Rihanna is admired for her IDGAF attitude and never being one to muffle her opinion. After skipping out on an interview with THE FADER for their 100th issue, Vanity Fair was able to catch up with Rih and get an earful of one particular opinion that may cause some backlash.
During the interview, the Bajan songstress offered her perspective on the controversy around Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who passed as a black woman while serving as the president of the NAACP chapter in Spokane, WA.
“I think she was a bit of a hero, because she kind of flipped on society a little bit,” Rihanna told Vanity Fair. “Is it such a horrible thing that she pretended to be black? Black is a great thing, and I think she legit changed people’s perspective a bit and woke people up.”
Read the full cover story here where Rihanna also talks about her present-day relationship with Chris Brown and more.
Nicki Minaj wants you to buy her Myx moscato drink in bulk this month, but not so she can pocket the profits. For October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Young Money rapstress is looking to donate monies to breast cancer research through the sales of Myx.
Myx is being sold in a limited edition bottle and for every bottle sold, $1 dollar will be donated to the American Breast Cancer Foundation, according to her recent Instagram post.
Minaj also partnered CompUSA, max and TigerDirect to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research with the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure back in 2010.
After serving as the news director for a decade, Miss Info is parting ways with Hot 97. Through a statement with Billboard, she said she is leaving to focus relaunching her own website, MissInfo.tv and penning a parenting book.
“2015 has been such an incredible year so far,” she said in a statement. “With a new baby, upcoming site relaunch, and a book on the way, it feels like everything is on the changing table. This wasn’t an easy decision, as I’ve shared so many unforgettable moments with my Hot 97 family. I want to thank everyone from the jocks and creatives to sales and promotions, for their immeasurable support both on and off air.”
Miss Info is now added to the list of elder statesmen who have left the station. Angie Martinez took her talents to their rival station Power 105.1 last year while former music director Karlie Hustle and DJ Cipha Sounds also resigned from their positions.
Even though Rick Ross just dropped his mixtape Black Dollar last month, he is looking to put off another project before the year’s end. During a visit to Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club, he revealed that his next album, Black Market, will be released on Dec. 4th.
Despite him preparing himself to release his eighth album, Rozay is still on home confinement. The Miami native was recently sued by an unidentified woman who accused one of his acquaintances of raping her. Ross says it’s an “unfortunate situation” but feels like the woman filed a lawsuit against him “just to get a check.” The MMG general is also facing charges after a groundskeeper accused him of kidnapping and assaulting him. The groundskeeper, Jonathan Zamudio, was recently seen on Instagram with Ross’ arch nemesis 50 Cent, who he referred to as “two losers.”
“It really isn’t personal at all with me,” Ross said about his beef with 50. “I just feel homie [is] a shallow, weak dude. And you gotta be shallow at this point. I would probably be in my emotions too if my first album was titled Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and I filed bankruptcy.”
Watch the interview below to see him speak about Meek Mill’s beef with Drake, leaving Def Jam and more.
Anderson .Paak’s breakthrough year is not over. The California vocalist was one of the standout newcomers on Dr. Dre’s comeback album Compton, and Paak also crisscrossed the country as one half of the duo NxWorries with Knxwledge.
Somehow the singer-songwriter found time to band together with the Chicago-bred, Los Angeles based production team Blended Babies for a joint project. The 4-track The Anderson .Paak EP combines JP and Rich Gains’ multi-genre musical stylings with Paak’s smooth, spellbinding voice. Asher Roth, Donnie Trumpet (aka Nico Segal), and King Chip contributed their talents to the effort as well.
AllHipHop.com connected with Anderson .Paak and Blended Babies to have the three musicians provide insight into their collaborative EP.
JP: Our publisher Evan Bogart gave us the scoop on Anderson and said that we would make some great music together. He connected us, and it was a great match for sure.
RG: The homey Evan played us “Suede” like a year ago or something. The second I heard the airplane line about “flying through,” I told him to link us up.
AP: They’re just super cool dudes with dope music and good weed. I would show up and shoot the sh*t, and before I knew it we would have like two or three records done in a day. It was just a natural connection with them dudes – pause.
How much of the process was done in person?
AP: All of it, except the mixing.
JP: All of the music was done in person with everyone involved except I think Chip re-recorded his verse at home. Anderson, Ash, Nico, and Chip did come through the Blender LA to record their parts.
The EP has elements of Hip Hop, Blues, and Funk. Did you have a direction you wanted to go sonically before you started recording?
AP: No direction, I just wanted to make honest records and meet their production halfway with my vocals and writing.
JP: I think we just heard Anderson’s voice, and I had a million ideas dancing in my head about where to go from there. His talent inspired us. He is a very down-to-earth, soulful person, so the music just came out naturally.
RG: Nah, just natural vibes. We live in the Blues, Rock, Hip Hop, Funk world anyways [laughs].
Anderson, you’ve been working with a lot of different producers over the last year. How was the experience working with Blended Babies?
AP: One of the best. Them dudes is chill as f*ck and super humble. They’ve worked with lots of dope artists, and you can tell they know how to work with an artist.
Can we expect more Anderson Paak and Blended Babies collaborative efforts?
(AllHipHop News) Fresh of what many observers considered a clear victory over Keith Murray in his battle this weekend, Fredro Starr spoke with AllHipHop.com. The native New Yorker discussed his MC WAR sponsored lyrical contest against Murray in Brooklyn.
“It was historic, because it brought everybody out. The older Hip Hop artists from the 90’s – my era – and the new battle rappers all came together in one building. It was incredible,” said Starr.
With the match against his friend Murray behind him, Starr is set to make more moves. He and fellow Onyx member Sticky Fingaz are looking to take the story from their 1993-1995 years to the big screen. Even Sonsee is likely to be involved in the Queens crew’s biographical motion picture.
“We just performed with Sonsee at the Legends of Hip Hop. It’s like an off-and-on relationship. We got love for Sonsee,” stated Starr. “We got the Onyx biopic were working on called Slam Boys. Once we get that off the ground, Sonsee is going to be a producer on that too. Just like the N.W.A movie when Dr. Dre reached out to MC Ren and all his old people.”
Growing up, I was like most inner-city kids – having witnessed the cycle of failure in our local schools, it was hard to dream big. It’s not that we thought it was impossible to become successful – we were well aware dreams could come true for some. But it was understood among my friends that no matter how sharp you were or how hard you worked in school, options would always be limited when the time came to get out and earn a living.
It may be hard to imagine, but my life as a DJ can actually be traced back to violin lessons in school in West Philadelphia. Before DJ Jazzy Jeff existed, Jeffrey Townes stood in the back of music class mesmerized by the instruments. My music teacher saw a spark in my eyes and relentlessly encouraged me to pursue music, going as far as playing the Speed Racer theme song on the violin to lure me in.
Despite mediocre schools with few resources, I had a tenacious teacher who convinced me that I could be successful doing something I love. That kind of motivation allowed me to go from spinning records in my mom’s basement to a Grammy Award winning producer and DJ.
The only way to create school equality is to expand the number of excellent schools our children of color can attend. Be it New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles or my hometown of Philadelphia, children of all backgrounds should have the chance to be inspired in school like I was. Whether it is music, science, history or math, all students deserve to have access to the same top-notch education. The success of our country and society as a whole depends on it.
Thousands of parents, educators, and students have had enough of this inequality in the status quo. I will be joining to lend my voice to the cause. In order to fully cultivate the next generation of doctors, researchers, innovators, and even DJs, we must work towards a society where every child has the opportunities and tools they need to succeed.
DJ Jazzy Jeff will join Jennifer Hudson, Aloe Blacc and 15,000 parents, educators, and students at Families for Excellent Schools’ “Stand for School Equality” rally at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn on Wednesday, October 7th. For more information about the event visit familiesforexcellentschools.org.
DJ Jazzy Jeff was born in West Philadelphia and developed a love of music at an early age. Since 1985, Jeff has wowed the public with his innovative production and musical versatility, from the success of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince with partner Will Smith to the critical acclaim of his production company A Touch Of Jazz. Over the course of his career, Jeff has received numerous accolades including a DMC Championship and multiple Grammy and American Music Awards and nominations.
(AllHipHop News) Kanye West did a live interview with Show Studio. The “In Camera” Q&A included the rapper/fashion designer discussing if he felt he would be criticized less if he was a white artist.
If I was a white man that became a really successful musician, that box would have put me in a chamber that would have said I shouldn’t work. There are white people that are super good at something they also get discriminated against in another field.
You could be a photographer and someone could say you can’t be an artist. You could be a designer and someone could say you can’t be a musician, or someone could say you can’t be a film director.
As far as the advantages in life, yes if you are born white you have that in your gene pool currently, because the world is controlled by whites. You have that at 100 as an advantage. If you add a couple of other things to it, then you have a really high chance of success.
If you’re born black and you make it to something like the Met Ball or the Grammys, most likely you’ve done ten times the amount of everyone else there to get there.
When the “Black Skinhead” rhymer was asked if his recent fashion collection having a “political undertone about racism” was connected to his father being a Black Panther, Kanye responded, “I think it’s racist when white people assume that when a black person uses color that it’s a political statement… No, [I was not making a political statement]. It was a painting. It was beautiful colors.”
West also spoke about some critics of his fashion aesthetic discriminating against him for being black as well as being a celebrity. He added that he appreciates the pundits, but the creator of Yeezy Season 2 is convinced that he knows what he likes.
Kanye also called fashion the highest art form in modern times. He said, “It feels like Hip Hop felt to me in the 90’s.”
The G.O.O.D. Music leader later made it clear his issues dealing with fame and criticism are not on the same level to what a lot of people around the world are facing. According to Ye, his “champagne problems” cannot compare to families struggling to feed their children or trying to escape war.
It looks like new music from Trina is on the way! Rico Love posted a video with audio of new music from the baddest b*tch! Trina sticks to her classic sound and style on the track. Hey, this could mean her 6th studio album is on the way. Are you ready for some new Trina?
(AllHipHop News) Ackquille “Bobby Shmurda” Pollard and his GS9 affiliates will have to wait until next year for their conspiracy, drugs and weapons possession trial to begin. According to reports, the “Hot N*gga” rapper will return to court on January 11.
Shmurda also once again lost a bid for bail. His bail was originally set at $2 million, and he has yet to cover the cost required to exit from jail. Shmurda and 14 other defendants have been incarcerated since their arrest in December of 2014.
The 21-year-old Epic Records artist acquired a new attorney as well. Alex Spiro of Brafman & Associates will now be handling his case. Spiro appeared in court with Shmurda on Monday to argue his client should be released prior to trial.
Special Narcotics Prosecutor Nigel Farinha reminded the court that Shmurda has been denied bail at least four times. Farinha claims the accused performer has a net worth of half a million dollars and ties to individuals in Florida.
Chanel West Coast is not here for Charlamagne Tha God or Iggy Azalea. She didn’t take too kindly to Charlamagne calling her music garbage. She went on a rant trying to explain to him that her music on her SoundCloud was better than the music and music videos he ran across. She also expressed that all major features she had, jumped on her track for free because they “f*ck with” her music. When a fan jumped in and said Chanel needed to have a meeting with Iggy, and find out how she got on top. Chanel replied saying,
“I already know how. She sucked a lot of d*ck. I don’t, that’s why I ain’t there yet.”
Chanel told Charlamagne she has crazy bars! But does she really?
Young Thug’s baby mama could be the next one to be investigated by the child protective services. She felt it was okay to play with their son with a stun gun. She wrote,
“He wants to take his time to get ready for his game because his cartoon is on.”
Apparently, the mother felt the little boy was taking too long to get dressed, so she pulled out the stun gun to scare him. First the video of Thugger’s daughter saying she was “motherf*cking tired” went viral, now this. SMH.
Certain sections of the Internet seem to be thirsty for new Kanye West music, because there’s now a rumor going around that Ye plans to drop a project really soon. But the rumor is not about SWISH, it’s about Cruel Winter.
Remember all the talk a few years back that Kanye and his G.O.O.D. Music team were going to drop a sequel to the Cruel Summer compilation. The interwebs is saying look for it this week. There’s even a supposed tracklist floating around. We’ve heard this rumor before, so we’ll see.
Check out the rumored tracklist for the 2015 edition of Cruel Winter:
1. Season (ft. Kanye West, and Beyonce)
2. Tourist (ft. Rihanna, Travi$ Scott, Big Sean, and Young Thug)
3. Fire (ft. Kanye West, Drake, and The Weeknd)
4. All American (ft. Pusha T, and Pharrell)
5. Mo City Flexologist (ft. Travi$ Scott, Pusha T, and Big Sean)
6. Feed Me (ft. Common, Vince Staples, and Kendrick Lamar)
7. On The Low (ft. Hit-Boy, Travi$ Scott, and Pusha T)
8. All Around The World (ft. Travi$ Scott, and Big Sean)
9. Special (ft. Pusha T, Kanye West, and Consequence)
10. Can U Be (ft. Big Sean, Drake, and Kanye West)
11. Lil N#### (ft. Travi$ Scott, and Chief Keef)
12. Under Water (ft. Common)
13. Quintana Pt. 3 (ft. Travi$ Scott, King Krule, and Zona Man, and Young Thug)
14. Only One [EXTENDED] (ft. Kanye West, Paul McCartney, and Lana Del Rey)
The Game has found himself in some more drama. He has been going back and forth with a fake rapper named Stitches for the last couple weeks on Instagram. He even accused the guy of being apart of the robbery that took place at Chris Brown’s home. Stitches is one of the biggest trolls in the game right now. He has been exposed for Photoshopping fake DMs before, and now he claims The Game sent him a DM. The Game denies sending Stitches any kind of messages. Game also tells him he is lame, his music is wack, and he will put hands on him! It seems like this Stitches guy is really thirsty for attention and a come up.
(AllHipHop News) Will Smith is officially ready to jump back into the rap arena. After adding a verse to Bomba Estéreo’s “Fiesta,” the Philadelphia native revealed he recorded 30 new songs with six or seven he really liked.
Smith did an interview with Zane Lowe for Beats 1 Radio. The discussion included the artist formerly known as The Fresh Prince speaking on his return to music.
“I’m pretty much popping in the studio everyday. I’m looking for artists to collaborate with. I’m still trying to find that voice,” said Smith. “I have so many things I want to say. I’m struggling with saying them in a way that fits the flavor of music I tend to like.”
The 47-year-old actor/rapper was also asked about other older rap acts achieving success in this era. Big Willie responded by stating he plans to continue making music well into his elderly years.
“This is like the first real generation of Hip Hop artists that are turning 40 and 50 and want to keep spitting,” stated Smith. “I guess 40 is the new 30 at least. Maybe 50 is the new 30 right now… I’m going to keep giving it a shot up until I’m 70/80 years old.”
Fans of the Oscar-nominated star can see him in the upcoming films Concussion and Suicide Squad. His most recent movie, Focus, opened at #1 in March. Smith’s last studio album was 2005’s Lost And Found. He is also looking to go on his first world tour next summer.
(AllHipHop News) Criminal justice reform will likely be one of the big topics in the 2016 presidential campaign. Candidates should perhaps look into the Bard Prison Initiative. The program may provide a productive template for rehabilitating convicted felons by offering college-level courses.
According to The Wall Street Journal, inmates at the Eastern New York Correctional Facility took part in the Bard Prison Initiative, and the outcome was a win in a war of words over Ivy League students. Three men from the prison won a debate against undergraduates from Harvard College.
The two teams debated the issue of public schools having the ability to deny enrollment to undocumented students. Though they disagreed with the premise, the inmates had to defend the idea. After nearly an hour of back-and-forth, judges awarded the victory to the inmates.
“They caught us off guard,” said Harvard junior Anais Carell.
The prison debaters were not allowed to use the internet for research and could only rely on written texts such as books and magazines. Prison administrators had to approve every material the prisoners were able to use which could take weeks. Even with that disadvantage, the Bard team has also defeated West Point and the University of Vermont.
Leaders of the Bard program claim that less than 2% of the 300 alumni who earned degrees returned to prison within three years. The entire state of New York has a 40% re-entry rate, mostly from parole violations.
Alex Hall, a Bard debater convicted of manslaughter, added, “We might not be as naturally rhetorically gifted, but we work really hard.”
For more information about the Bard Prison Initiative visit bpi.bard.edu.
(AllHipHop News) Ten years ago Queens emcee Nas released the song “Just A Moment” which featured his then protégé Quan. The L.E.S.-produced track was one of the standout cuts on Street’s Disciple, and it helped introduce the man also known as Don Ferquan to the public.
Quan recently sat down with Mikey T The Movie Star to discuss his past business relationship with Nas. The Connecticut/Virginia bred singer/rapper explained why he signed a production deal with Esco but decided against inking with his mentor as an artist.
“I didn’t like the relationship that Nas had with Sony. I knew he was going to leave, so I opted to go with Atlantic. Plus, they were willing to pay me a whole other check on top of everything else they were willing to pay already,” said Quan. “They wanted to piggyback me behind Nas on his promotion. Nas is a great artist, but he’s not a great businessman. This is where different fallouts happen.”
According to Quan, he and Nas were always fine on a personal level, but business caused them to part ways. His Atlantic deal was supposedly for $2.2 million, and Nas earned $220,000 from the signing. Quan also claims his former mentor wanted him to sign a 7-album deal and was trying to secure 50% of his publishing.
“I remember us beefing over that,” Quan added. “‘No, you’re not getting 50% of my publishing. You shouldn’t get none of my motherf*cking publishing. I just sold you a hit record. I didn’t cost nobody no money. I made money for everybody. The f*ck you mean you want 50% of my publishing. N*gga, you crazy.'”
(AllHipHop News) Fashion has always been an important component of Hip Hop culture. From shell toe Adidas and Nike’s Air Jordans to Gucci sweaters and Versace backpacks, rapper’s have long used their attire as another form of expression. But which brands have gotten the most love from rhyme spitters on wax over the last 20 years?
Macy’s new site M calculated the most name-dropped fashion brands in rap music from 1995 to August 2015. The study found that Gucci topped the charts with a total of 1,067 tracks mentioning the luxury brand over that period.
Nike landed in the second position with 687 mentions. Prada (431 songs), Versace (354 songs), and Adidas (287 songs) round out the top five. The rest of the top ten includes Timberland, Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, and Fendi.
When broken down to most mentions by a particular rapper, Soulja Boy was on top for Gucci (27 songs) and Versace (12 songs). Nike was included in the most tracks by Mac Dre (7). Jay Z, Eminem, Nas, Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, The Game, Future, and Young Jeezy made the top ten on more than one list for Gucci, Versace, and Nike.
Dom Kennedy hits us with his latest visual “2 Bad” from his album “By Dom Kennedy”. The track and visual features rapper/singer Tish Hyman with production by Mike N Keys. Directed by Coodie & Chike.
Eric Bellinger is on that 300 Ent label so this is a natural look for his movement joining with Fetty and 2Chainz. Eric recently kicked off the release of the single with a party at the world-famous Playhouse in Hollywood. When it’s all said and done Eric is on one of the hottest labels in the country and his potential for blowing up is widely recognized. Adding to his momentum Eric kicks off his tour on November 12 in Seattle, WA making stops in San Diego, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New York City and others.
