Check out a clip of Rowland on Handler’s show:

“It All Belongs To Me” was produced and written by Rico Love, who has recently been thrust into the spotlight via his appearances on VH1’s popular “Love and Hip Hop” show.

According to Billboard.com, the Rico Love-produced single will appear on both Monica’s New Life and Brandy’s yet-to-be titled album, both slated for March. Check out the video for “It All Belongs To Me” below:

Sullivan took to her Twitter on Saturday to reveal, “Btw… I’M WORKING ON MY NEW ALBUM!!!”

Last year, the soulful, raspy-voiced singer announced, via Twitter, that she was “taking a break from music.” This was weeks after being nominated for a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “Holding You Down (Goin’ In Circles).”

In case you forgot how dope she is, check out the video for her last big hit, featuring the legendary DJ Pete Rock and an all-star cast on a “House Party”-inspired set:

He may not yet be a household name, but you definitely know his work. His biggest hit to date has been Keri Hilson’s “Knock You Down” featuring Kanye West and Ne-Yo, but you’ll also hear his talents on records featuring Chris Brown, Pusha T, Rick Ross, and Akon, to name a few.

Even with number-one records, and working with many of the industry’s A-list, Cossom’s remained humbled saying, “There’s nothing guaranteed in this game… I try to be happy with it, pat myself on the back, but move on as fast as possible because there’s so many other things that I want to do.”

Kevin just released “Excuses”, one of several tracks from his highly anticipated pre-album extended EP. To learn more about Cossom, check out his in-depth video EPK below, where he describes what it was like working with Keri Hilson, Rick Ross, Pusha T, and several others!

Photo taken from themaguire.com

On the meaning behind the visual, Miguel says: “The visual for “Adorn” is the projection of a dream I recently had. I wanted to use simple creative elements in a symbolic way to communicate the intense desire to understand its meaning.”

Art Dealer Chic, Vol. 1 is slated for a February 27 release. Watch the video below:

Photo taken from kayrhythm.com

The latest song mirrors tracks from 2010’s Love Letter album, which took inspiration from the soul music of the ’60s and ’70s.

While most fans have been expecting the return of his popular “Trapped in the Closet” series, Kelly says his focus has been on his upcoming album Write Me Back, slated for a March release. Check out the video for his new single, “Share My Love”:

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Check out a video clip of Legend as he surprised students from the New York’s Duke Ellington High School of the Arts on Tuesday as part of the new program:

The idea comes from the late Marvin Gayes’ hit song “What’s Going On?”, and to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his death, they ask “What’s Going On… Now?” Legend entered the rehearsal room of the high school choir at the Duke Ellington High School of the Arts. “You sound good… Can I play with you?”, Legend asked as he sat next to a student on the piano bench and the entire room filled with admiration.

One of Gaye’s most memorable Motown albums tackled issues including drug addiction, war, and poverty. Gaye performed the entire album in 1972 at the Kennedy Center – which was his first live performance in two years since the death of singer and friend, Tammi Terrell.

Seventeen-year-old India Reynolds, a member of the Duke Ellington choir, said “If ‘What’s Going On’ came out yesterday, it still would have been a hit.” That statement holds true, as Legend and the choir sang, everyone knew every word as if the song was a newly released pop song on the radio.

Legend stressed that his parents were big fans of Gaye’s tunes, which in turn, made him a part of his childhood. “Music right now… especially in hip hop, no one really wants to talk about poverty,” he told The Associated Press. “And if people did make (such music), would the audience respond in a way that would encourage more people to make it?”

Darrell Ayers, the Kennedy Center’s vice president for education, stressed the importance of the arts as a way for students “to realize the impact the arts can have, not just to make you feel good but to make people think about things.”

Students are encouraged to upload videos, photos, music, poems, or any recordings of creative expression to the project’s website. Two participants will win a free trip to Washington for the concert, and to perform with Legend and others.

The project will culminate in two concerts at the Kennedy Center on May 3-4 with the National Symphony Orchestra.

Prior to the album’s launch, KIDinaKORNER Records and Interscope Records released The Buried Sessions of Skylar Grey. The digital EP features raw cuts of her songs previously performed by Diddy-Dirty Money (“Coming Home”) and Lupe Fiasco (“Words I Never Said”), as well as Eminem and Rihanna (“Love the Way You Lie”). In support of the Buried Sessions and the highly-anticipated release of Invinsible, Skylar Grey squeezed some time out her busy schedule in order to settle down for an interview with AllHipHop.com Alternatives – reflecting on Kaskade’s “Room for Happiness” remixes, the quality time spent with Marilyn Manson, and self-discovery in the process of finding comfort in one’s skin:

AHHA: With the recent release of The Buried Sessions of Skylar Grey, several songs from your songwriting catalog have been refashioned – and reincarnated, if you will – for a beautiful afterlife. What beauty have you found in the spirit of your acoustic takes? And when you reflect on the songs’ evolutions, what thoughts immediately come to mind?

Skylar Grey: I initially wrote these songs just as what I would personally do or sing as an artist. And then the fact that it got picked up by other people. It’s not like I wrote “Love the Way you Lie” for Rihanna. It’s just that it happened, and it’s really great, and I’m so grateful for it. But I think it’s cool, too, because being a songwriter, there’s like a different type of connection with the lyrics than somebody who’s been performing it. And the reason I called it The Buried Sessions was because of the raw sessions of the songs in their pure form, before they got taken to these great heights with these amazing other artists.  And I just think it’s cool to see the whole evolution of the song.

AHHA: When you compare the raw, cut version of a song against the polished product, what elements make you gravitate towards the raw cut?

Skylar Grey: I just think that sometimes when a lot of production elements get added, it takes it to a different place and emotionally, it’s not as raw. And I’m a big fan of like really raw emotion, so, it’s nice to strip it back sometimes and just hear, you know, where the person is coming from minus all the production to distract you.

AHHA: I guess it’s probably safe to assume then that out of Kaskade’s two versions of “Room for Happiness” – the Fire Mix and the Ice Mix – that you probably prefer the “Ice” rendition [laughter].

Skylar Grey: Yes! [laughter]

AHHA: As a songwriter and instrumentalist, examine the influence production and instrument selection has on the vibe and spiritual mood of a song, in regards to Kaskade’s remixes of your new song, “Room for Happiness.”

Skylar Grey: Well, when I wrote that song it started as the Fire Mix, and Kaskade had the concept to make his album Fire and Ice, so that there was two different mixes of each song. And I had nothing to do with the production of the Ice Mix, but he sent it to me with live strings and some kind of piano. And it blew me away, first of all, to hear Kaskade do a production like that.

And then also just to hear how even when I wrote the song and I sang with a certain amount of emotion, but when you’re distracted by pumping beats, you sometimes don’t listen to all the emotion in the vocal. So when he stripped it back, it became a whole different animal and it was really, really interesting to me. And I think that as all the other songs that I wrote with hip-hop people, there’s a place for all of it. Like, I was driving on the PCH listening to the Fire Mix and it was just like a more feel good way to listen to it, whereas the Ice Mix kind of makes me want to cry.

AHHA: The song’s lyrics are powerful – and I wanted to discuss a few lines with you. One particular line: “Don’t be fooled by your emptiness, there’s so much more room for happiness.” Why do you think this is the case?

Skylar Grey: Well, I think that we all have bouts of sadness and loss in our lives, and we can’t just dwell on the loss of something, because we’re just going to be miserable. We have to see that emptiness as a space that is like an opportunity to bring something new into that space now, something that will make you happy. So that’s kind of how I live. I may mourn the loss of something for a minute, but then I have to say, “Okay, so now what am I going to make different about my life now that I have this new opportunity to fill this void?” And I go out and find things that I never thought I would find. So it’s just like something I live by.

AHHA: Speaking of things that you live by, is there a guiding philosophy or life event that made you write: “Sometimes it’s worse to have lost than to have never had at all, because it’s a curse to feel love and to feel it all dissolve”? Is there any particular inspiration behind this quote?

Skylar Grey: No. I mean, sometimes if you never experience something, you don’t even realize what you’re missing. But then when you experience that thing and it goes away, it feels like a piece of you is gone. Like, if I had never met this person that I just lost, just for example, maybe I wouldn’t feel empty now because, you know, I wouldn’t even know what I was missing. But after having experience with that person, and then losing them, it’s like you feel empty and that’s all that line meant.

AHHA: The closing lines for Verse 1 and Verse 2 of “Invisible” are the same except for the very last few words: “I try everything to make them see me, but all they see is someone that’s not me” [Verse 1] and “I try everything to make them see me, but every one sees what I can’t be” [Verse 2].  Living in the public spotlight, you will certainly be a role model to people of all stripes. What advice do you have for others, as far as feeling comfortable in one’s skin? And taken further, how did you learn to become comfortable in your own skin?

Skylar Grey: I really became comfortable in my own skin when I went away to the woods and lived by myself without influence of other people, because I only had myself out there. I didn’t have anyone to lean on or pump me up when I was feeling down or anything like that. So, I had to do it all myself, and I became my own emotional support and I found out a lot about myself while I was out there.

And one of those things was that I felt like the years before, that I had been trying to do so much to please other people or their opinions that I totally lost my own character. I didn’t know who I was. And when I was out in the woods, the unique person that I was when I was a kid kind of came back out again. And that’s how I was able to feel comfortable because I knew at the end of the day we die alone, so I might as well enjoy living in my skin for my whole life here, even if nobody else likes it.

AHHA:  Interesting! On a professional level, you have been able to channel your inner strength through your songwriting, which makes me curious about how you grew and developed as a songwriter. I am impressed by the way your lyrics convey a great deal of emotion – even within the span of one line. How did you grow to become fascinated with words and learn to play and experiment with them?

Skylar Grey: Well, all the songs that I write are a reflection of my own thoughts and emotions and experience. It’s my way of letting things out. It’s like when you’re learning something, for example, it’s sometimes easier to teach what you’re learning to somebody else and then it suddenly sinks into you. It’s the same type of thing. When I’m learning about myself, it helps for me to put it down on paper and show other people what I’ve learned, because then, for some reason, it really sinks in with me, so it’s really therapeutic. Not only to write music, but to share it.

AHHA: Music in many ways is emotional therapy – for both you and the listener. You get therapy from writing it, and the listener gains it from listening. When you think of art, in general, what do you aspire or hope that your music will be for others? And on the other hand, what do you consider to be the purpose and function of art?

Skylar Grey: Well, I don’t know if it’s selfish, but I always write for myself because that’s how I started. I needed an outlet. And so every time I write, it’s for myself therapeutically. But I also realize that we’re all human, and we all have a lot of the similar emotions, so other people can easily relate to the things that I say in my songs, and it feels really good to be able to help people. Because, you know, I do a lot of thinking and making realizations and then putting it down on paper, and not everybody has the ability to do that.

AHHA: I know…

Skylar Grey: But it’s cool, though, because when somebody like me comes along and can do that, then I can help that person, Yeah, they said exactly what I was trying to say, and that helps them in their own lives realize things and grow. So that’s, I think, the purpose of art, too, is it makes life more tolerable! [laughter]

AHHA: I see! [laughter] Every time I hear a song that bears your touch, it never sounds like anything that I’ve ever heard before. Even so, they manage to have a contemporary sound – something palpable that mainstream radio can play and people can appreciate. At the same time, your songs are very forward-thinking and feel light years ahead of their time. How do you manage to do that?

Skylar Grey: Well, this is my trick. I’ll tell you my trick. A lot of people in the music industry are always trying to do what’s hot. Oh, what song is hot right now? Let’s do something like that. Do something that’s contrived, because, oh, that’s selling, so we should do something like that. And that works for some people, but for me it doesn’t, because every time I’ve tried to do that, it ends up being a totally uninspired piece of work. And so, I look at it this way. Every song I’ve ever heard in my entire life or song that I’ve created or just even movies that I’ve seen with scores and everything that I’ve experienced makes me who I am today.

So if I can just let go of trying to sound like anything and just follow my intuition. Because within my intuition is the inspiration of every single note I’ve ever heard sung or played by anyone. And so if I just follow my intuition, my gut leads the way; that’s going to be the best song. It always is. You know, every song that I’ve ever written that actually has had any success; it’s like I didn’t write it. It’s like I channeled it. It didn’t even feel like work.

AHHA: That is a sign of what I would call genius – and the mark of a true artist.

Skylar Grey: Thank you! I follow my intuition. I know I have a certain path, and that’s to finish my album and get it out.

For more of Clayton Perry’s interview exclusives, visit his digital archive. Follow him on Twitter (@crperry84).

The timelessness of SWV’s music is evidenced when you enter “SWV Weak” into the search bar on YouTube, and you will find thousands of videos of people singing the classic into their web cams. “Weak,” which landed at #1 on the R&B and Pop charts, debuted in 1992 on It’s About Time, an album which spawned four hit singles. SWV went on to become one of the best-selling groups of the ’90s, an era where groups reigned supreme, and the “Sisters With Voices” became the prototype for girl groups for years to come.

And now, SWV is reuniting with a new single and a new album, I Missed Us, due out in April. The single, “Co-Sign,” produced by Lamb, is classic SWV, an uptempo love song that will appeal to both their more seasoned fans and the younger ones alike. The ladies and their new imprints, Mass Appeal Entertainment and E1 Music, invited AllHipHop.com to the video shoot for “Co-Sign,” which was filmed at Akon’s house in Atlanta and directed by famed photographer, Derek Blanks. If the single is any indication, the return of SWV will prove to be worth the wait:

AllHipHop.com: The single, “Co-Sign”, it’s a beautiful love song, classic SWV. Tell me a little bit more about the creative process around the creation of the song.

Coko: The first time we heard it, we just knew it was classic SWV. We didn’t want to stray too far from our sound. We knew exactly what we wanted, we told him, and he came with it…we couldn’t deny it.

AllHipHop.com: Considering that you ladies were ’90s legends, how do you think that’s going to translate to a new audience, while still allowing you to keep the integrity of your fanbase?

Coko: Surprisingly, it’s going well. I think a lot of people slept on us and didn’t expect it to go as well as it’s going now. We are just expecting greater things to happen. We’re excited, we think the young and the old are gonna like it.

AllHipHop.com: The music industry has shied away from girl groups for a long time. Why do you think that is, and do you think your return is going to signal the beginning of another era?

Coko: I don’t know why that is, but in music, everything goes away and it comes back. But I think now that they see us, there are going to be a lot more girl groups. We’ve even talked about starting our own “baby” girl group. You are going to see a lot more girls coming out.

AllHipHop.com: How and why does your music, music that you made 20 years ago, how and why does it last so long?

Lelee: You know what, it is so funny, but I really think it is because when we first came out, we wanted to sound like young people, and we wanted to look like the young girls around our way, from the Bronx and Brooklyn, New York. We wanted the music to reflect that. I think that the music is just timeless music, our music is not scary, it’s not dark. Whatever mood you are in that day, you can always find an SWV song to fit it. You can be happy, you can be in love, you could be talking to somebody’s husband [laughter]. It’s not necessarily our story, but it’s somebody’s story.

AllHipHop.com: Do you guys feel the pressure? Having done the mommy thing? The wife thing? And now you are a little older, do you feel the pressure to appeal to a younger audience?

Lelee: The pressure is not the music, because we pretty much live the music – that’s all we know. But the pressure comes, because the times are different now. The blogs are just looking for something to say bad about you, so I think it’s different in that sense that you are much more visible, in a good way and in a bad way. You gotta just take the good with the bad, and just put out great music. We don’t wanna be video vixens, we don’t want you to look at us and think sex. We want you to love us for our music and what we contribute to music.

 SWV’s I Missed Us is due out in April.

The album earned Shaggy his fifth Grammy nomination in the category of “Best Reggae Album”; the winner will be crowned on Sunday, February 12, five days after the album’s re-release.

The two new tracks to be featured are “She Gives Me Love” and “Hurting” while a new version of the album’s fourth track, “Dame,” with Pop-singer Kat Deluna will also be included.

Recently Shaggy held his annual “Shaggy And Friends Benefit Concert” in Kingston Jamica which raises money for children’s medical needs and benefits the city’s Bustamante Children’s Hospital. Artists such as Lauryn Hill, Damian Marley, and Eve, all performed during the event.

Check out Shaggy’s new track, “She Gives Me Love,” below, along with details  from his recent interview with AllHipHop.com, :

In the video, featuring two verses from Snoop Dogg, the two gentlemen can be seen enjoying an evening in a lavish lounge while both Thomas and Snoop croon to the women they are interested in.

Thomas, who became a household name in the late 1990s and early 2000s, thanks to his affiliation and signing with Bad Boy Records, has released four albums in his 15-year career. His first album, Emotional, which included the hit record “I Wish,” was certified platinum back in 1999.

He later received a Grammy nomination in 2006 alongside Gerald Levert, Chaka Khan, and Yolanda Adams, for his contribution to the song “Everyday (Family Reunion),” off the official soundtrack to Tyler Perry’s hit film, Madea Family Reunion.

Thomas is now signed to Verve Music Group, a division of Universal Music, under which his latest album Conquer was released in December 2011.

Check out the Erik White-directed video for Carl Thomas’ “Don’t Kiss Me” featuring Snoop Dogg below:

Not only did she help found the creative conglomerate, Eddy is also the president of BluRoc records, a label that released the last two albums from producer Ski Beatz, as well as 2009′s critically acclaimed Blackroc project which featured rappers Ludacris, Curren$y, Mos Def, and Jim Jones, along with singer Nicole Wray and more, collaborating with Grammy Award-winning duo The Black Keys.

Eddy, who is “not just a businesswoman, but also a musician by night,” has been steadily putting out music videos since the Summer 2011 release of her third album, Young Platinum. The album boasted appearances from such artists as Murs, GLC, Cam’ron, Vado, and a slew of others.

In her latest music video, “Windmills” which features GLC, the duo stroll through Chicago during some downtime from a past tour.

Check out the Evan Brockett directed video for McKenzie Eddy’s “Windmills” below:

Mars took the #1 and #2 spots with consecutive singles from his 25 times worldwide platinum selling debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans.

The album’s first single, “Just the Way You Are,” landed at #1 with 12.5 million copies sold, while the song “Grenade” came in at #2 with 10.2 million copies sold. Meanwhile, the album’s third single, “The Lazy Song,” landed at #10 on the chart with 6.5 million copies sold, making Mars the first artist to have three tracks amongst the Top 10 digital singles in one year.

Currently, both Bruno Mars and his label, Elektra Records, are celebrating the singer’s fourth #1 single on the Billboard Top 40 chart with this song “It Will Rain” from last fall’s Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn: Part 1 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

To follow-up the enormous success he had last year, Mars, who garnered six nominations for the upcoming 54th Annual Grammy Awards, will perform at the high-profile ceremony taking place on February 12 in Los Angeles. The nominations include “Album of the Year,” “Song of the Year,” “Record of the Year,” “Best Pop Vocal Album,” and more.

The L.A. native, who recently spoke candidly to AllHipHop.com, enlisted some major talent to handle the production for her mixtape.

Production on Conversational Lush comes from Pop & Oak, Bei Major, and J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, along with a number of other collaborators.

See the cover art, tracklist, and download link for Conversational Lush below:

Download “Elle Varner – Conversational Lush” Now!

1. Hello
2. WTF
3. Feel Like A Woman
4. Do You Want To
5. Refill
6. Runaway
7. Go
8. I Just Can’t
9. Ghosts
10. EV
11. So Fly
12. 32 Flavors
13. Hang Up

About her old-soul sound, soon-to-be 23-year-old Varner told AllHipHop.com recently in an exclusive interview, “Ella Fitzgerald is a big [influence], Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Diana Ross, Sade, and even really…Celine Dion!” [laughter]. Artist peers like Adele, Frank Ocean, and Bei Maejor help drive her to be great, she says, adding, “Who wants to be the best when everyone else is just so-so? You want your comrades to be just as great, if not greater.”

The cute and quirky Varner is a New York City chick these days, finding her “place” in Brooklyn and at RCA Records, where she is recording new music and looking forward to fulfilling the rest of her schoolmates’ predictions for her. At the Clive Davis-sponsored NYU School of Recorded Music, Varner was picked as “Most Likely to Get Signed” and “Most Likely to Win A Grammy.”

“I think really it was my songs that made them think that. My dad and I were talking about this…the fact that, in high school, instead of hanging out and going to parties, he’d make me record,” Varner recalls fondly. “He’d be like, ‘Okay, go and finish your song first,’ and what I didn’t know was that, at the time, he was totally grooming and developing me.”

Varner is already halfway to reaching those NYU predictions, and with the backing of her label and breakthrough hits like the J. Cole collaboration, the industry is keeping a close watch for how she’ll fare against female counterparts like Keri Hilson, Ciara, Monica, and others. Her latest single, “Refill” is a sexy, fiddle-laden lament from girl who is “intoxicated” by a guy and needs a “shot.” But more than anything, it shows off Varner’s NYU-trained singing chops over a uniquely-produced track, and it’s worth a refill.

As for her outlook for 2012, Varner seems level-headed enough to weather the pitfalls of the paparazzi-filled lifestyle she may be destined for. She says she’s looking forward to promoting “Refill” and finishing up work on her anticipated, forthcoming RCA release, Perfectly Imperfect. But, can she top her soulful, fun entrance into the limelight? Time will tell, but whatever the masses and the album sales say, the humble, generous Varner says she “only wants to give it to you.”

All Of Me will be Estelle’s third studio album and has been in the works for the past three years. It is the follow-up to her second-album, 2008′s Shine, which was a massive hit helping to earn Estelle a Grammy win for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for the single “American Boy” with Kanye West.

The video for “Thank You” was directed by Iren Sheffield.

Check out AllHipHop.com’s exclusive feature on Estelle HERE.

The following message came attached to the video from Leslie himself: “Follow @RyanLeslie because I’m always surprising followers. I’ve invited you to dinner, given away backstage passes, and even treated you to brand new iPods – all to say that I appreciate you for following, supporting, liking, commenting and sharing.”

The highlight of the video, in addition to its exclusive access, is Leslie’s spur of the moment idea to invite a fan of his to the studio via Twitter and watch the recording process of his new track. After picking her up in his Lamborghini, Leslie proceeds to let her and her friends party in the studio to “5 Minute Freshen Up.”

Check out the video below:

Check out AllHipHop.com’s most recent interview with Ryan Leslie HERE.

The alt-pop siren has released a new song called “Big Mouth,” which is the first release from her upcoming album Master Of My Make Believe. MOMMB is the follow up to the singer’s 2002 self-titled debut. “Big Mouth” was released with a frenetic animated video. The colorful short even seems to have a Lady GaGa diss included.

Master Of My Make Believe is due in the spring of 2012 on Downtown Records.

The track, “Stay Schemin,” originally features rappers French Montana and Drake and has made a big splash on both the Internet and radio since its release. However, French and Drake do not appear on this version of the song as you will see below, but Posner friend and guitar player, Blackbear, does.

Regarding how the “Stay Schemin” interpretation came to fruition, Posner exclusively told AllHipHop.com: “I was in Miami the last two weeks working with Pharrell, and after I would finish recording, I would kick it with Rozay at his crib. Rick [Ross], French [Montana], and I went to the club one night in Miami, and I saw the reaction people had to “Stay Schemin”, even though it had only been out for a day. That made me fall in love with the song, and I knew Blackbear and I could put a fresh spin on it.”

“Shout outs to Pharrell for letting me borrow his keyboard in the making of,” he continued, while laughing.

Check out the video of Mike Posner and Blackbear’s acoustic cover of “Stay Schemin” below and download a free version of the song here.

The song, which has been climbing the charts, is currently in rotation at over 115 Top 40 radio stations across the country, making Outasight a name, face, and voice to remember in the new music landscape. His loyal fans, along with new listeners, have already pushed the music video for “Tonight Is the Night” the three million views mark on YouTube.

In addition to tonight’s performance with The Roots, Outasight will be hitting the road on February 7 with T-Pain and Gym Class Heroes for the “Snowstorm Music Tour.” The tour will hit 13 cities over the course of the month.

“Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” airs at 12:35 AM EST on NBC.

The crooning son of a preacher signed to T.I.’s Grand Hustle imprint early in his career, and this move produced one stellar album, Son Of Pain, that went almost unnoticed by listeners. Not to be kept down, Governor immediately picked himself up and got his career back on track, becoming the first singer signed to 50 Cent’s new G-Note Records imprint.

AllHipHop.com spent some time with Governor, discovering more about his past industry struggles, his relationship – both personally and professionally – with 50 Cent, and what he has in store for his G-Note debut:

AllHipHop.com: How are you, Governor?

Governor: Alright, man. Thanks.

AllHipHop.com: I know that you’re from Virginia, and you’ve been a part of the music industry for about a decade, so who were and are some of your influences?

Governor: Some of my influences were, of course, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Aretha Franklin, that whole Soul era. Elton John, Teena Marie, a lot of people that came up and just had timeless music, so my ear was kind of well-rounded.

AllHipHop.com: You were signed to Grand Hustle a few years ago, and your current situation is at G-Note, but what came before that? What was your first introduction to the music industry?

Governor: Well, before that I was writing for The Trackmasters, and I think that was one of my first official affiliations.

AllHipHop.com: Tell me a little about the album you released on T.I.’s Grand Hustle imprint, Son of Pain.

Governor: Well, Son of Pain was very personal to me. It was a project that I put my all into, and a lot of people consider it a classic album that was never really heard. They say it’s a classic album that never really got the chance to reach the light of day, and I kind of agree with that.

There was a lot of different things on Son of Pain. It was an edgy album done in a classic R&B type vibe. Some songs even incorporated a Hip-Hop style because of how I write and because of my affiliations and how I came up. So I really, to this day, have a soft spot for Son of Pain, and it still kind of breaks my heart that that album didn’t really get the chance to receive the recognition that it was supposed to. It was one of the most depressing things to see something that had so much potential never get a shot.

AllHipHop.com: So, based on what you just said, how are you doing things differently with your upcoming album? Obviously, the label situation and who you’re working with now has changed, but what are you personally doing differently now that you weren’t doing in 2006?

Governor: Well, I tried to just pick up from there and really reinvent myself. You know, I was signed to Atlantic in 2006, and now I’m working with G-Note, so a lot of things are different because I’m working with 50 [Cent], and 50’s a Hip-Hop artist and he basically brings me to his audience, which is not my core audience, but it’s a hell of an audience to be brought to. That’s different, and with the way I dress and people perceive me, that’s a little different now, but I respect it totally ‘cause it allowed me to broaden my scope on who wouldn’t normally hear or listen to my music.

AllHipHop.com: From what I’ve heard, G-Note is a Hip-Hop based label with a primary focus dedicated to Pop, R&B, and Dance music. You were the first singer signed to the label in ’09, so what does a platform like G-Note offer you as an artist? What was so appealing about signing with this new, independent “machine”?

Governor: It’s just a great opportunity for me. 50 is as much a business man as he is a rapper, and working with him and his brand allows me to touch a lot of different people, more than just trying to introduce myself as an R&B artist. Because of all of the boundaries and borders that he breaks down within the landscape of his brand, it allows me to be seen by those same people. It’s a good thing for me.

AllHipHop.com: And you’re currently working on your third album, A Touch of Magic, which will be your first under G-Note. Is there currently a tentative release date for that sometime this year?

Governor: I really don’t have an idea about when it’s going to be released as of yet. We’re still putting some pieces together, and it’s a different climate right now so things move a little slower, but the album is coming.  We’re just working on it and working on it and working on it, and we’ve got a lot of nice pieces. G-Note is a record company, so I’m basically waiting to get schedules and times and ideas from them that will kind of lend a true answer to that, which I don’t have right now.

AllHipHop.com: What about the album’s title, A Touch of Magic, is so significant to you?

Governor: Well, I’m actually going to change that, but I haven’t decided to what yet because there isn’t a release date so I do want to change that. That was kind of 50’s idea, and he spun it off of the whole Black Magic project that we were supposed to put out.

Since then he wanted me to focus on my solo project and I haven’t actually given it a name myself as of yet. But it’s something that I think will just pop out of nowhere. This is a project that I don’t want to think about too much. I want it to be organic; I want it to be magical.

AllHipHop.com: Absolutely. Just from looking at your track record, I know that you’ve already worked with the likes of Wyclef Jean, Just Blaze, Santana, all of these amazing people. So, now that you’ve been in the game for a little while, is there anyone else that you’ve been able to work with or that you’re planning to work with this time around that you had not been able to get with before?

Governor: No, not really. I mean I love Adele; right now she’s really really hot. There are a few other people that I think I would like to work with. I don’t know how it would look, but I would love to work with some of my Virginia homies in the industry – Trey Songz and some other people – since Virginia is hot right now.

AllHipHop.com: Get some Timbaland, Missy [Elliott], and some Pusha T on there, too!

Governor: Oh yeah! It would be nice to finally be able to work with these guys being that I am from Virginia. It would be nice to connect with some people who are from the same geographic area as myself.

AllHipHop.com: You did just mention Adele, but what are your current thoughts being that we’re in 2012 now, of the R&B scene in music?

Governor: I think that the R&B landscape of music right now is wide open, especially for a grown *ss man. A lot of the guys are younger than me, and I don’t really see anybody right now that’s really taking over that lane of where R. Kelly left off. I just don’t see it, and I just think that’s a huge opportunity for me to fly right into that lane and say ‘Okay, we know that with urban music, demographics are normally younger; they’re really like 17-19.

Who’s to say that a 25-year-old or 30-year-old person would not buy the music if it was something for them, available, and that they really love?’ So, I think we can actually bring more demographics around.

AllHipHop.com: As a music lover, fan, and also an artist, do you find yourself listening to more music from the likes of people like Anthony Hamilton and John Legend, or are you just as keen on listening to brand new artists like Frank Ocean and The Weeknd?

Governor: I definitely listen to both, and I respect Frank Ocean’s music. I think a lot of the other music now though is much more blatantly done. There’s no color, there’s no imagination. Everything is just so blatant like, ‘I wanna f*ck you.’ I think, me, personally, we can say the same thing just like music did back in the day. Yeah, they were talking about sex and all of these things that we as humans go through every day, and the emotions that we feel. But we need to have a more classier way of displaying it, and I think something like that would really pop through nowadays, just because everything is so blatant and kind of tasteless. 

AllHipHop.com: I can definitely appreciate and respect that response. Moving on, are there currently any plans to release a G-Note compilation album with Hot Rod, Lea, Genasis, Pauly D, and yourself, much like 50 [Cent] did with Beg For Mercy and the Get Rich or Die Trying soundtrack?

Governor: I really have no idea, and it would be kind of out of bounds for me to speak on it, ‘cause I really don’t know. I’m not the record company, I’ve got my own side stuff and working on my own project. I’m just trying to get those things done. I’m just filled with what’s going on in my own life right now and my own stuff, and I really don’t know how “the office” wants to put things together as far as collaborations inside the label.

AllHipHop.com: I totally understand. I know you had a couple of records on 50’s Things Fall Apart soundtrack. Other than that, what have you and 50 been working on?

Governor: I mean I worked on a track for his album, and I believe it’s still planned to be on the album. Other than that, I’ve just been popping in and out of appearances whenever he requests my presence, so that’s really where I am with it right now.

I’m really just excited about this interview, and hoping that this will turn into other things to help me as an artist function outside of the label. This is huge for me.

AllHipHop.com: Is there anything else you want the readers to know?

Governor: Not really, man. Just check out my Twitter page, and check me out on Facebook. I’m just trying to connect, and I’m hoping that this year is the year, and I’m just trying to find ways to keep myself relevant.

AllHipHop.com: Thanks for your time, Governor. It was a pleasure speaking with you, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you have in store musically for the upcoming year.

Governor: Thank you!

Follow Governor On Twitter: @GovernorMusic

In November, Rose revealed to AllHipHop.com that she has been writing music for years and, with the support of Wiz, she said it would only be a matter of time before the world heard what she has to offer musically. Check the video of what she shared:

Rose’s “Fame” showcases her vocals on a song featuring “the love of her life,” Wiz. In an interview with MTV, she revealed that “the song represents the ups and downs of fame, and lets people know that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

Plans for a full-length studio album from Rose are currently in the works; however, no official announcement has been made.

Check out Amber Rose’s’ new song, “Fame,” below:

Fans first got a taste of the electro-pop song this past November when Posner included a short teaser of the track on his mixtape, The Layover.

The 21-track mixtape includes both original music as well as a few covers and was meant to hold fans over until Sky High‘s release. Joining him on The Layover are a number of Hip-Hop artists, such as Bun B, CyHi Da Prynce, Big K.R.I.T., Elzhi, Slim Thug, and more.

“Looks Like Sex” was co-written and co-produced by Posner and Mason Levy.

Check out the the Jason Beattie directed music video for “Looks Like Sex” below:

[Click here to read the latest AllHipHop.com interview with Mike Posner.]

For her efforts on the show and once her short-lived Danity Kane days were over, Richard was rewarded with a spot as one-third of the Diddy-led group, Dirty Money. Their Last Train To Paris brokered several hits, possibly giving her the credibility she needed to be seen beyond the reality show sphere.

These days, Richard’s video for “S.M.F.U. (Save Me From You)” has Twitter and other social media all abuzz. It may be because the first release from her upcoming GoldenHeart LP represents one of the first glimpses fans will get of the New Orleans native/Hurricane Katrina survivor (outside of her popular 2011 mixtape, A Tell Tale Heart). And, minus her all-girl group members from Danity Kane and the other boisterous, two-thirds of Dirty Money – Diddy and Kalenna Harper – Richard seems to be able to stand on her own.

Check the video for “S.M.F.U.” below, which Richard premiered on yesterday’s (January 5) episode of “106th & Park,” to see what the buzz is all about:

Visit Dawn Richard’s website at http://dawnrichard.tumblr.com or follow her on Twitter (@dawnrichard).

Boyz II Men, the iconic, influential and talented singing group was bestowed with one of the most distinct honors an entertainer can get: a star on the Walk of Fame. The group has sold an astounding 60 million records, making them one of the most – if no the most – successful R&B acts of all time. The group, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, Michael Sean McCary (no longer with the group), and Shawn Stockman, catapulted into the stars with their penchant for lush ballads, effortless harmonizing and a flood of hits. They have broken records from Elvis and were named the most successful musical act of the 90’s. Below is the ceremony, which included producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Michael Bivins.

While promoting Pariah’s theatrical release [limited – December 28, 2011 – New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco; nationwide – January 2012], Adepero Oduye caught up with AllHipHop.com Alternatives to reflect upon the abandonment of her pre-medical studies, discovering her voice, and the inspiration she drew from Robert Duvall’s performance in The Apostle:

AHHA: When you reflect on the Pariah experience, is there a particular moment during its shooting that made you feel that it had transcended the generic bounds of a “short movie” and elevated into a full-length feature film?

Adepero Oduye: Oh, yeah – now that the film is done! [laughter] When you shoot  a film, you’re in a bubble. Sundance is when I could really see firsthand how people responded to it instantly. And just afterwards, talking with people, because at Sundance in all the Q&As you have the rare chance to talk to people who have just seen your film. People were sharing their stories, just openly sharing. Just sharing their personal connections to this story. I remember thinking: “Oh, my God. This is the power of film happening right before my eyes.” A story so sophisticated is so universal.

AHHA: Focusing on your character’s name, “Alike” (pronounced ah-lee-kay), I happened to make a connection with the word “alike.” In what ways has your involvement with this film changed or influenced your perspective on life and the diversity within it? Have you made any new revelations in deciphering the ways in which we are all alike?

Adepero Oduye: Yes. With this film, I’ve seen people just become more aware of different things. About their children. About LGBT issues. It really shows people that we are more alike than we are different. Just because somebody is gay or younger or whatever; we all can relate to each other. In this movie, it’s very specific; a young, Black, lesbian girl from New York City. But you don’t have to be Black. You don’t have to be gay to appreciate or identify with the story. It has proved that we’re all more similar than we are different.

AHHA: As you embodied the mind and spirit of Alike, are there any elements of her life or life story that resonated deeply with you?

Adepero Oduye:  I related to her finding her voice through writing. For me, it was writing and then eventually acting. Having a teacher who encourages you and pushes you. That I can relate to. Finding that voice and discovering your voice in that way. And just that outsider feeling growing up. Parents. The child of immigrants. Growing up in Brooklyn. Just knowing what it feels like to not completely belong. Straddling two worlds in my case, and multiple worlds in Alike’s case.

AHHA: Your father’s untimely death played a major role in trajectory of your professional career. What else do you view as a major influence in fostering the pursuit of your acting career?

Adepero Oduye: Watching Robert Duvall in The Apostle. That was pretty poignant, because it was the first time I had seen a film. I got lost in it, and it kind of solidified why I wanted to be an actor, and what kind of work I wanted to do as an actor.

AHHA: When you reflect upon your acting experience and your impromptu transition from your pre-medical studies, what life event – or series of events – do you feel best prepared you for this moment in time?

Adepero Oduye: I feel like just in general, it’s the process of becoming an actor. The process of just growing up and being an adult. I feel really grounded in who I am now. I feel like I know what it means to love myself or begin that process. I’m glad it’s happening now as opposed to five years ago. I know that my self-worth is not determined by any outside source. It starts from me. And if I’m comfortable, and I accept myself and I love myself, then that’s all that I really need and I don’t need to get that from anything. I don’t need anything outside of myself to validate me. Life, in general, has kind of prepared me for all of this that’s happening. Just talking to different people and the situation that I’m now finding myself in. It’s really great. It’s surreal. It’s awesome. But I know it doesn’t inform anyone who I am or it doesn’t determine my worth in this world.

AHHA: Did you find a particular scene challenging to film, due to its level of intensity?

Adepero Oduye: The most challenging scene was the scene with Audrey (Kim Wayans) and Alike at the end, when I say, “I love you.” I hadn’t discussed that scene with Dee or Kim. The first time I saw Kim that day was when I walked in the scene and I sat down, so she didn’t see the scar or any of that. It was very tense, as it would be in real life. Just to put myself in the space where I open myself up, and in spite of all the violence and that has transpired. When I say “I love you” to my mother, and she can’t give it back. That’s painful.

AHHA: In many ways, the film has been a gift to you. What do you hope is the overall effect and impact that this film has for others?

Adepero Oduye: I just want all different kinds of people to see this film. The most important thing is to get that it’s okay to not check a box. It’s okay to love yourself. It’s okay to just be who you are, because who you are makes you unique. Hopefully you’ll become aware. If you’re not familiar with the LGBT issues or anything like that, now you just become more aware in general.

For more of Clayton Perry’s interview exclusives, visit his digital archive. He can also be followed via Twitter [@crperry84].

AllHipHop.com spoke to Sean recently while he was in New York promoting the album to hear about the new approach he took to creating Tomahawk Technique. We also learned how different the production and recording process was this time around, along with his thoughts on the Dancehall scene as it currently stands.

AllHipHop.com: What’s going on, Sean? How you feeling?

Sean Paul: I’m good, man, enjoying the sun today. I’m in New York riding up and down Chinatown. It’s cold, but there’s a lot of sun, so I’m enjoying that and then I go home in a couple of days.

AllHipHop.com: How excited are you for the release of your fifth album, Tomahawk Technique, in a little less than two months?

Sean Paul: I’m f*cking excited, son! Tomahawk Technique, the two T’s. I’ve been asking producers to make Dancehall music from their perspective for me. So my four albums before this was all Dancehall production, all Jamaican production, which I was and still am very proud of.

AllHipHop.com: How does this album represent the new Sean Paul, and who did you get to work with this time around?

Sean Paul: This time around, being that I’m more established, I would like to try and step out. I would like to try and do things I’ve never done before. Usually, I like to sing mostly my own hooks in certain songs, but this time I’ve got Stargate giving me hooks from Alexis Jordan. They also produced a track with me and Kelly Rowland. I did a crazy song with Benny Blanco, who is a Pop producer, and it goes real high. I’m doing stuff out of my comfort zone and expanding as an artist.

I’ve got my own production on there. I’m working with DJ Ammo, who produced “Dirty Bit” for Black Eyed Peas. That’s for the Dance element being added to the whole Dancehall flavor of the album. I’m working with Rico Love, which is like the meat of the album; he got five tracks on there. I’m just looking forward for the people to hear it. I just love to be expanding musically right now.

AllHipHop.com: So, why are you just now starting to produce your own material?

Sean Paul: Let me tell you the story. In Jamaica, when people produce me, they kind of let me write the song and mostly, I produce myself. I’ve been doing it for a lot of years now. I started producing in 2000 and didn’t really know much more than just the drum machine. Then I left it alone for a little while and let the producers do what they do, and I was being professional about doing what I do.

AllHipHop.com: So, how are you doing things differently this time around?

Sean Paul: I want to expand, I want to have a different sound, I want to sound more fresh, I want to have a unique approach. I’m one of the biggest in the [Dancehall] game, so people are kind of afraid to tell me to do this over or do that over. And, most of the producers right now are younger producers, they’re junior to me. They’re not challenging me enough. That’s the opposite of what Benny Blanco and Rico Love was doing. Five songs in two days with Rico, come on, and they’re all going to be on the album. They’re hits.

With Stargate, they made me go back and forth a couple times with the songs, like the one with Kelly Rowland. At first they loved it, but said it was a little too mushy and a little too long in the verse, so we went back and cut some stuff and did it myself. That’s all the kind of stuff I’m talking about when I say I’m expanding my artistry and being directed by them. So now this is all perfect. It’s like a second breath for me then to just get on a track and do it my way, but when someone else directs me, that’s a whole different street you can go down.

AllHipHop.com: Other than their track records, what was so special about these specific producers that you know you had to work with them to expand yourself musically as you say?

Sean Paul: Well, first of all, Stargate produced a track for Ne-Yo a couple years ago called “Miss Independent,” and it definitely sounded very Dancehall to me, so I had to know who produced that record for Ne-Yo. Jamaican kids were running to the radio, because it sounds like Dancehall, but the chorus they were using was a little different then what our musicians do, so that was my decision from the jump to try and work with them.

I wanted to work with many people and I gave my record company a lot of names and they said, ‘okay, we’ve got these kids lined up for you, let’s see what can happen.’ And that’s basically what happened. I had no links to Rico Love or Stargate; I just knew that they could produce something that sounded Dancehall. So the whole issue for me was to find producers that could produce Dancehall from their own perspective. Blanco asked me to send him some Dancehall tracks that I liked; he listened to them and studied them, and put his own twist on what that was.

AllHipHop.com: What about Rico Love and Stargate?

Sean Paul: It was a major experiment working with all these guys, but they all came to bat. All of them said, ‘let me make Dancehall for you, how we think it should sound.’ There were some tracks that Stargate did that were much more Dance oriented which I don’t mind ‘cause they sound good but I think I’m holding them for another album.

I did a lot of work for this album and only 13 songs are on it, which I’m pissed about ‘cause I got a lot more. I’ve got stuff from Akon that we’re saving for another thing, and some Jamaican production from my usual big producers back home, Steve McGregor who produced my last album, Don Corleone, people like Left Side, people like Washroom Entertainment, new dudes in the game.

So I’m just spitting out a lot of stuff this year, and that’s why I called the album Tomahawk Technique. This summer a lot of people were in the studio like ‘yo you’re spitting them bombs son,’ and I would say ‘yeah, like a tomahawk’ [laughter], and it kind of just stuck and with the hairstyle and everything I decided to just fly with it.

AllHipHop.com: I was going to ask you about the hair anyway so thanks for clearing that up [laughter]. What are your personal thoughts on the current Dancehall and Reggae scenes within the industry right now? I know that your most recent video is already at 33 million views, so there’s no denying that people are still listening to and loving the music.

Sean Paul: I think that the genre in general is much huger than 10 years ago; however, our music was the most underground music to start with. It was played in every club, yet no one bought it. It’s even more like that now with the advent of all these computers. When I first started in the game, there was no Twitter, no Facebook, no computers in terms of Logic and Pro Tools and all of that; it was reel-to-reel tape.

The whole game changed in terms of, music-wise, there’s less skills in music in general. I’m talking Dance music, Pop music, Country, Hip-Hop, all of that; everything is lower, so Dancehall music is not selling. Our numbers are weak, but the scene is bigger.

AllHipHop.com: What about your thoughts on some of the other artists that have come and gone within the genre?

Sean Paul: There is Mavado right now, Serani was out like a year ago; there’s a lot more people eating off the game. So I think we need to get organized and more together. It might sound cliché, but “united we stand and divided we fall.” We’re a small country, and we’ve been impacting, not just American music, but music in general throughout the world. When you look at even the biggest rappers right now, I would say Nicki Minaj does it more than anyone else right now.

AllHipHop.com: How so?

Sean Paul: There’s just certain sounds, slangs, and lingos that come from the Caribbean, and she’s from there, but we are definitely the most dominant culture in that area, and there’s just a presence in Hip-Hop. In Rap and Alternative Rock music with the bass lines, there is definitely an influence. But it’s not just me. Yeah, there’s 30 million views on my new song, but the whole genre stepped up, and it’s just that there’s a lot more people in the game and a lot less money, a lot less pie, and so there’s less people buying it.

AllHipHop.com: As a Dancehall and Reggae artist, what do you think is one of the largest barriers to overcome?

Sean Paul: The biggest barrier that there is is that our language is different from what people are used to. When I search Twitter, the biggest comment about me is ‘I don’t know what the f*ck he be saying anyway.’ Sometimes they’ll say that I’m hot, though [laughter]. So that’s the biggest barrier. But I’m not going to sing a whole song in straight English so that everyone can understand. I mean, I think my song “Like Glue,” is a straight English hook, but people say that they don’t understand it.

Either way, I will not compromise my own language, and you still have a kid from Staten Island or somewhere who sings every word and then the rest of America gets with it, and they say, ‘oh, that’s what he means.’ It’s kind of hard to listen to something that may sound foreign to you, but there’s people with bigger accents then myself so that’s the biggest barrier we got honestly is the language barrier. I think that if our language was more understandable, I think our music would be triple-force to reckon with

AllHipHop.com: Lastly, you have Tomahawk Technique coming out in February so based on what you just said, do you believe that this is the music that’s needed right now to get people back on the genre’s bandwagon again?

Sean Paul:  It’s what I need. I needed to do an album where I was expanding my artistry. You know, Dutty Rock was my most successful selling album; a lot of people know that album and that work. Trinity did its thing. Imperial Blaze didn’t really do that well and from Trinity to Imperial, I’m defending Jamaica to the ground. To me, that’s what Jamaica needed. I needed to work with people in my industry and take part in the history of that.

Right now, I just needed to expand and work with people I never worked with before and take that opportunity. I think it’s going to be very interesting for people to hear these producers making Dancehall from their perspective. So, if it is not what the industry needs, it’s what I need, and I need to be an artist and express myself and just live.

AllHipHop.com: That’s a great answer, and I’m looking forward to hearing the album and seeing what you have in store for the fans.

Sean Paul: Yeah, man. Thank you.

Follow Sean Paul on Twitter: @DuttyPaul

The concert, which has raised millions of dollars since its inception in 2008, has become bigger, better, and more powerful with every passing year, as new talent is brought on to help a great cause – raising money and awareness for medical equipment that many hospitals in Jamaica cannot afford.

AllHipHop.com got the chance to speak to the Grammy-winner a few days before his concert takes place to talk about his fifth Grammy nomination, the current musical landscape for Dancehall and Reggae, the “Shaggy and Friends” concert, and more:

AllHipHop.com: What’s going on, Shaggy?

Shaggy: Not much, not much.

AllHipHop.com: The first thing I want to ask you about is your Make A Difference Foundation and the Shaggy and Friends Benefit Concert, which is going down on January 7^th in Kingston. You’ve already got Lauryn Hill and Maxi Priest on the lineup with you, so tell me a little bit about that.

Shaggy: We just got Eve on board join the concert, too, and the concert is for a cause that is near and dear to myself and a lot of people. The foundation helps children who need surgeries, and we help fund hospitals who have a lack of equipment, and we try our very best to accommodate those things through the medium of a concert. We’ve been able to buy millions of dollars of equipment for these hospitals.

With the concert, we also raise the profile and the awareness of these things going on, and we’ve had some outside entity like the U.S. come over and donate to help the cause as well. I’m just happy and grateful to be a part of all of that.

AllHipHop.com: Well, just based on the money you’ve raised since the benefit’s inception, it’s very clear that both the foundation and concert have been extremely successful, so I want to applaud you for that.

Shaggy: Thank you very much. I really want to applaud my team. Of course, I might be the first face that people thank and recognize, but it couldn’t be done without the help of my team and the people around me, and there’s a whole lot of them.

AllHipHop.com: Well, next, I want to congratulate you on your Grammy nomination.

Shaggy: Thank you.

AllHipHop.com: I wanted to ask you, as someone who has been nominated multiple times in the past, and already won a Grammy back in ’96, what does it mean to you to still be getting recognized for the work that you’re doing?

Shaggy: It means a lot. I have been nominated few times, and at one point when we did Hot Shot, it was never nominated, even though it was the biggest Reggae album of that year, so I felt a little bit snubbed by the Grammy’s at that time. Since then, I’ve learned the ins and outs of how that kind of stuff works, so I don’t worry about it much, but it’s an honor.

AllHipHop.com: So beyond your Grammy nomination, what are your thoughts on the current landscape of Reggae and Dancehall music, specifically in the U.S.?

Shaggy: Well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that there’s not a lot of chart action. We’re not getting past the basics of the artists that have the potential to cross and have the potential to compete with other types of music out there and genres. That becomes the problem.

AllHipHop.com: Do you think that affects, in any way, your process behind the music that you create? Are you trying to appeal to more people with your new music, or are you sticking to the formula of doing what Shaggy has always done best?

Shaggy: The thing about the Reggae market is … it’s just like a movie. You talk to a Spielberg or you talk to any of these guys, they’ll do their Sci-Fi movie, or whatever kind of big movie that brings in a lot of money. It’s good because that way, it helps them fund doing the more organic movie that their heart and soul is in; it’s the same way.

You’ve got to have these songs, these chart-toppers, as records that compete with the mainstream to allow you to do your underground Dancehall sh*t. You can’t just see one side. There’s songs that I have that are true underground Dancehall, but then I have songs that are my crossover songs that I try to get out there. I’m doing an album right now with me and Sly and Robbie, which is a more core album, so it’s got to have a balance so that you can basically make the music that’s a force to be reckoned with and to compete.

AllHipHop.com: Well, your most recent album Summer In Kingston, was released in July and your track record has kind of shown that you tend to put out new music or a new album every two to three years. In 2011 alone, you’ve already released two albums so is this a new pattern that sticking to and are we getting a new Shaggy album in 2012?

Shaggy: I think you’re referring to the Shaggy and Friends album, which is not an album that was ever commissioned by me.

AllHipHop.com: OK, hmmm…

Shaggy: That was commissioned by my former best friend and former manager, and I did not have anything to do with that release. That release was supposed to be on our website only, which ended up being put out which I did not approve of. So as far as I’m concerned, I only put one album out last year, which was Summer In Kingston.

AllHipHop.com: Going forward then, do you have plans to release a new album this year or at least to release some new music?

Shaggy: I have 200 songs, like I have a studio in my home, so I’m recording constantly. It’s a daily thing for me, so to put records together and create an album is easy. I could just pick a bunch of things that I already got, so to compile records for an album is not a big deal. I normally put records out, but to put a body of work and an album out I don’t know.

I’m continuously putting singles out, whether it’s Dancehall singles or Pop singles or Dance singles, you know there’s songs that I’ve released in Europe that are on the dance chart that have not been released in America yet. I tour on that in the European dance market. So for me it’s just constantly putting out records ,and it’s not to just get more hits. You can go to a Shaggy show, and there’s some songs I can’t even finish the f*cking song because I only have a certain amount of time to do it. I want to perform the hits in a certain amount of time, and I’ve got a lot of hits [laughter].

AllHipHop.com: That you do.

Shaggy: The reason for doing a record is basically to raise the profile. Out of sight is out of mind.

AllHipHop.com: And you’ve clearly got enough material in the safe to put out another ten albums right now if you wanted to I’m sure.

Shaggy: Absolutely, but I still love making new ones [laughter].

AllHipHop.com: Well, it was a pleasure to speak with you, and once again, best of luck at the concert and at the Grammy’s!

Shaggy: Thank you.

For More Information Visit www.ShaggyOnline.com

“I ran track growing up and then I went to the University of Texas, where I had three National Championships,” explains Hooker. “I went on to make my first Olympic team in 2008; I made my first World Championship team in 2009, and then my second in 2011. With the USA, track-and-field is very, very, very competitive, and to make a team in the USA in the sprint – which I run the 100m and 200m – is a huge accomplishment. Making it wasn’t guaranteed – making the Finals and getting on the medal stand…I’ve yet to do that.”

Not surprisingly, both of Hooker’s parents ran track in high school, passing along DNA that also helped sister, Destinee, earn the current U.S. Indoor National record in high jump at nearly 6’7”. The family talent – Hooker calls it “God-given” – along with a healthy lifestyle that includes being a “home-body” is what she attributes to her success. When track-and-field runs in your blood, healthy might come naturally. Yet, Hooker, who’s training for the Olympic Games in London this summer, says she works hard at keeping her mind, body, and soul in shape for the long haul.

On New Year’s Day, Hooker passes along some wisdom, knowing the Hip-Hop community has experienced far too many preventable illnesses and deaths lately. And although 99 percent of us (rappers included) will never, ever be Olympic athletes, there are still plenty of jewels in Marshevet Hooker’s “Top 5 Not Dead, So Stay Alive” Tips for 2012:

#1 – Eat Better!

I know [rappers] are on tour – same thing with athletes – and they’re so busy. It’s a lot easier sometimes just to grab something fast, something greasy. So, sometimes even if you have to prepare your food in advance, or have somebody prepare your food in advance, it’s time to eat a little better. When you’re on the go, your body gets tired and everything – fuel the body!

#2 – Exercise!

I know sometimes [rappers and others] stay kind of busy, but at the same time, get out, even if it’s taking a walk or a light jog, do something to keep your body active. If you are having bad eating habits, you can kind of burn that up a little bit! [laughter]

#3 – Watch What You Put In You!

Take better care of your body. I know sometimes with the partying, you get into drinking and other activities. The lack of rest that you get already has an impact on your body, so what you put into your body, you’re going to get out. Be mindful of what you put in your body.

#4 – Rest!

Rest. Try to fit it in some way. I know they get busy, but you’ve got to rest some way. Your body, through resting, sleeping, that’s how your body recovers. So give your body time to recover. Sleeping is good, but then sometimes so is just staying still. You know, you just get so busy – separate some time out for just sleep or to rest your body, period.

#5 – Seek Happiness!

I think happiness is key. Sometimes you get really, really busy and caught up in doing things for everyone else. Just like I said take time to take care of yourself, do what makes you happy sometimes. I really think in that industry, it’s all about the fans sometimes, but sometimes you have to do things to make you happy.

AllHipHop.com: Is there a rapper you’d find “happiness” in shouting-out if you could?

Awww, man, there are so many, but I’m really, really loving Nicki Minaj a lot right now. A lot of her stuff I listen to a lot. She represents independence. She stepped in the game, and just went after it. You can tell she put a lot of hard work in, and we’re seeing the outcome right now. I mean, she’s killing it!

Check for Marshevet Hooker representing Team USA in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London! Visit her new website debuting this week at www.vethooker.com.

In the midst of a promotional campaign for Pariah’s theatrical release [limited – December 28, 2011 – New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco; nationwide – January 2012], Kim Wayans squeezed some time out of her busy schedule to chat with AllHipHop.com’s Alternatives – reflecting on her connection with “Audrey,” Hollywood’s small cadre of leading women, and the influence of growing up in the Wayans household.

AHHA:  Your role in Pariah is very dynamic. From beginning to end, “Audrey” steadily reveals the varying layers of her character. What aspect of her life story were you able to connect with on a personal level?

Kim Wayans:  You know, not really. What resonated with me was that Audrey is like the kind of person who puts her expectations for her happiness onto other people. It’s like she gets all these expectations and stuff about her husband and about her child. When her expectations aren’t met, she’s very disappointed, even devastated. There were periods in my life where I was guilty of that, of putting the responsibility for my happiness on something outside of myself, and I don’t do that anymore. I haven’t done it in years.

I’ve matured past that and understand that your happiness and your joy has to come from within, and that everything else outside of you is just gravy. I really understand that. But that was something that I identified with, with Audrey, and was able to hook into just that aspect of just being so disappointed by things that didn’t happen in life that I expected to happen. But more than anything, I felt just a lot of compassion and a lot of empathy for her. I didn’t see her as like a monster or like a villain. I just saw her as a desperate mother struggling to do what she felt was the best thing for her child. So, she’s coming from a place of love. However misguided it is, she’s coming from a place of love. She’s not a hateful, mean person who’s just trying to destroy her child’s life.

AHHA:  Looking back on your personal life, how did you overcome similar struggles? More often than not, we tend to be our harshest critics?

Kim Wayans:  I started reading a lot of those self-help books. I went on a ten-day silent mediation retreat, and that opened my eyes to a lot of different things about me and about things that were sources of unhappiness, the self-created unhappiness. And I just started realizing that for as long as you put your happiness in somebody else’s hands, that’s a very vulnerable position to be in, and it’s nobody’s job to make you happy. It’s your job to be happy, and that true happiness and true joy comes from within. It’s not anything outside of you that can make you happy or can make you sad when it’s taken away. But that joy of being is yours.

AHHA:  Very true! Thank you for sharing. Even though your life and Audrey’s life don’t match-up necessarily, as you embodied her spirit, in which scene did you find your emotions running high?

Kim Wayans:  I had several difficult scenes, but the most difficult scene for me was that final scene where Alike (Adepero Oduye) comes to me with her open heart trying to connect with me and trying to give me her love and I reject her. That was the scene that broke Audrey’s heart and broke my heart. It’s just a very difficult scene to play because it was just very difficult to get into that space. For me, it’s unthinkable that you could give your child up for anything, but especially for something like their sexuality. So to have to inhabit that space where I’m prepared to close the door of my heart to my child was very difficult.

AHHA:  With such an emotional scene, did you find yourself improvising on the set? Considering your background in comedy, I am curious to know if that skill translated to this film?

Kim Wayans:  Well, the scene wasn’t an improvised scene. Actually, I did almost no improvisation in this movie. It’s just a beautifully written script, so everything was just right there. There was just maybe one: the dinner scene at the kitchen table. What Dee would do is give us plants. She would whisper something into Alike’s ear to say something different than what it was that we were expecting her to say. That was the extent of any kind of improvisation that I, in particular, was involved in.

How my comedy helped me is doing all those wacky comedy sketches freed me up. They just made me feel that I’m open and I’m fearless. I don’t worry about how I’m going to look or worry about how this is going to be perceived. I just go there. I just go where I need to go, and so I was able to take those skills and use them in this format, as well. To just go there and to be unencumbered by anything other than doing what it is I needed to do, which was to tell Audrey’s story.

AHHA:  With the release of Pariah, the cast and crew are slowly writing a new chapter in film history. When I look at the trajectory of your career, from the 1980s to the present, you have observed and experienced first-hand the limited – yet growing – presence of female actors, writers, directors and producers in Hollywood.  Examine your life and place your career within this context. What accomplishments are you proud of attaining?

Kim Wayans:  You know, I could go on and on about the struggles of Black women, in particular in our industry. The roles are very limited. Not very plentiful. And it’s frustrating that here we are in the year 2012 and we still just don’t get the amount of work we need to be actresses who are working more than they are sitting home waiting on their next gig. What I try to do is occupy myself by being proactive. Instead of sitting around moaning and groaning about what’s not available, I try to create the stuff that I want to do and then find a way of expressing that. I wrote a one-woman show: [“A Handsome Woman Retreats”]. That was very successful, and I continue to do it. I’ve written children’s books. I have six children’s books on the market. I have several screenplays and different things that I’ve written.

Hopefully, I can just get to a place where people stop asking me: “You got anything?” [laughter] ”Yeah, I got something!” [laughter continues] So, I just stay creative. I just stay occupied, and I choose to use my energy in positive, uplifting ways instead of sitting around getting bitter and all twisted lips because the role, the work is just not there. The latest thing that we’re shopping around now is a pilot for a TV series called “Growing Up Wayans.” I wrote it with my husband and my brother is executive producer. It’s a really wonderful sitcom that is inspired by our upbringing, and it’s told from my mom’s point of view of what it was like to raise a large family in a New York City housing development, struggling and determined to give your children the tools that they need to lead successful lives. So, it’s a great family show that’s full of heart and full of laughter. We’re shopping around  different networks and cable stations and trying to get it popping. So, I stay proactive.

AHHA:  As a member of large, well-known family, your comedic roots run deep. It is obvious and apparent that your humor and talent have been nurtured – as a bonafide “Wayans” – but that much of it is innate as well. What attribute of your character would be missing if you had grown up in a different environment? What trait to you directly credit to being a part of this family?

Kim Wayans:  I think my openness. The amount of love that I have in my heart. I have so much love in my heart because I’ve always had so much experience working my heart muscle, loving all my wonderful brothers and sisters and my mom and dad. It’s like a training ground for opening your heart and to being generous and to being loving. You know, you have to share. When you have that many brothers and sisters, and you don’t have much in terms of financial means and material things, you have to learn how to share. So I think that, like I said, my generosity and my openheartedness and the amount of love that I have are all directly related to the family that I grew up in.

AHHA:  Reflecting upon the Pariah experience, how has it helped you evolve?

Kim Wayans:  You know, when you think of a film, you think of something that has the quality of a classic. Something that can just go on and on. Ten years from now, people can watch this film and still be affected by it and still be transformed by it. And this kind of film, because of its universality of theme and all the beautiful elements of this project, make it something that’s going to stand the test of time.

For more of Clayton Perry’s interview exclusives, visit his digital archive. He can also be followed via Twitter [@crperry84].

Ms. Adams, who has been featured on the cover or pages of magazines like King, XXL and The Source, teamed with the Star Quality Girls Outreach Program to mentor young girls facing adversity.

She visited a group of girls aged 8-18 in her hometown of Athens, GA, where she provided gifts and inspirational advice to the girls.

“I’m so blessed and thrilled to be working with Star Quality Girls,” Sheneka told AllHipHop.com. “I am so grateful for the opportunity. In the future I plan to bring more attention and positivity to Athens. I look forward to doing more with Star Quality Girls in the future, it’s such a blessing to be able to give back.”

Check out more of Sheneka at http://www.dirtyrichlies.com

He tweeted, “I can’t wait to re-release The Trilogy as a package, re-mastered for you to collect with bonus features…#2012.”

Although it has not been confirmed, it has been suggested that The Weeknd will select a number of songs from House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence, re-master them, and possibly add guests to the songs as well. He also may choose to re-master and re-release all three projects as one full, deluxe package.

Currently, there is no official date for the release of “The Trilogy.”

In anticipation of Pariah’s theatrical release [limited – December 28 – New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco; nationwide – January 2012], Dee Rees squeezed some time out of her busy schedule to settle down for an interview with AllHipHop.com Alternatives – reflecting on the importance of character development, her love of John Cassavetes, and cruising Brooklyn in a RV:

AHHA: As you wrote the final treatment for Pariah, transitioning between an award-winning short into a full-length feature film, what did you find to be the hardest part of the screenwriting process, with special regard to character development?

Dee Rees: With character development, the struggle is to make the character a whole person but still keep the momentum of the story moving forward. One character in particular who I spent a lot of time with was Audrey (Kim Wayans), because I didn’t want her to come off as one-sided or come off as a villain. It was important to really get her and to understand her perspective and her motivation, so that we get to empathize with her and understand who Audrey was as a person.

AHHA: Is there a particular scene, or a string of scenes, that you had to tweak over and over again to get just right?

Dee Rees: It wasn’t one particular scene. When Audrey starts conversations with her daughter or starts conversations with her husband, they start from a place of love. She wants to connect. And then as she’s not getting what she wants, the edge comes in.  That anger starts right in. She’s starting from a coaxing place, and then her scenes always move to where she – as a result of her advances – becomes hurt or we see her edge more.

AHHA: As the writer and director of this film, what did you find most difficult to translate from the text to the screen?

Dee Rees: The scene between Alike (Adepero Oduye) and her father – Arthur (Charles Parnell) – in the kitchen was a hard to direct because it was a long scene and great deal of the action occurred between the lines. Both of these characters know each other’s secrets, but they’re not willing to say them out loud. It’s a scene about advances and retreats. They both tiptoe up to the line and then back away from the line.

They tiptoe up and then back away, and they’re never able to say what they both already know. So that scene was interesting because it has a couple of turns. It starts out where Alike wants to ask her dad about the affair but then backs away. The father wants to ask about her sexuality, but he backs away. And then in the end, they have this kind of unspoken truce where Dad is basically saying, “I know, but just don’t be seen.” So there were a lot of things happening in between the lines.

AHHA: From a historical perspective, this film is very significant: female-driven with management and leadership in the screenwriting, production, lead acting, and directorial roles. When you put yourself in the context of history and look at all of the other female directors that are currently working, what major obstacles do you feel that you have personally overcome to get this film off the ground and running? And what obstacles do you see women still have to overcome in the future, in regards to writing, directing, and producing major motion films?

Dee Rees: I think the obstacles that we overcame were obstacles that had to do with preconceptions. I think people had a lot of preconceptions about what this film was and about who we were as filmmakers. And I think we had to show that this story is universal. It’s about identity. Everybody can relate to it. It’s not just this niche thing that you think. As filmmakers, we can tell a range of stories.

By showing a cross section of characters, I wanted to show that this is a world that people can relate to and that we can write outside of ourselves. We’re not just transcribing our own personal experiences. We’re portraying a world and portraying a character that has very rich conflicts in her life. I think that those are some of the biggest struggles. I think the continuing struggle will be to convince the industry that audiences are ready for different types of stories and audiences are open and accepting. Audiences are smart.

AHHA: I had that initial feeling when I saw the trailer. But as soon as I saw the film, I knew audiences would be responsive to the personal struggles in the film. One of the most valuable things that Spike Lee gave – according to producer Nekisa Cooper – in the capacity of executive producer was his time. Several years ago, you interned as a script supervisor for Inside Man. In the time that you spent around him, what professional lessons do you feel you translated directly to this experience?

Dee Rees: Spike taught me that, as a director, you have to put everything on the screen. You can’t pass out notes to the audience. You don’t get to stand in front of the audience and explain what your intention was, so everything has to be on the screen. Just clarity of storytelling is something that I learned from him. Also just the manifesto that you have to do it by any means necessary. Just get it done. And so, as we were raising money for the film, Spike inspired us to just get it in the can, and then be able to raise the money piecemeal and just get it done bit by bit. So just that idea of being relentless and being really honest and objective about your work as a process is what I learned from him. I’m glad he was a mentor and someone who we could bounce ideas off of.

AHHA: Speaking about becoming relentless – two years of fundraising and a fast-paced 19-day shoot to get the film completed. When you reflect upon these different phases, what do you consider to be the highlights? Are there any humorous ways in which you raised money or interesting “crunch stories” related to the shooting time?

Dee Rees: Yes! One of the most humorous things – with the short film – me driving an RV through the Bronx with all the actors in the back! [laughing] On the feature film, the idea that Nekisa would be picking up coffee and doughnuts on her way to the set, or that I would wear all these different hats was interesting. When we first got to Brooklyn, we had to sleep in the location because we didn’t have another apartment to sleep in.

There are a lot of things that happened. The highlight for me would be the “wrap party” – where it was literally the last day of shooting. We were in the basement of the location and somebody found an old radio, turned it on, and we just jammed all night to random stuff on the radio. It just happened to be like a good radio night. It was just this fun. I remember feeling very full of joy and just high on the moment.

AHHA: You have a really interesting professional background. Your initial academic focus was not film. In fact, you have a Master of Business Administration (MBA). In what ways has your academic experience supported your artistic efforts? Is there something from the business end that you may or may not have done differently had you not had that academic experience?

Dee Rees: I think the business background definitely helped in terms of knowing how to talk about this film and knowing how to package it. Film is both art and commerce. In the writing of it, I was really able to be free and write the truth of who the characters were and what the world was. But when it’s time to sell the film or when it’s time to think about how to package it, that marketing background comes in handy when you’re thinking about how to design postcards for Sundance or how to design a poster or how to get people in theaters. At the end of the day, to some extent it’s a product, and you’re asking people to pay $10 in advance to go into a dark room to receive your product. Convincing them to do that is a difficult task. I think the training really helped us to think early on who our target audience was and how we would be able to talk to them.

AHHA: It’s interesting you said “target audience.” Sometimes you go in thinking, “This is the target audience!” But is there an unexpected audience that you have seen gravitating towards the film?

Dee Rees: Well, we knew that it was universal. It’s not unexpected, but it was always great when we screened people across different communities. Straight people. People with completely different experiences than Alike who were able to connect with them, and not only connect, but who were moved by it. At Sundance we had a straight, white man come up to us and say, “I’m not gay, and I don’t like gay movies, but I like this movie.” We also had a straight, Black woman, who looked to be a churchgoing woman – with her church hat on – say:,”I understand the mother, but I also understand that I have to love my children.” So those are breakthrough moments where people could see themselves and could relate to the film in a way that was transformative in terms of how they thought about themselves and the world.

AHHA: Wow, that’s very powerful! Is there a particular part of the script that you found yourself at odds with? Maybe you liked the way it was on paper, but it was just unrealistic or unfeasible to direct it with the budget? Maybe something where you had to modify some things because it just wasn’t going to work out?

Dee Rees: Nothing really unfeasible with the budget, but there were some scenes. Like I have some other moments of Alike in the club being awkward that I ended up cutting and not shooting, because it felt a little redundant and I thought we were able to tell the story through a different way. Everything has to be sacrificed to the momentum of moving the story forward and keeping the audience engaged.

AHHA: You have mentioned John Cassavetes as an influential director. What did you admire most about his directing talents, and how did you translate those skills into this current project?

Dee Rees: What I love about his work is that it feels so immediate and urgent, and it feels like the actors aren’t really reading lines. With Cassavetes’ work, you feel like you’re experiencing life. A movie that I love by him was A Woman Under the Influence. You’re watching life happen, and all the performances feel so real. Watching Gena Rowlands, I was blown away by her performance. Cassavetes has these really naturalistic performances. It almost feels observational, and you forget you’re watching a movie. So, as a director, I try to go for the realism and the things that make audiences feel and stay connected to what is happening in front of them.

For more of Clayton Perry’s interview exclusives, visit his digital archive. He can also be followed via Twitter [@crperry84].

The potential impact of his fourth studio album, Back To Love, hasn’t escaped Hamilton, who knows today’s prevailing R&B landscape isn’t filled with much music like his. The imagery and lyrics of the subgenre have been reduced mainly to overt overtures about seduction, sex, and…strippers, and when asked about a recent CNN editorial on the topic, Hamilton gets serious, agreeing with a look that says he will try his hardest to steal back the love via songs like the title track, “Back To Love” and the Babyface-produced(!) “Woo”:

Hamilton is in a good mood while promoting Back To Love, which hit shelves recently to tremendous critical and fan praise. The 16-track work (if you have the full Deluxe Edition) doesn’t veer far from his signature sound and style. Thankfully, the buttery, grainy, gospel- and blues-infused voice is still there (especially on ironic, bluesy songs like “Mad”), along with the familiar focus on topics that real people can relate to – love, loss, and even loving lost. In this clip, he breaks down the album and its themes – then breaks into spontaneous holiday glee! – followed by a defense of…Keri Hilson?:

In Anthony Hamilton’s world, love also translates as a deep appreciation for women (“I like your hair”…”That dress and boot ensemble is working for you…I like that”). He’s playfully flirtatious, as if he knows that women need to be flattered and fawned over, and he tells so on tracks like “Fair In Love” and “Woo.” In recent years, he’s found a love (and musical partner) that fulfills him, added twin babies to his growing family, and is working on a little-known side hustle that he hopes to bring to fruition soon.

Christmas is also around the bend, and Hamilton says he’s looking forward to selling albums and focusing on “the reason for the season” with his loved ones. The singer has never been shy about his greatest love – God – and he doesn’t forget to include some food for the soul on songs like “Pray for Me.” In the clip below, he offers a melodic holiday message for the fans, a little spiritual inspiration, and some details on a community cause that’s near and dear to his heart:

In this hustle and bustle world, where imaginations are at a minimum, and love equals lust, Anthony Hamilton offers a welcome escape – and hopefully, a blueprint for the future of urban love music.

Anthony Hamilton’s Back To Love is available now in stores and on iTunes.

The Canadian crooner’s previous projects, House of Balloons and Thursday were released in the past year to critical acclaim and massive support from the both the online and music communities. The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, can be heard currently on the Drake song “Crew Love,” from his sophomore album Take Care.

Echoes of Silence features nine original songs:

1. D.D.
2. Montreal
3. Outside
4. XO/The Host
5. Initiation
6. Same Old Song
7. The Fall
8. Next
9. Echoes of Silence

Diggy, who is the son of rap pioneer Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons, of Run-DMC fame, hit the New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, where he attended bedside visits with patients, handed out holiday gift bags, signed posters & took photos with the children.

The rapper then headed over to St. Jude’s Holiday party at Brooks Brothers’ flagship store.

Diggy took part in the “Thanks and Giving” campaign and helped decorate holiday cookies, ornaments and cards with the St. Jude patients.

Check out some pictures below:

Over 1,200 coats were collected during the charitable event, which was held at Regal Cinema in Union Square.

Guests that attended included Anthony Hamilton, Carl Thomas, Miss Black New York 2012, Selena Watkins, Essence Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Constance White, President of the NAACP, Benjamin Jealous, Hip-Hop legends, Treach from Naughty By Nature, Reggie Reg from the Crash Crew and others.

“We all complain about what we don’t have, but we go out and waste money on stuff that we don’t need,” says Anthony Hamilton. “At times like this…I just think if somebody is there to take care of somebody else, then that’s less people doing without.”

Check out some flicks below:

Trina played host during the toy drive and signed autographs, danced and took pictures with supporters during the evening.

The event, which included a private dinner sponsored by Live-N-Direct Multimedia, was attended by a number of celebs and executives.

Check out some photos and videos below:

In an exclusive interview with AllHipHop.com, Tank talks openly about what fueled Diary of a Mad Man, being a ‘Twitter head’, and his disappointment with being snubbed by the Grammys.

AllHipHop.com: Let’s talk about Diary of a Mad Man. What inspired you to release it?

Tank: It was definitely an opportunity for me to put out a different side of me without any pressure attached to it. You know, without the $9.99 price tag, having to recoup a budget, or having to sell a certain amount of records the first week to be considered successful. Diary of a Mad Man didn’t have any of that. It’s just some good music. It’s a different character and an opportunity for me to offer that to my fans or soon-to-be fans. I grabbed some songs that had been out before on the more aggressive side that were stolen and leaked from my aggressive album. I also made some new songs and put them all together to make that Diary.

AllHipHop.com: Diary of a Mad Man definitely shows another side of you many aren’t used to seeing.

Tank: I got some stuff off of my chest. I said some things that I wanted to say, not the way I’d normally say it, but it’s a mixtape. I’m gonna say it the way I want to say it. I’m gonna cuss a lil bit too! Sh*t! I’m gonna let you feel it. People appreciate the rawness of it. It’s just me being me.

AllHipHop.com: Mixtapes were more prevalent in the Hip Hop community. Why do you think more R&B artists are going the mixtape route?

Tank: There are several different ways artists benefit from mixtapes. It allows you to get out of the box and it allows you to sing in a way that may influence a different fan base. Also, we’re in a very content-driven industry right now. The more people have on you, hear from you, and know you the better off you are. People are trying to forget you.

These things keep your name and your brand out there continually flowing while you’re in between budgets and campaigns. You have blog sites you can still talk to and filter information and music to. It’s everybody’s way to staying a part of the music industry.

AllHipHop.com: One of the standout songs from Diary of a Mad Man is ‘Stars Girl.’ It reminds me of Amber Rose.

Tank: (bursts into laughter) You’re hilarious!

AllHipHop.com: Diary of a Mad Man is a very solid project. It feels like it should be sold in stores.

Tank: I’ve heard that and it’s like I don’t know how to do music any other way. If we’re not going to put something good together whether we are giving it away for free or doubling up the price on it, it still has to be quality music. There’s no “throw away music” around here. I’m trying to win with every record.

AllHipHop.com: Congratulations on your amazing and soul-stirring rendition of “I Can’t Make You Love Me” from your last LP, Now or Never.

Tank: Thank you. I was so mad. I wanted to get nominated for that song. Nobody nominated me. I’m like ‘C’mon guys, you can’t nominate at least one song?’ Whatever…it’s all good.

AllHipHop.com: You also write and produce for other artists. Outside of your own projects, who do you enjoy working with the most?

Tank: I loved working with Chris [Brown]. That was awesome. Working with him from one year to the next and just watching his growth from a kid to the monster that he is was great. Being an inspiration to him and helping in that sense was just exciting to me. Being able to be a part of a project, kinda like the engine that helps it run and the backbone behind it is always great.

AllHipHop.com: I know you’re on Twitter because I’m a Twitter head. On a few occasions, I’ve seen you get busy in those Twitter streets.

Tank: I’m a Twitter head too. (@TheRealTank) But, listen if you say something to me I’m going to say something back. I’m a human being. I’m a person. When you start talking reckless about my music…that’s my livelihood. That’s how I feed my kids. You just ain’t gonna get that off! Sometimes I get calls from Atlantic Records late at night like ‘If you don’t shut up!’ But, sometimes I take that stuff personally, man. I’m gonna talk. If you want to say something to me, no problem. I got something for you!

Hands down, Diary of a Mad Man is one of the best R&B mixtapes to drop this year. Tank’s strong vocals, edgy lyrical content, and infectious tracks create a triple threat no music fan can resist. As an added treat, Diary of a Mad Man offers guest appearances by Ace Hood, Slim Thug, Kevin McCall, and more.

Diary of a Mad Man is now available as a free download at DJ Booth.net. For more information on Tank visit TheRealTank.com.

Contributor: Xaviera (@MsXaviB)

Never one to rest on his laurels, Posner released The Layover in late November 2011. The 21-track mixtape, hosted by DJ Benzi and Don Cannon has a definitive album vibe and features rappers Slim Thug, CyHi Da Prynce, Machine Gun Kelly, Big K.R.I.T., Elzhi, and about a dozen more artists alongside the Michigan crooner on original records and covers of some classic songs as well.

AllHipHop.com spent some time talking to the R&B crooner in between recording sessions for his sophomore album, Sky High, which is set for release in March 2012 Posner spoke about the mixtape, why he chose to work with the artists that he did on The Layover, the current R&B landscape, and what fans can expect from his next album:

AllHipHop.com: What’s going on, Mike? I want to get right into the mixtape by asking whose idea was it to break The Layover into sections where you have “songs to drive to,” “songs to smoke to,” “songs to pre-game to,” “songs to f*ck to,” etc.? Where did that concept come from?

Mike Posner: I will take some credit for that one; I thought of that. I was just thinking about the big picture to myself, like, as a listener, what were the most magical moments that I’ve had with music? And I came up with a couple of categories. I wanted to make music for those moments for people so that they could have that and use those songs in that way for their life. And rather than just hope that they put two and two together, I wanted to tell them exactly what those songs were made for.

AllHipHop.com: That’s great. I also saw that as you were preparing to release the project, you were putting out a few videos explaining the concept and purpose behind some of the records. I want to ask you about a few songs that you didn’t do videos for, and see what you have to say about them.

Mike Posner: Definitely, man.

AllHipHop.com: Let’s start with “Henny & Purple” featuring Slim Thug.

Mike Posner: Well, that’s one of my favorites on the mixtape, and that started with a beat idea from my homie Bei Major. He sent me this sample that he and Cory Enemy had come up with and chopped up. My homies, Block Beaters, worked on the beat as well as this dude named Maestro, so there is like a bajillion producers working on that track; probably the most producers on one song that I’ve ever experienced for sure.

The lyrics on that song are really special to me. When I say, “We’re out here looking for something to believe in, slow it down, down, down, you see that clock ticking slow on the dash, picking up the pieces that we left in the past, with the henny and purple.” Basically, I’m talking about a moment that I’m about to have when I go home. Every time I go back to Michigan I find myself smoking and driving with my homies, and we’re trying to recreate the moments that we had when we were younger. As far as Thugga, I just absolutely love – pause – love Thugga’s voice, and I think he has the dopest voice in the game; like him and Jeezy are just some of my favorite straight up voices. I’m real big on the sonics of someone’s voice and how they sound on a track.

AllHipHop.com: Yeah, well, those are definitely two distinct voices in Hip-Hop.

Mike Posner: Exactly, so I called Slim, and he sounds just as cool when he talks on the phone [laughing]. He did his verse in like three hours. As soon as he was done, he sent that sh*t back, and I actually put the finishing touches on this song between my session with Pharrell. I was just in Miami with Pharrell, and he went out to take a break, and I still needed to finish “Henny and Purple,” so I asked the engineer if we could finish the track real quick. When P came back, I was like, “Yo, listen to this!” and he loved it.

AllHipHop.com: Before we go onto some of the other tracks from The Layover, I have to ask, what were you and Pharrell working on?

Mike Posner: We did three tracks for Sky High, and that sh*t is just incredible. I’ve had good feelings when I left sessions, but, I left that session feeling like “I’m about to f*ck up the game in 2012, so you motherf*ckers need to watch out!” [laughter]

AllHipHop.com: It’s perfect that you say that, actually, because I want to ask you about the changing R&B landscape. I’m curious about what your thoughts are on some of the names who are making a lot of noise, like Frank Ocean and The Weeknd. Where does Mike Posner fit into the grand scheme of things?

Mike Posner: Oh, man, I think I fit in the same way that I fit in three years ago when I started. When I came up with this concept of, like, singing rap songs for all intents and purposes. I write Hip-Hop music, but instead of rapping the words, I sing them and, you know, nobody really was doing that in ’09, and still nobody does it like I do it now. So like I said, I really feel like nobody’s f*cking with this mixtape, and nobody is going to be f*cking with my next album, and I couldn’t be more excited.

AllHipHop.com: That’s great. Going back to the mixtape, what can you tell me about “Drug Dealer Girl Pt. 2” with Machine Gun Kelly?

Mike Posner: Kells is one of my favorite rappers, and if anyone gets the chance to see him live – there’s not too many people f*cking with that dude on a stage. His shows are absolutely insane.

AllHipHop.com: I can totally back you on that.

Mike Posner: Yeah, I mean, I saw him live in L.A., and since then we’ve done a bunch of shows together. Right when I saw his show, I knew I had to do a song with this guy, and we struggled for a really long time because he doesn’t do girl songs, so I would send him these ideas, and he’d come back like, “Yo, I don’t talk about girls in my music, that’s just not what I do.” That’s pretty much all I talk about [laughter], smoking weed and b*tches. So there was this moment where I was really struggling on what to come up with, and I was on tour and made that beat on the bus and came up with that melody, and sent to him, and he loved it. It was all his idea to do this “Drug Dealer Girl Pt. 2” and put this totally dark twist on this kind of happy song that I had created before. The hook came first, and that’s where it took him.

AllHipHop.com: Well, nice job because the track is dope. What are the chances of you and MGK coming together and putting out an entire project ?

Mike Posner: We haven’t really talked about that. We do have another song that isn’t out, and I know I would really love to do more songs with him, but I don’t want to comment on that ‘cause that’s not a conversation we’ve had yet. But he’s awesome though.

AllHipHop.com: Fair enough, but if you did have the opportunity to do an entire project with one other artist, who would it be?

Mike Posner: It’s gotta be Big Sean.

AllHipHop.com: Interesting. Why is that?

Mike Posner: That’s a dude that, I was in his entourage, you know, for three years. People don’t realize that I started off making beats for him, and on my first mixtape, he blessed me with like three or four verses, and I was a nobody. So that was somebody that I knew before he was signed, and he knew me before I was signed. We made “Don’t Tell me You Love Me” for his album Finally Famous in my mom’s basement, and “Smoke and Drive” was like the first song that I ever sang on for him, so there’s a relationship and a friendship there that’s different then when I work with anybody else that I met, you know, after I got on. He knew before I got on, and he was f*cking with me then, so that’s my dude forever.

AllHipHop.com: That’s great! So since you were riding with him before you were doing your own thing, how does it feel to see your boy achieve all that he has commercially in the past year? I’d imagine that has to put a smile on your face.

Mike Posner: Oh yeah, it does more than that. It makes the hairs stand up on my arm and brings a tear to my eye, you know? He worked harder than anybody I know to get where he’s at now. On the few shows that we’ve done since he’s really blown the f*ck up, we just look at the crowd sometimes and say in each other’s ears, “from my mom’s basement to this” [laughter].

AllHipHop.com: I can only imagine what that must be like for you two. That’s amazing.

Mike Posner: Yeah, it’s pretty cool, and when he says that to me on stage, I always say back to him, “just wait till next year.”

AllHipHop.com: That’s great. The last song I want to ask you about is “Mittens Up” with Elzhi and Dusty McFly.

Mike Posner: Yeah!

AllHipHop.com: How the hell did that come together? [laughter]

Mike Posner: Let me break that one down. It’s pretty much the same story on the production end as collaboration between Bei Major and myself on the beat. I came up with my part first, and “Mittens Up” is something I’ve been saying for a long time at my shows in Michigan. For people that don’t understand what that means, Michigan is shaped like a mitten, so every time I do a show, instead of saying “put your hands up,” I say “put your mittens up,” and it’s kind of just become a thing. I wanted to put that in a song and, you know, there’s so many incredible MCs from Detroit, so I wanted to get someone on it that I hadn’t worked with before.

I met Elzhi like five years ago at Burn Rubber Sneaker Boutique and gave him a beat CD, and like a year ago I was giving him sh*t on Twitter like, “Yo, man, you never listened to my beats. Where’s my CD now?” [laughter] And he actually took a TwitPic of the same CD from way back in the day, which I thought was dope, and we started talking and he came to some of my shows, and I just have as much respect for him as anybody as far as lyricists go. There’s not too many people f*cking with Elzhi on the planet, you know, and he happens to be from my city so he was a no-brainer. Now Dusty McFly is someone who I’ve known for a long time and was kind of in me and Sean’s circle, and he’s really starting to kill sh*t in Detroit, and I wanted to make sure that he was being heard outside of Michigan as well.

AllHipHop.com: The last thing I want to ask you about is Sky High, which is going to be your second album. You actually included a snippet of the first single “Looks Like Sex” on The Layover, so what happens for you now in between this project and the album’s release?

Mike Posner: Man, this album is going to have the same vibe and feeling as the mixtape. I just think the records on the album are a little bit better, and I have a budget with that, you know what I mean, so you might see some more awesome appearances on the album. But I’m basically taking the exact same mindset, and there’s going to be no disconnect or difference in how the music sounds. It’s going to be a f*cking Hip-Hop singing album. I wish I could play some sh*t for you now, like I’ve got some sh*t that’s just going to f*ck everyone up.

AllHipHop.com: Yeah, I wish you could, too [laughter]. How much of the album is actually complete?

Mike Posner: I’ve done like 70 records, so it’s just a matter of me taking what is going to make it, and also, I will continue to record. I’m actually in the middle of a song right now. I think I get cut off in January, so I’m working for as long as I can until then.

AllHipHop.com: And where do all the songs you don’t use end up? Seventy is not some miniscule number – do you plan on giving some of those away to other artists, or putting out another mixtape before the album drops?

Mike Posner: I don’t really know [laughter]. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it; maybe pull a Nas and make a Lost Tapes album. I’ll say this though, if you’re an artist thinking about coming out in 2012, you might want to reconsider.

AllHipHop.com: I love your attitude [laughter]. Thanks so much for your time, Mike. It was a pleasure.

Mike Posner: It’s an honor, man. I’m a huge fan of the site as well, so thank you.

Download “Mike Posner – The Layover” Now!

Follow Mike on Twitter @MikePosner

Egypt launched the annual toy drive in 2010, as a way to provide well deserving, yet financially challenged residents of the NY/NJ area with joy through coat and toy donations.

This year, Egypt broadcasted live over six days from November 28-December 3, 2011, in Queens, Harlem, Brooklyn, Bronx and Newark and Plainfield, NJ.

Artists like Grammy Award Nominee Jordan House, Eric Benet, Love & Hip Hop Personality-Nancy “Mama” Jones, Nicole Paultre Bell, Newark’s Mayor Cory Booker, Bronx Borough President-Ruben Diaz, Jr. and others.

The DVD includes footage from the four sold out performances at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom, as well as other intimate footage and clips from earlier moments in her career including her childhood. Beyonce also shared that she was editing parts of it herself using Final Cut Pro at her newly opened production company, The Parkwood Group, which she toured with Couric during the show.

During the interview, Beyonce also spoke on announcing her pregnancy at the MTV Video Music Awards, saying it was only fitting to make the announcement on stage and in front of millions watching at home, as it was hard to keep such big news to herself. In regards to the positive reaction she received after wordlessly announcing the pregnancy on stage by rubbing her stomach, she said it was a “beautiful feeling,” admitting that she cried tears of joy after she went off stage to hug her mother and husband, Jay-Z. She also added “you can’t even imagine” how excited her husband is and that for them “the time can’t come fast enough.”

Beyonce also used the interview as a platform to make light of and deny rumors of her alleged bizarre pregnancy cravings, which included ice cream covered in hot chili sauce. She also denied rumors that she was wearing a fake baby bump, saying that these “ridiculous and over the top” rumors were so far off that they didn’t even bother her. She remained mum on the gender of the baby, even when Couric brought up how one of her best friends, Kelly Rowland, referred to the baby as a she. Beyonce made it known that she had no preference on whether the baby was a boy or girl, telling Couric, “I just want a healthy baby.”

Watch the full interview below:

The Weeknd’s highly anticipated follow-up to his first two mixtapes, entitled Echoes of Silence, is rumored to be dropping next month. For now, check out the video for “The Knowing” below and visit http://the-weeknd.com/ to download The Weeknd’s previously released mixtapes.

The veteran singer performed singles from her new album My Life II, which is her tenth full-length release.

Mary who came with her husband Kendu Isaacs, brought out some of Atlanta’s top artists and executives, like Young Jeezy, Divine Stevens, Monica and others.

After the performance, Mary and co. celebrated at a VIP after party sponsored by Hennessy.

Check out the pictures below:

PART ONE: ANDRE HARRELL

AHHA:  Long before you became a well-respective music executive, you experienced success on the other side of the equation – as one-half of Hip-Hop duo Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Using three of the group’s major hits as inspiration, I have crafted a few introductory questions. The first song – “Genius Rap.” What do you consider to be the genius of rap – considering its long stranglehold and influence upon America’s conscious and the global music marketplace?

Andre Harrell:  Rap gives an artist the ability to say what he or she sees in the future and through the music they can manifest it. For example, Jay-Z went from the streets to the suites. They can talk about how they see themselves wealthy and talk about stuff they don’t have, and through the music, they are able to get it.

AHHA:  Second, “Fast Life.” What professional lessons do you have for up-and-coming artists, who may often times lose sight of their artistic vision while focusing on – and perhaps living – the fast life?

Andre Harrell:  They got to stay true to the creative journey, because if you think about the money, the cars and stuff, before you actually put in the work, it doesn’t ever happen. The more they practice, the better they are prepared for success.

AHHA:  Third song – “AM/PM.” When it comes to success, consumers are rarely attuned to the long road of bumps and bruises that pioneers have to overcome. Looking back over the years, is there a particular day – or experience – that will forever be emblazoned in your mind?

Andre Harrell:  The day that I got my first #1 record – Al B Sure’s “Night and Day” – in 1991.

AHHA:  Having witnessed the evolution of the music industry over three decades, what golden rules still apply, and what older prevailing rules have been thrown out the window?

Andre Harrell:  I want to say something about being honest about your reality in terms of what you say on the record. That seems to be truer and give you a longer and more successful path as being as an artist. For example, if you’re heartbroken, sing or rap about being heartbroken. The artists that stay true to themselves have longer careers.

AHHA:  During your long tenure at UMG – in various capacities, what lessons and advice from your early experiences have guided and informed the creation of your latest label venture, Harrell Records?

Andre Harrell:  You have to get along with people that you work with. You get a lot more out of kindness than you do by being an *ss.

AHHA:  Hamilton Park is the first group signed to the label. What artistic qualities made you confident in making them the banner group for Harrell Records?

Andre Harrell:  Their background experience – singing in church – let me know that they put in the time and the work to develop their craft, because church singers tend to be the best singers.

PART TWO: HAMILTON PARK

AHHA:  As the first group signed to Harrell Records, I know you are excited about the future trajectory of your career. But what struggles – in the early years – do you feel helped you get to this point?

Chris Voice:  We started about four or five years ago singing in church and just playing basketball. I guess one of the obstacles would be the area that we grew up in, around here in Atlanta, is kind of rough. It’s either drugs or sports. That type of thing. So, that was definitely one of the obstacles. We just stuck together playing basketball and singing in church and making music together.

AHHA:  What kept you so grounded – especially with four members? [laughter] Considering the odds, when raised in a really tough neighborhood, it’s lucky for one person to break out and experience a great deal of success. But as a group, you managed to get out and do something positive together.

Marcus Lee:  We really came out of that with each other, and the fact that we could escape helped us to, in part, stay in that safe haven.  Because if we weren’t with each other, the only option was something wrong. And then, you know, staying grounded in church and having praying parents. Staying focused. Actually, we started to get focused at a young age when Black men are supposed to.

AHHA:  As you speak about your upbringing, I am curious to know if you ever had any issues transitioning into the world of R&B music.

Marcus Lee:  In that situation, our parents know our hearts. They support whatever we do. They know what our purpose is in this music. It’s less more that they judge us. It’s more so a support base. But to get that from your parents when they’re praying is just a marvelous thing.

AHHA:  There is a long tradition of R&B artists including gospel tracks on their standard albums. Mariah Carey and Brian McKnight, for example, would include an inspirational track as the final song. And some artists, like Kelly Price, have recorded full-length gospel albums. Even though I don’t expect you to force a Gospel agenda upon your fans, if you had the opportunity to do so, what message would you want to send?

Anthony Dorsey:  Also, just to piggyback on what Chris and Marcus just said, we just want to emphasize the fact that we’re not necessarily bad guys. We’re where the party’s  at, and the thing about our music is the fact that we communicate heart-to-heart. A lot of artists give “eargasms,” but we give you the heart-to-heart communication.

Royce Pinkston:  That’s the heart of R&B.

Anthony Dorsey:  You get what I mean? Only hearts can really commit together. So that’s what we’re giving.

Chris Voice:  The message is really not a big, bold message that we’re trying to send to the fans. It’s just the fans need to know that we sing from our hearts, and we definitely bring the conviction that you would get from church, we bring that to the R&B music that we deliver. So we’re trying to bring that back. That’s the message.

AHHA:  As a quartet, I know that it can be difficult to have your own, individual personalities shine through. So I have assigned each of you to a fellow group member and I want you to give me some insight about their style and what they bring to the group. Anthony, you can take Royce. Marcus, you can take Chris. Chris, you can take Marcus. And Royce, you can take Anthony.

Marcus Lee:  Chris… he’s the thug pretty boy! [laughter] He’s the swag, I guess you could say, of the HP. The “Hey, babe, how you doing?”  You know what I’m saying? And his texture in a song has a Carl Thomas, 112 feel.

Chris Voice:  Mr. Marcus is definitely the muscle of the group. I mean, the ladies call him “The Freak” because of how he comes across in the songs. But his tone is real raw and really rugged and has a neo-soul vibe.

Royce Pinkston:  Anthony is “the smile” of the group. He’s very optimistic! [laughing] If everybody is frowning, you know Anthony is going to be smiling. He’s going to be smiling for you. That’s just Anthony. He has a smooth texture and heavenly vibe.

Anthony Dorsey:  Man, what can I say? My brother Royce, he’s just one of those bold, in-your-face singers. When he sings, he brings heaven down. His voice is just incredible. Individually, we are very nice singers. But when it comes to that “old school” feel – like those records my mom used to play…

Marcus Lee:  What’s the song, where [Donny Hathaway] sings, “I’ve been so many places/ In my life and time”?

AHHA:  “A Song for You.”

Anthony Dorsey:  Yes, Clayton! [laughter] He just wants you to hear and feel every note. He’s just in-your-face and bold and just passionate about it. Hey, it’s what it is.

AHHA:  Thank you, guys! I appreciate the insight. Since you were all raised in  Georgia, I’m curious to learn about the ways Atlanta shaped your style or influence your music?

Marcus Lee:  Well, Clayton, the last, hottest R&B groups to really do this came from Atlanta, Georgia – 112 and Jagged Edge.

Anthony Dorsey:  And there has not been a major group for about 10 years.

Marcus Lee:  We used to do talent shows and try to sing those songs. So it’s an honor to be from Atlanta, and get the opportunity for Mr. Andre Harrell, who has also down work with Jodeci.

Anthony Dorsey:  And speaking of 112 and Jagged Edge, we’re just carrying the torch and following in the tradition they delivered to Hamilton Park.

AHHA:  As Hamilton Park continues in that tradition, what elements from the careers of 112 and Jagged Edge do you hope to incorporate into your own success?

Marcus Lee:  The fact that they stuck together. I think that’s the difference between those groups then and groups nowadays. They’re in it for the wrong purpose. We’re not trying to purposely do things to set us apart, but that’s just naturally what sets us apart. We’re brotherhood. Before we go into anything, we pray. The Lord sets us aside. And then on top of that, we have four brothers that are willing to sing that blend together; yet all have four solo vocals. But we are willing to blend it. You have so many groups out there, they only have four solo vocals, or maybe two, but they’re outside of each other. When you have four brothers that know the purpose of the call, it comes across strongly. It’s kind of like delayed gratification. I’m going to sacrifice trying to be extra for the group. And when you get four brothers that think on that page, there is no limit.

AHHA:  When you finally decided to come together as a group, how long did it take you to gel? Since all four of you have very strong vocals, how do you go about determining the vocal arrangements?

Chris Voice:  It’s kind of like a basketball team. We’ve got a dunker, we’ve got a shooter, we’ve got a passer and we’ve got a guard. And we’ve got a coach who tells us what play to run. Whenever the songs are created, it’s like, okay, that needs a texture that Marcus might have, or that needs a tone of voice or that needs a little bit of Chris Voice. Whatever texture is on the song, that’s pretty much how we go. We don’t even try to bring that into the song. We don’t play fight over records or anybody gets more shine or anything like that. We’re all equal in the thing.

Chris Voice:  Yes, we’re like the super group. I joke my brothers all the time: “We’re not even a group. We’re like a super group!” [laughter] But we’re humble. And that’s just a little inside joke that I tell.

AHHA:  As the first group signed to Harrell Records, what type of pressure does that put on you guys?

Chris Voice:  We always had support from our families and we always believed in our ourselves, so the fact that Andre Harrell came around and believed in us, too, is just pretty much confirmation. So there is no pressure at all. No pressure at all. We’re hungry about doing this and ready for the world to see what Hamilton Park has to offer.

Royce Pinkston:  Andre Harrell is a legend in the game. So his approval, in itself, was a stamp right there. Look at his history – Jodeci, Mary J. [Blige], Robin Thicke – and think about they influence they have had on the foundation of R&B. All of them had an impact and longevity.

Anthony Dorsey:  This has definitely been a humbling experience, you know, just being able to sit in the same room with him, and talk to him, and shake hands with him, and even joke with him. It’s really humbling.

AHHA:  On the professional side, is there a particular piece of advice that Andre Harrell has given you that was really powerful?

Royce Pinkston:  A very, very good thing he shared with all of us is let your strength be your strength and you weaknesses be your strength. So we use that in every facet.

For more of Clayton Perry’s interview exclusives, visit his digital archive. He can also be followed via Twitter [@crperry84].

To be certain – all great things take time to grow and develop. But in retrospect, the universal appeal of his current single, “Say It’s So,” hints of an artist whose bright light has finally been freed from darkness. During a promotional campaign for Love & Stadiums, Mateo squeezed some time out of his busy schedule to settle down for an interview with AllHipHop.com Alternatives – reflecting upon the importance of his Morehouse experience, his perspective on “urban modernism,” and the musical standard set by his grandfather, Freddy Jordan (of King Records).

AHHA: In the current music landscape, it is rare to find an artist that possesses an academic pedigree in addition to their musical sensibilities. When you reflect upon your collegiate experience, what benefits can you directly attribute to your academic endeavors?

Mateo: College really prepared me for being more entrepreneurial about my business. When it comes down to it, you’re pretty much the leader of an enterprise. You are a brand. You are a company in itself. There are a lot of things you have to do. I could be just creative and just do music all day, but I’ve got to make sure that our music is getting out to people, and that my team is together. That we’re doing promo right. Marketing, too. You really do use a lot of those kind of skills when you’re trying to get your stuff out there and really build an organization for your music. That college experience definitely helped in that.

AHHA: Upon graduation, you became a strategy consultant. But when you finally made up your mind to quit work and follow your dreams, I know that had to be a difficult decision to make. Talk about some of the internal struggles you faced and the obstacles you had to overcome during this transition phase.

Mateo: It’s funny. I’ve always loved music. I’ve always sung and done music on the side; but I always kind of pushed it away thinking that this is something that is a little too ambitious. It’s a little too lofty. I always heard people say:,”Yo, you and thousands and hundreds of thousands of people would like to be famous and sing.” And for a while, I was one of those people that said, “I’m going to go the regular route. Make sure I get that paycheck every two weeks.” It was a struggle that I faced – even before I started working.

At Morehouse, the reason why I double-majored in business and music was because I felt that I was not going to do music professionally and needed to have a solid background in business management. When I finally got a job – and it was a really good job, too – I thought it was going to be what I really wanted. As it turned out, it really wasn’t. And it was kind of crazy – because I realized early on: “I don’t really want to go through life with a lot of coulda, shoulda, wouldas and regrets about decisions I didn’t make.” At that very moment, I knew that I needed to make a decision. It was a scary one to make, but it was one of those decisions where I’d rather say I tried and said I did it, instead of not trying at all. That’s kind of how it happened. Some stars also aligned for me while I was working in New York. I started meeting various people in the industry and started pushing me towards making that decision as well.

AHHA: Before you met Kerry “Krucial” Brothers and signed with Krucial Noise, you were initially linked with MySpace Music. When your initial deal fizzled, what kept you driven to succeed and stay focused on your musical career?

Mateo: You’re right. A lot of people said, “Oh, wow. You’re doing it.” Or they’ll be like, “Oh, man, you’re in L.A., so you’re doing it already.” But there were a lot of hard times. I had to figure out what my sound was and what my voice was. I could sing, but I had to figure out what kind of music I wanted to do. What happens in music is that you get pushed in all these different directions. “You’re black. You sing. So you should sing R&B over Hip-Hop beats.” You have to kind of weave through what people think you should be doing, and then figure out what you really should be doing.

So there were a lot of years where I was just trying to figure it out. I think the thing that kept me going, initially, was when I posted “Human” on MySpace. It was an acoustic song, with an acoustic guitar, and I received a lot of positive comments from people that loved the song. Literally, people just started hitting me up, “Yo, I love that song. It’s a song I want. I can sing it to my girlfriend. A song I want to sing to my boyfriend.” And I was happy to see that the comments were from regular people – people that weren’t in the industry. It wasn’t about how much they knew. It was about how they felt about it. And I got genuine comments. They affirmed me and kept me motivated to keep going.

[Read Kerry "Krucial" Brothers' thoughts on Mateo HERE]

AHHA: It is always refreshing to receive feedback from people outside of our circle.

Mateo: Yes! And even though the MySpace deal fell apart, I was able to go on tour and still go throughout the country and really connect and share music with people just trying to live, love and go to work every day. Most people know this that are in the struggle: you don’t do it alone. When I’m going up this hill, I’ve got family and I’ve got friends that are supporting me. And if I need help with rent or I need help with this, they always supported me. In a sense, after a few years, it’s like I’m not even just doing this for me. I’m doing it for everybody else that helped me out and pushed me along when I felt I couldn’t do it anymore. And those are the things that really keep you going.

AHHA: As you mentioned earlier, there is a tremendous amount of pressure to put artists into distinct musical boxes. These past few years, however, we have been able to come to a place and a space where genres can blur and overlap. My favorite artist – for example – is Janelle Monae. What do you think has allowed the “blurring” process to become more acceptable, or why do you think people are more accepting of it?

Mateo: I think a lot of it has to do with the Internet and access. My concept of “urban modernism” is based on where music is going – and it’s pretty interesting. My hometown is Cincinnati. I see stuff on TV, but I’m still very sectioned off. I’m watching BET. I’m not really caring about alternative music or I’m not really even hearing about electro music overseas. And I’m not exposed to that. Now, you’ve got more access to that. You can find a dope artist or you can find these “hybrid” artists. You have the opportunity to say: “Oh, man, this band is dope! I’m really more into hip-hop, but I love this alternative band.” And so, that’s just happening, and I think it’s more widespread. Just like people are into different things.

You also have big artists like Kanye West coming out with joints featuring Chris Martin. And so, I think that that’s progression in the music. And now urban music is becoming this thing that’s not only what you see outside your door, but it’s stuff that you might see outside your door in Paris. It’s about fashion. It’s about being cutting edge. It’s about being up on things that are like international and mixing genres. That’s what it’s all about. And I feel like that’s the new thing. Like I love Frank Ocean’s music. You hear it in some of his stuff – where he might remix a Coldplay joint. Those are the things that are really cool and I think are really exciting about the music going forward.

AHHA: At the age of five, your mother placed you in formal piano lessons. As a trained musician, how did that influence your songwriting or your singing? As you started to learn how to use your voice as in instrument, did you find that your musical background affected your willingness to experiment with the way you played with your voice?

Mateo: Definitely. First of all, the classical piano stuff can be found in some of the songs that I have out. One song called “Complicated” – and I don’t want to be too technical – uses arpeggios and all these different things that you learn technically. I can even think back to high school. I couldn’t even sing falsetto, which is kind of crazy because a lot of my songs now have falsetto in them. All of that stuff, along with my music major, helped me figure out and strengthen my voice so that I could do some of those things. And then another important thing: vocal health. A lot of that stuff helps with going out singing every day. If you’re doing concerts every night, then knowing how to maintain your voice is very helpful.

AHHA: With male vocalists, there seems to be a lack of willingness to be completely “free” in regards to vocal expression – letting their voice slide up and down multiple scales. At what point did you develop enough confidence in yourself to allow yourself to sing in falsetto?

Mateo: I realized that I should just do stuff that I love. Sometimes I would think to myself: “If I’m loving Coldplay and I’m loving Kanye West and Lauryn Hill, how do I incorporate all that stuff in my music?” I think that was a major part of my decision -making. And it’s also about how you create music. For a lot of R&B music now, you come in and the song’s already there for you and you just record it, which sometimes doesn’t allow you to just go into your own zone. Like when I create music, a lot of times, I’m just vibing out. Literally just playing around. If I hear something I like, I just turn the mic on. Let me just vibe out and make up some stuff and freestyle it. And then a lot of times you’ll do stuff you wouldn’t normally do. For instance, I have a song called “Doubt,” and it’s all falsetto. And the reason I came up with that is I was literally just playing around, and it just kind of came out. When you’re playing around, usually you’re not thinking about anything. Just kind of free and in the moment, doing what you’re doing.

AHHA: I think it is ironic that the song’s title is “Doubt,” when you had to remove all doubts about your ability to singing in falsetto!

Mateo: Oh, wow! It is ironic. Isn’t it?

AHHA: You have a great deal of live instrumentation in your recorded music. That’s something that you are not afraid of and pretty free with. Why is that so important to you? And what element does that add to a song that a prerecorded track could not bring?

Mateo: I just like organic, acoustic stuff and real instrumentation. And then I also like programmed, synthesized electronic stuff. For me, it’s just really incorporating the two things that I really love. I love going to a party and it’s like some crazy electro music. Then I love a party that has just Hip-Hop playing. Then going to a lounge and you can listen to dope soul music or whatever. For me, it’s just a combination of all my influences coming together. You know what’s a good song? Where you can chip away all of the production and you can just be you and a guitar, or you and a piano. And a lot of times, that’s where the songs start for me. I’ve always got to keep that element inside of the music.

AHHA: As you were growing up outside of the industry, what musical moments do you think define and outline the musical soundtrack of your life?

Mateo: I remember where I was when I heard “I Will Always Love You” the first time. But I remember when I first heard Lauryn Hill singing on Sister Act 2. I was like, “Oh, my God. Like, she’s killing it. That’s crazy. How she was singing, and all the runs, and that kind of stuff.” Those types of things. I remember Coldplay – when “Scientist” came out. “Scientist” was like, “Wow.” The purity in the song, and how simple it was, and how the piano was playing in there. All of that changed my whole world. And even Justin Timberlake. On the FutureSex/LoveSounds album, he did that “Love Stone” track, and then he goes into “I Think She Knows.” He all of a sudden changes and goes from an urban, Timbaland track to like stuff of alternative music. That was crazy! He just mixed the two different ones together, and those things just totally changed how I thought about music. Those are definitely a few to name.

AHHA: From one end, you have these external influences guiding your musical journey, but you also come from a musical family, which provided plenty of internal influences. Your grandfather was a guitarist. Your grandmother was a vocalist. And then you also have Kerry Brothers in your corner. Talk about how these individuals – and others – have influenced you, professionally or what you perceive to be the purposes and function of music.

Mateo: My grandfather played for King Records, and he was pretty well-known for his work. I didn’t actually know him – because he passed before I was born. But what he did was set the tone for music to be in the family. My uncles play music. My mom sings. It was one of those things. And so, it just became something that was a part of my life. So that’s why I was in piano lessons. That’s why I was singing. And that’s why I was made to perform – even though I did not want to – every Thanksgiving. And then on the other side, my dad’s side, my grandmother sings. My dad plays guitar, also. So hearing the stories that I heard on the road, the things that my grandmother had to do when she was driving through Canada through a snowstorm to get to the next gig. Those types of things, they do shape how I think about things.

I’ll call my grandmother up now and I’m talking about my band, and she’ll have stories about her band ,and she has advice on how to talk to my band. Those are the types of things that are really helpful. And then also, I feel a little bit of the burden on me – a good burden – to really fulfill some of the dreams for some of my family that wanted to do music, that they had. To fulfill what they really wanted for themselves. And I feel like a lot of that, sometimes, is in me. When it comes down to Kerry, he just upped the standard of music that I create. The thing that’s so great about him and the stuff he’s done with Alicia [Keys] is that they really stuck to what their sound was. They said, “I don’t care what’s on the radio. I’m not trying to copycat. I’m trying to be who, authentically, I am.” And they won at it.

But they did it, they stuck to it, they kept a certain level of quality, and they actually got mainstream with it. That’s the thing that always impressed me about them is how you can stick to your own stuff and still win. And I went from recording most of my mixtapes in a bedroom studio to a real studio. Kerry is about gear. When you get a crazy vintage guitar, he’ll ship it in. He and Alicia do that all the time. That’s what they do. To go into that type of world is like crazy because now the sky is the limit. It’s pretty amazing.

AHHA: Out of your early tracks, my favorite is “Get to Know Me.” Take me back to the songwriting process. Do any particular memories come to mind?

Mateo: Yeah. “Get To Know Me” was definitely a turning point. Basically, that song came out of me. I did my very first mixtape when I signed on MySpace [Music]. I was singing over like a lot of beats that weren’t really stuff I really sing over, usually. I was like, “Man, I need to make sure that I put something on there that people can hear, and they can get used to the sound that I really want to do,the type of style that I want to do.” It was literally acoustic, and it was like one verse and a hook, and that was it. And it basically was saying just get to know who I am; the type of music I want to do; the type of artist I am; the message that I want to get across. And the song kind of just evolved from there until it became a favorite. And it’s evolved into this thing about get to know me in this relationship.

Get to know me as an artist, because artists wear our hearts on our sleeve. We hope you accept what we put out there. And I think that’s the message that everybody feels. Like everybody wants to be accepted for who they are, and loved for who they are regardless of what their flaws are or what their failures have been. And that’s what that song is really about. It’s just really just get to know me. And it’s just kind of evolved from there into a song that a lot of people like. It’s pretty crazy.

For more information on Mateo, visit his official website: http://www.mateoonline.com

For more of Clayton Perry’s interview exclusives, visit his digital archive. He can also be followed via Twitter [@crperry84].

In the midst of a promotional campaign for Footloose, Ser’Darius Blain managed to squeeze some time out of his busy schedule in order to settle down for an interview with AllHipHop.com Alternatives – reflecting on his long battle with shyness, the importance of a multicultural upbringing, and the valuable knowledge derived from his mother’s artistry.

AHHA: In these past few years, you’ve bounced all across America. You were raised in Florida, developed professionally in New York, and now you currently reside in California. How were able to manage such a great deal of movement at such a young age? In addition, in what ways have these different areas influenced you artistically?

Ser’Darius Blain: Well, people always wondered if I was in the military, but my mom was just constantly moving forward and trying to make a better life for us. So, we lived in Florida until my parents unfortunately divorced. Born in Miami, raised until I was about nine. Then we moved to Oklahoma for about two-and-a-half years. My mom was getting her master’s degree at the time. And after that, we ended up moving to Connecticut for a year. Then back to Florida for about eight years, and then from then on I moved up to New York.

Every single one of those places that I lived—I mean even up until me moving to L.A. about a year-and-a-half ago—really influenced me, shaped me. I was able to learn a lot. Had a lot of island influence in Miami just based on my family. My family’s background is Haitian and Dominican. And then moving up to New York and getting that multicultural flavor, that multicultural vibe and just really learning how to live and survive in that concrete jungle. It was just a culture shock to me at the time, but I wouldn’t give that up for the world. I feel like I learned so much. I became a man just living in New York. I was able to apply everything that I learned here when I got to L.A.

AHHA: As you spoke about your mother, I can only imagine the influence she has had upon your career. With her background as an English and drama teacher, is there a defining experience that pushed you into the acting world?

Ser’Darius Blain: In the ’70s and early ’80s, my mom was actually a recording artist. And as time went on, she eventually had me. She went to school and got her master’s degree in education, and became an English and drama teacher. She just pushed me to always be different. I always conducted myself differently than other teenagers and kids that were my age at the time. Always taught to be really well-spoken. Taught me the basic moral values that I still live with today. She never pushed me, actually, to do anything related to the arts. I always wanted to be a doctor.

Like since I was a kid, I wanted to be a doctor and I wanted to play football as a child. As I got older, it was a doctor and basketball. I started playing high school basketball with hopes to get a scholarship to college. But my mom never, ever pushed me to do anything in the arts. She was a drama teacher at my middle school. I helped her rewrite a play. I would help her behind the scenes.

One day, she encouraged me to audition for one of her plays. She had a panel of judges that chose all the roles. I auditioned for the play and ended up getting an understudy role, and later on ended up taking over that lead role. The thing is that still in the back of my mind, there was no secure future in acting, which is still true. I didn’t think that you could actually make money from acting. Fast-forward about ten years later, I ended up booking this huge movie and I’m so glad that the opportunity was there for me. But she never pushed me. She always pushed me to do whatever I wanted to do, as long as education was still at the forefront of that.

AHHA: I find it interesting that your mother never pushed you into the arts. Now that you are officially a part of that world, what kind of advice has she given from her own career, or the politics revolving around the profession?

Ser’Darius Blain: She taught me that two heads are better than one and to never make a rushed decision. Always sleep on something before you make the decision. So, I always come to her for counsel. She also preaches mentorship to me, so I have three mentors that I always bounce ideas off of. I’ll constantly call them or text them or send them an email. If you ever have any questions about anything, don’t ever be afraid to ask. Socrates said, “Challenge everything.” I’m one of those guys that I challenge everything. Not in a negative way, but I never just take what people tell me to be true. I’m more of a “show me” type person. She really taught me to always challenge what’s being taught to me. So that’s lesson one.

AHHA: Speaking of challenges, having entered this career so young, what obstacle do you think has been the biggest that you have had to overcome?

Ser’Darius Blain: Rejection. This industry is 99.8 percent rejection, so unless you’ve got a tough skin, I will tell you run the other way. Go be a doctor. Do something that you know is going to be a “for sure.” Yeah, rejection has been the biggest obstacle. I’ve learned to take every bit of rejection as a learning experience and not really harp on the fact that I didn’t get the job or this didn’t turn out the way that I wanted it to. But it’s always having something to walk away with that I learned from that experience. It just makes me stronger. It makes me better. As people, I think we tend to focus on the negative more than the positive. I just really learned to take away the learning side as opposed to the rejection side. But it’s a really rewarding industry, too. When you finally do make it over that hill and you finally do book that job or you finally do get that meeting with that director or that producer, those victories, man, will encourage you to just keep pressing on and move onto the next thing. It’s all from experience.

AHHA: At one point, during your formative years, you did not think there was a solid “monetary” future in entertainment. As you were going through the “starving artist” phase of your career, at what point did your opinion change?

Ser’Darius Blain: You know what? Acting and music and modeling was never my goal. Like I said, it was always the medical industry. I was always good at science and math and everything education-wise. My ex-girlfriend at the time – I think I was 19 – was heavily into dancing, acting and musical theatre. There was an acting, modeling and talent competition in Orlando called AMTC. We lived in Central Florida about an hour away, and she wanted me to drive her there one day after church to audition for it. I said: “Yeah, sure. I’ll drive you.” I took her over there and was sitting in the lobby, waiting for her to finish her audition. The receptionist said: “You should go audition for this.” And I was like: “Oh, no. That’s not really for me. I’m good.” She went: “No, really. It’s free. Just go ahead. You’re handsome. You should go up there, say the line and you get off stage.” I went: “Fine. I’ll do it.” There were about 1,100 people there. I get on the stage, I walk down to this little hash mark they had at the end of the stage, I said the line, I turned around and I walked away.

At the end of that day, they called back 90 people to be in this talent competition, and I was one of those 90 names. My girlfriend was as well, at the time. But I was one of the ninety names out of 1,100 people to actually be invited to audition for that thing. I went to AMTC about five months later – after they trained us and got us ready for the competition – and I ended up getting a broker record for the most callbacks that my agency ever got. There were about 17 callbacks. I also got a scholarship to the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, as well. And it was at that moment that I was like: “Maybe this is something I should explore.”

So, I went, of course, and talked to my mom about it. Her being an educator, I was almost sure she was going to say no to New York. I was like: “Okay. That will be my excuse why I don’t go to New York.” So, of course I sit down and I talk to her, and my mom just reminds me of the dream that she had when she was younger of being an entertainer. She basically told me: “Baby, regular school is always going to be there. If this doesn’t work out, you give the two years of trying in New York and then if not, you go back and finish your medical degree.” And so I went: “Okay. That seems solid.” So, I ended up going to New York and frickin’ had the time of my life. It was very rough, as well, but I had a great time in school learning from some working actors, working professionals. And it was at that moment I was like: “You know. If I apply myself to this, I think I can make this happen. Along with God, this could happen.”

AHHA: It’s really good that your mom was able to be supportive of your efforts. Considering her history, I believe that made her more willing to be supportive. In regards to your time at the NYCDA, it is fairly obvious that you have innate talent. Even so, is there a particular skill that you feel you really honed while you were enrolled at the school? Is there a particular method by which you conduct yourself on stage or screen that you credit to your academic experience?

Ser’Darius Blain: Yeah. I would say the most important thing I learned from NYCDA is actually not the acting side, though I did learn a lot of acting there. They taught us how to conduct ourselves as business professionals. Acting is an art, but there is that business side of it that is utterly important. I think your talent probably only accounts for about 33 percent of you actually booking a job. The rest is all professionalism, how you conduct yourself and knowing what’s going on, on a set. And that’s what that school taught me. The business classes were pivotal. I knew how to go and conduct myself at an agent interview and a manager interview. When I was on set, I wasn’t lost at all. People would surprise us. This would be my first job or this was only my second job. So yeah, that was huge, along with the fact that the faculty and staff were readily available. Small class sizes, so we always got to work. It was very personal.

AHHA: Oftentimes artists tend to forget about the business side of the entertainment business. They go in for the love of the art and then they eventually “get” it. Your forthcoming project is Footloose. Before you signed on as a member of the cast, did you have any previous relationship with the film? And upon reflection, what special bond did you find yourself having with your character, Woody?

Ser’Darius Blain: Originally when I had auditioned for the film, I’d never seen Footloose all the way through. I’d seen snippets and I knew the song. I was well aware that it was a classic, but I had no direct connection or affiliation to the song at all. When I got to audition for it, I looked at the slides and I was like man, me and this character are really connected because he was basically me. He reminded me, actually, of a lot of friends that I grew up with in high school. Growing up in the deep South, and having those friends that are just the good ol’ guys. Level head, etc. It was awesome to be able to audition for that. And so I went in and I just was myself with a Southern accent. And it was a really easy transition for me.

When I got the full script and found out I was going to be getting another callback, then I delved into the script a little bit more. I actually rented the movie and watched it all the way through a couple of times. I wanted to get a better feel of who the character was, what the film was about, just trying to bring that same energy in. It was awesome going in there for the director’s session with Craig Brewer and being in the casting room with Craig Zadan and Neil Meron who produced monstrous movies like Hustle & Flow and Hairspray. It was definitely a lot of pressure on me, but I had studied my script and studied the movie so much that I felt like if they didn’t choose me, then it was for other reasons other than me not being good enough.

AHHA: It was definitely a blessing. Every director has his or her own sense of style. Having gone through the experience now, what do you appreciate the most about Craig Brewer? Under his direction, in what ways did you find your acting skills pushed or improved?

Ser’Darius Blain: Well, I can say this. Craig Brewer is a nerd. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. When I say that, he goes in and he delves into every single little detail of the script. The setting. The music. He loves it. He truly loves it. He’s like a kid in a candy store when he’s on set. You see his wheel constantly turning. He has this infectious attitude about him where he can tell you a story and everybody will be on pins and needles trying to listen to this story. It will be completely silent in the room because he gets so involved into the story and he pulls you into it. That attitude was infectious about the movie.

Originally, a lot of people were kind of leery about remaking something that was such a cult classic as Footloose. But when he put his own twist on the script and just told us what this movie was going to be about, it felt like it was our own. Working with him made me better as an artist, as a person. He truly gave us an opportunity to put our own fingerprint on the movie. It was ours. It was something new that we were creating. Though it did have a familiar story, it was new because he let us bring our own personalities. He even let us write in some of our own lines. He made us so comfortable. It was so easy talking to him that it was just an amazing experience just being able to put our own twist on something as great as Footloose.

AHHA: You have also been tapped to be a series regular on “Jane By Design.” As you alternative between the “silver” and television screens, what similarities and differences do you find between the two platforms?

Ser’Darius Blain: Similarities. Obviously it’s all acting, but the shooting style. TV is starting to look more like film now. That’s probably the most similar thing. One adjustment for me is having a different director for every episode. That was very different. But it’s cool because you get a chance to get, first of all, more directors on your résumé. Not only that, but you get to learn different people’s styles and it just makes you more of a chameleon. That’s awesome. It’s also really cool just being that the story is ever changing and getting to work with so many amazing actors. I’d say probably the timing is a lot different, too, because you’re shooting one one-hour episode for five days in a week, as opposed to a film which is going to be two hours long and you’re shooting it for three months. And you have to be able to adjust a lot quicker. You’re kind of learning on the fly. It’s a really cool experience, though. Really cool.

AHHA: It definitely will keep you sharp. With being too hokey, I wanted to get some insight into the kind of music that you like. So what artists or songs tends to make you go “footloose”?

Ser’Darius Blain: Man, that’s a good question. Huh! I’d have to say Stevie Wonder, “Master Blaster,” man. Every time that song comes on, it makes me crazy. I’m glad, actually, that you brought up music ,because I actually write and sing music, as well. But yeah, Stevie Wonder – gotta love him.

AHHA: Off-screen, what social organizations or issues keep your soul on fire?

Ser’Darius Blain: I am currently partnering with Dare to Care, which is a charity that I really believe in. Basically they’re advocates for making sure that children in schools have lunch every day. There’s a lot of times when I was in high school that there were kids who couldn’t even afford lunch money. So, Dare to Care is going to be donating lunches to kids at school. They’re also an anti-bullying campaign. They have an anti-bullying campaign. I’m going to be a big part of that, as well.

As a teenager, I kind of was a victim of that bullying by the jocks. You don’t want to kill kids’ confidence. We definitely want to build that and make sure that they can have a solid meal; two solid meals at school per day. That is something that is really basic that we take for granted but I think is really important, so I’m really excited about being part of working with Dare to Care.

AHHA: Well, I’m happy to hear that you are involved with Dare to Care. Arts education is extremely important. As a child, you were very shy. At what point did you gain confidence in your skill and your talent to be able to stand in front of a camera – let alone a crowd?

Ser’Darius Blain: As a kid I was extremely shy. Not even just as a kid. All the way up to when I was eighteen, I was extremely shy. I started breaking out of my shell probably around eighth grade. First of all, I started growing. I started to get bigger, so that helped a little bit. Yeah, school definitely helped me with some confidence, just because I always had good grades and it was something I felt like I was good at. As a kid, I never really felt like I was good at anything. I felt like I was okay at a few things, but never really good at anything.

As I got older and I started doing some theatre and such, I got confidence. When I would step onto the stage, I would be extremely nervous until that first line came out or that first action came out. And this sounds a little cliché, but I literally felt like somebody else, because I was playing a character. Essentially I was somebody else. So I didn’t really feel like people were looking at me, necessarily. They were looking at me as this character. So that helped me start building some confidence.

Also, a lot of times I would just stare into the brightest light I could, so I couldn’t see my body shaking. I’m not nervous anymore, but that really helped. And then just feeling like you know what you’re doing, that provides a lot of confidence. My friends would constantly tell me, “Man, you’re really good. You might be able to do this.” My mom would be like, “Wow. I didn’t know you were that good.” All that stuff started building some confidence in me. At the same time, in this industry once you start becoming successful, there are very few people that will tell you no, so I think it’s important to just keep those people around you that will keep you level-headed and like, “Hey, what are you doing? You’re tripping. What are you doing?” Those kind of people who just keep a level head.

For more of Clayton Perry’s interview exclusives, visit his digital archive. He can also be followed via Twitter [@crperry84].

Considering the successful track record “Krucial” has maintained thus far, along with the rave reviews linked to Love & Stadiums, the singer’s critically-acclaimed mixtape, expectations are running high for Mateo and his Krucial Noise debut. In the midst of a promotional campaign for Love & Stadiums II, Kerry “Krucial” Brothers squeezed some time out of his busy schedule to settle down for an interview with AllHipHop.com Alternatives – he reflects on his love of poetry, his personal connection to classical music, and a decade of significant success.

AHHA: Although you are well-known for your musicality and production capabilities, in the early years – at the age of nine – your artistic beginning was focused moreso on storytelling, and later transitioned to creating the “soundtrack” for these stories. At such a young age, what peaked your interest in language arts?

Kerry Brothers: I was inspired by poetry at a young age. I come from a family that appreciates art of all types. But in school, there was something about language that really grabbed me right away.

AHHA: As you engaged in songwriting, are there any particular elements that you have always found yourself incorporating into your songs over the years?

Kerry Brothers: There isn’t one particular thing. Basically, when I’m writing or creating anything, it is really based off of feeling: the kind of zone I’m in and what I’m thinking. Once I get the words out, if it sounds too cliché or sounds like it’s been said already, then I might try to make it more poetic or try to say it in a way that it hasn’t been said. I just like to get my expressions out and tweak them later.

AHHA: At what point did the musical component come into play? Did a particular artist, album, or instrument inspire you?

Kerry Brothers: I don’t know. It was probably a gradual thing. Growing up, music was always around the house. My parents always had old records and vinyls sitting around on the floor. I used to play music all weekend. We had instruments around. I had an uncle that played trumpet. I guess I was around the age of eight or nine when Hip-Hop started coming out and “Rapper’s Delight” came out. And at that very moment, I wanted to be a rapper. From rapping, I turned to DJing. And from DJing, I came into making beats and playing on the keyboard. It just gradually grew. I never saw it as something that would really turn into a career. It was just something that I liked to do.

AHHA: Being born and raised during Hip-Hop’s “glory years,” it is interesting to note that none of your music really falls into that category. Considering your musical diversity, what insight can you give into your mixing of classical strings, soulful bass lines and hard break beats?

Kerry Brothers: As I learned more about poetry and writers in general, I was introduced to other styles of art. Classical music was something that always grabbed me. It also made me want to get more into the stories of the people that created this music – Johannes Brahms. With classical music, we automatically think of it as sophisticated, high-class music. But these musicians and composers were actually poor. It made me relate to their story even more, and made me relate to their compositions even more. So that pulled me in, and it helped me see the connection of why I like certain minor chords and things of that nature.

AHHA: Very little information is known about your educational background. It is obvious and apparent that you are very knowledgeable about the business aspect of the music business. What do you attribute to your wisdom an general business sense?

Kerry Brothers: That also took a little minute. But one thing I can say: “since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to own my own business.” What would that business look like? I did not know. At the time I was coming up, I was never encouraged to make music as a career or to make music my business, even though it was the one thing I was very passionate about. Somewhere along the line, when I got to like twenty-years-old, I said to myself: “Since I want to own my own business, why not make music my business?”

And I did everything you can imagine – the whole thing: checking out books and getting to know more about the music business. Another important thing: hands-on learning. I was fortunate enough to see the evolution of Alicia’s career from the very beginning – the growth, the struggles, the ins and outs. And learning from experience – watching and learning – that really got my chops up. I always had that independent mindset of owning my own company, controlling my own destiny, and adding something to the business that I felt was missing.

AHHA: With the introduction of Mateo, Krucial Noise’s newest artist, you have taken a very personal approach to artist development. Having worked with Alicia Keys for the past decade, do you think that an artist’s possession of the “X” factor is innate or developed over time?

Kerry Brothers: Well, you see people with raw talent, and you see they have the potential, and basically artist development is necessary. A lot of people don’t have the time. We’re in a whole age of instant gratification. Labels don’t want to bother with trying to take time and money and figure it out and wait for it to happen right. This is why they want an already “ready-made” star to bring to the next level. But I always appreciated being part of the beginning process: helping an artist figure out what they’re going to be or figure out their own unique.

With Mateo, I am at the same place that I was with Alicia 10 years ago. It wasn’t like she knew exactly what kind of sound she wanted or what exactly she wanted to do. It was a process of figuring things out and trying different things to discover the uniqueness of the artist. I enjoy that process just as much as any other process in creating songs. Not just creating songs, but creating a legacy in which the artist has a voice and been given a platform to express themselves. Mateo keeps me inspired to keep trying more things. This is the energy that helps an artist have longevity. With artistic development, it takes time. It’s no fault of any up and coming, aspiring artist or musician, but it is very easy to fall into the traps of the music industry. It is common to hear: “You have to do this to sell. You have to do this to be successful.” And unfortunately, that limits you and can cut off valuable lessons or detour something that you had not discovered yet.

AHHA: When you were first introduced to Mateo, is there a particular quality that drew you to him? What convinced you to invest your time and energy into his artistic development?

Kerry Brothers: It was definitely the voice. But as a fan of poetry and language, I became intrigued by his songwriting, too. Everything else fell into place when I finally met him: his personality was great, he had the right attitude, and he had the work ethic.

AHHA: Do you recall the first song that you heard by him?

Kerry Brothers: “Complicated.” When he shared more of his songs and more of his ideas, he just had that special thing that got me inspired to think that our collaboration would only make it better.

AHHA: Upon reviewing your discography, I notice two remarkable tracks that highlight the wide range of your production skills – Keyshia Cole’s “(I Just Want It) To Be Over” and Christina Aguilera’s “Impossible,” both of which rank high amongst my favorite songs. Pick one of the two and share any memories you have of the songwriting process.

Kerry Brothers: I saw Keyshia’s song “I Changed My Mind,” and I loved her voice. I saw the video and I was like Wow, I really love her voice. I like where she’s coming from. “(I Just Want It) To Be Over” was an undeveloped idea that I had down. And when I heard she was working on an album, I threw some ideas together to attract her. With that song, I combined talents with Tenisha Smith, and we started writing ideas down. I called her manager up and said: “Hey, I’ve got this song for Keyshia. I want to come to the studio and play it down.” We didn’t have it all written yet, but we had the vocals and the chords down. She came through, and Alicia also came through. We just finished writing to the track that I already had. And from there, Keyshia executed the song very well. I don’t consider myself a real musician, but I am a fan of musicians. I like to mix things that have that raw soul but still have musical elements that a musician can appreciate.

AHHA: When you reflect upon the successes of your career, is there a particular goal that you are still yearning reach?

Kerry Brothers: Where I’m at now is I really feel like I’m just beginning, as funny as it sounds. I love what I do. I love discovering new talent. I love trying things. I love creating and I love building legacies. I feel like I’ve just started and I’m not done yet. I love what I do and I just plan to keep doing it and continue the legacy. The Quincy Joneses of the world – and the Russell Simmonses on the business side – inspire me. These are, should I say, like blueprints I love to follow. And there’s so much more to do, so much more to achieve, but I just enjoy the process. As long as God continues to bless me with the talent, I’m going to keep doing my thing.

For more information on Kerry “Krucial” Brothers, visit his official website: http://www.krucialnoise.com

For more of Clayton Perry’s interview exclusives, visit his digital archive. He can also be followed via Twitter [@crperry84].

Filed under: Alternatives, Headlines Tagged: Alicia Keys, artist development, Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, Krucial Noise, Love & Stadiums, Mateo, r&b ]]> http://allhiphop.com/2011/11/23/kerry-krucial-brothers-songwriter-producer-and-entrepreneur/feed/ 0 Kerry Krucial Brothers crperry84 http://allhiphop.com/2011/11/21/estelle-in-the-beginning-there-was-rap/ http://allhiphop.com/2011/11/21/estelle-in-the-beginning-there-was-rap/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:09:12 +0000 Seandra Sims http://allhiphop.com/?p=84395 ]]> You, like many, were probably surprised to see singer Estelle pop up in the Cypher during the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards. She anchored her set, with strong “rap arms” flailing in time to the beat, and a distinctively British accent that sounded good for MC’ing.

2008-2009 cemented Estelle on the U.S. map – her single, “American Boy” with Kanye West climbed the charts, giving lasting power to her name and face among the new R&B landscape. What will surprise many American fans even more is that, long before Estelle ever pursued singing, she was a rapper in her native London, UK. Her appearance in the Cypher looked right, because it was right. Estelle’s been rhyming since she was a youngster, and later divulged that her mic-ready voice could carry a “bloody good” tune, too.

Estelle is a woman on the move. She fields this exclusive AllHipHop.com interview from the back of a chaffeured car, in between lamenting over the London riots, the recent loss of Heavy D, and yelling at her driver, “ I need to find a bank! Can we find a bank?” Bank is right – Estelle is hoping to cash in on her forthcoming album, All Of Me, and she recently released a mixtape, AOM: The Prequel, to keep fans satisfied in the interim.

While her new uptempo ballad, “Thank You,” currently climbs the R&B charts, AllHipHop.com checked in to get the inside album scoop and learn more about the UK Hip-Hop scene from someone who has studied it well – Estelle:

AllHipHop.com: Hi Estelle. How are you?

Estelle: I’m good, Seandra. How are you?

AllHipHop.com: I’m great. Thanks for taking a few moments with AllHiphop.com. You’re in New York now, so what are you up to?

Estelle: I’m doing a little of everything, some events and things.

AllHipHop.com: We’re in the midst of celebrating UK Week on the site, and I had to make sure that the “London Lady” herself was on the list of people that we profiled.

Estelle: Ohhh, thank you!

AllHipHop.com: Of course! What does celebrating the UK’s Hip-Hop and urban scenes mean to you?

Estelle: I mean, I think we have one of the most original scenes, one of the most eclectic scenes. You know, Hip-Hop isn’t strictly made up that “boom-bap.” It’s made up of many different genres, many different styles, different energies, you know? I think it’s one of the best. And, I think New York is one of the best.

AllHipHop.com: Okay, so the scene there has evolved, I would say, over the past two decades especially. What are some of the early Hip-Hop influences that helped to create your style, do you think?

Estelle: It goes back to like Monie Love and Roxanne Shante and them, to like Queen Latifah to Rodney P to Skitz, Jay-Z, early Jay, late Jay, now Jay. [laughter]. All of that…everything. I’m a big fan of music, so I listen to everything, as well as reggae, as well as different parts of Hip-Hop…Heavy D being one of the influences…Salt ‘N Pepa. And, some R&B stuff as well as the Hip-Hop stuff, you know?

AllHipHop.com: Were you familiar with Heavy D back in the day?

Estelle: I was, back in the day and presently. He’s heavy on my mind right now, definitely. It’s really sad. Really sad.

AllHipHop.com: Yes, it is a sad time. But, I want to talk to you about the pleasant surprise people received by you in the BET Cypher last month. That was shocking. We were in the audience and saw you, and we were like, “Whoa! Estelle’s about to spit? Okay!” [laughter] So, how did that come about?

Estelle: [laughter] I started as a rapper! Like, this isn’t anything brand new that I brought out. Anyone who knows me and is a real, real, for real fan, or if people Google me, they can see what I do. The first records I ever recorded were rap records, you know? All of the artists I’ve worked with know me as a rapper. So, the singing is kinda like, ‘oh, she sings, too.’ So they know me as a rapper from my first records.

[In 2002], I had a song called with Blak Twang called “Trixstar.” I was with a few other girls. I would do the singing on my own records because I couldn’t find no one who wanted to. So yeah, like, I’m a rapper! For me, I think it’s great that America’s finding out that I rap. You know, ‘cause I think people weren’t expecting it. They thought I was only a singer. They’re like, ‘is she gonna have bars, or any kind of soul or swag or anything with it?’

That’s like second nature to me. Before I go in the studio, my preparation is like a rapper. I don’t write like a singer; I write from a rapper’s perspective. Melody is just happens to be a detail that I have, you know? I think that’s the reason people like what I do…it’s very literal. I write from a rap perspective, very literally.

AllHipHop.com: I think people were surprised. I don’t think there are a ton of Americans who know you as a rapper. I watched the Cypher again, and in one of your lines, you said, “I came to America/ My shoes and my dream…” I love that line. You also said, we’re all dealing with the same problems, no matter where we’re from. So, tell me about your background.

Estelle: People who know me know that I had a career in London already. I just didn’t have a record deal. I had a career already…I was just in the UK. I have a healthy shoe habit! [laughter] I couldn’t move everything that I wanted with me, so I took all my clothes and I took all my shoes, and I moved, you know, to get it poppin’ over here.

So I know to some people I look crazy. I still have that underdog mentality, that hustle, even though I’ve “made it.” My faith and my energy wasn’t like, ‘I’ve done this already, I’m entitled to it.’ I was like, ‘I work; let’s go. This is what I do.’ You know what I’m saying? I think people didn’t quite know how to take me, so I said “I came with my shoes and my dream.” It’s like I came halfway established, but I still kept working ‘cause I had a dream. I knew I was going to have to work for it. That’s what that was.

AllHipHop.com: Well, I think you’re got a great rap voice and that really cool English accent lends to that really well. You even have the rap hands, you know, the awesome rap hands?

Estelle: [laughter] That’s what I’ve been doing…my whole life, that’s what I’ve been doing. People would be like, “Why are you doing that?” It just happens! I don’t know, it just happens. [laughter]

AllHipHop.com: Have you considered rapping more? Here, we primarily know you as a singer…

Estelle: Well, I do, at my shows, I rap a heck of a lot. I always bug out, like people don’t know. I halfway rap my songs. It’s like I sing on the records, and then I get on live, and because all I’ve done live are my shows, it shows me and that I’m really into rap music. I’m a rapper, and that’s all I’ve been, so everything I do, it has that energy. But I do, at my shows, on this new album…

This new album was like going back in time to when I first got in the game, and that was a far as like, being a rapper – writing bars and competing instead of saying stuff for the sake of saying it. I never got in the game to be famous, if that makes sense. I just enjoy that energy and the vibe that I would get when I went to do rap shows.

I used to work in a record shop, and it was just good vibes. It wasn’t about, ‘well, I want to be famous. It was a way to get my career poppin.’ It was about that, you know? For me, the whole energy comes from coming into the game like that. It hasn’t left me in my whole career; I don’t know how to do it any other way. Like I said, on the new album, I found the joy in it, why I started doing this in the first place. I enjoyed the energy, the battle, the competition of rap. It wasn’t about what prizes can I get today. I love this! This is what I do!

AllHipHop.com: That’s awesome. Well, I want to switch gears a little bit and ask you more about the UK. 2011 was sort of a monumental year of there with the London riots and revolution. So, in your opinion, what are some of the top issues facing young people in the UK today? What are they upset about?

Estelle: Well, it’s six in one hand and none in the other. They want to get on, they want to do things, they want to get it poppin’. On the other hand, [the government] wants to tell you you can’t get on, you can’t do this, you can’t do that. At the same time as they’re saying, “look, the opportunities are here,” they say, you can’t have access to them, you’re not qualified to go there.

There should be a level of respect, and it’s not given, especially to the young people, and I think that’s why they burned the place down. That’s why. They’re not given that respect, like, “look, we’re coming up next; we need to get on.” There’s a sense of hopelessness as well. Every single time I go home, every time, people are like, “Yo, I can’t get on!”

You can’t get on because everyone’s telling you you’re not the right shade. Everyone’s telling us that we ain’t from the right area, can’t get on because everyone’s telling us that there’s no money. What the hell?!? We’re young, and we’re just trying to get ours! They’re trying to tell us we’re nothing. I know, I feel the frustration. It happened 10 years ago; it happened 20 years ago. I feel it, I lived it, and I chose to move. [laughter]

But for the ones that don’t have the head space or the money to get up and do something like that, it’s hard. I get it. It’s really f*cking hard. Imagine being told, “You ain’t sh*t, you ain’t about to be sh*t. Your people may have made it, but f*ck you.” That’s the most frustrating thing to be told, and to be faced with everyday. I kinda don’t blame them. But I kinda am upset at the ones that want to mess with other people’s lives. They’re dumb. That wasn’t the way to do it. There has to be another way, because I don’t think that was the way to do it. But I can understand their frustration.

AllHipHop.com: Yeah, definite frustration. So do you consider yourself an ambassador? Do you think your music can help heal your nation?

Estelle: No, I don’t get myself in that, but I kinda let other people see what they see in my music. I feel like I’m a valid voice. I feel like people listen, I gues, when I talk, based on my celebrity. But no, I don’t want to put myself in that position of being the one to speak up. There are people out there that are doing a great job at it, and I support the hell out of those people.

There’s other rhymers that do a great job. You know, Kanye does an amazing job. Sometimes he’s too deep for the people [laughter], but he does an amazing job at telling the truth and things people need to hear. A UK MC named Kash, I think he does a great job as well. I give them guys that space and give them the props, because they are the ones doing it, you know?

AllHipHop.com: AllHipHop.com had some footage of you from back in the summer with 9^th Wonder. What were you working on with him? And, tell me more about your album.

Estelle: The album is done. I got with 9^th Wonder to do a couple of records for his rap CD… We’re real good friends, me and 9^th. So it’s all love, always all love over there.

AllHipHop.com: So, tell me about the album, All Of Me.

Estelle: I got to work with a couple of UK producers. I worked with one guy called “Wood”; it’s the one I’m rapping on, because I just felt like I should do it. [laughter] It’s called “The Life,” and it’s like, “…what if I could go back again/ What if I could rap again?…” It’s about that energy and that period where I came from. Which is London, which is Hammersmith. It’s about why I got in the game, and he’s is one of my favorites. He’s a favorite.

The album is finally done – I’m like, ‘thank God,’ it comes out in February 28. I am excited! I’m thanking God, because I think you grow and you evolve, and that’s what every artist should put on their records – growth and evolving. I’ve done it. It won’t be another two years this time. [laughter]

AllHipHop.com: [laughter] OK, so late winter, February 28, people can’t expect the album. Well, I know you’re really busy and running around in this car right now. I want to ask you one last question. AllHipHop.com always asks people for their Top 5 Rappers Dead or Alive list. So, since this is wrapping up UK week, I want to ask you for your Top 5 UK artists who have influenced Estelle, the musician.

Estelle: Ooooohhhh! [laughter] Alright, ready?

AllHipHop.com: Yes.

Estelle: I better get this right, or they gonna get me! [laughter] I’ll start with Blak Twang. Rodney P. Roots Manuva. This is influential, right? Blak Twang, Rodney P, Roots Manuva, Kano, and Wiley. Yeah, that’s a good list!