New Year's Nation - New Year's Eve Bash - 10 cities - 15,000 people
Travis Barker & DJ AM
DJ Girl 6 backed by Timid with Pizon

December 31, 2008
8:30 PM – 2:00 AM
@ The Lot
1041 North Formosa Avenue
West Hollywood, CA 90046

• 5-Hour Premium Open Bar
• Champagne Reception Upon Arrival
• Champagne Toast at Midnight
• Passed Hors D'Oeuvres and Food Stations
• Live Broadcast Connecting All 10 Cities

UPDATE:  Click here for Pizon's recap, pictures, and video blog.

Helping students vote early in Virginia

Virginia has 13 electoral votes at stake.  Historically a red state, it hasn't voted Democratic in a presidential election since 1964 when LBJ won all but six states following Kennedy's assassination.  It's been a staple of the Republican party.  In recent years, the expansion of the DC suburbs in northern Virginia has begun to swing the state.  Its last two governors were Democrats, one of whom is about to be elected to the Senate in convincing fashion.  Four years ago, John Kerry came within eight points of carrying the state.  Currently, Obama is leading by between four and nine points in Virginia.  Most pollsters now classify it as a "leaning" blue state.  If Obama wins all the states that are trending blue but loses all the toss-ups, he still wins the election by a considerable margin.  Therefore, McCain is now in a position where he has to win every undecided state (and he's down in most of them) and additionally turn some blue to red.  That's where I come in.

If you're a producer with beats for Pizon, or an artist who wishes to work with Pizon, please submit your music to EJ.  He screens all the music that comes in and will set everything up.  Be clear when stating the nature of the business you wish to conduct.  Serious musicians only, please.  All such requests that are sent to Pizon will be ignored.

Promoters who wish to book Pizon for shows or appearances can continue to contact Pizon directly.

Thanks!

Source: www.pizonishiphop.com

The man with the number one selling album in America right now, Nas, decided to back up his brutal yet necessary words against the demonic Fox News with proactive actions yesterday. And guess who rode with him.

In recent weeks, Fox has pushed its right wing bias farther into the depths of bigotry than ever before: throwing around terms like "lynch party" during conversation about the presumptive Democratic nominee and his wife, describing their high-5 as a "terrorist fist jab," calling her his "baby momma," and "confusing" Obama with Osama then stating they both should be assassinated, to name but a few transgressions. This type of racism is all too common on its programming, and while I support the Constitutional right to free speech, it is unacceptable for such hatred to be spewed under the guise of NEWS. Call yourself Fox Bullshit, and we're cool.

So Nas got over 600,000 signatures on his petition demanding that Fox News curbs the blatant racism. He decided to deliver it in person. I was there to support the mission and do some on the field reporting. Enjoy.

Also, check out this episode of the Colbert Report on Comedy Central which is brilliantly executed and has great footage of me at the rally with Nas (around the 4:00 mark of the ColorofChange.org Petition segment).

The official lead single for The Fam's Family Business album "Dreams Come True" was serviced to 10,000+ radio and club DJs this weekend.  Ahead of the curve was the 1 station in DC – 95.5 FM WPGC – who aired the song last weekend, prior to its widespread release.  Although the college radio station 88.1 FM WCWP in New York has been playing the song since it was leaked months ago (and Internet radio has been giving it spins), this was the track's debut on mainstream radio.  DJ Rico and DJ Heat deserve an endless amount of props for breaking the record to a commercial audience.  Now that the single has been officially released, expect it to be heard in even more places.  The anthem of the 2008 summer has been delivered.  This is a monumental moment in the careers of Pizon, EJ, and Timid.

What does this mean?

For one, it means The Fam album is coming very soon (though no release date has been set).  It also means most DJs should have the single, so start requesting it everywhere.  If you're a DJ and you need any of the 3 versions (clean, instrumental, or acapella), contact info@wondertwinz.com.  Physical product is also available.

Listen to The Fam - "Dreams Come True" (featuring Jacob)

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE

It is December 1, 2007. Pizon is on stage in front of fans, friends, and family alike at a small yet crowded club in his home borough of Queens, New York. After some of his collaborators -- which include fellow emcee Analyze and an all-female step team from the College of Mount Saint Vincent -- exit the stage, a lone-standing Pizon addresses the crowd.

"I dropped my album a year ago on La Scala Entertainment, my own label...Rawkus Records picked it up...My album re-release party is tonight.  It is also...Timid's album release party...His album's on sale tonight...And, it's also the celebration of EJ's move to New York City.  This dude drove from Texas to New York for the show, and he's not going back....You knew that.  But what you did not know is that [tonight's] also the album release party for my new project, called And Then There Was One."

The crowd is stunned. Here they are celebrating Pizon's Rawkus 50 album (released worldwide on November 27), only to learn a brand new Pizon project to be delivered via his own La Scala Entertainment -- the label that originally released the Rawkus album -- is on the way. They don't call him one of the hardest working men in Hip Hop for nothing.

THE PREMISE

Pizon is adamant that And Then There Was One is not the sequel to I Am Hip Hop, yet he suggests they go hand-in-hand. "My album was very much like a movie, right? Now imagine the credits are rolling, and all of a sudden it cuts to a new scene with the caption: 'One year later.' This project picks up where the album left off, and briefly gives you an update on the real-life situations I described in the feature presentation." Since the album was about the loss Pizon experienced in his life, the new project addresses his having to deal with facing the world alone.

"After my album came out, I was having a discussion with Analyze about where I should go with my music. As one of my biggest musical influences, he is someone whose opinion I take very seriously." At that point in time, Pizon reportedly played him "No Closure," a song he had written and recorded for himself in November 2006 but wasn't planning on releasing to the public. "'You're crazy for keeping this to yourself,' he told me. 'This is exactly the kind of music you should be putting out.'" Analyze liked the song so much that he asked to feature on it, and after leaking earlier this year, the track is now one of Pizon's most successful songs. "A good writer knows when to be complex and when not to be. Sometimes instead of saying, 'Due to the unfortunate circumstances under which I am suffering, my psychological state in the present time is less than ideal,' it's more effective to just say, 'Yo, I'm sad.' This is raw human emotion in its purest form."

That set the course for the rest of the project, and while Pizon did work with a few others, most of it was recorded in complete isolation. "I already felt isolated mentally, so I got myself an apartment 250 miles from home, stayed all by myself, and let the music flow." Pizon got to work, and did not tell a soul what he was doing. True to the spirit of the project, many of the songs feature instrospective lyrics over dark soundscapes set by brooding pianos. In the faith-questioning "Low Gravity," Pizon raps, "What goes around doesn't always come around/ And what goes up don't always hit the ground/ It's fucked up when gravity can't hold you down," second-guessing the fundamental belief in karma that permeated his debut album. "Don't Know Where To Lie" sees Pizon describing all the things he's seen, most notably people's refusal to open their eyes and see, before declaring, "I made my bed speaking the truth, now I don't know where to lie." Despite all the emotion, Pizon does get lyrical in the traditional sense of the word, flexing his technical proficiency as an emcee on songs like "Reverse the Hands," in which he fantasizes how he would live his life if given the chance to start all over. Also included are new mixes of the previously-leaked "Drunk" and "Give It Up (Remix)." The latter is particularly interesting, being a song in which Pizon chooses to express himself without words, but rather by producing new music around existing vocals.

And Then There Was One is a special digital-only release that is currently available from iTunes and other key online retailers.  With this project out of his system, Pizon's plans for 2008 include a continued push for his Rawkus album, finishing the Fam album Family Business with Timid and EJ, high profile collaborations with the likes of D12 and others, and work on his as-of-yet untitled sophomore album.

THE TRACKS

1 - Alone I Sit
2 - No Closure f/ Analyze
3 - Low Gravity f/ EJ
4 - Don't Know Where to Lie
5 - Reverse the Hands
6 - My Piano Weeps
7 - Drunk
8 - Give It Up (Remix) f/ Timid, EJ, and Aday

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:
Mike "Pizon" Scala for La Scala Entertainment

CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:
Xplosive Productions

All songs recorded, engineered, and mixed by Pizon
Mastered by Bob Nary at Suite Audio (Clinton, CT)

The "Four Letters" video shoot was incredibly stressful.  I don't want to give too much away because I don't want to ruin the video for anyone, but I will say it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.  I knew I had to do it, though.  The song is so personal, but it deals with something that affects everyone yet no one wants to talk about.  There's good reason for that, but the world does need more conversation about domestic violence and abusive relationships if we're going to do anything about it.  Every time I hear the song, my heart is broken all over again because it brings me back to that time when someone I loved was going through horrible things and I felt so helpless.  Performing it is torture -- I've blacked out on stage because it's so painful to me.  This weekend, I had to do the song hundreds of times.

On Friday, I had to perform it over and over while walking between Queens and Manhattan.  The director, Benedict Hadley, did a great job with it, but understand that part of doing that job is making sure he gets all the shots he needs.  It was freezing on that bridge.  I had no jacket on.  I had to walk it repeatedly while saying the song.

Then he strapped the camera to the hood of the BMW and had me driving over the bridge into midtown Manhattan.  That camera was big, and was staring me right in the face through the windshield.  I could hardly see the road.  He was slouched in the backseat giving me instructions like, "Make a U-turn here" while terrified pedestrians were trying not to get hit and drivers of other vehicles were honking horns and cursing me out.  While this was happening, he had the song blasting at FULL volume (don't ask me why he needed it so loud) in the car stereo, with Joanna Hughes, the actress we casted to play the girl, sobbing loudly in the back seat.  Then he had the nerve to tell me, "Don't lose focus on the song, man -- keep your energy up."  I was thinking, "Motherfucker, I'm trying not to die."  I was also trying to hold tears back, while Joanna was letting them flow.  Before the shoot, she mentioned the pressure of having to cry on command when the director tells you to.  We had a conversation about her character and she really got into the role.  By the time she had to cry, she had no problem doing it because of the gravity of the song.  She said she usually thinks sad thoughts.  This time, all she had to do was listen to the words.  Benedict was loving it.  "That's great, guys," he was saying.  I asked him if it was emotional enough, and he said, "Oh yeah," in that "Are you kidding me?" tone.  I definitely wasn't acting, and I'm not even sure how much Joanna was.

It was intense.  After we finished the car scene, Benedict, Joanna, and I just broke into uncontrollable laughter.  There was nothing funny, either.  We were just overwhelmed with emotion, and with the scene finally over, we opted to release it by being manic instead of depressed.

I went home and almost had a nervous breakdown.

My mom was out to dinner with a friend.  I called her and rushed her back.  I'm not going to front.  I needed my mother.  She said she heard how my voice sounded and got scared.  We watched some TV, and I went to sleep.  She asked me if I was going to be able to finish the rest of the shoot, and suggested that I get through it by telling myself it's just a song.  I said, "I can't do that.  It isn't just a song."

On Saturday morning, I met up with EJ and Timid and we drove to Philadelphia for the second day of shooting.  It was EJ's first time in Philly, so he immediately bought a cheesesteak.  We met up with Benedict and the crew, and followed them to the location of the next scene.  It was inside a house in the hood.  They were still prepping the set and waiting for the extras to arrive, so they had us waiting at another house across the street that was owned by Erick Sermon's cousin Andrew.  Analyze met up with us at the house.  We spent most of the day waiting, which is draining in itself.  The area was so bad that Andrew Sermon insisted on escorting us around the corner to KFC to get some food.  I'm used to metal detectors in movie theaters and Analyze is from Flatbush so he's seen things, but even we couldn't believe how grimey this was.  There was 6-inch bulletproof glass separating the cashiers from the customers, and the chicken was transferred to you in a VAULT that had a mechanism where you couldn't open the door on your side until the door on their side was closed.  EJ said, "It's pretty bad around here, huh?"  Andrew said, "Let me put it like this.  This part of Philly is called Death Row."

When Benedict finally let us into the house we'd be shooting in, he once again had the song looping over and over at full volume.  The extras were at the house, and they were telling me, "I really like the song."  I replied, "Thanks, but I don't know how many more times I could stomach it."  Benedict pulled me aside and said after conversing with the crew, they decided it'd be best if I had a few drinks before continuing.  All they had was some nasty cans of Steel Reserve and asked if I needed something stronger.  I said, "Nah, I think I can work with this."  After a few of those, I was able to get myself through the shoot.  One of the most powerful scenes in the video was being shot upstairs while I was supposed to wait downstairs.  Timid turned to me and said, "Let's go check this out," so we started making our way up the steps.  Benedict was at the top of the staircase with the camera and shouted out, "What the HELL?!  You guys totally ruined my shot."  Timid said, "What?  We're not even in front of the camera," and Ben said, "Wide angle lens, bro."  So we had to go back down without seeing how that shot came out.  I'll be seeing it for the first time with the rest of y'all.

I crashed.

I'm not sure if that is classified as a hangover or not, since it was only a few hours later.  I think I was still drunk at that time.  Whatever the case, the room started spinning a million miles an hour and I fell down.  Somehow I managed not to throw up, but I don't know if that's a good thing or not.  I was hoping Ben would still be sleeping and I'd be able to buy myself more time.  Don't ask me how, but I reached into my pocket, called him, and asked if he was up.  He said, "Of course.  I'm driving to the location right now.  You gonna be there?"  I sighed and said, "......yes."  There was no way I was driving, so Timid drove me to the scene while EJ and Joanna stayed at the hotel.  The sun wasn't even up yet, and we were filming this scene outside.  "Change into this, please," said Ben as he handed me my wardrobe for the day.  "Lose the jacket."  No sleep, still drunk or hungover, emotionally exhausted, physically defeated, spiritually crushed, in the cold with no coat before sunrise.  "Now rap."

I don't know whether it'll make its way into the video, but I was fully shedding tears this time.  Whatever energy that's required to suppress them was long gone.  Whether or not it was the director's intention, by the third day, he unquestionably succeeded in breaking me down.

I'm back in New York now.  All I had the strength to do today was write this and eat some French toast.  I'm glad it's over, and I can't wait to see it.  I always said "Four Letters" was a story that needed to be seen, and if there was only one more thing I could do in my career it would be to do a video for that song.  I did it, and I did it the right way.  There was some pressure to release "Homegirls" as my single for Rawkus, but it just wouldn't be right.  I had to do this.

Although, I must admit:  that video would have been much more fun to shoot.

"PI AND I" ARCHIVE

EPISODE 2
Original air date: November 5, 2007
--> Special appearance by Borat
--> Is Tupac the GOAT?
--> Artist Spotlight: Eligul, Cho-Sun, Jahi
VIEW THIS EPISODE NOW

EPISODE 1
Original air date: October 1, 2007
--> Introduction to show; "case of the mistaken identity"
--> Pizon freestyle
--> Artist Spotlight: Boom Jay, Timid
VIEW THIS EPISODE NOW

BONUS SHOW:
"Street Talk" (debut episode, co-hosted by Pizon)
--> On this TV show (now airing on cable in Maryland), Pizon and I-Dog hit up downtown Silver Spring, MD to see what the word on the street is, and quiz locals on their knowledge.  Find out how many don't know what the capital of their own state is, or how many stripes are on the American flag.
VIEW THIS EPISODE NOW

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ABOUT "PI AND I"

PRESS RELEASE:
http://www.hiphoppress.com/2007/10/new-hip-hop-rad.html

NEW HIP HOP RADIO/TELEVISION SHOW PREMIERES THIS WEEK
October 1, 2007

Pizon's debut full length album I Am Hip Hop (La Scala/Rawkus) is now streaming in its entirety for FREE on the My.Rawkus network.  Additionally, individual tracks may be downloaded for just 99 cents each.  Support good Hip Hop music by legally downloading -- it's the best way to show the industry there's a demand for it.

LISTEN TO THE ALBUM HERE