Really Randoms: Wu-Tang Clan & Luther Campbell, Sublime and more

Following its merger with Relativity Records earlier this month, hip-hop label Loud Records -- previously aligned with RCA -- has revealed a list of upcoming releases that includes new albums by their marquee group, the Wu-Tang Clan, as well releases from the Clan's Inspectah Deck and Raekwon, an album by new Loud signing the Beatnuts and a new platter from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.| The earliest release on a schedule that extends well into next year is Mobb Deep's latest joint, Murder Music, set to come out on August 17th. And, assuming he's not locked up in the clink by then, 2 Live Crew's Luther Campbell will have a solo album out sometime next year...

Three years after the death of Sublime frontman Brad Nowell, his former bandmates are preparing to release Right Back, the debut album by their new group, the Long Beach Dub All Stars, on September 28. For that album, the All Stars, a nine-piece ska-punk outfit formed by Sublime's drummer Bud Gaugh and bassist Eric Wilson, brought in reggae artists Barrington Levy, Half Pint and Tippa Irie, and punkers like Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge and Bad Brains vocalist HR. The first single, "Trailer Ras," hits radio in mid-August and the band will tour throughout the fall...

In one of those rare moments that render us completely unable to say something snide and stupid, we hear that the working-class Big Apple suburb of Mount Vernon, New York will be spending the next eighteen months turning a dilapidated block into a veritable hip-hop wonderland anchored by a museum tracing the history of the music. Local youths will work on the project and receive on-the-job training in the construction trades, while a bevy of artists who grew up in the town -- including Heavy D, Doug E. Fresh and Sean "Puffy" Combs -- are donating cash and memorabilia. Ah, the chance to see Puffy's entire collection of vintage Police singles all in one place...oh shoot, we were supposed to skip the snide asides this time...

There's an old saying that insists "those who can, do; those who can't, teach." It's not terribly hard to extrapolate what the coiner of that phrase thinks of judges, which leads us quite nicely to this week's Sign of the Apocalypse. Jewel, that rhymin' fool, has signed on as celebrity judge for a poetry contest being sponsored by trendy clothing company Alloy. The thread-merchants' catalog promises that this generation's Ogden Nash will be gleaning their website's "poetry page" from the road on a regular basis, and will be the sole arbiter of what's groovy in the competition -- although, we're, like, sure she wouldn't call it a, you know, "competition." The winner gets to meet Ms. Kilcher herself at a show in Orlando, Florida on August 27. Grab those Number Two pencils and rhyming dictionaries -- it's gonna be a bumpy ride. . .

It is with a heavy heart that we report the Ol' Dirty Bastard has reportedly finally sunk to the lowest rung of the criminal ladder: check-bouncing. The Artist Formerly Known as Big Baby Jesus was nabbed by cops on Thursday after bouncing a check to the bail bond company that sprung him from the slammer on last year's far more interesting "terrorist threats" case, which has yet to go to trial. Somehow, Dirty managed to find another bail bondsman who was willing to take on his case -- presumably on a cash-only basis -- and get him out again, this time on $100,000 bail...

Garth Brooks may have had his baseball dreams crushed when he was dumped from the San Diego Padres in spring training, but a far more unlikely music man has just been snapped up by the Baltimore Orioles -- ladies and gentlemen, in the on-deck circle, David Bowie. Well, okay, so the Thin White Duke isn't actually going to check in as Albert Belle's replacement in left field -- those uniforms, after all, need some serious work. He has, however, been contracted to run the team's Web site through his fast-growing Bowie.net ISP. "We couldn't be more pleased to be associated with this first class franchise," Bowie said in a statement. Translated into sports-chat, that means, "We're going to Disney World."...

BILL CRANDALL, JENNY ELISCU, BLAIR R. FISCHER, RICHARD SKANSE, DAVID SPRAGUE and JAAN UHELSZKI
(July 30, 1999)