Vince Staples Launches New Music Technology Program at SoCal YMCA
Rapper Vince Staples is giving back to his hometown of Long Beach, California by launching a continuing year-long Music Technology program at one of Long Beach’s YMCA locations. The program, made possible by Vince Staples and Levi’s, is aimed at nurturing musical creativity while de-emphasizing the goal of superstardom, instead instilling a sense of individual pride in one’s musicianship. Essentially, Staples is seeking to prove and emphasize to aspiring musicians that there is no such thing as superstar or nothing. (The Fader)
Jerry Heller is Dead, but His Lawsuit Remains
Last week former N.W.A. manager Jerry Heller died of a heart attack at the age of 75. And if you know anything about Jerry Heller, you probably know that his death wasn’t necessarily viewed as a tragic by the music industry at large. Some of the reasons for that reaction are living on after his death in the form of a lawsuit by Heller against former N.W.A. members, movie studios, and other people associated with last year’s blockbuster biopic Straight Outta Compton. Heller attorney Martin Shapiro says that the lawsuit is still being carried out, including allegations that Easy-E’s widow Tomica Woods-Wright violated a confidentiality agreement and that certain scenes from the movie were lifted directly from Heller’s 2006 memoir Ruthless. Because of Heller’s death, however, case will be “slightly altered” as a dead man cannot sue for future damages. Shapiro has said also said that Heller’s fatal heart attack was brought on by the stress of dealing with Straight Outta Compton, but no word if he’ll be trying to sue for that now too. (SPIN)
-Taylor Wallace
