There’s not many voices in Hip-Hop right now that are as commanding, as Karega Bailey. Born in Brooklyn, Bailey’s parents emigrated from Jamaica and relocated to Sacramento when he was a child. Now, the award-winning spoken word poet, D.C. educator, and politically minded emcee is eager to spread his message to the masses.
Endorsed by Public Enemy’s, Chuck D on his online rap station, ‘Songs That Mean Something,’ Bailey is definitely on rap’s radar. His forthcoming extended player, Peace King, drops at the end of January. In anticipation of the release, Bailey is pleased to unveil the visuals for “Sunny Days,” the EP’s fifth track. Produced by EOM, and directed by JaeSynth, the video features Cali-based emcees, Mark Knoxx and Chaycin Change, and boasts Malcolm Stokes on the trumpet.
“They crucify the truth, but yo, I’m here to resurrect…I spit the truth and nothing less,” raps Bailey. Whether he’s addressing the civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri or his brother’s recent passing, Bailey is here to provide the much needed healing that the nation needs through the power of his music.
LL Cool J is adding yet another TV gig to his resume. It is reported that the rapper-turned-actor has been snagged as the new host for a Spike TV show called Lip Sync Battle. Not only will he be hosting the 10-episode series, but he will also be credited as one of the producers.
The idea from the series came from Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show segment where select celebrities lip sync their favorite rap songs. Fallon is also set to executive produce the series, along with John Krasinski of The Office and Hello Ladies’ Stephen Merchant, and will be performing as well.
“Like the rest of the world, I’m a big fan of these battles, but this show is going to bring it to a whole new level,” the NCIS: LA star said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to be working with Jimmy Fallon, John Krasinski, Stephen Merchant and the entire team to host the show and can’t wait for the fans at home to join in!”
Lip Sync Battle will begin taping this month and will premiere on Apr. 2nd.
LL is also working on a 15th studio album, G.O.A.T 2, which is set to feature T.I and Eminem.
In an exclusive interview, AllHipHop.com asked Q-Tip’s fellow A Tribe Called Quest member Ali Shaheed Muhammad about the latest high-profile additions to the Zulu Nation like Wayne, Nas, and Big Boi. The “CPR” performer proclaims the new Zulu brothers represent a move toward uniting the community, instead of dividing it.
“There’s obviously been some controversy to a couple of the brothers you mentioned. There’s a ‘Why?’ But why not? We have to stop using these divisive tools to prevent us from understanding we all come from the same place,” says Ali. “There may be a difference of opinions. There may be some areas of criticism that’s necessary to help align us a little better so it’s more harmonious, but you have to start somewhere. You can’t do it by having people in different corners of the world not talking to each other.”
According to Ali, more unexpected names may soon be associated with the Universal Zulu Nation as well. He also adds the movement will grow beyond just Hip Hop artists.
“It’s only a matter of time that people will understand. They look around and see what’s not working within their life. They’re seeing all the success and all the things that come with it, and there’s still something missing from a human spirit perspective,” Ali explains. “The principles of the Zulu Nation is built on – it answers a lot of those questions from a spiritual perspective that unites humanity, not just Hip Hop. Different genres meld together under the Universal Zulu Nation. So not only will you see more people from Hip Hop – and I won’t put any names out there – but also abstract personas you would not see as part of it. I definitely think you’re going to see more of that.”
AllHipHop.com previously reportedThe Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon is expected to be inducted as an “Honorary Member” through a chapter led by Zulu Nation’s Minister Of Information Quadeer “M.C. Spice” Shakur. Q-Tip has also revealed Pro Era’s Joey Bada$$ and Indiana emcee Freddie Gibbs have recently joined the UZN as well.
During his Q&A, Ali Shaheed Muhammad also discussed his new Eric Garner inspired single, working with Adrian Younge on a full collaborative project, and possible 2015 reunions for his groups A Tribe Called Quest and Lucy Pearl.
Read part 1 of Ali’s full interview here and part 2 here.
(AllHipHop News) In case you were wondering if R&B singer Ciara was a Tupac Shakur fan, the Atlanta native made it clear via her Instagram page. CiCi hooked up with her father to perform some “rap karaoke” of Pac’s classic “So Many Tears.” The song appeared on 1995’s chart-topping album Me Against The World.
(AllHipHop News) Kanye West started off his 2015 by releasing a track featuring Beatles great Paul McCartney, so it is not really a surprise that fans would believe Ye was teaming back up with another huge star for a new song. That is exactly what happened when a Kanye parody account posted a tweet claiming a Yeezy, Drake, and The Weeknd collaboration was on the way.
Despite the fact @Kanyewset is not a certified account (and his name is spelled wrong), the user’s fake message was retweeted over 1000 times, and many other Twitter followers began tweeting about the alleged Kanye/Drake collab.
The topic then began trending. Some online media sites even picked up the story as factual, but as of press time the alleged song has not been confirmed by a reliable source.
(AllHipHop News) When the world saw First Daughter Malia Obama rocking a Pro Era t-shirt, it was almost like an unofficial presidential endorsement for the Brooklyn based Hip Hop crew. But according to Gawker, the White House is now trying to find out how that picture of the 16-year-old made its way to the Internet.
A representative for P.E. front man Joey Bada$$ told the website the photo was provided by a “mutual friend” of Malia and someone in the group. The pic then ended up on the proera47 Instagram page.
First Lady Michelle Obama has been very protective of her daughters’ presence online. She reportedly only allows Malia to use Facebook, and her sister Sasha is prevented from using social media platforms.
Joey took to Twitter to respond to the reported investigation. The “Teach Me” rhymer sent more love to Malia before addressing the White House.
(AllHipHop News) The battle over the supposed DMX album Redemption Of The Beast has pitted the artist against the company distributing the project. X, his publicist, and producer Swizz Beatz have all stated that the LP is not an official release, but Seven Arts Entertainment CEO Peter Hoffman contends that DMX participated in the making of Redemption.
“Seven Arts is pleased to release the second album from the 52 masters acquired by Seven Arts from DMX and his producers in 2012,” stated Hoffman. “DMX and his team fully cooperated on the production of this album. Redemption of the Beast was the second album planned for release with DMX in September of 2012, following the release of Undisputed. These new masters represent the best of this legendary artist and offer production by some of the best in the industry. All fans are invited to listen to the music, which is the real thing, the ‘rough and ready’ of DMX. The music and artistry speaks for itself.”
Publicist Domenick Nati of Nati Celebrity Services said he spoke to X about ROTB, and he was told by the veteran emcee the tracks on the project were “stolen.” Nati also claimed the songs were being released without DMX’s knowledge or consent.
Chris Brown is making the rumors again and he’s here with his off-and-on again boo Karrueche Tran. It seems like the pair is in couples therapy and I don’t mean that TV sh*t. The pair are doing the wisdom with somebody that can help them stay together in a sustained form as a loving couple, because they are supremely challenged on their own. This also furthers rumors that the couple is going to get married in 2015. Apparently, Karrueche’s family is not pleased with the prospect of her becoming Mrs. Brown as they still think Chris is an active woman beater. I am thinking they need to S### at this point in time, because these two have been through it all! They are clearly linked in love like a mug.
(AllHipHop News) Australian rapperIggy Azalea has had her detractors like Azealia Banks, Lord Jamar, and Rah Digga, but the “Fancy” performer has also garnered support from Hip Hop stars like T.I., Nas, and Questlove. TDE emcee Kendrick Lamar has now offered his opinion about Iggy’s ascension on the music scene.
“She’s doing her thing,” Kendrick told Billboard. “Let her. People have to go through trials and tribulations to get where they at. Do your thing, continue to rock it, because obviously God wants you here.”
K. Dot was caught up in some controversy last year surrounding his lost to Macklemore in the Best Rap Album category at the Grammys. There has been a lot of discussion about Azalea’s nomination in the same category for her LP The New Classic. Kendrick takes the high road when asked about the award show’s sometimes poorly received decisions.
“I appreciate [the Grammys] recognizing me,” he added. “That’s not my overall goal… It’s best to just go and enjoy the festivities.”
(AllHipHop News) According to a tweet sent from Gucci Mane’s certified Twitter account, the Atlanta rapper is scheduled to be released from prison sometime in 2015. But despite being incarcerated, Gucci has continued to release music including 2014’s Trap House 4.
Longtime Gucci collaborator Zaytoven produced tracks for TH4 as well asearlierprojects likeTrap House, Hard To Kill, and Trap-A-Thon. Zay spoke with DJ Smallz Eye about the Brick Squad leader’sability to drop music even when he is not a free man and his influence on rappers that came after him.
“This is one guy you can’t beat when it comes to work ethic. This guy literally can sleep for two hours a day and work the rest of the day,” said Zaytoven. “He’s one of the best of our time to do this, especially rap music or trap music. I think a lot of people stem from Gucci Mane. A lot of the new artists today come from him… He’s the godfather of a lot of this music going on.”
The term underground isn’t a dirty word. It actually represents a healthy majority of the music that is released today as only a handful of artists are able to secure mainstream radio play…even if they are very well known and beloved.
However, this doesn’t mean that outstanding efforts should not be recognized regardless of your Hip Hop pedigree.
In 2014 AllHipHop.com searched the country from left coast to right coast and top to bottom to find talent from all walks. Boy did we find it!
We encountered more nouns and verbs and clever double entendres than we ever thought we could find in one sitting. They were served up on a golden platter and we there with knives and forks ready to eat that dopeness up!
This year we decided to do something a little bit different. We know that heads get bored with long lists of artists. So, taking that into consideration…we figured it was time to do what AllHipHop.com has always done in order to maintain it’s relevancy…we changed it up!
We evolved this year’s list into something a little outside the box. So, instead of having to read all about what we thought of the artists we’ve selected, we thought we’d invite some of the artists to speak for themselves about one another. It’s extra easy to get cats to talk about themselves but we actually got to see the genuine community that resides in the culture through this short documentary that we put together which allows for artists to be fans of one another. We truly believe it’s a win for Hip Hop whenever artists show support for music they didn’t make and the people who created it.
Some of these artists you may be very familiar with…some maybe not! But every artist selected put forth something extra special in 2014 whether it was on a stage, in the booth, or in the streets! This year we saw a huge swing back toward substance and skill and we could not be happier! Congratulations to the 75 artists that made it! Salute!
Take a look at the video below to see who the Top 75 artists are and please remember there is NO RANKING! They were all wonderful and we enjoyed them all!
As always, if you know of someone that you feel we missed hit us up in the comments and let us know! You might be the one to help secure them on the list this year!
Congratulations to the artist that made the list and to those who did not…the slate is now wiped clean! You have a whole new year to claim your rightful places and we can’t wait to see what you’ve got brewing in 2015!
*Special Thanks to producer Jimmy Flight for the instrumental!
Brooklyn based independent Hip-Hop label Coalmine Recordshas announced the release of the upcoming album between Pro Era rapper, A La $ole and Brown Bag AllStars rapper/producer, J57. A good deal of A La $ole’s releases have been alongside some of Pro Era’s most critically acclaimed projects such as Peep: The Aprocalypse, and The Shift, but this collaborative effort is the first time in which the Beast Coast rhymer plays centre stage.
Cap-1 joins Ghetto the Plug on his ode to getting money, maintaining power and getting respect. This song is strictly for the strets so and its always pretty dope to hear a Cap-1 verse. He’s always seemed deliver bars worthy of a few good spins so def hit play below and comment below!
Young Thug has apparently been trying to sell people on this new dance of his called “Perk” aka “N***a Twerk” by some people. I looked at it and I just don’t think it is going to catch on even when this younger generation’s tolerance of such behavior.
Do you think you will get down to the boogie that Thugger is presenting?
Originally from Tehran, Roosh Williams had an affinity for poetry and freestyle rap since his childhood. After years of honing his craft and the debut his first album Common Struggles of a Modern Man in 2011, the Houston MC released his most fully recognized work, deja Roo: Times Have Changed. Inspired from real world experiences, the album had garnered praise from Complex as “one of the top ten Houston Rap Projects of 2013″and Houston Press hailed him “Artist of The Week”.
Philly rapper WarChyld does a dedication to fellow Hip-Hop Legend Cool C, which he decided to leak from his upcoming mixtape with D-Block’s own DJ OPentitled “Commissary”
Cool C was recently been given his execution date, although the he has been on death row since 1996 after being convicted of murdering a police officer. He and another Philly rapper, Steady B, were convicted of attempting to rob a bank, ass well as the shooting and killing officer Lauretha Vaird.
Cool C (real name Christopher Roney), is scheduled to be executed on January 8th but yesterday a Judge granted Cool C a second stay of execution.
With Young Money Yawn’s highly anticipated DJ Drama mixtape Street Gospel 2 set to release on January 19th, the fast rising Virginia native drops the official video for his viral hit “Half The Time” featuring Young Dolph. Street Gospel 2 features appearances from Juicy J, Young Dolph and more, as well as production by Dr. Luke, Knuckle, Cirkut, Mad Max, Zeeko VIP’s and Gabe Niles.
VH1 has announced that a TV adaptation of Dan Charnas’ best selling book “The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip Hop” will debut this fall. Made famous for successfully revealing the ins and outs of the industry, the movie has been titled “The Breaks” and will slightly stray from the events of the book. Set in New York during the 90s, according to The Hollywood Report the plot will center around the following:
“The story centers around Nikki Jones, a brilliant recent grad who abandoned a scholarship to law school to pursue her dream of becoming a record exec. Her boyfriend, David Aaron, is the scrappy son of a legendary music producer who is unwilling to rest on his father’s laurels and notorious reputation. DeeVee is an aspiring producer on the hunt to find the next big rapper on the come-up. Nikki fast talks her way into an internship at the premier hip-hop company, Fouray Entertainment, and catches the eye of the label’s infamous founder, while David struggles at the city’s top R&B radio station whose celebrity DJ refuses to program real hip-hop. Meanwhile, DeeVee returns to his roots in the Fort Greene projects to scout for talent and runs into Ahm, a drug dealer with a lyrical gift whose talent could bring them all to the next level. But they will soon discover lives can be broken as
Right in time for the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Selma chronicles the events that led to the passage of the legislation and helped shape the Civil Rights Movement.
Now, thanks to the generosity of contributors including power broker Vernon Jordan, BET Chairman Debra Lee, Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons, American Express Chairman Ken Chenault and more, a fund has been created which will allow 27,000 NYC students to view the filmin select theatres January 8 through January 19.
Bill Lewis, who also contributed to the fund said, “Martin Luther King, Jr.’s momentous journey in Alabama is an important piece of American history. We are passionate about bringing this story to New York City’s students and we encourage business leaders in other cities to organize similar programs so that more students around the country have the chance to see this powerful film about an epic chapter in American history.”
Directed by Ava DuVernay, the Golden Globe nominated film has already gained praise for it’s depiction of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., portrayed by David Oyelowo. In addition to the screenings in New York, those in Selma will reportedly be able to view the film for free as well.
For its debut last night, the new Fox show “Empire” was all the rage, and I was one of those watching as Terrance Howard, Taraji P. Henson and a gaggle of others that gave everybody something to talk about. And while I think Terrance Howard’s ever-changing hair may have gotten the most Twitter attention, the more significant topic is the family structure presented in the show.
Lucious Lyon (Terrance Howard), the head of the Empire music conglomerate, struggles to keep his musically oriented empire running as he is continually presented with a bevy of new and reoccurring matters within his family. And then there is the show’s true star Taraji P. Henson aka Cookie, the feisty, hardcore matriarch just getting home from a 17 year bid.
Cookie, a self-proclaimed “dope dealing mom,” immediately begins to kick ass and take names, even going so far as to beat her own son like he stole something. The 40-something character is a proverbial whirlwind in the show, as well as the cornerstone of much of the backbiting that begins to brew as soon as “Empire” starts. Almost all the male characters go to her to set their schemes or, like Lucious, are the subject of the shake down. She goes from scene to scene chin-checking fools and, based on my social media feed, people love it. Cookie – apparently a former drug magistrate – is the real reason Lucious is able to get his empire off the ground.
As a man, Lucious is a pretty contradictory person. He boasts about selling drugs and creating this company, but he definitely cannot seem to run his family in the same way. “I ain’t know nothing about raising y’all – Cookie did all that,” Lucious says to his youngest after laughing about his beat down at the hands of his mother. However, how could Cookie be the drug queenpin and a great mom? He’s got three radically different sons. One is a pseudo thug rapper, the other is gay as well as a singer and the last one is so clean-cut, he’d probably be better served in a corporate bank America, not in music. And all of these guys are seemingly in competition to run the company when Lucicous departs. There is one flashback scene where Lucious attempts to “throw away” his middle son who begins to show homosexual tendencies in the 1990’s somewhere. Where they do that at?
For its debut last night, the new Fox show “Empire” was