(AllHipHop News) Drake is preparing to release his next album Views From The 6 in the coming weeks, but VladTV sat down with Quentin Miller to discuss Drizzy’s last solo project If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. Miller was heavily involved in the making of IYRTITL. Meek Mill even accused Q.M. of being Drake’s ghostwriter for the project and other tracks.
Miller called the experience of working with Drake a highlight of his life. However, he stated being a writer for someone else is not his ideal situation.
“I hate the whole process of me working hard on a song for someone, and then giving it to you and you telling me, ‘Eh, I don’t like…’ I hate that. I’m not a writer,” said Miller.
While Miller would not go into detail on which songs he co-wrote with Drake, the Atlanta rapper did make it clear the two artists were in the studio together for the process. The WDNG Crshrs member also cleared up speculation he only served as a person that offered concepts for songs.
“I don’t know how he portrayed it.. the spark ideas thing. I don’t know how he wants to portray it, but from my perspective, we worked together. It wasn’t a bad thing. It changed my life,” Miller commented.
When it comes to the ghostwriting allegations, Miller only stated he takes issue with the controversy tarnishing the legacy of If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.
“All the sh-t that happened last year is unfortunate to me, because it clouds a project that I feel like was a strong project, a great project,” added Miller. “It was something I was super proud to be part of.”
With Kobe Bryant hanging up the sneaks for his career last night (April 13) we couldn’t help but notice Kobe Bryant’s undeniable connection to the Hip-Hop world. With artists like Kanye, Jay-Z and more in the building to support the Black Mamba’s last game, it got us thinking about that one time that Kobe dropped a song and rapped on a Ruff Ryders-like beat with Tyra Banks on the hook.
As you can see, this was back when Kobe had the ‘fro so the artwork is classic, almost looks like he could be an R&B singer. In the song he gives a shout out to Adidas his former sponsor and talks about trying to find a real love not after his money. While none of this matters now because we all know Kobe is happily married to Vanessa, it is crazy to hear Tyra singing the sexual hook.
“K-O-B-E, I L-O-V-E you
I believe you are very fine
If you give me one chance, I promise to love you
And be with you forever more”
Regardless, we gotta say that the last verse is the best one, check it out below:
Think ya eyein’ me, all along, I’m eyein’ you
The hunter becomes the hunted, girl, I’m preying on you
Beautiful, the feelings we share are mutual
Passion that’s telling me so for us is suitable
Un-controllable desire flows through me
When you say my name, such lust in your slang
No time for games, the games I play, all the same
Can’t get witcha, let the door hitcha, where the Lord splitcha
I figure, hour-glass figures could be dangerous
Cuz if your time runs out, they frame you for your clout
And having a past, well, I stereotype glass
All dimes ain’t money, ass, and feignin’ for a brother’s cash
Slash fame, slash power, slash respect
All the above, makes me a supreme threat to scrubs
Love but do you want? One more ‘gain, let me know
The words flow, from the bottom of your soul
C’mon
Love & Hip-Hop Hollywood star and Hip-Hop club promoter SincereShow is back at it again. After the infamous Hollywood socialite got the OVO co-sign with 10 stacks and some OVO J’s, he’s been on fire. He’s killed the clubs over the past few years and now he continues his push with the music. Sincere is “wayyyy up” right now and the music is sounding fire. Check it out below:
Understandably it’s been a journey back from the brink for Lamar Odom since his much publicized and near fatal drug overdose on October 13, 2015 at The Love Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada. In an incident that reportedly involved cocaine, a herbal substitute for Viagra, and other possible drugs, Odom was found unconscious in his room lying face down and choking on his own mucus after three days of hard partying at the Dennis Hof owned Nevada Brothel.
Following these events, the road back to normal has been a steady one for Odom, with three months spent in the hospital recuperating from complications including organ damage, multiple strokes and memory loss. Nevertheless, it would now appear that with Odom’s attendance on March 30th at the Lakers vs. Miami Heat game – his first NBA game since his overdose – as well as Odom’s attendance at former teammate and close associate Kobe Bryant’s final NBA game yesterday, April 13, 2015 that Odom is finally ready to retake what he believes to be his rightful place in the public arena.
As reported first by ETOnline, Odom is looking to come out of retirement and “get back on the court,” as his way of regaining himself and his standing in the world. Considering everything that Odom has endured to this point, both physically and mentally, were he to successfully return to the NBA, it would certainly qualify as an incredible comeback story. However, as according to recent reports by sources including E!News,ETOnline , and Perez Hilton, the real fly in the ointment might be rumors and rumors of pictures showing that Odom is straying back towards the partying lifestyle that put him out of commission to begin with. As reported by Perez Hilton and E!News, Odom was seen recently drinking with friends at the Johnny O’Brien Pub in Sherman Oaks, CA – despite the fact that he is still in recovery from his overdose and it’s after effects.
When asked directly by ET at Kobe Bryant’s final NBA game whether there was any truth to these rumors, Odom wasn’t exactly transparent: ” I mean, it gets tough, especially if so much gets speculated,” said Odom, continuing: “Only a few people know the truth, and I just keep that close to me heart.”
Hopefully that truth is a good one for all concerned.
To borrow from Donald Trump, HUGE things happened last week on “Empire” with Camilla Marks (Naomi Campbell) going out ‘ding dong, that b*tch is dead’ style at the end of episode 12 and pulling her wife Mimi Whiteman (Marisa Tomei) with her into that cold hard grave. Considering all of that drama, it wouldn’t have been unexpected for yesterday’s episode to have been much chiller and tamer with regards to the eye popping episodic business preceding it. To that end, early on at the start of episode 13, it was looking like everyone was taking it nice and normal with Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) wanting all her Lyons together in a Huxtable family way to celebrate her first birthday outside of jail, bi-polar Andre (Trai Byers) back on his meds and apologizing for accusing his wife Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) of being a ho, and Lucious (Terrence Howard) finally working through his serious issues with his mother (Kelly Rowland). However in the end, much like the whole pristine image of “The Cosby Show” going kablooey from the inside out, all of that calm got pretty much blown to hell by the time the end credits were rolling. So let’s get down to the best moments of that televised train wreck that we just can’t stop watching every Wednesday night even if we wanted to ***Spoiler Alert***:
Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) gets engaged to Laura Calleros (Jamila Velazquez). In the big moves and grand gestures that we should come to expect from the youngest boy of Lucious Lyon, Hakeem goes for broke and proposes to his innocent lady love Laura right after one of her shows as the opening act for his ex girlfriend Tiana (Serayah). Even though it looks like the real thing, you just know from the look on Tiana’s face and baby in Anika Calhoun’s (Grace Gealey) belly that this path towards true love will not be running smooth. For that matter, if folks aren’t careful, it might entirely jump the tracks before even getting close to the chapel.
Lucious reveals that as a young boy he witnessed as his mother took her own life. Working through his music video with Cookie, Lucious puts together all of the flashbacks from his boyhood and reveals that not only did his mother nearly drown him in a deluded attempt to cleanse him of his sins, but after she realized what she had almost done, she put a bullet in her own skull to atone – with him as her only audience. Now that’s a family history you don’t want to see visited on anyone – no matter what dirty deeds they have done.
Lucious admits to withholding the information that Andre’s mental issues likely come from Lucious’ own mother. When images of Lucious’ mother putting a gun to her head in Lucious’ music video trigger Andre’s memories of putting a gun to his own head in a depressive mental episode, Andre confronts Lucious for keeping this vital information secret rather than revealing it in order to help with Andre’s treatment and mental well being. Lucious is unapologetic for the lifelong omission, defending his actions as the better part of strength via refusal to admit any genetic weakness borne of the Lyon family tree. Yet another anti-father of the year moment for Lucious.
Jamal (Jussie Smollett) steals Freda Gatz (Bre-z) from Lucious and Cookie learns that Freda Gatz is Frank Gather’s (Chris Rock) daughter. In a turn that was bound to happen with Freda playing Lucious’ adopted daughter, Freda learns the hard way that Lucious truly has no allegiance to anyone – especially his own children be they biological, musical or adopted. When Jamal finally gets Freda to see this, she comes to a recording session with Jamal and admits to Cookie that she is the recently murdered Frank Gathers’ devoted girl child. Need we remind everyone that Cookie and Lucious are the ones who plotted and executed the murder of Freda’s dear old dad? Yikes.
Rhonda Lyon makes plans to stay at Anika Calhoun’s home as a ‘safe haven’ from Lyon family drama. Ugh! Talk about not having good instincts when it comes to dangerous female frenemies like Anika that would sooner cut somebody’s throat out than have another woman carrying a Lyon dynasty fetus beat her to the delivery table. Now, we’re not saying that Anika is the baby killer who pushed Rhonda down the stairs causing Rhonda to miscarry, but Anika certainly isn’t crying about that unusual turn of events, now is she? Rhonda going to live with Anika instead of Andre or just about any other random person just isn’t a move that is going to play out well for anyone other than Miss Anika Boo Boo Kitty herself.
“Empire” can be seen on Wednesday nights at 9/8 central on FOX.
(AllHipHop News) In a stunning turn of events, AllHipHop has learned exclusively that James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond officially requested for a new trial on March 10th in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (21 U.S.C 2255).
Despite a checkered background, while in operation Jimmy’s Czar Entertainment reportedly managed The Game, Sean Kingston, Brandy, Gucci Mane, Salt-n-Pepa and Akon.
Henchman also had a well publicized beef with 50 Cent and his G-unit crew.
The complaint, filed against former Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Kaminsky is based on the premise that Henry Butler received substantial benefits for his testimony during the trial.
“Kaminsky and the government have taken my life, and now he is using it to run for senate. I guess ambition has no boundaries,” Rosemond told AllHipHop.com.
He also says he was “never found with any money or drugs in his possession,” nor was any evidence produced during a two-year wire tap on his phones and in his office.
Furthermore, Rosemond assails that Butler was the government’s star witness and received favors from former Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Kaminsky unbeknownst to the courts.
Ineffective counsel and juror misconduct were also cited in the Habeas Corpus request for a new trial.
“The government and its prosecutor, now state senate candidate, Todd Kaminsky, used underhanded and unethical methods against me to secure my guilty verdict. I have lost everything. All the money I made as a legitimate music industry businessman, and now my freedom. I feel that I was prosecuted to the extent to which I was, in large measure, because of my role in the Hip Hop industry and the ability of the government to gain so much notoriety on my case,” James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond told AllHipHop in an exclusive statement.
Ironically, lead prosecution witness Henry Butler is married to Leah Daniels-Butler who is the sister of Lee Daniels famed director and co-creator of the hit television series, Empire.
Rosemond believes he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2013 based on testimony from Butler.
Jimmy claims that Butler was allegedly a major supplier of drugs that were obtained through Mexican cartels.
Rosemond’s attorneys believe the only evidence against Rosemond was circumstantial and supplied by prosecution witnesses all of whom were offered deals, like Butler, in return for their testimony.
According to Rosemond, Leah Daniels and Henry Butler were first targeted in narcotics investigations, arrested and after cooperating with federal authorities named Rosemond for a plea deal.
Leah Daniels -Butler was reportedly found with two guns, loaded magazines and drugs, she was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to perform 250 hours of community service.
Butler served less than 4 years in prison.
Rosemond says Kaminsky has used his status as the lead prosecutor to promote his campaign, benefitting from the high-profile media attention generated by Rosemond’s prosecution.
In addition, Rosemond believes that he became a target of federal prosecutors because of his entertainment business and connections to high-profile names in the hip hop industry who the government wanted Rosemond to turn in to authorities.
Rosemond also states that two jurors “were overheard discussing the oft-reported story in the media that James Rosemond was somehow involved in the shooting of Tupac Shakur, some years prior to his eventual murder.”
Filmmaker Don Sikorski is producing a documentary series entitled Unjust Justice: The Jimmy Rosemond Tapes and has uncovered evidence of the prosecution’s questionable ethics that contradicts the prosecution’s contention that Rosemond was a drug kingpin.
“In examining the case of James Rosemond, it became apparent that the government has overreached in charging him with the Kingpin Statute. Under the guidelines of the charge, Rosemond was not a kingpin. The government, through coercion of informants and a well-drafted narrative that put Rosemond at the head of the snake was circumstantial at best. I have definitive proof that disputes the story of the United States Attorney and audio interviews that show Todd Kaminsky manipulated every criminal associate around Rosemond to fit his ultimate goal of prosecuting the “big catch.”
Although Kanye West seems to have won over many, such as Vogue editor Anna Wintour, with his Yeezy fashion line, it looks like model Sam Rollinson may have stated what the majority of people are really feeling. Rollinson has described ‘Ye’s line as dreadful. In an interview with ES Magazine, Rollinson, 21, who has starred in campaigns for Zara, Chanel Watches, Tod’s and DKNY, said,
“I don’t know why Kanye West is coming to fashion shows. Beats me. Or why he is doing his own line. It’s absolutely dreadful. I could do it better. Genuinely.”
We aren’t even mad at Rollinson’s statement. We all wish Kanye would’ve done a lot better than a homeless street chic line.
Although rumor has it that Meek Mill’s ‘Dreamchasers 4’ mixtape will drop on April 29th (the same day as Drake’s ‘Views From The 6’ album will be released), apparently, Atlantic Records is saying this is completely false. A DatPiff page surfaced on April 12th showing a cover for ‘DC4’ with a countdown indicating a release date of April 29th. According to Atlantic, April 29th is not an official release date for DC4 at all. Hmmmmmm. What are your thoughts? Would it be nice if DC4 was really dropping the same day? Would it be just another ‘L’ for Meek?
As we know Drake’s highly anticipated ‘Views From The 6′ album will be released on April 29th. Interestingly enough, rumor has it that “Views’ may be a double disc album. Drake did say that fans would be getting lots of music, more than enough for the year, and it has taken him a while to complete the record. If Drake does in fact drop a double LP, perhaps each disc will have completely different sounds. Well most don’t buy the tangle copies of albums anymore so that just means a whole bunch of songs in the playlist for streaming and download. Does this mean one disc written by PartyNextDoor /Majid Jordan, and the other by Quentin Miller/Mo-G? Jk, Jk. LOL.
“I, Afrika Bambaataa, want to take this opportunity at the advice of my legal counsel to personally deny any and all allegations of any type of sexual molestation of anyone,” Bambaataa says in a statement to Rolling Stone. “These allegations are baseless and are a cowardly attempt to tarnish my reputation and legacy in hip-hop at this time. This negligent attack on my character will not stop me from continuing my battle and standing up against the violence in our communities, the violence in the nation and the violence worldwide.”
“In the name of the Supreme Force, who is called by many names, whom All Praise is due. Good Spiritual Human, I pray for all of you and ask in returns your prayers, and let us all do what we must to help change our ways on how we treat each other in evilness, to respect and love for each other as Humans Beings,” Bambaataa continues in his statement. “May Peace and Blessings be upon each and everyone of you. Who would stand up to save us and our planet with so much chaos going on? Peace, Love, Honor and Respect to all.”
King of Petty, 50 Cent, just refuses to let Irv Gotti and the rest of the former Murder Inc. crew live. Murda Mook recently posted a photo with Gotti along with a caption that read,
“Had a lengthy discussion wit a man that knows this game all too well. And always has been for the artist. He is quietly responsible for some of the greatest artists of all time. A very #honorable dude and mentor. @irvgotti187 and he still loves the rush of doing dope sh*t.”
Irv replied saying,
“@Murdamookez my n*gga. We gonna work. See what happens. F*ck it.”
50 must’ve got wind that Irv was trying to make moves and commented under the post saying,
“Nothing is gonna happen, I’m still around watching everything n*ggas I’m not missing a beat.”
Mook didn’t seem too bothered by it and decided to stay out of it, skipping 50’s comment to let someone know he’s dropping a new single today. LOL! Oh 50.
(AllHipHop Features) Last August, promising Hip Hop artist Jason “Jay IDK” Mills let loose his latest music collection. Subtrap is a 15-track excursion through the mind of several characters created by the Maryland-raised wordsmith. The world was introduced to King Trappy III, Jon Jon, Matt, Ed, and Chris as each fictional individual offered his own tales of the drug game via various cuts on Subtrap.
Following in the tradition of noteworthy conceptual rap albums like Prince Paul’s A Prince Among Thieves, Little Brother’s The Minstrel Show, and Childish Gambino’s Because The Internet, Jay IDK’s opus presents an artisan capable of crafting an exceptional auditory screenplay, an otic motion picture that plays on the big screen in the listener’s head. And according to its creator, the magic of Subtrap is charming a wider audience by the week.
“I think Subtrap is a good example of staying relevant, because we’re noticing an increase of sales per month as opposed to an album coming out, doing a certain amount of numbers the first week, and then going down from there,” says Jay. “So it’s basically been word of mouth for that particular project. I think based off of what the content is, what I’m talking about, and how deep everything is, it gives the music value.”
The LP features production by IDK, Lo-Fi, Skhye Hutch, Tobari, GameBrand, The Glitch Mob, Noose, Mr. Temmtation, and The Watcherz. While most of Subtrap is carried by Jay’s performance, BJ The Chicago Kid and Eddie Vanz lend their voices to the album as well. The soulful BJ appears on the track “Cookie Addiction” which highlights another player in the story of Subtrap – the influential Her.
“A lot of ‘Cookie Addiction’ had to do with that whole Her factor in Subtrap. Her is the music industry. I referred to the music industry as a girl,” explains Jay. “I took some of the experiences I had with women, put that together, and made it as if I’m talking to a woman. But at the end of the day, it’s all about this music industry.”
Jay IDK’s eventual love-hate relationship with the music business actually began while he was serving time in jail. During that period of being locked away, Jason was encouraged by another inmate to take his hobby of putting words together and turn it into a recording career.
A few years later saw the arrival of 2014’s Sex, Drugs And Homework. The debut album was the first example of the “Ignorantly Delivering Knowledge” approach that saturates every aspect of Jay’s persona and style.
The former Prince George’s County Community College student adopted a mission of infiltrating this generation’s psyche with Trap sounds that are easy to digest intertwined with thoughtful content that goes deeper than what appears on the surface. It’s in that spirit that Jay challenges viewers to decipher the covert themes of his recent “God Said Trap” video directed by Jacob LaGuardia.
“If you notice, there’s a lot of subliminal messages in this video. You would have to pause it or play it in slow motion to see some of these things,” says the London-born rhymer. “If you look at it, it seems like it’s just a regular, good quality music video, but it has these things in it that sets it apart.”
Even with turn-up anthems like “The Plug” and “Two Hoes” keeping Subtrap balanced, Jay is still very conscious about letting the doubters know he has real rap skills. Loosies like “MC Hammer Freestyle” and “Hungry” drop as reminders of what the HXLY TRiBE leader can do with the bars. His most recent declaration of higher level emceeing came in the form of “Hello (Freestyle).”
“Every now and then I have this sporadic moment where I feel like I need to prove or reassure people that I’m a rapper and a lyricist first. I try to challenge myself to write better than the last time I did it,” IDK states. “[On ‘Hello’] I was talking about people maybe not believing in me. I was trying to rub it in like, ‘Look you didn’t believe me when I told you, and this is what it is now.'”
The freestyle was spit over the beat to Raekwon’s “Ice Cream.” Jay was just a toddler when the Wu-Tang Clan member’s classic single was released in 1995, but it is not surprising the music connoisseur dipped into the 90’s well. The 23-year-old’s Instagram page partially serves as a multi-genre monument to celebrated masterworks of yesteryear.
Jay pays homage to numerous projects as inspirations (e.g. Bob Marley’s Gold, Erykah Badu’s Baduizm, Gorillaz’s Gorillaz). When it comes to Hip Hop, the works of DMX, Kanye West, and Eminem have been making a huge impact on his creative direction as of late.
DMX + IDK (via Instagram)
“If you listen to my new stuff about to come out, you almost get a little bit of a DMX vibe on some of the records. I incorporated some of that raw energy that he brought. That feeling of actually being a dog, an animal,” Jay tells AllHipHop.com. “Of course, I’ve always been a fan and studied Eminem. From him, I get a lot of my flows and some of the humor.”
He continues, “I started listening to some older Kanye. Not even College Dropout, but Freshmen Adjustment. I listen to that to get an idea where his head was at before he really popped off. I compare myself at where ever I’m in my career to where a lot of these people were as well.”
A taste of what’s to come from Jay arrived this week. He teamed with North Carolina’s Deniro Farrar to warn about devious n-ggas and thirsty b-tches. “Trust Nobody” is a menacing track reminiscent of DMX declaring “I don’t really trust humans that much these days” on “Dog Intro” off Grand Champ.
The next several months are on pace to be the start of a championship run for Jay IDK. The follow-up body of work to Subtrap is expected to hit the internet this summer, and an opening spot on Freddie Gibbs’ “Shadow Of A Doubt Tour” begins on 4/20.
In the meanwhile, Jay is still taking meetings with labels as he searches for a potential company partner who understands his vision as an artist. New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta have essentially been the capitals of Hip Hop culture for years, but the majors are also starting to focus on trying to find the next star out of the area surrounding the nation’s capital.
As one of the leading voices of the new DMV Hip Hop movement, Jay is helping to bring global attention to the musical awakening happening around Washington, DC. While he recognizes The District has not reached the same level as other cities in the rap game yet, Jay is optimistic about where the locale’s rap community is headed.
He concludes, “I think there’s still a lot more work we need to do and a lot more things that need to be accomplished for us to really do what we need to do. I think it’s at a good start, and that’s the most important part.”
(AllHipHop News) Atlanta’s 2 Chainz and New Orleans’ Lil Wayne took the time to show love to a few of their rap forefathers. The creators of the ColleGrove album sat down with Genius to discuss the impact the Dungeon Family’s Goodie Mob and OutKast had on their careers and southern Hip Hop as a whole.
“OutKast was setting the bar for Atlanta, getting us out of the booty shake zone, getting us to where people could actually listen to some lyrics, show creativity, and have live instruments,” stated 2 Chainz. “Goodie Mob was in the same bracket, in the same cloth, in the same blood vessel.”
The Def Jam recording artist shouted out Goodie Mob on the track “Gotta Lotta” off ColleGrove. Chainz interpolated lyrics from the group’s “Black Ice” for his own cut.
Cee-Lo, Khujo, T-Mo, and Big Gipp also heavily influenced Lil Wayne. The YMCMB rapper revealed he started listening to music by Goodie Mob as a young teenager.
“My homeboy C.T. – that’s one of Mack [Maine’s] good homeboys – he put me on it back in the seventh grade. He had me listening to that sh-t every day,” said Wayne. “It changed my life. I started rapping about different things and found out that it was okay to rap positive.”
(AllHipHop News) The music industry has often seen a struggle between creatives and corporate. That dynamic was on display when 300 Entertainment head Lyor Cohen and Atlanta rapper Young Thug appeared on the CNBC program Follow The Leader.
In a clip from the episode, Cohen can be seen telling Thug he needs to work on his songwriting ability rather than just freestyling lyrics as he records. Thugger pushed back on the idea.
“This year I want ten #1 singles,” said Thug.
Cohen replied, “If you don’t freestyle and you actually work on the singles and record great choruses and develop your songs.”
After Cohen advised the “F Cancer” performer that he needs to come back to his recordings and work on them further, Thug shot back, “No I don’t… Hell nah. The critics come back to them.”
Young Thug has managed to establish himself as one of the most talked about rappers in the game at the moment through his abstract fashion sense and constant releasing of music. The 24-year-old southerner has already dropped two projects in 2016 (I’m Up and Slime Season 3) with Hy!£UN35 expected to arrive this year as well.
CNBC’s Follow The Leader airs Wednesdays at 10 ET/PT.
(AllHipHop News) J Dilla fans rejoice. The late production master’s unreleased album The Diary is set to arrive this week. The Detroit legend’s revived company PayJay teamed with Mass Appeal Records to drop the posthumous musical effort.
The Diary was originally set for release in 2002, but it was shelved by Dilla’s label at the time. The collection allowed the man born James Yancey to use the project to showcase his vocal talents. Madlib, Pete Rock, Hi-Tek, Nottz, House Shoes, Supa Dave West, Bink! and Karriem Riggins provided production for the LP.
The Estate of James Yancey’s Creative Director Eothen Alapatt oversaw the completion of The Diary. Alapatt, the long-term general manager of Stones Throw Records, also served as A&R for Dilla’s Donuts and Jaylib’s Champion Sound.
The process to assemble The Diary took ten years as two-track mixdowns and multi-track masters found in J Dilla’s archives after his death were added to the album’s final version. The Diary will be released on April 15. Pre-order the album on iTunes.
Check out the cover art and tracklist for The Diary by J Dilla as well as the single “The Sickness” featuring Nas below.
1. The Introduction2. The Anthem feat. Frank & Dank3. Fight Club feat. Nottz & Boogie4. The Shining Pt. 1 (Diamonds) feat. Kenny Wray5. The Shining Pt. 2 (Ice)6. Trucks7. Gangsta Boogie feat. Snoop Dogg & Kokane8. Drive Me Wild9. Give Them What They Want10. The Creep (The O)11. The Ex feat. Bilal12. So Far13. F-ck The Police14. The Diary15. The Sickness feat. Nas (iTunes only bonus track)16. The Doe (iTunes only bonus track)
(AllHipHop News) New York rapper Desiigner has released only one official single in his career so far, and “Panda” has become a certified smash hit. The 19-year-old rhymer took over the #1 spot on the Hot Rap Songs chart after seven weeks.
Besides being in the poll position on the Rap Songs chart, “Panda” is climbing the Hot 100 as well. Desiigner now sits at #5 on the Billboard tally that marks the top singles in the nation.
Sales of the song jumped 43% and total number of streams rose 48% in the last week. “Panda” sold 70,000 downloads and was streamed 22.3 million times during that span.
Desiigner gained notoriety after being signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint early this year. The Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn based performer was also featured on his label founder’s latest album The Life Of Pablo.
“Panda” managed to out chart Ye’s “Famous” and “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” as well as Drake’s “Pop Style” and “Summer Sixteen” on this week’s Hot Rap Songs chart. On the Hot 100 side, the record is only trailing Rihanna’s “Work” (#1), Lukas Graham’s “7 Years” (#2), Meghan Trainor’s “No” (#3), and Zayn’s “Pillowtalk” (#4).
(AllHipHop News) Seminal West Coast rap group N.W.A was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this month. The Straight Outta Compton album creators joined fellow Hip Hop representatives Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy. However, KISS member Gene Simmons has been very vocal about rap stars not being included in the Rock & Roll museum in Cleveland.
Simmons and N.W.A member Ice Cube exchanged words about rappers in the Rock Hall via Twitter after the induction ceremony. Cube then went on The Howard Stern Show where he addressed the issue further.
“I think he believes it’s straight for rock and rollers,” said Cube. “I got a lot of respect for Gene Simmons. I’ve met him a couple of times. He’s actually pretty cool, but I just think he’s wrong on this.”
He continued, “Everybody’s got their own opinions. Gene is an OG in the game, but he’s just wrong on this. It’s a spirit, and it’s been going on before they called it Rock & Roll.”
It’s hard to believe that “Barbershop: The Next Cut” is the third installment of a franchise that is just two years shy of the 15 year mark. Considering the who’s who of talent that has come through this franchise that has spawned four movies to date – including this most recent release set for April 15, as well as the female spin off “Beauty Shop” in 2005 – it wouldn’t be off the mark to suggest that even if this current movie were the narrative equivalent of wet cardboard, people would likely turn out to see it in healthy numbers. However, in this case, due to the on point comedic and emotional execution by director Malcolm Lee ( “The Best Man”, “The Best Man Holiday”), an excellent nuts to bolts story structure built with room for inspired comedic improv courtesy of writers Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver, as well as politically relevant, up to the minute reality based subject matter, courtesy of producers Robert Teitel, George L. Tillman Jr., Becky Cross Trujillo and Ice Cube, moviegoers will be on point themselves in heading down to the theater to pay the cost of admission.
Not a movie to let it’s highly successful ten year plus history keep it out of touch with what is happening on the ground today versus September, 2002 when the original movie debuted, “Barbershop: The Next Cut” manages to be hilariously entertaining while still following the characters that we have come to know and love (as well as some welcome newcomers) while not forgetting this strange new political world that we all currently inhabit – both in Chicago, Illinois as well as nationally and globally. It’s a scary world out there currently for a myriad of reasons that were unimaginable just five years ago. This movie manages to embrace this new reality while reveling in the human ability to laugh harder than ever to get through it and conquer it… or lose a few innocents along the way trying.
While Barbershop starts out with a telling enumeration of everything that has been exemplary in Chicago (Kanye West, Oprah Winfrey, President Obama) juxtaposed with the recent steep spike in violence in Chicago as compared to the rest of the country, to it’s credit, this movie never ever forgets that it is a comedy. Cedric The Entertainer leads the charge as the comedic Pied Piper showing the way to an outsized crop of A list comedic talent in comedians J.B.Smoove, Anthony Anderson and Deon Cole and newer “Barbershop” comedians LaMorne Morris and Utkarsh Ambudkar. “Barbershop” also stays true to it’s who’s who of actor/hip hop star power with Common, Eve and Nicki Minaj doing some very relatable and funny relationship based B-story work with Tyga giving a pitch perfect turn as a neighborhood element who gives Calvin (Ice Cube) some pause when it comes to his son Jalen (Michael Rainey, Jr.).
Ice Cube, as both a producer on the film, as well as it’s lead actor gives just the right mix of funny and poignant as a man who loves his community, but necessarily must love his son more. Clearly from what Ice Cube did creatively with “Straight Outta Compton” and everything else that Cube has touched both cinematically and musically in a leadership role, this is a producer who has great talent when it comes to entertainment and what works well and speaks well to a mass audience.
If anything negative can be said about this film, it is simply the usual curse of a great ensemble cast feature done well – some characters simply aren’t allowed as much screen time as we might like in order not to tip the whole apple cart. Indeed, it might have been nice to see a bit more of Anthony Anderson and Regina Hall doing the comedic antics that they do best, but likely this would have disturbed what is currently a very good final mix. Yet, given the considerable entertainment value of “Barbershop: The Next Cut,” maybe those lost stories will make for yet another great followup film – provided that the usual suspects that made this one work so well can see getting the band back together once again yet another timely sequel.
“Barbershop: The Next Cut” opens in theaters nationwide on April 15, 2016.
Maybach Music Group’s latest artist Kris Kelli just dropped some visuals for her new single “Murda She Wrote.”
Kris Kelli, who is signed MMG Digital through Block Enterprises, is currently mid-way through a 44-city-tour with legendary group Floetry.
It’s a good fit for Kris, who has been a longtime fan and supporter of the critically acclaimed group.
“Thirteen years ago I met Floetry in New York in my first year in the music business, not knowing that one day I would be on a 44-city-tour with them,” Kris Kelli explained. “I was and still am a major fan of their music.”
