Austin, TX - Two driving forces in Hip Hop, those of OGPR and AllHipHop.com, have joined together for this years SXSW festival to bring you the “Best in Texas” showcase at La Zona Rosa on Wednesday, March 17th. Headliners for the showcase are Paul Wall and Chamillionaire as they kick off their national “In Love With My Money” tour. The tour currently runs through mid-April, with more dates being added. Tour information can be found at Chamillionaire.com. Both artists have albums dropping this Summer.

The rest of the line-up for “Best In Texas” is comprised of acts representing various regions of the Lone Star State with performances by Houston’s Trae Tha Truth, who is currently pushing his single, “Inkredible ft. Lil Wayne & Rick Ross”, Chalie Boy, who hails from the Calvert/Hearne region and came to national attention via the hit single, “I Look Good” and Dallas artists Dorrough, who made a big splash with his single, “Ice Cream Paint Job” and Fat Pimp. Austin’s League of Extraordinary Gz, Kyle Lee and Question? for San Antonio and Big Sid repping San Angelo round out the night’s event. Swisha House’s Michael “5000” Watts will provide the hosting duties with DJ’s Grip and Hella Yella spinning between sets.

A staple in the industry, OGPR has provided public relations services to a host of Hip Hop artists over the past 10 years, representing names both regional and national including Chamillionaire, Paul Wall, DJ Whoo Kid, Pimp C, Slim Thug, Yo Gotti, Bobby Valentino, Trae Tha Truth and 3-6 Mafia. AllHipHop has pioneered the way that Hip Hop music and culture was represented online for the past 11 plus years and remains the go-to web destination for Hip Hop news and entertainment content. Having worked together closely over the years, it just made sense for the two companies to collaborate for one of music’s biggest annual showcase events - SXSW, and help Paul and Chamillionaire kick off their tour with a bang.

When I heard that Chamillionaire and Paul Wall were reuniting again on stage at SXSW I knew this was a marquee event that AllHipHop.com had to be a part of, this is history. AllHipHop’s Steve Raze had to say of the upcoming show.

I remember performing at my first SXSW and not really even speaking to Paul, and now in 2010 we will be touring together and sharing the same SXSW stage. Remembers Platinum, Grammy-winning artist, Chamillionaire. I’m sure our collective fans would be proud to see how far we have come and excited to see us together again live.

It feels great to have the opportunity to be back on stage with Cham. Adds Paul Wall. To start our tour together in Austin, at SXSW means a lot because that’s one of the 1st places we used to do shows coming up trying to be discovered. We started out as an opening act, now we're the headliner. Hopefully this will inspire the up and coming artists to follow in our footsteps.
Get to know all of the artists from the “Best In Texas” showcase on AllHipHop.com’s dedicated page - http://allhiphop.com/promo/sxsw/ - featuring pictures, music, videos and more.
Media is encouraged to attend this event. For information on media coverage or for interview opportunities with Chamillionaire, Paul Wall, Trae Tha Truth or Chalie Boy, kindly contact Nancy Byron, OGPR (832) 220.6071 or nancyb@ogpr.net 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD CHALIE BOY'S NEW MIXTAPE "LIFE OF AN ENTERTAINER"

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Bun B Finds New Label Home  Posted: Saturday - February 27, 2010 | Comments (0)

Southern rapper, Bun B recently announced that he is leaving Asylum Records to setup shop at Universal.   When asked why he was leaving Asylum, during his interview withXXL, Bun said that the record label had helped him greatly in the past, but due to some recent changes it was no longer the place for him.   "Asylum helped me immensely over the last four or five years in my career as far as taking, me, myself, and UGK to another level," said the underground legend.   "It's just that the system in house changed. Todd [Moskowitz] got moved up to a higher position and it doesn't give me as much of an opportunity to be hand on hand on a lot of stuff."   The rap veteran will now go through Fontana, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group.   As for the upcoming switch he anticipates that it will allow Rap-A-Lot to tap into wider markets as far as distribution and promotion are concerned.   "This new situation works better for me," Bun B said. "I work better in the small system. When you're in the big system it's really about breaking you and exposing you and I think I've been able to build a career as far as just associating myself. We're pretty good with that in-house with Rap-A-Lot. But with Universal we are gonna use their distribution legs and promotional chain, because they do have the access that we haven't been able to have before."   - By Sharniece Moore http://www.yoraps.com/news1.php?subaction=showfull&id=1267261241&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&

No More CDs, Says Sony

BY AUSTIN CARRThu Mar 4, 2010

What the hell are CDs again?

Remember those shiny circular things that could barely hold twenty songs?

Well apparently record labels are still using the prehistoric technology, but not for much longer. Sony Music delivered what some consider a knockout blow to CDs, announcingrecently that on May 1, it will cease sending promo CDs to critics and journalists, and instead only provide them with digital previews. Sony is the second-largest music company in the world, and the first major label to do digital-only promotions--hopefully it's not the last.

This is only a toe-in-the-water attempt at ending all CD production for good, but it's still a good indicator of where the industry is eventually heading.

Over the last decade, overall CD sales have plummeted 48% in the U.S., declining steadily almost every year. Meanwhile, digital sales continue to rise, growing 27% in 2008 and 8.3% in 2009. Digital downloads now represent 40% of all music purchases. What's wrong with major labels, right? The business model seems obvious: Go digital.

Unfortunately, CDs are far from finished. Why? Because digital revenue has failed to compensate for declining CD sales, and more importantly, compact-discs still account for 80% of all album purchases--the labels' bread and butter.

So it'll likely be a while before we're 100% digital, but Sony's move will definitely encourage other labels to follow suit with promos.

My question is: Who is still buying CDs for music? Does anyone still carry around a Discman?