File under Pop Music Makes for Strange Bedfellows: today CONVERSE announces the release of a new song, “I’m a Goner,” by indie pop duo Matt & Kim, rapper Soulja Boy, and all-around wild man Andrew W.K. Part of the brand’s “Three Artists, One Song” series, the song is available now to download free of charge at the CONVERSE site. A short behind-the-scenes video featuring artist interviews during the recording sessions at the Rubber Tracks studio in Brooklyn is also available on the site. The video for “I’m a Goner” will premier on MTV2 during “MTV2 Presents: CONVERSE Band of Ballers,” airing this Sunday, August 21st, at 1:30 p.m. EST.

Years ago, on East Village Radio, Mark Ronson‘s Authentic Sh** radio show, he featured a guest who had just gotten tatted up and said she was quite lightheaded from blood-loss. Ronson asked her to sing anyway, so she grabbed the mic and proceeded to belt out an acoustic marvel. She may not have been in her own top form, but no one listening would have noticed, as she left those in the studio, as well as the many who listened to the archive of the show, floored. Her name was Amy Winehouse, and at that point, the only song that was circulating was “Rehab,” which was more than enough to garner attention. Years later, Winehouse may be just as recognizable for her off-stage antics as her undeniable talent, but her album was enough to force the industry to take notice of Ronson, who won two Grammy Awards in 2008 for his work on the Winehouse album, which was a retro masterpiece.

Photo by: Frankie Batista

Produced by: Dan Hwang
Written and Interviewed by: Jesse Carr

Mayer Hawthorne sounds and looks like an anachronism, and in today’s over-crowded instant-share, instant-listen, instant-forget music scene, that’s a rare quality. Hawthorne’s throwback arrangements are completed without samples and he sometimes uses recording techniques like crooning his lyrics through headphones to add some old time grit to the vocals. But, as scores of small labels can attest to, attention to detail insures neither  success nor notoriety. So Hawthorne’s appeal must be a testament to something greater than geeky recording techniques or music lessons that help him strum the guitar and get the right tone on a rim shot. He’s got the swagger of an urban pop star without resembling anything remotely close to it. Instead of black Dior shades, he dons large, retro-inspired spectacles. Instead of a Louis Vuitton monogrammed scarf over a black leather coat, he keeps it classic with a houndstooth blazer and bird-in-hand knot on a tie. So, while making music reminiscent of another time and place, he’s also pulls off a look and feel to match.

Produced by: Dan Hwang
Written and Interviewed by: Jesse Carr

The 28 year-old Montreal native, A-Trak, is no stranger to being in the public eye. After he won the DMC World Championship DJ battle in 1997 at the age of 15, he found himself on tour with the world’s best scratch DJs, including Q-Bert and DJ Craze. In 2004, after a steady regimen of international appearances where he dazzled onlookers with complex scratching and beat juggling routines, A-Trak found himself in London DJing at a place where Kanye West made an appearance. West hired him immediately, and A-Trak worked closely with Kanye for the next four years. He did the cuts on “Gold Digger” and has said in interviews that he was the one who suggested using “Harder Better Faster Stronger” as a sample source, which became the backdrop for Kanye’s monster single, “Stronger.”

In 2007, A-Trak directed his time and energy into a new record label, along with Nick Barat (also known as Nick Catchdubs). The two began Fool’s Gold, a label that later launched the careers of Kid Cudi and Kid Sister and is the home to cutting-edge artists of multiple genres and styles. And beyond his duties at the label, A-Trak is still globetrotting and doing festivals and stadium gigs to thronging audiences, including a brief tour this year with Blink 182’s Travis Barker.

A-Trak’s DJing style is hard to pin down into a simple category. Before the term “mash up” was tossed around aimlessly by music journalists and before DJ Hero was released, A-Trak was experimenting with mixing genres in his sets. A-Trak developed a signature style for his routines, including dj battle segments like flipping Little Wayne’s “Go DJ” into a double-time electronic track in the middle of a set. He also became one of the best at classy blends that didn’t sound kitschy, even when combining songs with similar titles like Rick Ross’ “Hustlin” with Simian Mobile Disco’s “Hustler” on his 2007 mixtape called Dirty South Dance. At the time, hearing another blend from the mixtape—Gwen Stephanie’s “Yummy” over LCD Soundsystem’s “Time to Get Away”—may have shocked some people, but pop music now pulsates with an unmistakable electronic thump that you will probably hear the moment you switch on your local “urban” music station.

Produced by: Dan Hwang
Written and Interviewed by: Jesse Carr

The music business has a well-chronicled history of roadblocks and impediments to an artist’s success. A myriad of factors determine the proper marketing, release, and availability of a given artist’s work. Inspiring work from fledgling artists often never sees commercial release, and with the music business in a crisis because of the availability of free digital content, the chances of rising from obscure name to radio success are even more daunting today. Today, more than ever before, it takes more than a catalog of great music to make it in the music world—it takes a break.

Aloe Blacc, the gifted soul singer from California, has a story which embodies the modern music game quite well. He’s no new-jack to the scene, as his work with Exile in a duo called Emanon has been circulating since 1995. While he functioned as more of an MC during his work with Exile, Blacc has recently made a name for himself with his singing on the track, “I Need a Dollar,” which became the song that was used for the HBO Series How to Make in America. But the recent success of the single follows years of hard work as a solo artist who never had goals of  mainstream conformity. In fact, “I Need a Dollar” sounds more like a popular song from the late 60s than an auto-tuned R&B song on today’s airwaves with it rich piano loop and brass swing. Blacc sings, “Bad times comin’ and I and I reap what I done sowed. Well let me tell you somethin’, all that glitters ain’t gold. It’s been a long, old, troubled, long, old troublesome road, and I’m looking for somebody to help me carry this load.” While the track may have a throwback feel, its lyrical resonance couldn’t be any more contemporary.

Produced by: Dan Hwang
Written by: Jesse Carr

Freshness is proud to announce a new segment that we’ve been excited to launch for a while—Fresh Music. We know there are many other blog sites and download hubs where you can get a hold of new music, but Freshness will bring you a more complete experience by surrounding the stories behind the music with historical context and rich visuals (we may have an exclusive or two up our sleeves as well). Our foray into Fresh Music features a new project by Mick Boogie, a mixtape DJ who now mans the decks for top shelf venues around the country. He gave us exclusive access to the mix, which we are co-sponsoring and presenting for you to download.