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Music Review: Wale’s “Ambition”

By: seandrasimsCategory: Reviews / Music

Rating: 7/10

Around the time Attention Deficit dropped, the idea of Wale being signed under Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group label was the thought of someone with a wild imagination. After much mainstream hype and underground acclaim, the DMV-representer went through somewhat of a dull period. Looking to rekindle the buzz he had just a couple of years ago, Ambition, Mr. Wale Folarin’s second effort, bears the signature Maybach tag. But, is that a good thing?

There are songs on this album that Wale couldn’t have made a year ago. His raunchy new label has given him the right-of-way, or perhaps the ego, to create more braggadocious records. “Legendary” is a prime example of this. Produced by DJ Toomp, the cocky snares and stirring horns sound tailor-made for a Rick Ross verse, and Wale’s big flow seems to support this. But he makes the record his own, with an intoxicating, nonchalant hook – “F*ck fame, f*ck money/And f*ck anything/Anyone can take from ya.” “Chain Music” is another one of these tracks, boasting heavy bass and a Rozay sample on the hook. And sure to hit a club near you, “Slight Work,” featuring a standout verse from Big Sean – “Under 25, living the f*cking life/White America said I’d be doing 25-to-life”- is egotistical line after egotistical line, in a good way.

But Wale is dope on his own accord, with tracks like “Don’t Hold Your Applause” and “Double M Genius” sounding more like typical Wale joints, but it’s clear his sound as changed – which works for and against him. “No Days Off” and “DC or Nothing” are inconsistent listens, but “Ambition” with Meek Mill and Rick Ross is a dope record.  Two of the ‘girl’ songs, “Sabotage” and “White Linen (Coolin’)” featuring Lloyd and Ne-Yo, respectively, are average, but “Lotus Flower Bomb” with Miguel is a hit.

Overall, Ambition becomes an album of inconsistencies. As a rapper, Wale never dips with one-liners on each and every song, but as a song-maker there are peaks and valleys, as Folarin doesn’t have enough lines to salvage a tired subject. Individually, these tracks are all a pretty good listen, but through the course of the album’s flow, they begin to blend together instead of impress – which is why you’ll love a track on the first listen, but then might forget about it when you play it a week later. Remember a time when Washington, D.C.’s Go-Go influence served as a winning staple on just about every Wale song and project? This is nowhere to be found here. And yes, Ambition is a pretty decent album – but it won’t stick out the way his early mixtapes did. Is he “Focused” like Cudi says? Perhaps, but true Wale fans will look for more substance and clashing drums on his projects. At least you’ll have the wordplay to hold you over.

 

Hip-Hop Rumors: Rihanna Goes To The Hospital!

By: Chuck Creekmur (@ChuckCreekmur)Category: Rumors

RIHANNA GOES TO THE HOSPITAL

This is fact. Rihanna had to cancel a concert and was freakin’ hospitalized with the flu. She was so dear that she gave the fans and apology to Sweden.

“I am sorry to everyone who was coming out to my show in Malmo, Sweden. I was so excited to perform for you all. It would have been a great time…so much better than being sick with the flu, ugh! I’m really disappointed I couldn’t be there.”

She’s all good.

ILLSEED’S QUICKIES

Amber Rose will now be a prominent feature on Master of the Mix, a show on BET. I guest Just Blaze and a bunch of celebrity DJs wasn’t enough.

LMAO! Kim Kardashian getting a divorce. I know that dude Kris couldn’t take that his wiz was on camera with Ray-J. He couldn’t take it!

Terrell Owens is requesting a reduction in his child support. Dude isn’t working and he claims that he need a break on the cake. Believe it or not, I agree with him.

Drake is rumored to be creeping around with former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger. She just broke up with her man, the race car driver dude.

How to Rob an Industry…2011

By: Chuck Creekmur (@ChuckCreekmur)Category: Uncategorized
“To the sellouts living it up, one way or another you’ll be givin’ it up.”                                                                             Tupac on “Holla if ya Hear Me” A decade ago, 50 Cent had the industry shook when he put out “How to Rob;” a song where he threatened to hit cats up for their jewels. In 2011, people are threatening to hit them up for their stocks and bonds. For years, snatchin’ somebody’s gold chain was seen as the ultimate diss in Hip Hop. Now, the symbolic act has taken on a political significance. Naw son, we don’t want your Jesus piece, you gotta give up that NASDAQ money! There has always been an element of class conflict within Hip Hop since the Sugarhill Gang blew up because of the commercial success of “Rapper’s Delight.” This did not sit well with hood cats such as the Cold Crush Brothers and others who felt that Sugarhill did not really rep the streets. Perhaps the closest that Hip Hop came in addressing class-ism was the 2002 beef between Nelly, representing corporate Hip Hop based on Wall Street  and KRS One, holding the torch for the original movement based in the South Bronx. However, for the most part, members of Hip Hop’s millionaire boys club were given a ghetto pass for the sake of “preserving Hip Hop unity.” Also, in earlier years, there was still that pipe dream that although you were poor today, if you just got a chance to get your demo in the right hands or spit a hot 16 bars for a rapper backstage at a concert, you too could live the lifestyle of the rich and shameless. But with just a handful of people lockin’ the whole game down, even the most optimistic, aspiring artist is beginning to realize, that just ain’t gonna happen. Like Mobb Deep said, “there’s a war goin’ on outside, no man is safe from.” And I’m not talking about some East Coast/West Coast beef or some confrontation over a lyrical diss. No, the war on the horizon is between the haves and the have nots. With the current socio-economic unrest in this country, it was only a matter of time before the threat of a full scale class war would come knocking on the gates of the Hip Hop Nation. Recently, we have seen a call to not only occupy Wall Street, but to #occupyhiphop , as well,  and this call will only get louder. Why?  Because now, it is not only the streets that are hungry but the ‘burbs too. Thanks to the US economy the whole world has become a “ghetto.”‘ No dude who is hustlin’ on the bitter cold streets for money to buy his baby girl some diapers wants to hear about how some Hip Hop superstar just blew a milli on a crib for his unborn child. Also, the middle class kid who used to only live out his hood fantasy, vicariously through, “gangsta rappers” has found out that being broke ain’t no joke when his dad lost his six figure job. One of the basic principals of dialectical materialism is that the seed of the destruction of capitalism lies within its own contradictions. As Kwame Nkrumah wrote in his book “Consciencism,” “running with the hares and hunting with the hounds is more than a pass-time to capitalism: it is the hub of a complete strategy.” The same can be said about Hip Hop, as rappers have tried to serve the interests of Wall Street and “the streets” simultaneously. So, the “ballin’ outta control” attitude of commercial Hip Hop artists has produced a growing resentment among those who are strugglin’ to make a dollar. It is now more evident that in the war between the oppressed and the oppressor, some Hip Hop artists have enlisted in the oppressor’s army. They have been on the front lines destroying an entire culture. As Carroll Quigley wrote in “Tragedy and Hope,” “the destructive impact of Western Civilization upon so many other societies rests on its ability to demoralize their ideological and spiritual culture as much as its ability to destroy them in a material sense with firearms.” Also, they have used the art form to mentally enslave the masses, thus helping to pacify the permanent underclass that is necessary for the present economic system to survive. Despite the idea that the rap kingpins got rich propagating that the drug game is a way to survive in poor communities, the powers that be can shut that down just as easily as they can cut off your electricity. They control both legal and illegal money and can shut down the entire hood if it goes against their economic interests. See, it’s much bigger than Hip Hop. Today, because of 360 recording deals and “branding,” a Hip Hop artist is a corporation all by himself. So, our beef is not with Shawn Carter, the artist, but with “Jay Z , Inc” and other exploiters of the poor. According to Dr. Richard Oliver and Tim Leffel in “Hip Hop Inc” “to be a member of the Hip Hop Nation, today’s consumer must not only listen, look and drive the lifestyle, they must do their financing, vacation planning and whatever else the moguls can convince them belongs in this category. “ This is a fantasy world that 99% of us can’t afford. So, we have the beginning of an uncivil, civil war between artists who sip thousand dollar bottles of booze and Hip Hop fans who can’t feed their families. How long will it last? Like Pac said “till the poor get more cash.” TRUTH Minista Paul Scott represents the Militant Mind Militia. He can be reached at [email protected]  Website http://www.militantmindmilitia.com

Exclusive – Part 2 – Boe Scaggz – The Days After The Death Of Jam Master Jay

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: Features

In Part 2 of AllHipHop.com’s interview with Jam Master Jay’s nephew Boe Scaggz (click here for Part 1), the rapper explains what happened immediately following the murder of Jam Master Jay and his thoughts on his friend, Randy Allen. In this portion, Boe explains why he left New Jersey in the days following the death of Jam Master Jay, despite his family’s disapproval.

Boe also confirms that one of the alleged gunmen, Tinard Washington (who admitted to being present but is in jail on separate robbery charges), lived in a house that was owned by Jam Master Jay. It’s significant, because sources told AllHipHop.com that the gun that was used to kill Jay, was taken from this house. Boe also speaks on Jay’s inner circle of friends, as well as Jay’s old foe, Curtis Scoon.

AllHipHop.com: Randy said that there was security cameras up in there that should’ve captured everything, but for some reason that day, the tapes weren’t working. He said that the furniture had been rearranged while Jay was on tour. Do you have any idea why the security tapes were not working that day?

Boe: I was very involved with the studio. The security cameras, the tape not being recorded, I don’t know. I heard a lot of different stories. I heard somebody came in there and stopped the tape from recording. I heard a lot of different stories about that, but I don’t really know what’s really true about that so I don’t want to speculate and say anything about that. They should’ve definitely been recording. They always record. The security cameras is rolling, they rolling all the time, then every now and then somebody might be like ‘you’ve got to go rewind the tape and record again.’ I think we used the same tape, we didn’t even change tapes. Our security cameras wasn’t really for safety, it was to see if people who was coming in was buzzing our buzzer, you know what I’m saying? If somebody buzzed the buzzer then we could see them. There wasn’t really a case where somebody was coming in to do something, that wasn’t a thought, you know what I’m saying? Nobody thought of us having no problems like that.

Boe Scaggz

AllHipHop.com: With that being said, I know that Jay had a gun in the studio with him that night. Why was Jay carrying heat?

Boe: I won’t say that he was carrying heat. I would say that we’ve got a studio, so we always had things like that in the studio to make sure we were safe still. Even though we didn’t think of nobody coming to do us no harm, but everybody knew that we was there. Everybody in Queens. You want to find Jam Master Jay, you know exactly where he is. It’s the studio right here. So of course we have firearms. You go in anybody’s studio, somebody’s walking around with firearms. S**t…I used to be the one to carry the pistol. Jay would tell me “don’t bring this, what are you doing?”

AllHipHop.com: What about the cat Goldie? I had heard that Jay had a dispute with him and he had to pull the gun on Goldie in the studio.

Boe: Nah, I don’t… nah. Jay and Goldie? Nah. Goldie was like the little homie. Even though Goldie’s older than me, Goldie was like part of Jay’s little army. He’s one of the little rap dudes from Brooklyn. Goldie’s not that kind of person towards Jay, and Jay wasn’t about to pull a gun on Goldie anyway.

AllHipHop.com: Well even though you don’t believe Randy had anything to do with it, why did your grandma get so upset that Randy took you out of New York the night of the shooting? She said it was against your will. Why after the murder did y’all have to roll out?

Boe: After all of that happened, after he got killed and all that, there was so many people outside my house. After my uncle got killed and everything, I didn’t go out of town with Randy. Me and Garnet Reid, I went to Garnet’s house. I called Garnet to go pick me up. I just finished running up on someone that they had said had been involved or had something to do with my uncle getting killed. That was a few hours after Jay had already been dead now, and the rage was starting to set in. So I’m getting back to the hood, so it’s like oh this ni**a, we can’t find him, but that’s one of his best friends right there. Oh, that’s him? And I just pow, pow, pow, so I definitely had to leave from around the hood. I had to leave. And I think somebody wrote about that somewhere too, that I did do that to somebody. I’ve seen that in a couple magazines. But that’s really the reason why I went out of town with Garnet. We went to Jersey, it’s not like I went away, away. We just went across the water so I could cool down. I just finished pistol-whipping that ni**a, so I had to go.

AllHipHop.com: During all this time, what was Terri (Jam Master Jay’s wife) and the family thinking about you and Randy in particular? Did they express any discomfort with Randy or your association with him?

Rusty Waters – Cornbread

Boe: Towards me, I don’t think my family never felt no kind of way towards me, but I don’t really know how they felt about Randy. Nobody really wanted me to be next to him, but Jay had gave me business to do with him. So Jay put me and Randy together. He gave me business. So while everybody’s saying you shouldn’t be with Randy, I’m saying “I’ve got a job to do with this man.” We signed a contract with a record label and we had a job to do. It’s not just us kicking it in the studio making songs anymore, we’ve got a job to do now.

That’s why I think, my family might’ve been upset that I kicked it with him a little longer than I should’ve, but I was thinking about my career, what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. My uncle had been the head of most of it until now, who’s going to help me? Not my grandmother, not family, they’re not going to help me. This is my career. They don’t get involved with me. So I have to make sure I still keep doing what I was supposed to be doing. And I really didn’t get a chance to learn anything that I needed to learn from Jay, you understand? I got just enough things, but s**t, I didn’t get to learn everything.

AllHipHop.com: It seems like Jay was really working and dealing with, even though he was world famous, he was still dealing with a lot of people he grew up with. He never stopped associations with people from Hollis. His studio was right in the middle of it. Which brings me up to the question of Tinard Washington. What was Tinard’s relationship with Jay like?

Boe: They seemed pretty cool. I didn’t really know Tinard when he first came around. So I’m like who is this guy? How do we know who he was? But like my mom knew him, and Jay knew him. Everybody knew who he was because he was from the neighborhood, but I didn’t know him because I guess he was in jail the whole time when I was growing up. Jay usually helps motherf**kers out when they got out of jail. You just get home, it’s like a party for you, go out and have a good time. Some people get carried away, they don’t want to leave, they don’t know how to just go back. So they wanted to stay, and Jay wanted to give the ni**a a job because now you’re walking around and you f**ked up. You ain’t got no money, so Jay want those ni**as to do something so he can pay them some money. I never really knew why Tinard was around us. I didn’t know what his purpose was. Randy knew him really well, and Randy’s brother Teddy, they all knew him. They’re all older. They’re all really older than me. They’re in their 50’s, like 40-something years old, so it was really Randy and Teddy and even Lydia knows Tinard really well. They all know him.

AllHipHop.com: I asked that because I heard Tinard was living with Jay shortly before Jay got killed. I was just wondering if you heard anything about that?

Boe: What happened was Stephon, this is my cousin, Stephon — he was staying at my grandmother’s house too. I don’t know what he was trying to do. I guess he just wanted to be around Jay. I guess he just wanted to try to make something of himself with Jay. I don’t really know what Stephon’s purpose was for being around either. Stephon and Tinard was hanging out all the time.

AllHipHop.com: Tinard’s doing like 15 years right now for robbing all them motels. But his girlfriend said that he admitted to being one of the people that shot Jay in the studio and admitted to being one of the people that killed Stretch Walker.

Boe: If the man says he has something to do with something, you can believe it, and sometimes he can be saying that he has something to do with something because he’s trying to take the lesser hand in what ni**as are trying to give him. So if they trying to say you’re the ni**a that actually shot Jay, he’s like well I didn’t shoot him. I was there, but I wasn’t the one that shot him. Sometimes it could be the truth or it could be him trying to escape the worst, you understand what I’m saying?

AllHipHop.com: The worst, yep. So that brings me up to one question that I’ve always been wondering. Okay, so let’s say for arguments sake that what Tinard said is true. That leaves the second person. Tinard is of a certain height, certain weight, certain build. I know that at first people thought that it was Curtis Scoon. But then people thought it was Big D and Lil D, the Jordans, because of their height. Did Jay have any enemies?

Boe: The only person that I really remember Jay having a problem with was Curtis Scoon. Him and Jay, they never really was cool for whatever reason. I don’t know, but they wasn’t ever really cool. Big D and Lil D, Big D… he had nothing. I understand Jay put him on, you know what I’m saying? Helped him break into Def Jam. He was a bum from across the street. Jay looked out for him, gave him something. That’s what he did for everybody that he knew. Everybody that he knew was bums around him, and he made them something. All of them.

AllHipHop.com: I interviewed Big D after the shooting. He definitely spoke highly of Jay and said it was something he would never do, obviously. But I was just wondering your take on it. Is that something either of them two would ever be considered doing?

Boe: I don’t put anything past anybody. Just as well as somebody could do things you don’t expect them to do every day. And people do things and try to hide things. I believe if any one of them knows something, then they’re all part of it, and they’d be just as worse as the ni**a that shot Jay. I believe Big D is capable of doing anything.

Back in the day, Big D used to rob banks, and one of his homeboys got caught and Big D got caught. Big D ended up snitching on one of his partners, put him in jail forever. Nobody believed Big D would do something like that, but then he did, know what I’m saying? He walks around like he’s got street cred, when he’s one of the biggest snitches in Queens, know what I’m saying? I think Big D’s really a good actor. I don’t know half the time when he’s telling the truth or when he’s lying.

Hip-Hop Rumors: Kim Kardashian Kicks Kris Curbside!

By: seandrasimsCategory: Rumors

OK, so Kim Kardashian might be the official queen of “love ’em and leave ’em!” According to TMZ, People, her rep, and a bunch of others, Kim has filed for divorce from Kris Humphries after just 72 days of marriage. Kim cites “irreconcilable differences,” saying it was “not an easy decision.” She also mentioned their living situation as a concern along with the burdens of the TV show. (Didn’t she realize he was an NBA player in the midst of a lockout? Didn’t he realize her life – and her booty – have always been front page news?)

Anyway. The Kardashians have never felt any shame for making every life event a camera-ready moment for reality TV. We have to wonder if this wedding was a sham from the very beginning – but according to this statement, Kris doesn’t sound like he was in on the joke:

“I love my wife and am devastated to learn she filed for divorce … I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make it work.”

Poor, naive Kris.

Hip-Hop Rumors: Nas Calls ‘Net “The Devil” & Other Quickies

By: JP DelaCuesta (@JPdelacuesta)Category: Rumors

Nas Calls the Internet “The Devil”…

In the November 2011 issue of XXL, Odd Future member Tyler, the Creator had the honor of interviewing Nasir for the magazine’s cover story. When asked about Nas’ thoughts on Twitter, Tumblr, and the Internet in general, he said:

“No I never look at it. I have a team that operates that sh*t for me. They’ll send me questions, and I answer them. That’s it. I was a prank caller when I was a young kid…I look at the Internet as prank callers. You don’t know who they are. They’re having fun. Actually, I’m not mad at that…You could do some good with the Internet, of course. But it’s, like, a man with horns. Not even a man–a dark force with horns–behind the whole sh*t.”

I guess that’s a good thing, the less time he spend on the internet, the more time he’ll be spending on his album, Life Is Good, which Hip-Hop needs ASAP!

Quickies:

-MF Doom will be working with the band Radiohead. Interesting would be an understatement.

-Lil Wayne, Nelly, Andre 3000, T.I. and Big K.R.I.T. will all make appearances on B.o.B.’s sophomore album Strange Clouds. Read up on our B.o.B. listening session review here.

-Justin Beiber has announced that both Kanye West and Drake will be on his next album. Beiber can currently be heard rapping alongside Busta Rhymes on his Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe. We wish that last part was a joke.

-Guinness Book of World Records has named Samuel L. Jackson the highest grossing actor of all time. That’s over 100 movies that have made over $7.4 billion, mother f*cker.

-Rumors have been swirling that actor Russell Brand and singer Katy Perry’s marriage is on the rocks, and supposedly Rihanna has something to do with this. Huhhhh? Could Ri Ri be fooling with Russell or Katy?

Shawty Lo Accused Of Cheating Producers Out Of Advances, Royalties

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

(AllHipHop News) Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo is being sued by two Georgia producers who claim they were jerked out of advances and royalties relating to his album Units in the City.

Producers Cory Way and  Teriyakie Smith filed the lawsuit late last week against Shawty Lo and D4L Records in the Superior Court of Fulton County in the state of Georgia.

According to the producers, they entered into an oral agreement with Shawty Lo and D4L Records in November of 2007, which was supposed to have amended their original, written agreement.

According to the complaint, the pair agreed to produce Shawty Lo’s album Units in the City, which was released on a Asylum/Atlantic Records in February of 2008.

The lawsuit claims that in exchange for producing Units in the City, Shawty Lo agreed to pay Way and Smith a producer fee of $5000 per track, for any master recording they created for the rapper.

According to the lawsuit Way claims that he is owed a total of $22,500 in advances, plus a 2% royalty rate of the retail sales for each album that was sold.

Teriyakie Smith claims that he is owed a total of $30,000.

Both men claim that Shawty Lo, born Carlos Walker, advanced them tens of thousands of dollars each, but he still owes a balance for the remaining work that was completed.

Both men are seeking a combined total of $200,000 in damages.

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Queen Latifah Set To Return To Daytime TV

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: News

(AllHipHop News) Rapper Queen Latifah will make a return to daytime television, through a new deal between her Flavor Unit Productions and Will Smith’s Overbrook Productions.

Variety reports that Queen Latifah host the new daytime talkshow, which will be syndicated through Sony Pictures Television.

The move is Queen Latifah’s latest incursion into the television and film industries, through her Flavor Unit productions.

The world famous rapper/actress, born Dana Owens, recently relocated Flavor Unit from Jersey City, New Jersey to Miami, Florida where she’s developing her film studio/company with longtime partner Shakim Compere.

Latifah also recently inked a deal with rapper Cam’ron, to produce the new movie “Percentages,” and is also a producer of “Single Ladies” for VH1 and “Let’s Stay Together” on BET.

Queen Latifah is no stranger to daytime television. She hosted her own hit talk show “The Queen Latifah Show,” from 1999-2001.

She also starred in the television series “Living Single,” which aired from 1993-1998.

According to Variety, Queen Latifah’s new talk show is slated to debut in 2013.

EXCLUSIVE – Part 1 – Boe Scaggz Breaks 9 Year Silence On Jam Master Jay’s Death

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg)Category: Features

Nine years ago today (October 31), the music world was stunned to learn that one of hip-hop’s most famous DJs had been shot and killed the night before.

Jam Master Jay of legendary hip-hop group Run-DMC was gunned down in his Hollis, Queens recording studio 24/7, on October 30, 2002.

Just like the murders of two other famous hip-hop stars, Tupac Shakur and Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace, Jam Master Jay’s murder remains unsolved.

Out of all of the unsolved murders that may plague the NYPD, Jam Master Jay’s murder still sticks out like a sore thumb for the department.

If the NYPD or the FBI are working on anything, they sure haven’t bothered to contact any of the witnesses, most of whom say they have not heard from investigators since the shooting, in 2002.

Jam Master Jay, along with Run and DMC, are pioneering musicians, who have been recognized by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, for their accomplishments in pop culture.

Russell Simmons is still a world-famous mogul, while his brother Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons has reinvented himself since Jay’s death, as hip-hop’s most loved Reverend. DMC continues to do good and has become a champion of foster children.

But despite all of his famous friends, Jay’s murder and death curiously goes without mention all year. His birthday passes and with the exception of a few websites, including AllHipHop.com, or the efforts of The Scratch DJ Academy, Jay’s passing mainly goes unnoticed every year.

How could this be? There were five people in the recording studio when Jam Master Jay was gunned down.  There were security cameras. Furniture had been re-arranged while Jay was gone. There was even a convention going on in an office next door.

How could two masked gunman brazenly walk into the studio, shoot Jay in the back of his head and kill him, despite a police precinct (shout out to the fine detectives at the 103rd) being right up the block?

Some of these questions are answered in this exclusive interview between Rodney “Boe Scaggz” Jones and AllHipHop.com’s founder, Grandmaster Grouchy Greg.

Jam Master Jay’s nephew is a key figure in the case and a former member of the rap group Rusty Waters, which Jay had pinned so much hope on.

The interview with Boe is important, because this is the first time he’s ever gone on record in detail, about what happened the night Jam Master Jay was killed, what he did after the murder, his thoughts on Randy Allen, and the entire complicated scenario.

To refresh yourself on the key players, click on the links associated with each person’s name.

Randy Allen. Uriel “Pretty Tone” Rincon. Lydia High. Mike Bonds. Jam Master Jay. Curtis Scoon.

Boe Scaggz Tinard Washington Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff  50 Cent

“I was kicking him and calling his name. I’m calling his name, kicking his foot, “Jay, Jay, Jay.” He ain’t moving, he ain’t saying nothing. It was really unbelievable at that point. ” – Boe Scaggz.

This was perhaps the final moment of the life of Jam Master Jay. This was how a legend in the rap community died. In cold blooded murder.

AllHipHop.com: What have you been up to for the past nine years since Jam Master Jay passed away? I know you were part of the Rusty Waters Group, that was a big part of Jam Master Jay’s plans.

Boe: Yeah, well when we first… like in the first year, like I guess 2003-2004, I was still kind of running around with Garnet Reid, he was like the manager for Rusty Waters. Me and him was doing a little something. Then I signed to Russell Simmons Music Group, but then that kind of fell apart, and then three years ago, I had did a little deal with Irv Gotti. I was over there at Murder, Inc. for a little bit but you know, with Gotti… I don’t know what his thing is, but that’s my dude. We just ain’t get far, you know what I’m saying? So now me and my boy Chopper started up a company called MOE, you know what I mean?

AllHipHop.com: Yeah, I’m definitely familiar with MOE. You and Chopper have been building it up for the past few years now. How’d you get down with Chopper?

Boe: Actually, I met Chopper years ago, maybe like 2003 when I was running around with Garnet I met Chopper. We was staying at Bangladesh’s house, he did a whole bunch of little joints. So we hooked up out there. We made one song together, this track called “Quarterback,” that Bangladesh actually produced. Then he went about his business and I went about mine, but we always stayed in contact. You know what I mean?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QOlum29Ga24

AllHipHop.com: That’s dope. What kind of influence did Jay have on your rap career? I interviewed your grandma a few years back and she said he was like a father figure to you. I’m curious what kind of influence he had on you.

Boe: I think everything… all my music stuff comes from Jay. My mom didn’t do music or my pop didn’t do music, you know what I mean? So everything that I did that’s music, it comes from Jay. When he first had 50 Cent, we used to be in the studio with 50 Cent. Ja Rule used to be in there with us. We used to be all together. And I used to be watching this. I wasn’t really too good back then, but I had that potential, I wanted to do it. He was like “keep going, you’re going to be better than 50 and them, you’re going to be better than them.” I just kept going and going and going. Without Jay I probably wouldn’t even be doing this. I probably would be playing basketball for a career because I was a really good basketball player.

AllHipHop.com: If you look at Tupac Shakur and Biggie’s murders, they’re so much in center and in the forefront, whereas with Jam Master Jay, you might go a whole year and until it’s his anniversary you don’t hear anything. You don’t hear anything about the investigation, you don’t hear anything about anything. You know, Jay was maybe more influential than both of those dudes, because of the many firsts that Run-DMC accomplished as a group. They are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. With Jay being such a high profile murder and so influential, why aren’t more of his “friends” pushing harder?

Boe Scagz

Boe: I think everybody has their own agenda, you know? It’s like when they say out of sight, out of mind. Every now and then they might think of Jay over there, but their whole life isn’t dedicated to Jay like how my life is.

AllHipHop.com: Did you see “Two Turntables and a Microphone? (It was produced by his Jay’s cousin Stephon ““Phonz”” Watford. 

Boe: Yeah, I seen Two Turntables and a Mic.

AllHipHop.com: Yeah, what did you think about that?

Boe: I think that’s garbage. I think that’s straight garbage. I didn’t like how they tried to point the finger at Randy Allen like that. Without actually having any facts or anything like that. It almost makes some people in that DVD look guilty, but when you try to swing the blame on somebody without having no real facts, it kind of makes you look a little guilty yourself. When I look at that DVD, I look at it and it’s like I don’t know. I just think that my cousin Stephon was trying to find a way for him to come up and get some money, because I don’t really see how did that documentary help anybody. It really just pointed the finger at one person, and made the world think that actually Randy was the person that had something to do with Jay getting killed. People are just assuming, and I don’t think that’s good to just put something on somebody you don’t really know what the deal is.

AllHipHop.com: Especially something like murder.

Boe: Especially that. And everything he’s talking about on that documentary is me. Like these are the things that I told him. So he’s actually talking the documentary like he’s me.

AllHipHop.com: It’s interesting to hear you talk about Randy like that, because right afterwards, there were so many people pointing the finger almost at Randy, saying he had something to do with it. There was a lot of heat on him. I know you were cool with Randy Allen from working through Rusty Waters. What was it like working with Randy?

Boe: Before Jay passed, me and Rand were like brothers, you know what I’m saying? He was like my uncle. He’s the older guy, probably about Jay’s age. So he was kind of like an uncle to me. We was real close. I never really think of him in a funny manner. He was like Jay’s best friend. Maybe if Jay felt something about him, he didn’t tell me. I don’t know exactly. But he didn’t seem like… we was all together like a family.

AllHipHop.com: So on the day that Jay got killed, what were you doing that morning? Before you even got to the studio to get a haircut.

Boe Scaggz’ JMJ Tattoo

Boe: I was excited because we had just signed a deal with Virgin Records and we had actually just received half of the check. So we just got our upfront money. I was really ready to go on tour with Jay, our tour had started the next day. So I was just kind of really happy to finally have my own money and be able to do my own thing. I was only a kid. So Jay was taking care of me anyway because I was his nephew, and I was just a child. I wasn’t even 20 years old. But when I got to the studio I didn’t have any money, so I figured Jay, would give me a couple dollars or whatever. And he was like “I don’t have the money, call Randy. You know, your check just came in today, you should try to get over to Randy and get your money.” So I’m “like oh yeah, alright.”

So I call Randy and go down and meet Randy. We’re on the Avenue, we’re shopping and everything since we’re leaving tomorrow, so we’re shopping and things like that, and I decided to get a haircut. We both were going to get haircuts. I’ve got braids and Randy has like a bald head. I was sitting down to get my cut, and he went back to the studio. He took my bags and everything that I had brought from the Avenue, he took it with him back to the studio. He wound up staying in the studio, and I wound up staying and getting a haircut. When I finished getting my haircut, I went and started walking back to the studio, and that’s when Mike B. ran towards me, saying something about there was a shooting in the studio.

I wasn’t really in a hurry to get back into the studio because I didn’t have no gun or nothing like that and he didn’t really make it clear that they shot Jay dead in the studio. He just said there’s a shooting in the studio. I’m thinking ni**a’s still in there with guns and s**t. I didn’t try to hurry up to get back to the studio, but when I did make it to the studio, it’s was not good. Jay’s on the floor.

AllHipHop.com: You actually saw Jay? You got there in time to actually see Jay pass away? Wow. Did you see Randy come out?

Boe: When I got there, Randy wasn’t in the studio. He had already run out of the studio.

AllHipHop.com: What was going through your mind? That’s deep actually seeing it right after it happened.

Run-DMC

Boe: When I seen him on the floor, I was calling his name, kicking him. I’ve been shot before. Sometimes, a ni**a might be passed out, you might not be dead. It wasn’t registering in my brain. My brain wasn’t comprehending it. So I was kicking him and calling his name. I’m calling his name, kicking his foot, “Jay, Jay, Jay.” He ain’t moving, he ain’t saying nothing. It was really unbelievable at that point. And I wasn’t immediately saddened or raged because it happened so quick, I couldn’t even really believe that this was going on. It was so unbelievable. I didn’t really feel that s**t immediately, I can’t even explain that feeling. It’s like somebody punching you in the face and knocking you out. You don’t really feel that until you wake up, understand?

AllHipHop.com: Was there anybody else in the studio when you got there, when you came in? Randy was gone, but was Lydia and them still there?

Boe: Yeah, Lydia was there. She was on the floor. She was on the floor in the corner screaming and crying.

AllHipHop.com: Mike B rolled out?

Boe: Mike B came back in with me. Me and Mike B came back into the studio together. And the boy Tony Rincon, he was on the couch because he had gotten shot too. So he was on the couch. And the police came by the time I was getting ready to leave.

AllHipHop.com: When the police got there, what did they do, question everybody? Or most people had gone?

Boe: Everybody that was there, they tried to keep them there, except for me. Because one of the police started grabbing on me, so me and the police started fighting at that point. Then they asked me to leave.

AllHipHop.com: When all this was taking place, there was a convention going on in the other room. Do you know about that?

Boe: Yeah, they had like some company called Primerica. I don’t really know what that company does or what, or why they even was in the front room of the studio, but their business was open to everybody. So the only thing you had to do was ring their buzzer and you could come into the building. And that day, the hallway was filled with these people. You know what I mean?

AllHipHop.com: So in theory, somebody could’ve seen whoever did it leaving, especially if somebody came in with ski masks?

Boe: Or he could’ve took the ski mask off and walked out, you know what I mean? Amongst the crowd of different people that was already there. I really don’t know. I don’t know how they could’ve done that.

Click here for Part 2.  Part’s 3 and 4 are scheduled to run Tuesday.

Drake’s “Take Care” Tracks & Chase N. Cashe Speaking On Production

By: seandrasimsCategory: Features

With Drake’s sophomore album, Take Care, set to be released on November 15, the official tracklist was announced today (via AllThingsFresh).

The regular version of the album will include 17 songs, and a deluxe version will be available on iTunes which includes two bonus tracks. Guests on the album include Lil Wayne, The Weeknd, Rick Ross, Andre 3000, Rihanna, and Nicki Minaj. Check out the tracklist below:

1. Over My Dead Body

2. Shot For Me

3. Headlines

4. Crew Love ft. The Weeknd

5. Take Care ft. Rihanna

6. Marvins Room

7. Under Ground Kings

8. We’ll Be fine

9. Make Me Proud ft. Nicki Minaj

10. Lord Knows ft. Rick Ross

11. Cameras

12. Doing It Wrong

13. The Real Her ft. Andre 3000 & Lil Wayne

14. Look What You’ve Done

15. HYFR ft. Lil Wayne

16. Practice

17. The Ride

Bonus Tracks:

18. Hate Sleeping Alone

19. Untitled ft. Lil Wayne

In an interview with The Source producer/artist, Chase N. Cashe, spoke on his long-standing relationship with Drake, as well as the track he produced for Take Care.

On his relationship with Drake and joining him on the Club Paradise tour:

Chase told The Source of the “brotherly bond” he shares with Drake and how each wants to see the other succeed. He stated that Drake is “the G.O.A.T. right now” in breaking new ground for young artists, also calling him the “forefront leader of our generation.” In regards to the “Club Paradise” tour, Chase said it will hit 50 cities nationwide and that he’s appreciative that Drake is giving him the opportunity to help build his name as an artist, as he is currently independent.

On his production for Take Care:

Chase felt that the song he produced was the “most touching record” and “most heart-felt record” on Take Care. He also said that on the track, Drake talks about his family, “his journey since he’s gained all this superstardom that he sought out to get,” and how his fame has affected his family. Chase is looking forward to seeing how people react to the song, saying that it isn’t a record that will get you down, but that it has “a bounce to it, it’s something people can still dance to, it’s something that you can still ride to in a car.” He called the track a “self-reflection,” as it looks back on the things Drake has done as an artist and it inspires the listener to reflect on their own life.