n an interview with Tim Westwood on 1Xtra, 50 Cent spoke on the lawsuit filed by Rick Ross' baby mother, Lastonia Leviston.
“That wasn’t me, that was Pimpin’ Curly," said 50, placing the blame for the sex tape he leaked featuring Leviston on his comical alter-ego. "When a a person tries to say... you’ve done a mental harm to them. Then they might want to consider the recordings of Rick Ross saying that she’s an actual call girl. Or the pamphlets that I’m showing in the tape, that’s saying that she’s available. So how distraught is she that a tape went out? They think I bought the tape, I didn’t even buy it.”
The sex tape was released at the height of the Rick Ross/50 Cent fued. The Pimpin' Curly character was featured in a series of short episodes, and was used as a vehicle to diss Ross.
Since the release of the sex tape, the beef seems to have quieted down, though the two sides have not come to terms with one another.
On Saturday, March 20, some of the West Coast's most talented acts will appear together at Club De Ville in Austin, Texas. The South By Southwest "Respect the West" event will include veteran artists DJ Quik, Murs, and Kurupt, and will also feature California acts Jay Rock, U-N-I, Dom Kennedy, and more.
Although South By Southwest 2010 began on Mar. 12, its musical component started on Wednesday the 17th, and will continue through Sunday the 21st. The Hip Hop music portion kicked off with Nas, Bun B, and J. Cole, and will end on Saturday with the "Respect the West" showcase.
For more information about the event, as well as artist interviews, up-to-date pictures, and behind-the-scenes footage from Saturday's showcase, visit vibe.com/sxsw.
This week, it was revealed that New York-based producer Dame Grease will be lending his producing talents for the LOX’s upcoming album.
Dame Grease confirmed the news of his latest project at iStandard’s “Behind The Rhymes” event.
"It's official, actually, Kiss asked me personally," Dame Grease said in a video that was posted on NodFactor.com. "This was before they were gonna take it to Puff or wherever because the thing is, just checking statistics like the success that we had with The LOX, we all had together and sold 1.5, two million records.”
Dame Grease has produced a number of LOX songs including tribute song “We’ll Always Love Big Poppa,” “If You Think I’m Jiggy,” “Let’s Start Rap Over,” and more.
In the video, Dame also makes sure to clarify that he is not a rapper.
Just as his career is at a high point, Gucci Mane finds himself in jail. Serving a six month sentence, the emcee has still found success. His latest album, The State vs. Radric Davis: The Verdict, topped the charts. Recently, Gucci spoke to The Associated Press about what it was like to have an album top the charts while behind the bars and more.
When asked how it felt to have an album out while serving time, the emcee was still positive.
"[I felt] excited. I still had a release party, though I wasn't there. But the day after was the toughest because I just wanted to get out there to see my fans. ... Getting on stage, it's nothing like it."
He was also asked how he'd avoid going back to jail once he is released.
"Before I make an action, think about the consequences. ... Any decision I make is a heavy decision. I got a lot of people who depend on me. Everything I do has so much weight on it."
He's also been writing a lot, as he says he has approximately 50 songs in the stash.
"Unfortunately I've been to jail a couple times. Anytime I come in it's difficult to make music, write songs. This time, I have a peace within me. I've been so excited to get out. I've written about 50 to 60 songs."
Waka Flocka Flame was reportedly arrested on Tuesday (March 16) for a probation violation.
According to the Macon-Telegraph, the rapper, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds in a robbery attempt just months ago, is being held in the Houston County Jail.
Flocka, real name Juaquin James Malphurs, received probation for possession of a sawed-off shotgun. In addition, one of his recent concerts ended in violence, leaving eight men shot, but not in life-threatening condition.
Currently, his single, "O Let's Do It," is at No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In their sixth year as a group, Berkeley, California's The Pack remain instrumental in connecting the youth culture of Northern California to catchy, radio-ready Rap. The quartet consisting of Young L, Stunnaman, Lil B and Lil Uno is made up of two friendships from neighboring high schools: Berkeley and Albany.
With their 2007 skateboard-inspired hit "Vans" gaining a strong regional buzz, Oakland Rap pioneer Too Short brought The Pack to Jive Records, and Short's own Up All Nite imprint. Subsequently, The Pack released an EP Skateboards 2 Scrapers later that year. The full-length came shortly there after, Based Boys, giving the regional sensation national recognition. Along with Lupe Fiasco and Murs, The Pack has been instrumental in bringing skateboarding culture to Rap.
Now signed to SMC Recordings, The Pack is working on their 2010 follow-up album. Managed by Los Angeles' Indie Pop group, the album boasts production by The Cataracts and in-house member Young L.
The group released The Pack Is Back earlier this year.
Although we’ve yet to reach the one-year anniversary of pop star Michael Jackson ’s untimely death, his estate is making major moves in the music industry.
Just this week the estate of Jackson sealed a record-breaking deal with Sony Music Entertainment. The Wall Street Journal reports that Sony has agreed to pay his estate a staggering $250 million for the rights to release 10 albums from Jackson in the next few years.
“We’re dedicated to protecting this icon’s legacy and we’re thrilled that we can continue to bring his music to the world for the foreseeable future,” said Sony Music Chairman Rob Stringer, reports Rap-Up.com.
Sony’s deal with the Jackson estate is considered the biggest record deal in history. The deal will include past songs from Jackson as well as new, unreleased material from the singer.
Waving the flag for lyricists in the south way before it was the trendy thing to be, Bernard Freeman is the epitome of an O.G. His status as an Undergroung King amongst kings has never been in question and is one of the most highly respected artists in the game, bar none. Recently switching from Warner Bros. Records to bring his signature Texas drawl to Universal/Fontana, Bun B is gearing up to release his next opus, Trill O.G. later this year. This week, Bun is repping hard in his home-state at South By Southwest's Noisemakers event with Peter Rosenberg. But away from music, HipHop DX recently linked with Bun to talk about his life after the CD is over and the cameras stop rolling.
The Port Arthur native got real about taking his wife on the road (sorry groupies), Pimp C putting him on to Miles Davis and Charlie Parker, his thoughts on John Mayer, why Chris Brown would be perfect for The Last Dragon remake, being friends with Rock stars and why he’s not fucking with Yoga. Get throwed!
HipHopDX: Bun, what up homeboy? How are you?
Bun B: I’m good, everything’s good. Family’s good. In a positive state of mind as they say. Can’t complain.
DX: Okay. Speaking of family, how’s that work for you, I mean being away from them for long stretches on the road. How do you balance being a rapper to the world and a father to your family?
Bun B: My kids travel with me. My kids are older than typical rappers kids tend to be. My kids are 24 and 25 right now. So I didn’t have the type of problems of having a young child at home but I guess I still had issues adjusting to the notoriety of being famous, being a person of interest or whatever you wanna call it. But I tend to take my wife with me almost everywhere I go. And we got a granddaughter now. She’s not really old enough to go to that kinda stuff yet though. But I’m Bun B when I’m at work but I’m dad or honey or Mr. Freeman when I’m at home.
DX: Word? You take your wife with you on the road? That’s cool. Do you get clowned for it at all? You know how Doug Christie’s wife had him…on lock!
Bun B: Nah, not at all. Because my wife doesn’t hover over me. She doesn’t have me on a leash or anything like that. My wife knows I love her and that my family is first. And she understands that I have female fans or whatever and some of them can be a little bit extra, but I can’t control other people’s actions. All I can do is control my actions. As long as I carry myself with respect and don’t disrespect myself or her, we don’t really have a problem. Most entertainers are actually encouraged and inspired by me and my wife. I can’t tell you how many people we know in the industry, a lot of them you wouldn’t even know are engaged or married, not saying any names, we’ve encouraged then to go on and lock it down and take it in. You can still be an artist or even a sex symbol and still…
DX: Bun, you’re a sex symbol now?
Bun B: That doesn’t apply to me, personally [laughing], but you can have a strong fruitful career and a strong fruitful family life at the same time.
DX: Switching gears a little, the anniversary of Biggie’s death just passed. I saw a blog on stories about Notorious B.I.G. that people might not know. I know you really rep for Pimp C. Is there anything about Pimp that people may not know ?
Bun B: I think people might not know how big of a fan of Jazz music he was. There’s a lot of songs in the UGK library that come from Jazz samples that he picked. Pimp was really big on Wes Montgomery, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk and Miles Davis. He turned me on to a lot of stuff like [Miles Davis’] Bitches Brew and things like that. He was very much a musical cat and a lot of music on those [UGK] albums was produced by Pimp C. A lot of people don’t know that as well. It incorporated a lot of live instrumentation as well and that just comes from him wanting to pay respect to the artists that came before him.
DX: Wow, I definitely didn’t know that Pimp got down with Miles and Bird like that. What kind of stuff outside of hip hop have you been checking for lately? Me personally, I’ve been on Jet, Vampire Weekend…
Bun B: Oh yeah, Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend is actually a friend of mine so I’ve been real happy to see everything take off for them lately. A lot of people wouldn’t know that my favorite group is Radiohead.
Although Lil Wayne is already serving time behind bars in New York, his legal troubles are far from over.
TMZ.com reports that a Yuma County, AZ court has issued a bnech warrant for the rapper's arrest for missing his court date - regardless of his status as an inmate in NY.
Meanwhile, it appears things may just be looking up for DMX, who was just sentenced to six months in jail for violating his probation.
X admitted to five probation violations - specifically, use of illegal drugs. However, a Pasadena Recovery Center representative gave the judge a letter from radio and TV personality Dr. Drew Pinsky, asking permission to treat the former superstar at his facility in lieu of jail time. The judge reportedly seemed to be open to the idea.
Jay-Z is no stranger to collaborations with rock stars. The emcee has already worked with U2's Bono, Coldplay's Chris Martin and Lenny Kravitz. Now, Jay can add Jack White to that list.
In a recent interview with GQ, White said the two have recorded something "incredible."
"I just did a record with Jay-Z," he noted. "We did a song together a few weeks ago. It was incredible. I played him something that I've been kicking around for a while and he immediately came out with words for it. It's unbelievable-sounding."
It is still unclear if this song will be featured on Jay-Z's next project. Last month, Jay spoke on the next album, saying he had at least one "crazy" song completed.
"I got one crazy record. To be honest with you, it's crazy. I got one and we'll build from there. Whether it comes out this year or next year, it depends on the music and how it's coming out. I don't really have any dates."
After a very slow and repetitious week-to-week for urban music in February and March, Ludacris shook up the charts. The Disturbing Tha Peace founder took his conceptual Battle of the Sexes to a #1 debut, out-selling international animated outfit The Gorillaz by 25,000 units. Luda's latest album was not met with many warm reviews, but the Atlanta/Def Jam mainstay remains a force on the charts. The album, which looks at gender relations, features such artists as Nicki Minaj, Trina, Eve and Lil Kim.
On April 13, Murs and 9th Wonder will put out their fourth collaboration album, entitled Fornever. The project is the first installment in Murs’ “10-10-10” series. The Living Legends artist plans to drop ten ten-track albums in 2010, with the remainder of which scheduled for the last Tuesday of every month. Similarly, Madlib, who is in the process of releasing 12 albums this year, has unveiled the April 20 release of Madlib Medicine Show No. 4: 420 Chalice All Stars: All Jamaican Sounds.
n John Singleton's Baby Boy, Omar Gooding played "Sweetpea," who could arguably represent a product of the Gangsta Rap generation. While Gooding has starred in Playmakers, Deadwood and the upcoming Jerry Bruckheimer series Miami Medical, his true passion is that very same Rap that Sweetpea listened to. "I’ve been in the Hip Hop game forever. I’ve had deals before and I’ve been in groups but recently I’ve been focusing on putting out a solo album. I grew up on the west coast so I grew up on N.W.A. and I’m a huge 'Pac fan," "Gooding told HipHopDX recently. The actor/rapper's MoDo Entertainment has previously released several independent compilations, which feature Big O, a/k/a Gooding's music.
The west coast Hip Hop community has taken notice. One west coast legend, Sacramento's C-Bo, both an ally to Tupac Shakur as well as Young Buck, has taken Omar under his wings. “C-BO is awesome," said Omar as both a fan and as a friend. "I had a meeting with the CEO of West Coast Mafia Music [C-Bo's label], and went from there. I had met C-Bo before and we had just hit it off. When it’s time to get down he just doesn’t play, his work ethic is just on point. Our recording process was right on where it was supposed to be. He shows you how to get in and get the job done and we just clicked and it was all love. He’s a talented guy and it’s always great to work with him.” The duo released Trading War Stories, a nationally-distributed compilation in 2008 that featured Yukmouth, The Outlawz and Young Bleed.
After initial plans for a first quarter 2010 release, Damian Marley & Nas' Distant Relatives collaboration album has a concrete due date, set at May 18, 2010. Speaking with HipHopDX late Monday night, Marley expressed his enthusiasm. "It's a relief. I feel excited. It's been a lot of work and we've been lookin' forward to [releasing the album]."
While his leading album singles like 2005 smash hit "Welcome to Jamrock" have been summer sensations, none of Marley's work has been released at a time that many specifically seek Reggae riddims in stereo. Marley explained to DX how he looks at this opportunity in Distant Relatives. "At the end of the day, [my philosophy] has always been to put stuff out when it's ready, 'cause I don't believe in puttin' out music that I'm not satisfied with, or I don't think has reached its potential in terms of the creative process. At the same time, I've never really had an album that was released at the beginning of summer. All of my albums have been previously released in September. I'm really lookin' forward to what that response will be, knowing that traditionally, Reggae music is what they call 'summer music,' so I'm kind of really looking forward to what that's gonna be."
One of the most recognizable Bay Area emcees of the last decade is Mistah F.A.B. The Oakland native gained a critical cosign from hometown pioneer Too Short early in his career, and uses a trademark balance of first-hand account storytelling and light-hearted "yellow bus" humor in his raps. Bay luminaries such as Celly Cel, E-40 and Mac Mall have both respectfully endorsed and collaborated with F.A.B., who has additionally received support from traditional Hip Hop artists such as DJ Shadow and Zion I. The late Mac Dre, a Hyphy pioneer, signed F.A.B. to his Thizz imprint in 2004, and after Dre's untimely murder, along with 40 and Keak Da Sneak, F.A.B. helped bring the regional culture to the Rap mainstream.
Within his extensive decade-long catalog, Mistah F.A.B.'s most notable work to date remains 2007's Da Baydestrian. Released on Thizz/SMC Records, the work featured appearances from Too Short, Spice 1 and Keak, as well Atlanta's Fabo. Production on the work ranged from veteran Bay beat-maker Sean T to Hyphy hit-man Traxamillion. The release garnered praise from both HipHopDX as well as XXL magazine.
In a DX interview conducted around the release, F.A.B. explained his contribution to Hip Hop, "[Rap music has become] 'he say, she say,' but no longer what you say. People love me because I’m the voice of the streets. My brother was incarcerated for 12 years, my daddy died of AIDS, that’s me,” he asserted. “I speak for that person whose mic is on. but the volume is very low.”
Check Mistah F.A.B.'s recent track "Know What They Want" .
South By Southwest attendees can see Mistah F.A.B. perform at the SMC Records/HipHopDX showcase Thursday March 18th.
Fans may have seen Drake in videos in the past but Drake says "Over" will be his first real video as Drake The Artist. The Canadian emcee also spoke on what the video means to the album and what it means to his career as an artist.
"This is my first video," he told MTV while shooting the clip. "I've shot a lot of videos before, but this is my first attempt to establish myself as Drake the artist. Shooting the other videos I've done has been great. I really don't care what other people think about them, they were great experiences for me. I've learned a lot from them. Today, I'm shooting with somebody I really look up to and respect. I'm shooting with Anthony Mandler."
Mandler and Drake are taking on a lot of compelling visuals, according to the young emcee, who also added that the video tells a story.
"We talked colors, we talked epic, emotion-evoking visuals. The story is actually interesting. The song is so aggressive, and it's sort of a love story in the video. It has a lot to do with the album [Thank Me Later]. The album is about finding love, feeling 'Have I sold my soul' as far as 'Will I ever be able to gain the trust of a woman? Will I only be able to be around the dark, evil women? Will I ever find that pure love?' Those elements are in the video. I look strong, I feel great, my knee's feeling great. I'm jumping around, doing all kinds of stuff."
Diplomats rapper Jim Jones announced that he will be trading in the mic for the textbooks, taking over as a music instructor. Jones, who is expected teach at a New York City high school, told Rap Radar he is excited about the opportunity. "It's definitely going to be fun. I [will] have to go home the weekend before and write out my lessons," he continued, "This will be the funnest class you can go to and shit but you gonna learn a lot."
The Dipset member is expected to teach for just eight weeks and is currently waiting for the green light. "Right now they're actually going back and forth with the Board of Education to see what goes on and shit. I fully don't know the whole logistics of everything."
Although Jones has never taught a music course before, he feels as though he has a lot to offer. "I've done music business since I was a teenager. I had major executive positions. I've been successful as an artist and successful as a label. We've been successful as a movement."
Although a location and date have not yet been set, Jones plans to begin his role as a high school music instructor later in the year.
Lil Wayne, who has been incarcerated now for five days, is not expected to receive any special treatment. According to celebrity gossip site TMZ, Weezy has been banned from signing autographs while serving his one year sentence at Rikers Island.
One representative for the Correction Officer's Benevolent Association commented, "Lil Wayne is not a celebrity here." There have been no reports made that Wayne has requested anything out of the ordinary, or try to extend his freedoms.
If Lil Wayne shows good behavior he could be released after eight months at the facility.
Members of the Texas State Board of Education gave preliminary approval Friday to remove significant areas of curriculum from civil rights and global politics and replace them with conservative historic figures and beliefs. Courses that would be affected by these changes include social studies, history and economics.
One of the subjects debated amongst the lawyers, dentists and publishers, who make up the board, was whether or not Hip Hop should be taught as a cultural movement. According to the Huffington Post, right wing members voted that Hip Hop should be deleted as a requirement and that students should not be taught about its cultural impact across not only the United States, but the world.
Conservatives also approved to have a sociological focus on institutional racism and its presence in American society banned from the books, as well as removing important references of Latino and Hispanic figures throughout history.
The Texas State Board of Education approved of the new expectations with a 10-5 vote, and a final decision is expected to be made in May, but not before holding an open forum where the public can produce additional arguments and even possibly, different amendments to stop some of the changes from being implemented.
Last month, Tony Yayo told HipHopDX that G-Unit was embarking on several weeks of touring through Europe. While there, 50 Cent conducted a recent interview that revealed how Europe's musical tastes are affecting him. "I went to a nightclub after-party. It was different music after a while," 50 Cent said, recognizing that the club altered their set to play his own catalog. "The music they were playin' before they were playin' the music I created was more up-tempo, more Dance. I wanted to make a song like that, so I went into the studio. Because I'm travelin' with my live band, I took the band with me and we sequenced it and recorded the actual record while we was out there."
