Whatever you may think about the Christmas season…it is a time when people tend to agree is a time for increased kindness, acts of giving and people to help others. Preserve Our Legacy, Inc. jumped into a partnership with The City of Newark, Newark Department of Health & Community Wellness, Newark Housing Authority and several notables to give to children in need of toys for Christmas. The event took place in New Jersey and New York with appearances by AllHipHop’s Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur, rap artist Freeway, rapper Prince AK, actor JD Williams, Newark’s honorable mayor Ras J. Baraka, artist Miss NaNa and several dignitaries. Here are some of the pictures from the event. Keep the spirit of giving back going…
Chuck Creekmur, Freeway and Miss NaNa and one of the first kids to get a gift.
Prince Ak, Chuck Creekmur, Destiny Deriso, Freeway, Miss NaNa
Three lovely girls
The elves were working to maintain order
The Big Man…
Freeway signs some autographs.
Prince AK and a lucky kid
Clifford Godfrey, Gleshia Givens and Ras J. Baraka, Mayor
Gleshia GivensRas J. Baraka, Mayor
Santa and a young football player
JD WilliamsGleshia Givens
JD’s lovely daughter
Gleshia GivensPrince AKShana Melius, Co/Founder Preserve Our Legacy, Inc.
As the dabbing theme continues this holiday season, it looks like this dab movement might roll strong into 2016. With Cam Newton and the Panthers continuing to win, 2 Chainz sweaters selling like hotcakes and now Eric Bellinger new song, there’s no telling where this movement may go. This time the 300 Ent artist joins in on the fun for the holiday with his new video “Dabbin On Christmas.” It’s just as trippy as it is festive and with the ominous sound in the back over trapped beats and Eric’s echoing voice, it will def make your head spin like you’ve done too many dabs. Check it out below:
Its holiday season and Drake is in the mood of giving. Peep this video below grabbed from Sincere’s IG by Sneakerwatch. He showing off his new OVO J’s and the 10 stacks that Drake threw his way as a small gift for the Christmas holiday.
As another Christmas Day dawns upon us, I find myself in deep thought reflecting on all that Christmas means to me. Some of us choose to celebrate or not celebrate Christmas for personal, and religious reasons. Whatever your position is, it is not my responsibility to judge you. But as for me and my house, the spirit of Christmas is alive and well.
One of my earliest memories of Christmas was when I was 10 years of age, and I woke up on Christmas Day to find that there were no gifts under the tree for me, and my four siblings. I don’t know why my mother failed to buy us gifts. I dreaded going outdoors seeing all the other kids in the neighborhood riding their bicycles, and playing with their toys. Seeing the sad looks on our faces, my single mother mom gave the four oldest kids $5 each (my younger brother Isaac was only months old). My oldest brother Warren, and I made a bee line to the corner store to buy a couple of plastic cap guns, and we played cops and robbers that morning until we ran out of the paper rolled caps that provided the noise, and smoke.
I promised myself that whenever I have kids, I would buy them everything they ever wanted. Through hard work and perseverance, I earned enough money to do just that for my son, and daughter. But as my kids got older, became more independent, and started spending more time with their friends, I began to look back on all those Christmases and concluded that what made Christmas special to me was not presents, but presence. When my brother and I was playing cops and robbers with those cheap $1.99 cap guns, it was one of my fondest memories ever. Not because we had gifts, but because we had each other. I can’t remember half the presents I bought or received for Christmas through the years, but I remember the good times I had due to the presence of loved ones.
We are at a crossroad in our nation’s history. The world is in turmoil with everything from terrorism to natural disasters. I am a man of resolve. I ask God to cloak me with humility, and allow me to show mercy when appropriate. But sometimes fervency gets the best of me, and I fall short of HIS glory. Yet, I seek to find optimism in my heart for the pain that we as humans cause one another. What gives me hope is the extended love I see in the streets, shopping centers, and malls during the holiday season. People really go out of their way to be nice, peaceful, and generous around Christmas time.
What if we could keep that going all year, every year? What if we built people up, reminded them that they were worthy, told them they were beautiful, and made it a point to talk with them or visit them frequently throughout the year? What if we made it a point to build relationships, foster peace, and made sure everyone had a decent meal every day, not just during the holidays? What if we got back to caring about our neighbors, and our neighbors children? We as a people, the human race, would be unstoppable.
Christmas is a time for reflection of events in the past, and those yet to come. I think of my deceased parents, and others who are no longer with us, and I hurt. But I find solace in having known them, and being blessed with the fruits of their labor. I love listening to Christmas carols, and songs. However, instead of stressing out over what gift to buy and how much money to spend, I now focus on how much time to spend with the people who matter to me most. They are the people who make me forget that I was broken. They are the ones who make me want to be a better friend, a better father, a better man.
In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, don’t forget to spend time with people who make you forget that you were broken. That’s what Christmas is about to me.
OK. Maybe I am missing something here. But, Diddy “gifted” French Montana a million bucks…FOR WHAT? I like French. Diddy is the boss of bosses. I am just trying to figure this out. Now look at the picture.
I meant to say…French Montana is my favorite rapper EVER.
The King of R&B, R. Kelly, has faced allegations that he sexually assaulted underage girls for over a decade. He will more than likely have to face these allegations for the rest of his life. The Huffington Post recently interviewed Kelly on their HuffPost live show. Host Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani continued to press the issue about the allegations against Kelly although he expressed that he came to talk about positive matters such as his new album, ‘Buffet.’ Kellz warned HuffPost that if they continued to press the issue he would leave, and he ended up walking out on the interview. The HuffPost’s Black Voices had to to take one more shot. They posted an article link with the caption “Remember all the gross accusations against R. Kelly? Here’s a list in case you forgot.” What are your thoughts?
Trina is bad with “F**k Boy” and she ain’t taking any of them as prisoners. She takes aim at the superficial , metrosexual and overall corny dude. Check it out as the Miami rap mistress marches to her new album. We know no f**k boys will be supporting this project.
Crooked I aka Kxng Crooked drops a new gem over the same beat that Jay spit over “Dear Summer.” He addresses the SlaughterHouse break up rumors, among other lyrical darts.
Rihanna’s upcoming album ‘Anti’ is on the way. While many are anticipating it’s release, it seems like our favorite controversial female rapper Azealia Banks, isn’t too excited. Allegedly Rihanna reached out to Azealia Banks for a feature once upon a time. Before Banks was removed from an invite only party last week, she named dropped the fact that she was on Rihanna’s album.
A few days ago it seems like Azealia may have shaded Ri Ri and her album a little bit. She seemed a little upset; maybe her features didn’t make the album. Her tweets suggested that someone weeded her out but originally asked for her help before getting intimidated by her sound and style. Azealia went on to say she rather not be contacted to collab if the other party is going to chicken out. One of Azealia’s fans suggested that the other party may have chickened out because of ego; Banks agreed. Was an Azealia Banks feature just want the ‘Anti’ album needed?
Meek Mill has had a pretty rough year. People won’t let the fact that he lost a very public beef, against Drake, die down. A few disses by Drake, a Power Point, and the internet killed this man this year. The Game’s manager @Wack100, who just knocked out Stitches, said he would have to put his money on Drake after seeing Meek work the punching bag. He wrote,
“Just keeping it gangsta, I would have to put my money on @Champagnepapi in a squab. @MeekMill punches ain’t looking to strong.”
Safaree recently sat down for an interview with Tim Westwood where he spoke about being friends with Nicki Minaj, and he was asked about Meek Mill’s career. Westwood asked Safaree,
“What’s your attitude towards Meek Milly, who didn’t have a good year in 2015?”
Safaree laughed it off and said,
“I don’t even know who that is.”
Poor Safaree; he’s still not over it. Now Safaree you know very well who Meek is. We wonder if Safaree will ever get that payout he wants from Nicki.
With the OG version featuring Buddy & Chance The Rapper, BJ The Chicago Kid shares an official remix of “Church” featuring his fellow Chicagoans Jeremih & Lil Durk. Cop now on iTunes! New album “In My Mind” coming early 2016.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Susan Bruguera ordered The Game to pay rival 40 Glocc for assault.
40 Glocc was originally looking to receive $4.5 million from his rival, but the judge said he would get a total of $3,000 in the non-jury trial.
She also found Game guilty of battery. Brugera suggested that 40 Glocc could have gotten more, but he was not completely forthcoming in court.
There is a status conference is set for Jan. 14.
The whole ordeal started after a long-running feud turned physical and was recorded via cell phone in July of 2012. 40 Glocc maintained that the video didn’t reflect that there were guns on him from The Game’s crew. In the suit, he also maintained that his street credibility was damaged after the altercation.
On Instagram, 40 seemed to discuss the case and some users comments by posting a large amount of money.
For years, Hip Hop heads have complained too much of the culture has become stagnant artistically. I often hear/read rap fans say “everything is the same now, no one’s doing anything original.” Well, Boston-based rapper Michael “M-Dot” Januario is consistently pushing the boundaries of the art form through his innovative music videos.
M-Dot’s latest work is yet another example the former college basketball player approaches his craft in an entirely unique way from his peers. His visuals for “123 Flow” provide viewers more than just a few minutes of an artist performing in front of luxury cars or two-stepping beside scantily clad video vixens. While those type of videos have their appeal, M-Dot chose to provide an interactive 360° experience with his groundbreaking clip directed and edited by Victor Keys.
AllHipHop.com connected with M-Dot via email to get more information on how he and his team put together the avant-garde “123 Flow” vid. Supporters should also be on the lookout for more extraordinary visuals as well as the Own Lane Music representative’s debut LP Ego & The Enemy. The double album will feature production by Hi-Tek, Marley Marl, Buckwild, M-Phazes, Marco Polo, !llmind, Da Beatminerz, 7L, Snowgoons, and more.
How did you come up with the treatment for the “123 Flow” video?
My brother Victor, who has done photography for years, had always been fascinated with capturing panoramic 360° flicks. He’d shoot every angle with a fisheye [lens] then piece it all together for a “my planet” panoramic feel. We’d constantly talk about shooting that same vision in full motion for a music video, but we still needed more equipment and the right editing tools.
Our focus for many years now has been to stray away from filming typical “rap videos”, and this new visual would be the epitome of reaching that goal. I had ideas in the process of making this one and have taken part in co-directing almost every video I’ve released… this, nevertheless, I wanna say was all Victor.
How long did it take to film the entire video?
We shot pretty quick actually. The song isn’t long which shortened the amount of time consumed by retakes. We shot late night at an indoor location in Worcester (that is video 2 coming in the next weeks), then slept 3 hours or so (due to schedules we had a small window), and woke up and shot the outdoor rooftop scenes (warehouse in Worcester area) you see in the video currently out. All and all, probably 4 hours (shooting wise). Quickest visual I’ve shot surprisingly.
What was the most difficult part of finalizing the video?
The plan for releasing. We have had this video pretty much ready for 6 months (similar to “Shine” with Method Man), but we were strategizing how to market it. Facebook, for instance, still doesn’t have the full technology for all mobile devices to view properly. And with YouTube you need to watch it in the YouTube app.
Our fear was people weren’t gonna get the full experience. People often view it flat due to a phone not being updated or not watching it in the right browser. It’s something we wanted to avoid. But we figured we couldn’t wait any longer and just let it loose, as the next objective was to start working towards what we wanted to do next visually rather than being stuck on this.
Your visuals consistently push the boundaries of the art form. How are you going to top an interactive 360° video?
There is something special we are already working on now. I hope it has the same effect. The past 5 videos have all been completely different (animated, 360, zombie, green screen, sans rapping b-roll visual story), and that’s what makes it fun to create (and I hope watch), as it’s not a repetitive cycle.
What can listeners expect on your upcoming Ego & The Enemy project?
I think concepts and stories have become more seldom seen over the years. I definitely feel that albums have had less cohesion as well. I’d hope to bring more of that to the forefront again. The album should have a roller coaster ride – similar to a movie – with a climax, and a dark side (enemy) and a prideful, happy side (ego) all providing an experience.
Nowadays we are sadly in a microwave generation of singles and immediate fixes. I hope people still are willing to digest more than 1 minute at a time and conversely are open to digesting a whole piece of work. Thank y’all so much for having me. I have dug the site forever. Shoutouts to my family… Own Lane Music, EMS, DJ Workshard, and Revalation.
(AllHipHop News) How did attending a charity event turn into a social media comedic feud? That is what happened last night between Maybach Music Group rapper Meek Mill and comedian Michael Blackson. The two entertainers – along with Empire‘s Bryshere “Yazz” Gray – visited with local Philadelphia residents, but the experience ended up including some back-and-forth disses on Instagram.
Blackson started the roasting session by referencing Drake’s “Back To Back” diss track against Meek in the caption of one of his IG pics. He wrote, “Home. In Philly giving back to the elderly with Cookie’s son and Twitter fingers.”
Meek fired back on his page by clowning Blackson’s shoes and suggesting he was a C-list celebrity. His photo included the words, “We doing charity but we need to help him get some real Gucci sneaks! None of the kids knew who he wasssss! Lol what are thooooosssseeeee!”
Blackson returned to Instagram to provide proof his footwear was not fake. He also took another shot at Meek by posting a tweet that read, “He roasted me immediately, but took days to reply to that light skin n*gga [Drake].”
The Ghanaian born stand up comic ended his messages to Meek by adding another tweet that claimed he has canceled all of his shows in Philly and hired 78 additional bodyguards. They both eventually dropped the tongue-in-cheek rivalry and began to highlight their respective charity work.
Alpakka Music is making a statement in 2016 with the next generation of Hip Hop from Uptown. The lead artist off the label, RudeBoy Dinero smacks a heavy blow to emcees with his version of the Young Thug track aptly called “Flow”. Be on the lookout for the new project “Straight Hitz, No Misses” dropping 1st Quarter, 2016.
(AllHipHop News) Biting has always been one of the deadly sins of Hip Hop, but the practice of copying someone else’s style has become common place in recent years. And it’s not just emcees dealing with being bitten by others. Producers have faced the same problem.
DJ Smallz caught up with producer Young Chop (Chief Keef’s “I Don’t Like,” Big Sean’s “Mula”). The Chicago representative complained about people jacking his sound, and he claimed he has lost a lot of money from the alleged musical theft.
“Y’all n*ggas trying to take my f*cking food. I lost a lot of money cause n*ggas wanted to sound like me, and I wasn’t going for nothing lesser than what I was talking about,” said Chop. “[I’ve lost] hundreds of thousands [of dollars] probably. I see all this sh*t on the internet, ‘Young Chop’s style this. Young Chop’s beat that.’ That’s crazy to me.”
(AllHipHop News) It appears Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s online feud with William “Rick Ross” Roberts could be headed to a courtroom. The Queens mogul has filed a lawsuit against his rival. According to reports, 50 is seeking $2 million from Ross’ over the use of his song “In Da Club” without permission.
Ross rapped over the beat for the 2003 megahit for his 2-disc #RenzelRemixes mixtape. The project also featured the MMG boss creating his own versions of Future’s “Where Ya At,” Post Malone’s “White Iverson,” Adele’s “Hello,” and more.
“50 Cent’s most valuable asset is the name and reputation he has painstakingly built through his Grammy-winning music, acting, and business endeavors,” said 50’s attorney Paul LiCalsi. “He chooses his projects carefully for the very purpose of protecting that name and reputation.”
While the two performers have had bad blood dating back to the last decade, this lawsuit is somewhat surprising. Rappers have long used other artist’s tracks on their noncommercial projects, and #RenzelRemixes was available for free download.
However, the legal issue could be centered around the fact that Ross included 50’s actual vocals on his “In Da Club” remix. In addition, the suit states Rozay’s version is “a blatant commercial advertisement for [Ross’ latest LP] Black Market.”
Earlier this year, 50 filed a separate lawsuit against Ross. In that case, the G-Unit boss attempted to blame Ross for a sex tape of the Miami native’s ex-girlfriend leaking online. 50 was ordered to pay $5 million and an additional $2 million to Lastonia Leviston for his part in the explicit video becoming public. Last year, he also lost a $16 million lawsuit to Sleek Audio.
(AllHipHop News) Lil Kim has dropped some club bangers during her career. The female rap icon’s discography includes the classic cuts “Crush On You” and “The Jump Off.” But what songs from 2015 had the Queen Bee hyped?
While speaking with AllHipHop.com at the Growing Up Hip Hop premiere in New York, Kim listed a few of her favorite “turn up” tracks from this year. She named a Drake/Future collaboration, the latest offering from Omarion, and Travis Scott’s Top 20 single.
“I have a lot of them. ‘Jumpman’ by Future and Drake. I like Omarion’s new song ‘I’m Up.’ Travis Scott’s [‘Antidote’],” stated Lil Kim.
