(AllHipHop News) Back in 1992, Tommy Hilfiger became the first fashion designer to take his company public and grew to become a company worth $1.9 billion by the end of the decade. During a recent interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, Tommy Hilfiger addresses Hip Hop’s influence on his brand’s success and why he is no longer “chasing trends”.
At the end of 1990, Tommy Hilfiger Corporation was valued at over $100 million after starting in 1985. During that decade, Hip Hop artists began to wear the brand heavily and while Hilfiger attributes the genre with helping the growth, but states he is no longer in the business of chasing trends:
Look, it fueled a lot of growth, but it took us away from our roots. We came back to our roots 10 years ago; that’s when our business started to really stabilize and grow again. When people ask me advice, I say stick to who you are. Stick to your guns. There is an image and attitude to most brands and that’s really important. I like to stick to my heritage and not chase trends and at that point we were chasing trends. Chasing trends was easy but it was dangerous. It’s more important to me now to be consistent.
Back in the late 90s, a rumor spread about Tommy Hilfger making disparaging comments about his brand’s popularity amongst the Hispanic, African American and Jewish community on an unaired episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Hilfiger appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2007 and addressed the rumors.
Check out Tommy Hilfiger clear up the rumors back in 2007 on The Oprah Winfrey Show below:
I didn’t even know that Drake and Rihanna were together like that to be “cheating.” But, here comes the rumors. OK?
OK.
Apparently, the boy Drizzy picked a chick up off Instagram. And when he did, he gave her the royal treatment, flying her from there to there (Houston to Toronto) so could reportedly link up with her. These chicks get picked up and jumped off off the Instagram now. I gotta get active! LOL! Anyway! The streets are saying Drake has been seen with the Chick again and this apparently means he’s not doing right by RiRi. OK.
The internets are saying this means its over. OK.
“They keep us talking, but if we stop talking about them then they should worry!” -illseed.
(AllHipHop News) If anything else, Nicki Minaj knows how to grab people’s attention. The Young Money femcee’s latest move to get eyes on her comes in the form of an Instagram video.
Minaj posted a short clip of herself (she claims it’s “a friend”) dancing. She added on Twitter that the record playing in the background is “not thee song.” But it could possibly be a new track from the Queens artist.
The Pink Friday creator recently told MTV that her next album will not include pop songs like her hits “Super Bass” and “Starships.”
“With ‘Chi-Raq’ and ‘Lookin’ Ass,’ they’re definitely back to my Hip Hop roots. And I don’t think it’s something that I’m necessarily trying to do,” said Nicki. “As soon as I started working on my third album, that’s just the songs that I’ve been writing.”
(AllHipHop News) Nas is working on his next album, and the Life Is Good follow-up will feature production by some big names. God’s Son spoke with NPR recently, and he revealed he has been putting together his next studio LP for almost two years.
“I started working with [Timbaland], I want to say a year and a half ago. I think it was the same year I dropped my last album, Life is Good,” said Nas. “I started with Tim, and it felt really powerful.”
Beside Timbo, the next Nas LP may also have tracks from fellow veteran producers Swizz Beatz and No I.D.
“I talked to Swizz, and we went through joints. And No I.D.,” stated Nas. “This the only interview I’ma talk about it, ’cause I know once this comes out, people might ask me about the record and, man, I just want to finish it and get it done.”
The NPR Q&A includes Nas commenting on some of the recent songs that motivated him to record new music. He cites Jay Electronica’s “Better In Tune With The Infinite” and SchoolBoy Q’s “Man Of The Year.”
After shouting out Mac Miller, Bishop Nehru, Boldy James, and Fashawn, the Queens legend once again gave props to Roc Nation’s J. Cole.
“J. Cole is somebody that’s really intuitive, somebody who’s really smart beyond his years. I learn something when I talk to J.Cole,” Nas said. “But he’s always, always trying to find out some stories. If I see him, he’s gonna get a story out of me.”
(AllHipHop News) Sonya Miller is seeking a nice sum of money in her divorce proceedings from Hip Hop mogul Percy “Master P” Miller. According to TMZ, Sonya filed court documents requesting that she receive a total of $67,647,800 in assets from her estranged husband.
$54 million of that total is from P’s No Limit Records empire which is estimated to be worth around $136,101,000. Sonya is also asking for $10 million from the Make ‘Em Say Ughh! energy drink company.
Sonya reportedly wants 40% of the Miller family’s fortune including real estate properties, cars, and other items. P is said to be worth $178,743,300.
(AllHipHop News) Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA was the latest Hip Hop artist to conduct an Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session. While promoting his new movie Brick Mansions, RZA addressed numerous topics submitted by users including one of his funny Wu stories, his favorite rapper/producers, and more.
cheverella: what happened first, you naming yourself RZA or your cousin naming himself GZA?
authenticRZA: I named myself the RZA first, and I named him the GZA shortly thereafter.
IvarSolocean: Hey RZA! Tell us some funny stories from u and the guys in Wu Tang: )
authenticRZA: Here’s a story, it may not be funny depending on your point of view, but one time the whole Clan was in Atlanta, and I guess we caused some kind of riot in the building, and thus the police was brought in to end the show. I remember everybody getting away from the cops without any violence, but one cop had got a grab of Inspector Deck and he couldn’t get free. When we noticed it, me and Method Man rushed back over to help, but actually, what could we do? We can’t hit a cop, could we? That would not have been wise. Instead, Method Man grabbed onto Inspector Deck’s arm, and combined his strength with Inspector Deck, which allowed them to get away from the cop, they broke his grip and we all ran. I later told Meth “That was some Wu-Tang Kung fu s### right there.”
de_monkey: Did anything inspire you with regards to the choice of beats on Enter the 36 Chambers? Also, are you still an avid chess player? 😀
authenticRZA: On 36 Chambers, I kind of went on my own inspiration. I was out to prove my abilities. Yes, I still play chess.
the_violent_turd: Whattup Rza huge Wu Fan and personally you are my favourite producer ever! Thank you for doing this, I have a few questions actually, my first question regards the tracks Method Man and Clan In Da front, Did you tailor a beat for every member in the clan, how did you choose who got their solo songs on the album? Who are your other favourite rapper-producers? Lastly are there any beats that once you had finished then played back you realised that it was going to be a classic. Once again thank you!
authenticRZA: Yes, I used to tailor the beats to their rhyme styles. I knew my Wu brothers for so long, and made so many tapes with them, that I grew an ear to what would fit the MC… Choosing solo songs for each artist on a Wu-Tang album is something that kind of materializes during the process… Pete Rock, Dr. Dre, Kanye West… Yes, I have one right now that I just can’t wait til the Wu MCs get on, because I just know that this is one of those magical ones.
Ineedemo: Which rappers are you listening to the most outside of your Wu-Tang crew?
authenticRZA: Nowadays, I’ve just become a fan of the culture of hiphop. Somedays I find myself sitting on my downtime watching Yo! MTV raps, or scrolling through YouTube finding up and coming MCs. I love watching URL and all the rap battles. Sometimes when you’re making the music, you become so engulfed in yourself that you forget that you started yourself as a fan of the music. Now that I get time to do other things such as act, score and direct, I can actually become a fan of hiphop again.
My_Public_Profile: You’re asked to select one hip hop album to represent the genre to an alien race… What’s that album?
authenticRZA: I would send Wu-Tang Forever. If I could send 3, I would send King of Rock and The Chronic.
BowserBandit: Who were your biggest musical inspirations when you were just starting out as an artist? I’d really like to know.
Hiphop itself. And funnily, the GZA was a guy I looked up to. And I can also say the pioneers of hiphop beats such as Marley Marl, and Scott La Rock.
Brick Mansions, which also stars the late Paul Walker, hits theaters April 25th.
(AllHipHop News) It’s 2014, but 50 Cent still has a lot to say about the music of the man he faced off against in a 2007 sales battle. In an interview with MTV News UK, the G-Unit leader shares his thoughts on Kanye West’s Yeezus album.
(AllHipHop News) The back and forth internal disagreements and year long drama from the Wu-Tang Clan has now been given an artificial timeline. During a recent interview with SI Now, RZA gave Raekwon approximately 30 days to resolve his issues and get on board or risk not being on the upcoming Wu-Tang Clan album A Better Tomorrow.
RZA informed The Breakfast Club yesterday (April 22nd) that the only scenario in which the Wu-Tang Clan release an album without Raekwon is if all the members of the group agree on it. In his recent interview with SI Now, RZA gives a definitive deadline of when the decision needs to be made:
The album is slated to come out in July. If we don’t come to terms within the next 30 days, then this will be an album without Raekwon or the album that will not see the light of day.
(AllHipHop News) Happy people are usually generous by nature. Pharrell is planning on releasing a new, untitled book online tomorrow (April 24th).
Pharrell announced the release date for the album after supposedly finishing it this past Monday on his personal Twitter account. Pharrell gave very little details, but did reveal that the book will be readable online:
Happy…just finished my new book. You can only read it online. I’ll tweet the link on Thursday. Hope you enjoy.
(AllHipHop Interviews) “It’s Goin’ Down.” That’s the title of Atlanta rapper Yung Joc’s 2006 platinum selling single. The phrase can also apply to the RCA recording artist’s return to the limelight by releasing new music and joining the cast for the upcoming explosive season of Love & Hip Hop Atlanta.
The man who contributed to hit songs like Hotstylz’s “Looking Boy,” T-Pain’s “Buy U A Drank,” and Danity Kane’s “Show Stopper” is back in the booth working on multiple projects.
Joc recently dropped the track “I Got B**ches” with AE200 & D Dro, and the Swagg Team Entertainment founder is also calling in some fellow rap stars from the South to provide features for his future releases.
In an exclusive interview, Yung Joc speaks with AllHipHop.com about what he’s been working on musically and topics related to LHHATL.
I saw that you did an interview where you said you kind of fell out of love with making music at one point. What inspired you to get back into recording?
I don’t think I necessarily fell out of love with making music. I fell out of love with the politics of the music business for a brief moment, because so many things were changing – the way business was handled, the people that were in the buildings that I was in.
I was doing a lot of business on the low, behind the scenes. You put your team together with different people in these different buildings, then the st gets shuffled up. It’s like your man who was the man, ain’t the man no more. And you’re like “damn.” Next thing you know you got to start putting your st back together in a new situation. It just kept happening. So I fell out of love with that part of it.
To watch 2 Chainz come from being in Playaz Circle as Tity Boi then to just dominate the scene with his presence and his flamboyant freshness, that was very, very motivating to see him do that. He’s one of my personal partners from the Southside, so to see that dude do that s**t, I was like, “You know what? Let me show these folks what time it is.”
You dropped the “I Got B***hes” track this year. What else are you working on musically?
I’ve been working a lot. I just went in with B.O.B. I got a record with a few people. I’m not going to start naming names, but I’ve been working with the people I want to work with.
Are you working on an album or a mixtape?
I’m working on an album, mixtapes too. But I’m focused hard on the album.
You’ve worked with Lil Boosie before. Now that he’s out do you think you two will hook up again?
For sure, I’m about to make the phone call today.
You’re also appearing on Love & Hip Hop Atlanta this season. What did you think about Mimi and Nekko’s sex tape?
I’m happy for them. It’s something they wanted to do. They did it. I’m pretty sure they’re getting the recognition and hype that they wanted from it, so it was successful. They’re damn sure getting booked, and they’re damn sure going to make a lot of money off the tape. So I think they’re getting the result that they asked for.
No buddy, because if I did a flick I’d have to go into hiding. These women out here would be crazy. They’d be chasing me down.
A couple of months ago, Karlie Redd did post some nude pictures of you along with Benzino. What was your reaction when you saw that?
She was upset with Benzino and his girl, and I guess that was her way to shut them both down. They both were trying to say that she wanted Benzino back and all this extra st. That was her reason for posting the pictures like, “I went from that to this. I don’t ever want to go back to that.” That’s why she posted both of the dks next to each other.
What’s your relationship like with Benzino? Do you guys have any issues?
Hell no. We’re cool. There ain’t no problems over here. I don’t beef with n*as. That’s one thing I ain’t never done. I never been on that beef st. That s**t don’t get you nowhere. If it ain’t going to put no more food on the table, ain’t going to make the quality of life for me and my kids better, I ain’t concerned with it.
The trailer shows a lot of physical confrontations take place this season. Did you get caught up with any of that?
I can’t tell you. You got to watch.
It did show one thing. It seems like something went down with you and Karlie over another woman.
People just got to watch the show. The show is going to be crazy. I think it’s going to be one of the biggest seasons.
A lot of other reality stars have complained that the show edits them in a way that makes them look worse than they actually were. Are you worried about that happening?
I don’t give a fk about all that st. I know what I signed up for, so however they go that’s how it’s going to go. I feel like they can only edit what you give them. You always got to keep that in mind. If you’re sucka free then you ain’t got to worry about that s**t.
It has to be different to go from living your life to having cameras following you around. What was that transition like?
That s**t ain’t no different than being in the studio and having cameramen come in and follow you. You forget that they’re there. You just zone them out. They’re not even there really.
You have Love & Hip Hop. You’ve said you’re working on a couple of projects. What else do you have in the works?
I’m working with the apparel line Kobe Jordan. Also, Humble Hustler which is another apparel line.
(AllHipHop News) There are times in this cynical world of missing planes and growing national deficits that something truly extraordinary happens to restore our faith in humanity. Earlier this month, a kidnapped nine year old boy was released by his kidnapper after he kept singing one gospel song.
Nine-year-old Willie Myrick from Atlanta, Georgia was kidnapped earlier this month from his driveway and driven around for over three hours. During the three hour ordeal, Myrick sang Hezekiah Walker’s “Every Priase”. According to Myrick, he was eventually released following his singing demonstration and told to not tell anyone of what occurred.
Last Thursday (April 16th), community leaders at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church held a meeting to celebrate Myrick’s heroic ordeal. Walker appeared during the event to speak directly with the boy who used his song to save his own life.
Check out NBC’s 11Alive news coverage of Willie Myrick’s 3-hour kidnapping:
When 50 Cent was the star of the show for the upcoming Summer Jam in New York City, I gave it a bit of a side eye. The side eye is no more after this latest rumor. I’m hearing that the original crew will be in the building! 50 Cent, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks are rumored to be reuniting at the hip-hop event – all in the name of G-g-g-g-g-G-UNIT! I definitely was like “Hmmmmmm” because 50 Cent has been saying some stuff about the crew being babies! I’m wondering how this work out on the real to real!
RELATED: 50 Cent: Young Buck and Tony Yayo Are Babies That Throw Tantrums (VIDEO) RELATED: 50 Cent Drops “Chase The Paper” Video Featuring Styles P, Prodigy & Kidd Kidd
“They keep us talking, but if we stop talking about them then they should worry!” -illseed.
Hip-hop’s favorite couple marriage maybe a little rocky.
MediaTakeout says that the couple’s marriage is in a whole lotta trouble.
MediaTakeout reports, “Welp . .. now we’re hearing that there’s BIG TROUBLE in their household. How big . . . well big enough that Beyonce had her WEDDING RING TATTOO REMOVED from her hand. You see, when Jay Z PROPOSED to her, they both had the number 4 (Roman numerals “IV”) tatted on their ring finger. And it’s not clear WHAT JAY DID TO HER . . . but she just LASERED THAT ISH right off her finger.”
