Amalgam Digital, Inc. is a new media outfit that was founded in 2006 as a privately owned company and launched AmalgamDigital.com in 2007. Amalgam is a digital media/technology platform that leverages the Internet to revolutionize the way artist & music are discovered, marketed and distributed. The platform also serves as the first genre-specific digital download store specializing in hip hop music with a strong focus on independent labels and artists, implementing a new user-generated content module that allows artists to upload content directly to the site for immediate purchase. Amalgam Digital also houses an exclusive independent record label by the same name, specializing in hip hop music and distribution. In an April 2008 issue, The Source proclaimed that Amalgam Digital has "its finger on the pulse of Hip-Hop's future."

AmalgamDigital.com Store[link]

Founded in 2007, the AmalgamDigital.com store makes promotional, distributional, and PR services available to aspiring independent artists who register as vendors at AmalgamDigital.com, also enabling them to sell music, videos, podcasts, and other material through the online store. On August 21, 2008, AmalgamDigital.com launched its first Amalgam TV live webcast, which featured Joe Budden’s last studio session for his sophomore LP on Amalgam Digital, Padded Room. Over 80,000 visitors viewed the webcast, throughout which Budden interacted with fans and answered questions in real time via a live chat room.^[1].

Amalgam Digital Label[link]

Based in East Boston, Massachusetts, the Amalgam Digital label was distributed exclusively by Amalgam Entertainment, LLC, a one-stop wholesaler, label, and distribution company that offers additional services such as management, booking, consultation, manufacturing, marketing, and promotional services. As an independent label, Amalgam Digital was home to such artists as Max B, Saigon, Curren$y, Chuuwee[1], Joe Budden, Peedi Crakk, Tash (formerly of Tha Alkaholiks), Kurious, The Juggaknots, Dj Benzi, Tame One (formerly of The Artifacts), The Weathermen, and Lil B^[2]. Budden's Amalgam release Padded Room reached #42 in the Billboard 200 chart and #21 in the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in March 2009.^[3] Since August 2009, releases by Saigon and Joe Budden are made in partnership with E1 Music (formerly Koch Records).^[4] BET named Joe Budden’s Padded Room and Saigon’s All in a Day’s Work as the #2 and #3 best independent albums of 2009, respectively.^[5] In 2009, Amalgam Digital made Boston-based rapper Young Riot the label’s first previously unsigned artist.^[6]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Chris Faraone. "Music: Next's Big Thing" (subscription), Boston Herald, September 18, 2007. Mirrored at allbusiness.com.
• Chris Faraone. "Music: Budden gets in `Mood' to rap at East Boston label" (subscription), Boston Herald, March 5, 2008.
• Mariel Concepcion. "Pump It Up: Labels Look To Boost Hip-Hop Album Sales", Billboard, March 8, 2008. Google Books link.
• Daniel Kreps. "News Ticker: Robert Plant, Digital Hip-Hop, Gnarls Barkley, Fall Out Boy", Rolling Stone, March 3, 2008.
• Evan Serpick. "Site Specific: Where Indie Hip-Hop Lives", Rolling Stone, March 31, 2008.
• Padded Room charting information @ billboard.com
• Amalgam Digital company website

Joe Budden
Joe Budden performing live at Rialto Theater in Tucson, AZ (April 11, 2012).
Background information
Birth name	Joseph Anthony Budden II
Born	(1980-08-31) August 31, 1980 (age 31)
Origin	Jersey City, New Jersey
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper
Years active	2002 – present
Labels	Def Jam, Desert Storm, Amalgam Digital, E1, Shady Records
Associated acts	Slaughterhouse, Emanny
Website	www.joebuddentv.com

Joe Budden (born August 31, 1980) is an American rapper from Jersey City, New Jersey.

Career[link]

In the year 2003, Budden released his debut solo studio album, Joe Budden. It included Budden's 2003 Grammy-nominated summer hit "Pump It Up", and was also featured in the soundtrack for the movie 2 Fast 2 Furious and the video games Def Jam Vendetta, Def Jam Fight for NY, and Madden NFL 2004. The song "Focus" was also featured in the game and Joe Budden was also a character. Its second single was "Fire" featuring Busta Rhymes, which was in the movie Mean Girls. The song "Drop Drop" was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Cradle 2 the Grave. Joe has hinted in many songs that he was a recovering drug addict and has reaffirmed his position several times through multiple outlets.

After his debut album, Budden's sophomore release titled ‘The Growth’ was hampered due to the label's problems with Joe and his Def Jam seniors not happy with the direction of his music. The production of the album appeared to end up in a development hell and was ultimately not released. Continued disagreements between Budden and Def Jam forced the two sides to part ways.^[1] However, Budden managed to release the first and second installments of his Mood Muzik mixtape series while on Def Jam, and the series has been met with critical acclaim.^[2]

In December 2007 Budden signed a multi-album deal with Amalgam Digital and released his independent debut Padded Room as well as Mood Muzik 3: The Album, Halfway House, and Escape Route.

Joe Budden reached out to Crooked I, Royce da 5'9", Joell Ortiz and Nino Bless for a track titled "Slaughterhouse" on one of his Amalgam Digital releases, Halfway House.^[3] Based on the reception of the track, they decided to form a group, minus Nino Bless, and named it after the first song they made together.^[3] They released numerous songs throughout early 2009, leading up to their self-titled album, which was released through E1 on August 11, 2009.^[4] The album features production from Alchemist, DJ Khalil, Mr. Porter, Streetrunner, plus guest appearances from Pharoahe Monch, K. Young, and The New Royales.^[5] The group signed with Shady Records on January 12, 2011.^[6]

Personal life[link]

Budden has a son from a previous relationship.^[7] In 2010, he was wanted by New Jersey police in relation to unpaid child support payments.^[8]

Budden has also been in the spotlight for his numerous controversies with other rappers including Grafh, Jay-Z, Game, Prodigy, Canibus, Maino, G-Unit, Saigon, J-Hood, Busta Rhymes, Sky Highh, Ransom, MoeRoc and an incident involving several members of the Wu-Tang Clan^[9]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 2003: Joe Budden
• 2008: Halfway House
• 2009: Padded Room
• 2009: Escape Route
• TBA: The Great Escape

Collaboration albums[link]

• 2009: Slaughterhouse (with Slaughterhouse)
• 2011: Slaughterhouse EP (with Slaughterhouse)
• 2012: Welcome to: Our House (with Slaughterhouse)

Mixtapes[link]

• 2004: Mood Muzik: The Worst of Joe Budden
• 2006: Mood Muzik 2: Can It Get Any Worse?
• 2007: Mood Muzik 3: For Better or for Worse
• 2010: Mood Muzik 4: A Turn 4 The Worst
• 2011: Mood Muzik 4.5: The Worst Is Yet To Come

Awards and nominations[link]

• Grammy Awards
  • 2004, Best Male Rap Solo Performance: "Pump It Up" (nominated).

• Other awards
  • 2003 Vibe Next Award (winner).
  • United Kingdom, MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Award for "Clubbin" with Marques Houston (nominated).
  • United Kingdom, MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Award for Best Rap Performance (nominated).
  • 2004 Black Reel Award for Best Song from a Movie for "Pump It Up" in 2 Fast 2 Furious (nominated).

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Joe Budden on Twitter
• Joe Budden on Myspace

MC Serch (born Michael Berrin on May 6, 1967^{[citation needed]}) is a Jewish-American hip hop MC and former member of 3rd Bass.

Biography[link]

Serch grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens,^[1] attending Far Rockaway High School,^[2] and graduated from Music & Art High School. He is credited with creating the slang term "the Gas Face."

After recording three albums with 3rd Bass—The Cactus Album (1989), Cactus Revisited (1990), and Derelicts of Dialect (1991)—Serch launched a solo career with Return of the Product (1992, Def Jam). The album featured two hit singles: "Here It Comes" (which hit #1 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks chart); and "Back to the Grill" featuring Chubb Rock, Red Hot Lover Tone, and Nas. Serch was the executive producer of Nas’ Illmatic, one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the 1990s. He also helped to cultivate the rapper O.C. after hearing him on the Organized Konfusion song "Fudge Pudge," helping him secure a record contract with Wild Pitch Records. In 1995, Serch also mentored the newly formed Non Phixion.

Since retiring from performing, Serch has run a promotions company (Serchlite Music). He appeared in Spike Lee's Bamboozled (2000) as a member of the fictitious hip-hop group Mau Maus (played by other real-life hip-hop performers such as Mos Def, Charli Baltimore and Canibus). His character was a white revolutionary who was supposed to be 1/16th African-American.^[3] From 2003 he hosted Serch In The AM on Detroit Urban Radio Station FM 98 WJLB; he was the first Jewish DJ at that station. MC Serch was dismissed from WJLB in March 2006, reportedly due to a dispute over a Super Bowl weekend party at the club "Motor City Live."^[4] Serch also hosted the VH1 reality series Ego Trip's The (White) Rapper Show, known for his catch phrase: "Woop-WOOP!", which ended in March 2007. A follow-up show, ego trip's Miss Rap Supreme, debuted in 2008.

Serch has since returned to the radio airwaves in Detroit on the urban station Hot 102.7. Serch has also worked alongside Rucka Rucka Ali (Comedy Music Artist). He appeared in some of Rucka Rucka Ali's music videos, and Rucka Rucka Ali and Serch worked together on Hot 102.7.

Discography[link]

Solo[link]

• Return of the Product (1992, Def Jam)

with 3rd Bass[link]

• The Cactus Album (1989, Platinum)
• Cactus Revisited (1990)
• Derelicts of Dialect (1991, Gold)

Guest appearances[link]

• DJ Tomekk - "Fuck You"
• Gravediggaz - "Defective Trip" (w/Biz Markie)
• Kaptain Nemo - The Legend of Kaptain Nemo - Official Mixtape - "For the Love of Hip-Hop" (w/PJ Sumroc)
• Hot Karl - "Let's Talk"
• Krohme - "Around Here"
• Non Phixion - "5 Boros" (w/D.V. Alias Khrist)
• Sway & King Tech - "Wake Up Show Anthem" (w/Nas, Ras Kass, Saafir & others)
• "2 Hits & Pass" (w/Afu-Ra, Agallah, Craig G, Buckshot, and others)
• "Blak Is Blak" (As "1/16th Blak" w/Mos Def, Canibus, Charli Baltimore, Mums, DJ Scratch, and Gano Grills)
• Kurious - "Benneton" (w/ MF DOOM) (2009, Amalgam Digital)
• Rucka Rucka Ali - "I Can Do Whatever Im White"

References[link]

External links[link]

• MC Serch's Myspace page
• Serchlite Music
• MC Serch Interview
• MC Serch at the Internet Movie Database

MF DOOM
MF Doom at the Hultsfred Festival 2011 in Sweden
Background information
Also known as	DOOM, King Geedorah, Metal Face, Metal Fingers, Viktor Vaughn, Zev Love X, Madvillain
Born	(1971-01-09) January 9, 1971 (age 41) London, United Kingdom
Origin	Long Island, New York
Genres	East Coast hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, hip hop producer
Instruments	Vocals, sampler, synthesizer, drum machine, Pro Tools
Years active	1988–1993 1997–present
Labels	Elektra (1988–1993) Sub Verse (1997–2003) Fondle 'Em (1997–2001) Metal Face (1997–present) Big Dada (2003) Naturesounds (2003–present) Rhymesayers (2004) Stones Throw (2004–present) Lex (2005–present)
Associated acts	KMD, Madvillain, Danger Doom, Madlib, MF Grimm, Ghostface Killah, J Dilla, Count Bass D, Aesop Rock, Jneiro Jarel, Gorillaz, Masta Ace, De La Soul
Website	Official website

Daniel Dumile (pronounced /ˈduːmɨleɪ/ DOO-mə-lay; born January 9, 1971) is a hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF Doom, often stylized as MF DOOM, where the "MF" stands for metal face, but metal fingers when using his producing name. He has appeared in several collaborative projects such as Danger Doom (with Danger Mouse) and Madvillain (with Madlib).

History[link]

Early years with KMD[link]

Dumile was born on January 9, 1971, in London, England, the son of a Trinidadian mother and Zimbabwean father.^[1] He then moved with his family to New York and was raised in the city of Long Beach, New York on Long Island.

As Zev Love X, he formed the group KMD in 1988 with his younger brother DJ Subroc and another MC called Rodan. When Rodan left the group, Zev found another MC to replace Rodan named Onyx the Birthstone Kid.^[1] A&R rep Dante Ross learned of KMD through the hip hop group 3rd Bass, and signed the group to Elektra Records.^[2]

Dumile and KMD's recorded debut came on 3rd Bass's song "The Gas Face" from The Cactus Album,^[1] followed in 1991 with KMD's album Mr. Hood, which became a minor hit through its singles "Peachfuzz", "Who Me?" and heavy video play on cable TV's Yo! MTV Raps and Rap City.

Subroc was struck and killed by a car in 1993 while attempting to cross the Long Island Expressway before the release of a second KMD album, titled Black Bastards.^[1] The group was subsequently dropped from Elektra Records that same week. Before the release of the album, it was shelved due to controversy over its cover art,^[2] which featured a cartoon of a stereotypical pickaninny or sambo character being hung from the gallows.

With the loss of his brother, Dumile retreated from the hip hop scene from 1994 to 1997. He testifies to disillusionment and depression, living "damn near homeless, walking the streets of Manhattan, sleeping on benches.^[1][3]" In the late 1990s, he left New York City and settled in Atlanta. According to interviews with Dumile, he was also "recovering from his wounds" and swearing revenge "against the industry that so badly deformed him."^[1] Black Bastards had become bootlegged at the time, leading to Doom's rise in the underground hip hop scene.

Birth of MF DOOM[link]

In 1997, Dumile began freestyling incognito at open-mic events at the Nuyorican Poets Café in Manhattan, obscuring his face by putting a stocking over his head. He meanwhile had taken on a new identity, MF Doom, patterned after and wearing a mask similar to that of Marvel Comics super-villain Doctor Doom, who is depicted rapping on the cover of the 1999 album Operation: Doomsday. He wears this mask while performing and isn't photographed without it, except for very short glimpses in videos such as Viktor Vaughn's "Mr. Clean", "?", and in earlier photos with KMD.^[1] MF Doom's mask has undergone at least one design revision since its adoption (it is now an altered version of the mask worn by the character Maximus Decimus Meridius in the film Gladiator).

Early career[link]

Dumile released three singles on "Bobbito" García's Fondle 'Em Records, "Dead Bent", and "Greenbacks" (1997), and "The M.I.C." (1998). In 1999 Fondle 'Em released MF Doom's first full-length LP, Operation: Doomsday, which included these singles and their b-sides, and additional tracks. Dumile had used the spelling variant "M.F. DOOM" for the singles releases, but thereafter changed this to "MF DOOM".

Among the collaborators on these tracks were fellow members of the Monsta Island Czars collective (The M.I.C.), for which each artist took on the persona of a monster from the Godzilla mythos. Dumile went by the alias "King Geedorah," a three-headed golden dragon space monster, modeled after King Ghidorah, the Toho movie monster who was a three-headed dragon that often battled Godzilla. Some of his appearances on the LP are as, and are credited to this persona, instead of that of MF Doom. Dumile would revisit this character later under various name-spellings.

Guest appearances, production, and instrumental work[link]

In the years intervening before his next full-length solo release, and continually since, Dumile has appeared on several tracks on other artists' LPs and remixes, contributed one-off tracks to compilations, and done various guest production work.^[4]

In 2002, he appeared on the Sound-Ink's Colapsus collection,on a very hard to find track titled "Monday Nite at Fluid" featuring Kurious with production by King Honey, who also produced some tracks for Dumile's album Vaudeville Villain. DOOM also made an appearance in "November Has Come", a track on Gorillaz's 2005 album Demon Days, which reached #6 on the Billboard 200.^[5]

Besides the Viktor Vaughn album Dumile produces all the instrumentation tracks for his solo releases with very few exceptions.^[4]

Beginning in 2001, under the "Metal Fingers" moniker, Dumile began releasing his Special Herbs instrumentals series. Many of these beats can be heard as the instrumentation tracks throughout his body of work. A separate website catalogs for which tracks each instrumental has been used.^[6]

Ongoing career[link]

In 2003, Dumile released the King Geedorah album Take Me to Your Leader. Geedorah is credited as producer, but only appears as an MC on four tracks. The majority of vocal tracks feature guest MCs, and the album features several instrumental montages of sampled vocals from old movies and TV shows—a technique employed on most of Dumile's albums. Both Venomous Villain and Take Me to Your Leader feature appearances by MF Doom.

Also in 2003, Dumile released the LP Vaudeville Villain under the moniker Viktor Vaughn (another play on Doctor Doom, whose "real name" is Victor von Doom). In 2004 he released a follow-up LP, Venomous Villain (also called VV2).

And, in 2004, the second MF Doom album MM.. Food was released by the Minnesota-based label Rhymesayers Entertainment.

Mainstream recognition[link]

DOOM's first commercial breakthrough came in 2004, with the album Madvillainy, created with producer Madlib under the group name Madvillain. Released by Stones Throw Records, the album was a critical and commercial success. MF DOOM was seen by mainstream audiences for the first time as Madvillain received publicity and acclaim in publications such as Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Spin. A video for "All Caps" and a four-date U.S. tour followed the release of Madvillainy. Additional videos for "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Accordion", both directed by Andrew Gura, were released on the DVDs Stones Throw 101 and Stones Throw 102: In Living the True Gods, respectively.

MF Doom collaborated with Danger Mouse who together are known as DANGERDOOM.

Though still an independent artist, MF DOOM took a bigger step towards the mainstream in 2005 with The Mouse and the Mask, a collaboration with producer DJ Danger Mouse under the group name Danger Doom. The album, released on October 11, 2005 by Epitaph, was done in collaboration with Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and featured voice-actors and characters from its programs (mostly Aqua Teen Hunger Force). Danger Doom reached #41 on the Billboard 200.^[7] In 2006 DOOM hosted the Adult Swim Christmas special and he could be seen in between shows, usually talking about what was up next, and making jokes.

2006–2009[link]

MF Doom produced tracks for both of Ghostface Killah's 2006 albums Fishscale and More Fish, and the two are currently at work on a collaboration album titled Swift & Changeable. So far only track released from the album is "Angels", which appeared on a Nature Sounds compilation in late 2006, and later re-released in a different fashion on Doom's 2009 album Born Like This. Doom has also revealed plans for a second Madvillain album with producer Madlib, with one song, "Monkey Suite", first appearing on the Adult Swim/Stones Throw Records album Chrome Children, later it appeared on Madvillainy 2 - The Madlib Remix. Other potential projects mentioned by Doom include new albums from Danger Doom,^[8] KMD, as well as further albums under both his Viktor Vaughn and King Geedorah aliases. However, many such Doom projects have been rumored in recent years without materializing.

Despite no new Doom releases in 2006, Kidrobot and Stones Throw released an 8" tall Madvillain toy available to coincide with the release of the Chrome Children CD/DVD (hosted by Peanut Butter Wolf) which featured a DVD performance of Madvillain and several other Stones Throw artists. Doom also continued to work with Adult Swim doing voice-over work as Sherman the Giraffe on Perfect Hair Forever, being the voice for The Boondocks ads and previews and hosting their Christmas Eve 2006 programming.

In late January 2009, Lex records confirmed Doom's new album title to be Born Like This, and that the "MF" would be dropped from his name, now just "DOOM".^[9] The album was released worldwide on March 24, 2009.^[10] As a teaser, the track "Ballskin" was posted on Doom's Myspace page on January 13, 2009.^[11] Snippets of the entire album were made available for streaming on Doom's Myspace on the album's release date. The title for the album was inspired by the poem "Dinosauria, We" by poet and writer Charles Bukowski. Doom samples a performance of the poem by Bukowski on the track "Cellz". Previously, Doom used a Bukowski sample for a vocal interlude on 2004's "All Outta Ale.^[12] "Thom Yorke of Radiohead remixed the track "Gazillion Ear" which is available as an iTunes-only bonus track.^[13] June 26, 2009 Kurious released II which featured Doom on the song "Benetton".^[14]

2009-2012[link]

On May 26, 2010, the second single for the next Madvillain album "Paper Mill" was released through Adult Swim.^[15] Expektoration, a live Doom album, was released on September 14, 2010 through Gold Dust Media. In mid 2010, DOOM released the mix-tape "DOOM!", a collection of greatest hits, B-sides and rareties, including the theme for the video game Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars featuring Ghostface Killah, and Biochemical Equation, featuring the RZA.

On July 27, 2011 DOOM and Ghostface Killah released the track "Victory Laps" from their long awaited collaboration project Swift & Changeable on the Nature Sounds label.

DOOM was chosen by Portishead to perform at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror festival that they curated in July 2011 at London's Alexandra Palace.^[16]

DOOM will be the guest curator for Chapter 48 of Frank151's quarterly magazine. Chapter 48 will be released Summer 2012 and will feature a candid interview with DOOM on a variety of topics.^[17]

In September DOOM will be performing live as part of Bestival 2012 on the Isle Of Wight.^[18]

Live show controversy[link]

Dumile has become infamous for allegedly sending imposters to perform on his behalf.^[19] Doom initially countered such accusations by claiming that he lost weight and thus looked - and sounded - different,^[20] before his road manager described the move as an intentional choice made by Dumile.^[21] For his 2011 UK tour, a promoter for the Glasgow show - fearing reduced attendance from a cautious public - guaranteed on Twitter that Dumile would be appearing in person.

Discography[link]

Solo[link]

• 1999: Operation: Doomsday
• 2003: Take Me to Your Leader (as King Geedorah)
• 2003: Vaudeville Villain (as Viktor Vaughn)
• 2004: Venomous Villain (as Viktor Vaughn)
• 2004: Mm.. Food
• 2009: Born Like This (as DOOM)

Compilation Albums[link]

• 2009: Unexpected Guests

Collaboration Albums[link]

• 1991: Mr. Hood (as Zev Love X with KMD)
• 2001: Black Bastards (as Zev Love X with KMD)
• 2003: Escape from Monsta Island! (as King Geedorah with Monsta Island Czars)
• 2004: Madvillainy (with Madlib as Madvillain)
• 2005: The Mouse and the Mask (with Danger Mouse as DANGERDOOM)
• 2006: Occult Hymn (with Danger Mouse as DANGERDOOM)
• 2012: Son of Yvonne (with Masta Ace as MA DOOM)
• 2012: Key to the Kuffs (with Jneiro Jarel as JJ DOOM) ^[22]
• TBA: Swift & Changeable (with Ghostface Killah as DOOMSTARKS)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Daniel Dumile

• MF Doom on Myspace
• Official website

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (November 2010)

Charly Wingate (born May 21, 1978), better known as Max B, is an American rapper and songwriter from Harlem and is known for his original rap style of mumbled delivery, catchy sing-song choruses & hooks, and his energetic personality in interviews and videos.

In 2009, Max B began serving a 75-year prison sentence for charges of armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault and murder.

Biography[link]

He was incarcerated on robbery charges from 1997 to 2005,^[1] He had come up with a second alias Biggaveli or Biggaveli denoting his belief that he is a combination of rappers: The Notorious B.I.G. ("Biggie Smalls"), Jay-Z ("Jigga") and Tupac Shakur ("Makaveli").^[2]

His manager Mike Bruno, whose name denotes his belief that he is a combination of boxers: Mike Tyson ("Mike") and Frank Bruno ("Bruno"), passed a demo along to Diplomats member Jim Jones in 2005, and Max B came to prominence through his affiliation with the Harlem collective The Diplomats, and with rappers Jim Jones and Cam'Ron in particular. In 2006 Jones formed the collective ByrdGang with Max B as a starring member.^[3] Fellow ByrdGang-member Stack Bundles was killed in 2007.^[4] Max B expressed the loss: "That was fucked up because the nigga Stacks was close to me, I ain't even gonna front. I was in jail at the time, so a nigga was sitting. A nigga learned to cope with that thing pretty well though, R.I.P. to Stacks. Shout out to my nigga, he played me all the joints he had. Man, that was my nigga."^[5]

Having gained release from his contract, he signed a three-album deal with a now out of business Boston based label in 2008.^[6][7] Preparations were underway for a debut album to be entitled Vigilante Season when in 2009 Max B was found guilty of involvement in a robbery which left a man dead.

Murder charges[link]

According to authorities, Max sent his ex-girlfriend, Gina Conway, and his stepbrother Kelvin Leerdam, in 2006 to rob two men in a Holiday Inn, in Fort Lee, Northern New Jersey. On September 22, 2006, Max's crew ambushed Allan "Jay" Plowden in room 408 and restrained him with duct tape, while awaiting Plowden's partner, David Taylor. Also in the room was Gissele Nieven. When Taylor arrived, he was immediately shot, point-blank, execution-style, in the head. He did not have any money on him.

The crew fled the scene, Plowden alerted the hotel front desk of the murder. When police entered the room, Plowden was caught trying to take $30,000 out of the room. Plowden was charged with money laundering and identity theft. A week later the duo Conway, Leerdam and coordinator Max B were apprehended and charged with the robbery.

On January 9, 2007 Max B was remanded to Bergen County Jail in New Jersey on a $2 million bail.^[8] Conway testified against Max B and Leerdam, in exchange for a 18 years sentence on armed robbery and manslaughter. Leerdam received a life term plus 35 years.

Conviction and appeal[link]

By June 6, 2009, he had been found guilty on 9 of 11 counts in the ongoing trial. ^[9] On June 9, he was found guilty of murder conspiracy and robbery charges and faced up to 75 years. He was to be sentenced in Bergen County on July 30.

In a statement, Gerald Saluti said:

“Max B would like to first thank all his family, friends and fans that have supported him plus Mula Ave throughout this trial. Please don’t give up on him at this point. Although the jury has spoken and Max has been convicted of felony murder, kidnapping, robbery and conspiracy a swift and successful appeal shall follow.”
“It is inconceivable that a jury could convict Max under the facts presented by the State. Even Gina Conway the State’s own witness testified that Max knew nothing of a robbery,” he stated. “Ms. Conway, a jilted lover and proven liar, said so at the trial itself. Max said after the verdict was read that he is confident that justice will eventually be served and he will be free.”
“Max intends to continue putting out music for his fans while the appeal process grinds along. Although shocked by the verdict, Max remained grateful,”

Max B was later sentenced to 75 years in prison on September 4, 2009.^[10] His mother, Sharon Wingate,and fellow rap artist said he plans to appeal his conviction. On March 19, 2010, Max B was granted an appeal with a new trial and lawyer.^[11]

On Feb 29th, rumors spread that Max's request for an appeal were denied, but it since has been cleared up as an internet/blog/twitter rumor.^[12]

Discography[link]

Albums

• March 21, 2011: Vigilante Season US #200

Mixtapes[link]

• Public Domain: Million Dollar Baby Radio (2006)
• Million Dollar Baby (2006)
• M.O.B.: Members Of Byrdgang (2006)
• Public Domain: The Prequel (2007)^[13]
• Members Of Byrdgang 2 (2007)
• Million Dollar Baby 2 (2008)
• Public Domain 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2008)
• Wavie Crockett: Return Of The Wave (2008)
• Public Domain 3: Domain Pain (2008)^[14][15]
• Max Payne (2008)
• Domain Diego^[16] (2008)
• Million Dollar Baby 2.5: Da Appetizer (2008)
• Coke Wave (2008)^[17]
• Goon Music 1.5: The Doomship (2008)
• Goon Music 2.Owww (2009)
• Quarantine (2009)^[18]
• Public Domain 6: Walking the Plank (2009)^[19][20]
• Coke Wave 2 (2009)
• Wave Gang 4 (2010)
• Dopeman:Public Domain 6.5 (2010)^[21]
• Picture Me Rollin' (2010)
• Amalgam Series Vol. 1: A Wave Called Yes (2010)
• Free Max B (The Best of Max Biggavelli) (2010)^[22]

Other appearances[link]

• Song "We Roll", with Jim Jones, Pete Rock on NY's Finest (2008)

References[link]

Sources[link]

Murder case

• • BREAKING NEWS: Max-B Found Guilty on 9 out of 11 Counts in Murder Trial "Facing up to 20 Years in Prison"
  • Former Dipset member Max B. was found guilty of murder conspiracy and robbery charges today (June 9)
  • Bergen County Prosecutor's Office PRESS RELEASE, SEPTEMBER 25, 2006
  • Rapper gets 75 years for fatal Fort Lee hotel robbery