Gee Roberson Appointed Chairman Of Geffen Records

Another win for the culture. From Billboard:

Gee Roberson — co-CEO of Hip-Hop Since 1978, the management firm that handles Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj and others — has been named chairman of Geffen Records, a move that Billboard.Biz reported was in the works last week. He will report to Interscope Geffen A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine.

Based in New York, Roberson will oversee the creative direction and operations of Geffen Records, with a special focus on discovering and nurturing new artists. He will also be charged with expanding the reach of the label into numerous areas, including digital direct-to-consumer, merchandising, touring and management, according to a press release.

“Gee has a unique combination of talents that the music industry really needs running a record company today,” Iovine said in a statement.

Roberson began his music industry career under the tutelage of Jay-Z at Roc-A-Fella Records, where he rose to senior VP of A&R. He later moved to Atlantic Records as senior VP of A&R, heading up the label’s urban music division.

It was unclear at press time whether Roberson will continue in his role at Hip Hop since 1978.

Earl Sweatshirt’s Coral Reef Academy Friend Says "New Yorker" Story Is False

The saga continues. Two months ago Complex solved Odd Future‘s longstanding Earl Sweatshirt mystery. We confirmed the rapper’s presence at a troubled youth center called Coral Reef Academy in Samoa. A month later, the New Yorker published a story in which Kelefa Sanneh claimed to have actually corresponded with Earl himself through relayed email messages from his mother, who is also quoted (but not named) in the story.

The quotes from Sanneh’s email interview with the teen star made the once brash, defiant MC sound like a changed man. Earl said, “I’m not being held against my will,” admitted to hardly rapping anymore, and asked OF fans to stop the “Free Earl” chants. Due to the lack of a face-to-face or phone interview with the missing Odd Future member, the story was met with immediate skepticism. The New Yorker hosted a live online chat for people with additional questions, and in his first response, Sanneh even said that “there’s simply no way of knowing whether (or how much) [Earl’s] replies were influenced by his family, or his school.”

Now it appears that doubts about the authenticity of Earl’s New Yorker quotes may hold some merit. Coral Reef Academy alumni Tyler Craven, who indirectly led Complex to Earl’s initial discovery when we stumbled onto his Facebook, is back from Samoa and bent on telling people “the truth” about Earl. Last weekend the Virginia native’s page lit up with questions from OFWGKTA supporters, which led to responses from Craven about his friendship with Earl, staff conduct at the academy, and allegations about the credibility of the New Yorker quotes.

The untold truth about Earl Sweatshirt or attention-seeking antics from a scorned student?

Federal Agents Arrest Jimmy Henchman

From the New York Post:
Hip-hop talent agent James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond was arrested by DEA agents and charged today with heading a cocaine trafficking ring that operated on both the West and East coasts, authorities said.
Rosemond, who was a wanted fugitive, was hunted down by US Marshals and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration after a long investigation, officials said.
The hip-hop mogul spotted the agents at about noon as he walked out of the W Hotel in Union Square, sources said.
Once on the street, Rosemond walked north and tried to outrun the agents until he was finally arrested on 21st Street and Park Avenue South.
The US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn charged Rosemond in a complaint today with orchestrating the delivery of multiple kilos of cocaine from Los Angeles to the New York City metropolitan area.
Millions of dollars in drug proceeds went from New York back to California, the complaint charged.
Rosemond is expected to be arraigned this afternoon in Brooklyn federal court.
The DEA probe was aided by two informants who were high-ranking members of Rosemond’s organization, the feds said.
Hundreds of kilos of cocaine was shipped to New York — sometimes encased in plastic that was covered with mustard in an effort to throw off drug-sniffing dogs.

Absolut: Cee-Lo Distilled Trailer

Absolut Vodka shot a docmentary centered around Cee-Lo. The film debuts in full next Monday, but here’s the trailer.

The film provides an intimate glimpse into Cee Lo’s creative inspirations (growing up, his family, his music influences, working in the studio) as well as his thoughts on what it means to be truly exceptional in today’s music world.