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AHH Stray News: Pete Rock & Roy Ayers, Common at MSG, Lupe’s Manager Loses Appeal

(AllHipHop News) Renowned producer Pete Rock will headline a tribute to jazz musician Roy Ayers on April 24th.  Pete Rock is among the musicians who will collaborate on stage and honor Ayers, who will be in attendance to witness the unique performance. Pete Rock will be joined by The Robert Glasper Experiment, who will perform Ayers selections, which will then be transitioned into Pete Rock productions that were created from the legendary vibraphonists’ music. The tribute to Roy Ayers is produced by the Revive Music Group, which has produced the conceptual concert series “Revive Da Live” since 2006.  The Tribute to Roy Ayers takes place April 24th at 7:30 PM at the Aaron Davis Hall in Harlem. Tickets are priced at $25 and can be purchased at www.harlemstage.org. Common has teamed with Nike’s Jordan Brand to headline the Jordan Brand Classic, an annual event at Madison Square Garden, that showcases the top high school basketball players in the world. There will be three games played during the Jordan Brand Classic: The Regional Game, The International Game and The All-American Game. Common will hit the stage during the All-American Game on Saturday (April 17) as part of the triple-header, which will be televised live on ESPN2.  Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster locations. Lupe Fiasco’s former business partner Charles Patton lost an attempt to appeal a drug conviction today (April 5). According to the Associated Press, Patton attempted to appeal his conviction based on a complaint that jurors were not quizzed about whether or not they had biases against firearms. Patton was arrested in 2003 with 6 kilos of heroin valued at $1 million dollars and a loaded firearm. Patton allegedly used the proceeds from the drugs to start a record label. He also used proceeds from various record deals to purchase drugs and distribute them throughout Chicago.

Jacob The Jeweler Heads To Halfway House

(AllHipHop News) Jacob the Jeweler was transferred to a half-way house last week, after having a 2 ½ year prison term reduced by six months, for good behavior. Jacob the Jeweler was extremely popular in Hip-Hop circles, counting rappers like Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jay-Z and 50 Cent, as clients, in addition to pop stars like Bono, Sir Elton John and Madonna, who also frequented his flagship Manhattan store. Arabov, 44, ran afoul of the law in 2006, when he was indicted for helping members of the powerful Black Mafia Family (BMF) launder over $270 million in drug proceeds for the gang, which operated in almost every major city in the United States. He was sentenced to the prison term for allegedly falsifying documents and lying to authorities about the ownership of $5 million dollars worth of jewelry seized from BMF co-head, Terry Flenory.According to reports, Arabov’s sentence was reduced due to his work with charitable organizations. Arabov will run his Jacob & Co. jewelry business during the day and return to a half-way house each evening.

Jae Millz: Of Rap Beef, Lil Wayne and The Rocky Road To Success

Jae Millz has been in the game for almost a decade but still has yet to see a solo album drop. As early as 17, he made a name for himself on the underground battle scene.  Diddy was the first mogul to take note, which  lead to MTV’s Making the Band. His success was far from secure. Millz eventually saw his career return to ground zero, recording tracks on his laptop in his mother’s Harlem apartment. But fate smiled upon him when he secured Lil Wayne for a feature and he then found himself a member of Weezy’s Young Money crew. These days, Millz continues the upward path, but finds himself hitting turbulence again. Wayne is in Rikers Island and he’s raised the ire of most of the top tier talents in Hip-Hop’s freshman class. Will Millz make his way through it all? He gives his side of things and also  offers and update on Lil Wayne.

AllHipHop.com checks in with Jae to discuss Young Money, his recent controversies that have him all over the blogs and what it is that has kept him so resilient after so many doors have shut on him over the years.

AllHipHop.com: Recently you’ve been the subject of a lot of controversy over your comments on the XXL Freshmen cover.  You stated that you barely knew any of the artists featured and that you knew others that were way more worthy of the spot. When you did the original interview expressing your opinion, did you think all the controversy would follow?

Jae Millz: Actually when I did that interview, I wasn’t thinking about controversy, I wasn’t thinking about what anybody else was going to say. I kind of just was talking off of anger at the time. I might have said some stuff that I shouldn’t have said but at the end of the day that’s my opinion, that’s how I felt and I stand beside it. But i wasn’t thinking of controversy or what anyone else was going to think, I wasn’t trying to start anything. It was just my opinion at the time when I first saw the cover.

AllHipHop.com: A couple of the artists that were on the cover took it really personal, with Nipsey Hu$$le taking to his Twitter saying you’re washed up, and Pill saying you can’t come to Atlanta. What do you have to say about that?

Jae Millz: As far as the people who took it personal…I don’t know exactly who took it personal or whatever. I can’t really say who took it personal because at the end of the day, Pill is the only person who said some slick sh*t out his mouth. I mean Nipsey, I saw what he said, I saw what Wiz Khalifa said, I heard what J. Cole said…but at the end of the day, they’re voicing their opinion. If Nipsey HU$$le feels I been in the game for too long and I’m washed or whatever, that’s Nipsey’s opinion. At the end of the day, Nipsey is one of the few people on the cover that I felt I knew.  I know J. Cole, I know Wiz Khalifa, I know OJ the Juiceman and I know Jay Rock. I don’t really know too many of the other people. I wasn’t trying to be personal about it, but that’s just my opinion. I still said I wish them the best and all of that but I was just stating my opinion at that time. So when I heard Nipsey’s reply to what I said, I wasn’t really thinking about it as a diss….that’s really his opinion. Like I listen to Nipsey Hu$$le’s music. I wasn’t going to stop listening to his music because he said whatever he said about my opinion. That’s how he feels, life goes on.  As far as the Pill n*gga, he said some street sh*t and he took it to that level so you know street sh*t stay there, I’ma just leave it at that.“As soon as Wayne gets home, The Carter

IV is dropping. It’s already finished; he finished it before he went

in so as soon as he gets out he’s dropping that and we hitting the

road.”-Jae Millz

AllHipHop.com: You were actually supposed to come out at the XXL concert. Why didn’t you make it? Did you think any confrontation would occur if you went?

Jae Millz: Actually it was Cam’Ron’s idea for me to come out at the XXL concert. Once he got the word that they wanted him to host it and then he spoke to whoever he spoke to that said he could bring Vado out, he told Vado it would be a good idea to bring me out to do whatever songs we got and for me to close the show with Lemonade. In all honesty I wasn’t really thinking about no type of confrontation or none of that. I didn’t really think it would be that serious. I knew people were probably going to be salty about my comments, but I was going to see everybody that night so I would have let everybody know what it was like let them know it wasn’t personal. When a person hears that straight from your mouth they can respect it. But when you let the media get into it and websites quote this and quote that, it turns into something so much bigger and everybody always going to try to make a small situation larger. But I mean I wasn’t thinking about running into no problems. I was just going there to hold my homie Vado down and show everybody else the same support. But on the way there I got arrested on some bullsh*t. I was on my way to the Highline Ballroom and I was driving without my license on me. Cops pulled me over in Jersey as I was leaving my crib and I had just changed all my clothes in a rush, and I left all my stuff in the pockets of my other jeans. I was speeding, I was on the phone AND I did an illegal turn, so once he asked me for my license that I didn’t have, it was over. So that’s how that situation went. It’s all good though, I’m out obviously so I’m straight.

AllHipHop.com: You also were a topic of a crazy groupie’s recent video and Twitter rants, and the media pointed fingers at you calling you disrespectful…but it seems like she was just disrespecting herself. What do you feel about the whole situation?

Jae Millz: I got nothing to say about her. I don’t feel nothing about nothing. Life goes on. (laughs)

AllHipHop.com: You’ve been rapping for a while now. Over the course of your career, you’ve had 2 failed deals and almost faded into irrelevancy before you started rocking with Young Money. What do you think would have happened if you never got at Wayne?

Jae Millz: As far as me thinking what would have happened if I never got at Wayne, I guess we’ll never know. That’s just a question you’re going to always have a question mark next to and you’ll never have the answer because hey, it happened. Who gives a damn about the deals I had that failed, who cares about me almost fading into irrelevancy. I don’t think about none of that. If I was a person that sat here and dwelled on that every day, I wouldn’t be able to write good verses. I wouldn’t be able to have the personality or do the interviews that I do because I would just be a sour person still mad at the world. I’m trying to make up for lost time. I’m still a young man. I came in the came when I was really young, so I’m still young, I’m still having fun. I’m a part of the hottest group out right now, the hottest label, the hottest movement, so I don’t even look at how many years I was in the game. People keep on saying that, but they need to look at how long someone like Jay-Z was in the game before people really started paying attention to who he was. It is what it is. It’s been a long road but I’m still here so, that’s all I got to say about that.

AllHipHop.com: Did you ever feel like giving up at some points?

Jae Millz: I mean honestly, it’s not like you feel like completely giving up but you just kind of question yourself at some points. You get writer’s block, and then it goes from writer’s block to the money slows up or you might lose a deal and other people might be coming up and you look at it like people passing you. You just got to block all of that out and you got to just lock in and go hard for yourself and you won’t pay that stuff no mind. It definitely was some points I kind of really questioned everything and I was living in a blur, but you know you got to focus and get your mind right.

AllHipHop.com: Your original claim to fame was being a battle rapper. Did you have to put effort into the transition of making radio friendly songs or did it just come naturally?

Jae Millz: It really just came pretty naturally. I think it just came naturally because the music I liked was always radio-friendly music. Not like they were radio friendly rappers but they always made songs for the radio and they always were lyrically nice. Nas always had records that came on the radio; Biggie always had records that came on the radio, Jay, Kim, Foxy, Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang…that’s the era I come from. They always had radio records. Even if you want to talk about the whole Death Row…they were just straight reckless, but they all had videos that you saw on MTV at any given time any given day so that’s the type of stuff I grew up on. Even with me being a battle rapper, I always used to like to make songs. I always used to like to take three 16’s and have a hook or two 24’s and a hook. I used to always like having songs so it really wasn’t a hard transition. I think the hard transition was just making songs that were going to appeal to the world instead of just your region. It’s easy to make a song for the radio, but I don’t think most people understand that it’s not easy to make a record that will appeal to all genres. Like there may be a song where a little kid likes it, and a woman that works in a strip club likes it and a man that’s working on Wall Street likes it too…I’ve seen records like that, they’re just worldwide records. So that’s definitely a hard transition right there and I can say that’s something I’m still working at but it’s a work in progress so I ain’t really mad at it.

AllHipHop.com: Diddy really helped put you on with the Making the Band battle. How did your relationship with him come about? Did you ever try to contact him for help when you were without a deal?

Jae Millz: My relationship with Diddy is more like extended family. The dudes that used to run the label I was signed to and was managing me, all of those dudes were basically extended family of him. So at a young age they took me around him. The whole Making the Band thing came through him just knowing about me through them and knowing my talent and he gave me a great platform.  Like he always knew about me and everybody always wondered why I never got signed to Bad Boy. It’s because the people that introduced me to him, I was signed to them and it wasn’t more so me signing to Bad Boy because it was like anything I needed I could always get from them. If I needed a song, or I needed features or I wanted to write stuff for people, I could always go to Bad Boy and they would look me out so it wasn’t a bad situation. I never really tried to contact Diddy for a deal even after my deals fell through.  I don’t know I just never really did.

AllHipHop.com: There hasn’t really been a major look for New York, even more specifically Harlem since the Dip Set days. Being in a predominantly southern crew, is putting New York rap back on the map something you really care about doing or are you more focused on the Young Money group as a whole?

Jae Millz: I’m focused on both. Like if anyone knows me, they know I’ve always cared about repping New York, I rep New York. That’s always been my thing, that’s always been what I wanted to do. But now it’s at a point where I am on a higher plateau and it’s more than just New York. It’s still about NY but it’s also Harlem, it’s also Jae Millz. I got to reinvent myself and just keep that whole Jae Millz thing going before I can do the whole New York thing. I got to get it where everybody understand that it’s the Jae Millz moment, like it’s my time and then when they understand that, then I can focus on bringing back New York rap all the way. Before that I need to get Jae Millz solidified again with everybody. Once that’s right, definitely getting New York back on the map. Well I don’t really think it fell off the map, I just think the sales of the rappers that were in that higher position dropped, so people looked at it like New York fell off the map. But everybody in New York still works, from the mixtapes, to the songs, to the clubs, to the features, to the appearance, to the swag, to everything. We all still work. So I’m not really focused on that. Shout to Vado, shout to Cam and the U.N. Everybody in New York is doing their thing, it ain’t like it’s just me. I don’t want y’all to say it like it’s just me. Shout out to Maino, shout to Red Café, French Montana, Fab…he got one of the craziest mixtapes out right now. Shout to Juelz, shout to Jim, shout to my boy Joell Ortiz and my boy Cory Gunz too. It’s a lot of us doing it out here. I think when I do my thing; I’m doing it for New York, for Harlem, for Young Money as a whole.

AllHipHop.com: The Young Money crew has a pretty big roster, and two of your labelmates, Nicki Minaj and Drake, already have their first singles out and albums dropping soon. Where do you think you fall in terms of priority of your album coming out?

Jae Millz: Well right now over at Young Money, it’s not really like anybody’s a main priority over another. I mean yea of course Nicki and Drake are the first ones up and when Wayne comes home, The Carter IV coming out, but we’re at a point right now where we could all drop albums so everybody’s a priority. Like literally everybody over here that’s working on their album is a priority and whoever turn their album in first and it’s a complete album and it seem like it’s ready to go and the buzz is there, that’s who’ s going to drop. So it’s not like Lil Chuckee is scheduled to drop next and Lil Twist is on the shelf or Jae Millz is up next and Gudda Gudda is going to come after that…there’s no set order. It’s really just everybody working. You don’t know whose album you’re going to get this year and that’s just in all honesty. But I’m definitely working on my album right now. It’s called Nothing is Promised.”Pill is the only person who said some

slick s**t out his mouth. If Nipsey Hussle feels I been in the game

for too long and I’m washed or whatever, that’s Nipsey’s opinion.” -Jae Millz

AllHipHop.com: Who are you working with or looking to work with on your album?

Jae Millz: It’s just fun, man. For starters I’m working with Pete Rock, I’m working with Scram Jones, I’m working with Dame Grease, I’m working with Oddz N Endz. The whole Young Money crew is on there. I got Gudda, Baby, Wayne of course. I’m still working on a couple of other features right now. I got a joint in the works with Estelle, just did a joint with Chris Brown.  I got a couple of other joints I’m working on right now too. As far as who I’m looking to work with…I’m really looking to work with my boy Talib Kwali. I spoke to him the other day and I’m going to do a joint with him and Hi-Tek. I want to work with Kanye and Premier too. If I could get Kanye and Premier and add them with the joints I already got with Pete Rock, I think that would really be a classic New York album right there.

AllHipHop.com: What do you feel Jae Millz brings to Young Money?

Jae Millz:  Jae Millz just brings the whole New York vibe. Jae Millz just brings a lot of personality. That’s really just it. I try to bring a lot of life to the group. But lyrics are also a big thing I bring. A lot of people like to say a lot of slick stuff about Young Money like “oh, they’re a pop group” and our songs are all for the girls, but man we spit. Like everybody ain’t really caring too much about that lyrics sh*t but I’m one of the dudes in Young Money who I care about getting on every beat and really trying to tear every n*gga on the beat. If you ain’t with Young Money and I get on the beat with you, I’m trying to tear your head off. That’s just friendly competition because I know when a n*gga get on the beat with me, he wants to just say the most outlandish sh*t in the world because he already thinking about what I’m saying. I’m not even thinking about what a n*gga saying, I’m just thinking about killing every n*gga on the song. That’s what I bring to Young Money.

AllHipHop.com: When you first heard the verdict of Wayne going away for a year, what did you think?

Jae Millz: When I first heard it, I mean of course you’re going to think what a messed up situation but at the end of the day, you got to prepare for the worst. You never know what’s going to happen in your life and he went about it like a soldier. When I first heard the news, I just got off a plane and Gudda had called me and he had told me they gave him the year or whatever. It really felt awkward hearing Lil Wayne gotta go to jail, the dude who you done been around the world with for the last two years every night on the stage performing and you ain’t seen him do nothing to nobody but yet he got to go to jail over some bullsh*t, away from his kids and his family at the height of his career. But you know it is what it is, the time is going by and he’s doing good. He’s holding his head, we’re holding it down for him.

AllHipHop.com: Do you speak to Wayne often while he’s gone?

Jae Millz: Yea we speak to him all the time. He always calling and we all speak. He may not call us all directly but we always together so he’ll call Mack or Tez and we’ll all get on the phone. One thing I could definitely say is he’s always been in high spirits every time I speak to him. So definitely shout to Wayne. He just started a website too where he’s writing to the fans. It’s called www.weezythanxyou.com so check that out and you can read his letters and all that.

AllHipHop.com: You’ve said you’re going to put out a mixtape every month for 2010. Are you on track with this goal?

Jae Millz: Yea I’m really on track with my goal. We’re in the fourth month and I’m getting ready to put out my third mixtape at the end of the month. I would have been on four but I had a seizure in my sleep in February so it kind of held me back a little. I had to spend time getting my health back in order and all that so I missed that month but I’m definitely back on track. But I came back with The Flood in March. I appreciate everybody who downloaded that. I’m really going to stay on track with a mixtape every month and in the midst of doing that I’m still working on my album so nobody can say Jae Millz is just a mixtape rapper. No, I got singles lined up and ain’t none of them going on the mixtapes. The mixtapes are just for the streets and the little videos for the blogs and websites and all that. You know I’ve watched Wayne do it, I’ve watched Gucci do it…you got to just really flood the streets. You got to outwork n***as, you got to outgrind n***as. It ain’t about outshining them and being all on TV; it’s literally more about just being in people’s faces more. You got to keep music out there to stay relevant so that’s where I’m at with that.

AllHipHop.com: Is there going to be a Young Money tour soon?

Jae Millz: Yea there’s definitely going to be a tour soon.  As soon as Wayne gets home, The Carter IV is dropping. It’s already finished; he finished it before he went in so as soon as he gets out he’s dropping that and we hitting the road. It’s no name for it yet or whatever but it’s definitely going to happen. By then too Nicki will be out, Drake will be out, whoever’s up next album should be getting ready to come out and we should all have our singles out so everything gonna really be moving by then. I really can’t wait for that.

AllHipHop.com: Anything else you want the fans to know?

Jae Millz: If you haven’t downloaded The Flood Warning or The Flood, make sure you go get that. We Are Young Money is in stores. I speak for the whole Young Money when I say we greatly appreciate the support on the album and on the two singles, “Every Girl” and “Bedrock” and the support y’all giving the Young Money crew on Roger Dat and the Girl I Got You singles. It’s really heavy on 106th & Park so it’s definitely still love on the album. We got a gold plaque coming real soon so we appreciate that so shoutout to Young Money/Cash Money, Universal Records, the whole Harlem. Shout to my crew Most Hated. Free Weezy all day. And of course shout to AllHipHop…I appreciate it.

 

Desperate Times/ Desperate Measures: The Joell Ortiz and Erykah Badu Version

Editor’s note: The

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

AllHipHop.com or its employees.“Societies never

know it, but the war of an artist with his society is … to make freedom real.”

—James Baldwin

When up against the wall, swing—hard.

Two of the finest from the Hip-Hop

community, Joell Ortiz and Erykah Badu, last month proved that axiom

right—desperate times call for desperate measures. In their unique ways, with

their unique minds, both put down examples of the good a bit of courage mixed

with creativity always creates.

Let’s start with Mr. Ortiz and pick up

Ms. Badu somewhere along.

It was a predicament most are familiar

with. Nothing new to the industry. This time, however, a Rap artist put his

feet to the pedal and pressed on, never looking back. I speak here of Joell

Ortiz’s March 21 Twitter air-out of E1 Music, the label and independent

distributor, over a Pharaoh-like move to prevent his crew signing to Shady.

“[L]ittle known fact-E1 also jamming me

up from doing a major, major deal as part of Slaughterhouse. so they aint

getting FREEAGENT,” he began roaring that morning. “E1 is f**king c**kblocking

us from doing something monumental for our fans and our careers. I dont give a f**k

who gets mad. [It’s] the truth im sick of the behind the scenes politics. [It’s]

time to expose certain bloodsuckers to some light. enough is enough.”

Nothing Ortiz had to say broke new

grounds or blazed trails. For decades, artists have served as handkerchiefs for

snot-nosed label heads. (They even got Hi-Tek)

It’s 2010, so I assume most reading this fall under no illusions that major

record labels actually value Hip-Hop music as an artistic and cultural contribution

to human development. (Recue the laugh track.) There’s big money in it (though not

as much as before), and till this cow is milked dry, Black artists can sleep

tight—they’ll get their crumbs. (Of course they’ll rather ride on chrome 24-inch

wheels and tie silvery chains around their necks than put some pay away for

union dues; but that’s a topic for days ahead.)

Only difference with Ortiz was the

medium used, and the audacity of his posts—the unbridled nature. (We all

remember months back when Soulja Boy grew tired of the “crackers” in his ear,

and let them have it through Twitter. Like most, I laughed—then sighed: he’s much

too young for that kind of pressure. Chris Rock handled his

cracker-moment better.)

But to Ortiz goes the spoils—for capping

right at the midriff of his overlords. “E1 steady telling me I suck cause I

dont make DJ Khaled  music,” he went on. “[A]t

the same time they try to block me from eating elsewhere. … Mark my words. E1

holding good brothers up cause of my agreement. its not fair to Slaughterhouse

It’s all bulls**t.”

Before long one of his 32,000 followers

rang E1, and his manager fell into panic mode, trying to leash Ortiz. Didn’t

work out—not with the guy who wrote “Exhibit

H(aiti).” You’re messin’ with the wrong, Borinqueño!

And before long, E1 heads were running

through yellow pages, tearing out the private security section. “Sum labels

forgot about the goons… They’re alive and hungry.. Exec’s #thinkaboutdat,”

cautioned one of Ortiz’s minions. “[D]on’t let them stop you from getting the

shady deal, im with you if you wana start a riot in their building,” another

fired off. “[M]an if they blockin yall from goin to shady we can start a f**kin

protest outside they offices!” yet another proposed. And more and more and more

and more.

I’m sure the next time Ortiz walked into

E1 offices in New York, eyes stalked him like a bearded Arab strolling through

JFK airport with a black box tucked underneath his arm. But I’m also sure

respect—indeed fear—like never before addressed him through the lips of the

suits.

I think Hip-Hop artists—most of which

fair in worse deals than Ortiz—should wise up and begin calling out, individually,

whoever’s boot rests against their heads. You got the power. You got the

influence. And you got the nut-job followership ready to deliver the warning

personally to Pharaoh—let our artists go!

Yippee-ki-yay…!

Then comes Erykah Badu, jolting this

anti-sex, order-obsessed, puritanicalism-pushing society, telling it to drop

the veil. When grown men face

charges for prancing around naked in their homes, you know insanity is on

the verge. Ms. Badu knows this. So she puts society at the window seat, before

flicking her hat, retiring to the cockpit, and hurling passengers up, thousands

of feet from land—the better to objectively observe reality: that not only is

promiscuity the cousin of puritanicalism, but attempts to police conduct only

further betray this fact. Regulate all you want, she is saying, legislate all

you please—but don’t for a second consider anyone but yourselves fooled. What

did Hafez say? “On the pulpit, at the time of ecstasy, and of the manifestation

of hypocrisy.”

Ms. Badu also had another point to make,

perhaps more sobering: most people don’t think, and believe all they hear and

read unquestioningly; most people are crowd-pleasers—group-thinkers. And if you

dare stand up, have on a strapped MTV vest. George Carlin would be proud. What

did Twain say? “The best of us would rather be popular than right. I found that

out a good while ago.”

Speaking with the Wall Street Journal late last month, Ms. Badu explained

the concept of her—for some reason my puny mind cannot grasp—controversial video, “Window Seat.” She

strolls down Dealey Plaza, in downtown Dallas, and sheds clothes, emotions, and

constraints, to represent “not conforming to what society would expect you to

do.” And so it is that upon reaching destination, the Grassy Knoll, at which that famous president bid farewell in

1963, a gunshot strikes her nude body down, as blood flows out to spell out “Groupthink.”

So can I get a window seat?/ Don’t want nobody next

to me/ I just want a ticket outta town/ A look around and a safe touch down/

Can I get a window seat?/ Don’t want nobody next to me/ I just want a chance to

fly/ A chance to cry/ And a long bye bye/

Right on cue, the puritans descended,

pot and pan in hand, clanging away: Erykah Badu is sullying society,

disrespecting decency. Didn’t she see kids around? What’s wrong with her?

Aren’t there better—less abrasive—ways to send the same message? What good does

this do? Does she really need the attention (and sales)?

But before Ms. Badu, had come Punk duo

Matt and Kim, with their innovative video single “Lessons Learned,” released

last year, in which both strip down on a stroll through Times Square. So the

grounds, as with Joell Ortiz, don’t necessarily open up. Only difference is the

courage and creativity with which her message was delivered. And for that, she

mightily threatens the lot who would prefer we all wore around turtlenecks,

khaki jeans, and thigh-high boots.

Drop the veil, society! Our eyes can see

you clean and clear. You want order, peace, and protection, but bomb at whim

and set foreign villages ablaze at will. You want a prosperous future, but

treat children worse than earth scum. You want piety and morality, but forget

so quickly the sins of the past: sins which women hanged and burnt, naked

Africans examined on auction blocks,

Native Americans driven off the planet, would keep forever at tip of your

consciousness.

Drop the veil, society—and clean the

mirror!

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].

Jay-Z, Russell Simmons Rally For 7-Year-Old Gang Rape Victim

(AllHipHop News) A number of Hip-Hop heavyweights will head to Trenton, New Jersey in support of this weekend’s “Stop the Violence” rally.Hip-Hop superstar Jay-Z will head to Trenton for the rally, after hearing the shocking story of a seven-year-old girl, who was gang raped in an apartment in the city on March 28th. Russell Simmons is hosting the event, while the Rev. Al Sharpton and other community leaders are expected to join Jay-Z for the rally, which takes place on Saturday (April 10th) at 7:00 PM at The Lighthouse Outreach ministry.In addition to Jay-Z and Russell Simmons, rappers Ludacris, Chuck D. and Trenton’s own Wise Intelligent of the Poor Righteous Teachers will deliver taped messages to attendees.The rally is a reaction to the shocking news about the seven-year-old, who was assaulted by seven men, ranging in age from 13 to 20 years-old. According to reports, the girl’s 15-year-old sister took an undisclosed amount of money and sold herself and her younger sister for sex during a party at the notorious Rowan Towers, where several men touched and raped the child. Police have arrested five men believed to be involved with the crime and they seek two more rapists, who allegedly also forcibly penetrated the young girl.“We are not finished, because everyone that was responsible is still not arrested,” Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer said during a press conference. “The police will not rest until we get every individual that’s involved in this.”The Stop the Violence rally is free and open to the public tickets are available at the lighthouse outreach ministry in TrentonThe 15-year-old’s grandmother has stated that the family is now receiving death threats from local gangs.

Dr. Dre Creates Headphones for Boston Red Sox, Confirms Single with Jay-Z

(AllHipHop News) Elite producer Dr. Dre visited Fenway Park yesterday to promote a Red Sox version on his popular Beats by Dr. Dre headphone line. Dre and Interscope CEO Jimmy Iovine met the ballclub before the Red Sox’s season opener with their hated rival, the New York Yankees. Dre suited up in Red Sox gear and tried his hand at the batting cages before hawking the product on the field. “I’m rooting for Boston, of course!” Dre told nesn.com’s Heidi Watney. “Hands down these are the best-sounding headphones in the world. If you don’t have them you need to check them out. They’re hot and you won’t be let down, trust me.” News broke last week of Jay-Z working in the studio with Dr. Dre for Detox’s reputed first single, “Under Pressure.” Jimmy Iovine confirmed the single, and Dre observed it would be the perfect at bat song for Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. “Ortiz, absolutely! [That’s] Big Papi,” Dre stated. Jimmy Iovine explained the rationale behind the Red Sox partnership was finding a popular sports team that also retained a strong management and organizational structure. “To be very frank, we wanted a great team with a great fan base and a great organization,” Iovine said. “[When Red Sox chairman Tom Warner asked] ‘Hey you want to do something with the Red Sox?’ We were like, ‘Hey, they’re a great organization. Why not? Let’s try it.'” The specialized Red Sox come in red with the team’s logo on each headphone. Cavaliers’ superstar Lebron James was also on hand at ESPN’s pregame show sporting the product. More information on Dr. Dre’s headphones can be found at www.beatsbydre.com. At press time, neither Dre nor Jimmy Iovine would verify a release date for the Jay-Z featured single or Detox. The Red Sox edged the Yankees last night 9-7.

Hip-Hop Rumors: Ice Cube Disses Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Eminem…and MORE? Vanilla Ice Disses Eminem!

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.

SEE SOMETHING? SAY SOMETHING!!!!!

Here is a repeat of the last rumor, for those that may have missed it.

First of all, here is the vid of Dre talking about the song and the new headset.

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JAY-Z / DR. DRE COLLABO ANNOUNCED!

Looks like the Dr. Dre and Jay-Z union is coming along really nice. Looks like the name of the song is “UNDER PRESSURE.” And, it would seem this is all confirmed by none other than Jimmy Iovine. Mr. Iovine made the announcement on Red Sox Radio. How? He was asked by an interviewer what song he would want the players to walk out to bat to and he said “Under Pressure” by Dr. Dre featuring Jay-Z. Both Jimmy and Dre are / were at the Yankees / Red Sox game. Why? They unveiled the new Boston Red Sox Beats By Dre headphones. I want some AllHipHop Beats By Dre headphones for those good musical sounds!

DR. DRE AND LEBRON?

I am convinced I need to be a part of this New Black World Order. I don’t know what they were doing, but Dr. Dre was at the Yanks / Red Sox game and they were reportedly mighty chummy! I bet they are making some Big Bron headphones by Dr. Dre. Who knows! I’m heated, because I know they are about to make a gang of money and I am not.

Shout out to my boy Chris P!

ICE CUBE IS DISSING…EVERYBODY?

Ice Cube has a storied history of going at all sorts of people. Everybody from NWA to Arsenio Hall. But, now…he’s seemingly going all out. We all know the stuff with the newer rappers, but Cube has a new song and that song is sounding like it is taking shots at everybody. The song is called “Drink The Kool Aid.” I want you to listen to it. I heard what seemed to be disses of Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Eminem…and may be more. AW MAN. He said, “I heard there was a New West Coast…I ain’t heard it.” I hope nobody gets mad at me. Cube is saying this! He’s going in!!!!

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His other song is called “I Rep That West.”

Ice Cube addresses the younger rappers and tells them…

VANILLA ICE AND T-PAIN REACT DIFFERENTLY TO THE SAME THING.

Shout out to my homeboy Steel out in Dubai! He gave me the real deal on a pair of concerts in Dubai. One concert was T-Pain. Here is what he said:

A few weeks ago there was T-Pain concert in Dubai alongside the Gorillaz, DJ Sash and some other electronic music acts, the tickets for the show started selling at AED 400 ($110).  3 days before the show the promoters dropped the price of the tickets to $25 because they had hardly sold any tickets. Anyways, so the venue started filling up and when T-Pain finally came on the crowd went crazy, so he did his thing and one member of the crowd got a little over enthusiastic and threw a water bottle at him and T-Pain threw a hissy fit and walked off stage refusing to complete his set. 

The other concert was none other than Vanilla Ice. Here is how Robert VanWinkle responded to the same situation:

So that was a few weeks ago, yesterday Vanilla Ice performed in Dubai at a beach club called Barasti. Heres the interesting part. Vanilla packed the s### outta that venue. There was barely room to walk. The DJ was spinning hits from the 90s for a couple of hours, before his set, crowd was bumpin and by the time Vanilla came on stage, everybody went crazy. He had an explosive set, which consisted of him throwing litres of water at the crowd, after after a while of this, he started handing members of the crowd bottles of water to throw AT HIM!!! He rocked the house. What was real dope was the fact that eventho there were haters in the crowd talkin smack he embraced it, put on an amazin  show and erryone left the show happy. All I gotta say is … T-PAIN = MAJOR FAIL!! Check out this funny interview before his show in Dubai where he disses EMINEM and the interviewer.

Vanilla disses the interviewer and freakin’ EMINEM! LOL!

SIGNS THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END

OH Man! The damn murders left Newark, NJ and went to Chicago. There were 40 people shot in 2 days and 4 of them died. SAD. Obama needs to clean up his home.

EPIC WIN OF THE DAY!

Help the Police, not F**k the Police! LMAO!

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Please, wanna be radicals, its humor. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.

ICE CUBE!!!! 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].

Hip-Hop Rumors: Dr. Dre / Jay-Z Song Revealed…”Under Pressure”

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.

SEE SOMETHING? SAY SOMETHING!!!!!

JAY-Z / DR. DRE COLLABO ANNOUNCED!

Looks like the Dr. Dre and Jay-Z union is coming along really nice. Looks like the name of the song is “UNDER PRESSURE.” And, it would seem this is all confirmed by none other than Jimmy Iovine. Mr. Iovine made the announcement on Red Sox Radio. How? He was asked by an interviewer what song he would want the players to walk out to bat to and he said “Under Pressure” by Dr. Dre featuring Jay-Z. Both Jimmy and Dre are / were at the Yankees / Red Sox game. Why? They unveiled the new Boston Red Sox Beats By Dre headphones. I want some AllHipHop Beats By Dre headphones for those good musical sounds!

So, can somebody send me audio of the interview? Thanks!

Click here is a 12 SECOND snippet of the song. SMH.

DRE, JAY AND JIMMY!!!!

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].

Wyclef Raises Almost $10 Mil For Haiti; Ambassador Defends Rapper

(AllHipHop News) Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti non-profit organization has raised almost $10 million dollars in donations since an earthquake struck the nation in January. According to recent filings, Yele has taken in a total of $9,139,324 in donations since a 7.0 earthquake leveled Port-Au-Prince, leaving over #,000,000 dead and millions wounded and displaced. The organization has been under scrutiny since it began soliciting donations on behalf of Haiti and has been  accused mismanaging funds in the past.Last month, TheSmokingGun.com  posted Yele’s 2008 tax returns, revealing a $105,000 payment to the rapper’s personal assistant Zakiya Khatou-Chevassus, who he was rumored to be having an affair with. Those allegations come in the midst of rumors that Jean was also sleeping with his former manager, Lisa Ellis, former VP of Urban at Sony Music. According to The New York Post, Ellis has contacted the FBI over a nude photograph from an upcoming art book that leaked on the Internet. Both women have denied being romantically involved with Wyclef Jean, as did Wyclef Jean via his Twitter page.“If you Ride with me you are on the Right side or you can follow your slave master and believe what he tells you. Yele Haiti 4 life. Since some of you like to believe everything you read with out having Facts pass this around! Wyclef is A Alien from out of space.I have been spending money n my country since I was a Fugees! why is it now after the Quake I am being Excuse! They fear I’m gaining ground.”A number of organizations are also under scrutiny, as over $2 billion in relief effort has been collected, although the Haitian government has only seen around $10 million of the money. During a visit to Nashville’s Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church in Nashville Tennessee, Haitian Ambassador Raymond Alcide Joseph addressed the allegations against Jean, who is also his nephew. He claimed the rumors were being started by rival non-profits, who were angry at the amount of money being directed towards Jean’s Yele Haiti. “I’m not a financial accountant, I haven’t seen everything, but I think they had people go through the books and they did find some irregularities that were repaired, but as far as wholesale corruption–I say ‘no,’“ Joseph stated. “It’s not because Wyclef Jean is my nephew and I’m defending him but I know his heart is good and he’s been doing good work in Haiti long, long before these people who have appeared on the scene. “