Free the Mixtape!

As reported on SOHH.com, the Record Industry Association of America ( aka the RIAA, aka the Evil Empire, aka Those Fucks who sued teenagers for file sharing aka The Corporate Lobby for the Record Label giants that push crappy music) is turning up the heat on record stores that profit from Mixtapes. The police had fun raiding a record store and making the owners sit in jail for the night because they were peddling mixtapes, many that are funded and sponsored by the major record labels themselves.

Check out a quote from the SOHH news item:

While the record association contends that these mixed CDs hurt the artists and companies, the labels and rappers often partner with deejays to release mixed CDs. Labels have encouraged mixtapes because they often create a buzz for the artists leading into official releases.
...
"I lost everything and not one artist stepped up and defended what we were doing," Berry [a store owner who got raided and jailed] recently told SOHH.com. "I have since opened another store and hope this time the 'P.Diddys' and 'Jay-Zs' of the Hip-Hop community will let the RIAA know that not only do they participate in the mix game, but they also profit from it. With P.Diddy and Jay-Z being the CEOs of record labels that fund the RIAA, they have the power to tell the RIAA what they should or should not go after. Free the mixtapes."

Remember what Mos Def said in his song "The Rapeover": "You get in the line of fire / we get the big ass checks". Yeah these record label jerks participate in the mixtape game but won't defend the DJs and record store owners when they get raided and jailed by the RIAA's police goons. Punk ass bitches!