Alright, remind you... We started making this list in late July while we were enjoying our hiatus. So, a few of these albums/mix-tapes have already been released. WE APOLOGIZE!!! FUCK IT!!! SUE US!!! lol. With out further a do... HERE IS THE TOP !@ MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUMS/PROJECTS/ COMPILATIONS/ NEW MUSIC in our respected FUCKING OPINION!!!! ENJOY!!!!
12.Drake- "So Far Gone" EP - I guess we've heard the majority of this, and that is the reason for such a low ranking on our list. Still, in my opinion, one of the best projects to be released this year.
11.Ghostface Killah- "Ghostdini, the Wizard of poetry in Emerald City- The Idea of a pure R&B project from Tony Starks had me nervous, but after hearing a bit of it, I warmed up to it. Definitely something different from the Ironman. Can't wait to hear it.
10. The Roots - "How I got over" I guess I'm getting spoiled by the Roots. Either way, They always deliver on every album they release.
9. Young Free - "The Best things in Life are...FRee" Haven't heard of him??? Well, you will. With witty lyrics, and eagerness to take over the world, We first heard this kid by accident. While surfing through a myspace account, we saw this kid's page, and have been fans since. Definitely something different, from a crisp Indie voice. With his project being "all over the place" he'll probably be everyone's favorite rapper in a year's time.
8.Raekwon - "Only built for Cuban Links 2" The sequel to the Purple Tape. Has the Chef been gone for too long???? Who knows??? Either way... we'll be listening. (Editors Note- This shit was dope!!!)
7.Kid Cudi -" Man on the moon... The End of Day" We still listen to "A Kid called Cudi", and I'm pretty sure this album will have the same effect on my car's stereo. Cudi's eagerness to be different, or well, just himself will mean instant longevity in today's watered down "POP" fad known as HIP-HOP (EDITOR"S NOTE- ummm... IT'S OK)
6.LiL Wayne- "REBIRTH" - you never know what to expect from Weezy F BABY..... there.
5.Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band- "Between My head and the Sky" I mean you know who her husband is, and she's delivered in the past. She is also very witty with her music, and her band's off the wall techniques never seem to amaze the ear. Can't Wait.
4.Mika - "The boy that knew too much" One of my favorite artist to date. Always delivers with great music, and I'm really looking forward to his new LP
3.Wale- "Attention Deficit" Definitely our favorite new artist to hit the scene. With Classic Mix-tapes, and a good fluent pop single... I got the feeling about Wale. He'll be here for a long time, something we can't say about all of these new bucks in today's hip-hop.
2. John Mayer- "Battle Studies" MR. MAYER has been everywhere, MJ's Funeral, HOVA's Benefit show... etc. Now the homie is dropping a new album in NOVEMBER, and we can't wait.....
1. JAY-Z- "Blueprint 3" I think it goes what saying..... really.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
The Dude Bol At it again....
SO I FINALLY GOT TO SEE MY DUDE HOV' ON OPRAH TODAY. GOOD SHIT. AS I DID MY DAILY SURFING ON THE WEB TO BRING YOU ALL THE GOOD... I STUMBLED ON THIS PIECE BY BOL ON WWW.XXLMAG.COM. I SUBSCRIBE TO XXL, AND I'M AN AVID READER. SO... I DECIDED TO POST THIS, BECAUSE WE'RE ENTITLED TO OUR RESPECTIVE OPINIONS... SO HERE IT IS
Say what you will about Jay-Z, but he somehow managed to get damn near a million people to buy an album that fucking sucks balls.
This week, the Blueprint 3 remained in the top spot of the Billboard top 200 albums chart for the second week in a row, having sold 200 some-odd thousand more copies, which puts it up near a million copies sold. After only two weeks. In 2009. Eminem’s Relapse has only gone 1x platinum, despite the facts that a) it’s been in stores all summer long; b) Eminem, at his peak, sold way more albums than Jay-Z; and c) Relapse was a genuinely worthwhile comeback effort.
But never mind Eminem. It’s not like he needs the money. And he’s still doing better than pretty much anyone whose name isn’t Jay-Z. Meanwhile, I shudder to think how a new Fiddy Cent album might sell, if the TIs at Interscope ever allow him to release another album. (It’s still not clear to who’s barring 50 Cent from releasing another album.) Remember Curtis got trounced by Kanye West’s Graduation, in their first week sales battle in 2007, and then struggled to reach the 1x platinum mark.
I’ve yet to hear a response from Fiddy (who usually jumps at the opportunity to talk shit) to Jay-Z’s statement, on some radio show over in Europe, that no one is scared of 50 Cent. The host asked Jay about Fiddy’s comment on 106 & Park that, if Kanye would have jumped onstage and interrupted his speech at the VMAs, like he did Taylor Swift, Fiddy would’ve blacked his eye. As if 50 Cent was about to get a Moon Man in 2009. Jay told the host that Kanye would have done the same thing, if it was Fiddy, because no one is afraid of Fiddy.
Aww dang…
I doubt that’s true, since Kanye is kind of a pansy and Fiddy is kind of a beast. But it’s gotta sting Fiddy a bit anyway, in the sense that 50 Cent has become such a nonentity. Yeah, if you tried to snatch some shit from his hands, he might punch you in the face, but was Fiddy Cent even at the MTV Awards this year? Even Lil Mama, who’s probably never been on MTV otherwise, was at this year’s ceremony, but 50 Cent was nowhere to be found. They probably asked him to stay home, in case he tried to start some shit. I remember the last time I watched the MTV Awards was that year when Fat Joe pointed out how many cops 50 Cent had with him.
Then I remember reading that, at one of the subsequent VMAs, they had Kanye performing from a remote location in a basement somewhere. They were probably afraid he’d run into 50 Cent, who’d kick the shit out of him, upset about his loss in their sales battle. But that was two years ago, when Fiddy actually had an album out. It didn’t sell very well, and he hasn’t had anything for sale since, so he probably had to watch at home this year. For all we know, he might not be back. Kanye probably wouldn’t have been back either, except for the fact that he somehow managed to sell a few copies of 808s & Heartbreak. He better hope his next album does well, after the stunt he pulled this year.
Jay-Z, with the Blueprint 3, has proven that relics from the late ’90s/early ’00s, who can’t rap well anymore, can still move units. Never mind the economy, illegal downloading and what have you. If 50 Cent wants to do anywhere near as well, he’s gonna have to take a page from the Jay-Z playbook. He can’t just count on aging haters on the Internets. M.O.P., who used to be on G-Unit, tried that shit, and look at how well it did them. The thing is, Fiddy might be hamstrung in his efforts to emulate Jay-Z, in that he can’t play the game like Jay-Z. Fiddy couldn’t go on Oprah even if he wanted to. He might be shit out of luck.
Say what you will about Jay-Z, but he somehow managed to get damn near a million people to buy an album that fucking sucks balls.
This week, the Blueprint 3 remained in the top spot of the Billboard top 200 albums chart for the second week in a row, having sold 200 some-odd thousand more copies, which puts it up near a million copies sold. After only two weeks. In 2009. Eminem’s Relapse has only gone 1x platinum, despite the facts that a) it’s been in stores all summer long; b) Eminem, at his peak, sold way more albums than Jay-Z; and c) Relapse was a genuinely worthwhile comeback effort.
But never mind Eminem. It’s not like he needs the money. And he’s still doing better than pretty much anyone whose name isn’t Jay-Z. Meanwhile, I shudder to think how a new Fiddy Cent album might sell, if the TIs at Interscope ever allow him to release another album. (It’s still not clear to who’s barring 50 Cent from releasing another album.) Remember Curtis got trounced by Kanye West’s Graduation, in their first week sales battle in 2007, and then struggled to reach the 1x platinum mark.
I’ve yet to hear a response from Fiddy (who usually jumps at the opportunity to talk shit) to Jay-Z’s statement, on some radio show over in Europe, that no one is scared of 50 Cent. The host asked Jay about Fiddy’s comment on 106 & Park that, if Kanye would have jumped onstage and interrupted his speech at the VMAs, like he did Taylor Swift, Fiddy would’ve blacked his eye. As if 50 Cent was about to get a Moon Man in 2009. Jay told the host that Kanye would have done the same thing, if it was Fiddy, because no one is afraid of Fiddy.
Aww dang…
I doubt that’s true, since Kanye is kind of a pansy and Fiddy is kind of a beast. But it’s gotta sting Fiddy a bit anyway, in the sense that 50 Cent has become such a nonentity. Yeah, if you tried to snatch some shit from his hands, he might punch you in the face, but was Fiddy Cent even at the MTV Awards this year? Even Lil Mama, who’s probably never been on MTV otherwise, was at this year’s ceremony, but 50 Cent was nowhere to be found. They probably asked him to stay home, in case he tried to start some shit. I remember the last time I watched the MTV Awards was that year when Fat Joe pointed out how many cops 50 Cent had with him.
Then I remember reading that, at one of the subsequent VMAs, they had Kanye performing from a remote location in a basement somewhere. They were probably afraid he’d run into 50 Cent, who’d kick the shit out of him, upset about his loss in their sales battle. But that was two years ago, when Fiddy actually had an album out. It didn’t sell very well, and he hasn’t had anything for sale since, so he probably had to watch at home this year. For all we know, he might not be back. Kanye probably wouldn’t have been back either, except for the fact that he somehow managed to sell a few copies of 808s & Heartbreak. He better hope his next album does well, after the stunt he pulled this year.
Jay-Z, with the Blueprint 3, has proven that relics from the late ’90s/early ’00s, who can’t rap well anymore, can still move units. Never mind the economy, illegal downloading and what have you. If 50 Cent wants to do anywhere near as well, he’s gonna have to take a page from the Jay-Z playbook. He can’t just count on aging haters on the Internets. M.O.P., who used to be on G-Unit, tried that shit, and look at how well it did them. The thing is, Fiddy might be hamstrung in his efforts to emulate Jay-Z, in that he can’t play the game like Jay-Z. Fiddy couldn’t go on Oprah even if he wanted to. He might be shit out of luck.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
YEAH!!!
Chris Taylor, Grizzly Bear's blonde-haired, sharp-chinned producer and multi-instrumentalist, is getting into the indie label game. Alongside Lust Boys' Ethan Silverman, Taylor is launching a new label called Terrible Records, which will hopefully not turn out to be a prophetic name. And yes, Taylor will release solo music on the label.
On October 13, the label will make its grand debut with a 7" single that will include "Ghosts", Taylor's first solo song, under the moniker CANT. On the flip, you'll find "Come to Life", a previously unreleased song that the late avant-disco hero Arthur Russell recorded in the late 70s. "Come to Life" comes courtesy of Audika, and that label will release it as a digital download. The physical release will be limited to 1000 copies, and you'll be able to buy it from the label's website once that gets going. (Right now, the goofy-fun blog is the only operational part of that website.)
This is the first in a series of 7" singles that Taylor produced at Terrible Studios, the same place where he produced much of Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest. On October 28, Terrible Records will release All of the Fire, a five-song 10" EP from the New York band Acrylics, which Taylor also produced.
On October 13, the label will make its grand debut with a 7" single that will include "Ghosts", Taylor's first solo song, under the moniker CANT. On the flip, you'll find "Come to Life", a previously unreleased song that the late avant-disco hero Arthur Russell recorded in the late 70s. "Come to Life" comes courtesy of Audika, and that label will release it as a digital download. The physical release will be limited to 1000 copies, and you'll be able to buy it from the label's website once that gets going. (Right now, the goofy-fun blog is the only operational part of that website.)
This is the first in a series of 7" singles that Taylor produced at Terrible Studios, the same place where he produced much of Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest. On October 28, Terrible Records will release All of the Fire, a five-song 10" EP from the New York band Acrylics, which Taylor also produced.
Jigga WHAT???
"[Coldplay's] Chris [Martin] hasn't tried to get me to do yoga yet, but I am close to doing it. I am envious of what he can do on stage. Watching him is amazing. He can really move. I want to able to move like that, get my leg behind my ear, things like that."
J.Cole Interview with ABC News
The 24-year-old rapper, the first artist signed to Jay-Z's fledging new label Roc Nation, now faces the task of making hit music under the wing of his boss, who brought to the world superstars Kanye West and Rihanna.
"I studied the game and I studied the greats and I studied people's movements and the mistakes they made and the pitfalls. And he just did everything so close to perfect," Cole said about Jay-Z, during an interview with ABC News. "If I wanted to do it like anybody or better than anybody, it would be him," Cole said.
But just two years ago, he feared that chance would never come. In September 2007, after reading about Jay-Z's upcoming album "American Gangster" on a rap Web site, Cole thought he could get his break by making beats for a record that would ultimately top the Billboard charts. "This was my chance. It was like a sign," Cole recalled. "God is telling me to get on this album. So I was praying on it," Cole said.
Cole went home that day and began making beats for the album. Hours later, with his work in hand, Cole and a friend waited outside Roc the Mic studio in the rain, on a hunch that Jay-Z would be there to finish work on the album.
Cole had the scenario figured out in his mind.
"Maybe we could just slide him the CD and if we slide him the CD, he'll go upstairs and listen to it, and if he listens to it, he's gonna love it and he's gonna send down, you know, for me to come upstairs and he's probably going to sign me -- or whatever was in my head," Cole said with laughter.
Two-and-half hours passed before Jay-Z emerged from a black Rolls Royce Phantom.
Cole mustered up the courage to mumble a few words and hand Jay-Z the CD.
"Man, I don't want that," Jay-Z responded as Cole recounted, delivering a crushing blow to his spirit.
"I studied the game and I studied the greats and I studied people's movements and the mistakes they made and the pitfalls. And he just did everything so close to perfect," Cole said about Jay-Z, during an interview with ABC News. "If I wanted to do it like anybody or better than anybody, it would be him," Cole said.
But just two years ago, he feared that chance would never come. In September 2007, after reading about Jay-Z's upcoming album "American Gangster" on a rap Web site, Cole thought he could get his break by making beats for a record that would ultimately top the Billboard charts. "This was my chance. It was like a sign," Cole recalled. "God is telling me to get on this album. So I was praying on it," Cole said.
Cole went home that day and began making beats for the album. Hours later, with his work in hand, Cole and a friend waited outside Roc the Mic studio in the rain, on a hunch that Jay-Z would be there to finish work on the album.
Cole had the scenario figured out in his mind.
"Maybe we could just slide him the CD and if we slide him the CD, he'll go upstairs and listen to it, and if he listens to it, he's gonna love it and he's gonna send down, you know, for me to come upstairs and he's probably going to sign me -- or whatever was in my head," Cole said with laughter.
Two-and-half hours passed before Jay-Z emerged from a black Rolls Royce Phantom.
Cole mustered up the courage to mumble a few words and hand Jay-Z the CD.
"Man, I don't want that," Jay-Z responded as Cole recounted, delivering a crushing blow to his spirit.
Really? 13 years!!!! This shit is still in the NEWS???
"I believe so," Pac said about his opinion of Puffy's involvement. "I have proof, things I could say that could back up my claim but that's not for the world to know about. It's between me and him and only he knows. So every time he say it didn't happen, that's the only thing that makes this become an issue to eveybody. Because you seen what I said in the Vibe article, I basically bowed out and was gonna go ahead about my life. The next issue, it wasn't even the next issue because them cowards waited about four issues before they got their story together. Four issues later, half of New York is commenting on me getting shot and before they were all like 'We didn't see nothin'.' ...As far as hip-hop, I'm not the God but on the West Coast, I sold five million in two months, Biggie's album been out two years barely touching two million. This n*gga done had 50 remixes, a thousand, he got everybody in New York in his videos and still barely touching two million. I been out two months and my sh*t sold five million with two videos out, I'm just starting. These n*ggas can't touch us. They can't, really, it's funny." (VIBE)
Bol keeping it Real....
I was Surfing the web earlier this week(which would be the weekend...duh!) and I saw Charles Hamilton was dropped from Interscope... Well, the dude Bol from xxlmag.com dropped a crazy blog piece on it... enjoy!!!
I was reporting on Charles Hamilton getting dropped from Interscope back before it was all trendy.
I figured he’d probably been let go, back when someone posted an update on his blog about how he’d gone through some changes, both personally and professionally, and so he was taking some time off from the Internets. At that point, neither his blog nor his Twitter had been updated for about three weeks.
It actually hadn’t occurred to me that he was gone from the Internets, until that moment. I think I used to follow him on Twitter, but I had to get rid of him, because he was posting too many updates. He was posting tweets as if they were shitty mixtapes on Nah Right. Just one after the other after the other… (No shots.)
Before that, I remember Charles Hamilton and I had a few humorous exchanges. There was the time when he wanted to know if anyone else listened to Modest Mouse, as if no one had ever heard of them. (Black people are always discovering rock groups that have been around for over 10 years. Wait till he hears In Utero.) I had to point out that Modest Mouse lead singer Isaac Brock was once accused of either beating up or raping a woman. I can’t remember which. Maybe both. (A twofer!) This was around the time when that video surfaced of Charles Hamilton getting coldcocked by Mary J. Blige emotionally disturbed stepdaughter, and he was so adamant about how he’s against domestic violence, at least if it’s of the man on woman variety.
Then there was that time when I was gonna do the liner notes to his album. This was after I stopped following him on Twitter, but I took a look at his account anyway, because he was beefing with Dilla stans about listing the dead producer as his album’s executive producer. I don’t think I need to recount the hilarity that was that incident. At least not today. Anyway, I told Charles Hamilton that, for a small fee, I’d be willing to do the liner notes for his album. He could even list my name on the back cover, where Dilla’s had been. He said he was with it, but I’m not sure if he ever presented it to his tall Israeli overlords. As it turns, this was near the end of his relationship with them.
When I heard that Charles Hamilton, whose name is synonymous with Internet fuckery, had up and disappeared from the Internets, and that someone in his camp felt compelled to inform us that he’s okay (without letting us know what exactly happened to him), it seemed obvious to me that he wasn’t, in fact, okay. I speculated that he may have suffered a heroin overdose, or he may have been dropped like a bad habit from Interscope. If he was really okay, why wouldn’t he just tell us himself. His handlers obviously aren’t adept at avoiding a PR clusterfuck, but even they should have realized this status update would only lead to further rumors and speculation.
A mere matter of minutes after I posted about his hiatus from the Internets, I was informed - by someone who’s usually right about these things - that Charles Hamilton had indeed been dropped from Interscope like a bad habit, right around the time of his mysterious disappearance from the Internets. The Dilla clusterfuck had been the final straw. I don’t know if Dilla’s people threatened to sue, or if the suits at Interscope read that shit about Sonic communicating with Dilla via seance and figured they’d better cut their losses. I updated my post to explain as much, and that’s the last I thought about it for a while.
Several weeks later, there was a story in the Village Voice about rappers who overshare information on Twitter and other social networking sites. Charles Hamilton was in it, as was Joe Budden and a few other such fruits. It read to me like the latest in a series of cases where people have taken posts I’ve written for this site, repackaged them and sold them to some other media outlet, but maybe that’s just me being conceited. (Slate is another prime offender.) Charles Hamilton wasn’t interviewed for the story in the Village Voice, but there was some shit about how Interscope may have issued him a gag order in the wake of the Dilla clusterfuck, and I’m assuming the label told them to print that. They probably don’t want people to think they dropped him off on some heroin corner, after gassing him up about being the next Eminem and then woefully mismanaging his career. They may have even paid Charles Hamilton a severance fee to keep his mouth shut.
Think about it. Without casting aspersions on any of my colleagues, lets just say that a number of people in the world of hip-hop journalism could have picked up a red telephone that connects to the Interscope building and had it explained to them what happened to Charles Hamilton. Doesn’t he live in Harlem, which is in New York, which is where most hip-hop journalists live? Certainly, in the past few months, someone could have bumped into him, or someone who might know what happened. I’ve seen the twitpics of Master Splinter, those two Jewish guys from It’s the Real, and various other hip-hop bloggerati getting free shit from labels at album listening parties. I know how incestuous that whole scene is. As a matter of fact, it was at RapPravda where I spotted the link to the post about how nothing bad happened to Charles Hamilton.
RapPravda, which is secretly owned by the manager of Interscope’s biggest artist, must have gotten the go-ahead the other day to report, three or four months after the fact, that Charles Hamilton has been let go from Interscope - just like they revealed that Eminem agreed to be teabagged a good three or four days after one of the writers from MTV let the cat out of the bag, on Twitter. RapPravda, citing its “political connects,” did a post the other day on Charles Hamilton getting dropped from Interscope, and a cursory perusal of the Google reveals that it’s since been picked up by a number of bloggers who obviously lack my Steve Langford-like skill for investigative journalism. Then just yesterday, I saw where the Smoking Section, which is still pissed about the Hamiltization Process (remember that bullshit?), had the Charles Hamilton album available for free download. I wonder if someone from the label slid that to them under the table, for the sake of reconciliation
I was reporting on Charles Hamilton getting dropped from Interscope back before it was all trendy.
I figured he’d probably been let go, back when someone posted an update on his blog about how he’d gone through some changes, both personally and professionally, and so he was taking some time off from the Internets. At that point, neither his blog nor his Twitter had been updated for about three weeks.
It actually hadn’t occurred to me that he was gone from the Internets, until that moment. I think I used to follow him on Twitter, but I had to get rid of him, because he was posting too many updates. He was posting tweets as if they were shitty mixtapes on Nah Right. Just one after the other after the other… (No shots.)
Before that, I remember Charles Hamilton and I had a few humorous exchanges. There was the time when he wanted to know if anyone else listened to Modest Mouse, as if no one had ever heard of them. (Black people are always discovering rock groups that have been around for over 10 years. Wait till he hears In Utero.) I had to point out that Modest Mouse lead singer Isaac Brock was once accused of either beating up or raping a woman. I can’t remember which. Maybe both. (A twofer!) This was around the time when that video surfaced of Charles Hamilton getting coldcocked by Mary J. Blige emotionally disturbed stepdaughter, and he was so adamant about how he’s against domestic violence, at least if it’s of the man on woman variety.
Then there was that time when I was gonna do the liner notes to his album. This was after I stopped following him on Twitter, but I took a look at his account anyway, because he was beefing with Dilla stans about listing the dead producer as his album’s executive producer. I don’t think I need to recount the hilarity that was that incident. At least not today. Anyway, I told Charles Hamilton that, for a small fee, I’d be willing to do the liner notes for his album. He could even list my name on the back cover, where Dilla’s had been. He said he was with it, but I’m not sure if he ever presented it to his tall Israeli overlords. As it turns, this was near the end of his relationship with them.
When I heard that Charles Hamilton, whose name is synonymous with Internet fuckery, had up and disappeared from the Internets, and that someone in his camp felt compelled to inform us that he’s okay (without letting us know what exactly happened to him), it seemed obvious to me that he wasn’t, in fact, okay. I speculated that he may have suffered a heroin overdose, or he may have been dropped like a bad habit from Interscope. If he was really okay, why wouldn’t he just tell us himself. His handlers obviously aren’t adept at avoiding a PR clusterfuck, but even they should have realized this status update would only lead to further rumors and speculation.
A mere matter of minutes after I posted about his hiatus from the Internets, I was informed - by someone who’s usually right about these things - that Charles Hamilton had indeed been dropped from Interscope like a bad habit, right around the time of his mysterious disappearance from the Internets. The Dilla clusterfuck had been the final straw. I don’t know if Dilla’s people threatened to sue, or if the suits at Interscope read that shit about Sonic communicating with Dilla via seance and figured they’d better cut their losses. I updated my post to explain as much, and that’s the last I thought about it for a while.
Several weeks later, there was a story in the Village Voice about rappers who overshare information on Twitter and other social networking sites. Charles Hamilton was in it, as was Joe Budden and a few other such fruits. It read to me like the latest in a series of cases where people have taken posts I’ve written for this site, repackaged them and sold them to some other media outlet, but maybe that’s just me being conceited. (Slate is another prime offender.) Charles Hamilton wasn’t interviewed for the story in the Village Voice, but there was some shit about how Interscope may have issued him a gag order in the wake of the Dilla clusterfuck, and I’m assuming the label told them to print that. They probably don’t want people to think they dropped him off on some heroin corner, after gassing him up about being the next Eminem and then woefully mismanaging his career. They may have even paid Charles Hamilton a severance fee to keep his mouth shut.
Think about it. Without casting aspersions on any of my colleagues, lets just say that a number of people in the world of hip-hop journalism could have picked up a red telephone that connects to the Interscope building and had it explained to them what happened to Charles Hamilton. Doesn’t he live in Harlem, which is in New York, which is where most hip-hop journalists live? Certainly, in the past few months, someone could have bumped into him, or someone who might know what happened. I’ve seen the twitpics of Master Splinter, those two Jewish guys from It’s the Real, and various other hip-hop bloggerati getting free shit from labels at album listening parties. I know how incestuous that whole scene is. As a matter of fact, it was at RapPravda where I spotted the link to the post about how nothing bad happened to Charles Hamilton.
RapPravda, which is secretly owned by the manager of Interscope’s biggest artist, must have gotten the go-ahead the other day to report, three or four months after the fact, that Charles Hamilton has been let go from Interscope - just like they revealed that Eminem agreed to be teabagged a good three or four days after one of the writers from MTV let the cat out of the bag, on Twitter. RapPravda, citing its “political connects,” did a post the other day on Charles Hamilton getting dropped from Interscope, and a cursory perusal of the Google reveals that it’s since been picked up by a number of bloggers who obviously lack my Steve Langford-like skill for investigative journalism. Then just yesterday, I saw where the Smoking Section, which is still pissed about the Hamiltization Process (remember that bullshit?), had the Charles Hamilton album available for free download. I wonder if someone from the label slid that to them under the table, for the sake of reconciliation
"NO ONE IS SCARED OF 50"
“So on Trevor Nelson’s BBC 1 radio show recently Jay-Z responded to Nelson’s suggestion that Kanye wouldn’t have pulled his VMA stunt on 50 as he did Taylor Swift by saying, “I think he would have done it if it was 50 Cent. No one’s scared of 50 Cent….I just want everyone to know no one’s scared of 50 Cent!”
Sunday, September 20, 2009
J.Cole Interview With Comlpex.com
Unlike when Rell and Young Steff were signed to Roc-a-Fella, we feel pretty safe in assuming that when Jay-Z signed J. Cole as the first artist to this Roc Nation imprint, he wanted him to be a star. Our assumptions were verified when we learned the North Carolina-born rapper was going to be featured along side Hov on his much anticipated album The Blueprint 3 on a song called “A Star is Born.” It seemed pretty fitting, given the buzz Cole has been generating for himself, first with his “The Warm Up” mixtape, then with various features and freestyles. And to think, only a couple years ago, he was rockin’ a t-shirt saying “Produce for Jay-Z or Die Trying” hoping to get Mr. Carter to notice him.
Suffice to say, being featured on a Jay-Z album is more than a big deal. Besides the world knowing your name, being deemed worthy enough to share some track time with Hova is an honor in of itself. To find out what he’s been up to and how it really feels to appear on a Jay album, Complex caught up with J. Cole while he was in Manhattan beginning work on his Roc Nation debut. Clap for him!
Interview by Damien Scott
Complex: How were you approached to be on “A Star Is Born”?
J. Cole: I had a show in show in Virginia. This was back when I was just opening up for Wale on like a few dates. So, I was in Virginia, and I had two shows, one in Norfolk, and one in Richmond. I get a get a call from Mark Pitts and he’s like, “Yo nigga, Jay just hit hit me. He said he got something big for you.” I was like, “Oh shit, what you mean?” He said, “He got this Kanye track… something about a star is born…some shit about a star.” I thought, from his explanation, because you can tell he wasn’t too clear on it, I thought Jay just had a joint for me. I thought it would be mine, and I was on some shit like, Ahhh, I don’t like being told “get on this” or whatever. But I’m like, Damn!
Complex: Even by Jay-Z?
J. Cole: Even by Jay-Z, yeah. That’s when the reality set in: Well, yeah it is Jay saying it, and it’s Kanye, so what the fuck you gon’ do? You gotta do it.
Complex: Hell yeah, man. People would die for that opportunity.
J. Cole: Exactly! So I’m like, Okay, this is big right here. I’m just thinking I’m going on a Kanye song, or something. A couple days later, it got a little more clear: it was his song. I was like, Oh shit, that changes everything! That’s even bigger than what I originally thought! I think about a week and a half, two weeks later, I got the call, “Yo, can you come to the studio tomorrow?” So I went there, waited like 40 minutes for Jay. I got there at three on the dot. I think i was 5 minutes early, yo! I was there at like 2:53! Got there, and he came in…
Complex: Who was in the studio when you got there?
J. Cole: When I got there, nobody was there but Young Guru. I think he had slept there because he was working on some shit all night. So Guru was the only one there. About 45 minutes later, I see Jay’s security guys come from the studio room. I was like, Damn, how the hell they get in there, ’cause they wasn’t just sitting there. So, they were like, “Yo, J. Cole?” I’m like, “Yeah.” He’s like, “Jay’s ready to see you.” [laughs] I walk into the room, this shit is mad weird. I’m walking on eggshells basically, nervous and excited at the same time. I walk in the studio and Guru is in there, then I look at Jay, I say what’s up, pleasure, nice to see you again. Then I look up and Beyoncé is sitting right there. I’m like, Oh, shit! Damn! “Hello, how you doing? It’s a pleasure, nice to meet you!” Then we sat down, and we got right into it, basically.
Complex: Did he explain what he wanted you to do? Did he give you any guidance with your verse?
J. Cole: Nah. Before we even got to the song, it was like 45 minutes of just playing songs. He started off by saying, “I’m gonna play you two or three songs off the album.” He ended up playing like 10 or 11.
Complex: How was that?
J. Cole: You can tell he loves his shit. He got a listening, he wants to play it for you and get your reaction. He cares, because if not, he would’ve stopped at like two or three. But, he played 10-11 songs. Most of them were Timbaland joints. I was like, Damn, where’s Kanye?
Complex: Given the controversy over the quality of tracks that Timbaland gave Jay, would you say that the ones you heard before were better than the ones that were on the album?
J. Cole: I’d say they were on par, like, of the same quality. Whatever you feel that quality was. He didn’t leave any crazy Timbaland joint off.
Complex: So you’re going through all these Timbaland tracks…
J. Cole: He’s playing mad Timbaland tracks. Of the Kanye tracks, I heard “Haters,” the intro, it really wasn’t that many that I heard. So after he played like 10-11 songs, he was like, here goes the joint, plays it, the beat was hard, it’s right up my alley. I was praying too, like, “this better be up my alley”. It was right up my alley, dawg! It was soulful, Kanye shit! The hook was incredible, I’m like, aw man! I’m listening to his verse, I automatically see what he’s talking about, and I literally felt like, Oh shit, this is an alley-oop! You know what I’m sayin’? This nigga’s setting it up for me. Now I’m like, Yo! is he sure? Is he sure he wants do this? Are you sure you want to make this statement? So at that time, it was only two verses on there: The current first verse and the third verse, and I guess he felt like he had more to say, so he added another verse. So yeah, he played it once, then he played it again. and then I was like, “Lets go!” I started writing.
Complex: How long did it take you to write the verse?
J. Cole: Probably about an hour. It felt like forever, because I was so nervous. But in actuality it was only like an hour, if that. 45 minutes, maybe.
Complex: What was your process for writing the verse?
J. Cole: I’ll tell you this: the first five to ten minutes was spent with me trying to clear my mind, because 90 percent of my thoughts was like, I’m in the studio with Jay-Z. He’s sitting on the couch watching me write, watching my process. He was trying to act like he wasn’t watching. He was on his laptop, threw his headphones on, but his head was boppin’ to the studio beat, so it was like, “You not foolin’ me!” So I’m half like, Oh shit, this nigga’s watching me, analyzing my process, maybe trying to see how I’m working, and the other side was trying to think of lines. So after the first ten minutes, once I was like, “Yo, nigga, get to work!” that’s when it all started to flow. I really just tried to have to have faith in myself. I didn’t race in or nothing like that. Whatever I put on the page was pretty much what i ended up saying. And I thought it was ill, but it wasn’t until the last line, when i was like, “The flow cold as the shoulders of gold diggin’ hoes when a broke nigga approaches”… when the line came to my head, it was almost like that scenario can’t really rhyme that well! And then I was like, Oh, shit, it does! I was as confident as i could be in a verse, given the circumstances.
Complex: Did you feel any pressure to follow the model Jay laid down with his verses?
J. Cole: Nah, because I didn’t have nothing to do with that. I’ve seen no stars, I’ve seen no stars [laughs]. All I felt was the necessity to, cause the beat is fast, so a sixteen on that kind of beat don’t really last that long. So i was like OK, if I only got 16 bars, I want to tell as much of my story as possible. So I definitely wanted to shout out the ’Ville and let people know that i came up. I didn’t want to just come on with a bunch of punchlines for no reason. I wanted to give them my story if i could.
Complex: Did Hov say anything to you about the verse?
J. Cole: He just asked me how I was feeling and I just told him thank you. That’s it.
Complex: He didn’t say good job or anything?
J. Cole: No, that day [he did]. We only got up to writing the verse, then I had to go lay the verse. So I lay the verse, I get it real good on my first take, but I felt like I was just warming up. Once I spit it, and finished with it, I was too nervous to look out and see their reactions, but from what I seen and from my boy Ib told me, when I spit that same line I was talking about, him and Guru was like, “Woooooooooo!” Like, “Oh shit!” I was just like, “Oh, man, let me get it again, let me get it again.”
Complex: How was your anticipation for people to hear it?
J. Cole: Oh, man, it was huge. And I couldn’t say shit, cause I was like, who am I to start leaking information? So i just kept quiet about it. And people were always asking me like, “Yo, you on The Blueprint? Oh, man, he got X,Y,Z on there and you not on there? That’s fucked up!” I’m just sitting back like, Ahhh. I wanted to tell people so bad, but it made it all worth it in the end. And I knew he was recording so many songs, I wasn’t even sure if my shit was going to make it.
Complex: What’d you do the day you found out you were on the album?
J. Cole: We went and celebrated, dog. We was getting drunk [laughs]. It was like a big celebration, it was almost as big as the celebration for when i got signed, it was just one of those moments. There are very few moments when i just sit back like, Wow. That was one of those “wow” moments. Then the day the song leaked and I got to hear it. You know I didn’t hear the song…
Complex: Word?
J. Cole: The day I left the studio was the last time I heard it until the day it leaked. He gave me the last little drop on the song, if you listen it’s like, “J. Cole…” He was like, “Yeah, that’s your compensation for not bringing this home [laughs].
Complex: Have you heard anything from them since then? Jay or his team?
J. Cole: Yeah, from everybody. I was in L.A., seen Jay Brown, saw the CFO of the company and he was like, “Somebody killed a verse!” You know one of those company lines [laughs].
Complex: If you could sum the whole experience being on the album up in one word, what would it be?
J. Cole: I would say a blessing. That’s really two words, but that’s how I feel. ’Cause he didn’t have to do that. I feel like lucky, ’cause he didn’t have to throw me on there. As a matter of fact, he has three verses on the song, he could have just like took me off the song. And people say, Oh, he gotta put you on, you’re a Roc Nation artist. But he doesn’t have to do shit. He put on a million motherfuckers in his life, there’s no rule saying you have to do that. So the fact that he ended up putting me on is a blessing. And I like the fact that people are talking about that song.
Complex: I think people were expecting you to be on the album once they heard that Drake and Kid Cudi were on the album. How’d it feel to be the only one with an actual verse?
J. Cole: It feels good. Those guys are good though, they got hit songs on the radio. They don’t need verses. But it’s definitely one of those moments when you’re like, OK, I can claim that one. At least I got one thing under my belt.
Complex: What are you working on now?
J. Cole: I’m working on my album. Feels like I’ve been working on it for years, but now I’m officially in the studio working on it, like hashing shit out.
Complex: Can you mention anyone you’ve been in the studio with?
J. Cole: I’ll just say, me. If I mention anyone people are gonna be expecting some shit, so I’ll just say, me.
Complex: Will there be any other projects before the album?
J. Cole: There will definitely be another project that will drop before my album. I tried to be stubborn and say I already gave them 22 songs, but nah, that’s just the way game works. You gotta stay relevant some way. But i don’t plan on promoting it. I’m just gonna drop it. I’m gonna make sure it’s classic, I’m not gonna put out anything half-assed, but I think it will have a bigger effect if it comes out of nowhere.
Complex: When’s the album slated to drop?
J. Cole: I say spring 2010. I think the label is thinking early summer, but I’m thinking spring.
Complex: You think you can get it done in time?
J. Cole: Not if I go on the tour. But if I stay up here then I’ll be good.
Complex: You can record it on the bus like Lil Wayne.
J. Cole: You know what, though? I feel like that happened to Canibus. He got a crazy buzz, and his buzz was so big that he had to do his album on the road with Wyclef, and they went on the Smoking Grooves tour. I feel like if you’re not Wayne, if you’re not already on that level, then nah. You can’t make no classic on a bus.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
CLASSIC... AMY WINEHOUSE (MARK RONSON) "VALERIE"
I love Amy Winehouse. I hope she gets it all together. She has a very strong, and amazing voice. Here is her performing "Valerie".
BAD NEWS for all of you Sports Fans In The DMV AREA!!!!
Gilbert Arenas says he's back to his explosive self but is wondering if it's the Wizards' fault that it has taken him so long to get back to normal.
Arenas, who worked with trainer Tim Grover in Chicago this summer, told The Washington Times that his injuries are in the past.
“
Arenas If you have a kid that loves basketball, that eats, sleeps, drinks and thinks basketball and all he knows is basketball and he gets hurt and he's your franchise player, you need to hold him back from himself.
” -- Gilbert Arenas
"Nobody could guard me before, and can't nobody guard me now," Arenas told the newspaper. "If I hadn't come up here, I'd be starting off the season with a 95 percent chance that I'd be sitting out more games. ... [Tim Grover] saved my career."
Coming off three knee surgeries in 1½ years, Arenas played in only two games last season.
Grover painted a grim picture of Arenas' health when the Washington Wizards guard arrived at his training complex in Chicago this July.
"A lot of things weren't firing -- his glutes, his hips, thighs," Grover told the newspaper. "I wouldn't say his condition was the most severe, I wouldn't say it was the best. ... But if I were to classify it on a scale of one to 10 with 10 being the most extreme, I'd say he was definitely in the seven, eight category."
Grover has several high-profile NBA clients, including Dwyane Wade, O.J. Mayo and Tracy McGrady. Arenas has resisted overtures to work with Grover in the past, but finally decided to give it a try this year.
While Arenas praised Grover for saving his career, he blamed the Wizards for giving him too much control over his failed comebacks from surgery the past two seasons.
"If you have a kid that loves basketball, that eats, sleeps, drinks and thinks basketball and all he knows is basketball and he gets hurt and he's your franchise player, you need to hold him back from himself," Arenas told the newspaper. "If I'm saying I feel good and you know it's supposed to take six months, instead of letting me at four months run ... they should have held me back. Rather than saying, 'Let's let this guy do what he wants and use him to sell tickets' -- sometimes you have to protect players from themselves. I don't feel like I got that type of protection. But, I don't judge them for that. Some things just happen. I told them I felt OK because I wanted to play, and they did what they did."
Arenas has worked hard this summer to try to get back on the court.
"It was a pretty extensive process," Grover told the newspaper. "We had to get his range of motion back in the leg, did a lot of acupuncture, a lot of work. We put a game plan together and attacked it from as many angles as we could. Gil would work with four or five individuals from my staff each day. ... It was, 'OK, Gil, you're going to be spending a good six to seven hours a day in here and a lot of treatment, and it's all pieces of the puzzle to putting you back together to being the player you were before -- and better.' "
Arenas averaged 27.7 points per game from 2004 until 2007, becoming one of the NBA's most dynamic players. But he has played just 15 games the past two seasons because of his injuries.
Arenas said his goal isn't to be an All-Star player this season. Instead, he has loftier goals.
"All-Star's not my goal. I never wanted to be an All-Star. All-Star is the 24 hottest players at that time. All-League? That's my goal," Arenas told the newspaper. "All-League is only 15 players. So All-League and to play as many games as possible. That's it."
Arenas, who worked with trainer Tim Grover in Chicago this summer, told The Washington Times that his injuries are in the past.
“
Arenas If you have a kid that loves basketball, that eats, sleeps, drinks and thinks basketball and all he knows is basketball and he gets hurt and he's your franchise player, you need to hold him back from himself.
” -- Gilbert Arenas
"Nobody could guard me before, and can't nobody guard me now," Arenas told the newspaper. "If I hadn't come up here, I'd be starting off the season with a 95 percent chance that I'd be sitting out more games. ... [Tim Grover] saved my career."
Coming off three knee surgeries in 1½ years, Arenas played in only two games last season.
Grover painted a grim picture of Arenas' health when the Washington Wizards guard arrived at his training complex in Chicago this July.
"A lot of things weren't firing -- his glutes, his hips, thighs," Grover told the newspaper. "I wouldn't say his condition was the most severe, I wouldn't say it was the best. ... But if I were to classify it on a scale of one to 10 with 10 being the most extreme, I'd say he was definitely in the seven, eight category."
Grover has several high-profile NBA clients, including Dwyane Wade, O.J. Mayo and Tracy McGrady. Arenas has resisted overtures to work with Grover in the past, but finally decided to give it a try this year.
While Arenas praised Grover for saving his career, he blamed the Wizards for giving him too much control over his failed comebacks from surgery the past two seasons.
"If you have a kid that loves basketball, that eats, sleeps, drinks and thinks basketball and all he knows is basketball and he gets hurt and he's your franchise player, you need to hold him back from himself," Arenas told the newspaper. "If I'm saying I feel good and you know it's supposed to take six months, instead of letting me at four months run ... they should have held me back. Rather than saying, 'Let's let this guy do what he wants and use him to sell tickets' -- sometimes you have to protect players from themselves. I don't feel like I got that type of protection. But, I don't judge them for that. Some things just happen. I told them I felt OK because I wanted to play, and they did what they did."
Arenas has worked hard this summer to try to get back on the court.
"It was a pretty extensive process," Grover told the newspaper. "We had to get his range of motion back in the leg, did a lot of acupuncture, a lot of work. We put a game plan together and attacked it from as many angles as we could. Gil would work with four or five individuals from my staff each day. ... It was, 'OK, Gil, you're going to be spending a good six to seven hours a day in here and a lot of treatment, and it's all pieces of the puzzle to putting you back together to being the player you were before -- and better.' "
Arenas averaged 27.7 points per game from 2004 until 2007, becoming one of the NBA's most dynamic players. But he has played just 15 games the past two seasons because of his injuries.
Arenas said his goal isn't to be an All-Star player this season. Instead, he has loftier goals.
"All-Star's not my goal. I never wanted to be an All-Star. All-Star is the 24 hottest players at that time. All-League? That's my goal," Arenas told the newspaper. "All-League is only 15 players. So All-League and to play as many games as possible. That's it."
Vince Young is alright in my book!
For one day at least, Vince Young stepped up to try to fill the void for the late Steve McNair's two young sons, the Tennessean reported Thursday.
Young surprised 11-year-old Trenton and 5-year-old Tyler on Wednesday by showing up at their house and taking them to their school's "Dear Dads Breakfast" at a local restaurant.
“
Arenas Those are my boys. I wouldn't say it was to pay anyone back; it was just out of love. Steve would do it for me. He pretty much did it for me when I was growing up. I have a history with the boys and I want to do anything I can. I am their big brother.
” -- Vince Young
"Those are my boys," Young told the Tennessean. "I wouldn't say it was to pay anyone back; it was just out of love. Steve would do it for me. He pretty much did it for me when I was growing up. I have a history with the boys and I want to do anything I can. I am their big brother."
Julie Dilworth, admissions director at St. Paul Christian Academy, lauded Young's actions.
"It was a great, great gesture," Dilworth told the Tennessean. "All the kids had been talking about the dads' breakfast and [Trenton and Tyler] were wondering what was going to happen with them.
"They were thrilled ... the boys came to school with huge smiles on their faces."
Young had a close relationship with Steve McNair, even before the latter was drafted by the Titans four years ago. He attended McNair's football camps when he was young. McNair was shot and killed July 4.
Besides being there for McNair's sons, Young gave other kids at the school jerseys and autographs.
"It was a surprise, and just to see the excitement on their faces, it's a great feeling," Young told the Tennessean. "We had a good time eating pancakes. I had an omelet.
"Overall they are doing cool, doing good. Just talking to their mom, I think they are going to be all right. I am always going to be here for them, always."
McNair also had two older teenage sons.
Young surprised 11-year-old Trenton and 5-year-old Tyler on Wednesday by showing up at their house and taking them to their school's "Dear Dads Breakfast" at a local restaurant.
“
Arenas Those are my boys. I wouldn't say it was to pay anyone back; it was just out of love. Steve would do it for me. He pretty much did it for me when I was growing up. I have a history with the boys and I want to do anything I can. I am their big brother.
” -- Vince Young
"Those are my boys," Young told the Tennessean. "I wouldn't say it was to pay anyone back; it was just out of love. Steve would do it for me. He pretty much did it for me when I was growing up. I have a history with the boys and I want to do anything I can. I am their big brother."
Julie Dilworth, admissions director at St. Paul Christian Academy, lauded Young's actions.
"It was a great, great gesture," Dilworth told the Tennessean. "All the kids had been talking about the dads' breakfast and [Trenton and Tyler] were wondering what was going to happen with them.
"They were thrilled ... the boys came to school with huge smiles on their faces."
Young had a close relationship with Steve McNair, even before the latter was drafted by the Titans four years ago. He attended McNair's football camps when he was young. McNair was shot and killed July 4.
Besides being there for McNair's sons, Young gave other kids at the school jerseys and autographs.
"It was a surprise, and just to see the excitement on their faces, it's a great feeling," Young told the Tennessean. "We had a good time eating pancakes. I had an omelet.
"Overall they are doing cool, doing good. Just talking to their mom, I think they are going to be all right. I am always going to be here for them, always."
McNair also had two older teenage sons.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
(Late) Drake Feature in FADER
On September 7, 2008, Lil Wayne stepped onstage at the MTV Video Music Awards and then stepped decisively away from the words on the lyric sheet circulating in the audience with the following lines…
I’m on my Disney thang, goofy flow/ I’m Captain Hook on the beat and my new car is Rufio/ Damn where my roof just go/ I’m somebody that you should know/ Get to shakin’ somethin’ cause that’s what [deleted] produced it fo’/ I make mistakes that I don’t ever make excuses fo’/ Leavin’ girls that love me and constantly seducing hoes/ I’m losing my mind like, Damn where my roof just go/ Top slipped off like Janet at the Super Bowl
Then, as Leona Lewis launched into the hook of Nina Simone’s “Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” he croaked, “Drizzy Drake: I love you, bwoy!” That namecheck was the only clue to most attendees that Wayne had just blatantly violated the unwritten rules of his own freestyle game by spitting another artist’s words. Though almost lost in host Russell Brand’s commentary on promise rings and presidential politics, it was a coronation moment rarely seen in the arena of rap, and with one verse, Wayne introduced the name of his protégé to the mainstream in dramatic fashion. Amongst those already familiar with the various Wayne-affiliated rookies collectively known as Young Money, the lines sparked a fierce debate over whether Drake was in fact ghostwriting for the master (he and Wayne both still claim he never has), but by the time the rap blog drama blew over, one thing seemed clear: Drake was the next big thing, heir apparent to Wayne’s multi-platinum throne and Young Money’s most likely flagship artist.
The buzz was confirmed by the radio phenomenon of “Best I Ever Had,” a soft rock-sampling mixtape track that hit #1 on numerous charts without major label support or even a record deal in place. But a second look made this passing of the torch seem like an unlikely proposition. Drake shares with Wayne a certain manchild vocal tone, but their styles are almost antonyms. Where Wayne rides his stream-of-consciousness through drug and gunplay into Freudian—almost hallucinatory—nursery rhymes, Drake hews rigorously close to the guidelines of rap formalism, pumping an incredible volume of two- and three-syllable schemes out of the same subjects: girls, multi-colored whips and his skill in the booth. He seems to depart from this formula only to talk about his emotional state, an introspection that usually happens when he shifts from rap mode into catchy and sometimes haunting R&B. On his own records, he abandons Southern double-time to push genre boundaries more like Kanye, rapping over chopped-and-filtered snatches of Coldplay, Lykke Li and Peter Bjorn & John.
The differences only get starker if you compare Drake’s bio to his project-raised, tattooed and codeine-addicted mentor. Though born in Memphis, Aubrey Drake Graham was raised in Forest Hills, an affluent enclave of Toronto that is about as far in mood and geography from New Orleans as you could get without a land bridge. Before he ever considered being a rapper, Drake was a child actor, portraying athlete Jimmy Brooks on the Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation. His father, Dennis Graham, was a drummer for Jerry Lee Lewis, and he is nephew to both legendary bassist Larry Graham and Teenie Hodges—a guitarist best known for co-writing some of Al Green’s ’70s classics who’s played with everyone from Talking Heads to Cat Power.
The more you know about him, in fact, the harder it seems to know exactly who Drake is. There is something almost chameleon-like about his talent. If his appeal can’t be contained to a one-liner like “Wayne protégé,” it’s only because he invites a whole series of comparisons: to Wayne’s inventiveness, Kanye’s art-school eclecticism, Jay-Z’s braggadocio and Lloyd’s post-Kelly singsong. Though he reps Toronto, in interviews Drake has even said that a childhood split between his father’s base in Memphis and his mother’s house in Canada has allowed him to escape the territorial matrix of rap. He’s parlayed this “from everywhere” quality into a burgeoning career as a guest verse specialist, always adjusting his approach to the demands of the host organism, a strategy that makes you wonder which Drake will step out on his own debut LP—slated to drop before the end of the year—a project that’s not recorded yet but already titled Thank Me Later.
In some sense, Drake has already provided one answer in the form of So Far Gone, the mixtape that spawned “Best I Ever Had.” Those who know him primarily as a Young Money soldier may be unaware that it had almost nothing to do with Wayne except for his vocal features, having been produced exclusively by Drake’s Toronto-based crew, and appropriately, it’s on his home court that I finally catch up with the moving target of so many expectations. We’ve both just flown in from New York on different flights and link for an after-midnight dinner on the roof deck of an Italian restaurant in which Drake is a silent partner. He’s wearing a leather jacket and leaning on a cane with a gangsterish list, walking off the same basketball injury that had him propped up on a stool for his closing performance at the 2009 BET Awards. Posing for our camera with glass raised, he has the air of a newly made man trying on the don’s overcoat for size, but in between snaps, he is quick to flash a grin to let you know he doesn’t take himself too serious. In person, he has a face like mercury, sometimes opening wide with disarming vulnerability, then just as impulsively clowning, eyes seeking out everyone’s reaction to see if they get the joke. If you don’t, they move away instantly, flat and bored. Child-star handsome, at 22 he is still growing into his looks, with deep-set eyes that make his face somehow boyish and craggy at the same time, features almost too large for his slim shoulders in a way that heightens the youthful quality. It is Fourth of July weekend. In the past week or so, Michael Jackson died, and Drake finally inked a major label deal. But the conversation mostly centers on the Kanye West-directed video for “Best I Ever Had,” which has just debuted. West’s cinematography is being panned by a local video dude who doesn’t like the lighting, though judging from his neon lumberjack and the hat awkwardly covering his baldy, his aesthetics are not necessarily to be banked on. Drake hardly blinks at the hometown hater, but the video—which features him playing coach to a female basketball squad in a league of their own, cleavage-wise—has invited negative feedback from other fans, ones whose opinion may carry more weight. Whether you like it or not, the video’s tone definitely puts an ironic distance on the genuine emotion of the hook, thereby ruining the girlish daydreams of many a 16-year-old disciple. Of these there are more than a few, many of them fans he brought with him from his days as a cable TV heartthrob. Drake claims not to have put too much thought into it. “I started getting the straight cookie cutter treatments,” he says. “The pretty boy, lovey-dovey shit that everybody wanted me to do.” The Toronto accent is an extreme north version of flat Midwestern twang, sprinkled with Jamaican patois. In Drake’s case, it’s mediated by a soft Southern cadence picked up from his Memphis cousins. It balances out in the middle somewhere, and if you didn’t know different, he could easily be from Detroit or Chicago. “I was just like, Man, let’s do Kanye’s video,” he says. “Some crazy shit that could potentially offend people. Let’s just fall out of this pattern of doing everything that everyone wants.” Despite the nonchalance, it’s the first inkling I get that his identity crisis is not so much a question about what makes him tick as a potential answer. The bait-and-switch of the video seems like a slo-mo version of a tactic he employs often in conversation and even in song, as when he raps, “I’m the next to blow…pause.” He’s always going out on a limb and then skewering himself before anyone else can, just to let you know that he could son himself more skillfully than you ever could—that he has the lyrical teeth to skewer you if you mistake introspection for weakness.
Toronto has been repeatedly recognized by the United Nations as the world’s most multicultural city, and the security council of close homies assembled around Drake seems to echo this. There’s Niko, with whom I don’t talk much but who looks like the fifth member of Black Chiney Soundsystem. Oliver el-Khatib, a Lebanese-Scandinavian who grew up between Toronto and London, is Drake’s brand manager. Tyrone “T-Rexx” Edwards promotes some of the trendiest parties in the city when he’s not running a government-sponsored project that gives inner city youth access to a professional studio. Boi 1da produced the beat for “Best I Ever Had,” while Noah “40” Shebib is Drake’s engineer and main partner in the studio. Then there’s Foots, whose main job seems to be taking Drake’s car on epic missions to acquire Belmonts for el-Khatib to smoke and being dipped head to toe in Polo. Totally unsolicited, he lifts his pantcuffs and shirt-tail to display the logos on his socks and boxers, just in case you doubted the thoroughness of his game. “I mean,” he says, “It do have a horse pon it too right? Respeck.” Even the brown-skinned girls who float around the table boast family trees that include Carib, Arawak, Syrian and African branches. Also, everybody is nice. In fact, to judge from this crew, everybody in Toronto is a creative individual with a pleasant-ass demeanor, racially integrated, well-adjusted, has free health care and is not broke.
All of which begs the question: What the hell do they have to rap about? Driving through, the city itself feels modern, clean and spacious, with no visible ghettos or overcrowding. If rap music often feels like a reverse SATs, an intellectual exercise inherently—if not intentionally—biased in a way that favors the skill sets of kids from oppressed minorities and dilapidated zip codes, it seems almost natural for a newcomer to edit out the squeaky clean parts of their resume. But Drake does not seem particularly pressed to play down the middle class and Jewish half of his biracial upbringing and frequently mentions his mother’s central role in his life.
The next day he even lets us tag along to visit his bubbe, his mother’s mother, in the nursing home she recently moved into. She obviously adores her Aubrey, and is not even mad when we interrupt her card game with her boyfriend. “Don’t call him that, we just say he’s a friend,” she says, as she is apparently not the type of bubbe to have her biz in the streets. “I have a girlfriend like that too,” Drake replies. “We say she’s just a friend, cause she doesn’t want anybody to know.” He could be talking about Rihanna, whom he’s been hanging out with a lot lately, or maybe his ex, Canadian diva Keshia Chante. Or really, any one of a number of world-class dimes he seems to have on the hook these days. We go to sit with Bubbe in her suite, where she has a Drake splash page from the Toronto paper taped to the wall. “Well, what’s new with you?” she asks, and Drake starts off like any other college age grandson. “Just traveling, mostly.” But then, “I signed a record deal. For a million dollars…” Bubbe makes him repeat this a few times before she is sure she heard right. “Actually, more than a million,” he confirms. That deal is the end result of what has been described as one of the biggest bidding wars the music industry has seen in ages. No one party is willing to share all the details, but Atlantic Records and Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine were certainly both in the mix, and at one point, Universal Motown president Sylvia Rhone apparently threatened Drake with legal action to prevent him from going elsewhere. In the end, he signed directly to Aspire, a company co-run by his manager (and Young Money CEO) Cortez Bryant, with major label distribution through Universal Republic. Although his Wikipedia entry and various news items list his label as Cash Money/Universal Motown, Drake is quick to say, “I went through Universal Republic because I don’t fuck with Motown. At all.” The details are more than academic, since the Universal affiliation is what allows Lil Wayne and Young Money to own a piece of the project. But even though Wayne has been touted as an executive producer in previous interviews, Drake indicates that putting a YM logo on the disc is more of a nod to his mentor than a structural reality. “I respect the fact that Wayne put me in this position,” he says. “But as an artist, I have to do my own thing at this point. I’m not sure if that’s gonna be a struggle in the next couple months, to set myself apart. I don’t want it to feel like a disrespectful thing, but I know it’s a bridge that I’m going to have to cross as far as becoming my own person.”
Our next stop is the house Drake grew up in, which turns out to be one floor of a modest duplex on a block of Forest Hills that feels suburban but hardly wealthy. We’re here to continue the dubious project of pretending not to be photographing Drake at whatever activities he would be up to anyway. By that measure, he would be lamping under the birdbath in his smallish backyard, wrapped in a newly purchased Hermés blanket against the chill of a Canadian summer evening, staring at the purple flowers that overhang the steps and celebrating a million-plus advance with a bottle of Opus One and a droopy spliff. Although it’s meant to be a contemplative moment, there are lot of “pause” jokes between pics, and a lot of “respecks”—a conversation ender meant to convey exactly the opposite of what it says. “Which one” is another recurring theme, a particular way of phrasing friendly disrespect as an open-ended question, as in: “Foots, is that Polo Mansion or Polo Warehouse? Which one?” Drake’s mother arrives, to make sure we followed her detailed instructions and found the keys where they were hidden in a blue plastic prescription drug canister under the planter on top of the barbecue grill. She looks at her son wrapped in the Hermés blanket and says, “Are you cold, or are you just trying to look cool?” prompting much discussion of her natural “which one” skills. Drake has just about taken an entire Swisher Sweetfull to the face when Kanye West calls to say he’s done a re-edit of the “Best” video he wants him to see. T-Rexx is holding Drake’s phone and there’s an awkward interlude when he answers, “Ye? Kan-Ye?” because the association is still so new it doesn’t seem real.
This highlights yet another x-factor in play around this album project, which is the fact that Kanye—according to the people around Drake, anyway—is so open on his talent that he is more amped to work on Drake’s project than his own, dangling the possibility that he might step in as executive producer. That night at Cherry Beach studio, the crew runs through two or three newly recorded songs which are in contention for Thank Me Later. There’s “Shut it Down,” a pure R&B burner that’s so close to the sound he’s going for that Drake “probably almost can’t see it not making it”—though it still needs a rap verse and maybe a guest. There are tracks with Rihanna and Pharrell. “Forever” may be for the album or possibly a forthcoming soundtrack, a Kanye collabo in which he and Drake bring out the best in each other, elevating their respective rap games in a way that’s only happened with Drake and Wayne on tracks like “Ransom.” It’s the kind of verse that lends real credibility to his fans’ claims that Drake is the best lyricist on the set in 2009. Despite the obvious implication, he does not seem inclined to substitute one mentor for another, preferring to develop the sound for the album himself, drawing beats from his engineer, “40” Shebib, and other members of his crew, loosely known as October’s Very Own. It’s not that he doesn’t want Kanye’s input, but he feels that, “We’ve got to build a vision that’s strong enough for Kanye to come and say, ‘Okay, I see it.’ That Pharrell can say, ‘Okay, I see it.’”
It’s the following day now, and Drake is laid out on the king-size of a luxury hotel suite, resting the injured leg. With a tape recorder and chair pulled alongside, I can’t help but feel a little like a psychiatrist, and I am in fact asking him about his childhood. “Well I have always sorta been alone in my world,” he starts off. “I have great relationships with my parents and stuff, but I’ve never really been connected to anything, and it caused me to think a lot.” We talk about the relationship that first provoked him to try singing and his Memphis cousin’s obsession with Usher; about his misfit status amongst the rich kids of the Forest Hills high school where he lasted exactly one year, the biracial kid with the single mom and the dad “who was more like a little brother.” We talk about what aspects he drew from each: his father’s “overcool, Shaft-like personality,” his mom’s ambition, her generosity.
He is remarkably able to see and articulate all this in himself. But by this point, I don’t need anybody to tell me he’s got a whole hell of a lot to rap about after all; that probably since he even had an identity, he’s been using his exceptional verbal ability to navigate uncomfortable situations, sometimes finding common ground, sometimes striking out to defend himself, but always having to decide where to fit in when there is no automatic place for him. I give one last shot at getting Drake to define the place he wants to carve for himself with the album, his official stepping out moment. His eyes go wide with that throw-you-off vulnerability and he says, “I don’t think I ever want to find my place.”
Are we suprised by this?????
Jay-Z has done it again. The living rap legend has scored his eleventh no. 1 album with his latest disc The Blueprint 3 and surpassed his sales projections by over 125,000 copies.
As previously reported, industry insider hitsdailydouble.com placed Hov at around 300-350,000 for his first week sales, but according to Nielsen SoundScan, the rap megastar sold closer to 475,700. This is no small feat as Jay’s last album American Gangster sold 425,800 units in a much sunnier sales climate. The Brooklyn-bred MC was everywhere promoting BP3, with a star-studded 9-11 benefit at Madison Square Garden airing live on Fuse, a performance with Alicia Keys at the MTV VMAs and interviews on everyone from Oprah to Bill Maher to Stephen A. Smith.
Fellow New York vet Raekwon also made an impressive debut this week. The Wu-Tang rapper’s sequel to the 1995 classic, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, landed at the no. 4 spot, selling 67,600 copies in its first week.
Climbing four spots up the charts to make it back into the top 10 is the Black Eyed Peas. The group’s latest disc The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) sold 10,000 more albums this week than last week, earning them a seat at no. 7. The group moved 43,500 units in their 14th week, making their grand total stand at 1,071,100.
Falling 16 spots to no. 24 is Pitbull. The Miami rep’s latest disc, Rebelution sold 17,800 CDs this week, making his two-week stats stand at 59,100.
At no. 30 is the collector’s edition of Jay’s first Blueprint album. The new version of the 2001 classic LP that turned Kanye West and Just Blaze into superproducers, pushed 14,000 units out of the stores this week.
Two spots down is fellow “Renegade” Eminem with his Relapse LP. In his 17th week on The Billboard 200 charts, Shady sold 13,700 units, making his overall tally stand at 1,424,600. Directly under Em is Brooklyn MC Fabolous. Loso’s Way cranked out 13,600 from the shelves this week, putting his grand total at 220,900.
Next week look for new releases from Kid Cudi, Drake, Lil Boosie, Q-Tip, Trick Daddy, New Boyz, M.O.P., N.O.R.E., Capone, KRS-One and Buckshot to make The Billboard 200. –Elan Mancini
Here WE go...
In Light of all the drama from the VMA's this past weekend. I wanted to stay away from the Kanye West/Taylor Swift fiasco. While I was out having lunch with some friends on Tuesday afternoon, I saw a copy of the USA TODAY, and I see Kanye West and Taylor Swift on the cover. I read the article, and decided to post it. (forgive me KW!!!!)
When South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson interrupted President Obama's address to Congress by shouting "You lie!" last week, at least one man was elated.
"I thought, 'Great, now the notion of civility may be back on the national agenda,' " says P.M. Forni, who heads The Civility Initiative at Johns Hopkins University, an effort that promotes etiquette.
FAITH & REASON: No jackasses, Jesus said
After last weekend, Forni might want to hire extra staff. It looks like incivility is storming the gates.
First came tennis star Serena Williams, who lost her U.S. Open semifinal to Kim Clijsters on Saturday not with an errant shot on the last point, but because of a blistering salvo at a line judge who had called a foot fault on Williams.
Williams' expletive-laced tirade threatened the woman with bodily harm. The tennis player, who was fined $10,500 and went on to win the tournament's doubles championship Monday with her sister Venus, initially issued a lukewarm apology. Then, in a statement Monday, she apologized more directly and said her behavior was "inappropriate."
On Sunday night came rapper Kanye West, who bum-rushed the stage at Radio City Music Hall during the MTV Video Music Awards to interrupt Taylor Swift as she accepted the statuette for best female video. West snatched her microphone and ranted that Beyoncé should have won.
West subsequently apologized to Swift via his blog, saying, "That was Taylor's moment and I had no right … to take it away." But, he said, "I'm just real." On the premiere of The Jay Leno Show Monday night, the rapper added, "It was rude, period," and told Leno he wants to take time off to analyze "how I'm going to make it through the rest of this life."
Unfortunately for Wilson, these latest examples of boorish behavior haven't let him slip into pop culture's comforting shadows. Today, the House is scheduled to vote on a "resolution of disapproval" of his actions. Wilson says his apology, which the president accepted, is all that should be asked of him.
Individually, any of the events might have faded quickly into the global noise of Tweets, blogs and other digital gossip. But their back-to-back-to-back nature, as well as their high-profile forums, raise the question: Are we a nation of boors — or just keeping things real?
"I don't think society is coming off the rails," says Lizzie Post, great-great-granddaughter of Emily Post and a principal at the Emily Post Institute, which monitors the nation's P's and Q's.
"These three events were bad, but the reactions to them were significant in that people were not impressed," says Post, who points to everything from campaign donations to Wilson's opponents to a flurry of posts from celebrities who were appalled by West's behavior. (On her blog, pop star Kelly Clarkson blasted West for interrupting Swift and asked him, "What happened to you as a child?? Did you not get hugged enough??")
But perhaps the most poignant sign that civility lives was Beyoncé's response to West's stunt. After taking the stage at the VMAs for her video-of-the-year win for Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It), Beyoncé brought Swift, 19, back on stage so Swift could have a do-over on her thank-you speech.
"Kanye stole Taylor's moment, but Beyoncé stole it right back," Post says. "That's an inspiration for anyone who would let all this bad behavior get them down."
Her gesture indeed turned heads.
"It's another reason to respect Beyoncé," says Miley Cyrus, another teen pop star who had her own run-in with incivility recently when actor/singer Jamie Foxx told her (in crude terms) to grow up. His comments came on satellite radio, after Cyrus complained that she hadn't gotten to hang out with the rock group Radiohead at the Grammy Awards.
Cyrus says she hasn't seen the video of West's interruption, and doesn't plan to.
"I don't want to give it another YouTube view to support (such) drama," she says.
A desire for attention
For Swift, West's act has had the effect of a homecoming queen getting tripped by the school bully. Her reward for staying cool could even be the Country Music Association's next Entertainer of the Year award, says Charlie Cook, senior manager of country programming for KKGO radio in Los Angeles.
"The country music community could rise up and say, 'Kanye, watch this!' " he says. "She's a smart woman, and I think it took her two seconds to realize that if she kept her mouth shut, it was going to be better than anything she possibly could have said."
A bit ironic, considering that it's typically the outburst that gets the publicity. And wanting more of the spotlight is precisely what motivates many of those who make a scene as West, Williams and Wilson did, says Letitia Baldrige of the executive consulting firm Baldrige & Lewris.
"Two things are happening: One is a mad desire to be the center of news, and the other is a sense among these people that because they are successful, they can get away with anything," says the veteran etiquette maven, who was first lady Jacqueline Kennedy's social secretary. "I've been around a while, so I've reached this level of cynicism proudly. But I do think that at some point as a society we'll hit a wall and turn back. Something will happen to make us stop and examine our behavior."
How we got to this place isn't a mystery, says Forni, author of The Civility Solution: What to Do When People Are Rude.
"American society is among the most informal in the world, and often that informality crosses over into incivility," he says. "Now, you add the informality of the Internet to this culture, and all bets are off. It's an age of total disclosure and total expression, with very little concern for the feelings of others."
The ability to comment about others from a distance and with anonymity is the Web's hallmark and its poison, says Jerry Bowles, co-founder of SocialMediaToday.com, which keeps tabs on the impact of social media on society. Bowles' recent blog post lamented the recent erosion of civility.
"The Web seems to turn most people into adversaries, and in doing so, we tend to lose the ability to really talk to each other," he says. "This is particularly true for politics on the Web, where the comments tend to run to the extremes and sometimes can be downright seditious. I find it scary."
Is there any antidote to such venom?
"It starts with an apology," Forni says. "That is what restores the bones of civil society."
Post agrees, noting that West's blog apology to Swift hardly counts, and if anything seems to keep the focus on its author and not the mea culpa.
"A Tweet just brings it all back to you again," she says. "It should be in person or on the phone."
A purpose behind the outbursts?
West's transgression did rock the celebrity crowd, which tends to defend its own and even glorify edgy behavior, says Chris Willman, a blogger for Yahoo! Music who says West told him to "die" after Willman wrote a negative review of West's work.
"In the back of Kanye's mind, he figures anything he does can be written off as, 'That's just Kanye being Kanye,' " Willman says. "But because he is such a popular and respected figure, it took real rage for these fellow celebrities to come out against him."
Willman adds that whether it's West or Wilson or "anyone, really, it seems like people are turning into modern-day Howard Beales," a reference to the crazed news anchor in the 1976 film Networkwho urges viewers to repeat after him, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore."
"If you have an outburst in public, there's a certain element of your fan base that expect it and will probably love you for it," says Willman, citing Wilson's quasi-celebrity among some conservatives — a sentiment that echoes raucous "town hall" meetings in which boisterous critics have blasted Democrats' plans to overhaul the health-care system.
"For West, this could be the beginning of a true chastening," Willman says. "But for Wilson, it could be the beginnings of him as a true cult figure."
That may be difficult for some to swallow. After all, Wilson insulted the president to his face in a forum — the House floor — with a strict code of conduct. Lawmakers are required to address each other in the third person. (Which is why, as C-SPAN junkies know, politicians often address each other with stilted phrases such as "My distinguished colleague" from such-and-such state.) What's more, they are admonished to "refrain from discussing the president's personal character."
All of which made Wilson's outburst all the more shocking — and not just to Democrats. "I cringed," said Rep. David Dreier of California, the top-ranking Republican on the House Rules Committee.
"Wilson's comments would seem so much more severe than West's or Williams'," says Alan Light, a music journalist and former editor of Vibe and Spin. "After all, in the pop culture world you almost have to create controversy or no one will pay attention."
West comes out of a hip-hop tradition that speaks "truth to power, but hip-hop is mainstream now," Light says. "Swift is hardly the person you interrupt to make the point that your friend's video is better. His is not an underdog voice."
As for Williams, Light notes that she's merely following in the footsteps of tennis bad-boys John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. "Was it the severity of the language that made it so bad?" he asks. "Because she's hardly the first to yell" at a line judge.
For CBS tennis commentator Mary Carillo, who believes Williams should receive a stiffer fine and be suspended, tennis has the obligation to censure any player who violates a code of conduct. "I have always admired what a fighter Serena is, and how fair she and her sister are," Carillo says. "And there's no question she felt under pressure as she was losing to someone who had just become a mom and gotten back into the game. So it was an aberration.
"Having said that, that lineperson felt threatened. She felt fear," Carillo says. "I've got a couple of kids, and I see thuggery on many of the TV shows they watch. So, no, it's not OK to say, 'That's just the way society is today,' and leave it at that."
Contributing: Brian Mansfield, Elysa Gardner and Kathy Kiely
Interesting.... I guess?
I was reading some stuff from New York, and I stumbled on this. I am not a HUGE Perez Hilton fan, but I like Lady Gaga's Music, and I think she is doing what a lot of these "pop" acts are in fear of doing: Being Different. Any how, here's the article.
One of the most-hyped Fashion Week parties was Out magazine's at the Box last night, thrown in honor of September issue cover girl and vocal gay-rights proponent Lady Gaga. The rumors (and there were many) were evenly split between thinking she'd perform and thinking she'd simply show up and say hello to her fans. The night before, Gaga seemed to have no trouble attending the Marc Jacobs show and performing practically naked at the after-party the designer threw in conjunction with V magazine. But Out magazine couldn't confirm Gaga's attendance at the party they threw for her until she finally showed up at the Box at around midnight, about an hour after Out's party technically ended. By then most of the crowd — die-hard Gaga fans, who showed up mostly just to see her — had cleared. Gaga took a seat in a booth in the back of the balcony, ordered French fries, and refused to speak to reporters. She didn't even let Out magazine take her picture so they could, you know, say she actually attended the party they threw for her.
Earlier in the night Gaga attended Perez Hilton's party to celebrate the launch of his new, um, fashion blog, CocoPerez.com. She had no trouble getting her photo taken at that soirée. Perez accompanied her to the Out party, and gamely posed for photos by the bar downstairs before assuming his spot at Gaga's booth. Earlier in the day she did a mini photo shoot for V wearing a T-shirt with her V cover on it. Out editor Aaron Hicklin tried to persuade her and her people to do a photo op, but by the time we left she hadn't budged. Seeing as no images of her have emerged on the wire, she must not have. So why the diva behavior at Out's party? She can flaunt her nipples for Marc but can't even let Out take her photo? Diva fail.
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