We met up with Benzino in a studio in Atlanta during the premiere of the new season of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta. Just as the show is ending (with him noticeably missing from this episode). I hear “Zino” making his rounds and greeting people inside from a room next door.
At the top of our conversation, it’s confirmed that he as well as his fiance Althea would not be returning and he dolefully explained his perspective on why the cut may have happened, placing Stevie J and Mona Scott as the opposing “powers that be.” Check out his full disposition below and stay tuned for more excerpts from our chat.
Though she is starting her gig on Broadway as Roxie Hart in Chicago later this month, Brandy is also headed to the small screen. It is reported that the Grammy award winning singer will be starring in a new BET sitcom titled Zoe Moon. For the scripted comedy, Brandy will play a newly single divorced mother who is trying to jump start her career as the head honcho of a cosmetics company. She endures many ups and downs as her ex-husband “is not ready to take a back seat in her life, nor is her precocious 10-year-old son ready for her new dating life,” according to BET.
Kelly Rowland also scored a spot on BET for a new singing competition. She has gone from being on the X Factor‘s judging panel to running the show. Chasing Destiny is a “multiplatform search” where contestants will have to meet “Kelly Rowland’s standards of excellence.”
There is no word on when these shows will premiere.
Taste Of Freedom: Man Tastes A Burger For The First Time After Serving 36 Years For A Crime He Didn’t Commit! He didn’t believe how things changed and how meat really tasted!
Waka Flocka is not joking. This campaign is very real. The Atlanta native took his bid to the streets of New York City on Tuesday, introducing himself to his fellow Americans and seeking their signatures on a petition to get him on the ballot in 2016.
Within seconds of his entrance onto the pavement in midtown Manhattan, a crowd of excited onlookers formed. Waka Flocka spoke to every one of them, shaking hands and greeting babies.
We were the first and only to speak with Young Thug in Atlanta on the eve of his engagement to girlfriend Jeraka which also marked his mother’s birthday and of course the official release of his controversial album The Barter 6. Amid all the animosity and shots from former label-mate and rap veteran Lil Wayne, he claims he’s simply paying homage. Hear this and more about why he feels Rich Homie split from Cash Money below.
In this video, from Brazilian prank show “programa silvio santos”, lonely subway riders suddenly find themselves in the company of a ghost. With painted pale skin, unruly hair and a baby doll in hand, the scary looking little girl seems to appear and disappear in the blink of an eye.
Tyga’s baby mama Blac Chyna is at it again when it comes to throwing shade at Tyga’s new teen boo Kylie Jenner. The latest shade came in the form of Blac Chyna participating in the #KylieJennerChallenge by posting a picture to her Instagram mocking Jenner’s lips. Kylie posted a photo of her driving what appears to be Tyga’s truck with the caption “Currently”, and Blac Chyna responded with a post with the caption “Permanently.” Blac Chyna is too old for this.
TIME 100 cover star and hip hop icon Kanye West stunned a crowd Tuesday with a performance art-infused 20-minute set at the annual TIME 100 gala honoring the most influential people in the world!
(AllHipHop News) The roll-out for Tidal was lavished with appearances by superstar artists and a live stream of the launch. Even with exclusive content and the celebrity power of Jay Z, Madonna, Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Kanye West and others, the streaming service seems to be struggling to catch on with the public.
The Tidal application has fallen out of the top 750 apps on Apple’s App Store. Two weeks ago Tidal was at 78. In the music category, Tidal is currently at 48 behind other streaming services Pandora (1), Spotify (2), SoundCloud (3), Beats Music (5), Rapsody (33), and Rdio (42).
The company recently replaced its CEO. Peter Tonstad took over as the interim chief executive from Andy Chen. Tonstad once served as CEO of Tidal’s parent company Aspiro Group.
“I believe in Tidal and what the team is doing to affect the change the music industry needs,” said Tonstad in a statement. “We’re streamlining the company and refocusing our resources to ensure the platform continues to grow, and listeners can make a connection to their favorite artists. No one else is doing this.”
Vic Mensa Checks In With Justin Credible To Talk About Signing With Jay-Z/Roc-Nation, Working With Kanye West, And More. Vic Mensa is not your average rapper, his creative approach and new sound will have people on their toes!
(AllHipHop News) ESPN personality Bomani Jones has always been very open about his opinions on Hip Hop. As the co-host of Highly Questionable he regularly interviews rap stars, and last year Jones penned an editorial for Playboy addressing the “whitewashing” of the culture.
During a recent episode of his The Evening Jones podcast, the Clark Atlanta University graduate answered questions from some of his listeners. Jones was asked to give his pick for the most overrated rapper of all time.
“I feel like this question is a trap, because you’re trying to see if I’m going to say 2Pac,” responded Jones. “Like 2Pac, the most overrated rapper ever is dead… The single most overrated rapper of all time is Guru… You take Guru off those Premo beats, and we’re not having any discussion about Guru.”
Bomani may think the deceased Gang Starr member is held to a higher standard than he deserves, but it was another dead rapper’s work he named as the most overrated Hip Hop album in history. Jones took aim at The Notorious B.I.G.’s sophomore studio LP.
“Life After Death disc 1 is really, really good. Disc 2 – sorry man, you a###### New Yorkers. How you gonna make your West Coast song [“Going Back To Cali”] and get [Brooklyn’s] Easy Mo Bee to do the beat?” Jones said. “It’s got some cool songs on it. But the idea that it’s better than Ready To Die or the idea Life After Death is some kind of 5-star album – that’s just ridiculous.”
An employee for a Texas school district is on leave after he was caught on camera tossing a litter of puppies over a fence at an animal shelter. Surveillance video shows Paul Smith flinging the five three-week-old puppies over a six foot fence Saturday.
An Indonesian court has sentenced a young U.S. couple to long prison sentences after finding them guilty of murdering the woman’s mother and stuffing her battered body in a suitcase!
(AllHipHop News) Jay Electronica does not do many interviews. Surprisingly, the New Orleans native recently spoke with Nigeria’s The Beat 99.9. During the discussion, Electronica shared his thoughts on Hip Hop peers Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and Big Sean.
Jay Electronica said about Kendrick’s To Pimp A Butterfly LP:
I like Kendrick Lamar’s new album. I like “Blacker The Berry.” I like that. Is that the one [where he says,] “I’m the biggest hypocrite in 2015″’ Is that the one? I like that record….
We love Kendrick Lamar. That’s our brother. He’s on the right path. May Allah bless him on his journey of growth and evolution. We hope that Allah bless him all the way to the moon.
On Big Sean and Drake:
You overlook [Big Sean] because he makes “club music,” but Big Sean be getting busy… He’s one of the best out. He gets busy and to be quite honest, a lot of Drake’s early stuff was based on Big Sean’s style. I always felt he took his style and ran with it. That’s Big Sean all the way. No shots against Drake. I’d be a liar if I said I don’t like Drake. I know his music and songs. That’s our brother too.
Drake has admitted that he believes Sean helped popularize the “hashtag” flow. The Detroit rhymer used the technique throughout his song “Supa Dupa” off the 2009 mixtape Uknowbigsean Vol 2 which Drizzy credits as inspiration.
Besides Drizzy and Sean, Jay Electronica spoke on his fellow Roc Nation artist J. Cole as well. The “Exhibit C” emcee discussed his level of connection with the North Carolina representative. He said:
J. Cole is a beautiful brother. He makes beautiful music. That’s family. I spoke with him a few times over the phone, and I wouldn’t necessarily say we’re on an everyday communication type basis. But I love J. Cole. That’s my brother, and I support him in everything he does. He just released his [2014 Forest Hills Drive] album not too long ago. It’s a beautiful album.
Jay also praised Kanye West as a “Black God” and a “beautiful brother,” and added he loved Wale’s “black soul.” He refers to Trap music as “dumbed down Hip Hop,” but admits he listens to some of the songs from the sub-genre. Electronica commends many of the Trap rappers like Young Thug for being people of color using music to better their lives.
(AllHipHop News) Vic Mensa already had much of the Internet tuned into his moves thanks to the critically acclaimed 2013 project Innanetape. The co-founder of the SAVEMONEY collective (with Chance The Rapper) is now looking to expand to even greater heights by connecting with Jay Z’s Roc Nation label.
The 21-year-old artist from Chicago has joined Jay, J. Cole, Rihanna, Jay Electronica, and DJ Mustard on the artist roster at Roc Nation.
So far this year, Mensa has already collaborated with Roc Nation management signee Kanye West for his new cut “U Mad” as well as the “Wolves” single off Ye’s forthcoming So Help Me God album. More new music from the 2014 XXL freshman class member is expected to be released throughout 2015.
(AllHipHop News) PartyNextDoor and The Weeknd have a lot in common. They are both R&B singers from Canada that received an early co-sign from OVO Sound co-founder Drake. But as PartyNextDoor begins to establish his own brand with projects like his 2014 self-titled album, the 21-year-old Ontario native wants to make it clear he is not a clone of The Weeknd.
“People throw that [Weeknd comparison] over me because I came at a time where people assumed I was there to fill a void,” PND tells Fader. “A lot of things that came out of Toronto were darker at the time. But me? I’m all about colors. I’ll flip samples where one’s a completely dark song and the next one is a complete sexual song. People think my whole thing is a dark thing, but I don’t.”
While PartyNextDoor is ready to move past the comparisons, he and The Weeknd are also similar in the fact they tend to shy away from the public eye. Fans should expect the “Recognize” performer to continue keeping mostly to himself.
“I would never call myself mysterious. The word I use is ‘private.’ I’m not hiding from pictures. When you see me, I’ll say wassup,” he states. “I just don’t wanna live in this fantasy where I act like everybody cares, and then I look like a jackass with someone filming me in the airport.”
(AllHipHop News) Drummer/producer Questlove visited the island of Cuba this past week. The Roots member DJed in Havana on April 16 and 17th with the purpose of fostering more cultural exchanges with Cuba’s civil society.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to DJ in Havana” says Questlove. “I’ve been to Cuba before with The Roots and its monumental and humbling to be considered an Ambassador of Hip-Hop to this great nation.”
Questlove performed at the La Fabrica de Arte Cubano in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood. The venue’s founder, X Alfonso, is one of Cuba’s most respected artists.
“What makes Cuba so beautiful is the open mind to all forms of music that permeates from all of its people. It’s a rarity for me to be able to construct a genre-spanning DJ set of 585 songs and have the crowd embrace every single song,” added Quest. “The energy of the crowd reflected the cultural infusion and overall appreciation of music that one should expect when performing in Cuba. I honestly can’t wait to return.”
