Chicago producer A-Villa drops “The Colosseum” featuring Big K.R.I.T., Termanology & Inspectah Deck of the Wu-Tang Clan from the upcoming debut album, “Carry On Tradition” due out November 4.
Raven-Symone Issues Statement: "I Never Said I Wasn't Black"
After her interview with Oprah Winfrey on OWN’s Where Are They Now?, child star Raven-Symone sparked some controversy when she made comments about not wanting to be labeled as African-American.
During their conversation she said “I’m tired of being labeled. I’m an American. I’m not an African-American. I’m an American.” She continued, “What I really mean by that is I’m an American. I connect with Caucasian. I connect with Asian. I connect with Black. I connect with Indian. I connect with each culture.”
The former Disney star received backlash via social media and beyond for those comments and has now given a statement to thegrio.com to set the record straight and hopefully clear the air.
“I never said I wasn’t black … I want to make that very clear. I said, I am not African-American. I never expected my personal beliefs and comments to spark such emotion in people. I think it is only positive when we can openly discuss race and being labeled in America.”
T-Pain Reflects On The Highs And Lows Of His Career
Lacing his vocals with Auto-Tune helped singer/rapper T-Pain achieve much success but also caused him to get a lot of backlash, which he didn’t cope with to well. In an interview with VIBE, the Tallahassee native says the main thing that helped him rise to stardom was what lead to him to hit the bottle hard.
“Around the time when people were hating on me about Auto-Tune, I was drinking as much as I could to get away from my problems, crying to myself,” said the 29-year-old. “I’ve almost lost fingers from punching glass and pictures. I turned into a raging alcoholic.”
Pain also revealed where he felt he went wrong with his last album, rEVOLVEr.
“I f##### up on my last album because I listened to somebody else. I wasn’t proud of myself. That’s not something I want to do anymore. No matter how many times people try to f### with that Auto-Tune style, nobody’s done it better than me. And I’m still gonna be the best at this s### no matter what.”
Throughout the trials and tribulations, the self-proclaimed ‘rappa ternt sanga’ said he learned one of the most important lessons while working with P. Diddy.
“He told me, “Imagine if you pushed yourself a little further out of your comfort zone. You ain’t tried it yet. That means you’re scared of yourself.” That changed me.”
Head over to VIBE to read the full feature.
First U.S. Ebola Patient Has Died
Officials at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas have announced that the first patient diagnosed with the first person diagnosed with the Ebola Virus on U.S. soil died early Wednesday morning.
Said the hospital in a written statement, “It is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must inform you of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan this morning at 7:51 am. Mr. Duncan succumbed to an insidious disease, Ebola.”
Although there have been no other confirmed cases within the U.S., Dallas officials have come under fire for the clear mishandling of the case. After initially entering the emergency room with early symptoms of the disease, Duncan was sent home with nothing more than antibiotics. After his symptoms worsened he returned to the hospital on September 28th and was placed in isolation. This early mistake resulted in nearly 100 people who had direct or indirect contact with Duncan to be exposed to the deadly disease; though to date none have shown any signs of the virus.
Texas Department of State Health Services Dr. David Lakey said the following, “The doctors, nurses and staff at Presbyterian provided excellent and compassionate care, but Ebola is a diseases that attacks the body in many ways. We’ll continue every effort to contain the spread of the virus and protect people from this threat.”
Update: Reports have surfaced that there may be a second case of the Ebola Virus in Texas. This story is still developing.
SincereYE Ft. Pink Floyd – "You're Not A Friend"
SincereYe draws inspiration from living in an hostile environment for his latest Apollo Brown produced single “You’re Not A Friend”. This will appear on his upcoming project titled “Belly”.
Amber Rose: "I Never Knew What A True Heartache Felt Like Until Now"
The fact that her marriage to Wiz Khalifa has come to an end isn’t sitting well with Amber Rose. On Monday (Oct. 6), she took to her Twitter to put her pain into 140 characters.
“The mornings are especially hard,”tweeted the 30-year-old. She went on to say “The pain…I wake up every morning feeling like my best friend died…I never knew what a true heartache felt like until now.”
Rose filed for divorce from the TGOD general on Sept. 23rd citing irreconcilable differences after claiming that Wiz cheated on her. The two were married for 14 months.
Kokane Ft Busta Rhymes & Joe Young – "What I (Remix)"
Kokane features Busta Rhymes & Joe Young on the remix to his new single “What I”. Look out for more coming w/ Kokane & Joe Young as they continue the “Fan Appreciation” Campaign
Eric Garner's Family Plans To Sue New York City For $75 Million
The family of a Staten Island man, who died after NYPD officers put him in a chokehold, is now seeking justice. The New York Daily News reports that Eric Garner’s family is now planning to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, the NYPD and the eight officers involved for $75 million.
The suit claims that officers acted “negligently and recklessly” after putting Garner in a chokehold while arresting him, which is a tactic that had been banned by the NYPD. The department’s training and hiring practices are also cited in the lawsuit as “negligent” and partially responsible for Garner’s death.
Officers Justin D’Amico, Christopher Maldonado, Daniel Pantaleo, William Meems, Craig Furlani, Mark Ramos and two un-identified cops will be defendants in the lawsuit.
A grand jury is currently examining evidence to determine if any criminal charges will be filed against the officers.
Garner’s death was ruled a homicide by the city examiner after the compression on his chest by police officers and being put into a chokehold were determined to be the cause of his death.
Garner died on July 17th after being tackled to the ground by officers during an arrest for selling untaxed cigarettes.
Mike Brown Protesters Encounter An Unfriendly Crowd At St. Louis Cardinals Game
Though it has been two months since 18-year-old Mike Brown was gunned down, tensions are still high in Ferguson, MO. On Monday (Oct.6), protesters gathered outside of Busch Stadium before a St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game to continue to rally for justice on behalf of the late teen.
Unfortunately, there were also Cardinals fans outside of the stadium and they were not too pleased with the demonstrators. As they chanted and hoisted their picket signs, the crowd booed and made racist comments.
“If they were working we wouldn’t have this problem,” one elderly white man said in the video, which was uploaded by Argus Streaming News.
The crowd also tried to drown out the protesters’ chant of “Justice for Mike Brown” with “Let’s Go Cardinals!” However, that chant later turned into “Let’s Go Darren!,” referring to Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown down on Aug.9th.
One white woman told the protesters “We’re the ones who f—in’ gave all y’all the freedom that you got!”
Watch the clip below.
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Twitter Has Filed A Lawsuit Against The FBI And Department of Justice
Twitter is suing the the Department of Justice and FBI for the right to release information about the government’s surveillance of it’s users. The social media giant filed the lawsuit in federal court on Oct. 7th to be able to publish a Transparency Report, which documents the government’s requests for user information. The goal of the lawsuit is to achieve more flexibility regarding what the company can say about the government requesting personal information of Twitter users.
Twitter Inc. claims that their First Amendment rights are being violated by being prohibited from sharing the number of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court orders and national security letters they receive asking to reveal personal information for national security purposes.
“It’s our belief that we are entitled under the First Amendment to respond to our users’ concerns and to the statements of U.S. government officials by providing information about the scope of U.S. government surveillance — including what types of legal process have not been received,”Twitter vice president Ben Lee wrote on Twitter’s blog. “We should be free to do this in a meaningful way, rather than in broad, inexact ranges.”
Twitter sent their Transparency Report to the FBI for pre-publication review back in April. The Department of Justice then rejected the report because disclosing information about national security letters is prohibited by federal law.
50 Cent Loses $16 Million Court Case To Sleek Audio
(AllHipHop News) 50 Cent’s reported $140 million net worth is about to take a slight hit. That’s because a judge has ordered the Hip Hop mogul to pay $16 million to Sleek Audio.
[ALSO READ: Florida Cops Disciplined For Taking Pictures With 50 Cent (VIDEO)]
The court ruling stemmed from a lawsuit by Sleek claiming that 50 stole the company’s product design and confidential private client information. An arbitrator previously sided with Sleek in the case and awarded the company $16,181,578 in damages and lawyer fees.
This week Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Peter Blanc agreed with the arbitrator that 50 used Sleek’s intellectual property for his own SMS Audio headphones line. Blanc stated in a 15-page ruling that Fiddy nor his lawyers provided sufficient information that would require him to overturn the arbitrator’s decision.
Even with all his different business ventures including the hit show Power and the docuseries Dream School, 50’s financial year overall has equaled about half the $16 million debt he owes to Sleek. According to Forbes, the G-Unit leader made around $8 million over the last 12 months.
[ALSO READ: Dr. Dre Takes The Top Spot On Forbes Hip Hop Cash Kings List; Drake & Macklemore Enter Top 5]
Nicki Minaj Being Asked To Return Money To South Africa's ANC Youth League (VIDEO)
(AllHipHop News) According to reports Young Money star Nicki Minaj is being asked to pay back money she received for a cancelled concert in South Africa. The ANC Youth League booked the “Anaconda” performer for the TribeOne Dinokeng Festival, but the event was cancelled allegedly due to the City of Tshwane not providing the infrastructure needed to host the event.
[ALSO READ: Charlamagne Tha God Reveals Why Nicki Minaj Said She’s Never Coming On His Show Again]
ANCYL now wants Nicki to return her 10 million rands (approx. $900,000 U.S.) non-refundable deposit. A spokesperson for the organization suggested that Minaj has an obligation to give the money to a charitable foundation in South Africa.
“She knows that she hasn’t worked for the money and there are many charities that she can donate the money to,” said the league’s Lesego Makhubela. “We don’t want taxpayers’ money to be used on boob jobs.”
Concert organizers apparently were only able to sell about 4,000 tickets just prior to the scheduled three September dates for the festival. Besides Nicki, other artists on the bill included J. Cole, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and Kid Ink.
[ALSO READ: Beyonce & Nicki Minaj – “Flawless (Remix)” (Live In Paris)]
Watch the ANCYL’s Lesego Makhubela discussing Nicki Minaj in the video below.
Watch Jay Z's Response To A French Photographer Asking Who He Is (VIDEO)
(AllHipHop News) Jay Z is arguably the most famous rapper in the world, but apparently there’s at least one Frenchman who is not aware of the Brooklyn born emcee. Jay was visiting Paris with his wife Beyoncé and daughter Blue Ivy, when a photographer asked their security team, “who is he?” Without missing a beat, Hov had a comeback for the photog.
“Who are you?” Jay sharply asked while holding Blue.
[ALSO READ: Beyonce & Jay Z Release “On The Run” Tour Footage Featuring Private Home Videos Of The Couple & Blue Ivy]
Watch the exchange in the video below.
Snoop Dogg Looking To Raise $20K For Des Moines Youth Footbal League
(AllHipHop News) Snoop Dogg has been involved in youth athletics for nearly a decade. He started the Snoop Youth Football League in Los Angeles in 2005, and now the Doggystyle creator is trying to help some young players in Des Moines, Iowa raise money for equipment.
[ALSO READ: Snoop Dogg Becomes Part Owner Of Reddit Website]
Snoop started a crowdfunding campaign on Tilt to raise $20,000 for the Inner City Urban Development youth football league. Wayne Ford, of Urban Dreams, contacted the rapper about assisting the kids with their needs.
“I know the money raised by this Tilt campaign will provide these Des Moines youth with essential tools for success,” Snoop told THR. “I’ve seen with my own eyes how these programs can change lives. They go beyond the field, it teaches kids skills for life.”
Snoop has already donated $5000 to the campaign. As of yesterday (October 7), the total amount of donations has reached over $6000.
[ALSO READ: Beats Rhymes & Life’s “Hip Hop Therapy” Program Seeks To Improve Young People’s Social Outcomes]
50 Cent Explains Why He Pushed Back Release Date For "Street King Immortal"
(AllHipHop News) 50 Cent originally planned to drop two albums this year. After releasing his comeback indie LP Animal Ambition in June, the G-Unit leader had scheduled to follow that with his long-awaited Street King Immortal project.
[ALSO READ: 50 Cent Doesn’t Expect “Street King Immortal” To Sell Like Past Albums]
SKI has effectively been pushed until next year, and 50 explained to Rolling Stone why he made that decision. According to Fif, the G-Unit reunion is taking precedence over his own solo career at the moment.
“I didn’t want to lose the momentum connected with everyone being back together,” said 50.
The Unit’s next move is the release of The Beast Is G-Unit EP. While 50, Young Buck, Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, and newest member Kidd Kidd are currently working as a team, the boss admits he made mistakes the first go round. Fiddy acknowledges if he could do it all over again he would not have presented G-Unit with him at the center, so the other emcees could build their own individual brands outside of the crew.
“When you look at it, they’ve sold millions of records on their own. If they weren’t so strongly associated [with G-Unit], they’d probably have crews under them,” 50 stated. “They didn’t really have an interest in doing that because they [already] had a strong association and had so much fun in the position they were in at that point.”
[ALSO READ: G-Unit Announces 2nd EP “The Beast Is G-Unit”; 50 Cent Explains Why Game Was Left Out]
Coolio Recalls Witnessing A Fight Between 2Pac & King Tee
(AllHipHop News) 1994 was big for Coolio. That was the year the West Coast rapper released his debut album It Takes a Thief. Coolio spoke with Spin about some memorable songs from ’94. During the discussion, the “Fantastic Voyage” performer was asked about 2Pac’s “Keep Ya Head Up.” That led to Coolio sharing the story of him witnessing a fight between Pac’s crew and Compton emcee King Tee.
[ALSO READ: Pornhub Clarifies Association With Coolio]
Coolio said:
One night we were at Prince’s club Glam Slam. King Tee, he had a drinking problem, was there and he sees Pac wearing a burgundy bandana. Tee tells him to take it off, and Pac refuses. Then Tee tries to snatch it off of Pac’s head, so — bam! — he gets socked in the face. The fight spills out of the club, and now they’re separated. Pac crosses the street to where his crew is, but Tee follows him over there to talk more s###.
All these guys start whooping his ass, like…
[Stands and kicks the couch furiously with both legs; our recorder falls off the arm.]
So I run across the street and get over him. [On all fours.] And I yell, “Pac, make them stop!” He’s like, “Cool, you saw him! He started it!” And I’m like, “You know he’s a drunk!” So Pac calls them off and helps me up, like, “He’s lucky you were here.” And he was, too. I picked up Tee and pretty much carried him back.
Coolio also revealed that he once had issues with a member of the R&B group Boyz II Men.
Wanyá [Morris, of BIIM] helped a brother get it off. Me and him had beef once. It wasn’t public. We were in a hotel. He was trying to hit on some chicks, and the chicks were trying to hit on me. And he started hatin’: “Coolio, old spider head.” He gave me a look, but I gave him a gangster look. We went our separate ways, ended it very eloquently without any bloodshed.
To read the full interview visit Spin.
[ALSO READ: Keith Murray Recalls Fights With Prodigy & Dame Dash + Being Confronted By 2Pac (VIDEO)]
FRESH HEAT: Demrick Ft. Dizzy Wright – "We Still Here"
Demrick recruits Dizzy Wright for his latest track “We Still Here”. Demrick’s upcoming project “Losing Focus” coming soon.
Hugo Boss Ft. ESG, Smoov & Austin Martin – "Right Now"
Austin, Texas’ own Hugo Boss drops his newest record “Right Now” featuring ESG, Smoov and Austin Martin on the hook and the beat. New project on the way titled “Dope Season”, with features from ESG, Z-Ro, Slim Thug, Gerald G, Boston George, Willean, Lil Flip and many more.
Gucci Mane – "Sh*t Wouldnt Happen"
Gucci Mane hits the streets with another banger titled “Sh*t Wouldnt Happen” produced by C4. New album “Trap God 3” drops October 17th.
Frozen In Time: A Hip Hop Tragedy
Hip Hop has found the Fountain of Youth and lost all self-control, becoming obnoxiously drunk in its waters. Or maybe there’s a time machine hidden from the masses only made available to the fire spitting, “initiated” elite. Superstition aside, Hip Hop has certainly become stuck in a rut of the juvenile—and it’s stunting the growth of a beautiful genre.
It’s been approximately 40 years since those fateful days in the park in the Bronx. Many of those reared into this art form since their births are well into midlife now, and yet there remains a deficiency of any content not reflective of the mentality of a young adult between the ages of 18-25. Whether it is a new artist displaying the penchant of a late bloomer, or a well-established artist getting drunk at the fountain, Hip Hop has become almost completely alien of maturity. I can’t recall the number of times that my jaw has dropped to the floor when discovering the age of many popular artist. A few of the multitude that were particularly shocking to me were Rick Ross and 2 Chainz, each whose content is certainly not reflective of their near 40 age status.
The youth drive the trends in music and popular culture as a collective, this is understood, but should this be allowed to be a barrier to art that is actually reflective of life. Being a connoisseur of many genres of music I have observed this disturbing trend to be most prominent within Hip Hop. This being just one of the many barriers that confine an already influential genre that would have so much more potential if only allowed to be free. Unfortunately, if you come out with a hot dance when you’re young it may be excessively difficult for you to provide commentary on serious issues as a seasoned adult. Over 35 and not yet established in the industry? Lay the mic down and bow out gracefully. There is no “doing it for the love.”
Truthfully, this is a trend that is quite puzzling to me as to the origin. Is it the artists that are scared to take risks and deviate from the norm or is it the listener that rejects any true growth in the artist’s content? Whatever the case may be the chain needs to be broken. A new artist that breaks on the scene with the classic ‘sex, money, drugs’ mantra, although still detrimental to the culture in many ways is not surprising and understandable for an artist in their early 20s to reflect this mentality. Bobby Shmurda has made waves with his Shmoney Dance as a youth, portraying the grim mentality of many in the inner city over catchy beats, negative of course, but certainly not foreign to his age and lifestyle. Would an artist like this have the capability to evolve and mature and still maintain an audience?
Examples of MCs that have definitely shown growth and maturity over time include Nas and Outkast. In my opinion Nas epitomizes the evolution that we would hope to see from an influential artist, as the contrast between Illmatic and Life is Good is very clear. Outkast certainly has not hesitated to step outside of the box and change up their content as well by dabbling in various styles and more mature content. It would be great to have more artists that you can listen through their discography chronologically and see how they matured throughout their career. It displays a level of authenticity and genuineness that separates the good from the great. Growth and evolution, as Hip Hop should be.