BEATMAKERS:
Please do not send messages regarding collaborations or messages inquiring if we need beats for any of our upcoming projects. We do all of our instrumentals in-house with no assistance.
UNSIGNED/INDIE ARTISTS:
Indie rule number 1: "It takes dough to make bread." Please do not send messages requesting production if you do not have a budget to pay us for our services. We are running a business, and we don't do production for free or for less than a couple grand, NO $100 BEATS over here homie !!!
Welcome to the domain of one of the most critically acclaimed production teams the Baltimore/DC area has ever birthed.....DARKROOM PRODUCTIONS LLC. The duo consists of Juan Donovan aka Young Avon aka McLane and Jamal Roberts aka Mr. Any MLK. The two ambitous, young men have been making innovative music for years now. They are the last of a dying breed. REAL Producers. Producers strive to make classic projects and history. Darkroom has been making history since day one.
In September of 2005 Darkroom released the landmark mixtape "Hamsterdam - The Best of Baltimore". The mixtape pushed close to 115,000 copies worldwide and is the first Baltimore project to get attention and critical acclaim nationwide as well as abroad. The project lead to features for Darkroom in Rolling Stone magazine, FADER magazine, The New York Times, XLR8R magazine, the Baltimore Sun, Vibe magazine and many more publications. This was Darkroom's first project, and the buzz has only intensified ever since.
Darkroom Productions' music projects: We are in the second year of our deal with HBO as we provide original music for their Emmy nominated drama "The Wire". The fifth and final season of the show was a huge success and has only added to the legacy that David Simon and Ed Burns have created. We also are the majority producers of the long awaited soundtrack to the show; "The Wire and all the pieces that Matter" was released this year on Nonesuch Records/Warner Music Group. Darkroom also landed a licensing deal with MTV/Viacom. We have been contracted to do music for not only one show, but ALL of the reality shows to air on MTV, along with additional music on VH1, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and Spike TV. And as artists are concerned, Darkroom has produced heat for:
Chamillionaire - Universal
R Kelly - Jive/Zomba
Wale - Interscope
Maino - Hustle Hard Blvd/Atlantic
Sqad Up
Young Hootie - Larceny/G-Unit West
Quan- Atlantic
KD Lang - Warner Bros
NOE - Dipset Byrdgang/Asylum
E Ness - Bad Boy
Although the Hamsterdam mixtape was going to be a one time thing, the call for a second volume was too great to ignore, and there was a boatload of talent in Baltimore, DC, and Virginia, that is not featured on the first installment. And as great producers, you want to work with great artists. So in 2007, we released the highly anticipated follow-up to Hamsterdam.....
"Hamsterdam 2 - Stash to the Strip"
The critically acclaimed followup has garnered even more attention then the first Hamsterdam installment, getting us written about in numerous magazines, newpapers, websites, and was voted 2007 album of the year by The Baltimore Sun and the City Paper. Although the area's best are featured on this project, also featured are major players in music such as Young Jeezy's USDA member BloodRaw, D.C. sensation Wale, D-Block's Sheek Louch, Disturbing the Peace's Serius Jonez, R&B phenom Raheem DeVaughn,, and some of the south's biggest DJ's in Brandi Garcia, DJ Drop, DJ Scream, and Bigga Rankin. The project also features commentary by A&R extraordinaire Sickamore.
Accompanying the second mixtape was "Harm City Exposed"; The dvd magazine features some of Baltimore's hottest talent, along with political commentary, and voices straight from the streets of one of the nation's most talked about city. This was the first release from Darkroom Enterprises, the multimedia company formed by Darkroom Productions
My homie Mullyman told me that the number eight signifies the number for New Beginnings. And he was right, as 2008 has so far proven to be the year for Darkroom to start new ventures. We have found a distribution home for our label Darkroom Enterprises as we have secured a distribution deal with Koch Records. Our debut project will be "Hamsterdam - the Album" dropping later this year. Our artists The Get em Mamis and Diablo continue to generate a buzz as they continue to get covered in magazines, blogs, and websites, and neither of them have albums out yet. So that definitely shows what the future holds for them.
This year is also proving to be the year that we get our Film & TV division off the ground as we are currently in the developmental stages for 2 major motion pictures for production, pitching two television shows, and in the filming stages of a very powerful documentary. Our passion to produce Film & Television is just as strong as our passion to produce music, so that means be on the look out for innovative blockbuster projects from Darkroom in the future
What started as two talented young men making beats, has turned into a full blown conglomerate of two entreprenuers showcasing hunger, desire, talent, ambition, and most of all resilience. Darkroom is a train without brakes, moving at a pace that will never be caught. So either get on board, or get the fuck out of the way.
Its Darkroom nucka! Let's get it
The historic groundbreaking mixtape that started a nationwide phenomenon.
Baltimore's most talented MC's on one project over innovative Darkroom production
The critically acclaimed double cd featuring music from season 4 of HBO's "The Wire". Some of the most talented artists in the Middle East Music Movement assemble to bless another historic Darkroom project
The hottest artists in Baltimore can be seen on this exclusive street dvd. Sure to have streets across America talking, Darkroom presents their first dvd magazine.
Harm City Exposed - The DVD
$7
"Harm City Exposed" Trailer
Diablo - "Smell it"
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The Sound of Harm City
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