On two Friday nights last month, I spent a few hours on the air on Strictly Hip Hop on Morgan State's WEAA 88.9 FM, arguing with a panel about the top 20 greatest MCs of all time. For me, the discussion itself was way more entertaining and thought-provoking than the list we came up with could ever be, and I kinda wish people couldn't even see the list without listening to the process we used to arrive at it. But the final top 20 list is online now and I gotta say I think we did alright, I'm not embarrassed by it.

Labels: announcements, lists, Strictly Hip Hop

The Experience Music Project's annual EMP Pop Conference is being held in New York City for the first time this year, and I will be driving up later this month to appear on a panel and read a paper previewing research from the book I'm working on, Tough Breaks: The Story of Baltimore Club Music. My presentation is on Friday, March 23rd, but I'm going to be staying in the city the whole weekend, taking in other panels and visiting friends and hopefully meeting a lot of other music writers that I've read and/or interacted with online over the years, should be fun.

Labels: announcements, Baltimore club, Tough Breaks

Two weeks ago, I appeared on Strictly Hip Hop on Morgan State's WEAA 88.9 FM as part of a panel discussion to come up with a list of the 20 greatest MCs of all time. I tend to be a little apprehensive about these supposedly objective rankings of musicians, but the conversation turned out to be really fun and edifying, and the ten MCs we decided on for the #11 through #20 spots came out as a really solid list. So I'm looking forward to this Friday, when we reconvene for the second half of the list and hammer out a top ten. If you're in the Baltimore area, tune in between midnight and 5am, or listen online.

Labels: announcements, Internet radio, Strictly Hip Hop

Tonight I'm going to be a guest on Strictly Hip Hop for the first installment of a 2-part panel discussion about the greatest MCs of all time. If you're in the Baltimore area, tune in to 88.9 FM between midnight and 5am, or listen online.

Labels: announcements, Internet radio, lists, Strictly Hip Hop

My birthday is on January 6th, and I rarely have a big birthday party, I think largely because everyone, including myself, tends to be kind of partied out after the holidays and New Year's Eve. But I'm turning 30 this time around, so the weekend of my birthday, on Saturday, January 7th, 2012, I will be having a big old birthday bash at one of my favorite clubs in Baltimore, The Windup Space. There will be music from two great Baltimore acts, the hip hop band Soul Cannon and the instrumental duo The Water, and perhaps some more surprises.

I made a Facebook event page for the show, and have invited some folks on there, but really it's open for anyone who wants to come, whether they know me well or not at all. I just want to hang out and drink and hear some great music and be around people I love. It is a concert, so admission is $5, so you can consider paying that your birthday gift to me, if you like. But whatever, it's gonna be fun, if you're in Baltimore that night I hope you stop by. Doors open at 9pm and music starts at 10pm.

Labels: announcements, flyer, Gypsy Soul, Windup Space

This weekend the American Studies Association will be hosting the 2011 ASA conference in Baltimore on October 20-23. I've been invited to speak about Baltimore club music, and on Saturday at 10am at the Baltimore Hilton, I'll be giving a presentation with the first public airing of some of the research and interview material from the book I'm writing, Tough Breaks: The Story of Baltimore club Music.

Labels: announcements, Baltimore club, Tough Breaks

I've been invited to speak on a panel at Cornell University next month, for a conference called Social Media & Electro Diasporas: a panel on (post-)regional dance musics and their transformation through the internet on Saturday, March 12th. I'll of course be there to discuss Baltimore club music but there'll be other experts on other scenes like New Orleans and Detroit and Chicago, should be pretty interesting. I'm gonna try and make a weekend trip of it, really my first time away from the family since my son was born, and maybe spend time in NYC while I'm up in the area, if anyone wants to hang or has any recommendations on what to do or where to stay.

Labels: announcements, Baltimore club

This week I'm going to be one of the guests in a panel discussion about hip hop on the radio program Politic With Permiss on WBOL. The show is this Thursday at 5P.M., and you can tune into the station at 1010 on the AM dial in the Baltimore area, or you can stream the show online at the WBOL website.

Labels: announcements

Last year Government Names was nominated for the Mobbies, the Baltimore Sun's local blog awards. I didn't win then, but I'm nominated again this year, which I feel a little weird about since I've actually done some freelance work for the Sun in the last few months, but I checked and apparently it's OK that I'm in the running. So vote for me between now and November 12th, if you want.

Labels: announcements, Baltimore Sun, magazines/newspapers

Things are going to start moving a little slower around here on Gov't Names, which isn't necessarily something that's worthy of a post or a big announcement, but I just wanted to make a quick note of it. For 5 of the last 6 years that this site has been going, I've been pretty driven about putting about new posts pretty much every single day, with occasional hiatuses during the holidays or when I was traveling or dealing with a major life event like going on my honeymoon or having a baby. But in the year since I had my son it's definitely been harder to keep up with the grind, and as much as I love the site, I make no direct income from it and when I don't have a lot of free time it starts taking my attention away from more important work. At the same time, I love this site and what I've built over the years, and I appreciate that there are people that check this page every day and I like them being able to count on something new to see or hear here every time they stop by, and I always hate seeing good blogs die a slow death as posts get less and less frequent. So I plan on continuing things much as they've always been here, but there just might be more time between posts, or I might emphasize quality over quantity. I used to try to cover every piece of music I was sent, but I get so much now that that's pretty much impossible, and I never want Gov't Names to be one of those zombie blogs that just posts music without listening to it or offering any kind of commentary or critique ever. It's also been frustrating that people have gotten more demanding about having their stuff posted right away, and sending incessant follow-up e-mails that just make me want to delete their shit and not post at all. And people used to e-mail me event flyers I could post, now they just tag my name on Facebook on graphics that are too small to read the info and therefore not worth posting here, which means I haven't been able to keep up with event announcements like I used to. But I'm ranting, the point is posts probably won't be daily anymore, but hopefully Gov't Names still has a lot of life left in it.

Labels: announcements

The Baltimore Scene Networking and Promotion Team Presents
The 4th Annual Baltimore Crown Underground Awards on Sunday, November 7, 2010 at The 5 Seasons 830 Guilford Ave.

If you're an MC, Poet, Producer, DJ, Promoter, Manager, Club Venue Owner, Performer (of any type), Videographer, Photograher ..or if you do ANY thing in the scene.. Please Vote..
Send this form to thebaltimorescene@gmail.com (anyone.. feel free to repost form)

Baltimore Crown Underground Awards 2010 Voting Form:

Name__________________
Your role in the scene__________________
Facebook/Myspace/or Twitter address____________
**Pick the person you think should win each award and Please Give 2-3 line (or longer) Reason for each choice and email form to thebaltimorescene@gmail.com Base Answers based On November of last year to now.**** Votes without reasons/descriptions are discarded.

Hip Hop Artist of The Year:

Battle MC of the Year

Poet of the Year

Vocalist of the Year

Band of The Year

Best Underground Release

Graphic Designer of The Year

Best Baltimore Media

DJ of the Year

Studio of the Year

Producer of the Year

Photographer of the Year

Videographer of the Year

Manager of the Year

Promoter of the Year

Best New Artist

Under the Radar Award

Best Live Venue

Best Poetry Venue

Best Hip Hop Venue

*Golden Awards are awarded to Artists who ALSO make other contributions to the scene by providing services, outlets, resources, community service (Any Thing That Enhances The Scene)

Golden Mic

Golden Pen

Golden Stage Awards

Special Appreciation

Special Contribution Awards

Baltimore Legend Awards/Bmore Hall of Fame Award(Labtekwon, Ogun, Fertile Ground, Taalam Acey, D Chase, Vicious V, Mr. Wilson, Lo Key, Skarr Akbar, Comp, Brown F.I.S.H. Sonny Brown, K Swift) all already Hall of Famers.. so nominate people to join this list.. Thanks..)

Labels: 5 Seasons, announcements, flyer, The Baltimore Scene

It's been about a month since I hit my Kickstarter funding goal for my book, Tough Breaks: The Story of Baltimore Club Music, but I just wanted to post a quick reminder that the official site ToughBreaksBaltimore.com will continue to be a source of updates about the book and about club music in general. In the past few weeks posts have included thoughts on Debonair Samir's new single, a comprehensive overview of my freelance writing about Baltimore club prior to beginning work on Tough Breaks, links to video of Scottie B. at Whartscape and the Washington Post article by Chris Richards about 92Q and Baltimore Club, and other posts about events and media. I'm still kinda slow going with it so far, but eventually I hope the site will be as much a resource for Baltimore club as Gov't Names has been for Baltimore hip hop, and will be posting about new music more frequently soon, so keep checking for new posts.

Labels: 92Q, announcements, Baltimore club, Debonair Samir, Scottie B., Tough Breaks

Every September, the Baltimore City Paper releases its Best of Baltimore, and for the past few years I've been involved in picking some of the awards, including a lot of the music-related ones. And every year, after the issue comes out I hear all the complaints about who SHOULDA gotten this award or that award. While the public is never going to be invited in on the CP's decision-making process, I will urge anyone who cares to vote in the reader poll, where their opinion CAN make a difference. Be honest, and don't try to stuff the ballot box, but vote.

Labels: announcements, Baltimore City Paper

Next Friday night I'm gonna be a guest on Strictly Hip Hop on WEAA 88.9 FM as part of some kind of panel discussion. If I get more info about exactly what time between midnight and 5 a.m. I'll be on or what other guests I'll be on with, I'll add to that to this post later, but for now that's all I know. Tune in!

Labels: announcements, Strictly Hip Hop

We did it! My book, Tough Breaks: The Story of Baltimore Club Music, reached its $5,000 fundraising goal on Kickstarter.com today. For most of the last 5 weeks it wasn't even halfway to the goal, but thanks to some very generous 11th hour backers it got to where it needed to be in time. The page will still be open for pledges until about 9pm EST tomorrow (Thursday) night, and every little bit helps make the whole project bigger and better, so please feel free to still donate if you want, there's no limit on how high it can go past the initial goal. I owe a huge huge thanks to all of my 39 backers, some of whom are family and friends and peers in the music community, some of whom I don't know but really appreciate their support.

Now comes the really hard part: actually completing and releasing the book. There's a lot to still be settled on the business end, but my hope is to have it completely finished with the research and writing by the end of 2010, and have the book on sale at some point in 2011, although it's difficult at this early juncture to be any more specific than that. But I'm looking into some really great opportunities to make this all as big and as great as it can possibly be and give the project a whole life beyond the book. Just as there have been the past few weeks, there will be more print articles and radio appearances and online promotions between now and the book's release, along with events, the cool rewards some of the Kickstarter backers signed up for and all sorts of other stuff I don't want to spoil just yet but could be really really awesome. I'm gonna take a breather for a minute and just wipe my brow with relief, but the progress of this whole project will continue to be documented on ToughBreaksBaltimore.com. Thank you!!

Labels: announcements, Baltimore club, Tough Breaks

It's time for a quick update on Tough Breaks: The Story of Baltimore Club Music, the book that I announced a few weeks ago that I'm in the process of writing:

- The Tough Breaks page on the fundraising website Kickstarter.com is now less than 2 weeks away from the donation deadline. I've already gotten more than 1/3rd toward the project's $5,000.00 goal, and can't thank the people that have pledged already enough, I'm so grateful to you all. But that still leaves a long way to go and time is quickly running out. I want to quickly stress: Kickstarter pledges aren't charged unless I meet the goal, and won't be charged until the July 1st deadline, so please pledge as soon as possible if you know how much you'll be able to pledge! Every little bit counts and no amount is too small (well, there's a $5 minimum, but still), and if you look at the list of rewards I've offered on Kickstarter, there might be something cool you're willing to pledge the minimum for (just $10 gets you personally thanked in the book itself, for instance, and there are much more interesting rewards for higher amounts). I'd love for everyone to pledge as much as they can by next Thursday, June 24th, just to not wait until the last minute, and leave a week to make up any remaining difference. The Kickstarter page for my project has lots of handy links to post about Tough Breaks on your Facebook or Twitter, or post widgets like the one at the top of this post on your blog, so please spread the word even if you can't donate!

- The interview with DJ Booman and myself that aired on WYPR's Maryland Morning last week is now streaming online, and features lots of talk about the book and the history of Baltimore club music, along with some club classics handpicked by Booman and a special new track he made for the occasion.

- On the official site for the book, ToughBreaksBaltimore.com, I assembled a handy guide to The Club Beat, the monthly column about club music that I've been writing for the Baltimore City Paper's Noise blog since 2007, with links to all 26 installments, including dozens of interviews with DJs and producers in the scene both big and small, legends and up-and-comers, and year-end lists of the hottest club tracks of the past three years. This stuff won't be in Tough Breaks, but will give you a good idea of what the book will be like and who will be featured in it.

- I've also started blogging about current Baltimore club happenings on the Tough Breaks site, starting with a piece about DJ Class's recent forays into pop music like his new song with "The Situation" from Jersey Shore.

Labels: announcements, Baltimore City Paper, DJ Booman, DJ Class, Noise, Tough Breaks, WYPR

It’s been about a week since I announced Tough Breaks: The Story of Baltimore Club Music and launched the official website, and I just wanted to put together a quick update of some things going on related to the project:

- The new issue of Words.Beats.Life: The Global Journal of Hip Hop Culture has just been published, and features an article I wrote about Baltimore club music. The Washington, D.C.-based peer-reviewed academic periodical asked me a while back to contribute to its Sex Issue, and the piece I wrote is titled “Sex In This Club: Gender And Sexuality in Baltimore Club Music.” It touches on the sexually explicit nature of Baltimore club lyrics, gender dynamics in the club community, and the role that female and gay musicians have played in the scene over the years, focusing on the late Khia “Club Queen K-Swift” Edgerton and the late Anthony “Miss Tony” Boston. The piece also features previously unpublished quotes from my personal interview archive from people like Ron “Dukeyman” Hall, 2 Hyped Brothers & A Dog producer Al “T” McLaran, and Club Queen Entertainment staffers Buck Jones, Lady Pitbull and Crystal Tennessee. Although the article, like my other freelance works, won’t appear in Tough Breaks, it can be considered something of a preview of one of the topics that will be explored further in the book. More information on Words. Beats. Life and how to pick up a copy of the new issue is available at http://www.wblinc.org.

- Baltimore club veteran DJ Booman and I recently taped a segment as guests of Baltimore public radio station WYPR 88.1FM, which will air next Monday, June 7th on Maryland Morning. In the 10-15 minute segment, WYPR’s Tom Hall interviews Booman and I about the early days of Baltimore club music and we get a bit into the history and the culture of the scene and the music, and Booman produced a special track for the occasion that should be fun for everyone to hear. The piece will air between 9:30 and 10am on Monday morning, but should also be available to stream on the WYPR site, http://www.wypr.org.

- The page for Tough Breaks on fundraising website Kickstarter.com has gotten off to a great start since its launch last week. In its first 7 days, the project has raised over $1,400 towards its $5,000 goal. There's almost a month between now and the July 1st deadline, but there's a lot still left to raise, and I hope anyone who hasn't already is considering even a small pledge, because if we don't reach the goal by then, none of the donations go through.

- The Tough Breaks announcement has been posted on a number of sites and blogs, including Unruly Records, Baltimore-Club.com, My Baltimore Diary and D.C. Mumbo Sauce, in addition to countless Twitter and Facebook postings. Thank you to everyone, please keep spreading the word!

Labels: announcements, Baltimore club, Buck Jones, Dukeyman, K-Swift, My Baltimore Diary, Tough Breaks, Unruly Records, WYPR

Today I officially announced the book I am working on, Tough Breaks: The Story of Baltimore Club Music, which is a project I have been thinking about and working toward for several years now. The official site for the book is ToughBreaksBaltimore.com, but I've also launched a page on the fundraising website Kickstarter.com with the goal of raising $5,000 by July 1st, and also recently began began posting on Twitter under @alshipley to promote the project. Many, many updates will follow on this blog, especially as the Kickstarter deadline gets closer, but for now I'll just attach the press release and ask you to spread the word!

Tough Breaks: The Story Of Batimore Club Music press release
Baltimore, Maryland, May 27th, 2010 ---

This week music critic and journalist Al Shipley is announcing his first book, Tough Breaks: The Story of Baltimore Club Music, and the launch of its companion website, ToughBreaksBaltimore.com. Over the last two decades, Baltimore club music has evolved from a nebulous, eccentric fusion of house music and hip hop, locally popular but virutally unheard of outside Maryland, to one of the mid-Atlantic city’s greatest cultural exports.

Over the past 5 years, the press coverage of Baltimore club music has increased exponentially, and Shipley has played an integral role in that progress, as a contributing writer for the Baltimore City Paper and the proprieter of the Baltimore music blog Government Names. And with the regular column The Club Beat, he’s interviewed dozens of Baltimore club producers and DJs, and broken major stories in the genre’s recent history, such as the tragic 2008 death of Khia “Club Queen K-Swift” Edgerton and the major label signing of club veteran DJ Class.

Despite a growing fanbase and media interest in Baltimore club music, much of its 20-year evolution has gone undocumented, relegated to underground clubs and white label vinyl 12”s far outside the public eye, even as thousands of Baltimoreans danced to its frantic 130 BPM groove. As the first full-length book to delve into that history, Tough Breaks aims to be a complete and definitive document of Baltimore club music, an oral history in the words of its participants with timelines, photos, discographies and thorough critical examinations of the music and culture.

Over the next few months, as Al Shipley conducts interviews and research, the book’s progress will be documented on the official website, ToughBreaksBaltimore.com, as well as his Twitter (Twitter.com/AlShipley). And throughout the month of June, Shipley will be raising $5,000 to finance the writing and publication of Tough Breaks with the fundraising website Kickstarter.com, as well as promoting the project via various print and online outlets, and a series of segments on Baltimore public radio station 88.1 WYPR.

Labels: announcements, Baltimore club

Merry Christmas, Gov't Names is going on holiday break. My top albums and mixtapes of 2009 list will go up next week, and then regular posting will resume in January.

Labels: announcements, flyer, G.E.M./Tha Plague, Height, Sonar

Sonny Gunnz - "Free As A Bird (mp3)
Today marks one year since the death of Baltimore rapper Sonny Gunnz, see SonnyGunnz.com or my review of the tribute concert in January for more info.

Labels: announcements, mp3, Sonny Gunnz