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Jasmine Solano Comes Full Circle In Preparation For Releasing Her New EP

By: JP DelaCuesta (@JPdelacuesta) Updated Category: Features
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Philadelphia native and current Brooklyn resident Jasmine Solano is a force to be reckoned with. The rapper-turned-DJ-turned-rapper-turned-multitasker has already toured and worked with some of the biggest names in Hip-Hop including Ghostface Killah, Yelawolf, Clipse, Wiz Khalifa, Rakim, and Jim Jones, and she’s only just getting started.

What began as a passion to rap spawned into a career in both radio, DJ’ing, fashion, and more. After releasing her single “That’s Not It” last year, the industry began paying much closer attention to Solano, her music, and the following she had gained during her travels both nationally and abroad.

AllHipHop.com recently got the chance to speak to Solano while she was in a Brooklyn recording studio putting the finishing touches on her new EP, RAP. The self-proclaimed “mistress of ceremonies” is one of the busiest ladies in the game, and in our excessive interview with her, she tells us why.

In the first part of our interview, Solano talked about her background both personally and musically, what it was like touring with artists like Wiz Khalifa, Clipse, and Ghostface, and whether she is a “DJ turned rapper” or “rapper turned DJ”:

We then spoke about her very eclectic musical influences, working with Yelawolf on her EP’s first single “One On One,” and how the actual project is shaping up:

In the final part of our  interview, she talked about where she saw herself five years ago, where she sees herself five years from now, and what else she’s currently cooking up and working on:

For more information, visit www.JasmineSolano.com. Follow Jasmine Solano on Twitter (@JasmineSolano).

Daily Word: We Off That (Stop Worrying About Yesterday and Make It Happen Today)

By: seandrasims Updated Category: Lifestyle
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HAPPY TAKEOVER THURSDAY!!!! WELCOME TO THE DAY THAT YOU SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!

Today’s Daily Word is dedicated to progress and letting go of the trials and tribulations of yesterday!! Today is the only day that you have for sure! Many of us waste it thinking about what happened yesterday, as if we can use it to change our tomorrows!!

What you should know as an absolute surety is that if you do your very best today, then tomorrow will take care of itself! Stop worrying about
things you have no control over! Life is NOW!! Doing your best today
is the way to make your dreams a reality! Yesterday is dead and gone!!
Keep your eyes on the prize and make today GREAT!!!
-Ash’Cash

“What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.” -Buddha

“Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.” -Victoria Holt

“If we spend our time with regrets over yesterday, and worries over what might happen tomorrow, we have no today in which to live.” -Unknown

“Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have – so spend it wisely.” -Kay Lyons

“Let us not bankrupt our todays by paying interest on the regrets of yesterday and by borrowing in advance the troubles of tomorrow.” -Ralph W. Sockman

“If you’re still hanging onto a dead dream of yesterday, laying flowers on its grave by the hour, you cannot be planting the seeds for a new dream to grow today.” -Joyce Chapman

“You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.” -Charles F. Kettering

“If what you did yesterday seems big, you haven’t done anything today.” -Lou Holtz

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.

Black Thought and Questlove On Board for GrassROOTS Charity Concert in Philly

By: seandrasims Updated Category: News
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Photo courtesy of Metro News

(AllHipHop News) The fight against childhood obesity is receiving major support from The Roots lead rhymesayer, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter.

The entertainer and GrassROOTS Foundation co-founder is spearheading efforts to slim down youth with his annual fundraiser, “Let’s Move it Philly!” The charity concert party, which is scheduled to take place this Saturday (February 18) at the historic Sigma Sound Stage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will include performances from Trotter and his fellow Roots member Questlove, as well as Rich Medina, DJ Diamond Kuts, Nikki Jean, and the Money Making Jam Boys.

Doors for Let’s Move it Philly! will open at 8PM, and proceeds from the event will benefit C.H.I.C.K.S. (Creating Healthy Informed Confident Knowledgeable Selves), an after school program created by the Foundation for girls at Philadelphia’s Harding Middle School that focuses on health literacy, wellness, and professional skills.

While many cite Hip-Hop culture for promoting poor health choices, organizers maintain that Let’s Move It Philly! uses Hip-Hop as a means to spread awareness about childhood obesity. The concert’s Philadelphia stop is the first step in a 10-city initiative that will address childhood obesity in the African-American community. According to reports, almost one in every three children in the nation is obese or overweight. In African-American and Hispanic communities, the rates are even higher with 40 percent of children affected.

Let’s Move it Philly! won’t be the only event coming from the GrassROOTS foundation on Saturday. That same day, the organization will join forces with Carson Valley Children’s Aid to present a daytime community health forum and celebration at Faith Assembly of God Church in Philadelphia.

The event, which will take place from 9AM to 1PM, will include free HIV testing, gospel line dancing, cardio dance, and a discussion centering on health challenges for youth. Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. N##### will be on hand for a panel response and community solutions-open forum on topics ranging from literacy and child health to sexuality and health to mental health challenges facing youth.

In addition to N#####, Black Thought will appear at the health forum and celebration, as well as state representative Tony J. Payton Jr. and C.H.I.C.K.S. program director Joan Todd, among others.

The health forum and celebration and Let’s Move it Philly! concert are among various efforts initiated by the GrassROOTS Foundation. The organization, co-founded byBlack Thought and sociologist, Dr. Janice Johnson Dias, works toward contributing to the health and well-being of vulnerable populations and disadvantaged communities by merging the talents of socially conscious artists with those of a rigorous scientific research and creative team while developing the capacity of community based organizations that offer educational and recreational services to disadvantaged women and girls.

To purchase a ticket for the Let’s Move it Philly! concert, visit http://www.grassrootscharityconcert.eventbrite.com.

Exclusive: Messy Marv: Beyond The Bay Area Beef and Back In The Booth

By: timsanchez818 Updated Category: Features
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San Francisco rapper Messy Marv set The Bay in a blaze of turmoil over the summer of last year when he took aim at veteran Hip-Hop legend Too $hort in an exclusive interview with AllHipHop.com. The controversial interview prompted even more controversial interviews with us by fellow Bay Area rapper JT the Bigga Figga and then, of course, Too $hort himself.

Since then, things seem to have calmed down for Messy Marv in regards to the beef and he even put together another project called Da New Frank Lukas – Dat Neva Wore Da Mink Coat this past Valentine’s Day. Messy Marv called up AllHipHop.com again to tell us about what went on after those crazy interviews and where his mind is at now:

AllHipHop.com: The last time we spoke, you set The Bay on fire with a lot of controversy. But judging your recent behavior, things seemed to have cooled down and you appear to be focused on your career.

Messy Marv: I was focused then and now. Due to the AllHipHop.com interview by JT the Bigga Figga where he lied about me robbing his studio, paying the Oak Park Bloods for protection, starting wars, giving trophies out to the youngsters in my hood to knock people down and me skipping town when the killing got heavy – my attorney said he implicated me for robbery, embedding in a criminal organization and conspiracy to commit murder. The interview had all of those fake a** trumped up charges against me, and it didn’t help at all because homicide detectives were following me around before my tour.

It was all lies – but just based on the lies that JT the Bigga Figga said in your interview, I could have been conspired on some bullsh*t and sent away for a long f*ckin’ time! Whether JT likes it or not, that’s a form of affadavit. I had to deny that sh*t and keep denying it based on the fact that it was all lies, and if I didn’t, it could have escalated. But I’m blessed to be here and I’m looking forward to living my life as it was – drama free.

AllHipHop.com: Are things cleared up with Too $hort? Or is there a beef still going on?

Messy Marv: To be honest, it was over with after I spoke and he spoke. As men, you can agree to disagree. We both spoke, and that was it. The Bay looks good right now. E-40 just dropped a video and his album comes out in March. Too $hort just dropped his video and his album comes out in February. It’s a real good look for The Bay – we’re looking good.

AllHipHop.com: You recently stated on your Twitter account that you and E-40 were going to do business together.

Messy Marv: Me and 40 had a personal relationship. We talk often and call each other on Christmas, Thanksgiving, and other holidays. There have been discussions about merging Sick-Wid-It and Scalen for some time now. It was supposed to go through. It wasn’t a publicity stunt or nothing like that. I don’t front for the camera. E-40 didn’t speak to the fans about it for whatever reasons – which I wish he would have – so I did.

We tried to put our situations together. Some things came up during our conversations about distribution, who I am as a person and who he is as a person, doing songs to squash some beefs, and me being a Blood. At the end, I guess he wanted to protect the best interest of his label, saying more people don’t like me than people don’t like him. Everything is good, though. I’m not mad at 40. We’re still pushing for The Bay, and it’s all love.

AllHipHop.com: You just released your new mixtape, Da New Frank Lukas – Dat Neva Wore Da Mink Coat.

Messy Marv: I released it on February 14, and I call that day the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre #2. I’m murdered the game in broad daylight. The album reached #33 on the iTunes chart, and my new video did good numbers on World Star  on the day of the Lukas release as well.

AllHipHop.com: What’s with the Frank Lucas reference?

Messy Marv: If you remember the movie, Frank Lucas was a real low-key dude. Once he wore that mink coat, that’s when them people were on to him. Then eventually he told on the police. I’m a low-key n*gga, so my whole idea with the album is to tell the game on the police.

Last year, I went through a lot of fake a** n*ggas behaving in an informant manner speaking on me, in reference to the JT the Bigga Figga interview that you did, and a Youtube video that Homewrecka put out stating that I gave him $5,000 to knock somebody down – which was a lie as well. I said to myself that I was going to put the police out there by talking about what these homicide detectives did, and about the sh*t that these others said and lied about me.

AllHipHop.com: Won’t something like that bring more heat on you?

Messy Marv: I don’t give a f*ck about the heat. I pay my taxes, and I’m a professional young, Black male. I did my time, and I’m no longer under paperwork. Everything that’s being said about me is just some sh*t that motherf*cker made up and could have gotten me locked up. F*ck the heat. I’m going to put these punk a** police out there. I’m the new Frank Lucas on this album.

AllHipHop.com: You have no fear when it comes to drama [laughter].

Messy Marv: Why have fear when you believe in something grand? I’ll keep denying what JT the Bigga Figga and Homewrecka states because they are all lies. It was very insulting. I put what they said out there so the game can see exactly how they both implicated me in some made up a** sh*t that could have sent me to prison. But the sad part is, some of these so-called gangstas from the street still deal with them. Real gangstas don’t condone no sh*t like that. From the beginning to the end, it’s a narrative album. I went Messy 1993 on them. No R&B hooks. I went straight coke.

AllHipHop.com: Do you feel that you are underrated as an artist?

Messy Marv: I’m definitely underrated. The reason being is because nobody really knows my story. I don’t get any radio play. I’ve sold a lot more records than some of these artists that are on the radio playlists. Not to take anything from anybody on their playlist, but I don’t get the radio play. You also don’t hear me on as a feature on any other of the “bigger” artists albums.

Also, being my “in-and-out of jail, hot-headed a** n*gga self,” could have prevented me from being a bigger artist, but I’m not mad because after 17 years, I’m still moving units. I still put out four or five albums a year, and I’ve got over 60 albums under my belt right now with over 500,000 sold independently. I hope by reading this, people will see another side to the “troublemaking” Messy Marv that they think they know about and focus on the superstar that I am.

AllHipHop.com: So you’re not just a troublemaker then.

Messy Marv: Not at all, but I will give it to you if you want it. I try to mind my business. I was brought up to stand on my own two and mind your business. When a n*gga acts like he wants trouble, you give it to him 10 times. Definitely not a troublemaker – I used to be. I’m more mature, especially now that I have custody of my son. My boy has taught me a lot of patience, too. Fatherhood has taught me a lot – straight up.