Daptone's ever-expanding funk empire

With Kid Cudi and Billy Blue Fresh taking a sampling tip from 50 Cent and jacking the guitar hook from The Traitor by the Menahan Street Band to nasty-up their own joints, the Dunham label subsidiary of Daptone has decided to capitalize on the hip-hop community's obvious appreciation of the Menahan's dark vibe by releasing a rap record of their own.
But instead of collaborating with  some overpaid MC whose gonna demand that their entire posse get paid for a cloudy studio session, they've gone with some less-expensive rising stars, 3 Titans. Never heard of 'em? Well, they're actually three fresh-flowing fifth graders better known around the school yard as Khalil Jackson, Jorden Plaines and Dallas Ifill who drop some 11-year-old wisdom about the value of education on the message single College b/w The Life Of A Scholar. The tight two-sider is produced by Dunham mainman Thomas Brenneck (of Dap Kings fame) and drummer Homer Steinweiss who enhance the bumpin' grooves with righteous vibes sweetening and a solid boom-bap respectively.  Check it out...

College by 3 Titans


Life Of A Scholar by 3 Titans



At the moment, Brenneck is in the studio putting the finishing touches on the much anticipated debut album from hard-belting soul shouter Charles Bradley whose 2007 single The World (Is Going Up In Flames) is one of the highlights of last year's excellent Daptone Gold collection.

The World (Is Going Up In Flames) by Charles Bradley @ Barrymore Theatre, Madison Wisconsin Dec 3, 2008

While we're on the subject of Daptone, label boss Gabriel Roth recently sat down for an in-depth interview with Wax Poetics contributor Jeff "Chairman" Mao presented by Red Bull Music Academy.
In the lengthy but engaging chat, the producer, arranger, composer, engineer, plumber and musician breaks down the Daptone philosophy, reveals a few Bushwick recording secrets, discusses his tenuous relationship with the music biz and recalls some lessons learned the hard way.
Roth also previews new recordings from the Budos Band (at the Horseshoe April 1) and Sharon Jones (at the Sound Academy May 25) in addition to spinning some of the Dap Kings uncredited moonlighting projects. The bit about Clive Davis asking him to produce the new Rod Stewart album at the 47 minute mark is too good to miss. Incidentally, the new album from Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, I Learned The Hard Way is due from Daptone April 6.

Gabriel Roth – The Mathematics Of Soul


LINKS
http://www.daptonerecords.com/
http://dunhamrecords.com/