(AllHipHop News) AllHipHop.com spoke with El Debarge and DJ Quik this weekend at the Rock the Bells festival, presented by Guerrilla Union.
The two spoke about their longstanding friendship and recording relationship.
Debarge explained that he is also working on a yet to be titled project on his new imprint, aptly titled No Trouble Entertainment.
“I got this new thing I’m doing No Trouble Entertainment…we bring out new artists, plus I got my new album,” El DeBarge told AllHipHop.com in an exclusive interview. “I don’t know what it’s called yet. Its untitled now.”
Although the album is untitled, El DeBarge explained that he has several features lined up for the project already b
“I did one with Mystical, I did one with Patti Labelle, I did one with Quik,” Debarge explained.
DJ Quik, El Debarge’s longtime collaborator and record producer, described recording with the legendary singer as “easy.”
“Its to easy, me and this guy can re-write music together. We could do a children’s story book together and it would make sense. Me and him and all that weed we smokin. Legalize it, change the economy by legalizing it!” DJ Quik told AllHipHop.com.
Whether you actually enjoy his music or not, there’s no denying the fact that DJ Khaled’s had his hand in some of the biggest urban radio singles since his arrival on the scene. Initially known to some as a Miami DJ, but to most for his connections with Fat Joe and Terror Squad under the alias “Beat Novacane”, he eventually started using his DJ powers with bigger ideas in mind, which culminated with Listennn… The Album. Even from the beginning, Khaled had a knack for pulling off cameos that others couldn’t, such as the Beanie Sigel and Jadakiss-assisted “Problem” (keep in mind at the time, it was well-documented that they had issues with each other).
Since then, Khaled’s been pumping out hit after hit with a relative high level of success, although anyone could see it was somewhat formulaic and based on who was hot at the time. With the release of his latest LP Kiss The Ring, he continues that same trend for the majority of the album, making this unfortunately sound like the type of project we’ve heard from him in the past.
If you’ve enjoyed his albums previously, then that shouldn’t discourage you. Khaled has still assembled an all-star cast for almost every song, and for the most part, he does his best to keep his ad-libs out of the way of the verses and hooks. The beginning and end of those songs, however, is a different story, and the outro (“They Don’t Want War”) is a completely different beast altogether, as Khaled decides to try his hand at rapping again (and a 20-bar verse at that). Thankfully, this is the only track that he raps over, and he lets his guests do the heavy-lifting beforehand.
The production is handled by an assorted cast that includes (but not limited to) Hit-Boy, The Runners, J.U.S.T.I.C.E League, Mike Will, and DJ Khaled himself). The album features are also somewhat redundant, as Ace Hood, Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean, T-Pain, Kirko Bangz, Future, Mavado, and most of YMCMB, MMG, and others all deliver verses that you’d expect, with the exception of the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony flow that Wiz Khalifa utilizes successfully in “I’m So Blessed”.
Chances are you’ve already heard the singles that could be bigger than the LP; “They Ready” has J. Cole and Big K.R.I.T. delivering their Southern philosophy, only to be interrupted at the end by Kendrick Lamar (“But don’t forget about Compton, n*gga!”) as he spits yet another dope, charismatic verse. “I Wish You Would” features Kanye West and Rick Ross, and it conjures up images of mixtape Yeezy from another Khaled single, “Go Hard”. Lastly, “Hip-Hop” has Scarface and Nas rhyming about her in the most literal sense, and DJ Premier acts a fool with the scratching skills throughout the track. This could be one of the best tracks that Khaled’s ever orchestrated, but it’s unfortunate the rest of the album is lackluster compared to this or the other aforementioned tracks.
DJ Khaled’s Kiss The Ring isn’t a bad LP by any means, and the highlights make the LP truly worth giving a spin, but it’s hard to fight the feeling that we’ve heard the rest of the album before. It’s still the same formula that Khaled been giving us for six years during his run, and although it would be nice to see Khaled take more chances musically, it’s easy to argue that he’d be crazy to try and tamper with something that works for him. To be honest, Khaled fits right in the pocket with this type of music. If that’s a good or a bad thing truly depends on your perspective.
(AllHipHop News) Boxing legend Mike Tyson recently warned rapper 50 Cent about the pitfalls of the boxing industry in an interview with Entertainment Sports Radio.
BoxingScene.com reports that Tyson discussed his views on 50 Cent’s new venture with Floyd Mayweather Jr., The Money Team Promotions aka TMT Promotions.
50 Cent and Floyd Mayweather have already signed several high-profile boxers to TMT Promotions, including Yuriorkis Gamboa, Andre Berto, Billy Dib, and Celestino Caballero.
“I wish 50 Cent the best of luck in the world with the endeavor that he’s doing, but this is something that 50 Cent has to know when you’re dealing with something like boxing and you’re dealing with human beings,” Mike Tyson said. “We calling it peddling the flesh. Even though you’re paying them, you’re still dealing and flesh.”
According to Tyson, the sport of gambling is so corrupt that he believes it should be taken over by the government.
Tyson warned 50 Cent that his new company with Floyd Mayweather could also cost him his career as an entertainer.
“50 is a rap star, 50 is an entertainer, 50 is an entrepreneur,” Mike Tyson said. “He doesn’t really know the ins and outs of boxing. He probably knows what Floyd tells him, but once he gets in this arena, everyone that was ever his friend on the other side is [now] his enemy.”
I know Chief Keef is like the man of the hour, but this kid seemingly has no censor. Either that, he doesn’t have very good friends. Right now, Keef is 16 and there is a video of him reportedly calling Lil Wayne a h*mo…at the age of 16! This is right after he reportedly tweeted that Kanye West really didn’t help him.
Oddly, Baby of Cash Money wanted Keef to be down with YMCMB earlier this year. Anyway, I couldn’t barely make this mess out. Could this be the actual evil media turning nothing into something. I think they can get over it if he did actually call Weezy the derogatory term. Nevertheless…lets get this kid a muzzle. All he needs to do is diss Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Rick Ross and he would have burned all the commercial bridges in rap!
Here is the video:
Lil Wayne: “You sure you want to do this way, young’un?” Email me your rumors at [email protected]
Over the weekend, Eve rocked out the “Rock The Bells” concert in California and brought out her old label mate, DMX! Eve tore the stage down, running through some of her best material including ‘What Ya’ll N*ggas Want’, ‘Who’s That Girl’, ‘Let Me Blow Your Mind’ and the ‘Hot Boys (Remix)’.
Towards the end of her set, Eve dropped a freestyle detailing her plan to come back to rap and near the end of her freestyle, Eve rapped, “Spread the word that I’m back, these b-tches in debt better pay their tax.”
We’ve all heard about Lauryn Hill not paying her taxes and currently facing jail time. So, do you think Eve’s line was directed at Lauryn Hill? It could have very well been directed at half a dozen rappers right now who haven’t been paying their taxes, including Beanie Sigel, Young Buck, Nas, even DMX.
So, I have to ask, was that a diss or a punchline?
Slaughterhouse and DJ Drama connect for the latest in the Gangsta Grillz mixtape series in an effort to temper their group’s rabid fan base until they release their albums. The freemixtape, On The House, is everything you expect from The Slaughter. Hard beats and hard rhymes. Listen and download here:
(AllHipHop News) Def Jam artist Big K.R.I.T. just finished up the first part of his “Live from the Underground” tour at Club Revolution in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and his longtime Mississippi partner Big Sant shared a little about tour life:
“This is the “Live from the Underground” tour – we are almost at the end of the first leg, and we’re just having a good time. We just tore it down in Fort Lauderdale; everybody was real happy to see us. We always happy to see them. Florida is the end of the first half. We’re going to start the second half in a month.”
Big K.R.I.T., who signed to Def Jam through Sha Money XL two years ago, added some details about his Ludacris-assisted single, “What You Mean”:
“A lot of people thought I was going to switch up just ’cause I signed to Def Jam, pimpin’. Y’all got it f*cked up; I’m too country for all that. As you can see, my first single dropped last year in September – it featured 8 Ball & MJG and 2 Chains.”
Watch an exclusive performance from Big K.R.I.T. below:
Follow Big K.R.I.T. on Twitter (@BigKRIT).
Follow Mikey T The Movie Star on Twitter (@MTMovieStar).
