Atlanta, GA: Empire Distribution celebrates the legacy of foundational figure and Bay Area rapper The Jacka with the release of his first post-mortem solo album, Murder Weapon. Best known for his affiliation with the rap group Mob Figaz, he built a cult following with releases such as The Jack Artist (2005) and Tear Gas (2009), which peaked at #93 on the Billboard 200. The project is a collection of street wisdom, compiling dozens of unreleased verses and melodies the artist was working on before he was fatally shot by an unidentified gunman in Oakland, California on February 2, 2015. The Jacka is dearly missed by the hip-hop community. Today, his spirit lives on with Murder Weapon, featuring 13 tracks completed in unity by many of his closest friends, including his crew Husalah, Rydah J. Klyde and FedX of Mob Figaz, and frequent behind-the-boards collaborators like RobLo, Maki, DJ Child, Lev, and AK. Other notable guests include Freddie Gibbs, Cormega, Curren$y, Paul Wall, Styles P and Killah Priest, among others.

Empire and The Jacka Estate are currently promoting his EP and have partnered with Rap Plug, Inc. a music tech platform based out of Atlanta to launch the official “The Jacka Album Release Tour,” featuring some of his closest peers and rappers out of the Bay Area. Tour Dates and announcements have been temporarily postponed  amid COVID-19.

Buy/Stream Murder Weapon: https://empire.lnk.to/MurderWeapon

Watch “Ask God”: https://youtube.com/watch?v=skB6zmxUyL8

Tracklist:

1. Intro (feat. Husalah)

2. Walk Away (feat. Styles P & Carey Stacks)

3. Take Over the World (feat. Fed-X)

4. Not Dead (feat. Rydah J. Klyde & Husalah)

5. Live It Up (feat. Curren$y & Berner)

6. Can’t Go Home (feat. Freddie Gibbs)

7. Never Worked

8. Ancient Astronaut (feat. Killah Priest)

9. Cherish Me (feat. Dubb 20 & Street Knowledge)

10. We Outside

11. They Know What This Is (feat. Paul Wall & Boo Banga)

12. Too Real (feat. Cormega)

13. Ask God

ABOUT THE JACKA

His career began with the Bay Area rap group Mob Figaz after the teenaged Newton and several friends were approached by established rap artist C-Bo in a record store and went to a recording studio that day. The guest rappers appeared on "Ride Til We Die," the opening track on C-Bo's 1998 album Til My Casket Drops. Their debut album, C-Bo's Mob Figaz, released in 1999 was a minor hit on the Billboard Hip Hop chart entering at #63, doing fairly well selling 160,000 units. His first solo release The Jacka of the Mob Figaz in 2001 sold over 30,000 units. Jacka sold these units himself, in the Bay Area and shipping to one-stops across the country. Though great support came from the Bay Area, sixty percent of Jacka's sales came from outside of California. In 2005, The Jacka released his second solo album The Jack Artist but failed to chart. In 2009, The Jacka came out with his third solo album Tear Gas making it #93 on the Billboard chart. On February 2, 2015, he was fatally shot by an unidentified gunman in Oakland on 94th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard. Prior to his death, he owned his own label The Artist Records.

ABOUT EMPIRE

Founded in 2010 by San Francisco native Ghazi Shami, Empire has experienced immense growth through their innovative approach to independent label, distribution and publishing services. With their focus on early stage artist development, the San Francisco based company has been instrumental in launching the careers of multi-platinum, Grammy Award winning artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Cardi B, DRAM and Anderson. Paak. In 2019, the independent EMPIRE continues to make a major impact, with smash hits and new music from Snoop Dogg, Iggy Azalea, XXXTentacion, Young Dolph, The Free Nationals, and more.

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CONTACT:

Kendra Smith

The Jacka Enterprise

Business Affairs

thejackaenterprise@gmail.com