Mystikal meets up with Snoop Dogg before they perform at AllHipHop’s Breeding Ground Show at SXSW and Snoop reminisces about how working with Mystikal was big reason Snoop signed with No Limit Records in this third teaser of the Next 48 Hours With Mystikal @ SXSW.
The Queen of Hip-Hop/Soul, Mary J.Blige, is featured in a new Burger King commercial where she sings her heart out about the new crispy chicken wraps. Okay, then. Check out the video below – watch it now because her people are reportedly pulling it due to negative press:
Does Mary’s little diddy make you want to try the new crispy chicken wraps at Burger King?
In somewhat related news, Jay-Z is also getting his commercial on in a new ad for RocaWear, “From Marcy to the Barclay”. In the new spot, Jay-Z explains how he challenges himself and attain new goals. In the spot, Jay explains:
“My goal was to have one gold album and that was it. And then it became, I want to show that an artist can ascend to the executive ranks.” Ultimately it has been Jay-Z’s ability to inspire his customers that has afforded Rocawear over 10 years as the number one brand in its’ space. Carter continues, “Rocawear just keeps reinventing itself and redefining itself every single day.”
(AllHipHop News) Rapper N.O.R.E. recently revealed details behind his upcoming mixtape/street album “Crack On Steroids,” which is due in stores on Easter Sunday.
On the second installment of his vlog series “‘On The Road To ‘Crack On Steroids,” N.O.R.E. talks about working with a number of popular artists.
The mixtape features Wale, Styles P., Game, Busta Rhymes, Waka Flocka, DJ Premier, Freddy Foxxx and others.
N.O.R.E. also previews his upcoming track “Hare Krishna” which is his first ever collaboration with RZA.
“The beat is just so crazy, and I’ve always been a fan of RZA” N.O.R.E. said. “RZA’s stock is always up because the fact is RZA doesn’t work with a lot of people. Last time you heard RZA on a joint was with Kanye West. And the last time before that was Kanye West and Jay-Z. I thought it was told that RZA actually gave me a party hook.”
Check out the video below, where N.O.R.E. previews “Crack On Steroids,” which drops Easter Sunday exclusively on LiveMixtapes.com.
T.D. Jakes is back as an executive producer, and he’s bringing another potentially powerful story to the big screen. Golden Globe nominee Blair Underwood (Madea’s Family Reunion, Set It Off) and Sharon Leal (Why Did I Get Married Too?, This Christmas), both star in the thriller, Woman Thou Art Loosed – On the Seventh Day.
AllHipHop.com had the chance to speak with director Neema Barnette and actress Sharon Leal on the making of the film, shedding light on real-life stories of missing Black children, and if Ms. Leal brought out her best acting chops when working with Blair Underwood and Pam Grier. Listen to the audio below:
With her film entirely financed, produced, promoted and distributed by African Americans, director Neema Barnette says, “Making this film, I wanted it show what we can do, in a multitude of ways. Not only to break that mold, but to give people like Codeblack, a platform for a really well-done film that they could be proud of that will hopefully open the market for independent Black distribution.”
This dramatic thriller is about a husband (Underwood) and wife (Leal) who find themselves in the midst of a crisis after their young daughter is kidnapped. The couple must race against time to find their child, who is believed to have been abducted by a serial killer who symbolically murders his victims “on the 7th day.” During their desperate search, a series of deep, dark, damaging secrets unveil a troubling past, putting the marriage and their futures in jeopardy. Watch the trailer below:
Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day hits theaters on April 13.
Over a week ago, we released part 1 of our exclusive sit-down interview with West Coast veteran Kid Frost, where he discussed his early years in the rap game up through the release of his hit, “La Raza.” You can read that interview HERE!
Now Frost takes us to his life after “La Raza”, and he gave AllHipHop.com an exclusive look into his health and family – details that he’s never spoken about before. Read below for the conclusion of this special two part series.
AllHipHop.com: What happened after “La Raza”?
Kid Frost: I got on top of the roller coaster and then the ride took a dip – but the ride has to go around and start again. I took the elements of what people wanted to hear and my Chicano background – the Cholo image – and brought them together. “La Raza” put the key in the ignition but what you hear on Eastside Story is what the f*ck is going on in the streets. At the time that I was working on Eastside Story, Edward James Olmos was finishing up his movie, “American Me.” When he finished it, he was screening it to get the music done. They called me up, and I went to Paramount studios and I watched the film. It was dry with no music in it.
Edward asked me what I thought of the movie, and it was just us in the theater with the editors. I told him that I had a song for the movie. At first he wanted me to use that song from The Animals, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”. They ended up putting the actual song from The Animals in the movie because he loved it so much. I played him a couple of my joints to hear, but I hadn’t played “Ain’t No Sunshine” yet. I already knew that he was going to love it when I played it for him.
AllHipHop.com: So you made “Ain’t No Sunshine” before you even saw the movie?
Kid Frost: Yeah. I finished that song about three months before he called me in. It was supposed to come out on Eastside Story, but we had to wait to get the sample clearance from Bill Withers. I wanted him to sing on it, but he told me, “Son, I enjoyed the song but I’m not going to be able to sing on it. I will give you permission to use the sample, though.” I went a got Chris Teddy who would always sing oldies sets at Monty’s Steakhouse. It was like a “Mob Boss” restaurant [laughter].
AllHipHop.com: That song was a perfect fit for the movie.
Kid Frost: It got the title track when they rolled the credits. My label got to do the entire soundtrack. I brought that to Virgin Records.
AllHipHop.com: Did Virgin Records compensate or reward you for bringing that soundtrack to them?
Kid Frost: Not really. For being “virgins” they sure do a lot of f*cking, you know what I mean?
AllHipHop.com: You basically went underground after that, right?
Kid Frost: Yeah, I submerged myself. I didn’t want to play all of those political games. I had already aligned myself with the people that I wanted to work with in music. All I ever wanted to do was make music – not get involved with the bullsh*t of politics. I wanted to let the young Raza know that we can do something. We don’t have to be stuck. I plugged with Baby Bash, who wasn’t even going by that name back then. He was Baby Beesh. I hooked up with JT from N2Deep and Don Cisco, and we formed “Latino Gauntlet.” We put out some good underground albums, and we knocked out shows all over.
AllHipHop.com: While all of this was going on, you were raising a future Hip-Hop Super Producer.
Kid Frost: Yeah. I became a single parent, and I raised young Scoop by myself. At 10 or 11 years old, he started adamantly going on his first little programs that he would use on his computer to produce music. Back then, a computer cost about $3,000, so I bought him a top of the line one. Scoop was a good kid from the get go. I really didn’t have a lot of problems with him, aside from some little mischievous sh*t. His love and passion for music came from watching me do it.
AllHipHop.com: So you saw that gift in him at an early age.
Kid Frost: I did. When he was a baby in the crib, I didn’t buy baby toys. I went to Radio Shack and bought a small keyboard, and I threw it in his crib. He would just pound on the keys. Like I said earlier, we come from a long line of musicians in our family, so I put the instruments in front of him right away.
AllHipHop.com: When did you start sensing that he could really be good at this?
Kid Frost: When he was 15 years old, and he did that “Mamacita” track for Baby Bash. He had just finished Little League, but he knew back then that he was going to produce music. It was in his head already. He was also a straight-A student at school. School bored the sh*t out of him. He was taking every class that he could so he could graduate early.
AllHipHop.com: Did you have a hand in teaching him how to produce?
Kid Frost: A lot of that is ear hustling. He watched me hustle for years, and when he got old enough, he used what he learned from watching. Your kids know what the f*ck you are doing. They watch. Scoop’s swag is really up right now. His skills are incredible. He’s working with everybody right now.
AllHipHop.com: I was amazed to find out that Scoop Deville was your son. It’s good to see the baton passed from father to son.
Kid Frost: I don’t want to say “pass the baton,” because it’s like Sanford & Son – Fred still worked! Lamont, his son, would go out there and hustle, but Fred had the key [laughter].
AllHipHop.com: You’ve had some health and personal issues in your life.
Kid Frost: I went in to a diabetic coma from an ingrown hair follicle underneath my testicle. I died three times in Huntington Memorial Hospital. I stayed there almost three months. I woke up once while they were yelling “Clear” using the defibrillator on my chest. I literally died and they brought me back. I was in a diabetic coma for five days.
Six days after I got out of the hospital, I recorded an album called Welcome ToFrost Angeles. That album is just me and my son Scoop. Nobody else is on it. It fell through the cracks in a lot of ways, but if you listen to the album, I talk about myself being resurrected. I also started going out to Japan and working. I recorded another album out there. Then when I returned to the States, I went out to several South Western and Western states.
I hooked up with this white f*cked up stripper b*tch and had my son, Rhythm. This chick got arrested for having five pounds of Methamphetamine. She served time in prison and then got out, but instead of finishing her time at the halfway house, she went to my house. I knocked her up which resulted in my son, Rhythm.
I moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and I got a call that our baby cracked his skull. Somehow, my son got thrown to a wood floor. She said that she was staying with her grandmother, but it turned out she was with another dude. I left Vegas and I came back to Los Angeles and hired Victor Cohen as my attorney. He was also Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher’s attorney. I spent about 25 racks to go and fight for custody. My son was already a ward of the state. For the next month, I’m driving back and forth from Los Angeles to Vegas to make sure that my other son, Scoop, is straight. He was around 18 years old already, and he remained in Vegas at our house and studio.
I went through the necessary tests to confirm that the baby is indeed mine and sure enough, he is mine. I won custody, and I took my boy back to Vegas with me. It’s me, Scoop, and Rhythm now together. I took child development classes because he was just a baby. This was all five years ago. I started praying, and God put a woman in my path that’s cool and compatible for me. We first met 18 years ago, and it turns out that she owns a premier, preschool academy. My son goes to this academy now, and he’s learning incredibly. He’s come full-circle with his injury. It could have gone both ways. He couldn’t even lift up his head when I first got him back.
AllHipHop.com: How are you doing now though? Last year, you were hospitalized again for a mild stroke.
Kid Frost: The first letters of diabetes are pronounced as “die,” so I know that one day I will succumb to this. It’s an illness that plagues Latinos. That’s our ailment. We weren’t meant to eat as much meat and protein that we do. Our ancestral diet consisted of more vegetables. Mexicans started having these large Sunday barbeque feasts because we would trade our vegetables and fruits with white farmers that owned cattle. We would eat meat on Sundays but during the rest of the week, we would eat a lot of vegetables. As we settled in to American society, we started eating more things that break down into sugar in our bodies. It’s a recipe for disaster, because as Indians, we weren’t meant to eat a lot of the things we do now.
Last year, I had a sensory stroke. My left side shut down – from my toes to my head. I was with my baby – I have another 8-month-old son now. I was pushing him in his stroller at Wal-Mart, and I started feeling a little ill. My lady was coming from the makeup department, and I told her to hold on because I went to the restroom to throw water on my face. There just happened to be a hospital right up the street. They immediately identified my stroke, and soon enough, I had an IV machine attached to me.
I’m doing a lot better now. My lady makes me walk the course of The Rose Bowl. I started playing golf again, which is one of my real big passions. Before I go whip George Lopez, I’m getting my swing back.
AllHipHop.com: I hear you have a company now that’s just received funding to make movies and other big projects.
Kid Frost: I got with some people that I had been working with in my past. We built a facility to where we can start putting out these movies and soundtracks for Latino artists and actors. The first movie that we are working on right now is called “Truce.” It stars Danny Trejo. We’re also going to try to put together the first Latino low-rider Hip-Hop movie soundtrack. We just finished 11 new tracks for Danny’s other new film that’s coming out called Bad A**. He plays a Vietnam vet that comes back from the war and kicks a** again. I’ve got my “All Oldies 2” album that I’m finishing up right now.
On top of all that, I started a clothing line called “Ropa.” The first series of shirts that we are making are called “Dia De Los Muertos.” I took 2Pac and added his poem from “In The Event of my Demise.” I’ve also got a shirt of Eazy-E and Nate Dogg. The “Muertos” series is coming along.
AllHipHop.com: How did you come up with the “Muertos” shirt concept?
Kid Frost: Smoking weed and good p***y – just like how all good ideas come up. If you know of another way, please tell me [laughter].
AllHipHop.com: [laughter] It’s good to see that you’re still active in music.
Kid Frost: Some people are like, “He’s too old to be in this game.” As long as LL Cool J is still rapping, then I’m going to keep spittin’ these flows. As long as people like Chuck D are making noise, and I see them out there with their old man bellies, I’m going to keep rapping, too [laughter].
AllHipHop.com: It’s crazy to see Hip-Hop grown up. I’ve seen you all in your primes. You always know that you’re going to grow old one day, but it’s funny when it actually happens.
Kid Frost: I’m going to be 50! But this is all that I know, man. What else am I going to do? Do you think Pac-Tel is going to hire me? I’ve got kids to feed still. It’s all about family to me, though. It doesn’t mean anything if your kids can’t benefit from what you’re doing. All of the risks and moves that I’ve made have come from wanting to take care of my family.
It’s been 13 years since the release of her multi-platinum debut, On How Life Is, which featured the Grammy-winning song “I Try” and became her biggest U.S, single to date. Six albums and 12 movies later, Macy Gray is back with her latest project, Covered, which boasts covers of some of Gray’s all-time favorite songs.
In our exclusive interview, the quirky songstress reveals, “I’ve been wanting to do a cover album for a long time, but they’ve always talked me out of it, because I guess cover albums have a stigma for something you do way later in life, or when you don’t have your own songs. We finally did it.”
The first single from Covered is “Smoke Two Joints”, a song originally written and performed by The Toyes in 1983.
Macy Gray is holding a contest! Video record yourself singing your best rendition of Macy’s “Sail” and put it on YouTube. The video with the most hits wins, and the winner will receive a call from Ms. Gray herself. Official details here.
Macy’s latest album, Covered, is available in stores and on iTunes here.
(AllHipHop News) Scott Storch has been hit with a lawsuit by an upcoming singer, who claims he botched a production deal.
Singer Treena Ruberg filed the lawsuit against Scott Storch in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming he reneged on an agreement to produce six songs for her.
According to TMZ.com, Ruberg paid Scott Storch a total of $45,000, in October of 2011, of which she paid $30,000 up front.
Ruberg’s lawsuit says that Scott Storch failed to deliver the tracks and that his drug addiction has rendered him “incapable of producing any records.”
In total, Ruberg is suing Scott Storch for $100,000 for expenses, including having to hire another producer.
(AllHipHop News) As the college basketball season comes to a close tonight with the NCAA championship game between Kansas and Kentucky in New Orleans, rappers across the globe made their picks for the big game.
Kentucky (37-2) is seeking its eighth national title and features a host of freshman and sophomore players that are poised to hit the NBA in the next year.
Kansas has a team of juniors and seniors ready to repeat their success from just a few years ago.
“I’m over in Europe…but its still GO BIG BLUE!!!!” Drake Tweeted from Europe supporting Kentucky.
In Vegas, Kentucky is currently favored by 6.5 points, in a matchup that features the two winningest programs in college basketball history.
Other rappers have made their picks as well.
Hip-Hop mogul Jay-Z appears to be supporting Kentucky, after he made a high-profile appearance behind the team’s bench last weekend in New Orleans.
Meanwhile, Asher Roth, who winded down his Final Four Tour on Saturday in New Orleans, is also rooting for Kentucky.
“I think Calipari finally wins a National Championship,” Asher Roth told Complex. “He’s not that bad of a guy. I don’t know why everybody hates on him. Sure, he’s on some gangster s###, but it’s real in the field. It’s real out here. You have to win some championships.”
Kentucky (#1) will take on Kansas (#2) tonight at 9:23PM on CBS.
Back in 2007, Ray Lavender found success with his hot summer hit, “My Girl’s Got A Girlfriend” featuring Fabolous and Red Cafe’. Now he’s making a comeback with his club-inspired party anthem, “Tequila”.
At 23 years old, Lavender was the first act signed to Akon’s KonLive Records via Geffen Records, now home of Pop-sensation Lady Gaga. Although Lavender’s debut album, X-Rayted, was never released by the label, he continues to work on new music.
(AllHipHop News) AllHipHop.com is helping to launch a special West Coast ticket giveaway. Fans can enter their chance to win a pair of tickets to a private screening of the coming-of-age film “WE THE PARTY” hosted by rapper YG. The new Mario Van Peebles-directed film includes appearances from Snoop Dogg and more.
To enter the contest, sponsors want participants to comment below on the one dance move that never goes out of style. Some examples are “The Dougie,” “The Cat Daddy,” “The Wop,” “The Moonwalk,” etc. The most creative answer will be chosen by midnight tonight (April 2).
The winner will win two tickets to view “We The Party” tomorrow night (April 3) at a private screening in Los Angeles.
After being enemies with 50 Cent and G-Unit for numerous years, Young Buck has had a change of heart and is open to the “opportunity or chance” for a G-Unit reunion. Check out what he said below in a recent interview with Shade 45’s DJ Whoo Kid:
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had any kind of conversation with [Lloyd] Banks, [Tony] Yayo, 50 [Cent], anybody really through that camp over that way,” Buck told DJ Whoo Kid in an interview. “It’s been even a long time since I heard your voice to even have a conversation and we having it on air, live for the people. … At the end of the day, we’ve made history and I would never not consider not being a chance for us to make history again if ever given the opportunity or chance. My thing is, at the end of the day, we only get older out here in this situation, in life, in itself and the older I became, the wiser I became at the same time.”
(AllHipHop News) A number of celebrities and rap artists are participating in new campaign to raise awareness about “Conflict Minerals” from the Congo region in Africa.
Over 5 million people have been killed or displaced in just the past decade alone in the Congo, which has infamously been exploited for hundreds of years.
The Raise Hope for Congo Campaign hopes to bring the same visibility to “Conflict Minerals” that “Conflict Diamonds”has around the world.
Three-time Grammy Award winning producer Darius “Deezle” Harris is on board for the campaign.
Deezle, who has worked with artists like Lil’ Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, DMX, said he identified with the campaign, due to his upbringing in new Orleans.
“There’s a place called Congo Square in New Orleans (my hometown). This place was the only place in America that slaves were allowed to have and play their drums on Sunday’s,” Deezle explained. “I feel a kindred connection with the Congo. I also have a friend whose parents died there in the conflict about ten years ago. I understand the need for peace first hand.”
The minerals The Raise Hope for Congo Campaign want to call attention to are tin, tungsten and tantalum.
Other celebrities involved in include Robin Wright, writers of “30 Rock,” and Joel & Benji Madden and others.
A new photo of Blue Ivy Carter has surfaced….well, its’ a partial picture anyway. The paparazzi caught a glimpse of the baby while Beyonce was holding her during a recent outing. Check out the photo below:
This is all the Carters are going to give us. But at least we can see that the baby’s hair is curlier than it was in the original photos that were released. B.I.C. also has a little more color to her complexion now. We want more!
The blogosphere is going nuts over the rumor that 50 Cent may have proposed to his girlfriend, Daphne Joy. The “model” posted several cryptic messages onto her Twitter account alluding that she was going to be a wife, and she said ‘yes.’ Check out a few of her tweets below courtesy of Mediatakeout:
Unfortunately, we hear 50 didn’t propose with a ring, so we’re not sure how serious he is about actually getting married. Maybe it was an April Fool’s joke. You know 50 Cent is a jokester. Check out a few photos of Daphne below. Is she wifey material?