With All Due Respect Lil Wayne Should Never Be Compared To Malcolm X

Let me start by saying that as a diehard Hip-Hop head and a child of the south I have been listening to Lil Wayne and Cash Money since they burst on the music scene in the late 1990’s. I can acknowledge that at times Wayne has shown signs of artistic brilliance, but I also feel that his musical output over the last few years has been nowhere near the quality of his incredible run between 2004-2008.

With that being said, I have no problem with Hip-Hop fans debating whether they believe Wayne has fallen off or if he is still one of the best in the game. Comparing Top 5 lists, GOAT lists, and Hottest Emcees lists helps keep fans investing in the culture and pushes artists to strive to be better. But I do take serious offense to Wayne (or any rapper) ever being compared to a legendary civil rights leader like Malcolm X.

Let’s be clear, Lil Wayne is an entertainer. His job is to sell records for the sole purpose of making money. Yes, as a public figure I believe he is responsible for the content he presents to young people, and if someone feels that the music he releases has a negative impact on his listeners then they have every right to call him out on that. The same way his supporters have the right to defend him. The First Amendment applies both ways. That’s a public discussion that is completely understandable. But again the only reason Wayne is a public figure is because he is a performer.

Malcolm X was so much more that. He was a minister. He was an activist. He was a philosopher. He was an advocate for change.

I cannot see how anyone can compare the man who said “beat that p#### up like Emmett Till” to the man who said “power in defense of freedom is greater than power in behalf of tyranny and oppression.”

This is not an attack on Wayne or his content. It just needs to be pointed out that we are being asked to equate a man who at this point in his career mostly raps about sex, drugs, and skateboarding to a man who gave his life to end discrimination and promote peace.

To even compare Lil Wayne to the pre-converted Malcolm Little is also beyond the stretch of imagination. Racism is still alive and well in 2013, but I don’t think that Wayne could even understand the level of hatred and discrimination Little had to overcome during his life growing up in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

Wayne has been surrounded by money since he was a teenager, so he had advantages as a young black male that Little never had nor most of the American-American youths of today will ever experience.

The “anger” expressed by Little was from a place of deep hurt and resentment from being poor and voiceless. Wayne’s “anger” seems to stem from a feeling of being misunderstand for the work he creates and constant public criticism. The difference (beyond the fact that one is the result of institutionalized racism and the other a bruised ego?): Wayne has a worldwide platform to express his discontent. Little didn’t.

I will say that Wayne and Little both have one thing in common. They both saw the inside of a prison cell. But again that’s where the similarities end.

Malcolm Little came out of prison a changed man who had found faith and a true sense of purpose. Lil Wayne came out of prison a man who not only continued his reckless behavior, but as someone who many feel digressed artistically as well.

While I hope that Wayne is able to fully recover from his current medical condition and that this latest incident in his life opens his eyes and forces him to reevaluate his decisions in the future, we do not have to elevate him to the level of Malcolm, or any other notable hero, to wish him well.

[Related Post: What Lil Wayne and Malcolm Little Both Have in Common]

VIDEO: Chevy Woods Ft. Wiz Khalifa [#BGA x2] “M’fer”

While Chevy Woods was at SXSW performing on several stages including the AllHipHop.com Stage, he also premiered his new video “M’fer” featuring Wiz Khalifa which quickly rose to the #1 video. Chevy also announced his new mixtape “Gangland 2” aka (G2) will be hosted by DJ Drama.

Watch Chevy Woods new video here:

Snoop & Ne-Yo Host @ Bamboo

After big Snoop Lion rocked out at Ultra Music Fest and NeYo Shut down Jazz In The Garden, they both hit up the South Beach Hotspot Bamboo and partied the night away.

Bamboo is quickly becoming one of the only places to be on a Sunday night in Miami.

Although Jazz in The Garden is over, Big Snoop will be back again next week at Prestige Sundays as Ultra continues next weekend and he’s set to rock the stage again.

Snoop Dogg @ Prestige Sundays / Thaddaeus McAdams ExclusiveAccess.Net

Hip-Hop Rumors: Geto Boys Tour And Reunion?

Did you see the story on Willie D and Beyonce?

EXCLUSIVE: Willie D Chimes in On Beyoncé’s “Bow Down B**tches” And Her Geto Boys Link


Yeah, so there is a small tidbit at the bottom that says Willie D is working on a tour with the rest of the Geto Boys. Well, you know I had to get the scoop. From what I was told, they are indeed working on a tour, which will act as a reunion. The group has done some spot dates here and there, but nothing on a larger scaled. The tour apparently will take them all over the country starting down south and traversing up east and then west. I am hearing that is old news, but Bushwick Bill is 100% good with staying in America. I’m not sure if the tour will include people like Big Mike, who was a part of the group as well.

If I hear more, I will let you know.

Willie looks happy!
willie_dee_B
This was another “reunion” a few years ago.



They keep us talking, but if we stop talking about them then they should worry! -illseed.

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West Coast Legends Will Unite With Rising Stars For Showcase In L.A.

(AllHipHop News) This Thursday Hip-Hop heads in the Los Angeles area will have the chance to witness some of California’s greatest rap stars come together for the first installment of “West Coast Fest” presented by Bobby Dee, Clubben.com, and Behind the Scenes.

Power 106 FM’s radio personality Big Boy will host the event that will feature performances by Too $hort, Warren G, Mack 10, Baby Bash, Clyde Carson, Problem, Skeme the Duke, and headliners DJ Quik and E-40.

Fans in attendance can also expect some surprise guests to make appearances.

One exclusive moment for the show has already been announced. DJ Quik plans to debut new songs that evening including a track featuring Mack 10 called “Burnin Up.”

“We’re not trying to conform. We want to stay original and iconic. This will be a first to do this with all of these superstars in one show,” says Quik in a statement.

West Coast Fest will be a historic moment in the legacy of the California rap scene. The show’s impact is being billed as a bridging of the gap between Northern and Southern Cali Hip-Hop stars.

While DJ Quik, Mack 10, Warren G, Skeme, and Problem will be holding it down for L.A. and SoCal, the Bay area will be properly represented will the inclusion of Clyde Carson, Too $hort, Baby Bash, and E-40.

“You’re gonna to get a bit of vintage of E-40 and a little bit of current E-40 and I’m gonna mix that thang up like gumbo,” says the Vallejo native whose 2012 single “Function” was a Top 30 rap hit.

[ALSO CHECK OUT: E-40 & Too Short “Bout My Money” Feat. Jeremih & Turf Talk]

“I’ve been booking West Coast artists all around the world for a decade now, and it’s a great feeling to be able to have these artists I’ve grown up listening to, all perform under one roof,” says West Coast Fest’s executive producer Jamie Adler.

West Coast Fest is scheduled for Thursday, March 21 at Club Nokia at 8 pm.

For ticket information visit www.clubnokia.com.

Bronx Principal Catching Heat For Appearing In ‘Gang Girl’ Film

(AllHipHop News) New York City elementary school principal Anissa Chalmers is facing serious criticism from the New York Department of Education Chancellor Denis Wolcott and concerned parents for appearing in the independent movie Gang Girl.

The film was released back in 2009 and contains violent acts like rape, beatings, and shootings.

“The chancellor is aghast at the images in and content of the film, which are totally inappropriate,’’ said a Department of Education spokeswoman in a statement. “The chancellor is always concerned about both real and perceived violence…and its impact on students.”

The New York Post reports that Chalmers was given a waiver to star in the movie, but the DOE claims they did not know the content of Gang Girl which was originally titled “Surrender.”

The film, directed by Damian Bailey of Glory To God Productions, is a modernized version of the story of Paul the Apostle from the Bible, and it is loosely based on Chalmers’ life growing up in the Bronx.

Chalmers spoke about her past in a podcast:

I didn’t kill nobody. I’m not a murderer…There a lot of women that have gotten raped. Unfortunately, I was one of them. There are a lot of women who’ve had abusive parents. Unfortunately, I was one of them… A best friend and I did things that I don’t want the Feds to hear about when I was younger… But glory to God. I’m here. I’m alive. I’m well. I just praise God for the change that has occurred in my life.

The film focuses on the story of a reformed gang member who is trying to help her friend (Chalmers) escape the gang lifestyle.

Chalmers’ appearance in Gang Girl has drawn concern because her school received a grade of “F” for “school environment” which includes safety. PS 132 reportedly has had several violent incidents, and some people feel Chalmers may be reinforcing that behavior in her students by starring in a movie that depicts excessive violence.

Chalmers has starred in other independent movies. She played a minister in 2009’s We Fall Down, and she had a role in the coming of age film Speedsuit in 2012.

You can watch the trailer for Gang Girl below.

Q-Tip Wants An A Tribe Called Quest Reunion For His ‘Last Zulu’ LP

(AllHipHop News) Legendary Hip-Hop group A Tribe Called Quest has not released an album together since 1998’s The Love Movement, but emcee/producer/actor Q-Tip hopes the original four members will reassemble for his next project.

After performing with the rest of ATCQ as an opening act for Prince at SXSW, Q-Tip told Billboard that he wants Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammed, and Jarobi White to all make appearances on his The Last Zulu album expected for release in 2014.

Q-Tip’s fourth solo LP will be a concept album that harkens back to the Afrocentric sounds of the late 80’s/early 90’s popularized by Tribe, Jungle Brothers, Queen Latifah, Public Enemy, and other acts associated with the Universal Zulu Nation.

[ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Ma Dukes Talks Son J. Dilla, Twitter Beefs And The Zulu Nation]

“The beats are gonna be hard. It’s gonna be traditional, like Zulu beats… old school Africa Islam tapes, with the drum breaks and s### like that,” says Q-Tip.

“I heard some of the tracks, and they are fine!” added Jarobi.

Tribe fans have been able to watch the reunited group as the headliners at the Rock the Bells Festival in 2008 and 2010 and a reunion tour in 2006, but there have not been any new records from the New York City natives since they broke up in 1998.

Since branching out solo, Q-Tip has released 1999’s Amplified, 2008’s The Renaissance, and 2009’s Kamaal/The Abstract. He has also produced for other prominent artists like Esperanza Spalding, Kanye West, and Jay-Z.

The G.O.O.D. Music member also announced in the interview that he has been doing production work for Mariah Carey, D’Angelo, and John Legend.

Watch a brief clip of A Tribe Called Quest performing at SXSW 2013 and the video for the classic “Electric Relaxation.”



Lil Wayne Released From Hospital

(AllHipHop News) Lil Wayne has been released from the hospital after being admitted for several days from complications from seizures.

The rapper has been released from Cedars Sinai Medical Center, according to a report from TMZ.

Lil Wayne has been in the Intensive Care Unit since early last week, a total of six days.

“Wayne is feeling weak but he’s a lot better.  He plans on laying low until he makes a full recovery,” the report says.

RELATED: Birdman Clarifies Lil Wayne’s Health on HOT 97, Mack Maine Unsure Who Sent Lil Wayne’s “I’m Good” Tweet

RELATED: Family of Emmett Till Sends Prayers to Lil Wayne

RELATED: Despite Hospitalization, Lil Wayne Shows Up In New Rap Video

Hip-Hop Rumors: Keyshia Cole Calls Out Beyonce…And She’s Got A Point!

After Hearing “Bow Dow,” I heard Michelle Obama was like:

But, more importantly – KEYSHIA COLE….the hood chick supreme has seemingly taken exception to B’s position on “Bow Down.”

“First ‘Women need to Stick together’ now b—-s better Bow. Smh. But it’s all G! Chicks stay shooting the s–t. But when I speak my mind its a prob. #Well #StayMad.”

“Can’t stand when people all self righteous when it’s convenient it makes them look good. Lmao! But can still talk s–t when convenient 2 FOH”

“I done kept it real from the start! #RespectTHAT.”

Note to Keyshia: You cannot reason with the Bey Hive.

They created this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

And this:



They keep us talking, but if we stop talking about them then they should worry! -illseed.

Illseed, Out.

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EXCLUSIVE: Willie D Chimes in On Beyoncé’s “Bow Down B**tches” And Her Geto Boys Link

willie_dee_B Beyoncé has had all she can stand, and she can’t stands no more, to quote the ubiquitous character Popeye.

Over the weekend, the megastar released her venomous new song, “Bow Down“, which is a sharp departure from her cuts usually offered a more mainstream sentiment.

At the end of the song, a menacing, chopped and screwed voice rambles on bragging that Beyoncé hung with Willie D on the set of an unnamed rap video. That song was “Gangsta Put Me Down” by the Geto Boys, where B is shotgun in the video. “Shout out to Willie D. I was in that Willie D video when I was about 14,” the voice presumed to be B says.

Willie D talked exclusively to AllHipHop about knowing Beyoncé since he was a child and why her new song sounds so virulent.

“I think when you get in the game and you put in the work she put in…and you still getting backlash?” Willie D queried. “You take a year off and mother f**kers think its safe. She’s the queen.”

Willie D says he and Beyoncé share a quality: People feel they know them because they know their music. As a member of the Geto Boys, Willie D was one of the most outspoken, influencers of Hip-Hop culture largely in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Willie also release several solo albums, which yielded a number of hits.

In “Bow Down,” B sings, “I know when you were little girls/You dreamt of being in my world/Don’t forget it, don’t forget it/ Respect that, bow down, b**ches.”

“She’s like f**k it. Let me drop this s**t,” says D.

Bossip.com‘s Janee Bolden, a seasoned journalist and a blogger, thinks the song sends an unnecessary message for a singer of Beyonce’s stature.

“She has millions of little girls who emulate her and the “b######” and cursing throughout the song is uncalled for. There’s already one Rihanna.”

Beyonce, 31, has had her share of detractors, ranging from other singers to random critics. Even whens she was pregnant, some speculated that the pregnancy was fake, making headlines. In the past months the singer has made great strides from performing at the presidential inauguration and the Super Bowl. She’s also gearing up for a world tour called “The Mrs. Carter Show,” a nod her legendary spouse.

willie_dee_beyonce

The Houston-based Willie D has his own legendary stature in the game as a member of the Geto Boys and as a soloist, but he’s also quietly known Beyonce since she was “9 or 10 years old.” Dee says he used to see her perform and practice with and unusual vigor. “She had the looks, the talent, the drive. I never saw a 10-year old like that,” he told AllHipHop.com.

RELATED: Epic Win or Epic Win: Beyonce’s “Bow Down B***hes”

But now, he says much of the landscape has changed with Beyoncé, who once fronted the pop/R&B group Destiny’s Child. Willie feels that the internet culture as well as the competition has struck a nerve and the talk annoys him as well.

“A lot of it p##### me off. She’s like a sister to me. When I was locked up, I was about to kick a n***a’s ass,” says D. “You get to where any mother f**ker with some fingers can [get on a computer] and call themselves a critic.”

Bolden is one of the critics who isn’t particularly impressed by “Bow Down,” but feels there are deeper implications from the record.

“While I commend Beyoncé for changing things up and repping her Houston roots — I think that ‘Bow Down’ reeks of insecurity,” Bolden said. “Because who can she possibly be addressing than those who are already beneath her anyway?”

Willie D understands the critics, but says they just aren’t close enough to pass judgement, even with a raucous backdrop like “Bow Down.”

“If Beyoncé wasn’t cool people, I couldn’t care less, but she’s cool people,” D tells AllHipHop.com. “She’s always been a real sweet person. Always smart. If anybody wanted to be a diva, it could be her.” He says her critics don’t her her personally, but admits that he never has done any business with the sensation.

“People think they know me. I don’t wake up in the morning saying, ‘What’s up, bald head hoe,” he said, referring to his underground hit “Bald Head Hoes.”

And they don’t know Beyoncé either, he maintained.

“To me, Beyoncé is H-Town (Houston, TX) royalty,” he told AllHipHop.com. “They believe all of what they read and all of what they hear. People attack her character, and they don’t even know who their own mama is.”

“Bow Down” is the first new music Beyoncé has released since giving birth do Blue Ivy, her daughter with husband Jay-Z.

Presently, Willie D is planning a national tour with the rest of the Geto Boys, Scarface and Bushwick Bill.

Birdman Clarifies Lil Wayne’s Health on HOT 97, Mack Maine Unsure Who Sent Lil Wayne’s “I’m Good” Tweet

(AllHipHop News) After a weekend of speculations over the details of Lil Wayne’s seizure scare, Cash Money Records CEO Birdman spoke with Angie Martinez on Hot 97 today (March 18) to clear the air.

[ALSO READ: Family of Emmett Till Sends Prayers to Lil Wayne]

In regards to TMZ’s reports, Birdman categorically denied the claims the site made including Lil Wayne being read his last rites, being in ICU, having multiple seizures and on the brink of death.

One of the most shocking revelations from Birdman’s interview with Angie Martinez was that neither himself nor the doctors believe that drugs were the cause of the seizure. “It had nothing to do with drugs,” he remarked “Just how hard he works.”

Birdman does admit that doctors have suggested Weezy F needs to “change what he’s been doing” which could be in reference to Wayne’s November 2012 interview with MTV where he stated he was not drinking the doctor-mandated daily amount of water following his first seizure in October. Some eerie news did creep through as the gravely-voiced Cash Money head honcho, whom refers to Wayne as his son, attests that the doctors have no clue what causes or prevents the seizures:

“It’s nothing they can cure, it’s out of our control. Something we have to live with and maintain. Nothing they can tell him but get rest and change what he been doing.”

[ALSO READ: Lil Wayne Pictured With Son Prior To Seizure, Appears In New Music Video]

Additionally, Wayne is on medication according to Birdman and should be home within the next few days. TMZ reported earlier that Lil Wayne is out of the Intensive Care Unit and has been transported to a “regular room” and is in stable condition. He allegedly can walk around and eat on his own without round-the-clock supervision.

Birdman wasn’t the only Cash Money member to speak on Wayne. In a recent interview with XXL, Mack Maine admits he was not with Wayne when he sent out the tweet confirming he was ok  at 1:30 am EST on Saturday:

“That tweet [that he sent out on Friday] wasn’t sent out on that same phone line,” he revealed. “I’m not sure if he tweeted that or not. I wasn’t with him at the present moment. One of his fans could have tweeted that, I’m not really sure where that came from.”

[ALSO READ: What Lil Wayne and Malcolm Little Both Have in Common]

Check out the full interview below: