Did you see it? All yesterday, MMG went on a campaign that just has a dollar sign “3.” And now, we all know what it was. Self Made 3 is coming out soon. Looks pretty good to me! I wonder if the homey Torch will be on it. Anyway, that’s what all the hubbub was about. There is no release date yet.
Are you looking forward to this?
They keep us talking, but if we stop talking about them then they should worry! -illseed.
(AlHipHop News) After releasing “Power Trip” and “N##### Know,” J. Cole releases another track from his upcoming album Born Sinner. The TLC assisted “Crooked Smile” features a hook by the R&B group and some self-deprecating lines from the North Carolina native.
Hot 97’s Ebro Darden has vehemently proclaimed in the past..Summer Jam is the Headliner. That was evident from the outset of Hot 97’s 20th Summer Jam.
Joe Budden ran through a mix of songs from his new album No Love Lost but ultimately receiving the largest reaction to his classic 2003 single “Pump It Up” which is as infectiously racucous live then as it is as now.
Wale, decked in a hoodie Oddly performed Lotus Flower Bomb did not have Miguel, the following performer on stage to do it together, a technique that was common in the majority of the following acts.
Miguel was the obvious gem of the early Summer Jam set was Miguel with guest appearances from Mariah Carey and J. Cole. “Power Trip” is a hit and the near hypnotic chant of the chorus by the entire crowd proved that.
Chris Brown, accompanied with dancers dressed in suits that are a cross of Blue Man’s Group and Daft Punk, put on an intricate light show and exhibited amazing dancing skills.
Fabolous kept his set strictly new hits but did bring back Queen Bee Lil Kim:
At the end of Fab’s set he asked “What more can we do?” indicating he had more songs to perform. However, his set suddenly ended to the vocal disapproval from a concert goers.
Wu-Tang Clan performing on Summer Jam met with spots of disinterested fans but quickly turned into their usual madhouse scene, most noticeably when M-E-T-H-O-D Man began wrecking “Method Man”.
Microphone issues popped up sporadically throughout and lasted surprisingly long, at one point rending Joell Ortiz’s entire “Hammer Dance” verse silent. The most glaring was the missed opportunity of the return of Nicki Minaj to the stage as she silently crept onto the stage during 2 Chainz’s set causing a delayed standing ovation for the curvaceous MC.
Before performing, A$AP Rocky put on his label CEO hat and did some damage control of A$AP Ferg’s disparaging remarks at Teyana Taylor earlier in the day at Summer Jam’s Festival Village restating the entire A$AP crew’s support of Teyana Taylor. Then proceeded to decimate the stage.
As Summer Jam has been advising for years, “Rain or Shine The Show Goes On”. The rain was expected by the majority of the crowd who continued to rock on with the A$AP Mob general as he finished with the return of 2 Chainz and emergence of Kendrick Lamar for “F*cking Problem” with no Drake.
Kendrick performed good kid, m.A.A.d city jams “Money Trees” and “Backseat Freestyle”. Once “B*tch Don’t Kill My Vibe” came on, chatter began to start if this is where Jay-Z, who was at Summer Jam with Beyonce would make his rumored appearance. He did not but Schoolboy Q’s performance of his single “Yay Yay” created a mini mosh pit amongst the A$AP Mob members. This prompted Kendrick to seemingly impromptu bring out the entire A$AP Mob and TDE to deliver the most raucuous on-stage moment on Summer Jam as he closed out with “m.A.A.d. city”.
This is a crystallization of the best of what Summer Jam can be. Organic and memorable.
The audience expected rain. The audience expected Nicki Minaj. The audience expected a phenomenal show. The audience did not expect Papoose to songbomb the Summer Jam stage in between Kendrick’s and French Montana’s sets, going largely unrecognized until screaming “Free Remy”.
Since Summer Jam is the headliner its final performance is usually not indicative of the best performance. However, French Montana had the crowd in the palm of his hands from the first squeaks of “I’m A Coke Boy” throughout “Ochocinco” and then culminating with “Pop That”.
During “Pop That” the night’s biggest surprise guest arrived decked in Trukfit and injected the crowd with an energy that was reminiscent of this previous Summer Jam performances:
Once Lil Wayne walked off stage, with the crowd in a frenzy (French’s DJ) smartly transitioned to French’s latest single “Aint Worried About Nuting” which caused the entire stadium to have the single loudest ovation of the night. Then It was cut off and Summer Jam ended.
Overall, Hot 97’s 20th Summer Jam was good and contained more than its share of wow moments. The DJ sets from Mister Cee, Funkmaster Flex and others were great but they at times ended up overlapping each other with similar song choices. The pacing of the show was noticably off with certain performers indicating more songs but suddenly leaving the stage tot he chagrin of a portion of the audience.
Still a great time and the next twenty years are going to be intriguing for Summer Jam.
See Hip-Hop always finds a way. And a lot of people have been comparing Pap to “Lil Mama,” but I knew there had to be more to the situation than that.
Basically, Kendrick and TDE gave Pap about 5 minutes of their performance set to do his thing. Now, that’s real. I gotta give it up. I would have liked it better if TDE had put Pap in the middle with a stamp of approval – not at the freakin end all alone in the world. Pap and Kay Slay have been very helpful to TDE and they returned the favor. I just wish Pap just did some raw lyrical delivery but, I guess he’s promoting a new album that I didn’t know was even out. There goes my real Hip-Hop cred card.
So, Hot 97 is blaming their own Rosenberg for it happening.
They keep us talking, but if we stop talking about them then they should worry! -illseed.
For years, people have been saying that R&B is a dying genre. Many of the R&B songs on the radio have a rapper featured on them, and many rap songs feature the same R&B crooners. So, what happened to soul music? It’s a question that many have asked, but few have given a real answer to.
When we went looking for R&B, our search started and ended with a music master–Jermaine Dupri.
JD’s discography reads like a Who’s Who in R&B, his work with his own artists on So So Def are only a few of his musical triumphs. This is, after all, the man who crafted “We Belong Together.” The song, which is considered Mariah’s comeback single, won two Grammy’s, and was deemed song of the year on several high-profile charts. “We Belong Together,” was a sparsely-produced song where the vocals are used like an instrument, something that Dupri feels is what’s lacking in R&B. “I think people want to get back to the instrumentation. That, and music that says something.”
Mishon
At Southside Studios, a select number of journalists were treated to a private conversation with Dupri, and hit songwriter, Bryan Michael Cox; who are both working with an emerging R&B sensation, Mishon. Best known for his role as Tay Sutton on the ABC Family series, Lincoln Heights, Mishon is now seriously pursuing his music career and he’s been fortunate enough to work with two of the greats. “I started with music,” he says of his transitioning career, “I actually did music on the show. It’s always been a passion of mine.” He isn’t totally out of acting either, this fall Mishon will appear in a BET original movie, Frat Brothers with Romeo Miller.
Mishon released a mixtape earlier this year, “The Gift,” which spawned a few singles, but his debut album on Columbia is sure to be a game-changer. Executive produced by Jermaine Dupri, the as-yet-untitled album will also feature songwriting and production by Sean Garrett and Bryan-Michael Cox. “He’s gon’ keep it young, but at the same time, I keep hearing people talk about wanting real R&B. I’m just really sitting around waiting to see if people are going to put their arms around R&B music,” says JD, “I think it’s a funny thing happening right now. People are concerned with getting their songs on the radio as opposed to making the best music they can make. I think the only person that could change that would be a younger person.”
Check the video for more of our EXCLUSIVE in-studio interview with Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, and Mishon.
Will Smith’s latest film, After Earth, which opened Friday didn’t hit the high box-office gross that it was expected to. As of Sunday morning, the film had grossed only $27 million dollars which put it third place behind Now You See Me and Fast and Furious 6.
In addition to Columbia Pictures, Will Smith’s entertainment production company, Overbrook Entertainment, was also involved in After Earth. This isn’t surprising considering Will and his son, Jaden, are in the film. However, Overbrook Entertainment has also done projects not staring any of the Smiths and the company ranges from film to television to music.
Taking this into consideration, there is a lot Overbrook Entertainment has the ability to do. Disappointing first-weekend numbers for After Earth aside, Will Smith has made incredible pieces of entertainment on screen and on wax time and time again, so why not do continue to do the same from behind the scenes as well?
And so, AllHipHop.com has made a list of 10 things we would want to see Overbrook Entertainment produce in the future.
10). Marvelous World
Given the popularity of book-turned-film-magic and superpower teen franchises (i.e. Harry Potter and Twilight), Overbrook Entertainment should continue the trend and adapt The Marvelous World Saga for the screen as well. The book chronicles the adventures of a teen and would be perfect for Jaden and the story, crafted by Troy CLE, has been praised universally!
9). More Movie Remakes
With the success of The Karate Kid remake in 2010, Overbrook should do another remake. This time though, perhaps they could take a more dramatic route? I think another classic 80s film that could be updated for this generation is Lean on Me. If Don Cheadle played Joe Louis Clark and Jaden Smith was Thomas Sams, that could be cool.
8). Dope Movie Soundtracks
Recently Overbrook’s musical endeavors have been limited to stuff by Jaden and Willow Smith, but the company helped put together a solid soundtrack for 2000’s Love & Basketball with music from the likes of Al Green and Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock. They did a good job before, and so they should definitely do it again for another movie. From Will’s history in rap to Jada’s work in nu metal via Wicked Evolution (formerly Wicked Wisdom), they clearly have the range and the interest to potentially put together some real interesting stuff.
7) More Philly Rappers!
Schoolly D. The Roots. Cassidy. Eve. Beanie Sigel. DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Clearly, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has made numerous contributions to the world of rap. It would be an amazing thing if Overbrook Entertainment (named after a neighborhood in West Philadelphia) helped give a new unknown Philly rapper a shot at the big-time.
6). Reality TV With A Positive Twist
In terms of television, it would be difficult to do a sitcom for a couple reasons. One being that there just aren’t that many sitcoms on television anymore and secondly it would be very difficult for anything associated with Will Smith to get out from under the shadow of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. However, maybe a positive reality show chronicling some of the efforts of Project Zambia could be done? Project Zambia, among other things, provides assistance for Zambian children orphaned by AIDS. Will Smith’s children are all youth ambassadors for it.
5). Produce Something With T.I.
As some people may or may not know, Will Smith was a producer on the 2006 flick ATL with T.I. Mr. Harris showed his dramatic acting ability there and then a year later held his own on screen with Denzel Washington in American Gangster. With the popularity of The Family Hustle as of late though, people may have forgotten or are not aware of T.I.’s skills as a professional actor. I think Will Smith and co. should give the King of the South another opportunity to demonstrate his dramatic chops in front of the camera.
4). Sharpen The Nu Metal
Jada Pinkett Smith has had a very versatile career. From a young mother in Menace II Society to a bank robber in Set it Off to a doctor on Hawthorne, and that’s just naming a few of her memorable roles. One thing though that still took many people by surprise was when she became part of a nu metal band. To assist in presenting herself in this light, Overbrook should do a documentary about the band on their next tour. It would make skeptics from all angles know that Jada and her band, Wicked Evolution, are the real deal.
3). Let Willow Blossom
Love or hate the digital age of music we find ourselves in today, it’s undeniable. And one person who has benefited greatly from this is Justin Bieber. And while his song with Jaden Smith, “Never Say Never,” helped promote a few movies, Justin has yet to do something with Willow Smith, Jaden’s younger sister. Her primary focus is music and although she did open for him on the European leg of one of his tours, the “Whip My Hair” star hasn’t yet officially recorded anything with Usher’s protege. If a collaboration were to occur, between the huge buzz that the young stars have on the Internet and the power of their respective camps, something could definitely happen that would take the pop world by storm. (Editor’s note: Willow has recently decided to go back to school to be a normal 12-year-old and devote more time to her friends and studies.)
2). Unite Very Distance Rap Relatives
Nas has written stuff for Will Smith and Will showed Nas and Damien Marley a lot of support for Distant Relatives. I think it would be amazing if these two Hip-Hop legends could rap together on a record. Even if it put each of them a bit out of their comfort zones, they’re both talented and creative enough to do something positively memorable.
1). Do Like Jamie Foxx
According to press reports, Will Smith turned down a part in Django Unchained because he wasn’t offered the lead by writer/director Quentin Tarantino. However, considering Tarantino’s is one of cinema’s most acclaimed filmmakers and Smith is a Hollywood superstar with range (i.e. he played a homosexual con-man in Six Degrees of Separation), it would be incredible to see the end result of these two working on a film together.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with these ideas? Do you have some of your own? Speak your mind in the comments section!
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According to press reports, Will Smith turned down a part in Django Unchained because he wasn’t offered the lead by writer/director Quentin Tarantino. However, considering Tarantino’s is one of cinema’s most acclaimed filmmakers and Smith is a Hollywood superstar with range (i.e. he played a homosexual con-man in Six Degrees of Separation), it would be incredible to see the end result of these two working on a film together.