Dr.Dre news

[.:Hercy Buggz:.]

Hip-hop mastermind Dr. Dre reportedly is thisclose to finalizing a big-time deal with Atlantic Records. The beat maker and the record label have been in talks for five months regarding an amicable partnership with promoting Dre's latest rap discovery, Governor. Reps for Atlantic and Dr. Dre had no comment on the matter.

[Don Seer]

I had heard something else along those lines, but with universal, not sure if it was for that guy or another.

seems aftermath are branching out to play distribution with interscope against other labels. i'm hoping this is the result of dissatisfaction with the shady things interscope have done to dre's artists.. it seems they are responsible for hittman and rakim for sure...

[PLANT]

Who is Governor  

[.:Hercy Buggz:.]

hiphop hooray

[DnC]

FROM the heart of Richmond, Virginia comes Governor, an enthralling new artist with a remarkable sound that will propel him to the forefront of modern urban music. His Atlantic Records debut, "THE TRUTH," sees this extraordinary vocalist and provocative lyricist blending the organic realism of classic soul with a variety of contemporary textures. Inspired by such artists as Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, "THE TRUTH" is a powerful and challenging introduction to a truly original talent.
"I wanted to make a soul record for 2003," the 30-year-old singer/songwriter says. "I wanted live instrumentation, the real elements of music, and I wanted to combine them with a hip-hop feel. I wanted to take it all back to the essence of real music. It's an urgency and an awareness that I just want to get across to everybody."

A native of Charles City County, Virginia - "It's real small," he says. "There were about 400 people in my whole graduating class." - Governor had what he remembers as a quiet childhood. His mother passed away when he was three, and though his father, a deacon in the local church, remarried, Governor never quite bonded with his new stepmother.

"Some people adapt to certain changes, like maternal changes," he recalls, "and some people don't. I didn't."

He developed an early interest in music, singing in the church choir as well as playing drums and saxophone in his high school marching band. While he was a fan of old school hip-hop artists such as Run-DMC and Whodini, the young Governor's true passion was for the sophisticated and sensual soul music of the '60s and '70s.

"My Pops had a bunch of records," he recalls. "People like Marvin and Aretha. I kind of lost touch with that whole middle development of hip-hop, because I was so much into soul music."

After graduating from high school in 1990, Governor moved out of his family's home with no place to sleep but the back seat of his car. He decided to enlist in the United States Navy and almost immediately found himself serving in Desert Storm.

"It was pretty amazing," Governor says, "two months out of high school, going straight into war. As soon as I finished bootcamp, they flew us straight to Rota, Spain and from there they heliported us to Abu Dhabi."

Upon returning to the States, Governor settled in Virginia Beach and decided to go full steam ahead into a career in music.

"Being in the military taught me a couple of things which have proved useful in music," he says. "Patience and discipline. I learned how to wait my turn."

Throughout the course of the 1990s, Governor slowly but surely found his artistic voice. He released a number of recordings, including the regional hit single, "Feel The Flow" (which spent more than 10 weeks at #1 on Richmond's Power 92 FM), and 2000's independently released debut album, "ANOTHER STATE OF MIND."

"People called me 'VA's best-kept secret,'" Governor laughs. "I always wrote and I always made music, but it was on a street level, an underground thing. It was 11 years of struggle, but I kept hustling, kept trying to connect."

In 2001, Governor headed north for New York City, where he worked as an in- house songwriter for the influential production team, Trackmasters. The following year, he made vocal appearances on such collections as Wyclef Jean's "MASQUERADE" and 50 Cent & G-Unit's "GOD'S PLAN."

"I met 50 when I worked with Trackmasters," Governor says. "We have a real good relationship and he introduced me to my managers. After that, everything started falling into place."

Governor signed with Atlantic Records in 2002 and immediately set to work on "THE TRUTH." He spent the fall and winter recording in New York and Los Angeles, working in tandem with a variety of today's most electrifying studio artists, including Wyclef Jean, Trackmasters (Jay-Z, Nas, LL Cool J), Jazze Pha (Nappy Roots, Ludacris, Big Tymers), and DJ Quik (2Pac, Talib Kweli), as well as newcomers like Eddie Scorsese.

"It's a pretty cool group of guys," Governor says. "They all had a spiritual connection to my vision. As the artist, you have to know what style of music you want, then sift out the producers that give you that feel. A lot of people these days, they don't know what they want, they just want a track from a hot producer like the Neptunes. I didn't want a Neptunes track - that doesn't fit me."

Astonishing in its self-assuredness and imagination, "THE TRUTH" recalls such ambitious pop-soul landmarks as "WHAT'S GOING ON" and "INNERVISIONS."

"I called the record 'THE TRUTH' because today's society is so crazy, there's no need to lie," Governor says. "You never know if you're going to be here tomorrow, so you have to be real with yourself. You have to be the ultimate realist about things. That's me. I tried to pick different situations - from concepts and from experience - that I think everybody goes through. I try to grab both sexes by writing from a perspective of a man's experience, but in a way that a woman can understand and appreciate."

The album includes a number of songs which are compelling and perceptive in their examination of contemporary urban life. "Blood Sweat and Tears" - produced by Trackmasters - is Governor's own story, telling of the many trials and tribulations the artist has gone through up to this point in his life. The poignant "Hope" - produced by Jazze Pha - is about "the experience of a young man who has a daughter and then tries to decide whether he should stay with his family, knowing that he has other interests, other places he wants to see. He wants to find himself, but he doesn't want to mess up by leaving. It's the mixed emotions that a lot of people feel - 'What do I do?' - which is not an easy decision."

Among the highlights of "THE TRUTH" is the dramatic "My Life," featuring Governor's good friend 50 Cent. The track, which incorporates the rapper's potent street edge into the lush soul vibe, is about the violent death of an acquaintance of Governor's. "She was a cool chick," he remembers. "She was a street girl, she would hustle, she would get her grind on. We were cool together - it was a Bonnie & Clyde situation. I was in the studio when I was told she had gotten killed, and I just sat down and started writing. I wanted to tell the story, but I also wanted there to be some positivity - that's why the lyric is 'Now that she's gone/My world's a sad song/But I just keep singing/Because the music plays on...'"

With "THE TRUTH" set to drop in summer 2003, Governor hopes that his unique sound and vision will affect some change in a musical culture that he condemns as excessively materialistic and derivative.

"People are so caught up in bullshit right now," he says. "Most of us, especially in our culture, we're a society full of consumers. We're all followers. Well, I'm tired of seeing jerseys! It's dumb shit! Everybody wants to be like somebody else! That irritates me, to see how people can get locked down into the mode of doing what they see someone else doing. There's no individuality, there's no creativity. How many times in a song can you talk about your rims? How many times can you talk about something that has no relevance to your life?

"That's not how our music started," Governor concludes. "Our music started from a soulful place, with a touch of spirituality to it, and that's so far from where we are now. I want to show people what our music can be - deep and powerful."

January 2003

[.:Hercy Buggz:.]

damn Dr.Dre better not fuck this one up

[Don Jacob]

you should replace dre's name with Jimmy Iovine.......



not to get off subject here but Jimmy Iovine is a punk bitch now......back in the day he was the next Clive Davis  straight up he was the man. Recently though he's letting the money control his vision.


aside from the rakim bs.


limp bizkit.....probably the pussiest band around . went into the studio and created some dope shit (considering). then they created some new shit they were just playing around with (some crap) and showed jimmy and jimmy wanted the whole album to sound like this............shit like that is making me lose respect for this guy. lord knows what he's trying to do with dre and em here....

[Mudpole]

Jimmy eye's have been dyed the colour of green money.
Now he thinks what a hip hop album should be like and
if he doesn't like it he drops you. That's what fucked
up Aftermath

[KavorkianPorkian]

The Governer Is That Dude Who Worked With Pac & The Luniz Way Back When.  Is He?  If I'm Not Mistaking I Think He Wrote "Cause I Had 2"