Funny little video
Chea
www.JordanBrandClassic.com
Madison Square Garden • New York City • April 19, 2008
Interscope Recording Artist Wale
To Headline 2008 Jordan Brand Classic
Boyz II Men to Perform National Anthem at Madison Square Garden
NEW YORK, NY (April 15, 2008) – Jordan Brand, a division of Nike, Inc., announced today that Interscope/Allido recording artist Wale will be the headline performer during the 2008 Jordan Brand Classic. Wale, an emerging rapper from Washington, D.C. who is working with Grammy-winning producer Mark Ronson, will be releasing his debut album later this year.
The Jordan Brand Classic will also include a special performance of the National Anthem by Arista Records recording group and four-time Grammy winners Boyz II Men. Boyz II Men is considered the most successful R&B male vocal group of all time and have sold more than 60 million albums. Their collaboration with Mariah Carey on “One Sweet Day” set the record for the longest period of time a single has remained at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, breaking their previous record for both “End of the Road” and “l’ll Make Love To You.”
“The Jordan Brand Classic will once again showcase the future stars in the game of basketball and the top names in the music industry,” said Cliff Torng, Director of Marketing for Jordan Brand. “We are excited to feature two top musical acts in Wale and Boyz II Men and we expect another electric atmosphere at Madison Square Garden, the World’s Most Famous Arena.”
The 2008 Jordan Brand Classic, presented by Foot Locker and Boost Mobile, will feature the nation’s top high school senior basketball players at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, April 19. This year’s event tripleheader will begin with an International Game at 4:00 p.m. followed by the Regional Game at 6:30 p.m., and the All-American Game at 9:00 p.m., televised nationally live on ESPN2. A portion of the proceeds will once again benefit the New York City-based charity, The Children’s Aid Society.
The event is also annually attended by some of sport and entertainment’s biggest stars, who have included Michael Jordan, Spike Lee, LL Cool J, Warren Sapp, Terrell Owens, Floyd Mayweather, Kanye West, Fat Joe, Ludacris, Ahmad Rashad and Vince Carter.
The 2008 Jordan Brand All-Americans include Al-Farouq Aminu (Norcross, GA/Wake Forest), William Buford (Toledo, OH/Ohio State), Ed Davis (Richmond, VA/UNC), Demar DeRozan (Compton, CA/Southern Cal), Michael Dunigan (Chicago, IL/Oregon), Devin Ebanks (Oakdale, CT/Indiana), Tyreke Evans (Aston, PA/Undecided), Drew Gordon (San Jose, CA/UCLA), JaMychal Green (Montgomery, AL/Alabama), Jrue Holiday (N. Hollywood, CA/UCLA), Scotty Hopson (Hopkinsville, KY/Undecided), Brandon Jennings (Mouth of Wilson, VA/Arizona), Malcolm Lee (Riverside, CA/UCLA), Greg Monroe (Harvey, LA/Georgetown), B.J. Mullens (Canal Winchester, OH/Ohio State), Delvon Roe (Lakewood, OH/Michigan State), Samardo Samuels (Newark, NJ/Louisville), Iman Shumpert (Oak Park, IL/Georgia Tech), Kemba Walker (New York, NY/Connecticut), Willie Warren (North Crowley, TX/Oklahoma), Wesley Witherspoon (Lilburn, GA/Undecided) and Tony Woods (Rome, GA/Wake Forest).
Recent Jordan Brand Classic All-Americans have included NBA stars Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Amarè Stoudemire, Dwight Howard and Kevin Durant as well as current NCAA standouts Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina), Derrick Rose (Memphis), Eric Gordon (Indiana), Jerryd Bayless (Arizona) and D.J. White (Indiana).
Tickets are now on sale at all Ticketmaster locations, the Madison Square Garden box office, online at ticketmaster.com or by calling 212-307-7171. For more information, please visit the official web site, www.JordanBrandClassic.com.
Since I’ve been getting some sick Wale photoshop submissions recently, I decided to open it up for everyone. Here’s a pic of Wale that is easily manipulated. Basically I’m asking all you creative ELITASTES to take this pic and turn it into something cool. Don’t just slap a cartoon vector effect over it. Send Wale overseas with this pic. Send him to the moon. Do something cool.
Here is a PDF of the URB Cover (you can isolate the pics of Wale and Justice)
Grammy Producer of the Year Mark Ronson Partners His Allido Records With Interscope Records
Album From New Artist Wale Expected By End Of The Year
SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 11 /PRNewswire/ — Mark Ronson, Grammy
Award winner for Producer of the Year, Record of the Year and Pop Vocal
Album (the latter two for his work with Amy Winehouse) will bring his
Allido Records label to Interscope Geffen A&M Records. The joint venture
between Allido, co-owned by Ronson and Rich Kleiman, and the Interscope
Records label will be home to a wide range of artists and projects.
“One of the foundations of Interscope has been partnering with
producers who can move the needle of popular culture,” said Jimmy Iovine.
“Mark has that rare ear for great songs and artists who will have
extraordinary careers. We’re thrilled to be in business with him.” Ronson,
as an artist or producer, will not be exclusive to Allido/Interscope.
The first artist signed to Allido/Interscope is Wale (pronounced
wah-lay), a young, go-go influenced, hip-hop sensation from Washington, DC,
who has been touted in both Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly as an
artist to watch in 2008. His debut album is expected by year’s end.
“Jimmy Iovine is a dude,” explains Ronson. “The plain fact that he
started out as an engineer on Born To Run, went on to produce records for
U2 and Patti Smith, and then formed one of the most influential labels in
the history of American music encapsulates every reason why I would want to
be in business with Interscope Records. I’ve always tried to balance
discovering brilliant new talent and producing great records; and, along
with Rich Kleiman, then putting those records out through Allido Records.
Interscope is the perfect place for us to do that. What a dude.”
“Although we’ve signed individual artists to majors since our
inception, Allido has always developed organically and independently.
However, the time has arrived to formally bring the label to a place that
has the infrastructure of a major but that is still willing to think
outside the box,” explained Kleiman. “Interscope has a reputation for being
a true partner in their joint ventures and this is an invaluable
characteristic.”
“Mark and Rich have an incredible working partnership that’s resulted
in a true melding of artistic and business vision,” commented Luke Wood,
the executive at Interscope Geffen A&M who brokered the deal for the
company. “We’re looking forward to a long and fruitful relationship with
Allido.”
Ronson was nominated for three Grammys at the 50th Annual Grammy
Awards, winning for Producer of the Year (for Winehouse’s Back To Black
album, its “Rehab” and “You Know I’m No Good” tracks, Lily Allen’s
“Littlest Things,” and his own album, Version), Record of the Year
(”Rehab”) and Pop Vocal Album (Back To Black). The other nomination was for
Album of the Year (for Back To Black). An internationally renowned DJ,
Ronson has also recently worked on albums from Christina Aguilera and
Robbie Williams.
Allido Records, based in New York City, was launched in 2004 as an
independent imprint and has since released a handful of albums via
individual artist deals, including releases by Rhymefest, and Ronson
himself, and Daniel Meriweather later this year. Allido has worked on
numerous music supervision projects and released soundtracks to the
Oscar-nominated movie Half Nelson and a compilation series for the Hard
Rock Hotel Group.
