French Montana is preparing for the 2015 release of Mac & Cheese: The Album and while we wait, he drops the video for the Jeremih assisted “Bad B####.” French’s pool-side mansion party is complete with dozens of beautiful women. Eif Rivera handles the video direction.
Orlando rapper Dee Boi’s new video for “No Rap” is the song is the first release off of his upcoming 10 Toes Down mixtape that will be dropping March 9th on Live Mixtapes. The tape will include features and production by Woop, Caskey, Mojo, The Colleagues, K.E., The Avengerz, Yung Ladd, Ton Hitz and more.
Off his Mista Don’t Play 2: Everythangs Money album which hits stores March 24th, Project Pat releases the video to “Twerk” featuring a few artists who know all about making twerk music — Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign and Wale.
“Twerk” was produced by K.E. On The Track and is guaranteed to be a banger in strip clubs across the country.
The Bad Boys of R&B aka iconic R&B group Jodeci have released a teaser video for their new single “Every Moment.” The Hype Williams directed video will premiere soon and seems to give that outdoor “Cry For You” video quality. The single “Every Moment” is the second single off their new album The Past, The Present, The Future slated for release on March 31, 2015. After a reunion performance at the 2014 Soul Train Awards, the iconic quartet has been none stop with the surprises. Sticking to the signature Jodeci sound, the mad band brings back that timeless music with sound production and lush harmony through the record and has delivered the same with the visual. The record offers a ’90s nostalgic R&B vibe that takes one back to the golden era of R&B. The 1990’s garnered many R&B groups but none quite like Jodeci. It was an era dominated by New Jack Swing where Jodeci married R&B soul and Hip Hop to create a sound that is classic and timeless even today.
Check out the teaser video below:
Also pre-order The Past, The Present, The Future album on iTunes. Check out the tracklist below.
01. “Too Hot”
02. “Sho Out”
03. “Checkin For You”
04. “Those Things” (co-p###. Timbaland)
05. “Every Moment”
06. “Nobody Wins” f. B.o.B.
07. “Incredible” (co-p###. Timbaland)
09. “Jennifer”
10. “Body Parts”
11. “Stress Reliever”
12. “Sho Out” f. Liana Banks
The new wave of Atlanta stretches beyond the reach of Gucci Mane. The last year has seen the rise of a more alternative and bizarre sound, led the likes of Awful Records with a guy named iLoveMakonnen at the forefront. His smash single “Club Goin’ Up on a Tuesday” was remixed by Drake after its release last summer, and went on to be nominated for a Grammy. Since, he’s released songs with Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Gucci Mane, and more. In episode seven of Noisey Atlanta, Thomas enters Makonnen’s strange world, which is driven by peace, love, and mushrooms.
In the sack, Plies lets it be known. He is a minute man. I wonder how this would play out with the ladies, because I think most women want a man that can make sweet love. Not Plies.
Seriously, dude said he’s:
Atlanta residing rapper Korleon has been riding a wave of success stemming from several packed shows in Europe, opening up for Migos and posts on the who’s who of blogs. This time KOJ pulls up with Tracy T and Boo Rossini on the remix.
Theres definitely some hype building and Korleon has the tracks to back it up. Case in point is this track that is the follow up to the Fabo featured track “Won’t Leave Me Alone” that achieved some critical success online.
While Korleon was bred in Jackson, Mississippi and has received heavy support online from Southern based sites, Korleon has also studied the game and appreciates music from all regions being a pure fan of HIp-Hop music.
“I was introduced to most music through my family, we got real close knit family back in Jackson, Mississippi so my family influenced me a lot. My cousins listened to more of the Southern music like UGK and 8 Ball & MJG, but I actually got into East Coast music on my own, the first one was that Biggie Life After Death album,” Korleon explained.
With most of his DJ MLK hosted project Made Man completed, Korleon is ready to make a real impact in 2015 not only online but at shows. Right now he is gearing up for SXSW and looking to make an appearance there. Look out for more details soon.
During his acceptance speech at the BET Honors for his Visionary Award, Kanye West slammed racism and encouraged black men to think beyond stereotypical goals of “making it.”
Yeezy started off by talking about being in a interracial marriage and told a story about how his wife’s father, Robert Kardashian, forseen that she would have a black child.
“She told me [about] where her father, Robert Kardashian, walked out and on the side of his Bentley, they wrote, ‘N##### Lover,’ because Robert Kardashian was the genius that put together the defense team that got O.J. off,” he said. “She had never saw her father curse, get mad. He was the most laidback human being and he went so crazy and tried to chase the people down. And she stood there crying and said, ‘Dad, why are you going so crazy?’ And he said to her, ‘One day, you may have a black child. A beautiful, beautiful, beautiful black child. And it’s going to be hard. You’re going to see how hard it is.'”
Ye’ also said that most of his rants from last year were taken out of context and that he was trying to encourage black men to expand their goals.
“Yes, part of the reason why I’m not allowed to be empowered is because of race, because of people’s perception of celebrity, because all they want to present to young, black men is the idea of making it to the league or making it to be a rapper, but not the idea of becoming an owner.’ And they would do anything they can to make it seem like a truthful idea is a stupid idea or crazy idea.”
Watch his speech below.
Check out Bad Lucc’s new song Top Of The Diamond produced by League Of Strarz. The song features Problem, Ab-Soul and Punch. The track is to help promote Diamond Lane America album releasing this Spring. This song will not be featured on the album. Stream below.
Chamillionaire isn’t riding dirty anymore. He’s now an entrepreneur-in-residence for Upfront Ventures, an investment firm.
In a letter written by Upfront Ventures’ investment partner Mark Suster, he detailed how his relationship with Chamillionaire began and how the “Hip Hop Police” rapper is flourishing into quite the entrepreneur. The Houston spitter caught Suster’s eye after a 2009 speech about social media engagement in the music industry.
A few years back he started many mini investments in tech firms with Suster, which led to Cham wanting to becoming more involved with the tech start up world.
“A while back Chamillionaire started telling me he wanted to immerse himself even more in the tech world – learning to build products, studying different business models and committing himself to being a true tech entrepreneur,” Suster wrote. “Chamillionaire has a way more refined sense of what customer behavior is like than most ivy league graduates with nice Powerpoint slides that I meet.”
Now as an entrepreneur-in-residence for the next several months, Chamillionaire is soaking up knowledge about start ups and is also advising Upfront Ventures along with his business partner and producer Nsilo Reddick.
“And while Cham is always the guy on stage blowing away the audience, Nsilo has always been the quiet, reflective guy in the background with all the answers,” Suster said. “They make a great pair.”
Don’t sleep. Cham still raps for a living in addition to his new ventures.
Busta Rhymes is passing the torch to his youngest son TRILLIAN and has signed him to his The Conglomerate record label. The 14-year-old has made his debut in his first music video where he remakes the Rae Sremmurd hit “No Type.” In the visual, the young buck uses New York City as his backdrop with his pops cheering him on as he shows that he can hold his own.
Watch the “No Type Remix” below.
Jasiri X drops his new song “Don’t Let Them Get Away With Murder” which further fights against the American scoundrel of “police brutality.”
“Unarmed people of color are being killed wholesale by police officers across the country. Their deaths are being ruled as homicides, yet no one is being held accountable. It is my hope that this song will serve as a reminder of how severely broken the justice system is and that we need to take action now to make sure all people are treated equally and given justice.” – Jasiri X
Directed by Susanne Rostock
Yesterday, Jaden Smith dropped the three-track project with producer Ta-Ku and immediately got thousands and thousands of listens. The song offered Jaden – a well-known spitter – dropping verses harder than normal. As the son of Will and Jada, Hip-Hop is in the 16-year-olds blood, but with this new work, it begs the question: has the apprentice surpassed the father in rap skills? Before you answer, make sure you are aware of The Fresh Prince’s pedigree, which goes back to Hip-Hop most competitive era. Furthermore, few acts experienced the commercial success that Will did with DJ Jazzy Jeff. Check out “Beast Mode” and vote.
Here’s “Brand New Funk,” by The Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff!
Rich Dollaz has been arrested…again.
TMZ reports that the Love and Hip Hop star was taken into custody on two outstanding warrants for not paying child support. One warrant was for owing $12,000 and the other was for $188,000. The 43-year-old has been in custody since Feb 19th.
This isn’t the first time Dollaz was hauled off to jail for child support woes. He was arrested back in October 2014 in New Jersey after an officer ran his plates so he could give him a ticket for double parking and found that there was a warrant for his arrest for not paying up.
Big Sean’s big day is here, he has released his third studio album Dark Sky Paradise. This album has had enormous response with “I Don’t F*ck With You,” and a bevy of other singles to crack the Billboard 100, Big Sean may arguable have his best album to date.
Take a listen to the stream and listen and go to iTunes to get your copy.
K-Ci, Jo-Jo, Dalvin and Devante are back like they never left. Jodeci has unveiled the tracklist for their reunion album, The Past, The Present, The Future, which is slated to drop Mar. 31st. The 12-track playlist is light on features, boasting only a plus one from B.o.B on their lead single “Nobody Wins.” The North Carolina natives released their last album 20 years ago, The Show, the After Party, the Hotel.
The Hype Williams-directed visual for “Nobody Wins” is expected to premiere in a few weeks.
Pre-order The Past, The Present, The Future on iTunes. Peep the tracklist below.
01. “Too Hot”
02. “Sho Out”
03. “Checkin For You”
04. “Those Things” (co-p###. Timbaland)
05. “Every Moment”
06. “Nobody Wins” f. B.o.B.
07. “Incredible” (co-p###. Timbaland)
09. “Jennifer”
10. “Body Parts”
11. “Stress Reliever”
12. “Sho Out” f. Liana Banks
Although it seems impossible to believe at times, there once was a time when New York produced legendary Hip Hop artists at a quicker rate than it takes Iggy Azalea to p### off a lot of people. But in the latest installment of “No S###” news, New York Hip Hop has taken a slide in the last decade or so. Furthermore, there are only a handful of East Coast artists that ascribe to the traditional New York sound. Influenced by the likes of Big Daddy Kane, Big Pun, Big L, Mase, Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z and Jadakiss, D. Green is less interested in satiating ever-fleeting mainstream tastes than using music as an honest expression of his worldview. According to D. Green, starting his rhyme career at the tender age of 11, music was a way to temporarily escape the harsh realities of his South Bronx upbringing.
D. Green has steadily been building a name for himself in the last few years. His two part mixtape series, Go Green Or Go Home, first gave fans a taste of what the emcee was capable of, following that venture with the raw, DJ Lantern-hosted album Top Floor Mind State/Ground Floor Humility. With the recent success of the East Coast representatives like A$AP Mob, Action Bronson, and Joey Bada$$, D. Green is preparing to make a splash in the industry with his new EP F.E.W.
According to D. Green, the project is more personal than any of his previous projects: “This is For The F.E.W. Just a few songs, telling you my story in a few different ways. This EP is only For the F.E.W. The few who have truly enjoyed my music and my efforts as an artist. The few who are just getting acquainted with me, my music and want to see where I am going to take it. The few who are looking for something a little different in Hip Hop, if only for a few minutes. This is For The F.E.W. The #FansEveryWhere. No matter how many or how little, this is for you and I hope you enjoy.” The EP opens with the piano-laden “FansEveryWhere,” as D. Green meticulously outlines his mindstate: “It’s hard for me not to partake in the repetition/ There’s more to life than cars, poppin’ bottles and f#####’ women.” For the majority of the project D. Green lets his “realness over everything” approach to music bleed through, like on the up-tempo, bar-heavy heatrock, “Still.” On “Like This” he delves into the perks of monogamy rather than adhering to the tired route of bragging about his sexual conquests. By the end of the tape, D. Green affirms that he is one of the few emcees that puts a high premium on authenticity.
Stay tuned for the release of F.E.W. and if you are feeling D. Green’s music, make sure to track his movements on the interwebs.
Website: www.dgreenmusic.com
Twitter: @mynameisdgreen
Instagram: @mynameisdgreen
Over half a decade has gone by since Fresno, California emcee Fashawn’s debut studio album Boy Meets World made its way to stores. After working over a year with longtime production partner Exile, Fash has finally given birth to his sophomore LP The Ecology.
The new album comes with a major stamp of approval. In 2014, Fashawn signed to Nas’ Mass Appeal Records, and the iconic Hip Hop figure took on the duty of executive producing his protégé’s latest project.
Besides leading the reigns for the musical effort, Nas lends his voice to the track “Something to Believe.” Fash’s The Ecology also features contributions by Aloe Blacc, Busta Rhymes, Dom Kennedy, BJ The Chicago Kid, Alchemist, and DJ Khalil.
It has been a long journey from 2009’s Boy Meets World to 2015’s The Ecology, but Fashawn is not taking any time to rest. The member of XXL‘s 2010 Freshmen Class is set to head out on tour with Exile starting February 26 in Los Angeles. He will close out the trek back in his home state on April 2.
AllHipHop.com spoke with Fashawn about his current music collection, working with Exile and Nas, touching on deeply personal subjects in his songs, and more.
It’s been six years since your last album. How does it feel knowing your official sophomore album is set to be released?
It feels incredible just to still be here six years later. Artists in general have that sophomore slump superstition hanging over their head. I don’t think that’s the case with me and this album. I’m happy we finally have a birthday for the album. It’s been our album for a while, but once it drops it belongs to you guys.
Do you feel like you’ve changed as an artist between the two albums?
I think I’m clearer now about what I want to hear from myself than I was back then. I really know when I’m at my best, and I know when I’m at my worse. I’d be the first to tell you, “That was a trash verse.” Whereas times back then, they would have to tell me to rewrite stuff. I think now I have a clear view of what I want to hear and what I want to see.
What was the creative process like working with Exile for this album as compared to the first time?
The first time there was a lot more emails back-and-forth. It was like a battle of the emails. I recorded a majority of those vocals in Fresno, California, while Exile would be in Los Angeles or somewhere else around the world.
So the difference between that project and this project is he was more hands on this time. He was there for every session. We were just really perfecting the sound and making sure everything was right for this album.
Nas is listed as an executive producer for the album. What was his role in the project’s creation?
Nas was overseeing every song. Every song that I recorded, I would get the critiques from Nas the next day. He played a major role. I can’t thank him enough for that. He actually heard the project when I was still initially working on it. He decided he wanted to executive produce it, so pushing the album back gave him more time to flex his muscle.
You also have Nas on the record “Something To Believe In.” What was it like recording with him?
We actually didn’t record that song together in person. That happened over a course of a month or so. Aloe Blacc originally sent me the record, and we just tried to build it from there. I had no clue we could get Nas on this record.
It was one of the more powerful records out of the collection of music we had. Then DJ Khalil took what Aloe and his band had done and gave it a whole new lifespan.
Lastly, we got the verse from Nas. That was incredible. I scratched that off my bucket list instantly. It was a phenomenal experience knowing I’m listening to a verse from Nas that no one else in the world has heard before.
“Golden State Of Mind” with Dom Kennedy almost feels like your version of Jay Z’s “Empire State Of Mind.” What was the inspiration for that track?
Shout out to “Empire State Of Mind,” but my influence goes back to Nas’ “New York State Of Mind” off Illmatic. I always wanted an ode to my state. I felt like I was finally ready to do that. I’ve done songs about my region before, but I never really did it on this scale. My coast needed that. My coast needed an anthem.
There are a few songs on The Ecology that are very personal like “Man Of The House” and “Mother.” At the beginning of “Mother,” you say, “this is kind of like a love song, but it sort of hurts though.” Was it difficult opening up about such personal issues on a record?
Absolutely, It’s like sharing your scars with society. With “Mother,” I remember my manager specifically asked everyone to leave the room while I was recording that particular song. It’s a touchy subject when you’re not just doing flamboyant and metaphorical raps. You really tap into your personal life, it gets a little more intense. I wouldn’t call it difficult, but it’s definitely different from the normal day at the studio.
A lot of artists say they use the recording booth as their own personal psychotherapy session. Did it feel like that for you?
Absolutely, my music is my medicine. That padded room – that place they call the booth – that’s where I’m allowed to go insane or express whatever I’m feeling. It’s a whole other world in there. That’s my utopia. I get to create the world I want to see, as opposed to the world we see outside our windows. It’s a blessing to be able to call myself an artist.
I saw you posted on Instagram you recently debuted The Ecology documentary. What’s the idea behind the film?
The documentary is simply my life through the lens of my longtime video director/videographer Punit Dhesi. I chose to do it with him, because I don’t have a relationship with too many directors like I do with him. We’re actually from the same block, and he’s literally been there since day one.
We really just wanted to bring people in closer to my world. They’ve been seeing me in action, seeing what I do on the microphone. But they don’t know why I do it or the people who helped mold the person they see today.
When you came out the gate, you got a lot of exposure. Particularly from being on XXL’s Freshmen cover. Some people feel like that list can be a gift and a curse. Obviously, it gives you publicity, but at the same time it may put a sense of pressure on an artist to reach the level of success of other rappers on the list. Did you ever feel like being on the Freshmen cover put any pressure on you to reach a certain level of success?
I haven’t felt the pressure. I’ve never felt the pressure in that sense. I guess even when you graduate from the Freshman cover to being a sophomore, junior, or senior, you’ll always be put in the “freshman box.” Even in 2015, they’ll always say “2010 Freshman,” and I have no problem with that at all. I’m happy to be part of history with that cover.
Salute to all the guys out here doing their thing. Everyone has their time, and I think mine is now. It might not have been that other year, but that’s between me and God. I feel no pressure to be able to succeed like anyone else. I succeed on my own terms.
You end the album with the bonus track “Just Remember Now.” What are some of the moments in your life right now that you know you’ll definitely remember for the rest of your life?
February of 2015. This whole month, maybe this whole year. This is going to be a year to remember for sure. It already has been, but this month for sure. Giving birth to the new album will be a milestone in my life.
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Follow Fashawn on Twitter @fashawn and Instagram @therealfashawn.
Stream Fashawn’s The Ecology below and purchase the album on iTunes.
http://www.audiomack.com/embed4-album/fashawn/the-ecology
Many actors jumped at the opportunity to play the late legendary comedian Richard Pryor in his upcoming biopic. Michael B. Jordan, who starred in Fruitvale Station, Nick Cannon and Mike Epps all tried out for the role but Epps ended up getting the call back.
[ALSO READ: Mike Epps Talks New Richard Pryor Biopic And Says There Wasn’t One Good Comedian In ‘Top Five’]
In 2010, Marlon Wayans was tapped to play Pryor in a biopic that Chris Rock was going to produce. Now, an audition tape of Wayans has been released but it’s unsure of whether this clip is from 2010 or from his most recent audition. According to IndieWire, the film’s director Lee Daniels and his producers were just as captivated by Wayans’ performance as they were by Epps’. Shooting is slated to begin in March.
Watch Wayans’ audition tape below.