, ‘Now my culture and my community, we’re not supportin’ y’all.’ ”

Back in April, Reebok broke off their deal with Rick Ross after he spit some lyrics on Rocko’s “U.O.E.N.O.” that conjured up images of rape for some listeners. The sneaker deal was one that hip-hop producer and Cash Money friend Swizz had helped to broker. PepsiCo.-backed Mountain Dew also severed ties with Wayne after outcry over his sexual reference to Civil Rights icon Emmett Till on Future’s “Karate Chop.”

“Does it make you be more conscious of what you say? It shouldn’t because we should be able to say what we want, man,” he reasoned. “We look at it different, but apology-wise? I don’t know about all that. It’s not nothing we’re intentionally trying to do — harm or hurt — we’re just considering ourselves. When we’re in the lab, we’re just doin’ music, not conscious of what I say might affect you or a deal.

Birdman says he wouldn’t apologize for any of his lyrics and the next time one of his artists come under fire from a corporate entity, he’s ready to flex his muscle. “Next time, we’re gonna stand up and we’re gonna shut that sh– down,” he threatened.

Nick Catchdubs Feat. IAMSU! & Jay Ant – Bizness (Video)

The single is out now on iTunes.

Fool’s Gold co-founder Nick Catchdubs has a party pedigree that’s unmatched, rocking clubs, festivals, radio and mixtapes for years, all while holding down one of the world’s most influential independent record labels. Nick’s debut original release, “Bizness,” is a collaboration with trailblazing Bay Area MCs IAMSU! and Jay Ant that synthesizes a lifetime of DJ know-how into two and a half minutes of foul-mouthed robot funk. Uptempo, laser-fueled remixes from Astronomar and ETC!ETC! crank the rave knob to 11, and the whole thing sets the stage for Nick’s upcoming album Smoke Machine, a collection of even more surprise collaborations, unconventional club bangers, and joyously bugged-out vibes.