(AllHipHop News) A concert in Toronto featuring Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy ended early, after gunshots were fired inside the venue.
Young Jeezy took to the stage at Toronto’s Sound Academy, last night (April 4).
According to eyewitnesses, the shooting took place right before Young Jeezy was supposed to perform, around 12:30 AM.
But the show was immediately halted, when several gunshots rang out inside of the venue.
Young Jeezy confirmed the reports via his Twitter account, early this morning (April 5).
“Backstage @ Sound Academy in Toronto,” Young Jeezy tweeted. “Police closed venue and cancelled the greatest show! I will be back! Next stop London,Ontario! Can’t Ban the snowman. I be back Toronto!”
Witnesses said that prior to the shooting, there were various fights in the crowd, which was reportedly hostile from the outset of the concert.
As of press time, it is not known if police have suspects in question over the shooting.
Young Jeezy is on a tour of Canada as part of the “Hustlaz Ambition” tour. There are two dates left.
Tonight, Jeezy will perform at London Music Hall in London, Ontario and tomorrow, the tour winds down in Montreal at the Olympia Theatre.
(AllHipHop News) Mary J. Blige has released a statement explaining a controversial chicken at that hit the Internet this week.
According to the “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul,” the Burger King ad was released prematurely.
“I agreed to be a part of a fun and creative campaign that was supposed to feature a dream sequence,” Mary J. Blige told TMZ.com. “Unfortunately, that’s not what was happening in that clip.”
What was happening in the clip was labeled stereotypical by a variety of critics and fans.
Mary J. Blige was reportedly paid $2 million to be a part of the ad campaign, which featured her singing about chicken to the tune of her song “Don’t Mind.”
AllHipHop.com’s illCommunity reacted to the commercial, which was a hotly debated subject.
The controversy surrounding Mary’s commercial for the “BK Chicken Snack Wrap” was enough for Burger King to pull the video from YouTube and apologize.
“We would like to apologize to Mary J. and all of her fans for airing an ad that was not final,” the company said in a statement.
Mary J. Blige also apologize to her fans.
“I understand my fans being upset by what they saw. But, if you’re a Mary fan, you have to know I would never allow an unfinished spot like the one you saw go out.”
(AllHipHop News) Trinidadian born/Queens raised rapper Nicki Minaj made a stop in her home town of New York this morning (April 4), during a visit to Power 105’s Breakfast Club morning show.
Nicki confronted a number of issues during the interview, including the criticism that she faced after her controversial performance at this year’s Grammy Awards.
“That was my best performance ever and if everybody didn’t agree you can…” Nicki Minaj told the Breakfast Club. “That was my best performance ever, ever. But can I say something, I did a skit on my ‘Right Through Me,’ I did a skit on ‘Moment for Life’ video, I did a fighting scene in my ‘Fly’ video. That was the skit for the ‘Roman Holiday’ video, it goes perfectly for the song, what don’t y’all understand?”
Nicki also addressed her relationship with her right hand man Scaff Beezy, who is Co-Executive of her project Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.
“He is the reason for ‘Did it On ‘Em’ being on my album, he is the reason for ‘Beez in the Trap’ being on my album. But he knows lyrically what I am capable of and I keep a small circle and even in the studio,” Nicki said. “So that’s a point, I have people that I can trust right by my side. That’s why he is co-executive producer of the album, because he is the one that got all the beats and he is the one going back and forth with 2Chainz and Cam and we run our own ship. We have a couple of companies together. I don’t know what people want me to say.”
Nicki Minaj’s project Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded is available nationwide and features appearances from Cam’ron, 2 Chainz, Nas, Drake, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Beanie Man, Bobby V and Chris Brown.
(AllHipHop News) Jet Life recording artist and Harlem native Smoke DZA dropped a new 8-track EP today (April 4) titled Cuz I Felt Like It.
Inspired by his fellow Jet Life comrade Young Roddy, DZA released the tape unexpectedly with the following message: “I was on Nah Right on Saturday scrolling thru being a fan, trying to see what’s going on in the music world. Young Roddy dropped a tape on Sunday and I got inspired and felt like rappin’. So I called my engineer Mat Cody up and told him to come to the trap. I rapped over some of my friends beats plus a few other tunes I thought was cool, hit 2 of my homies from Harlem, and put it out for free cuz I felt like it. #Rrrright.”
With the recent release of Young Roddy’s Good Sense mixtape, DZA dropping Cuz I Felt Like It, and Curren$y plotting a June release for The Stoned Immaculate, Jet Life Recordings are showing no signs of slowing down. “We’re working on the road for the rest of the year. We just want to show that we’re one of the hardest working groups out,” DZA told AllHipHop.com.
DZA, who has his sights set on an early summer release for his new album Rugby Thompson, shared with AllHipHop.com that “Rugby Thompson is done. Well, 95 percent done, ’cause I’m waiting on one guest feature and I’ve never done music with this person before; but so far, the finished product is there.”
He continued, “Of course I got Spitta [Curren$y] on there. I got Domo Genesis; that’s my little brother from Odd Future, and I support everything they do. I got an interesting joint with Thirstin Howell and Meyhem Lauren called ‘The Horsemen.’ I got my bro Bronsilino on there, me and Action Bronson got something called ‘Turnbuckle’ on there. So yeah, that sh*t is done. All the production is from Harry Fraud, and we’ve got big, big records on there. I’m just excited for the next chapter.”
When asked about his relationship with Harry, DZA told us, “It’s always a pleasure to work with somebody as talented as Harry, you know, I’m blessed to be able to work with him and put out a whole project with him. Harry Fraud is one of the best producers out, and that’s my brother man. We’ve got an ill chemistry, and we knock out a lot of records quick and they’re really hot. I got the same feeling from him that I got from Ski [Beatz] when I worked on George Kush Da Button. When me and Harry are in the studio, we just push each other.”
With Rugby Thompson planned for release in early summer make sure you’re on the lookout for the video to the album’s track, “New Jack,” in the coming weeks.
Check out the full tracklisting and artwork for Cuz I Felt Like Itbelow:
First off, Happy four-year wedding anniversary to Beyonce and Jay-Z! The two tied the knock in a secret ceremony on April 4, 2008. To commemorate their anniversary, we hear Beyonce has created a tumblr account where she plans to release intimate photos of her and Jay-Z during the last four years.
We hear she will be releasing wedding photos, vacation pics, and photos of Blue Ivy Carter. Right now, the Beyonce tumblr page has a password on it, but we hear it will be going live soon. It’s good to see the Carters sharing more of their life with their fans.
Welcome to the day you begin to change your life forever! Today’s Daily Word is dedicated to getting out of your comfort zone! Many people say they want greatness, but many are not willing to pay the price for their dreams! We need to realize that in order to get what we want out of life, we must be willing to make the sacrifice! GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE!! Where you are right now is nowhere near where your potential can take you!
Your comfort zone is a trap! It makes you believe that you are where you’re suppose to be, but the truth is that life is growth! Everyday you must be willing to grow and maximize your full potential and be better than you are right now! Stop being complacent! The moment you cease to progress is the moment that your life loses meaning! Get comfortable being uncomfortable, and the things you can accomplish are limitless!!
Life is for living so live it the best way you know how!! Matter of fact, live it the best way you don’t know how….. Get out of your zone and do it bigger!!
-Ash’Cash
“If you want to be comfortable, take an easy job. If you aspire for greatness, take off your coat.” -Unknown
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” -Neale Donald Walsch
“To the degree we’re not living our dreams, our comfort zone has more control of us than we have over ourselves.” -Peter McWilliams
“We shall have no better conditions in the future if we are satisfied with all those which we have at present.” -Thomas Edison
“Don’t get too comfortable with who you are at any given time – you may miss the opportunity to become who you want to be.” -Jon Bon Jovi
“Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. It may get tough, but it’s a small price to pay for living a dream.” -Peter McWilliams
“Risk is essential. There is not growth of inspiration in staying within what is safe and comfortable. Once you find out what you do best, why not try something else?” -Alex Noble
“Nobody ever died of discomfort, yet living in the name of comfort has killed more ideas, more opportunities, more actions, and more growth than everything else combined. Comfort kills!” -T. Harv Eker
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.
Celebrities are selling everything these days – from Beamers, Benzs and Bugatis to weight-loss plans. The endorsement money makes for a good cushion when recording albums and filming movies runs dry for the moment.
Still, as they say, “all money ain’t good money.” And depending on the product or the commercial, it may be a career hurt piece when artist endorsements go wrong. To boot, depending on the celebrity, the product companies may want to run the other way. Check out our “Top 5 Celebrity Endorsements That May Not Have Been Such a Bright Idea”:
5. Mary J. Blige and The Burger King Crispy Chicken Wrap Debacle
This is too recent to really see what the long-term effects of the Burger King commercial fiasco will be on Mary J. Blige. The latest is that Burger King themselves pulled the controversial ads depicting the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul overly excited about their new chicken product due to “copyright issues.”
People, mostly Black we assume, are up in arms over the stereotypical visual that chicken makes Black folks happy as bluejays. If that’s the case, then we’re singing, ‘cause chicken tastes great! But, for Mary, who has won Grammys and worldwide praise for two decades, linking up with something so overt and historically damaging may have been a really bad move. (We’re also reminded of a few other “Chicken Fails” – namely, Flavor Flav and MC Hammer. Umph.)
4. Michael Jackson’s Hair-Raising Pepsi Problem
It’s not that Pepsi products are bad (well, except for the sugar and weird ingredients). It’s just that some of their celebrity encounters end up kinda cray. Case in point was the Michael Jackson global news incident of 1984, when his Jheri curl caught on fire during the filming of a commercial. The icon’s love for everything over the top, coupled with the big Pepsi budget, led to a pyrotechnic disaster when fireworks ignited the chemicals in his hair. He suffered severe scalp burns, reportedly leading him toward the prescription drug addiction that ended his life years later.
In other bad Pepsi PR, Kanye West’s costly ads were pulled a few years back after he stormed Taylor Swift’s stage in a drunken Beyonce fan fit. Further showing they don’t play that, Pepsi some years earlier pulled Madonna’s ads after she released the religiously-ratchet “Like A Prayer” video.
3. Ice Cube and Coors Light – “You think you colder than ME?”
The West Coast legend Ice Cube has made some of the most gangster rap ever. When he walks in the room, even Deebo gets quiet nowadays. Still, he has also made some questionable promotional moves outside the booth. There was that run of “Are We There Yet” kiddie movies. Ahem, ahem. The latest is his Coors Light commercial, and his hardcore fans weren’t having it. We don’t see anything particularly wrong with Ice Cube selling Coors Light in this ad. Watch Ice Cube’s Coors Light commercial below and decide for yourself:
We say, what?? It’s not like it’s St. Ides, thank God, and even a swagged-out Billy Dee Williams sold Colt 45 like a champ in his day.
2. T-Pain’s Auto-Tune Microphone – The Christmas Toy Hit of 2011!
Five or six years ago, it was undeniable who the King of the Radio Airwaves was. T-Pain was featured on more Top 10 singles than anyone, and he pioneered the use of Auto-Tune in Pop and Urban Music. Like everything good, the bandwagon jumped onboard, possibly overusing the technology to warp their voices on song after song. And when people finally started to get sick of it, they blamed T-Pain for his role in popularizing it. That’s foul! After taking a PR beating,T-Pain sat out a few rounds, but came back swinging last year with a new deal, new music, and a new TOY???
T-Pain obviously doesn’t care what the haters think. What makes us say that? It could be the obvious way he’s left himself open for madddd jokes by creating an Auto-Tune microphone that kids can use to manipulate their vocals all the way to the top of the music industry. Not. The commercials, though? Pure hilarity.
He has reportedly made a few million dollars by licensing his name and likeness for the toy. A few million? T-Pain, your haters have officially been “chopped and screwed.”
1. Warren G’s Erectile Dysfunction Malfunction
Hey, fellas, we get it. Sometimes your little man isn’t working up to his full potential. Lucky for you, there are a ton of products on the market now that can help. BUT, if you’re a legendary West Coast, Dogg Pound-affiliated rapper named Warren G, you might want to pass this opportunity by. Indeed, Warren did lend himself for the Affirm XL penile enhancement pill ads picked up by TMZ that left him with a lot of explaining to do in 2011.
So, can Warren G get it up on his own? We’re not sure. But he sure spent a lot of time digging himself out of that hole. No pun intended!
There are a bunch more bad endorsement examples out there – share your own below!
BONUS: This ain’t Hip-Hop, but it’s just plain crazy, so we’re throwing it in. In 1961, some execs from the hugely popular “Flintstones” cartoon series thought it would be a swell idea to partner up with the Winston CIGARETTE commercial and let Fred sell cigs to kiddies. Ummm. Hmmm. No.
(AllHipHop News) Wyclef Jean will headline a controversial concert at the University of Colorado on April 20, also known as “4/20.”
Wyclef will hit the stage on “4/20,” which is also a popular marijuana smoking holiday.
According to the University, the $150,000 concert featuring Wyclef is meant to serve as a distraction from smoking marijuana that day.
“We are asking students to support us in the effort to protect the reputation of our institution and do it by attending a great free concert,” said Carly Robinson.
A variety of rappers celebrate the holiday, in particular Cypress Hill and Snoop Dogg, who is even releasing a free marijuana themed EP on the holiday.
But officials at the University of Colorado claim the annual celebration has gotten out of control at the University.
According to The Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, the annual gathering at the University of Colorado drew over 10,000 people last year and is the largest celebration on a college campus in the country.
The day of the concert featuring Wyclef, students will be find up to $100 if they are caught smoking on campus.
The Wyclef Jean concert on 4/20 takes place from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Coors Events Center at CU-Boulder.
Organizers are planning to stop entry at 4 p.m., to ensure those the venue do not light up at 4:20 p.m.
According to Pusha T’s Twitter, G.O.O.D. Music will soon be dropping “Mercy”, the highly anticipated first single from the G.O.O.D. Music compilation album. We hear the single is reportedly dropping this Friday, April 6, which just so happens to be the Easter holiday, Good Friday. Check out his tweet below:
The song reportedly features Kanye West, Big Sean, and Pusha T. The G.O.O.D. Music album is set to feature an all star cast including Common, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Frank Ocean, Hit-Boy, Mannie Fresh, Marsha Ambrosius, Mr Hudson, and more.
Kanye West, in a rare social media moment, has also tweeted that the album is coming out this coming spring. Check out his tweet below:
