Free DJ Drama and DJ Canon!!!

Excerpt from: "With Arrest of DJ Drama, the Law Takes Aim at Mixtapes," By Kelefa Sanneh, NY Times 1/18/07

. . .On Tuesday night he [Drama] was arrested with Don Cannon, a protégé. The police, working with the Recording Industry Association of America, raided his office, at 147 Walker Street in Atlanta. The association makes no distinction between counterfeit CDs and unlicensed compilations like those that DJ Drama is known for. So the police confiscated 81,000 discs, four vehicles, recording gear, and “other assets that are proceeds of a pattern of illegal activity,” said Chief Jeffrey C. Baker, from the Morrow, Ga., police department, which participated in the raid.DJ Drama (whose real name is Tyree Simmons) and Mr. Cannon were each charged with a felony violation of Georgia’s Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization law(known as RICO) and held on $100,000 bond. The compilations produced by DJ Drama and his protégés are known as mixtapes, though they appear on CDs, not cassettes. Mixtapes have become a vital part of the hip-hop world. They are often the only way for listeners to keep up with a genre that moves too quickly to be captured on albums. On a mixtape you can hear unreleased remixes, sneak previews from coming CDs, casual freestyle rhymes, never-to-be-released goofs. (For full article, click here)

I'm not about to get into the politics of all this, cause I have a lot to say. But I will say this. Why when they see a brother rollin', they start hatin'? Always patrolin'. Always trying to catch us ridin' dirty.

I'm sure Drama isn't as broke as most (dude got his 4 cars jacked by the police). But is he cakin' off the music industry the like most record label Execs? No. So if homeboy is trying to pay his bills or put some dubs on his ride by selling a few of his own mixtapes (and don't be fooled, it may look easy, but it's an art to make a proper mix) out of the trunk of his car. . .why give him a hard time? I mean, dude made T.I and Lil Wayne household names and the Execs at Atlantic aren't bitching about that. In fact they're probably counting that bank right now. So why not let Drama sell his shit for $10 bucks? Besides, not everyone can afford to drop $20 at Best Buy for the new T.I. joint. I see Drama as a equalizer. He's bring hood music back to the hood. Shit, we should give him a Noble Prize for Social Justice in the Music Industry. . .he's a modern day Robin Hood. Can't a brother live?

So let us start the "Free DJ Drama and DJ Canon" campaign right here. To be honest. . .I don't even like their mixtapes. But it's about the fundamentals. If DJ's don't have a right to make a mixtape and hit a few people off with it. . .then what rights do we have?