Akon Discusses His #AkonLightingAfrica Campaign (VIDEO)

By: Yohance Kyles (@HUEYmixwitRILEY)Category: NewsJune 9, 2015

(AllHipHop News) Singer/producer Akon is on a mission to provide electricity for over 600 million people living on the continent of Africa. The Konvict Muzik founder spent much of his early life in the West African country Senegal, and he has now used his resources to establish a solar academy in Mali to teach local citizens about maintaining renewable energy.

[ALSO READ: Akon Pushes To Bring 600 Million Africans Electricity]

Akon spoke with CNN about his project. He talked about his motivation for starting #AkonLightingAfrica, the early struggles of the campaign, and the lack of accountability in foreign aid.

“I realized Africa would have to be built by Africans themselves,” said Akon. “So we wanted to create a generation of doers and people that would actually make a difference, so ultimately I just decided to start with myself.”

A photo posted by Akon Official (@akon) on Jun 7, 2015 at 5:36am PDT

[ALSO READ: Akon Plans For Five-Part Album, ‘Stadium]

Watch Akon’s interview below.

Turk Ft. Lil Wayne – “You Mad Yet? (Remix)”

By: Yohance Kyles (@HUEYmixwitRILEY)Category: MusicJune 9, 2015

Two of the Hot Boys reunite for a new cut. YNT Entertainment’s Turk recruits Young Money’s Lil Wayne for the remix to his song “You Mad Yet?” JoeyDidThis handled the production, and the artwork was designed by Instagram user @GalvanOscar13.

Waka Flocka Flame Ft. Future, DJ Whoo Kid & Steve Aoki – “Get High With Me” (P###. 808 Mafia)

By: Scooby Wilson (@mcscoobins)Category: MusicJune 9, 2015

After wrapping up Part One of his Turn Up Godz tour with DJ Whoo Kid. To thank the Fans for sold out dates every night for the past two months, he tapped on 808 Mafia to cook up something special. “Get High With Me” features his touring partner DJ Whoo Kid, Future, and Steve Aoki.

This is just a prelude of the debauchery, before Part Two of the Turn Up Godz Tour ensues in the coming months for Festival Season. Be on the lookout as Waka and Whoo Kid tackle Bali, Australia, and more, as well as release their Turn Up Godz 2 mixtape! This will feature all of the songs that they’ll be performing on the road.

Listen to “Get High With Me” below.

The Game Arrested For Punching Los Angeles Cop

By: YourfavenightmareCategory: NewsJune 8, 2015

The Game was arrested for punching an off-duty LAPD police officer earlier this year in March.

The rapper turned himself in to authorities in the afternoon and was released a couple hours after posting $50,000 bail.

The 35-year-old Compton native was booked on suspicion of felony criminal threats, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In March, The Game and and others were playing a pick-up game of basketball when a fracas broke out. A video posted on YouTube chronicled the incident, which prompted law enforcement to press charges.

The Game didn’t have a comment at press time, but he did post some images to his Instagram.

Governor’s Ball 2015 Recap

By: Vance BrinkleyCategory: FeaturesJune 8, 2015

This weekend, Governor’s Ball was in full effect in New York City. While there were a few troubles within certain performances, most of the sets successfully shown growth from last year. The popular music festival boasted a lineup including Drake, The Black Keys, and Deadmau5 headlining the festival, but there were a plethora of acts that caught our attention as the three days flew by.

Day 1 of GovBall was filled with a dope set of performers, starting with an unfortunate surprise from Mississippi duo Rae Sremmurd. If you haven’t seen clips that’s currently flooding the internet, then you’re not hip about how their set ended. Pretty much, Slim Jxmmi was turning up to “Unlock the Swag”, and happened to fall in one of the stage lights. The set was cut short (no leg puns intended), but it’s good to know that he’s okay.

https://instagram.com/p/3jvODcQZno/?taken-by=raesremmurd

Future kept the festival going by performing an hour later, but no other hip hop act performed on day one of the festival until Drake.

https://instagram.com/p/3q9DTlwvc2/

The Canadian rapper didn’t disappoint, performing with an incredible amount of energy and background visuals to back up Drake’s lengthy catalogue of music. Drake’s set ended when he decided to perform the single“Know Yourself” off of his latest album If You’re Reading This You’re Too Late.

Close-up originally from DrizzyDrehk on Tumblr — Close-up originally from DrizzyDrehk via Tumblr

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vance Brinkley (@vanceb_)

If you wanted a bunch of rap performers on Day 2 of GovBall, you would be highly disappointed. However, there were a ton of performances that might have made it one of the best day out of the three, with some having very close ties to Hip Hop. For example, Rustie had a dope residency early on, and the man was on fire. From Danny Brown to Hudson Mohawke, Rustie blended both worlds of EDM and Hip Hop together effectively.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vance Brinkley (@vanceb_)

Later on, Kiesza set was far better than many have expected. Equipped with two dancers, a drummer, and what seemed to be a Keyboard player/DJ. This singer’s performance gave off a real badass rock vibe with a pop-like essence.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vance Brinkley (@vanceb_)

Up next was the highly anticipated Little Dragon. Did they need any costumes? Nope. What about insane visuals? Not really. The Swedish band provided fans with a set of dope tracks out of their catalogue from “Klapp Klapp” to “Ritual Union”, no gimmicks needed.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vance Brinkley (@vanceb_)

Although there were an insane amount of artists to fulfill everyone’s needs, SBTRKT had to be one of the best performances that day if not the entire weekend. The London producer brought several artists to actually perform the songs that he worked with them for. That even includes bringing out Little Dragon for the popular hit “Wildfire”.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vance Brinkley (@vanceb_)

On Day 3, Governor’s Ball ended with a bang. The day started out with New York rapper Bishop Nehru. The kid might be young, but he definitely brought that 90’s Hip Hop vibe to the festival.

Then, Chronixx & the Zincfence Redemption was on the Big Apple Stage. The Reggae collective supplied Randall’s Park with a radical sound of reggae that reminded you of legendary artists like Sizzla and Bob Marley.
Next up was Logic, the DMV rapper had a packed crowd at the Honda Stage, and he tore it up by dropping songs from his album Under Pressure to his earlier mixtapes. He even dropped a live freestyle in the middle of his set.

In the Gotham Tent, fans were blessed with the performance of Mayer Hawthorne. The singer had definitely killed his performance, play many songs from both his solo albums and singles from Tuxedo, Hawthorne’s duo with Jake One.

A-Track soon appeared at the Honda Stage, equipped with Heavy Bass, two huge screens, and trippy visuals. The Canadian DJ has built a reputation after winning several World DJ Championships for his insane scratching skills, and he sure showed people why he earned him during his set.

Finally, we ended our night with Flying Lotus. This Los Angeles producer has emerged as one of the leading new-age producers after working with stars like Kendrick Lamar and Erykah Badu. His performance was a trip through different visuals through a huge screen during his set.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 🕸Cassandra Peña🕸 (@unicorns_4_sale)

Although there were a couple of issues with speakers on different stages, Governor’s Ball was a success. The Festival continued to bring a diverse spectrum of artists to Randall’s Island for three days, while also brought together a diverse spectrum of people to give the GovBall life. With standards being higher every year for GovBall, we don’t know how big this festival can get from here.

Listen To The Weeknd’s New Song “Cant Feel My Face”

By: Scooby Wilson (@mcscoobins)Category: MusicJune 8, 2015

After releasing “The Hills” last month, The Weeknd returns with new Max Martin produced track “Cant Feel My Face”.

Purchase “Cant Feel My Face” now on iTunes.

G-Dot & Born Ft. Masta Ace – “Ghetto Survivors”

By: Scooby Wilson (@mcscoobins)Category: MusicJune 8, 2015

Those who live comfortably behind white picket fences, are often quick to judge the lifestyle and culture of those raised by the corners. As block boys turned emcees, Boston’s G dot & Born, have studied the game and have taken their experiences from the streets to the studio, as exemplified on their latest leak, “Ghetto Survivors.”

Production wise, Ben Hedibi crafts a soulful, slap heavy instrumental, laced with a well composed scratch hook courtesy of, DJ Technic, that takes it back to the bare bones fundamentals of MPCs and SL-1200s. And if Edo G was first to roll out the record carpet for the revivalist duo, than Masta Ace will help them to continue their ascend, with his proficient raps that details the ‘dos and dont’s’ of ghetto survival…“don’t try to have the whole block scared of you, you never know what the scared are prepared to do.”

“Ghetto Survivors” is now available for purchase, courtesy of iTunes, and all other major digital retailers.

Shanti Das Releases New Book On Entrepreneurial Success- “The 1-2-3s of Entrepreneurship”

By: Rea Davis @IamReaDavisCategory: LifestyleJune 8, 2015

For more than 20 years, Shanti Das has been a staple, a familiar face, a recognizable name, and a landmark in the music industry. Since graduating from Syracuse University in 1993, Shanti has worked tirelessly to learn the ins and outs of the music game and to make her mark on the industry. Starting with her stint as a promotions assistant for Capitol Records and making a major leap into the role of National Promotions Director for LaFace Records followed by posts as Senior Director of Urban Marketing at Arista, VP/SR VP at Columbia Records/Sony Music and Executive Vice President of Marketing at Universal Motown.

Music industry veteran and the “Hip Hop Professional” music consultant Shanti Das has now launched the second installment of her pocket guide series with her latest guide, “The 1-2-3s of Entrepreneurship.” This guide follows her previous guide titled, “The 1-2-3s of Networking” which provides readers invaluable tips on how to expand their contact base via networking and is full of useful insights from Das reminding them to “Remember your net-worth is based upon your network.”

“When I started this series, I wanted to be able to provide easy and helpful information for people that are starting out in business,” states Das.

“The 1-2-3s of Entrepreneurship” is full of insight and features 30 tips from successful entrepreneurs including: movie producer Will Packer, brand expert Steve Stoute, entrepreneur Daymond John, media mogul Mona Scott-Young, commercial real estate expert Michael Russell, TV host Bevy Smith, attorney Joel Katz, music veteran/entrepreneur Shanti Das, Syracuse University professor Alexander McKelvie, entrepreneur Kevin D. Johnson and many more!

Both guides are available at www.pressresetent.com!

From her critically acclaimed book, “The Hip-Hop Professional 2.0,” to her college tour, “The College Chat Room,” to the highly successful “ATL Live on the Park” (through her company Press Reset Entertainment), Shanti has become a household name to a whole new generation of artists, admirers and aspiring execs.

Scrilla King Releases “Favor” Chet Haze Diss

By: YourfavenightmareCategory: MusicJune 8, 2015

It doesn’t look like Scrilla King and Chet Haze are going to be friends any time soon.

Scrilla has released a song “Favor,” which slights his former friend amid a party oriented song.

“I can’t f**k with you, no more I ain’t feelin’ it / You can hit my phone leave a message, I ain’t hearin it. /Catch me at the club candy clean like liquorish / I be pullin’ up every week with a different b***h,” the song says.

RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Scrilla King Talks Ex-Friend Chet Hanks Using The N-Word, His Issues With TMZ, & Hip Hop Standing Up

Scrilla told AllHipHop.com that he made the song after Chet continued to send him disrespectful messages.

“After Chet texted me talking crazy like he was on cocaine, I decided to make a record expressing how I can’t be cool nor associate with a lame like him,” Scrilla said, “And [I] named the song ‘Favor’ because I’ve done more for him than he’s done for me.”

The pair were friends, but their issues swirled to the top as Chet Haze insisted on using the “N-Word.”

RELATED: Chet Haze Wanted By London Police

The Roots Headline CounterPoint 2015!

By: Rea Davis @IamReaDavisCategory: LifestyleJune 8, 2015

Photo by Jen McKinnon

Quest Love & Black Thought definitely brought the funk to this year’s CounterPoint Festival. Grammy Award winning Hip Hop group The Roots recently headlined the CounterPoint Music & Arts Festival in Kingston Downs, GA. The festival was a three-day event featuring over 60 acts across multiple stages. Founders Black Thought and Questlove were accompanied by the full Roots crew as the legendary live act performed classics and new album material for a crowd of enthusiastic supporters.

2015 marks the third installment of CounterPoint, an annual festival located on a 5,000-acre venue an hour north of Atlanta. Counterpoint also includes live visual artists, food vendors, yoga & meditation, and a late-night silent disco.

Check out more show photos from The Roots, as well as iLoveMakkonen, below. Photos by Jen McKinnon.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Drake And The Weeknd Join Apple Music

By: YourfavenightmareCategory: NewsJune 8, 2015

Apple has rolled out its new service, Apple Music, and received pop culture co-signs from Drake, The Weeknd, Trent Reznor, FKA Twigs and others.

They made the announcement at their annual developers conference in San Fransisco today.

The streaming media space has gotten quite competitive with Spotify, Pandora and Jay Z’s Tidal fiercely fighting for fans’ ears. Apple Music offers a three-month free period and then it is $9.99 per month. It rolls out later this month.

It will be available on Windows and Android as well.

Young Thug Compares Himself To Max B

By: YourfavenightmareCategory: NewsJune 8, 2015

Young Thug has a a penchant for getting attention. Here is the latest.

The former Rich Gang rapper has pledged his support for Dipset affiliate Max B. Young Thug went so far as to say Max B was an older version of himself.

Wale Ft. Usher – “The Matrimony” (VIDEO)

By: Scooby Wilson (@mcscoobins)Category: TrendingJune 8, 2015

Wale returns with a new visual for his Jake One produced track featuring Usher titled “The Matrimony”.

Wale’s “The Album About Nothing” in stores now.

Get More:
Wale, The Matrimony feat. Usher, Music, More Music Videos

Tayyib Ali – “100 Bandz”

By: Scooby Wilson (@mcscoobins)Category: MusicJune 8, 2015

With his newly announced album ‘ALI’ officially dropping on June 21st, Philly native Tayyib Ali returns today with some new music to kickstart the campaign. ‘100 Bandz’ is the first official single off the project.
With production from 2 Astronauts, whom the duo collaborated on Tayyib Ali projects on Keystone State Of Mind 1 & 2. The joint is meant to motivate the people who came from nothing to making something and staying in your grind.

Jada Pinkett Smith Talks Her Relationship With Tupac, Says It Was ‘Volitale’

By: Tanay Hudson (@NYStateOfMind2)Category: NewsJune 8, 2015

It was always said that if Tupac was alive, he and Jada Pinkett Smith would be together. But in a recent interview she said that the two had no physical chemistry and when they tried to take a step further it did not go well.

“Now being older, I have more of an understanding of what that was between us,” she said on the Howard Stern show. “When you have two young people that have very strong feelings, but there is no physical chemistry between us at all. And it wasn’t even just for me! It was him too. There was a time when I was like, ‘Just kiss me! Let’s just see how this goes.’ And when I tell you it had to be the most disgusting kiss for us both.”

She said she and Tupac never became romantically involved because “the higher power didn’t want that.”

“If Pac and I had any kind of sexual chemistry, we might have killed each other because we were both so passionate. And you know, we loved deeply. It was hard enough with us just being friends. We had a very volatile relationship.”

She said that at the time of Tupac’s death they were not speaking and she regrets not being able to tell him that she loved him.

“It wasn’t the first time that we had had a bad argument and stopped speaking. That was a constant in our relationship. It definitely taught me a lesson, which is life is too short. Do not let disagreements stand in between you and people that you love and care about.”

Semore Buckz – “Koo-It”

By: Scooby Wilson (@mcscoobins)Category: MusicJune 8, 2015

Today we get the hard-hitting new single “Koo-It” from Semore Buckz, flowing over a relentless track from Charlie Beatz. “Koo-It” will appear on Buckz’ upcoming mixtape Success First… Love Later Vol. III project.

Childish Gambino Did Not Show Up To Perform At Hot 97’s Summer Jam

By: Tanay Hudson (@NYStateOfMind2)Category: NewsJune 8, 2015

Hot 97’s Summer Jam rocked MetLife Stadium yesterday (June 7) with an all-star lineup of performers that included Chris Brown, Kendrick Lamar, Trey Songz, Meek Mill and Fabolous brought out 12 surprise guests including Mase, The Lox, Lil Kim, Fat Joe and Remy Ma. But one of the acts that was supposed to hit the main stage was a no show. After Meek Mill’s performance, Childish Gambino was expected to hit the stage, but he didn’t.

Instead, Troy Ave did a surprise performance. Then, Fetty Wap, who also performed on the festival stage, came through unexpectedly and closed out the show with hits like “Trap Queen” and “My Way.”

Childish Gambino has yet to speak on why he did not show up to Summer Jam.

Travis Scott Humiliates Cameraman, Kicking Him Off Summer Jam Stage!

By: @dannypwinsCategory: TrendingJune 8, 2015

Travis Scott kicks the cameraman off the stage, taking his manhood in the process. He told him:”Get your f*ckin nerdy *ss off stage bro”! Dude was out of the way just doing his job.

Yung Dred & Richie Wess – “Fogo De Chow” (VIDEO)

By: Scooby Wilson (@mcscoobins)Category: VideosJune 8, 2015

2nd visual off upcoming mixtape My Brother and Me, Yung Dred & Richie Wess team up with Omar The Director for a crazy visual.

Dej Loaf Will Release An EP In June

By: Tanay Hudson (@NYStateOfMind2)Category: NewsJune 8, 2015

Dej Loaf won’t be releasing her album anytime soon but she has revealed that she will be dropping an EP. After hitting the festival stage at Hot 97’s Summer Jam and then making a surprise appearance during Ty Dolla Sign’s set on the main stage, the Detroit rapper/singer said her upcoming EP will drop this month, DDotOmen reports.

She didn’t reveal the release date but promised the project will be out before July while chatting with Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg. The “Try Me” artist was also tight lipped about the features as well. During a recent interview she did say that she had hit the studio with Meek Mill.

Me and Meek also did a couple of songs,” she told XXL. “I did something for his album. It’s going to be nice.”