Nicki Minaj recently changed the photo on her Twitter page profile, and it looks like it was a photoshopped photo of Beyonce. The picture caught the eye of MediaTakeOut, who did some research and found the original photo, which was indeed of Beyonce.
Check out the side by side photos below:
The hand in Nicki’s photo is exactly the same as the hand in Beyonce’s photo. Even the way the curls fall is identical. Soon after being called out, Nicki deleted the photo from her page and replaced it with another one. Very weird.
In related news, today’s NY Post Page Sixis reporting that Nicki Minaj and “American Idol” are almost all signed off on the contract to have her join Mariah Carey as a judge, but Nicki’s endorsement deal with Pepsi is holding up the process. You see, Coca-Cola is the official sponsor for “American Idol”, and Nicki promotes Pepsi.
Sources close to “Idol” also revealed that the show is banking on conflict between Minaj and Carey, and hope that the beef will translate into ratings. Will you be watching “American Idol” if Nicki joins?
There are artists, and then there are legends. Big Daddy Kane has been deemed as the MC who singlehandedly defined the term ‘lyricist.’ Known for dope rhymes and next level performances, he is an imperative and irreplaceable part of the music industry.
He recently shared his insights with AllHipHop.com on the state of Hip-Hop today:
AllHipHop.com: If you could sit yourself down the day before you signed your deal, what would you do differently, based off of the knowledge you have now?
Big Daddy Kane: If I could go back I would focus more on the business side. I would become more educated on things that have such a profound impact on your career. I would’ve learned more about publishing, point structure, and had a shorter deal, for example. I was simple unaware about a lot. I would advise those wanting to be in this industry to make full use of resources. You can’t know everything, but you can take the time to understand more than what happens in the studio and on the stage.
AllHipHop.com: What would you tell new artists in regards to longevity in the business?
Big Daddy Kane: Be yourself. Build a fanbase that respects you for your art form. Don’t follow trends because once they leave, you leave, too. It should be that even when you’re not hot, people still want to know about you as a person, what you have going on outside of music.
AllHipHop.com: Who are some artists you believe in?
Big Daddy Kane: Most artists I really believe in are mainly underground. As we all know a lot of good music doesn’t make it mainstream, but Saigon and Cory Gunz are some of my favorites. They are true lyricists.
AllHipHop.com: Define success as you see it?
Big Daddy Kane: To me success is achieving your goals. Whatever you set out to do and accomplish is success. If you want to be rich and famous, and you get to that point, you’ve reached success, because that was your goal. Only you can measure your success.
VIDEO: Legendary Lyricist Big Daddy Kane Explains How Freestyles Are Really Written Down
AllHipHop.com: How do you feel about the industry being so consumed with material things?
Big Daddy Kane: The younger generation is so caught up on “balling out”. In turn women are degrading themselves chasing after the ballers, and music plays a big part in the messages that are put out. Many will give their last to seem rich, but have no wealth built up. I have the utmost respect for cats like LL, Luda, Diddy, and others, who have became entrepreneurs. Back in the ’80s artists weren’t opening restaurants and getting into various business ventures like today. The business side is so important. The sad part is the positive things aren’t as interesting as much as how big their houses are. In turn, people are caught up in trying to keep up with an image.
AllHipHop.com: With that being said, what is Hip-Hop missing, if anything, to you?
Big Daddy Kane: There’s a lack of quality. Today, we’re missing those songs that brought about that nostalgic feeling. For the most part, the sentimental value in a lot of today’s record is missing. A song that is 25 years old can still be played and loved, as if it was the first time hearing it. Now people don’t want to hear 25 seconds of a track. Labels and radio stations play a huge role in what value people put into what they hear, or lack of it, for that matter.
AllHipHop.com: What are you currently working on?
Big Daddy Kane: I just finished an album with Showtime. Live band and all; it’s something like Amy Winehouse meets The Roots. I’m spitting as I did back in the ’80s. I’m on the Rock The Bells Tour, and will be speaking with Minster Farrakhan at The Day Of Atonement in Charlotte.
AllHipHop.com: Any other thoughts you’d like to share:
Big Daddy Kane: Let me say this, too, don’t completely blame the artists for some of the music you hear. They are simply expressing themselves. Not every rapper is that talented to where they can be lyrical. Silly songs in Hip-Hop aren’t a new thing. Those types of songs have always been around. They shouldn’t be looked down upon, because it’s always a matter of what’s promoted and played. Again, that’s on the labels and stations.
Visit Big Daddy Kane’s website: OfficialBigDaddyKane.com and follow him on Twitter (@OfficialBDK).
Tawni Fears is a freelance writer and contributor to AllHipHop.com. Follow her on Twitter: @brwnsugaT.
BET alum DJ Mad Linx spoke with AllHipHop.com in Miami recently about the question that many die-hard, seasoned Hip-Hop fans have been wondering for years – “What happened to Rap City?”
The former host explained, “My personal opinion – technology happened. When you look back to the last seven or eight years of what’s happened, you’ve got YouTube, MySpace, Facebook; even the street DVDs took a lot of steam out of what people once had to go home to and watch on TV.
“You could think back to a period in time where if you wanted to know what was happening in the world of Hip-Hop, you only had a few options of what to check out – The Source, later on XXL, at one point, “YoMTV Raps”, and of course, “Rap City”.
Mad Linx offered some of his personal highlights from working on the show: “There was definitely a lot of people that came through ‘Rap City’ while I was there, a lot of people I wish had come through that didn’t. The most ironic thing of the time I was there, Game had just come out at the time; he was the newest signee to G-Unit. Right around the time he was supposed to appear, the whole Hot 97 thing popped off.”
Regarding some of his favorite freestyles: “Cassidy was a high point; Kanye West was great to have – at that point in time, he was just coming into his own; he was ascending. Late Registration had just dropped. We had Talib Kweli, Xzibit, and the Strong Arm Steady crew.”
In the meantime, in 2012, fans who are still holding onto the nostalgia of shows like “Rap City” can tap into the show-inspired, artist mash-up Mad Linx is promoting via a new mixtape entitled What Happened to Rap City? Vol. 1.
As I type this Daily Word, it is being done with a heavy heart! Yesterday, as I finished a speaking engagement in South Carolina, I got a text message about the passing of Chris Lighty.
At first glance, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. As the story began to be confirmed, the first thing I thought was, “Oh my God, his kids just lost a father.” As the day progressed, there
began to be an onslaught of condolences and kind words by friends, family, and well wishers. No one really knows what really happened and what was the true cause of this tragedy, but it was obvious that Chris was dealing with some personal issues.
I had the pleasure of meeting Chris several times, and even maintained a mentee/mentor relationship via e-mail, and I can say he was honest, direct, and straight to the point, but definitely had a good heart. As I read the kind words that everyone was sharing, I can only think to myself… “What if everyone said those words to him just a day before?” (Including myself.) Unfortunately, his personal issues were public, so the opportunity was there.
We must not take for granted the power of encouragement and being kind. No matter how strong someone looks, you never know what they are going through on the inside. Don’t wait to be Kind! Take every opportunity to uplift and brighten someone’s day. Life can be difficult at times, and a simple word of appreciation can go so far. Roses make good decorations after, but they have better use when people are alive! Again…. DO NOT WAIT TO BE KIND!! Give roses when people are still able to smell them! Rest In Power, Chris Lighty!! You will be missed!!
-Ash’Cash
“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” -Plato
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” -Mother Teresa
“As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way.” -Mary Anne Radmacher
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” -Desmond Tutu
“If you can’t be kind, at least be vague.” -Judith Martin
“The words of the tongue should have three gatekeepers: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?” -Arabian Proverb
“Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, and don’t put up with people that are reckless with yours.” -Mary Schmich
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.
(AllHipHop News) A New Jersey court has upheld the conviction of Harlem rapper Max B.
The state appeals hearing upheld the conviction stemming from Max B’s role in a Fort Lee hotel murder.
According to court documents Max B won’t be eligible for parole for another 30 years, for his part in masterminding a robbery at the Fort Lee Holiday Inn on Route 4, that left a man shot dead.
If the conviction is upheld, Max B won’t leave Trenton State Penitentiary until 2042.
In 2009 Max B, born Charly Wingate, 34, was sentenced to 75 years in 2009 after being convicted of numerous charges, including murder, kidnapping and armed robbery.
Despite the fact that he wasn’t at the hotel, prosecutors said Max B set up the robbery and murder, by getting his step brother and girlfriend to commit the crime.
Max B had already served 8 years in prison when he was released in 2005.
(AllHipHop News) Lupe Fiasco, has released the tracklist and blacked out on his album art for his new album, Food and Liquor 2: Great American Rap Album Pt. 1, due in stores and on Amazon on September 25. The album cover is pitch black with no title except a mandatory “parental advisory explicit content” label.
Over the past two weeks, visuals for Fiasco’s singles “B*tch Bad” and “Battle Scars” with Guy Sebastian have hit the net. In his most recent released “Battle Scars”, Fiasco tells viewers to “turn off your computer right now, and go outside and do something to change the world.”
When asked by super producer Mannie Fresh if he has made the definitive song of his career yet for 2cent TV, Lupe tells Fresh that his song “Form Follows Function”, which is featured on his upcoming album, is the only song not featured on a mixtape that he feels has touched “the bottom of rapper’s heaven. On the pure side, I’m always on the pursuit to make the ultimate song for me… There’s another record on the new album called “Form Follows Function” that’s close,” says Fiasco.
Check out the tracklist for Food and Liquor 2: Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 below:
Editor’s Note: There are less than 75 days until voters nationwide will descend upon the polls to elect officials to some of the top offices in the country. This election year has been unlike any other in recent years past, and the critical issues that affect everyday citizens – like the economy, healthcare, and civil rights – matter more than ever.
AllHipHop.com is committed to helping convene the Hip-Hop generation at the polls. All this week, join us to learn about some of the ways OUR CULTURE is stepping up big to ensure the right to vote.
(AllHipHop News) Hakim Green and Queen Yonasda Lonewolf know a thing or two about movements that create change.
The two have joined forces alongside organizations such as the Hip Hop Union and local colleges and universities to create the Hip Hop 2 Vote movement, a nonpartisan effort to empower youth with a voice through their all-important votes at the polls this fall under the theme, “My Voice. My Vote. My Victory.”
Hakim Green of Channel Live
While there are lots of voter engagement initiatives springing forth in the final months before Election 2012, Hip Hop 2 Vote differs in the fact that it is rap artist driven. According to organizers, it also seeks to create an ongoing platform with Hip-Hop inspired solutions to a number of economic, social, and medical issues plaguing the community.
Lonewolf, who is also connected to the Wu-Tang Clan family, is helping to organize and host a series of Hip Hop 2 Vote summits around the country, with the aim of connecting people – especially the 18-35 year old demographic – to voter registration, policy education, and more.
Green recently led a Hip Hop 2 Vote summit at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York, and the next two summits are set for September 23 and 24 at Lany College in Oakland, California, and October 6 at Project South Community Center, and October 7 at Phoenix College in Phoenix, Arizona.
Visit Hip Hop 2 Vote on Twitter (@HIPHOP2VOTE) and Facebook. Visit the official Hip Hop 2 Vote website – register to vote on the site and more.
Chris Lighty is dead, according to multiple sources.
The Hip-Hop manager, who managed artists like 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, Diggy Simmons and numerous others.
According to The New York Daily News, Lighty put a gun to his head and shot himself, after an argument with his ex-wife Veronica, inside of his Bronx apartment.
A slew of condolences have hit Twitter and other social networks.
Lighty was a staple in Hip-Hop and managed acts like Mariah Carey, Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, Missy Elliott, and 50 Cent. He was also a member of Boogie Down Productions.
He was reportedly going through a difficult divorce, and it contributed greatly to his stress, sources with AllHipHop.com said.
Other sources told AllHipHop.com that Lighty had an automatic, cryptic auto-reply email message that indicated Lighty may be hospitalized for an undisclosed ailment as of last night.
Jeff Robinson, former manager of Alicia Keys and Lighty’s friend tweeted, “So very sad about Chris lighty..Great long time friend,fellow bronxite and peer…incredible businessman and person.”
Although Chris Brown’s rep released a statement earlier this week saying that he would not be at the MTV VMAs next week, rumors are swirling that he will be at the VMAs to perform alongside Rihanna! The two are rumored to be performing their collaborative song, “Cake”.
Rihanna tweeted her fans late last week and asked if they would be mad at her if “Cake” was turned into a single. According to MediaTakeOut.com, MTV suits expressed concern about the backlash they may receive due to the joint performance, but Rihanna was hearing none of that. She allegedly demanded that Breezy perform with her, and the producers of the show had no choice but to oblige.
Not sure why Rihanna is pressing the issue so much; maybe those hook-up rumors are true. Rihanna did tell Oprah that she was still in love with Chris. “I still love him. We’re very, very close friends. We built a trust again and that’s it. We love each other and we probably always will.”
But I just don’t understand how that works with Breezy’s girl, Karrueche Tran always around. Are you excited to finally see these two perform together? I wonder what Jay-Z has to say about this.
Sidenote – Those Wiz and Amber pregnancy rumors aren’t going anywhere. The latest I heard was that Amber was going to pull a “Beyonce” and announce her pregnancy at the VMAs. Does anybody care that much?
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