(AllHipHop News) Artist manager Debra Antney has joined with her son Waka Flocka Flame to officially launch Be100!, their new internet radio station. Besides being a platform for independent artist’s music to get global airplay, Be100! also houses an interactive online community.
Be100! Radio conducted a soft launch in November 2013, and after the initial success of the site Antney and Waka are now announcing a full roll out. They are currently planning the Be100! launch event scheduled for later this spring.
Antney and Waka promote Be100! Radio as more than just a music site that works to “inspire, strengthen and promote independent artists.” The station also serves as a location for people and businesses to unite in a global network.
Currently Be100! hosts shows like Rise and Grind Morning Show, Tumba la Casa, and The Sam Collier Show. It will be adding the programs K.I.D.S. RoundTable, EDM Nation,Weekend Wake-Up, and more in the future.
Bump Run Th3 World (Mash-Up), the latest cut from Big Boi which features B.o.B., Wavves & Third World on the assist. It dropped on Monday, February 10th, 2014. Big Boi’s horizons are broadening with each new release, and Run Th3 World (Mash-Up) is no exception. It’s a worthy addition to a catalogue that has seen much growth since Big Boi stepped foot in the rap game. We’re looking forward to hearing more.
We haven’t been hearing much from Elijah Blake this past year, although he may be looking to change that with the release of a brand new single featuring some big artists– both Game and Rick Ross.
The Roc Nation-managed R’n’B singer enlists the Midi Mafia and Fayo & Chill for co-production on “Sing For Me” which has a sample you might recognize from Cam’ron’s “Oh Boy”. Funnily enough we heard another nice sample from a Jay Z record last night on Vado’s “Pimpin.” What do you think of the production on this one?
Last week we saw a different look from Mac Miller, as he decided to cover a Bright Eyes record “Lua.” The singing from Mac was met with mixed responses from our audience: some were digging the musical side of Mac while some were waiting on real rap from the MC. Well, for those in the latter category, the time has arrived.
Mac Miller decided to let go some straight up rap s### with this new leak, “Diablo”, which is also self-produced. Although Mac has promised plenty of new projects for 2014, he doesn’t detail if this track is slated for a specific release, so we’ll keep you posted.
The rising Los Angeles Rapper brings us his new song, “She Bop,” with TayF3rd, heightening anticipation for his coming mixtape. This song is the latest entry in an array of club-ready, pretty banging tracks, like his sick entry, “Coolin’.”
As you know already – Michael Sam, the All American College Football Star – has come out as an openly gay male aspiring to be in the NFL. This comes as a shock to many and it has made headlines all over the nation today and over the past weekend. But, I am hearing there is another side to this whole thing. I am hearing that dude has been gay and open for quite sometime for those that know him at Missouri. “It’s a big deal. No one has done this before. And it’s kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be. I want to be a football player in the NFL.”But, I have gotten some intel that seems to suggest that all is not what it seems. First of all, the word is Sam has been openly gay for AT LEAST his whole college career. I mean, he’s been out and about with a boyfriend on the yard and all that. What I got via email is that Sam may have been threatened from the Pink Mafia that he needs to come out like this or he’ll be outted like THAT. Now, Sam was already a prospect expected to go in the middle of the draft somewhere, but now he’s probably going to see things play out a bit differently now that its a media event. The conversation can be controlled in this way and he can be seen as a pioneering hero of sports. But, from what I was told is that he didn’t plan to bust out the scene as a gay man. It was more of an orchestration and concerted effort. How true this is, I don’t know.
But, what is more crazy, is that the source, who is in the NFL, says that there are a number of professional athletes that are already gay. Some of them are big, big names. I just cannot say who. But, these guys are huge names and also its known that they are gay in many instances. The source says its actually no big deal and that they dudes in the locker room don’t much care what some dude does in his private bedroom. So…hmmmm….
“They keep us talking, but if we stop talking about them then they should worry!” -illseed.
(AllHipHop News) Today (February 10th) the Hip Hop community reflects on the 10th anniversary of Kanye West’s debut College Dropout and the creator is not planning to be left out.
On his personal Twitter account, Kanye West reflecteed on the importance and creation of College Dropout. Kanye reflected on the struggles he experienced releasing the album as well as one of his personal achievements from the album:
Ten years ago today we finally released what had been my life’s work up to that point: The College Dropout.
(AllHipHop Feature) Today (February 10) marks the 10 year anniversary of Kanye West’s debut album The College Dropout. Over the decade since Kanye dropped his groundbreaking LP, the Chicago artist has repeatedly been involved in some of the most memorable moments in pop culture history.
AllHipHop.com is taking a look back at 10 times the outspoken emcee/producer kept his name on everybody’s lips with controversial statements, noteworthy music releases, and epic performances.
Ten years ago today we finally released what had been my life’s work up to that point: The College Dropout.
“If I talk about God my record won’t get played, huh?” asked Kanye West on his 2004 single “Jesus Walks.” The idea of a Hip Hop star’s song that confesses his love for Jesus becoming a radio hit seemed implausible, but Kanye has always strived to take music places it has never been before. Even though “Jesus Walks” was the fourth single from The College Dropout, in many ways it was that track and its three separate videos that elevated Kanye into the superstar stratosphere.
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Ye Calls Out President Bush On Live TV (2005)
“George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Those seven words expressed during NBC’s live Hurricane Katrina relief telecast left fellow speaker Mike Myers and most of Middle America stunned the rapper would imply President Bush’s delayed response to helping the victims of Katrina was racially motivated. While there were many who agreed with Kanye’s sentiment, he eventually apologized telling The Today Show’s Matt Lauer in 2010, “I would tell George Bush in my moment of frustration, I didn’t have the grounds to call him a racist.”
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Rolling Stone Cover Causes Controversy (2006)
Kanye has never been afraid to incorporate religious imagery into his brand. When the Def Jam artist appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine wearing a crown of thorns with the headline “The Passion of Kanye West,” some felt he went too far. Even Kanye acknowledged that the choice to appear as Jesus on the publication affected his potential business deals. “First it was what I said on the telethon, then the Rolling Stone cover sealed it,” said Kanye. “I can’t even get endorsements now — the ones that might have been open to me when I was just a cute kid in a Polo.”
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Graduation vs. Curtis (2007)
It was billed as the record sales battle of the century. On one side was the Polo shirt wearing, Louis Vuitton bag carrying Kanye West. On the other side was the former drug dealing, über gangsta persona of 50 Cent. For weeks the build up to the same-day release of Kanye’s Graduation and 50’s Curtis consumed Hip Hop media. In the end, Ye’s third album outsold 50’s third album in their opening week – 957,000 to 691,000. The win for Kanye effectively ushered in the “hipster rap” era and pushed street rap out of the mainstream for many years.
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Heartbroken Yeezy Debuts At MTV Video Music Awards (2008)
For every album, Kanye West reinvents his sound. Perhaps the most shocking reintroduction came with 2008’s 808s & Heartbreak. Kanye took a turn away from rapping and decided to tackle singing with the use of the popular Auto-Tune technique. The first presentation of Ye’s new musical approach was at the MTV Video Music Awards that year when he performed 808′s lead single “Love Lockdown.” The reactions to the performance were mixed, but Ye did achieve his goal of piquing people’s interest in what his fourth album would sound like.
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Yo Taylor, I’m Gonna Let You Finish, But… (2009)
Besides his critically acclaimed discography of music, Kanye’s interruption at the 2009 VMA’s will likely be what he is most remembered for. Not one to ever hold his tongue about outcomes at award shows, Kanye felt someone had to speak out on Beyoncé getting snubbed for the Best Female Video. Only Ye decided to take action right on stage as winner Taylor Swift accepted the award. The incident blew up with the media casting Kanye as a bully, but the ordeal seemed to turned out as a plus for Swift. Her 2008 album Fearless opened with sales of around 592,000 copies. Her 2010 album Speak Now opened with sales around 1,047,000 copies.
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G.O.O.D. Friday Becomes A Weekly Celebration (2010)
After the Taylor Swift incident Kanye took a sabbatical from public life. He finally returned full-time to music in the fall of 2010. Instead of dropping a mixtape or a full album to mark his comeback, Kanye released a free track a week as part of his G.O.O.D. Friday giveaways. Some of the tracks included future My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy cuts like “Monster” and “Devil in a New Dress” as well as GF exclusives like “Lord Lord Lord” and “Christian Dior Denim Flow.” The series ended with the posse cut “Christmas in Harlem” featuring Cyhi the Prynce, Teyana Taylor, Cam’ron, Jim Jones, Vado, Pusha T, Musiq Soulchild, and Big Sean.
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Kanye Takes Over Coachella (2011)
When Kanye West was tapped as a headliner for the 2011 edition of the Coachella Music Festival expectations were high. Ye had just released his magnum opus My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, he was following the successful appearance of musical partner Jay Z’s headlining set at Coachella 2010, and he was still having to live down his disastrous Bonnaroo festival performance from ’08. Even with the pressure, Kanye did not disappoint. His 2011 Coachella show was hailed as brilliant as the Hip Hop maestro claimed his spot amongst the greatest live performers in music.
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Mr. West Presents His Softer Side With Kris Jenner (2013)
Going off some press headlines it would appear that Kanye West is just an angry egomaniac who represents everything that is wrong with celebrities. Kanye tried to counteract that impression when he appeared on his future mother-in-law’s talk show last August. Ultimately, it was not what Ye said during the sit down with Kardashian clan matriarch Kris Jenner that a lot of watchers noticed. It was his “new voice” that caught people off guard. Gone was the brazen Kanye presented during his many concert rants. In came the code-switching Kanye that talked about his love for his family and new-born daughter.
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“You Ain’t Got The Answers Sway!” (2013)
As 2013 wound down, Kanye West conducted numerous interviews in support of his Yeezus tour. Kanye gave the internet quotables for days throughout the media blitz, but one statement reigned over all others. While speaking with Sway Calloway on his Shade 45 radio show, Ye provided perhaps the Hip Hop quote of the year when he let Sway know “you ain’t got the answers.” The statement become an instant classic internet meme. The Sway In The Morning interview also produced another moment that has sustained a long shelf life when Kanye addressed Calloway’s attempted fashion line by telling him “it ain’t Ralph though.”
(AllHipHop News) Kanye West has been spouting out opinions and proclamations to anyone in ear shot for over 10 years and a rare interview surfaces to give a deeper insight to who Kanye West was prior to his fame. In a 2002 interview with former Mass Appeal writer Noah Callahan-Bever, Kanye West speaks on what he originally was going to originally going to title College Dropout, how Jay Z denied him collaborations on a few songs and more.
According to Kanye, Jay Z denied him when approached about appearing on both Jay’s first two singles off Blueprint 2, “Excuse Me Miss” and “03 Bonnie & Clyde”. Half of Kanye’s verse for “Excuse Me Miss” Was released on his Freshman Adjustment 2 mixtape on his “Excuse Me Miss Remix” song and he released a freestyle on “03 Bonnie & Clyde”. However, in the interview, Kanye raps a completely different verse intended for “03 Bonnie & Clyde” than the one that appeared on his freestyle:
Kanye’s Unreleased “03 Bonnie & Clyde”
Ayo, planes, trains, automobiles
The G500 with the auto-roll wheels
The Pinot Grigio got ‘em on chill
See now, see me hoe, I got that deal
If you trying to build, I bet you’d like that
My father was a Black Panther with Geronimo Pratt
And back in college I ain’t run with no frat
I just ran with the track that put the Chi on the map [1]
Now the Roc in the building UIC Pavillion
Two years ago I was just a civilian
Now every chickenhead swear I got millions
In area codes with unidentified children…
I used to want the Jordans that’s most recent
Now I throw Jordans on the whip just to look decent
Just to get pulled over by the precinct, so frequent
It’s like I’m back being a delinquent
They want to know where I live, stay and work
How a young black n*gga get all these perks
How I stack my paper, got adidas in every flavor
Excuse me officer, I don’t know Rod Laver
Or Stan Smith
What they don’t understand is, how I got that color in canvas.
One prominently poignant part of the interview is Kanye West’s idea of what his at-the-time unfinished debut album College Dropout meant. Kanye has said in numerous interviews and on College Dropout first single “Through The Wire” that the car accident changed his view on how he makes music, however he still had the same idea of what the album would be and even had a different title originally:
That’s exactly what I want people to think with that title: “I’m right there with you.” I’ve thought about calling my sh*t I’m Good, because that’s a “cool” title, like just having a title that’s like, “Yo, you can’t criticize that.” But for me to try and put on the facade of being the coolest m########### ever, it’s not going to come across like that. I’m not saying I’m the coolest m########### ever, I’m just saying I’m just a f###### smart-a*s. I got to put it in raps.”
Kanye’s early struggles attaining a record deal have been well documented over the past decade by journalists as well as himself on College Dropout outro “Last Call”. However, Kanye delves into the “catch-22” that Def Jam’s lack of appreciation for him placed his young career in and elucidates why some record labels avoided signing Kanye West in 2002:
Capitol, they offered me like a half million or something like that, then right before, I think one of the people at Capitol said, “Nah, I don’t f*ck with Kanye because if he could really rap, Def Jam would’ve signed him or he’d be on the Roc.” So it was a catch-22.
