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What’s good. So by now many of you have heard of the 16th January arrest of DJ Drama and DJ Cannon on racketeering charges, for nothing more than putting out a popular series of artist-(and generally, label-) sanctioned mixtapes. And while this event may very well have chilling effects on the industry and the way we get music, I think it’s important to not overlook some of the fundamental issues behind this event: the refusal of an industry to let its originators - artists and businesspeople of Color - to create and market our own art on our own terms.

Fortunately one of the first people to speak out against this arrest and its justifications was DJ Drama’s own sister, Aishah Shahidah Simmons, who penned an editorial that appeared, among other places, on allhiphop.com. We managed to connect a little while ago, and what resulted is the interview you are about to listen to here.

And as Aishah mentioned in the interview, one of the first, best, and easiest ways to do something about this is to let your voice be heard.

Here’s the contact information for the RIAA in case you want to reach out and touch somebody:

RIAA Contact Information*

Mitch Bainwol: Chairman and CEO of the RIAA
mbainwol@riaa.com

Cary Sherman: President of the RIAA
csherman@riaa.com

Matthew Kilgo, the person who oversaw the raid (as seen on this newscast).
mkilgo@riaa.com

or the default address: webmaster@riaa.com

RIAA Phone Lines

These phone numbers are guaranteed to work:
RIAA Headquarters - (202) 775-0101
RIAA Miami Offices - (305) 444-3114 extension 11

Again - your purchasing power pays these people’s salaries, so you have a right to voice your opinion about how your music is made available.

As always, feel free to link this site up, direct link to the mp3 of the inteview, share it, burn it, whatever - and your comments are welcome in the comments section. Also, this program is FCC clean, so program directors, feel free to re-air this on your local college/community station.

You can learn more about Aishah Simmons, including her acclaimed documentary, NO!, at her personal site, myspace.com/afrolez. Aishah, again, thanks for your time and insight.

Well, that’s enough troublemaking from me for today. Let me know how you felt this episode. And of course, the MTSN phone lines are always open - (310) 928 MTSN. Peace.

And also, shoutouts to the artists whose instrumentals contributed to this episode as well:
J Dilla - Over The Breaks
Smif N Wessun - Like A Champion
Clan Destined - The Language
Brother Ali - Original King
Kenny Keys - Untitled
Black Milk - Say Something
P.O.S. - Broken Hearts Club (damn!)

Also, please bear in mind that all comments made here by me are mine and mine alone - neither Aishah Simmons nor any member of the Aphilliates Music Group have anything to do with what I say or post on this site.

* Since the RIAA site doesn’t give out any contact information whatsoever on their site other than the webmaster email, these email addresses are the result of deduction and other trickery - so they may or may not be read. The webmaster one, however, and the phone numbers are a sure bet. Just don’t tell ‘em your favorite hip-hop podcast sent you.