Curren$y has unveiled the tracklisting for his eighth studio album, Canal Street Confidential, which drops Dec. 4th.The 13-track effort boats features Future, Ty Dolla $ign, Wiz Khalifa and K Camp. The lead single “Bottom of the Bottle” features fellow New Orleans natives August Alsina and Lil’ Wayne and also dropped the second single “Boulders” earlier this week.
Canal Street Confidential is available for pre-order on iTunes.
Peep the album art and tracklist below.
1. “Drive By” (Feat. Future)
2. “Everywhere”
3. “How High” (Feat. Lloyd)
4. “Speed”
5. “What’s Up” (Feat. K Camp)
6. “Winning” (Feat. Wiz Khalifa)
7. “Bottom of the Bottle” (Feat. August Alsina & Lil’ Wayne)
8. “Cruzin…”
9. “Superstar” (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign)
10. “Boulders”
11. “All Wit My Hands”
12. “The Game”
13. “Str8″ (Feat. Corner Boy P & Fiend)
It seems like The Game tried to “break the internet” Kim Kardashian style when he posted a photo of himself in his boxers on his Instagram page. B.O.B. started the “Eggplant Friday” trend that had the ladies going crazy and the men posting their goods online. Clearly the men weren’t here for The Game’s post, but women everywhere let them know that they feel the same way when men post half naked women all day. So many people reposted the photo that it got people writing “The Game” and “Jayceon” on their hands with a sharpie imitating Blac Chyna’s “Future” tattoo. Instagram even got involved and begin to delete the photo if people posted it and hastagged #TheGame. Instagram flagged it as inappropriate. Well, The Game certainly keeps us talking.
On October 24th, celebrated publicist MarieDriven recently hosted the 4th Annual Cosmo Girls Glam Event, bringing together celebrities, designers, music artists and industry influencers in an effort to help raise funds and awareness for autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder.
Valarie Person, creator of Cosmo Girls Glam – designed the platform for young upcoming entrepreneurs, fashion designers, models and music artists—to showcase their fashion and talents, while donating funds to well deserving organizations such as The Breast Cancer Association, American Heart Association, Center Against Domestic Violence and the Ralph Lauren Cancer Center.
Kicking off with a VIP cocktail reception with hors d’oeuvres provided by Chef Roe, patrons mixed and mingled while jamming to sounds courtesy of DJ Easy. Up next, fiery performances from Reggae/Pop artist Barbee who opened up the show with her scorching new single “WHOA” before handing the mic to over to trending artist SaeItAintSo who went in on the Jerry assisted “On Fleek.”
Guests were also treated to an amazing fashion show, with presenters including Le Rever, Bonna Collection, Mimmy Yeboah, Kholyns Couture and Light But Heavy Clothing. There were also a string of familiar faces in the crowd including Lil Mama, WBLS’ Indy Smith, HipHopWeekly’s Cynthia Horner, pop artist Inas X, real estate broker Katherine Salyi, Kidear Youmans and stylist Phillip Bloch.
Also on hand were special guest speakers Sharon Turnages and Eva Thomas, who educated the crowd on Leukemia and wellness. Sponsors included Empire Beauty School, Deity America, Luis Danvers, Roe Catering, Oni-Bodi, My House Glam, Women Chamber of Commerce and Vitamin Water.
For more information about upcoming Cosmo Girls Glam’s events, please click here.
The Miller family has been in the news a lot lately, not only because of upcoming projects but also family drama. Master P and his estranged wife, Sonya, are going head to head in a nasty divorce case. The former Mrs. Miller has even filed a lawsuit against their son, Romeo, claiming that Master P is putting accounts and deals in his name to keep her from accessing any money.
AllHipHop’s Mr. Mecc caught up with Master P’s brother Silkk The Shocker to talk about what it’s like to watch family go through such a bitter situation.
“P is a good dude,” he said about his older brother. “It’s just a family thing. I try to stay out of it. I love all parties involved. It’s just unfortunate.”
Silkk also gave an update on his brother C-Murder, who is serving a life sentence for murder. He said C is holding up “as best as he can be” and that his family is continuing to fight for him to be released.
“He’s really innocent. I feel good because I can fight for him,” he said.
Future and Blac Chyna’s “relationship” has taken us on a ride. From Blac Chyna apparently getting a Future tattoo on her hand to Future claiming that he is single. Blac Chyna seemed to try to distract fans from her public embarrassment by starting an Instagram “movement” where she had her “fans” going crazy for the Blac Chyna sharpie challenge where they would write Blac Chyna on their hand and hashtag the photo to “let her know it’s real.” Rumors have also been swirling that Blac Chyna is okay with Future having other women. The latest rumor is Blac Chyna is claiming that all of the madness surrounding her and Future was a hoax and actually planned strategy to create hype for his “Rich Sex” video. Are you buying it?
Ok so every time the homie Madlib drops a project, track or snippet the world goes crazy. From all his work with Freddie Gibbs to Madlib, the guy is just remarkable. Add those sonic sounds with MED & Blu, two world renown spitters, and today marks the release of very very dope project, ‘Bad Neighbor.’ The collaborative album amongst MED & Blu & Madlib is entirely produced by Madlib. But while we love Madlib’s production on the album, the project ultimately highlights MED and Blu’s chemistry together alongside an all-star cast of guest features including some of your favorites, i.e. MF DOOM, Aloe Blacc, Mayer Hawthorne, Phonte, Dam-Funk, and many others. If you love Hip-Hop this should be playing in your speakers because it is everything this art is supposed to be. In celebration of today’s album release, check out the single “The Strip” featuring Anderson .Paak below.
Ever since she settled in at her post at The View, Rayven-Symone has been spewing some less than favorable opinions. When she commented about the assault of the 16-year-old student by a now fired school resource officer, she ruffled some feathers once more.
“The girl was told multiple times to get off the phone,” she said. “There’s not right or reason for him to be doing this type of harm, that’s ridiculous,” she said. “But at the same time, you gotta follow the rules in school… There’s two wrongs.”
One person who was upset over her comments is Angel Haze. She even took to Twitter to challenge her to a catfight.
During a sit down on HuffPost Live, Haze stood by what she tweeted, saying she “totally means it.”
“Someone needs to smack her because the things she says are ridiculous,”she said. “It drives me crazy.”
The Detroit femcee went on to criticize Raven-Symone for saying that the victim played a role by refusing to follow school rules and not have her phone out, seemingly justifying the assault.
“How can you even dare side with something like that. It just drives me crazy because these are kids. They have lives. They have souls. They have feelings. They have futures and they are being stripped away from them left and right and it’s not fair.”
With Uncle Murda making headlines over the last year for comments about “clappin police” Uncle Murda returns with his track “Right Now” featuring Future. This slapper is produced by Metro Boomin and with a co-sign from Fab on this video, there’s a real chance this song may take off for Uncle Murda. We will see where this one goes.
Two years after it was announced, Jadakiss is finally ready to unleash his album Top 5 Dead or Alive to the world. His fourth album is set to drop on Nov. 20th.
The Yonkers, NY emcee had name dropped rappers like Lil’ Wayne, Young Jeezy, Wiz Khalifa and Rick Ross as features back when he planned to drop the album in 2013. Further details about the release are scarce.
Jada did release two new songs off of the project to give listeners a taste of what’s to come. The first single “You Can See” features Future. He has already dropped the second single as well, “Ain’t Nothin’ New” featuring Nipsey Hussle and Ne-Yo.
In a recent interview with The Breakfast Club Jadakiss dropped through to talk about his new album Top 5 Dead Or Alive. In doing so Jada explained who else had the vibe of his era and who he felt were in his Top 5 Dead Or Alive. While he loves his era of Hip-Hop, Jadakiss says that he still uses some of the “seasoning” from this era on his plate. Also another quick part of this interview, Jadakiss tells everyone that he has a son at Clark-Atlanta University in Atlanta who rooms with Rocko’s son. Its a pretty small world and Hip-Hop is growing up. Classic interview.
Miami-based recording artist Epidemic joined forces with AllHipHop.com, Fly Supply Clothing and The Neala Group Inc for an exclusive VIP gifting suite for Puff Daddy’s annual Revolt Music Conference at the world-renowned Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami last week. Celebrity guests and industry tastemakers were treated to exclusive apparel from Fly Supply Clothing, Waveborn Sunglasses and Citizen E-Cigars while enjoying signature cocktails from Ciroc and tequila-infused ciders from Mokai.
DJ Amanda Blaze provided the sounds that kept the party entertained all afternoon including an exclusive set featuring Epidemic’s buzzing new single “Squat 4 Me”. Guests also got a first listen to Epidemic’s unreleased mixtape dropping later this year featuring appearances from top Miami artists such as Gunplay and Zoey Dollaz.
After the sun went down, AllHipHop.com followed Epidemic and his Outbreak Media Group team as he showed off his city by hosting parties at some of the hottest clubs on South Beach. Friday night Epidemic joined DJ Envy and Power 96’s own DJ Fergie and DJ Springer as the who’s who in Miami danced to “Squat 4 Me” and the hottest records on the beach. Saturday Epidemic joined DJ Flipstar at the renowned club Cameo for another night of over the top entertainment. Check out a recap of the REVOLT takeover below!
Also Check out more photos from the event. Photos by Exclusive Access and Darren Forbes.
AllHipHop: It seems in the 90’s horrorcore music hit the scene with Flatliner and Gravediggaz and artists like Ganxta NIP and slowly developed into its own culture how have you seen it grow over the years?
You know I got into the scene as a fan. I would collect everything. I first heard Triple 6 from San Francisco and fell in love with it man. I was like oh s###! They are talking about the devil and s####### on gravesites! What the f### is this? Then a little later somebody told me about a rapper who was awaiting trial for murder and rapping over the phone from jail. I got that X-Raided tape and bumped the s### out of him and Brotha Lynch Hung. Around 1994 everyone was doing their own thing on the different sides of the country. There was Esham and Insane Clown Posse in Detroit. NIP in Houston, Raided and Lynch in Sacramento, Insane Poetry in LA and everyone slowly learned about each other. They all had names for what they were doing. Rip gut, psycho rap, Acid Rap, but when Flatlinerz coined what they were doing Horrorcore that was what they media recognized labeled what we all do the most. When that soundtrack for The Fear came out, most of those groups were on it and found out they weren’t alone. When Insane Clown Posse blew up, there is an entire sub culture built around the music. We have stuff like The Gathering Of The Juggles where fans by the thousands all come out to celebrate music like this where we all play together. We have our own lingo, functions, sayings and the fans are into just s### like this. Nobody realizes Insane Clown Posse has gold and platinum records. Brother Lynch has a god record. Its bigger than people think. It became a lifestyle. Our fans collect everything. You put out a CD, they buy two copies. One to keep, and one to play. There is so many artists out there now doing their thang like Twisted Insane, Kung Fu Vampire, Scum, Necro and everyone touring. Halloween we get attention, but for the rest of the year, we are running just as hard as anyone else “keeping it real”.
AllHipHop: What do you think about Insane Clown Posse and jugglaos being labeled as gang members?
See thats what people don’t understand. You have juggalos out there that submerse themselves into this so much they have tattoos, t-shirts, stickers on their cars, they hang out with kids just like them and they stick together because they have a common bond through music. They are into it like crazy and because they all hang out and have BBQ’s or gather by themselves its because they love this s###. But if one of them f#### up and does something stupid or illegal like sometimes teenagers do, they are gang members. But they are just fanatics. Its crazy that its never happened before. I’m glad they appealed and won because it was hurting people. People were getting records for petty things and couldn’t get jobs. Getting gang enhancements. For no reason but the fact they listen to this music and like it a lot. It was b#######.
AllHipHop: It seems like when horrorcore fans do something crazy its a bigger deal than say if a Rick Ross fan does the same thing.
Oh yeah because it makes for a great story for these news outlets. Its a business. “Obsessed fan of serial killer rap music charged with murder” sounds way better than your normal street violence. People expect that. Nobody gives a f###. It’s happened with Esham, and Insane Clown Posse, and Ganxsta NIP and Brotha Lynch, and it was a big deal because we’re talking all this crazy s### that we get questioned for it as artists. Which hey, I’m happy as f### to go on TV and talk for how ever long they let me about anything. I need that. But they act as if they are shunning the music and the fans and shaking their finger at us when the camera is on but when they cut its smiles high fives and s###. It’s entertainment. They want you to watch their program.
AllHipHop: When you were on TV talking about horrorcore you didn’t seem to shy away from the controversy, you embraced it.
Yeah I mean it sucks that s### went down and thats what it took to get the genre some attention, but I was like f### if you’re going to run a story then here I am to make sure its represented well. Plus I wore the mask. They ate that s### up. Its not like you’ll see me on MTV or in Rolling Stone and s###. You take something and you use it. Flip it on em. You’ll get other artists who’s publicist won’t comment. Who won’t return calls. F### that. Defend yourself. Show some compassion for the victims or what ever happened and make sure you rep your s###. Because if it ain’t you, it may be somebody else or nobody at all. I know everything about this s###. I know all the big artists, the pioneers of this, I know them as a fan and a friend, I know all the underground artists. I’m up on everything and the history of it all. I would like to think I do a decent job of bringing light to genre. I want to see everyone shine. They are trying to make us look bad by saying things like “its music that will shock you, they talk about murder… coming up next”. Then you will get a kid that flips through the channels sees that and learns about music like this that never knew it existed and bam, they get into it because they are into horror.
AllHipHop: You seem to have a traditional Bay Area sound but it has horror undertones. But when you see your photos, and imagery, for a person who don’t know who you are they probably think you would be way darker.
You know I do have songs like that too but I am a Bay Area artist first. I just make horror based music. I’m weird. Everyone does the Halloween sounding music when they get into it but I like that I can make a song about kidnapping and killing somebody but people can be singing along and slapping my s### in their car and not even realize like wait… I am a horrorcore artist. I do the wicked s###. But I’m an artist. I want to be able to rap about f###### chicks, not just raping them. I want to be able to put myself into my music and talk about real s###. I kind of do whatever I want. I have a fanbase that wants to see both sides of me. Sometimes I wear the mask on stage for shows. Sometimes I don’t. I want them to know me too. I mainly do music so I can get high and bump my own s### and be like yeah… thats tight. The fact other people listen to it is the s###. But I grew up on Mac Mall. I grew up on RBL Posse and Andre Nickatina. I love the sound they helped create out here. People don’t realize my DJ is E-40’s, Too $hort, Toni Nony Tone’, and Spice 1’s DJ. I record and get my production with the same producers and studios that they do. I just take the same kinds of beats and spit the wicked s### over them.
AllHipHop: It’s Halloween and you’ve been all over the place lately it seems, does things pick up heavy around this time for Horrorcore?
Oh f### yeah. You got Insane Clown Posse doing Hallowicked, Twiztid doing Fright Fest, I’m playing Denvertonight for Hallowevil, Kung Fu Vampire’s doing Halloweird. It’s poppin around this time. Our fans come to the shows in masks and costumes or their face painted all year. So on Halloween? Everyone comes out looking crazy as f### and celebrates. Its like family functions all over the country for our crowds. Its dope. Theirs horror conventions going on around this time and the music and the movies go together so events like Shockfest are bringing acts in every year. This should be the soundtrack to Halloween for rap fans.
AllHipHop: What do you have planned for the rest of the year?
Right now I’m about to release a single called “Creatures Of The Night” featuring Tech N9ne and Twiztid through one of my favorite clothing companies Mishka. They are releasing limited edition hard copies with two versions of the track and then were going to have a few release parties at their flagship stores so I can hang out with my supporters and party it up a little with the people that f### with me the most. Chris Paxton who’s the drummer for Kung Fu Vampire did a remix with the full band featuring Kung Fu too that is so amazing. I can’t wait for people to hear it. I went and got Lisa Leuschner from American Idol in the studio with me for this one. She’s my favorite vocalist to work with. Killing s###. So I got that, Branfest in Reno with Twista and Twisted Insane on November 21st, Thanks Killing on the 17th, and I don’t know. I’m just trying to hit the road. I took a break for a while but I miss being out there meeting people. Performing. Its such a close knit down ass community we have here. Thats why people call each other family so much. What’s up fam? Its weird people found such joy through songs about mass murdering, suicide and the devil but hey… f### it. That s#### tight.
(AllHipHop News) Berlin-based rapper Deso Dogg turned ISIS propagandist Abu Talha al-Almani was reportedly killed by airstrikes in Syria earlier this month. According to CNN, missiles from U.S. led coalition forces hit a pickup truck carrying al-Almani (born Denis Cuspert) on October 16.
al-Almani is said to have ended his rap career after converting to Islam. He later joined the jihadist group Millatu Ibrahim in Germany and then traveled to the Middle East to fight alongside the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
After convening with ISIS, security experts believe al-Almani was involved in propaganda videos including one that features the State Department designated terrorist holding a decapitated head. al-Almani was also supposedly responsible for recruiting Westerners to the militant Sunni Arab group.
Deso Dogg released numerous albums before joining ISIS and toured with DMX in 2006. He was the son of a Ghanaian father and German mother, but Cuspert was raised by a stepfather that was an American soldier stationed in Berlin. al-Almani was reported to be 39 years old at the time of his death.
(AllHipHop News) On October 29, music mogul, producer, artist, and philanthropist DJ Khaled was presented the keys to the city of Miami by Mayor Tomas Pedro Regalado. The ceremony took place at Citrus Grove Middle School where students performed for the We The Best Music Group founder.
Khaled met with the students, and the Miami native issued a donation to the school’s music department. Citrus Grove’s program is connected to the Miami Music Project which offers instrumental and performance programs to local youth.
The organization’s mission statement reads:
Miami Music Project uses music as an instrument for social transformation, empowering children to acquire values and achieve their full potential, positively affecting their society through the study and performance of music.
Guests in attendance at the event included Miami-Dade County School Board members Perla Tabares Hantman (Chair), Lawrence Felman (Vice-Chair), Raquel A Regalado, Logan Schroeder-Stephens, Alberto M. Carvalho, Albert Payne, Jacques Bentolla, Janice Cruse-Sanchez, Lourdes P. Jimenez, Amelisa Leth, and Michael Lewis.
For more information about Miami Music Project visit miamimusicproject.org. Check out photos from DJ Khaled’s ceremony at Citrus Grove Middle School in the gallery below.
(AllHipHop News) Pusha T is once again partnering with Adidas for a new Original EQT sneaker. The Virginia rapper and the German shoe company announced on their respective social media platforms the latest King Push footwear (supposedly named “Black Market”) will be arriving in stores on Black Friday (November 27).
“I really came to Adidas to try to do something with soccer, and it didn’t pan out. My thinking was a little off base,” said Pusha late last year. “Then they brought up a shoe, and I was like, ‘Nah, not really,’ because I’m really particular about my shoes. They came back to me with it, and I had some silhouette options. Then I was like, ‘This EQT Guidance, I can work with it.’”
(AllHipHop News) Many Americans’ first time seeing Kanye West on television was when the rapper/producer declared “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” during a Hurricane Katrina benefit program in 2005. Ten years later, Kanye was back on the small screen at the MTV Video Music Awards declaring he plans to one day hold the the highest office in the land like George W. Bush.
But what does the 43rd President of the United States think about Ye’s potential run for the White House in 2020? TMZ caught up with Bush in D.C., and the photog asked the former Commander-In-Chief about Kanye. W just simply laughed.
It would not be a surprise if Bush chose not to endorse Kanye for president. He called the Chicago native’s Katrina diss the worst moment of his presidency. Mr. West can at least take solace in the fact that current Republican candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson have said nice things about him.
(AllHipHop News) When Bobby Shmurda was arrested in 2014, members of the “Hot N*gga” rapper’s crew were taken into custody as well. One of those GS9 associates was Chad “Rowdy Rebel” Marshall.
Some fans and other artists expressed concern that neither Shmurda nor Rowdy were bailed out by Epic Records which signed the Brooklyn natives last year. Epic Chairman/CEO L.A. Reid recently stated during an interview that he does not believe the label is responsible for artist’s legal matters.
Rowdy Rebel spoke with Revolt by phone from jail, and the performer credited as the lead artist on the YouTube hit “Shmoney Dance” spoke about Epic Records.
“I didn’t expect Epic to get us out, because at the end of the day we’re not the best of friends, they just signed us to their company,” said Rowdy. “They don’t feel the pain that my family and friends feel, but on the business side, they did invest in us. They don’t really owe us nothing.”
Even though Rowdy is still incarcerated and awaiting trial, he revealed plans to release a mixtape in the near future. The project is titled Schmoney Keeps Calling.
(AllHipHop News) One fallout from the Meek Mill/Drake battle was the conflict involving Meek and fellow Philadelphia rapper Ar-Ab. Veteran Philly rhymer Neef Buck was asked about the situation between two of his hometown’s stars.
The former Roc-A-Fella Records artist warned things could get out of hand if the individuals around Meek and Ab take it upon themselves to act.
“A lot of people are dealing with pride. Sometimes you can’t control the foot soldiers, so it might not be the bosses of the crew,” Neef told Mikey T The Movie Star. “In this industry, pride is a lot. If somebody says something about you and you see them, it’s hard to just walk right past them.”
The “Set It Off” spitter made it clear he is neutral in the feud. Neef also suggested the two sides prevent the situation from turning violent.
Just 15 months ago, a group of independent filmmakers and amateur actors were able to spark a digital revolution with a groundbreaking new web series. The debut episode of Money & Violence was published on the Cloud9TV YouTube channel on August 7, 2014. Since then, the Brooklyn-based program has drawn 25 million total views from the nearly 50 videos posted online.
A trailer for season 2 of Money & Violence hit the internet in May, and fans immediately got excited for the street saga’s return. Over 14,000 loyal followers even donated over $90,000 to a crowdsourcing campaign in order to assist with the funding for the next set of episodes.
Then this summer rumors began circulating the Cloud9TV team planned to move their crime drama to the Jay Z led Tidal streaming platform. But it was not until T.I. helped make the announcement at the “TIDAL X: 1020” concert earlier this month that the deal was publicly confirmed.
The main cast members of M&V werealso on hand at the Barclays Center that night as director/writer/actor Moise “Moetivation” Verneau told the crowd, “Season 2, January 2016 on Tidal. Brooklyn we did it.”
Tidal subscribers will get to see the storylines of Rafe (Moe), Miz (Ray Guercy), Kane (Ace General), and Shane (Du) unfold on a weekly basis. The entertainment site is also providing other exclusive Money & Violence content such as video extras and a music playlist.
AllHipHop.com connected with Moe Verneau to get the self-taught filmmaker’s thoughts on partnering with Tidal. In addition, the co-CEO of Cloud9TV discusses the future of his brand, what viewers can expect in season 2 of Money & Violence, and a conversation he had with Jay Z about business.
My managers had a long-standing relationship with a lot of the people over at [Jay Z owned] Roc Nation. The deal with Tidal cultivated from that relationship.
Will this new deal have any affect on the content of the show?
Not at all. We structured a deal that allowed us to retain 100% of ownership and all creative control.
Some fans weren’t sure what would happen to the series once it got connected to a corporate structure. There were also others who were concerned that because Money & Violence is on Tidal they won’t be able to watch it. How will you be able to keep your fan base that may not be subscribers to Tidal?
The deal with Tidal is structured in a way that they have exclusivity for a limited amount of time. The episodes will come out on Tidal first, then after a week we’re able to put it up on whichever platform that we want. I made sure to keep in mind all of my day one viewers, so they won’t feel left out.
At the end of the first season, a lot of the characters’ storylines were starting to cross, and the audience was left with a couple of cliffhangers. Not to ask for any spoilers, but can the audience expect for the story to pick right back up as season 2 begins?
It should pick right back up. We’re going into a couple of other things as well, like back stories of the characters. That’s just to familiarize the audience with – not only who the characters are – but why they’re the way they are.
Can we expect new characters?
Yes, definitely.
Have any celebrities asked to do cameos?
Not at the moment, but the celebrity cameos are something that I’m entertaining – if I can find a way that still feels natural. It’s not anything that I’m leaning on, but it’s something that I’m entertaining. So anything is possible at the moment.
Another big part of the show was the music component. Will your connection with Tidal and Roc Nation generate anything new as far as the music’s relationship to the series?
We’re looking into doing a soundtrack that we will release with season 2, but that’s something totally outside of Tidal.
You’ve been able to build a great brand with Money & Violence. Are you looking to expand Cloud9TV out to do other series or ventures?
We’re entertaining the idea of turning Cloud9TV into a platform to help other filmmakers present their content.
Boss Moves
A couple of months ago you posted a picture with you and Jay Z on Instagram. You’ve mentioned before that Jay is a fan of the series, and he’s obviously connected to Tidal. Were you ever able to get advice from him about business?
We had a conversation. We spoke about so many different things. He’s a very informed person, and the things that he has accomplished during his career are phenomenal.
One thing he said was, “Stay true to your art.” I told him, “We don’t really chase the money.” I believe that if you fall in love with the journey then you’ll reach your destination. The money’s going to come regardless.
Jay was telling me that’s one of the best ways to think, because at the end of the day when you’re focused on the money, you miss a lot of other things.
Can you speak on how being independent and having creative control over your content affects the art that’s created?
I think it’s great for the art. One of the things I hope people take from this is that the internet is such an amazing resource to get information.
For example, I never stepped foot behind a camera in my life. I never knew how to edit. I learned how to edit off of YouTube tutorials, and we use the internet to distribute the content. Because of the internet, you don’t necessarily have to wait for anyone else to project your art to the world.
That’s how I felt at the beginning. I said, “If it’s good, it’s good. And it will be received.” With the internet, everything is in your hands. Nothing can stop you. You can only stop yourself.
DMX has been struck with some hard times again, but it is actually very refreshing to see the Yonkers-bred rapper in a happy state. This recently released video shows DMX in full fan mode as he meets Rakim for the very first time. Check it out, as X even spits bar from Eric B & Rakim’s “Microphone Fiend.”
1. “Drive By” (Feat. Future)
