New York, NY. (Top40 Charts/ Warpath Records) - Former U.S. soldier,
Martin Jackson a.k.a Muggsy Malone gets dishonorably discharged from the United States Army for hip- hop related reasons. Malone's, Sergeant was found guilty of burning a nine year collection of rap journals that Jackson compiled from the young age of 13, during a heated battle between the two. Malone's reaction to the Sergeant setting fire to the journals caused Jackson to be released after 3 years of service, for dishonorable conduct from the Ft. Hood Army base in Texas. The Sergeant's identity is being concealed due to confidentiality reasons.
Prior to discharge, Malone served his country honorably in Korea, and during 9/11 attacks. In recent months Malone was discovered via MySpace by a Warpath Records label exec and signed a major label recording contract in April, with Warpath Records/ Fontana- Universal.
Jackson is currently in the studio working with Bad Boy Records/ Making of the Band - A&R, Conrad Dimanche, and dedicates his forthcoming album "Probable Cause" to the U.S. Army. Muggsy thanks the Sergeant for not "Burning his dreams".
Malone's album is slated for release in March of 2009 and will include production by Infamous, Amadeus, JR. Reid, and Mario Winans, amongst others. Staying close to Washington, the young artist is an advocate and volunteer for the Barack Obama Campaign. Warpath Records label publicist, Tiffiany Vaughn, also reports that the former service man will star in an online reality series entitled "The Making of the Next Big Thing" which is anticipated to air weekly on MySpace.com this fall.
"The Next Big Thing" chronicles the life of a rap artist from the time of signing up through the road to release. Warpath Records CEO Robert Hardy was interested in educating unsigned aspiring acts, the complete process of artist development and the business. Malone's episodes catch him in those not for camera moments, as well as display important aspects of the music business from publicity to promotion. The webisodes are being produced by Malik Buie, and are scheduled to premier in late September.
In related news, Warpath Records released the street single "Somewhere to be at" that has been promoted through Yahoo, Music Choice, and earning early airplay in select markets. The artist has recently been featured on Allhiphop.com, Hiphopgame.com, and will be a featured artist on MySpace. Malone is scheduled to appear on BET Rap City in coming weeks.
