President Barack Obama stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! to give his take on the social and racial injustices that have been plaguing the black community. During his sit down, he spoke about the march on Selma that he participated in and gave his take on the recent Ferguson shooting that left two officer wounded Wednesday night (Mar. 11).
“What was beautiful about Selma was reminding ourselves that real social change in this country so often has happened because ordinary people are willing in a non-violent fashion to make their voices heard,” Obama said. “What had been happening in Ferguson was oppressive and objectionable and was worthy of protest, but there was no excuse for criminal acts. Whoever fired those shots shouldn’t detract from the issue. They’re criminals, they should be arrested and then what we need to do is make sure that like-minded, good spirited people on both sides, law enforcement who have a terrifically tough job, and people who understandably don’t want to be stopped and harassed just because of their race that we’re able to work together to try to come up with some good answers.”
The Commander-in-Chief also took to the reckless Twitter feeds and read some less than nice posts about himself.
“Obama’s hair is looking grayer these days. Can’t imagine why since he doesn’t seem to be one bit worried about all that’s going on,” one of the tweets read.
A 16-year-old girl has been arrested and charged after a group of teens were caught on video pummeling another girl inside a Brooklyn McDonald’s, according to police.
Travi$ Scott had the hip-hop blogs buzzing on Wednesday after a video surfaced of him taking shots at J. Cole and Chance the Rapper during a performance in Chicago last weekend.
Hmmmm Could Lupita Nyong’o and Common be dating? The two Oscar winners certainly got fans buzzing this week when they were spotted on what seemed to be a date in NYC. Common told Hot 97:
“I’m single, I go out on dates,” said Common. “I haven’t really found a woman that I’m just like okay, I’m gonna settle down. I ain’t out here[…] I’m focused on stuff I’m doing but it’s nice to go out on dates.”
But Ebro wasn’t having it. Taking to his Instagram to post:
“My good friend @Common lying about Lupita.. U smashin bruh stop!!”
Mona Scott-Young’s star became brighter when she launched her Love & Hip Hop empire, but many do not know that she was an entrepreneur way before reality TV was even a thing. The Monami Entertainment CEO will be honored on Mar. 25th by the Toast to Urban Entertainment Executives for her contributions to music and television, Billboard reports.
Mona Scott-Young has been active in music for nearly 20 years and has played a vital role in the career of Missy Elliott and co-founded the management firm Violator Management in the ’90s that Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Q -Tip, Missy and more called home.
Kyrie Irving scored a career-high and NBA season-high 57 points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to force overtime, as the Cavaliers defeated the Spurs 128-125.
Time is winding down and Kendrick Lamar’s sophomore effort is on its way. To Pimp a Butterfly is due out Mar. 23rd and the good kid has unveiled the tracklist, which has 16 songs. There are no appearances from his Black Hippy brethren or his west coast heroes on this one.
From the sound of the titles, it seems like the “i” rapper is addressing the social and political side of the issues that affect inner-city communities. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the Compton Spitter described this album as “honest, fearful and unapologetic.”
See the tracklisting below.
To Pimp a Butterfly
1. Wesley’s Theory
2. For Free? (Interlude)
3. King Kunta
4. Institutionalized
5. These Walls
6. U
7. Alright
8. For Sale (Interlude)
9. Momma
10. Hood Politics
11. How Much a Dollar Cost
12. Complexion
13. The Blacker the Berry
14. You Ain’t Gotta Lie (Momma Said)
15. i
16. Mortal Man
Marvelous Mag is on the verge of dropping his latest project Marvelous Magic Johnson. The Brownsville native’s first single from the mixtape is “Geronimo.” Fellow The Winners crew member Hus Kingpin tags along on the Flying Lotus produced track.
“‘Geronimo’ is about a chick we all know for jumping from dude to dude. And what’s the first thing we say when we jump off something high? Geronimo!” states Mag. “Hus jumped on it and slaughtered the verse. He’s talking about a chick that’s well-known but didn’t have a name. She’s officially now called a ‘Geronimo.'”
Rihanna’s fashion career is still one the rise. After being the face of Balmain’s Spring/Summer 2014 campaign, snagging countless Vogue and W covers and becoming the creative director over at Puma, she is now the face of Dior, WWD says. RiRi is the first black woman to star in a campaign for the brand.
Besides starring in the print campaign, she will also film in Dior’s “Secret Garden” video series, which takes place in the palace of Versailles in France. The campaign, which will be shot by Steven Klein, will debut later in the spring.
The Bajan songstress is also working on her upcoming eighth album, R8, which is due out sometime this year.
This is why we can’t have another big female emcee collaboration like “Ladies Night” LOL because heaux want to argue about weave length and who stunted with it first. Ladies are having bundle wars about hair that’s not even their real hair. Shut up and get in the booth man! This is petty.
Remy Ma took to her Instagram to say:
When everybody else was does wet and wavy with OD “baby” hair ((Foxy)), My s### was swinging by my knees.. Summer Jam ’06 I don’t care right now/ Five 40 inch bundles in my hair right now”
Foxy Brown posted an Instagram caption that said:
“They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery if done beautifully by the fly! But imitated by the worst if a f*cking curse. Cut all my 40″ signature jet black hair off for a min once we seen deuces in it!”
Foxy and Kim h*ll and Remy kiss and make up and get in the studio already. Also Foxy you have an IPhone stop posting those grainy selfies!
Empire is the hottest thing on television, well at least to many. I think it’s a little overrated but I digress. Since the Fox show has caused quite a buzz it seems that many are claiming the show is about their lives. SIT DOWN! Everyone wants a piece of the Empire publicity pie. Here’s the latest claim:
Iman Shumpert of the Cleveland Cavaliers is accusing Fox’s#### show Empire of basing Hakeem and Tiana’s relationship on his and Teyana Taylor’s without their permission LOL. Iman feels that Hakeem is an extension of himself because they both share the same hairstyle. He also feels that the character Tiana and Teyana Taylor have strikingly similar monikers as well as the same hairstyle. Shumpert told the Northeast Ohio Media Group:
“They’re using my girls character, her style, her look and she’s not getting anything for it. They didn’t even change her name. And come on man, they’re really using a guy with a flat top like me. Come on That’s ridiculous.”
(AllHipHop News) There has been a lot of discussion this week about Wu-Tang Clan’s secret Once Upon A Time In Shaolin album. After news broke the one-of-a-kind art piece will not be available for commercial use for 88 years, Wu member Method Man stated the idea of waiting that long was “stupid.”
RZA, the album’s producer, explained the purpose for the move was to keep corporations from mass producing the music for profit. Meth later clarified he was not fully informed about the idea when he commented on the project, but he still reinforced that he was not on board with the premise.
AllHipHop.com spoke with another founding member of Wu-Tang about the controversial 88 year commercial hold for Once Upon A Time. Masta Killa expressed he understood what RZA was attempting to do by keeping this particular project limited.
I think the only way to establish value in something is for it to be exclusive. That’s the whole point that I gathered for that particular piece of art. Music is also art, but it’s been devalued because of how it’s looked at now in the industry.
Unless you’re positioned a certain way, you’re art’s value – for everything that you pour into to make what you make – is not the real value. The compensation artists now receive for their art is basically nothing.
So the only way to establish that value is to be exclusive with something. If I’m not going to be exclusive with it, then what’s going to make this piece of art any different than any other album that you can go buy?
No one could see why we signed as a group but not sign everybody [as solo artists]. We still had our individual freedom to make other deals, but people didn’t get that at the time. Sometimes you have to stand for something and let it grow to be what it will be, and then maybe people can gravitate to it better when they see the light of it.
The Brooklyn born emcee revealed he contributed verses for at least four songs on the album. He also explained how the project was put together.
I was sent four tracks. For each track, I was given a direction. “I need two 8s. On this one I need one 16. On this one I need four 4 bars. I need this done by a certain amount of time.” That’s how I got the instruction for that project. At that time, I didn’t know this was what it would become. That’s what was asked of me, so that’s what I did. I haven’t heard anything since that time.
Masta Killa is scheduled to perform today (March 13) at the B&E Invitational’s Boombotix Halftime Show in Les Arcs, France. To live stream the event visit inspiredmedia.tv.
(AllHipHop News) Roc-A-Fella co-founder and movie producer Damon Dash has been making the media rounds of late. His latest stop was at Power 105’s The Breakfast Club. The discussion led to Dash’s name to start trending on Twitter, mostly due to an awkward interaction between Dame and co-host DJ Envy.
Early in the interview Envy asked Dame about how he first connected with his former Roc-A-Fella partner Jay Z. Dame responded by questioning the radio personality if he ever asked him about meeting Jay before.
“Everybody knows that answer. Do you know the answer?” asked Dash. “You tell us the answer.”
Envy tried to explain that while he knows how Dame and Jay came together, he had never asked about the subject during an interview with Dash on The Breakfast Club.
Dame then turned to Charlamagne Tha God and said, “If somebody asks you the same questions 25 times, maybe 2,500 times, do you still want to talk about the same thing? That’s just me being human. I don’t care what platform we’re on. I’m sick of talking about it. Let’s talk about something else… No more Jay Z questions. I’ve answered them all.”
The conversation eventually turned to Dame addressing the media platform focusing on past information.
“If y’all still making money of off old substance, then how are you going to grow?” added Dash. “We’re still talking about Jay? I haven’t even seen Jay but two times in 15 years.”
The rest of the interview was tense as Dame clashed with the hosts over rumors, social media, the Roc’s association with Def Jam, and other issues.
East Oakland duo God.Money.Dope (GMD) is proud to present their short film music video “Go Get It” from their upcoming album All Go. Directed by Bro Jackson, the storyline follows some shady biz in the streets, all set to Lucky Luchi and Dondada’s rolling, laid back West Coast vibe. Watch GMD’s video for “Go Get It” above.
In a few hours, New Orleans will be the dopest spot for art and music. Why? Because the Buku Music + Art Project will be in full swing. Over the past few months, the festival has been making news by releasing a set of dope artists who will be performing at the NOLA-based festival. ASAP Rocky will be headlining along with EDM act Bassnector, but there are so many dope artists performing that your head will explode. Don’t worry though, you good with us. So here’s a few artists to look at for at Buku Music + Art Project.
Run The Jewels
Ever since the duo dropped their first project together back in 2013, Run The Jewels have been giving the rap game a run for its money (no pun intended). RTJ, which comprises of ATL rapper Killer Mike and Brooklyn’s own El-P, has an aggressive sound that is completely original to hip hop. They blend together the beautiful worlds of electronic music and hip hop to establish something that fits well only with them. With RTJ2 out and their popularity expanding into the commercial world, Run The Jewels might be a highly anticipated set to check out.
Lil Boosie (Boosie Badazz)
There’s nothing like an artist performing in his home state. There’s more energy from him and his fans, and the overall performance tend to jump to the next level. Not only is Boosie a big name in Louisiana’s rap scene, this might be the first official music festival the Baton Rouge rapper performed since his anticipated release from prison last year. With already a huge catalogue and his latest album Life After Deathrow out, expect Boosie Badazz to have an live ass set.
Raury
This ATLien has been referred to so many times in the past (even being one of The Odd Side’s best projects of 2014), that it’s no surprise that he would be on this list once we saw him listed. With so many skills from his vocals to rap skills, Raury breaks the boundaries of music. His project Indigo Child has taken listeners to another level of Atlanta has to offer in its music scene. Aside from his critically acclaimed album, Raury’s been showing up on a plethora of songs with dope artists. From The Neighbourhood to Gucci Mane, his unpredictable style of sound mixes with every talent he has collaborated with. “Cigarette Song” and “God’s Whisperer” may be Raury’s most popular cuts, but we get the feeling that his entire set will be far more than just that.
BADBADNOTGOOD x Ghostface Killah
BBNG may have been looming on the internet as a breath of fresh air in music. But when they teamed up with Ghostface Killah, the game was over. The collaboration resulted in Sour Soul being created, a project that consists of BBNG playing trippy live instrumentals that Ghostface Killah eventually destroys with his classic lyrical skills and raw New York attitude. Listening to Sour Soul the speakersent chills through the spine, what will happen when they perform live? Euphoria may be a probable outcome.
ILoveMakonnen
We get it, a lot of people love this ATL rapper for his catchy psychedelic banger “Tuesday”. But don’t let that be the only reason why you need to need to check out ILoveMakonnen’s set. From “Maneuvering” to “Wishing You Well”, this OVO artist has a lot dope bangers under his belt right now. Whether you believe it or not, his odd vocals and heavy-hitting beats will attract you over to his set. Don’t wait til’ the last song to go see Makonnen, because you will be missing some songs to turn up to while you wait for your next set.
Pell
Before Pell’s set was officially announced at this year’s Buku Project, we didn’t have any clue what he had to offer. Fortunately for us, curiosity definitely shifted that unawareness into excitement. Pell’s project Floating While Dreaming was a unique project that is nothing like what you’d expect. The New Orleans rapper’s style of raps and production comes together to establish a pretty odd concept with a trippy ass sound to reinforce it. We look forward to hear “The Never” live this weekend.
Hudson Mohawke
After his next level presence in Kanye’s production for Yeezus, HudMo has to be considered one of the producer/DJ’s on the forefront of new age sound in Hip Hop. This Scotland native has put together smooth hip hop beats as one half of the duo Heralds of Change, but it’s songs like “Overnight” and “Thunder Bay” that really showcases the style that comes with his talent. HudMo also put in work with Lunice as production duo TNGHT. The song HudMo recently released was “Chimes”, but there’s a chance he’ll play some new tracks along with some serious past tracks during his performance. Keep your fingers crossed for a new TNGHT track……..hopefully.
Big Freedia
Bounce music is a sub-genre is big in the south, especially in the state of Louisiana. So when it was announced that Big Freedia would be performing this year, it was no surprise. With that being said, the Bounce Queens’ performance at Buku will be like Chuck Brown performing in Washington, DC just due to the fact that her music is the sound of the state. Also, if you’re not in to the world of Bounce music, you have to understand that there’s A LOT of twerking that comes with it. At AfroPunk Fest in 2013, Freedia brought several women on stage and all of them were twerking in front of live audience. If that happened in New York, be very afraid (and excited) about what’s going to happen during Freedia’s performance in the Bounce state.
Mr. Carmack
Mr. Carmack has been showing up a lot on the Soulection radio show recently. The young proucer’s music has been playing on the show as he performed at different places across the globe, from Africa to France. Carmack’s name showing up on the official was a surprise, but this dude is going to have a dope set. Many have put Carmack’s style of EDM in the sub-genre of Trap, which kind of sucks because his latest creations have taken a tremendous step from where he was a year ago. Can’t wait to hear him drop some fire during his set.
Lil B
It would make no sense making this list without adding the Based God. Whether you’d let Lil B F*ck your chick or not, you can’t take away the crazy fanbase that he has, neither can you imagine how crazy his concerts get. Take away all the criticism about how he can’t rap “lyrically”, and just go to his show to turn up. We’re just gonna leave it at that….
(AllHipHop News) Safaree “SB” Samuels was catching a lot of flack from some of the public after video of the aspiring rapper being forced to leave a Brooklyn neighborhood emerged online. Nicki Minaj’s ex-boyfriend was in the Flatbush area of BK to shoot a music video when several men approached and ordered him to leave.
After the video made the rounds on the net, SB posted a photo to his Instagram page of him with over a dozen other people. The caption to the picture mentions Flatbush, Brooklyn, and the garage in the background appears to be the same one from the confrontation footage. However, there is no confirmation when the photograph was taken.
Samuels wrote:
It is what it is. coming .. Computers link in bio. who God Bless No man curse.. Something real Big must be about to happen becuz the things ive been dealing wit lately…devil cant stop me tho!! it is what it is #stuntgang#brooklyn#itiswhatitis#flatbush.. i jus spent some shmoney on sum bobby tees.. rowdy.. vybz kartel
DJ Marley Waters drops this smooth record with R&B veteran, Bobby V entitled, “Trippy”. With Marley’s next project, “Jamerican” on the horizon, Marley is consistently churning out some dope music for you the listener to rock with. Be on the lookout for Marley’s EP, “Jamerican” coming out soon.
(AllHipHop News) Jay Z just lost one. According to the Daily Mail, the Hip Hop superstar has agreed to pay 50% of the royalties from his song “Versus” to Swiss jazz musician Bruno Spoerri.
The piano and saxophone player accused Jay of using his instrumental “On The Way” for the Magna Carta Holy Grail track. The two parties were engaged in an 18-month legal fight over the song until Jay reportedly admitted to lifting the tune a few months ago.
In January 2014, Spoerri told SwissInfo he believed the Brooklyn emcee could have gotten permission to use “On The Way” for “Versus” if he would have simply asked.
“In a way I’m flattered that a relatively young rapper takes a sample from an old man, a sample that is about 35 years old,” said Spoerri. “On the other hand I’m furious because it would have been so simple to clear the sample. All it would have needed was a call or an email to the company and I think it would have been relatively cheap.”
Timbaland is credited as the producer on “Versus.” The song also samples A Tribe Called Quest’s “Sucka N***a.”
(AllHipHop News) It has been a stressful week for Lil Wayne. Two days ago Wayne was a victim of a prank call that had the media reporting gunshots were fired at his Miami Beach home, and there was also an incident with an unwanted prostitute being sent to his house. Now video has surfaced of the Young Money leader getting visibly upset with a DJ at his concert in Florida.
Wayne was performing at Nova Southeastern University when the DJ apparently played the wrong version of the song “CoCo.” Weezy wanted the track from his Sorry 4 The Wait 2 mixtape. He then threw his microphone at the DJ stand and left the stage.
Texas emcee Dro Fe isn’t wasting anytime with his music as he delivers the highly anticipated mixtape No Borders that includes production from Happy Perez throughout the whole tape.
If your not familiar with Happy Perez then you might want to know he is responsible for creating “End Of The Night” for Ludacris and also won a grammy for the same record. More recently he made Miguel’s smash hit “Sure Thing”. Adding Happy Perez to the mix was a no brainer for Dro Fe and the producer was happy to take him on.
Dro Fe holds nothing back on this 9 track project that includes features from Z-Ro, Fat Trel, Johnny Cinco, Tracy T and more. Expect more music from Dro Fe and another project from the duo to drop at a later time.
