Hip Hop Artists Come Together For Negro League Benefit CD

It is so great to see positive actions and works in the hip hop industry, especially in todays day and age of debauchery and tomfoolery going on. T Pain and many others like him are raising the bar constantly for the new bootys that decide to enter the game.

Stadium Entertainment has decided to do a compilation cdwants to shepherd a new business model designed to also capture and engage music consumers. The first project under its banner is the compilation CD "True to the Game."Comprising tracks featuring such top R&B/hip-hop artists as Kanye West, T-Pain and Akon, the CD will be released Oct. 21 and distributed by Pyramid/Fontana/Universal.

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Stadium has also inked a licensing deal with T-Pain's Miami-based Nappy Boy Digital label for the project's first single, "Beam Me Up."The song, featuring T-Pain, Rick Ross and introducing Nappy Boy artist Tay Dizm, is exclusively available digitally through Nappy Boy Digital.

Released last month, the single will be reserviced Aug. 22 and go for adds after Labor Day.A percentage of the proceeds from "True to the Game" will be donated to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Stadium plans to release two more compilations and a best-of CD in its agreement with the 18-year-old museum.

The Kansas City, Mo.-based facility will use the proceeds to help fund a $15 million education and research center to be housed within the historical landmarked building where the Negro Leagues were established in 1920."This is a legal mixtape on steroids," Stadium Entertainment head Camille Barbone says of "True to the Game," which will retail for $16.98. "This record has a diverse flow with G-rated lyrics. Some of the songs were recorded especially for this project, and some had already been written. And we wanted to make it a win-win by pairing emerging acts and protégés with well-known acts."

<> Track selections also include "Make Your Way to the Dance Floor" (Ziggy Nina featuring Chingy), "Around My Way" (Young Cash featuring Akon), "The Pursuit of Happiness" (GLC featuring West), "Knock It Outa Da Park" (Yung Joc) and "Ghetto Love" (Mario).Acknowledging only that the museum will receive "a generous percentage," Negro Leagues Baseball Museum director of marketing Bob Kendrick says the Stadium affiliation is "just an extension of our existing licensing arm. It's important for cultural institutions to find nontraditional revenue sources, especially in this difficult economy. But, more important, it's an opportunity for us to give this vital history a new voice through the power of R&B and hip-hop and enlighten a new generation of youth."

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