StreetHop.com has been told by a reliable source that Jay Z will leave the Roc-A-Fella family and start a new label under the Warner Brothers music division.

Apparently Jay Z and Roc-A-Fella Co-CEO Dame Dash have had a falling out, and only communicate through their lawyers.

What is even more interesting for fans is that the new deal would see Jay Z, who said he would retire after The Black Album, release at least one more album under his real name, Sean Carter.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Source: GhettoFro.com

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

During her presentation Thursday to a group of Holland middle school students, Hope College English professor Karima Jeffrey noted that popular rap artist DMX has a song that praises God and that slain icon Tupac Shakur wrote poetry and paid respect to musical greats like Billie Holiday.

Her point?

That modern rap and hip-hop music doesn't exist in a vacuum and that to truly understand it you must understand its historical and literary roots. She also told the students that many rap artists have deep vocabularies and thoughtful messages and that the profanity and violence in some of the music should not be glorified.

 Jeffrey, who grew up in New York City, was invited to speak to the group of about 40 students from Holland's two middle schools by the Learning Enhancement Achievement Program, a tutoring group organized under the umbrella of Core City.

Ruth Coleman, executive director of LEAP, said the group invited Jeffrey to speak with the hope that she could engage the students on familiar ground.

"You never know how you might affect a child," Coleman said. "But you definitely have to talk to them in their language."

Jeffrey encouraged the students to explore the history of hip-hop music, which she said dates back to slave spirituals.

"I wanted the students to understand that rap music has a long standing history," Jeffery said. "Maybe they'll be prompted to read more about it."

She also made a point of distinguishing between thoughtful, articulate artists and "garbage rappers." When she asked a young girl to read DMX's "Prayer V," the girl stumbled over a few of the rapper's wordy rhymes.

"You will see that they use some sophisticated language," Jeffrey said.

Source: The Holland Sentinel

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Growing up, Afeni Shakur told people her great-grandfather was an Indian.

For years, she remembered her great-grandfather, who was really white, as one of the Lumbee people, the North Carolina descendants of white colonists and various Indian tribes along the east coast.

"And that was cool with me because the Lumbee people didn't take no shit from white folks," she said in an interview for the just-published biography, "Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary," " . . . In fact, they ran the Klan out of Robeson County."

Shakur was a child when the Lumbee, a tribe still fighting for full federal recognition, told their black neighbors to stand back while they chased away the Klan, which had tried to impose a 10 o'clock curfew on the Indian and black communities. The Lumbee, armed with guns and rifles, had other ideas, Shakur recalls.

The childhood experience convinced Shakur, mother of rap star Tupac Shakur, of the effectiveness of armed resistance. It may be why she joined the Black Panther Party at the age of 22, and also why Jasmine Guy, a dancer and actress, wrote "Evolution of a Revolutionary" about Shakur.

Guy met Shakur in 1994 while accompanying her friend, Jada Pinkett-Smith, to a New York City courthouse where Shakur's son - a close friend of Pinkett-Smith's and Guy's - was to answer to sexual assault charges.

On the eve of his trial, Tupac Shakur - who would be gunned down in Las Vegas two years later - had been shot five times the night before in the foyer of a Manhattan recording studio. At the courthouse, he was in a wheelchair and wrapped in bandages. Guy met Afeni Shakur in the hallway and the two became close friends.

 Their closeness allowed Guy, whom most people know from "The Cosby Show" spin-off, "A Different World," to get beyond other books said about Shakur. That included books like "Look for Me in the Whirlwind: A Collective Autobiography of the NY 21," about the famous 1971 trial of Afeni Shakur and 20 other leading New York Black Panthers charged with plotting to blow up the New York Botanical Gardens and area department stores.

During a visit to her friend, Shakur spots the Panther autobiography on Guy's bed.

 "I wasn't very cooperative with this right here, [Shakur] holds up the book, and this right here, in the back of the book - Letter to My Unborn - was the one concession. They had to print this letter if I was to participate."

Shakur, who was pregnant with her son and in jail through some of the 25 months that the Panther 21 trial lasted, was the lead defendant in what became the most publicized case against the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, founded in 1966 by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton in Oakland, California.

Guy, 37, is too young to remember much, but her nostalgia drives her to egg Shakur on: "It was a great fight, Afeni, the war against oppression, the revolution, whatever you want to call it. And the soldiers were young, hopeful, angry, aggressive, intelligent, and vibrant."

Shakur's reply: "It was a war we lost." Guy can't believe her ears.

"That's right. We lost it. We dropped the ball . . . We were in over our heads," Shakur continues. "And, worst of all we were not listening . . . to old people. We had removed any semblance of spirituality from our movement. So, when the danger came, what did we have?"

Not enough, apparently, of what Shakur had - an early sense of focus. When a boy in school made fun of her dark skin, short hair and flat chest, she said she went straight to the problem's source: "I kicked his ass."

Shakur also kicked a crack habit that took her through one indifferent relationship after another, caused her to have an abortion during what she describes as one of her life's lowest points, and brought her to abandon her daughter, Sekiywa, who was younger than Tupac, to the care of others.

It's difficult not to approach the book with some skepticism. For one thing, it was written by a friend. Nevertheless, "Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary" sounds remarkably honest; the women's friendship might have helped Shakur to be as forthcoming as she is.

The bigger problem is that the book is, after all, not about someone famous but about the mother of someone famous whose life was taken prematurely. But that is what makes Shakur's story so unique and so interesting.

Drug addiction leaves few survivors. Shakur's notoriety as a Panther went down with the Movement, and there were thousands like Shakur who, for one reason or another, decided not only to "turn on" and "tune in," but to "drop out" for good. Shakur decided to bounce back.

Among other things, this is a book about forgiveness. Shakur's children, including Tupac before he died, forgave her, which may be why she smiles wherever she appears these days.

Through a friend, she opens a window into a soul tormented by all kinds of demons, both internal and external. This is a snapshot of Shakur, now a grandmother, at a time when those demons have mostly let her be.

And here, in the quiet after the storm, her evolution begins.

Source: South End

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Big Syke has started working on the new Thug Law installment titled Thug Law Vol. 3 The Thugalation. Mike West of the Boss Marawdaz official website posted that Mike West has just recorded a track for the upcoming album called "We Don't Give A Fuck".

I will find out in a few days if Rated R and Macadoshis will be appearing on this album and post up the answer when i get it, but as far as I know they will both be on this album.m

This is what Mike West's site had to say "In todays news rapper Mike West will be featured on the new upcoming album from Big Syke of Thug Life titled Thuglaw vol.3 The Thugalation Album. The title of the new song is called "We Don't Give A F*@k" Mike West has blessed the song with a fire of 16 bars, Be sure to look out for the new album coming soon"

Source: GhettoFro.com

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Koch Records is scheduled to release Goodie Mob's fifth album, One Monkey Don't Stop No Show, on April 27th 2004. The LP is produced by Organized Noize. The tracklist is as follows:

01. We Back
02. Goodie Advice
03. I Been
04. We Build Up
05. Profession
06. My Stompin' Ground
07. How We Ride In The South
08. Life Goes
09. One Monkey
10. Ain't None For Us
11. It's The Game
12. What's Going On Today?
13. For My Homeboys Dead And Gone
14. This Is The Time
15. We Comin' Man
16. Murder And Abuse
17. In The Streets

Discuss
Printer Friendly

That's right! Nas' upcoming seventh album will be a double disc, reports his official website, GodsSon.net. The yet-to-be titled double album is slated for a summer release.

For now, fans should look out for Illmatic: 10th Year Platinum Edition, due out March 30th 2004. It contains classics such as "Halftime," "It Ain't Hard To Tell" and "The World Is Yours" in a new remixed format. The LP also features two previously unreleased songs, including the first single "Chizzled."

The Lost Tapes 2 is also on its way. It looks like this is going to be a big and busy year for Nasir Jones.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

StreetHop.com has been told that Hassachi Ryda is in the process of shooting the video for his first single, "From The Coupe To The Booth." The video will be shot in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Young H Hassachi Ryda has recently spent a lot of time in the studio finishing up his debut LP, which will feature a total of 13 songs including three bonus tracks.

The LP features songs such as "Rise Up" featuring Lil' Tip Toe and "Keep It Gangsta" featuring Spice 1. Other guest appearances include Muszamil, who is set to guest appear on two songs, and Hassachi's new back-up rapper, Cuthroat.

Other Hassachi projects include a DVD featuring footage of Hassachi living it up in Las Vegas. Expect it to be released later this year.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Eminem is suing Apple Computer Inc. on grounds it used his track "Lose Yourself" in a TV advertisement for their iTunes pay-per-download music store.  The lawsuit also names Viacom Inc. and its MTV subsidiary and TBWA/Chiat/Day advertising agency as plaintiffs.  The lawsuit doesn't specify any specific damage claims, but states the "defendants have acted intentionally, recklessly, willfully and in bad faith," and requests "exemplary damages."

"Eminem has never nationally endorsed any commercial products and therefore he indicated, though his manager, that even if he were interested in endorsing a product, any endorsement deal would require a significant amount of money, possibly in excess of $10 million," the 15-page lawsuit says.

Source: Real-HipHop.com/Reuters

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Chauncey Hawkins, aka Loon, has been charged with one count of assault with a deadly weapon.  Additionally, he's facing two special allegations which could lengthen his sentence if convicted; one for use of a deadly weapon and one for use of a deadly weapon with intent to cause great bodily injury.

The charges stem from a stabbing at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip, where Loon, William Reyes, and Teon Tanqueray were both arrested after a security guard was stabbed. The stabbing allegedly took place as security attempted to refrain the three men and others from rushing the stage where Lil' Jon & the East Side boyz were performing.

Loon as entered a plea of Not Guilty.

Source: MTV

Discuss
Printer Friendly

G-Unit member Tony Yayo has plead guilty to passport fraud.  After spending a year in prison for jumping bail, he was picked up a day after being paroled for presenting a fake passport to his parole officer.  His lawyers hope that his admission of guilt will speed up his release.

Source: MTV

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Kanye West's album, College Dropout has had a very impressive debut, hitting #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop album chart and #2 on the Billboard 200.

StreetHop.com reviewer Marty 'doobious' Caballero has done an indepth review of the album, scoring it an impressive 4.5 out of 5.

Click here to read the review.

Source: Big E

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Sign-Up now for the HitEmUp/StreetHop monthly newsletter and be eligible to win prizes while receiving monthly Tupac, Outlawz, general rap, and site updates!

This month we'll be giving away copies of the Thug-Life Outlawz album Thug Law Chapter 2.

To register, visit the main page of / and enter your e-mail address in the top right corner.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

J Records is scheduled to release Cassidy's debut LP, Split Personality, on March 23rd 2004. The tracklist is as follows:

01. My Interpretation
02. Hotel - featuring R. Kelly
03. Make You Scream - featuring Snoop Dogg
04. Lipstick - featuring Jazze Pha
05. Get No Better - featuring Mashonda
06. Tha Problem (Skit)
07. Tha Problem
08. Blood Pressure
09. Can I Talk To You? - featuring Jadakiss
10. Hold Dat
11. Pop That Cannon - featuring Styles P.
12. Real Talk (Skit)
13. Real Talk
14. Husslin'
15. I'm Hungry
16. Around The World

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Krayzie Bone was recently interviewed by UrbanConnectionz.com. He spoke on various topics including Thug Brothers, the collaboration project between Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and the Outlawz. Below is an excerpt from the interview:

UrbanConnectionz.com: There's been talk of Bone doing a joint album with the Outlawz. What's going on with that?

Krayzie Bone: That's definitely still in the works, but that's going to be down the line, though. We've still got to get Bone re-established first.

How did you come to the point where you wanted to hook up with the Outlawz?

Oh, we've always been cool with the Outlawz. We're always down for them just like they're down for us.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Last week, The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network was held at the Bovard Auditorium on the campus of the University Of Southern California.

Rappers that showed up includes Cherub, Crooked I, Daddy-O, Fredro Starr, Hump, Kanye West, Knoc-turn'al, Lady Emmy, Layzie Bone, Loon, LT Hutton, Money B, Outlawz, Poetess, Snoop Dogg, Tamia, Young Gunz,

"The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network is a really positive force and we are honored to be a part of this movement," E.D.I. from the Outlawz said. Hopefully, this will change the youth of my generation's perspective on voting and politics."

"I thought this was a very successful event and the HSAN is a very positive vehicle that we should all embrace," the Outlawz's manager and A2Z Entertainment CEO Steve Lobel said.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Penalty Records is scheduled to release Terror Squad's second LP this spring, HipHopSite.com reports. The new and revamped Terror Squad constists of Armaggedon, Fat Joe, Prospect, Remy Martin and Tony Sunshine.

In related news, former Terror Squad member Triple Seis is set to release his solo debut album on May 27th 2004. It contains a collaboration with The Beatnuts.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Mob Life Records has just released a limited edition single from Cablez's upcoming LP, Tha Movement. The single first single Tha Life We Live includes an intro from Mutulu Shakur and features Cablez, Muszamil, Napoleon and Nzingha Shakur.

The single can be purchased at MobLifeRecords.net. The tracklist is as follows:

1. Mutulu Shakur Intro
2. LP Version - featuring Muszamil, Napoleon and Nzingha Shakur
3. Radio Edit - featuring Muszamil, Napoleon and Nzingha Shakur
4. Remix (Unavailable On LP) - feat Muszamil and Nzingha Shakur
5. Instrumental
6. Gotta Be A Way

Discuss
Printer Friendly

It's time for music fans to stand up and demand change from the music industry's copyright cartel.

Today, February 24 is a day of coordinated civil disobedience: websites will post Danger Mouse's Grey Album on their site for 24 hours in protest of EMI's attempts to censor this work.

DJ Danger Mouse created a remix of Jay-Z's the Black Album and the Beatles White Album, and called it the Grey Album. Jay-Z's record label, Roc-A-Fella, released an a capella version of his Black Album specifically to encourage remixes like this one. But despite praise from music fans and major media outlets like Rolling Stone ("an ingenious hip-hop record that sounds oddly ahead of its time") and the Boston Globe (which called it the "most creatively captivating" album of the year), EMI has sent cease and desist letters demanding that stores destroy their copies of the album and websites remove them from their site. EMI claims copyright control of the Beatles 1968 White Album.

Danger Mouse’s album is one of the most "respectful" and undeniably positive examples of sampling; it honors both the Beatles and Jay-Z. Yet the lawyers and bureaucrats at EMI have shown zero flexibility and not a glimmer of interest in the artistic significance of this work. And without a clearly defined right to sample (e.g. compulsory licensing), the five major record labels will continue to use copyright in a reactionary and narrowly self-interested manner that limits and erodes creativity. Their actions are also self-defeating: good new music is being created that people want to buy, but the major labels are so obsessed with hoarding their copyrights that they are literally turning customers away.

This first-of-its-kind protest signals a refusal to let major label lawyers control what musicians can create and what the public can hear. The Grey Album is only one of the thousands of legitimate and valuable efforts that have been stifled by the record industry-- not to mention the ones that were never even attempted because of the current legal climate. We cannot allow these corporations to continue censoring art; we need common-sense reforms to copyright law that can make sampling legal and practical for artists.

The Grey Tuesday protest is being organized by Downhill Battle, a music activism project that has no affiliation with Danger Mouse.

For more information on the protest and issues surrounding this massive online action, head over to GreyTuesday.org.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Various websites have over the last past few days reported that Detroit rapper Obie Trice recently was on television and said that he's going to be making a guest appearance on the next Tupac album.

HitEmUp.com has spoken to the music supervisors of Tupac's posthumous projects, who decline this information. Obie Trice won't be on Tupac's next album. As a matter of fact, they haven't even started working on the next Tupac album yet.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

www.milenko500.com just posted up their interview with Shock G where he talks about his upcoming CD which he titled "Hallucinations" This is what Shock had to say about it

""Hallucinations" is about 1/3 a shockg solo album, 1/3 a guest artist/production album (featuring Clev-MC, Fifth-Element, Ant-Dog, Delina-Dream, Money-B, Humpty-Hump, Ray-Luv, Yukmouth, Java, Numskull and K-Lien to name a few, with Q-Bert and D-Sharp on turntables), and 1/3 an experimental future-jazz album. I tried to fuse together hip-hop, rave, and enlightened hippie culture all on one album in a sort of "dark comedy". I take it all pretty lightly, and don't mean it so seriously as other artists. It's just a recording to me, to entertain and make ya laugh and wonder; it's not intended to be the koran or bible or nothin. Some rappers are CNN. I'm the comedy channel."

Thanks to Bigbabysweets from the Shock G board for posting the link to this new interview.

Source: Bigbabysweets & www.milenko500.com

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

P. Diddy wants American voters to turn out in full force this year and remove the current president George W. Bush from the oval office, AllHipHop.com reports.

Diddy, who accepted the Patrick Lippert Award at this year's 11th Annual Rock The Vote Awards, said that Bush was not the man to lead the United States of America.

"[We gotta] get Bush's ass up out that office," Diddy said. "If you don't agree with me, you've got your right to go to the polls and represent him."

Diddy said that the next president, whether Democrat or Republican, must care about the needs of young people.

"I honestly feel like the president we have in office today, he doesn't care about the young people," Diddy continued." "He doesn't care about minorities and he does not, I don't know if he feels it everyday, if he feels the pain that the mothers and the fathers are feeling of all of those lost soldiers that are being reported everyday."

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

HitEmUp.com recently sat down with Gobi for an interview. Gobi is the director and/or producer of Tupac videos such as "How Do U Want It," "2 Of Amerika'z Most Wanted," "Hit 'Em Up," "I Ain't Mad At Cha," "Made Niggaz" and "All About U."

Gobi speaks on his relationship with Tupac, the making of the videos, the unreleased "Life Goes On" video, Tupac's plans on making short films, a film script that Tupac wrote, the over 18 hours of unreleased Tupac footage, the One Nation album, Tupac's plans for leaving Death Row Records, his engagement with Kidada Jones, what went down in Las Vegas, his relationship with Tupac's mother and father, his upcoming Tupac book and DVD and much more.

Click here to read the interview.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Source: Venomous Viper

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Amaru records have issued an appeal along with Duck Down Records to help track down the "One Nation" masters. If anyone has any information regarding the whereabouts of these masters please contact me and I will put you through to the people involved.

Source: BJ

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Source: nikezoom50@aol.com

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Family Bizness Muzik, as mentioned in our January interview with producer Jimi Kendrix, is providing a mixtape to StreetHop fans for just $2 shipping.  If you would like a copy of Billy Guy's mixtape entitled Guess Who's Coming, send a $2 money order and envelope with return address to:

Family Bizness Muzik
158 - 37  75th Ave
New York , NY 10010

Click here to read the January interview with Jimi Kendrix

Discuss
Printer Friendly

German Website Rap-Source has released a German mixtape hosted by DJ Kool Kid.  It's available as a free download from:  http://www.rap-source.de

Covers:

Front: http://www.rap-source.de/cover/jdmix.jpg
Back: http://www.rap-source.de/cover/back.jpg

Tracklist:

01. Dj Epps - Intro (skit)
02. Dj Kool Kid - Intro (skit)
03. Ameilius Judgement Day Jumpoff
04. Doujah Raze - The Dedication Intro (skit)
05. Doujah Raze - The Dedication
06. Bandit - Around The World
07. Renegadez - Have Some Fun
08. The Burnaz - All Right
09. The Hitmakerz - No Love Song
10. Candis - Come Walk With Me
11. AK feat. Yun-Gun - City Life
12. P. Novakane - Fade Away
13. Cracker Jack - Crack Back
14. Kre8tor - My Money
15. The Grind Family - Happy Dayz
16. Ishues - Raw Diggity
17. Cracker Jack feat. Jumbo - Beat Goes
18. Red Cafe feat. Omillio Sparks - Hold Dat
19. Stimuli - Don`t Know My Name (freestyle)
20. Rodzilla feat. Pitbull - Bangin’
21. Dj Kool Kid - Outro (skit)

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Rashied Staggie stepped in to defuse a potentially volatile situation in Manenberg on Thursday when community representatives and gangsters argued about whether to paint over two murals.

The murals, both depicting Tupac Shakur, were painted in 1997 on the road-facing sides of Beatrix Court in Manenberg Avenue and have become a landmark and symbol of the problems facing Manenberg's people.

The murals pay homage to the slain American rapper and the fight between east coast and west coast American gangs.

Painters working on the rest of Beatrix Court as part of a local initiative to clean up the area were all set to paint over the murals on Thursday morning, but were stopped by gangsters who said they had not been consulted.

Gangsters and residents confronted one another and the argument became heated. Before the situation got out of hand, Staggie arrived and people quietened down.

At Staggie's prompting community representatives and gangsters agreed to meet on Monday to discuss the situation.

One resident wanted to know why permission had to be sought from gangsters to remove the picture when no one had asked Beatrix court residents for permission to paint the mural.

Erica Anthony said people were happy with the murals when they were painted. "But when they realised what the reasoning was behind the picture, they weren't so happy."

Mareldeya Harding, zone co-ordinator for the area, said residents of Beatrix Court decided late last year to replace the murals with something more suitable. "Maybe the Bafana Bafana team," she said.

She has seen many tour buses ferry tourists to the murals where they have their pictures taken.

"There are still gangsters here. We will never get rid of that. But they (tourists) think that the picture is the whole of Manenberg. We try to explain but they just take the picture and that's it.

"This (the mural) is not Manenberg. People here want the children to have a better future," said Harding.

One gangster, who identified himself as Watson, was adamant that the murals should be touched up and not painted over.

"There are busloads of people coming through here but we never see the money," said Watson.

He is unemployed and wants the opportunity to ask tourists for money if they want to take his picture in front of the murals.

"They (the residents) didn't consult us. Certain people were invited to the meeting but it doesn't work that way. We're part of the community too," he said.

Sylvia van Rooyen, who lives opposite Beatrix Court, does not want to see the murals painted over either. When her grandson, Marco, became separated from his mother on Saturday at Tambo Square, all he could tell the police officer who found him was that he lives at West Side - meaning close to the mural.

"It's a landmark," she said.

This landmark was the scene of bloody turf wars in the 1990s between the Hard Livings, the Clever Kids and The Americans, and Staggie said he associated the murals with "more hurt than good".

"This picture is an example of what people associate with gangsters. Tupac was a role model for gangsters.

"I think the picture can go, but what are they going to put in its place?" he asked.

The community should be consulted about the future of the murals, he said.

Source: Dante

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Tha Goodfelonz are set to release the double disc compilation Chalklines: Double Homicide in late March or early April 2004. E.D.I. and Young Noble from the Outlawz are both featured on it.

The compilation also features appearances by Baldhead Ric, Guce, Ive Low, Juvenile, Keak Da Sneak, Killa Keise, Skip, Soda Pop and others.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

As reported earlier, Shady Records and Interscope Records is scheduled to release D-12's second album, D-12 World, on April 20th 2004. The first single is "My Band," with "Pour Your 40 Out" on the B-side, D12World.com reports. The video for the single will be shot soon.

Other songs set to be featured on the album includes "American Psycho II" featuring Cypress Hill and produced by Dr. Dre, "D-12 World" produced by Kanye West, "Get My Gun," "Let's Get It Crackin'" and "The Good Die Young."

50 Cent is also said to make a guest appearance on the album. Besides Dr. Dre and Kanye West, the production is handled by Hi-Tek, Red Spyda, Sick Notes, The Track Boys and of course Eminem and Kon Artis.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

CornerStone (C-Stone) is a talented group consisting of five singers, three from the East Coast and two from the West Coast.  Check out their song titled "It's Alright (It's Okay)" featuring Tha Realest, which is available for download below:

 Download "It's Alright (It's Okay)"

Visit CornerStone's officla website

Source: makaveli_outlawz2002

Discuss
Printer Friendly

The artwork section has been updated with a new Splash section, a flash movie and 2Pac and Makaveli fonts.  Be sure to check it out for the latest backgrounds and desktops, AIM Icons, and more.

The artwork section is available at:
http://artwork.hitemup.com/

Discuss
Printer Friendly

The Canadian television channel CBC Newsworld is broadcasting the controversial documentary Biggie & Tupac three times this week. The channel's reporter, Jian Ghomesi, went to interview the director of the documentary, Nick Broomfield.

Click here to read the interview.

Source: Sohrab Mossaded

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Tupac was recently voted the number 1 MC of 22 in a viewers poll on MTV Base (UK). The Notorious B.I.G. was voted 2nd, Eminem 3rd and Nas 4th. The Beastie Boys, Rakim, Dr. Dre and Run DMC were also in the top 22.

Source: Jibster

Discuss
Printer Friendly

In an interview with WCRydaz.com Lil C-Style, one of the original members of the Dogg Pound Gangstaz and former Death Row recording artist, talked about Tupac.

While you were on Death Row did you ever meet and kick it with 2Pac, and what type of person do you remember him as?

2Pac was my nigga. A spunky ass muthafucka that was just ready all the time, just a coo ass mothafucka to be around, loved to rap,loved to do music, loved to have fun and chill, loved to be around a gang of muthafuckas.

Did you do any songs with him at all?

With Pac , I never got a chance to do no songs with Pac. But I knew him, and when I say I knew him I ain't talkin bout "Oh hey that's 2Pac." he would leave and be drivin and we would be in the car for hours on the road on the highway type shit. Smokin weed, smokin blunts, fallin' asleep, wakin up. That type of shit, not just "Oh, I knew him cause he 2pac."

Yup, alot of dudes try to use the fact they knew him to ride their career off, even people who didn't even know him all that much.

Man, that shit is crazy, huh? Yeah, real talk. I be lookin at that shit to and be like damn thats crazy. I trip offa that kinda shit.

Click here to read the rest of the interview.

Source: Mase

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Soul singer Erykah Badu is pregnant again and the father of the child is no one other than The D.O.C.

In the late 80s and early 90s, The D.O.C. wrote multi-platinum hits for N.W.A., Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and others. He was a part of the establishment of both Ruthless Records and Death Row Records.

In 1989, Ruthless Records released his Dr. Dre-produced platinum debut LP, No One Can Do It Better.

Shortly after the release of the LP, The D.O.C. was in a car accident, which resulted in him crushing his larynx and damaging his voice.

The D.O.C. stopped rapping, but made a come back in 1994 with the release of the LP Helter Skelter. It flopped and he tried again last year with the release of Deuce, which wasn't a success either.

Badu has previously been dating rappers Common and Andre 3000 from Outkast, who's the father of her six-year-old son named Seven.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Eminem is reportedly interested in purchasing Michael Jackson's 2,600-acres and $49 million estate ranch, Neverland, in Santa Barbara, California.

Eminem has told friends that he can't stand another winter in Detroit. He also believes that California would be a better place to bring up his daughter, Hailie.

Michael Jackson said in a statement that he would never live in the estate again after police raided it in November 2003. Jackson is currently awaiting trial on child molestation charges and faces bankruptcy if he can't come up with $70 million soon.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Here is a link to the some new pictures that Crash who runs www.indastreets.net sent to me of Rated R and some other rappers that are in his group Presidential. /news/images/indastreets_artists.html

I want to thank Crash for sending the Presidential pictures to me, and Jon for posting them up on the site.

There is still some time to get your questions in if you haven't yet for the Rated R interview.

Source: Crash (From Indastreets.net)

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Although it's doubtful evidence will be found to justify Canadian fans' claims that the Toronto arrival of "America's greatest crime writer" (Newsweek) during the week of February 14th is a sign from the ghost of Al Capone, the legendary Elmore Leonard does happen to be featured at this week's Harbourfront Reading Series 30th Anniversary premiere.

Perhaps another ironic twist to what Hip-Hop Journalist Raoul S. Juneja (a.k.a. Deejay Ra) jokingly referred to as the week of "St. Leonard's Literary Massacre" happens to be the current Los Angeles filming of John Travolta in "Be Cool" ; Elmore Leonard's long-awaited sequel to "Get Shorty" which now leads Travolta's beloved Chili Palmer character into the twisted world of rock stars, pop divas and hip-hop gangstas.

Brought to the screen by "Friday" and "Set It Off" director F. Gary Gray and executive produced by Danny DeVito and Elmore Leonard, "Be Cool" also stars 'Kings of Comedy' icon Cedric the Entertainer, R&B sweetheart Christina Milian and even Grammy-Award 'Outkast' Andre 3000 alongside Hollywood heavyweights Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel and James Gandolfini.

Expected to hit screens in late 2004, the "Get Shorty" sequel marks the latest best-selling Elmore Leonard novel to be adapted to film, with past adaptations including "Out Of Sight" with Jennifer Lopez & Ving Rhames and "Rum Punch/Jackie Brown" with Pam Grier & Samuel L. Jackson.

The Harbourfront Reading Series premieres February 18, 2004 at 7:30 PM in the Brigantine Room at the 235 Queens Quay West York Centre (tickets are $15). Also be sure to attend a special Elmore Leonard signing February 19, 2004 at 7:00 PM in the 2300 Yonge/Eglinton Indigo Books boutique. For Harbourfront or Indigo reservations call (416)973-4000 and (416)544-0049 respectively.

*JUST ANNOUNCED - Pam Grier/Elmore Leonard Prize Packs!*

With the help of New Video Group, HarperCollins, YRB Magazine and BPM:TV Deejay Ra's award-winning Lyrical Knockout Entertainment is honoured to commemorate Elmore Leonard's Toronto visit with the support of a "BaadAsss" documentary celebrated as "a marvelous history of a genre" (Entertainment Weekly) and a "Cool" novel highlighted as "a keen insight into the minds of criminals and music people - who are sometimes one and the same." (St. Louis Post)

Professor Isaac Julien's "BaadAsss Cinema" takes viewers back to the politically-charged blaxploitation films of the early 1970's featuring a wealth of footage from Richard Roundtree's "Shaft" (recently sequeled with Samuel L. Jackson) to Pam Grier's "Foxy Brown" (currently being sequeled with Halle Berry) alongside revealing interviews with key past and present players such as Fred Williamson and Quentin Tarantino (whose "Original Gangstas" and "Jackie Brown" late 1990's films respectively were credited for restoring interest in the subject of this 2002 Toronto Film Festival selected documentary). 

Besides paying tribute to "arguably the greatest female inspiration of the Hip-Hop generation" Juneja also hopes his Pam Grier tribute brings light to the Isaac Julien theory of agitator Jesse Jackson's 1970's anti-blaxploitation protests being responsible for today's lack of substantial numbers of uplifting African-American and ethnic Hollywood roles ("protests eerily similar to Jesse Jackson's recent attacks on rap icons of colour such as Ice Cube," Juneja points out).

For more about Elmore Leonard visit his official ElmoreLeonard.com web site. And be sure to check out the hip-hop programming on Toronto's CKLN 88.1 FM, CHRY 105.5 FM and TheCyberKrib.com, as well as Vancouver's CITR 101.9 FM and HitEmUp.com plus London's CHRW 94.7 FM from February 14-21 for exclusive Pam Grier and Elmore Leonard themed giveaways.

Attached support photography courtesy of HarperCollins ("Elmore Leonard") and DocuRama ("BaadAsss Cinema") respectively.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Source: Alex

Discuss
Printer Friendly

"This is a big deal," Chrestman said before the meeting. "It's not everyday that we have a CNN film crew on campus."

Source: Robesonian

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Snoop Dogg should have little to growl about. He has high-profile roles in spring's big-screen treatment of the TV cop show Starsky & Hutch and in Soul Plane,a summer comedy. Beautiful, a collaborative effort from his CD Paid Tha Cost To Be Da Bo$$, was nominated for two Grammys.

After star turns in prime-time Sugar Bowl ads for cell phone giant Nokia and a spot for AOL, the sleepy-eyed, language-twisting hip-hopper is fast becoming Snoop Dogg Inc., mainstream brand. He's being showered with offers from Hollywood and Madison Avenue.

There are potential ventures into video games, restaurants, animated cartoons and a new licensed apparel deal. Concert tours, an album with collaborators Warren G and Nate Dogg, and a new solo effort out in November also are on tap.

Snoop Dogg is staying mum on the specifics. But "there are a bunch of incredible deals on the table with top brand-name companies," says Ted Chung, manager of Snoop's Doggy Style Records label.

Chuck Schiller, creative chief for The Richards Group, the ad agency behind Nokia's spots, says he believes Snoop Dogg could sell a mélange of products.

"He has a charm and appeal that 99% of us don't have," says Schiller, a 20-year industry veteran. "You could apply that to an awful lot of stuff.

"I could see him selling automobiles or cornflakes with his kids."

With hip-hop and rap gaining mainstream appeal, there's growing acceptance of music artists crossing over to acting and commercial endorsements. But few appear to be as hot as Snoop, who is known as much for his baggage as for his music.

Says Purdue University marketing professor James Oakley: "I don't think anyone but Jennifer Lopez has Snoop's crossover potential in so many areas."

Though everything appears copacetic, what Snoop really wants is to see fruition of his grand plan: becoming an A-list actor in big-budget films like his idol Denzel Washington, with whom he shared screen time in 2001's Training Day. It has been a struggle.

"Right now, they want Snoop for the 2 or 3 million people they think I'll bring to a movie just because of my name," he complains. "I'm looking for more demanding roles, trying to find characters people normally wouldn't expect me to play. I really want to stretch."

Given a problematic past and unsavory image, it's remarkable that anyone would consider the beanpole-thin, West Coast gansta rapper as a Main Street pitchman or budding Hollywood star.

As a teenage Crips gang member in Long Beach, Snoop, aka Calvin Broadus, pocketed up to $1,000 a day selling crack cocaine. He was convicted on felony drug charges and served eight months in prison. Wowed by his rap style, fellow inmates urged him to pursue a recording career. Soon after his release, he faced murder charges for the death of a 20-year-old rival gang member in 1993. He was acquitted.

Notoriety from the case helped fuel sales of his 1993 debut album, Doggystyle, which remains his best seller. His misogynistic lyrics, gin 'n' juice-quaffing rep and open use of marijuana helped propel all six solo records to platinum sales.

'Skeletons in the closet'

Snoop's party image made him a hip-hop icon and led to gigs hosting soft-porn videos Girls Gone Wild, Doggy Style and Snoop Dogg's Doggy Style —among the adult film industry's top sellers in 2001. But his lifestyle, including ties to rap mogul Suge Knight and the late Tupac Shakur, crimped his crossover appeal.

"It's been a slow grind," says Brent Smith, his longtime talent agent at William Morris. "It was difficult to get anyone to believe he could be associated with a product. Lots of times, it was an instant 'no.' Even in music, it used to be hard to package him with artists on tour."

MGM executives initially balked when director Jessy Terrero approached them about casting Snoop in the lead role of pilot Captain Mack in Soul Plane. "They said they couldn't see him in a comedy," Terrero says. "I think they were scared he was going to come to the set with 50 gangbangers."

And last month, NCAA President Myles Brand complained that Nokia's Sugar Bowl spots, which featured Snoop as Sherlock Holmes, a cop and a football player searching for a stolen game trophy, were inappropriate for a prime-time college football audience.

"You can rip apart anyone's life and see skeletons in the closet," Schiller says. "But we're a forgiving nation. There's a love affair for people who figure out their life."

Snoop understands the fear and loathing. But, he says, at 32, he has changed. "The big people on top can't stand to see the good things I'm doing," he says. "They can't get that I had a murder case against me. That I dealt drugs and smoked pot. I don't hide that s ———. But I'm not that person anymore."

A tamer Dogg

These days, Snoop Dogg's life smacks of sedate upper-class suburbia. Security guards and posse members hang out on his driveway, but there are no star trappings inside his home, which is tasteful, comfortable and littered with his kids' Dr. Seuss books and homework. Two ominous looking Rottweilers lounge on the back porch, but Cindy, a frisky schnauzer, dominates his attention.

His Save A Life foundation, which just held a Snooper Bowl charity event in Houston, raises money for causes such as children's hospitals and inner-city youth centers through such events as tackle football games against semi-professional teams. He also coaches his oldest son's Pop Warner youth football league team.

Snoop chills out from an intense schedule in a game room choked with recording gear, computers, videos and a teen-like KEEP OUT sign on the door. Here, he studies actors in old films on cable's Turner Classic Movies, often crashing on a sleeper sofa so he won't wake his wife, Shanté, and kids, Cordé, 9, Cordell, 7, and Cori, 4.

Snoop garnered positive critical reviews in 2001 for his turn as a drug lord back from the dead in the horror film Bones and as a paraplegic crack dealer in Training Day. But it was last summer's MTV comedy sketch series Doggy Fizzle Televizzle that exposed his comedic skills to a broad audience, prompting Nokia and other marketers to take a closer look.

"He has a cool look, attitude and he's funny, a guy all ages, ethnicities and genders can relate to," says Irma Zandl of trends tracker/market researcher Zandl Group.

Snoop's background gives him a street credibility that rings true with 18- to 35-year-olds, a demographic sweet spot, marketing experts says. He has no pretense or artifice, just a knowing attitude behind a sly smile.

And then there's the name that rolls off the tongue like sweet molasses. (He got his nickname as a kid for his resemblance to the Peanuts cartoon canine.)

To Nokia, Snoop was the perfect foil for its hip ads. "We're looking to reach younger consumers, and we felt he had the type of reach," says U.S. marketing chief Jo Harlow, who acknowledges receiving some complaints about Snoop's appearance in the ads.

Not everyone buys into Snoop's prospects for mainstream appeal, especially given the fallout from breast-baring Janet Jackson and crotch-grabbing Nelly in the Super Bowl halftime show. That could make marketers leery about tapping edgy, urban artists as endorsers, media strategist Robbie Vorhaus says.

"While our culture loves a good comeback story, the world changed after the Super Bowl," Vorhaus says. "If he wants to continue the sexually explicit rap image, most public companies will now shy away from him."

Fox News talk show host Bill O'Reilly, whose outrage over Snoop's cameo in NBC's A Very Muppet ChristmasMovie led producers to edit it out, says Snoop's background makes him a poor choice as a product spokesman.

"Culture has been debased to the extent that corporations no longer make judgments about the pitchman's behavior," O'Reilly says. "His blatant exposure of his drug use was noticed by impressionable children. Yet he's rewarded by endorsement deals from major companies. I'm not doing business with those companies."

But as marketers increasingly search for an edge to create product buzz, Snoop Dogg and other controversial celebrities remain just the ticket. That's why AOL, which lost 2.2 million subscribers last year, used Snoop in its ad for its new 9.0 software.

"Snoop had the kind of attitude and surprise we wanted," brand marketing chief Len Short says.

Vital Toys, which is marketing six Snoop kids' action figures, plans to roll out 11 new models by year's end. "We've sold a ton of them," says Vital founder Syd Richlin, a pioneer in the hip-hop toy market.

Snoop's decision to stop smoking pot two years ago also has been an energizing force. Until quitting, he says he used at least 2 ounces of pot a day for decade. "I was Bob Marley reincarnated," Snoop laughs. "I loved what it did for me."

He says he still occasionally lights up, but he's not the chain-toker he used to be. "I get high on life now."

Snoop stopped smoking pot at the urging of longtime mentor and Gap Band co-founder Uncle Charlie Wilson, who said it would help Snoop's career and make him a better dad.

Shanté, who has been with Snoop for 14 years, says his decision to stop helped ramp up an already intense drive. "He's changed for the better," she says. "He's not getting enough rest, but his medicine cabinet is filled with vitamins and energy drinks."

The day of the Super Bowl, Snoop spent the morning coaching a benefit football game for Cordé before suiting up for the Snooper Bowl and later making several promotional Super Bowl appearances. Earlier in the week, he performed at concerts in Austin and San Antonio. "If it's fun, I just do it," Snoop says. "I like to do it all: movies, TV, rap, coach football. I don't like to put limitations on what I do. But if it's not fun, I'm not dealing with it."

With so much going on, he just hired The Firm, a top Beverly Hills management agency whose clients include Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz, to field offers, parlay deals and oversee his schedule. Says business manager Guy Jordan: "The more we keep him working, the happier he is."

Though the Doggfather juggles success and an expansive schedule, what he really wants is to become a beloved actor."People haven't been able to love me on the big screen like they've loved my music," Snoop says while watching Cary Grant in the 1950 classic Crisis.

Hollywood dreams

After Soul Plane and Starsky & Hutch, he'll play a convict in Adam Sandler's remake of The Longest Yard, which begins filming in June. None are destined to be classics, but they're likely to showcase Snoop to a broader audience.

"Snoop's going to surprise people," Soul Plane's Terrero says. "He was funny. He was prepared. Unlike a lot guys who won't get out of their music rap character, he was willing to do different things."

Snoop might never nab a textured role like Grant's perplexed brain surgeon in Crisis or make the short list of top African-American box-office draws. But he hopes for bigger, broader roles than he now gets — variations on lowlifes he has previously played or riffs on the good-time dude from his music videos and concerts.

Snoop says that if he can't gain mainstream acceptance as an actor, he might develop his dream role — the story of a kid who rises above his criminal past to become a pro football star — through Snoopadelic Films, which has focused mostly on music videos.

"I have a reputation," Snoop Dogg concedes. "The hard part is creating a new reputation. I still make mistakes. I'm not perfect. But I don't claim to be."

Source: Usatoday

Discuss
Printer Friendly

A new cable channel devoted to hip-hop culture has secured sponsorship from rap legend Chuck D, as well as CNN co-founder Reese Schonfeld and former Viacom executive David Houle. Aimed at the 18-34 demographic that advertisers covet, the Real Hip-Hop Network is expected to launch this year with a major cable operator through a deal signed with OlympuSat, which packages independent networks for distribution.

RHN is the brainchild of hip-hop concert promoter Atonn Muhammad, president and CEO of SSM Media Group. He believes that MTV and BET are overlooking much of what constitutes the hip-hop world. "America only gets to see a fraction of what true hip-hop represents," he said. "We want to offer a grittier, more real representation."

RHN also represents a more Madison Avenue-friendly approach to hip-hop-themed entertainment than two other recently announced premium cable ventures featuring uncensored music videos: Hype, a joint venture between Bad Boy Entertainment and Playboy, and 1AM, a collaboration between Universal Music Group along with adult programming giant Vivid Video, Shady Records and Endeavor.

With Public Enemy frontman Chuck D, RHN has a hip-hop icon who has long stood in opposition to the materialistic mentality of most mainstream hip-hop. RHN also is talking with Afeni Shakur, mother of slain rapper Tupac Shakur, about getting involved with the network.

Source: Billboard

Discuss
Printer Friendly

This extract is taken from a in depth interview with Zags to read the full interview click here

For now, Turiaf shares a three-room, second-floor campus apartment with former Washington player Erroll Knight. Their cozy quarters lately have been cleaner than usual, mindful that ESPN-TV camera crews have been coming through and documenting players' outside lives, part of an ongoing series featuring the Bulldogs.

For obvious inspiration, Knight has a Michael Jordan game jersey hanging on the wall over his bed. Turiaf's decor leans more to his musical and philosophical tastes: mixed with his collection of 36 hats and countless family photos filling his wall space are several posters of Tupac Shakur and Bob Marley.

"They're both dead and people are still talking about them," Turiaf said. "People still listen to their music, to the lyrics. That shows how important they were. Tupac said, 'Everything you do bad will come back to you.' That's what my life's all about now: I'm trying to do the right thing."

Discuss
Printer Friendly

The estate of rap singer Tupac Shakur is seeking a $37,000 default judgment against a La Puente company.

The estate alleges All Entertainment Inc. and its president, Michael Chew, did not respond to a lawsuit filed Sept. 24 in Pomona Superior Court alleging breach of contract.

The settlement agreement's details are vague, but it asks for All Entertainment to hand over figure dolls and all other inventory.

Court documents show Shakur's estate needs to correct parts of its request for a default judgment before a judge will enforce it. The estate's demands include about $2,150 in attorney fees.

A hearing is set March 9.

The estate's lawyer, Brenda Teig, did not return a call for comment Friday.

A man who answered the telephone at All Entertainment's office at 256 S. Fifth St. on Friday said the company is no longer there and that he did not know Chew's whereabouts.

The man declined to give his name. Court documents did not provide the name of any lawyer who might be representing Chew.Shakur, 25, was shot to death in Las Vegas in September 1996. His killing is unsolved.

Source: Pasa Dena Star

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

''Tupac: Resurrection,'' about late rap star Tupac Shakur, shot dead in 1996 at the age of 25, and ''Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony,'' about the role that native South African music played in the fall of apartheid, both open today at Upstate Films. Like ''Tupac'' and ''Amandla!,'' the screenings this weekend of ''All Power to the People: The Black Panther Party and Beyond'' and ''Girlhood'' are part of Black History Month celebrations at the theater.

As ''Amandla!'' transcends music and South African politics, so does ''Tupac'' tell a story that is much bigger than its subject. ''Amandla!'' could make you cry. ''Tupac'' will very likely impact anyone who has ever watched MTV, maintained a fervent passion or fleeting curiosity for rap music or simply marveled at the cornerstone of American culture into which rap has developed.

Also, ''Tupac'' has a strong local connection -- co-producer Dina LaPolt, a Los Angeles attorney specializing in the entertainment industry, grew up in New Paltz and was a guitar major at SUNY New Paltz, from which she graduated in 1991. Her interest in Shakur dates to the day he was killed, Sept. 13, 1996, when her study partner at law school became so distressed that she packed her belongings and went home.

''That was the first time I can recall even knowing who he was,'' LaPolt said during a recent telephone interview.

LaPolt has worked extensively and closely with Shakur's mother Afeni on legal issues involving Shakur's music that arose after his death. For the movie, she secured the rights to all video footage and music.

''It was a two-year process,'' said LaPolt, who is also a musician who grew up listening to Joan Jett, AC/DC and the Go-Gos

Front and center in the film is Shakur's gentle and caring side, one that might come as a surprise to anyone who never followed rap music. Also revealed are his wonderment, intrigue and disgust at the relationship between the social high life and economic underside of American society.

He is the son of a high-ranking Black Panther who carried him while she served time in jail and successfully defended herself in court; a childhood fan of the fantasy found in television's ''Diff'ren't Strokes; earnest student at a performing arts high school in Baltimore; fervent poet and fan of Don McLean's music; and alleged victim of brutality at the hands of police in Oakland, Calif.

''What I like about Tupac is that he was real,'' said Tomas Mercado, 32, of Poughkeepsie, who has not seen the movie but enjoy's Shakur's music. ''I think he was a true poet.''

Countless interviews and priceless footage expose Shakur as someone with a big heart, polished edges and big mouth. He seems to have little problem confronting his insecurities, mistakes and failures, whether on trial accused of sexual assault, after harshly criticizing the filmmaker Spike Lee and comedian Eddie Murphy during a television interview or while in jail after conviction in court.

Any fan of Shakur will want to make time to see this movie, as the performance footage is up close and personal and the dialogue and interviews offer a wide window on this huge star.

''Everybody has this preconceived notion of who he is,'' said LaPolt. ''You go see the movie and you're like, 'My God.'... It's a human interest story. It could have been about his neighbor. It could have been about Scott Weiland from the Stone Temple Pilots.''

Source: Poughkeeps

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Yesterday, New Jersey based Jerzey Mob Recordz signed a nationwide distribution deal with 101 Distribution.

The labels first release under the new deal will be a label compilation tentatively titled The Official Jerzey Mob.

For more information on Jerzey Mob Recordz, as well as the CDs tracklist, head over to the labels official website, JerzeyMob.com.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Jimi Kendrix is a hot new producer who has worked with a variety of artists. We at StreetHop had a chance to catch up with the new mega producer and discuss his background in production, his future plans, as well as the upcoming projects for Family Bizness Muzik, a new upstart label which Jimi is a part of.

Read the Interview

Discuss
Printer Friendly

50 Cent, who was nominated for five Grammy awards and won none, decided to make his way onto the Grammy stage even after losing to Evanescence for "Best New Artist".

The "walk by" left fans cheering and laughing, as 50 walked his way across the stage by himself at the start of Evanescence acceptance speech and then waved into the camera at the end of this apparent Grammy stunt.

Click here to download a video clip of the insident.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Famed hip-hop artist Kris “KRS-One” Parker, who has 16 gold platinum records, spoke at Packard Laboratory about the history, influence and importance of the Hip-hop movement.

“Rap is something we do,” Parker said. “Hip-hop is something we live.”

The difference between the two is massive, Parker said. Hip-hop is a real consciousness that strives to establish health, love, awareness and wealth. Rap is something produced for pure entertainment.

The presentation of Hip-hop via television and radio only demonstrates the effects of the movement, Parker explained.

“This is not Hip-hop,” Parker said. “The cause and original essence of the movement, the thing that causes these effects, is the consciousness of Hip-hop.”

Most fans of Hip-hop do not know its true roots and are not aware of what was put into the movement that made it what it is today.

Parker participated in and fueled the Hip-hop movement. He describes his mottos as a result of the 35 years of experience he holds as a metaphysician. This is a philosophy he says he learned from his mother.

His philosophy, which he adopted at a very young age, revolves around concepts such as “keeping it real” and “having the courage to be you.” Hip-hop, Parker said, allows these concepts to thrive in people.

The beginning of Hip-hop, as Parker described it, flourished out of racism, integration and riots in the 1960s. He said the FBI was running counter-intelligence programs, attempting to stamp out all budding or existent social movements through assassinations and the distribution of heroin into black and Latino communities.

Meanwhile, at age seven, Parker and his friends were playing in a park in the Bronx listening to the empowering music of James Brown. It was in this park that children first began break dancing to the beats and needle-dropping of Cool DJ Herk, Parker said.

Parker said that as children come together to listen to this DJ and his music, they were united by a common feeling of oppression.

This new music that teens in the Bronx began dancing to in the afternoons was, as Parker said, the beginning of a movement that would be guiding youth and raising one’s self worth.

As new and different DJs entered the scene in the mid-1970s, each one brought with him an invention or style that furthered the progression of hip-hop to what it has become today, Parker said.

Joseph Sadler, a certified electrician living in the Bronx, heard this new music that was being blasted on every street corner. He rewired a toggle switch to an amplifier, which then allowed for smoother transitions between breaks in the record and the elimination of needle-dropping all together. As inventor of the mixer, Joseph Sadler soon became known as famed DJ Grandmaster Flash. Today this mixer is used by all DJs.

Parker used Grandmaster Flash’s anecdote to reinforce his philosophy that people must have the courage to be themselves.

“Even if it means getting kicked out of college, can you do it? Can you be you?” Parker said.

“It was an unexpected, uplifting, great experience,” Eddy Einbinder, ’05, said.

Kris Parker is involved in two organizations that help support his philosophy and the importance of hip-hop. The first is Human Education Against Lies, and the second is Temple of Hip-Hop, whose purpose is to define and teach Hip-hop and win victory over the streets.

By Aliza Jennifer Zelin

Discuss
Printer Friendly

The Outlawz are on a new DVD put out by Boss Gambino, and it's called Boss Gambino's Mobb Life Vol. 1. It also features Killa Tay, C-BO, Yukmouth, Dru Down, The Régime, Mob Figaz, Fat Tone, and some other Bay Area rappers. There is a short summary on RapBay.com that says, "Join the Boss on a wild ride through LA, Las Vegas, Sacramento, & the Bay."

Here is a picture of the DVD: www.rapbay.com/catalog/images/mobb life.jpg

To order it you can go to www.rapbay.com or www.friscostreetshow.com

Source: Rapbay.com

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Rated R and his group Presidential will be releasing their second CD (Presidential II) as soon as this summer. Rated R is also involved in an upcoming movie about Thug Life. I will keep everyone updated with all the Presidential/Rated R news. I Will also have some new Rated R pictures hopefully this week, and I will see if I can post some exclusive audio.

To order the Presidential CD, and hear some tracks from it head to www.indastreets.net

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Napoleon, Muzamil, EDI and Hassachi Ryda all appear on the upcoming album Mob Life Records Presents... Cablez - Tha Movement.  Here is the final tracklisting:

01. Mutulu Shakur Intro
02. Gotta Be A Way
03. Message From Edi
04. Bustaz (Featuring Edi)
05. Just Wanna Get Away
06. Message From Hassachi Ryda
07. Hold Me Down (Featuring Hassachi Ryda)
08. We Here Now (Featuring Fue)
09. Freak It
10. Message From JT The Bigga Figga
11. Nuthin’ Like That Mob Life (Featuring JT The Bigga Figga)
12. U Don’t Want No Problemz (Featuring Q.U.)
13. Message From Napoleon
14. Tha Life That We Live (Featuring Napoleon, Muszamil & Nzingha Shakur)
15. Whatchu Gon’ Do?
16. Message From Assassin
17. Tha Life I Lead (Featuring Assassin & Arsinist)
18. Message From Muszamil
19. Survival On Tha Streetz (Featuring Muszamil)
20. Dirty World
21. Who Gon’ Fuck Wit Us? (Featuring Fue & Sonny Garcia)
22. Mutulu Shakur Outro
23. Bonus Track (Featuring Spice 1, Assassin, San Quinn & Q.U.)
 
Tha Life That We Live (Single)

01. Mutulu Shakur Intro (Unavailable on LP)
02. LP Version (Featuring Napoleon, Muszamil & Nzingha Shakur)
03. Radio Edit (Featuring Napoleon, Muszamil & Nzingha Shakur)
04. Remix (Featuring Napoleon & Muszamil)
05. Instrumental
06. Gotta Be A Way

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Here is the final tracklisting for the album Mob Life Records Presents... Cablez - Tha Movement:

01. Mutulu Shakur Intro
02. Gotta Be A Way
03. Message From Edi
04. Bustaz (Featuring Edi)
05. Just Wanna Get Away
06. Message From Hassachi Ryda
07. Hold Me Down (Featuring Hassachi Ryda)
08. We Here Now (Featuring Fue)
09. Freak It
10. Message From JT The Bigga Figga
11. Nuthin’ Like That Mob Life (Featuring JT The Bigga Figga)
12. U Don’t Want No Problemz (Featuring Q.U.)
13. Message From Napoleon
14. Tha Life That We Live (Featuring Napoleon, Muszamil & Nzingha Shakur)
15. Whatchu Gon’ Do?
16. Message From Assassin
17. Tha Life I Lead (Featuring Assassin & Arsinist)
18. Message From Muszamil
19. Survival On Tha Streetz (Featuring Muszamil)
20. Dirty World
21. Who Gon’ Fuck Wit Us? (Featuring Fue & Sonny Garcia)
22. Mutulu Shakur Outro
23. Bonus Track (Featuring Spice 1, Assassin, San Quinn & Q.U.)
 
Tha Life That We Live (Single)

01. Mutulu Shakur Intro (Unavailable on LP)
02. LP Version (Featuring Napoleon, Muszamil & Nzingha Shakur)
03. Radio Edit (Featuring Napoleon, Muszamil & Nzingha Shakur)
04. Remix (Featuring Napoleon & Muszamil)
05. Instrumental
06. Gotta Be A Way

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Listen to the Interview

Discuss
Printer Friendly

The British radio DJ and television show host Trevor Nelson recently presented The Rhythm Nation - The Top 50 Albums Of The Decade (1993-2003). Tupac's 9X platinum double LP, All Eyez On Me, topped the list. The list is as follows:

01. 2PAC - All Eyez On Me (1996)
On his prison release, Tupac signed to Suge Knight's Death Row Records. Massive tracks followed including "California Love" and "I Ain't Mad At Cha."

02. Lauryn Hill - Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill (1998)
We wondered whether she could beat the sounds of The Fugees and then Lauryn Hill went on to amaze with her debut album. Winner of 5 Grammy Awards.

03. Dr Dre - 2001 (1999)
As well as crafting compelling cuts for the likes of Snoop Dogg and Eminem, Dre dropped two of the most acknowledged hip-hop albums of all time. 2001 featured "Still D.R.E." and "Forgot About Dre."

04. Justin Timberlake - Justified (2002)
If you leave a band to go solo its daunting enough. Add in crossing genres from pop to R&B - with Justified JT made the move successfully... all be it with Jacko's influence and strong Neptunes input.

05. 50 Cent - Get Rich Or Die Tryin' (2003)
Hailing from the streets of New York he was infamously shot nine times before Eminem signed him. The smash hit single "In Da Club" took 50 to phenomenal success - he has sold over eight million albums.

06. TLC - CrazySexyCool (1994)
The biggest selling female trio. CrazySexyCool was TLC's master piece - classic songs "Waterfalls" and "Creep" crossed over into the mainstream.

07. Alicia Keys - Songs In A Minor (2001)
Being spotted by the man who signed Aretha and Whitney may have weighed some artists down not Ms. Keys. This debut set sold over 7 million worldwide and won 5 Grammys.

08. The Fugees - The Score (1996)
2nd album from the New Jersey trio, breaking away from the gansta rap of the mid 90's fusing rap, R&B and reggae. "Killing Me Softly" and "Ready Or Not" were massive hits worldwide.

09. Mariah Carey - Butterfly (1997)
Some claimed that this was Mariah declaring independence from ex-husband and label boss Tommy Mattola. Much of it is devoted to ballads like "My All," except the Puff Daddy produced track "Honey."

10. Usher - 8701 (2001)
Grammy award winning 3rd album from Atlanta born singer Usher Raymond, production teams on the project included The Neptunes and Jam & Lewis.

11. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
"Stan," "The Way I Am," "Real Slim Shady"... just some of the reasons - along with the ballistic beats of Dr. Dre, why this man has become the name in pop and hip-hop globally, love him or loathe him.

12. Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle (1993)
Until 50 Cent's Get Rich Or Die Tryin' this was the biggest selling debut rap album, hit singles include "What's My Name?" and "Gin 'N' Juice."

13. Aaliyah - Aaliyah (2001)
Her 3rd album was the last complete studio set before her untimely death in a plane crash. Selections such as "We Need A Resolution" and "More Than a Woman," honed as usual by Timbaland production.

14. Destiny's Child - The Writings On The Wall (1999)
The original four girl line up, with assured singing and catchy chorus lines, made an album to please pop people and purists. "Bills, Bills, Bills," "Bug A Boo" and "Say My Name" did the business by night and day.

15. Craig David - Born To Do It (2000)
Having established a foothold on the music scene via his UK Garage material, Craig went onto to unveil an album that shifted over seven million copies and delivered huge singles like "7 Days" and "Fill Me In."

16. Jay-Z - The Blueprint (2001)
Regarded by many as his best album to date, The Blueprint rackeds up Jay-Z's sixth platinum album with hit singles "Girls Girls Girls", and "Takeover."

17. TLC - Fanmail (1999)
The pressure was on to deliver after success of CrazySexyCool. Featured R&B anthems "No Scrubs" and "Unpretty" and strong videos too.

18. Eminem - The Eminem Show (2002)
Now more than a mere artist, a media phenomenon. "Lose Yourself" and "Cleanin Out My Closet" showed he still had his eye on the music.

19. Nas - Illmatic (1994)
Along with fellow East coast rappers Wu-Tang Clan and B.I.G. - Nasir Jones is seen as a main cog during a golden age for East Coast rap music. Check likes of "It Ain't Hard To Tell" and "The World Is Yours."

20. Aaliyah - One In A Million (1996)
With her debut "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number," Aaliyah stamped her mark on the R&B scene as a major talent. Here she cemented that impression on cuts like "One In A Million" and "If Your Girl Only Knew."

21. Whitney Houston - My Love is Your Love (1998)
One of the biggest pop stars of all time, Whitney has been making hit records since the early 80's. She returned after an eight year break with this set featuring "It's Not Right But It's Okay" and "Heartbreak Hotel."

22. Beyoncé - Dangerously In Love (2003)
Leaving Destiny's Child to one side, Beyoncé shows why she is the star of the trio. It includes sexy collaborations with Sean Paul and Jay-Z from the new school and Luther Vandross from the old school.

23. The Notorious B.I.G - Ready To Die (1994)
Sean "Puffy" Combs signed Christopher Wallace to the newly formed Bad Boy Records, Ready To Die went multi-platinum and put East Coast rap back on the map.

24. The Notorious B.I.G - Life After Death (1997)
Released on the 25th March 1997 two weeks after his death in LA, Life After Death is one of the biggest selling rap albums of all time. Leaving B.I.G as a legend of the rap game.

25. N.E.R.D. - In Search Of... (2002)
One of the hottest production teams, Chad and Pharrell donned their No One Ever Really Dies personna to combine styles on this set. Innovative and interesting take on the hip-hop/R&B soundscape.

26. Boyz II Men - II (1994)
Massive sales for this and the preceeding album (20 million in the USA) mean they go down in R&B and mainstream chart history. II featured "I'll Make Love To You," "On Bended Knee" and "Water Runs Dry."

27. Sean Paul - Dutty Rock (2002)
Argubly the most succesful dancehall reggae act to cross over into the mainstream arena, Dutty Rock has sold over three million units worldwide. Hit singles "Gimme The Light," "Get Busy" and "Like Glue."

28. Jill Scott - Who Is Jill Scott? (2000)
The question was answered in fine style on Philly singer/songwriter's debut. Strong from start to finish with standouts like "Slowly Surely," "A Long Walk," "Getting In The Way" and "He Loves Me."

29. Erykah Badu - Baduizm (1997)
If D'Angelo helped develop a new style for R&B/soul, Erykah Badu made an equally strong contribution to the neo-soul sound. An album to chill to - old school soul mixed with jazz.

30. Janet Jackson - Velvet Rope (1997)
Many artists would struggle to follow in the footsteps of megastar siblings, but Janet has secured superstar status in her own right. Her sixth album debuted at number one with hits galore.

31. D'Angelo - Brown Sugar (1995)
Responsible not only for this superb debut album, but also the rebirth of soul/RnB as neo soul. Straddled the ground between Marvin Gaye and Prince on tunes like "Brown Sugar," "Lady" and "Crusin'."

32. R. Kelly - R (1998)
Hugely successful double album which went multi platinum. The single "Believe I Can Fly" earned him a Grammy award and became a wedding anthem!

33. Destiny's Child - Survivor (2001)
The "Independent Women" single from this set, could be said to perfectly sum up the female psyche of the time. Title track and "Emotions" continued chart domination for the now trio of Texans.

34. Ms. Dynamite - A Little Deeper (2002)
A Little Deeper... just that. Proving there is more to Dynamite than MCing on singles like "It Takes More" and "Dy-Na-Mi-Tee."

35. Blackstreet - Blackstreet (1994)
Acknowledged as the originator of "swingbeat," Teddy Riley linked that style with a more R&B group feel. They blended vocal harmonies to create a 'swingsoul' sound on cuts like "U Blow My Mind" and "Joy."

36. R. Kelly - Chocolate Factory (2003)
Latest offering which topped the Billboard album charts early in 2003, the single "Ignition (Remix)" stayed at number 1 on the UK charts for several weeks.

37. Missy Elliot - Under Construction (2002)
With Timbaland behind the boards once again, Missy's midas touch continues. Singles include "Work It" and "Gossip Folks."

38. Outkast - Stankonia (2000)
Wacky duo hailing from Atlanta, Georgia. They saw their 4th studio album catapult them into the mainstream thanks to the multi-award winning single "Ms. Jackson" and "So Fresh So Clean."

39. India Aire - Acoustic Soul (2001)
Atlanta soul scene has produced several significant names, none more so than Aire. She struck a chord with her meaningful lyrics and strong but uncomplicated melodies on tracks like "Brown Skin" and "Video."

40. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (1993)
Their third album, Midnight Marauders, offered up arguably the best illustration of their "message" style hip-hop musings, via tracks like "Award Tour," "Sucka Nigga" and "Electric Relaxation."

41. Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt (1996)
The first instalment in what proves to be the finest East Coast rap debut album since B.I.G.'s Ready To Die set . Major hits with "Can't Knock The Hustle" and "Brooklyn's Finest."

42. Missy Elliot - So Addictive (2001)
The lead single from this album "Get Ur Freak On" inspired other hip-hop producers to use beats from other forms of music around the world.

43. Maxwell - Urban Hang Suite (1996)
Along with D'Angelo and Erykah Badu many urban music fans feel that Maxwell co-created the term neo classic soul with this album.

44. Ja Rule - Pain is Love (2001)
The Murder Inc. main man dominated the charts with this 3rd album. Filled with hits that included "Always On Time," "Livin' It Up" and "I'm Real."

45. Ashanti - Ashanti (2002)
After being guest vocalist for Fat Joe's "What's Luv?" and Ja Rule's "Always On Time," her own album debut carried her on the Murder Inc. wave of success. Mainstream charts loved "Foolish," "Happy" and "Baby."

46. Jodeci - Diary Of A Mad Band (1993)
K-Ci & JoJo and the crew elegantly combined swingbeat and sweet soul on their 2nd release. Highlights like "Cry For You," "My Heart Belongs To You" and "Feenin."

47. Joe - All That I Am (1997)
The sophomore album from the East Coast crooner contained "All The Things Your Man Wont Do," "Good Girls" and "Don't Wanna Be A Player."

48. Lucy Pearl - Lucy Pearl (2000)
A group made up of ex members from En Vogue, Toni! Tony! Toné! and A Tribe Called Quest released their only album packed with quality like "Don't Mess With My Man," and "Everyday."

49. Common - Like Water For Chocolate (2000)
An album that combined mellow hip-hop with jazz, soul and afrobeat flavours to universal acclaim. "The Light," "The 6th Sense" and "Time Travellin'" strong examples of the varied styles presented.

50. Mary J. Blige - My Life (1994)
Hit the spot for many with its true to life outpourings. With Sean "Puffy" Combs on production duties, it established her as the Queen of hip-hop soul. Strong cuts included "My Life," "Be Happy" and "Going Down."

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Jerzey Mob Recordz, the third generation of Tupac’s legacy, have just launched their official website, JerzeyMob.com. The label will release their official group album this year, as well as two mixtapes in the next few months and a solo album by Dirty Bert.

The label is also planning to release a mixtape dedicated to their mentors, Tupac Shakur and Kadafi.

Click here to check out the site. Please leave feedback on their official forum.

Fans can purchase Dirty Bert’s first single by clicking here.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Source: roaches,

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Def Jux recording artists Aesop Rock and C-Rayz Walz will be touring through Europe. Here are the locations and dates:

Dates - City - Venue:

02/19/04 - Dublin, IR - Ra Ra
02/21/04 - Edinburgh, UK - The Venue
02/22/04 - London, UK - 93 Feet East
02/23/04 - Paris, FR - Noveu Casino
02/25/04 - Amsterdam, NE - Melkweg
02/26/04 - Bremen, DE - Tower
02/27/04 - Duisberg, DE - Hundertmeister
02/28/04 - Zurich, CH - Rote Fabrik
02/29/04 - Friborug, CH - Fri-son

For more info contact Def Jux or one of the venue's listed.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

The Tuesday that Nikki Giovanni rolled into Alex's New Tattoos in Roanoke, jazzed by an epiphany, she embraced the thug she knew she was.

The tattoo parlor's owner, however, met the internationally known poet, writer, activist and educator with skepticism.

"He said, 'You don't look like a thug,' and I said, 'Oh, yeah. I am. As long as they're killing thugs, that's who I want to be,'" she said. "I've always said I'd rather be with the guy running than the guys chasing him."

Convinced, the tattoo parlor owner spent an hour with Giovanni creating the perfect, feminine-edged design for "Thug Life." The black tattoo with curlicue letters on Giovanni's left forearm gives permanent props to rapper Tupac Shakur, who had the words tattooed across his abdomen.

Giovanni got her version in 1996, four days after Shakur was gunned down near the Las Vegas strip in what she described as the silencing of "a great voice of a generation." The impact was akin to the loss of other greats, including Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., she said.

"I was trying to say that I mourn with the next generation. But the only people who know how I feel are the people who know my work," said the poet who also wrote "All Eyez on U (For 2Pac Shakur)."

"I wanted to make a statement that was bigger."

Source: Timesdispatch

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Source: Paul Goedhart

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Arista Records is scheduled to release Cee-Lo's, from the Goodie Mob, new LP, Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine, on March 2nd 2004. The tracklist is as follows:

01. Soul Machine
02. Passion Fruit - featuring Pharrel Williams
03. Living Again
04. The One - featuring Jazze Pha and T.I.
05. My Kind Of People - featuring Jazze Pha
06. All Day Love Affair
07. Child'z Play - featuring Ludacris
08. Moments In Soul (interlude)
09. Evening News - featuring Cognac The Conversation and Honeymoon
10. Scrap Metal - featuring Big Rube and G-Rock
11. Glockappella
12. When We Were Friends
13. I'll Be Around - featuring Timbaland
14. I Am "The Music" (interlude)
15. Somtimes
16. Ego Trip - featuring Menta Malone
17. Beautiful Fool
18. Let's Stay Together - featuring Pharrel Williams
19. Die Trying
20. For Old Times' Sake... Free
21. What Don't You Do? (outro)

For more information on Cee-Lo, click here to check out his official website.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

This week, its 12th week on the charts, the soundtrack for Tupac: Resurrection fell from the 48th to the 49th position on The Billboard 200.

Hopefully, the upcoming video for the second single, "One Day At A Time" featuring Eminem and the Outlawz, can help the soundtrack climb back up on the charts.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

WCRydaz.com: What's your thoughts on these commercial dudes being thrown on Pac's records, such as Trick Daddy and T.I., while dudes like Mac Mall and even Nutt-So are taken off and replaced?

Yukmouth: Man, damn. I'm not feeling that. I feel if they was Pac's partners you need to roll with it. I would follow the guidelines of All Eyez On Me. That was the Bay niggas. He had E-40, B-Legit, Rappin' 4-Tay, Richie Rich, C-BO. You feel me? Mac Mall on some other albums, ocassional Digital Underground 'cause they was his peoples.

You're supposed to stick with that clique, the niggas on every album that came out, and the Outlawz and Thug Life. That whole clique of niggas only who should be on the albums. If it ain't them, don't try it. He had love for Snoop and Daz and them. I've heard it was a fallout between Snoop and him when he passed, but he had love for Tha Dogg Pound, Kurupt and all of them. He always thought Kurupt was one of the illest spitters.

Just stick with that, man. DJ Quik on the production, Johnny "J," that nigga Hurt-M-Badd. Who else? I think one more other motherfucker. Keep that production team, man. The niggas that made Pac's shit what it was, man. That made it sound what it was, the "Hail Mary" sound, that type of music you always think of Pac now.

It's like Mannie Fresh got his own sound. Pac had his own sound on All Eyez On Me and Makaveli, feel me? Right now you can't tell. I'd stick to the same elements, the acoustic type, Mexican type of shit, you know what I mean? "Me And My Girlfriend" type of beats and shit, with the guitars - that's Pac all day.

They've got to stick with that, man. To each his own. It's still selling. It ain't like it's going raw. Shit's still doing double platinum everytime, so they're doing something right, but it always could be better.

It seems like Afeni takes them off 'cause they aren't out there getting radio play.

Yeah, just rolling with what's popping today. I feel that, too. Nobody could decide for Tupac's mom, only her. I'm just voicing my opinion. If I was conducting the album, I'd put a lot of Pac's homies, which he put on the first few albums, just to  keep that love, along with some of the new features to keep it up to date. And just do a blend, you know? That's how I'd do it.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Country kids learn a new beat from renowned rapper "Morganics"

Breakdancing, rapping and graffiti really took off in Australia in the 80s. But far from being flash in the pan fads, the hip hop culture remains a popular way for marginalised youth to express themselves.

As part of the Kimberley program of the Perth International Arts Festival, on this month, renowned hip hip artist Morganics is teaching his style to Derby kids.

20 years ago Morganics was breakdancing on the streets of Sydney. Since then he’s worked with central desert aboriginal communities, prison inmates and children in country towns, getting them to voice opinions and issues through music, dance and hip hop art.

Morganics has a genuine interest in his community work and in just a few days the Kimberley Kids Project has already inspired Derby youth to write lyrics, learn dance moves and think outside the square.

The workshops also include time with award winning country musicians Jimmy Little and James Blundell.

Several lucky children will be flown to Perth to perform their hip hop moves in the Concert Hall for PIAF.

As Morganics explains, Hip Hop culture is about breakdancing, rapping, DJ-ing, and voice percussion called beatboxing.

Source: ABC

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Aftermath Entertainment recording artist The Game recently released a double disc mixtape entitled Live From Compton. On the song "Cocaine," the Compton rapper imitates Tupac's lyrics and style.

Whether or not it's a tribute or a rip off can be debated as The Game in fact does give it up to Tupac at the end of the song. The lyrics are as follows:

I'm too gangsta for the streets
Watch me when I creep
I'll put five in your Jeep
Leave a nigga's sleep
Now you six feet deep over bullshit
Got a Mac 10
Mouth ain't never pulled shit
The ghetto don't make G's
If mo' niggas get down to lay down
Like Beanie Mac told niggas
Meet the fo' fo', nigga
I let them guns blow, nigga
I'm a rider
Thug Life 'til I die
Black Wall Street behind us
I'm a menace to society
Fuck Caine and O-Dog
I've got the caine and the O's, dog
I'm gangsta like hennessey and alizé
Thug passion
Ride or die 'til they kill me
Or put me in Thugz Mansion
Gang banging
This California lifestyle got me heated
They want me buried
So I don't leave without the Desert Eagle
Shoot first
Ask questions on my way to county jail
Kill a nigga over my chain
Because I know I'ma make bail
I'm troublesome

If I die tonight
Bury me a G
Amongst rap legends
'Cause I spit bullets and rhymes
Sixteens and nines
I keep a vest and a weapon
My baby mama got me stressing
Praying on my knees every night
Asking God if there's a heaven
So here is my confession
To my unborn child
Them five shots couldn't drop me
But I ain't take 'em and smile
I lost a lot of my niggas
The gang banging is digits
One finga on the trigga, dog
I live the life of a sinner
These motherfuckers wanna see me doing life in the pen
I'm an outlaw
And the West Coast is riding again
My competition is none
I'm on a mission with guns
Staring death in the eyes
20 niggas deep
When we ride
My enemies is bitches
They're plotting on my riches
Can't walk in the streets
Without the paparazzi taking pictures
Label me a made nigga
All the way from Compton to Boston
These niggas keep talking
I leave them dead in a coffin
I'm troublesome

Money over bitches is my motto
In the streets I'm known for catching hollows
Packing pistols and drinking belvian out of the bottle
No role models
Only killers and fiends
Witness my niggas strapped
With gats and army fatigues
If it's murder
He wrote it
If I'm lying
Let the XXL quote it
And know that I'm strictly a rap poet
Baptized in my own tears
Chastized by my own peers
I'm a product of my childhood years
My mother told me that I'm hopeless
My pops wasn't around
One of the reasons why I'm clutching the pound
California dreaming
Chronic smoke out of the Beemer
One hand on the nina
Scheming
Got these hoochie bitches screaming
They know that I'm a celebrity
Keep them cop killers in the clip and watch my back
Is what my niggas keep telling me
21-year-old
No felony
So I ride with the desert
And pay homage to the hardest rap legend
I'm troublesome

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Makaveli Branded is presenting the NBA All Star Weekend & Valentines Day Jump-Off Party on Saturday, February 14th.

It will be held at Club Lingerie located at 6507 Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, California. Doors open at 9PM and the party will go on until 2AM.

The event will be hosted by Gloria “Glory” Velez, XXL’s Eye Candy of the Year and will feature special performances by The Outlawz, Spit Fiya and others. It will also feature music by DJ Warrior, DJ Syphe and The Cali Untouchables. There will be a Makaveli Ladies Model search, 2Pac: Rap Phenomenon mixtape giveaways, Makaveli Branded giveways and Lingerie giveaways.

Special celebrity invites include Mike Epps, Ying Yank Twins, Lil Flip, Twista, Amare Stoudamire, Antwair Smith, Scarface and more.

Click here to download the event flyer.

Makaveli Branded is also hosting the All Star Weekend Tip Off Party on Thursday, February 12th. Click here for details.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

It's not exactly the stuff classic music legends are made of – Danny Leaosavai'i (aka Brotha D) and Andy Murnane (aka YDNA) met while on a business course in 1996.

But what they created was definitely the stuff of dreams. From funds raised selling clever Samoan-flavoured logo T-shirts in South Auckland's Otara flea market, the two wannabe hip-hop artists set about building the Dawn Raid empire.

Now their interests have expanded to include the clothing business Dawn Raid Streetwear; Dawn Raid Studios, a 32-track digital studio which can be hired by the public; Dawn Raid Promo and Print, which does screenprinting and promotional apparel; and Dawn Raid Graphix, a computer graphics and web-design business.

Danny Leaosavai'i was in Christchurch last weekend for the Fa – Pacific Arts festival passing on his enthusiasm for music.

"We love hip-hop. It's like, me and Andy's passion. It's the reason we got together, and all of it – what the big fuss is all about – is because we're doing it on a professional level now. Before we used to just beat the drums on the desktops at school, but now we've built studios and we record it down."

On top of the many different branches of Dawn Raid, there's the Dawn Raid community trust.

"We've never ever seen it as giving back to the community. We've always believed it was our community. What people don't realise is that it's the community that drives us. It's part of our life."

Danny has fostered his talent-spotting skills. He says he doesn't know how he does it but he looks for "something special".

He has signed and fostered the talents of Ill Semantics, the Deceptikonz, Mareko, and up-and-coming R'n'B duo Adeaze.

"I get to know them before I actually grab them and sign them up. I find out their history, their background, how their family is. It's the whole package. First and foremost, most of the kids I've developed are people from my own neighbourhood, my community. Nainz and Viiz (of Adeaze), they're from Mangere, which is part of South Auckland. There's a whole bunch coming through, because now they believe they can do it."

Any advice for all the wannabes out there?

"It's real simple. If you believe it's you and it's something you wanna do, you're going to always see it through. You're going to get a job and do your music at the same time. It's not going to hinder your progress. You're not going to (succeed by) sitting at home, thinking 'Someone's gotta do something for me'. Nah. You pick up the guitar and you do it yourself. These guys (Adeaze) were playing a long time before I got to them."

Promoting music is fairly straightforward to Brotha D.

"I believe in the beautiful music. I don't believe in the marketing of it too much. If you've got an awesome song, then that song should come across."

By Margaret Agnew

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Indastreets.net, the site that is selling the new CD from Rated R's new group Presidential is interviewing him very soon. This is one of the first Rated R interviews so it's going to be big.  At the bottom there is a link to the temporary forum for indastreets.net where you can go to post your questions. Most of the questions posted will be asked, so ask anything you want.

http://pub6.dream-tools.net/tools/messages.mv?index streettalk

Discuss
Printer Friendly

JASMINE GUY first met Afeni Shakur in December 1994. Guy and friend Jada Pinkett (now Jada Pinkett-Smith), a close friend of Tupac Shakur, went to a New York City courthouse where Tupac was awaiting a hearing on sexual assault charges. Wrapped in bandages and confined to a wheelchair, Tupac had been shot five times the night before in the foyer of a Manhattan recording studio.

Guy met Afeni in the hallway. The women quickly struck up a friendship, and the former Alvin Ailey dancer and "A Different World" ' co-star was fascinated with Afeni's life.

Guy, who stars in her second season on the Showtime series "Dead Like Me" ' (10 p.m. Friday), spent the next 10 years talking with and recording Afeni's thoughts. Guy initially thought about making a movie on her life, but turned these intimate conversations into a book, "Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary." '

Guy signs copies of her book Tuesday at 2000 Bookstore in Long Beach.

The memoir spans four decades, revealing the evolution of Shakur through a series of frank personal discussions on love, race, drugs, music and her son, Tupac, who was riding in the car of Death Row Records founder Suge Knight when he was shot four times. He died six days later, Sept. 13, 1996. His murder remains unsolved. Afeni doesn't hold back, and Guy is there every step of the way to capture every word.

Controversial, outspoken and candid, Shakur presents her life as she lived it -- from the dirt roads of rural North Carolina to the streets of the lower Bronx. She talks about her marriages, her pregnancies, her drug addiction, abandoning her daughter, Sekyiwa, her addiction recovery, her years in the Black Panther Party and her love of Shakespeare.

Here, Guy, 37, recounts meeting Afeni, listening to Tupac's music and putting everything in the book.

Q: What was it like the first time you met Afeni outside that courtroom in December 1994?

A: It wasn't quite what I had envisioned. I was feeling that I should sit back and let the family do their thing. (But) Afeni was so warm. She looked right at me and gave me a big hug, and was so grateful that Jada and I were there.

Q: Did she know who you were?

A: She knew that (Tupac and I) were friends. Actually, I won an Image Award from the NAACP, I forget exactly when. I went to the press tent afterward, I thought, to talk about the award. But all they did was ask me about this rapper Tupac. What did I feel about him winning an award? Should he have been nominated?

I wasn't up on the controversy and didn't get what the big deal was. The songs at that time that I knew him for were "Brenda" s Got a Baby'' and "Keep Ya Head Up." ' I was really confused. What's the big problem with "Keep Ya Head Up" '?

When I said, "Could you be specific about the songs you find offensive?" ' They said, "I don" t find them offensive, but (some people) and different women's groups do.'' I said, "I think we have to listen to pop music with a discerning ear. Even based on that, I don" t see that he, in particular, is responsible for most of the bitch and 'ho music out there.' I thought Two Live Crew (was more offensive).

The Shakur family heard that I'd stood up for him. It was purely a social opinion. I wasn't standing up for him because he was my friend's friend kind of thing.

Q: At the time you weren't familiar with his more controversial music, but since listening to more of his music, what do you think of the songs?

A: I wasn't offended by Tupac's music. I've been offended by some rap music, but his music wasn't offensive to me, especially in the beginning when he was so focused on his life experiences. If anything, I thought, 'This guy has something to say.'

Q: Were you surprised other people were offended by it?

A: I felt that (his) music as a whole was being attacked. Because he was so visible, I thought he was used as the scapegoat.

Q: What did you know about Afeni before you met her?

A: I knew she had been a very high-profile Black Panther in the New York Chapter.

I was fascinated with the New York 21 trial. (In 1969, Afeni and 20 other Black Panther Party members were arrested on suspicion of planning bombings. She was acquitted of all charges.) She fought to represent herself with no education and no law degree, obviously. She ended up studying and defending herself in such a way that it got her acquitted and, I believe, got them acquitted.

Q: What events in her life did she tell you about that got you upset?

A: There were certain things that my sensibilities didn't want to share about her life as her friend, things about her daughter. I kept thinking, even though she told me, does she really, really, really want this in the book?

Even when I went to talk with Sekyiwa, her daughter, she said she didn't feel comfortable with it. We both knew that the period of (Afeni's) drug use was horrible. She left that kid, and she was left to fend to her own devices. There's no other way to sugarcoat it.

I'm not as open as Afeni is, but that's also what I admire about her. She'll say this was a (bad) thing to do and I did it and I claim it.

We had looked at other writers for her story before I wrote it. Part of the problem was that she felt they made her a hero, glorified the situation. They justified her actions, and as a recovering addict she said she can't live in that half-truth.

Source: Redlands

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

The music video television channel BET recently presented their top 100 music videos of 2003. "Runnin' (Dying To Live)" by Tupac featuring The Notorious B.I.G. and produced by Eminem made it to the 95th position on the countdown.

Look out for the video for "One Day At A Time" by Tupac featuring Eminem and the Outlawz to premiere on television soon.

Discuss
Printer Friendly

The return of Australia’s first Hip Hop Film Fest, with international special guest from the USA, Kevin Fitzgerald will present his documentary 'Freestyle: The Art of rhyme. Free opening night party & the best in underground urban cinema.

Thursday 12 February 7:30pm

Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator (M)
Helen Stickler, USA, 2003, 80 min.
Helen Stickler’s gripping documentary focuses on Mark ‘Gator’ Rogowski, a celebrated professional skateboarder who is now serving a lengthy prison sentence for murder. Gator’s personal trajectory is chronicled against the backdrop of skateboarding history, its explosive growth in the 80s and its subsequent devolution. The film is both an intimate portrait of a man’s tragic inability to cope and a larger cultural analysis detailing the boom and bust of a subculture. Helen Stickler stays true to her subject with a filmmaking style that is as fast-paced and layered as Gator’s skating life. With extensive archival footage and a soundtrack featuring an original score plus seminal music from such bands as Butthole Surfers, The Cult and Black Flag, this film is a must-see account of a man and an era.

Thursday 12 February 9:00pm

SBX
Dir: Kohji, USA, 30 min
A musical/short film, shot in the heart of the South Bronx, where it all began. Starring an all-star cast: Lord Finesse, Percee P, Show & AG, Party Arty, D-Flow & a special guest appearance by Edan. Features original footage from the legendary Lord Finesse vs Percee P. battle circa 1989.

Freestyle; The Art of Rhyme
Kevin Fitzgerald, USA, 2002, 74 mins.
Explosively telling the story of a group of underground hip-hop MC’s from the early 1980’s to the present day, FREESTYLE explores the world of Improvisational Rap – where living poetry meets the never-ending search for meaning in a world of contradictions.

Shot over a period of more than seven years by a co-operative of students, filmmakers, DJ’s, b-boys and MC’s, FREESTYLE takes viewers on a journey through previously unexamined dimensions of hip-hop as an art form. Featuring such artists as Mos Def, Black Thought of The Roots, Freestyle Fellowship. Lord Finesse, Supernatural, MC Juice, DJ’s Cut Chemist & Numark of Jurassic-5, and DJ Kool Herc. The film follows some of the best-known and underground hip-hop MC’s ever to bless the mic. The battles of the films hero, Supernatural, against his arch nemesis Craig G forms the dramatic through line of this adventure. Providing an authentic look into the life, music and culture of hip-hop in America today.

Friday 13 February 7:30pm

Sprayed Conflict
Dir:Robert Moller Aust 29 min 1994
Classic local documentary on Australian graffiti culture in the mid 90s, featuring Duel & Kab 101 along with a huge line-up of other Aussie writers. Includes an original aussie hip hop soundtrack.
If you've never seen it, then get educated.

Word
Dir: Tony Greer, USA, 2002 86 mins.
A documentary that chronicles the double decade annals of hip-hop culture from its fledgling urban roots in New York City to its transformation into a global multimillion dollar industry. The film includes emerging artists such as MOP, Trouble Neck Brothers, Bassx, and Ali as well as old school artists such as Melle Mel (formerly with Grandmaster Flash) and the Last Poets. Filmed in the clubs, hallways, street corners, and bathrooms of hip-hop New York, Word uses live performances and interviews to capture the complex interplay between the thriving independent hip-hop scene and the legendary performers it creates.

Friday 13 February 9:30pm

Black Picket Fence
Dir: Sergio Goes, USA, 2002, 92 mins.
“With Brooklyn's East New York - one of the city's toughest and most violent neighbourhoods - as a backdrop, director Goes charts a two year course through the lives of a group of friends trying to survive and break out of the hood. Here, there are only three ways out - music, jail or death and the characters walk a razor's edge between all three throughout.

Tiz is a gifted rapper going places. His best friend Mel is straight out of jail and a drug dealer (his first drug sale as a teenager was to his mother). For Tiz, Mel represents everything he is trying to escape, and for the rest of the crew, Tiz's long awaited success is their escape.

With great subtlety and a photographer's eye, director Goes delves well under the surface of the characters and their environment to paint a gripping, dramatic, lyrical and powerful picture of a society within a society. Goes exhibits considerable artistry in capturing the bleak beauty of the "projects" and an environment fixing to explode.
Exceptional work.” Revelation FF 02

Saturday 14 February 7:30pm

Keepintime: Talking Drums and Whispering Vinyl
Dir B 2000 USA 13 mins
The history of hip-hop is partly a conversation with the rhythms of our elders. Keepintime: Talking Drums and Whispering Vinyl is a groundbreaking documentary that links the practices of today’s beat jugglers with those who created the beats in the first place.

In February 2000, legendary drummers Earl Palmer, Paul Humphrey, and James Gadson got together to talk about old times, in-between times and just plain old off times. When joined by Babu and J-Rocc of the Beat Junkies, as well as Jurassic 5’s Cut Chemist, the musical conversation erupted and bridges were built from air. Keepintime is the result of three years of research by L.A.-based photographer B , who directed and produced this electric short film, along with the help of succinct music editing by DJ Shadow.

Breath Control: The History of the Human Beat-box
Joey Garfield, USA, 2002, 75 mins.
Beat-boxing, as described by one performer, is ‘the art of using your mouth to generate sounds that are usually made by machines’. Performers emulate not just part of a hip-hop track, but the entire range of beats, vocal samples, and scratching through masterful manipulation of mouth, throat , lips and breath. Endlessly fascinating to watch, the complex sounds of beat-boxing rarely correspond to the performers visible movements, but Breath Control doesn’t overindulge on performance footage. Director Joey Garfield adds depth and keeps it fresh with a well-balanced mix of laid-back interviews peppered with spontaneous demonstrations, archival footage, and animation to tell the history of this unusual, unchartered musical form. Like the art form, Breath Control never loses its playful humour, making it an informative and downright entertaining film that will appeal to music lovers and hip-hop aficionados alike.

(Breath Control also featured in the Adelaide International Film Festival last year, with Joey Garfield and Kevin Fitzgerald visiting Adelaide for the event. Again, many people missed out on tickets - if that was you, make sure you don't miss out this time!)

Saturday 14 February 9:15pm

What’s Up Fatlip?
Dir: Spike Jonze 2002 27 mins
A super funny short documentary by acclaimed director Spike Jonze about a former member of The Pharcyde, Fat Lip. Candid interviews and street antics are caught in a cinéma vérité style. Poignant and funny, this film is a gem that not many have seen.

The Freshest Kids
Israel, USA, 2002, 90 mins.
Breaking, Rocking, Burning, Going Off, B-Boying and Break Dancing, The Freshest Kids is the first ever documentary to explore the mostly unknown history of hip-hop’s first dance and its pioneers. Born at DJ Kool Herc’s South Bronx house parties in the early 70s, catapulted to a worldwide phenomenon in the 80s to its latest gravity-defying incarnation as a thriving underground movement. Legendary b-boy pioneers such as Crazy Legs, Ken Swift and many more share their stories, from how the dance originated to its evolution and transformation throughout its 25 year history. The Freshest Kids will educate, entertain and inspire.

Sunday 15 February 6:00pm

SBX Freestyle Q&A

Sunday 15 February 8:15pm

Lu La De Musica- Def Jux
Dir: Sasha Voss, Netherlands 2000 30 mins
This Dutch documentary, created for Netherlands-TV on the Def Jux label, is beyond amazing! Professionally shot and recorded, Lu La De Musica is packed full of the kind of innovative, groundbreaking rap Def Jux is known for producing. Documented exclusively in this film are the artists EL-P, Aesop Rock, C-Rayz-Wallz, and Cannibal-Ox. Don’t miss this one!

Beef
Dir: Peter Spencer, USA, 2003, 103 min
Beef is a definitive look into the harsh world of high profile clashes among hp hop’s elite. Delving into the underbelly of the hip hop world, this film provides jarring insight into what happens when the raw energy of the inner city spills over from the studio to the streets. Strap yourself in for a wild ride as Beef investigates notorious events and places. Featuring 50 Cent, DMX, Dr Dre, Ja Rule, Jay-Z, Mobb Dep, Nas, The Notorious B.I.G.

TICKETS
Admission 18
Single sssion $11/$9;
Two session pass $18/$14
Festival pass $42/$35
Pre sales 8410 0979.

Mercury Cinema 13 Morphett St, Adelaide ph: 8410 1934 www.mercury.org.au

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Rap-A-Lot Records is scheduled to release Z-Ro's LP, The Life Of Joseph McVey, on February 24th 2004. The Houston rapper made a name for himself this summer on the song "Snitch Niggaz" with Bun-B and Scarface. On the song he took shots at last year's best-selling rapper, 50 Cent. The tracklist for the LP is as follows:

01. My World
02. These Niggaz
03. Z-Ro
04. Slide
05. So Much
06. 2 Many Niggaz
07. Fed Up
08. I Hate U
09. Crooked Officer
10. Come One, Come All
11. Happy Feelings
12. Hey Lil' Mama
13. Don't Have Time
14. That's Who I Am
15. Never Let Go

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Discuss
Printer Friendly

Hip-hop is more than just rhythm'n rhyme: hip-hop is a robust cultural movement that began in the South Bronx some 20 years ago, transforming into a globally capitalized phenomenon that communicates "ghetto life" of marginalized African-Americans. Like jazz and the blues, hip-hop became an art form that brought social and political issues of Black Americans to the mainstream. In Korea, hip-hop is a young genre that began in the early 90's, and the Korean hip-hop movement still has a long way to go before it can stand on its own.

"The urban music scene is very important to society. Korea lacks that. None of the issues come with most Korean hip-hop, like identity issues, discrimination, issues of community, unity... there are artists who believe in this movement, and want change from the old and new generations. As long as we stick together, then something exciting will come about," said Daniel Seon-woong Lee, a.k.a. Tablo, rapper for the debut hip-hop group Epik High, in an interview with Korea Herald.

"We are all part of a movement, basically, of the best hip-hop musicians sticking together to further hip-hop, or Black music in Korea. It's important for hip-hop for us to cooperate, because one group can't make difference, but together we can," Tablo added.

Tablo was referring to the "Movement Crew": a cooperative of top hip-hop artists: Drunken Tiger, T, Lissang, Dynamic Duo (formerly CB Mass), Yang Dong-geun, Booga Kings and Eun Ji-won - determined to promote social and political awareness through hip-hop culture. Epik High is the newest addition to the crew: Tablo, DJ Tukutz (Kim Jeong-sik) and Mithra (Choi Jin).

"We're very lyric orientated. Most groups in Korea only consider the catchiness of the song, but lyrically, we want to be different than anything that's out there. None of the Korean music out there has really stimulated my mind, or soul. Hip-hop can do that, and that's what we want to accomplish," Tablo explained. Thus far, Epik High's message is being heard and the movement is successfully attracting Korean fans.

All three members write and mix their own music, which is essentially urban poetry. Tablo and Mithra are rapping, and DJ Tukutz spins the turntables. Their sound is comparable to A Tribe Called Quest - a legendary hip-hop group that has influenced all three Epik High members.

Before his Korean debut, Tablo rapped in the United States as the only Korean member of an underground hip-hop group called 4n Objects, while studying at Stanford as a Creative Writing and English Literature major. CB Mass and Drunken Tiger heard Tablo rap with 4n Objects, and eventually offered to support him in the release of a solo album in Korea. Tablo needed to first complete his master's degree at Stanford in 2002, when he was ready to shake up the Korean hip-hop scene.

"I was doing music in the States, and it's a little bit different, because I'd have to be speaking to Asian Americans. My identity is marginal to Korean or American. I was born in Korea, went to Canada when I was eight, then I went to high school here at Seoul International School. I've been an Asian in America, but not an Asian-American. Speaking to Koreans in Korean, I feel more comfortable because I'm speaking about things that matter to them and to me," Tablo said.

Mithra was also pursuing a solo career after his involvement in the underground hip-hop club scene with K-Ryders with CB Mass in Hongdae and Apgujeong. Tablo and Mithra met through the Movement Crew, and in discovering a synergy of their artistic vision and styles; they decided to collaborate as Epik High.

Tablo is a gifted and determined young man at 23 - it is unlikely that other master degree holders from Stanford would pursue a rapping career in Korea. As a son, Tablo has fulfilled the dreams of all Korean parents with an ivy-league education - what was their reaction to his hip-hop career plans?

"They thought I was insane at first. They didn't like it. Hip-hop isn't my total life... A lot of musicians will say that hip-hop is their life, but I consider it an art form, and a tool. If it becomes your life, that means that it's more important than who you are. I told my parents, they didn't have to worry. I told them that it doesn't make me forget about my love for literature or writing," Tablo said.

When Tablo is beyond his hip-hop juncture, he will further the movement as a professor and writer. "I consider what I'm doing now as writing poetry, so my music career is building up to my future goals," he said.

By Krista Kim

Source: The Korean Herald

Discuss
Printer Friendly

The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), the largest coalition of hip-hop artists and record company executives, held the 2004 Hip-Hop Summit in Houston on Saturday.

Entertainers and politicians spoke words of encouragement and thousands of people got in for the price of registering to vote.

Russell Simmons, who founded Def Jam Records, encouraged attendees to put their new voter registrations to good use.

He also stressed hard work, education and self-improvement.

Participants besides Simmons included Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Beyonce, Scarface, Master P, Lil Romeo, Damon Dash & the Roc-A-Fella Family, Busta Rhymes, Jermaine Dupri, David Banner, Erykah Badu, Reverence Run of Run DMC, Doug E. Fresh, Solange, Layzie Bone, L.L. Cool J, Jim Jones, Matthew Knowles of Music World Entertainment, Duane “Hump” Hobbs of Sucka Free Records and James Prince of Rap-A-Lot Records.

The Hip-Hop Team Vote national campaign of the Hip-Hop Action Network has set a goal to register 20,000,000 new voters over the next five years.

Source: News 8 Austin

Discuss
Printer Friendly