D.C. rhymer Kokayi (profiled in City Paper last December) just inked a deal with French label Just Like Vibes, which will distribute his album Mass Instructions in France and sell song downloads internationally. Kokayi explained it this way via e-mail:

… the Just like Vibes thing happened by sending out the music as often and as far as i could send it. Given the far [and] inexpensive reach of the internet, i zipped up the record and sent a yousendit file out to everyone i knew from as far as Perth, Australia to right around the corner. … One of the people i sent the record to is a French rapper named Asco, he’s from a group called Bunzen and we have stayed in contact since we met in Paris when i had a deal on BMG. He works with just like Vibes and let his folks hear it, they liked what they heard, we spoke about some terms and i signed the deal last Sunday when i went to perform at Sons d’hiver.

Sons d’hiver is a music festival held every year southeast of Paris. Kokayi also has launched a new Web site with a page of music, and he’ll be playing a show Friday night at the new Artmosphere Cafe in Mt. Rainier, Md. A portion of the proceeds will go to the E.L. Haynes Public Charter School.