July 2006 Archives

The Ranjahz's Haph and Wais

It’s been a long time coming since their days with Jay-Z and Def Jam, but The Ranjahz are back. Coming straight out the streets of Brooklyn, the prolific rap duoâ€"known to many as lyricist Wais and musician Haphâ€"have a lot in store for the hip-hop world, as their plan for takeover is backed by Bad Boy’s super producer Derrick “D.Dot” Anguliette (Biggie, 50 Cent, Diddy, to name a few). “Rap’s next super group,” who have worked with big names such as DJ Premier and Cee-lo Green of Gnarls Barkley, to name a couple, sat down with SOHH to discuss what went down with Hov, their mixtape Operation Awareness, their plan of rap invasion, rappers (incorrectly) trying to rap about drugs, and good ol’ hip-hop politics.

SOHH: You’ve been gone for a while so reintroduce yourselves to the hip-hop world.

Wais: It’s Wais [pronounced “wise”]

Haph: H-a-p-h, voice of the haph-nots.

"I got at this alleged slut whore [DJ Envy's wife], heh, and this little half a lo-mein eater.... Yes, I disrespected your seed. If you didn't hear me, I said, I would like to do an R. Kelly on your seed, on your little baby girl. I would like to tinkle on her.

"I'm disrespectin' your seed. I would like to skeet on the face of your seed. Now that's, that's real talk dawg...

"Now, again, to the woman, who carried that little mongrel for 9 months. ... I'm coming for your seed. Did you hear me?... I want to do an R. Kelly in the mouth of your seed... You holla at me now I'm the easiest man in the world to find...You holla back now, DJ Envy.

"Let me see now, uh, DJ Benji attention! In case you didn't hear me, I said, I want to put some mayonnaise in between your baby girl's ass crack and take a bite."

He ran over the Crystal Waters "Gypsy Woman" sample better than T.I did on "Why You Wanna." Styles P is hoping that his for-the-ladies "Favorite Drug" (edited would be "Favorite One") will do him justice and bring Time Is Money to a decent position on the charts despite its frustrating freeze the first time around (that is, if this is the confirmed lead single). But the way the D-Block disc/DVD didn't even make the Top 200 on the charts two weeks ago, it's not looking too good for any members of The Lox; Sheek's After Taxes was good money, but it didn't make any. Jadakiss is one of my favorites and one of the best, but he’s taking too long to come back with another LP.

Styles is one of the best lyricists in the game, which is an easy title to palm with all the corny rappers there are out at the moment. But even if the game were oversaturated with a million Nases, Papooses, Jadakisses, Mos Defs, and Commons, Styles would still stand a chance, 'cause he's got enough lyrical swagger to sweep out an entire rap battle field. The more recent history of his career, however, has only proven otherwise...

“I know, I been fuckin’ a lot/ But your dude wanna know baby girl you gon’ suck it or not?”
“My d*ck harder than a motherfucker/ You don’t what? Tell that shit to another sucker…”
“Got somethin’ for your face, not Proactiv.”
“…here come the hot sauce…”
“Would you like a tissue or a wet wipe?”

I was listening real closely to “Suck it or Not,” which isn’t so bad thanks to the overwhelming amount of radio drops it’s been receiving, and I noticed the amount of disrespect and degrading lyrical content laced all over the track is CRAZY.

...Yeah Right

You wanted press right? Well you're getting the press you asked for, 'cause you have just been aired out by SOHH.

Apparently, there has been a Def Jam thirsty, a liar, a bird that has been chirping in my ear about his FALSE deal with Def Jam Recordings as a means to catch a come-up â€" flashing pictures posing with rap stars and R&B artists that he's claimed to have "opened up for," yet no pictures of him actually PERFORMING exist. I got my mans from Mixshow to get that A&R department on the horn -- not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES, PLUS a few IMs and another double check in addition to me running into an A&R in the hallway, and there is no such impostor on Def Jam's roster.

T.I.'s turntable sidekick, Philly-bred DJ Drama, is going through some hard times right about now. Not only are a lot of industry cats coming down on him for what they call eyeballing all the East Coast DJs and smuggling his adopted swagger down to ATL, but he got himself in a tangle between Philly's Gillie Da Kid and Lil' Wayne, which has a lot of cats calling Drama a herb... and all in front of Hot 97's "The Drama King" DJ Kay Slay (who's lovin' it).

Why are cats poppin' shit because he deaded Philly to catch a come-up? Maybe it's because they say he stole the East's style and ran down South. I don't know exactly how long DJ Drama has been around, but it seems that stealing is something he's acquired quite well, as "drama" has been brewing between him and the "real" DJ Drama.

Cory Gunz has a plan. As the son of one of Bronx’s pioneers, this MC has a lot on his plate and a big load to carry. SOHH NYC sat down and spoke with the young lyricist about carrying NYC’s weight on his shoulders, his upcoming album, his Militia crew, his latest moves with DJ Green Lantern and his desire to create a hip-hop classic.

SOHH: So introduce yourself. For everyone who's not familiar with you, just give a little rundown real quick

Cory: My name is Cory Gunz, 19-year-old hip-hop prodigy -- people call me. I started doing this, I would say around 14, 15 years old I started writing my own material. Pushin' it, got a series of mixtapes out, The Apprentice, people know me from that. Just little minor things in the streets, SMACK DVDs, little things here and there. Just keeping my name out. You know.

Most people would never guess, but I find Dipset's mixtape cuts to be good money. It's not that I don't like their music, they just get on my nerves. When they say silly things like this, as taken from the August issue of XXL, it further reiterates the lack of respect they get for every time they put their foot in their mouths.

Someone told me that the best way to crush a taunting enemy is to just ignore him. He said that D-Block should’ve done what Kanye West did to 50 Cent: just ignore him. After two attempts, 50 Cent’s comments towards Kanye (first about him being the reason for Kanye’s success and then about Kanye being “almost gay” or something like that [in reference to Kanye's MTV interview]) went dry; Kanye kicked the petty shit under the rug and kept it movin.’ Therefore, there was no fire to fuel; 50 stayed shut once he realized Kanye wasn’t even entertaining his little childish games and that he was just talking to himself.

But some people, however, don’t take a cold shoulder brush-off as well as others.

Red Cafe is now on Universal's roster. A lot of people probably know nothing about Red, but I suppose fellow posters will follow suit after this one, just the way they did with Papoose and Tru Life, so you'll be hearing more about him.

Pull any underground head to the side and ask which rising star out of the BK has the most lyrical swagger, the most mixtapes out, and the heaviest following, and you'll most likely hear the same ol' response: Papoose. But Red Cafe has cooked it up and served 'em well; it appears he's been holding enough weight to beat the "Underground King" Pap to the corporate cash.

I read something a former blogs editor for SOHH wrote recently. According to him, G-Unit "saved hip-hop from a fate worse then death at least once, and probably twice."

He went on to nonsensically deem G-Unit as the reason "hip-hop became dangerous again" and that "parents, politicians, and preachers spoke out against G-Unit's music and warned about it's effect on America." He continued with "talk shows called in hip-hop bloggers to explain this crisis of violence in the music that was spilling out in the street." Are you serious? Yes, he was dead ass. To top it off, he gave 50 Cent and his entourage full credit for "inventing and perfecting" the mixtape.

I could've smashed my entire fist through my flatscreen.

Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five, the Cold Crush Brothers, and a slew of others helped to build the foundation for the genre of music we all know as hip-hop. It’s a known fact that the Bronx started it off, thus launching the Golden Era which mined all the way through the early 90’s. But we already know that, so that’s a given.

New York City continued to carry the torch, everyone from Nas, The Wu Tang Clan, Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G, The Lox, DMX, The Ruff Ryders, Roc-a-fella, and it ended there in the late 90’s. The New Millennium gave birth to a new century, leaving the true voice of popular New York hip-hop music trapped in the year 1999; every movement has its end.

Busta Rhymes has finally opened up and slipped in a word or two about the circumstances preceding the fateful shooting of his best friend and bodyguard Israel Ramirez. However, the little bit of info he gave only furthered his fading footsteps in a muddy pile of confusion.

He told sources at Yahoo:

"I don't really care about what anybody has to say. You don't really know who was the source of the problem, all you know is a handful of people were arguing with each other. We was inside shooting a video, and on the way outside, that's when everything happened, so I was told to stay inside. I really didn't get a chance to see what went down. When we went outside, that's when we saw my friend on the ground, dying slowly."

BX stand up. Fat Joe was on the line with DJ Green Lantern on Hot 97 last night. When Lantern asked Joe about people saying New York fell off, he said:

"…I feel like, somebody give me a real song, not recycled. I wanna hear real songs right now. It's a hard subject to touch on. I'm tryna figure it out… I be hearing [underground no-namers’] freestyles and they ain’t even got a deal talking about ‘I’m in the hood.’ Damn right you in the ‘hood. [Because] You ain’t got nothing yet... I feel like New York gotta make better music 'cause right now its' recycled. The South is doing their thing…"

I’ve noticed something, and apparently Joe Budden already knows what’s really.

Although The Growth appears to be on stunt mode, the Jay-Z-sampled “Stuntin’” seems to be heating the streets on full blast. I’ve heard it some time ago, but for the ones who haven’t yet, it’s a grittier, half-step shift from his 2003 summer anthem “Pump It Up.” This track, which is a guaranteed hit, samples Jay with the cut and mixed “Brushin’ off my shirt/ …Stuntin’ on hoes.”

This is what I’ve noticed. T.I was finally able to hit a broader audience outside the streets with “Bring ‘Em Out,” and Cassidy anxiously squirmed his way out of the “corny and commercialized” category with the help of his club banger “I’m A Hustla,” leaving his previous “Hotel” and “Get No Better” for the other pop tart rappers in the game.

What do these three people have in common?

And these people here represent who to the average eye?



...Absolutely nobody. [No love lost for Grandmaster Flash (and the Furious Five). Example purposes only]

"I'm number one. I'm the "Chosen ONE." I'm the "CHOSEN ONE." They saying the game is wack, and that the game ain’t what it used to be; that's why I'm here. I'm the one to bring all that back. I'm putting all of that shit on my shoulders, and I'ma single-handedly bring music back to where it's supposed to be, where it should’a been at. You know how a lot of these dudes come out of nowhere and they be like 'he never was a rapper, he never was this' and all that extra shit they be saying... I studied this. I breathe this, I live this."

Elizabeth, New Jersey rapper A.P, aka “The Chosen One,” is on the come-up. Producers Swizz Beatz, Kwame, Lil' Jon, and Q-Tip, to name a few, have already put in their bid for his full-length LP, which, after gaining clout from A.P.’s fast jolt to the top of the underground scene, is already half-way done. The full-length LP is also open for the potential contribution of DJ Premier, Diamond D, Pete Rock, and Just Blaze.

With various appearances on national mix-shows and mixtapes, the support from New York Hot 97's turntable greats DJ Enuff and Cipha Sounds, an exclusive ringtone deal with a division of Jamster, solid cameos recorded with underground heavyhitters Lord Tariq, Red Café, Ali Vegas, and Timbaland’s newest rap artist John Doe, this MC, who has appeared in Usher's "In the Mix" movie trailer with Rihanna, has a lot on his plate.

It took a year for The (Harlem) Shake to reach the rest of the United States, so let me give these outsiders the heads up on what dance the Uptown section of New York City has created this time... ahead of time.

The streets of Uptown are blazin' right now with this single called "Chicken Noodle Soup (with a soda on da side),” and it’s crazy! But don’t get it twisted…the first thing that came to mind when I heard the title of the name was, "What the hell kind of corny business is going on in Harlem?" But to keep it true, once I heard it I discovered that the entire song is a crazy club heavy-hitter made up entirely out of a hook.

According to Rick aka "The Negotiator" (general manager) of the New York City DJ crew The Union, this jumpoff is the "hottest joint out of Harlem..." so "give it three weeks," and the entire city of New York should be doing the dance that goes with the song. I’m co-signing on this one. And nah, this aint The Shake.

What happens when The "Louis Vuitton Don" aka Kanyevil gets on his ego ish and spoils the surprise? Jay-Z goes and finds another source for a potential hit. According to reports, The Neptunes have supposedly agreed to put in work for the next Jay-Z album. Can we get another Reasonable Doubt? Can we get another '90s feel-good “Hard Knock Life” joint? Since no New York artist on Def Jam is really making too much noise, we might as well work with Sean Carter.

Hip-Hop is missing that raw and uncut, street savvy sound. Alongside the demise of the '90s went the fierceness that once possessed hip-hop music.

Oooooooooooh, snaps.

Wow. Now THAT is just sick.

Two Brooklyn nemeses have been unleashed at once.

After Foxy Brown underwent surgery for sensorineural hearing loss -- a rare disease that caused her to go completely deaf -- her hearing is back. What's next? Her latest effort is supposedly slated for release this December. Considering the current circumstances at the infamous label, I doubt that will happen.

Now, Lil' Kim hit the streets today...