Nazareth Chosen for Princeton Review's "Best 368 Colleges: 2009 Edition"

My college, Nazareth College is one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. Nazareth is one of only four schools in the nation to be added to the forthcoming edition of The Best 368 Colleges: 2009 Edition (Random House/Princeton Review Books, $21.95 paperback). The book will be available in bookstores in late July 2008.

“We chose Nazareth College as one of our ‘best’ undergraduate colleges for this, our flagship college guide, based on several criteria we consider when reviewing schools for the book. First, we must have a high regard for their academic programs and other offerings. Our selections also take into account institutional data we collect from the schools and the opinions of students attending them whom we survey. We also greatly value the feedback we get about schools from our college-savvy staff across the country as well as from students, educators and parents who use our services and books," said Robert Franek, V.P. & Publisher-The Princeton Review.

“The announcement that our college was selected for this honor has created a buzz of excitement on the Nazareth campus,” said Nazareth President Daan Braveman. “We have been included in Princeton Review’s Best in the Northeast and now are pleased to be included in the national ranking. As one of only four schools to be added to the 2009 edition, Nazareth is extremely proud of its work to earn this distinction.”

Nazareth College is also one of only two institutions in New York State that The Princeton Review is adding to the book this year. The other is City University of New York / Baruch College. They join 40 other schools in New York State in the book.

“The Best 368 Colleges: 2009 Edition presents a wide range of colleges in the book. Only about 10% of the colleges in the nation are in it, and they vary by region, size, selectivity and character,” said Franek. “Each one is an outstanding institution we highly recommend to college applicants and their parents. In our opinion, these are ‘the crème of the crop’ institutions for undergraduates in America. "

What distinguishes The Princeton Review's annual Best Colleges guide from all other college guides is that it is the only one offering both two-page profiles on the schools and student survey-based college ranking lists in over 60 categories. The lists report the book’s top 20 colleges in categories that range from the teaching ability of the faculty (“Profs Get High Marks”) to campus amenities (“Best Campus Food”) to aspects of the campus culture (most liberal / most conservative student bodies).

The Princeton Review itself does not rank the colleges in the book hierarchically - 1 to 368 – either for academics (the company believes all 368 schools are first-rate, academically) or by any other category. The book’s school profiles include dozens of quoted comments from surveyed students at each school.

Nazareth College is an independent, coeducational college with studies in the liberal arts and sciences, and professional programs in health and human services, education, and management at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Nazareth is committed to experiential learning, civic responsibility, and student/faculty engagement. In the past decade, twelve Nazareth students and eight professors have been awarded highly competitive Fulbright scholarships. For updated information on the College and its initiatives and programs, visit www.naz.edu.

Britney's Coming Back Already?

I was walking through the grocery store last night when I saw the headline "Inside Britney's Comeback." Of course it was on a tabloid...

Tell me, how Britney is already making a comeback? She's been all over the news from no hair to middle eastern boyfriend or whatever he is, lil' sis is getting smashed out by half of Hollywood...and now she's making a 

COMEBACK?!?!?!? 

I saw the preview for her guest spot on that Neil Patrick Harris show about a million times watching the NCAA games this weekend...she looks good. Damn good still if you ask me.

IDK what the hell she's thinking...but I wish she would go back to a being a nice girl, being hot and making music that makes people dance...and not this mythical creature that she appears to be.

BTW I got an interview with Producer J.Troup coming tomorrow...check it out!

Featured Artist: Brown

You know I can't wait too long to get new posts out. The first featured artist is a rapper by the name of Brown. I actually produced a few tracks for Brown. He's from Milwaukee and currently preparing a new EP.

Cicero: Milwaukee isn't generally known as a hip hop hotspot, how do you get your music heard in a small region in the business?

Brown: The internet is a huge help, especially for me in a small region. I've made a lot of connections with producers and many new fans through myspace and other spots.

Cicero: What are you currently working on?

Brown: I'm currently working on my album, Charlie. I feel it's my best project yet.

Cicero: Besides myself, what other producers are you working with?

Brown: Lots of guys, there's you of course, and also Filthy Productions, Real See, Nasty Kutt and more.

Cicero: Who are some of your musical influences?

Brown: My main musical influences are Tupac, Scarface, and Yo Gotti

Cicero: Where can readers listen to your music?

Brown: myspace.com/MoneyMadeRecords

Check out Brown's track "Ballers" produced by Filthy below:

Pennywise's New Approach to Digital Music

Received a message from Pennywise today, about their free digital album...thought I'd share

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Here is what you’ve been waiting for…

Here is how to download your copy of Pennywise's Reason To Believe – FOR FREE!

Make sure you're logged into your MySpace account and you are friends with Textango.

Click this link or go to:
http://promos.myspace.com/download.ashx?pid=1&did=

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I'm not a fan, but it's a nice way to market

Coming Soon...Cicero's Featured Artists

Too many cats are on their grind, with only myspace to help them out. I've decided to put the call out to artists that want to be featured on this site. It's not going to be too long, just a little blurb about them and their upcoming projects. There's always a potential for mixtapes and other compilations from this, but for now I'm just going to start bringing you the new cats. If you or someone you know want to be involved with this, send an email to ncicero0@gmail.com or hit my myspace (link on the right)

iMeem Playlist is Up

I added an iMeem playlist with some beats I've made to the left of the page. Leave a comment if you like them, and check out my myspace page (link on right) for more. Also beats are always for sale/lease so hit me up. Thanks.

10 Digging Secrets

Fuck the sample CDs and Compilations...Go out and dig yourself. Fortunately we have movies like the Deep Crates Series and The Beat Kings to keep the excitement of digging up. If you're looking for some tips, try these:

1. Follow The Leader – If someone has already sampled an artist chances are that there are more hot used and unused breaks & samples by that very same artist.

2. Follow The Musicians & Producers – So you like that crazy piano sample, sound, or that unique feeling the song seems to evoke? Guess what… you can probably find that same artist playing even better on another album. Many times musicians and producers worked on different projects with each other and you can catch someone early on in their career putting down some great sounds with another group.

3. Watch The Year - Just like the golden age of Hip Hop, each genre has had its highs and lows and there are virtually no exceptions. Jazz, Funk, Soul, and Rock have all had their great time periods containing distinctive styles of the times.

4. Know Your Resources – Read the All Music Guide, Read album liners, online sample databases, Wax Poetics, sample dictionary books.

5. Make Friends With Diggers – Although digging is generally very secretive and almost anitsocial, if you have a friend that knows their stuff you can both put each other up on records while digging.

6. Trust Your Intuition – A certain spidey sense tends to develop after spending a bit of time getting dusty in the bins.

7. Become A Label Whore – Many of the best artists had a tendency to hang around the same label and be produced by the same people. Some of the more known examples of this are Kudu, Blue Note, Westbound, and CTI.

8. Develop Your Ear, Personal Style, And Love For Music – This is probably the most important piece of the lesson. You will only become a successful digger if you truly have a love of music. This may be beyond the comprehension of many; however loving Hip Hop and loving music are two completely different concepts. I know many people who claim to love music, but the only time they listen to anything other than Hip Hop is when they are looking for samples. Most diggers I know would rather listen to Soul, Funk, Rock or Jazz than Hip Hop. For some reason it’s a natural progression to appreciate the true creativity of the original players. After falling in love with an artist’s work and really getting into their catalog, you’ll eventually be able to recognize the styles of many musicians and develop the ability to guess an artist when you hear them playing on another unknown track.

9. Purchase A Portable Turntable – This is the single most important factor that has caused a great increase in my digging success. I have saved an immense amount of time, money, and aggravation by avoiding worthless records. I’ve also been able to pick up many records that I would have passed over and would have never known about because of the fear of taking a risk and plunking down large sums for unknown records with nothing on them. The investment hurts a little bit in the beginning, but the key word is investment and it eventually pays huge dividends.

10. Keep An Open Mind – Listen to everything and I mean everything, except for Country of course! You will stumble upon finds in some of the most surprising areas and genres. Also, to contradict my earlier tip… don’t judge a record by its cover. You will find great breaks and samples on some of the worst looking covers.

Bonus Tip:

Keep Digging – Be strong, develop your endurance, and dig until you can’t dig anymore. The best diggers keep digging for hours and entire days to make sure that they have covered every bit of whatever location they may be at. This may mean that you have to run out and grab a coffee, but make sure that you get make into the mix. You never know what you could be passing up.

Role Models for Girls Suck Sometimes...

Originally Published in the March Gleaner Issue...

Why can ANYONE in the entertainment business, at any time, become an “aspiring singer?” These artists are just trash, and their music is over commercialized for the consumption for the mindless MTVers that buy the songs. Very few female artists out there now promote a positive message for girls. Stars these days seem to have some racy mishap surrounding their careers. I’ll count down from number four to number one of ladies that are ruining music right now.




Have you seen Heidi Montag’s (#4) new video? If you haven’t seen it, the song is called “Higher” and it features Heidi and her new “twins” rolling around a deserted beach in a teeny weeny little bikini. This Hills star is the just the newest “celebutant” on the block.




Coming in at number three is Brooke Hogan. She starred on VH1’s Hogan Knows Best, leading to her official debut album in 2006. She had a semi successful hit in “About Us” with Houston rapper Paul Wall, made popular only by the viewers of her show. Her father/manager, Hulk Hogan, has done everything he can to keep her positive and “clean.” However throughout the season of the show we see her desire sex up her appearance for the limelight. Since then she has had little to no success.





Number Two. Lindsey Lohan. The interesting thing about Lindsey is that she’s had a fairly decent music career sales-wise. Her first album, Speak, actually went platinum (one million units sold) and her second album, despite lack of promotion, went gold (500,000 units sold.) However since then she has been in the news as a frequent partier and cocaine aficionado, which is exactly what shouldn’t be in music marketed towards teens. While she and her manager may claim that her music is for adults, her fan base is comprised largely of young teens. Her role model status fails in my eyes.




Finally We’re at Number One. You know her, you love to hate her…Paris Hilton. Through her rich upbringing, she’s moved into the celebrity class, starring in a number of failed movies. She is the quintessential B-Actor, so naturally she decided to try her hand at music. Led by the single “Stars are Blind,” which became a dance club hit; her 2006 album Paris was a flop. To this date she has sold only 607,000 copies worldwide. She’s also had a nice video adaptation of her romp in the sheets, as well as her stint in jail for DUIs.

These girls are treated as stars by the media and by many of our very own friends and siblings. The problem with these four stars is the message they portray to our youth. Each of them has had some controversial situation that we would not want our sisters or daughters to emulate. Why should we allow this to happen? We are the ones perpetuating them by watching their TV shows and movies. As many of you know I am a music producer, and am starting to experience many of these people first-hand. What I have seen is that the businesses COUNT ON VIEWERS TO SELF-PROMOTE THE MUSIC. I am asking that we all stand up for good, meaningful music from quality acts. Now I haven’t mentioned rock or rap groups, and trust me they’re not faultless either, however these acts seem to have more of an influence on older people, who have a choice on their behaviors. These young people are shaped by their surroundings, and need more Miley Cyrus’s and Hillary Duffs to look up to.

Sampling in Hip Hop Part 1

Sampling’s Origins and Legality

A Hip Hop On My Mind Three Part Series

Sampling has been a part of hip-hop since it’s very inception. It was the main lifeblood of a musical genre that grew out of the funk and disco scene in the seventies and early eighties. As of late, articles written by bloggers Gooch from XXL, and Ivan from Hip-Hop is Read have brought an old topic back into the hip-hop community’s forefront. The issue of sampling and its legality has and will always be a dividing force between the new and old school. However that will be discussed in Part 2. First, for people unfamiliar with sampling, I present a brief, and I mean BRIEF history.

The earliest Party DJ’s would find the musical break portion of certain records and blend or cut them into one long musical vamp. Often times you could take seemingly corny records and turn them into party smashes. For example, the Run-DMC song, Mary Mary comes from the Monkees.

Many songs like this received new fame as the pioneers of hip-hop scrambled to find the best records with the best breaks and grooves. The new culture of hip-hop started as a South Bronx underground scene and grew to a nationwide, and eventually a worldwide phenomenon. 

This form of sampling dominated the early era of hip hop until DJ Marley Marl accidentally discovered that you could chop up drums from one drum break, and play them as his own drum kit over another musical groove. In the movie, The Beat Kings, Marley Marl describes his initial epiphany:

“I made a mistake at unique recording studios…sampled a snare by mistake when I was trying to get a vocal sample of the record. I started to play the snare on the beat, and I told the engineer to turn that old weak ass snare down, and now I’m poppin’ a James Brown snare on top of the beat I just made! I’m like you know what this means? I can take any kick, any snare, any hi-hat on any record and make my own kits?!?!”

This brought about sampling how it is today. The procedure is basically the same, with the equipment evolving, though many producers stick with old stand-bys like the Emu SP-1200, Akai MPC series, and Ensoniq ASRs.

Now when hip-hop began to reach mainstream status, the issues of copyright came to light. Before, producers had been making beats from any record, not clearing the samples. Clearing samples refers to the process of obtaining permission from the original copyrights owner to use the sample, and also distributing royalties from and profits made. However there hadn’t been any cases against the producers or rappers for this infringement of copyright, so the trend continued. This would all change with or old friend BIZ MARKIE.

In 1991 the first case was brought against a hip hop song from its original copyright holder. The song “Alone Again” by Biz Markie used a piano loop and three words from the Gilbert O’Sullivan song “Alone Again (Naturally).” O’Sullivan’s publishing company, Grand Upright, brought about a lawsuit against Warner Brothers Records, to whom Biz was signed. Warner Brothers actually had contested the fact that O’Sullivan hadn’t actually transferred copyright to Grand Upright, which really hurt their case, when they should have contested the rights of musicians to sample one another. Anyway, the judge had proclaimed that sampling was thievery and now for a song to be officially used in a profitable sense, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder, and subsequent royalties must be paid. 

Even though the result of the case deemed uncleared sampling illegal, there are ways around this,. Many producers have replayed samples themselves, essentially turning their creation into a “reinterpolation” or better known as a cover song. Like other musical acts that play cover songs, a less significant portion of profits is paid out.

To this day there are “sample police” that search through songs for uncleared samples in order to collect royalties. Usually working for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA,) these agents also go after “piracy” cases, most notably the raid on DJ Drama and the Aphilliates in January of ’07. Again the legal heads said that these mixtapes were illegal, copyright violating material, and so they were arrested on Racketeering charges.

Most influential musicians have a problem with samples and clearing them at some point in their career. While some have the funds to just pay for the rights, other artists have to find unique ways around them. This is the basis for the recent debate on identifying samples, and I will get into that in Part Two.

Just a Thought

Ok so this isn't anything I wrote for anyone, just something to think about...

What's with these so-called "Little Debbies?" They're too damn small if you ask me. Sometimes, when I'm realy hungry, I can down a whole box in a matter of minutes. These are the occasions where I think to myself, "I just need to find this Debbie chick, so I can tell her to make the full-size Debbies, not these little guys." Maybe it's just me, but I'd love that.

OK so this is the earth...

Haha just kidding. If you're reading this you're probably wondering WTF? Well basically I've had 3-4 other failed blogs before, usually it is because I haven't been the greatest at keeping tabs on it. Well not anymore! I'm really going to make an effort this time! Mainly the reason for this is because this blog will be a lot of articles that I've written for other people, or other publications. There'll always be a link to the original listing, but if you can't get enough Nick Cicero, come here! Also I will be setting up some sort of iMeem account where you can listen to my original musical compositions, and other audio files I feel relevant. So comment, email me, whatever, just read them! Thanks.