Arts Greenhouse Event to Discuss The Business of Rap Music, March 2

PITTSBURGH—The Arts Greenhouse, a project of the Center for the Arts in Society at Carnegie Mellon University's College of Fine Arts, will sponsor a panel discussion, "We Might Blow Up, But We Won't Go Pop: The Business of Rap Music," from 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, March 2, at the Kingsley Association, 6435 Frankstown Ave., East Liberty.

The event aims to dispel myths about the recording business, educate the audience about the recording process and foster discussion about the relationship between labels and artists, the differences between major labels and independent labels, and the artistic value of Rap and Hip Hop music.

Featured speakers will include Joe Steele, Visual Poetics of Little Egypt; Marvin Witofsky, former lawyer for CBS Records (Sony Records); Paradis, Grand Architect of the X-Clan; and Adam Smith, host of PCTV's "Underground Hip Hop Video Magazine Show." Panelists will discuss their backgrounds in all aspects of the music industry and review the history and development of Hip Hop,

"Rap music is a cultural force," said Luqman Abdus-Salaam, Arts Greenhouse community coordinator. "The community just needs to know the ins and outs of how commerce interacts with this art form so we all can participate, critique and support it from the right context."

The Arts Greenhouse, an interdisciplinary project that also includes Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business, aims to recruit, record and market young performing artists from the Pittsburgh region by sponsoring workshops and making the university's resources available to these talented young musicians. The Arts Greenhouse released its first CD featuring local talent in 2003.

For more information contact Dahlia Lebovich at 412-268-5279 or by email at dahlia@andrew.cmu.edu.

Eric Sloss