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New Era LA x Chase N Cashe

By: AllHipHop Staff Updated Category: Lifestyle
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On Saturday night (December 10), hat brand New Era, opened their Los Angeles flagship store in grand fashion. The store is the first New Era flagship on the west coast and one of 11 worldwide.

Rapper/producer Chase N Cashe of the Surf Club music group was present at the event and performed for those in attendance. New Era and Surf Club have a hat that is expected to be in stores in the spring or summer of 2012. There were rumors that the hat was going to drop at the launch last night, but Chase N Cashe took to Twitter to clear the speculation, “We’re just celebrating the opening of New Era LA.”

If you live in the Los Angeles area, visit the store located at 8001 Melrose Ave.

AHH Stray News: Pitbull And “Glee,” Drake Vs. Toronto Officials, Swizz Named To Art School Committee

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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(AllHipHop News) Miami rapper Pitbull is in talks to star in his first role on the small screen, in an upcoming episode of “Glee.” Pit is in talks to make the high-profile role starring opposite of legendary singer Gloria Estefan, who will play his mother. Additionally, the rapper could take on one of Hip-Hop’s most controversial topics: homosexuality. In the episode of “Glee,” Pitbull could star as the big brother of lesbian cheerleader Santana, who is played by Naya Rivera. While the script is being finished, sources told ew.com that the show would conclude with a large musical finale.

Officials with the city of Toronto will decide the fate of a Billboard promoting Drake’s album Take Care, over trademark infringement claims. The rapper erected the billboard in October to promote his release, but officials didn’t notice it until late November. But reps for the city claim that Drake’s used a modified version of the city’s logo on the billboard, which is located on the Gardiner Expressway, without permission. City officials claim Drake’s signature owl logo along, with the word “Toronto” is too similar to the city’s own trademark. “We would suggest that the treatment of the word Toronto used on the billboard is very similar to the wordmark that forms part of the Toronto logo,” city spokesperson Francine Antonio-Forte told the Toronto Star. “The similarity of the wordmarks, in conjunction with other creative elements used for the billboard, may cause some confusion about the source of the information.” City officials are currently deciding it the billboard will stay up or be taken down.

Chart topping producer Swizz Beatz was named chair of the Friends of Bronx Arts committee earlier this week. The committee helps oversee the Bronx Charter School for the Arts in the borough. According to The New York Post, Swizz, who was the first celebrity to get involved with the Bronx Charter School for the Arts, was honored at an event at Avenue in New York last week. “When I first went to the school and saw these kids,” Swizz
told the crowd. “It was like I was looking in the mirror…at my kids, at my sister, at my brothers, at my cousins, at my friends.”

Yaya Gabbana: Who the F*#k is She?

By: Mos Jones Updated Category: Features
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The job of an MC can be a tough and demanding occupation. You need to be able to be quick-witted, while being able to control the crowd and capture the electricity in the party. While challenging, if you’re a success, you can reap the rewards. The support of an entire community of people, fame and fortune are some of these benefits. Male dominance of the genre has made it tough for females to break into this lane. If a female is good though, she has the potential to drive in new waves of fans. Where there was once a Lil’ Kim or a Foxy Brown, there now is Nicki Minaj, who seems to hold a monopoly over the female rap game.

Gena Joye Robinson looks to change that. Otherwise known as Yaya Gabbana, the Boston-bred songwriter/artist, has released her new mixtape, Who the F*#k is Yaya Gabbana? where she challenges listeners to check out her music and see why her buzz is growing by the day. The title of the mixtape is a bold declaration of who Yaya Gabbana is, and what she is about as an artist. Inspired by her favorite rapper, the late Stack Bundles, Gabbana describes her style as more relateable as a female MC than others out there.

“I think I’m different because I keep it real, and I’m more down-to-earth, like I talk about things that more people can relate to. Nicki, when she started, she was more relateable but now she’s more commercial with it. So I feel like I’m more relateable to everyday girls than she is,” Gabbana said with no hesitation. “I have songs that touch on a lot of different subjects where some girls can relate to and where some dudes can relate to. I have a variety of different songs that all types of people can relate to.”

On her journey to success, Gabbana has opened for the likes of Styles P, Fred the Godson, French Montana (who she lists as an artist helping to keep the east coast rap alive), and Onyx but still cites Stack Bundles as the biggest influence on her career as an artist. “He was from the same projects that my best friend lived at and my grandmother, so I saw how he made it out and got signed, so I’ve always respected him. That’s my favorite rapper. He always grinded, he always had mixtapes out like every month. His work ethic was crazy.”

As for future projects, Gabbana has plans to work with some other artists and producers along with some traveling, “On my wish list, I want to work with everybody. I want to definitely work with Meek Mill; he’s doing his thing right now. Young Savage out of Philly, he’s killing it right now. I want to work with everybody as far as Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj – I don’t discriminate. I was just talking to my manager about making a trip to ATL. I definitely want to make moves out there because that’s what’s poppin’ really, if you want to get your name out you have to go down South.” With her debut single “My City” already making waves and a new single on the way, “Squirtin’ On,” Gabbana has an onslaught of new music ready for the public to enjoy and is molding herself into an artist to check out in 2012.

Yaya Gabbana’s new mixtape, Who the F*#k is Yaya Gabbana?, can be found on Datpiff.com. Follow her on Twitter at @iamyayagabbana.Mos Jones can be reached at mo******@**ve.com, through his website http://onebrothertoanother.com, or on Twitter at @MosJones.

Billboard Names Lil Wayne Top R&B/Rapper Of 2011, Nicki Minaj Places Second

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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(AllHipHop News) Young Money CEO Lil Wayne will end 2011 as the top R&B/Hip-Hop artist, according to data released by Billboard magazine.

The rapper had a banner year, thanks to his hits album Tha Carter IV.

The release debuted at #1, sold almost a million copies during its first week in stores and is certified double platinum.

Lil Wayne also scored four #1 singles, along with 24 chart entries on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart during 2011 alone.

Lil Wayne was also one of the top touring artists of 2011 as well.

The rapper performed 69 arena shows in 2011, that were attended by a total of 712,000 people.

Lil Wayne’s total gross for touring in 2011 was $46,300,000.

The good news for the Young Money brand doesn’t stop with Lil Wayne.

Nicki Minaj has landed at #2 on the list of Billboard’s top artists in 2011, thanks to the success of her debut album Pink Friday.

Pink Friday spent six weeks at #1 on the Top R&B Albums and produced six Top 10 singles.

Nicki was also named the Top Rap artist by Billboard, besting Lil Wayne, Drake and Kanye West.

It’s also the first time a female rapper has topped the year-end chart since Missy Elliott landed at the top in 2000.

Bryan “Birdman” Williams, is the CEO of Cash Money, the label that distributes Young Money.

In recent interview with AllHipHop.com, Williams said both labels were ready to top 2011’s accomplishments in 2012.

“Nicki’s coming out…Tyga, Twist, Bow Wow, myself, Kevin Rudolph, Jay Sean,” Williams told AllHipHop.com. “Wayne got another album, everybody. I mean, we’re gonna drop 10 to 14 albums in the first six months of the year, so everybody’s cocked and loaded.”

Other notables on Billboard’s top R&B/Hip-Hop year end list includes Chris Brown, Miguel and Wiz Khalifa.

Toddler Shot In Oakland Dies

By: Grouchy Greg Watkins (@GrouchyGreg) Updated Category: News
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(AllHipHop News) A one-year-old toddler who was shot in the head during a rap video died from his injury yesterday (December 9).

The child, Hiram Lawrence, was among the seven people shot on November 28, while people were gathered in front of a liquor store in West Oakland.

The boy was struck in the head, as his father, who was also shot in the arm, held him.

Young Hiram, who had been on life support for 11 days, was clinically brain dead since the shooting, which took place in front of State Market Liquors.

Police believe the shooting occurred as people gathered to shoot a rap video for Kafani, whose promotional van was riddled with bullets.

Kafani is the 1-year-old’s cousin and is not a suspect in the shooting.

Surveillance cameras caught the shooting on videotape and police are still seeking suspects.