It’s hard to believe YSN Flow is still 16 years old, and he continues to prove why he’s a force to be reckoned with in this rap game.
Hailing from Ohio, the recording artist exploded onto the scene with his breakout hit “Got Beef,” and has been steadily climbing the ladder since.
Now, he returns with his highly-anticipated new mixtape titled Long Story Short, pairing it with the official music video from “Playin It Cool.” The 12-track project is produced entirely by frequent collaborator Iceberg, gifting his fans a full masterpiece.
With zero features and nothing but YSN’s signature flow and bars, Long Story Short showcases growth and nothing short of bangers.
From recording in a tiny closet in his apartment to raking in millions of streams and views, the Republic Records signee is living out his dreams on the daily. Watch the visual to “Playin It Cool” above, and remember no dream is too big if you work hard and stay passionate.
DETROIT 2 rapper Big Sean continues to push his hit album Detroit 2 with a brand new joint featuring Post Malone.
DETROIT 2 debuted at #1 across-the-board on the Billboard 200, R&B/hip-hop, and Rap charts. Released September 4th via G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam Recordings, the album marks Sean’s fifth consecutive #1 debut on the Rap chart, his fourth consecutive #1 debut on the R&B/hip-hop chart, and third consecutive #1 debut on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Singer and rapper Jeremih is still fighting for his life in the hospital after contracting COVID-19.
The 33-year-old “Don’t Tell ‘Em” star is still in the ICU “in critical condition”, according to his agent.
“J was just pulled off the ventilator… Please keep him in your prayers,” the representative tells Variety.
Jeremih is undergoing treatment for the coronavirus in Chicago, Illinois and his famous friends like 50 Cent and Chance the Rapper have been asking fans to pray for his recovery.
It still isn’t clear when the star fell ill or when he was first admitted to the hospital.
Raptivist Vic Mensa and his SaveMoneySaveLife not-for-profit organization will partner with the Covenant House in Bronzeville to host a #Sleepout event on Thursday, November 19, 2020, to direct awareness for one of the most embarrassing youth crises’ in America — adolescent homelessness.
75% of Chicago’s homeless youth identify as Black, and as reports have noted people of color, especially those who are poor and disenfranchised, are three times more likely to become infected and lose their lives from the coronavirus than white children, teens, and young adults.
The goal of this protest is to raise $10,000 for young people without homes and shelter in The Windy City, specifically during National Youth Homeless Month, and as the city develops a new strategy to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Covenant House Illinois has done the annual #Sleepout for a while and now is reaching out to artists like the “Feel That” artist.
Starting at 6 PM CST, the #Sleepout will be in front of the
SaveMoneySaveLife offices (located at 517 E 47th street). The plan is for the social action to push through until the next morning, Friday, November 20 at 6 AM CST.
Mensa live-streamed via his personal and SMSL’s social media platforms throughout the night. The rapper has already started promoting on his IG.
“I’m challenging you to think about the things you take for granted. Food, warmth, new clothes. Feel grateful yet? This Thursday night I challenge you to donate for every hour I spend in the cold Chicago winter. The link is in my bio. Drop a 🏠 or 🥶 in the comments, if you give a f*ck”
Jay-Z and his wife are going head-to-head with rival fitness companies. While Beyoncé has made a big queen move by investing in Peloton, Jigga is now taking his little pennies (100 billion pennies) and investing in a new company called CLMBR.
The first two products that he will be putting out will be a pair of vertical climbing machines called the CLMBR Connected
The Roc Nation founder joins tennis’ champion Novak Djokovic, his fitness consultant Marco Borges and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley.
Novak Djokovic said, “Vertical climbing has been known to be an incredibly efficient total body workout without impact. In addition, it puts your body in a neutral spine alignment, which is important for me as an athlete.”
“The on-demand classes and programmatic workouts are a huge bonus!” he continued. “I’m excited to be part of this team and look forward to sharing this fun and powerful workout with the world.”
It was shared that the investment was made through the artist’s Co-Founder of Marcy Venture Partners.
Avrum Elmakis, founder and CEO of CLMBR said of the partnership, “We are excited to work with JAY-Z and Novak to bring the best modality in fitness to consumers.”
DaBaby (born Jonathan Lyndale Kirk) lost his older brother, Glenn Johnson, who died at the age of 34 on November 3. Johnson committed suicide in their hometown of Charlotte.
As DaBaby continues to mourn, the 28-year-old spitter honored his late sibling with a new music project. The surprise My Brother’s Keeper (Long Live G) EP landed overnight.
My Brother’s Keeper includes features by Meek Mill, Polo G, No Cap, and Toosii. The 7-track release comes after DaBaby dropped his Blame It on Baby studio album in April.
2020 has been an up-and-down year for DaBaby. Some of the highlights include Blame It on Baby hitting #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and the “Rockstar” single featuring Roddy Ricch spending seven nonconsecutive weeks atop Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart.
DaBaby also found success over the last several months at industry award shows. The North Carolinian won a BET Award for Best Male Hip Hop Artist and picked up three ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards.
On November 1, NLE Choppa released the From Dark to Light project. The single “Bryson” already has a music video, but the Memphis-bred entertainer is working with RisingStar AR to produce a special collaborative visual for the track.
NLE Choppa is challenging his followers to make their own augmented reality “Bryson” visuals using the RisingStar AR app. Fans can record a virtual performance from their home or other locations alongside a 3D hologram version of the 18-year-old rapper born Bryson Lashun Potts.
50 of those posts will be compiled together to produce the “world’s first fan-created 3D hologram” music video. Plus, there’s a chance to win a merchandise pack, a FaceTime call with NLE Choppa, a night at The Fairmont Miramar Hotel, and a $25,000-valued 3D hologram of themself. Anyone interested in participating in the process must upload a RisingStar AR “Bryson” clip to Instagram and mention @NLEChoppamusic and @RisingStar.ar. Each entry must also include the tags #BrysonHologram and #FromDarkToLight.
“NLE Choppa is one of the hottest new artists in music today, and his new mixtape is sure to be a massive hit with fans across the U.S. and around the world,” said Attila Kralik, founder and CEO of RisingStar AR.
Kralik added, “Part of NLE Choppa’s appeal is the innovative and trendsetting ways he connects with fans not just through his music but also through social media and technology. We’re excited to help him become the first artist in the world to bring fans together to create an AR music video like no other.”
Robert “Meek Mill” Williams is back with a new collection of songs. The Philadelphia-raised emcee dropped the four-track Quarantine Pack on Friday morning.
For the project, Meek recruited Chicago’s Lil Durk, Detroit’s 42 Dugg, and Houston’s Vory. An official music video for “Pain Away” with Durk was published on YouTube.
Quarantine Pack joins a catalog with other Meek Mill EPs such as 4/4, Meekend Music, and Legends of the Summer. He also created the studio LPs Dreams and Nightmares, Dreams Worth More Than Money, Wins & Losses, and Championships.
Another week and another collaborative rap project has hit DSPs. The latest joint effort comes from Louisiana’s YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Georgia’s Rich The Kid.
YoungBoy and Rich’s Nobody Safe arrived overnight via Rich Forever Music/Empire. The 15-track collection features guest appearances by Lil Wayne, Rod Wave, and Quando Rondo.
Nobody Safe comes after YoungBoy recently dropping Until I Return just nine days ago. This year has seen the 21-year-old rhymer also release the Still Flexin, Still Steppin and 38 Baby 2 mixtapes as well as his Top album.
In March, Rich The Kid returned with his third studio LP titled Boss Man. That body of work contained the track “Racks On” featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
The popular digital series Verzuz is back for season two. At least 5.5 million total Instagram viewers (with a record-breaking 1.8 million concurrent viewers) tuned in to watch Jeezy vs Gucci Mane on Thursday night. For fans that missed the battle, Revolt uploaded the 100-minute event to its YouTube channel.
Th CULTURE 🔥
New record tonight for #VERZUZ on Instagram Live: 💥 1.8M concurrent viewers 🔥 5.5M total viewers
The matchup took place inside Atlanta’s famous Magic City strip club. Gucci ran through songs such as “Round 1,” “Bench Warmers,” “Wake Up in the Sky,” “Both,” “Make tha Trap Say Aye,” “First Day Out,” and “Wasted.” Jeezy presented cuts like “Intro,” “Trap or Die,” “Dem Boyz,” “Go Crazy,” “Dey Know,” “Put On,” and “Seen It All.”
Going into this Verzuz, there was a lot of conversation about whether Jeezy and Gucci could actually put their well-documented beef to the side in order to appear cordial in the same room together. The longtime rivals ended the live stream by performing their “So Icy” collaboration.
In addition, Jeezy dropped his Recession 2 album featuring Tamika Mallory, Yo Gotti, E-40, Demi Lovato, Lil Duval, Ne-Yo, and Rick Ross at midnight after the Verzuz presentation. Gucci also let loose the Trap God Classics compilation. The two Atlanta Hip Hop icons have been releasing music for over 15 years.
Back in September, Daystar “Tory Lanez” Peterson used a large portion of his Daystar album to address the July 12 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion in Hollywood Hills, California. Today (November 20), Megan fired back on her new debut studio LP Good News.
The opening track of Good News is titled “Shots Fired.” On the record, Megan subliminally dissed Lanez. “Shots fired” begins with the Houston native rapping, “Imagine n##### lying ’bout shooting a real b####. Just to save face for rapper n##### you chill with.”
Megan went on to suggest that her then-friend, Kelsey Nicole, was paid off to keep silent about what happened that night. Plus, the Houston-bred rapstress claimed Lanez repeatedly called her a “b####” before firing a .22 caliber firearm at her and she is the reason the 28-year-old Canadian did not get indicted immediately.
Lanez continues to maintain he did not shoot Megan Thee Stallion. On Wednesday, the rapper/singer pleaded not guilty to assault with a semiautomatic firearm, personal use of a firearm, and carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle. He is due back in court on January 20.
Megan’s Good News project features DaBaby, City Girls, Lil Durk. SZA, Popcaan, Mustard, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Beyoncé, and Young Thug. The 300 Entertainment/1501 Certified release hosts the singles “Girls in the Hood,” “Don’t Stop,” “Body,” and the chart-topping “Savage Remix.”
Super producer RoccStar is emerging with his official music video for the track “Naked” featuring Ne-Yo. Taken from his EP, LIFE OF A ROCCSTAR, Roccstar recently peaked at #2 album on the iTunes charts as the famed producer shares his relationship highs and lows on this project, connecting with fans about a love lost. Having very few real friends, keeping a small circle, and making as much money as he possibly can, RoccStar encourages fans to live it up to the fullest.
But that’s not it, the L.A. native’s songwriting and production credits include Jennifer Lopez, Chris Brown, Prince Royce, Rita Ora, Usher, Timbaland, Beyoncé, CeeLo Green, Busta Rhymes and more so RoccStarr is currently expanding his RoccAge imprint and building out his infrastructure to make the imprint a success!
After 15 years of beefing and distrust, Gucci Mane and Jeezy paired up to put on a show for their fans straight from legendary Atlanta Strip club, Magic City.
Sure, was not the lovefest that many have hoped for … but it most certainly was something that is monumental for the trap subgenre of rap music. Although it was extremely tense, peace prevailed as over 2 million people watched.
Gucci eventually played “Truth,” a scathing diss song where he brags about murdering Jeezy’s friend Pookie Loc. Jeezy returned with a more peaceful tone that caused the potentially explosive moment to simmer down.
Jeezy said, “I brought you here to show you the world care about what the f##k we got going on, because we are the culture,” and then evoked fallen rappers like Mo3, Nipsey Hussle, King Von, Pop Smoke, and others that died violently.
The premiere episode of the second season of Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s Verzuz series, featured the two Trap titans and those who chose to tune in watch them battle it out with selections from their expansive discographies.
Their records included numerous diss records that have proliferated mixtapes, albums and features since 2006. Only Gucci Mane repeatedly referenced their deep drama which eventually led to Gucci killing somebody close to his then-adversary.
Stacey Abrams, the acclaimed politician and voting rights activist, helped open the event with the rappers by stressing Georgia’s upcoming run-off for 2 Senate seats. Jeezy said “we” had her back, while Gucci asked hilariously if she could clean his record.
Originally, this Verzuz battle was supposed to be T.I. stepping in the ring with Jeezy, graciously fell back for this epic, historic moment.
Gucci had previously declined a request to do Verzuz with Jeezy in October over social media.
“Stop asking me about doing a @verzuzonline battle unless they got a million dollars they scared of Wop. #GuccimaneVsWhoever,” Gucci tweeted <https://twitter.com/gucci1017/status/1321856343070937088> on October 29.
However, something in the universe shifted and he tweeted out on Saturday.
“Tell buddy get ready,” Gucci promoted.
<https://twitter.com/gucci1017/status/1327823143742943233?s=20>”Nov 19 TrapGod vs SnoCone.”
The battle started over an hour late, but finally both revered rappers arrived. The battle started with a message from Stacey Abrams, who encouraged every in Atlanta to vote in the local run-off for senator.
ICTV is black-owned and boasts a female CEO. ICTV’s CEO Jana Haynes is a television executive whose portfolio reflects the likes of everyone from Netflix to Bravo, Hulu, Amazon, and a plethora of successful digital and linear networks. Coupled with being able to generate millions of dollars of revenue as a seasoned marketing professional, ICTV is destined to be great and is currently in partnerships with key talent, brands, and corporate entities in anticipation of establishing a digital ecosystem of its own that takes being a content creator to a whole new level of ownership.ICTV is a worldwide digital streaming service offering an ownership piece in distribution and in creative content. They target creatives who have built an audience through grassroots efforts, influence or even prior mainstream work who have organic intermix of supporters who are committed to the content that they produce.The primary focus of ICTV is to offer independent writers, artists, creatives, and filmmakers an infrastructure of support, whether that be in marketing & PR, production & distribution, content creation in music, television & theater, or all of the above, while allowing them to maintain majority ownership in their creative content. Ownership over censorship is paramount at ICTV.Stay connected with ICTV!IG: @ictelevisionTwitter: @ictelevision1FB: @ictelevisionWeb: www.ictelevision.com
Just days after landing an Icon honor at the People’s Choice Awards on Sunday, J.Lo will be feted with another Icon prize by Billboard as part of the virtual event, hosted by Teyana Taylor.
Previous Icons have been awarded to Alanis Morissette, Aretha Franklin, and Shania Twain.
Dua Lipa will be handed the Powerhouse Award and Dolly will take home this year’s Hitmaker Award.
Chloe x Halle and Jessie Reyez will also be honored during the show, which will air at https://billboardwomeninmusic.com/ from 8pm ET on 10 December.
Rapper Nelly has been cast as rock ‘n’ roll icon Chuck Berry in a new movie about the plane crash which cost Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper their lives.
“Clear Lake” will also feature Colin Hanks as Holly’s manager Norman Petty, and Diane Guerrero as the Peggy Sue singer’s wife, Maria Elena.
Ruairi O’Connor has already been cast as Buddy Holly in the Bruce Beresford movie. The three rock ‘n’ roll greats perished in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa, on February, 3 1959.
Clear Lake is being produced by Rick French (Not Without Hope) of Prix Productions and Stuart Benjamin (Oscar-nominated and Grammy-winning producer of Ray and La Bamba) of Stuart Benjamin Productions, in association with BMG, which manages the Buddy Holly estate and controls the U.S. publishing rights to his catalog.
Hanks (Fargo; Mad Men) will co-star as Norman Petty, Holly’s brilliant, but often controlling manager and producer. Hanks is an accomplished actor, director and producer who has appeared in Peter Jackson’s King Kong and several Jumanji series films; and directed the acclaimed music documentaries Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis and All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records.
Orange Is the New Black and Doom Patrol star Guerrero has been cast opposite O’Connor in the role of Maria Elena Holly, the radiant, Puerto Rican born wife of the rock & roll legend, who along with Ritchie Valens, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and pilot Roger Peterson died in a plane crash outside a snowy Clear Lake, Iowa on February 3, 1959, often referred to as “the day the music died” after Don McLean famously immortalized it in his classic hit, “American Pie.”
Guerrero is the best-selling author of “In The Country We Love: My Family Divided,” a memoir about her survival and life after family separation through deportation at a young age.
Nelly, who had a supporting role in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard and is currently appearing on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, is one of the top-selling rap/hip-hop artists of all time. He is a double certified diamond selling artist with his debut album “Country Grammar” selling over 10 million copies in the U.S. alone.
With all of the talk about battles that the Hip-Hop world wants to see, sure Gucci Mane vs. Jeezy is at the top of everyone’s mind, but there is one that any true enthusiasts (and lover) of the culture has at the top of their list: Rakim vs. Big Daddy Kane.
And it seems like there is a possibility the rap gods will answer our prayers.
The God Emcee sat with Chuck Creekmur, the CEO of AllHipHop, at the Wilmington Public Library in Delaware to talk about his openness to doing a Verzuz episode at the one man that many have always put him up against, Big Daddy Kane.
The 18th Letter said that while he has been thinking about it a lot since the Instagram contest blew up early this year, amid the novel coronavirus mandated-quarantine, the competition has been floated in the ethos for over 30 years.
“You know, me and Kane go way back. Ever since 86, 87 after Kane came out, everybody kind of compared us to each other,” he recalled before stating why it has not happened yet. “If I wake up one day, and feel like it’s important to me and my career. I don’t know how Kane feels about it. You make decisions in your career and you try to stick to that.”
Sticking to that has made him one of the top two emcees of all time. In his memoir, “Sweat the Technique: Revelations on Creativity from The Lyrical Genius Rakim,” he breaks down how he was able to transform his love of jazz and street rapping into a legacy that has birthed at least 85% of the most gifted lyricists in all of rap music history.
Guarding his gifts is a discipline that many don’t understand — even suggesting that the “Paid In Full” emcee is only worried about preserving his name and not interested in giving the culture what it so desperately wants.
But he sees it differently and is only hesitant because there is so much more to who he is as an artist than a battle against someone that was fan-generated in the 80s.
“I don’t want to be selfish, but coming up in that generation of rap, and trying to maintain your brand and who you are, and we managed to make it through and then people want to pull you back to 87,” Rakim shared.
“That’s my only problem with it. But, and I appreciate that you know … the interest and how people feel about what me and Kane did.”
Dr. Dre’s estranged wife wants a judge to order the rap icon to sit for a divorce deposition in-person instead of conducting the session virtually.
Dre is seeking to answer questions from Nicole Young’s lawyers virtually, citing coronavirus concerns, but she isn’t buying his excuse.
In new court papers obtained by TMZ, Nicole insists Dre cannot use the global health crisis to dodge the in-person questioning, because he has “freely entertained” various people both in home and business settings, and has been in attendance at a number of social gatherings “without implementing even the slightest amount of social distancing protocol.”
She also alleges the hip-hop star has been mingling with other musicians and studio technicians, and “entering and exiting the homes of multiple women around the Los Angeles area” in recent months.
As such, she wants Dre to sit for his deposition in-person so her lawyers can closely observe how he reacts to their line of questioning, and to ensure he doesn’t receive any potential coaching.
Dre and Nicole have been at war ever since she pulled the plug on their 24-year marriage in June and then claimed their prenuptial agreement should be considered null and void, as she was allegedly pressured into signing the legal document.
They have since also clashed over her claims of domestic violence and infidelity – accusations the billionaire rapper has denied.
DJ Five Venoms is far more than just a DJ, he’s a recording artist in his own right. Making a name for himself as the official DJ for this generation’s biggest hip-hop festival, Rolling Loud, a team he’s been with since day one, the New Jersey native loves music down to the core. Currently travelling and spinning for biggest clubs in the country, such as LIV and STORY Nightclub in Miami, Venoms is excited as ever to be creating his own original music as a recording artist.
Living in South Jersey right outside of Philadelphia 15 minutes away, Venoms frequented Philly as a kid. Growing up in the suburbs raised by his mom (who helped him be a DJ), he remembers being sports fans to the Philadelphia Eagles and idolizing Allen Iverson. Spending his summers near Richmond, Virginia, it was his cousin who was a DJ and helped introduce Venoms to the lifestyle and culture.
From riding BMX to touring and playing drums in a band, he moved to Orlando in 2007 and began DJing full-time. After graduating from Full Sail University, he grinded his way into being a DJ and eventually climbed the ladder.
Most recently releasing singles “Too Toxic” and “Laughing To The Bank,” Venoms still finds time to be a host of Sirius XM’s Rolling Loud radio as well as his own Twitch show.
AllHipHop: Talk about the moment you realize you could DJ for a living.
DJ Five Venoms: It was a dream, a passion of mine. I enjoy DJing, I have a special skill for it. I have an ear for new music, mixing for different crowds, pleasing crowds. I had a push, I had that thing where I wasn’t going to give up on this and just push through. There were times where I had no gigs, times where I had all the gigs. That grinding through the good and the bad and still having that passion for it, I realized this is what I really want to do.
AllHipHop: What’s the inspiration behind your name?
DJ Five Venoms: I’m a huge Wu-Tang Clan fan. There’s a kung-fu movie called the Five Deadly Venoms, they sampled a lot of the words from that movie into their music. I’d found that movie and liked having a piece of that as a part of me, so I used DJ Five Venoms.
AllHipHop: How did you land to be Rolling Loud’s official DJ?
DJ Five Venoms: Back in 2010, Tariq Cherif and Matt Zingler had a touring company called Dope Entertainment. They had seen a void in Florida for hip-hop shows, specifically the underground artists they’re listening to at that time. They did a tour with Curren$y, it was Orlando, Tampa, Miami show. This was their first shows at Dope ENT and doing a tour. They booked an artist that I was DJing for his name was Wes Fif. I had got introduced to Tariq at that show, eventually asked “yo let me be the house DJ for your shows.” He’d book me for doing all the shows in Orlando. Over time, we built our relationship up.
Around 2015, they came up with the concept of Rolling Loud. They brought in the DJs they used for all the different markets to be the house DJs and DJ for the show. As Rolling Loud grew, I was there pretty much. I was the guy always ready, the opportunity was there. I succeeded at the Opportunity and showed that I cared. A lot of guys didn’t care and they fall off, but I showed up ready to work. Showed up on time, showed a passion and held those guys down. They held me down, I hold them down.
DJ Five Venoms
AllHipHop: What are your fondest memories from the festival?
DJ Five Venoms: Whew. Rolling Loud 2017 we did in Miami bayfront, that was really the takeoff moment. What you see as the festival today, that was the craziest lineup. Future, Travis Scott, Lil Wayne, Kendrick Lamar had dropped his project, A$AP Rocky. Name all the big guys right now, they were on it. The show went off amazingly, everyone had a great time. That picture moment of what the festival looks like now, it builds up even from there. Bigger shows, shows all over the country, shows in other countries. The first time I met XXXTentacion the year before, he’s performing in a tent and I DJ’d for him. Seeing his growth from that year to the next year was insane.
AllHipHop: How much do you miss performing?
DJ Five Venoms: A whole lot. [laughs] My last gig was March 11th. In March, it’s Spring Break in Miami so it’s really crazy. They shut down the clubs right in the middle of the craziest period. I miss it. Friendships I’ve built in the clubs. I’d check in here and there but people I haven’t seen in months outside of a phone call, a DM, a text. Definitely miss it, can’t wait to get back to it. For sure hopefully it’s sooner than later. Miami has been fighting back-and-forth, there’s a curfew on the beach and in the city period that’s limiting the clubs for opening late night. The clubs here are open from 11pm till 5am. They have a curfew for 12am so it doesn’t work to have the clubs open. The safety things with Corona still being out there and still people getting infected, they’re trying to play it safe and make sure it’s the right time to come back.
AllHipHop: Have you been DJing the virtual ones?
DJ Five Venoms: Yes, the virtual ones are cool but still not the same energy because you don’t have those people there. When you have those people there, it’s insane. The festivals and the thousands of people, there’s nothing like DJing in front of 40,000 people. Everyone turning up and jumping up and down, crazy. The virtual ones have been dope, a lot of love. We have the screens where we can see the chat, people interacting in the chat throwing up flame emojis. You can talk back-and-forth with them, that’s been cool. We have a Zoom meet so fans can sign into a VIP zoom and we can see them from the stage, similar to how the NBA had it on the side of the court. There’s some fan interaction, but it’s not the same as live and in person.
AllHipHop: Favorite song to drop in a set?
DJ Five Venoms: It used to be Lil Pump “Boss,” but that changed. Future “March Madness” still really goes. “Look at Me!” with X still really goes.
AllHipHop: I feel like that’s the Rolling Loud anthem.
DJ Five Venoms: Pretty much, we can’t have a Rolling Loud without it. You have all the artists come to the festival, then you’ll have their DJs. The DJ will try to do a mini-set before their artist comes on. After 2017, every DJ had to play “Look At Me!” at some point. I’m hearing “Look At Me!” from all 3 stages all day every day during the festivals. A guaranteed turn up song and the kids never get tired of it.
AllHipHop: Let’s get into your music, bring us back to when you created “Too Toxic.”
DJ Five Venoms: I recorded it after the passing of George Floyd. I lived in Miami and went to Orlando. Prettyboy Kelsey & Pressure Dommer also live in Orlando. I set up a studio session with them, there was that negative energy in the air from what we’re seeing on the news and social media every day. There were protests. Even on my way to the studio, I had to make a detour because there’s a huge protest in downtown Orlando.
The song was about coming out of sad times and fighting through bad times. Everyone goes through bad times at some point, being prepared for it and having the right people around you too. Having negative people around you, people that pull you down isn’t going to help. You want people that are going to uplift you, you want situations that are going to uplift you. You want to be prepared, you want to strive to uplift other people also.
AllHipHop: How was it shooting on a rooftop in Orlando?
DJ Five Venoms: Funny story. We’d scouted a few parking garages and the one the videographer scouted happened to be closed that day. I pull in, I grab the ticket and the gate goes up. The lady jumped out the booth like “it’s closed!“ I take off and go all the way to the roof. Another guy comes in, he does the same thing. They didn’t really care, she had to do that to save face. The security guard came up there, looked at us and kept it moving. We shot it around a dusk time, had a cool lighting. We had that Orlando skyline as our background. We did some performance shots, I wanted to reflect a dark mood for the video and that’s what we got.
AllHipHop: What inspired “Laughing To The Bank”?
DJ Five Venoms: I recorded half in Miami and the other half in Orlando. The producer’s name is Nvbeel, he has producer credit with Wifisuneral, FatManKey, SKYXXX. He’s from D.C. but been in the Florida scene for a while. He came to Miami, I took him to the studio because Baby Boys Slimee was in the studio recording already. He gave him that beat. Slime went in the booth 30 minutes, knocked out the hook and the verse. He came out, I said “yo I need that song.” He said “cool it’s yours.” Went in Orlando the next week, got in the studio with Pressure Dommer. He knocked out his verse. A very organic song, happened real easy.
AllHipHop: Talk about the video being inspired by movies The Transporter and Set It Off.
DJ Five Venoms: The intro starts off as The Transporter, where I’m in a parking garage waiting while they’re robbing a bank. I pick them up, we go on a high-speed chase. We end up at a mechanic shop where we’re counting up the money. A bunch of performance shots there. That song is about the success, getting money. It’s a generic hip-hop song in the sense of the content: getting money and keeping away from the opps. A fun song, has a lot of energy. I’m super excited about the video.
AllHipHop: Goals for yourself at this point of your career?
DJ Five Venoms: I definitely want to drop a project by the end of 2021. Another is to do some festivals next year, because I haven’t done any festivals this year. We have Miami in February, waiting for the city to say it’s okay to have. Portugal is in July next year, I’m looking forward to that. Mainly my focus is pushing music, dropping singles. Another goal will be doing more clubs, seeing that clubs start opening back up soon.
AllHipHop: Anything else you want to let us know?
DJ Five Venoms: We have our Twitch content, I’m a host for a show called the Leak where we interview artists and leak their music an hour before it drops on streaming services. We have a show called Got Bars where an MC battles every week, we have 4 contestants. We’re sponsored by Monster Energy, we have a champion at the end who can get an actual record deal based on what type of deal they want from a prominent record label.
First of all, I wish you all would sit TF down. The rate of Covid-19 spread is insane and Black people are dropping left and right! We are dying out here, but it doesn’t seem to motivate people to move differently. We are seeing more and more Hip-Hop artists get attacked and, even murdered, for nothing. Nonsense! Lil Boosie aka Boosie Badazz is one of those rappers that was attacked. I guess he is lucky to be alive.
There may be another side to that, and his quality of life by be altered somewhat. From what I have been told,Boosie may have to have his foot amputated after he was shot. Big dog Boosie was shot. Dallas was the place and Saturday was the day. The rapper was riding around the hood in a sprinter van by Big T’s Plaza. Now, I know no good can come from being around a plaza with a name like that. Boosie was shot in the leg, which sounds like a simple thing to the gangsta. But it is not…not when you are a diabetic and a cancer survivor.
I am hoping this isn’t true. But the word on the street is that doctors may have to take his foot. I think getting shot is more complicated than most of us think. Generally, we breathe a sigh of relief. But If you hit the right spot you can bleed out or if you have the wrong pre-existing condition, you can straight have issues like Boosie allegedly has. Prayers for him…BUT STAY HOME!!!
I think God will save the foot. I hope this is a lesson for him. The good news is Boosie is saying he is doing ok. “I’m good. Appreciate all the happy birthday wishes and get well soon wishes,” he said.
