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Keith Sweat's 53rd Birthday Celebration: An Epic Night In R&B

Photo credit: Joi Pearson

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R&B Legend Keith Sweat and Jamahl King /Steps Events made it a night to remember for Sweat’s recent birthday celebration at his nightclub, Fuego, in Duluth, Georgia (an Atlanta suburb). It was an epic night in R&B as Joe, Case, Tank, 112, Silk, Dru Hill, Lyfe Jennings, J Holiday, Christopher Williams, and more hit the stage to perform their hits in celebration of the R&B icon’s birthday. V103’s Ryan Cameron reminded the crowd that there were R&B legends on the stage and joked that many of those in the audience had in fact gotten pregnant off of their songs. Comedian and actor Carl Payne took the mic starting his speech with his infamous bird call from the classic sitcom Martin. He went on to say he felt like he nailed the R&B look, even though he was the only “non-singing” male on stage. He said, “now you may not have gotten pregnant off of me but I got you through a lot of hard times (alluding to Martin).” Comedian Bruce Bruce sang a Keith Sweat “There You Go Telling Me No Again” snippet on the red carpet for us. It was a magical night in R&B music.

AllHipHop’s Rea Melissa Davis was on the red carpet speaking with the singers about the impact Sweat made on their careers, what it felt like being there to celebrate his birthday, the current state of R&B, as well as what they’re currently working on. Check out our video recap above.

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Fabes Ft. Jah "Red Cup"

HIMG artist Fabes releases his newest single “Red Cup” featuring Jah. Produced by Stewart Villain, “Red Cup” shows Fabes versatility as an artist, mixing that Bay sound with some soulful R&B.

Wiz Khalifa Says Tyga's Excuse For Dropping Out Of "Under The Influence" Tour Was "Corny" (VIDEO)

(AllHipHop News) Friendships in Hip Hop are usually an exercise of passive aggressiveness, but not with Wiz Khalifa. In a recent interview, Wiz Khalifa explains why Tyga dropped out of the “Under The Influence” tour and why he thinks his excuse is corny.

The Under The Influence tour kicked off yesterday (July 24th) in Scranton, Pennsylvania at The Pavilion at Montage Mountain. Two weeks before the tour started, two and a half months after it was announced, Wiz Khalifa informed the public on his personal Twitter account that Tyga was dropping out of the tour:

Less than 8 hours after Wiz Khalifa announced Tyga’s abrupt exit, Tyga took to his personal Twitter account to explain that he left the tour to finish his album and film a movie. According to Wiz during an interview with Mina SayWhat on Power 99 earlier today (July 25th) that excuse was wack and Tyga never informed him of his departure from the tour personally:

I felt like that was just corny. We’re better than that. At the end of the day, you don’t say ‘album and a movie’ to sound like you have something to do, ’cause I did my album before the tour and I’m shooting a movie once I get off tour and I got a son. So, at the end of the day, what do you want to do with your life?

Check out Wiz Khalifa address Tyga leaving the Under The Influence tour below:

Nicki Minaj Addresses Controversy Over "Anaconda" Artwork, John Legend's Wife Responds

(AllHipHop News) Nicki Mainj in a thong is all fun and games until  . In a series of posts on her personal Instagram account, Nicki Minaj addressed the backlash she has received over her racy artwork for her upcoming single “Anaconda”.

Yesterday (July 24) Nicki Minaj shocked everyone  released a photo of herself half naked in a thong for the cover art of her upcoming single “Anaconda”. Nicki Minaj took to her personal Instagram to address criticism that her photo was not acceptable by posting photos of Sports Illustrated models in similar attire and positions. One of the photos involved John Legend’s wife Christine Tegien:

Tegien took to her personal Twitter account to address the entire matter:

Daylyt Talks No Longer Rapping As Daylyt, Road to Total Slaughter 2, Being Set On Fire+ MORE (VIDEO)

(AllHipHop News) The battle rap scene is about to see a new day, somewhat literally. Yesterday (July 23rd), popular battle rapper Daylyt spoke on leaving the battle scene in order to make his own league and changing his rap name.

Last year, Daylyt was banned from SMACK/URL after negatively addressing his lack of payment for Summer Madness 3 from SMACK/URL owner Troy Mitchell. In his recently released YouTube video, Daylyt explained that he will no longer be battling in King of the Dot or any other battle league as he is starting his own league. According to Daylyt, this new battle league will be completely different than anything he’s ever done:

[I] got a lot of big names that’s gonna be involved in that league and when I say big names I don’t mean battle rap names. I got a lot of big industry cat names. A lot of big battles will be going down. Will I be battling in my league? Yes I will be battling in my league but I will not be battling as Daylyt. I’m actually going to recreate myself again.

While he will no longer be rapping in other leagues, the eccentric battle rapper does confirm his involvement in Road To Total Slaughter 2. He dressed as Spawn in his battle against T-Rex at the first Total Slaughter on July 12th and reveals that his theatrical performance was supposed be more explosive:

So to let y’all know in my third round at the moment where I was like, ‘Yo, I forgot my medication,’ at that exact point, my man UTK was actually supposed to come to the stage dressed as a clown and light me on fire. My cape and all that s### was supposed to be on fire, we already rehearsed that s### and all that s### … Pretty much I was supposed to fall on the ground and roll around.

Check out Daylyt’s full video below:

AllHipHop & DJ Hustle Presents: The Jump Off Mixes #4

Our own DJ Hustle is on Technics turn tables giving you The Jump Off Mix Volume #4. DJ Hustle is blending and mixing on AllHipHop.com. Listen to DJ Hustle’s Jump Off Mix. Weekly mixes will be posted for your weekly enjoyment. Let DJ Hustle know what you want to hear in the mix @AllHipHopcom or @DJHustle. Our fourth mix features songs from DJ Mustard, 50 Cent, T-Pain and more.

Jay Z's Barber Explains How He Would Have "Preserved" Lebron James' Hairline (VIDEO)

(AllHipHop News) Lebron James has advanced sports further than any athlete in the last 15 years, but his hairline has went in the opposite direction. In an interview with VFiles, Jay Z’s personal barber explains how he would have preserved Lebron James’ receding hairline.

Celebrity barber Johnny Cakes has cut the hair of a number of high-profile Hip Hop artists such as Joe Budden, Fabolous and most notably, Jay Z. While Cakes admits to not having the chance to cut Lebron James’ hair, he does explain that his assistance early on would have helped James preserve his hairline:

Lebron at this point, he might be a little too far gone. But, if I was cutting it earlier I wouldve been preserving his hair. Fading around what he got going on now. Where I feel they’re not doing that now. That’s my thing, I’m like anti-pushing hair lines back.

James has not shied away from addressing his hairline. In a 2012 interview with NBA on TNT James stated he would not cut off all of his hair due to his receding hairline as former NBA players Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith suggested.

Check out Johnny Cakez discuss working with Jay Z, Dame Dash and more as their personal barber below:

Study Shows Lack Of Racial and Gender Diversity Among Writers For MTV, HBO, Disney + MORE

(AllHipHop News) Men lie. Women lie. Numbers get it right more often than not. A recent study conducted by the Writer’s Guild of America, West (WGAW) reveals a huge lack of racial and gender diversity at TV stations such as MTV, HBO and many others.

WGAW is the labor union that reps US writers for TV, movies and a variety of other media lanes. For the 2011-2012 TV season, roughly 30% of the writers were women and approximately 15% of the writers were minorities.

[ALSO CHECK OUT: EXCLUSIVE: Wes Jackson Accuses MTV Of Racially Biased Coverage Of Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival (VIDEO)]

The study broke down the racial and gender diversity among 28 television networks and revealed that BET had the best diversity with 55% of their writers being women and 95% being minorities. For MTV, 42% of their writers were women and only 22% were minorities.  HBO, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, Starz, Fox, USA Network, Spike TV and FX had under 25% of their writers being minorities and/or women.

[ALSO CHECK OUT: EXCLUSIVE: Wes Jackson Explains MTV’s “Moral Obligation” To Invest In Black and Latino Culture + MORE (VIDEO)]

TV shows such as Showtime’s “Homeland”, NBC’s “The Big Bang Theory” and ABC’s “Modern Family” were nominated and/or won Emmys at the 64th annual Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2012. None of those three shows mentioned above had over 25% of their writers being minority and/or females with “Homeland” having 0% of their writers being minorities.

Check out the full report here and the charts of the WGAW data below:

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EXCLUSIVE: Jay Electronica Was Going To Bring Out Chuck D To Call Out Peter Rosenberg At Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival (VIDEO)

(AllHipHop News) Jay Electronica stunned the Hip Hop community when he brought up Jay Z for his Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival performance on July 12th. According to the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival’s Executive Director Wes Jackson in our EXCLUSIVE interview, Jay Electronica had another scheduled guest that would have incited a different type of media frenzy.

In the middle of June, Rosenberg engaged in a Twitter war with Public Enemy’s Chuck D and claimed he was a “Twitter troll” and that “no one elected you President of Hip Hop.” On July 3rd, Jay Electronica sent out a Twitter message (that has since been deleted) that stated Rosenberg owed Chuck D an apology and “we are gonna see to it that he gets it. Publicly.” Rosenberg gave that apology three days later on Hot 97, but according to Wes Jackson, Jay Electronica had a plan to get that apology one way or another:

You know who the other guest was supposed to be that Jay Electronica was going to bring out was Chuck D. He was going to call out [Peter] Rosenberg on that stage. Maybe Jay [Electronica] didn’t want me to say that but I know that was what they were working on, because he felt, Jay Electronica, you look at his tweets I think when he came up from rehearsing for the show he looked and saw Rosenberg going at Chuck D.

On January 13th, Outkast announced their return to performing with a scheduled 40-festivals tour. None of the dates on Outkast’s festival tour were for distinctly Hip Hop festivals and according to Jackson, Governor’s Ball locked up Outkast for the entire region:

I can understand the paper they were paying them were much longer than I can ever come up with. But, it’s like how you playing an EDM festival and not the Hip Hop festival and you’re a Hip Hop group? There’s this sense  of capitulation of like, ‘We rather be on Rolling Stone than AllHipHop. What? I get it on one level, but on another level it’s kind of shameful. That we are still…Black people have this sickness that we want to be accepted by MTV, Hot 97, Governor’s Ball, Coachella, Bonaroo. But they don’t love us.

Check out the THIRD and final part of AllHipHop’s EXCLUSIVE interview with Brooklyn Bodega below:

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Iggy Azalea To Host MTV's "House of Style"

(AllHipHop News) Iggy Azalea is set to join a list of fashion icons that includes Cindy Crawford, Rebecca Romijn, and Molly Sims. The “Fancy” performer will be the new host of the revamped House of Style on MTV.com.

[ALSO READ: Questlove Addresses Claims Iggy Azalea Represents “Culture Vulture-ism” In Hip Hop]

The program will follow Iggy as she explores the fashion world. House of Style will also cover music and technology during its eight episode run.

Iggy’s personal experience in the fashion industry will come in handy for her role as the new face of the series. The Australian native signed with the Wilhelmina International modeling agency in 2012.

The original House of Style premiered in 1989 and ended in 2000. The show was revived with Karlie Kloss and Joan Smalls as host. Season 2 of the rebooted House of Style featuring Iggy Azalea begins August 4.

[ALSO READ: Iggy Azalea Sets New Record For Female Rappers]

Watch an episode of House of Style season 1 below.

Pornhub Clarifies Association With Coolio

(AllHipHop News) Coolio made news this week when TMZ reported the rapper was releasing music through Pornhub. The California native denied he was signed to the p### site, and took TMZ to task for publishing “bulls**t” about him trying to make comeback off pornography.

[ALSO READ: Coolio: I Am Not Signed To A P### Site But I Have A Song Called “Play With The P*ssy”]

Coolio told Rolling Stone he just created a promo song for Pornhub. One of the executives from the website spoke with Hip Hop Wired about the situation. Marketing and Communications Manager Matthew Blake explained the company hoped to work with Coolio on other endeavors.

“[It’s] no diss,” said Blake. “We met Coolio and discussed the idea of him recording a song, and us producing and exclusively releasing the music video. While on shoot we talked about the idea of Coolio working with us for future projects. The deal would have to be beneficial for both sides, but Coolio was great to work with and we’re all incredibly excited to see the finished product.”

[ALSO READ: Rapper Who Cut Off Own Penis Says He’s Doing P### Next (VIDEO)]

 

French Montana: All Lyrical Rappers I Know Are Broke (VIDEO)

(AllHipHop News) Over the last few years, French Montana has been one of the few New York City based rappers to break out nationally with hit songs. Montana’s use of “non-NYC” sounds for his music has been a point of criticism for some Hip Hop fans, but The Bronx representative recently defended his brand of rap while speaking with Angie Martinez.

[ALSO CHECK OUT:French Montana Ft Fabolous & Wale “R&B Chicks”]

“I was one of the last people to come out and go big out of New York. Everybody’s like, ‘Is it real Hip Hop?… this, this, and that.’ I feel like the hottest new kid that just came out – [Bobby] Shmurda – he sounds like he’s from down south. That’s because we’re doing different things,” said French. “All lyrical rappers I know are broke… the ones that make it an issue. Jay can hop on either/or. Just like I can do either/or. I just feel like you gotta make people enjoy the music.”

The Bad Boy signee goes on to point out that not many New York emcees get play in the South or on the West Coast. He also states Shumurda’s YouTube smash “Hot N***a” was originally a Lloyd Banks track, but it took the young Brooklyn rapper adding a southern flow and dance for it to pop.

[ALSO READ: Brooklyn’s Bobby Shmurda Signs With Epic Records]

Watch French Montana’s interview below.

Tiny Addresses Floyd Mayweather's Press Conference Comments

(AllHipHop News) The Floyd Mayweather/T.I./Tiny drama got new life recently when it was reported the boxing champion said “I was f**king his b***h” when asked about Tip at a press conference. Mayweather later stated he was misquoted. The woman in the center of the controversy has added her thoughts about the situation.

[ALSO READ: Hip-Hop Rumors: T.I. Does A Lyrical Drive By On Floyd Mayweather]

Tiny was a guest on The Rickey Smiley Morning Show, and the singer supported Mayweather’s claim that his words were misinterpreted.

The Family Hustle star said:

I went back to it because first of all that is so untrue. I could just not imagine him saying, “Oh yeah, I did that.” So, I had to go back, put my earbuds on so I could really, really hear. When he says it he said, “He thought,” but when he says it his head is kind of like turned to the side. But if you look at his mouth, his mouth is moving. He’s saying, “He thought.” So, he didn’t really say that for real, for real. Everybody took it and the press, that’s what they do. But he didn’t say that ’cause that never happened. He’s never been in a room with me by myself. Anytime that he’s been around me it’s been people like this. So I couldn’t imagine him saying, “Yeah, I did that.”

[ALSO READ: 50 Cent Warns Floyd Mayweather To Leave T.I.’s Wife Tiny Alone (VIDEO)]