Hello To All Who Reads This…

I wanted to write a quick few words for you to read explaining my mind state when recording & filming Suicide. We’ve all had moments in life that truly challenged our worth & want to be here. I learned talking about and expressing ones emotions helps to properly release those feelings, and that burden of wanting to end it all. That helped me at my weakest point in life. So I took off my shield and allowed everyone to see my Vulnerability and let you in.

Also let them know that they are not alone and to not be scared but to acknowledge that pain and to talk about your feelings cause there’s nothing wrong with you and your not a bad person. We’ve just had bad things happen to us in life. As recent as my hospital visit & Mac Miller’s passing has further informed me of the talk to someone or a friend could really help, cause we can’t do it or fight it alone. Surviving those things is the ultimate victory not checking out. So know that you’re not alone we are with you and you’re loved.

Sincerely, Mikey Mcfly

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Serving a long prison sentence in a United States prison can be very depressing and difficult for some people to handle. This has not been the case for an Ohio prisoner who turned to making music as a way for him to cope with prison life. Jimmy Canyon aka Free Guap has been serving a 24-year sentence since he was 22 years old now at the age of 34 Guap has touched the lives of other prisoners through his music.

With so much time on his hands, Guap turned to writing as a way to help him relieve stress while serving his time. He then found a glimpse of freedom when he discovered he could record himself on a prison owned keyboard. This led him to begin making music that later spread throughout the prison system making him a voice of inspiration and support to his fellow prisoners.

Guap grew up like most black males from the inner city raised in a single mother household with little presence from his birth father. Guap turned to the streets as a way of life that eventually landed him in prison. “I wasn’t a bad kid my mother did a great job with raising me. I surrounded myself with the wrong crowd that wasn’t right.” Jimmy was only 22 years old when he was sentenced to 24 years in prison for aggravated robbery and felonious assault with a weapon. There was no physical evidence connecting Jimmy to the crime only a testimony from a witness who was also involved with tampering with a member of the jury that convicted Canyon. In most cases tampering with the jury is grounds for a mistrial but in Guap’s case, the judge preceded with the trial that later convicted him for the alleged crime.

Guaps music has made a huge impact within the Ohio prison that holds up to 70,000 prisoners. ” I get a lot of love and respect in here because of my music. I have done shows here and the entire compound has come out. It feels good to know my music lifts spirits. I’m not just rapping to them, I’m here with them.” “My music is my freedom. It’s my pain, I’m still here living it. I speak on behalf of all the homies cut like me sentenced to jersey numbers. I want people to understand your circumstances do not define you. Regardless of what you are going through life is still what you make it.”

Guap has definitely turned his lemons into lemonade. He has recorded music, performed sold-out shows, and created his own brand all behind bars. “I am no different than Boosie or a Meek Mill, I have been wrongfully accused and incarcerated by a system that uses me for profit. The difference is that the world hasn’t had the chance to hear my story”

Guap has already served 11 years of his 24-year sentence. He is currently working towards raising funds from his music sales to pay for a new legal team to help him come home. With the hopes of being released one-day Guap wants to continue to pursue his music career as well as being an advocate for at-risk youth.

The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration.

Guap’s story is just another story that shines a light on the unfair criminal justice system that continues to pile in prisoners for profit. According to the Sentence Project, there are 2.2 million people in the United States prisons and jails. This is a 500% increase over the last 40 years. This increase is not due to crime rates, but changes in law and policy. The results of these statistics are the cause of overcrowding in prisons and fiscal burdens on states.

In an article by the Washington Post, The two largest for-profit prison companies in the United States – GEO and Corrections Corporation of America – and their associates have funneled more than $10 million to candidates since 1989 and have spent nearly $25 million on lobbying efforts. Meanwhile, these private companies have seen their revenue and market share soar. They now rake in a combined $3.3 billion in annual revenue

Atlanta’s own Juliano drops his new Dope Spot 2 mixtape. The 11-track project has zero features and the majority of the production is handled by RaRa, with some assistance from Skufl. Stream below via Spotify and purchase on iTunes.

KC Da Beatmonster releases his newest track “Up” from his upcoming project Believe which is slated to release 10/19. The well-versed artist and producer has produced for artists such as Migos, Future, T.I., YFN Lucci, and TK Kravitz. Check out the Brackz produced track below.

https://soundcloud.com/kc-da-beatmonster-beats/up-produced-by-brackz

DC Reverie releases his new project “Stuntin Like My Daddy” available now on all streaming platforms. The 11-track project includes features from Lil Jon, Lil Scrappy, Super Nard, and Cornbread. Stream below via Spinrilla.

STREAM/DOWNLOAD: DC Reverie – Stuntin Like My Daddy [Mixtape]

Samroc & T.J. Freeq linked up with Forgiato Blow and Shamu The Panda to bring you their new song “Talking To Me.” Check the visual and pre-order their EP Sawdust with production by DJ Cannon Banyon, Shamu The Panda, and features from Struggle Jennings and Forgiato Blow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xlZlzU6tk8

E Bleu recruits 24Hrs and Eric Bellinger for a star studded remix of his viral hit “Me Time.” Produced by K3yboarrdKid.

Singer/Songwriter Auidi Aquez (@auidimusic) releases his new single titled “My Drug.” Using drugs as a metaphor for women and how valuable women truly are, Auidi wanted to show women that they are loved and valued. The song “My Drug” exemplifies his feelings on this track and many others as Auidi gives his praise to the females.

“I really enjoyed making this project. Lately, I’ve realized how scarce music with a meaning has become. Nowadays there are so many songs that do not promote how valuable women truly are. In my eyes- love, honesty, and happiness should be more of a focus. We very rarely see work that portrays relationships in a positive light. This is why I thought it was time to show women that they are loved and valued. Through all my songs, including this one, I would like to show that I am a diverse artist driven by my passion to share my experiences and beliefs with the world.“
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx-PGhRhS4w&w=853&h=480]

Grammy award-winning producer Zaytoven is making major moves! The music guru has announced that he has joined the Creators Advisory Board for Tracklib, the world’s first and only online crate-digging and music sample clearance service.

Zaytoven joins Erick Sermon, Prince Paul, and Drumma Boy at the Swedish based company where he will actively help shape the service’s continuing evolution. He will also serve as a leading advocate for the service and its one-of-a-kind system for searching full tracks by popular artists, sampling them, and then licensing the resulting songs in only minutes.

“The Tracklib family is proud to welcome Zaytoven, an amazing producer with incredible credentials and an even more impressive passion for music, on our Creators Advisory Board,” said Pär Almqvist, co-founder and CEO of Tracklib. “We are always working to empower creators and musicians through our platform, and I believe that Zaytoven’s insights will be key to growing in that regard.”

“I am where I am today because somebody opened up their studio to me and gave me the opportunity to play around with instruments, to create,” said Zaytoven. “I’m blessed to be given the chance to pay it forward through a platform like Tracklib, which is giving aspiring musicians and producers the chance to experiment with different samples and define their sound.”

Tracklib solves a problem that has been plaguing producers, DJs, artists, and others since the rise of sampling in hip-hop and dance music over 30 years ago: how to license and pay for usages in an easy and straightforward manner. The service features a library of over 70,000 tracks and growing — including one of the most sampled songs in music history, “Impeach the President” by the Honeydrippers, and the Philly Groove Records catalog — that users can browse, download, and license for sampling with the click of a button.

For more information, visit www.tracklib.com.

Recently rapper Big40 dropped his single “Motivation” to critical acclaim in the streets of Cleveland and now the rapper drops the follow up track “Ride 4 Me” which is also the title track to his album, dropping soon on available streaming platforms and including Pt.1 & Pt.2.

Despite the fact that “40” is in high school, this Midwest upstart was forced to grow up quickly after both his mother and father passed away tragically. Their loss inspired Big40 to pursue his career in Hip-Hop and has since become an artist to watch on the Cleveland scene.

“It started off as a freestyle game type of thing with my friends at school when I was younger. Then I started going home making actual songs, finding actual beats off YouTube. It took a minute for me to find my own sound, discover myself and take the music route serious.Once that happened I fell in love with it and now going harder than I ever did,” Big40 explained.

With an uncanny focus in the studio, Big40 doesn’t waste any time when he gets in the booth.

“I waste no time when it comes to making studio sessions to get songs done for projects. But it’s a whole different feeling when you step inside the booth and get into your own zone. There is really no process for me going in the booth really. I pull up and go hard as possible. I definitely love working on project after project, it’s like chapters of my life I put out to the public. Those who consume it we gone rock out, those who don’t, they eventually will,” a confident Big40 said.

With a big high school tour coming up around Cleveland and with Big40doing things for the kids to build a partnership with schools, there’s no telling how far Big40 can go with the youth behind him.

Motivation is the focus for Big40 going forward as he drops the 103Films directed video.

“My guy 103Films from Cleveland shot the video for us. It was my 2nd time shooting with him and the first time made me call him back. The 2nd time because his work was dope,” Big40 added.

Milwaukee native Drama Boy Prez releases a new music video for his single “Runnin” off the upcoming #GottaLetDaGangstasIn compilation.