June 2006 Archives

Newsflash!!!

In response to a controversial statement made by a former comrad while performing on stage at Birthday Bash 11, Killer Mike recently rushed into the studio and dropped "I Promise I Will Not Lose." Killer Mike was not in attendance at Birthday Bash when the statement was made.

What happened? Alledgedly, while performing on stage a certain labelmate uterred the words One Monkey Don't Stop No Show... which was an indirect reference to Killer Mike who was not in attendance due to other committments. Not to mention the fact that Mike had recently announced his branching off to usher in his new Grind Time label.

Fresh off an extraordinary performance at the BET Awards on Tuesday, Mary J. Blige will make an appearance at Chastain Park tonight, leading off the final leg of her tour.

Tickets are still available though they are very limited, from what I hear. Mary has solidified her stance as a diva in the game this year with her album The Breakthrough and I'm sure the concert will be an extension of that greatness tonight.

The way she killed it this year, I have to wonder if she's the greatest female singer of our era (90's to current), regardless of color. When you speak of longevity and consistency, has anybody done it better?

Show begins tonight at 7pm. Be in the building.

I guess I'll give my opinion of the whole BET shindig last night from my vantage point. Let me just run it down like this with a few things that caught my attention throughout the evening.

1. It was a crowning moment for "The King of The South" I guess. I mean c'mon man Don King brought T.I. out, how big was that? I thought he needed a cough drop or somethin' though, he sounded as hoarse as Harry Belafonte' but whatever, he's the "King". Jus playin' man. And to top it all off he ended up taking home some hardware. Big night.

2. I was forced to remember a profound comment by big Suge Knight, taken from a speech about ten years ago. It went something like this, "If you don't want your producer all up in your video dancing around and s**t--come to Death Row." Then Yung Joc and Puffy hit the stage.

3. Then my guys, Dem Franchise Boyz. I never knew Parlae meant so much to those cats. Don't get me wrong, they did alright but it was like watching the five heartbeats without Eddie. Not saying he's the tightest, but they just looked out of pocket.

4. Cherish looked and sounded good on the red carpet, but did you notice that there was only one chic with her shirt buttoned and her stomach covered up, looking a little pudgy? Can you say treadmill? Don't get me wrong, I like 'em thick but the fact that the other girls are so tiny makes ol' girl stand out like a swoll thumb...I mean a sore thumb.

Disturbing The Peace artist Shawnna drops her sophomore release, Block Music today and the hope is that this project does much better than her first album, Worth Tha Weight. I think she sold about 10 copies to close relatives and DTP members.

This album should be better. I've heard three tracks (all top-notch) from the CD including the debut single "Gettin Some," which banged in the club for about six months. She does drop a remix to "Gettin' Some" on the album, and it features Pharrell, Luda, and Lil Wayne.

I usually like to keep everything on the up and up just because that's the way we do it here in Atlanta. But I have to call Field Mob on their latest comments regarding the fall of hip-hop.

By now I'm sure you have read Field Mob's, more specifically Smoke's latest controversial statement as told in a recent SOHH interview.

Hell yeah Hip-Hop is dead. I'mma tell you who killed hip hop...D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz. Those are the murderers of hip hop in my opinion. It was already dying. They just came over and killed it.

Whut?!?! Even if you feel like that I would think that you should have more respect for your fellow ATL compadres than to call them out by name on some slander like that. C'mon Smoke. Was this a publicity stunt for album sales or what because he did say all of this the day the album dopped.

If anybody has ever been to both Atlanta and St. Louis, they already know that certain similarities exist between the two cities from the nightlife to the embedded culture. No, not exactly the same but similar in their own rights. Now, Goodie Mob's Gipp and The St. Lunatics' Ali have successfully illustrated that bond on wax.

Ali and Gipp have come together to drop their new album, Kinfolk, due out later this summer. Their first track, "Go Head," is proving it's worth as we speak, doing acceptable numbers. The video recently dropped and that combined effort has pushed the joint over the top in the clubs this summer. (Did you see Chingy in that joint with Nelly..."Now What's Beef?")

SOHH caught up with them a few weeks ago and they discussed why they linked up and how it all came about.

"Dro! I'm Clean In this B**ch/Now I'm 'Bout Ready Ta' Lean In This B**ch" -- Young Dro

That's Young Dro, and that's been the anthem for the last few months in the city and now that the world has caught on it's a beautiful thing. His first release, "Shoulder Lean," took off like a jet and has solidly put Dro on the national map.

The 27-year-old Bankhead native came out of some serious struggles, including catching a couple hot ones to the mid-section as a teen to now dropping hot ones on the charts.

His debut album, Best Thang Smokin', is set for release towards the end of the summer. I hear he's working with mostly in-house producers as well as the rest of the P$C family.

"Do you remember when you first lost your mind?" Typical Cee Lo Green vocals but this time he's lacing his chords over Dangermouse's high-caliber beats and it truly is krazy. Since they dropped their first collaborative effort St Elsewhere in May, the buzz has been heard worldwide, especially overseas. But to my surprise, Atlanta hasn't caught the wave as much as I would have thought.

Don't get it twisted, even though the name has changed, the face and the sound still remains the same...it's still Cee Lo. Act like ya' know! The album is tight work, Atlanta; so go 'head and push it even further.

It was recently announced that former TLC member Chili has signed a deal with Akon's Knovict Records. The deal is reported to be a four album deal with an expected initial album release date scheduled for this summer.

So what's next for T-Boz? And what ever happened to O-So Krispie Kreme's?

Dammit, man. Ya' boy missed Birthday Bash 11 this past weekend. I was on the west coast, so I need somebody to fill me in on what went down. I've heard a few things about the artists' performances, and I'm sure it was tight -- it usually is.

Moving right along... Question, if I asked you "what group was getting the most spins on the west coast this past week?" What would you say?

Killer Mike, better known as Mazerati Mike 'round these parts now, has decided that enough is enough, it's time to grind. He's stepping out and starting his own label Grind Time Official. Mazerati Mike will drop the new album Dat Crack Version 2.2 with his crew Grind Time Rap Gang through his label Grind Time Official which will be distributed by Selecto Hits.

Is he making the right move? I think he is. With the influx of new artists from the city grabbing shine it became evident that with every passing day Mike's status as one of Atlanta's heavyweights in the game had a chance of being jeapordized.

It was definitely time, besides once this new Outkast album drops this summer we know where the focus will shift too. But in the end it's still Dungeon Family so it's all relevant.

I guess Papoose warned us a while back... The hip-hop police have officially established that this is NOT a game.

With the recent arrest of Parlae of Dem Franchise Boyz as well as The Youngbloodz situation, it's evident that the hunt is on and probably has been on for a minute.

BHImusic.comBEND YA KNEES, ROCK YA HIPS, DO THE POOL PALACE!

So what is Bankhead's latest gift to the world? That would be Born Husslers, Inc. who under the wing of producer K-Rab, signed to Lil’ Jon’s BME Recordings/Warner Bros. Records in early 2006, shortly after K-Rab received worldwide recognition for his production on D4L’s “Laffy Taffy.” K-Rab, Hard Head, Yung J and Skeet make up BHI and they have managed to firmly cement their sound throughout the streets of Atlanta over the last couple of years with two successful songs out of the gate.

I caught up with BHI recently to discuss their much-anticipated Snaplanta album dropping this summer and the some of the other issues that go along with possibly being the next major hip hop group from ATL to "Do It."

SOHH.COM
First, where does the name Born Husslers Inc. come from?

Yung J:
We've been together for a couple years and BHI is just a crew of people who made a decision to go a different route in their lives and that route was music. We needed to better our lives and and that's what it's all about, BHI simply stands for Born Hustlers. We're all from different places but everything leads back to Bankhead. That's where everything comes from and where shit hit the fan. It's where we came together and made this shit happen.

SOHH.COM
You mention Bankhead as one of the central components to making things happen, what is it about the whole Bankhead movement that is so strong right now?

Yung J:
You had to go there huh. Basically, Bankhead is just THE hood of Atlanta. It's the street, it's the hood.

Hardhead:
It's like this, if you come from a low poverty environment usually everything is down and portrayed as negativity in the media. The whole music thing in Bankhead has given the westside a positive aspect. Also, let me be the first to say that I appreciate Bankhead for adopting me man', the whole Bankhead family. I came here from New Orleans about three years ago and they took me in as family and I appreciate and respect that. From my hood to yo' hood it's all stays the same ya' feel me.

"Stoppppppp' Wait A Minute..." I hate how he comes in on that song ("You"). But nevermind that, it was recently announced that former Murder Inc. compadre and hometown boy Lloyd has decided to bring his R&B/Hip Hop crooning back to Atlanta, and has signed with Jazze Pha's Sho-Nuff Records.

I ran an interview with Tango Redd a few months ago and people were hard on him but Tango bounced back real nice with his verse on "You" as well gettin' major spins so big ups to him on that.

Yeah it's that time again, the middle of June means that "Birthday Bash 11" is right around the corner.

Last year's Bash was probably the best I've been to since it's inception and this year should have the same feel, and might possibly be even better considering how hot the ATL hip-hop scene is right now. Not as hot as the mid-nineties Goodie/'Kast era but it's definitely on point right now.

The concert, put on by 107.9 FM will be Saturday (June 17) at Phillips Arena which is cool b'cause that June hotlanta sun is serious. Grab your tickets now.

So far the usual suspects have committed to perform at the event like T.I., Purple Ribbon, Nelly, Gipp and Ali, Lil Jon, Jeezy, Yola the Great, So So Def etc..

I'll keep you posted.

It's been a minute since we heard from BME/Warner Bros artist Lil' Scrappy but he has resurfaced with a new single, "Gangsta Gangsta" featuring and produced by Lil' Jon.

Scrappy is set to release his debut album, Bred 2 Die Born 2 Live later this summer.

It's good to see that T.I. is back on the grind and what better place to make that statement than in The Big Apple. I've got first-hand knowledge that ya' boy ripped Apollo Theater last week, wth some help from PSC and Yung Joc.

Just when you thought NY had no love left for us this happens. Well, you already know the love and respect is mutual.

If it's not Field Mob retracting their statements or Ghostface and Talib coming down here killing it at their shows respectively, it all adds up to the fact that it's all hip-hop. Real talk.

Now, if we can just get Papoose, Redman, Meth, Wu and more New York artists to do more shows here, we'll be even better. The hate that some try to create is false, just ask the crowd at the Apollo and Summer Jam.

"You will respect the hustle"--T.I.

I haven't heard much about the The Youngbloodz's recent arrest on firearms and marijuana charges so far in the news but for all it's worth here is my take on it.

The link to the Vibe article is somewhat misleading because here in Atlanta on the news the arresting officer said that the tour bus was sitting in the parking lot of the arena and had expired tags and that caused the officer to pursue something. So "Trash the Stash" said The Man in the tight blue suit.

Did you really think I was going to lead with anything other than the fact that Yung Joc's debut album hits the stores today? Ahhh... you know me so well. However, in case you haven't heard, New Joc City has officially arrived and it's the real deal.

I got a chance to hear the album in it's entirety over the weekend and it will actually surprise some of the critics who insist Joc is just a one-hit wonder. Big up to the Bloc squad for holdin' ATL down until that 'Kast drops...U already know.

Album release party tonight, signings @ Best Buy all that... and Bloc y'all hold me down when I see you.

What was Friday's headline story on AOL?...Hip Hop Dukes It Out With Oprah! And guess who they're pointing the figure at as the arsenist who started the fire... LUDA! Now even Killer Mike has thrown a punch from the side on Ms. Winfrey.

Taken from the article:
Ludacris, aka Chris Bridges, began the anti-Oprah sentiment in the May issue of GQ Magazine, where he complained the talk show host was "unfair" to him when he appeared on her show with other cast members from best-picture Oscar winner "Crash."

OK, things are getting dangerous now. Mainstream media has decided to join in on this little saga and whenever that happens you can expect to see controversial angles and spins, quotes taken out of context and then the next thing you know we have a three-alarm fire that's out of control.

Big E-40, possibly the hardest-working man in the game right now, has dropped his latest single and video, "U and Dat" featuring T-Pain and Kandi. The joint is hot. My fam tells me that The Bay is pumping this single out there too so this could be a big song.

Check out the "U and Dat" video

I sometimes get the argument that E-40 is not ATL, but whatever man -- tell him 'dat. Fonzarelli is adopted. Meanwhile, Kandi stepped away from Xscape and not looked back. She's creating a small buzz as of late, and has a single out that features Eightball & MJG.

It's official, Yung Joc has announced that his album release party will be held at Club Vision on Tuesday (June 6), coinciding with the release of his anticipated freshman album release, Yung Joc City.

The buzz sorrounding Joc is crazy right now so count on this being one of the biggest album release parties in the city since Young Jeezy's bash last year. If you were here for that then you already know how big that was.

I've heard Joc on a couple of mixtapes recently and he's really coming into his own with his flow. I hope to have an interview with him real soon so keep an eye out for that.