“The Bone Song”
homepage
Gripz
“Stranger”
Juicy J: Hustle & Go
As one of founders and godfathers of the Memphis rap scene, Juicy J has been making the 808s bump long before Kanye and tore the club up with crunk anthems many moons before Lil Jon. Yet, well over a decade into his career, Juicy is still proving to be a driving force in the Southern Hip-Hop movement, I was a little worried at first about sales with everything going digital now, but I realized that if you continue to create a certain level of quality music the people will buy it. It cant just be one hot song on a 15 track album. Thats what separates 3 6 Mafia from the rest., says Juicy J from his home studio in Memphis.
With Juicy Js second solo here, deemed Hustle till I Die, all the jitters and nervousness are things that the Juicemans all to accustom too. Getting his start by as a member of one of the most influential hip hops groups to rise from the United States southern regions, Three 6 Mafia helped set the blueprint that many of todays d-boys and trap boys are using to rule Billboard charts. The group’s legacy may be represented by an Academy Award to the masses, but true Hip Hop Junkies and down south rap aficionados know that Juicy J and Three 6 Mafia are the dons of crunktastic Hip-Hop music. AllHipHop.com got a brief chance to chop it up with the Juiceman on short break from recording in his hometown.
AllHipHop.com: Your first single samples the OJays track Darlin Darlin Baby, for some it may be hard to grasp the idea of Juicy J and OJays together
Juicy J: Im just a fan of all old school music, man. All I do is stay in the studio all day making beats and playing with records and the OJays are one of my all time favorite groups, so I knew one day I had to flip one of their tracks, they’re just too pimpin.
AllHipHop.com: Long time Three 6 Mafia fam Project Pat, and ATLs current shining star Gucci Mane are also featured on the track, was it your idea to link up with Gucci?
Juicy J: Well, I talked to Gucci a couple days before he got out of jail and he told he wanted me to come down to ATL and produce some tracks for his album when he came home. And sure enough right when he got out, he flew me out and just vibed out in the studio for a few days. Man, Gucci is hard worker and knows exactly what he wants out of a track.
AllHipHop.com: Hustle till I Die is the title for your new solo album which is pretty self explanatory, and by now Three 6 Mafia fans know what to expect. What chapter is this in the Juiceman legacy?
Juicy J: This is classic album, man. I really out did myself with this album, I was completely focused and back to my roots in my hometown. It some of that old Three 6 Mafia, that you’re used to hearing. Weve been putting out albums all the time on the independent tip. People may not always realize we are always working on the music, it never stops.
AllHipHop.com: Speaking of the independent game, the last Three 6 record was on a major. Hows every going with Hypnotize Minds in the digital area?
Juicy J: My album is still coming out on Hypnotize Minds and were still continuing on with business. Our marketing and promotion plans havent changed too much. A lot of times people forget that we been doin this independent game since the beginning. Straight cash in my pocket, I did a couple of straight to youtube videos and we hitting the road again.
AllHipHop.com: So it looks like it going to be a long summer ahead of you
Juicy J: Im going across country hitting every single bar, every strip club in the country. (laughs) Thats my promo tour! Man, Im just going to stay working and having a good damn time while Im at it.
AllHipHop.com: Also youre brother Project Pat recently moved some respectable units independently, what position do you play in his career?
Juicy J: Man, Im proud of that boy every day, he makes so proud and hes actually a year older than me. I got his back 100%, growing up my momma always told us no matter yall boys have to stick together, no matter what. We always together in this, side by side no matter whether it is in life or this music business. What I have is his and whatever he has is mine.
AllHipHop.com: Its been about five years since the Academy Award and MTV reality show. Do you miss the limelight?
Juicy J: You just gotta keep hustling, everybody has ups and downs- thats just life. We still doing our music and loving what we do, man. If one door aint open, I jus t find another one. Three 6 has always done what we wanted to do, we never been the type to wait for people to call us. This is our business, and thats the making the music. Just give me a few shots of patron or goose, and point me to the studio (laughs). You just got to listen to this new album, I got Gucci Mane, Webbie, Gorilla Zoe, and this new artist out of Memphis who is hotter than a muthafucka right now named V Slash, so just go cop that and you wont be disappointed.
Juicy J – “Ugh Ugh Ugh”
video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsfree video player
Juicy J – “Violent”
video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsfree video player
Monday Fashion Feature: “Celeb Style: Chris Brown”
Most of the time you hear Chris Brown’s name lately, it’s still in regards to his drama involving ex-girlfriend Rihanna.
Chris Brown But we would like to take a quick breather from that situation and ask you what you think of his style game.
Most recently at Pleasure P’s album release party, wearing a G-shock watch.
Speaking of Rihanna, it seems like they both own their style now versus when they first came out on the scene.
Breezy a few years back
Their looks got a lot edgier – Rihanna with her wild black hair and haute couture wardrobe, and Chris with his many tattoos, recent mohawk hairdo, etc. He’s obviously into skate/street wear, being spotted in brands like Sabit and Money Clothing.
He cleans up when it comes to court dates and red carpet time, usually wearing suits with personality.
Images: Bossip
Street Knowledge Vs. College?
F**k College; Im about street knowledge, a friend once said to me. I smiled, nodding approvingly, before adding: I feel you, man.. We exchanged daps, unifying our indifference to higher education.. Soon after, the conversation dissolved into something less meaningful.
That was two years ago, at a lunch table. Today, things have considerably changed. While I still hold certain conspiratorial views concerning the influx of big businesses into the College field, I hesitate to discard the progressive possibilities of a College education.
For instance, conspiratorially speaking, I find it interesting that the Pell Grant, which many students believe to be government subsidies, are really financed by the high interest made from the same student loans they are being taxed at draconian ratestalk to me Sallie Mae!for.
I might also have a problem with the increasing levels of racial segregation and class exclusion used to determine student enrollment; but Im not yet resolved to bashing everything College-related.
In spite of my mild change of heart, reconciling the promises with the realities of College is a task I find daunting. We often hear of the goodness of a College educationit will set you on the path to achieving your dreamsbut anyone aware of the great costs most Universities demand, and the lackluster values they promote, should understand why many Black and Brown students might share similar viewpoints.
Renowned educators Henry Giroux and Susan Giroux tackled, with great success, this contention in their seminal text, Take Back Higher Education.
Since their appearance in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, American colleges followed the traditions established by Oxford, Cambridge, and the continental universities in the preparation of their overwhelmingly white male student body for law, ministry, medicine, and politics. [Giroux, Henry; Giroux, Susan. Take Back Higher Education: Race, Youth, and the Crisis of Democracy in the Post-Civil Rights Era. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2004 (1st ed.), p. 144.]
In A Crisis of Affordability: How Our Public Colleges Are Turning into Gated Communities for the Wealthy (Alternet, April 2009), Investigative Reporter, Andy Kroll, writes about the growing disparities in College affordability for Black and Brown students. He speaks of the drastic increase in tuition, nationally, as intentional. Big businesses, Andy argues, have no problem aiding and abetting the rich in reaching their goals of transforming Colleges into educational gated communitiesreserved only for the privileged, elite, and powerful.
A great question was once asked: If theres such a thing as under-privileged, why not, in like manner, over-privileged? The answer: Because those within the culture of power cant afford the risk of being branded greedyeven though thats essentially what they are.
Kroll justifies his contention with some grim statistics. Utilizing data issued by The Education Trust, he writes:
[S]tate flagship universities and a group of other major research universities spent $257 million in 2003 on financial aid for students from families earning more than $100,000 a year. Those same universities spent only $171 million on aid to students from families who made less than $20,000 a year. Similarly, between 1995 and 2003, according to the report, grant aid from the same public universities to students from families making $80,000 or more increased 533%, while grant aid to families making less than $40,000 increased only 120%.
At this, only a fool, or a greedy capitalist, would fail to connect the dots: There is an ongoing drive to strip low-income families, disproportionately Black and Brown, of the privileges a College education provides. These students are asked to rely on street knowledge, told to depend on the underground economy of drug paraphernalia, and expected to end up serving life sentences in the lower bunk of a prison cell. Thats the live designed, and set up, for them. And still, wesocietysee no wrong in blaming them for falling into traps created before they could recite correctly the alphabets.
Anyone familiar with the prison system can attest that in no other places are there more geniuses, scholars, and orators than the penitentiaries. Many of them, lacking a High school diploma, go on to earn College credits while incarcerateda testament to their intellectual discipline. They are the victims of capitalism let loose, run amok, and operated unchecked.
Of course, in any dialogue concerning the merits and benefits of a College degree, the impact of the current economic crisis must be addressed. With unemployment skyrocketing in communities of color, students with Bachelors can often be found working shifts at Burger King, with those earning their Masters managing at McDonalds, and even Ph.D.s confirming your Papa Johns Pineapple Pizza order.
This analysis isnt meant to disparage the good that some Colleges do; rather, it is constructed to surrender a wake-up call to those whose hopes and dreams are forever invested in the piece of paper received after years of endless study in University librariesan exercise only yielding disappointment in the long-run.
Depending on academic certification over intellectual exploration is a recipe for failure. There are no other ways to put it. The gifts of intellectual curiosity, critical reflection, self examination (introspection), and independent reasoning that start at the moment of conception (some medical scientists believe it comes long before thatwhen a fetus first hears the heartbeat of the mother), can provide far better guidance than a school curriculum, no matter how progressive, is able to.
The high costs of higher education nowadays should irrefutably validate this assertion. Colleges now charge students for just about anythingprinting papers used for assignments given by Professors (employees of the school!)without any moral justification.
The great 19th century scholar Henry David Thoreau addressed this crisis in more provoking terms:
I cannot but think that if only we had more true wisdom in these respects, not only less education would be needed, because, forsooth, more would already have been acquired, but the pecuniary expense of getting education would in a great measure vanish. Those things for which the most money is demanded are never the things which the student most wants. [Thoreau, Henry David. Uncommon Learning: Thoreau on Education. New York: Mariner Books, 1999, p. 7-8.]
Its unreasonable to believe that most students want the illusion of education without actually getting it, or that they prefer incredulous tuition costs over budgeted amounts, or that they are more comfortable being instructed by academics who share no connection to the backgrounds they come from. Its unreasonable.
But tell that to the policy makers and shot callers; the folks at the helm of the education system. Tell that to the deans and chairs. Tell that to the chancellors and presidents. Those to whom the most power is given are those who, weve found that, abuse it egregiously. They are the ones who are in such a rush to cut funding for Black Studies, Native American Studies, Latin Studies, Asian Studies. They are the ones less concerned about the toll taken when Womens Studies is axed, as being witnessed nationwide, in a push to preserve academic purity.
As long as students are disconnected from the decision-making process of school policies, student governments and other such structures would continually be exposed for the farces and props they are.
What College students, parents, progressive educators, Hip-Hop artists, and concerned parties must understand, is that the struggle to take back, as the Girouxs wrote, all pedagogical institutions isnt limited to Colleges alone. The fight must expand to all layers of social engagement, and run through the conduits that connect and bind our world together. Acquiescence isnt an option at this point. The future of the next generation depends, in great proportions, on the capacity of our actions. And, in truth, its the least they can ask for.
We must also come to understand that a quality College education is good, but awareness of the world in which one lives isnt, and has never been, restricted to the walls of academia.
Disclaimer: This commentary was written by a non-College student and/or graduate.
Tolu Olorunda is a cultural critic and a Columnist for BlackCommentator.com. He can be reached at To***********@***il.com.
The views expressed inside this editorial aren’t necessarily the views of AllHipHop.com or its employees.
Lil Wayne’s Effort To Block Documentary Denied
Efforts to stop the inclusion and release of private and sensitive material for a documentary featuring Lil Wayne have been halted.
On Friday (June 12), California Superior Court Judge Michael Mink denied the Cash Money Records rappers motion to prevent Digerati (QD3 Entertainment) from releasing a documentary titled The Carter in its entirety.
Court records show Minks decision was based on the fact that evidence Waynes attorneys used as the basis for the suit were not strong enough to justify the rappers allegations.
At the center of the suit are claims that, Lil Waynes reputation and the value of his identity can be diminished by an unauthorized use of his image and persona, or by association with a movie or purported authorized documentary that, in reality, does not meet with his approval and depicts him in a negative light and/or engaged in criminal conduct.
Fridays ruling marks the latest development in the case, as well as another setback for Lil Wayne regarding The Carter film.
In April, Digeratis search for a distributor for the documentary was cleared after a preliminary injunction to halt The Carters release was also rejected.
The Carter was later screened at the Sundance Film Festival to an enthusiastic reception, despite a request from Lil Waynes management to cut certain scenes that showed what the suit deemed as a “scandalous portrayal” of the rapper without his approval.
Lil Wayne sued Digerati for breach of contract, fraud and invasion of privacy in light of accusations that The Carter’s producer, Quincy Jones III, failed to make good on a promise to give Lil Wayne approval of the final cut of the feature.
Besides the denial of the motion, Mink awarded sanctions against the New Orleans-based rap star and his attorneys in the amount of $5,000.
The money must be paid within 30 days.
Also, the rapper has been ordered to appear for deposition at the offices of Digeratis attorneys in Los Angeles by no later than July 31.
At that time, the rapper will be asked to disclose details pertaining to scenes in The Carter documentary that he feels are harmful to his ongoing criminal cases.
Where Are They Now: Ms. Jade
Philadelphia rapper Ms. Jade hasn’t had major label backing since she left, producer Timbaland’s now defunct Beat Club roster, but she’s still the champ. Taken right off the stoop in after a chance meeting with Elektra Records A&R, Jay Brown, Jade jumped into the industry head first, and hasn’t looked back since. In 2001, she was first featured alongside Da Brat and Missy Elliot on Slap! Slap! Slap! off her platinum album, Miss E So Addictive, which allowed fans to taste her aggressive charming lyrical prowess.
She was even able to stay standing with the release of her 2002 debut Girl Interrupted, which failed to garner her the credit she deserved as a street contender or an industry heavyweight. The North Philly femme fatale is holding her own, taking a rope-a-dope stance on her career as an independent artist focused on the mixtape circuit to drop wins like 2007’s “Million Dollar Baby” causing a stir around the web. Priming another mixtape material entitled I’m Not Dead and her sophomore album slated for release this fall, the Nicetown native wants to show everyone she packs a mean punch on the mic. In the legacy of female rap pioneers MC Lyte, Queen Latifah and Roxanne Shante, who Jade grew up listening to and emulating, she intends to protect her name and skills at all costs.
AllHipHop.com: When Girl Interrupted was released you had a stable of beats from Timabaland, guest spots from Jay-Z, Missy Elliott and Nate Dogg, yet it didnt seem to leave a taste of your skills in people’s mouths. Did you consider that album successful?
Ms. Jade: No, not at all. Business-wise it wasn’t successful but for me when I came in the game, I wasn’t really focused or interested. I wasn’t even thinking about the numbers, I was just happy to be there. So once, you are put into a position where you have to think about all that stuff, it kind of leaves a different taste in my mouth, like right now. Back then, I just wasn’t thinking about it. But to me, right now I know that it wasn’t successful because I’ve been in the game for a minute and I know what it takes. But it got me where I needed to be. It got my name out there, I did make a little imprint, and I cranked the door open a little tiny bit.
AllHipHop.com: What do you think is the biggest reason that contributed to the downfall?
Ms. Jade: Basically, because it didn’t sell. People didn’t even know it came out. It’s like “oh, you had an album out?” and this was maybe a f***ing week after my album dropped. Nobody knew, so I think it wasn’t promoted how it was supposed to be.
AllHipHop.com: Also, when listening to Girl Interrupted it seems that you may have been conflicted between the commercial and street side. Do you feel that’s how the album turned out?
Ms. Jade: Yes, I really do. Especially since I was young, whatever Tim said to do I was doing it. Because I mean, who’s not going to listen to Tim? Who is not going to listen to a f***ing super producer? I didnt have any control over my beats and I did not know at the time that I could say, “I don’t want this beat” or “I dont want to do this song.” Because when I did do it, it was like this big commotion. They’re like “well we want you to do a radio song” and Im like “I don’t necessarily think the song is hot.” But I was put in a situation when they say I have to do it, then I have to do it ¾ otherwise I won’t have any f***ing food. I tried my best to make it work. And I’m not mad at it, it’s just when I hear it I cringe because I know it’s not me.
AllHipHop.com: In retrospect, do you think there is a medium for you in between the varying styles on the album? Looking back on it, would you have taken more control?
“Especially since I was young, whatever Tim said to do, I was doing it. Because I mean, who’s not going to listen to Tim? Who is not going to listen to a f***ing super producer? I didnt have any control over my beats and I did not know at the time that I could say, “I don’t want this beat”
-Ms. Jade
Ms. Jade: I think there is a medium for in between because you have to know who you are, especially in this business. You have to have a strong backbone. I think if you know who you are and if you know your s**t, then you know you can still be street and have your radio songs. But you dont have to go the total opposite way of what you want.
AllHipHop.com: You’re talking about standing up for yourself a lot more now. You really did that when you got involved with the beef between Timbaland and Scott Storch back in 2007. You released a diss track “Beam Me Up, Scotty” about Scott, why did you jump into that beef between them in the first place?
Ms. Jade: The beef was for them, but I felt he was taking a jab at me. Like “ya’ll n##### ain’t as talented as us” that’s how I felt. I talked to Tim directly and he’s like “yeah, basically he’s talking about ya’ll.” So I’m like “Oh, alright well you know.” It wasn’t for any publicity, I’m just feeling like “Dang, Scott Storch I thought we were alright.” I mean who is did Tim have? Me, Bubba, and Tweet, there was nobody else really. So I didnt just jump out the blue or anything like “let me take up for Tim, let me say something.” No, I don’t give a f**k about that but when you put me in it — I have a problem with that.
Ms. Jade – Bank Rolls
AllHiphop.com: Do you feel Beat Club had potential?
Ms. Jade: Of course, I know on my end and with Bubba, I think we have potential. I just feel like the leader had to be strong. You’ve got to see the situation. If you’re not going to see, it then how can we? You’ve got to be able to say if this doesn’t work then let us do something else. If your not willing to compromise, like we’re compromising, ain’t too much to be said about it. I don’t think I was a wack rapper, Bubba wasn’t wack. I might have been wrong time, wrong place, I don’t know, but I think we all were hot, I know that.
AllHipHop.com: Do you still talk to Tim or anybody from Beat Club?
Ms. Jade: No, I mean if I see Tim we might buff it up for a little while but I haven’t spoken to him in a couple of months, long time. There ain’t no beef, I just haven’t spoken to him.
Ms. Jade – “Big Head”
AllHipHop.com: How does that make you feel that before you were looking from the top down and now you’re looking from the bottom upward?
Ms. Jade: I feel like the underdog but I’m me. Nobody writes for me and I dont need to stand on nobody’s shoulder. Its not any hard feelings, I asked to be released from the situation because our camp wasn’t where I needed to be. I dont know what the problem was and why it didnt work. I dont have any hard feelings about Tim doing his thing now. I mean that’s what’s up, he’ll do his thing forever. I’ll see you when I get there.
“Nobody writes for me and I dont need to stand on nobody’s shoulder. Its not any hard feelings, I asked to be released from the situation because our camp wasn’t where I needed to be. I dont have any hard feelings about Tim doing his thing now.”
-Ms. Jade
AllHipHop.com: Since those days, Timbaland has definitely taken his style to new heights. Do you think there might be room for you to work with him in the future?
Ms. Jade: It’s a possibility, anything is possible. I mean I dont have no beef with him. Tim’s all right with me, I never did anything to him and he never did anything to me.
AllHipHop.com: Recently, you’ve been doing a lot of work with DJ Drama and Don Cannon, like the first mixtape you dropped two years ago Million Dollar Baby. How did you feel about releasing that? Was that more the direction you wanted?
Ms. Jade: Yeah, I loved it. I’m grateful for having an album out, that’s an accomplishment. But I can listen to every song on my mixtape, I can really say, it’s all me. I’m proud of it because I think it was all me, the real me.
AllHipHop.com: You dont have any reservations about doing this indie thing on your own without major label backing?
Ms. Jade: Only reservation I got is not being able to stay in those high a** hotels. I can’t do those anymore but that’s okay, I’ll get there. I just want people to hear my music and that’s it.
AllHipHop.com: What can you tell us about the new album? Do you have any set collabos planned yet? Do you have a possible release date?
Ms. Jade: I’m thinking about maybe sometime Fall 2009. As for collaborations, I want a few but not a whole bunch ¾ since I had like 13 people on my last album. I just feel like I got a lot more to say, I’m able to stand in my own two.
Ms. Jade feat. Timbaland & Nelly Furtado
Ms. Jade & Big Daddy Kane – “Set It Off 2000”
Ms. Jade’s Scott Storch Diss
Cam, Chris Brown, Celebs Face Off At Ruckers
The acclaimed Entertainers Basketball Classic (EBC) will begin its 2009 installment next Monday (June 15) in Harlem, New York.
The Rucker street ball tournament began in 1980, and has grown internationally due to performances over the years from Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Pee Wee Kirkland, Earl The Goat Manigault, Vince Carter, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Dr. J Erving, Rafer Alston, Carmelo Anthony, and Nate Archibald.
The centerpiece of this years event is 19-year old Brandon Jennings, who is expected to be a viable NBA Draft pick on June 25.
The young player opted to play overseas in the Italian Lega A while waiting to reach the eligible draft age (19).
As usual, the 29th annual tournament will feature a host of celebrity teams all vying for a years worth of bragging rights and highlight reels.
Confirmed participants include Ron Artest (Tru Warriors), Maino (Hustle Hard), Angie Martinez (Angie Martinez All-Stars), Chris Brown (Chris Brown All-Stars), Jadakiss (Team 914), CamRon (Team CamRon), and Ron Brownz (Ether Boy Records).
Hot 97s DJ Enuff will handle music duties on air starting next week.
Additionally, New Yorks MSG (Madison Square Garden) Network will host the four day tournament to 10 million homes nationwide.
A total of thirteen episodes will air from July 2-September 24 at 7PM (EST) every Thursday.
The game schedule for the 2009 Rucker Entertainers Basketball Classic (EBC) is as follows:
Rucker Park 2861 8th Ave (Corner of 155th St.) New York, NY Monday, June 15th (Opening Day) 8PM – Angie Martinez All-stars vs. Chris Brown All-stars Tuesday, June 16th 8PM – Prime Time vs. Team Cam’Ron Wednesday, June 17th (MSG Film Day) 6PM Mainos Hustle Hard vs. Jadakiss Team 914 8PM Sean Bell All-Stars (Last Years Champions) vs. Ron Artests Tru War Thursday, June 18th 8PM – Evil Training vs. Danny All-starsvideo platformvideo managementvideo solutionsfree video player
Ras Kass Out Of Jail, Back To Rap
Approximately one month after his release from prison, West Coast lyricist Ras Kass is ready to get back to work, he told AllHipHop.com in a recent interview.
But his new direction may surprise some of his fans.
The former Capitol Records artist, born John Austin IV, was arrested in October 2007, reportedly for violating the terms of his probation for a previous arrest, by appearing at the BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta.
While he would not speak about the circumstances that lead to this most recent arrest, Ras Kass was very candid about the recent adjustments hes had to make.
Im kinda numb, evidently happier and appreciative, Ras Kass told AllHipHop.com. Any situation where youre removed from day-to-day normality, you have to get used to it. The adjustments are everything. Its sensory overload, especially in respect to where I just came from, where everything is regimented.
[But] Its a time when you just gotta grow up, in whatever respect it is. So its certain things I can and cannot do. Ninety percent of it is recognizing that. The other ten percent is putting it into action.
Ras Kass said he took advantage of his two-year sentence to study the business side of the game.
His motivation for such research, he explained, was the disparity between his level of talent and his level of success as he sees it.
My whole thing was sitting back and doing a lot of third-person critiquing of Ras Kass, the rapper recounted. ’Hes probably arguably in my opinion, one of the greatest lyricist that has many a time been swept under the rug by the music business. Part of the problem that has held Ras Kass back is having the right team, the right marketing, the right company behind him for him to be able to do the same things as other talented people such as Outkast or TI or Nas or Jay-Z or Eminem. Talented people who make it to the next level.
My thing was, I dont need to write a rap. Im good at that. Thats not the issue, the lyricist continued. So I wanted to focus on the business. Imma probably do online just to get acclimated. And its not like I cant record during that time, but my focus is the business and putting the right team together.
Ras Kass is also undertaking a great challenge in his personal life: seeking a college degree, something hes been wanting to do for nearly a decade.
Apparently, he and rapper Xzibit had discussed the idea of not only going through the experience together, but also documenting it, even before the advent of reality TV.
The likeliness that Ras Kass college experience will become must-see-tv is unlikely, however, as he says hes in it for the education at this point.
He reassures his fans that none of this means he is retiring from rapping.
Its my passion, he asserted. Im not retired, its just I have to reassess, even before this situation happened, what needs to be done. Some of my s**t, [people] are just gonna have to rediscover it. If we talking about body of work, as a solo artist, 16 bars, three verses per song: dude, Ive said some s**t! And I dont get the same credit that the more known people get. The goal is 90% business and 10% music. If the business isnt right, the musics always gonna suffer.
A full Q&A with Ras Kass will run on AllHipHop.com shortly.
R. Kelly Set to Make Africa Debut
Hitmaking artist and songwriter R. Kelly will make his first tour of the African continent this month, courtesy of his participation in the ARISE African Fashion Awards.
The awards show and gala will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa on June 20.
The inaugural R. Kelly concert will also serve as a close out to Africa Fashion Week, and kickoff a multi-city tour that spans South Africa, Nigeria, and London.
The Chicago singer revealed that this tour is his first trip to the Motherland, and he expects the experience to resonate both on personal and professional levels.
“I’m very excited about my first visit to Africa, I’ve dreamed about this for a long time and its finally here, Kelly told AllHipHop.com in a statement. It will be one of the highlights of not only my career but my life. I cant wait to perform in front of my fans in Africa who have been some of the best in the world.”
Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe, founder of Africa Fashion Week and the African Fashion Awards, explained that the entire African continent is ready to be recognized for their fashion talents on an international stage.
Our goal is to promote and recognize the best of African fashion talent on a global scale and the ARISE Africa Fashion Awards is a further step towards fulfillment of this goal, she stated.
The ARISE Africa Fashion Awards commences from 6Pm-10PM on June 20 at Johannesburgs Sandton Convention Center.
The keynote address will be delivered by renowned humanitarian and former First Lady of France Cecilia Attias.
Listed below are R. Kellys confirmed Africa tour dates:
Saturday, June 27th at the Superbowl in Sun City Monday, June 29th at the Grand West Casino in Cape Town Friday, July 3rd at the THISDAY Dome in Abuja, Nigeria Saturday, July 4th and Sunday, July 5th in Lagos, Nigeria Wednesday, July 8th at Wembley Arena in London, UK
Rick Ross Ft. John Legend, Special Ed, Diddy and Big Boi
“Magnificent Remix”
Pimp C Ft. Slim Thug and Lil Wayne
“Let’s Talk Money Remix”
Mistah FAB Ft. Currensy Da Hot Spitta
“Magic Show”
Buchanan
“Perfect Life”
Jay Classik Ft. K-Reata, Spark Dawg, Yung Texxus, Mistah FAB and Mr. Rellik
“In Da Air”
Alternative Pick: Trey Songz Trey P###. By B. Cox
“Patron”
Freeway P###. By Blunt
“For The Money”
GT Ft. Lil Pimp
“Don’t I Look Good”
Joell Ortiz Ft. ChronZ
“Need More”
Vstylez Ft. Big Gov P###. By Big Gov
“First 2 Rise”