(AllHipHop News) The compelling story of crack dealer-turned-motivational speaker Freeway Rick Ross has been turned into a documentary. Freeway: Crack In The System is set to air on Sunday, March 8 at 9 pm on Al Jazeera America.
Award-winning filmmaker Marc Levin (SLAM, Mr. Untouchable) explores how the crack cocaine epidemic destroyed neighborhoods throughout America. The film centers around 1980’s drug kingpin Freeway Ross and Gary Webb, the journalist that broke the story of the CIA’s alleged involvement in trafficking illegal drugs into the United States.
“The genesis of this film was personal. As a child of the sixties I have long been fascinated by stories of the U.S. intelligence community’s connection to drugs and drug traffickers,” states Levin. “I was at the Iran Contra Hearings, producing for Bill Moyers on ‘The Secret Government’ and sitting only feet away from Ollie North. That’s when I first heard the accusation that the CIA stood for ‘Crack In America.'”
Coral Baca, Webb’s source for his “Dark Alliance” drug war exposé, as well as Webb’s wife Susan appear in the film. Other interviews include former Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff Robert Juarez, drug trafficker Julio Zavala, and of course Freeway Ross. The final interview with Webb before his death is also part of Crack In The System.
Brooklyn native D. Chamberz is building a damn good case for Coney Island’s indie scene, as the emcee continues to prove why he was crowned “Most Exciting Artist of the Year” following the release of his well received “Coney Island Warrior” single.
A budding mogul, he took a brief break while in the studio to discuss his growing clothing line, being a real estate entrepreneur and of course the music, as he continues to push his growing Warrior Mentality 2: Back 2 Rap project.
AllHipHop: Many people were introduced to you via FuseTV’s feature “Behind the Unsigned: D. Chamberz.” How did you get involved with it?
D. Chamberz: I was one of the promoters of the event, so I was able to use it as a networking opportunity. My boys performed and they brought their own followings out with them, all it took was a text blast to get everyone to come out. It started with an event and launched the TV show.
AllHipHop: Warrior Mentality 2: Back 2 Rap has been picking up momentum in the streets, what’s an absolute must hear track off the project?
D. Chamberz: I would have to say “Make It Out,” because that’s the American dream I talk about, getting my moms out of the neighborhood. A personal favorite is “No Regrets,” because I don’t have no regrets. Some people I had to cut off and some died over the years. A lot of people aren’t here to see how far I’ve gone. I have a warrior mentality, so if you respect me for me, then you know what that record is about.
AllHipHop: You’ve found success with your clothing line, how did you branch off into fashion?
D. Chamberz: I created Warrior Menatlity to be a line that shows leadership and ambition. It’s the mentality that you can make it from nothing, that even if you’re surrounded by the negative you can somehow turn it around. The movement is growing, even outside of the U.S. a lot of people are wearing the line. I’ve even seen people in the military ordering it because in their eyes living like a warrior gives them the strength to into the next day. I have people that help me promote shirts, hoodies, ladies accessories and more, but I specialize in hats.
AllHipHop: You’ve also been able jump into the real estate industry, are you looking to expand into other avenues or will you balance your outside business ventures with your music?
D. Chamberz: With real estate, people are always looking for apartments or franchises. Even the studio is a business, I actually have my own nest there which allows me to offer different rates for studio time. I love my music but I’m also a great business man, I would love to be a mogul. I want to be able to provide, so if I can find a way for both to go hand in hand I’m with it.
AllHipHop: If presented with the opportunity for a major deal would you sign or stay independent?
D. Chamberz: If the numbers are right yes, but unless they’re giving me a decent check I wouldn’t sign just to say I’m backed by a major label. I have to keep my own merchandising. I came through the underground so they kind already respected me. I’m in the clubs and on the scene talking to DJs and handing out my own music. The word “no” won’t live. If the brand is hot and the streets are feeling you a label can’t tell you no.
AllHipHop: How would you define Coney Island’s sound?
D. Chamberz: It definitely has that uptempo sound, it’s soulful music but it’s gotta be pain as well. We know the differences and we know the texture. From Tupac the Southern artists like Rick Ross or T. I., we give everyone a shot. I even have a track called “Say Word” that features OG Maco, Sy Ari Da Kid,Snootie Wild and more.
AllHipHop: What’s a misconception that people already have of you?
D. Chamberz: (laughs)That I got it already and I’ve been compared to DMX because of the voice. I just want to work with everyone that has ambition and has been through the same struggle that I’ve been through, people that want more out of life.
Check out the Fred The Godson assisted “On My 1 & 2” below:
(AllHipHop News) Nicki Minaj has traded bars with some of the biggest Hip Hop stars in the business. The leader of the Barbz has collaborated with Lil Wayne, Drake, Jay Z, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, and numerous others. Nicki recently took the time to highlight one particular rap peer as musical royalty.
While speaking with Capital FM, the “Feeling Myself” performer was asked about Kanye West acknowledging she out rapped him on the posse cut “Monster.” Nicki responded by offering high praise to Ye as well.
“It’s sort of amazing. I keep saying that Kanye – he gave me an amazing opportunity, and because of that I feel like he outshines everyone. He puts people in a position to do better,” said Minaj. “When you are an artist and you can do that for people, then you are the king. You are the one. And that’s how I look at him.”
Nicki goes on to add that she did not expect any other artists – besides her Young Money boss Lil Wayne – to give her a huge platform like “Monster.” The My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy track also featured Jay Z and Rick Ross. The song is often cited as Nicki Minaj’s breakout performance on a record.
Kanye has even admitted he felt Nicki’s contribution to “Monster” was so strong that he considered cutting the verse from the album. The GOOD Music head eventually put his ego aside and decided to keep Nicki on the track.
“I thought about taking Nicki’s verse off of ‘Monster’ because I knew people would say that was the best verse on the best Hip Hop album of all time or arguably top ten albums of all time,” said Kanye. “So if I let my ego get the best of me instead of letting that girl get the shot, to get that platform to be all she could be, I would take it off or marginalize her, try to stop her from having that shining moment.”
Karrueche claims she’s done with Chris Brown for good after finding out her on again, off again boyfriend got another woman pregnant. It appears K was down with having CB’s seed, but she didn’t want to be just his baby mama.
TMZ reports Chris had been trying to convince Karrueche to have his child for years. Apparently, she told the R&B singer she needed a ring before she let him impregnate her.
According to sources, Karrueche also didn’t want to hurt her acting career by having a kid. Chris ended up knocking up his side chick which sources say left Karrueche “devastated.”
(AllHipHop News) The one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin has been wrapped in secrecy and controversy. Both of those descriptions are once again connected to the LP. According to the New York Post, the album was seized by customs at JFK Airport in New York City.
Wu member RZA and Cilvaringz, the producer of Once Upon A Time, told an audience at the MoMA PS1 the box containing the album was held for more than three hours on Sunday. They were bringing the project from Morocco.
The carriers misplaced the key for the box and was unable to open it. Since authorities could not confirm what was inside the container, the album had to be confiscated until it was ran through TSA’s “highest-strength scanner.”
“The Wu: Once Upon A Time In Shaolin” Packaging
Once Upon A Time has also sparked debate among Wu-Tang Clan members and fans. Method Man recently denounced the idea the album’s music will not be available for commercial use for 88 years. RZA went on Twitter to explain his reasoning for that move was to prevent corporations from buying and mass producing the LP for sell.
Only one copy of Once Upon A Time was created as an art piece. The single album is being sold to the highest bidder via Paddle8. RZA has stated someone has already offered $5 million for the project.
(AllHipHop News) One of 50 Cent’s former flames Vivica A. Fox expressed the Queens rapper is the “love of my life” on The Meredith Vieira Show. 50 and G-Unit sat down with Angie Martinez, and the Power 105 host asked Fiddy about Fox’s comments.
“I saw that. I was like wow… At this point [I was surprised],” said 50 about Fox’s statement. “I didn’t know the [2003 MTV Video Music Awards] was going to publicly marry us. She knew better than I did what was going to happen. When the train is taking off without you, you kind of feel uncomfortable… You don’t get to that point where the public is perceiving it… Women have the ability to be more advanced than men emotionally.”
Angie also asked the Queens native about his relationship with his son Marquise Jackson. The 19-year-old basketball player is currently estranged from his father. Marquise has even been seen associating with 50’s reported rivals Slowbucks and Floyd Mayweather.
“I don’t speak to him. With him that situation is so complex that I think over time [Marquise’s mother] has instilled her entitlement,” explained 50. “My grandfather taught me your enemies’ enemy is your friend… You may not necessarily have an altercation with that person, but they’ll side with someone they think has an altercation with you on the common ground of disliking you.”
(AllHipHop News) Cash Money Records co-founder Bryan “Birdman” Williams has faced a ton of negative headlines in recent months. Birdman is currently facing lawsuits from Jas Prince and two of his original artists Lil Wayne and Turk, but the Rich Gang leader built a new coalition with “Lifestyle” collaborators Rich Homie Quan and Young Thug.
RHQ and Thug participated in the video documentary series Noisey Atlanta. During the eighth episode, Quan spoke on his connection with Birdman.
“I’m just glad Birdman reached out to me to be part of Rich Gang,” said Rich Homie. “He’s been in the game – what, 25 plus years? It’s great to work with Birdman. He just brings a lot of energy.”
Neither Rich Homie or Young Thug are officially signed to Cash Money, but their affiliation with the label has ignited rumors Wayne’s issues with Birdman partially stem from the Atlanta rappers becoming extended members of the CMB family. However, Quan has also expressed he is ready to take a break from Rich Gang.
“I stepped away from the Rich Gang situation to focus on Quan because the fans want Quan back,” he told Hot 107.9 last month.
Javotti Media & Colours of The Culture present “Vamoose,” the brand new video from NIKO IS off his Brutus LP which dropped last month. “Vamoose” was directed by Chris Smith of Smithhouse.
Treach of Naughty by Nature hosted the Spitfire Vol 2 mixtape and one of the stand out tracks was “Lost At Sea” featuring Prince AK and Rah Fresh.
“Lost At Sea” represents the journey rappers take while trying to reclaim hip hop. Take the ride from New Jersey to New York as Treach and company take back the culture.
Ketchup is part of a new, fast-rising label in Atlanta, BMB, which is prepping their debut release, a compilation titled Change The Game that introduces not only Ketchup, but all of the artists on the roster – Viking Life (a group consisting of Trigger, VL Derty, Psych, and Woe), Kush Pack, Type A, and Creole Ruby. Check out Ketchup’s “Check Me Out” follow up video, “Flood The Block,” produced by 808 Mafia.
Rapper Vanilla Ice will be a part of the Selma festivities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the march on Selma.
The rapper-turned-home renovator will appear next to Artists Bill Withers, Cicely Tyson, Harry Belafonte, Flavor Flav, Doug E. Fresh and even Rick Ross.
“Vanilla Ice was in the Soul Train Awards two years ago and he’s a really cool person. When we call him for things he likes working with us and we like working with him,” reportedly said Paxton Baker, general manager and executive vice president of Centric TV. “He’s one of the people we call to participate in things with us, and if he can do it he absolutely will. I sent him a text and within two minutes his response was two words: ‘I’m in.'”
Baker and Team Belafonte, the co-artistic directors, reportedly put this event together in under 3 weeks.
There are a total of 40 events all planned to commemorate the march on Selma and Bloody Sunday.
Al.com reports Vanilla Ice will be apart of the “Self Destruction” set that also features Doug E. Fresh, MC Lyte, Rick Ross, Bell Biv DeVoe, Flavor Flav, D-Nice and others.
Can you move the crowd? You either can, or you can’t… No gimmicks, no glamour and no glitz — just “Shut Up And Rap”! That’s exactly what Termanology did with Shut Up And Rap; let his music do the talking!
A lot has changed since Term initially cut his teeth with several highly acclaimed 12″ singles, a debut album, Politics As Usual (2008), that included a MT. Rushmore like array of producers (DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor, Havoc, Alchemist, Hi-Tek, Buckwild & Nottz) which placed him on the proverbial Hip-Hop map. Since, then he has released a collaborative effort with M.O.P.’s Lil Fame (Fizzyology) and two-projects under the moniker 1982 with his brother from another mother Statik Selektah, made numerous television appearances and toured the world a few times over. However, the one constant throughout has always been Term’s ability to spit.
The queen of Young Money recently called into BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Charlie Sloth Show to speak to her British Barb and Ken dolls and to clear up a few things. Nicki Minaj discussed her relationship with Meek Mill, Lil Wayne’s $51 million lawsuit against Birdman, and whether or not Tyga was supposed to appear on “Truffle Butter,” which is the No. 1 urban and rhythmic song in the U.S. Tyga has been ranting all over the place talking about Nicki and Drake are fake and he got removed from “Truffle Butter” when apparently he was NEVER supposed to be on the song. So it seems like not only is Tyga lying about chopping down Kylie, but he’s also lying about his involvement with the track. Peep what Nicki had to say below.
“Um no well the song (Truffle Butter) was on my album and you know we don’t know how but it magically ended up in Tyga’s hands and I told him that’s my song and I told him me and Drake were going to be on it. And lo and behold, it leaked with him on it after I told him not to put it out. And I thought that was a little disrespectful because I’ve always shown him love and I’ve always done stuff with him and took him on tour with me and I thought it was disrespectful, know what I mean? Because I am the Queen of Young Money.”
Then he said some stuff that I aint feel. But he texted me after and he apologized like, you always were there for me, and I respected him for saying that. Because one thing about me, I’m a very forgiving person because I feel like people, we’re human and we make mistakes. But as long as you can come to your senses after the fact and remember who looks out for you and who was there and who supports you.
Atlanta rapper and MPA leader, PeeWee Longway, sits down with DJ Smallz and decodes his new mixtape, “The Blue M&M 2”, providing further insight from the artwork to several songs featuring Yo Gotti and more to name a few.
NYC newcomer Cheech Bundy unleashes his video for “This is 4,” the first release from his upcoming collabo EP “High Functioning Stoner” with heralded producer !llmind.
After hearing a few records from Cheech Bundy’s self produced project “The Chronic L’s of Cheech Bundy” !llmind’s reaction was, “this is cool, weird, and entertaining as f###”. !Ilmind instantly had tracks in mind for Cheech and before they knew it they had an EP finished.
The Sauce Factory has had a hell of a week but the Sauce’s resident hook killer Rizzoo managed to drop a banger with Doughbeezy and Rodji Diego titled “Mona Lisa”. Hear the new track below to get an example of why The Sauce got next and be sure to check out Rizzoo’s tape #ItzHot via Live Mixtapes.
Mike WiLL Made-It will release the official video for his Ransom standout “Choppin’ Blades,” featuring RiFF RAFF and Slim Jxmmi of Rae Sremmurd. The video features Mike WiLL as Big Hank and RiFF as Sharkey McPeterson, two entertaining, exquisitely dressed used car salesmen at Big Hank’s Top Ranked Automobile Emporium, and today, Big Hank and Sharkey have released a commercial for their dealership, a hilarious clip that also features Waka Flocka Flame.
This commercial, and the official video dropping Tuesday, is directed by Motion Family.
Former DJ, Jerome Howard, has created Phanzr.com, a website that helps artists connect directly with their fans while having the opportunity to obtain more data. Unlike similar sites such as SoundCloud etc., Phanzr is a music analytic site with a powerful platform that allows artists to personally reach out and interact with their fans on a personal level. These interactions include an artist being able to text and e-mail fans any information from where there next performances will be to what new music they will be dropping while obtaining more data about their fans such as gender, age and race even down to a fans specific location. Artists who join this site will also receive custom pages and custom links for promotional purposes and keep 100% of all digital sales of their content. Phanzr.com was founded November 2013, and with 350 users, was recognized as one of SXSW 2014 Start-up Spotlight companies. Howard believes that if the artist has the ability to control their data while communicating directly with those who support them, then that would create a better music experience for both the artist and the fan which will help the independent music entertainment industry as a whole.
This site will help artist identify their return on investment. With closer access to the data of the fans, Phanzr will help an artist see how their money is spent using actual data. “Often times you see artists selling or posting their music in various places. That could be by handing out demos; posting on various websites and to never see their mixtapes again or only view the number of plays/downloads (which can be misleading)” say’s Howard. Here with Phanzr.com, an artist will receive 100% from purchases within hours, be able to track where their content is being played and who all is listening. This control enables artists to identify market opportunities at the click of a button. Most importantly, Phanzr will provide data that will help artists to make more strategic decisions that will catapult them to success.
“All artists must understand that they’re a business. And like any other business, the better connection with fans increases brand loyalty. And all that data belongs to you. You shouldn’t give it away for free just to sell a single or album. It’s more valuable than you may think.” -Jerome
An emerging artist by the name of Tish is taking over the internets right now and not for nothing!
Tish’s eclectic voice has been eliciting comparisons to the likes of Mary J. Blige and Lauryn Hill and for the very best of reasons! The New York born singer’s style is gritty, heartfelt and human.
When she sings, it’s from a place of strength and you feel every single syllable of the words she’s projecting. In a world full of auto-tuned garbage, Tish is a breath of fresh and much needed air. But don’t just take our word for it…take a listen to her first single “Subway Art” below and see for yourself!
See we told ya! We look forward to hearing a lot more of this artist soon!
