(AllHipHop News) Lauryn Hill is out of prison and back on the stage. The Grammy winner previously revealed that she will be performing at the The Bowery Ballroom in NYC later this month, and now the “Killing Me Softly” singer has added five more shows to her Homecoming concert series.
Ms. Hill will be performing in DC, Boston, New York, and her home state of New Jersey starting December 15th. For more information about her upcoming performances visit www.MsLaurynHill.com.
Check out the dates/venues of Lauryn Hill’s Homecoming series below.
11/27 – Bowery Ball Room – New York, NY (Early and late show)
(AllHipHop News) Threats, misinformation and entitlement are three themes that permeate Icelene Jones’ response to Chris Kanik’s retelling of why the screening of the Ol Dirty Bastard documentary Dirty Platinum failed to come to fruition. In an interview with XXL, Jones spoke on the legal issues that prevented the documentary from being screened, the inconsistencies in NuHo Film Festival’s owner’s Chris Kanik’s story and more.
The documentary Dirty Platinum was scheduled to be screened on the late rapper’s birthday (November 15th) at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Kanik maintained that he was notified about a cease and desist order placed on the film by ODB’s estate 24 hours prior to the screening. However, Ms. Jones claims Kanik knew about the order “2-3 weeks” before the event:
It wasn’t a last minute thing. The communication has been very clear. The letter didn’t go out the day of, this is something that’s been going back and forth for a while. And that’s what they tried to make it seem like—like Icelene Jones messed up everybody’s good time and stopped everybody from seeing the film.
Both Kanik and Jones agree that the family requested up front money for the rights to ODB’s likeness, image and music. However, whereas Kanik viewed the request as “greed”, Jones’ manager Melissa Jacobs believes the estate is entitled to such compensation:
He’s turning this into a personal thing. We asked for money up front. We are the estate of Russell Jones, we have been appointed by the courts. You’re using his birthday, you’re using his picture, you’re promoting this event, you’re promoting this website. Then when we ask for compensation he’s trying to make it sound like we’re asking for something we’re not entitled to have.
Jones also refutes Kanik’s claim that he offered her and/or the estate 25% of all the profit the documentary accumulated.
(AllHipHop Feature) Don’t call her a rapper. Don’t call her a singer. Mary Gold refers to herself as an artist, nudist, tree hugger, and c*nt, but you can call her “The First Lady of Jet Life.” The New Orleans performer stayed with the home team by signing with Curren$y’s imprint, and she recently released her debut project as the third installment of the Jet Life BitTorrent Bundle.
Gold’s Sex Hormone’d Druggie mixtape is a musical journey into the psyche of a young woman that presents herself as being comfortable enough in her skin to share her explicit inner thoughts with the world. AllHipHop spoke with “Mother Mary” to go even further into the mind of the creator of tracks like the seductive “Fukk” and the Spitta assisted “Prayer.” Get to know Mary Gold in part one of this exclusive interview.
AllHipHop.com: How did you first get involved with music?
Mary Gold: I dated this dude. He had a band, and I was always around it. It made me want to do music. I always wanted to do music since I was younger, but I never really told anybody. My mom didn’t know I could sing. She’s just finding out. My parents are shocked about it. So yeah, being around my ex-boyfriend made me really want to do music. Once I did follow that through he broke up with me.
How many years have you been making music?
It’s been about four.
I was talking to a friend about your mixtape and he asked me to describe it. No disrespect, but I told him I can’t really describe it. It has elements of Hip Hop, R&B, Jazz. I can’t really put a name to it. How would you describe your sound?
To be honest I can’t tell you either. All I know are my feelings and my emotions. Honestly, I don’t really want anyone to categorize it. I think it’s much more inspiring when it’s free and it’s just raw. I never want to be put in a category, because I always want to be able to create any kind of music that I want. I don’t want anyone to label me as rapper or a singer, because one day I may wake up and not want to do that anymore. I may want to go into another genre, and I want to be free to do that without criticism.
Who are some of the artists that have influenced you?
M.I.A. has been a big influence. I love her music. I love how she expresses herself. I love Willow Smith. I think she’s awesome. I’d love to do something with her one day. I love Kanye. Drake has always been a big inspiration musically. So many people inspire me.
You mentioned Drake. How did your cameo in his “Worst Behavior” video come about?
Drake hit me through Twitter and told me how much he liked “Prayer” and how much it inspired him. It’s crazy because I grew up watching Degrassi. He’s always been in front of me. He asked me to come and be a part of his video. That’s how that happened.
Could a collaboration be in the future?
I hope so.
Mary riding shotgun with Drake in the “Worst Behavior” video
What was it about Curren$y’s Jet Life that made you decide to sign with them?
It’s home. They cater to home like no one I’ve ever seen. They go hard for where they come from, and I want to be a part of that. I always feel like you should go back to the place that you came from. I want to continue to be part of New Orleans. I don’t want to take what they gave me and go somewhere else with it.
What is it like being the only woman in the crew?
I don’t look at it like that. It’s very equal. They treat me like family. There’s no judgment here. They let me be myself. I have complete control over my creativity. It’s a beautiful thing.
You’re songs are very descriptive tales about sex and drugs. Are they based on real life experiences or are the imaginary accounts? Or a mixture of both?
I live in a complete, totally different world than everyone else. Everything that I write about or I sing about is based on encounters that I had or seen personally. Everything is very real. I might tweak it to my perspective, but it’s definitely life experiences.
You also include a lot of religious references in your music. Did you grow up attending church?
Yes, I definitely did. My parents are Baptist. I grew up in a very structured home. Even to this day my parents feel like they went wrong with raising me because I went a completely different path. I just want everyone to understand that I’m more spiritual than I am religious. I don’t knock it. I take it to my advantage and put my own perspective on it and my own outlook. I’m a firm believer there’s a higher being I just look at it differently than what they told you in books.
What would be your response to those people who may be critical that you’re combining spirituality with drugs and sex?
I feel this is life. Even Jesus drank some wine here and there. I feel like we all have our vices and you can’t be judgmental on that. We’re human. It’s not that serious. I don’t think God put us here to be miserable.
You’ve describe yourself as a nudist. Is that literal or is that just another extension of you expressing your freedom?
It’s not literal. I think people take it and run with that, but I do feel more comfortable in my skin than most do. I feel like we came here naked so there’s nothing wrong with showing who you are. You’re most honest when you’re naked. There’s nothing you can really hide. All your flaws are there. All your insecurities are there. That’s just life.
Wiz Khalifa was the latest Hip-Hop star to stop by DJ Skee’s “Skee Live” show on AXS TV and even created a trending topic on Twitter during his live performance and interview. After performing cuts like “Up” and “Black and Yellow,” Wiz sat down with DJ Skee and discussed his adjustments to being a new father, his upcoming album “Black Hollywood” (coming in 2014) and shared an on-air candid moment with Leonardo of the Ninja Turtles (See Below). In a moment that would make Cheech & Chong proud, Wiz also revealed during the interview that he goes through an ounce of weed per day.
AllHipHop.com was on hand to check it all out and we’ve got some pictures and video! Be sure to watch next Tuesday as SKEE LIVE plays host to Snoop Dogg!
So ya heard about me/slow it down, break it down/what’s the word about me/some echos around town/tell me more/say word/thats absurd, have we met before/well i guess we have now
Hailing Columbus, Ohio, Alexander Dreamer drops off the bouncy club record, “Gettin It” showcasing his fun songwriting along with his detailed production skills. Alexander’s upcoming project, Dancing With The Devil is scheduled to be released on January 6th.
Check out Alexander Dreamer’s self-produced single “Gettin’ It” below:
(AllHipHop News) Tonight (November 20th) and this Sunday (November 24th) A Tribe Called Quest are scheduled to perform for the final times in New York City for Kanye West’s Yeezus tour. The fourth, and seldomly heard member of A Tribe Called Quest, Jarobi White, spoke with Okayplayer’s The Question about what the Tribe show will look like on the Yeezus tour, what Phife Dawg meant on “The Chase Pt. 2” plus more.
The 42 year old “spirit” of A Tribe Called Quest is now a chef at the highly respected August restaurant in New York City’s West Village, but maintains that he will be apart of the final two ATCQ shows for the Yeezus tour. Jarobi also gave insight on the stage set up for Tribe’s set in comparison to the grandiose stage design Kanye implements:
We were at practice the other day and somebody was pointing out how intricate Kanye’s show is with the lighting and all of that stuff. He has the big, crazy budget so he can do all that stuff. He has a mountain, we have little hills.
A Tribe Called Quest’s classic album Midnight Marauders was released 20 years ago and Jarobi finally explained why Phife Dawg said “making love to the mic like Jarobi on the phone” on “The Chase Pt. 2”:
Before text messaging and emails were really popular I used to spend a very large amount of the time on the phone talking to girls. [Phife] used to always be like ‘yo, stop making love to them girls on the phone.’
Check out Jarobi speak on the current states of The Native Tongues, if he has eaten Ham & Eggs since appearing on “Ham & Eggs” and more below:
(AllHipHop News) Charlamagne Tha God is usually a man without a filter so when he is in a Ask Me Anything session from Reddit, the unexpected should be assumed. In his latest Reddit AMA session, the always loquacious radio personality discusses who he think will never do The Breakfast Club, his opinion on Kanye West’s new “Bound 2” video and more.
Always the critical voice, Charlamagne had no problem voicing his distaste for Kanye’s recently released music video for Yeezus‘ “Bound 2” featuring a half naked Kim Kardashian:
Charlamagne also revealed that The Breakfast Club had an interview with epochal comedian Paul Mooney but it remained unaired due to Mooney’s subject matter:
we did an interview with Paul Mooney that he never aired because I respect people’s opinions but he just came off as very racist. I don’t mind you expressing your opinion but he just seemed very prejudice….
Charlamagne revealed that Busta Rhymes and Machine Gun Kelly were the only artists to ever approach him about something he said on air and repeatedly stated he believes Drake will never appear on the show but did state how he would greet the Toronto MC if he did:
I don’t think he would but the first thing I would say to him is “Good Morning Fair Lady”
