Monster has sued Beats By Dre, a move which could result in an epic legal battle over the rival headphone companies.
Monster was the original co-designer of Beats By Dr. Dre and also invented the technology, according to Monster CEO Noel Lee. In a lawsuit acquired by USA Today, Lee charges that “Iovine and Dre (Andre Young) committed fraud in pirating the headphones away from Lee and Monster.”
Lee says, in papers filed in San Mateo (Calif.) County Superior Court, that Beats Electronics, Beats By Dre’s parent company, hid the comprehensive totality of his and Monster’s role in the creation of his eventual rival.
Apple bought Beats for $3 billion after they severed ties with Lee. To further punctuate the matter, Lee once had a 5% stake in Beats, but wasn’t able to participate in the millions of dollars earned in the buy-out. He would have made roughly $100, the lawsuit says.
In 2013, Dre and Jimmy Iovine bought back Beats and then it was purchased by Apple a year later.
In an interview with AllHipHop, Noel Lee explained the nature of the relationship with Beats before the Apple deal went through.
“When I hooked up with Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, almost 6 years ago, headphones weren’t a thing. They were an accessory. What I really learned from Jimmy and Dre was how to market to basically pop culture. They had the power to do that. I had the technology to make everything,” Lee told AllHipHop. “We designed everything…we worked together as partners. And we changed the world.”
Here is an interview with Noel Lee, the head Monster.
Representing the northside, southside, and 5th ward of Houston, TX, “Errrybody,” solidifies the South’s grit and creativity.
Standing tall on ten toes, Slim Thug, has been firmly planted in Hip-Hop since his days with Swishahouse. Now the Hogg Life entrepreneur helps to shine the light on The Sauce Factory.
Although a grand jury found former Officer Darren Wilson not responsible in the shooting death of Michael Brown, one member of that jury is now coming forward in an effort to speak out about the case. Identified as “Grand Juror Doe,” the member has filed a lawsuit against St. Louis prosecutor Robert McCulloch in order to gain the legal right to speak about what they claim was a “muddled” case.
The suit alleges that McCulloch knowingly allowed witnesses to provide false testimony as well as inaccurate information, which the juror says helped determine the outcome of the verdict. Though prosecutors can file charges without the use of a grand jury, the process is used at times to identify whether there is enough evidence to go to trial. In this case, the juror claims that the evidence presented to them was slanted in order to sway their decision.
According to the lawsuit, “The investigation of Wilson had a stronger focus on the victim (Brown) than in other cases presented to the grand jury.”
A regular on BET’s long running “106 & Park” countdown series, after successfully closing out the show Texass native DJ ASAP is now getting back to his roots with a new mixtape series called “Is You Jammin Or Nah,” designed to assist in breaking new artists.
A member of the Core DJ’s, ASAP has been instrumental in providing a platform for rising artists by circulating music throughout nightclubs and mixtape circuits in various markets. The first installment of the series will begin in his hometown of Dallas and is titled Dallas: Is You Jammin’ Or Nah, with additional stops already projected for Houston and Los Angeles as he travels from coast to coast in order to produce a new tape every three months.
Up first off the project is a Lonestarr Muzik produced track titled “Codeine” featuring Ace Mitch and Keith Jacobs.
Now in it’s third year, the annual All-Star Sneaker Summit will return on February 15 for a special pre-game event which will feature everything from fashion to rare footwear displays. Previous celebrities have included Bun B, A$AP Rocky, Teyana Taylor, Trinidad James, DJ Skee, Mannie Fresh, Karrueche Tran and others.
Returning to The Altman Building in New York City, attendees have previously been able to experience exclusive brand showcases from Adidas Originals, Reebok Classics, SUPRA Footwear, Diamond Supply Co., Jason Markk, Rastaclat and Crooks & Castles with more to be added.
Established in 2004, the annual summit is an original community based sneaker event, created for sneaker enthusiasts from all walks of life to gather and celebrate the culture as well as buy, sell, trade or browse the most exclusive in shoes and apparrel.
For additional information on how to participate or attend, please visit SneakerSummit.com.
(AllHipHop News) The social media back-and-forth between the dueling “rags-to-riches” urban dramas has added another round. 50 Cent ignited the snarky feud when he complained that Fox’s Empire seemed to borrow ideas from his show Power.
Taraji P. Henson, one of the lead stars of Empire, responded to Fiddy on Twitter. The G-Unit leader has now fired back in a Instagram video, but the business mogul expressed the shot was all in good fun.
As 1/4th of Slaughterhouse, it’s no question that Joell Ortiz is lyrically nothing to play with. Today he drops the video for “Phone”, one of the favorites off his 2014 release House Slippers.
“Phone” tells the story of a relationship on the rocks that becomes even rockier when a man looks through his woman’s phone to discover she’s cheating. A New Vision Films did a great job bringing Joell’s words to life with this one.
Legendary producer, Scott Storch, has a new artist he’s been working with named Ryan Banks. Banks is slowly making waves in the world of EDM and has just dropped “WDRGAF” , produced by Storch, to prove he has plans to stick around for a while.
“WDRGAF”, which stands for We Don’t Really Give A F*ck, is pretty much how you will feel listening to this track in the club after a few drinks. This is one that’s definitely going to keep you moving. Check it out.
Lord Jamar is really doing a great job at staying relevant these days. And a lot of it comes from speaking his pure, raw truth. People may not agree, but he’s speaks it from his point of view. Here is talks about Iggy and kinda rides for Azealia.
California rapper-producer David Cash released his latest project L.A.D.I.L.A. (Live And Die In L.A.) right before the end of 2014. The 18-track mixtape was filled with plenty of heat, but one track that stood out was the Scotty ATL-featured “Flowerz” and Cash has decided to push it as an official single.
David’s upcoming project California C.A.S.H. is scheduled to be released this year and it will come with appearances from the likes of of Metro Boomin, Jay 305, Eric Bellinger, Young Thug, Scotty ATL, Alley Boy, and more.
Just when you didn’t expect it, DMX is back with another album. The Dark Man X is dropping his eighth studio album, Redemption of the Beast, next Tuesday, Jan. 13th.
This time around X is taking the independent route and releasing the album on Seven Arts Entertainment. The 16-track effort is slight on features but Rampage, Freeway and Jannyce do make appearances. As far as production, Swizz Beatz is expected to have laced some tracks for the album after posting a slew of pics of him and X in the studio back in September.
Pre-order it here and peep the tracklisting below.
1. Spit That S###
2. Built Like A B####
3. On and On
4. Get Up and Try Again
5. Solid Ft. Rampage
6. I’m Gonna Win
7. It’s A Problem
8. It’s Goin’ Down
9. Shout It
10. One More Night
11. 56 Bars
12. Where You Been Ft. Freeway
13. Right or Wrong Ft. Jannyce
14. Gonna Get Mine
15. We Gonna Make It
16. Love That B#### Ft. Jannyce
With the help of director Casey McPerry, MGK shows major hometown pride in the video for “Til I Die”. From the city attractions to the hood, Machine Gun Kelly rides down the streets of Cleveland in 4-wheelers and motor bikes, taking us on a grand tour of the place he calls home. With the entire state of Ohio on his back, Machine Gun Kelly rips this Justice League produced beat. Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself.
Mike WiLL Made It’s protege’s Rae Sremmurd made The Breakfast Club their first stop to chop it up about their debut album SremmLife, which drops today (Jan.6).
The Mississippi natives came baring gifts, handing Angela Yee, DJ Envy and Charlamagne copies of the “All-New Captain America” issue that features them standing with the first ever black Captain America. When asked how they ended up on the cover, they were light on details.
“There was just some crazy stuff that happened and they put us on there,” Swae Lee said. “We changed the game so I guess they felt they needed to put us on there, like we needed to protect Captain America.”
If you plan on copping SremmLife today, Slim Jimmy promises that fans will not be disappointed.
“You’re not gonna be able to turn it off,” said the 24-year-old. “I already know. It’s live. It’s good energy. It’s not just party music.”
Watch the interview to hear the clarify the meaning of not having a type, how they met Mike WiLL Made It and see them teach Charlamagne their signature dance.
Ken Rebel follows up “Rebel Anthem” with a new video from his 2014 Rebelution mixtape. “2-12” was produced by Brandun DeShay with the video being directed by DMF Films.
On Eminem’s ShadyXV track “Fine Line” he shouts out his friend and fellow rapper Young Zee for always showing him love and acceptance, but Zee felt some kind of way.
On “Fine Line” Em raps, “Put a thousands lighters in the sky for the Outsidaz….Zee, you always supported me / You vouched/I will never forget that and / How you guys accepted me for me and Pace / I love you too, you slept on my couch.”
Young Zee responded with a track of his own, but instead of showing gratitude the New Jersey rep called his friend out on a song called “Dear Shady” for not adding him to Slaughterhouse and not being there when he needed him the most.
“Let me ask you / Why you ain’t come to my avenue / When you grabbed dudes for your rap crew / I paid mad dues,” he spits.
The Outsidaz rep went on to question Eminem’s whereabouts when times got rough.
“Anyhow, my house burnt down/ I’m in Jersey now / You ain’t care, you ain’t even come around / I got locked up for selling quarter pounds down Bordentown / You could have looked out/you could have came and bailed me out,” he rhymed.
At the end of the track though, Zee decides to let bygones be bygones.
“And since you laid on my floor like you said before/You’re welcome to come still knock on my door.”
When it comes to music, many of the taste makers and game changers are young and ahead of their time. Some break records before reaching 25 while other make their first million at the age of 21. Forbes has recognized these movers and shakers on their annual 30 Under 30 list. For their music list, almost half of the 20-somethings listed are hip-hop representatives.
Chance the Rapper reigns as the youngest in charge on the list with Forbes recognizing him for his critically acclaimed mixtape Acid Rap and work with his band The Social Experiment. They also tipped their hat to 23-year-old Azealia Banks for maintaining her connection with her fans during the wait for her debut album, Broke With Expensive Taste.
Others on the list include Big Sean, Jhene Aiko,FKA Twigs Iggy Azalea and producers Hit Boy and Mike WiLL Made It.
The other top 30 Under 30 lists recognize professionals in sports, policy, finance, science, media and more.
In part 2 of AllHipHop.com’s exclusive interview with Ali Shaheed Muhammad, the Brooklyn-bred artist discusses two upcoming celebratory career moments. This year will mark the 25th anniversary of A Tribe Called Quest’s debut studio album People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm, and 2015 will also be the 15 year anniversary for the release of his other supergroup Lucy Pearl’s self-titled LP.
The legacy of ATCQ also includes Ali, Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and Jarobi’s connection to the Universal Zulu Nation. The organization has been a big topic of discussion in Hip Hop over the last several months. Tip announcing that Nas, Big Boi, Joey Bada$$, and Freddie Gibbs as the newest Zulu brothers came as a surprise to some, but it was the inclusion of Young Money’s Lil Wayne that had more than a few observers scratching their heads.
Ali shares his thoughts on the new-found interest in the Universal Zulu Nation among Hip Hop stars and the controversy surrounding some of the new members. According to the “CPR” performer, more big names could be on the way.
2015 is the 25th anniversary of A Tribe Called Quest’s first album. Are you guys planning on doing anything to celebrate that milestone?
We’re trying to figure that out. The funny thing is we talked about that 5 years ago, and then the next thing you know you turn around and it’s like, “Oh shoot, that’s tomorrow?”
In that “oh shoot, that’s tomorrow” moment, you’re so not prepared. We’re looking at it though.
What about Lucy Pearl? This would be the 15th anniversary for that project.
I don’t know about that. [laughs] I can’t really speak to that. I feel like we made such a really good album, and I don’t know if it was ahead of its time.
Actually with D’Angelo dropping his new Black Messiah record, maybe this is a good time. Maybe people are a bit more open to it. You never know.
I wanted to ask you about D’Angelo. He was originally supposed to be part of Lucy Pearl?
It was a group called Linwood Rose that was supposed to be me, D’Angelo, and Raphael Saadiq. D’Angelo was working on Voodoo at the time, and Raphael really pushed the button for us to go in. That never happened with D, but we did it anyway with Dawn Robinson.
It’s just the scheduling never happened. I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me, I’ve been on the road traveling and recording heavy. At the time I was supposed to go over there I had to move the date. So I never made it to his crib. I wound up moving and leaving New York in between that time. I know he’s still working on it, so anything is possible.
There has been a lot of talk about the Zulu Nation over the last few weeks. Q-Tip and others have been in the center of adding new members. What are your thoughts about some of the new high-profile members like Lil Wayne, Nas, and Big Boi?
I think each of those brothers are very iconic, and they command a lot of attention and are able to unite a mass of people. So them coming into the fold of the Universal Zulu Nation, understanding what the foundation is, being able to absorb that into their own souls and skin, and to let that emanate in their art, brands, and businesses, I think is a very positive thing.
It’s planting the seeds of really uniting humanity at a point in time where clearly – when looking at what’s been happening over the past year – leaders are needed. Hopefully with them joining the ranks and with the ability to pull people together, it can be done under leadership that will present solutions for society, to help advance it in the spirit of love and unity.
There’s obviously been some controversy to a couple of the brothers you mentioned. There’s a “Why?” But why not? We have to stop using these divisive tools to prevent us from understanding we all come from the same place.
There may be a difference of opinions. There may be some areas of criticism that’s necessary to help align us a little better so it’s more harmonious, but you have to start somewhere. You can’t do it by having people in different corners of the world not talking to each other.
If you look at certain actions – like for example the move that America and Cuba made – there wasn’t any advancement in 50 years based off of the sanctions and separation with no discussion. Sometimes you have to do something different, bring people to the table, and align.
I’m hoping that a whole lot more people that you wouldn’t think being associated with the Zulu Nation will come in and sit down, because there are a lot of powerful brands that can help change things from a political perspective.
Do you think we will see more high-profile artists make the decision to join the Universal Zulu Nation? Do you see that movement growing to include even more individuals from the Hip Hop community?
Absolutely, I think 9th Wonder and Q-Tip have been very active in bringing people into the fold. When you get to the position of – and I’ll use the phrase in a positive way – “elder statesman,” that’s what is supposed to happen. Especially in a state where that’s not happening.
Now that those brothers are taking the steps to bring people in and organize, absolutely. There will be a lot more that will come in. It’s only a matter of time that people will understand. They look around and see what’s not working within their life. They’re seeing all the success and all the things that come with it, and there’s still something missing from a human spirit perspective.
The principles of the Zulu Nation is built on – it answers a lot of those questions from a spiritual perspective that unites humanity, not just Hip Hop. Different genres meld together under the Universal Zulu Nation. So not only will you see more people from Hip Hop – and I won’t put any names out there – but also abstract personas you would not see as part of it. I definitely think you’re going to see more of that. People from other genres as well.
