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Dancehall Artist Sean Paul Returns With "Full Frequency"

By: Toni Stephens Updated Category: Features

Over the span of nearly 15 years, Jamaican native Sean Paul has assisted in bringing dancehall to the international forefront, all while transcending genres in the process.

Countless awards and nominations, including accolades from MTV, Source, ASCAP, and a Grammy, already rest comfortably upon his mantle; yet Sean is showing no signs of stopping or slowing down.

Slated to be released on February 18th is “Full Frequency,” his sixth official studio offering; which boasts interesting collaborations from artists including Damian Marley, Iggy Azalea, and American emcees Nicki Minaj, 2 Chainz, and Juicy J.

We spoke with Sean about his reintroduction to a new audience, recent triumphs, and plans for the future:

AllHipHop: You were directly responsible for popularizing dancehall in entirely different countries; how do you feel about the direction that the genre has taken?

Sean Paul: It has grown way bigger than when I first started. I think that the state of dancehall is bigger, but just like the music industry itself, sales have dropped.

Do you stay in tune with the younger generations potentially following your footsteps?

I’m actually really proud of the kids now coming up in the arena. A lot of people are out of touch with what they’re actually doing.

Are there any trends that you’ve noticed or different sets of challenges that you’re seeing them encounter?

As I said, sales have dropped as a lot of tracks have become digital. You definitely need to have a team around you, and know how to work in this new market. I’ve learned to adapt and write music that works on the internet as well.

Fans will finally see collaboration between yourself and Damian Marley, what took so long for this to finally occur?

It was just timing. I’d been going to his studio already, but we wanted to wait until we had the big one. We also just had a concert together recently, on the “Reggae Cruise.”

How did you actually go about choosing which artists you wanted to work with on this project?

I don’t necessarily go out searching to work with certain artists. I like dope people and I like to work with people that want to work with me. With 2 Chainz I went to the studio but ended up playing basketball with him. It was pretty cool, just a natural and organic link. It just worked.

SEANPAUL_FF_COVER_FINAL

There are strong ties between Caribbean and African music, especially as Ghana’s Azono scene has exploded; do you see yourself working with any artists in connection with it?

I’ve worked with Afro beats artists, one in particular who’s from Ghana but based out of England. I’m always open to it.

A lot of people have already decided on their own version of what Jamaican life is like; is there anything that you hate about the portrayal of it?

I know school teachers, those involved in urban Jamaican life; there are people working two jobs, real upstanding people that are just trying to come up. People only want to see one aspect of the country, not the grimy or the real s###. We don’t want to push this tourist, paradise fantasy, but nobody wants to always be portrayed in a negative, stereotypical way either.

What do you think your legacy in the game will be?

Life is harsh and hard. My music puts you in a good mood and just makes you dance. The love that I get just for this is amazing.

Your latest project “Full Frequency” is set to drop February 18th, only a few weeks away; can we look forward to anything else from you this year?

I have two other dancehall oriented projects on the way as well.

Can we look forward to seeing you in the States more frequently?

[Laughs] I would love to. I haven’t done a major tour there since 2009, but did a smaller tour of House of Blues venues in 2012. For 2014 I’m looking forward to it. But make sure you look out for the Arsenio Hall show on February 13th with me and (fellow Jamaican artist) Konshens.

Buckshot & Ebro Have Heated Debate About Hip Hop Radio, Battle Rap & "Minor Artists"

By: Yohance Kyles (@HUEYmixwitRILEY) Updated Category: Headlines

(AllHipHop News) Back in December, Black Moon member Buckshot called out Hot 97’s program director Ebro Darden on the Combat Jack Show. Buck’s issues with Darden stemmed from the radio personality’s comments about his Duck Down crew made on an earlier CBJ show.

During his interview, Buck not only took offense to Ebro’s statements, but also said Ebro “f**ked up” New York Hip Hop and called him an “Uncle Tom.”

[ALSO READ: Buckshot Addresses Hot 97′s Ebro Darden & The Current State Of NYC Radio]

The two finally sat down face-to-face to discuss the incident. According to Buck, it was Ebro saying that his music and shows do not appeal to women and the misuse of his power as a gatekeeper to the masses is what bothered him the most.

“See, you hold a lot of power,” Buck tells Ebro. “Your criteria of what it takes to become a star today – that wouldn’t have made a Biggie, that wouldn’t have made a whole bunch of emcees.”

Ebro’s response is that in order to reach a certain level of success rappers have to include melodic elements into their music in order to attract a female audience. He cites The Notorious B.I.G collaborating with and sampling R&B singers as an example.

The conversation gets heated as both men attempt to make points about why mainstream radio is or is not failing at the moment and the idea of “minor artists” versus “major artists.”

[ALSO READ: Hot 97′s Ebro Darden Appears On Combat Jack Show]

Watch Buckshot and Ebro debate Hip Hop radio, the ability to break records, battle rap, DJs vs emcees, and more in the video below.

Lil Boosie Reportedly To Be Released In February

By: Yohance Kyles (@HUEYmixwitRILEY) Updated Category: Headlines

(AllHipHop News) There has been talk for months that Louisiana rapper Lil Boosie would be released from prison fairly soon. According to reports, the “Better Believe It” performer will be home next month. The week of February 13th is when Boosie will apparently be set free.

[ALSO READ: Lil Boosie Gets A Release Date]

Lil Boosie (born Torrence Hatch) has been behind bars since 2009 after being convicted on marijuana possession charges. His time was later doubled for violating terms of his probation while awaiting sentencing. In 2011, he was sentenced to 8 years on separate drug charges, but that conviction was contested.

[ALSO READ: Anyextee Says Exclusive Max B Music To Appear In “Charly Rambo: The Max B Story” Film]

Eminem & Slaughterhouse Present New "Total Slaughter" Battle Rap Tournament

By: Yohance Kyles (@HUEYmixwitRILEY) Updated Category: Headlines

(AllHipHop News) Eminem helped pushed the battle rap scene into the mainstream with his 2002 semi-biographical film 8 Mile. The Detroit rap legend is now joining with the Shady Records group Slaughterhouse to support the next generation of battle rap emcees. The members of Slaughterhouse announced a new battle tournament series on RapFix Live.

[ALSO READ: Slaughterhouse Announces New 2014 Tour]

“We are doing ‘Total Slaughter Battle Tournament.’ We have a few of the elite battle rappers,” reveals Joe Budden. “Battle rap… it’s taking over. It’s the talk every street, every barber shop.”

Total Slaughter is airing online via Eminem’s VEVO channel. The tourney has been separated into two brackets. The participants are Math Hoffa, Arsonal, Dizaster, Daylyt, Big T, Marvwon, Aye Verb, and Cortez. The two finalists will be the opening bout for the main event featuring a rematch between Murda Mook and Loaded Lux.

The entire experience is also being captured for an online reality show as well. The eight rappers will live and train together similar to WWE’s Tough Enough and UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter.

[ALSO READ: Eminem Said To Be Recording New Music With D12]

Check out Slaughterhouse announcing Total Slaughter and the tournament brackets below.

RTTS

Christian Rapper Bizzle Releases Response Track To Macklemore's "Same Love"

By: Yohance Kyles (@HUEYmixwitRILEY) Updated Category: Headlines

(AllHipHop News) Seattle-based duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ single “Same Love” has gotten a lot of praise from the LGBT community and proponents of same-sex marriage.

The track from the group’s The Heist album was also performed during the televised nuptials of 33 straight and gay couples at this year’s Grammy Awards which garnered a lot of attention in the press. Not everyone is celebrating the gay rights tribute song though.

[ALSO READ: The Top 5 Grammy Moments of 2014]

Faith-based rapper Bizzle recently released a response to “Same Love.” The God Over Money emcee uses his version to address what he sees as Christians being viewed as intolerant for not accepting homosexuality, the unequal comparisons between the pursuit for gay rights and the pursuit for African-American civil rights, and rappers perpetuating the gay agenda. He also calls for Christians struggling with homosexual desires to “fight the good fight.”

[ALSO CHECK OUT: #FreshHeat: Bizzle – Dear Hip Hop]

Listen to Bizzle’s “Same Love (A Response)” below.

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib Discuss Joint LP "Piñata"; Announce Release Date

By: Yohance Kyles (@HUEYmixwitRILEY) Updated Category: Headlines

(AllHipHop News) The West Coast and the Midwest will unite for a brand new album. After joining forces for several EPs under the name MadGibbs, California’s Madlib and Indiana’s Freddie Gibbs are set to drop their full joint LP Piñata.

[ALSO CHECK OUT: Trae Tha Truth x The World’s Freshest Ft. Problem, Freddie Gibbs “Wid It”]

Gibbs describes the album as “a gangster Blaxploitation film on wax.” Guest appearances include Raekwon, Scarface, Mac Miller, Ab-Soul, Danny Brown, BJ The Chicago Kid, and more. The latest single from Piñata is the track “Robes” with Earl Sweatshirt and Domo Genesis of Odd Future.

“I will show you my flaws, I’ll show you what I’ve done wrong and what I’ve f**ked up at,” says Gibbs about the project. “I don’t regret s**t, but I’ll show you the things I’m not proud of.”

Piñata is Madlib’S most recent collaborative effort. He previously worked with J Dilla (Champion Sound), Doom (Madvillainy), Talib Kweli (Liberation), and Guilty Simpson (O.J. Simpson).

“My stuff, it ain’t fully quantized…it has more of a human feel, so it might slow down or speed up,” Madlib says. “So you have to be the type of rapper, like Doom or Freddie, who can catch that, or else you’ll be sounding crazy.”

“I’m about to show n***as how to rap again,” adds Gibbs. “Everybody else is going to fall in line.”

Freddie Gibbs and Madlib’s Piñata is scheduled for release on March 18th via Madlib Invazion.

[ALSO READ: Madlib Discusses Sun Ra, Tha Alkaholiks, & J Dilla In Rare Interview (VIDEO)]

Check out the upcoming tour dates and the single “Robes” featuring Earl Sweatshirt and Domo Genesis below.

3/7/13 – Chicago, IL – Metro 3/8/13 – Denver, CO – Cervantes 3/15/13 – Austin, TX – North Door (Stones Throw showcase) # 3/21/13 – Boston, MA – Middle East Downstairs # 3/22/13 – New York, NY – Gramercy Theatre 3/27/13 – San Francisco, CA – 103 Harriet 3/28/13 – Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex # = Madlib solo

Premiere: J Bravo Ft. T-Pain & Twista "For The Moment (Hard as I Go)"

By: Steve Raze (@SteveRaze) Updated Category: MOBILE

J Bravo, born Jeremy Jones of Cabot, Arkansas is an up and comer in the Hip-Hop/pop/R&B crossover genre. One in which, he pretty much has his own lane to roll in. With little competition or the likes of any to contend with, for that matter, J Bravo has been working with producers such as Nate Walka of Mile High Studios, who wrote “Blame it on the Alcohol” for Grammy Winner Jamie Foxx, as well as a handful of number one hits.

Still Ill? Nas Says He Has Considered Doing A Sequel To Illmatic (VIDEO)

By: Keith Nelson Jr (@JusAire) Updated Category: Headlines

(AllHipHop News) Nas might have just gave his fans a short heart attack.

During his interview at the second annual VIBE Impact Awards in Los Angeles, Nas says he has considered doing a proper sequel to his seminal 1994 debut album, Illmatic. With scant details provided Nas does detail what needs to happen for him to do a sequel to arguably the most celebrated Hip Hop album of all time:

I definitely though about that. It just has to flow, it has to be natural. I can work on that and if I don’t like it, just scrap it. I have to feel it. It got to to be honest.

Nas has been rumored to be working on a new album with one of the producers on the original Illmatic, DJ Premier. At the Global Spin Awards last year, Premier told EME Takeover on when him and Nas would possibly do an album together saying “He has another album that he is coming out with first. So, until that drops, nothing’s happening. But it’s happening.”

Check out Nas speak on Illmatic 2 below:

WTF News: Woman Disowns Cat For Being Gay

By: Friday Foster Updated Category: Rumors

Yes, people, this is really a thing. A Nigerian woman has disowned her cat because it displayed same sex attraction.

Via Huffington Post:

As the Nigerian newspaper Leadership notes, the woman (identified simply as being middle-aged) rid herself of Bull, whom she owned for seven years, after the cat was deemed to “be in the habit of making sexual advances” only to other male cats in the household.

“By this, the cat has made a record as the first cat to be so publicly declared gay and disowned by its owner,” writer Donatus Nadi notes in the article. As for the cat’s disgruntled owner, she would only add, “Anybody interested in this gay cat can have it because I have no further use of it.”

The news comes just days after Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan signed a controversial bill banning same-sex marriage, gay “amorous relationships” and participation in LGBT rights groups.

While Bull may be the world’s first documented gay cat, other animals have exhibited what many believe to be same-sex attraction. In December 2013, it was revealed that penguins Chupchikoni and Suki, who live together in an Israeli zoo, were actually two females.

“We are certain that they made a choice to be together,” Tamuz Setti, head of the Safari Avian Department, told reporters at the time.

Meanwhile, in 2005, Romeo and Juliet — two graceful swans in Boston’s Public Garden who shared a nest — were found to both be female. 

What I want to know is, how many cats did this woman have? Sounds like she’s the one with the problem in more ways than one.

 

Kendrick Lamar Stuns Crowd At NYC Dom Kennedy Show

By: Niki Gatewood (@THE_NikiG) Updated Category: Headlines

Photo / Videography Credit: Frsk Purple

(AllHipHop News) Last night, New York City’s Irving Plaza, delivered a truly memorable experience. Dom Kennedy’s “Get Home Safely” tour persuaded his supporters to shirk the freezing temperature and attend the show. The organic showmanship and honest delivery of, Skeme, fellow Left-coast rapper, warmed up the crowd.

Once Dom Kennedy took the stage; he completely controlled the crowd. An enlivened audience readily spit lyrics while DK traveled through his growing discography. The appreciative atmosphere truly erupted when surprise guest, Kendrick Lamar, took the stage to congratulate his contemporary.

Kendrick attests, “These n*ggas been rocking with me since day one; just young n##### on the grind. So to see this motherf*cking crowd—being that he here in New York—getting this New York motherf*cking love; we’re straight from the West coast. We love that sh*t! … Salute, putting out the best motherf*cking project yet out of his collection, Get Home Safely; a classic!”

WTF News: A New York City Employee is in Trouble For Working Too Hard

By: Friday Foster Updated Category: Rumors

This is a terrible thing to read, especially considering that we live in a country where slacking seems to be the thing to do (see mediocre reality stars, internet celebrities, etc). Anyway…

Viktor Berlyavsky, a Department of Environmental Protection project manager, was charged with “misconduct” for working too long. Berlyavsky says he works so hard because his normal seven-hour workday isn’t enough time to meet his supervisor’s deadlines and never imagined that he’d get in trouble for it. Via NY Post:

But on six days between March and May of last year, Berlyavsky stayed beyond his shift — ignoring orders from his boss to leave the workplace at closing time.

Berlyavsky never put in for overtime or comp time. He says he needed to work longer to finish his assignments and to complete some union-related tasks.

Even so, officials brought him up on insubordination charges and sought an astonishing 74-day suspension as punishment.

An administrative-law judge pointed out that no one else at DEP had ever faced such bizarre charges, but he still ruled that Berlyavsky disobeyed direct orders. So he recommended suspension — for a single day.

“The facts found here show that respondent was insubordinate in twice disobeying an order to leave work after seven hours,” Judge John Spooner said in his decision. “At the same time, the facts show several additional mitigating circumstances, all of which must be weighed in determining a penalty.”

Spooner, in his decision, said there was no evidence that the leave-on-time directive “served any specific agency policy.” He called the misconduct “minor” in nature and said “only a minimal penalty is warranted.”

Still, Berlyavsky — who has worked for the agency 12 years but is a non-managerial worker, earning about $59,000 in 2012 — called the directive “humiliating and unfair.” Co-workers of his who have managerial titles have frequently worked longer than seven hours in order to complete their duties. 

Ain’t that some ungrateful ish! I hope this man finds a new and better job where his time will be respected and appreciated.

Nas Speaks on Being Honored At Vibe Impact Awards

By: Steve Raze (@SteveRaze) Updated Category: Features
It’s been 20 years since Nas dropped his first album Illmatic!Last Friday night, celebrities poured into the Carondelet House in Los Angeles to celebrate Nas as he was honored with the Vibe Impact Award. Dressed to the 9 in a lime green Tom Ford jacket, the legendary rapper toasted to his accomplishments over the last 20 years, with his former manager Steve Stoute and daughter Destiny on his side.Faith Newman (who originally signed Nas), VIBE editor-in-chief Jermaine Hall, Swizz Beatz, Busta Rhymes, and a few others hit the red carpet and said a few words in tribute to Nas. J. Cole took to the podium to express how he hadn’t planned on being in LA for the Grammy Awards, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tell Nas  that he looked up to him and studied his lyricism as a child. Nas seemingly passed the torch to J. Cole as he said he could see him standing there in 20 years.

AllHipHop caught up with Nas, Busta Rhymes, Swizz Beatz, Faith Newman, and Necole Bitchie. Check out the video.