It looks like Ian Connor may never fully take off as he has been plagued for months with rape allegations. Ian’s claim to slight “fame” was being a stylist and collaborator with Kanye West. Ian’s life began to spiral out of control when several women came forward accusing him of rape. Amber Rose decided to jump into the controversy with her recent interview with TheDailyBeast. Rose says 21 women have reached out to her saying they have been raped by Connor. Rose says,
“Because I have my SlutWalk, all of the women have reached out to me as well. They want to come to my SlutWalk and tell their story on my stage. I have that platform for them to do so. I’m not a lawyer. I can’t prosecute anyone or say what she’s saying is exactly the truth. I’m assuming there are more coming out. It’s innocent until proven guilty, but when you have 21 women from all over the world that do not know each other but have similar stories, it gets to the point where it’s like.. enough.”
Ian wasn’t here for Amber Rose or her SlutWalk. He tweeted,
“Attention seeking will be the death of so many inside and out. .. Lol c## this bald head b-tch is now the law. 21? Why the f-ck hasn’t one charge been pressed. Something’s not right.”
Do you think Ian raped all of these women?
Wow! For A Few Retweets, Complex Fake Caring About Me and A Photoshoot With Amber Rose I Just Gotta Lie and Say Someone Raped Me On The Web?
21 Savage’s “Motorcycle” is digital debauchery. The song is a solid effort that could possibly turn the upstart rapper into a full-blown superstar. Real fans will appreciate how he can meld hardcore rap and R&B into one song. Personally, I’ve been a 21 fan since The Slaughter Tape Mixtape. How, long he’s able to maintains is to be determined, but for now 21 Savage is giving hype to the Atl Scene.
(AllHipHop News) A defamation lawsuit filed by former N.W.A. manager Jerry Heller against Ice Cube and Dr. Dre has been given the go-ahead by a Los Angeles judge.
Heller sued the studio behind last year’s acclaimed N.W.A. biopic “Straight Outta Compton” for at least $110 million in October of 2015, claiming he was negatively portrayed in the movie by actor Paul Giamatti.
He also claimed he never gave permission for his likeness to be used in the movie, or for the filmmakers to use elements from his book “Ruthless: A Memoir.”
Studio bosses at NBC Universal, director F. Gary Gray, and N.W.A. stars and movie producers Dr. Dre and Ice Cube filed a motion to dismiss his lawsuit in February, but in March a federal judge ruled the case could continue.
However, District Judge Michael Fitzgerald has now ruled certain elements in the case do not amount to defamation, but he is allowing Heller’s action to move forward based on two scenes in the movie, in which he is portrayed as a shady manager who instructed rapper Ice Cube to sign a contract without consulting a lawyer.
The judge explains that while many other scenes in the film are mentioned in Heller’s memoir and can be portrayed in “colorful and hyperbolic” terms, the scenes in which his character tells Ice Cube, played by the rapper’s son O’Shea Jackson, Jr., that lawyers “are paid to make trouble” and “create problems where none exists” are not true.
“The Film arguably portrays Plaintiff as an exploitative record label manager who attempted to take advantage of an unsophisticated artist by discouraging him from retaining an attorney during contract negotiations,” Fitzgerald writes.
“Viewers would not necessarily interpret the manager’s attempts to prevent an unsophisticated artist from hiring an attorney in a favorable or even neutral light. Those attempts go beyond what is normally expected at the negotiation table, and agents who engage in such tactics may well carry a bad reputation in the industry.”
However, Fitzgerald has stated that Heller still has to prove the situation portrayed in the film didn’t happen and it was maliciously written into the movie.
(AllHipHop News) Bryan “Birdman” Williams’ attempts to turn around a disastrous interview on “The Breakfast Club” may be thwarted by legal action over his attempts to build a brand out of the word “Respek.”
The Cash Money/Rich Gang founder was ridiculed after he ordered host Charlamagne The God to “put some respek (respect)” on his name during an interview back in April.
After the short interview went viral, Birdman began to hawk T-Shirts with the phrase, in addition to releasing the a music video for the song “Respek.”
According to TMZ.com, the owner of a clothing company already owns the trademark for the word “Respek,” which he received in 2005.
The company has been promoting shirts and hats with the word “Respek” for several years. The owner of the company believes Birdman has raked in a hundreds of thousands of dollas in merchandise sales.
The company is threatening Birdman with lawsuit unless he gives up a portion of his earnings from the sales of his merchandise.
What in the world is up with Chris Brown’s crew and their partying habits?
According to the cops in Ibiza, Chris rented a luxurious villa, but when the landlord took a look at the place, it was so bad, he called the cops.
Apparently, Chris’ crew has a thing for knives, since someone carved up the walls. It gets worse, someone p##### in the bed, and there was also vomit all over the place. The police were called because Chris refused to leave the place, to top it all off.
The landlord wanted about $60,000 to cover the damages, which Breezy already paid.
(AllHipHop News) DMV representer Logic dropped a brand new mixtape just as his he hits the road with G-Eazy’s “The Endless Summer” tour, which features Yo Gotti, and Y.G.
Logic, who is co-headlining “The Endless Summer Tour,” dropped the 11-track “Bobby Tarantino” mixtape earlier this morning (July 1).
“This mixtape is for my fans. I wanted to give u something for the Summer,” Logic said. “Thank you for always supporting me. Enjoy.”
“Bobby Tarantino” features just one guest appearance – from Virginia rapper and G.O.O.D. Music President, Pusha -T, who checks in on the song “Wrist.”
“The Endless Summer Tour” kicked off in Dallas three nights ago on June 28th.
(AllHipHop Features) The life story of Darold “A$AP Ferg” Ferguson, Jr. covers the Harlem-born entertainer launching Devoni Clothing as a teenager, teaming with the New York Hip-Hop collective A$AP Mob, releasing two Top 10 albums, and cementing himself as an award-winning rap star.
With Always Strive And Prosper, Ferg proved he would not fall victim to the sophomore slump curse by garnering favorable reviews and debuting higher on the Billboard 200 chart than the album’s predecessor. The official lead single “New Levels” became the 27-year-old rhymer’s highest charter on the Hot 100 and Hot Rap Songs as well.
The 2016 LP featured over a dozen additional artists with the legendary Missy Elliott offering a rare guest appearance on “Strive.” In addition, Ferg once again let fans get more familiar with his Uncle Psycho on the records “Psycho” and “Let It Bang.”
For the latest installment of AllHipHop.com’s “My Five Firsts,” A$AP Ferg was asked to reflect on the moment he discovered how his uncle earned his nickname.
In addition, the Trap Lord discussed the first time he rapped for his A$AP Mob comrade A$AP Rocky, and he recalls the initial musical introductions to two of his artistic influences – Missy Elliott and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.
First Time Seeing A Celebrity Wear Your Devoni Clothing
The first person was either Chris Brown or Ludacris. I was thinking “ching ching.” [laughs] Right after I seen that was possible, I was hitting up my stylist friends. They were helping me get artists to wear my stuff.
First Time A$AP Rocky Heard You Rap
I think the first time Rocky heard me rap was in a cipher in Harlem. We were around 16.
First Time You Realized Your Uncle Was Psycho
The first time I realized my uncle was psycho was when he got into a crazy fight outside. I was young, like 10.
First Time You Went To The BET Awards
The first time I went to the BET Awards would have to be when Rocky brung me up on stage. That was so long ago. Then the next year I won the award for Rookie Of The Year [at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards]. I didn’t show up that year because of scheduling.
First Time Hearing A Missy Elliott Album & A Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Album
I was never really listening to albums like that back in the day. I would never listen to full albums except for like Jadakiss or Ruff Ryders, Drag-On, and DMX. As far as Missy, I was mostly going off of her mainstream hits and videos. The first time I saw [“The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”] video – that’s when I really started getting into Missy and Hype Williams’ style of video directing. With Bone Thugs, I would try to memorize all their lyrics, because they were rapping so fast.
(AllHipHop News) Rapper Fat Joe is in trouble with the IRS, once again.
The rapper, who is experienced a resurgence in his career with the hit single “All The Way Up,” allegedly owes the IRS over $1.1 million in back taxes.
A new lien was reportedly against Fat Joe for not paying taxes on income from the years 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2014.
The rapper is not new to issues with the IRS.
In 2012, Fat Joe pleaded guilty to two counts of evading taxes on over $3 million in income from 2007 2008, 2009 and 2010.
He spent four months in federal prison for tax evasion in 2013, claiming “fancy guys in bowties” mishandled his finances.
The news comes on the heels of Fat Joe settling a $2 million lawsuit with the estate of Big Pun.
(AllHipHop News) The beef between Meek Mill and Joe Budden continues to brew on social media, after Budden name checked the Philadelphia rapper on his diss record to Drake titled “Making a Murderer Part 1.”
Budden’s issues with Meek really started last summer, after comments Budden made during his Internet radio show “I’ll Name This Podcast Later.”
“Part of my problem with that is that Meek’s music is too hard. Meek’s music is too hard for me to look at him with this f##king sappy f##k s##t. Be the hardcore guy that I’m sure she was attracted to at some point,” Joe Budden said. ”It’s nasty. I hate everything about it. I’m glad a dark-skinned guy is behaving this way. Light-skinned ni##as, we’re not moving like that…
Light-skinned guys, we’re used to getting the bad b##ch,” Joe Budde said. “He’s like this b##ch just stepped off a f##king Mars and is the only girl. Oh my God, I just hate it all. But I do appreciate them both keeping the hope of love alive.”
Those comments didn’t sit well with the Philly rhymester, who replied during an interview on “The Breakfast Club” radio show.
“What the hell did you do,” Meek Mill asked of Joe during the show. “You a rapper. You can’t talk, you was just crying, talking about you was on crack, some crazy s##t. You can’t comment.”
Rumor had it that Meek was planning a record dissing Joe Budden.
Meek denied the chatter on social media, but he included an insult attached, which labeled Budden a “shermead/crackhead,” another jab at the Jersey City, New Jersey native’s past issues with substance abuse.
Joe Budden warned Drake and Meek a diss record could be on the way, and he apparently decided to launch a preemptive strike mostly aimed at Drake, with the release of “Making a Murderer Part 1.”
In the latest round of feuding, Meek dissed Joe Budden on his Instagram page just last night (June 30) and Joe swiftly replied with a warning to Meek.
Check it out below:
https://instagram.com/p/BHTYJw3BP20/
Just yesterday he wasn’t dissing a Crackhead…. Maybe his mood changed. Shrugs lol
(AllHipHop News) According to recent reports, VH1 will soon begin a new series entitled “VH1 Live,!,” which will be hosted by CNN commentator and BET News host Marc Lamont Hill.
The show, which will be produced by Embassy Row, will deliver VH1’s pop culture spin on entertainment news and gossip.
In addition, the audience and social media will play a major role in the discussion with the witty and savvy Hill dishing on pop culture with some of VH1’s biggest stars.
New York City based Embassy Row has produced hit shows in the past, such as “Watch What Happens Live” for Bravo; “The Talking Dead” for AMC; “Cutthroat Kitchen” for The Food Network; and “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee” starring Jerry Seinfeld for Crackle.
Marc Lamont Hill is an award winning journalist and and author of the book Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond.
The late night talk show will air for the first time Sunday, July 17th at 10:00 p.m. on VH1.
(AllHipHop News) Apple is currently exploring the potential acquisition of Jay Z’s new streaming service Tidal.
According to The Wall Street Journal the negotiations are “ongoing” and not guaranteed to lead to a deal.
The reports follow the recent news of Tidal on the lookout for potential buyers, with the organization even holding talks with Napster last year.
If this major acquisition were to go through it would definitely eliminate a bit of the competition in the music streaming industry, while simultaneously beefing up the newly founded Apple Music.
Apple Music, which got it’s start in the streaming industry in 2015, has 15 million subscribers.
Dame Dash recently stopped by Access Hollywood to promote BET’s new show ‘Music Moguls’ that features Dash, Birdman, Jermaine Dupri and Snoop Dogg. While Dame wanted to promote his recent endeavors, the hosts seemed more interested in getting down to the Beyonce “Becky with the good hair” scandal that involved his ex-wife Rachel Roy. Beyonce’s Beyhive drug Rachel Roy to hell and back when she made a reference to the Becky character on her Instagram. While Roy denied being Becky, we never heard how Dame felt about the incident until now. Dame revealed that he didn’t care about any of that, and he only cared about how it affected his children as the Beyhive even attacked their children on social media. Dame said,
“Whatever, I don’t care about none of that. The only issue I had was them putting pressure on my children. For me it’s the history between me and Jay, me being his partner at the time in Roc-A-Fella and Rocawear and all that and best friend … of course, on a human level, it would bother me.”
He also revealed that he turned to a therapist to help him get through the situation. Dame says he’s been in rap beef but never had to deal with anything that affected his children. It’s good to see Dame dealing with his anger in a different way.
It’s no secret that actress Nia Long’s name has been heavily dropped in Hip Hop for a while, and she’s been a longtime crush of many. Long previously explained to Larry King that she believed she is mentioned so much in Hip Hop because ‘Boys In The Hood’ came out in the classic and timeless Hip Hop era, and both artists and actors changed the game and gave urban music space to do it’s own thing. Nia seemed to be flattered that J. Cole was one of many that had a crush on her. She also recently stopped by Jimmy Kimmel, and Kimmel wanted to discuss her honorable Hip Hop mentions as well. While denying being “Becky with the good hair”, she revealed her feelings on being mentioned on Nas’ “Oochie Wally” track. Kimmel recited Horse’s verse on the track,
“Like Nia Long in a cherry thong with the lights on.”
To which Nia replied,
“When I heard that I got really nervous because I’m thinking has someone been in my panty drawer. Do I have a cherry thong? Did I have sex with a guy and wore a cherry thong? I was so confused. Then I thought maybe I need a cherry thong. So I actually went and got a cherry thong, and that’s how I got my husband.”
Rappers and their baby mama drama!!! Fetty Wap is at it again with one of his baby mamas, Love & Hip Hop’s Masika. Fetty & Masika couldn’t get along for much of Masika’s pregnancy, and the two seemed to have a 12th hour reconciliation right before baby Khari’s birth. As Fetty continued to hop around between his baby mamas, “day ones”, girlfriends, and sister wives, him and Masika’s relationship has gone sour again. The two jumped on Twitter to trade shots about bad parenting. Masika accused Fetty of being a deadbeat dad and a liar. Masika claims that Fetty isn’t involved in their daughter’s life, however just a few weeks ago she praised him for being a very involved father. Masika even went as far as to accuse him of being a social media father. Fetty told Masika that he never gave a f-ck about her. Ouch! A few screenshots and insults later, we have to wonder why this couldn’t be handled offline.
YRN member Migo Domingo had a discussion with DJ Smallz and responded to comments that Master P. recently made on Power 105.1 about rappers getting high.
That’s something I say in my day-to-day life. Nine times out of ten, I’m using it to describe something I’ve just seen, heard or experienced that’s a bit off center, more than unusual or downright weird.
With life as a Hip-Hop journalist being what it is, it’s become a quote used with catchphrase like frequency. I mean lets face it… you guys are online as much as I am, if not more. Between the things that rappers say in their songs, show on their socials and do in their daily lives, the music industry is good for at least eight of these a day.
But my brain kicked my catchphrase into overdrive once I sat down at my laptop, plugged in my favorite headphones and pressed play on Joe Budden’s diss to Drake; “Making A Murderer Part 1.”
Now before we get started, understand that I’m not going to spend a lot of time on backstory.
I will say that most of this comes from Joe’s rather harsh but honest critique of Drakes Views album. Now, was this something off-center, out of sorts or in any way weird for Joe Budden?
Nah, not really. And if you’ve been keeping up with Joe’s “I’ll Name This Podcast Later” podcast is pretty familiar about the friction brewing between the two. But if you haven’t or decided never to look it up, it’s going to seem as if this diss just came out of the sky. That’s being the case, I’ll assure you it didn’t and we can move on. Especially since that’s not what’s really important here anyway.
Beef on wax is pretty common in Hip-Hop but over the last few years, the fans of the genre have gotten pretty used to subliminal shots from their favorite artists instead of the direct call out technique most might prefer. The strategy being to diss another artist in a subtle way instead of out-right so when/if the target responds directly, the iron-clad defense of “I wasn’t even talking about you”, followed by the all too familiar “You aint important enough for me to diss” or “I must be on your mind” or “he’s just trying to start a beef to get attention” or any of the thousands of verbal deflections rappers who throw stones and hide their hands like to employ can be used. The subtle jab or “sneak diss” can also be ignored by the intended target, who pretends they didn’t hear it and thereby allowing the attacker to claim a silent victory.
We who study and dissect Hip-Hop from the wordsmiths of the game often observe the undercover jabs from the likes of Jay, Kendrick, Pusha, Drake and others as all involved look to keep things political and none want to legitimize their opponent by acknowledging a beef or be seen as a hater.
The “and now… this is happening” moment came to me after the song went off. After hearing a scathing diss from very accomplished and highly respected MC (including from the targets own words) Who decided to jump over the political correctness and attack a subliminal with a direct shot.
Knowing that the casual Hip-Hop listener or Drake stan will attempt to dismiss this as a cry for attention or label the track a shot by an unworthy opponent based on sales and commercial popularity, Joe dug into Drake line after line anyway.
The diss wasn’t about sales or money, the two crutches most causal fans jump to in defense of their favorites. This will break down into two different categories; bars and truth. It’s the place most modern MC’s aren’t familiar with but in a rhyme war with a guy like Budden, it’s the only place Drake can win. He can’t out spend or out swag or out profile his opponent. This time, Drake has to out RAP him. And while Drake has avoided directly responding to more challenges than he’s accepted, we do have Charged Up & the Grammy nominated Back To Back. Two shiny examples of what a Drake rebuttal looks like and proof that he can go there when he wants.
My “and now… this is happening” moment came when I realized, the easy exits like: Joe’s a hater, Joe’s broke, Joe’s looking for attention” Joe’s just trying to promote himself” have all been closed. Those excuses will only work on casual listeners who never looked beneath the surface of the slick-talk thats been Drakes second language these last few years. The tactics that have kept him safe from head on collisions with the likes of Pusha-T and Kendrick Lamar won’t really work here and the excuses to avoid it will only result in a loss in the eyes of all that know.
And now that I’ve put the headphones down and had my “and now… this is happening” moment, there’s only one question left….
Rihanna’s new video has made history as the first artist to premiere a music video on IMAX. DOPE. The video is a throwback of sorts, a big-budget, trippy ride that has the pop star looking like an alien from Star Trek. Not ironically, the song also appears on Star Trek Beyond’s soundtrack.