FORD has launched its “By Design” Culture Collabs campaign. Culture Collabs is a video series documenting how FORD has joined forces with singer/songwriter Jhené Aiko, DJ Va$htie Kola, music producer The Alchemist, entrepreneur Mike Brown, artist collective The Seventh Letter, and digital artist Naturel. Over the last few months, they came together to connect Ford’s iconic script logo with their respective crafts in Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The videos in this series will explore how music, art and culture drove the creative process behind this collaboration. The track playing in the video was produced by legendary producer, The Alchemist. “By Design” features a broad range of Ford cars, from the Focus Electric to Ford GT, and highlights the passion and innovation that goes into the company’s entire lineup of cars – by design. Check out the art installations by following the hashtag #FordByDesign and you can watch the video detailing the artistic process below.
Travis Scott kicks off the new year teaming up with DJ Mustard for new single “Whole Lotta Lovin”. I can hear this one killin the clubs and radio. What are your thoughts?
Interactions between former Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood cast member, Masika Kalysha, and the supposed father of her unborn child, Fetty Wap are intensifying. Back in December, the beautiful vixen lamented to social media about the “My Way” rapper. She contends that the New Jersey native suggested she get an abortion and declared he isn’t going to be a responsible father.
Yesterday (Jan. 6), the six months pregnant reality starlet used Twitter to address her frustrations with Fetty Wap. Her commencing tweet claimed that willfully got her “pregnant on purpose.” The final tweet concerning these qualms culminated by vowing that “Willie will learn the hard way.”
Below check out the tweets.
That b#### was better of keeping his mouth shut. No real man speaks negative about the woman he got pregnant on purpose against her will…
Want to go on tour? Well its not that easy as you will see here in the The Forest Hills Drive Tour behind the scenes. The series has moved into Act III – more of everything. J. Cole Forest Hills Drive: Homecoming premieres Saturday, Jan. 9 at 10PM on HBO. The 2014 release Forest Hills Drive is available now.
There have been rumors that Rick Ross and Lira Galore had broken up once again, and Lira has finally confirmed this. Rick Ross has been spotted with a million women the last month, and many are claiming to be the official girl, others are just confirming that they are on the roster. The reason Lira says her and Ross split is interesting.
According to Lira, she feels like she wasn’t fully prepared for the lifestyle that comes with dating a rapper or someone in the spotlight. In her interview with Global Grind she revealed that she believes her and Ross broke up initially because he couldn’t handle people digging up her tweets to the rest of MMG and tagging him in the photo of her nearly naked with Meek Mill. She says everyone kept posting the photo of her and Meek, and she felt like as a man, Ross couldn’t handle it. To Lira the picture was nothing, and it was from her stripper days. She says she’s still in love with Rick Ross, but they decided to go their separate ways. She says when dating a rapper you have to be strong and not care about some things, but care at the same time. Hmmm maybe she is referring to Ross’ alleged cheating. We honestly didn’t think they would last.
Check it out as Kendrick Lamar performs several tracks from his To Pimp A Butterfly project that was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards. After previously releasing a clip of Kendrick performing “Alright” the ACL crew drops clips of Kendrick perfoming “Hood Politics,” “Wesley’s Theory” and “i.”
Acclaimed comedian and educational advocate, Bill Cosby, recently received some good news. Yesterday (Jan. 6), citing “insufficient evidence” and a lapsed “statute of limitations,” The L.A. County District Attorney has rejected two cases of alleged sexual assault that Mr. Cosby was facing, this according to TMZ. These allegations focused on a supposed incident that transpired back in 1965 with a then 17 year old, with the other professed incident taking place at the Playboy Mansion in 2008.
Due to inconsistent versions of the story from the alleged victim, the D.A.’s office chose not to pursue charges stemming from the supposed episode that happened in 1965. Originally, that supposed victim stated that she was 18 at the time of the assault. Later she would go on to insist that she was actually 17.
Chloe Goins, the woman at the center the ’08 of the Playboy Mansion allegation, claims she awoke in a bedroom with a moist bosom. She contends that while Cosby was situated at the foot of the bed, he was masturbating while simultaneously biting her toe. The D.A. has conceded that toe-sucking hasn’t been characterized as enough to extend the statute of limitations. In addition to that, The Cosby Show patriarch supplied a solid alibi that proves he was out of town.
Given that Bill Cosby is already being tried in the court of public opinion, how will actual court proceedings work to impact his legacy?
Tim Westwood always has the exclusives so when we saw that he was unleashing a rare DMX Freestyle we had to let this one fly. Check it out as X goes in circa 2000. Very dope, DMX goes off!
Post Malone felt the need to clear the air and set the record straight about his music. He recently tweeted that he doesn’t make Rap music.
“Just one time for the records…. I DON”T MAKE RAP MUSIC!”
said Post Malone. He went on to say,
“I wear what I want to wear, do my hair the way I want to, sing about what I want to. I mean that’s just the way it is lol.”
Many seem to be divided on his comment. Some feel that his music contains elements of rap, and he does rap to an extent. Some people even felt he used being a so-called rapper to rise to the top, get interviews and notoriety, and now he wants to say he doesn’t make rap music? In a day and age when everyone seems to make genre-bending music, how would you categorize Post Malone?
This is one of biggest trending videos on Youtube this week so we had to make sure y’all saw Cube and Kevin Hart do their thing on Conan. Check it out as a CONAN staffer is “learning the rules of the road,” with the help of Kevin Hart, Ice Cube, & Conan. This is pure comedy.
Over the past 5 years William Moore AKA DJ Esco has established himself as more than just the DJ of the world renowned “Magic City Monday.” In 2010 he and then relatively unknown artist Future locked in and set off to change the sound of Southern Hip-Hop music.
Seeking to have an impact on producers and mixing engineers worldwide Esco and Future changed the game. Since then with the release of the first Dirty Sprite project up until the current Dirty Sprite 2, Future has been the main attraction to what Esco and his team describe as a “music and media circus that’s taken them from local strip clubs to world tour status.”
Take a look at DJ Esco’s “Side Show” Vlog series as DJ Esco gets lost on the way to NYE show with DJ Mustard.
While being arm-and-arm with Ice-T during his introduction to the music industry, b-girl/model Darlene Ortiz was able to witness the explosion of a few pioneering rap stars from the 1980’s. Some of those historic moments are detailed in Ortiz’s memoir Definition Of Down – My Life with Ice-T & the Birth Of Hip-Hop.
In part two of AllHipHop.com’s exclusive interview with Ortiz, the co-host of the long-running The Corey Holcomb 5150 Show speaks on some of the topics unfolding in modern-day Hip Hop culture. The woman affectionately referred to as “the first video vixen of rap music” shares her thoughts on current female celebrities embracing their sexuality. Ortiz also addresses rap feuds, the level of respect for Hip Hop’s early representatives, and being the focal point of Ice-T’s infamous album artwork for Power.
As a Hip Hop fan, I found the stories in the book about the culture at the time interesting. One story that stood out was the LL Cool J rivalry, and that was because a summit ended the beef. You don’t really hear about beefs being settled that way nowadays. Do you still follow what’s happening in the culture like the Drake and Meek Mill feud?
Not in depth, but just like anybody else you’ll check it out in the news. At the same time, my son is 24, so I’m around some of that stuff. If I’m curious, I’ll call him up and asked what’s up with this situation, and he’ll give me the gist.
The market is flooded with rappers because of social media. Also I think they’re on a younger tip. Even though some of these cats [from the 80’s] were pretty young when they were coming out, there weren’t that many of them. I felt like everybody was a lot more respectable in this culture.
I feel bad [for the new rappers]. I’m like, “Y’all are in the same type of music. Everybody has the struggle.” I don’t get it. Why can’t people say, “That’s some ugly ass behavior. Why don’t I offer an olive branch.” I don’t think they even know what that is. [laughs]
When you look at Rock & Roll, they greatly respect the people that came before them. The Rolling Stones are like gods of rock, but in Hip Hop we don’t always show that same level of respect for the people that came before us. A lot of the people you mentioned in the book laid the groundwork for what these rappers are doing now, but you don’t often see that homage paid to them.
You’re right, and it’s pretty sad. I have seen a lot more of this generation going retro and finding that’s cool. They’re going back. Like the respect for vinyls when they’re DJing. Because it’s nowhere to go. It’s like, “My god. Where are we at with this?”
I see the heads nowadays being like, “This sh*t is tight.” And they want to learn. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just my fantasy or my wishes, but I feel that’s happening. And thank god for Straight Outta Compton.
Throwback: Darlene + Kid & PlayYeah, Straight Outta Compton helped. Even the movie Dope. I don’t know if you saw it.
Of course I did! I was like the first one there! People didn’t even know about it. I was hipping people up on it. I was like, “Thank God! Thank God!” That was very cool how they did it.
Speaking of laying the groundwork, you’re considered the first cover girl of rap or the first superstar video model of rap. You had to deal with a lot of criticism from feminists at that time. What are your thoughts on Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, and Amber Rose presenting their sexuality as a form of feminism compared to the criticism you had to go through?
I love it of course. You see it’s entirely different, and I’m all for it. I’ve been that type of woman anyway where I’m not like, “Oh my god, she’s using her sexuality.” I’m a woman. I’m proud. I work hard at being a healthy, strong woman.
The part I don’t like about it is the competition. You see it. It’s like, “Come on. It’s room for everybody. Everybody looks great.” When that comes into play, that is the most hideous thing to me ever. It totally changes my views on them. Somebody could be the most aesthetically gorgeous to me, but then they open their mouth and I’m done.
When I was doing that, it was entirely different. So I can’t compare myself to everybody else who was doing it for a job. I was different, because I was supporting my man. It wasn’t like I went through a casting call. It was easier for me. That was my dude. I was doing it for our family, for our careers, for the group. I do consider myself part of his career. It was totally different from these women that were hired.
People got to remember they are hired. They’re working whether you want to respect what they do or not. But they are working just as much as that dude that’s rapping. Do you really think all those videos back in the day – when videos were a really big deal – do you think people just wanted to see dudes rapping with each other? [laughs] They’re paying these women, and I hope those women got something decent for what they did.
There’s another part of the book that presents the artistic, sensitive side of Ice that a lot of people probably didn’t know about. His alter ego.
Which he admits now. I didn’t know that until my book came out. I thought all these years he didn’t know we were calling him that behind his back. He knew. He spoke about it during his talk show run this past fall. I started calling up all of our mutual friends and asked, “Who told him?” [laughs]
“Antoine” came into effect even when I did the Power album cover. I would bring a whole case of clothing – shoes, jewelry, you name it. He’d go, “This, this, this, and this. There you go. There’s your fit.” And he did it with homes. To me it’s hilarious.
All my girlfriends would ask how was I living in a house that was decorated by him. You walk in and it’s all these cartoon and horror characters all over the wall. Even in the kitchen. I said, “I’m just that kind of gal. That man is so happy, so he did that without any bullsh*t from me. I don’t care. I’m happy to be in love with him. If he wants to place a pile of dirt in the living room, so be it.”
That’s the difference between me and a lot of women and friends I know. They b*tch and whine about the most minor things. To me, the biggest thing is to find someone you can actually get along with. If that’s one of the moves it took where he wants to decorate, I don’t care. I got a place to lay my head. I’m thankful for everything he provided. That man can put whatever he wants in this place.
‘Power’ Album CoverYou mentioned him styling you for the Power shoot. What do you think about now when you look back at that classic cover?
I’m very confident, as confident as they come. I don’t care what anybody says. I literally laugh at people when they feel the need to clap back at someone when they make a comment on social media. I’m like, “Who the hell cares? That’s someone’s opinion of you. You better get some grit and confidence.”
So I look back at that picture and think, “Girlfriend, you have no idea what’s getting ready to unfold after that.” [laughs]. I was just happy to represent and do for my man what we were both intending to do which was to help out his career.
People forget – especially when they see my solo picture – underneath our three poses it says “power.” People forget that’s what it was representing. I’m very proud. It’s going to be 28 years in 2016 from when that album cover came out.
My godson bought a skateboard that had the image on it. We thought he was just going to keep it in his room. Then he got busted for taking it to school. He’s asking, “What’s wrong? This is my godmomma.” I can’t wait to share that [picture] with my grandbabies in the future like, “This was your grandma.” [laughs]
What’s next for you?
I’m hoping I can option [the book] off for some sort of film. Even if it’s Lifetime or Netflix. I feel like this is a great story to tell, especially because of what that man did to open the doors for West Coast. Plus, the connections with b-boy elements. That hasn’t been represented in a long time.
I would love to have that happen, but I’ve also written a treatment for a reality show with Discovery Channel. Nothing like what anybody would think. It’s actually very humorous and has to do with people breaking up and what happens after the fact. But it’s not just me. I would be on one episode, but it’s to help other people out.
I’m writing more. I’m still doing my songwriting. I wrote a song with Teena Marie. That was the last song I wrote. It was pretty heartbreaking, because she passed almost a month after writing and recording that.
Also, I’m big in my hospice and senior care. I’m big on helping people transition when they’re about to pass. I’ve been passionate about it for years. I’m big on volunteering. So regardless of what comes from this, as long as I get financial comfort enough that will allow me to give more of my time to do my volunteer work. That’s where my heart is.
Bryson Tiller had an amazing year in 2015. He emerged as a fan favorite, had one of the top R&B albums on the charts, and his single “Don’t” was well received. Tiller also expressed that his musical success last year changed his life dramatically in regards to financial stability. Everyone seems to be eager to collaborate with the crooner. A Drake & Bryson collaboration just may be on the way. Drake cosigned Tiller a little while back also.
“Tell Drake to throw me on the remix. We both know that’ll never happen,”
Tiller sung on his “How About Now” freestyle.
The remix may not happen but a collaboration may. Bryson posted a photo to his Instagram of him and Drake together. A$AP Rocky already said Tiller has all of the b***es. If he collaborates with Drake he may have even more.
We definitely believe the collaboration is near. Would you like to see these two on a track together?
I ain’t never said nothing about that. Never. I respected the man. The lady [Julia Beverly] who got her book – the book is wrong. The man got out of jail. You know what the man did? He hit me up. He said, “P, I’m sorry and thank you man, because I know what type of dude you is. I was on that dope.” You got people sitting around talking. Where were y’all at though? Y’all don’t know the real part of this…
Where I come from, nobody’s gonna give you a pass just because you’re saying you’re on drugs… Drugs will give you that false courage…
Some people you just don’t play with. I’ve never disrespected nobody. I don’t bang on wax. I never made a song about nobody. I’m gonna be a real man. If I got a problem with you, I’m gonna call you and address it.
On Bill Cosby:
When you look at that Bill Cosby situation, I just think people looked at him as the perfect dad or the perfect person. Even when it comes down to money, you know sometimes egos get involved to where you got money and power, and you act like you’re better than everybody and can make people do this.
Personally, I don’t think he did that to all those women. I do feel like society has made him into a monster because [of his] ego from 20, 30 years ago. I think that’s how the system goes. They’re gonna catch you [like,] “Oh, you think you’re better.” Even with Michael Jackson. They had to figure out a way to bring him down, because when somebody thinks you’re the perfect person – it’s no perfect people out here.
On Jarren Benton:
I never met him. I never heard of him. Maybe he just likes No Limit. To be honest, I never heard of him, but a lot of people understand what No Limit is about. They know I probably could teach them and show them something. Maybe this one guy might want this opportunity, but I never heard of him.
ASAP Nast & Ian Connor are accusing Travis Scott of jacking their style. They said they have been killing the game for a while. They said they don’t want beef and they “f*ck” with his music, but they said his style is not original. Everyone was the “first” to do something huh? Nast said,
“Travis, we don’t want no beef with you bro. All we’re saying is please stop stealing our swag bro. Find your own bro. That’s all we want. I actually f### with your music. Your music is fire. I ain’t no hater. I don’t want n—as to think I’m salty. I ain’t salty. I f### with his music. But his style! That doesn’t belong to him. It’s mine.”
“No, I’m not the first n—a rocking Stone Island, the first n—a to throw Nike, I ain’t the first nothing. But I am the first East Coast rap n—a to ever be wearing Stone Island fo sho that anybody knows and gives a f### about. That’s for the record.”
“Yo, just for the record, only n—as that was rocking Stone Island before me was London n—as and Paris n—as, And them my n—as, I salute.”
Ian also called Travis Scott out for blocking him on Twitter! ASAP Nast wants Scott to stop riding his wave!
(AllHipHop News) Maybach Music Group boss Rick Ross recently sat down with Tidal for the entertainment platform’s “Off/Beat” interview series. The “Sorry” rhymer was asked why he decided to pursue music as his career.
“Growing up, what made me want to become a musician was the simple fact I loved the music,” said Ross. “I wanted to listen to it in the morning, every night, every chance I got to. I think that love just turned into: ‘I want to make music.'”
Rozay also shared his favorite album from last year. He selected a project from his own MMG camp – Omarion’s Sex Playlist which was released in December 2014. The Miami representative also named Adele’s “Hello” as his favorite song at the moment.
(AllHipHop News) André “3000” Benjamin is known to pop his head up as a featured artist on another performer’s song, but the Grammy winning Atlanta native has not released his own full body of work since The Love Below in 2003. However, the American Crime actor told Billboard he is constantly in the process of making music.
“I still get time to think about music. [Shooting TV and film projects] is not so bad — it kind of puts you in the place where you’re fiending to do music,” said André. “I’ve been holding [back] for a long time, so now I’m really interested in figuring out some type of music to do. I’m always recording.”
3 Stacks’ most recent collaboration was Erykah Badu’s “Hello.” The former couple’s duet was the closing track on the R&B singer’s But U Cain’t Use My Phone project.
“Our son Seven and I were trying to figure out songs that could help her – songs that were related to the subject of the mixtape: phones,” Dre explains. “We came across [The Isley Brothers’ 1974 cover of Todd Rundgren’s] ‘Hello, It’s Me.'”
The OutKast member added, “I told Erykah, ‘You should make this into a new song and get somebody to rap on it.’ She was like, ‘Well, you should rap on it!’ I’m happy it happened. It was a great reunion, because I don’t think people have heard a song from us in ages.”
(AllHipHop News) Marvel released its Hip Hop variant covers comic book this week, and the company tapped Atlanta rapper Killer Mike to write the foreword for the collection. The Run The Jewels member’s introduction for the free 32-page comic featured him reflecting on his love for comic books as a child. Marvel’s “The Hip Hop Covers” comic book is available at participating stores.
I have two dads, both of whom played a significant role in raising me: my biological father—a conservative, pro-gun cop—and my mom’s husband—my “dad,” a liberal man of the arts with an amazing collection of records and comics. He was the one that introduced me to comics. I still remember when he gave me first copy of Uncanny X-Men. Seeing Storm for the first time—a beautiful, powerful, dark-skinned woman that looked like my mother with a Mohawk—I was instantly drawn to her.
Comics became that thing for my dad and I that was ours. Going to Atlanta’s West End Mall with him became the highlight of my week. We’d get donuts at the Krispy Kreme, chill at the comic book store next door for hours, then catch a movie at the dollar theater. So when I first got news of Marvel Comics’ Run The Jewelsvariant covers, my dad was the first person I thought of and the second person I told (wives, bruh). To go from sharing comics with your dad to seeing something you’re a part of actually on a comic, to seeing those covers lay the groundwork for something as big as Marvel’s Hip-Hop cover initiative is unreal. Two things I love combined? It doesn’t get any cooler.
Without question, Marvel’s Hip-Hop variants are cool because they show how far-reaching Hip-Hop’s influences has grown, but they’re even cooler when you how perfect the pairings for the covers are. Choosing Nas’ Illmatic cover for Miles Morales’ debut in the Marvel Universe proper couldn’t have been more on point. The two Wolverine covers that flip DMX’s Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood and Ice Cube’s Death Certificate—awesome! Kamala Khan taking cue from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill—fitting. Outkast’s Aquemini for the Inhumans—next level. I mean, think about that last one: In the Marvel Universe there used to be two basic players: traditional super heroes (Avengers, Spider-Man) and mutants (X-Men, Wolverine); in Rap, the conversation was originally dominated by East Coast and West Coast, then Outkast came along and cemented the South as a legitimate third force to be reckoned with. Just like the Inhumans are doing this year.
Another impressive thing about these covers is the range of artists/albums chosen. Lil B’s Blue Flame cover?! Says it all. The Sugar Hill Gang, Tupac, A$AP, Kendrick, ScHoolboy, De La, Wu Tang, Wiz, Public Enemy—hell, they even figured out how to use Vanilla Ice’s cover in a way that made perfect sense! The age of Internet lists has shows us how difficult it is to please everyone, but Marvel manages to represent Hip-Hop in every one of its various incarnations since its glorious inception. This was no small feat. This was clearly done with love and the type of responsibility we could only hope more people take cue from when representing such an influential art form in my life. Not to mention they look cool as $#!#!
(AllHipHop News) Many Wu-Tang Clan fans were not pleased to find out pharmaceutical CEO-turned-public villain Martin Shkreli was the one that purchased the legendary group’s one-of-a-kind, secret album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. Wu member RZA spoke with Bloomberg TV about Shkreli being the sole owner of the exclusive LP.
“He bought it. He can do what he wants,” said RZA. “If the greatest man in the world was the one who wanted to possess it, it would have been his objective. If my enemy came to an auction and said, ‘I want that picture of RZA just to throw darts at it.’ It’s being auctioned. So I could never discriminate who appreciates art.”
According to RZA, Shkreli expressed to him that he was a big fan of Wu-Tang prior to buying Once Upon A Time. Shkreli later blasted RZA as arrogant and stated the idea of selling one album backfired. The music producer/filmmaker chose not to return any insults.
RZA also revealed Shkreli does have the power to share the songs on the secret project, despite reports the album was banned from commercial use for 88 years.
“He could do something that could allow more people to hear the record,” added RZA. “If he concurs to that, then that would be something really good for art and really good for the Wu fans.”
