Custom Vinyl Records Pressing is having a sale right now. The Canadian record-pressing company is offering a price reduction on its services indefinitely. The vinyl revival started in 2007 and by 2017 Sony promised to start pressing records again for the first time since it stopped doing so in 1989. People assumed the buyers were older fans who bought records when they were kids but Taylor Swift has proven to be one of the major catalysts for the shift. Her 2022 album Midnights is the first to have its vinyl version outsell CDs since 1987. She re-recorded her 1989 (Taylor’s Version) album and when it was released in 2023 it set another first for selling more than one million vinyl copies in a year. The renewed popularity of vinyl was followed by a demand that has been difficult to meet.  Jack White famously complained about it in 2022 because of all the requests he received from major labels to use his record plant. 

Paul Murton founded Custom Vinyls Record Pressing in 1998 when Sony left Canada. Murton worked as a sales representative for their music plant and he kept the room and former Sony employees to go into CD duplication. A partnership with a German manufacturer followed this move to develop a state-of-the-art record press that could complete vinyl records in four weeks. Murton says, 

“Custom Vinyl Records Pressing is dedicated to empowering artists and labels by providing unparalleled quality and affordability. We believe that every artist deserves the opportunity to share their music in the timeless format of vinyl”

The company has a 30% discount on all vinyl pressing services with 100 records for $1,199.00. For more information check out the website or contact Paul Murton directly at (888) 679-1207.

Rico Nasty and Boys Noize are dropping their first EP together later this month. “Arintintin” is a hyper-techno single from the dance-oriented project titled HARDCORE DR3AMZ. The multi-genre Nasty and DJ/Producer Boys Noize previously worked together on “Money” with Flo Milli  and Noize’s “Girl Crush.” The rapper with the punk aesthetic explained their collaboration in a statement. 

“Me and Boys Noize started working back in 2018… We finally met in real life after being mutuals for like a year. We did one session, it was fire! And then a few months later ended up on the Friendship Cruise together (for the first time). After the cruise, we made “Money (feat. Flomilli)” and “1+1″ – a song you’ll hear very soon on this project. Fast forward again, maybe 3-4 years, and we did a couple more sessions. We kept gravitating towards techno dance music. He started putting me on to German dance music, and we traded a bunch of songs back and forth. Little by little over a few days, we ended up making three more songs that we really loved and decided we wanted to share with the world. Every session was so much fun and I’m sure that energy is felt across all of these tracks. One of my favorite songs on the project is… all of them. That’s why she is so short!! Talk to you later and see you guys soon.”

HARDCORE DR3AMZ comes on March 29th. Check out the video for “Arintintin.” 

Afro Nation is returning to Detroit this year for Afro Nation Detroit 2024. The inaugural 2023 festival was well-received in the Motor City with performances from Burna Boy, Coi Leray, Masego, Ari Lennox, Def Loaf, and more. The festival featured sets from various Afro-diasporic artists representing Afrobeats, hip-hop and R&B. Thousands attended the event at Bedrock’s Douglass Site formerly known as the Brewster Projects where Diana Ross grew up. The lineup for this year has not been announced yet but fans can register for priority tickets at Detroit.afronation.com. Afro Nation has already established itself as the world’s largest Afrobeats festival with previous stops in Miami, Ghana, and Puerto Rico. Afro Nation Detroit 2024 is presented by Bedrock and The Malachite Group. Fans can follow Afro Nation’s US Instagram to get updates. Afro Nation Detroit 2024 will take place August 17th-18th. 

Hulu dropped the trailer for Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told today. The documentary is about the HBCU picnic in Atlanta that turned into a cultural phenomenon. Uncle Luke, Jermaine Dupri, and 21 Savage executive produced the film. The humble get-together that started in 1982 at John A. White Park in Atlanta with less than 200 attendees grew into a giant street party of more than 300,000 in five years. The name itself was inspired by “Le Freak” by Chic. Initially, there were dance contests, a film festival, concerts, and a job fair. The introduction of Uncle Luke with his 2 Live Crew in 1991 took the picnic into a place where Gen X went wild. Rap groups like Outkast and The Goodie Mob are just two of the South’s prominent artists who attended Freaknik. The outdoor celebration also included sexual assault and the issue of public safety. School officials and Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell got involved in 1997 to increase the police presence and gain some control over the increasing crowds. Marc Lamont Hill, Killer Mike, and Uncle Luke are some of the commentators who talk about Freaknik which officially ended in 1999. Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told airs March 21st on Hulu.