By Tai Saint Louis
M.O.P.’s Billy Danze has confirmed the eminent release of the group’s first concrete post G-Unit album, while longtime manager Laze Elliott addressed the group’s lawsuit with the WWE.
Although they have yet to set a concrete release date for Foundation - which would be their first studio album since 2006’s Ghetto Warfare - Danze revealed that they are busy laying the groundwork for the new project’s success, due out sometime next year.
“We’re trying to get that momentum that we need to put another record out,” Danze told AllHipHop.com. “This is one thing I learned about the game: you just can’t throw something out there, especially in today’s climate anyway. It’s dudes out there that have incredible albums that just threw them out there, and nobody knows it’s there because they’re just not getting the proper marketing, the proper promotion for it.”
As part of the preparation, both Danze and partner Lil’ Fame have maintained their relevance in different ways.
The group is fresh off a stint as the latest artists on Scion’s Live Metro tour.
Individually, Fame has been building up his portfolio as a producer, working not only on Foundation, but on projects with several other artists as well.
And Danze has released a slew of solo records, including God Bless and Goodnight, Return of the Marxman and Savages.
The songs have served as a primer for their upcoming individual solo projects, Fame’s Fame and Glory and Danze’s Behind Gatez.
As for the group’s label status, they are being very cautious of the direction in which they take their new projects, reluctant to revisit their last two high profile situations.
“I don’t want nobody, I don’t give a f**k who it is, I don’t want anybody to ever, ever in life making more money off of me than I do,” Danze proclaimed in his capacity as the group’s unofficial spokesperson. "I been here long enough [to know] better than to give somebody else the credit or the props for the work that I do…I won’t do another artist deal. That’ll never happen at all.”
In related news, M.O.P.’s manager, Laze Elliot, issued an exclusive statement to the AllHipHop.com explaining the recent legal action he has sought out against wrestler John Cena and the WWE.
According to Elliot, it was never his intention for the matter to be judged in the court of public opinion, as the matter was being settled discreetly by the attorneys for the involved parties.
But the issue at hand remains a simple dispute, as the experienced manager in concerned.
“Everyone who knows the song knows its an M.O.P. song,” Elliot stated. “It’s Fame’s voice in the front and a total rip. The WWE is a big company and John Cena is their biggest star. So I would expect them to deal with this properly. I have gladly given the rights to songs that we have sampled over the years to the original authors. This process shouldn’t be exclusive to rappers. Fact is, it’s a simple sync issue that accountants solve in the backroom.”
