Why do people always make comparisons between Drake & J. Cole when there so different? Maybe it’s for that very reason, because they represent two opposite sides of the Hip Hop spectrum the way Nas & Jay did. We constantly compared them until they inevitably went at it and it was epic.

Here’s what J. Cole had to say about the comparison.

“From a fan’s point of view, who are you going to get excited about to battle? I feel like that’s why people push the J.Cole/Drake thing so much, ‘cause I think we’re probably the first two artists that fans are super excited about. The two that they would like to see go at it. I don’t blame ‘em. But it’s just a sign of the times. Rap goes in cycles. I’m not promoting that, but I’m a competitive person in general, so I’m a fan of people throwing jabs and shots. That motivates me.”

Will it happen? I doubt it, but then again this is Hip Hop and I’m never surprised when the unexpected happens. It would have to be a legit battle though, nothing like these so called “beef” fuckry these cats have been doing these days. Most people would go with J. Cole because they feel bar for bar he’s superior to Drake but I’ve heard Drake battle in his early days (before the singing) and won, he’s pretty clever when he battles. J. Cole though lyrical has no battle track record that I know of and being a good lyricist doesn’t make you a good battle rapper.

Who do you think would take it?

Best I Ever Had will be available on iTunes shortly along with the So Far Gone mixtape, Of course I know all of us already have it but that’s not the point. If it does well on iTunes despite the fact that it’s free it will prove that artists indeed don’t need a major record label push anymore to sell records. Plus it might even help Drake decide on whether or not he wants to go with a major label, he has a few deals on the table but he has also stated that it would be great if he could pull it off independently. I think he should really consider the independent route.

For those of you who are apart of the Web 2.0 generation can appreciate the artwork. Artwork by Darkie. By way of October’s Very Own.

The Song

While there is arguably nothing new under the sun, there are times when the recycled past takes on new relevance and meaning within a different context.  Enter the New Boyz and their revamping of “the Jerk,” a regional phenomena of the 90′s perpetuated by L.A. street culture and house-party connoisseurs alike.

Armed with a minimalist beat and a hip(ster)-hop fashion sense, the summer-ready single “You’re A Jerk” has been gaining momentum in Southern California, propelling the Victorville duo into national prominence.  And the Web is watching, as hundreds of user-generated videos are surfacing on sites like YouTube of youth across the nation imitating the acrobatic and fancy footwork.

MTV recently caught up with Legacy, Ben J and their Power Rangers set to get a first-hand report of the burgeoning resurgence and its significance to their music. MTV News

But “one-trick-pony” the group is not.  Though leaders of this new-school dance craze, a look at their Myspace page (myspace(dot)com/officialnewboyz) reveals the track “Want This” feat. Tay, a unabashed juxtaposition of their pop-friendly lead single in the same vein of “The Whisper Song” 2.0.

Living embodiments of the carefree summers of yesteryear, the New Boyz are “geeked” for a smooth transition into their movement’s next step.  One jerk at a time.

Check out the You’re a Jerk Music Video

Download:New Boyz You’re A Jerk

Myspace:http://www.myspace.com/officialnewboyz

Imeem:http://www.imeem.com/newboyz

Twitter Legacy’s : http://www.twitter.com/thalegacy

Ben J’s: http://www.twitter.com/benjnewboyz

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that Jay-Z was on his way to bringing his Roc Nation label, an imprint he created as part of his rumored $150 million deal with concert promoter Live Nation, to Warner Music Group. Now the New York’s Daily News has learned more about the possible partnership, this time involving an alleged separate label for Hov.

According to the Daily News’ gossip section, Gatecrasher, Jay has been meeting with former Def Jam associates turned Warner vice president and executive vice president respectively, Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles, about possibly heading his own Carter Music Group on Warner.

“Jay knows Lyor and Kevin from back when they all worked together at Def Jam, and he obviously wants to work something out with his friends,” an inside source told the Daily News. “He wants to get the dream team back together. There have been a few whiffs of a reunion in the past, but only now – and very privately – is something finally starting to happen.”

The source adds that Cohen and Liles tried to get Jay to bring Roc Nation to WMG as well but he has instead decided to release his upcoming album The Blueprint 3 on Live Nation. Jigga recently reportedly bought out his contract from Def Jam for $5 million.

As of press time neither WMG, Jay-Z, or Live Nation have released any statements about the alleged negotiations. – Elan Mancini

Source:XXL

I’m a bit surprised by the numbers, I didn’t expect the album to perform this well being that apart from Crack A Bottle, he didn’t have any hit records which goes to show you that Eminem’s past work and legacy is still influencing today sales.

Not since Drake (2 years ago) have I done a artist spotlight for the simple fact that there was nothing interesting coming out, but since I’m on my T Dot ish right now I came across another hip hop act out of the city of Toronto called A-Game. I heard something from them a few months back but wasn’t worth posting until earlier this month I received a track called Go Head Shawty (the music video was posted a few days ago) which I’ve been listening to almost everyday which is funny because it’s a auto-tune record and I’m super anti auto-tune. Anyways I’ve been seeing allot a activity in the Toronto area lately as far as hip hop is concerned so I decided to give a spotlight to A-Game, read the short bio below to get acquainted, reference and download links are also below….

-Chozen

“A-Game has been steady making a name for themselves since the age of 13, navigating through this challenging and tumultuous music scene. Born and raised in the city of Toronto, the hip-hop duo consists of identical twins Rommel and Robert Hinds-Grannum also known as Nova and Chase.

In the few short years their pre-pubescent artistic beginnings, the young dou has since garnered thousands of avid fans, and has seen the release of their successful independent debut EP entitled “The World Is Yours”. This grassroots hustle pushed the project to over 10000 units in sales across the greater Toronto area.

A-Game signature sound is filled with vibrancy and paired with thought provoking narrative that connects to the voice of the common man. This is contrasted with undertones of aspiration and achievement that echoes their vision and destination. The dou mix their styles and tempos to instigate a novel on their debut indie EP “The World Is Yours” as well as their recently released mixtape “Running On time” hosted by DJ Lust and Ransom on their independent label, T.A.G. (The Arma-dah Group)”

Myspace:http://www.myspace.com/thisisagame

Music Video:A-Game – Go Head Shawty Music Video

Download:A-Game Go Head Shawty – A Game Go Head Shawty

Download:A-Game Go Head Shawty – The Preparaton Ft Kim Davis

From Press Release

In an extensive report titled “Cell Therapy,” VIBE Senior Editor Benjamin Meadows-Ingram chronicles the superstar’s history-making legal battle and gut-wrenching journey since his 2007 arrest for attempting to collect three unregistered machine guns and two silencers following his BET Hip Hop Awards performance rehearsal.

After the announcement on March 27, 2008 of what many felt was a shockingly light slap on the wrist for the serious charges, many responded by screaming, “Snitch!” However, authorities agreed to a groundbreaking plea deal negotiated by heavyweight Criminal Defense Attorney, Steve Sadow, who cited the star’s ability to influence others by serving 1500 hours of community service.

US Attorney David Nahmias says, “What [the defense] proposed, and what I ultimately thought was reasonable, is that Mr. Harris has the ability to reach thousands, probably tens of thousands of people, particularly at-risk young people. And that out of the tens of thousands of people he could reach, he has the real possibility of getting at least a few of them not to commit the kinds of crimes we would prosecute.”

T.I. bites back at rumors about how he scored this largely unprecedented deal by saying, “Ain’t no such thing as a secret snitch…Pull up my agreement. It’s public record.”

I can’t front when he first got off I was the thinking he might have snitched, the same way most of you were thinking the same thing but only one person actually addressed it. I mean Remy gone for Eight years for supposedly shooting someone, Mike Vick gone for 3 years for some dog fights. With those stats you can’t blame me for thinking he might have sang, but at the same time I was and still am a fan and started to think that If a Pedophile like R.Kelly can get off for pissing on 15 year old then anything is possible. Plus I think the fact that he’s a high profile artist played a big part in it.

At any rate I’m not a lawyer so I really can’t call it, and at the end of the day I still fux with him and his music.

Your thoughts?

Southern star to release most creative album to date

The wait is finally over! Mike Jones, Houston’s self-proclaimed ‘President,’ will release his second full album, The Voice, April 14, 2009 on Ice Age/Swishahouse/Asylum.

Featuring the smash singles “Cuddy Buddy,” “Drop & Gimme 50″ and “Next to You,” The Voice has been heavily anticipated by fans and industry insiders alike.

“This album is what I wanted my first album to be,” says Jones. “On ‘The Voice,’ I’m showing more of myself to the world, more of my writing skills and my personality…”

Listen to the current single “Next to You” now!

For more info on Mike Jones, visit www.myspace.com/mikejones
Also, Call Mike At (281) 206-4336
Follow Him On Twitter At mr_mike_jones

So 5 weeks after Kanye West drops his fourth studio album, he hits the million dollar mark. I have to say that it’s definitely my least favorite Kanye album, but there is a few good tracks such as See You in My Nightmares ft Lil Wayne and Amazing featuring Young Jeezy.

On a side note T.I. & Beyonce are both around the 1.5 million mark while Lil Wayne is as 2.8 million and Soulja Boy is up to 80k sold after two weeks.

Overall sales are down as expected and they will never rise again, in terms of retail. Digital sales will continue to rise.

Sales have plummeted 45 percent from the industry’s high-water mark of 785.1 million units in 2000, due largely to Internet piracy and competition from other forms of entertainment such as video games. Digital track sales rose 27 percent to a record 1.07 billion units, but the growth was slower than the 45 percent jump in 2007.

Full Story: Reuters

(Atlanta, GA) – As a resident of Atlanta, I am all too familiar with how 65% to 70% of the population pretends to be someone they are not. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the people in Atlanta are doing really well; you have a lot of people doing very well in their prospective careers. However, you still have a lot of people who are still faking it until they make it. This includes several members of the cast of the Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Throughout this show, viewers from all around the country have been conned into believing that these women have something serious going on. However, it has been revealed by numerous of sources that there have been many lies within this so called “reality show”. We have been conned into believing that that these women have stacks on deck and are just living it up like there is no tomorrow. However, it has been revealed that my personal favorite NeNe Leakes has been evicted from her Duluth home; which is the same home that has been featured on the show. Her B.F.F. Kim Zolaic was written into the script to add adversity; there is no such man as a ‘Big Poppa’ (a.k.a. Lee Najir) – which means she never bought that Cadillac Escalade. (Before the show finished taping, their relationship ended). Nor does she have a singing career in the making with mega producer Dallas Austin. However, Kim does live in the very nice townhouse shown in the show. Furthermore, Sheree Whitfield’s finances are not as lavish as reported either. The uptight and sadistic diva is known for bouncing checks throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area as she travels and shops with her entourage of people. Unsurprisingly, Sheree was also evicted from her home seen in the show. Lisa Wu-Hartwell recently filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy and is known for having several alias such as Sharron M. Wu and Sharon Lisa Sweat (after her previous marriage to Keith Sweat whom she has two kids).

Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m all about doing well and having things to represent your success. However, prior to their show I have never heard of any of these women (aside from Sheree’s check bouncing through Lenox Square Mall). It seems like the only women who have something legitimate is DeShawn Snow, who is working diligently to get the DeShawn Snow Foundation up and running. Ironically, nobody wanted to give DeShawn any play during her fundraiser at the couple’s home. Perhaps these ladies were just jealous because DeShawn’s money is real.

I suppose this show just goes to show you that you cannot believe half of what you see and none of what you read – even when you’re living in the overcrowded city of Atlanta, GA. Everybody who is somebody is linked to somebody else and it is truly six degrees of separation amongst people.

Although all of these ladies are quick to fight the rumors, the fact of the matter is none of these women have it going on as they proclaim. If they did, NeNe wouldn’t have that $30 a bag dry, bridle, and ugly quick weave in her head and Kim’s clip on pieces wouldn’t show every episode.

Be yourself people! Fronting and flodging will get you nowhere accept for on blast for faking it until you make it!

Of course Knaye sales this time around would be allot lower than “Graduation”, what with the poor economy, no “50 Cent vs Kanye West” hype, not to mention the his auto-tune induced, 808′s which are really 909′s singer/rap album is a complete three sixty from his previous work which may have thrown his fans off a little. None this less 443k is not a failure by any standard especially given our economic current slump.

Ludacris on the other hand sold half of what Kanye did in his first week even though from a Hip Hop stand point, Luda clearly has a better rap album. This could be a result of him not having a super hit record even though “One More Drink” is currently climbing the charts. None the less 212k is not a failure and if you heard his album you would know he still has a few tracks that could be big singles. He’s only on his second single so far.

So who’s album are you guys feeling more….

Having achieved considerable notoriety with a vast collection of street albums and mixtapes, independent artist Donny Goines and Same Plate Management are proud to announce the release of Donny’s official debut, Minute After Midnight. The album which boasts Dame Grease as Executive Producer will be available through Amalgam (famed for projects from Joe Budden, Dame Grease, El Da Sensei) on December 16th 2008.

Minute After Midnight, is simply a seamless confirmation that Donny Goines is one of the most prolific artists to watch out for in 2009. An abundance of soulful and unparalleled production selected by the Manhattan lyricist is featured on the album and is laced with Donny’s heart-felt, naturalistic and legitimate experiences and stories.

Always exuding originality in his efforts both as an entertainer and a man, Donny is the first to comment on how hard he works to maintain such individuality and relevance. “I worked very hard on this album. Minute After Midnight took a lot of sacrifice, dedication and hard work to complete. I truly put my heart in it and wanted to create something that could stand the test of time. I didn’t have a budget nor label to finance this album but many people came together to help me craft this body of work. This album represents me, not some fictitious character or made up persona and I did everything within my power to make the best album I could. I hope when people hear it they can appreciate the effort I put forth, and enjoy it for years to come.”

In his usual style Donny opts to ride out this opus alone. Not one to clutter his projects with features and collaborations, Donny has very much earned his reputation through his hard work and his creativity and upon hearing his unique piece of work it affirms that for some the right producers and a story is all that is needed to create a masterpiece.

Tracklisting
1) Intro Prod. by Dub Z (1:52)
2) The Triumph Prod. by M Phazes (3:14)
3) Ghetto U.S.A Prod. by Beatnik & K Salaam Ft. Tess (3:13)
4) What I Am Prod. By Apple Juice Kid (3:45)
5) What Happened Prod. By Dub Z (3:22)
6) Ricky’s Story Prod. By Statik Selektah (2:55)
7) I am Moving Prod. by Dame Grease (4:15)
MLK Prod. By Dame Grease Ft. Tess (3:34)
9) Can’t Fit in My Shoes Prod. By DJ Snips (2:43)
10) Can you Hear Me Prod. By Dub Z Ft. Tess (3:52)
11) The Look Prod. By Dame Grease (2:24)
12) As the World Turns Prod. by Dub Z (3:46)
13) Heaven is With You Prod. by DJ Static (4:27)

To view Donny’s video for the Dame Grease single I am Moving, the first single from the album please follow the link below. The video produced by Don Hankins and Justin M Miller was recently featured on The Freshman, mtvU’s video show.

We did it, and it came out hot,” Tip said of the video. “Louis [Vuitton] and Gucci started trippin’ about it. They were saying we were infringing, in one way or another. They weren’t happy about it. They didn’t want it to come out. But it’s hot, though.”

Source: MTV

Yet another brand that is not showing any love the urban community that has help to fatten their pockets for years. We all know what to do hit them where it hurts, in their wallets. I haven’t drank Krystal ever since they said we misrepresented it, I never wore Louie and now I never will, plain and simple.

The rappers need to stop promoting brands that don’t return the same gratitude, when Nelly made the “Air Force 1″ single Nike gave him thousands of free exclusive kicks because Nike is aware of the fact the Air Forces would be nothing without our culture.

Contrary to what was previously reported Drake is not singed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money record label, his debut album Thank Me Later is dropping in 2009 on Interscope.

Apart from Ransom Drake also collaborated with Lil Wayne on another track, Wayne was on the remix to Drakes Brand New. And if you saw his mixtape cover and your wondering why he looks familiar, yes thats Aubrey Graham that plays Jimmy Books in the Degrassi TV show, not that I watch it or anything…LOL

yeah this is another one worth adding to the Swagger Like Us archives

Download:Drake – Swagger Like Us Freestyle

14-track Album Solidifies Prolific Producer and Emcee’s Standing As a Pioneer of Hip-Hop’s Future

(September 17, 2008) Brooklyn, NY- 25-year old Black Milk, the accomplished producer, MC, and vanguard of Detroit’s rising hip-hop scene will be releasing his third solo album TRONIC on October 28, 2008 through Fat Beats Records.

Produced entirely by Black Milk and featuring only three guest verses on the entire album (from Pharoahe Monch, Royce Da 5’9″, and Sean Price), TRONIC shows Black Milk flexing his solo production and emcee skills through tracks that are more expressive and daring than his previous works. The album is a departure from the soul-sample driven sounds of 2007′s Popular Demand, as Black employs more live instrumentation, embraces the use of both vintage and modern synthesizers, and explores more orchestral song structure. Without abandoning his trademark Detroit hip-hop sound, he shows growth as an artist while clearly attempting to raise the bar as a pioneer of future hip-hop music. The album also features a short list of diverse players and vocalists including Dwele, rising YouTube star and new Universal Motown signee Colin Munroe, and the legendary DJ Premier who each add their signature creative nuances and textures to Black Milk’s sound.

In only a few short years, Black Milk quickly has become one of underground hip-hop’s foremost ambassadors. Realizing his vast reservoir of talent, both independent and mainstream artists looked to Black to give their albums a raw underground sound. Black has since produced and appeared on tracks for an impressive roster of hip hop artists including Genius/GZA, Busta Rhymes, Pharoahe Monch, Kidz in the Hall, Kardinal Offishall, Guilty Simpson, and Strange Fruit Project, among others. Most recently, Black released two albums, The Set Up with Fat Ray, Black Milk Presents Caltroit with Bishop Lamont. Black also handed nearly all the production on elZhi’s The Preface, an album that is making many critics’ Top 10 lists for 2008 and bringing serious attention to Detroit’s music scene. Black also produces and rhymes as a member of the ground Random Axe with Sean Price and Guilty Simpson and will release a full-length album in early 2009. TRONIC will be released on CD, vinyl, and digitally on October 28, 2008.

TRONIC track listing and credits:

1. Long Story Short ft. Dwele

2. Bounce

3. Give The Drummer Su

4. Without U ft. Colin Munroe

5. Hold It Down

6. Losing Out ft. Royce da 5’9

7. Hell Yeah ft. Fat Ray

8. Overdose

9. Reppin For U ft. AB

10. The Matrix ft. Pharoahe Monch, Sean Price, & Dj Premier

11. Try

12. Tronic Summe

13. Bond 4 Life ft. Melanie Rutherford

14. Elec (OUTRO)

Now for those of you who read the post we made a couple weeks ago about Blender magazine’s article about Tupac being one of the moist overrated rappers, you can consider this part 2 of that even though it was written 3 years ago over at ByronCrawford.com. Now keep in mind that this article is very well written and makes some good points and the author is very convincing even though he’s obviously bias. Someone with a weaker mind will read this article and will be completely convinced that Tupac was overrated, whack, trash etc. But I’m a Journalist too and I know when I’m reading a Mind Fuck article and since I’m one of the writers of the number 1 site hip hop music, it’s only right that I place this note before you actually read this article…..ok get to reading you stans.

For some reason, a few readers of this site have labeled me as being a hater of the late Tupac Shakur. I know, I know, I’m from the East Coast and happened to be down with P. Diddy and the Bad Boy crew (no homo) during the middle of the East/ West coast beef, but I never saw myself as a hater. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite hip hop songs ever is “Hit Em Up” where he basically told me “fuck you too” for being down with Bad Boy. Anyways, I was extremely saddened by Mr. Shakur’s untimely demise back in 1996 and even commemorated his death by purchasing all of his cd’s that I didn’t own at the time. At the time of his death, there was a lot of talk about how dude was a poet, a leader of our generation and so on and so on. Of course I associated all this talk with the type of sentimental shit that’s said upon someone’s passing. As time passed though, I became intrigued by how dude was becoming some type of legend. I also became annoyed as fuck.

Last week, I was going through all my songs on my ipod and since all of 2pac’s material came up first, I decided that I would give dude a second chance and listen to his music, just in case I had been unfairly judging his status as a hip hop icon. I listened to his first lp, “2Pacalypse Now”, released in 1991, and believe me when I emphatically say that that album sounds like pure effin garbage and I’m somewhat pissed off that I shelled out some of my hard earned cash on this piece of possum shit. There’s like no decent sounding track on it and I can’t decipher what’s worse, his feeble attempt to rhyme or the piss poor sub par production. Even the “breakout” hit single “Brenda’s Got A Baby” was pure kaa kaa, but being that that was like the first rap song dedicated in it’s entirety to every hood rat ghetto single mother across the country, it was deemed to be prolific by every baby momma alive. Eff that, that shit was weak by any hip hop classic standard. “2Pacalypse Now” got a expeditious delete from my library and I realize I must have been pretty effin amped up a year ago, upon getting a new ipod , what with me importing trash like this unto my itunes library.

Next up was his 2nd Lp, “Strictly For My N.I.G.G.A.S” released in 1993. First and foremost, the title deserves a huge NO HOMO sticker on the cd cover, what with some gay ass title like that. Secondly, I don’t know if the periods embedded in “N.I.G.G.A.S.” is supposed to mean something encoded or some strange Tupac form of Ebonics, whatever, I couldn’t give a rats scrotum about it’s meaning as it’s just plain stupid, then and now!!! The only song on that album that comes even close to being hot is “I Get Around”, but I always saw that as being a Digital Underground song featuring Pac as their weed carrying side artist. What with his first LP being all whack, the Underground decided they would help their lil homey out, similar to how Jay Z helps his lil homey Memphis Bleek out every now and then. Production on that song was tight, Pac’s flow improved dramatically overnight, but Shock G stole the show with his classic line “I’m Shock G, the one who put the satin on your panties.” The rest of the album really really really sucked much moose cock and once again I was pissed that I spent some cash on this vile piece of cat vomit. As I expeditiously deleted this crap from my library, I realized that I must have really been emotional when dude died, what with me including this shit in my music collection. Now I know this lp was released shortly after Pac’s “stunning” acting debut “Juice”, and a whole bunch of people got caught up in his portrayal of the “Bishop” character, but to me, his character suffered from a severe case of bi-polar based mental issues and since I actually knew cats like that back in the day in Brooklyn, I wasn’t impressed since they were all mental bitch made niggas until they had a gun in their hands. In addition, since “Juice” was Pac’s movie, why was the hottest song on the actual soundtrack “Know The Ledge” by Eric B. and Rakim? Sheet, Pac’s music was nowhere on the whole effin cd!!! A lot of people bought into it, but I for one didn’t sip the “juice”.

Next up was “Me Against The World” released in 1995. Now I gotta hand it to that nigga Pac, the hype surrounding this album’s release was incredible and effin unheard of at the time. First, dude got all shot up with five hot ones in his ass (no homo) in a New York studio in 1994 and SURVIVES!!! He then checks himself out of the hospital for “security” reasons and also, because he has to make it to court on a rape charge. I remember the image of Pac getting wheeled out of the courthouse days after being shot, all bandaged up with his middle finger pointed straight to the heavens and thinking “What a gully ass crazy muh fucker this dude is turning into!” He then gets sentenced to a bid in jail and starts blaming like the entire East Coast for all of his misfortunes and I’m feeling really sorry for dude, what with his little ass getting all plundered (no homo) all Oz style behind bars. Then the single “Dear Mama” comes out and it’s the first time dude has great production, rapping skills are intact and he’s saying some shit EVERYBODY can relate to. That song right there is genius in the same way Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday” is geniuos, its an effin holiday song that will get played like forever and ever. An effin Mother’s Day song!!!! The only other song on there that’s worthy of a playback is “Old School” what with its tight production and Pac’s improved rhyme cadence. The rest of the album is ehh, lukewarm, not as bad as his prior two releases, but decent enough, especially since the hype behind it made it damn near impossible not to wonder what this crazy ass nigga was talking about!!! Other than the two aforementioned songs, the rest of the lp got deleted from my library.

1996 was the year “All Eyez On Me” hit the streets. With this lp, the world was introduced to the “new and improved” Tupac Shakur. Now down with the infamous Suge Knight and signed to the most dangerous record label of all time, Death Row Records, Pac was geared to drop a classic, especially since he was now armed with one of hip hop’s greatest producers of all time, Dr. Dre. In addition, Pac single handedly orchestrated the weird but historical East/West coast beef and spit venom in every interview about Bad Boy, Diddy, B.I.G. and almost all things East related. Man, dude was like one unstoppable train wreck, impossible to turn away from. Album wise, dude was at the top of his game with the instant classics “Ambitionz As A Ridah” and“Hearts Of Men” (no homo), but now that dude has demonstrated that he has finally learned how to rhyme, he fucks it up by putting too many corny sounding weed carriers on his album. Yeah, cats like Snoop, Richie Rich and even Nate Dogg I can understand, but what in the eff is a Big Syke and a Rappin 4 Tay doing on this joint? Even “Got My Mind Made Up” featuring Method Man and Red Man sounds forced what with Pac declaring civil war on New York. How the fuck did they end up on that track? Finally, I don’t know whose idea it was to make this lp here a double cd, but with too many cuts and too many effin weed carriers, shit just got confusing along the way and would’ve been a better (not classic) cd with like only ten songs.

Finally “The Don Killuminati, The 7 Day Theory” recorded right before and released right after his death in 1996. (I in no way count the hundred or so other albums released after this one, since dude is dead and who knows what the fuck type of “studio magic” went into putting those other shits together.) I have to admit, this was really Tupac at his best, with his new character Makaveli sounding all raw and angry, dude really let you know he had gone way the fuck off the deep end and had become one crazy mother fucker!!!! Beats were tighter than anything ever produced for him, dude had rabid venom in his voice like he was infected by rage, and boy did he let everyone have it, from Jay Z on down to his own producer and label mate Dr. Dre!!!! No one was safe from his insane verbal ass whipping. This was the closest dude had to having a classic album. The reason it fell short? 25 more unknown weed carriers included in almost every effin joint!!!! If I were Pac and had blazing tracks like “Hail Mary” or “Intro/Bomb First”, there’s no way in hell I would allow my whack ass lackey’s to be featured on those tracks, NO EFFIN WAY!!! That being said, this lp had like four solid joints on it, the two I just mentioned along with “Toss It Up” (no homo), “Me And My Girlfriend” and “Against All Odds” which was the perfect song to end his career with. Throw in my favorite “Hit ‘Em Up” which was also recorded around the time this album was being produced (sans weed carriers off course) and you have a decent discography of like 16 strong records (actually 10 strong records once weed carrier and side artist elements are factored in).

After taking all of this in, I can understand the Tupac hype, which comes down to two points:

1) Tupac, if he deserved any accolade, was that throughout the course of his career, he never let go of his initial acting role in “Juice” and lp by lp, he perfected that role until he eventually and actually became that psycho bi-polar crazy ass nigga “Bishop”. If anything, he should have been nominated for a new type of Oscar, one where the actor really and truly becomes the character like five years after the movie came out.

2) You know how every chick with mental/emotional issues loves Sade? Well Tupac touched (no homo) every gangbanger, thug and thug wannabe with mental/ emotional issues. I’m sure most of those dudes are pretty eff’ed up in the head what with them losing homey after homey every other week in ‘da hood due to gunfire and gang warfare. Instead of going to see a therapist (which I can’t even imagine those dudes ever doing) ‘Pac became like their Sade. I even remember some dude posting on this site about how he sits in his truck, listens to Tupac and starts crying like a lil bitch. So yeah I get it, Tupac is like a thug’s Sade,, difference being that Sade dropped like 4 classic albums

That being said, the late Tupac Shakur is waaaaaaaay overrated.

Okay the blatant mind fuck is now over, I can sit here and write about half a dozen things he left out like “many tears”, “keep ya head up” not to mention “trapped” all from “Me Against The World”, and all of his songs from “Above The Rim” soundtrack. He left out the 20 or so CDs that were put out via bootleg or his estate, all the tight tracks on different soundtracks (Pain, Loyal to the Game, Starin at the World Thru My Rearview, Never Had A Friend Like Me etc). This is Hop Hop it’s not like other Genres you have to take in account all the mixtapes, features, unreleased and underground content as well, just look at Lil Wayne, the first two Carter albums didn’t make him the hottest rapper, the Drought tapes did.

This article would have you believe your a zombie and that you only like Tupac because someone told you to or because of the hype as if we don’t have eyes, ears and a mind of our own to decide on what we like. Don’t get me wrong I’m not a super Tupac fan my top 5 dead or alive is Nas, Jay-Z, Emenim, Busta Rhymes, 4th is always battle between B.I.G. and Pac. Pac usually wins because Biggie only had two albums but then again I switch my list up all the time. The point is that the article is bias and not written from a true song for song, album for album or even bar for bar perspective……

The article was funny to read though with all the no homos and weed carrier talk……

And so I end with Tupac is not the greatest of all time (not a solid and long enough career) but he’s definitely not overrated, thats absurd.

Chozen – “The Only One Awake In the World Of Dreams”

The Song:

“So Tough” is the latest gem to be exhumed from Crazy Like A Foxxx, Bumpy Knuckles’ long awaited release. For fans that have waited the past fourteen years to hear this material, Freddie Foxxx delivers again. “So Tough” is a gritty, raw track as per Foxxx’s usual style. Though the beat and lyrics are hard-hitting, the track is meant to be inspirational rather than intimidating. Foxxx speaks to the people, telling them not to give in to the hardships brought on by racism. Foxxx implores listeners to remain strong despite being put down by the man, especially (but not limited to) those wrongfully imprisoned and beat down based on outdated prejudice, saying “We went from African kings to Martin Luther King / now they wanna make us all Rodney King.” Foxxx lets the audience know that “When the going gets rough / You gotta get tough” which is exactly what he has done over the course of his tumultuous career in the music business.

The Background:

Freddie Foxxx’s Crazy Like A Foxxx was recorded in the early ’90s in New York and intended for an official release by MCA. However, for reasons unknown, the album was shelved after promotional cassettes were serviced to radio and press. This newly remastered release includes both the 1993 demo version on Disc 2 and the 1994 completed version of the album on Disc 1. Largely written for the emcee’s friends in prison, the album has ominous overtones and provides insight into Bumpy’s dark state of mind at that time period. The album is a veritable time capsule from the early 1990′s, with guest spots from legends such as 2Pac, Chuck D, and Kool G Rap as well as production from from D.I.T.C.’s Showbiz, Lord Finesse, and Buckwild. Crazy Like A Foxxx is available from Fat Beats Records now.

Streams:

So Tough

http://media.audibletreats.com/Freddie_Foxxx-So_Tough.mp3

Killa featuring 2Pac

http://media.audibletreats.com/Freddie_Foxxx-Killa_Feat_2Pac.mp3

Crazy Like A Foxxx album preview

http://media.audibletreats.com/CrazyLikeAFoxxxPreview.mp3

Bio, pictures, and streams available here:
http://www.audibletreats.com/download/FreddieFoxxx/
Freddie Foxxx’s MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/freddiefoxxx

The Song:

The second single from eLZhi’s latest release, The Preface, comes as a warning to all the gold diggers out there. “Save Ya,” featuring T3 of Slum Village, tells the ladies out there to look elsewhere if they want to reap the benefits of eLZhi’s hard earned success. eLZhi’s lyrical skills are on-point as he tells them to get lost over a bouncing, bass-heavy beat: “Infatuated with material things / You only see your feet in those shoes / Your ears in those rings / But, uh, you can come around on your best behavior / But sorry Love, I can’t save ya.”

The Background:

In the late-nineties, eLZhi made a name for himself by moving his way up through the ranks of Detroit’s underground scene and teaming up with Slum Village for his first big taste of success. He has since been making the rounds, working with local Detroit luminaries such as J Dilla, Waajeed of Platinum Pied Pipers, and Dwele, in addition to a well-received solo tour of Europe during his early years in the game. Hip-hop enthusiasts across the globe consider eLZhi to be one of the most skilled emcees in the entire scene, and bloggers and critics have been trumpeting this sentiment since the release of the last Slum Village album in 2005. With the release of The Preface, eLZhi looks to cement his name amongst the greatest emcees in the game. The 16-track album, produced almost entirely by rising star Black Milk, features guest appearances by a who’s who of the Detroit hip-hop scene. Royce Da 5’9″, T3 (Slum Village), Guilty Simpson, Phat Kat, and more add to what many have predicted will be one of the most noteworthy hip-hop releases of 2008. The Preface is in stores now via Fat Beats Records.

Streams:

Save Ya Featuring T3 of Slum Village

http://media.audibletreats.com/eLZhi-Save_Ya_Feat_T3.mp3

Motown 25 Featuring Royce Da 5’9″

http://media.audibletreats.com/eLZhi-Motown_25_Feat_Royce_Da_59.mp3

Bio, pictures, and streams available here:
http://www.audibletreats.com/download/Elzhi
eLZhi’s MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/zhifi

Fat Beats:
http://www.FatBeats.com

“Eyezon delivers his lyrics with a religious conviction, but is blessed with a great sense of timing. He has the ability to alter his rhyme schemes constantly, but without losing sight of the cadence of the mystery man’s beats.” – RapReviews.com

(September 4, 2008- Brooklyn, NY) Eyezon, the South-African born, Northern California resident is set to envelop new fans in an album that delves into life, love, loss, and struggle on his sophomore full-length A People Like Us. The album will be released on January 27, 2009 on Interdependent Media.

With A People Like Us, Eyezon touches on variety of subjects, including the dangers and racism that were rampant in South Africa during his childhood as well as common issues of love, loss, abortion, and homelessness. When asked about A People Like Us, Eyezon says the title was a reflection of “the struggles that a common people can relate to.” The album is brimming with the depth of emotion, vibrancy, and insight that is often put on the backburner in mainstream hip-hop albums.

On the song “Lord Hold Me” Eyezon dissects his struggles, dreams, and pain. The accompanying video explores the problem of homelessness in the United States by juxtaposing images of Eyezon with startling facts about our nation’s poor. Shot by Ethan Lader, the same director who created J*DaVeY’s “Mr. Mister” video, the video challenges our complacency and sheds light on an issue that is often overlooked. Paying homage to Common on “I Still Love Her (Hip Hop)” Eyezon reveals the beginning of his infatuation with hip-hop as a child in South Africa. Hailing from a culture that so far as banned rap music for its political connection to the nation’s oppressed, Eyezon could only hear hip-hop on the mix tapes and recorded radio shows that his uncle brought back from the U.S. Although Eyezon did not yet know English, he found something intriguing in the music and began to learn the rhythms of the delivery.

A People Like Us was produced entirely by Charlotte, North Carolina-based producer Sean Lane. Initiated through online communities OkayPlayer.com and Soundclick.com, the bi-coastal duo shared a love of music, and decided to digitally craft A People Like Us through file sharing. Eyezon, who has been writing verses since 1994, admits, “I’ve never worked like this. All I got was the drum loops, with maybe a sample in the back. Sean Lane went on and added different things to the beats to make them what they are now.” The fruit of his years of labor, A People Like Us stands as a testament to the messages of inspiration and perseverance he delivers in his rhymes. Eyezon has previously released an LP entitled 7 Miles from Earth and has also shared the stage with Murs, Xzibit, KRS-One, and Living Legends.

Streams:

Lord Hold Me

http://media.audibletreats.com/Eyezon-Lord_Hold_Me.mp3

Eyezon MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/eyezon

Sean Lane MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/seanl

Label site:
http://www.imculture.com/

First off let me just pat myself on the back for once again breaking another artist, I was definitely one of the first ones to put out music from Drake, it was about a year and a half ago we posted The City is Mine which no one up on at the time and every since the first time I heard this kid I knew he was headed somewhere good…

The Toronto native is now signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money records and this is the first joint from him as a Young Money affiliate “titled “Ransom” which both him and Lil Wayne bodied, below are some highlights of the Wayne verse.

Lil Wayne recites the entire alphabet…

He says him and Drake both wrote for Dr Dre’s Detox album…..

Check it out and give us your feedback, oh guess what Lil Wayne is not auto-tuning.

I don’t even know where to start after a headline like that, man those Tupac stans are going to loose their minds when they read this…

Reuters reports:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Dead rapper Tupac “2Pac” Shakur, the hip-hop icon who sold more records after he was murdered than during his brief career, is the most overrated person in music, according to music magazine Blender.

Shakur tops a tongue-in-cheek list that also includes “places, trends and other junk in rock,” Blender said in its upcoming October issue, due on newsstands next week.

Other overrated finalists included the Grammys at No. 7, encores at No. 12, Pink Floyd at No. 14 and “the music you loved as a teenager” at No. 23.

I personally thought Pac was the greatest way before he died but of course his death made him even more of an iconic figure and the same can be said for B.I.G., I mean Biggie only had two albums and he’s “Top 5 Dead or Alive“. To say Pac is overrated is crossing the line but will definitely help them sell more copies of the magazine because of it. What do you guys think?

NEW YORK (Billboard) – Rapper T.I. establishes the mark for biggest jump to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 as his single “Whatever You Like” soars from No. 71 to No. 1 in its third week on the list.

The new chart will be published Thursday (August 28) on Billboard.com.

A No. 1 opening on the Hot Digital Songs chart with debut-week sales of 205,000 downloads is the impetus for the record-setting Hot 100 move, which surpasses the leap from No. 64 to No. 1 that Maroon 5′s “Makes Me Wonder” took in May 2007.

“Like” is the rapper’s first No. 1 as a lead artist (he was featured on Justin Timberlake’s 2006 chart-topper “My Love”), and his opening-week digital sum is the best by a rap track since Nielsen SoundScan began compiling download data in 2003.

T.I.’s new Grand Hustle/Atlantic album, “Paper Trail,” will be released September 30.

The performer pled guilty to federal weapons charges in conjunction with an October 2007 arrest in Atlanta. He will serve a year in jail after completing 1,000 hours of community service.

Source:Reuters/Billboard

While Jay-Z topped Forbes.com’s inaugural Hip-Hop Cash Kings list of the top-earning people in the business last year, in 2008 he cedes the throne to Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who raked in $150 million over the past 12 months–almost twice what Jay-Z made.

Damn I guess that long journey 50 Cent has been on to get on Jay-Z’s level has finally happend, that vitamin water deal is what pushed him over the top, because it sure wasn’t this and it most certainly wasn’t this. Musically he’s been having a couple misses lately but knowing him he’s probably working on something crazy right now. Check the top 20 Cash Kings below……LoL check out who’ and number one and who’s at number twenty, I see that getting placed into a song.

1. 50 Cent – $150 million
2. Jay-Z – $82 million
3. P Diddy – $35 million
4. Kanye West – $30 million
5. Timbaland – $22 million
6. Pharrell Williams – $20 million
7. Swizz Beatz – $17 million
8. Snoop Dogg – $16 million
9. Dr. Dre – $15 million
10. Ludacris – $14 million
11. T.I. – $13 million
12. Lil Wayne – $13 million
13. Eminem – $12 million
14. Common – $12 million
15. Akon – $12 million
16. Jermaine Dupri – $11 million
17. Lil Jon – $11 million
18. OutKast – $10 million
19. Chamillionaire – $10 million
20. The Game – $10 million

HMDJR

Ozone

Speaking of Rick Ross, he is still denying the allegations that he has completely forged his entire ‘life’ that we’ve all been buying. In a recent interview with Don Diva magazine, Rick Ross issues yet another statement. He says, “When I’m making my music and talking about blow, it’s because I did it,” Rick Ross maintains. “When I say I’m rich off cocaine it’s because I did it. I never tried to hide my past! I put my name inside of all my CDs. My company has my SS #. I could’ve put a company name.” ** Remember, I told you here first that this was a pre-planned stunt pulled by Miami’s own Trick Daddy. Mind you, Trick has a tendacy of turning his back on his artist (i.e. Plies). However, he went on to say “I just talked to Plies two weeks ago and we fixin’ that Trick Daddy and Plies thing. That’s small. We all street n***as that got 30 killers behind us and we all rich and we all wild. I love Trick, cause he the one that brought me in the game.”

Khia

Lord knows, I fight for people to respect Khia.

We have mutual friends… I’ve interviewed her before and even got a deeper glimpse into who she was respecting her even more. As we all know, on July 22, Khia released her highly anticipated album Nasti Muzik 08 (which many didn’t really give a shit about). Since then, it’s been a little rumor flying around the internet saying that she is short of going platinum. Khia even posted this in her highly referenced MySpace blog. However, when I received last week’s soundscan, I did not come across Khia’s name. I thought that there was some mistake. Nonetheless, it has was learned that this was indeed a lie. Khia only sold 1,400 copies her first week according to AllHipHop.com’s Illseed. Keep in mind, I had the opportunity of speaking with Khia a few months ago and I really enjoyed what she had to say. Although Khia parades around the United States demanding that other people acknowledge her and enforce the fact that the ‘hood’ knows about her, the real question is: why didn’t they go out to support her? Don’t get me wrong, I was one of the 1,400 who did. But I think that finally Khia’s negative attitude and snapping on radio personalities on air has definitely caught up with her; even though she claims that’s a publicity stunt.

If you’re interested in seeing what she and I discussed then you should go to: http://gritsandeggs.com/online/?p=544 to read that interview.

Jacki O

Now, I don’t know how true this is, but there is a word on the street that Florida rapper Jacki-O is sexing for advancement funds. Mind you, the industry is really tough right now to be in, especially for independent artist that are struggling to finance their careers. Women in the music business have to use ‘what they’ve got to get what they want’ all the time. Like I said, I’m not sure if this is true or not but since she and I have mutual friends, I can definitely investigate this one. I just hope she’s not that type of chick but hey, sometimes YOU HAVE TO DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO.

Mashonda

In a recent interview with Vibe Magazine, Swiss Beat’s ex-wife and one hit wonder Mashonda spoke out about the rumors circulating their recent divorce. When it comes to the whole Alicia Keys & Swiss Beats relationship, this is what she had to say:

How about now? There were some rumors regarding [Alicia Keys’ fiancée´] Krucial Keys.

The media turned this whole Krucial Keys thing into some ridiculousness. Went out to D-Nices’ birthday party – a very good and mutual friend of both Swizz and I – to have a good time and promote the album. I get caught up in all the unnecessary shit for no reason. I don’t even want to make a big deal about it because I’m not worried. Everything I’m going through in my personal life is not for publicity. People don’t risk their marriage, personal beliefs and children for bullshit publicity. I want to dead the assumptions, fake media rumors, and All the Krucial rumors – it’s crazy.

When I say Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz how do you feel?

No comment.

Okay.

No comment says a lot, right? Yeah, no comment says a whole lot.

So you and Swizz were married, had a son, when did you find out it was a wrap?

For legal issues I can’t discuss, but eventually I will. I just want people to understand that in January 2008 at my birthday party, in my eyes my husband and I seemed perfectly happy. Hip-Hop Weekly did an exclusive, and things were fine. Whatever happened after that, I wasn’t aware. I didn’t know about anything, it was a rude awakening. I feel like I gave too much already, but just know I am in no way shape or form using what is going on to push my music. The media is creating a scandal, and I’m creating music, it’s not apart of each other.

Understood. What are you doing for your career so you’re not labeled just Swizz Beatz ex-wife?

There is no ex-wife situation yet, we’re not even legally separated yet. We are still in the beginning stages.

Check out LL Cool J’s album cover for his last album on Def Jam and let us know what you think about it, I think it’s hot.

Exit 13 will be the 13th and final album on LL Cool J’s record deal with Def Jam Recordings, a deal that has lasted for more than twenty years. The album was originally titled, Todd Smith Pt. 2: Back To Cool. The album is set to be released September 9, 2008.

Initially, it was said to be executively produced is by fellow Queens rapper 50 Cent, but that remains to be seen. This album will also be the first LL Cool J album since G.O.A.T. to have the parental advisory label for explicit lyrics. LL and DJ Kayslay recently teamed up to release LL’s very first mixtape as a prelude to Exit 13, titled, The Return of the G.O.A.T.

The “warm-up” single, “Rockin’ with the G.O.A.T” premiered on June 20, 2008. The First official single, “Baby” Feat. The-Dream was released on July 1, 2008 at the iTunes Music Store. Other contributors for this album include 50 Cent, Wyclef Jean, The-Dream and Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi

Confirmed Tracks:

“Rock the Pole” *
“Baby” (featuring The-Dream) *
“Champion
“Cry” (featuring Lil’ Mo)
“Rockin’ with the G.O.A.T.” *
“Girl If I (featuring Trey Songz)*
“The 5 Boroughs Is Back *
“Come Over”

“RIZ is the truth. When I first heard his music, I got the same chills I got when I first heard 50 Cent” – Sha Money XL, Money Management.

It’s that vision that has attracted the attention of some of the most creative up coming forces in the Hip-Hop industry. From recording tracks such as “Put Em Up” with LA’s super-producer JR Rotem, (who has also lent his touch to hit records for Rick Ross, Sean Kingston, Rihanna, and Britney Spears), to “Watch What You Say” with the Miami based, The Runners (R.Kelly, Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne), to starring in his ?rst full length video directed by Rik Cordero ( who has also directed for Snoop Dogg, Beanie Siegel, Jay Z, Nas), RIZ continues to push the envelope.

Backed by a solid management team headed by Sha Money XL of Money Management Group, Will “DaBoss” of Media Management and David “Da Jeweler” of Diamond District Entertainment, RIZ has released two critically acclaimed mixtapes, hosted by heavy hitters in the game, DJ Envy and DJ Whoo Kid, respectively. He has collaborated with artists such as Lloyd Banks (GUnit/ Interscope), Trey Songz (Atlantic), Jim Jones
(Sony WMG), Maino (Atlantic), and many more. He is currently recording his ?rst full length studio album to be released later this year independently, all the while
continuing to build his online fan base which is evident by the 80,000+ views on You Tube of his “Red Light Green Light” video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv82C14Hp8I, and over 100,000 hits on various websites, including his My Space page.

Every now and then RIZ can be heard (and seen) displaying his skills on www.hiphopgame.com. He has also been featured on several Hip-Hop documentaries, Smack DVD, Real Talk DVD, Blow Magazine & DVD amongst others. But his slow and steady pace to the top has not always been positive.

After the passing of his mentor and biggest fan, NY’s Power 105.1 DJ Carl Blaze, he had to dig deep to ?nd inspiration again. RIZ lets us in some of the raw emotions on tracks such as “Trials and Tribulations”- Position of Power hosted by DJ Whoo Kid.

RIZ has the creativity, inspiration, knowledge and versatility to bring back to Harlem
what only Harlem can offer. A star.

Riz – Bucktown Homicide SMACK DVD

Well Well Well, ever heard the term “only time will tell” well in this case time is definitely snitching. Like I told you guys before I knew Rick Ross use to be a C.O. since last year I just didn’t know it was this big secret and that most people didn’t know about it or the fact that this cat has been denying it.

Ross (real name: William Leonard Roberts) was appointed a prison guard in December 1995 at a salary of $22,913.54, according to the below personnel record, which was provided to TSG by Jo Ellyn Rackleff, a DoC spokesperson. The rapper’s social security number is identical to that of the jail guard. According to the official document, Ross was earning $25,794.34 when he left the department in June 1997. After graduating from the DoC training academy, Ross was assigned to the South Florida Reception Center in Dade County (the lockup is one of three statewide that serves as an intake facility for new prisoners).

I didn’t care that he was a C.O., the Trilla album is still fire but once he once he denied it, it’s only a matter of time before life provides to the proof about who you really are and who knows maybe he did move major weight after he left the force, maybe he made connection with inmates who had connects but you messed up by lying and now you look phony and the greatest rapper alive co-sign you.

Props: The Smoking Gun, making it hard for these rappers.

The strange thing is that Rick Ross denied it and there is proof that he was, why lie? I don’t think is matters whether or not you were a C.O. that doesn’t mean you can’t still be a real individual or that you never sold drugs, because trust me I know my share of dirty pigs (I mean cops).

90 percent of all rappers are not real gangsters but I still like there music, it’s usually someone they grew up or someone they heard about in their surroundings that comes across in the lyrics. I think the Trilla album is one of the best albums that came out this year and I knew about the whole C.O. thing along time ago and that didn’t change the opinion of him. Why he’s denying it I don’t know but lets see how this plays out as the evidence continues to rolls in. Maybe it’s all B.S and I was miss informed.

Sidebar:Why is Trick Daddy coming at the new M.I.A. cats he’s responsible for putting these cats on, makes him look like hater.

Unable to see the video GO HERE

I’m not really feeling this album cover any rookie photoshop user could have done a better job, maybe the actual scans will look better than this internet photo either way I have a feeling this will be one of the albums of the year. Paper Trail Is drops September 9th………

Tracks from The album:

T.I. No Matter What

T.I. – Swing Your Rag

T.I. A Better Day

Of course credits are in order, Pics via:TheMavenReport

Now I already made it clear that their was no buzz around this T.O.S. album and sure enough the numbers confirm that. Billboards places G-Unit’s T.O.S. album first week sales at 102,000, which would have been great for any other artist but when your 50 Cent someone that basses his whole career on having big numbers this is not a good look.

G-Unit’s sophomore set, “T.O.S. (Terminate on Sight)” (G-Unit/Interscope) debuts at No. 4 with 102,000. The crew’s 2003′s debut album, “Beg For Mercy,” started at No. 1 with 377,000.

I can already see Young Buck, The Game and Fat Joe running to the studio right now to launch some missiles at the Unit’s poor record sales. Me being a G-Unit fan I personally think the album should have been better and 50 Cent should have involved more in the promotional process of the album instead of being promoting a movie that will not be in theaters months from now.

Truth be told the Return Of The Body Snatchers and 50 Cent and Mr. Cee mixtapes were actually more enjoyable than the T.O.S album (still bumping the 50 and Mr. Cee joint). The new G-Unit has become less about the music and more about the drama. If 50 Cent wants to reclaim his thrown as the king of the charts he will have to return to that original G-Unit energy that his fans couldn’t get enough of. Without that I don’t see 50 Cent’s new album selling a million his first week.

Amanda Diva Watch Your Back Barack video, an interesting joint from Amanda Diva off her new Foreplay mixtape. She addresses to realistic issue of Barack Obama possibly being assassinated.

I don’t know why everybody was trippin when 50 Cent said they might kill Barack Obama as if it wasn’t just 45 years ago a white president got assassinated, so why couldn’t it happen to a black president. Not saying that it will happen just saying we shouldn’t act as if it can’t happen.

50 Cent thinks we could see another MC sell a million copies in the first week before 2008 is over: him! He plans on dropping his next solo LP, Before I Self-Destruct, within the next few months.

“I want to focus on the positive, and I feel I’m one of the more vocal people in hip-hop,” he added. “Even when it’s not about music, people pay attention to me, because I have something to offer. I’ll continue to create quality music at a pace they haven’t seen.”

Full Story: MTV

I don’t know fif you did fall off a little bit after that last album even though it ended up selling 3,000,000 world wide. For him to sell a million in his first week again he will need at least three big records.

What else is new…..

DMX was arrested in Arizona this morning, as he exited a flight from Fort Lauderdale. The rapper currently has two outstanding warrants in Phoenix. Threepeat!

Sheriff Joe Arpaio — aka America’s Toughest Sheriff — tells TMZ that DMX “never learns his lesson” and hopes to get the rapper into a pair of pink underwear in his Tent City jail. Lovely thought.

X was busted June 27 after he allegedly tried to buy drugs from an undercover officer. He was also busted on June 23, May 9 and May 7.

Source: TMZ

Nobody is surprised by a headline like that anymore which is sad, every time I see DMX in the news I cringe and just think of where he was 8 years ago he’s was one of the best and if he had continued he would have been placed in the same category as Jay-Z and Nas, damn he messed up his legacy.

I know all you Lil Wayne junkies out there are not going to feel this statement but judging by what I’ve heard so far from this upcoming Nas album The Carter III can’t compete with this album as far as lyrical content and substance is concerned. Check out the track listing.

01. Queens Get The Money (Produced by Jay Electronica)
02. You Can’t Stop Us Now (feat. Eban Thomas of The Stylistics & The Last Poets) (Produced by Salaam Remi)
03. Breathe (Produced by J. Myers & Dustin Moore)
04. Make The World Go Round (feat. Chris Brown & The Game) (Co-produced by Cool & Dre & The Game)
05. Hero (feat. Keri Hilson) (Produced by Polow Da Don)
06. America (Produced by Stargate)
07. Sly Fox (Produced by stic.man of Dead Prez)
08. Testify (Produced by Mark Batson)
09. N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave And The Master) (Produced by DJ Toomp)
10. Untitled (Produced by stic.man of Dead Prez)
11. Fried Chicken (feat. Busta Rhymes) (Produced by Mark Ronson)
12. Project Roach (feat. The Last Poets) (Produced by Eric Hudson)
13. Ya’ll My Niggas (Produced by J. Myers)
14. We’re Not Alone (feat. Mykel) (Produced by stic.man of Dead Prez)
15. Black President (feat. Johnny Polygon) (Produced by DJ Green Lantern)

Shortly after the taped conversation between Young Buck and Curtis was leaked by the G-Unit camp, Young Buck responds with a record appropriately titled “Taped Conversion” which is the first real dis record from Buck going at 50 Cent.

Download:Streetz & Young Deuces – Dat Guy (Produced By Franchize)[Dirty Version]

Download:Streetz & Young Deuces – Dat Guy (Produced By Franchize)[Clean Version]

While accusations are flying profusely about 50 torching his own home to ‘kill his baby mother’, speculations are beginning to surface if this is a repeat of 50’s childhood. As you all may recall, 50’s mother was drugged then burned in premeditated gas house fire. Could 50 be responsible for the fire of his Long Island home?

Although his baby mother has been relentless in seeking an increase in child support throughout the years, and has failed, why would 50 result to trying to kill her now? After all, this has been an ongoing court hearing battle for years. Could she have been bitter with the recent judge’s decision to deny the increase in child support, be upset from public embarrassment and humiliation, and have set the house on fire herself? With keeping in mind 50 is in location for a movie, how could he possibly have been in New York to set the house on fire and get back to Louisiana without being noticed? Perhaps he paid someone to do his dirty work. Even if he did, how could someone start that big of a fire without leaving the scene smelling like gasoline? It should be totally impossible for the fire to be a one man’s job. Investigators have since then revealed that there was a 5 gallon gas tank found near the house. Maybe they will be able to find some type of microscopic evidence with the gas can and perhaps they won’t. Furthermore, if someone had broken into the house as Shaniqua alleges then why hasn’t there been a police report brought forth? Normally when someone breaks into someone’s home, the person who lives there typically files a police report. But she didn’t file one (and if she did it hasn’t been revealed) and then an hour later her house goes up in flames and her five children barely escaped.

Since the fire, Shaniqua has been quoted as challenging 50’s parental skills by saying “tell him to call his son!” Maybe Shaniqua is utilizing this moment to expose 50, win the lawsuit, and get the judge to see that she needs more monthly revenue to live in an undisclosed location from his deranged father (used as a figure of speech).

What really had happened was…

I think Shaniqua got mad after the fight, called her estranged boyfriend or booty call over for some love and affection to ease her mind of the drama. Got some. Went to the bathroom dissatisfied, ran a bath, smoked a cigarette while playing Tweet’s “Smoking Cigarettes”, dranked some wine and had flash backs of Waiting to Exhale. Then, she went into her car, got her gas can, called herself setting some of 50s personal items on fire and ended up burning down the house. However, here’s the kicker: when she realized she couldn’t control the small fire, she ran to get her kids out of bed, called 911 and barely escaped.

Think about it. Why else was she awake at 5AM?

Hmmm…

Henok Achido grew up in a musical home in the Southern parts of Sweden, purchasing his first vinyl with his weekly allowance at the age of 8. At the age of 17, Henok featured on number one hit single and grammy nominated song ‘Mina Hundar’ by Swedish rapgroup Fattaru, which resulted in numerous performances in most Scandinavia countries but although the outcome and response for Henok was massive, he still didnot feel satisfied with the mindstate and lacked maturity and the preparation to be the complete musician. After, Mina Hundar, Henok dropped out of highschool and moved to Stockholm to continue record and feature songs but still didnot feel that his timing was right. Late 05 and after creating several high quality songs and being mostly pushed by his younger brother to create music, he decided to take the big step in to the light of music. Today, Henok Achido is known for being a bilingual artist plus the combination of unique flow, determination, cockiness & inventive word play describes Henoks’ main characteristics best.

Check below for Henok’s video for, “Million Dollar Baby,” and more info about him.

What is the true price for fulfilling your dreams? Is it going against your own standard beliefs? Becoming something your not? Or puttingyourself in a position to be “eaten alive” by your enemy? Or better yet your supposed friends and people you thought were on your side.Lynne Forde examines that question in her new novel, Lies of Blue.

Set in New York’s grit and grime, this epic full-length novel tells the story of an aspiring music executive who gets caught up in theworld of men, money and drugs.  In her attempt to escape the poisonous world of entertainment, Lynne launches a new “career” as acorrectional officer in a men’s prison.  The trials and tribulations that follow send her spiraling into an even more disastrous world fromwhich she came, eventually putting the young woman up against games that can kill.  Join Lynne on her journey as she comes full circlewith her mistakes and choices in efforts to finally realize her dream.

As Lynne Ford’s first full-length novel, which is accompanied by a straight to DVD movie version of the work, this multimedia project looks to set a milestone in urban fiction by introducing a new element for the reader. As a phenomenal writer with the ability to fullycapture her own experiences in words, Lynne is also writer for the people.  Women and those who go against all odds to progress, in particular will be able to explore real life situations in lyric and sound as they journey with Lynne Ford into the Lies of Blue.

As the flagship premier author of Saffrye Entertainment, Lynne Ford is making quite a statement.  Personifying strength, success, and ambition, the CUNY graduate and New York resident has effectively introduced a new hit to the urban literary market. “Lies of Blue,” which addresses the question, “What is the true price of fulfilling your dreams,” deals with the decisions and consequences of a young woman driven to make something of herself and life.   Drawn from personal experiences and occurrences, “Lies of Blue” is a true depiction of the real world and its realms of ‘good vs. evil.

 An ambitious woman and trailblazer with several other written screenplays, including “Living the Dream” and “Best Kept Secret”, Forde lives with no regrets of the sacrifices she has made to become the woman she is today.  Hoping to aid other individuals who are put in between the hard decisions of life, “Lies of Blue” is a compelling novel that will make a difference in many lives.  A firm believer in the word ‘sacrifice,’ Forde knows she has more to make, but if she can help others through those sacrifices she has already made, than it all will have been well worth the struggle.

Coming from origins that span into music, production and management, Forde has had the privilege of working with 45 King, the NBA, and some of New York City’s hottest underground artist. Joining forces with Saffyre Entertainment in 1998 has successfully propelled both of the entities to the forefront of the entertainment industry. In addition to staking her place in the world of entertainment Forde is also currently working on a number of community based projects that include the H.O.P.E. Foundation, which will enable men of color to make an easier transition back into the community.  This is first of many ways Forde intends to reach out and uplift the community. 

With the Ability to combine her street knowledge with business savvy, which allows her to speak to both “the hood” and the boardroom with ease, her life experiences have just begun to show the industry how bright her light can shine. The sky is truly the limit for Forde as she has created a critically acclaimed trailer for her book “Lies of Blue” totally changing the face of urban literature.  Besides steadily gaining fan momementum, Forde  has also impressed a number of industry heavyweights including, Warrington Hudlin of BET who is quoted as saying, “The room was electrified and swept away by your story.”  Susan Taylor of Essence Magazine quoted the story as “Compelling”, while Oprah’s Oxygen Channel has considered making the story a TV Series. 

To date Lynne has been successful in promoting “Lies of Blue” on a number of circuits that include the American Black Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival Cinemas, Radio, Mass and Urban Publications, Black owned bookstores and HBCU’s across the country 

For more on Lynne and Lies of Blue Check Out LiesofBlue.com  

check me out on myspace.com/lexilex

Tha Block Members of Year (you know the ones that run sh*t)

Pwincessalzere2k7 - wins for Most Popular Member, this was very close between pwincessalzere2k7 and blaccmoney41 with only a difference of 75 views. Pwincessalzere2k7 has only been a member for three months and has managed to blow past older members without even uploading a single audio or video.

DASAME0LG – wins for Top Video Provider, DASAME0LG has also only been a member for 3 months and took over Tha Block with over 140 videos uploaded, mostly music videos. There has been many times where he would have the videos before we do, can’t wait to see how much damage he does next year when we upgrade to 100 mb uploads.

Pitola809 – wins for Top Audio Provider, Pitola809 blew past nine thousand members in less than 2 months with over 890 audio uploaded (that’s even more than us). We are officially calling him the mixtape king, he uploads all the latest music from mixtapes before anyone else even knows about them.

Mrsshollywood – wins for Hottest Member, mrsshollywood has been on the site pretty much since the creation of Tha Block and has some of the hottest pics on the site. Check her out.

And that raps it up for Best members of Tha Block, maybe next year you’ll be in the list of Tha Block’s Best of The Best, it will be allot bigger and better next year.

Also Check out:

The Most Popular Vidoes.

The Most Poplular Audio.

The Most Popular Photos.

Bundles of Joy?

With pregnancies in the air all over Hollywood, there are a few highly anticipated births awaiting us in 2008. First it began with Halle Berry, then Jennifer Lopez, now it’s Jessica Alba, Tameka “Tiny” Cottle [TI’s Wifey], Jamie Lynn AND Brittney Spears amongst several other expecting mothers. Now, my first question is: What nut case decided to elope with Brittany Spears, but I had to realize who wouldn’t be silly enough to father Brittany’s baby when she’s obviously both rich and unstable. I don’t know world, but that should be a very interesting situation to critique considering Brittany doesn’t have custody for neither one of her children now. Speaking of Brittany, what’s going on with the side of her mouth? I don’t know about ya’ll but I saw an up-close shot of that – which looks like Herpes – and I was just curious to know if anybody saw that or not? Hey! Breaking news… New York (aka Tiffany Patterson) is also pregnant but the baby father is UNKNOWN – is that surprising? New York was undergoing the typical screenings for her hit reality show I Love New York 3 when discovered that she was pregnant. I wonder if Tailor Made is her baby daddy since he recently admitted that he was the ONLY PERSON on the show who actually had sex with her… I don’t know but that’s just gross.

Wipe Your Baby’s Booty!

Although this is yet another year that singer/song writer R. Kelly has not been convicted of his child pornography charges, he’s still the butt of all jokes as he recently missed court and a warrant was issued for his arrest. A spokesperson for Kellz simply stated he missed it because his tour bus was pulled over by the police. However, if this was true then why wasn’t he arrested for missing his court date? In case you haven’t noticed that I didn’t say his publicist released a statement, R. Kelly’s long term publicist (and her husband – who’ve been friends with Kellz) for 14 years has thrown the deuces to Kellz after he was caught sleeping with her daughter. Although the girl is 19 years old now, the disgusting part of this is that she was 4 when they met. Now, I know I’m wrong for assuming this but if Kellz has a problem with touching young kids, why does he still have custody of his children? If he can sleep with this chick after he’s watched her grow up for 14 years, then who’s to say that he’s not sleeping or touching his kids? Hey! That’s just a thought because obviously this man is sick!

Now, that’s a good baby!

Singer/Songwriter/Actress Ms. Alicia Keys has proven everybody wrong with her third studio LP As I am by releasing two number one hit singles for the fifth week in a row.

Poor Baby!

As if Kelly Rowland hasn’t already had a hard time in the states pushing her sophomore album, Ms. Kelly, she was recently even kicked off of The Clash of the Choirs on NBC the first night! First she was crying because a promoter reduced her concert tickets to fifty cents and she still couldn’t sell out and now she can’t even last two nights on TV. Now, I had the TV on but didn’t really see what they came up with but I do know that this show is slightly skewed because you have Patti LaBelle competing against a bunch of youngins that have no clue what longevity is even if they ran into it on the damn street. Speaking of non-selling singers, Ruben Studdard was dropped from J. Records for piss pour record sells on his 3^rd album as he only pushed over 233,000 copies! Curren$y finally left Young Money after realizing after FOUR YEARS his career was going nowhere with Weezy F. Baby. Same thing happened to KeKe Wyatt after two years. Just because yo’ boss is rich, don’t mean you will be too; Lil Wayne ain’t even learned this lesson for himself after being sued by a Miami jeweler for not paying his own damn bill. Karrine Steffans does not have a record deal, thank God! Besides, what would she rap about? Getting and giving head is kind of faded now but then again if she would do a complementary DVD she would have the best selling album and porn of all time which guarantees her some revenue because 4/5 people who’ve read this last book are asking for their money back.

REJECTED, Baby!

As if we care, Remy Ma’s request to travel was rejected by a New York judge. Apparently she’s hurting for cash because her lawyer fault tooth and nail for her to get the opportunity to travel overseas for a five day tour and the judge said “HELL TO THE NO”. And get this: the tour would have only given her $40,000. Remy Ma is also denying the lesbian allegations as well. If you ask me, I think they’re true, she’s oversaturated with masculinity (lol) but you didn’t ask me now did you? Ha! Change Your Baby’s Diaper! I’m not sure how many of you all are familiar with who Sandra Rose is but I recently saw her at an event and she definitely confirmed what I thought: she looks not exactly a pretty girl (if you know what I mean). I guess she got tired of everybody calling her a hater and blocked off her website to only “invited” readers but hey! It’s only so many times you can pick on everybody by picking out every little flaw they have before someone starts to call you a hater. I used to be a fan of hers truthfully and respectively until I realized she rarely had anything positive to say. I almost want to say that she and Ms. Jones would be BEST friends. They seem to have the same issues in life.

Baby Bye! Is it just me or does Mary J. Blige, Beyoncè, and Lil’ Wayne need to all take a vacation for at least a year or two because we’re being oversaturated with their longevity in the game. Now that my homie TI is bored on house arrest, I understand that he’s trying to keep himself busy and all with all these mix tapes and stuff, but why not just go outside to the pool and enjoy your vacation time boo. Now, don’t get me wrong: I LOVE SOME TI but some of the music I’ve heard has just been too concentrated. Why can’t these folks pull a Prince; do one album every seven years. We’d still love you, boo. Damn! Speaking of needing a break, although I like “Fly like me” by Chingy, does anyone else feels like he just needs to GIVE IT UP all together? And DMX has stayed too long on vacation because I’m not sure how I feel about him recording another album. Is that even news?Rev. Run’s son JoJo getting a record deal… FOR WHAT? We all know that’s happening on his father’s recognition.

YOU CANT CRY OVER SPOILED MILK! Although I’m not a fan of celebrity gossip, (lol) word on the streets is that Dr. Jan Adams is the doctor responsible for messing up both Lil’ Kim and Vivica A. Fox’s faces (lmao). How about we gain some self-esteem and quit wasting money on plastic surgery and then we wouldn’t be crying about foolishness like this!

Aiight ya’ll and that’s a wrap up of what’s going on in Hollywood and Bollywood.

Check me out on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/lexilex

Cassidy spends half the interview Angie Martinez talking about Jay-Z’s album, I think that confidence he has is now border lining cockiness. I have both these guys albums sitting by my laptop right now and Cassidy’s B.A.R.S is a well put together album but it’s no American Gangster. My Drink and Two Step is about 300 hundred spins away from being played out and there isn’t anymore radio friendly singles on that album apart from “Damn I Miss The Game” which I will be posting tomorrow. Blue Magic slowly grew on most people and Roc Boys is taking off in a major way plus the video is crazy, other joints on Jay’s album like “Success” and “Fallen” could be considered Classics.

Watch: Cassidy Interview With Angie Martinez

Free T.I., more pics below

Snitches: At first, MySpace.com was the biggest snitch in cases involving ghetto baby mama’s who play inspector gadget with their cheating boyfriend’s MySpace pages but now Sandra Rose is being a big time snitch in the whole TI investigation. Basically, she’s saying on her website that the judge supposedly read her blog about the TI situation, got upset, and refused to let him out of jail – or something to that effect – and that an angry representative from Atlantic Records called her to ask her to quit blogging about the investigation because she’s tampering with evidence. Something to that effect. I quote:

Last Friday, I received a call from an Atlantic records exec who informed me that T.I.’s lawyers were discussing amongst themselves the fact that the judge read my blog and was “very angry” by what he read. The exec indicated that the judge may have been angry enough to alter his decision to release T.I. on house arrest last Friday. The exec asked me to “be more sensitive” about what I wrote regarding T.I.I agreed to comply with the record exec’s request but later that same night I heard from two others in T.I.’s camp who said T.I.’s lawyers informed them that if T.I. isn’t released this coming Friday it will be my fault. As ridiculous as that may sound, I’m taking this reckless innuendo seriously. I decided to post this for two reasons a) because I want this on record just in case, and b) because some people have a hard time accepting the fact that T.I. – not bloggers or the media – is responsible for his current situation.I don’t believe for one minute that the judge reads Sandrarose.com. If I was T.I. I would be concerned about paying all that money to lawyers who would resort to these types of intimidation tactics. The attorneys need to be worried about their case and not about what some random blogger writes.

B*tches:Lil Wayne disses the kiddes in North Carolina by not showing up to a concert packed with 4,000 kids and then doesn’t even refund their money! I guess he needed it more than they did LOL. Somebody grab ya boy 50 Cent (who’s still being a sore loser now that he lost 2x’s to Kanye West who is certified 2xs platinum) who was on stage somewhere in America looking super GAY dancing to Kanye’s “Stronger” attempting to make a mockery of Ye but ended up embarrassing himself even more. (to see the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Ey15rkQC0) Um. Anyways – to the b*tches that started the rumor talking about Jeezy was shot, you wish! My mans is alive and well cooking up more motivation for the wannabe’s – Speaking of wannabe’s word on the streets that Plies is a fony! Word on the streets in Florida is that he raps about his brother’s lifestyle and there was another Florida rapper (whom I’ve interviewed recently) that helped exposed him even more than the “real goons” down in Florida. LOL. When will they ever stop? In ATL the word on the streets is that Bad Boy’s Loon has some ugly beef on his hands… all I gotta say is Vaseline and saran wrap pretty boy! LOL And finally, will somebody tell Khia to shut the hell up! She makes a career off of hating on other people but now she’s taken it too far. She’s saying TI copied her by saying “do it” in “Big Shit Poppin’” because she was saying “I do it” in her song “Hater Walk”. WTF? It’s one thing to hate on Jacki-O, Trina, and even Lil’ Wayne but this cookie monster is just outta control this time around. Just stop! Solange was out with her son this weekend looking great!

Cornball @$$ mofos: Ludacris was spotted out this weekend with his new boo overseas. He was the opening act for Beyoncè’s concert in Ethiopia. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the annoying Gabrielle Union. YES! Former 106 & Park host Free was spotted out this weekend. I almost forgot who she was but good news for her, she’s been booked to host the Dirty Awards in Atlanta coming up in November – not really a BIG deal!

JUST WHY?Why in the hell do we BLACK PEOPLE have an award show called The Hoodie Awards? JUST WHY? And why do the cateogories consist of “The best chicken spot?” What the damn! And WHY did Kelly Rowland’s label THINK she had the ability to go on tour after NOBODY hardly bought that last album. Needless to say, they’re going to ABORT her North American aspect of her tour. R&B mishap Letoya Luckett is back in the studio working on a sophomore album yet entitled. She has a new single called “Swagger” that’s supposed to be something. What that is, I don’t know! Cheri Dennis is also trying to do something, again. Um. For???? Apparently Yung Joc & Gorilla Zoe are the new tag team. Why? I mean, I’ve interviewed them both and their cool peoples but the collaborations should have ended at The Coffee Shop. Diddy’s mama is still looking a plum fool so why she had the audacity to show up to her son’s women’s clothing line launching party looking a HOT ASS MESS I don’t know but she’s been embarrassing him for years… at some point in time, he’ll quit inviting her ass until she gets a REAL stylist. Hot damn! Nas is firing back to the critics (and Rev. Al Sharpton) for his new album called “NIGGER” – why? How many people use the word subconsciously on a day-to-day basis? If he wants to exhibit the word NIGGER and show why or why not is a nigger let ‘em do it. Like Mo’Nique say, “LOOK AT THAT NIGGER! He’s on top of the world!” Speaking of rap, why is Brittany Spears baby daddy’s ex-girlfriend and former first baby mama Shar Jackson trying to start up a rap career? Um. WHY! Fantasia – as known as big lips in the business – is ‘posed to be dating Young Dro. I’m sorry, I can’t hold it in LOL! Just why?! Lastly, Foxy Brown got some trashed called singles released. No me gusta!

RIP: You might have remembered her from Lyfe’s “S.E.X” – Yolanda “Lala” Brown was found dead in a Milwalkee studio with her boyfriend over the weekend. They had been shot and dead for over a day before they were found. She leaves a daughter behind.

Get fresh!

Check me out on myspace.com/sweetfaceh0nii

or listen to me live at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/whtrradio

“What I really plan to do is shoot [American Gangster, the album] as a movie. Like a better Streets is Watching.” Jay-Z told AllHipHop.com during a recent interview. “Doing it like a musical. Real stories and get somebody in there that’s [going do to].real writing. Someone to shoot it like ‘Godfather.’ I know that’s a little ungracious, but that’s how you gotta place it…”

Full Story

Wait a movie I thought his album was the soundtrack to the American Gangster movie.

After debuting at No. 1 last week, Kanye West’s Def Jam album “Graduation” falls to No. 2 with 226,000, a sales slide of 76%. 50 Cent’s “Curtis” does nearly the same, slipping 2-3 with 143,000 (-79%).

Source

Wow, I knew the numbers would go down the second week but not by 80 percent, I was certain 50 Cent was going to out do Kanye West in the second week. This was great for hip hop in the first week but even our two biggest artist still fell victim to staggering record sales. 50 Cent is still not platinum his first week, I guess we will how these two make out for the 3rd week.

But, Jay-Z did also recently comment on Kanye’s lyrical ability on Ye’s Graduating closing track, Big Brother. “It makes me proud as someone who’s watched his growth from the beginning, when he came in as a hungry producer, to now he’s a rock star.” He went on to say, “It’s the best thing he’s written since Jesus Walks” – I love Big Brother but I wouldn’t say all that Hov! Ya know!

Mobb Deep’s Havoc is holding a free concert in the New York area this weekend to celebrate the release of his record The Kush.

Kanye’s rubbing off on 50! – Well, although we all predicted this significant movement in Hip-Hop (the Kanye outselling 50 cent movements), it seems as though 50 has adopted crybaby like tendencies since he sheerly embarrassed himself thoroughly! 50’s has been previously been reported (as told here) to be accusing Def Jam of buying more of Kanye’s albums – child please! – and that the sales were tampered with. Although Jay-Z appears on 50’s wack remix to “I get money”, President Carter has stated, “I couldn’t do the track until after the first week; don’t want to contaminate sales,” but he did say that it’s all friendly competition. Nonetheless, 50 is now conceding in a more appropriate way by saying this: “I am very excited to have participated in one of the biggest album release weeks in the last two years. Collectively, we have sold hundreds of thousands of units in our debut week. This marks a great movement for Hip Hop Music one that will go down in history.” All I gotta say is: Kanye pulled this win off by himself. As of Tuesday, Soundscan has reported Kanye as selling 957,000 copies his first week in comparison to 50’s piss pour 691,000 copies. I have to laugh, even TI sold more than that his first week (not saying that TIP is wack but what is 50 going to say next? I can outsell TI?) – but ya know… just curious.

Other mishaps and foolishness – Rumor has it that Jennifer Lopez is pregnant with twins after having some fertility problems, if so, this would be husband Marc Anthony’s fourth and fifth child whereas these would be J-Lo’s first babes. If true, good luck momma!

Just last week, actress Gabrielle Union – whom I find it excruciating hard to like her (from her roles on film – I know that’s just her day job but she is just something extra for me, maybe one day I’ll see her on Oprah and decide that I like her but for now, I can’t separate the real Gabby from the big screen Gabby) was linked to having a relationship with actress/rapper Ludacris has now been linked to Hill Harper. This could be very well a rumor as well but hey, I just report the big stories as they break!

Lastly, we all love, respect, and admire Ms. Aretha Franklin, but my question is: with all that money and legacy that she possesses, why isn’t she taking care of herself? I saw the pictures from Diddy’s launch of Unforgivable Woman, and Aretha is just looking all around bad. I’m not suggesting plastic surgery, but can’t she consider at least a weight lost program. She’s been looking unhealthy for years. I mean at least, I know she can consider a decent wig, and a make-up artist and stylist when she’s stepping out for a major event like that? I mean just damn!

Black History – Today, In Jena, Louisiana thousands of protestors march to fight the Jena 6. Everyone in Black America was asked to wear all black (including me) to support the six blacks affected by this despicable act in 2007. Nonetheless, several Hip-Hop figures are said to be in effect from TI, Lil Wayne, and Mos Def – of course including Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders. If you’re not familiar with Jena 6, please GOOGLE IT!

Also, Scratch Magazine announced that the DJ friendly magazine will no longer exist after this month’s issue…dang!! L

Look me up on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/sweetfaceh0nii. I’m looking for suggestions on how to improve this for ya’ll, send them to me. P.S. I do go by Empress, Lexilex, Nikki G, and of course, Alexis!

Well, that’s about it ya’ll. Get fresh!

Accept it: Will somebody please inform 50 that it’s time to just accept his failures. Not only has he lost this battle in the US but he has lost overseas as well. In addition, he has canceled his tour – but nonetheless, the man is still talking shit… um… give it up! The people have spoken and he wasn’t heard. Point blank. Kanye is hotter. That shit rocks. Sadly, he’s blaming Def Jam with tampering with debut sales for “buying more Kanye albums”… um could it be that your shit sucks?! Every time I go to the store, I just look at Curtis and sigh. Sorry, I won’t pick up the album. I just can’t bring myself to it. Nonetheless, I did check it out on myspace and I ended up checking out one song in its entirety and that’s Ayo Technology. But hey! He can still be my boo…. Lol! Speaking of Good Music, ya’ll need to really check out that Common Finding Forever. That’s a really hot album and Chicago is definitely representing it for quality music. I must admit, if you’re not going to physically listen to the album, then this album is definitely not for you! In addition, Jada and Will were out and about representing their spicy love life at the premier for some new movie. They were definitely getting a little too close…so accept it, they ain’t leaving each other no time soon!

What the damn!? – I never knew another man would want another man’s balls but apparently, Marc Ecko spent $752,467 on Barry Bond’s 756^th baseball and has no idea with what he wants to do with it. That was just dumb! My question is – is it even autographed? Master P is teaching the kids about financial decisions and the importance of education. My question is: are you doing it out the kindness of your heart or are you doing it because you mismanaged your funds by grilling out every tooth in your mouth? Um…. Just asking… I’m sure he’s getting paid somewhere for that! Alicia Keys is caught by those paparazzi without makeup. I guess she should be sued with a class action lawsuit against all ya’ll that ran out to buy Proactiv thinking that it worked on her face cause she damn sure fooled me! That ass still got pimples and blotches everywhere…. I want my refund! 50’s baby mama is also seeking an increase in child support, I guess that squashes that infamous line in ‘I get money’… about him and his child support…

Just Give it up! – in other news, will somebody inform Ashanti that she is an official has-been and if it weren’t for Nelly (who is semi-unimportant) she would be long and forgotten about. I’m not sure if you all have heard her second wack ass attempt in making a comeback, but if not, it’s up on the net. I won’t even support her by telling you all the name of the track. It’s THAT wack and I don’t want ya’ll be mad at me for wasting a download on that! Straight up! But aside from that, Mama finally bought a decent stylist and she’s looking semi-cute. Too bad her musical abilities aren’t up to par. Speaking of cute, Halle Berry is looking fabulous! She was spotted out this weekend shopping for baby clothes but for those who wanted Jennifer Hudson to play Aretha Franklin in her autobiography movie, sorry for you! She demanded Halle instead – but when will somebody inform Aretha that she looks nothing like Halle! Speaking of other foolishness, Usher is trying to still sell that cologne. I doubt it. Speaking of just stupidness, Ludacris was on Law & Order tonight, he does better as an actor that he does a rapper….tisk tisk! I guess two boyish females can’t be friends without folk thinkin ya gay but if you’re Alicia Keys & Eve, the rumor is: You’re seeing each other… I don’t believe that mess! Speaking of other dumb shit, some tackhead wrote mediatakeout.com and said that Lil’ Wayne wets the bed after sex… um… the question is: how would you know unless yo groupie ass was being a slut and fucked a drunk celebrity! Lol. He won’t even know ya name… tisk tisk!

I can’t wait – I soooo cannot wait for TI’s new video Hurt to air. He shot it in Atlanta this past weekend… and definitely, I can’t wait for Keyshia Cole’s new album Just Like You hitting stores on next Tuesday. I heard some tracks and it’s definitely hot. My girl rips it My Life (Mary J. Blige) style. Check it out. Babyface has a new album coming out… hopefully he brings back some chivalry!

Check me out on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sweetfaceh0nii I am Alexis, Empress, Lexilex, Nikki G., the emotional alcoholic… All them alias is me dammit. Lol.Get fresh!

If you have not heard yet 50 Cent is signing a new artist and will be announcing it on Rap City next week, there were rumors that Joe Budden was going to be signing to the unit but I don’t know if there is any truth to that but I’m almost positive that Miami pioneer Trick Daddy aka the Mayer is signing to G-unit. Young Buck was on Rap City Basement on Friday and was suggesting that Trick Daddy might possibly be signing with G-unit.
The question is should he do it, 50 Cent has even admitted that G-unit is on the brink of saturation, he’s fed up with his artists not creating there own energy. Trick Daddy definitely has his own energy, so would it be a good Idea to sign with the unit right now?

WILL YOU QUIT ALREADY? – Ugh. I’m so sick of hearing about this and most importantly talking about it, but since it’s like the biggest day in rap history it’s kind of a big deal. Well… Kanye West has reportedly accepted 50 cents’ “battle” to appear on BET’s 106 & Park on Sept. 11^th, the day both albums will debut in stores to battle out the best rapper a live syndrome. Umph… I told ya’ll DJs are already saying that Ye has won this one… but just for the amusement of it all, I’d let 50 embarrass himself on NATIONAL TV so maybe he can go somewhere and sit the f*** down! Mind you, I like 50, but I just feel like he’s not competition anymore considering that he’s watered his style down 100% while Kanye has increased his by 100%. Speaking of 50, Tony Yayo’s lawyer has obtained a witness who is willing to testify that he is innocent to the assault of the son of Jimmy Henchman. Bill O’Reilly is being hated again, this time by Nas as he stated publically to MTV that O’Reilly is a racist… um… this isn’t new but Nas will be performing at Virginia Tech! —Developing — Speaking of drama, Bob Marley’s family is suing Verizon & Universal Records Music group for selling Bob Marley ringtones… Again, Swiss is still mad about his poor record sales, this time saying “Talib sold more than me without a hit single,” – which proves my point!

IT’S WRITTEN IN STONE – Jamie Fox will be receiving the 2,347^th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame sidewalk next week (Sept. 14^th) in Hollywood.

CRACK IS WACK – Well, that’s what Diddy is saying as he is denying the allegations of him buying illegal drugs over in Ibiza. Apparently, someone has some footage and is circulating it on YouTube.com but Diddy is saying “THAT IS NOT ME”…. Which is the same thing Bill said about Monica which turned out to be T R U E!

WHAT THE F*** – Now, I never heard of Dipset’s JR until today but this man has apparently signed a multi-million dollar deal with another independent label. Now, this is nuts to me because if I never heard of him why is he worth so much money?

HOT SH*T – T.I. and Ciara have a song called, “Goodbye, My dear”… I’m not sure how I feel about Ciara’s verse but ya’ll know I LOVE T.I. so of course I am loving his verse but unlike Nelly, TI does not have a musical voice or singing capabilities but it is a good try TIP just don’t do it EVER AGAIN! – Mya has a new video called “Ridin”.

AS IF YOU SHOULD CARE – Jay-Z told the press the other day that he and Beyoncè should be getting married soon. “sooner than later” he said actually… but I believe he did say that years ago and they’re still not married so…. We’ll see…

Check out this video from Bloodraw http://www.youtube.com/v/sd3JvfOk2iI

GET FRESH!

DRAMA IN PARADISE – DJ Drama speaks on Lil’ Wayne in an interview with HipHopDX.com here’s what he said…

HipHopDX: Speaking of Wayne, shortly after the raid, there was an interview with MTV News where he said that you and other mixtape DJs had to “smarten up,” “play the game fair,” and to look at DJ Clue and Khaled as examples. A lot of people looked at those comments as disrespectful; have you spoken to him since then?
DJ Drama: Yeah, it was fucked up. To be honest, he’s never really spoken to me about that, we’ve spoken about some other things. That’s a tough one, in a lot of ways. I’m going to say first and foremost, I respect Lil Wayne, and when it comes to that microphone and what he does in that booth, the boy’s a problem. He’s on top of his game, I will never take that from him. But when the raid happened, and he made those comments to MTV, it was a stab in my back. One, because, I just felt like if anything, that was a time I needed all the support that I could get. There’s no denying the impact that the mixtapes that I did had on where he’s at today. Everyone knows how big Dedication and Dedication 2 are, so I was real offended by that, I didn’t think it was a good move on his part. But on another note, Wayne had definitely come through for me on my album, so I can’t just write a nigga off like that, I’m not that type of dude. I had issues with that, as did a lot of people, because a lot of people knew the impact I had on his career, there’s no denying that. Lil Wayne was definitely here before me, but niggas will tell you that they ride more to Dedication 2 than the Carters. Especially in a situation where…loyalty’s a lot, man. And when Wayne had those problems with Gillie, I made a decision on my own based on the work that me and Wayne had did when the nigga was tearing his ass. And for someone to turn around when I was at my low point, and say, “You need to do it right like Khaled and Clue?” OK, that’s what’s up, dog.HipHopDX: What has it been like for you to see him blow up the way he has?
DJ Drama: Oh I love it. That’s the type of nigga I am; I do me. My team is my niggas, that’s who I talk to day to day. At the end of the day, I’m a fan of this music. So I can separate my friendships from what this music shit is. Lil Wayne is one of the hottest niggas out, and I would never take that from him. That’s what I was so excited to work with him in the first place. He’s got a banger on my album that’s fucking crazy. I don’t have bitter or ill feelings toward the man; he’s good at what he does, the same way I’m good at what I do. I’m a positive person, and I’m sure we can get past this, because just as the world would, I’d love to see a Dedication 3.

…. Um… sounds kinda fucked up to me considering Drama did help the brother out… (amongst the likes of other rappers)

CONFIRM WHAT YA HEARD – the beautiful and talented Oscar Winning Actress Halle Berry confirmed her pregnancy. Sorry fellas, she’s very excited and is very happy about the arrivial of her baby in three months. Her boyfriend Gabriel is her baby father. Awww…

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? Comedian Eddie Griffin’s microphone has been cut due to using the word “nigga” during a show hosted by Black Entertainment Magazine, which was attended by people who are opposed to the N-Word to begin with. If you bought the new Apple IPhone at the debut price, yo ass is about to be mad as Apple announced that they’ll be cutting the price with the debut of the new Ipod. Haha… lol. Sorry. I know someone who got that phone and they’ve been broke since they bought it, YA DAMN DUMMY!

AWWW DAMN! – In other Awww news, Shaq filed for divorce from his wife … looks like she’s fucked because Shaq is giving the judge more than a FEW reasons as to why she doesn’t deserve to be entitled to any of his possessions. He blames the divorce on some secret investments, property, and companies. Ummmm… Kanye West is GQ’s man of the year. Congrats!! Usher is putting his Atlanta home up for sale, if you have $1.9M dollars, you can have it. It’s been on MTV’s cribs and once belonged to L.A. Reid.

WHO CARES FOR WHAT? – Kim Porter is blaming her break-up with Diddy on some type of secret betrayal in this month’s Essence magazine… Mind you, Diddy has other kids outside of his intensive relationship with Kim, but now she’s saying it’s another child in Atlanta that has played a major part in her making her decision to leave Diddy alone… um…. Whatever! Tracy Morgan’s wife is also filing for divorce after TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. WTF? But, finally after being high school sweethearts and three kids later, home girl said she’s done with the alcohol abuse and infidelity. Gone girl! B5 has a new album out on 9/11 (same day as Kanye & 50) for what? But I heard it was HOT. Young Joc’s sophomore album Hustlenomics debut at #3, while T.I. is still hanging in there (get it Tip) and white girl Fergie is still in there too… good shit. Trick Daddy’s lil’ brother Soup is featured on Fuck The Other Side – too bad he’s in jail right now because the track is really hot down in Miami right now. Boyz-II-Men has a new album dropping… why? I swear I forgot about them until today! BUT they are paying homage to MoTown with this album…. Anyyyyways… I know ya’ll folks can’t get enough on Tupac (but I can) and his mama is getting sued for clothing line copy infringement by Marco Bellini “MB”. Ludacris is talking shit about TI again on 50’s “I get money” the remix… for what? Damn! Maxwell has a new album dropping… whoooo???

I DON’T WANNA HEAR ABOUT THIS ANYMORE UNTIL ITS OVER WITH – R. Kelly’s trial has been pushed back until Spring 08. Now… by now surely the statue of limitations is up right??? DAMN already! Busta Rhymes assault trial delayed again. Sorry 50 fans, a lot of DJs are declaring Kanye’s album as being the HOTTEST album of all time so maybe now 50 can sit down some place and stop wasting folks time promoting that mediocre ass album (or so I heard).

NOT TRYING TO BE RUDE – but who really cares that Irv Gotti was fucking Ashanti when she was both hot and popular. Usher & Tameka are finally married. Damn. (lol) now, I don’t want to hear anymore about them! And really, why is Swiss Beats trying to find an excuse for his poor record sales… I keep telling you, this dude is NOT a rapper… accept it…stick to producing although “Money in the Bank” and “It’s me bitches” is hot, unfortunately YOUR NOT … (lyrically).

I KNOW ITS OLD BUT – Happy 26^th Birthday Beyoncè (Sept. 4th) , I didn’t forget to shout you out, I was just not here to do so.

Get Fresh.

Polow Da Don: Oh definitely. It has nothing to do with me, these effects. I didn’t make this stuff up. Only thing where people got misled is that I said I prefer a White woman, and that’s not the case at all. Really, I date all types of women. It was a stage in my life when I started dating a lot of White women- that was just a stage in my life. Right now, I date girls I like. I don’t base it off of any shade or color when I meet a girl now. They linked my comments about the Black family and Black women with the “King of the White Girls” and [the fact that] I dated White girls. That’s where it all went wrong. So when I was comparing Black women to White women, that has zero to do with me dating White women. What I was saying was factual though. Ladies and gentlemen agreed, n****s and b******s got mad.

Whatever. Black people got mad. Not niggas and bitches… it’s not about what was said, it was how it was said, and furthermore, he continued to feed into those flipping stereotypes that white people are superior to Black people. What a sell out withcha Black Ass! Next thing you know, he’ll have the Michael Jackson syndrome – the “I ain’t really black” syndrome. Watch. I just feel like all he had to say in the first place that he had a preference for white women. He didn’t even have to try to “spit knowledge” by comparing and contrasting black women to white women. How does he know that his statements weren’t just um… defected by a bunch of buckethead girls and bad experiences? I don’t care what he says, he’s still black, his mama still black, and his babies still going to be black. He better learn how to respect black women- the other 50% of the black community. Busta.

Toni Braxton has clarified the rumors that she doesn’t have breast cancer. Where that rumor came from, I don’t know BUT it was even reported within creditable news wiring services… strange…

Federal officials have finally figured out what that unknown substance was in DMX’s house (from the raid conducted a few days ago in his Arizona home), thank God, it’s not meth but they still aren’t sure what the chalk-like substance is/was.

As if we need another stupid reality show, MTV decides that it wants to give one to Paul Wall and Tone Loc. The TV show is designed to make a rap superstar or something like that. Um. Lol. Why???? But it should be a good show with other Hip-Hop artist being featured throughout the season…. Interesting…

Speaking of interested, Kanye West admitted that last week’s Scream-Fest fiasco didn’t go as planned. “It would have been better if it were just Jay and I” he said. Remember, by the end of the show 50 cent,T.I., Diddy, Swiss, and Kanye all ended up on the stage together. I would pay money to see that, I bet it was bananas…

Although you DON’T care, Ja Rule has a new single called, “Body” with Ashley Joi. The video is about to be getting on your nerves soon… Mariah Carey is naked on the cover of Interview Magazine. Why? Isn’t she about 50? Lol. I’m just saying….

Why this was even newsworthy, I don’t know but Allen Iverson’s step dad was indicted on drug charges in Virginia. Woooooo. Next week, they’ll be saying, AI has been pumpin’ drugs. Next month, he’ll be in rehabilitation. You know how the news world goes…. Lol…

On top of the charts this week is Talib Kweli and Swiss Beats… Not #1 but they’re in the top 10. Good ish.

Poor Foxy, she’s been isolated from everyone and has been rejected for early release. This is bad, not for fox, but for her weave because inmates surrounding her cell has said that all she does is read the bible and complain how terrible her weave looks as it’s falling apart. When not doing either or she’s asleep, must be the blues of pregnancy or bordem. Too bad she’ll be spending her birthday in the slammer.

Finally, we’ll all see how this all plays out. Lil’ Wayne has been sued for $1M dollars after a teen has accused Weezy F. Baby of being responsible for her being trampled at a concert but my opinion is – she should have just moved. That’s not $1M worth of damage. Sorry.

Get Fresh!

Anyways, another NFL player was charged with stabling a man outside of a Manhattan nightspot on Monday. Houston Rockets guard Rafer Alston was released without bail today after his arrest on Monday. Alston, 31, is out on felony charges after apparently cutting the man on his neck…. Ouch. Isn’t that attempted murder? Just asking!… besides, this is his 2^nd brush in with the law… he was held in contempt earlier this month for beating up somebody else… I think he definitely needs anger management classes to help resolve his issues. He’s definitely too old to be having a temper tandrum! Speaking of childlike acting individuals, Foxy Brown was denied early release from jail. Poor Foxy! (Whomp Whomp!) She’ll be spending the rest of her first trimester in jail. She won’t be elgible for release until her Sept. 7^th court date.
Speaking of women of rage, Remy Ma’s camp is reporting that her long time friend and associate (that was shot by Remy) is NOT on bedrest nor walking on a cain. The pictures are said to be on the net but, I’ve yet to see them.

Another NFL player abandoned his car after a car accident early Monday morning. Chicago Bears Lance Briggs said he panicked and reported his car stolen after the crash. First, he called a tow truck to remove his vehicle but then had a change of heart and contacted the police to report his behavior. It’s unclear if he hurt anyone or if he’ll face charges for filing a false police report.

Unfortunately, Luda is back on the XM airwaves. I’m sorry, but my mans needs to stick to acting since his credibility as an artist is taking an abrupt turn for LAME. Speaking of people that I wish would just have a fucking seat, Tupac’s mama has a movie coming out about her life… why?

In case you care, Wendy Williams is scheduled to release a film about her life in 2008. Robyn Givens will play the former crack head… (like in real life, Wendy was) – speaking of people on something, REMY MA finally dyed her damn bangs black! Thank you Jesus, HALLIJUAH! Somebody finally told home girl that shit was not cute…looking like a poodle!

Also, Solange Knowles finally got a publishing deal with EMI. In case you’re wondering why, she’s part writer of many DC3 songs and Beyonce hits such as “Upgrade U” and “Get me Bodied”. Good for Solange…. She’s finally getting her OWN shine.

I heard the new Alicia Keys single, “No one,” to be featured on her THIRD studio album. I’m not sure if I’m feeling it yet. Speaking of albums to be released, Young Joc’s Hustlenomics hits stores tomorrow… not sure if I want that yet either… I really don’t know how I feel about supporting Block Entertainment anymore after they had me waiting all day for an interview that they never had the decency to call and reschedule BUT THAT’S A DIFFERENT STORY! Speaking of music, the media attacks the song READ A BOOK… shoulda known good ol’ Jessie Jackson would have something to say about it. If you’re not that political, check out this segment where the Get Fresh Crew and I listen discuss why the song is needed: [MEDIA=44]

But as always, ending on a more positive note…send your prayers out to Toni Braxton who has been reportedly diagnosed with breast cancer.

Aiight ya’ll… you are officially in the LOOP. Get fresh!!!

**Before I started writing for this site, I used to do a editorial/commentary on various things in the world of Hip-Hop, and I’d like to extend that column to this website where it is more fitting.

I know I am about to sound like a big feminist when I say this – then I’m going to sound like a racist, or better let be labeled the “angry black woman” but before you be so quick to judge hear me out.
Now, once before, I heard the rumors that Polow the Don didn’t like black girls…but you know, I just dismissed the allegations with saying that everyone is entitled to their opinion.
But when I read the article of him on AllHipHop.com and saw what he said about black women, I was immediately outraged. This is what he had to say:

AllHipHop.com: Now, you call yourself the “King of All White Girls.” Elaborate on that for me.

Polow Da Don: Just the “King of the White Girls.” I ain’t self proclaimed but I run with it. [Laughs] There was a stage in my life where I went crazy with dating white women. I have nothing against black women, but they’re raised differently. White women are raised to respect and serve their men. Black women are taught to question [their men]. Black women look at submission as being weak. White women look at submission as being a woman. And anyone who has a problem with this statement is ignorant. Just look at the divine order; it goes man, woman, child.

… um… excuse me? Ain’t yo momma black? Then, aren’t you black? Again, I know this racisim is about to kick into factor but please note that I am far from it. It just pisses me off as a BLACK person first and a BLACK woman secondly to hear other BLACK MEN speak down to us when it is the BLACK WOMAN who supports your BLACK @$$ and deals with your BLACK SH*T and can relate to you as in what it means to be BLACK. Don’t try to play me (or us) because WE as BLACK WOMEN have gotten sick of tolerating your bullsh*t. Obviously, he just wants a “yes ma’am” or a “jellyback” broad – meaning anyone who can’t stand up for themselves and defend themselves out of fear for being left alone.

Black women, I applaud you and respect your gangsta demeanor. Take a stand. Say a couple of “hell no’s!” and question your man. If he’s your man, then that’s your divine right to question him. Relationships are 50 -50, and I don’t know what pre-woman’s suffrage area he’s living in but BLACK WOMAN faught hard for the rights that his momma have, his grandmomma have, and great grandmomma have. Then to say, “White women look at submission as being a woman.” Child boo. Being a woman is handling her business on her own. Being a woman is raising a family by herself. Being a woman is not being afraid to challenge those who “think” they have power (even if it’s the black man). And before I piss anybody else off, let me say this: Being a woman is not eagle scopin’ a ballin’ @$$ dude, laying up with up, poppin’ out babies, stay with him for a few years, and living comfortably off of that divorce settlement she’s getting. (look at the history of interracial marriages in the world of entertainment in comparison to the history of solid racial marriages). From a personal perspective, this irritates me. How can you lay up with a woman that would sleep with you and then lie and say she was raped, watch you get lynched, and/or beat? Who was washing the blood off yo back, buddy? It damn sure wasn’t her white @$$….

I don’t know about you all and how you all stand, but when I see prosperous black men saying such negative things like this about black women, hell yeah, I get offended. And sadly, we’re the ones dancing to his beats up in the damn clubs. *Tisk* – he just lost one!

50 Cent first two singles “Amusement Park” and “Straight to The Bank” did not do so well, but he bounced back with the hottest single out right now “I Get Money” and then followed up with the radio friendly hit “Ayo Technology”50 Cent is already 4 singles into his album and Kanye is only 2 singles into his album and is getting ready to drop the third single. Both the rappers represents two opposite sides of the rap game Kayne West Represents the back pack aka conscious rapper while 50 Cent represents the street, hardcore aka gangster rapper, the question is who will win on 9/11 and who will dominate the rest of the year.

This is what happens when you let a white boy speak on black music, On the Peter Rosenberg Show Peter actually said that Lil Wayne is more lyrical than 2Pac. I damn near lost it..check it out.

Thanks for the support, HipHopMusicDotCom (The Myspace of Hip Hop)

Black Weblog Awards Nomination Ballot

Do you think Lil Wayne has what it takes to go up against a Titan like 50 Cent? Can he do what Ja Rule, Fat Joe and Jadakiss could not do, all of whom were far more lyrical that 50 Cent is. It’s more than Lyrics when it comes to going up against 50 Cent it also has allot to do with street credibility and 50 Cent’s resume speaks for self, how about Lil Wayne. At the end of the day it’s all about who has more hurtful information on the other person. Lil Wayne has been asking for this from do tracks and a whole mixtape with The Game to hopping on Ja Rule first single back after 3 years, it was only a matter of time. I know one thing though 50 Cent has Gillie Da Kid on his side…..hmmmm

Lil Wayne vs 50 Cent, what do you think?

TO ALL MY ATLANTA FANS & FRIENDS, I WANT TO SAY I APOLOGIZE FOR MY STATEMENT IN THE OZONE MAGAZINE ABOUT ATLANTA NOT BEING THE SOUTH!! THAT WAS A BULL**** STATEMENT!! ATLANTA IS AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE DIRTY MTHFKN SOUTH!!!!! CHUUCH!! BUT THE REST OF WHAT I SAID, BOUT THEM P***Y A** NIGGAZ IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PS: IF U WANNA GO 2 WAR, I WILL TAKE U 2 WORLD WAR 3 B***H AT THE DROP OF A DIME! IF U RIDING WITH ME-THANK U!!! IF U NOT, F**K U VERY MUCH IN U YO A**….B***H!! -Pimp C

On a more positive note, UGK is dropping their highly anticipated album, Underground Kingz, Tuesday, August 7th. “International Player’s Anthem” featuring Outkast, is UGK’s first debut at RBMA/Mainstream Chart of their career. It is the #1 Most Played Video on MTV2 and the #2 Most Played Video on BET!!! Over 700 total BDS spins at radio as well!!!

You can find UGK performing at select dates on the 2007 ROCK THE BELLS TOUR in a city near you!!

The original post about what he said can be found Here.

50 CENT:

What’s your story?
50 cent and I have had our share of sexual encounters. We kick it every time he comes to L.A.. His d*ck is not as big as i assumed it would be. It was probably about 71/2inches. But its not a big disappointment because he can eat pus$y like no other.

How did you meet?
I know a few studio owners, so when he was out here recording with Game, i went in to meet them. It jumped off from there.

Does he have a fetish?
Yes, 50 loves titties and ass. I happen to have them both so i guess thats why he immediately came on to me.

He came on to you?
Actually he did, i wanted him either way, so if i had to come on to him, or he did, i was still going to get him.

YOUNG BUCK:

Was Young Buck good in bed?
He was the best I ever had. His d*ck was like the Energizer Bunny. It kept going and going. The sex lasted for hours at a time. It was the best I ever had and it got better each time.

Was this a ongoing relationship?
It wasn’t a relationship really, it was more of a sex thing. It lasted about 5 months.

When did you meet Young Buck?
I met him through one of my friends. She was dating one of his cousins or someone related to him. She introduced me at a party and he took me back to his hotel after that.

Was he famous when you met him?
Not really, he was known through G-Unit but this was before his cd came out.

Any other celebrities you would give a try?
Yeah. There’s a few, but I doubt any of them would be better.

USHER:

Were you in a relationship with Usher, or was it just for the sex?
I wouldnt dream of being in a relationship with him.YUCK. It was just
for sex, but the sex was NOT all that good either. I kinda felt sorry
for him. So I fu*ked him.

Were you dissapointed?
Um yeah. Because it was after a concert when we “fu*ked” and it was
smelling like straight up FISH up in backstage in his dressing room. It
was NOT me either. So im like babes? whats that smell. He tried to make
it seem like it already smelled like that when they got to the arena. Im
like whatever, can we get this over with.

How was the sex?
It was fu*king horrible and on top of that it was smelling back there.
This man is not packing, his d*ck is way small and he was having a hard
time trying to find my hole. Then ol’ boy did something out of this
world, he yelled out something haitian and some big ugly black man came
out and walked over to Usher and they started making out. I was sick to
my stomach. I got dressed and ran out of there.

Are there any celebs you’d want to sleep with?
Yes! Just not Usher. I’d fu*k Lil Jon before I have sex with Usher
again. I really would want to have sex with that guy Tyson Beckford, now he is packing, I seen some movies.

1. Lil Wayne
2. T.I.
3. The Game
4. Andre 3000
5. Kanye West
6. Young Jeezy
7. Jay-Z
8. 50 Cent
9. Common
10. Jim Jones
Source

I don’t feel this list at all, Lil Wayne is hot but he’s not number (at least not yet). If we talking about being the hottest Mc right now 50 Cent has to be higher than 8, he still holds the title as the number one selling artist (who has has out sold 50 since 2004), not to mention the amount of air play this guy gets. Where the hell is fabulous at. Jay-Z is one of the greatest of all time but he’s not hot right this minute. Common should be at least number 6 just for the simple fact that he’s buzzing right now without drugs and guns B.S. in his rhymes which is hard in this climate. Jim Jones……..no comment. T.I. 2 two spot is solid.

whats your opinion?……..

Grad these videos for your site: Part 1, Part 2

If you missed the documentary, check VH1 for re airings or see it now on the Vspot.

USA Today Poses The Question: Can rap regain its crown?

The music industry is suffering across-the-board drops in CD sales, but rap is in a steeper slide: This year, rap sales are down 33% from 2006, twice the decline for the industry overall, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Five years ago, Eminem’s album The Eminem Show was atop the Billboard chart, on its way to becoming the runaway best-selling album that year, with 7.6 million copies. Since then, no rap album has sold as well.

Rap’s decline can be traced to a range of factors, including marketing strategies that have de-emphasized album sales in favor of selling less-lucrative single songs and short versions of those singles as ring tones for cellphones. But more important to the industry, there are signs that many music-buying Americans — particularly the young, largely white audience that can make a difference between modest and blockbuster sales — are tiring of rappers’ emphasis on “gangsta” attitudes, explicit lyrics and tales of street life and conspicuous consumption.

Read The Full Story

That is a great article you guys should read the entire thing. Damn Hip Hop is not in a good state right now both financially and creatively, we all know that the music could be better (allot better), because it’s been better before and should be able to do it again. The whole I’m from the streets gangster rap garbage has had it’s run. Every rapper did sell drugs like Jay-Z and get shot 9 times like 5o Cent that formula does not work anymore. We need new leaders in the rap game and we need a new movement in order to blow life back into the music creatively.

On the financial side of things, the music industry can not keep up with the technological advancements of the internet. I can’t tell you when is the last time I went out and bought a CD If it’s not on iTunes I’m not coppin it. The record labels no longer spend time to develop artist anymore they just look for the one hit wonders (Mims and Rich Boy) and milk them for the one hit and then thats it. The record labels need to pay more attention to the digital outlets and stop focusing on album sales, because right now Ring Tones are blowing the roof off album sales. People are cutting million ring tone checks now , they better smarten up…..

So like I said Hip Hop not dead (the culture itself it still very much alive) but it is dying, shoot if it was dead this website wouldn’t exist…..lol

I’m out

Reggae stars Beenie Man, Sizzla and Capleton have vowed to refrain from writing anti-gay lyrics after signing a historic agreement to renounce homophobia. The artists, who have faced criticism in the past for penning controversial tracks inciting listeners to kill the gay community, have lent their name to the Reggae Compassionate Act – a new drive to “respect and uphold the rights of all individuals to live without violence due to their religion, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or gender”.

The deal, brokered between reggae promoters and Stop Murder Music activists, also states, “We (as artists) agree not to make statements or perform songs that incite hatred or violence against anyone from any community”.

Source

Wow being that I’m Jamaican and all, I will be the first to say that I never thought I’d see the day Reggae artist like the ones mentioned above do something like this, I can understand everything in the music so I know how homophobic it is. It’s far more homophobic than Hip Hop and allot more violent towards gays, this is a big step my culture and my people I don’t think this will be happening anytime soon in Hip Hop though, only time will tell.

No More “Boom By By In a Batty Bwoy Head….Lol

Flo Rida is the new artist to emerge from The Poe Boy Entertainment /Atlantic Camp His Hit single “Birthday” is Kiling Radio right now and we show you never seen before footage of Flo Rida in Concert and behind the scenes with the fam Rick Ross Brisco Triple C Big Chuck etc

I spent the last 2 months in Florida mostly in Miami and I gotta say that it’s getting hot down their and I’m not talking about the weather. I did not know half these artist existed being that I’m from the East Coast and we get stuff real late when it comes to down south music (We stuck in that New York bubble). I got a chance to hear allot of music from Flo-Rida (get it….Florida – Flo-Rida, anyways), I licked allot of what I heard.

His first official hit titled Birthday is killing the south right now, It’s been out for awhile now but I still have not heard it much on the East Coast. So check it out and give us your feedback.

Master P: It’s Time For Change

Curtis Jackson’s comment motivated me. There are a lot of immature people in the world. Oprah Winfrey is absolutely right, we need to grow up and be responsible for our own actions. I paid for Curtis’s first rap tour through the south. He was such a humble guy at the time. Most artists’ mission is to sell records. My mission is to help save and change lives. There’s a lack of knowledge and false information out there. I could actually say Little Jay and Rap-A-Lot Records inspired my successful career and I will always respect them no matter what. I wrote the blueprint for this generation. The only difference is there’s no more honor and respect in the game.

Think about it: people in jail are not writing letters proclaiming to come out and do the same thing that landed them there in the first place. People in the hood don’t want to stay poor for the rest of their lives. They want to change. Parents that really love their kids would rather sacrifice their own lives so that their kids could make a change to have a better life and a better education. I’m glad that there are people like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and organizations like the NAACP that are out there fighting for our rights and dignity. I have finally realized that EVERY person is either a part of the problem or part of the solution and that is why I have decided to take a stand! I’m reaching out to corporate America to form an alliance for the sake of putting the value back into our communities by rebuilding and developing schools and businesses.

First of all, it’s simply disappointing to see people that are in a position to help make a change just sit back and entertain the negativity. It’s sad to see Steven Hill set all of these programming standards at BET, just to contradict himself for the sake of marketing dollars or artist performances in order to create the appearance of a successful award show. The record company with the biggest marketing check controls the music video stations so we need to go after the people who actually control these programming networks if we want real CHANGE.

I guess by taking a stand, my son and I will probably not be invited back to the BET Awards. But it’s O.K. I got love for BET; there are a lot of good people there. Hopefully, this will help people to see the real changes that need to be made. My son and I will sacrifice our airtime because this is bigger than us, this issue desperately needed to be addressed a long time ago.
There are four things that differentiate me from artists like Curtis Jackson.
One, I can honestly admit that I was once part of the problem.
Two, I don’t want my son to grow up and be like me. I want him to be better and do better – and that is why he is taking the time to pursue a college degree.

Three, money don’t make me, I make money. My goal is to educate our people in building generational wealth and knowing how important it is to own real estate.

Four, I’m a TRUE entrepreneur; my boss is God not Jimmy Iovine. From one brother to another, if you misunderstand my purpose you could always pick up the phone or talk to me in person. I’m trying to be part of the solution not the problem. The media thrives on entertaining, especially the negativity no matter what the cost. I’m praying for the brothers that are lost out there.
Throughout the years, I have lost so many relatives and friends. This year, I’d like to focus on the comedy movies because we need to laugh more. The first movie that I’m producing is “Black Supaman” and thereafter will be “The Mail Man” starring Tony Cox and myself. I’m setting up a book tour for “Guaranteed Success” and a Hip Hop Business class with financial expert Curtis Oakes for those seeking knowledge. I understand that I can’t change the whole Hip Hop industry; I’m only trying to do my part. If you’re real, be a part of the positive movement with Take A Stand Records.com Look for the first single “I Wanna Be Like You” from the album “Hip Hop History.” I’m in negotiations with Wal-Mart and Target for direct distribution. Those are all examples of the positive difference I am trying to make in this industry.

I’m reaching out to my friends Shaquille O’Neal, Will Smith, Russell Simmons, Queen Latifah, Derek Anderson, Charles Barkley, Emmitt Smith, Beyonce, and Reverend Run to help contribute to this positive movement. I will also be holding a press conference with the president NAACP and will be able to answer any questions at that time. I am not asking any other hip-hop or gangsta rap artist change what they do; that’s how they make their money. Furthermore, I am not a preacher; I’m just telling the world what I’m doing and the changes that I am making because it’s something I want to do. If that’s sending mixed signals to people then they need to deal with their own conscience first.

P. Miller

Although Mistah F.A.B. has endured much scrutiny in the national press over the past few months for his single, “Ghost Ride It”, he prepares himself for his upcoming release on SMC Recordings this May with DA BAYDESTRIAN.

Born and raised in Oakland, CA, FAB encountered his first taste of fame when he entered The Source Magazine’s “Unsigned Hype Freestyle Battle” in 1999 and placed 3rd. This brought him to the attention of a local

Bay Area based label – Straight Hits, who signed him in 2001. FAB released his first underground album with the label in 2003 entitled, “Nig-Latin”.

Bay Area legend, Mac Dre took notice of this fledgling rapper and enlisted him as one of the original members of the Thizz Nation. With the backing of this renowned rapper Mistah F.A.B. released “Mac Dre Presents Mistah F.A.B. – Son of a Pimp” in 2005 featuring the huge regional hit – “Super Sic Wit It” featuring E-40. The single ends up taking the Hyphy movement in a whole different direction, with the song lyric – “I do the dummy, retarded, and ride the yellow bus”. The Hyphy movement revolves around acting a fool and FAB took it one step further with these lyrics.

The song and the album propelled FAB to regional stardom. Soon every artist in the bay area started calling, wanting him to guest star on their albums. He was also featured on the MTV special, “My Block – The Bay” which caught the interest of many major labels – FAB decided to roll with Atlantic Records.

It is not unusual these days for an artist to be signed to two labels at once. After negotiating with Atlantic, the Bay Area giant, SMC Recordings was able to secure a deal with FAB as well. Will Bronson, Co-Founder of SMC speaks on his longstanding business relationship with FAB, “FAB and my history is crazy, we pretty much came up together. To be involved in this album and everything FAB’s got going on- as corny as it sounds- is beyond business, this shit is personal, but that’s the way independent music should be.”

Recording his album – DA BAYDESTRIAN in record time, the release will also feature FAB’s infamous DVD, “The Freestyle King” as a bonus as well as a “Yellow Bus Pass” to download “Son of a Pimp” for free. FAB explains why he decided to add extra features to his album, “”I’m puttin the Bonus DVD and free download of ‘Son Of A Pimp’ in there because that’s the album that got my buzz crazy in the Bay. We’re sayin’ “Da Baydestrian” is the prequel to “Da Yellow Bus Rydah” so I wanna give you as much of me to get you ready for that.”

DA BAYDESTRIAN will feature production by Rob-E, Sean-T, Traxxamillion, Young L among others and guest appearances from Too Short, Keak Da Sneak, Fabo from D4L, Mesy Marv and Spice 1. FAB’s next track off the album, “Get This Shit Together” has already been leaked on line and has been popping up on West coast radio stations. FAB wants everyone to know, “‘ Da Baydestrian‘ is for all the fans that’s been waiting for the last two years for something new. It’s a project that’s gonna rep the Bay to the fullest no strings attached and show everyone there’s more to me than just goin’ dumb. People forget that I really spit and think that all I do is ride Da Yellow Bus”.

Never one to slow down, F.A.B. is already back in the studio working on his next album, “Da Yellow Bus Rydah” being released on Atlantic Records, “I know everyone is like what’s up with the whole Atlantic deal? Yes, Atlantic is goin’ to drop “Da Yellow Bus Rydah”, DA BAYDESTRIAN is just the in between process. The music business is crazy. I’m puttin my heart into it, so to all the fans just be patient and post up at the bus stop”.

DA BAYDESTRIAN is being released on Faeva Afta/ Thizz Nation/ SMC Recordings and is in stores now.

He’s been rhyming on the national and international scene for years, but after taking some needed time away from the game, he’s back, focused and ready to rep the streets.

Raised in Flemington Park, one of the city’s toughest hoods, he was entranced early on by the world he saw around him.

“I was like 9 or 10 and people would come through the area and local men would go on tour and perform with these big names like Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One. One day I was walking outside in the park and I saw my boy KB from Beats Control and he was on the corner freestyling and after seeing that, there was nothing I wanted to do other than rap.”

He forged a close friendship with the Canadian rap pioneer and began forming different crews with other rappers from around his way. At the age of 13, he made his first public appearances as part of “Two Young To Handle.” Through a number of televised performances, JB was recruited to record tracks for several radio commercials.

But while he was just beginning to succeed in his dream to be a rapper, he realized fame and money would be easier had hustling on the turf. By age 14, the police had become a regular presence at the family home, and both he and his mother decided it would be best for him to leave.

JB continued to rap and make appearances, including a performance at one of the first “Live at the BBQ” events hosted by Canadian hip hop pioneer DJ X. He also continued his grind on the street, joining local turf gang G.C.P (Guilty Crime Posse).

That gang connection would prove to be useful to JB’s musical career, when the crew decided to turn part of their efforts, and profits, into production and rap.

As part of G.C.P, he performed at venues throughout the city, developing his signature style as a ghetto storyteller. His tracks told of life on the turf, giving intimate and graphic details of the world he was living in. Local djs embraced his underground track “Ghetto Flows” and played it on radio straight from a cassette tape. Finally, he released his first single “Serious” at 19.

The first G.C.P album “The Turf’s Hot” followed with JB and his best friend and recording partner Toba Chung as the main features. He also executive produced the album, funding all of the recording and pressing and securing a PMD deal through Nuff Entertainment. The album was sold nationwide at major retailers.

The deal resulted in appearances and performances on MuchMusic, and the release of their first video for the single “Crime Hits.” Shortly after, everything was shelved when a number of the main members of G.C.P went to prison. During this time, JB. released a number of solo tracks. Television and film producers also came knocking and several of his recordings were featured in Canadian and US productions. At the same time, 3 G.C.P singles featuring JB were remixed with a drum and bass beat and released internationally through the world-renowned Knowledge and Wisdom Records in the U.K.

As members of the group returned from prison, JB concentrated on putting together a second album. He began managing the ever-growing collective and worked on securing distribution in the U.S. They made several appearances at radio shows in the U.S. and performed at various car shows. Their single “Friction” also became a regular staple on Miami radio.

Through different friends, JB was also able to meet players in the U.S recording industry including Melky Sedeck from the Refugee Camp. Their collaboration resulted in the track “Ain’t No Shame” which was featured on the second GCP album, released in 2003.

The double-cd release, entitled “Crime Connects” quickly became a street favourite, and was distributed nationwide through Indie-Pool. Toba Chung and JB began doing more performances, opening for dancehall greats Beenie Man and Bounty Killer.

When Toba Chung became caught up in the court system, JB continued to push ahead and the two made efforts to return to the studio whenever they could. They were in studio last spring when the final hurdle stopped G.C.P in its tracks.

Toba was killed in a shoot-out. The death devastated the rest of the group, but noone felt it more than his best friend JB. He left his music completely and returned full-force to the streets.

It would be almost a year later before his soul-searching would force him admit to that he was born to perform. “I shared this ambition with Toba. We had dreams of being successful in music, and thinking about him makes me want it more. I want to have something to contribute to both our children. I know how he lived and I would never want his kids to go through what he went through. We’re together in this.”

Now solo, JB’s back in the studio. When the word hit the streets, the phones began ringing. His reputation has not been forgotten and top producers are lining up to work with the Flemo Park rapper.

At the age of 26, JB has grown and matured. After raising children and losing too many friends to the streets, he has turned his focus on giving back. He has recently been performing at school seminars and is often found organizing community events in his area.

With the release of his latest single featuring international recording artist The Game, JB returns as a respected player in the game. “Fire In Ya Eyes,” like all his tracks, is the standard for real, grimy hip hop. Long before 50 Cent rapped about wankstas, JB lived the hustle and when he rapped, he made no qualms about it. He’s lived on the streets; survived on the streets even when those around him couldn’t and continues to tell his story. With his return, the legacy of the turf returns to Canadian hip hop.

Atlanta born lyricist Duece Poppi is hitting the charts with his latest single entitled “Do It Again.” Laced over an original “Nitti Beat,” this single is on it’s way to becoming one of the hottest songs of 2007. Most noted for his numerous guest appearances on Trick Daddy and Trina albums and his successful feature on Trick Daddy’s huge radio and club hit “Shut Up,” Duece Poppi continues to prove his levels of versatility.

Within the past few years, Duece Poppi has established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the South. This A-Town bred lyricist is poised to take his legendary street art to the next level. With his over-the-top style and gruff recognizable voice, he breathes a breath of fresh air into the ever-evolving new southern sound.

As a poised artist, Duece Poppi who has been making hits with some of Miami’s top talent, is now ready to step up to the plate and deliver some hits of his own. Armed with a number of radio and club bangers, Duece Poppi is prepared to give the streets what they’ve been asking for.

Listen to “Do It Again” below, Let me know what you think!

Click Here To Visit Duece Poppi on Myspace

Donny Goines is on his grind and is quickly making a name for himself. You can find him on some of the hottest hip hop site such as Sohh.com, Allhiphop.com, Hhnlive.com, Hiphopgame.com and us of course. One of his single called “Back In The Days” has already gotten a few hundred spins on Tha Block.

You know we are all about new blood, this is what New York needs right now. No more old rappers It’s time for a new generation.

Editors Choice: “I’m Nice” – We thought this was one of his best joints, check it out.

Playlist:

Sweat It Out

It Is What It Is

Listen (Hot)

Slow Down

Back In The Days (Most popular)

Join the Donny Goines Group on Tha Block.

Also check out his Myspace at www.myspace.com/donnygoines

That was Ne-yo’s new joint Drugz – his new album is due out April 24th 2007

Give us your feedback:

Country. Ass. Slick. Talkin. Living. Easy. Boyz

Consisting of group members PoBode, Skoop and JK da Flame, The Castle Boyz have been making a name for themselves since their 1999 conception. Dedicated to keeping real music available to the masses and staying true to the origin of Hip Hop, this Georgia grown group has it all in perspective. Through their talent as skilled writers and the ability to resurrect vivid images through words, their real life hood stories are told in a way that allows everyone to relate.

With songs like “Straps & Raps” which they use as a way to touch on the rap fad of turning rap battles into gunplay and street violence, these southern lyricist clearly display their commitment to making real music and their versatility. Through a large music catalog that includes relationship songs like “What Would You Do?”, Gd up song “Like Sum Geez”, ridin songs “King Ish’ and “We Gon Smoke”, the pimp song “Pay to Play”, and the crunk club joints,” Burn it up,” Shut it down” and “Git Right,” the Castle Boyz have the makings of a very well rounded project.

Through the recent success of their new single “What They Talkin Bout,” that has more than just industry insiders talking, these Country, Ass, Slick, Talkin, Living, Easy, Boyz are sure to be one of the most anticipated independent groups of 2007.

So just set back and allow them to take you for a ride.

Listen to “What They Talking Bout” below

Click Here for more on The Castle Boyz

Shout Out to DeeDee of A.B.C. Associates Entertainment Firm for the info!

With the South presently holding the reign for music and the recent claims that Hip Hop is dead, New York based duo, DA
YOUNGFELLAZ look to bring the true essence of Hip Hop back to music.

Since breaking onto the scene with their first mixtape “Uninvited Guest” in early 2006, DA YOUNGFELLAZ have continued to surprise and ignite all that come into contact with their music. True to their craft and far beyond the gimmicks and lies that currently flood the genre of Hip Hop, this duo has more than just music to offer. Focused on resurrecting and bringing Hip Hop back to the true origin of New York and, members Jay Storm and Sho-Biz have it all inperspective.

“We don’t want to cheat ourselves,” claims Jay Storm, as he reaches up to adjust his blue and white NY fitted. “We don’t make records that don’t represent us or what we’ve been through. New York only respects the truth and that’s what we give off in our music.”

With production credits that include industry talents such as the Beat Doctors, J-Rico, Young Irv, and Arm of Tha Factory Productions, who all are in high demand by some of today’s biggest artist, Da Youngfellaz continue to prove their talent, commitment, and ability to pull together for an overall established sound.

As the next to take over New York and the newest faces of the Brooklyn based RICH RUMORS exclusive clothing brand, DAYOUNGFELLAZ are well on their way to becoming permanent fixtures on the music scene.

Check out their new music

“New York City” ft Bryan Ellis

“Only One” ft Mylah (from making the band)

Plus get to know them on Myspace

My Thoughts: I’m usually on point when it comes to hip hop beefs, so far Lil Wayne has been ignoring….more like dodging Gillie and has not really had much to say about about the situation. If Gillie Da Kid has a major record label behind him, Lil Wayne will have no choice but to pay attention to Gillie. We all know that Gillie can spit and he and Lil Wayne sound very Similar so things should be very interesting. Gillie Da Kid banned Wayne from Philly and Wayne has not gone back since and has even cancelled shows in Philly, Lets see where this rivalry will end up.

Holla a Me.

50 Cent says that Koch records is a grave yard, I beg to differ.

I think all you rappers need to stop looking for these major record labels to lend you a helping hand and start looking into building your own music careers independently. You may not sell millions but the great thing about it is that you don’t have to. Independently you can make up to 7 dollars per record as oppose to a major label that pays an average artists 70 – 80 cents per record.

Major record labels provide all the marketing dollars for you music videos, apperances, production etc, which is why you get paid so little. We all can’t be 50 Cent and 20 million records.

Koch Records and other independent record companies simply provide you with the distribution, you handle all the marketing and promotion. You will have to spend your own money instead of the label’s but you do get 7 dollars a record which in reality is around 4 – 5 dollars after expenses for promoting your album.

It’s not hard to sell 100,000 Cd’s with a good marketing plan and definitely a street buzz. There is so many artist out there that have a crazy buzz on mix tapes and could be doing very well right now independently. If you can manage to create a big buzz on the mix tape scene, get some features on the big name DJ play lists (Kay Slay, Funk Flex, Whoo Kid , Cipha Sounds etc.) and get a few spins on the radio then your good to go.

If your really serious about making it in this music and major labels are not looking your way, handle your own business and go independent, it’s allot more work but it pays off in the end, you have no boss and you own your masters (thats BIG).

P.S. If CNBC is talkin about Koch Records it can’t be that much of a grave yard.

Holla at me.

give me your feedback, keep it funky.

Okay this might seem a bit bias but these are the facts. There is no way Dipset can compete with G-Unit, they’re not even in the same league.

Let go with Dipset first:

The Dipset definitely have their hustle game on point, Jim Jones does get 7 dollars per record for his latest album “POME” (product of my environment) with has sold over 300,000 so far, Juelz Santana’s latest album “What The Games Been Missing” sold over a million and Camron has ventures with three different record labels (Koch, Def Jam and Columbia records). The rest of the members of the dipset don’t really matter since their numbers are too low to be on the radar…..hey these are the facts don’t get mad at me, do your research and you will see that this is the truth. The only time Camron had a platinum album was when he was signed to the Roc and that was double platinum, you can look that up too.

Lets Take a look at G-Unit.

50 Cent has already sold over 20 million records worldwide with only two albums he made over 100 million his first year (album, clothing, sneakers etc). That already knocks off Dipset’s entire roster, 7 dollars a record or not. Lloyd Banks debut album “Hunger For More” sold over 2 million units, and his current album “Rotten Apple” is currently at 300,000. Tony Yayo’ debut album “Thoughts Of A Predicate Felon” sold 700,000. The G-unit album “Beg for Mercy” was also a multi platinum selling album. Lets not forget The Game’s debut album “The Documentary” sold over 5 million which 50 cent gets 25 percent of, and he also get 25% of his current album “The Doctors Advocate” which currently at 800,000. There is no need to even go into Young Bucks sales being that they where lower than all the ones mentioned above, we are not even going to go in to mix tape sales, remember DJ Whoo Kid’s site mixtapekings.com is number one website in Google for the search term Mixtape, they get 400,000 hits a month and that equals money. This is just for the music…We are not going to even go into other business ventures, that would be a slaughter.

As far as lyrics:

50 Cent lyrical skills is not what it use to be but he knows how to make a hit record. Camron is pure trash, you can disagree with it if you want but put his stuff against 50′s and then you do the math. Jim Jones is okay, “We fly High” was great but whats next? Juelz Santana has his days, most of which is hot. He’s a good rapper being that he freestyle most of his shit. Tony Yayo is trash, his hottest shit were the freestyles he had on Hot 97 when G-unit was just getting hot, anyone who disagrees with this is a idiot. Young Buck also has his days. Lloyd Banks will rap the entire Dipset under the table (point, blank….period).

50 Cent has a far bigger roster that Camron does, most of which are far more lyrical.

At the end of the day it’s all about the numbers, the whole altercation between Camron and 50 was based on who is selling more and making more money and if thats the case then 50 cent is wining by a long shot. I only mentioned the the above artists because they are the only ones doing numbers, I won’t mention anyone else from either camp being that they do not do any numbers worth mentioning.

If you don’t like the above information then your in denial, do your own research and then let me know what you think then.

“To deny facts, is to to lie to yourself and you are living a delusion“.

Leave your thoughts and comments, good or bad does not matter… keep it funky bitches.

The highly aniticipated album Nacirema Dream from rapper Papoose is on it’s way. Papoose has been putting it down on the mix tape scene for a long time now and has released 17 hot mix tapes to date, he’s one of the few rap artists that has been able to get freestyle into rotation on the radio. His buzz in the streets has been crazy which is responsible for his recent 1.6 million dollar record deal he signed with Violator/Jive Records. Many are already calling him the savior of New York, just for the simple fact that the kid can spit and has Bars for days. Sources have told us that he is currently working on his album, he has already gotten beats from Doctor Dre, Primier, Pharrell and DR Period. These are all high profile producers, albums with this much great producers are almost impossible to flop.

Be on the look for this album someting tells me this is going to be a classic.

Yes Yes I’m back on my underground artist shit, even though Daytona is a underground artist and does not yet have a record deal, it doesn’t seem to affect him at all. He still manages to get spins on radio stations such as Hot 97. His latest joint (which is fire) “Home Boy” ft Jim Jones gets at least 12 spins a day on Shade 45 (Sirius Satellite Radio). His rap style is different from what you might usually hear which is one of the reasons he stands out from all the other rappers that are out right now that have the same flow followed by 16 bars of punch lines.
Dj Cipha Sounds from Hot 97, MTV and Shade 45 realizes Daytona’s unique style and has teamed up with the rapper to get his stuff out to the public. They are taken it slow so the listeners get use to hearing him so when he does become mainstream they will be more willing to hear something out of the norm. The buzz that he has created already has him opening up for Rick Ross and Chris Brown. All this without a major record deal is not a easy thing to do especially if you haven’t put out tons of mix tapes. His flow is a little unusual or maybe it’s not, maybe we’ve just gotten use to hearing the same thing over and over, but the way he raps sort of reminds of how Slick Rick use spit back in the day, their voices are very similar. He is definitely on the right track and you can be sure that you will hear allot more from this cat in the future. Especially with Cipha Sounds playing his record every chance he gets, not to mention Cipha not only has access to Shade 45 but Hot 97 as well and that is allot of exposure for a artist without a deal. Daytona is doing with Cipha Sounds the same thing Papoose did with Kay Slay….which is the best way to these days.

Of course you know I’m not gonna let ya go without hearing a couple of his latest shit, so check them out below and let me know what ya think…….I’m out.
All Dem ft Bobby Condass – This one is really old in New York.

Sex Back Remix – This Got spins on Hot 97 and it was not even the official remix.

Bronx Tale – Personally I think this is his hottest track.

You can check out his latest joint Home Boy ft Jim Jones on his Myspace @ http://www.myspace.com/daytonabx

Questions:
Who do you think won the Nas vs Jay Battle?
Which album is better “Kingdom Come” or “Hip Hop is Dead“?
Who do you think is the better rapper?
Give me you’re feedback, be one of the first to share you’re thoughts.
You know the deal keep it funky.

P.S. Here is hot track form Nas feat Jay-Z called “Black Republican” (This is history in the making)

With all these rappers today who have become self proclaimed kings, gangsters, best rappers alive, CEOs, blah blah blah, you eventually become numb to these titles after hearing them over and over again. Papoose, a rapper from Bed Stuy Brooklyn is now said to be the best rapper alive, a title that i currently held by Jay-z (Achieved) and Lil Wayne (Self proclaimed). The thing that separates Papoose from any other clown living in their own little world where they’re the ruler over everything, is that he never claimed to be the best rapper alive or the king of New York, but everyone thinks he will be. Why is that? well to put it simply the Kid can rhyme. Just imagine Eminem, Jay-z and Nas all in one, yes he is that good. I first heard Papoose 4 years ago in 2002 before he had a buzz and I remember saying to myself that this kid was going to be something one day just for the simple fact that he sounded different from everyone else. 4 years and 16 mix tapes later he has gotten signed for a 1.5 million dollar deal with Flipmode Records (STREETSWEEPERS ENT./THUG-A-CATION/ FLIPMODE) and he is currently adding the finishing touches to his album Nacirema Dream (America spelled backwards). I heard hundreds upon hundreds of lyrics from this Kid and he is no joke, very clever and I think he has what it takes to bring new york back to where it belongs (on top). Instead of being another self proclaimed blah blah blah, he lets his talent speak for it self and the streets of new york have embarrassed him and they are calling him the new king.
Check out his Exclusive interview with Life Sux Tv and his new video Ghetto Soldier ft Akon.

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Listen to it here, or download itHere

The Game Featuring: Jim Jones , Snoop,Nas, TI, Fat Joe, Lil Wayne, Nore,JadaKiss, Styles P, Fabolous, Juelz, Rick Ross , Twista , Kurupt, Daz, Wc, E-40 , Bun B Chamillionare, Slim Thug, Young Dro, The Clipse, Ja Rule.

Give me your feetback on this remix, what do you think? keep it funky.