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Alternative Pick: Olivia Ft. Drake

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

“Control”

Nicki Minaj Disappointed Over Rihanna Tour; Sets Fall Release For Debut Album

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

(AllHipHop News) Rapper Nicki Minaj has expressed disappointment for having to drop off of Rihanna’s highly anticipated “Last Girl on Earth Tour.” Shortly after an announcement was made about her involvement with Rihanna’s tour, she broke the news to her fans via Twitter that she would sit the tour out to focus on her upcoming debut solo album. According to Nicki Minaj, the album will hit stores in Fall of 2010 on Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Motown. “When I first heard about the possibility of touring with Rihanna, I was thrilled to be included on the ticket,” Nicki Minaj stated. “ I admire Rihanna as an artist and I know it would’ve been a killer line up. I’m disappointed that the timing won’t work, but I hope we’ll be able to revisit the opportunity in the future.”Nicki is currently in the recording studio working on new material for the album. The first single is titled “Massive Attack” and features Sean Garrett. “I don’t want to do anything that sounds like what any other female rapper has done,” said Nicki Minaj. “I want to start a new lane that one day, 10 years from now, girls will say, ‘I’m more of a Nicki Minaj type.’”

The First Quarter Report: Haiti, Waka Flocka, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z…more

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

If time keeps on slipping into the future, why aren’t we tripping over the past? News, rumors and everyday life are moving too fast. How could it be April and 2010 has already been a blast? Let’s take you from the beginning to what happened last.It is impossible to talk about the first quarter of 2010 without looking back on the natural disaster that devastated Port-au-Prince. An earthquake, 7.0 in strength, churning 6 miles below ground, violently shook the resilient country of Haiti, taking tens of thousands of lives while leaving hundreds of thousands, homeless. People from all over the world came together to help Haiti. Social networks played a huge part in getting the word out and raising money. Hip-Hop producer and philanthropist, Wyclef Jean played the largest part in rallying the movement. Wyclef and his wife were in the trenches less than 24 hours after the tragedy, picking dead bodies up from the streets. While back at home, certain news outlets were trying to stain his name and his Yele Haiti Foundation. Wyclef stood tall under fire, addressed the accusations and continued on with helping his country; his life’s mission. If he is not a finalist for TIME Person of the Year, it is an injustice.  Waka Flocka Flame was shot on January 19. He’s alright now.Rapper Apache died on January 22nd. Apache led the new wave of Jersey artists in the early 90’s including Naughty by Nature and Queen Latifah. ‘Gangsta B*tch’ is the record that he is most known for; a song about the strong black woman of his desires, with an edge that was machete sharp. You will be remembered, Apache. Hip-Hop…January 31, Drake cracked a ‘Nicki Minaj backside’ sized smile during his heavily featured Grammy performance. And once again, if your name was Jay-Z or Eminem, you walked away with a Grammy. As long as the song was cleared, it got nominated. Really? Crack-a-Bottle? It’s time that I pay that fee to be on the voting committee next year. Hip-Hop Reform!February 15, Jay-Z explained why he turned down “We Are the World 2010”. “I know everybody is gonna take this wrong,” he said. ‘We are the World’, I love it, and I understand the point and think it’s great. But I think ‘We are the World is like [Michael Jackson’s] Thriller to me. I don’t ever want to see it touched.” Well, we’ve listened to the finished product. “We are the World 2010” wasn’t bad at all. All the reason why it shouldn’t had been remade. Now if the song was titled differently, it would’ve made a more monumental impact.February 20, Eve was the latest artist to come up on the Family Feud board of tax troubles. Over the past two years, the IRS placed four liens on the rapper/actress that total close to $370,000. This past January, Eve placed her four bedroom, five bathroom Los Angeles mansion up for sale for $2,295,000. All the best to you Eve. Get back to what you do best.February 23, remember when those two men tried to use a fake credit card to pay for $25,000 in champagne during Juelz Santana’s 27th birthday party? Sometimes society reaches a moment when enough is enough. And obviously, these ballers got blocked for not having enough. We need to do better. Like Snoop Dogg better. After all these years, Snoop (which appeared at the party) can still afford to take a 20 man entourage wherever he goes. Wait, once it was a 40 man entourage. Maybe the recession touched him just a little bit.On March 1, DJ Premier of Gangstarr confirmed reports that Guru suffered a massive heart attack in NYC. If you can recall, the weekend previous to this confirmation was flooded with #RIPGuru trends on Twitter. In the coming days, Guru’s producer and friend, Solar came above ground as a centerpiece in the story. Guru’s nephew Justin Nicholas-Elam Ruff released a video on YouTube.com in regards to Solar. Supposedly, Solar wouldn’t return calls or text messages to Guru’s family about his health. Solar would retaliate by releasing statements against Guru’s nephew and son for allegedly lying. *side note: something just didn’t and still doesn’t feel right about the drama that ensued here. I’ll reserve my judgment.March 8, Lil’ Wayne was sentenced in Manhattan to a year in Rikers for having a loaded gun on his tour bus back in 2007. His sentencing was delayed three times prior due to dental surgeries and courthouse renovations. If Lil’ Wayne can stay out of everybody’s way while incarcerated, he could be released as early as eight months. (add slang phrases of encouragement here)March 26, TI’s probation ended. He was released from house arrest and will begin three years of federal probation, as revealed by his attorney. TI has began releasing new music and it is safe to say that he hasn’t missed a beat. And please people, just because he came out of jail doesn’t mean that you must raise your standards of his new music to levels that you can’t even explain in a conversation. If you’re a fan of TI’s, enjoy the music. If you’re not a fan of TI, then your favorite rapper, on good behavior, could possibly be out of jail by the fourth quarter of this year. Contrary to popular philosophy, all news isn’t good news. That doesn’t mean it should be forgotten either. Let me know if I hit the mark with this wrap-up of the first three months in 2010. And feel free to add to it.

Rhymefest: “I Got N***as I Want To Air Out”

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

Rhymefest is promising to put his peers on notice publicly with the release of his revolution-inspired El Che next month.The project is Rhymefest’s second full-length album, and comes 4 years after his major-label debut Blue Collar on J Records.Because of the delay and label politics, the Chicago emcee was forced to rework the album and keep his name afloat with guest spots and mixtapes, most notably the Dangerous: 5-18 tape released last week.“We changed the whole album. The album El Che drops May 18. Ni**as been saying, ‘Aw, ni**a…that’s the Detox El Che,’” Rhymefest told AllHipHop.com. “No, it’s my album and its coming out. It’s not a legend. It’s not a fairy tale. I had to get away from that label.”Rhymefest utilizes interludes throughout the album to tell the narrative of his revolutionary activity while being tailed relentlessly by unidentified agents.On the album track “Talk My S**t,” he takes credit over former foe Charles Hamilton’s decreased output and visibility in recent months (“Wet behind the ears I make Chucky disappear…”), and criticizes Wale for not heeding his advice for his debut Attention Deficit (“Even before Wale bricked/I tried to pull him to the side and say those white boys won’t sell your s**t!”)Regarding these callouts, Rhymefest advised fans and critics to expect to hear him focused and sharp on El Che.“I got names I wanna name. I got ni**as I want to air out. I’m about to kill it,” Rhymefest explained to AllHipHop.com.El Che will be available May 18, and features guest spots from Little Brother, Glenn Lewis, and Saigon.

Rich Kids in Hip-Hop: Who Let the Gates Open?

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

Editor’s note: The

views expressed inside this editorial aren’t necessarily the views of

AllHipHop.com or its employees.We survived

winters, snotty nosed with no coats/

We kept it real,

but the older brother still had jokes/

… Check it,

fifteen of us in a three bedroom apartment/

Roaches

everywhere, cousins and aunts was there/

—Ghostface

Killah, “All That I Got Is You,” Ironman

(1996).

The working-class kid in me wants to

know why Hip-Hop fans would submit their precious time to the abuse of

spoon-fed, pampered, nannied, chauffeur-carried brats who know next to nothing

of growing up with no assurance “where your meal’s coming from.”

Yes, the long-awaited editorial has

arrived on schedule. Put down your shoes, pal! There’ll be no invective-hurling

today. But some frank truths have been piercing my ear for a while now; and I

know better than to disobey those voices once they get cranky.

If you’ve made it this far, there’s good chance we share core values. If not, hear

me out and prepare your profanity-laced, dimwitted e-mails thereafter.

In the last few months, I’ve had to

suppress some impulse to stave off this editorial. I figured over time the

better angels within my nature would allay my increasing worries that many Hip-Hop

fans are losing the battle to reality, but I find the need even greater now to

let out these unflattering observations—and the consequences I think lurk

around the corner if we don’t take heed.

When the young son of Rap legend Rev.

Run, Diggy Simmons, released his first mixtape last December, howls filled the

air. He was celebrated as fresh and unique and lyrical, by some AllHipHop

commenters I’ve depended on in the past for what Ernest Hemingway calls the

“built-in bullsh** detector”—a device he suggested no serious writer lacked.

You see it, feel it, and delete it. Each one dressed up their rave reviews in

contrast to his older brother, Jo Jo Simmons, and in contradiction to the tacit

presuppositions held of anyone with “Run” for a surname.

The mixtape was “an attempt by Diggy to

prove himself as more than just the son of Rev. Run,” wrote

AllHipHop co-founder and co-CEO Greg

Watkins, who filed the story. Diggy’s dad was “pleasantly surprised” to see his

son run swift with the flaming torch he lit some three decades back. Around the

time last year, I heard Diggy’s lead single, “Point to Prove,” and liked what

was coming through the speakers. I wasn’t blown apart or taken aback: I had no expectations. And whoever said

rich kids couldn’t flow? Listen to

enough Canibus or Talib Kweli, and your pattern should structure quite well.

But if hypocrisy were gold, many Hip-Hop

fans could own Vegas tonight. When Jo Jo Simmons first explored the unmapped

terrain of Hip-Hop music-making a few years back (on Run’s House), no one with a shred

of dignity let him rest at night. Blogs and forums lit up, and Armageddon marked

a minute away—all because a rich kid thought he could walk through the

executive doors of major record labels and sign on the dotted line because his

father and uncle could move mountains with a finger-snap.

I don’t know the extent of Jo Jo’s

experiences. Life, in fact, might be more complicated for him than most lacking

such access and ability available since birth. But if Jo Jo had no chance,

Diggy shouldn’t. No one believed Jo Jo had much to inform about life and

hardship, about struggle and pain, about uncertainty and destiny—and they ought

not to be hypocrites. But Diggy can spit;

Jo Jo can’t!, I can hear some yelping. Well, yes and no. Yes: Diggy handles

breath-control better, and can imitate Rakim quite well. But, no: it wasn’t the

flow that got the Hip-Hop aficionados

seething: it was the silver fork hanging from Jo Jo’s lips. It was a firm

commitment to ensure Vanilla Ice would have no reincarnation. (All due respect

to that much-maligned man aside.)

Speaking with AllHipHop right after his mixtape dropped, the “abnormally

well-spoken” 14-year-old Diggy Simmons, now an Atlanta Records recording

artist, recounted

the extent of his Rap career/passion: “I’ve been rapping since I was 5 then

I stopped. I don’t even know why I stopped. Then two years ago I got back into

just recording normal tracks. I recorded a song and posted it on my blog and it

got crazy feed back, it wasn’t even that lyrical it was more for fun. I love

music, I love making it. I’m almost in the studio everyday.” 

Once, Hip-Hop offered loud voice of

political courage to command the attention of society toward moral correction. (Ever

heard “The Message,” “By the Time I Get to Arizona,” “Evil That Men Do,” “Burn

Hollywood Burn,” “Black Korea,” “Mystery Of Iniquity,” “Strange Ways,” or “American

Terrorist”?) Today, Hip-Hop fills vacuums: it’s a hobby; it’s an emotional

alleviator; it’s a social legitimator—it means you’re cool. Once, Hip-Hop offered the only legal means of true financial

liberation for kids trapped into unlivable conditions. Today, Hip-Hop adds an

extra “0”—to the many other 0s lined up from fashion and modeling and TV deals.

Aubrey Graham, better known as “Drake,”

fares no better in my book. And though three years ago (please listen to Room for Improvement), I could vouch for

him, today I hang my head in shame at the caricature Young Money has turned him

into. But the once-Degrassi (some

suburban White middle-class drama) star doesn’t mind: He rolled out the womb

into a golden crib.

For his much-anticipated (sure-to-flop)

debut album, So Far Gone, he’s been studying

Nas (“to understand how he painted those pictures and his bar structure and all

of that”) and Andre 3000. Take a few seconds to award Mr. Graham his ovation.

But a few of us—fans and artists alike—studied Nas for quite different reasons:

for the sense of agency and empowerment he provided our struggle; for the eloquent and extensive definition he gave to

inner-city reality; for the wisdom sprawled liberally from his lips to our

ears. No doubt artists can learn a good deal of poetic structure from Nas; but

when Rap music fails to inspire anymore, when technical mastery is all left to

glean from, something is wrong—either

with the teacher or the student, the speaker or the listener.

I tend to judge the likes of Drake like

Cormega would: “I don’t like when these spoiled rich kids … just get into

rap because it’s something they can

do. … They pops got money and they put ’em in the game and then they start

rapping about something, a life they could never live. Go do something else. … Ni**as

like us rap about sh** because we

lived it. These ni**as use Rap as a hobby.”

If you’ve ever let your eardrums—and

heart—fall victim to a Cormega track, the knee-jerk he’s hatin’ reaction shouldn’t find value following those comments:

he embodies every word. And Hip-Hop fans and artists have always stood close to

that timeless axiom—“no pain: no gain.” Not in a fascistic sense—as I picked up

from Nas and Damian Marley’s “Strong Will Continue”—but meaning, if hardship to you is running late to a

video shoot, or the late arrival of a chauffeur, or a missed opportunity to

clock your closet with a limited-stock-collection-edition sneaker line, you

might as well stay clear of the mic and pick up a more appealing, less

transient hobby—like curling.

And, sure enough, Hip-Hop fans have come

down terribly harsh on rich kids who, with good muscle movement, eventually made

it onto the roster at some major label outfit trying to suck up to their

parents. It’s only right that a keeping

it real-obsessed community should take sharp swords to the ankles of anyone

whose definition of poverty has more in solidarity with Carlton from The French Prince than J.J. from Good Times. (May I take this opportunity

to plunge into Will Smith? Nah, let’s move on.)

The code shouldn’t take much to crack:

we don’t greatly appreciate rich kids

because they can tell us next to nothing of what nihilism means, of what

fatalism means: in short, of what Hip-Hop means. If I ask readers to name one born-wealthy

Hip-Hop artist whose message has poked in their hearts the perseverance to keep

keepin’ on until someday, as Lil Boosie might put it (fall out your chairs,

purists!), “selling out the store/ my money don’t fold now/,” we might be

waiting till the trumpets sound, for an acceptable answer. But I let loose the

name “Tupac Amaru Shakur,” and libations shower the earth.

Listen, folks: I hate to be that guy—you

know, the party-crasher, the stink at the board meeting, the grump at the bar

mitzvah, the atheist at church; but wipe off your lips: you’re drooling. These

folks share nothing in common with the artists by whom our lives have been made

meaningful and purposeful. So, feel free to wash over their albums at your

local store: they don’t need the money. But some do—and if you’ll rather shell out precious coin to enlarge the

coffers of some glitterati scion, please don’t show your face around here any

longer. I don’t mind one less reader.

Tolu

Olorunda is a cultural critic whose work regularly appears on AllHipHop.com,

TheDailyVoice.com, and other online

journals. He can be reached at: [email protected].

Taiwanese Company Sues Over Fake Nelly Show

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

(AllHipHop News) A production company based in Taiwan is suing a United States booking agency accused of illegally booking rapper Nelly and keeping tens-of-thousands of dollars in performance fees. Taiwanese company Now The Loop is suing Capital Connections Agency (CCA) for over $250,000, after the company took $40,000 to book Nelly. Now The Loop accuses CCA of being a criminal enterprise that claims to represent a variety of top celebrities ranging from Tiger Woods and Bill Gates, to Ja Rule and the Obama’s. According to the lawsuit, Now The Loop wired $40,000 to book Nelly for a December 31, 2009 party, but CCA head Durby Brandon claimed the money never arrived on time. When he did receive the money, he claimed that it was received late and that Nelly would not be showing up for the engagement. Durban allegedly then offered the services of Ja Rule, whom In The Loop had already booked through his real representatives. CCA’s name is confusingly similar to Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which represents artists like Mariah Carey,  Bow Wow, Eve, Fabolous, Usher, Jeezy and a number of other top name talent across all genres of music.

Monday Fashion Feature: Find Out Why Swizz Beatz Reps For Sabit NYC

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

Sabit is a brand known to create the perfect blend of Japanese and American streetwear, with superior attention to quality and detail. With fans like Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and T.I., the brand has been making waves since its launch just four years ago. Sabit’s designs have a way of being loud in a tasteful way, with creative uses of fabrics, colors, prints, washes and more. I got a chance to catch up with the brains behind the brand, founder/creative director, Shoichi Amemiya. Previous to creating Sabit, Shoichi worked with Mark Ecko as creative director of Ecko outerwear. The talented designer gave us a sneak peek at what Sabit has in store for summer, fall (including a new women’s line!), dishing on upcoming collaborations and more: DrJays.com: How did you get your start in the fashion industry? Shoichi: “I started off by attending a fashion school in Japan named Osaka Mode, where I majored in fashion design.” DrJays.com: Describe a typical day in the life of Sabit’s head designer. Shoichi: “A typical day for me in the Sabit NYC office consists of checking emails and constant communication with our Japan office and factories overseas.” DrJays.com: On your website, Swizz Beatz is described as “the face of Sabit”. How is he involved with the brand? Shoichi: “Swizz Beatz is a very good friend of ours at Sabit NYC. He simply appreciates that brand, and we appreciate him! His involvement as an ambassador keeps us in the forefront of the music industry.” Swizz Beatz and ShoichiDrJays.com: What sets Sabit apart from other popular streetwear brands? Shoichi: “Our design concepts come directly from the influences of my hometown Japan, which makes them authentic. I allow my knowledge of the culture to be infused throughout the brand. Shoichi: “We are part of the Japanese fashion movement called ‘Amercaji’ which is a blend of American and Japanese cultures. This movement allows anyone to wear our brand and feel a part of two amazing places, with a common appreciation of great fashion.” DrJays.com: What can we expect from your summer 2010 collection? Shoichi: “You can expect great fashion with inspirations coming from both the city and country. I have chosen to take elements from both places to create a look that translates into streetwear cultures all across the world.” Spring/summer 2010 DrJays.com: Any exciting news/collaborations in the works? Shoichi: “We have a collaboration coming up with Goomi Arcade, another dope brand, with heavy Japanese design influences on a few items… Which I’ll keep secret until the time is right! We have also collaboration with celebrity fashion stylist Mike B. on a very unique blazer/jacket with matching salvage denim jeans to go.” Fall 2010See more brand new gear from Sabit right HERE on DrJays.com!

E-40: Still Revenue Retrieving

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

 

Currently E-40’s double album  Revenue Retrievin: Day Shift and Revenue Retrievin: Night Shift is flying high on the charts.  The indie overlord has repped the Bay Area (The Yay) for over 20 years and continues to release music independently with major success. Furthermore, the slang lord has the gall to release this double album in a recession. Ballsy.

40 sat down with AllHipHop.com and reveals how to thrive in these tough economic times as a rapper, a father and a business man. Illegal or Legal – take notes from E-40, who’s still feddy pinchin’ after all these years.

AllHipHop.com: Whats going on 40?

E-40: S### you know, same soup, just warmed over (laughs).

AllHipHop.com: So what’s good man, where are you?

E-40: In the Yay Area, you know doing my grit with the album. Excuse me, albums out!

AllHipHop.com: Yea man you got that Revenue Retrievin out, that Day and Night.   I might need to you to tell us how to get money during the day and at night since that’s doing so well on the charts man.

E-40:  It’s pretty much the same as far as getting money during day and night.  You know, whether it’s legal or illegal. You can work at a warehouse, or a furniture spot or a Costco, be out there at the wee hours of the night. 3 or 4 in the morning setting boxes up.   Then you could be on the block at 3 or 4 in the morning out there getting money when the dope fiends out there, where it pops the most.  So it could be legal or illegal.  Ya smell me? (Laughs)

AllHipHop.com: You are rapper that has gone down different paths as far as business opportunities. You owned a Fat Burger, a Wing-Stop, I heard you had a few restaurants, tell me about how those businesses.

E-40:  Both of those companies both of them are not mine, but I actually did buy into the franchise, I bought the building and whatever. But I ended up buying a building and now I’m going through some things with that.  But I had a Fat Burger for like 3 years, but with the economy the way it was, that’s messed everything up.  We had to shut the doors on it.  Instead of people buying a Fat Burger, they went to Albertson’s and got some patties and hamburger buns. It’s just the ups and downs.

AllHipHop.com: They’re making them Eddie Murphy homemade hamburgers.

E-40: Yea, I’m not gonna cry over spilled milk.  Big business men and people like Donald Trump have had businesses that failed.  So for me right now it’s all about investing in me and my record label.

AllHipHop.com: So talk to me a little more about this album.  I know Mistah FAB and Jacka are featured on there.  But tell me more about some features and what you got for the fans.

E-40:   There are so many people on there, I got to go get the CD to see who’s on there.  If I say one persons name I got to say them all.   I’m going to make sure I cover everyone.   It’s some s### on there for you.  It’s the hottest s### out, everyone says that, but I get feedback from the core audience, and I am just grateful that my fans are continuing to support me. Put it like this 97% of the Bay is on there.  Mack Shawn 100, Cousin, Turf Talk, B Legit, La Rue, all of Sick Wid It Records, Droop-E.

AllHipHop.com: Now did you get any production from Droop-E?

E-40: Yea that’s my son; he produced more than half the album.  He produced the majority of both of these albums.

AllHipHop.com: Tell me about working with your son, man.  What’s that like?

E-40:  Man it’s the best thing ever.  It’s the best thing a father can ask for.  Droop-E started in this game with me when he was 3 years old.  He did a skit with me in 1991, the album came out in 1992, the album was called Federal, and on the album the song was called “Questions”.  He used to always ask me a lot of questions.   So we did a skit with that. He was like, “Daddy, where you get that money? Daddy are you a gangster?”

He was always curious.  So you know my thang, “a closed mouth don’t get fed and a lazy hustler don’t get bread.” You smell me?  So I never had a problem with someone asking questions as a youngster because that’s how I was.  So we did a skit called “Questions” he was three years old.  Then 3 years later, on my platinum album “In a Major Way”, he was six years old at that point, and he did a rap at 6 years old, rappin’ with his daddy on a song.  He busted a hot 8 measures.

AllHipHop.com: (Laughs) y’all are like Ken Griffey Jr. and Ken Griffey Sr. It’s like hip-hop generations.  Who’s to know what he is going to do if you decide to retire? He will continue the legacy in the Bay.

E-40:  You’re right man.  The thing about Droop-E is that I’m his boss as his daddy, and he’s my boss because I am signed to his label, which is Heavy on the Grind Entertainment, which is a distribution deal through EMI.  We are both executive producers of both these albums, Revenue Retrieving Day Shift and Revenue Retrieving Night shift.

AllHipHop.com: So about 20 years in the game now, 12 solo releases up until this point.

E-40: Nah, its more than that.  22 years, my first record came out in 1988. I just added two more to my repertoire as well, that Revenue Retrieving Day and the Night shift. (Laughs)  And I rap with a group the Click so you might as well add 3 more of then on to the thang.

AllHipHop.com: Yea man can you tell me about the Click and if you have any reunion plans coming up?

E-40:  There is a reunion in the making right now.  Let me tell you a little bit about the Click right quick man.  Well we came out with a record and we were called MVP, which came out in 1998.  E-40, B-Legit, D-Shot, Suga-T and we were one group.   So in 1989, a year later we changed our name to the Click.

We were MVP in 1988, and we were the first ones to call ourselves the Click, and we were family orientated and we came with an EP called less ties.  Then we came with an album called Down and Dirty.  That particular album had the streets on lock.  You see, we talked about stuff that real players, and hustlers and b###### and G’s and people in the streets that people could relate to.  It was like that, people could relate to the messages, and it wasn’t all negative either, we had police issues, we were saying s### like that back then.  You know we covered every part of the game and then we started doing solo projects, and all of our projects were successful.

  It’s a long story, but our story is sick man and you know a lot of people favorite record label got their blueprints from Sick Wid It Records, and that’s not talking bad, that’s in a good way.  I am happy for record labels that have prospered and blossomed since then. But I feel like there is enough money out there for everyone.  You see the thing about me is that, I’m not a playa hata, I’m a money motivator.

AllHipHop.com: There’s that Bay Area swag (laughs) Different than any other place in the country.

E-40: Yea well there’s no place like us man.  We the Mecca of game.   This is the nucleus, this is the main hub man.  Come on man, this is natural like an apple, for us its easy.  Its like, this is how we really are, we talk like this, this is regular conversation.  The s### isn’t staged.

AllHipHop.com: That’s dope man, with the longevity of your solo career and then the work with the group and your family, your own label Sick Wid It.  It makes it easy to come out with an album that will be embraced by the streets.  Come out with a double disk and its well received and selling independently.

E-40: Man, a rapper’s lifespan is probably like 5 years, maybe not even that.  You can have a hot single and then that single fades away and then you never resurface again.  I’ve seen them come and go.  That’s why I always try to tell people to be humble and to just do you, and just let your nuts hang over your shoulder with your talent.  I know that everyone thinks that there is only one way to get on and that’s to do the stand don’t go outside your jurisdiction type of songs.  Its like people always want to do the standard rap and the standard songs.  That’s one thing that people took a liking to me, because I was unique and I was speaking real sh**t.

Hip-Hop Rumors: Peedi Crakk Gets Out, Kat Stacks Gets Dissed, Keepin’ It Real…Wrong!

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

DISCLAIMER:

All content within this section is pure rumor

and generally have no factual info outside of what the streets have

whispered in our ear. Read on.PEEDI CRAKK IS OUT!

Jail sucks. I’m sure Peedi Crakk knows this, because he reportedly just got out of the bing!

[source]

If my memory serves me correctly, Peedi got arrested right after the State Prop reunion that AHH put together a couple years ago.

“I KNOW THINGS ABOUT PUFF”

Soooo…I was browsing through the Ill Community and I saw that Yung Joc said,” I know things about Puff.” I wonder what he knows, because he sure hasn’t said a lot. In fact, Joc was doing really good things on the indie side, but he seemed to run out of steam. I believe he is still technically on Bad Boy, but he’s not coming out with any music.

[source]PRAY FOR CROOKED I

– SLAUGHTERHOUSE IN CANADA

Shout out to my homey Mark S. from Canada. He hit me up about the Slaughterhouse and Pharaohe Monch show up top. He said that Crooked I was unable to make the show, because he has a family member in really bad health. They said we all need to pray for him. For some reason, Ortiz and Royce were clowning on Budden all night. I heard some goons were scheming on Royce, but a local Canada rapper stopped them from trying to do it. Rumor has it, a girl in Canada hired Joe for her birthday party. That’s what’s up. I heard he took Slaughterhouse and Monch with him. Meanwhile, they missed the DJ Premier and Pete Rock battle. Oh well!

MYSONNE DISSES THE NEW BOYZ?

I can’t lie. I didn’t watch all this, but I heard he disses The New Boyz and T.I. I’m sure he’s talking about skinny jeans and snitching.

G-DEP INTERVIEW

In light of the rehab rumors, I thought I’d let you see this one.

KAT STACKS GETS DISSED!!!!

Jack Thriller disses Kat Stacks.

OLD SCHOOL FAIL, WHEN KEEPIN’ IT REAL GOES WRONG

Peep this song “Yo’ Mama’s On Crack Rock”

PEEDI, WE LOVE YOU!!!

They keep us talking, but if we stop talking about

them then they should worry!

-illseed

WHO: illseed.com

WHAT: Rumors

WHERE: AllHipHop.com, MySpace.com/TheIllseed

HOW: Send your rumors and ill pics to illseed at [email protected].