QUICK HITS

Mar 1, 2007 12:00 PM

PAY TO PLAY THE LEGAL WAY

You don't have to be a cigar-chomping, big-wig label executive shelling out bribes to pay for radio air time anymore. AirSpun.com has launched a service in which you create a 60-second ad for your music (including a song clip) and buy a slot on the station of your choice. AirSpun provides an easy template for creating ads, and it has negotiated affordable rates as low as $35 per spot for terrestrial stations in 10 major markets so far, or less for Internet radio.

MEET THE PRODUCERS

If you're a new-jack producer, get your hands on Beat Kings: Respect the Architect (Nature Sounds, 2007). Wu-Tang producer Mathematics — who scored the documentary and did the interviews — captured memories, tech/gear talk, business advice and more from 20 producers, including Just Blaze, DJ Premier, Kanye West, Marley Marl, Prince Paul and Pete Rock. The RZA came with the best cheerleading advice for aspiring producers: “Even if nobody buying your beats, don't mean nothin' 'cause when they start buying them, you're going to have a hundred to sell.”

REAL WORLD: URBAN ART

Visually illin' artist Justin Bua released his first book, The Beat of Urban Art: The Art of Justin Bua (Regan Books, 2007), which melds urban sketches and graffiti with classical-art training. The book covers Bua's turbulent youth growing up in NYC in the '70s and '80s, with illustrations that reflect raw street life and the birth of hip-hop. Brought to you by the man who developed the look of Slum Village's award-winning video “Tainted,” MTV's Lyricist Lounge Show and EA Sports video games NBA Street and NFL Street, the book is an awesome display of Bua's distinct style — distorted urban realism.

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