The Brooklyn rapper, who has been banned from the Barclay’s Center in the wake of the shooting, just lost a multi-million dollar deal with headphone company, TUNES.
The company had lined $4.5 million for 6ix9ine to promote a colorful line of headphones, but they have backed out of the deal over the recent violence, which is reportedly connected to a feud with rapper Casanova.
“At this time it is in the best interest of our company to move on. We wish him well, he’s a great artist,” a rep for TUNES said in a statement.
(AllHipHop News) Royce Da 5’9″ may not be recording any more albums with Slaughter House, but he’s not stopping. He’s already released PRhyme 2 with DJ Premier and he’s gearing up for the release of his next solo outing.
“Its definitely my most personal, diverse solo album to date,” he told Chuck Creekmur of AllHipHop. “I’m looking to release more music this year than I ever have in a year.”
One of the highlights of Book of Rhyme is a long-awaited reunion with mentor and partner-in-rhyme Eminem. The Detroit native revealed the entire tracklisting on his Instagram and all of the guest appearances. The album also includes Logic, J. Cole, Pusha T, Fabolous, Jadakiss, T-Pain, and more.
The rapper has already given some info around the opus, but this is a considerably more comprehensive look.
Royce told AllHipHop that he’s trying to get two titans on one of his albums, before they check out of Hip-Hop.
“Jay-Z and Nas. I’m a fan of a whole lot of people. The more seasoned I become, the more I am able to appreciate different styles, he said in an exclusive interview. “I think I have a lot of fun mixing with people that don’t necessarily do what I do and try to come into each other’s world and trying to figure out a way to make something that’s good. I would love that challenge, but just being a straight up fan of somebody…”
“I’m doing some things with Redman. That’s scratched off the bucket list, but not all the way off the bucket list, because we haven’t put nothing out yet” he said. “Jay Z and Nas, they are like on my Mount Rushmore. So is like…”I want to catch them before they are outta here, because you can feel it coming. Nas is just a hop, skip and a jump from being outta here. I’m like, ‘Big homie…just when you got some time.'”
The opus, Book of Ryan, is set to hit stores and streaming outlets on May 5.
1.”Intro”
2. “Woke”
3. “Where’s My Parallel (Skit)”
4. “Caterpillar” featuring King Green and Eminem
5. “God Speed” featuring Ashley Sorrell
6. “Dumb” featuring B#####
7. “Who Are You (Skit)”
8. “Cocaine”
9. “Life Is Fair”
10. “Boblo featuring” J. Cole
11. “Legendary”
12. “Summer On Lock” featuring Pusha T, Jadakiss, and Fabolous
13. “Amazing” featuring Melanie Rutherford
14. “Outside” featuring Marsha Ambrosius and Robert Glasper
15. “Power”
16. “Protecting Ryan (Skit)”
17. “Strong Friend”
18. “Anything-Everything”
19. “Stay Woke” featuring Ashley Sorrell
20. “First of the Month” featuring T. Pain and Chavis Chandler
(AllHipHop News) T.I. went to visit Kanye West to set him straight and the pair ended up doing a song called “Ye vs The People.” While the song is getting mixed reviews, it is definitely an interesting concept with Tip challenging Kanye on his recent support of Donald Trump.
Check out the lyrics and weigh in.
[Intro: Four Tops]
I had for us
Turned my dreams into dust
I watch a phone that, I had for us
Turned my dreams into dust
[Verse: Kanye West &T.I. (T.I.’s lyrics appear in bold]
I know Obama was Heaven-sent
But ever since Trump won, it proved that I could be President Yeah you can, at what cost though? Don’t that go against the teachings that Ye taught for?
Yo T.I.P., I hear your side and everybody talk though
But ain’t goin’ against the grain everything I fought for? Prolly so, Ye, but where you tryna go with this?It’s some s### you just don’t align with and don’t go against
You just readin’ the headlines, you don’t see the fine print
You on some choosin’-side s###, I’m on some unified s### It’s bigger than your selfish agenda If your election ain’t gon’ stop police from murderin’ n#####
Bruh, I never ever stopped fightin’ for the people
Actually wearin’ the hat’ll show people that we’re equal You gotta see the vantage point of the people What makes you feel equal makes them feel evil
See that’s the problem with this damn nation
All Blacks gotta be Democrats, man, we ain’t made it off the plantation F### what you choose as your political party You representin’ dudes who seem crude and cold-hearted With blatant disregard for the people who put you in position So don’t you feel an obligation to them?
I feel an obligation to show people new ideas
And if you wanna hear ’em, here go two right here
Make America Great Again, had a negative reception
I took it, wore it, rocked it, gave it a new direction
Added empathy, care and love and affection
And y’all simply questionin’ my methods What you willin’ to lose for the point to be proved? This is stubborn selfish b#######, even for you You wore a dusty ass hat to represent the same views As white supremacy, man, we expect better from you All them times you sounded crazy, we defended you, homie Now just to be let down when we depend on you, homie That’s why it’s important to know what direction you’re goin’ now ‘Cause everything that you built can be destroyed and torn down
You think I ain’t concerned about how I affect the past?
I mean, that hat stayed in my closet about a year and a half
Then one day I was like, “F### it, I’ma do me”
I was in the sunken place and then I found the new me
Not worried ’bout some image that I gotta keep up
Lot of people agree with me, but they’re too scared to speak up The greater good of the people is first Have you considered all the damage and the people you hurt? You had a bad idea, and you’re makin’ it worse S###’s just as bad as Catholic preachers rapin’ in church
Y’all been leadin’ with hate, see I just approach it different
Like a gang truce, the first Blood to shake a Crip’s hand
I know everybody emotional
Is it better if I rap about crack? Huh? ‘Cause it’s cultural?
Or how about I’ma shoot you, or f### your b####?
Or how about all this Gucci, ’cause I’m f#####’ rich [?] for the lack of respect Startin’ to look like Donnie cut you a check Toyin’ with hot lava, better be careful with that What’s it mean to gain the world if you ain’t standin’ for s###? Okay I gotta say it, Ye, you sound high as a b#### Yeah, genocide and slavery, we should just try and forget All that free thought s###,find a better defense But if Ye’s stuck in his way, he can leave it at that F### it
[Outro: Kanye West]
Alright T.I.P., we could be rappin’ about this all day, man, why don’t we just cut the beat off and let the people talk?
(AllHipHop Music) Kanye West said he would explain his Trump stance in his music and now he has started the process outside of an intense trolling process.
Power 106 in Los Angeles debuted the song and it has already spread across the internet. On the song, he says, “I know that Obama was heaven sent, but ever since Trump won it proved I could be president.”
On the song, T.I. and Kanye go back and forth over a track, talking about the Trump week in news. It is almost like Tip is interviewing Kanye, who has been besieged with criticism since expressing love and adulation for Donald Trump.
Here are some other lyrics:
Bruh, I never ever stopped fightin’ for the people Actually wearin’ the hat’ll show people that we’re equal You gotta see the finer point of the people What makes you feel equal makes them feel evil See that’s the problem with this damn nation All Blacks gotta be Democrats, man, we ain’t made it off the plantation
Click here for the song, until the CDQ version emerges.
Earlier in the day, Kanye had resorted to trolling to release a “song” that was almost wholly comprised of jibberish.
(AllHipHop News)Dirty Computer is the latest project from Janelle Monae, but the singer, and some-times rapper has revealed that she is a pansexual.
The term pansexual is not readily used, as it seems to be the same as bisexual. With Monae coming out, the term has gained exponential awareness in search engine searches. However, a pansexual individual extends beyond attraction to a man or a woman. A pansexual has a sexual attraction to a person of any sex or gender and it extends into transgendered, gender fluid people, androgynous, and others.
According to Merriam-Webster, there was a huge spike in searches on the term since it is not ready used in American society. Oddly enough, the superhero Deadpool “came out” as pansexual in 2016, but he has only fictitiously had relationships with women.
“I want young girls, young boys, non-binary, gay, straight, queer people who are having a hard time dealing with their sexuality, dealing with feeling ostracized or bullied for just being their unique selves, to know that I see you,” she said to Rolling Stone.
In related news, Monae has released an amazing mini-movie to accompany her album which tells the plight of undesirable people that are scrubbed clean of their unique traits.
Excelling by making real friends rather than rap friends, 22 year old rapper KeyNyata doesn’t care about climbing the social ladders of Hip-Hop.
After being featured in XXL at 18 years old, former Raider Klan member and child prodigy KeyNyata has traveled a long road, seeing the the ups and downs of the rap game yet he’s still persevering to this day.
Now KeyNyata says this will be his last project, aptly titled It’s A Long Game. The final effort will feature guest verses from Denzel Curry, Slim Guerilla and worldly production from a Snubnose, PHX, Genshin, DJQJ, Othasyde, and Key himself.
“I wanted to take it back to the roots,” KeyNyata explained. “Back to the era where I per say made all my fans, to the era where I was truly immersed in my music, like back when I was with the Raider Klan. I had to go back and get a couple of the homies from that time period; Denzel Curry, my boy Slim Guerilla and some production from several close homies.”
Previously mentored by Vince Staples, Raider Klan ringleader SpaceGhostPurrp and Seattle mainstay Nacho Piccasso, KeyNyata has spent roughly ten years in the rap game perfecting his craft and getting advice from mentors.
“Vince Staples took me under his wing and was really instrumental in making me a better artist when I was young around 14 or 15. I was on one of his first projects producing, but he used to just challenge me to make a few beats and he really wanted me to sharpen up, that’s like my big bro to this day,” KeyNyata said. “Then with me being one of the first members of Raider Klan, I was integral to getting some of the first members in there. When I got in, it was only me, Purp, his family from Miami and Denzel Curry – we were the two youngest ones in clique.”
KeyNyata was always surrounded by Hip-Hop culture growing up in Seattle. With both parents having had their own ties to the game, KeyNyata was destined to be a rapper and started writing at an early age after being exposed to the world of Hip-Hop from his parents.
“My dad was friends with E-40 and the Click and whenever they would do shows in Seattle, they would be around the house playing dominoes so I was always around Hip-Hop culture. My mom is from Long Beach and grew up in high school around Snoop and Warren G and she loved Hip-Hop so I always had Hip-Hop in my life,” KeyNyata explained of his upbringing.
Carrying out his family traditions KeyNyata mixes the classic West-Coast sounds of the 90’s with bars from today for a funky juxtaposition the rap game is primed to embrace. But there’s more to this story.
“This is my final project going as Key Nyata. I don’t want to say too much about the future just yet, but if you know me, you know what’s going on,” KeyNyata explained. “To the world I will cease to exist if not for just a little bit of time. Anyone that listens to my music will know what I’m doing right now.”
(AllHipHop News) The feds are looking to seize millions of dollars in real estate and assets from Atlanta rapper Ralo, who is accused of trying to smuggle almost $2 million worth of marijuana on a private jet.
According to detectives, Ralo owns 20 apartment units and five other properties connected to the 23-year-old.
The FBI is asking a judge to hand the real estate over to the government, if Ralo is convicted on charges he attempted to sell hundreds of pounds of marijuana.
In addition to the real estate, the state has their eyes on two Lamborghinis, a Corvette, two Dodge Chargers and four other vehicles.
Since the release of his debut mixtape “Personal Vibes” back in 2014, Dallas TX newcomer Nate$avage has been celebrating weed culture to the fullest. Nate keeps the good times keep going up in smoke with the release of his new visual for “Blunted.” Directed by Jeff Adair Films. The track, produced by his brother Redd Bangz, will appear on the forthcoming release Cruise Pack.
(AllHipHop News) Rapper J. Cole is getting into the live event business, with his own new Dreamville Festival.
The North Carolina rapper will host the big event in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Fayetteville-born rap star must have big plans for the Dreamville Festival, which will take place at Dix Park, which sits on 306 acres of land.
“We’ve been trying to put this festival together for a few years now,” his manager Ibrahim ‘Ib’ Hamad said in an interview.
“It’s just hard to come into a city and get the whole city to approve it and (get) behind you,” added Hamad, who is also President of J. Cole’s Dreamville record label.
“It was great that we took our time and really connected with the city (and) connected with the mayor,” he added.
Other than the September 15 date, no details have been announced about the inaugural Dreamville Festival.
Paterson, NJ native Rackboy Cam has been making headlines over the past year in music and outside of music, even reaching the pages of TMZ. Looking to up the ante, today he unveils his brand new visual for “Fugazzi.” Taking aim at artists that brag about grabbing the spotlight, Rackboy Cam holds nothing back. The track is lifted from his new mixtape Image Is Everything 2
(AllHipHop News) Tyler, The Creator has teamed with Converse on a limited edition line of sneakers.
The rapper, real name Tyler Okonma, is not only making his mark in the hip-hop world but also the style scene having started clothing company Golf Wang back in 2010.
Tyler was unveiled as one of the faces of Converse last July and went on to launch his take on the Converse One Star sneaker as part of the Golf Le Fleur x Converse collection.
Earlier this week, he dropped another line known the “Mono” range.
The collection features five shoes with suede upper, white midsole and a flower motif stitched on one side.
The designs are available in black, white, Greener Pastures, an emerald hue, Limoges, a bright blue and Rhubarb, a dark red.
Taking to Twitter to share images of the sneakers, Tyler also warned fans that they may want carefully consider what size they purchase as they tend to run large.
In addition to the footwear, Tyler has also added apparel to his offerings for Converse.
New clothing items include a grey sweatshirt with the Golf Le Fleur logo embroidered on the left side, and simple T-shirts in blue, green and grey also embossed with the same branding.
All of the sneakers are priced at $100 while a T-shirt costs $40 and a men’s sweatshirt is $85 . Items are now available to purchase from the Converse and Golf Wang websites.
Tyler previously designed a range of shoes for Vans, with his last collection dropping in late 2016, two years after he first signed on as a brand ambassador.
He left the company claiming his creativity was being stifled as he tried to explore new design ideas.
(AllHipHop News) Chance The Rapper has backpedaled his support of Kanye West after Donald Trump used the Chicago artist’s political statement as propaganda.
Donald Trump, who West referred to as his “brother,” began praising both men for their commentary, that seemed to support a conservative agenda.
“Kanye West has performed a great service to the Black Community – Big things are happening and eyes are being opened for the first time in Decades – Legacy Stuff! Thank you also to Chance and Dr. Darrell Scott, they really get it (lowest Black & Hispanic unemployment in history),” Trump tweeted Friday.
Chance was facing backlash after he appeared to support his “family.” He tweeted, “Black people don’t have to be democrats” after West was seen wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat.
Chance has since apologized for the reactionary act.
“I’d never support anyone who has made a career out of hatred, racism and discrimination,” Chance said on Twitter.
(AllHipHop News) Boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. wants a court showdown with his ex’s current boyfriend Nelly as part of her ongoing assault, battery, and defamation case.
Shantel Jackson sued Mayweather in 2014, accusing the fighter of publicly releasing her medical information on social media regarding an abortion.
He then countersued claiming she ran up his credit cards without his permission, and last week, Mayweather filed new documents stating his intent to depose Nelly and Ashanti, who dated the rapper eight years ago.
Nelly, 43, was arrested in October of 2017 but Greene’s criminal case against him was dropped in December after she declined to testify.
She later launched her own defamation and sexual assault suits against the star, and he then countersued, claiming that they had sex but that it was consensual.
Greene has accused Nelly’s girlfriend of falsely corroborating his alibi to “further his defamation campaign” against her.
(AllHipHop Features) T.I. has been very active and vocal lately between working on his latest album, ‘The Dime Trap’, supporting his friend and Hip Hop peer David Banner, and being on the front line with the protests of Starbucks and Houston’s.
Tip believes that it’s time for coffee lovers to take their dollars elsewhere following the arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks.
A store manager reportedly called the police on the men, accusing them of trespassing since they hadn’t purchased anything. The men were taken into custody and later released once the franchise refused to press charges.
According to T.I. we shouldn’t spend money with businesses who do not truly respect us, and we should frequent such establishments until they have rectified their actions.
Tip was also on the front lines of the boycott of an Atlanta Houston’s location after African American Atlanta patrons complained about the discrimination they faced at the restaurant. His efforts actually lead to a resolution, and the Atlanta rapper helped the restaurant with its diversity training.
T.I. was also spotted supporting his equally vocal Hip Hop friend David Banner at Banner’s 44th birthday celebration.
David Banner recently celebrated his birthday in style with a swanky black tie dinner at American Cut in Atlanta’s Buckhead area.
Inspired by Jay-Z’s star-studded annual Roc Nation Brunch, David Banner celebrated his birthday by honoring those making a difference.
AllHipHop caught up with T.I. who discussed celebrating his friend’s birthday and the power of the black dollar.
AllHipHop: How does it feel to be here celebrating one of your peers, David Banner’s, birthday?
T.I.: Ah man David Banner is such an intellectual but ratchet partner of mine. I appreciate that he kind of helped me grow when we were both in our transitional phase of life. We did music together. We made money together, and we both watched each other go from some hood n*ggas looking for opportunity to actual astute businessmen who developed an acumen to not only help ourselves, but you know to create opportunities for people around us. To be able to sustain that over a period and have such longevity, I think that’s something to definitely salute and to pay attention to.
AllHipHop: What’s next for Tip and Grand Hustle?
T.I.: Well you know we gonna put out ‘The Dime Trap’, my next album I’m putting the finishing touches on it, and I know it’s been under works and on the way for quite some time, but I give you my word. I’m finally focused and I’m in the third phase…in the third phase. Fourth phase coming soon, so it will be out this year.
AllHipHop: #MLK50 just passed. How far have we really come, and how far do we have left to go?
T.I.: Well we need to recognize the power of our dollar. You know what I mean. It’s very strange that us as a community: African Americans and minorities in this country, we have the most significant buying power with the least consideration. If people won’t consider us, then we can’t continue to fund their legacies. We are going to have to consider those who are willing to consider us, and once we recognize the power in that, I think then we can all get to pooling our resources together and you know we can start becoming a self-sustaining economy, and let our dollar circulate within our community more.
(AllHipHop News) Ciara is accusing hip-hop star Future of skipping out on daddy duties with their child.
The singer claims her ex is slowly becoming an absentee father, so she’s taking Future to court before it becomes a larger issue.
She says Future allegedly misses his visits 37% of the time, and the last minute cancellations are ruining her own schedule.
To complicate the issues, Future lives in Georgia and the traveling to visit his dad have been tough on the 3-year-old’s health, according to court documents.
Ciara is asking a judge to force Future to mediation, where they can work out a new, official schedule that will be good for Future, Ciara and little Future.
(AllHipHop News) John Legend’s wife Chrissy Teigen was left fuming when Kanye West shared text messages the singer sent him about his support of U.S. President Donald Trump on Twitter.
The “All of Me” singer had decided to get in touch with Kanye, a close friend after he hit headlines with his controversial tweets in which he pledged his support for the divisive American leader.
Instead of contacting Kanye on Twitter, John decided to text him, but his intention to keep the situation private backfired when the rapper shared the messages with his 28 million followers.
Now, John’s wife Chrissy has taken issue with Kanye’s decision to breach John’s privacy in such a manner, and she took to Twitter to vent her anger.
Chrissy then managed to calm down and see the funny side of the situation as she and Kanye’s wife Kim Kardashian traded jokes about their double date dinner plans for Friday night.
“@KimKardashian are we still doing dinner Friday or no lol,” Chrissy wrote, to which Kim responded, “Yes but maybe no phones”, alongside crying laughing emojis and a “no phones allowed” symbol.
John and Chrissy have long been opponents of Trump and his policies and ideals, and frequently tweet their grievances with the POTUS on social media.
In his texts responding to Kanye’s pro-Trump tweets, John had written: “Hey it’s JL. I hope you’ll reconsider aligning yourself with Trump. You’re way too powerful and influential to endorse who he is and what he stands for. As you know, what you say really means something to your fans. They are loyal to you and respect your opinion.
“So many people who love you feel so betrayed right now because they know the harm that Trump’s policies cause, especially to people of color. Don’t let this be part of your legacy. You’re the greatest artist of our generation.”
Kanye remained unaffected by John’s messages and replied in a tweet of his own: “I love you John and I appreciate your thoughts. You bringing up my fans or my legacy is a tactic based on fear used to manipulate my free thought.”
(AllHipHop Rumors) When everybody was going crazy over Kanye West’s MAGA Hat, I was wondering why Lyor Cohen was in the same picture throwing up a Devil Sign! Now, the sign has a lot of meanings at this point. White Supremacy, The Illuminati and Devil Worship AND Lyor’s 300 Entertainment all share the same hand gesture! How much of a coincidence is that? That’s crazy! For the record, Lyor says he’s just doing the sign of his company, which is fairly new. Me? I would have to change my sign if that was the case just to avoid confusion. You know Lyor ain’t thinking about ya’ll and ya weird thoughts on who is who and what is what! The formal statement, “The hand gesture made by Lyor Cohen is representative of the company he founded, 300 Entertainment and absolutely nothing more.”
Meek will return to court in June, but he has been ordered to remain in Philadelphia County until his next hearing.
However, he can petition court officials to leave the county if he needs to, according to The Blast.
“Pursuant to this same Order, this Court ORDERS that Defendant reside in Philadelphia County, be supervised by the Philadelphia County Adult Probation and Parole Department, and shall report to the Philadelphia County Adult Probation and Parole Department within 24 hours of the date of this Order,” the order reads.
Meek’s lawyers have been trying to get the rapper’s original conviction vacated after it emerged the police officer who arrested him had been named as part of a local corruption scandal – he was accused of lying under oath to put the rapper behind bars.
Judge Genece Brinkley was recently asked to toss Williams’ 2008 conviction by prosecutors, but she refused.
A prolific writer, filmmaker, director and idea generator, Deon Taylor is a self-taught, creative genius. His work is innovative, his writing is cutting edge and his vision is iconic. He is forever creating and is a force to be reckoned with in the conglomerate world of entertainment.
Deon is always thinking outside the box, juggling creative projects with ease, and his intelligence is so profound; it’s a no brainer that Taylor continues to run his own thriving film and production company, Hidden Empire Film Group (HEFG) formerly known as Deon Taylor Enterprises (DTE), which he launched in 2000.
Taylor has formed a partnership with Roxanne Avent, a thought-provoking visionary, an amazing producer and executive with a powerful business aptitude. With Taylor’s superb insight, knowledge, desire and fire, this union who writes, directs, and produces all of their own projects will be a partnership to watch and learn from.
His new movie-Traffik centers around characters named Brea and John, who embark on a romantic weekend getaway to an isolated estate in the mountains. They are pleasantly surprised when two of their friends, Darren and Malia, also show up unexpectedly. Their plans for fun soon give way to terror when members of a violent biker gang invade the peaceful countryside. Banded together, they now find themselves in a fight for their lives as their assailants will stop at nothing to protect their secrets from the outside world.
AllHipHop: Hey, what’s up Deon? What’s popping?
Deon: How are you doing man?
AllHipHop: I’m doing fine, my brother. I’m actually doing fine.
Deon: Alright. Nice to meet you, man!
AllHipHop: I saw the movie. The movie is good and quite interesting my brother. How did you get started in film?
Deon: It’s interesting man because I was a basketball player. I’m from Gary, Indiana, and I basically ended up just having the idea when I was playing basketball. One day I was like I really would love to figure out how to get into this business. It actually all started when I was over there playing. My girl, at the time, would send me a bunch of movies. This was before Netflix and Hulu … where you can just sit and watch movies from your phone.
She sent me DVD’s and I couldn’t get enough. I would go to basketball practice and get out of practice and watch 3 movies in a night. What ended up happening used to be like a drought where I’m waiting for movies to come. One day I just started watching because I didn’t want to watch TV at all. I just started watching the making of the movie on the DVD’s, and that inspired me. I beme a bigger fan of the DVD’s and the making of the movie. What ended up happening was, I started watching how the movies were made before I even watched the film.
I would determine, at that stage, and this is a wild story, I would determine at that stage if the movie was good or not after I watched it based on the fact that I could see the cuts, the elements or how they edited it. If it was seamless, I’m like that was crazy. Me being who I am and at the time I didn’t really realize what was happening to me. God was actually speaking to me and telling me this is what you are going to do. It took me years and years to understand that. Actually, a couple of years ago was when I was like wow! This is the course I was supposed to be on.
I left Germany, and at the time, my Mom was in Sacramento because she had moved out of Indiana to be a little bit closer to me in California because I went to San Diego State. I went everywhere in Hollywood telling people that I had this movie idea. I wrote my own script on a tablet. I had no idea of what the final draft was going to be like … I didn’t know nothing. I laugh now because some of the meetings I was in, I was like damn, do you even know? I’m surprised they didn’t laugh you out the room. You know what I mean? But, all I did was to grow my heart, energy and passion. It’s almost like I was dumb enough and naïve enough to think I could do it.
You know what I mean? But I had enough heart and passion to continue doing it. What I tend to tell people a lot of times is when you grow up with a sports background, you sure will be a good sportsman. Hope you understand what I’m saying?
AllHipHop: Yes, I do.
Deon: When you really attack sports in the right way … I remember because I was an All-American. I did all that. I remember coming from Gary with no shoes, with a nappy on my head, just getting a free jersey and them dropping me in the gym with 150 of the most elite kids in the country. I remember being like okay, this is what it is. Soon as they rolled the ball out, you know what time it is. It’s like okay, here’s what we’re doing so you forget your shoes, you forget you didn’t eat. Oh I didn’t have the lights was off last month at Mom’s house, and you just attack. I credit a lot of that darkness and a lot of that energy to what I’m doing now. When I got to Hollywood, years and years of being told no, I felt the same way. I felt like I was in a corner and you got to fight out and hustle, jump and make my shot and that’s how I attacked this marketplace.
Even till now, it’s been 10 years completely 100% independent. We’ve never had a studio take a movie out. We never sold a movie to a studio. My whole thing has always been we’re making a movie from A to Z and then the second gift was trying to figure out how you get distribution. We fell on our face multiple times and then in 2016, we did the unthinkable. I made a little bitty comedy called Meet The Blacks. We shot that movie for no money. Everybody in Hollywood was giving me these … you know, they were giving me that deal … where you’re like no! I’m not taking that.
We had been around the block so many times with movies and getting told no and getting screwed over and I said I’m not doing that no more. I was like, here’s what we need to do. We’re going to figure out how to take this movie out ourselves and everybody was like huh? Like Scooby-Doo. It was the first time, and this was the culture, this was the first time I knew what that movie represented. Before I had made a horror movie called Chain Letter which was really dope. I did another movie called.
I did all this stuff where you could actually tell me it wasn’t going to work and then I would be like well maybe it won’t be cut. I didn’t know it like that. When I finished Meet The Blacks, I knew what that was. It’s like watching LeBron in the park when he was 16. You’re like no man, he’s on his way. He isn’t jumping out the gym so when they told me that what I had was not this and not that, I was like no, I beg to differ. This is not going be that.
We got our own money. We took that movie out theatrically. The movie ultimately opened #4 in the country. It beats out 30-45 studio films in 2016 in terms of money revenue.
It goes on to become a really successful film. What that movie did for me and my family and my partner, Roxanne and Robert Smith … what it did was it validated us because now what happens in Hollywood is that people that would now see me come in a room
Number 1 they understood chill out, we’re trying to really take advantage of us. We understand that’s the nature of the business, but treat us right.
Number 2, what it did was it let everybody know this dude is crazy enough to where if I don’t get it, he’ll take it out himself. That will allow us to be able to play on an even field in the space as African-American filmmakers, producers, and directors. It has been a blessing.
When I finished that, I told Roxanne, who’s my partner and Robert Smith, I was like yo here’s what we are going to do. I’m going to run and it’s going to be hard and we might fall out and die, but I said on a crack, but I said we got these four projects and I’m not going to come out of production until they’re done because the idea will be in 2018 is to have a slate of movies so we can compete with the Lions Gate, with the Blumhouses, with the Paramount.
I want us to be a mini-boutique company the same way Tyler built his company, the same way Blumhouse built their company. The only way that you can compete on that level is if you have multiple projects dropping. Not just one.
My battery became that. My energy was that because the one offs were not working. You make one movie and you step out like, oh man I really hope you like this. Oh, they didn’t like it?
Okay, well how about… no, we will go and we’re going to do something that no one else has done in the space which is going to be a Deon Taylor thing that I hope people understand. People are like what is that and I say man I play in all genres.
Most of the time what happens is when I name … and these are all iconic people I will name … when I say to you Spike Lee, you automatically in your mind register a Spike Lee movie.
When you say Deon Taylor, what I want you to think, is whoa. Drama, awards, oh wait a minute … comedy … oh wait a minute … thriller, horror. I want to be where I am seamless in the space to where you can’t tell me what bucket I live in. As a filmmaker, what I’m pushing for is I’m a storyteller. At the end of the day, as long as I have my three basic scenarios in my film, I can play in any genre. What is that? Humanity, life, love and redemption. As long as, doesn’t matter if I made Traffic, all the way across the board to our new film with Michael Ealy and Dennis Quaid, The Intruder, which is a horror thriller. It’s the same principles, but I don’t want someone to define me as black filmmaker. That’s what is happening in Hollywood with all of our black filmmakers, right?
AllHipHop: You are correct.
Deon: If I tell you Steven Spielberg, you go, oh wait … let me see…
AllHipHop: Fantasy?
Deon: Right. The Color Purple, right? Where does he live? Ready Player One, right? What genre is Steven Spielberg? He’s in all of them because he can afford to be in them. For me, I want it to be that for us. I wanted to be the guy where yo man D’s got a horror movie coming out. D got this coming out. I want it to be where if I see something and I like it, I should be creative enough and smart enough and intuitive enough to be able to deliver that. That’s the spit man. What I’m trying to do.
AllHipHop: How did you get with Jamie Foxx? How did you hook up with him?
Deon: A long time ago. basketball to me is a fraternity. I met Jamie playing in the NBA entertainment league. As a matter of fact, me and Jamie got really close because I played against his team in the championship of the NBA entertainment league and he was tasked to guard me. They beat us. He had a great team and they ended up beating us. It was great. They had a really good team. I think Tank was on their team. Obviously you shake hands with somebody and that’s what you do, you got me?
AllHipHop: What inspired you to do the Traffic project? How did that even come about?
Deon: What happened was I got an email one day on my phone and I have a 12 year old daughter. This thing was telling us in our community to be careful dropping your kids off at the mall and I said why? I read into the letter and it was kids are being kidnapped and trafficked. I was like what is this? As an African-American man, me and my girl was like well they don’t get us? That’s something that white people get, right?
I was as dumb as that sounded. As I read more and more, I realized this is not. 75 to 85% of the kids that are being trafficked are African-American and Latino. I was like whoa! Look at this and I thought it was an international problem, but no, it’s domestic. Then I started doing more and more research and I learned like okay here’s what’s going on.
It’s another level to this where these girls are actually being taken and drugged and sent across the country and being sold as slaves. When I started researching it more and more, I have just seen how close and how dramatic trafficking was in the U.S and then I wondered why we’re not doing more about it.
AllHipHop: Right! Another question I have. Why did you choose to kill all of the male leads off? Was it to make a statement about women overcoming serious problems?
Deon: Sometimes in life you have to lose everything that you have, everything has to crash …everything has to crash and burn and blow up and be destroyed in order for you to become the best, the new you. That movie represents that to me.
in other words, here’s Paula … she had the job, she thinks she’s got it going on. Here’s a guy that really loves you. But shes not really ready to commit to love because she has a choice, right? And what ultimately happens is her entire world gets turned upside down, everything is taken from her, to understand, here’s what you’re supposed to be doing and here’s the best you.
Deon: What that represents … and that’s what I put in the film … that’s why you lose Omar. Let’s strip everything. Take it all from you and just lay there like your dead. Naw, you’re not dead. You’re just being reborn. That was the energy in terms of what that represented in the film to me.
