The jury has acquitted George Zimmerman, who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, news outlets and public figures are advocating peace. The case has all the potential for a riot-worthy situation, but that won’t create a sustained change. An unarmed, young black male, an “authority figure” killer in the then-29 year old neighborhood watchman, and the polarizing race factor.
The death of Trayvon Martin has not been far from the minds of black America, and yet, many white American’s are not following the trial or feel no real investment in the outcome. The case has proven that there is no post-racial America.
It’s time for a revolution. Time for a real conversation about race in America. If there is to be a “revolution,” it may not be televised, but it will definitely be tweeted. Social Media is the new TV and has been a source of feedback directly from the court of public opinion. And between the Zimmerman trial, the changes to the voting rights act, and all of Paula Deen’s crazy racism, it seemed to us a rough time to be black in America. It also seemed like a time to do something about it. So, we reached out via Facebook and Twitter to friends of our site for songs to add to our soundtrack to start the revolution.
Here is the AllHipHop.com Revolution Mixtape*
From Davey D. (Hip-Hop Journalist, Historian, DJ. via Facebook):
Track 1: “Hip Hop” by dead prez
Track 2: “Revolution” by Rebel Diaz
Track 3: “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy
Track 4: “Buckwyling” by Sista Souljah and Terminator X, Chuck D
Track 5: “F– Tha Police” by NWA
From dream hampton (Author, Filmmaker. via Twitter):
Track 6: “I Like Giants” by Kimya Dawson
Track 7: “Sorrow, Tears & Blood” by Fela
Track 8: “Apple Orchard” by Invincible
Track 9: “Crucify Yr Mind” by Sixto Rodriguez
Track 10: “Wake Up” by Bob Marley
From MK Asante (Author, Filmmaker, Professor. via Facebook):
Track 11: “Point of No Return” by Immortal TechniqueTrack 12: “Deceased” by Tupac ShakurTrack 13: “Bang on Them” by Uncle MurdaTrack 14: “African Student Movement” by Saul WilliamsTrack 15: “Godz N The Hood” by Ras Kass featuring Bishop Lamont, MK Asante, and Talib KweliFrom the AllHipHop.com Staff (Cultural Commentators, Hip-Hop Media Legends. via Email):Track 16: “Sly Fox” by NasTrack 17: “Not Ready to Make Nice” by The Dixie ChicksTrack 18: “My Life” by DJ PaulTrack 19:”Let’s Get This Paper” by Rich BoyTrack 20: “When the Revolution Comes” by The Last Poets
From “Friends of the Family” (Supporters via Facebook)
Track 21: “Liberation” by OutKastTrack 22: “Give Peace a Chance” by John LennonTrack 23: “The Hate that Hate Made” by ParisTrack 24: “Testify” by Styles P. and Talib KweliTrack 25: “Calm Like a Bomb” by Rage Against the Machine*AllHipHop.com is in no way advocating violence against person or property.Share what songs would be your on your soundtrack to a revolution in the comments section.
(AllHipHop News) Justin Timberlake never left but he has returned with his new single “Take Back The Night” from his forthcoming album The 20/20 Experience 2 of 2 due September 20th.
I missed this, but is cool. Just Blaze is going to be the executive producer on the new Slaughter House album. They just dropped this new song via Tony Touch’s 50 MCs:
Beyonce responds to her critics regarding that very profitable Pepsi deal after she was down with Michelle Obama’s health initiative.
“Pepsi is a brand I’ve grown up seeing my heroes collaborate with. The company respects musicians and artistry. I wouldn’t encourage any person, especially a child, to live life without balance. When you work out, take care of your body, rehearse as hard as I rehearsed in the commercial, I think it’s great to have a Pepsi or Diet Pepsi when you want one. It’s all about choices.”
Eddie Griffin has been accused of assaulting a lesbian couple. Whoa, buddy. Here is a video of the alleged assault via TMZ.
(AllHipHop News) With all these new rules flying around Beyonce seems to have implemented one of the oldest rules: do not rush “genius”. According to Major Lazer producer Diplo’s interview with The Sun, Beyonce’s untitled fifth album has been “scrapped”.
”I just did two songs for her new album, well, I tried. I think she scrapped the record.”
While Beyonce has released singles such as “Bow Down/I Been On”, “Grown Woman” and “Standing On The Sun”, none have been marketed as new singles for the album.
There has been no official word from Beyonce’s camp on if she has in fact shelved her new album but Beyonce took to her personal Instagram account to vaguely reassure fans that the album is coming:
Beyonce is currently on her Mrs. Carter World Tour which ends on December 20th at the TD Garden in Boston, MA.
(AllHipHop Feature) In many ways 16-year-old Bishop Nehru is a typical rising high school senior. He enjoys playing NBA 2K, he names Brad Pitt’s World War Z as his movie of the moment, and he hopes to one day appear on one of his favorite television shows The Boondocks (“Aaron McGruder needs to put me on his show ASAP!”), but unlike a lot of his peers, Bishop is already effectively on the path to living out his dreams.
In a little over a year the Nanuet, New York native has gone from making no-budget, self-produced videos to sharing a tour bill with Ghostface Killah and MF Doom in London. The lyrical prodigy dropped his first mixtape Nehruvia last November, and now he is on the cusp of releasing his second official project Strictly FLOWz.
Bishop is hesitant to label his latest work a mixtape, referring to the collection of all original tracks as an EP. According to him, no matter how the project is defined, Strictly FLOWz will further shine a spotlight on his immense talents.
“This project is going to be completely different [from Nehruvia]. It’s a whole different side of me,” says Bishop. “I’m just giving people how versatile I am. How many different things I can do in music.”
Bishop (born Markel Scott) first began recording music as Kile Kanvas. He calls his KK days as a “test phase” where he experimented with his artistic voice. He eventually became comfortable with a Golden Era Hip Hop influenced soundscape and began uploading videos under a new name inspired by Tupac Shakur’s character in Juice (Roland Bishop) and Mahatma Gandhi’s Indian Independence Movement partner (Jawaharlal Nehru).
“I changed my name from Kile Kanvas to get a fresh start so people will feel like they’re getting a whole new artist,” explains Bishop.
The newly reinvented rapper shot a home-made video for his freestyle over Mos Def’s “Mathematics.” The Bishop version, “Languages,” somehow went viral on the net and the recognition almost instantly transformed the unknown teenager into an emcee the industry started to keep an eye on.
“It was weird when I checked my Twitter and I saw my mentions with a bunch of Worldstar s###,” says Bishop. “So I went to Worldstar and seen my video there. That s### was crazy to me. To see myself on Worldstar for a video I made in 10 minutes. That s### was incredible.”
Bishop directs and edits his own videos, he produces and mixes the tracks on his projects, and he writes and shoots short films. That level of on-hand commitment would be remarkable for a seasoned entertainment veteran, but the fact that Bishop has managed to accomplish those skills at just 16 is almost unbelievable. By the way, he is completely self-taught.
“I taught myself everything I know,” reveals the multi-talented artisan. “When I was trying to get into short videos I would just go on Google and type in ‘how to videos.’ It was mostly trial and error.”
Besides gaining knowledge from online lessons Bishop has also studied classic albums of the genre. He cites Nas’ Illmatic, AZ’s Do or Die, and Mobb Deep’s The Infamous as a few of the inspirations for his 21st Century take on 1990’s rap. His appreciation for Clinton era New York Hip Hop has drawn comparisons to another young emcee. Bishop understands the Joey Bada$$ association, but he wants to stand as his own artist.
“It’s a cool comparison, but it’s getting a little old,” states Bishop. “It’s not a bad comparison so I’m not really complaining. That’s my homie.”
There is one iconic Hip Hop figure he hopes to be mentioned in the same vein as one day. For Bishop it’s the musical and acting career of the man who motivated his moniker that he aspires to reach.
“Tupac still has an effect on people now from 20 years ago. That s###’s crazy to me,” says Bishop. “That’s the kind of effect I want to have on people’s lives. I don’t want to be forgotten.”
Legendary status as an actor and Grammy-winning performer is the eventual goal, but for now Bishop Nehru is focused on growing his independent brand along with his Suburban Shoguns comrades Que Hampton, Iggy Dash, and Marc Mason. If the major labels do come calling Bishop says it’s only one thing that would get his name on the dotted line. “Complete creative control. That’s it.”
With videos topping 50,000 views on YouTube, singles getting premiered on Tony Touch’s Toca Tuesdays Shade 45 radio program, and opening shows for his all-time favorite group Wu-Tang Clan, it may be only a matter of time before Bishop Nehru’s star rises to exceptional heights. Surprisingly, the young man has not fallen victim to the hubris that often consumes naturally talented individuals.
“Nothing really hit me yet, because in my eyes I’m still just the same kid.”
Bishop Nehru’s strictlyFLOWz will be available for download at thesuburbandojo.com on July 16th.
(AllHipHop News) In the latest edition of #WhereTheyDoThatAt, George Zimmerman’s defense team presented an animation reenactment of Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin’s murderous encounter in February 26th of 2012 after Judge Debra Nelson ruled against showing it.
In the animation, explained by Contrast Forensics Daniel Schumaker, Trayvon Martin walking perpendicular to George Zimmerman on an adjacent sidewalk and punching him as they intersected and confronted each other. Schumaker attests that the animation is an “estimation based upon George Zimmerman’s testimony.”
The video excludes key details from that February night, including rain and more importantly bushes. In Zimmerman’s testimony to police merely hours after the shooting he said Trayvon “jumped out of the bushes ” before assaulting him.
Check out the videos of the animation and Zimmerman’s police testimony below:
(AllHipHop News) Hip Hop is winning this summer. Week-after-week rap fans have been given new projects from some of the biggest stars in the genre, and supporters have returned the favor by purchasing those artists’ products in significant numbers. As a result, Hip Hop made history this week on the album chart.
According to Billboard, for the first time in chart history rap albums have held the top three spots in the country for three straight weeks.
It began on “Super Tuesday” June 18th with Kanye West’s Yeezus, J. Cole’s Born Sinner, and Mac Miller’s Watching Movies With the Sound Off. All three came in at 1, 2, and 3 respectively the week of their release. The following week Wale took the top spot with The Gifted followed by Born Sinner and Yeezus. This week Cole finally rose to number one as Wale came in at two and Kanye at three.
Next week could see Hip Hop’s hot streak continue as it almost certain that Jay-Z’s new album Magna Carta Holy Grail will sell enough to reach number one. If that happens the “Summer of Hip Hop” will claim another chart record. It will be the first time four different rap albums have reached number one for four consecutive weeks.
Besides those chart-topping LP’s this summer has also seen note-worthy projects from Action Bronson (Saaab Stories),Statik Selektah (Extended Play), Prodigy & Alchemist (Albert Einstein), Joey Bada$$ (Summer Knights), Killer Mike & El-P (Run the Jewels), Slum Village (Evolution), Freddie Gibbs (ESGN), Tony Touch (Piecemaker 3: The Return Of The 50 MCs), Ty Dolla $ign (Beach House 2), and Machine Gun Kelly (Black Flag).
OK, y’all. Here is the latest on Lil Boosie and its not good again.
First off today Marlo Mike (Boosie’s alleged contract hitman) got sentenced to life in jail with no parole in one of the murders that Boosie allegedly paid him $2 thousand and another man name Ghost $15,000 to finish. Ghost has been murdered, from what I have been told from my source. Even crazier, Marlo Mike also has been attached to 5 other murders and 1 of them is Darryl “Bleek” Milton. Now, it is my understanding that Milton was Lil Boosie’s best friend and unfortunately was murdered recently. The streets have been saying that Bleek was killed in retaliation of not being paid all of his money for Terry Boyd’s murder. How does all of this factor into Boosie? Not sure honestly, but it seems like things are closing in.
Here is a pic of Marlo Mike that was provided to me.
(AllHipHop News) RevoltTV is back with the latest edition of “Unlocking The Holy Grail.” In this installment producer Hit-Boy discusses the process of creating track 7 off Jay-Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail. The leader of Hits Since ’87 shares how “Somewhere In America” came together, gives his pick for his favorite Jay album, and explains his reason for leaving G.O.O.D. Music.
(AllHipHop News) The United States House of Representatives Appropriations Committee is attempting to enhance travel restrictions to Cuba as a result of two musicians recent trip there.
It has been four months since Congressional Republicans called for an investigation into Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s sanctioned excursion to the communist nation. Since that time Jay released the response record “Open Letter” and the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney even had to address the song during a formal press briefing.
Politico is reporting that on Wednesday Republicans on a subcommittee approved the Cuba provision into a larger $17 billion spending bill that funds the Treasury Department. Treasury is responsible for approving travel to Cuba. The department granted Jay and Beyoncé permission to visit the island nation as a cultural trip.
One Democratic member of the Appropriations Committee who opposes the restrictive provision believes it is just a reaction to the superstar couple and nothing more than politics to appeal to Cuban defectors in South Florida who typically vote Republican.
“This is the Jay-Z, Beyonce Bill,” said Rep. Jose Serrano of New York. “Absolutely [it’s a response to the trip], and it’s playing to the audience in Miami.”
President Obama closed the Cuban voting gap in Florida in 2012. Mitt Romney won 52% of the Cuban vote in the state compared to Obama’s 48%, but the President won 53 percent of Cubans that voted on the day of the election.
The subcommittee’s chairman Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) stated that he felt Jay-Z and Beyoncé where an example of how following the proper policy regarding travel to Cuba was being neglected.
“I think that if we’re going to say that we have this policy in place that relates to travel in Cuba that it ought to be enforced and that becomes a grey area where they’re probably not really following the guidelines,” said Crenshaw.
If the bill passes the full Congress and signed into law it would only allow travel to Cuba for educational exchanges that are connected to achieving an academic degree.
The new proposed travel restrictions come the same week Jay-Z releases his latest album Magna Carta Holy Grail.
It’s time for a revolution. Time for a real conversation about race in America. If there is to be a “revolution,” it may not be televised, but it will definitely be tweeted. Social Media is the new TV and has been a source of feedback directly from the court of public opinion. And between the Zimmerman trial, the changes to the voting rights act, and all of Paula Deen’s crazy racism, it seemed to us a rough time to be black in America. It also seemed like a time to do something about it. So, we reached out via Facebook and Twitter to friends of our site for songs to add to our soundtrack to start the revolution.
