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Owl City's Adam Young is a busy, busy man. Since signing with Universal Republic in 2009, Young has released two records under the moniker Owl City, as well as a full length album from one of his various side projects, Sky Sailing. 2012 shows no signs of Young slowing down, releasing his third full length on Universal Republic just a shy 11 months after his sophomore release "All Things Brights And Beautiful". But, since that album isn't dropping until the late summer, Young decided to give fans something to tide them over. This upcoming tuesday Owl City will drop the "Shooting Star" E.P. complete with 4 songs.

The fun doesn't stop there though, as the band will be taking to the road both nationally and internationally in support. You can find a list of dates below, and catch the E.P. in stores and on iTunes this upcoming Tuesday.

The headline says it all. Louisana rapper Lil Boosie has been found not guilty of first degree murder in the shooting death of Terry Boyd. In a very controversial case where the prosecution cited Boosie's lyrics, the jury deliberated for 90-minutes before coming back with a not guilty ruling.

While Boosie escaped the possibility of life in prision, he is still serving an 8-year sentence from prior drug charges and so the free Boosie movement continues.

Thanks to Prefix for the news

With all the internet buzz about 2 Chainz in the last two weeks, people were starting to wonder what was happening. Kanye West broke the silence today, announcing that his latest acquisition to G.O.O.D Music was none other than Mr. Chainz himself. Complex broke the news.

"Kanye West took to Twitter tonight to announce the signing of 2 Chainz to G.O.O.D. Music. First, 2 Chainz hopped on "Mercy," and then 'Ye held him down on a recent trip to 106 & Park (see picture above). And now, it looks like he's officially G.O.O.D. Someone's guest appearance price just skyrocketed, haha."

The OG @Fiend aka International Jones dropped his new song Super Freak exclusively on FLUX9. Listen to the jet-life recording artist spit about a freaky chick over this horn-heavy beat below:

http://flux9ine.com/music/140/fiend/super-freak/

Recording artist K.G. Drama dropped some nice visuals with Loski Jane for his single Push It To the Limit. The song is produced by Krad Dnim and video is directed by Tony Fair.

Watch the video after the jump.

I had the pleasure of kickin' it with these dudes last weekend at @Hystory's mixtape release party. I must admit I hadn't listened to them prior to their live performance that night and their set instantly won me over with their intense, rapid flows.

While hangin' backstage, Whiteout showed me a preview of a new video they had planned to drop in a few days thereafter. Now it's time for you to check the video out for yourself, here's Starz Come Out:

Earlier this week, Wiz Khalifa released his first single from ONIFC, his sophomore record due to be released in August. Work Hard Play Hard was produced by Benny Bianco and Stargate, who also produced Wiz's first hit song Black and Yellow. I think Wiz has found a good mix of radio-friendly (that hook is infectious and beat will make you move) while still remaining himself in the lyrics.

Take a listen below.

New Jersey-based emcee @TheILLZ has released the final episode in his Let It Fall series, "Faded". Directed by Kristopher Rey-Talley, the final episode follows The ILLZ as he purchases a gun off the streets to take justice into his own hands. He stalks and follows his girlfriend's murderer to a drug deal and gets revenge. Was it worth it?

Last night, FLUX9-affiliated hip hop artist Bo Dean (@bovember24th) dropped visuals for his song Fly Hiigh, from Bovember 2 Music For The Soul. The video stars Bo and fellow #StepOrGetLeft members @Hystory, @Lz, Kim Montgomery & Jenisis Wilson as they portray the importance of staying positive even thru the bad times. Props to Journii Walker for killing the hook!

Bo wasn't lying when he rapped "Real life, real raps what I'm giving to y'all".

St. Louis rapper @Hystory and his #StepOrGetLeft team have been hard at work the last few months. His latest installment "Bumpin In My Ride" keeps up with the pace, and you get to see @Hystory and his crew do what they do best. Make sure you download his sophmore mixtape "Papers N Pipes: Puerto Rico Dreamin" dropping exclusively on FLUX9 April 20th!

Catch the video after the jump!

Sidenote: If you live in St. Louis, come to the show April 28th at 2720 Cherokee!

Tonight, Bo Dean (@bovember24th) premiered his documentary series titled BOcumentary: The Road To The Mashup. The web video series, produced in part by #flux9films, will follow Bo on his journey as he creates his next mixtape, The Mashup. The first episode gives us a glimpse into the concept behind The Mashup, shows Bo meeting with producer Urban Legendz, previews his upcoming music video for Fly Hiigh and shows how Bo gets down on stage with his Step Or Get Left teammates @hystory and @lz!

Watch the first episode after the jump!

Collapse Under The Empire is an instrumental / post-rock duo from Hamburg / Germany. They formed 2007, when Chris Burda and Martin Grimm got together to develop their own music. Collapse Under The Empire is a 2-piece post-rock band with an electronic feel which makes the band unique, but equally inspiring and other said bands of their genre. Fusing keyboards, synthesizers, guitars, and drums to form a soul searching ambience that speaks volumes to the world through music. The thing I love about intrumental music is that anyone in the world can listen and enjoy it. You dont have to understand a certain language for the song to speak to you, and the music speaks to everyone in their own personal and different way.

Their latest album "Shoulders & Giants" which was released in late 2011 was their 3rd full length album released by the band. The album, and their previous albums, inspire me as a musician and a person in general and gave me the idea to reach out to them for more information about C.U.T.E and learn more about what it takes to become an internationally touring band and just to have the privelege of talking to an amazing band. I sent this interview off and this is the result. I hope their words and music inspire you all as much as they have for me. If you like instrumental post-rock/ ambient sounding music as much as I do, then im sure that you will. Thanks and enjoy.

1. Tell us a little about C.U.T.E and how you formed and when.

Martin:

It was more by chance that we met each other. Both of us had moved to Hamburg because of new jobs, and because of the distance, we had to leave our bands. In order not to be completely “bandless”, we founded Collapse Under The Empire, and from that point on, we’ve been refining our sound.

Chris:

We both played in many different bands before Collapse Under The Empire. Some were rougher, some were softer, but we never really left the path toward rock. We still remember our beginnings well- the hours-long rehearsals in small, dark cellars or the first live performance in front of an audience of three. In any case, it was a great time, the kind of thing every musician should have to go through, a time in which you experiment a lot, learn from things, and above all, rock out.

Upcoming St. Louis rapper TyLan has a unique style and delivery, and quickly stands out in the scene. We had a chance to sit down with him and discuss who he is and where he's from, and what he has coming up in 2012.

S: First off tell us a little bit about yourself and where you're from?

-T: Well I was born here in St. Louis, but I've also spent time in Thailand, when I was a child. When in Thailand my Grandmother taught me how to speak Thai fluently. [not as fluent as I'd like to be any more though] So you can probably figure out where the name came from. I figured if people can call themselves "China" and "Asia", why not take on "Thailand", since that's half my heritage. So, I just shortened the name to TyLan, you know how it is in #HipHop, nothing ever gets spelled correctly anyway [laughs].

S: Your mixtape Never Silent dropped awhile back if I'm not mistaken. How's the response been so far?

-T: I dropped Never Silent back in January of last year. I released it the night that I opened up for Afroman, and man I had a blast at that show! Afroman packed the place up with his loyal underground following, so that was cool. I performed quite a few songs off Never Silent that went over extremely well with the crowd. It surprised me that I had people I didn't even know who were singing my hooks flawlessly along with me. The title speaks for itself, because my music speaks for itself, it never shuts up, it always delivers quality.

St. Louis rapper @AGAME has taken the local [and national] #HipHop game by storm in the last year since dropping his debut mixtape "Hottest In Tha City". From doing sold out shows with national acts, to acquiring more than 40,000 views on YouTube, the kid has been working non stop. Yesterday he dropped some more heat, the highly anticipated follow up to Hottest In Tha City, Hottest In Tha City 2.

"2fresh4yall and Tha Frat present: DJ Kouture x A-Game =Hottest in Tha City 2:: Winning “Freshman Of The Year” and nominated for “Mixtape of the Year” in St. Louis at the SLUM Fest Hip-Hop Awards, Agame has had the pleasure of opening for J.Cole and Norega. Agame has performed in California venues such as The Roxy and The Key Club. He has worked with J-Hawk (the producer of “Tha Cat Daddy”) and joined the major artist firm Sesac."

You can listen to his tape right here on FLUX9, check it out at the link below, and tell him what you think!

Listen To The Tape Here: http://flux9ine.com/music/125/agame/hottest-in-tha-city-2/

Adam Young has been quite the busy man since signing with Universal Republic back in 2009. He's released two full length albums, and an ep under Sky Sailing. His work ethic doesn't seem to be stopping at all, because he just announced to fans that he is done recording his third full length album, which is yet to be titled.

Adam took to his blog to let fans know that he's spent the last four months in Los Angeles, New York, and Minnesota writing, producing, recording, engineering, mixing & mastering songs for the untitled release.

"It’s crazy how different this record is than anything I’ve ever done before but I’m quite proud of the shape its taken thus far and I can’t wait to share it with the world. The biggest departure is perhaps the endless amount of writing and rewriting I’ve done over the past six months of work, both on the road and off. Like anybody doing anything in life, your tastes and interests change and refine over time and I’ve found myself striving to do a better job in perfecting my craft than I ever have before. In the past, I’ve been guilty of devoting and committing to the first thing that popped into my mind, and for better or worse, risking entire concepts or notions going way over the heads of casual listeners because of a neglect to experiment with other colors and brushstrokes in the humble pursuit of creating richer art."

Unfortunately we won't get a street date until August, but it's nice to know that we can already start getting excited.

#HipHop star Wiz Khalifa shut the internet down last Tuesday when he dropped his highly anticipated mixtape "Taylor Allderdice". Mixtape site DatPiff crashed almost immediately after the tape was available, which as you can imagine, upset fans. Within an hour the tape was on several mirror sites, which also had trouble staying up. Within the first twenty four hours, the tape had been downloaded over 200,000 times, and continued to grow and grow all the way past 800,000 in just seven days. As of right now, the tape sits at 859,383 downloads.

Many props to Young Khalifa on this enormous accomplishment. It certainly helps when you have the material to back the hype, and in this case Khalifa definitely delivered. The tape is an instant classic, and has been on repeat since I grabbed it last Tuesday [it only took me two hours of refreshing datpiff.com]. 2012 is looking to be a big year for Taylor Gang, we can't wait.

St. Louis rapper #Hystory has a new series that lets fans get a little glimpse of the life he is living, and what goes into trying to make it in the rap game, from recording, to performing, to just goofing is entitled The Hystory Channel TV, or THC TV for short . FLUX9's finest @ryan, @kelsey and myself have been behind the lens making it happen. It's been a joyride so far to say the least, check out the newest episode after the jump. Let's help this rapper make it to the top!

Adele has had a lot of accomplishments in her short career. From six grammy noms [and wins] to constantly having both her albums in the top spot, week after week.

This, however is an accolade that stands out. For years, the same acts have ruled the music charts in the UK. Acts like The Beatles, and Pink Floyd have dominated the spots for nearly half a decade. Today, however, Adele's sophomore release "21" overtook Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side Of The Moon", the band 1971 masterpiece. This jump marks "21" as the seventh highest selling record in the UK. The sales are now at 4.14 million in the U.K. alone, while total sales worldwide are around 20 million.

Good job Adele, not only are you rolling in the deep, but also the dough.

#HipHop artist, and marijuana connoisseur Curren$y has finally revealed the release date for his latest offering "The Stoned Immaculate". This will be Curren$y's follow up to 2011's "Weekend At Burnies" released via Warner Brothers records. The album's set to drop May 22nd and will be the rapper's second release this year, the first being "Muscle Car Chronicles" which dropped back on Valentine's day. Be on the lookout for Spitta's newest release! Jet Life

If These Trees Could Talk is an instrumental post-rock band from Akron, OH. To me, ITTCT is one of the most talented and clutch post-rock bands EVER. The guitars form the melodic and spiritual sounds that ITTCT achieves so well. The 3 amazingly written guitars are followed and matched by the bass lines, and the drums are a perfect mix between technicality and simplism which lets the music as a whole shine and speak to your soul as it was meant to.

If These Trees Could Talk is definitely one of my favorite bands of all time. I just fell in love with the tone and formation of the songs. It is therapy for me to listen to and the whole world should listen to this band and give them a shot. ITTCT just recorded a new album titled Red Forest which is being released on March 20, 2012 and performing an album release concert in their home town of Akron, OH on March 16th.

I've had the privelage to catch up with the band via email and ask them a few questions about their history and recent news about the the band and the new cd. Hope you guys enjoy the interview as much as I did. Thanks for reading and check out the first song released from the new album which is available for purchasing on March 20, 2012. This song is called "Barren Lands of the Modern Dinosaur", great tune.