(AllHipHop News) Fans of Jay Z and Beyoncé unable to catch the power couple during their current “On The Run Tour” will be able to see the two music powerhouses on HBO. A television concert special will be taped during Jay and Bey’s two September dates in Paris.
“This is a major musical event that belongs on HBO,” said HBO programming president Michael Lombardo. “It’s going to be a night to remember.”
The cable network has featured both artists before. Beyonce: X10 is currently running on the channel. The ten-part music series features segments from Bey’s “The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour.”
The “Drunk In Love” singer also debuted her Life Is But A Dream documentary on HBO in 2013. That same year Jay premiered his Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film via the network as well.
HBO will also be the home of a project from another Hip Hop crossover superstar. The Queen Latifah led biopic about legendary blues singer Bessie Smith will show on HBO starting in 2015.
Bessie also stars Michael K. Williams, Mo’Nique, Khandi Alexander, Charles S. Dutton, and Oliver Platt. It is currently being filmed in Atlanta with director Dee Rees (Pariah, Eventual Salvation) at the helm.
North Carolina rapper Nicamari releases his song “We On” that has been heating up the North Carolina scene. Nicamari has had the support of DJ Green Lantern, Rocko and Drumma Boy on several tracks released on his label Star B Entertainment label.
(AllHipHop News) There are always going to be times when people that work closely together have disagreements. The question is: how do you handle those moments when they happen?
Many observers did not approve of Meek Mill’s approach of airing out his differences with fellow Maybach Music Group artist Wale on Twitter. It was seen as a private matter that should not have become public.
Vibe asked veteran emcee Jadakiss about the Meek Mill/Wale rift, and The Lox member agreed that some things should be kept in-house.
“Who am I to say if it was right or wrong,” said Jadakiss. “I just know I wouldn’t have handled it like that with my brothers. If we have any discrepancies, we settle them among each other. I would never call out Styles or Sheek on Twitter or Instagram or no social media site before I call them up or meet them at the studio or their house.”
DJ Drama is an A&R executive at Atlantic Records (label home of Meek and Wale). He also agreed the problems between the two rappers did not need to take place in front of the entire world.
“I would suggest more than anything, we just keep family business within the family,” said Drama. “If I could suggest anything to those guys, I don’t feel like Twitter is the place for that.”
While the social media battle between Meek Mill and Wale could been seen as an embarrassing moment for them and MMG, the confrontation did help bring awareness to Wale’s latest single “The Followers.” The song shot up to number one on the Trending Chart when it was released.
(AllHipHop News) Former G-Unit associate Bang Em Smurf is not buying the reconciliation between 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck. The Queens native claims it’s only a reunion of necessity, because the parties involved had no choice financially.
“At the end of the day they money getting low, so they had no choice but to run back to 50. Because 50 got them in contracts, and he won’t let them out,” said Smurf. “Remember at the end of the day, the industry don’t f**k with 50 and these n***as no more.”
Smurf then points out that a lot of the relevant rap stars in the game now like French Montana, Rick Ross, and Diddy are not going to work with G-Unit, because they all had issues with 50. As a result, the acts still signed to G-Unit are essentially blackballed in the industry.
50 Cent’s low first week sales for Animal Ambition were a point of discussion for Smurf as well. He believes the fact the independent album only sold around 47,000 copies in its opening week is proof the Unit is over as a marketable brand.
“[The reunion] ain’t gonna work. It ain’t gonna last. It ain’t gonna get no money. Cause they ain’t selling no more units,” Smurf claimed. “50’s Animal Ambition just dropped some weeks ago, and he flopped. Once he flops, then G-Unit is gonna flop even extra hard.”
Smurf then goes on to say that Banks is a “lazy kid” and not a “hustler.” He also states 50’s decision to steal the hook for the mega-hit “In Da Club” from Banks hurt the younger rapper financially, and Yayo was upset with 50 because the G-Unit leader refused to help save Yayo’s house from foreclosure.
According to Smurf, these situations have caused friction between the G-Unit members.
(AllHipHop News) Veteran entertainment businessman Dame Dash has been extremely vocal over the last several months about some of the people that have headed various major music labels.
While Dash has referred to a few of those corporate leaders like Lyor Cohen and Joie Manda as “culture vultures” in Hip Hop, the co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records is still not completely against teaming with corporations.
In the latest video of his conversation with Redman, Dash says:
I’m not saying you can’t work with corporate. You just can’t work for corporate. There is an option. I’m not saying I won’t work with corporate. I hear some people saying, “Well, you wasn’t saying that when they was giving you…” They didn’t give me s**t. We were partners. We put money in that s**t. You acquired something that we f**king brought value. You didn’t give me nothing. Y’all wasn’t f**king with us when we wasn’t rolling.
Dame Dash, Jay Z, and Kareem “Biggs” Burke created Roc-A-Fella in 1994 after other labels repeatedly rejected signing Jay. The company was eventually included under the Def Jam umbrella after the major purchased 50% of the Roc in 1997. Def Jam bought the entire imprint outright in 2004.
When Red asks Dame if the only way he’ll work with corporate is if they are partners, Dame responds:
Yep, or unless I hire them. A distribution deal, in essence, that’s hiring them. They don’t want to say it like that, but that’s what it is. You own your masters, and when you don’t feel like working with them anymore, you take them.
(AllHipHop News) Dr. Dre and other investors at Beats Electronics made a windfall when the company was purchased by Apple earlier this year for $3 billion. According to reports, and even greater sum of money could possibly be transferring to the company as well.
TMZ is reporting Beats has filed a lawsuit against unnamed Chinese websites that have been selling counterfeit Beats headphones. These sites have apparently made over $135 billion. Beats wants the sales of the fakes to stop and to seize the Chinese companies’ profits.
The real Beats Electronics has been a major financial success. Beats’ revenues have jumped from a reported $350 million in 2011 to over $1 billion in 2013.
(AllHipHop News) Azealia Banks has been waiting to drop her major label debut album Broke With Expensive Taste for sometime. The project had been sitting on the shelf for years at Universal Music Group, but Banks may finally get to share her LP with the world now that she is no longer signed to UMG.
In January, Banks was “begging” to be released from her contract with Universal. At the time she tweeted she felt like she was “in hell” and that she was “tired of having to consult a group of old white guys about my black girl craft.”
Banks was previously signed to a development deal with British indie label XL when she was 17. That situation did not work out either. She bumped heads with label head Richard Russell.
She told the BBC in 2012, “This is not what I worked so hard my entire life to do – to be rejected by some English guy in West Bumblefrickin’ nowhere London, telling me I’m amateur or something like that. So I just said, ‘Screw you!'”
This year hasn’t been the best for science fiction flicks. Both “Godzilla” and “Transformers: Age of Extinction” were met with a collective “meh.” Similarly, the super hero movies like “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” have not quite been able to galvanize all audiences with uniformed approval. This all changes with “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” the latest installment of the decades-old franchise.
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” continues as the a saga that started in 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” In the movie, a nation of advanced apes have their very existence threatened by humans that seek to reestablish society that was demolished by a deadly virus. The two factions find themselves ready to destroy each other after different insurgents between their ranks struggle for power by any means.
Cesar (played by Andy Serkis) returns as the leader of the apes, but he almost immediately finds that peace is not an easy task and human resentment runs deep in his ranks. Conflict ensues when a band of humans venture into ape territory outside of San Francisco hoping to generate electricity for a nearby city. By this time the human race is almost extinct but pockets of survivors seek to connect in the 10 years that follow the virus. Human are slightly sympathetic and yet fairly untrustworthy, because the consciousness of apes remember the experiments and cruelty to their species. Ironically, the “simian flu,” that nearly wipes out the human race and frees the apes was a human creation.
The “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is an incredible thrill ride. To be honest, a review won’t do it any justice as it is a must see. The journey through a post-apocalyptic Earth is a dark, violent trip that manages to secure a PG-13 rating by having limited profanity and no nudity (unless you count a nation of naked apes). Unlike some of the aforementioned action movies, there is nothing cheesy or corny about “Dawn,” and the chief villain Koba (played by Christopher Gordon) is on par with the best of them (watch your back Joker). Koba’s insurrection is the cornerstone of the finest moments “Dawn” has to offer.
All in all, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is one of the best sci-fi movies that 2014 has to offer. The apes are the stars of this one. Talents like Keri Russell, Jason Clarke and Gary Oldman offer quality performances but are ultimately regulated to supporting cast work. It will definitely be held in high regard for many years to come by audiences that re-visit it. Kudos to Matt Reeves, the director of the movie, for a job well done.
Below is a trailer for “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”:
(AllHipHop News) 1 + 1 always equals 2, but two successful entities merging does not guarantee success as an end result. During a recent interview, Modern Family‘s executive producer Christopher Lloyd explained why Beyonce being Beyonce is why he would never cast her on the hit television show.
Modern Family debuted on September 23rd. 2009 and has proceeded to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series every year since 2010. Nominated in the category again, Lloyd explained to the L.A. Times that while the show is successful, they tend to shy away from recognizable stars:
But there’s always a risk that when someone is too recognizable, they don’t really disappear into a role. Like you can’t have Beyonce play Luke’s (Nolan Gould) ninth-grade Spanish teacher. You’ll have everyone going: “That’s not Miss Esquivez, that’s Beyonce!” So we tend to shy away from that. But that’s not to say if we had a splashy role we wouldn’t go rushing for some of these actors because they’re at the top of their profession.
One exception it seems is Kevin Hart. Hart appeared on the show as Andre in season 3 (2011) and season 4 (2012), both after the release of his breakthrough stand-up special 2011’s Laugh At My Pain. Hart has not appeared on the show since the “Planes, Trains and Cars” episode aired on May 2nd, 2012, a month before Hart’s surprise hit Think Like A Man grossed over $90 million in two months.
Check out Christopher Lloyd’s full interview with L.A. Timeshere.
(AllHipHop News) Ja Rule’s book tour interviews are living to the book’s Unruly title. During his interview with Power 105’s The Breakfast Club, Ja Rule discusses his new album title, Murda Inc offering Superhead as a gift to DJ’s and radio program directors and more.
Back in 2010, Karrine “Superhead” Stefans appeared on TV One’s Life After and asserted that she and Ja Rule had “5 days of non-stop sex” after meeting at a nightclub in Los Angeles. Ja Rule asserts that he never had sex with Supahead but does say that what Murda Inc did used her as a pawn in this game of music. After stating that Steffans “basically prostituted herself for Murda Inc”, he explains how she was used to thank radio DJ’s and Program Directors for supporting their records.
Back in the day, the music scene was a lot different. It was more fun. We had a lot tof fun. We do the big conventions down in Miami. All the DJs are there and all the PDs are there. It was, ‘thumbs up, I’m hearing that Ja Rule record is spinning crazy. We got a gift for you. Thank you for all the love and support.
Months before Jay Z scored his first Top 20 Billboard Hot 100 song for his “Can I Get A..” collaboration with Ja Rule and Amil, Jay Z’s first taste of Billboard success was on Jermaine Dupri’s “Money Ain’t A Thang”. The song appeared on both Jay Z’s Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life and Dupri’s Life of 1472. “Can I Get A…” also appeared on Jay Z’s album, however Ja revealed that not only was the song originally his but there was early frustrations over giving the song to his former Def Jam label mate:
I think Jay heard the track or whatever the case may be or whatever. I spit the hook to him and he was like, ‘that’s dope.’ Then he called me back later that night and said ‘spit to me, let me hear it again’. He was like ‘That’s dope. Let’s use it for my album and for the Rush Hour soundtrack. I think at the time I was young and not understanding how the industry works. So, I said things about ‘aww man, if I had the record myself, it could’ve made my album bigger.
Check out Ja Rule’s full interview on The Breakfast Club below:
(AllHipHop Features) Almost any emcee would be ecstatic if a legend like Nasir Jones were to put his weight behind you in the music business. Hardcore Nas fan Boldy James is no exception. The streetwise storyteller is humbled to be one of the first rappers to sign with Nas’ newly formed imprint Mass Appeal Records, but he is not resting on just a nod of approval from an icon.
Boldy is committed to grinding on his own accord in order to make a name for himself in the Hip Hop game. He has dropped several projects over the last few years including the Trappers Alley: Pros & Cons mixtape and the My 1st Chemistry Set LP (produced entirely by Alchemist). Boldy is now on the cusp of releasing Trappers Alley 2, and he’s been hard at work spitting out guests verses for several other artists as well.
The West Side Detroit native was recently on the video set for one of those features, and he took a break from filming Isaac Castor’s forthcoming visuals for “Arizona” to speak with AllHipHop.com. Boldy shared information about his Trappers Alley 2, discussed a few upcoming tracks with his cousin and The Cools Kids alum Chuck Inglish, and the importance of keeping his fan base fed.
What have you been working on recently?
I’ve been working on Trappers Alley 2. I’m just trying to bring back that rough, raw Detroit sound that I originally come from before The Cool Kids era. Before Chuck was making boom bap beats, he was making these real grimy, dark beats that use to compliment what I do. I’m just trying to find the medium between what my fans expect of me and what I want out of the music. I’m trying to satisfy both parties – me and the fans.
Do you find that to be a difficult balance?
At times, because a lot of times it feels like just because I’m from the ghetto we put ourselves through it a little harder than other people, and seems as if that’s most of the world. Until you get out into the world, start traveling other places, and seeing that’s the minority.
You get to feeling swamped in your own bulls**t that presents itself in the neighborhood. Then you’ll look at somebody that got a regular, balanced life and you get to comparing the two. I always feel like a lot of people won’t be able to relate to me, because I’m from a different world. That’s the challenge. Trying to make people understand where I’m coming from, because it’s not many people that’s really from my world.
At one point in time in my life that’s all I knew – the neighborhood. Once you get out of the urban acclimation mode, then you can spread your wings and realize that there’s more to it than just being from the ghetto.
Is Trappers Alley 2 going to be a free mixtape or are you releasing it to retail?
You’re probably going to be able to download it when I first put it out, and then I think it’ll go up on iTunes too. So if you want to support it, you can. If you want to just steal the music, you can too. It’s all good. It ain’t no big deal. I got a lot of things going on.
People think that the music is everything. That’s just only a part of it. You still got to have a business mind. It’s still other avenues and lane that open up just from creating the music.
Have you decided on a release date yet?
Sometime mid-September/early October.
Why did you decide to go with “Crunchin” as the lead single?
It just seemed like a good idea with my business partners to push that one. It had more of a well-rounded sound. It wasn’t just drill music. It had more diversity to it, so I felt like more people would probably feel that one coming out the gate than all the other music I’ve been making. And then I can’t give the strongest song, and then not follow through with a stronger one. It was just a plan of attack.
Has the response been good?
Yeah, for sure. I put out a song like that “No Hate In My Blood.” That was just a mixtape song, and the people let me know how they felt. They weren’t feeling that joint. They were on my head about that one like, “Boldy, that’s not you,” “That’s not the type of music you make,” “You just lost a fan.”
At the end of the day, I must have felt confident enough about the music before I let it out, so I’m just going to let it do it’s thing. See the response I get, so I can know what to do different next time. Or approach a track that was similar to that one different, so I don’t get the same response I did last time.
You seem to be pretty interactive with your fans.
Yeah, that’s because it’s just like when you sell dope. Your fiends are like your fans. You got to give them what they want, so they can keep spending with you. You can’t sell one of your fans no bulls**t and expect them to come back and spend their money with you when it’s time for the re-up.
I try to cater to the fans for the most part, because they are who made me Boldy James. Lil Moochie’s gonna do his thing in the streets with or without music. But Boldy James, he needs his fans for him to bloom and blossom into the great artist his fans think he really is. I need them to hold me up when I stage dive.
Can we expect a Nas feature on Trappers Alley 2?
More than likely. I don’t see why not. That’s the big homie. That’s who I’m doing big business with, so I don’t see why not. Nas is one of the illest to ever do it. He knows how much I respect his craft.
If you had a Nas questionnaire that asked about this verse or that verse, I think I’d damn near be able to give you word-for-word, bar-for-bar each and every song he ever put out. If Nas did some s**t in the studio that got leaked, I’m pretty sure I heard it and I know the verse.
I’m a big Nas fan. And he must admire something about what I do, because he don’t f**k with n***as. So for him just giving the co-sign and to be breaking bread with me, I don’t see why not. We’re gonna see what it do. Trappers Alley 2 coming soon.
Boldy James + Nas + Mac Miller In The Lab (via Instagram)
You’re also going to be on the upcoming Mass Appeal compilation. Can you talk about some of the music you submitted for that project?
Me and Fashawn got a banger. Me and Mac Miller got a banger. Me, Chuck Inglish, and Fashawn got something so dope. We just did it in the studio while we were working on the Mass Appeal joint. Chuck came through and laced us with a beat. It’s called “Off White.” I love that song.
I got all types of stuff in store for y’all. These features I’ve been doing on these other people’s projects. Just random artists that have been reaching out. My feature price went up.
It’s just a good look right now. The money is the motivation. It’s like when you’re in the trap, and you’re trap’s snapping. All that money keeps slipping in and out your hands. That’s how I feel right now. I’m in a good groove.
You’re from Detroit, and that city is known for it’s battle rap scene. Do you follow the battle rap culture?
Shout out to my dog Calicoe, BMF representing, Detroit City, my man Qleen Paper. A lot of the people that battle rap from the city that’s really in the street, I know them. But if they ain’t around here in the streets making no noise, then I probably only recognize them if I see them or if one of my guys back home who f**ks with the battle rap scene puts me up on. I don’t know a lot of them cats. That’s why I’ve never been a battle rapper.
How far along are you on your studio album?
I got like 15 albums recorded. Then a plethora of probably a couple hundred more songs just in the stash. I work a lot. I’m not just one of those guys who blows his life away. I’m always doing something. I’m always thinking of new ways to make money, stay busy. I have to keep working, because you can’t expect to get something for nothing. You always got to work twice as hard if you expect to get anything out life. So I’m working overtime and a half to get that band up.
Chicago’s Young Gii teams up with fellow Windy City spitter King Louie for “All On My Dih”. Young Gii was born in the Bahamas. He quickly fell in love with the world of hip hop at the age of 17 when he moved to America. Young Gii used his struggles and life experiences as a catalyst to produce great music.
“You don’t have to be a gangsta to be real,” said Young Gii. Gii He has already released three great mix tapes, “I’m So Ill” hosted by the well-known Chicago DJ Sean Mac, as well as “Step Into My World” and “I Am Young Gii” hosted by the legendary Don Cannon. Young Gii is currently working on his latest project, an EP titled Islands to the City.
DJ Hustle has this mix jumping on AllHipHop.com. Listen to DJ Hustle’s jump off mix #2 . 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 second mix features songs from YG, B.O.B, Iggy Azalea, Plies, Hurricane Chris and more.
