Slaughtering the BET Hip Hop Award cypher on national TV in addition to trending on Twitter the night of it’s airing has already put artist Joyner Lucas in a prized positioned. Iconic Rap veteran, Busta Rhymes officially co-signs newcomer Joyner Lucas on lyrically episodic track titled, “Jumanji”.
(AllHipHop News) Lee Daniels already has a hit television show with Empire, but he is ready to take on another music centered series. The director of Precious and The Butler is teaming back up with Fox for a new drama called Star.
Production for the pilot of Star is scheduled to begin in December in Atlanta. Daniels has also launched an international casting search for the show. Performers interested in trying out for parts can submit a two-minute video featuring the artist singing and doing a short monologue here.
Entertainment Weekly broke down the four main roles for Lee Daniels’ Star:
TAR: “Character is a Caucasian female, 18 years old (actor must be 18 years of age or over). She’s a tough chick with a badass attitude.”
ALEXANDRA: “Character is an African-American female, about 20 (actor must be 18 years of age or over). She’s an elegant yet classic beauty. Alexandra wants to put this material world behind her so she can make real, authentic music.”
SIMONE: “Character is half African-American, half Caucasian, Star’s younger sister, 16 years old (actor must be 18 years of age or over). Tragic and adorable.
COTTON: “Character is a half African-American and half Latina transgender woman with a stunning look, 20 (actor must be 18 years of age or over). She has an especially keen eye for fashion.”
Photo via Fetty Wap’s Instagram
It seems that Fetty Wap’s sister and baby mama, Lezhae, have gotten into a full out feud. Fetty remained quiet as his sister came for his baby mama on Facebook. Fetty’s sister, Divinity, took to Facebook to address a few issues between her brother and his baby mama. She talked about how money is really being spent, custody, and whether or not the mother of Fetty’s daughter even really wants the child. It got really nasty between the two. We hope Fetty and Lezhae can get an agreement together for the sake of the child.
(AllHipHop News) Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye could easily be crowned the biggest breakout artist of 2015. The Canadian singer’s Beauty Behind The Madness sold over 300,000 copies out the gate and spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200. His singles “Earned It,” “Can’t Feel My Face,” and “The Hills” have all cracked the top 3 on the Hot 100.
Before topping the charts this year, The Weeknd grabbed the attention of music followers with his 2012 compilation Trilogy. The project took repackaged songs from his three critically acclaimed 2011 mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. The Republic Records artist told Rolling Stone he believes Trilogy sparked a trend that inspired two of the most successful music stars on the planet.
“I probably could have toured off Trilogy for the rest of my life,” stated The Weeknd. “It definitely changed the culture. No one can do a trilogy again without thanking The Weeknd. A lot of artists started doing things faster and quicker after that: Justin Timberlake dropped two albums in a year, Beyoncé dropped a surprise album.”
He added, “I’m not gonna say any names, but just listen to the radio. Every song is House of Balloons 2.0.”
Watch The Weeknd’s video for “The Hills (Remix)” featuring Eminem below.
(AllHipHop News) Chief Keef has often come off as awkward in interviews. It is not clear whether the “I Don’t Like” performer is just shy, not interested in media attention, or something else. But one fellow Chicago rapper has diagnosed Keef with a developmental disorder.
The Daily Beast interviewed longtime Kanye West collaborator Cheland “Rhymefest” Smith. The article included the Oscar/Grammy winner discussing the press coverage of Keef and other young rap acts.
“I think many rappers these days have afflictions, such as Asperger’s, bipolar disorder, or autism. They need advocates, but we turn it into entertainment. The media is turning autism into entertainment,” said Rhymefest. “When I look at Chief Keef, I clearly see someone who has autism. Look at the way his face is structured, or his insensitivity to violence. He needs an advocate. But someone put him out there and exploited that child.”
Photo via Meek Mill’s Instagram
Its seems like Meek Mill may be killing his own career. From the social media rants to the less than satisfactory disses, it’s not looking good right now. Meek started with Drake and lost, has threatened to kick Wale out of MMG only for Rick Ross to remind him that he isn’t the boss. Then he decides to hop on Drake’s “Back To Back” beat how many months later. Fans also let him have it in on social media saying,
“All of his music sounds the same.”
“Meek Mill telling Wale that he is no longer MMG is like your co-worker trying to fire you.”
and
“How many times is Meek going to say Lil’ Snupe was 18 & only wanted a coup”
Meek stop before it’s too late. Or is it already too late?
At the dawn of the culture, the disc jockey was a vital component to the presentation of Hip Hop music, even more so than the emcee. Groundbreaking teams like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, and Eric B. & Rakim even put the man behind the turntables as the lead on the marquee.
Eventually all the emphasis was placed squarely on the rapper, and the deejay was marginalized as an accessory. But the person controlling the pulse of live shows is starting to get recognized as a legitimate performer once again. A prime example of this transition is the Jamaican born DJ named Genius.
The rise of Atlanta’s new crop of rap stars such as Travis Porter, Migos, and Sy Ari Da Kid can be directly connected to Genius (born Carson Clarke). However, in the tradition of the DJ/rapper tandems of yesteryear, Genius has established a strong working bond with the Northside’s K Camp.
“I have that chemistry with Camp. He’s King Slum and I’m Prince Slum. We’re both springing this Slum Lord movement,” Genius informs AllHipHop.com. “When you see us live, it’s a Slum show. I have my parts that I do, and he has his parts he does.”
Camp and Genius have maintained a successful partnership and friendship ever since the Georgia Southern University graduate co-hosted Camp’s 2011 Become A Fan mixtape. The two A-town representatives collaborated for several other projects including K.I.S.S. Pt 2 and SlumLords.
“We just developed a friendship back then, even out of the studio,’” Genius states. “I was really f*cking with him before a lot of the stuff was happening. I was playing his records in the club. I was doing his mixtapes. So we linked up during that period.”
After spending time on the road with Verse Simmonds, Genius hooked back up with Camp to serve as his official DJ. The close association recently spawned the new single “Po’ Up & Go Up” off Genius’ forthcoming album Prince Slum.
Like all of his releases, Genius essentially takes on the role of an A&R for Prince Slum. His hands-on approach to crafting the tracks is more in line with a movie director putting the various necessary pieces together to form a completed film.
Genius recorded over 150 songs with in-house producers Bobby Kritical, Big Fruit, Flair Fifth, Beat Attikz, and Musik MajorX. He is narrowing the list of potential cuts down by testing the music with his peers, and his experience as a deejay has provided him with the uncanny skill of selecting the songs that will likely resonate with club-friendly fans.
“Listeners can expect some dope ass music. As a DJ, all you play is hit records. You’re not playing interludes off n*gga’s album. You’re playing hit records all night long. That’s all I’ve been doing for years,” says Genius. “So I feel like over time my ears have been trained to hear great music. During this whole creative process, I’m really in the studio with the producer like, ‘No, take that sound out. Put this sound in. Do the beat this way. Sequence it this way.’”
Before he became DJ Genius, Carson Clarke was an immigrant from the Westmoreland Parish in Jamaica. He originally lived with his farmer father and teacher mother in a rural section of the Caribbean nation. At 13, Clarke relocated to live with his aunt in Decatur, Georgia. The teenager raised on reggae and dancehall instantly became the recipient of a major culture shock.
“All I had seen on a little black-and-white TV was a commercialized America,” he explains. “They don’t really show the hood on TV, so in my mind I’m coming to this suburban neighborhood with white kids. But none of that happened. I moved into the hood.”
By 14, Clarke had bought his first turntables and the Virtual DJ software. This was the initial steps into his other passion. The self-described “computer nerd” picked up the tag “Genius” for his ability to build computers without any formal training.
Genius also used his technological knowhow to burn music onto CDs for his classmates. After graduating from Towers High School, he earned a degree in Information Technology & Information Systems at Georgia Southern in Statesboro.
At the same time, Clarke started DJing local parties and promoting events while also creating official mixtapes. He teamed with Robert Graham and Curtis Williams to form Hu$$le Hard Entertainment. As his notoriety in Southeastern Georgia grew, Genius’ music/computer crossover continued when he returned to Atlanta to provide tech support to law firms in the city.
“DJing and music was always my first love, so I said I got to be in the clubs, I got to do these mixtapes,” says Genius. “When I got off work, I went to the studio. I went to different events to network. I met DJ Teknikz who’s over at Street Execs. He’s really the one that showed me direction in the game.”
From there, Genius made moves to become one of the most sought after music creators in Atlanta. Within two years, he was putting out buzzworthy full collections with features from Camp, Sy Ari, Simmonds, Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka Flame, Scotty ATL, Two-9, and Jody Breeze. Some of the top production minds in the ATL – Zaytoven, Sonny Digital, K.E. on the Track, TM88, Key! – were lacing him with beats.
“At the end of 2012, I put out my first real A&R project called Virtuoso. That’s the brand that we’ve been pushing since 2012 – virtuoso, constantly chasing perfection. I’m always trying to get to the top and be perfect at whatever I take on,” Genius declares.
The music director continued the story of Virtuoso with 2013’s Virtuoso: The Man. The compilation was virtually a Petri dish for the rising rap talents that are springing from Atlanta at the moment.
“I had records with K Camp, Sy Ari Da Kid, Gucci – if you look at that project’s tracklist it had a lot of artists that are popping now in Atlanta,” says Genius. “It just shows them in earlier stages when we were just trying to get up out the mud.”
Genius is now back in album mode. He has been grinding out studio sessions for over 2 years in preparation for the Prince Slum LP. This project is set to include more of his voice. A good number of hooks were written and performed by the album curator – an illustration the space between Genius the DJ and Genius the recording artist is shrinking.
“It’s a thin line between being a DJ and an artist in today’s society. Everything in today’s society is covered by how you market things,” conveys Genius. “I realize to take it to the next level as a DJ you have to be marketed as an artist. Your social media, your videos – whatever you’re doing, you have to do so much more as a DJ now.”
That extra effort from Genius is not only about establishing himself as a brand, but it also includes putting on for his city. He does not surrender to the criticism often placed on Atlanta’s love for 808s, trap references, and strip club-ready tunes.
“What people from the outside looking it don’t see is that in Atlanta this music is a culture, it’s a lifestyle. We’re not making music to try to please somebody that don’t live here,” Genius states. “We’re portraying what’s really going on in the culture in Atlanta. If you’re not from Atlanta or live here, then you wouldn’t really understand it.”
Despite the national perception of Atlanta Hip Hop, Genius has firsthand knowledge of the real diversity in Georgia’s capital city. Whether it’s the radio friendly style of K Camp, the alternative offerings of Raury, the lyricism of Cyhi Da Prynce, the cool guy vibe of Scotty ATL, the street sound of Tracy T, or the virtuosity of Genius, the cast of A-Town’s current rap drive is vast. And the DJ/artist is open to embracing all sections of the ATL scene.
“Music is art. There is no right way to do music, there is no wrong way to do music. I feel like that’s the number one stigma in Hip Hop,” expresses Genius. “Kendrick [Lamar] is one of the dopest, but everybody doesn’t have to make music like Kendrick. Everybody doesn’t have to be super-lyrical.”
Read other installments of AllHipHop’s #ATLRiseUp series here.
Follow Genius on Twitter @iAmTheGENIUS and Instagram @iamthegenius.
Purchase Genius’ Virtuoso: The Man on iTunes and stream the project below.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge dismissed the “Big Pimpin'” copyright infringement case against Jay Z and Timbaland earlier this week, but the lawyers for the plaintiff, Osama Fahmy, plan to continue this court battle. Attorney Pete Ross feels that Judge Christina A. Snyder throwing out the case before it reached the jury was “completely wrong,” according to Billboard.
“We disagree strongly with the ruling, and we fully intend to appeal,” Fahmy’s other attorney Keith Wesley told The Hollywood Reporter. “We haven’t fully formulated our appeal strategy, but certainly we believe the court committed legal error in failing to restrict the license under Egyptian law.”
Fahmy sued Jigga and Timbaland in 2007 for using a sample from his uncle Baligh Hamdi’s 1957 song “Khosara Khosara” for “Big Pimpin'” without permission.
Master P and his estranged wife, Sonya Miller, are in the middle of a bitter divorce and now their son, Romeo Miller, has been brought into it. According to TMZ, Romeo’s mother has filed a lawsuit against him claiming that his father is using him to hide assets.
Mrs. Miller says that she co-founded No Limit Records with Master P in 1990 but her son is listed as the co-founder of the new label, No Limit Forever, which she says is the same company, but she is not listed as a founder. Since Romeo is listed as the founder and owner, she has no rights to the label. She said she feels like this is a ploy by her soon-to-be ex-husband to keep her from receiving any monies.
Miller also claims that P is keeping her from getting any of the money received from their reality show, Master P’s Family Empire, which comes to Reelz on Nov. 28th. The hip-hop mogul was paid $750,000 for the first season and Miller claims that she cannot see a dime of it because their son is listed on the payroll documents. According to court documents, Miller does not blame her son and feels like he is being used in her estranged husband’s plan to keep her from getting any of his money.
It looks like Rick Ross confirmed that Wale is still part of MMG despite Meek Mill’s lengthy rant. Rozay also let everyone know to never question THE EMPIRE! Meek Mill wasn’t too pleased with some comments Wale made in a few interviews about his label situation and the Drake and Meek beef. Meek went as far as to call Wale a broke, jealous gossiping rapper. He also said he was making the call that Wale wasn’t MMG anymore. Wale mentioned in his interview with The Breakfast Club that if he didn’t reach a certain level of success he would blow his brains out… basically take his own life. Interesting enough, Meek told Wale to jump off a roof like he had been trying to do. Despite how Meek is feeling, it seems like Ross has expressed that Wale is still in fact MMG!
Many hip-hop artists have been devoted to supporting the youth. MC Lyte is one of them. During her visit to the Steve Harvey show, the hip-hop veteran awarded a 19-year-old with a $50,000 scholarship to attend Dillard University.
The “Paper Thin” rapper is a member of the Board of Trustees at the historically black university. The scholarship was presented through Lyte’s foundation, Hip-Hop Sisters, which is a non-profit that “provides national and international support to women, men and youth around the globe” through mentorship, educational opportunities, financial empowerment and more.
Watch below.
Jay Z and Timbaland have reportedly won the “Big Pimpin'” copyright infringement case. L.A Superior Court Judge Christina A. Snyder ruled that the plaintiff, Osama Fahmy, “lacked standing to pursue his claim,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“In light of that decision, it will not be necessary to submit to the jury whether ‘Big Pimpin” infringed ‘Khosara Khosara,'” said the judge.
Fahmy sued Timbo and Hova eight years ago for what he claims was the illegal sampling of his uncle’s song “Khosara Khosara.”
“We disagree strongly with the ruling, and we fully intend to appeal,” Fahmy’s attorney Keith Wesley told The Hollywood Reporter. “We haven’t fully formulated our appeal strategy, but certainly we believe the court committed legal error in failing to restrict the license under Egyptian law.”
Jay’s lawyer Andrew Bart said that the Jigga man “is pleased with and feels vindicated by the decision.”
When Da Youngstas went from a little kid group into grown men, their dopeness grew exponentially as well. What better way to expound on it than to team up with the most infamous rap group at the time. Mobb Deep joined forces with the Philly group, now rechristened the Illy Funkstaz, and pumped out a timeless gem called “Bloodshed & War.” Check it out. 1995 sh*t.
Here’s the remix as a bonus.
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After floating over Big K.R.I.T.‘s recent It’s Better This Way album, Houston’s own DeLorean is back with a new project of his own, releasing a fresh new mixtape titled Perfect Black. While his “Picture Me Swangin” single drew new eyes to the southern emcee, his new tape is already garnering new ears as well, thanks in part to features from Scotty ATL, Big K.R.I.T., Big Sant, Jack Freeman, Bruce Bang, Bam Rogers and more.
Following the release of his well received Hood Politics series and last year’s Look Alive, at 13 tracks the project offers the perfect building block as Delo’s name continues to ring inside the Lone Star State and beyond.
Stream Perfect Black in full below courtesy of Nah Right & Audiomack:
North Carolina’s Colonel Loud caught a smash hit with his Young Dolph and Ricco Barrino assisted left coast anthem, “California“.
The song first exploded on Shazam a few months back, hitting #1 in Atlanta and several other top markets. After taking over the South, the Cali anthem is finally making its way out West, this time with a new verse added from the King of the South, T.I.!
Singer, songwriter and actress Tiffany Evans recently announced her long awaited EP, ‘All Me’, is set to release worldwide on Oct. 30. The seven-track offering will include buzzing single “On Sight” featuring award-winning rapper Fetty Wap and her recently released track “T.M.I.,” which was co-written by Tiffany, GoTo and Ty Stackz.
“I think my fans will get a better understanding of who I am as an artist,” says Tiffany. “I didn’t have any barriers when I was working on this project. I took my time. I wanted the music to be about my experiences or things I’ve witnessed.”
Speaking on “T.M.I.,” Tiffany says,
“It’s about being so deeply in love with someone that you just want to put it out there for the world to see.”
In September, Tiffany was also selected for iHeartRadio’s Digital Artist Program. The partnership included daily spins of “On Sight” across all of iHeartRadio’s urban stations. She also became the most liked artist during the week of September 10, landing her at No. 1 on Flipagram’s Fan 50 chart.
All Me is the follow-up to Tiffany’s 2012 mixtape, 143, which received over 60,000 downloads in one week without support from a record label. The mixtape spawned fan-favorite emotional ballad, “If You Love Me.”
Download “All Me” EP Cover HERE.
Take a listen to “T.M.I.” below!
“All Me” Tracklisting
1. On Sight (Ft. Fetty Wap)
2. Talk A Good Game
3. Put You On
4. T.M.I.
5. Hands In Da Air
6. Me and You
7. 100 Percent
Follow Tiffany:
facebook.com/tiffanyevans
twitter.com/mstiffevans
instagram.com/tiffanyevansofficial
tiffanyevansofficial.com
Meek Mill apparently has been granted the authority to kick Wale out of MMG, because he seemingly did just that on his instagram account.
The Philly rapper ranted and even suggested that Wale commit suicide, a notion that the D.C. rapper has wrestled with in real life.
Here is the post in its entirety:
N##### b doing all this to drop a new record gossiping about they hoe ass feelings and they personal life because they miserable and nobody don’t rock wit them! Really stay away from me Fam! U not MMG NOMORE! This why u can’t get my number you a hoe! ???? and u dead cracked right now @wale foh nuttttt! I wasn’t even mad at you Fam u got some real issues with yaself and you jealous! Broke rapper! This my last time I think addressing s### on the Internet …. But if I don’t talk about it one of you dudes gone get hurt speaking my name like it’s sweet! Y’all n##### gone stop mentioning my name like it ain’t no consequences…. I’m off this internet! I don’t speak on Mmg in interviews unless it’s good! U a clown … We don’t wanna hear you nomore Fam! Go jump off a roof like u been tryna do chump! He not MMG IM MAKING THAT CALL … He been tryna call me saying Rozay owe us money… He don’t owe me s### and if he do I’ll get it later …. Go that away!
https://instagram.com/p/9HZNKwikFx/
Wale quickly responded, in a humorous manner full of brevity.
Looks like 50 cent once again has something to say about rival show Empire. Once again he took to Instagram, to let us know that the hit fox show Empire is slowly losing momentum. Is this true or is this just another 50 Cent bully maneuvers. Well we took it to the streets to find out if this is true or not. Power vs Empire?
Extindo Merlo keeps it honest. Accompanied by Yump Daniels “Mann” & Timmy Token, Merlo keeps that “Next K. West” sample vibe as he lets us in his feelings on this Four Fing produced beat. A month of music by Merlo leaves us waiting for week 5.
After surprising fans with the release of his latest album ‘Psycadelik Thoughtz’, B.o.B joins DJ Skee to discuss the making of the project on SKEE TV.
B.o.B. describes the album cover art as originally being “a narcissistic ode” to himself, to get painted like a “multi-faceted God.” After seeing it, however he said he felt that it was a great representation of his musical versatility and eventually led the mixtape to turn into an album.
Later, B.o.B speaks on his endeavors with acting and his audition for “Straight Outta Compton”:
“I’m more naturally like Dre because you know as a producer, I’m like a thinker. With Q, you gotta like shift it.”
He says if he ever has a movie made after him, he would want it to have a psychedelic feel and he’d like to be the one to produce it. Bobby Ray also addresses the importance of his label “No Genre,” his relationship with T.I. and his relationship with former girlfriend Sevyn Streeter. Watch below and tune into SKEE TV on Fuse every friday @ 10PM.
