After issuing a statement about the grand jury’s decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson for their son Mike Brown’s killing, his parents Lesley McSpadden and Mike Brown, Sr., appeared on CBS This Morning to discuss the heartbreaking decision.
When asked if they believed Wilson’s account of the incident where he named Brown as the aggressor in the altercation, McSpadden quickly shot down that accusation saying she “didn’t believe a word of it.”
“I knew my son far to well. He would never do anything like that. He would never provoke anyone to do anything to him. He wouldn’t do anything to anybody.”
Emotions ran high when the discussion shifted towards Wilson’s statements during his first televised interview where he said he had a “clear conscience” and would do it again.
“He didn’t do what he had to do,” McSpadden said. “He did what he wanted to do…I don’t think he wanted to kill my son but he wanted to kill someone…How could your conscience be clear after killing somebody even if it was an accidental death?”
McSpadden and Brown, Sr. also said that no Ferguson officials or representatives have come to them and given them any condolences.
‘We just been disrespected all the way around,” Brown Sr. said.
AllHipHop caught up with Philly-bred singer/rapper/songwriter Patty Crash to talk about her upcoming album, Born to Fall.
While she was crafting her LP, her mentor and manager Richard Nichols was battling Leukemia, which was a crushing time for the 28-year-old. Watching Nichols struggle with the illness influenced the tone of her project, describing it as dark.
“The whole project is just this dark period and me kind of just exploring and getting back to what’s important,” she said as she wiped away tears.
Black Thought, who discovered Crash, also spoke to AllHipHop about how he first met Patty and discussed her promising future.
“As an artist, Patty has infinite potential,” said The Roots frontman. “She’s dope. She can go as far as she wants to go and take it wherever she wants to take it.”
Watch Patty talk about working with The Roots, not wanting to do music anymore at one point and more. Then watch Black Thought discuss his relationship with the singer.
As time goes on, its gotten easier to weed out the random’s from the real. The ones who were only in it for the money and the guys who were always in it for the love. The phony ones tend to fade out first chance they get.
The authentic ones however, like Mobb Deep’s own Prodigy, tend to keep adding to already classic catalogs with new albums, new plans and the energy of a new artists every time they come around. With his homies Boogz Boogetz and Sam Scarfo in tow, the HNIC sits with AHH’s MrMecc to discuss what he’s up to, what he likes and after a 20 year run, what the hell keeps him going.
Since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, Big Sean headed back to his hometown of Detroit to make sure that the less fortunate were taken care of. Thanks to him and his nonprofit organization, the Sean Anderson Foundation, turkeys and canned goods were given to 1,000 people at Detroit’s River Rouge High School at their second annual turkey drive. From the looks of the pictures and video, Sean and co. put smiles on many people’s faces.
For the Toronto Raptors, having Drake as their global ambassador comes with some perks. Not only do you get to rub elbows with one of hip-hop’s favorites but you also get first dibs on his new music. Just ask Raptors small forward DeMar DeRozan. During an appearance on NBA TV he revealed that he will be hearing Drake’s newest mixtape soon, which he said is dropping at the top of 2015.
“I talked to [Drake] the other night. He actually said he wanted to give me his mixtape. It come out in January,” he told to Chris Webber and co.
Whether this mixtape gets released or not, fans are patiently awaiting the arrival of Drake’s fourth studio album, Views From The 6, which is expected in 2015 as well.
Whether getting love or hate, 15 y/o NYC rapper Chris Miles embraces the commentary as long as he remains a “Topic of Discussion.” In a new loose single produced by Statik Selektah, Chris continues to flex mind-bending wordplay and a charismatic flow atop the bouncy boom-bap beat.
“Topic of Discussion” releases in anticipation of Chris Miles’ Birth of Cool EP, which releases December 15th. The EP’s first single, “Time”, produced by Jake One, dropped earlier this month.
Greg “Frenchie” Hogan’s journey as a recording artist consists of several pivotal maneuvers in his career. The rapper began his run of writing lyrics at the age of 10 years old, but it was his relocation from his native neighborhood of South Jamaica Queens to Atlanta that ignited his course in the business. It was in the Georgia city that Frenchie linked with his aunt Mizay Entertainment founder Debra Antney and a rising rapper named Gucci Mane.
The Southern transplant played a significant role in the construction of Gucci’s So Icey Entertainment which would later birth 1017 Brick Squad Records and Brick Squad Monopoly – label home to Frenchie’s cousin Waka Flocka Flame. With strong connections to both the NYC and ATL markets, Frenchie embarked on creating his own street mixtapes such as New Atlanta, Concrete Jungle, and Long Overdue.
In September, Frenchie dropped his latest collection Fukk Fame. The uploading of the 10-track project to the internet coincided with the announcement of another big move this year for the performer. That same month he helped launch Protekted Records.
Frenchie is now prepping to drop his studio album in 2015. His official debut LP is set to feature Gucci, Waka, Yo Gotti, Migos, and more. He prefaced the release with the single “Ain’t Goin Nowhere” with B.o.B. and Chanel West Coast.
AllHipHop.com spoke with Frenchie to get the BSM affiliate’s take on past problems within Brick Squad, Nicki Minaj’s former connection to the crew, dealing with negative social media comments, and what the future holds.
You have a lot of family ties to the music industry. Was being a recording artist something you always knew you wanted to pursue?
Yes, it was like music was thrown on me from my family members.
What age did you start recording?
I started recording when I was 19 years old. The first record I recorded in an actual good studio was with Gucci Mane. I took my shirt off. That was in ‘09.
You came up under the So Icy/Brick Squad brand. Did you ever feel any sense of pressure having to follow the success of Gucci and Waka Flocka?
No, because me and Wooh Da Kid were Gucci Mane’s first artists. Waka wasn’t even rapping, so when he started rapping and blew it out of the water it was beautiful. You have to understand he’s still my blood cousin, so we’re not in competition with each other. We’re not battling each other.
Are you still officially connected with Brick Squad?
I made Brick Squad. I’m one of the fathers, main players of the squad. You got Waka, Wooh, Gucci, OJ [Da Juiceman], and Frenchie. So even if I said I wanted to leave Brick Squad, I can’t leave because I made it.
Don’t get it twisted I’m standing on my on two with this one, but Brick Squad will always be a part of my veins. It will always be in my blood. It’s just with this one I’m doing my own thing.
Gucci Mane + Frenchie (via Instagram)
How did the Protekted Records situation come together?
[Protekted Records President] John [Gornbein], who used to be the drummer for Kid Rock, and my uncle DJ Hurricane, who was the Beastie Boys’ DJ, were working together. I got in contact with [Gornbein] through Cane.
You recently dropped the single “Ain’t Going Nowhere,” and it features B.o.B. and Chanel West Coast. Both of those artists are known for having a pop appeal. Why did you decide to connect with Bobby and Chanel for that particular track?
Actually, I like the pop sound. I feel like that’s a good route to go, because I want to elevate my music. I’m getting older. I’m tired of just doing “gang banging music.” It’s time for me to make music for everybody, to be universal.
You released your recent mixtape Fukk Fame earlier this year. One of the standout tracks was “Birds and Keys”. What inspired you to write that particular track?
It was my life. I was just in my feelings when I wrote that. That’s how I felt.
Unfortunately, you lost your cousin KayO Redd last year. As a result, your aunt Debra Antney started her “No Reckless Internet Posting” anti-cyber bullying campaign. As a public figure, how do you handle dealing with negative social media posts or blog comments?
I don’t even bother myself with negative energy. I pray everyday. That’s how I defeat negative energy. I pray and give out a positive energy. It totals out all the negative energy. I pray to block that out.
I’m sure there are a lot of young people that follow you that have to deal with that every day.
I feel like a lot of kids should be more spiritual. I feel like they should call to God more. They should pray more and never give up.
Everybody knows Waka and Gucci had their issues, but Waka announced they had squashed it earlier this year. He sent out a tweet with a picture of him and Gucci saying the beef was over. What was that moment like for you?
You have to understand the media eats everything up and just make it how they want it to be. They’re brothers at the end of the day. We were brothers before all this media putting bulls**t in the air. No matter what… Gucci has been in my life for like 8 or 9 years. Arguments don’t determine friendships.
The media blew up everything, and made it have to be like that. I always knew it was going to be squashed. It was never gonna keep on going. The only reason people was thinking it was gonna keep going is because the media does not know the relationship of Waka and Gucci.
In fairness, they did make it public. It’s not like they kept it between themselves.
If you notice it was stuff that they said and then they erased it. People are loving these people so much, they’re taking snapshots. [Gucci and Waka] didn’t keep it up there, they were angry at each other. The people took a hold to it and made it bigger than it was.
If they meant it, they would have kept what they said online. They didn’t keep what they said online. All of them erased their things. The people who snapshot it kept it going.
I hear what you’re saying, but if you’re an artist and you put that information out there, then of course people are going to be attracted to it.
Sometimes they don’t know how powerful they are. But other than that they’re brothers, and I knew it was going to be squashed.
You did an interview with The Breakfast Club where you talked about how you introduced Nicki Minaj’s music to your aunt Deb Antney. Nicki’s former manager Fendi did an interview with The Breakfast Club where he talked about that situation. He made it seem like Deb stole Nicki away from him, but from what you said it wasn’t like that. Can you clear that situation up?
No, Deb didn’t steal Nicki away. Whatever Nicki wanted to do she did it on her own. Nicki came done there, because Nicki knew where her career was heading. And she knew what she wanted her career to be. She knew she had to grab the down south fan base, so she did exactly what she was supposed to do.
Is that part of the reason why you moved down south as well?
I been moved down south. I actually went down south for a family reunion, and it just ended up like that.
What do you have planned for 2015?
I expect the world to see me more on TV shows, MTV Jams, VH1, anything dealing with music. Prepare yourself to see me a lot.
During his LOUD MUSIC college tour trip to the US back in April, London Mc Ikes jumped in the lab with Brooklyn’s own, Wordsmiff, over some production courtesy of German duo The Cratez.
After premiering at the Sundance Next Fest back in August, the visual to Kendrick Lamar’s debut album good kid, m.A.A.d city will be released for the public’s viewing pleasure. Unfortunately, only TDE stans that live in LA will get to see it.
The short documentary, titled m.A.A.d, will be shown at the Museum for Contemporary Art in LA in 2015 from Mar. 21st to Jul. 27th.
The 14-minute doc, which was directed by Khalil Joseph with help from Flying Lotus, is depicted as “a lush portrait of contemporary Los Angeles.”
Read the synopsis for the film below.
“From barbershops to marching bands, from homeboys drinking in the streets to the iconic carpet of shimmering lights, the camera in m.A.A.d sinuously glides through predominantly African American neighborhoods in Los Angeles catching a dizzying array of quotidian moments suffused with creativity, joy, and sadness. Joseph’s film is accompanied by a thick booming soundtrack provided by emerging hip-hop star Kendrick Lamar and indeed m.A.A.d is part of the title of Lamar’s highly acclaimed second album good kid, m.A.A.d. city.”
(AllHipHop News) J. Cole is making a risky move with the release of his third studio album 2014 Forest Hills Drive. The Fayetteville, North Carolina emcee is putting the project out with any singles or major marketing plan.
While other acts like Beyoncé, The Lox, and Kid Cudi have tried this approach in recent months, an artist choosing not to promote their work before it hits stores could affect the album’s sales numbers. Or that “no promo” tactic could actually be an effective promotional idea.
Cole may not be doing a lot of press over the next few weeks, but he did conduct an interview with Complex. The Q&A included the Roc Nation signee talking about various subjects. Read some of J. Cole’s quotes below.
I always wanted to be f**king Berry Gordy. I wanted to have a production platform. But now I realize that, even if I never produce a record for someone who’s signed to me, the real pleasure of having a label is watching somebody start from ground zero and get to level one, two, and three. These dudes are trying to get to 100. It’s mad rewarding for me to see.
On criticism he is a boring artist:
I’m an introverted person, especially with problems. I feel like I can deal with s**t on my own and I don’t need to express it. I put up a great front because I don’t want to show [that something bothers me], which is why I respect Wale. I’ve always loved that he says it and he says it right away, like, “Yo, I don’t feel this. Them n***as ain’t showing me no respect.” In a way, that’s therapeutic. To keep it in and suppress it makes it worse. That kind of expressiveness is not prevalent in my music, but you’ll find lines. That s**t affected me so much that I had to write a line about it. I can tell you five or six lines where it was addressed. That’s the danger of giving a f**k about what people say in an age where you can see what people say so easily. It’s about getting over that, like, “Man, I don’t give a f**k. I love me. I love this s### I just made. If you like it, f**king great. If you don’t like it, cool. I hope you find some other s**t you like.” On my best day that’s how I feel.
On Jay Z and Roc Nation now believing in him as an artist:
They definitely believe in me more now. But first of all, Jay Z believed in me enough to sign me, and for that I am forever grateful. Thank God he heard “Lights Please” and those songs I played for him the first meeting. Thank God he signed me off of those. After that, I can’t front. If we asked him honestly, I’m sure he would say he wasn’t sure what I would turn out to be in the grand scheme of things, in terms of commercial success.
(AllHipHop News) Comedian Chris Rock and The Roots drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson are doing the media rounds to promote the upcoming Rock-directed, Quest-scored movie Top Five. The pair appeared on Juan Epstein and a few interesting topics from Hip Hop history came up.
Quest reflected back on the issues between The Notorious B.I.G. and The Roots. Before Biggie’s death, the Philadelphia band released the video “What They Do” which some viewers saw as a dig at the Bad Boy emcee. Quest stated that Big was initially a big fan of The Roots, but the video changed the NYC native’s view of the group.
“Biggie was like our biggest champion… he put Brooklyn onto The Roots,'” said Questlove. “We told the [“What They Do”] director we didn’t want to do a direct reference to someone’s video. We’re just talking about the impending, lurking of this new, at the time what seemed like this new Apartheid – the have nots versus the haves.”
According to Quest, the group did not know the visuals were a direct reference to Biggie’s “One More Chance” video during filming. It was not until seeing the final cut of the video that The Roots realized the association. Biggie later sent shots at The Roots in an interview with The Source, but unfortunately Quest was not able to settle their problems before Biggie was killed.
Juan Ep’s other guest, Chris Rock, discussed his longstanding connection to Hip Hop as well. The legendary comic spoke on his cult classic CB4 and his contribution to Kanye West’s “Blame Game” off My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
“Greatest Hip Hop album of all time,” declared Rock about Ye’s 2010 LP. “Kanye West is a genius… I want to say I was in the booth for about two hours… He was just throwing s**t at me, ‘try this, try that’… He snapped it all together.”
Rock believes Twisted Fantasy is better than other classic albums like Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Prince’s Purple Rain. He calls Kanye’s project “the best album of the last 50 years.”
Its been a minute since we heard something from A$AP Rocky BUT don’t get excited yet. because the only thing new your gonna get from him isn’t music, but maybe a magazine spread.
According to reports, the Harlem rapper just landed a modeling deal Salavotore Ferragamo. He’s going to be featured in an ad campaign titled, ‘A Man’s Story,’ which is a part of Ferragamo’s spring/summer 2015 collection.
Rocky’s real big on fashion so this doesn’t come as a surprise, wonder if his ex Chanel Iman had to say about his new gig.
Nicki Minaj upset a few reporters on the American Music Awards red carpet a few days back. Page Six reports:
“”A source tells Page Six Minaj was “very rude” to press on the red carpet at Sunday night’s awards show.
We’re told Minaj, 31, got especially heated when reporters brought up her rumored foe, Iggy Azalea. The “Anaconda” rapper and Azalea, 24, reportedly have beef stemming from Minaj’s BET Awards speech being seen as a dig against Azalea’s work.”
One disgruntled reporter in particular, Liz Hernandez popped off about her run-in with Minaj via Twitter:
(AllHipHop News) Rick Ross’ new album Hood Billionaire includes the Timbaland produced track “Movin’ Bass” with Jay Z, but Timbo rocked the Internet when he previewed a version of the song featuring his new artist Tink.
Many began to ask why Ross decided not to release the Tink edition. In a Google Hangout interview with Sway Calloway, the Maybach Music Group boss explained the album version of “Movin’ Bass” was the original, and in his opinion Timbo should not have dropped the second track.
Ross said:
Timbaland released his version that I was real disappointed in hearing. Me and Jay created the original version. That’s one of the records we vibed up when he had a couple of sessions. Of course Timbaland produced it and had the production on it for a little while. I went by the studio before, and he played me the version. I was like, “I see what you did, but chill on that. We’re doing our thing on that.” I was disappointed with homie on that.
When asked to speak on the fact that his version was created first, Ross stated:
That’s one of the things that was disappointing in homie. I felt like we’re bigger than that. We’re bosses. I expect homie to clarify that whenever he makes his rounds. Most definitely, me and Jay did that record.
Ross goes on to add that he spoke to the producer about the matter and it is “all love,” but the Miami rapper says Tim needs to “fix that problem.”
(AllHipHop News) The story of Migos member Quavo’s chain being snatched and reportedly passed among rappers and DC residents has been unfolding for over a week. Quavo had touched on the matter in social media posts, but the Atlanta-based entertainer has now addressed the situation in the new track “Tha Truth.”
In the video clip released with Quavo’s track, Maybach Music Group artist Fat Trel is mentioned as possibly having the missing jewelry at one point. Trel had previously stated in a Twitter post that he was not involved in the situation. He returned to Twitter yesterday to offer another message about people telling the truth.
STOP PUTTIN MY NAME IN DAT MIGO'z SHYT….SB DONT ROB WE KILL!!!
GBE member Capo has been one of the Migos’ rivals closely connected to the chain snatching. The Chicago native reposted a picture to Instagram of what seems to be the cover of a response track from suspected chain snatcher Donno. The artwork features the image of Quavo’s “QC” chain. Donno mentioned on his own IG post that a video is coming soon.
(AllHipHop News) Officer Darren Wilson finally spoke publicly about the shooting of Ferguson, Missouri teenager Michael Brown. Wilson gave an interview to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos providing his version of what happened on August 9 when Brown was killed.
Wilson stated that he was “in fear of his life” during the exchange in the street with Brown. In the clip that was broadcast yesterday (November 26) Wilson was able to explain his reasoning for shooting Brown, but Stephanopoulos did not challenge the officer on many of the discrepancies Brown supporters have pointed out in Wilson’s story.
Stephanopoulos did not ask why the photos of Wilson’s face taken after the shooting were not consistent with Wilson’s claim that Brown repeatedly punched him in the face. Stephanopoulos also did not question why the Ferguson police department chose not to file an incident report on Brown’s killing.
There were also no questions about the supposed audio recording of the shooting which presented that there was a rapid fire of shots and not several breaks in the gunfire like Wilson claimed.
Wilson did add that he was sorry that Brown’s parents lost a son, but he would not have done anything different that day.
On November 22, Adidas Originals took over Los Angeles as they held the #ZXFLUX Experience! in order to debut their new “LA ZX FLUX” three-print collection which featured the “LA Lakers,” “LA Clippers” and “LA City” specialty sneakers.
Held at The Well in Downtown LA, the impressive exhibition was kicked off by Sirius XM Radio personalities LA Leakers, who were joined by surprise guests Kid Ink, Quincy Combsand Skrillex who stopped by to grab their own pairs and lend their support.
Following the event was the increasingly popular “Respect the West” private showcase, which featured performances from YG, Nipsey Hussle, Hit Boy, Audio Push, BJ The Chicago Kid, Thurz, R.J. and Raven Felix as they rocked the stage in front of packed house.
#InCaseYouMissedIt: Check out the video and event pictures below
Villz has been quietly making a name for himself as the next alt-R&B vocalist to pay attention to. With his focus rooted in lost love, the moody, melodic music of Villz is driven by pensive confessions, sexual innuendos, and notions of escapism. While relying on heartbreak as his muse, the Haitian, Florida-bred singer/songwriter weaves soul, synth, and electric guitar with addictive downbeats and an unadulterated delivery. After captivating his audience with the standout singles “4:20 AM” and “Appreciation”, Villz finally releases his long-awaited 8 track debut album in full, which includes production from the likes of Mike Ewing, Sage Tune, William Wolf, Ducko McFli and Syksense. Stream below or purchase from iTunes.
Tone Trump spoke with Mikey T The Movie Star recently about his early days in hip hop and working with Mike Knox of G-Unit Philly. He also touches on how 50 Cent was interested in putting the Philadelphia Hip Hop Culture into Reality TV.
