(AllHipHop News) Chris Brown has officially been added to a lineup of over 10 performers who will grace the stage at next weekend’s Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas.
The 2012 awards show, which is hosted by “Modern Family” stars Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen, is set to include performances from the likes of Justin Beiber, Usher, Cee-Lo Green, LMFAO, Linkin Park, and more, with additional acts to be announced in the coming days.
Brown’s performance will come a little over a month before he releases his fifth studio album, Fortune, on July 3. The Grammy Award-winning singer is savoring the success of the album’s current single, “Turn Up the Music,” which currenly sits at #2 on “Billboard’s R&B and Hip-Hop Songs Chart”.
In addition to perforning, Brown will be up for four Billboard Music Awards, including “Top Male Artist,” while singer Rihanna has been nominated in 13 categories this year. Lil Wayne is up for 10 awards, and the duo of Bad Meets Evil are up for “Top New Artist”, along with Big Sean, Wiz Khalifa, and Foster the People.
Tickets for the 2012 Billboard Music Awards are currently available at Ticketmaster.com. ABC will air the show live from the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas on May 20.
Today, Jay-Z was in Philadelphia holding a press conference with the Mayor of Philly to announce his upcoming Made In America concert series. The two-day music festival will be held on Labor Day Weekend and is sponsored by Budweiser.
While making the announcement, former Roc-A-Fella artist and Philly native, Freeway, was welcomed on stage…or was he? From the looks of the photos, Freeway was shunned out of the group photo opportunity with Jay-Z and the organizers, and he awkwardly stood by the end of the stage with his hands folded across his chest….damn!
But, pictures can definitely be deceiving. Freeway later posted the photo above of he and Jay-Z at the conference, so I guess it’s all good. But the photos of Freeway on stage like a stepchild are mortifying.
(AllHipHop News) The trial of Hip-Hop mogul James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond began today (May 14) in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Rosemond, who at one point managed artists like Game, Brandy, Akon and others, is accused of being the head of a $10 million-year-cocaine ring.
Authorities accuse Rosemond, who appeared in a court today in a crisp, pin-stripped suit, of organizing a conspiracy to distribute cocaine imported from Los Angeles, to New York.
Prosecutors claim Rosemond used FedEx and other overnight shipping companies, to send cocaine from Los Angeles to New York, where the drugs were distributed, in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and other boroughs.
The Prosecution
A multiracial jury made up of eight women and six men listened to opening statements from prosecutors early this afternoon.
Jimmy Henchman
Prosecutors said Rosemond headed up the cocaine empire from 2007 until 2011.
“The whole system ran like clockwork,” Assistant Prosecutor Una Dean said. “For a time business was good. He [Rosemond] had a lot of money and lived a life of luxury. But he didn’t just have money, he had cash, so he could continue to build his drug empire.”
Prosecutors accused Rosemond of using his management company, Czar Entertainment, as a front, to launder his drug proceeds.
The Assistant D.A. said that on three separate occasions, police intercepted massive amounts of cash in bundles of $400,000 $600,000 and $800,000, respectively.
Prosecutors claimed that Rosemond created hundreds of front companies, and used thousands of money orders to pay for various luxury items
He even used the money orders to pay one lawyer $300,000 in attorney fees.
When Rosemond began to suspect authorities had infiltrated his drug empire, he started using other methods of sending drugs back and forth between California and New York.
Police said that after Rosemond stopped using FedEx, he began shipping cocaine in music crates, to various recording studios in New York and sending the drug proceeds back to Los Angeles.
After some of those shipments were seized, Rosemond started shipping luxury cars stuffed with drugs, to New York and Los Angeles.
The Defense
Gerald Shargel said that there were four major flaws with the government’s case against Rosemond.
He said the government witnesses were liars, questioned their motives, said the evidence seized was flawed and that Rosemond’s reputation was strategically damaged by journalist Chuck Philips.
“I’m going to make a bold statement. The prosecution’s case against Jimmy Rosemond can’t be trusted,” Gerald Shargel told the jury. “The witnesses they are relying on want to be paid with the price of freedom. These witnesses have an eloquent history of lying. I don’t mean simply insignificant lies, I mean lies that hit to the heart of this case.”
Gerald Shargel said that most prosecution witnesses had a motive to lie, since that was the only way to have their federal sentences reduced, under federal guidelines.
Some of the witnesses testifying against Rosemond face sentences ranging from 10 years, to up to life in prison for drug dealing and other crimes.
Shargel said that he would also question the evidence in the case, as well as the corroboration of the evidence the government will present.
Shargel said that Rosemond was the manager of several popular Hip-Hop artists, including Game, Akon, Mario Winans and others.
According to Shargel’s opening statements, Rosemond’s duties as a manager accounted for the large amounts of cash he frequently possessed.
Prosecutors began to object when Gerald Shargel laid out the final point of Rosemond’s defense, which was his reputation.
Gerald Shargel pointed to an infamous article published in the Los Angeles Times by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Chuck Philips.
The article claimed that Rosemond was behind the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur, at Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan.
When a document in the article was found to be fabricated, the Los Angeles Times was forced to publish a retraction, fire Chuck Philips and settle a defamation of character lawsuit with Jimmy Rosemond for $250,000.
A man named Dexter Isaac eventually confessed to be being the trigger man in the 1994 Quad shooting, allegedly on orders of Rosemond.
With the exception of the fake “302” documents cited in the article, Chuck Philips has always maintained the article was accurate.
“This motivated people to go along with the government’s story,” Gerald Shargel told the jury. “When they cooperate, the mandatory minimum no longer exists. You will find that plays an important role, because the article motivated people to testify against Jimmy Rosemond, who was labeled a snitch.”
According to Gerald Shargel, the former Hip-Hop mogul attempted to cooperate with the government seven different times, but they were not satisfied with the information he provided to them, but he also admitted to the jury that Rosemond deliberately lied to prosecutors each time a deal was on the table.
“What about Game? You got any dirt on Sean Combs, or anything on 50 Cent? Who killed Tupac Shakur?’ Those were some of the questions the government wanted Rosemond to answer,” Gerald Shargel said.
After 10 days of release, Marvel and Disney’s The Avengers has officially crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box-office, a feat that is certain to be added to the long list of records the film has broken since last week’s massive $200+ million dollar opening weekend.
If you’re one of the eight people left in the world who has yet to see The Avengers, do yourself a favor and get to a theater near you as soon as possible. You won’t be disappointed and, in fact, will be treated to one of the most entertaining, enjoyable, and all-around bad-*ss films ever put on screen.
If you really need more than the notion of seeing your favorite superheroes team up to take down a global threat on an epic scale unlike many other summer “blockbusters,” check out “AllHipHop.com’s 10 Reasons to See The Avengers.”
The Avengers second-weekend U.S. haul of $103.2 million has helped place the film at #11 on the “All-Time Worldwide Grosses List,” behind films like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Avatar, Titanic and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Analysts expect the film’s worldwide total to increase exponentially over the next month or two, suggesting that The Avengers could end up in at least the top 5 when all is said and done
In related news, THRhas reported that Disney CEO Robert Iger announced during a recent conference call with analysts that development has begun on the highly-anticipated follow-up to what should surely will become this summer’s biggest movie.
Before fans and the general movie-going audience gets to feast their eyes on The Avengers 2, though, Marvel will be releasing Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 next year, as well as Captain America 2 and a currently unrevealed new Marvel film in 2014. In other words, don’t expect The Avengers 2 to melt your brain until 2015 at the earliest.
And now, for the question on most people’s minds: how will The Dark Knight Rises fare come July 20?
(AllHipHop News) New Orleans native and YMCMB recording artist Mystikal has announced plans to release a new mixtape, Origins, on July 30 that will feature brand-new music from the man behind such records as “Danger (Been So Long),” “Shake Ya *ss”, and “Bouncin’ Back.”
Michael “Mystikal” Tyler checked into a Louisiana jail earlier this morning (May 14), according to TMZ, which is where the rapper will serve an 81-day prison sentence for a domestic abuse charge that occurred in February.
Mystikal announced that Origins will feature brand-new music to hold fans over while the MC serves his sentence. He will release the first single from Origins, titled “Bullsh*t,” later today via Twitter.
When asked about the upcoming jail sentence, Mystikal told Billboard, “Everything I was doing, the 81 days was right there riding with me – in the SUV, come on, who’s that? My 81 days. Everywhere I went, it was keeping me in check, and it’s a fight. I can tell myself all kinds of things, I can sit there and mope, or I can get out and thank those fans the way I’m supposed to, the way they deserve to be thanked. So of course I am.”
Most recently, Mystikal performed at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas in March, S.O.B.’s in New York City in early May, and last weekend at the New Orleans 2012 Jazz Festival. He also recently debuted his “The Next 48 Hours With Mystikal” on AllHipHop.com in conjunction with promoting his new project.
View “The Next 48 Hours With Mystikal Part 2” below:
In a new blog, former Def Jam head and music mogul Russell Simmons has come out swinging and is defending Rihanna’s right to sleep with whomever she wants without it ended up in a rap song. Last week, both Chris Brown and Drake allegedly dissed Rihanna in two separate tracks, and basically called her out as an industry jumpoff. Uncle Russell did not appreciate that very much and says these rappers need to stop being the pot calling the kettle black.
Read the full letter below:
There have been a lot of artists recently talking about “good girl gone bad,” Rihanna. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t see why everyone has their panties up in a bunch. It’s just that she is out there allegedly f*ckin’ the rockstars of her dreams and you out there f#####’ groupies. You can’t be mad that she was seen walking out of Ashton Kutcher’s house late one night, cause you know if you were seen walking out of Adriana Lima’s house late one night, you would be in the studio the next day rapping about it. I mean, you all got like 50 girls in your videos drooling over you and you dissing Rihanna? I can’t blame a girl for being independent, having fun and living her life the way she wants to. I am certainly not condoning indiscriminate sex, but don’t get mad cause the girl…
Remember, I was a manager once and I have seen these types of young men on the road. I was with Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Whoodini and saw all of the girls after the show line up outside the dressing rooms. I mean, Whoodini even wrote a song about, “I Am A H*e” and went on to rap, “I rock three different girls after every show.” So, I know how this s### works. You all got 10 times as many girls as Rihanna has men, and you know that. I love you guys, and this certainly ain’t a diss, but I gotta keep it real.
Serena Williams is already a star, but she is getting tired of tennis, so they say. What does she go an do? Word on the street is that she is already starting a new album to go with her first song. Now, I have to admit, I am not feeling this damn thing altogether but I think its a great way to get it poppin’ in the attention grabbing game. In related rumors, I’m hearing Serena REALLY wants to get back with Common. Thing she’s trying to get him to write some bars? Hopefully!
Do you want a full album from Serena? Here is the song I guess is called “I Win”:
Can’t wait for the video!
SERENA AND DAT A$$, WE LOVE YOU! THE RAPS? NOT SO MUCH!
“They keep us talking, but if we stop talking about them then they should worry!” –illseed
WHO: illseed WHAT: Rumors WHERE: AllHipHop.com, illseed.com, and Twitter.com/illseed/ HOW: Send your rumors and ill pics to illseed at kingillseed [at] gmail.com
(AllHipHop News) St. Louis’ own Murphy Lee spoke with AllHipHop.com recently about a new Moscato wine that he and the St. Lunatics have developed.
The after-dinner drink, called “Freaky Muscato,” is a sparkling wine made by Ste. Genevieve’s Crown Valley Winery and has already hit stores in Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas.
“I got my own wine called ‘Freaky Muscato,’ 11.5 percent alcohol,” Murphy Lee told AllHipHop.com in an exclusive interview. “I’m a wino, so it was a perfect situation for me, but it’s a sparkling moscato, it’s a dessert wine. It’s crazy, and good as sh*t, man. You know what I’m talkin’ ’bout? It’s sweet enough for the ladies and strong enough for the men. The bottle crazy; you can sit up in the club and act like you cool, all that, man. Why get drunk, when you can get freaky?”
Comprised of Nelly, Murphy Lee, Ali, KyJuan and City Spud, the St. Lunatics experienced great success in the early 2000s as their first project called, Free City, was certified RIAA platinum in roughly a month in Summer 2001.
Since then, the group has been relatively quiet, with the exception of Nelly. They continue to work on solo projects, although the group is back to work and releasing singles, according to Murphy Lee.
“Yeah, we [St. Lunatics] got a single that finna come on iTunes right now; we’ve been on the road. Thursday through Sunday, we on the road, Monday through Wednesday, we handling business, man,” Murphy Lee said.
Murphy has been busy in his own right, as he plans the release of his mixtape this summer called Weed, Wine and Women Pt 2 , and he has been developing his online brand called UCME via his website MurphyLeeUCME.com.
“I been working on a lil bit of everything, man. I ain’t been gone, man, for those that didnt know. I’ve just been online, and it’s been lovely. Shout out to all my fans that have been there since day one. You can go to MurphyLeeUCme.com, ketchup in this mustard world, man, get caught up,” Murphy Lee said. “I’ve been dropping stuff monthly for the last eight years. Ketchup, there’s a lot of free stuff on there, a lot of stuff you can buy. I’m iTuned up; you can go check out Mr. Wintertime (I’m Cold), thats one of the craziest CDs ever, then we got the Wine Weed and Women coming out this summer.”
For more information on the St. Lunatics new wine, Freaky Muscato, visit, www.drinkfreaky.com.
Welcome to the start of another wonderful week! Today’s Daily Word is dedicated to finding your pace! Life is a journey not a destination! Many times without really realizing it, we find ourselves racing against others, trying to write our story based on theirs! We compare what they’ve accomplish and attempt to keep up or try and outdo them!
What we need to realize is that success takes being patient, and everyone has their own path! Even though two paths may seem similar, everyone will reach their destination when they are supposed to and never sooner! The key is to keep going!! Slow and Steady wins the race! It makes no sense to be in a rush or to try to be better than someone else…
Be better than YOU!! Find Your Pace!! Know that whatever goal you set forth for yourself will be yours, as long as you keep moving! Rushing comes from a sense of fear and a sense of lack!! Slow down and enjoy the scenery!! The process is the best part of the journey!!
-Ash’Cash
“Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
“To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first.” -William Shakespeare
“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” -Winnie the Pooh
“Race to the finish not race from the start, pace yourself, run your own race and don’t get sucked into someone else’s.” – Kevin Sayers
“You were placed on this earth to create, not to compete.” -Dr. Robert Anthony
“In the Race of Life, don’t waste your energy and time trying to compare with others… Sometimes you are ahead, sometimes behind…. The race is long and in the end it’s only with yourself…” -Rashika Jains
“You have to pace yourself. If you have a day off, take it as a whole day off. Just relax. That’ll help in the long run.” -Chris Shelton
“Have fun in your command. Don’t always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave when you’ve earned it: Spend time with your families.” -Colin Powell
TO HEAR THE AUDIO VERSION OF THE DAILY WORD – CLICK HERE.
Ash’Cash is a Business Consultant, Motivational Speaker, Financial Expert and the author of Mind Right, Money Right: 10 Laws of Financial Freedom. For more information, please visit his website, www.IamAshCash.com.
They’ve always been somewhere left of ordinary. For over 20 years, the collective known as De La Soul has defined eclecticism and creative independence in an always finicky industry. They were born of the Native Tongue and Zulu Nation influence, meaning an automatic alignment with Hip-Hop at its roots, and they’ve never been afraid to not be like your other favorite rappers.
In 2012, Plug 1 (Dave) and Posdnous (Plug 2) of De La Soul find themselves at a new crossroads – still young enough to create interesting rap with stimulating visuals and lyricism, yet clearly not like most of today’s younger musical set – and not overly obsessed with decadence and or telling strippers what to do with a pole.
So, what’s their answer to the dilemma of what to do next? De La Soul’s Plug 1 & Plug 2 Present…First Serve, a “concept album” as defined by Dave, recorded by the fictional characters, Jacob Barrow and Deen Whitter. The duo bears a striking, possibly satirical resemblance to a few of today’s top rappers, and their make-believe Goon Time Records label does, too.
But Dave SWEARS ON EVERYTHING that those are just mere coincidences, so AllHipHop.com checked in to get the real deal on who’s serving what first?:
AllHipHop.com: Hi Dave. How are you?
Dave: I’m good. How are you?
AllHipHop.com: I’m great. Thanks. So what’s up?
Dave: Well, we were in Paris and throughout the UK for a month….
AllHipHop.com: Oh, word? Back from overseas, dope. Well, let me ask you about First Serve. I remember you guys sent us the exclusive when you first made the announcement about First Serve earlier this year, so thank you for that.
But when First Serve was first announced, it was called a lot of things – a group, an album, a concept, a movie soundtrack. So I wanted to ask you to define just what First Serve really is.
Dave: I mean, it’s just another adventure, another challenge. I guess, you know, when you put it on the shelf, you would call it a concept album. But for us, it’s just another lilypad in the pond that we’re just hopping onto. We’ve always liked to challenge ourselves and try different things, and not stay on one course. This record gave us the opportunity to record overseas and do things we like. We like challenging ourselves in regards to meeting up with people we are unfamiliar with, but musically seem to have a lot of parallels.
When we hooked up with Kalid and DJ Chocolate, two guys out of Paris who produced for us as well, so I was like, ‘OK, let’s see what this is about. They had this concept, they wanted to do an album, but more like a Blaxploitation kinda movie kinda thing, and they wanted to place it in the early ‘70s. We sat down and said obviously, that’s something we’re familiar with, but let’s do something in the present. And now we have a story of two guys who were like close friends, they were like brothers in their adventures and their pursuit of their dreams.
So for us, it’s just another challenge, another idea, another way to go in what we do, pretty much.
AllHipHop.com: So, would you call this a total reinvention of yourselves, or is this just for this time, and we may see some other derivation of you guys later?
Dave: You know, it’s funny you say that. It’s not a new birth of or a reincarnation into another group. These are two brand new people.
AllHipHop.com: Right…
Dave: They have no connection at all to myself or Pos, you know? Deen Whitter is totally opposite of Dave Jolicouer. He’s rambunctious, a little loud, you know, a bit of an alcoholic. It’s somebody totally brand new, so this isn’t De La [Soul] at all. Now the music and the style in which it’s recorded, it has De La [Soul] blood in its veins, but this is a totally new encounter. These are different people.
AllHipHop.com: OK, well, I’ve seen quite a few of the visuals and heard some of the music, so I want to ask you about some observations I had. The first is that you talk about Jacob and Deen as these fictional characters, but you seem to be poking a little bit of fun, or making a little bit of commentary on the industry. Like you had “Goon Time Records” and that sort of thing. Was part of your plan to use a comedic way to talk about some of the wackness that’s going on?
Dave: No, not at all. I think that’s something people are going to expect from De La [Soul]…the guys who do parodies, the guys who make fun of the guys who always have some sort of platform to stand on. But, not at all. I think it’s that we tried to make this as real as possible, you know, in regards to a story, a reflection of how real things are. It’s not to ridicule them, it’s just as much as there’s a Freeway and there’s a Rick Ross, and there’s a, I believe his name is Stalley, and so many others, why can’t there be a Dean Whitter that has a beard?
AllHipHop.com: OK, right… [laughter]
Dave: This isn’t to clown any of those guys. He just happens to have a beard like them. I’m sure there’s so many of these early starting labels, whether it was a Cash Money or whether it was a No Limit or a Bad Boy…why can’t there be Goon Time?
AllHipHop.com: Ummm, OK… [more laughter]
Dave: It isn’t to clown them at all! It’s to borrow from real life.
AllHipHop.com: Right.
Dave: That’s all it is. People say that Pos’ character is clowning like a Kanye or Will Smith. No, not at all. This guy feels like he’s a superstar, and he wants to be flamboyant in his clothing or what have you, why can’t he be? [laughter] I think it’s because it’s De La [Soul], people just off the bat take it like ‘they’re dissing and clowning people.’ Nah, we’re creating a scene with real things and people who we want you to take as real people as well.
AllHipHop.com: OK. I’ll buy that, but it sounds like a bit of a diplomatic answer, knowing the history of you guys.
Dave: No! Honestly, it’s not a diplomatic answer, and I think that’s one of the things…we’ve been posed this question on several occasions, but whether it’s a Rick Ross or it’s a Kanye, and I’m saying the both…whether it’s a label who’s trying to make it happen, I cheer ‘em on. This industry is for a lot of people to get as much as they can, and hopefully do something historical and legendary and phenomenal, so I’m all for it. I think people always just try to connect De La [Soul] as trying to check something. That isn’t the case, I mean, that isn’t the case. We never sat down and said, ‘I’m gonna look like Rick Ross.’ Nah, that’s what I want my character to look like.
AllHipHop.com: OK, well, I didn’t sort of dig deep for anything like that. It sorted of just looked like some of the symbolism that you guys used was…but OK, I was gonna say also for the visuals, it’s very fun, it’s very trippy, almost like an acid trip. I thought of “The Great Space Coaster”! I’m kinda showing my age on that. [laughter] How did you guys decide to go the way you did with the visuals?
Dave: Actually, the video concept was from the video director, Schwarzke? I forget his first name, I apologize. He came up with the idea and the concept of just making a real Paris, Parisienne look, with all of the artwork and the drawings, and just the exaggeration of things and what have you. I think it worked out cool. I think it looks great. I think we found somebody who aligns in De La [Soul] style, trying new things and trying experimental things and really taking them there. So I think what we’ve gotten so far is something that we’ve really loved and appreciated. Hopefully we’ll continue that route with the future presentations, you know, video or posters or covers or what have you. It looks good; I’m enjoying it as well.
AllHipHop.com: Yeah, it definitely does fit the style of how you guys have sort of been offbeat right from the beginning. So, let me ask you about your assessment of Hip-Hop right now. We’ve had a lot of things in the news, Trayvon Martin and stuff like that, that has a portion of the audience calling for music that has some substance to it again. You guys, really the whole Native Tongue family, have been known for substance. So, how is it looking to you right now in the industry?
Dave: Yeah, you know, it’s tough. I think sometimes social events and social issues definitely bring a serious note to Hip-Hop and rap music as a whole. Sometimes it’s kinda cool, it’s to its benefit. People gotta definitely check themselves, and hopefully, you know what, whether it’s a song or whether it’s a statement or whether it’s just a life change, it will be helpful to grow. I think the direction has been great thus far, you know what I mean? They can become the biggest moguls in this game. It’s great to see that happening…to see them be able to give family members and friends, you know, jobs and experiences, and so on and so forth.
I just think overall, maybe some will last, 15 years or so. We fall off the path sometimes. I think there’s still a little bit too much – hmm, how would I say it? – full of it, BS’ing in the game. I don’t think every record has to be about partying. I don’t think every record has to do that. It’s gotten even worse these days with like pouring champagne on chicks and like trying to be the most obscene now. You know, it’s like I think we still need to censor ourselves sometimes, because there are a lot of impressionable minds out there. Sometimes a positive message here and there could help.
But as a whole, I think we’re moving forward, and we’re also getting older and more mature in the game. Even the young dudes these days are coming in with more of a role model look and are trying to do the right things. Hopefully they’ll exercise that a little bit more. It can get better just like anything else; the whole Hip-Hop could get a little bit smarter, but I think it’s a learning process, and we’re a work in progress. Hopefully in the next few years, we’ll see things getting better.
AllHipHop.com: Alright, cool. So lastly, I wanted to ask you, I know you guys had the project released on Duck Down, and I wanted to ask what’s next for this whole “First Serve” concept? And wait, where is Maseo? Where’s Maseo???
Dave: Maseo is here. He actually called me this morning. That’s one thing we want people to understand. This is a project that Pos and I were called for, because the producers are also DJs, and so, in recording this record, there wasn’t any need for a DJ. So that’s something that was discussed, and he gave us his blessing and we made this happen. We’re also working on a De La [Soul] album now. Actually, we’re recording two records at this point in time, and Mase is right here. It’s just, you know, fulfilling what we had to do with this project first, and then we’ll put out the De La [Soul] records. So, we here – Plug 1, 2 and 3. We here.
AllHipHop.com: OK, that’s great to hear. So, is there anything else you want to shout out to our audience while we’re here?
Dave: Yeah, definitely they can check us out on Twitter. If anything, I appreciate the fact that people are giving us a chance – this is 2012. Our first release was 1988, and we’ve been blessed to be able to sustain it and be here. This album is a testament to it. I’m sure there will be people who are not fans of this record, but it’s to get the newcomers to appreciate the work that we do. You know, they don’t have to be fans, but when they recognize the hard work and ambition and what not that was put into the music, I just appreciate everybody who took a listen to the First Serve project as well as De La [Soul] projects in the past.
During his recent trip to New York City, AllHipHop.com caught up with Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Kevin McCall. McCall was first introduced on the scene in 2010, when he appeared on Chris Brown’s#### song, “Deuces”, a song McCall both wrote and produced.
Today, as a singer, rapper, producer, and writer, this quadruple threat is now working on his debut album, and recently released its first single, “Naked”, featuring Big Sean. AllHipHop.com sat down with McCall to find out about his solo project, his Chris Brown-directed visual for “Naked”, and to learn more about his upbringing in Watts, California. McCall even touches on whether or not the song “Deuces” was written with Rihanna in mind:
In our interview, McCall reveals, “There’s been a void in it [R&B], and the ladies are asking for it, so I’m gonna give them what they want.
“I’m going to be that guy. I’m that guy. I’ll say it.”
Authorities accuse Rosemond, who appeared in a court today in a crisp, pin-stripped suit, of organizing a conspiracy to distribute cocaine imported from Los Angeles, to New York.
“I’m going to make a bold statement. The prosecution’s case against Jimmy Rosemond can’t be trusted,” Gerald Shargel told the jury. “The witnesses they are relying on want to be paid with the price of freedom. These witnesses have an eloquent history of lying. I don’t mean simply insignificant lies, I mean lies that hit to the heart of this case.”
When a document in the article was found to be fabricated, the Los Angeles Times was forced to publish a retraction, fire Chuck Philips and settle a defamation of character lawsuit with Jimmy Rosemond for $250,000.
