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Kanye Poses As Jesus Christ On Upcoming Rolling Stone Cover

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

Grammy Award winning rapper Kanye West has posed as Jesus Christ on an upcoming cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

The rapper appears on the cover of the magazine with a crown of thorns on his head and is also pictured posing as boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

In the article, West discusses his album, his political views, his famous “George Bush” comments and his self-proclaimed addiction to pornography.

The Rolling Stone with West on the cover hits newsstands on Friday (Jan. 25.)

West’s album Late Registration is up for eight Grammy Awards on Feb. 8.

Master P Attracts Scorn And Support From “Dancing With The Stars”

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

Master P, music mogul, has been able to sell millions of albums, but the rapper’s presence on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” has caused a firestorm of controversy because of his continued inclusion on the show.

The rapper, who admitted to limited dance skills, explained his position on “The View” daytime talk show on Monday (Jan. 23).

“I never danced before in my life. I’m having fun, I’m still on the show and America likes what’s going on,” P explained.

But the New Orleans native also acknowledged his detractors.

“This is America, everybody is going to have an opinion. Everybody is gonna love you, everybody is gonna hate you. I’m just a country boy trying to dance. I’ve never danced a day in my life.”

The judges have berated Master P for his dancing and his refusal to conform to dance standards, but the rapper continues to be voted via the online poll component to the show.

Latoya West, who hosts a reality series TV blog at about.com, theorized that Master P’s fans are keeping the rapper in the running.

“The platinum-selling rapper has countless fans out there who may be calling in to save him. I’m pretty sure he has more fans than last week’s eliminee, Giselle “Who is she?” Fernandez. Dancing With the Stars may be more about popularity than Paso Dobles.”

While P said his whole family could dance, he said they too were perplexed at his dance floor maneuvers.

“They are like, ‘Dad, what are you doing?” he admitted. “Dancing” Judge Len Goodman told Master P. “It’s time that you and this show parted.”

But, Goodman may have underestimated the voting power of Master P’s wide fan base and those galvanized by the negativity towards the rapper.

Members of AllHipHop.com’s Ill Community defended the rapper’s efforts on the message board.

IC member Da 404 Soulja posted, “First off, I just want to give big ups to P and all the people that voted for him. If Master P ends up winning this, the White people are gonna start a riot and get P killed. I want to see P win this s**t!”

Master P’s supporters have even launched http://keep-p-dancing.com, a website dedicated to keeping the rapper on “Dancing With the Stars.”

Fans of “Dancing With the Stars” that posted on ABC’s web site weren’t as enthused at Master P’s endurance on the show.

“P has less rhythm than any White person that ever stepped on a dance floor and the show is supposing to be about dancing,” one ABC poster said. “The joke is in all the people who continue to watch and support this competition that allows dancing to be judged by popularity and not talent. It’s a talent contest. I suggest we all just turn off ‘Dancing With The Stars” and maybe they will come up with a better judging system.”

Master P responded to his detractors with positivity and a higher calling.

“I wanna show kids, ‘Do something else wit your life, you don’t gotta [succumb to the streets]. I’ve never danced before. I grew up in the ghetto. I just want to show kids they can try something new. Most kids in these communities live until they’re 18 or 19. If I made it out, they can make it out. I want to show them some change.”

“Dancing With the Stars” airs on Thursday nights at 8 pm EST on ABC voting results air on Friday nights at 8 pm.

Dave Meyers: Point Of View, Pt 1

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

Long before MTV began adding their names in the credits, and before programs like Making the Video hit the airwaves, music video directors have been equally anonymous to the janitor who cleaned up on set. Times have changed, and with more attention shifting to the talent behind the camera, music video directors have become celebrities in their own right. Case in point: Dave Meyers.

It wasn’t hard to catch his mug on many of the Making the Video episodes. Looking through a second set of lenses (his eyeglasses), and many times adorning a bucket hat, it was easy to see that this energetic and humorous visionary could easily be the life of the party. So, it’s no surprise that Meyer’s unique personality oftentimes translated into the type of videos he directed. If you’ve seen any of Missy Elliot’s most recent videos, most would agree that they look nothing like their cliche-ridden counterparts. You can thank the eclectic eye of Dave Meyer’s for a lot of that.

With nearly 200 music videos under his belt, from Jay-Z to Britney Spears, Meyer’s is setting his sights on commercials, feature films and even print work. He recently lent his creative talents to Mecca Clothing in the capacity of still photographer. Might not sound impressive, but what makes it noteworthy is that before Mecca, he had never shot a single photograph, at least not commercially. With the success of the ad campaign, Meyer’s is keepin’ it movin’. Lucky for us, he put the camera down for a few minutes to get AllHipHop.com Alternatives caught up on his latest moves.

AllHipHop.com Alternatives: You’ve been staying busy as usual. What’s on your plate at the moment?

Dave Meyers: I’ve just finished wrapping two Pink videos as well as shooting the album cover, and I’m prepping a Super Bowl commercial for Budweiser.

AHHA: You’ve been doing the music video thing for a minute, so take us back to video number one. Who did you direct your first video for?

Dave: Video number one was done in 1996 for a group called Whoridas. It took me ’til 1997 to get another video. I mean, I did a bunch of artists that no one has heard of, and then I kind of got under the wing of Master P’s camp. I did a lot of Soulja Slim, C-Murder and Silkk [the Shocker] videos. Then, I came across Kid Rock, who had not sold a record really. I did a video for “Bawitdaba”. That exploded, and I did all of Kid’s video after that. From that point, Jay-Z gave me a video and the Hip-Hop started taking off.

AHHA: You have a very distinct style which is particularly evident with Missy Elliot’s videos. The recent Korn video which incorporates Hip-Hop’s biggest stars, also comes to mind. Did you get into the game with the intention of trying to transcend cliches with your work?

Dave: I didn’t set out like it was some scripture. It’s just the spirit of my character. Like, I’m very much into the Lord of the Rings, Spielberg movies, and that type of thing. I’m a movie driven guy. I love the movie visuals and so in a lot of my videos, I’m always trying to push stuff that I’ve been impressed by in movies. But, I’ve never really ever referenced or made a reference to another video like oh, I want to do something like that. I’m not that entranced by it. At least, not early on. Now, I’ve developed an appreciation for a few of the music videos.

It’s about perfecting an art form, and what I see coming out in the Missy videos is that it’s where I’m most comfortable. I’m comfortable in the most absurd place. I was trying to push that through earlier in my career, but [labels] were like, we like the way you shoot, but we don’t want that idea. We want booty video! I’m like, oh alright, and I go and try it out because I’m always open-minded. I ended up doing them well, so I kept getting hired, but it’s really not me. To me, it’s not that challenging, even though I understand that it’s a desired “thing”. Once I get an artist who wants a “booty” video comfortable with me, like on the third video I’d be like let’s do something crazy. I’m just always trying to push that, but you know, some people do and some people don’t.

I’ve learned a lot of lessons about how to convince closed-minded folks to doing that stuff. It’s all about terminology. It’s all about decorating around them and not having them have to participate. “Bomb’s Over Baghdad” was a good example of that, where I painted the streets green and did all this crazy, extraordinary visual stuff. But, if you actually look at what [Outkast] had to do, they woke up in the projects, they ran outside, they got in some hot cars, and drove to a club. But everybody loved the video, well, at least I loved the video because it was just visually way out there.

AHHA: It seems like the majority of your videos are Hip-Hop videos. Had you always been a Hip-Hop head, and is that why you direct a lot of Hip-Hop videos?

Dave: In high school and college, that’s all I listened to. But I’ve grown a lot to appreciate the wide world of music and have been exposed to people like the Dave Matthews Band and what not who I think are so phenomenally interesting as musicians. I’ve done four Dave Matthews videos, I’ve done Mick Jagger and Aerosmith. I don’t know that most of my videos are Hip-Hop. I just think that it depends on what people focus on. It might be that more of them are Hip-Hop because more Hip-Hop videos are made than Rock videos.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have all type of videos made in all types of genres. But I am a Hip-Hop junkie. I go to Hip-Hop clubs. I’d never go to another type of club, but I’m not like a Hip-Hop “follower”. Do you see what I’m saying? Like, I enjoy the merits…I enjoy the soul of Hip-Hop, but I’m not like this guy trying to be “down.” I think I get respect for just being me. Although I’m sure there have been a few confused times where I lost my identity (laughs). But basically what I’m trying to say is that I love Hip-Hop, but I also love artists like Dave Matthews, U2, and Steven Tyler.

AHHA: So who are you feeling nowadays as far as Hip-Hop is concerned?

Dave: Musically with Hip-Hop, I’m still digesting [Jay-Z’s] The Black Album. That sh*t was so f*ckin’ great. It gets me so pumped up everyday I’m listening to it. It didn’t play itself out for me. I also really love the classics like BDP and Public Enemy. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back is still one of my favorite albums. I’m pretty much an iPod man, so I just listen to the collection of songs I pick out, so it’s really eccentric.

Dave Meyers: Point Of View, Pt 2

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

AHHA: Speaking of eccentric, the recent Korn video “Twisted Transistor” has Snoop, Xzibit, Li’l John, and David Banner portrayed as members of the band. It’s quite a different take on the notion of meshing Rock with Rap.

Dave: Yeah, I’ve experienced the eclecticness in music and universality of it all and I think that’s where Korn’s video came from. It’s breaking all molds of all categories. You got a Rock group that lets Hip-Hoppers sort of take the lead in representing them. It’s a very daring step. The Hip-Hoppers embraced it and said let’s f*ckin’ rock with this, you know? They represented like Rock and Roll stars and loved every minute of it! I mean, Li’l John’s got a rock album coming out. It was great to watch all the personalities gel. The proof is in the pudding. Everybody really is one in the same. Everybody has their personality differences in their musical style, but they’re all expressing the same thing. There is this universal code.

I really hated the judgement on Hip-Hop early in life. You know, MTV tried to bury it and everybody’s walking around like, “MTV wants to bury Hip-Hop!”, and I was like you can’t bury Hip-Hop. It’s too strong. It’s so from the streets that there is no way to bury it. I think that’s where Rock has lost it. It’s lost its street edge and its become Pop, and Pop Rock does not work. I mean, sure, it works for teens, but that’s Pop Music. That’s Hillary Duff and stuff like the little Pop icons that work. But true Rock is the same as true Hip-Hop. It’s the same thing. If you look at Korn, they are from the streets. They’re very in tuned with their audience.

AHHA: And the way the audience gets their music and videos has really evolved. How do you feel about Myspace or iTunes? I remember reading that when iTunes first launched their video service, over a million videos were downloaded within two weeks. How is this new technology changing the game?

Dave: If you look at what was downloaded, it’ s really not the Top 40. It brings up a lot interesting things. It brings out the question about the legacy of videos. Michael Jackson videos were downloaded. Sure, Kanye’s video was up there and downloaded while the song’s hot. But I don’t know if people will download it in say, two years. I think it’s such a new experience. It’s like a floodgate of so much to get, so everybody goes and gets their ten favorites, but will they continue to get them? Will they continue to collect videos and what not? I think that’s where the real business plan needs to fall into place. I think once you see where the trends are, I’m sure it’ll affect things. When you can guarantee that if you release the video on iTunes, you’ll make a million dollars , then the huge music video budgets will come back.

What I’ve noticed is that a lot of the more obscure acts are getting a lot of the attention on there. That is not what MTV plays. It’s like the Usher video might not get downloaded as much as say, some Bjork video because the audiences are different. I think if anything, the iTunes creation will create more opportunity for lower-budget experimentation with other artists who may have been shut out of the MTV world.

AHHA: Ironically, it seems that video directors even get shut out from the MTV world, so to speak. I’m talking about the VMAs.

Dave: We come up with the ideas, and despite the lack of credit…I think [my videos] have won 15 VMAs and I only have one Moonman, because they give them all to the artist. It seems like you’d sit the director next to the artist at the VMAs. I can’t even get to the stage anymore. I mean, like Missy will thank me and I can’t go up there. It’s so obnoxious how they plan those things. I did get to go to the stage when I did win Best Video, but that was in New York. In Miami, it was very dissatisfying to me. It was very much a show, rather than an awards show. But when all is said and done, I’m not complaining.

AHHA: As far as awards shows go, I did hear Missy shouting you out at the 2005 American Music Awards while she was on stage.

Dave: That was nice. You know, I don’t think Missy’s album sales parallel her tastes. She goes platinum, but she’s not selling ten million records. Yet, she’s the pioneer and on the cutting edge of videos. Then you’ll get like a really terrible video from another artist I won’t name, and they’ll sell ten million records, so it’s weird. But with all that said, I think the business plan behind the amount of money it takes to do what Missy’s thinking puts her in Michael Jackson land. She could easily spend ten million on a video if she wanted to. To me, she’s always been one of those artists who I wish she’d sell a lot, because she’d turn around and spend it on her videos. She’d turn it right back around on some visual stuff.

AHHA: I understand you’re dabbling a little in still photography. You’ve just finished working on a print campaign for Mecca Clothing, right?

Dave: Yeah, it was my second run with them. I did their Fall campaign, early on in 2005. It’s kind of interesting the way that all come about. They approached me to be in their campaign as a spokesmodel for their fall campaign, which I agreed to. I’m a director, so I control all the behind-the-scenes usually. I’m used to that, but I’ve never been in front. I was nervous that someone would film me wrong or understand my degree of vanity [laughs]. Of course, not in any sort of egotistical way, but more of some sort of protection blanket. I looked through the Mecca catalog of previous stuff. Some shots were great, and some shots were not so great. I didn’t want to be one of those guys that was not so great. I didn’t know who the photographer was going to be and I wasn’t that familiar with the Mecca camp, so I said I’d do it. But they had no money for the spokesperson. It was very low modeling money. I kept worrying if it was done wrong, like Jay-Z and some of my clients would see it and just be like “Look at this fool, what is he?!”

If it didn’t capture the real me, I didn’t want it to seem like I was some Hip-Hop head or doing something that really wasn’t me. But I liked the idea of it all and basically said I want to shoot it. They asked if I had shot anything before and I said no [laughs]. But I said I’ve shot 200 of the most important artists and it’s basically a lot easier than shooting [motion picture] film, so they should have no reason to fear. I got into it and kind of elevated the whole situation. I got some good retouchers in there. I got a good photo team together. I started creatively conceptualizing and basically did my auto portrait and shot a few other guys as well. [Mecca] liked the experience and came back to me as a photographer, and I was not [featured] in the Spring campaign.

AHHA: So you’re really branching out. What else are you interested in tackling from a director’s standpoint?

Dave: I really want to do a movie. But, I’ve been doing a lot of commercials, and if a movie doesn’t happen, then I’ll continue to try to evolve in the commercial world. It’s a much more perfect world to play in. I really enjoy the relationships I’ve had with the agency people and the clients I’ve been building. I am really beginning to be received with the same amount of attention that the videos have gotten me, but with a whole new group of people, so it’s kind of a nice evolution.

DJ A-Trak: Trak Jewels & Kanye West

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

Not yet 25 years old, DJ A-Trak has had a world of colorful experiences. His DJ Battle titles could fill your favorite athlete’s trophy room. He had an integral hand in one of Montreal’s biggest Hip-Hop crews, Obscure Disorder. Amidst Kanye West’s elaborate stage shows, it is A-Trak that mans the cuts and scratches. All of these chapters and duties have been logged on video, now edited to view on A-Trak’s DVD Sunglasses is a Must. With appearances from everybody ranging from Kanye to KLC to Non-Phixion, the DVD covers a lot of miles, a lot of time, and a lot of Hip-Hop.

In 2006, A-Trak is hard at work on his album. As a man of diverse influences and friends, he’s promising an album that boasts shots from Little Brother and Diplomats alike. The Canadian prodigy aims to equally change the face of scratch music. The man who laced the scratches on Common’s Be and currently has the “Drive Slow Mixtape” with GLC, spoke to AllHipHop.com about his DVD, his past, and how he’s bringing good music over the board, under the needle, and into your ear.

AllHipHop.com: Before your solo album comes out, why release Sunglasses is a Must as a DVD?

DJ A-Trak: I’ve been working on the DVD for close to two years. I’m at the point now where I’m working on an album and I wanna reintroduce myself to some of the audiences. Some of the people know me from battles I did between ’97 and 2000, and there’s a whole new audience from the last couple years that might not know about that. It was a point where I wanted to make a retrospective. I knew that I had all that footage…

AllHipHop.com: Yeah, as a teenager, were you really into technology? The amount of archiving you did is crazy…

DJ A-Trak: It was almost a trend in the turntablist [community] in the years that I came up in. Like, around ’97 – the year I won my first DMC title – also the year I got affiliated with Q-Bert and the Invisibl Skratch Piklz. That was a time when that crew, from the Bay area, they reigned. They came out with all the futuristic styles and everything. They would put out these videotapes called Turntable TV and they would film themselves scratching, hanging out, going on tour, pulling pranks…just random s**t. All the younger DJ’s that were coming up, started buying video cameras too. It was really a sight to see at one period, where at given DJ events, everybody had video-cameras out. It must’ve been just good timing when video-cameras became a lot more affordable. It wasn’t just me, everybody in the DJ scene was documenting stuff.

AllHipHop.com: The digital editing is wild, as is the coloration. This must’ve taken some serious time and money…

DJ A-Trak: I’m happy that you see the DVD that way, as far as on-point with the editing and all that. But I think, what it is is this is a homemade project that I made with my boys here in Montreal – with basically the guy who does all the artwork for my record label, [Audio Research] and the guy who does my website. I did this with a couple of dudes who don’t normally do video editing, but always had ideas and a vision. They’re very visual. On one hand, it took us a hell of a lot of time to do it, but at the same, we had a bunch of stuff we wanted to throw in there, whether it be animated titles and other stuff. We tried to keep a balance. After all, this was all filmed on a home-video camera. We just wanted it to look fresh.

AllHipHop.com: You spent time out West, working with people like Q-Bert, Mix Master Mike, and Peanut Butter Wolf when you were in your mid-teens. Looking back, do you think people would’ve embraced you the way they did, had you not been so young?

DJ A-Trak: That’s a good question. You know, making this DVD allowed me to take an objective step back and realize just how generous those dudes were with me. They took me in like family as a 15 year old who could scratch pretty well. The DVD shows all these experiences building with dudes who were like five to ten years older than me. I can’t really tell if it had been different if I was older. Some of those dudes met me before my voice changed. It must’ve been a trip for them to meet somebody that young, who was so into the music. You mentioned Peanut Butter Wolf: I would go out in stay in his crib when I was doing shows in Cali. He was one of the first dudes to put me onto a lot of older records. There was a phase in the scratch world around ’97 and ’98, when a lot of DJ’s used to scratch over fast Electro beats. So I would go to Wolf’s house, and he knew that I was into scratching on those kinda beats, so he would play me a record like World Class Wreckin’ Cru’s “Surgery” which was some old school, early 80’s Dr. Dre Electro s**t.

AllHipHop.com: I can remember, in the late 90’s, when you battled a dude by scratching his name, then scratching “can suck my d*ck.” That was a whole new style and emotion to DJ battles. Why’d you go that route?

DJ A-Trak: I came up also with a crew called The Allies. That was like from ’99 on. That was a period where DJ’ing was already going through a really big boom. There was a strong sense of community in the DJ scene and the battle scene, to the point where you’d show up at a battle and people’s mentality would be, “Oh, we’re just here to elevate the art and push the art forward.” [That] was great in itself, and better that than everybody hating each other – but after a while, it got so extreme that it got a little bit generic, and me and these dudes from The Allies, we all grew up enjoying the true b-boy aesthetic of Hip-Hop, we wanted to bring back the dissing in battles. If you see me in person, you wouldn’t expect me to call somebody out. But in the context of the battle, you may as well make it funny. At every one of our battles, we’d call somebody out. Really, it’s a creative exercise – how do you find the records to say what you wanna say, using somebody else’s words. I remember noticing that in the years after [that battle], everybody was dissing again and it was really funny. Then that became generic.

AllHipHop.com: Some battle MC’s treat the battle like a boxing match – and really learn to hate their opponent for that day. Did it ever get that way with you?

DJ A-Trak: There was never any animosity between any of these DJ’s at a battle. I’m kind of a competitive person, and I really remember listening to Mobb Deep the morning of a battle and coming out of the hotel room like, “I can crush all these dudes. F**k ’em!” It’s not personal, but that’s the mindset you put yourself into. In battle DJ’ing, part of the way people perceive you is how you come off on stage – your presence. I’m a kind of a shy dude, I’m not a guy with tons of presence. But if you look like you’re confident and you look like you believe you’re better than all these dudes, it’s really a bonus.

AllHipHop.com: Tell me about the album you’re working on for this year?

DJ A-Trak: Basically, the way that I’m approaching this album is I’m producing most of the songs out of scratching. I won’t really use a sampler that much. It’s not a bunch of scratching in your face the whole time. It’s not non-stop scratch solos. But if you have a producer’s ear and you’re wondering why that hi-hat sounds that way, it’s because it’s scratched a little bit. Traditionally, scratch production has been very slow and gloomy. That’s just been the sound associated with scratch records. But my whole thing is, I wanna hear a real Tunnel banger, made of scratches. I wanna make like a RZA type-beat or a Just Blaze type-beat or a Kanye type-but just made out of cuts. Half the songs on the album have featured MC’s. The first white-label that I leaked was a song [“Don’t Fool With The Dips”] I did with the Dip set. People assume that scratch DJ’s are backpackers. But all those separations in the Hip-Hop landscape such as underground and mainstream or between coasts, that stuff is bogus. If I wanna do a song with Dipset, I’ll do it. At the same time, I got a joint with Little Brother and Consequence. My whole thing is making an album where those two songs don’t seem like extremes.

AllHipHop.com: It’s probably a question you don’t want to hear, but is Kanye gonna be on your album?

DJ A-Trak: I can’t say for sure until it’s done. All I know is he’s been very supportive of my music. There’s specific beats that he’s really liked. There’s one beat in particular that he almost put on Late Registration. He told me he’s down where he’s down to hop on stuff. I haven’t really gotten to the whole label world yet. If it gets to the point where he actually records on a song – which would be incredible for me – then I realize that it’s still gonna have to be cleared by Hova the God [Jay-Z]. [laughs] We’ll see.

AllHipHop.com: Being from Montreal, how did you link with Kanye West?

DJ A-Trak: I met Kanye in London about a year and a half ago. I was doing an in-store performance at a store that pairs up different artists. On that particular day, they had me and John Legend. This was a pre-album John Legend. At that point, any hardcore Kanye fan knew who John Legend was. Kanye was in town to promote his record, and came [in] to support John. I did a quick little routine, and I used a Jay-Z record. Kanye later told me, “What I liked about you was, you were using a record that I knew. A lot of these turntablist kids, they use some s**t that I don’t even recognize. You picked up a hit record.” He caught up with me afterwards. He said he wanted to take me on tour with Usher. He didn’t have a DJ, and that’s where it all started.

AllHipHop.com: Kids learn rapper’s DJ’s. I’ve been to Common shows where DJ Dummy is the star of the show along with Common. Did that experience create more interest in you or your previous work?

DJ A-Trak: Maybe not at first, but it’s catching on. I definitely think, I know that there’s people who’ve seen me at Kanye shows and found out who I was, after that. This is great. Kanye’s audience is obviously a whole other audience to my audience. That was the appeal of working with Kanye was the challenge of taking this turntablism stuff that I came up, and bringing it to these audiences who aren’t familiar with it anymore.

AllHipHop.com: In the 80’s, it seemed common to have the most skilled DJ’s behind the most skilled rappers. You had Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince, DJ Scratch and EPMD, and DJ Aladdin with Ice-T. Do you see that coming around again?

DJ A-Trak: Umm, it’s hard to predict. But that’s something I’m proud of. A lot of us come from a certain background in Hip-Hop where the DJ really had a presence, and when the MC had a DJ, you knew about him. The 90’s brought the DATs, and the DJ got phased out of the picture. Your [earlier] example of Common and Dummy is a good example. Those two really gel together to create an entertaining concert. I really hope that by Kanye having me perform with him at these events and on TV, that it might motivate more people to do the same.

AllHipHop.com: During his show, what’s your shining moment, or rather, the moment you wait for?

DJ A-Trak: [laughs] There’s a part at the end of “All Falls Down” where, after the last chorus, I grab the acapella of the chorus and break it down, then I go back and forth with the background singers who imitate what I scratch, while the rest of the

band plays along. [humming] That’s my favorite part, because we managed to integrate what I do into his show without the crowd going, “Okay, I wanna hear the next Kanye song.”

AllHipHop.com: Lastly, the DVD title is interesting. Especially since recently, we’ve seen you on the cover of Urb and other places, wearing sunglasses. Your style and image seems to really have jumped up. I don’t normally ask fashion questions, but what’s good?

DJ A-Trak: Sure. It’s funny because this all started with the title Sunglasses is a Must which doesn’t mean anything. It’s really just something my boy said years ago, out of nowhere. [My brother and I named it this in tribute to that]. By the time it came close to the release, I started buying sunglasses, knowing this was gonna come out. I never owned any. It’s taking the title and running with it. It’s not on some goofy Groucho Marx s**t, more on some flashy s**t.

Cam’ron Holding Press Conference To Talk Jay-Z, Album, Film And More

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

Diplomat Records CEO Cam’ron will hold a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 25 to discuss the current feud his record aimed at Def Jam president Jay-Z, his new album and upcoming movie.

Members of his Diplomats Crew, Juelz Santana, Jim Jones, JR Writer, and Hell Rell will also be joining Cam’ron.

At the press conference, Cam’ron will reveal his reasons for speaking out against Jay-Z on his track, “Gotta Love It.”

“The last straw was that station down the dial [Power 105 and] he supposed to [“declare war”], where he is supposed to be dissing everybody he had a problem with,” he recently told Miss Jones, DJ Envy and the Hot 97 morning show. “So you know leading up to the concert, I got Dame calling me like, ‘He’s trying to get old footage of you of when you and Jim got jumped and he’s trying to find Jim’s Catholic school pictures.’ So leading up to this concert, we had to get on point, you dig? I don’t know whatever he was looking for, you ain’t gonna find it.”

The Harlem-bred rapper will also discuss the future plans of his popular crew, The Diplomats.

Cam’ron was shot last October in Washington DC after attending a nightclub during Howard University’s homecoming.

On the track “Gotta Love It,” Cam’ron implies his assailants were supporters of Roc-A-Fella Records.

During the press conference, Cam’ron will show clips of his upcoming film, “Killa Season.”

“Killa Season” marks the rapper’s directorial debut and is slated for an April release.

The Diplomat CEO will also preview tracks from his highly anticipated upcoming album, also titled Killa Season.

Cam’ron currently is featured on the cover of XXL Magazine.

Nas Officially Signs With Def Jam

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

In Oct. Of 2005, Jay-Z and Nas ended their long running feud and now, Nas has officially signed with Def Jam as a recording artist.

Under the terms of the deal, Def Jam and Sony Music will split the profits from two albums, while Def Jam will keep an additional two.

Additionally, Sony has the rights to release a Greatest Hits album from Nas.

Def Jam will cover the marketing and production costs of the recording, while both companies will oversee the marketing of the releases.

Nas’ newest album is also expected to contain a collaboration between Jay-Z and Nas.

Nas has sold more than 11 million albums since the debut of his 1994 album Illmatic.

Jacki-O Files For Bankruptcy; Shopping For Deal

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

Miami rapper Jacki-O filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, listing assets of just $1,340, despite having a blossoming recording career.

The rapper listed debts of $144,225 and a monthly income under $900, a salary earned from shows and personal appearances.

According to her lawyer, the rapper’s filing has effectively dissolved a five-album recording contract with Poe Boy Entertainment, which is distributed by TVT Records

“Jacki-O is a tremendous artist and I think there will be a lot of interest in her,” Jacki-O’s attorney Richard Wolfe told AllHipHop.com. “We are waiting for the bankruptcy motion to be approved.”

According to Wolfe, the rapper was given a small advance, but has never derived any royalties from sales of her debut album.

Wolfe, a Miami-based attorney, made headlines earlier this week when he annouced a lawsuit against 50 Cent over the hit single “In Da Club.”

Jacki-O is currently working on a new single titled “Monkey,” as well as material for a follow-up album titled Jack the Ripper.

Jacki-O had a minor hit with the single “Nookie,” which led to the release of her album, Poe Little Rich Girl.

Bow Wow: The Growth

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

Since dropping the “Lil’,” Bow Wow appears bent on turning the tables on his image and his skills. As a new year unfolds, that industry-wide memorandum seems to reach the masses based on his potent closing verse on the remix to Dem Franchise Boyz’s "I Think They Like Me".

A hot verse isn’t all that the people like about Shad Gregory Moss. Fans, including jealous teenage girls, have grown increasingly infatuated with Bow Wow’s very grown up-looking relationship with Ciara. Engagement rumors aside, Bow Wow welcomes the New Year and new possibilities. The 17 year old responds to an AHH editorial about Will Smith with candor. With DMX on Sony, Bow Wow isn’t the only "wanted" dog in the building, but he continues to show his bark matches his bite.

AllHipHop.com: I had interviewed you like maybe at the last album, I guess you could say. So it’s good to hear from you

Bow Wow: I hear that, without a doubt man, big things with AllHipHop.com, because I’m always on there.

AllHipHop.com: Thanks, so you know I been following your career and lyrically I’ve noticed you’re maturing, like a lot. Can you explain like how you’ve grown lyrically?

Bow Wow: [Click here to listen to Bow Wow talk about his lyrical growth] Yeah, lyrically I’ve definitely been growin’ man, I feel like it’s only right that I do so. And the reason being is because people want to hear the more mature me. I think that’s the only way that I will gain respect as a maturing MC that way, you know what I’m saying? I think I been gettin a lot of recognition, not only recognition but just a lot of respect from the “I Think They Like Me.” It’s like, “Yeah you murdered that” so, for them just to say that and show that love and for it not to be even female fans which show me a lot of love and I just see my fan base just switching over. It’s just all love and respecting now you know the tables have turned. I think that it’s great.

AllHipHop.com: Did you think of that line, "Swimming pool in the front, in the back yard, I aint gotta act hard I’m under 21 with a black card"…?

Bow Wow: Yeah, it’s crazy, because like somebody asked me the other day like they thought that I was playing like I was doing a radio show and they thought that like I really didn’t have one. We talk about like Jermaine [Dupri], or somebody’ll say like, "He ain’t got no black card," like just messing around with them, because they know I got one. I put it in a freestyle a long time ago when I had first got the card but I mean now you know, I’m gonna put it out there, like this one, this one kill n****s if I say this.

AllHipHop.com: Now you guys decided to re-release your album Wanted [Click here to see videos from Wanted] what made y’all do that?

Bow Wow: We repackaged it and relaunched it, but it’s not out yet. [I’m adding] a new [song to it], which means may have to go the studio do a brand new record and that’d be the very first single off the one that’s called Wanted: Reloaded. Also there’s a music video, a raw video with me and Snoop on there for the “Caviar” record, which is the song that’s on the album. I have like a mini-movie on there like a real raw uncut you know thing that we had shot in New York.

AllHipHop.com: Okay. Now, how would you define the term MC? A lot of people don’t really recognize that too much as a real art form term as far as Hip-Hop’s concerned.

Bow Wow: It is a art form. And myself, I was brought in to Hip-Hop at a young age so MC’ing is just more than just the look, the swagger, how you talk, it is an art form. And it’s also how you carry yourself. And it’s also a talent. Like Hip-Hop is like it’s like our church – for us. This represents us and I think that you know a lot of people really don’t understand that. Lot of people just look at it like, you know tattoos, jewelry and those are just fads. It’s much deeper than that and, with me, like I watch a lot of Hip-Hop like Krush Groove movies, like Breakin’ movies, like I watch that and I study that from Rhyme and Reason to all kind of Hip-Hop movies cause I’m a Hip-Hop guru. And like I told you, I stay on AllHipHop.com website, and this is what it’s about. Man, like this is my church. So I think that the word “MC” means a lot to me and I’m sure it would mean a lot to all my other peers in the Hip-Hop community as well especially some of the guys that were there at the beginning, the originators, you know what I mean like The Doug E. Fresh’s, you know and all those guys and Grandmaster Flash. That means everybody, it means a lot.

AllHipHop.com: Okay, that’s speaking of old school cats, I would be phony if I didn’t mention this, one of our columnists illseed wrote a editorial on Will Smith and —

Bow Wow: Yeah I read that, I told you I be on the website, I read that…

AllHipHop.com: What’d you think about the notion that people kinda being upset about Will’s comments.

Bow Wow: [Listen to Bow Wow speak on comparisions to Will Smith] You know one thing about me, is I don’t hold my tongue. You know what I mean, I’m always gonna be real wit you, I’m always gonna say what I feel. And I just happen to be one out of the billions of people in the world, in the United States alone that has an opinion, you know and people always quick to compare me to Will Smith which is not a bad comparison. It’s not, but at the same time on the music side people always saying they compare me and Will Smith on the music side and I don’t see [it]. I can see somebody comparing Nick Cannon with Will Smith on the music side, but not me.

AllHipHop.com: It could be a compliment though, which I think the editorial stressed…

Bow Wow: Would I love to be with Will Smith is on the movie side? Of course, without a doubt. Am I getting there, yeah. I’m 18 years old this summer. I’ll have nine movies under my belt. It’s a big blessing, but I feel like people always comparing me to Will Smith and, once again, it’s not a negative thing. It’s not a bad thing, but at the same time they always want to get the music part with me and Will Smith mixed up. You know Will Smith would not even talk about things that I would talk about you know what I’m saying and I’ve got nothing against Will. Me and Will we’ve talked, so that whole situation is cool. Sometimes, I might say things just to get people’s attention at the end of the [original XXL magazine] article that I saw the guy [illseed] wrote [about] the Black Card line. [Illseed was] like “Oh dude killed me with the Black Card line” or whatever but you know at the same time you know dude does have a lot of respect. I have a lot of respect for Will but at the same time, you know if you read the article closely I never mention Will Smith in the movies. My comments was toward the music.

AllHipHop.com: Right, I understand what you are saying.

Bow Wow: Because me and Will Smith are in totally different places in music and the people always ask me all the time well if it’s not Will Smith, well who would you compare yourself to, I always say a younger L.L.Cool J. I always say L.L. Cool J. because this year will be my fifth album you know what I’m saying. I’m doing movies and the ladies love me. I definitely respect Will Smith because he opened up a lot of doors for us to do what we do. For the L.L’s, for myself, for Ice-T, for Ice Cube, everybody the whole nine yards so I definitely respect Will but I at the same time my music is totally different from Will Smith’s music.

AllHipHop.com: Okay. How do you and Ciara work things out? I mean both of y’all seem to be so busy with your schedule and it seems to be really difficult to have a relationship in this, like how do you manage that?

Bow Wow: [Listen to Bow Wow talk about Ciara] Yeah, I mean it’s quite easy, you know what I’m saying because you know at the same time, she knows what I have to do, I know what she has to do. We’re both in the same industry, we do the same work and anything we’re performers and what not, so I understand things, you know what I’m saying.

AllHipHop.com: I heard you weren’t happy with the VIBE cover. Is that true?

Bow Wow: Yeah, I really wasn’t, because you know, a lot of things that I wanted to put in there wasn’t put in there and I even said it like live on TV. Which was you know me – there I am again – like just speaking my mind. They set it up, how they interviewed us at two different times which I thought was kind of awkward. Which is kind of crazy, you’d think that if you was do a cover story like that, you would interview two people together instead of separate. So I thought that was you know, kinda abnormal to me but you know, all I can say is it definitely could have been better and that’s why you know I praise Ebony magazine because we’re on the cover of that and I felt like that article was on another level and the article was great.

AllHipHop.com: Any truth that yall are engaged?

Bow Wow: Nah, I ain’t gonna speak on that, nah, nah.

AllHipHop.com: All right. Was there ever any beef between you and J.D. like I heard a little comments kinda like a beef here and there or rivalry or things of that nature? Nothing like that?

Bow Wow: Nah, nah, nah. That’s not true, I been on the website so much that I be reading everything. I guess [illseed] said that me and J.D. got in a fight or something like that. And, [it was rumored] we fell out, I wanted to do my label whatnot or you know something [like] I beat up J.D. Nah, nah, nah none of that. Me and J.D. – we brothers man, we love each other man and we would never do that man. Jermaine is my mentor, so I been watching J.D. ever since I was ten years old. Jermaine would never do that. He always listens to my ideas and I do have artists of my own and Jermaine listen to the artists so I mean it’s all love man, none of that nonsense is true.

AllHipHop.com: You been doing it so long, do you get tired?

Bow Wow: Like, nah. Not tired of what I do but just tired you know physically, other than that no, never tired about what I do. I love what I do man. I been wanting to do this since I was five years old, so this is like a dream come true to me.

Out the Gate

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

Artist: Termanology & DCTitle: Out the GateRating: 4 StarsReviewed by: Brolin Winning

Representing for Boston – Lawrence to be exact – Termanology has built a sizeable buzz for himself, thanks to extensive mixtape work, high-profile collabos, an appearance on 106 & Park ‘s “Freestyle Fridays,” and a Source “Unsigned Hype” feature. His press release touts praise from no less than DJ Premier, who doesn’t often lend his name to hype up-and-coming emcees. On his aptly-titled debut, Out the Gate (ST Records),Termanology links up with producer DC The MIDI Alien, who supplies all 19 tracks.

The album kicks off with a strong, scratch-filled intro courtesy of Statik Selektah, before getting into “This Is Hip Hop.” Built on mellow sax loops and low-key organ vamps, the song is a dedication to the realness, referencing the golden age and its varied charms. This concept has been done to death, but it comes off so genuine and convincing here its hard not to feel it. “22 Years,” is a cool timeline that reflects back over the course of his life and rhyme career, backed by soft piano riffs, chunky snare hits, and well-timed old-school ringtones.

Several of the tracks are extremely personal in nature, something that’s not exactly commonplace in today’s “I sell more crack than you” lyrical landscape. “Circle of Life” is all about his baby daughter, with trippy guitar licks and R&B crooning to support heartfelt rhymes about being in the delivery room, drama with the mother, and promising his little girl he will always be there. Another ode to family comes on “Mommy, Daddy, Grandma,” a detailed song showing love to his folks.

While he’s not afraid to share his sensitive side, there are plenty of harder cuts aimed strictly for the streets. “Takin’ You With Me” is short murder anthem laid over synth-strings and harpsichords, while “Ain’t F*ckin With This” (featuring Prospect from Terror Squad) is a rugged joint threatening to “put you in a casket like the Cryptkeeper.” Local spitters Esoteric and Gutta lend a hand on the hard-hitting attack of “Ready,” while “The Anthem” is all about Murda Mass pride, shouting out the Red Sox, the Pats, and the gulliness of various Baystate hoods. Other guests include L Da Headtoucha (“My Life”) and Akrobatik (“When We Were Kids”).

Termanology’s vocal style isn’t extraordinarily groundbreaking, but he’s got rhyme skills aplenty and confidence for miles. He’s clearly influenced by Jay-Z, but sports a breathy quality reminiscent of A-Butta from Natural Elements. DC comes through in a big way on production, with the perfect mix of samples, synths, scratches, and live instruments. Out The Gate is a thoroughly on-point introduction to two artists we will surely be hearing more from, and the first dope album of 2006.

Bling: Consequence and Repercussions (Film)

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

Artist: Documentary ReviewTitle: Bling: Consequence and Repercussions (Film)Rating: 3 StarsReviewed by: J. Alise

“Medallion iced up, Rolex bezelled up

and my pinky ring is platinum plus

earrings be trillion cut

and my grill be slugged up.”

–Baby of Cash Money Millionaires, “Bling, Bling”

Baby’s illustrative quote appropriately opens this independent documentary which raises the issues behind Hip-Hop’s diamond obsession and Sierra Leone’s conflict diamond trade. Chuck D narrates this short, 20-minute documentary, highlighting destruction and carnage that is fed by our culture’s desire for “bling.” He discusses how Hip-Hop’s fat gold chains of the 1980’s paved the way for the today’s jewel of choice: diamonds.

“Bling” (WGH Films) gives a brief historical background of the diamond mining industry, DeBeers’s monopoly, and the conflict between the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the corrupt Sierra Leone government; illustrating how greed, poverty and desire for control has led to massacres of thousands of Africans. Graphic footage of civilians with missing limbs, mangled bodies and the bloody aftermath accompanies a candid firsthand narration from the frontlines by Greg Campbell, author of “Blood Diamonds: Tracing The Paths of the World’s Most Precious Stone.”

The film also features interviews with Hip-Hop jewelers, Marvin Newman of Miami’s The Diamond Exchange, and David Shimanov of Kinetics of New York. They attempt to rationalize rappers’ need to have the flashiest jewelry; yet only scratch the surface by attributing it mainly to vanity and status. Newman explains the multi-step process of how diamonds make their journey from Sierra Leone’s mines into the hands of American jewelry dealers, perhaps aiming to absolve responsibility for the jeweler’s role in the diamond conflict.

Man-on-the-street interviews reveal how little the general public knows about conflict diamonds, and even where Sierra Leone is located. The interviews range from a couple that resembles an Abercrombie & Fitch ad, a surprisingly insightful teenager, to a Black father and daughter who have family ties to Sierra Leone. Through their responses, they illustrate irony and ignorance.

Although “Bling” offers a solid understanding of the diamond conflict, there is room to explore Hip-Hop’s role, via interviews with rappers and cultural critics. This short documentary serves a preview to a feature length film, set for release in 2007; which will hopefully delve deeper into the factors around Hip-Hop’s lethal connection to Sierra Leone’s conflict diamond trade.

Judge Orders City Of L.A. To Pay $1.1 Million To B.I.G.’s Family

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

The family of the

late Notorious B.I.G. was awarded $1.1 million Friday (Jan. 20) by a federal court

judge.

The money- which will be paid to the family by the City of Los

Angeles, as ordered by U.S. District judge Florence-Marie Cooper- is sanctions

for intentionally withholding evidence during the family’s civil lawsuit trial.

Although the $2 million the family originally wanted wasn’t

given, Cooper left open the possibility of an additional $300,000.

"It’s pretty clear from the ruling that the judge understands

this is a significant and difficult case," said Perry Sanders, an attorney

for the rapper’s family.

The order is the latest development in the ongoing saga surrounding

the aftermath of B.I.G.’s murder.

The rapper was shot and killed March 9, 1997, after attending

a Soul Train Music Awards after party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los

Angeles.

To this day, the crime remains unsolved.

A mistrial was declared last year in the family’s civil

lawsuit after Cooper discovered a police detective hid statements linking the

killing to former Los Angeles Police Department Officers David Mack and Rafael

Perez.

She also ordered the city to pay the slain rapper’s family’s

legal costs.

The family tried to show that Mack, a convicted bank robber,

orchestrated Biggie’s killing with the help of a college friend on behalf of

Death Row Records chief Marion "Suge" Knight.

All three have denied any involvement.

Attorneys for the family received an anonymous tip from a former

officer that a department informant had tied Perez and Mack to the killing.

Despite claims by detective Steven Katz that he overlooked a

transcript of the remarks in his desk, Cooper ruled that Katz in addition to

others concealed the information, which could have strengthened the family’s

claim that Mack was involved in the killing.

A retrial is set to begin later this year.

Jonathan Diamond, spokesman for City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo,

expressed the city’s unhappiness with the order.

Delgadillo’s office defended the city.

"We were disappointed

with the order," he said. "We believe the officer’s conduct was inadvertent,

and we will prevail at trial on the merits of the case."

Luke Distances Himself From 50 Cent Lawsuit

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

Rapper/mogul Luther

Campbell has come forward to comment on a recent copyright infringement lawsuit

filed against 50 Cent, over his hit single "In Da Club," taken from

50 Cent’s#### album Get Rich or Die Tryin’.

Attorney Joseph Weinberger,

owner of Lil’ Joe Records, recently filed the lawsuit in Miami federal court.

Weinberger owns the rights to recordings by 2 Live Crew and Campbell.

Campbell was quick

to distance himself from the lawsuit, which claims 50 Cent stole lines from Campbell’s

1994 song "It’s Your Birthday," from the Miami pioneer’s solo album,

Still a Freak for Life.

"Let the record reflect

that Joe Weinberger and [Weinberger’s attorney] Richard Wolfe are the individuals

who are suing 50," Campbell told AllHipHop.com. "They are not suing

on behalf of me or any member of the 2 Live Crew.

"These guys (Joe and

Richard) that’s all they do is go around suing people and use our names. When

they do sue people and make money on that catalogue, neither me nor any of the

2 Live Crew members receive any money from that."

Weinberger once represented

Campbell and became owner of the copyrights when Campbell filed for bankruptcy

protection.

"They stole that catalogue

from the members and me and we don’t make money from it," Campbell said.

"When you read my book, ‘My Life and Freaky Times,’ you’ll get the full

entire story surrounding these two crooks and that catalogue."

Neither Wolfe nor

Weinberger were available for comments as of press time.

Below are the first four pages of the 27-page lawsuit.

Lil

Joe Music Vs. 50 Cent Page 1

Lil Joe Music Vs.

50 Cent Page 2

Lil Joe Music Vs.

50 Cent Page 3

Lil Joe Music Vs.

50 Cent Page 4

Cam’ron Explains Beef With Jay-Z

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

Rapper Cam’ron has further clarified his position against Island Def Jam president/rapper Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, after the Harlem native recently released the dis track called “Gotta Love It.”

Cam’ron alleged that Jay-Z’s declaration of peace with Nas in October 2005, was initially meant to destroy the credibility of his own Diplomats crew.

Cam’ron told Miss Jones and the Hot 97 morning show team the culmination of his grievance in the weeks leading up to Jay-Z’s “I Declare War” concert, which was hosted by rival station Power 105.

“The last straw was that station down the dial [Power 105 and] he supposed to [“declare war”], where he is supposed to be dissing everybody he had a problem with,” he explained to Miss Jones, DJ Envy and others. “So you know leading up to the concert, I got Dame calling me like, ‘He’s trying to get old footage of you of when you and Jim got jumped and he’s trying to find Jim’s Catholic school pictures.’ So leading up to this concert, we had to get on point, you dig? I don’t know whatever he was looking for, you ain’t gonna find it.”

Jay-Z and Nas’ peace treaty was applauded by the Hip-Hop community, however beef with Cam’ron and his crew has quietly festered for many years.

Prior to the “I Declare War” concert, Jim Jones publicly dissed Jay-Z to Mad Linx when he was the host of BET’s “Rap City.”

“When [Jay-Z] became the President, that was our way out [of Def Jam]. We not with it at all, ya dig, and if you wanna go statistically, not even on just the fire part, just statistically, we sold more records than everybody up at Roc-A-Fella every time we came out with an album,” Jim Jones said on air. “Why would we be with somebody that sell no records statistically? The Roc is over. It’s more like a cubic zirconium. The diamond is crumbled.”

Cam’ron also said problems arose when Jay-Z discovered plans to appoint him President of Roc-A-Fella, a position he turned down due to a disagreement over his proposed yearly compensation.

Cam’ron also denied that he slept with Jay-Z’s girlfriend Beyonce, although he insinuated an act took place in his freestyle dis.

“This ain’t noting personal toward her, but I know what hurts his heart,” he said.

Still Cam’ron admitted that this was a war of words, not one he hoped would end in violence.

“At the end of the day, I don’t want any violence. I’m trying to avoid it. It don’t even make sense to do violence, we just trying to do music,” Cam admitted.

Jay-Z wasn’t available for comment at press time.

Jeremy Miller Officially Takes Over As CEO Of The Source

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

Jeremy Miller was officially named the new president and chief executive officer of The Source magazine.

The appointment was made Thursday (Jan. 19) by The Source Enterprises Inc. board of directors after they terminated Miller’s predecessor David Mays and The Source president Ray “Benzino” Scott.

The Source Enterprises Inc. is the parent company of the Source magazine.

“Having worked at The Source for the past 15 years, I am pleased to assume the position of CEO and restore the magazine to its rightful position as the preeminent Hip-Hop magazine,” says Miller, who served as chief operating officer of the magazine during his first tenure.

Miller currently publishes Down magazine, a publication dedicated to southern Hip-Hop music and culture.

Down was founded one-year ago after Miller left The Source.

Mays and Scott are said to be fully cooperating with the board’s transition.

Miller hopes to bring the Source back to prominence within the Hip-Hop community, saying “I am confident with new leadership, along with valued members of the current editorial department and staff that we will wholeheartedly bring our collective expertise, journalistic talent and passion for Hip-Hop to the table to execute and distribute an exceptional Hip-Hop ‘bible’ for the readers.”

AHH Stray News: 50 Cent Sued, Mystikal, Ms. Dynamite, Dilated Peoples

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

50 Cent has been

hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit over his hit single "In Da Club,"

claiming the lyrics to the song were lifted from an earlier recording by Luther

Campbell. Attorney Joseph Weinberger, owner of Lil’ Joe Records, filed the lawsuit

in Miami federal court, claiming 50’s famous "Go shorty,it’s your birthday"

lines were actually lifted from Campbell’s song "It’s Your Birthday,"

originally released on Campbell’s 1994 album Still a Freak for Life.

Weinberger once represented Campbell and obtained the copyrights to albums by

the 2 Live Crew and Luke as a solo artist after Campbell was forced into bankruptcy.

"In Da Club" was one of the biggest hits on 50 Cent’s blockbuster

major label debt, Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Weinberger is represented

by Miami based attorney Richard Wolfe.

Mystikal went before a parole

board on Jan. 19 seeking to be released from his six-year sentence. Sources

close to Mystikal told AllHipHop.com that the Grammy nominated rapper was denied

parole. On Jan. 12, U.S. District Judge James Brady sentenced the rapper to

an additional year for failing to report almost $2 million in earnings from

1998-1999. The judge allowed the rapper to serve the one-year sentence concurrently

with a state sentence for sexual battery against his former hairstylist. Mystikal

is serving time for forcing a woman to perform oral sex after he caught her

writing $80,000 in bogus checks. He was sentenced to six years in prison.

Gucci Mane: Free At Last

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

Just as his hit “Icy” began to climb in video and song rotation, Gucci Mane’s life was put on pause. After a very well publicized attack, Gucci Mane was on trial for murder after admitting to shooting one of his attackers in self-defense. However, approaching a year after the madness began, Gucci Mane is now a free man. Less than a week out of jail, AllHipHop.com spoke to the Southern rapper on the issues at play in his absence. For instance, what’s he going do with Trap House, the album that he was unable to really promote? Will he be bringing these recent tribulations into his future work? What does he feel about Young Jeezy – a man who many felt that Gucci Mane’s issues benefited? These tough questions are met with concise, precise answers from a man whom skeptics presumed guilty by profession. One thing’s true, most rappers find their greatest inspiration in times like these. Read and listen to Gucci Mane…

AllHipHop.com:  How are you feeling now that you are a free man?

Gucci Mane:  I’m feeling real good right now.

AllHipHop.com:  When the charges were dropped, like what did you think?  Did you believe it when you first heard it?

Gucci Mane:  Yes, I believed it.  I believed it, because I was expecting that to happen.  And I was very happy when it – happy when it happened, you know, the outcome of the case.  My two attorneys, Manny Aurora and Ash Joshi did a wonderful job.

AllHipHop.com:  Right, right.  Rappers specifically, but black people in general seem to have it pretty hard legally.  So you didn’t really think that it could go for the worse?  You really kept your faith?

Gucci Mane:  Yeah, I had to have faith.  You know, the whole time I had to put my faith in Lord.  I knew He was gonna get me out of this.

AllHipHop.com:  Okay, good, good.  So you got out on Dr. Martin Luther King Day, how does that feel? The irony is crazy…

Gucci Mane:  [Click here to listen to Gucci Mane speak about Martin Luther King, Jr.] Yeah, it felt real good to get out on Dr. Kings’ holiday… I [had a] “I have – I have a dream shirt on.” I’m a big fan of Dr. King.

AllHipHop.com:  Oh you went in with that on.  Oh okay, okay.  Did you know you were getting out on MLK Day or you just –

Gucci Mane:  I didn’t know I was getting out on that day.

AllHipHop.com:  Oh okay, so fate has a sense of humor. That’s what’s up.  So how  are you in general?

Gucci Mane:  I’m really excited man, I’m real happy to be out, you know what I’m sayin’?   Gettin’ another chance, fresh start.  I’m gonna take advantage of this second chance I got.

AllHipHop.com:  So you plan to start doing more community stuff, is that case?

Gucci Mane:  [Click here to listen to Gucci Mane talk about helping kids] I feel like a lot of experiences that I done went through and hardships in my life, I use that to reach out to some people and, you know what I’m sayin’, tell them not to make the same mistakes that I made.

AllHipHop.com:  Yeah, any lessons learned, you know?

Gucci Mane:  Numerous, numerous lessons.

AllHipHop.com:  Well, like what for example?

Gucci Mane:  Well, I guess I learned that you gotta be patient and you gotta always pray, always gotta get good with God first. You believe in Him and give it all to Him, things will work out.

AllHipHop.com:  Now I gotta admit, I didn’t think you were gonna get out of this one. I thought it was gonna get kinda crazy for you.  What was the lack of evidence based on?

Gucci Mane:  I really can’t get into that right now.

AllHipHop.com:  Okay, okay, understood.  Where does your beef with Young Jeezy stand now?

Gucci Mane:  Right now, I just got out of jail so, you know, I’m tryin’ to get back into the lab and make some new songs.  I ain’t really put no – put no effort – put too much energy into that right now.

AllHipHop.com:  Now are you gonna try to like push the old album, Trap House, or are you gonna start a new one?

Gucci Mane:  I’m actually gotta second single on my – my first album called “Go ‘Head,” we fixin’ to shoot the video for that late January, we’re gonna still push the stuff off the album.

AllHipHop.com:  Like how do you intend to work the angles now?

Gucci Mane:  I plan on going on tour.  We doing spot dates right now, you know what I’m sayin’?  We gotta push this album, man, we gotta turn this album into a classic man.  You know what I’m sayin’? [I had] one of the biggest of the album of the year independently that came out.

AllHipHop.com: In the midst of the whole murder situation so-to-speak, you had other situations and altercations or whatever. Do you feel that you’ll be able to stay outta trouble?

Gucci Mane:  I plan to just, you know, keep positive people around me and just like my surroundings at all times.  And I think it’s not gonna be hard at all to stay out of trouble.

AllHipHop.com: Have you reported in or anything like that already?

Gucci Mane:  Yes, I already reported to probation already.

AllHipHop.com:  Now your time in jail, how was that for you?  Was it rough?  Were you in like confinement or with general population?

Gucci Mane:  I was in confinement, 23-hour lock-down isolation.  It was tough on me, but I had to be strong.

AllHipHop.com:  Yeah.  What got you through that?

Gucci Mane:  Prayer and my mother.

AllHipHop.com:  Yeah, yeah, I remember you had mentioned her before.  Did people write you a lot?

Gucci Mane:  Yeah, I got tons of fan mail.  They kept me going.  They kept me motivated.  They let me know I’m still having fans and I had to come home and come back and give them some music so they’ll keep lovin’ me.

AllHipHop.com:  Being locked down for like 23 hours a day, I mean, it just seems like it would like really – you could lose it so-to-speak.  You know what I’m sayin?

Gucci Mane:  Yeah, it was very hard.  I ain’t gonna even lie to you.  It was hard but, you know, I had – I had to be strong.  You know what I’m sayin’?  In a situation like that you have to lean on the Lord, let Him carry you.

AllHipHop.com:   Did you encounter any animosity from people that may have hatred towards you or anything like that?

Gucci Mane:  Yeah, there was some animosity, but it was mostly good, so you know, you gotta take the good with the bad.

AllHipHop.com: We had an article on the website and it was a snitching-related piece. You made it very clear that, you know, you were attacked without any provocation or whatever the case may be.  How do you address the notion of snitching in the streets?  This editorial that I’m talking about, the writer basically said, “Yo, I’m not gonna like go to jail for life based on something that something else did.” You know, how do you feel about that?

Gucci Mane:  Best thing is to keep yourself out of the stupid situations so you – you won’t even get in no trouble where you have to tell nobody.

AllHipHop.com: Do you have any like required like say community service or anything like that?

Gucci Mane:  Yes, I have community service I have to do.

AllHipHop.com:  About how many hours?

Gucci Mane: 100.

AllHipHop.com:  Oh yeah, do you like know what you’re be doing or anything like, you know, sometimes you’re picking up trash, you – other times you may be talking to kids.

Gucci Mane:  Hopefully I’ll be talking to kids, because I’m trying to turn this whole situation to a positive and get to reach out to the youth as much as I can.

AllHipHop.com:  Do you think will this effect your music in anyway or will just basically continue as you were?  You know, like sometimes cats say they’ve made a change, but the music they rap about really doesn’t reflect that.

Gucci Mane: I’m gonna keep makin’ good music. I really don’t put a lot of my life stories into my music.  I just make people have a good time with my music.  But, you know, it might – it might spill in there, you never know.

AllHipHop.com:    Anything else that you wanted to tell everybody about?

Gucci Mane:  I’d like to leave y’all with my the motto for Big Cat Entertainment. It’s We Will Be Respected.

 

Latrice Barnett: Face To Face

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

If Alicia Keys ever decided to infuse dance music with her R&B style, she would probably morph into something close to Latrice Barnett. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Latrice is an accomplished instrumentalist and plays a number of instruments including saxophone, bass, cello and the flute. She also pens her own lyrics and harmonizes with a voice filled with enough soul to make you stop dancing to the beat and just listen.

Though virtually unknown in the commercial world, Ms. Barnett is a seasoned vet on the music scene, lending her musical talent on more then 23 compilations worldwide and honing her skills with various song writers and band collaborations.

As a member of the San Francisco-based band Five Point Plan, Latrice opened for acts such as Counting Crows, Sade, B.B. King and Los Amigos Invisibles. She released two full-length albums with the group – the self titled debut, and the critically acclaimed follow-up, Rare. In 2004, the young singer went on to head New Orleans funk band, Galactic, and has toured internationally with Handsome Boy Modeling School, Rondo Brothers and Chocolate O’Brian, a group which featured members of No Doubt.

With all this experience under her belt, it seemed only natural to expand her horizons with a project of her own. Illuminate, the new album by Latrice Barnett which will be released early 2006, is lush with sweet harmonies mixed with feel good danceable beats ala Cece Peniston. AllHipHop.com Alternatives spoke with Latrice about her extensive talent and her choice of musical genres.

AllHipHop.com Alternatives: I notice that you play quite a number of instruments. How did you get into that?

Latrice: I grew up playing instruments. I’ve played stuff since I was little. I remember when instruments were bigger than me.

AHHA: Who introduced you to instruments? Did you come from a musical background?

Latrice: I come from a family that’s pretty musical. My grandmother was a classical pianist from the age of six. My dad and his side of the family were also really musical. He grew up playing almost as many instruments as me, if not the same amount. My dad was the choir director for our church when I was young, so I grew up singing with him and it was just something that I thought everyone did.

AHHA: You have an interesting look. What is your ethic background if you don’t mind?

Latrice: [Laughs] I’m American. There is so much division in our culture, I don’t feel the need to align myself with any particular faction except American, female, and active participant in our world community.

AHHA: Tell us about the album Illuminate.

Latrice: It’s kind of a cross between dance and a little bit of pop and R&B. I don’t know what else to say. It’s kind of like up tempo R&B and down tempo dance music.

AHHA: Your voice is very soulful – harmonies are tight. You could easily do R&B and have more of a chance to become much more commercial. So why dance music?

Latrice: It’s what inspires me. I love R&B, don’t get me wrong. But what kind of gets me on the dance floor is dance music. To me it’s not all about whatever’s gonna supposedly get someone to the supposed endpoint faster. I certainly don’t want to be just on the fast track to be the next Aaliyah, ya know? But I think it’s important to do music that inspires you, and when I buy records it ends up being more dance inspired stuff or dance remixes of R&B songs. I love it!

AHHA: Okay, great! I see in your bio that it says you “fell into singing by accident”.

Latrice: Yes.

AHHA: When did it occur to you that you could really sing?

Latrice: It still hasn’t. [laughs] I did it kind of as a fluke. I was living outside of the country and a friend of mine told a guy that I was interested in that I was a famous vocalist from the United States, and I had to put my money where my mouth was, or where her mouth was rather, [laughs]

and they asked me to do some shows with them and I ended up being their vocalist and I was like, “I could totally do this. This is fun.” And of course you get roped into anything you’re good at thinking that it’s easy and then the more you get involved with it, the harder it becomes because if

you want to actually achieve something with it. I got into it and I was like, “Whatever, I can hold a key; everyone can hold a key – [let me] see what I can get up there, and shake my money maker for the audience.” But it’s a lot harder – a lot harder than I once gave it credit for.

AHHA: You’re like a one-woman show in that you write songs, you play instruments and you sing. Where do you see yourself taking this talent? Are you maybe considering producing other artists as part of your musical future?

Latrice: I’d love to do that. I think right now I kind of want to see where I can take this with myself with my own art. I think before I start affecting other people’s voices and abilities I want to make the mistakes on my own – use myself as a guinea pig before I have too much say in anyone else’s career. But I definitely love working with other people. I’ve done some vocal arrangements on other people’s records.

AHHA: Who are some of your favorite artists of today?

Latrice: Right now I am really inspired by a lot of the people that I’ve worked with. It’s gonna sound like a plug but it’s really not. I love Kaskade’s music. I also enjoy Morgan Geist. Christopher Willits is a really amazing guitarist featured on the record, and I love his stuff. We

definitely do a lot of stuff together – I’ve been featured on his record and I just adore his music.

AHHA: So you basically worked with people whose work you love?

Latrice: Yeah! Definitely! I work with people that inspire me. [One] of the people I haven’t worked with yet but are definitely very influential to me has been Lewis Taylor. He’s picking up where Prince and Jimi Hendrix left off. It’s heavy. It’s crazy, if you could imagine – it’s really good. Ella Fitzgerald has been a huge influence all the way through.

AHHA: So what are your thoughts on commercial artists of today who seem to be more studio acts, but seem to be very successful, as opposed to artists such as yourself who have the musical ability, but seem to have the least amount of commercial fame?

Latrice: I think there’s room for us all. It’s one of those things again where – I’ll just use Jessica Simpson for example. I don’t know if I can do what that woman does. It looks very easy like, “Oh she walks around looking all pretty and different things”, but by the same token, there’s a lot of what she does behind the scenes. The girl can really sing, whether I buy her music or not is irrelevant almost, but I also think there’s a lot to be said for a lot of people who have supposed commercial success. It’s no secret that a lot of record companies will pay to have your music put on the radio. At least I know that the fans that I’ve garnered are people that I’ve seen face to face. Nobody’s been paying to spin my stuff on the radio so I feel like I’ve got something that I can walk away with and know at the end of the day that I’ve touched these people because I put myself out there to touch them.

AHHA: The Bay Area has quite an eclectic music scene. Tell me a little bit about it, and are you involved in it at all?

Latrice: I definitely try to overlap it. I’ve always been a musician. Music inspires me – a band, an artist, a song – that’s what I look at. I really try not to stick with genres. I’ve played with people in the experimental avant-garde scene; I’ve played with people in the rock scene; I’ve played with people in the R&B and Hip-Hop scenes. For several years that I’ve been a part of this scene, most musicians that I’ve encountered have been super, super open to everyone, which is what I love about this area. It’s not as much – you used to be able to go see a Punk band open for a Hip-Hop act but…whatever…maybe that’ll come again.

AHHA: What would you like people to take away from this project?

Latrice: The gist of the record overall is kind of like a love of light and life. I want people to be able to enjoy it stress-free. The theme of it is to just be happy with life, not necessarily successful or wealthy or the best in your league, but to be happy with yourself and with your life and find the pleasure in your everyday.

Ash Joshi: Gucci Mane’s Defense Attorney

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

Ash Joshi is not the typical attorney seen with rappers in the past. Admittedly, Mr. Joshi is of the Hip-Hop generation, and a fan at that. In an exclusive and most candid discussion with AllHipHop.com, the attorney discusses some of the legal matters concerning his client – the newly released Gucci Mane. Mr. Joshi offers insight into the case, and addresses the "snitch" accusations head-on. From his family to his legal staff, Gucci Mane has strong believers in his corner.

AllHipHop.com:  How did you feel about the case against Gucci?  I mean, it seemed like there was a reasonable that he would get off, as he did, but at the same token, it did also seem that the legal system could potentially use him as an example.  Like how did you feel initially?

Ash Joshi:  We were cognizant of that, that second factor.  We were very cognizant of it.  We felt the evidence was on our side.  But we do know how the media feels about rappers in particular, but just young Black men in general.  And we had to be cognizant of both things.  Now thankfully, the District Attorney’s office in Dekalb County, thankfully for us, they were willing to look beyond the fact that he’s a young Black man and that he’s a rapper, focus on the evidence, which was always in our favor and make a decision based on the law and the evidence and not just, you know emotion or people say no, he’s a rapper, so he’s gotta be a bad guy.

AllHipHop.com:  Right, right.  What about the actual attackers?  Have they been brought to justice at all?

Ash Joshi:  They have not.  I don’t know where that investigation is.  I will tell you we have always stood by what Gucci did and frankly, we think those people are – or I shouldn’t say it.  We would like to see if the District Attorney’s office sees fit, we’d like to see those people brought to justice, because that was unprovoked attack, it was a home invasion, they were willing to do a lot more had they been given the opportunity, and those are dangerous people.

AllHipHop.com:  Do you feel this is a part of some sort of a rap war or is it beyond that?  I mean there’s obviously a lot of speculation and even some comments made on record from the other side of things. 

Ash Joshi:  I think it’s beyond rap.  And you know, I would tell you, I’ve been listening to rap music for 15 years, and people have been saying this kinda stuff for 15 – for every year that I’ve been listening to rap music, you know. But this to me, went beyond that.  I mean, you know, back when I started listening to it was LL Cool J and Kool Moe Dee [just battling].  

AllHipHop.com:  Yeah, yeah.  Do you think the District Attorney will pursue it or will you try to push for them to pursue it, the – you know, the actual attackers?

Ash Joshi:  We’ve given them the information that we know we’ve tried to be cooperative and let them know that if they need our assistance, we’ll be there because again, we think these are dangerous people and we don’t think they should be out there running the streets.  But at the same hand, we – we appreciate their position and the difficult choices they have to make and we will allow them to make their own decisions.  We will not be in the press saying that they should or should not.  That’s their decision to make and it’s a tough one, but if they need us, we would be there.

AllHipHop.com:   Do you have any particular way of kinda helping Gucci avoid these pitfalls of going forward?

Ash Joshi:  I’ve gotten to know him quite well over the last six months.  I can’t tell you how many conversations we’ve had on that subject in particular.  The easiest thing in working with Gucci is he’s an intelligent young man. So every time I’ve expressed my opinion on having the right people around him, having security around him, a certain number of security at all times and then maybe even a larger number of security when he’s in a very public venue. Can I add one thing about the – I read the article last night.  I just happened to read the article where there was a reference to a snitch. I know it was [AllHipHop.com who published] the article. I read it in the Rumors section.

AllHipHop.com:  Yeah, I had addressed that piece.

Ash Joshi:  You know, I’m a criminal defense attorney so I deal with people who give up information to the police all the time and what they’re trying to do is lessen their own criminal matter. You know, they’re trying to knock years off their case. Or get out of trouble their in, by setting somebody else up. Or bringing people into a situation who didn’t have anything to do with that situation. You know, they’re – they’re putting people out there.  That’s not what this was about.  This was a man honestly saying these are the people who attacked me. We never went out of our way to say – and let me tell you , ten other people who – who were also committing crimes were.  That to me would be a snitch.  This was just somebody honestly saying these are the people who attacked me.  And I did what I had to do. I did that for my life. I would just hate see somebody –  I would hate to think of that as a character – to characterize that action as one of being a snitch. And I don’t think that’s fair to him.

AllHipHop.com: I guess there was a rumor that, you know, him getting the charges dropped had something to do with the BMF drug bust.  I mean, just straight up that’s where that kinda originated from. 

Ash Joshi:  [Click here to listen to Ash Joshi] I figured.  I mean, let me share with you, I mean because right, while he was in jail, what 15 of those guys got arrested in that one sweep, but I can tell you for a fact, we had nothing to do with that.  The only way I think that factored in, okay, is that the District Attorney’s office realized in Dekalb County who the guys were, the character of the people who were – who are supposedly the ones who came after Gucci.  Their own people were so tainted at that point that it would – you know, it would undermine their credibility assuming that these people were with BMF.  I know that’s the rumor that the guys who went after Gucci were – we don’t – I don’t know that for a fact.  I don’t think he does either.  Sometimes when your people see you – your sentence was light or that you got off, the assumption is you gave up somebody to do that. And that was – I can tell you for a fact that was never the case, because number one, we didn’t have anybody to give up and number two – more importantly, that’s not his character.  We never once said to the DA’s office, “hey guys we’ll give you this in return for that.” 

 

Kanye West Explains His Pastelle Clothing Line

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

Kanye West’s fashion

sensibilities have been an important component to his musical success and the

producer/rapper has plans to release his Pastelle Clothing line to the world –

when it’s ready.

Reports have indicated the line would emerge in spring 2006,

but West said that he was determined to find the proper partnership to ensure

success and quality.

"We’re in talks with different people but I want to connect

with someone that can really bring it to light," West told AllHipHop.com.

"We’ve talked with a bunch of different people but the people that are

really good are focused on their own stuff and the people that aren’t that good

don’t meet up to my standards."

West won Stuff magazine’s 2005 Style Icon of the Year and he

insisted that Pastelle would reach his standards of excellence.

"I won’t do anything just to do it just to make money,”

West continued. “I feel like you make a product out of yourself. And I

want everything to be a certain caliber. If I was doing something just to make

money I wouldn’t spend so much money on my videos..

"It’s always art first. And I have such a respect for designers

and I wouldn’t want to disrespect them and come out with some random cheap line,"

West continued. "I would want people in the design world to look at me

and be like, "that’s dope how did you think of that?’"

Incidentally, the entertainer also strives for achievement in

the cinematic industry.

"I have some acting roles on the table right now. I’m just

considering them, but I’d be more geared to directing than acting," he

admitted. "I just love directing. I like giving directions more then taking

them."

On the music front,

West’s album Late

Registration is nominated for eight Grammy awards at the 48th Annual

Grammy Awards, which take place on Feb. 8 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles,

California.