The BET Awards 2012 have begun, and AllHipHop.com has some pictures to share of some of the celebrities that have just walked down the red carpet. From Slaughterhouse to A$AP Rocky and Swizz Beatz, some of the music industry’s big names are here in Los Angeles!
Take a look:
Well, kind of! As a special “thank you” for allowing him to be a part of Justin Bieber’s new project, Big Sean gifted the Biebs with a reported $30,000 ring!
According to MTV News, Justin Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun revealed that the ring was originally owned by Big Sean, and he literally took it off of his finger and gave it to Justin while on set at the Today Show. PAUSE!!! Check out what Scooter said below:
“When they first met, Sean has this ring. It was his first ring he ever bought, the first piece of jewelry when he got his record deal. He gave it to Justin [at the ‘Today’ show]. He said, ‘I know you said you liked it, and I want to say thank you for involving me in the process and being a part of this. And I want you to have the ring.’ And he took it off, and Justin put it on and it was a real genuine moment. They’re friends.”
Big Sean is featured on Bieber’s Believe single, “As Long as You Love Me.” SO, what do you think about Big Sean giving Justin Bieber the ring off of his finger? Is that weird and extremely PAUSE-worthy, or is it just things that friends do for each other? I’m confused?!
(AllHipHop News) New Orleans rapper Turk, once a member of Cash Money Records’ biggest group the Hot Boys, will finally be released from prison.
Turk, who served almost nine years after being convicted for weapons violations, will finally be released from the Forrest City, Arkansas federal prison, on October 12, 2012.
Turk, born Tab Vigil Jr., was part of The Hot Boys from 1996-2001.
As a member of the group, Turk was featured on #1 albums like Get It How You Live!, Guerrilla Warfare and released a solo album titled Young & Thuggin’.
But Turk’s career took a tragic turn for the worst, in 2004, during an incident in Memphis, Tennessee.
At the time of the trial, it was hotly contested as to whether or not Turk, who was hiding in a closet, was the shooter, or if the officer who was hit was struck by friendly fire.
In October of 2005, Turk was convicted on federal weapons and drug possession charges.
Now that his prison sentence is behind him, the rapper is planning a new book titled “The AutoThugoGraphy of Turk.”
During his nine years incarcerated, Turk also completed a screenplay about his life titled “Reckless,” that he hopes to see make it to the big screen.
The first fight of the BET Awards almost took place last night when Busta Rhymes got into the face of a popular radio personality, and had to be held back from putting hands on him. According to several sources, Busta approached Power 105.1 Breakfast Club host, Charlamagne, at NOBU in Los Angeles over some mess that happened 8 years ago. Huh?
According to our source, Busta was upset over an interview with his baby mama and his son that took place on the Wendy Williams radio show in 2004. For those that don’t know, Charlamagne used to work for Wendy Williams a few years back, but according to him, he was not working with Wendy in 2004 when the interviews happened.
Artist manager James Cruz had to hold Busta Rhymes back from body slamming Charlamagne, while music executive Bu Thaim had to hold Charlamagne back. Crazy! But why wait 8 years to approach Charlamagne, and why not just confront Wendy Williams about it? SO weird.
When asked about the almost fight, Charlamagne told Vlad TV, “Arguing. Acting like we wanted to do something to each other but neither of us made a move. That’s why I don’t talk to n##### after 5PM.”
There must be more to this story. I’ll keep my ears open and update you if I hear anything else.
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(AllHipHop News) Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group label recently dropped the second installment of the Self Made series.
Ricky Rozay came out to show love in his hometown of Miami, where he signed every copy of Self Made Vol. 2.
“I signed some autographs, a few hundred people,” Rick Ross told AllHipHop.com. “July 31, God Forgives I Don’t, it’s over. ”
Rick Ross was joined by DJ Khaled who is currently wrapping up his Kiss The Ring Album
Triple C’s member Young Breed and 1/2 of Duce Pound, Quise and Maybach Latino were also on the scene showing support to the boss.
Self Made Vol. 2 is expected to debut high on the charts this week, based off of almost 90,000 units sold.
Check out the exclusive as Rick Ross checked in AllHipHop.com:
Follow Mikey T The Movie Star on Twitter @MTMovieStar
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Tonight, the BET Awards are going down live in Los Angeles, CA. With stars including Jay-Z, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, Usher, and Samuel L. Jackson all scheduled to be there, the awards are sure to be the talk of Twitter, and depending on what happens, may even shut down the social networking site altogether!
Although Drake is nominated for an award, we hear that he has backed out from attending, probably because Chris Brown is scheduled to perform. Rumors are swirling that R&B singer D’Angelo is scheduled to perform, as well as Whitney Houston’s mother, Cissy Houston – who will perform a special tribute to her late daughter. Rick Ross, Usher, Meek Mill, and Nicki Minaj are all scheduled to perform as well.
Our spies in L.A. also tell us that Spike Lee will be opening up the show with a top secret surprise that will either be a huge flop or will be a huge win.
So, the questions remains – is this enough to crash Twitter? Only time will tell. Enjoy the awards!
While in Sweden for the Peace & Love festival, pop star Rihanna got the news that her beloved Grandmother had passed away. If you follow Rihanna on Instagram, you know that Ri Ri had a very close relationship with her grandmother, who she affectionately called “gran gran”.
Rihanna instagram’ed several photos of her Grandma Dolly, along with the message, “Goodby, #grangranDOLLY get your beauty rest until I see you.”
In a surprise move, Chris Brown tweeted his condolences for Rihanna’s grandmother, tweeting, “Praying for family and the lost loved one. She was like my grandmother. Love you GRAN GRAN! RIP.”
Chris’ mother, Joyce Hawkins, also offered her condolences, tweeting, “ANGEL MAY GOD BE WITH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY IN YOUR TIME OF SORROW. LOVE YOU ANGEL,” she told Rihanna, who responded, “Thank you! Love u mama.”
R.I.P., Gran Gran Dolly.
Chris Brown has decided to take his beef with Drake to the studio, and has taken a few lyrical jabs on Drake on a freestlye for Chief Keef’s####, “I Don’t Like” featuring Game. This must be a result of the 24-hour session that Game had with Breezy a few nights ago in L.A. – although Tyga was in that session as well, so I don’t know. Would Tyga have stood by while Breezy dissed his labelmate right in front of him? Hmm.
Anyway, Brown’s remix goes after Drake’s eyebrows and implies that the YMCMB star is afraid to fight him on-on-one. Check out some of the lyrics below:
“A f-ck ni**a, that’s that sh-t I don’t like/They throwin’ bottles, I’m throwin’ models just ’cause I give a Itchbay long pipe,” raps Breezy. “I be singin’, he be singin’, so it’s on, fight/ But hold up, I ain’t give a ni**a no green light/ This head up, my bread up, one on one, what you scared, bruh?/ Matter fact, take care bruh, you a pu**y ni**a/ My ni**a Tunechi, yeah that ni**a nice/ Shout out to Nicki, man, that A$$ tight/ Them eyebrows, man, them sh-ts is yikes/ OVO, you overdosed, screamin’ YOLO no, I live twice.”
Breezy does give shout out’s to Young Money boss Lil’ Wayne and Nicki Minaj. Check out the freestyle below.
I wonder what kind of response Drake is going to come back with. Do you think Breezy can keep up with Drake lyrically?
(AllHipHop News) Wu-Tang Clan member RZA has revealed initial plans for the soundtrack to his highly anticipated directorial debut, The Man With the Iron Fists.
The RZA is directing and scoring The Man With the Iron Fists, which is currently filming and stars actress Lucy Liu, Russell Crowe, and RZA himself.
During an interview with Variety, RZA said that he plans to use the score to the film to produce a soundtrack featuring contemporary artists.
“It takes a lot of know-how,” RZA told Variety. “For every one minute of music, it sometimes took two days. So it wasn’t easy to do it like that, and there were a lot of crashes on the computers because there are so many different waves and layers on top of things to make it sound real and to give a real string articulation.”
Although he is used a full orchestra in the past, for this go round, RZA opted to use electronic synthesizers to reproduce a full orchestra.
According to Variety, the difference between RZA’s analog orchestra and his digital orchestra is minimal.
The Man With the Iron Fists is slated to be released in 2013, in time for Wu-Tang Clan’s 20th anniversary.
It’s the end of “Black Music Month!” And while it may not sound okay to some folks to call music ‘Black’ or ‘White’ or ‘in-between,’ there are definitely historical and cultural roots to today’s beloved music genres. Black Music Month is a time to celebrate the music of a people born out of struggle and raised into triumph. It emerged from the swamps and plantations of the South, the steel mills and railroads of the North, and everywhere Black people have been in this country.
Most Black Music is derived from the rhythms of Africa, and in America, it mashed with other sounds to create the rhythmic pulses of most modern, Pop and Rock music. Dictionary.com defines Rock N’ Roll as “a style of popular music that derives in part from blues and folk music and is marked by a heavily accented beat and a simple, repetitive phrase structure.”
Believe it or not, Rock N’ Roll is essentially Black Music – originating from artists such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and others, who noticed their bluesy sounds were kicked-up a notch when paired with heavy guitars and reckless drums. That their style was, by many accounts, “stolen” by the mainstream, White artists of the ’50s is still up for debate, but where Rock originally comes from is not.
In the early days of Rap, some artists found their voices over that same notion of heavy guitars and drums, and in honor of the monumental mixture between Rock and Rap, and because we love Black Music Month, AllHipHop.com offers its “Top 5 Artists (or Groups) To Mash-Up Rap With Rock”:
5. Public Enemy
Following Run-DMC’s “Walk This Way” record with Aerosmith in the mid-1980s, the music world opened its doors to more left-field collaborations that, more often than not, produced stellar results from the genres of Rock and Rap. The first examples were the iconic group’s sampling of Slayer on their 1988 album, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back followed by their collaboration with Anthrax on “Bring the Noise” three years later.
4. Cypress Hill
Lyricists B-Real and Sen-Dog are usually the first names you think of when Cypress Hill comes to mind, but the sound of Cypress comes from DJ Muggs and Eric “Bobo” Correa, the DJ/producer and current percussionist of the band, respectively. Since 1988, Cypress Hill has merged their Latin roots with booming drums, bass, and hard-hitting lyrics to create a sound that is uniquely their own and appreciated around the world. “Insane In the Membrane,” “(Rock) Superstar” and their mid-’90s collaboration with Alt-rockers Pearl Jam are just a few examples of the group’s innate ability to merge Rock and Rap together more than effectively.
3. Rage Against the Machine
In the 1990s, Rap was beginning to lead the forefront of what people considered “popular music.” One of the greatest Rock bands to bring in a Hip-Hop influence is undoubtedly Rage Against the Machine who were led by singer, activist, and all-around icon, Zack De La Rocha. There is no doubt that Rage’s primary influence outside of Rock was Public Enemy, so it was only right that, despite being vocal about different issues throughout the world, the groups were extremely similar in what they stood for musically and sonically.
2. Beastie Boys
When Licensed to Ill dropped in 1986, the world was introduced to The Beastie Boys, and in the decades that followed, die-hard fans could not be happier with the material that three Jewish boys from Brooklyn delivered decade after decade. “Fight For Your Right,” “Sabotage,” “Make Some Noise”, and “Intergalactic” are just a few examples of what the Boys have done over the years in their familiar, Rock-themed way. With the recent passing of founding member Adam “MCA” Yauch, what better time than now to go back and discover (or rediscover) what made the Rap world fall in love with the Beastie Boys from day one.
1. The Roots
Who really merges and mashes genres together better than The Roots? Over 20 years of perfecting their signature sound through performances, albums, and a current residency on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, it’s no surprise that they just keep sounding better. Since the group’s inception, live instrumentation was always a focal point to create atmospheric and one-of-a-kind sounds behind one of the most respected lyricists in the game, Black Thought. They’ve been breaking barriers and crossing boundaries since 1987, here’s to the next 25 years!
Honorable Mentions: Run-DMC, Jay-Z, Kid Rock, Ice-T, Linkin Park, Wu-Tang Clan, B.O.B., KRS-One, Kanye West, Mos Def, De La Soul
WE KNOW THERE ARE LOTS MORE EXAMPLES, BUT THIS IS ONLY A TOP 5 LIST! SHARE YOUR OWN BELOW! HAPPY BLACK MUSIC MONTH!
Be sure to check out AllHiphop.com’s other “Black Music Month” coverage!:
Black Music Month: We Got The Jazz: AllHipHop.com’s Top 5 Artists to Mash-Up Rap With Abstract
Black Music Month Book Notes: A Breakdown of the Latest Urban Reads
Black Music Month: “The Planet Rocks” When Electronic Dance Music and Rap Collide
Black Music Month VIDEO: Kevin Hart, LaLa Anthony And More Share Their Favorite Hip-Hop Artists
(AllHipHop News) With BET Awards weekend in full swing right now in Los Angeles, California, the League of Young Voters have put together a one-of-a-kind event to be live streamed for thousands across the country at 1 p.m. PST today (June 30).
On the 20th anniversary of the L.A. Riots, the League of Young Voters notes that it is “flooding the streets with powerful beats and deep conversation to get us working together to own the vote in 2012.”
Taking part in the event will be Nipsey Hussle, Dee-1, AllHipHop.com CEO Chuck Creekmur, Jasiri X, and many more.
Below are The League of Young Voters’ Top 5 Reasons viewers should tune in for the broadcast:
#1 Nispey Hussle will join us to talk West Coast Hip-Hop and the Los Angeles scene as someone at the top of his game.
#2 Hear firsthand accounts of the 1992 L.A. Riots from activists who were there on the ground, and pick up best practices about how they’re reshaping their socio-economic reality with direct advocacy and grassroots organizing.
#3 Dee-1, the rising star from New Orleans, is emceeing the event and will be making a very special announcement about his innovative voter registration campaign with the League…
#4 Chuck Creekmur, founder of AllHipHop.com, will give us his insider perspective on the business of Hip-Hop and the role it can play in 2012 politics.
#5 Jasiri X, Thurz, and Aliesa Nicole will get the crowd on their feet with live performances you can enjoy from the comfort of your living room.
View a live stream of the event below:
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For more information, visit YoungVoterLive.com.
(AllHipHop News) Despite reports that A$AP Rocky’s RCA/Polo Grounds debut, LoveLiveA$AP, would be released on September 11, the Harlem native clarified at a recent event in Washington D.C. that the previously mentioned date is not correct.
While talking to The Source during the event’s “red carpet” Rocky clarified, “It’s not September 11; I was joking on the radio.”
“I was playing. It is September, though,” he continued. “The thing is, I do what I want and that’s it but personally I’m not going to rush.” When asked if he had another date in mind Rocky responded, “Not a precise one but I’m looking at the 20th to the 23rd.”
In addition to clarifying the LoveLiveA$AP release date, Rocky spoke on having both Kendrick Lamar and Lana Del Ray on the project, his upcoming documentary, and his top five female emcee’s at the moment.
Check out the full interview, courtesy of The Source, below:
