March 2007 Archives

Eleven years ago. The Source Magazine. January 1996. Issue No. 76. "The Year in Hip-Hop '95."

Flippin through the pages, ha. Page 49. The title hits me harder than a Serius Jones punch line: "What Would You Like To Change About Hip-Hop?"

GRAND OPENING MARCH 30th

Live Performance by LUMIDEE, TONY SUNSHINE and DJ TONY TOUCH

MUST SAY YOU ARE ON BELO PRODUCTIONS list

CALL (718) 507-0110 to RSVP!!!!

This rapper, who goes by the name of Rebel, is a former Roc-A-Fella artist. Can you believe they constructed a ten-paragraph press release around this rapper's claim that Hov stole his "diamond"? And check the P.R's disclaimer which aims to shoot down the speculation (that Rebel is not using Hov as a stepping stone for publicity) before it starts:

"REBEL's longstanding anger at Jay for stealing his sign and running with it without so much a sign of gratitude or acknowledgment. An anger that has only intensified over the years as his diamond sign has taken on a life of it's own.

I peeped The Bronx hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster "DJ Casanova" Caz interview online and when asked who his favorite lyricists were, he said:

"A few cats, a lot of them whose names will not come to mind right now but Black Thought, Papoose, Cassidy; I mean a lot different lyricists. Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Jadakiss ghetto poet genius type dudes, people that are dedicated to being great. I can't stand when rappers get on the mic and they're good but then they say 'but I ain't no rapper,' or 'I'm just tryna to hustle,' then why you taking up space 'cause there's a million of people dedicated. This is why hip-hop is stagnated because niggas see that there's more profit here than with drugs and kilos."

Just like everyone knew he would.

As told to New York Hot 97 radio host Angie Martinez:

"I look forward to embarking on this exciting new phase of my career along side KOCH Records, a company best known for their unyielding interest in supporting the vision of the artist. It feels good to be a part of a team that appreciates hip-hop in its truest form. I am ecstatic about being in control of my own destiny."

Grown-ass man + beating up a child= NOT GANGSTA.

There have been many versions of the story. But according to Cynthia Reed, the mother of the fourteen-year-old who encountered an attack by the "gangster" rappers Tony Yayo and 50 Cent:

And as a unit. Not just with three active artists. It's a long shot, but it's possible. Sometimes it takes one person to encourage that step-it-up attitude for everyone else. Remember those Roc and Ruff Ryders days? I'm sure that can all resurface. And just in time for the summer.

"I ain't getting into all that right now, it's too early," Beans explained. "I gotta tap up a couple of people. Like I said, a lot of people are getting besides themselves. I guess they ain't know where the Broadstreet Bully stood at. I hear a lot of shots being popped at Big Homey; I'm here to do what I do. Hit man for hire, here I come." -- Beanie Sigel, Hot 97 interview with DJ Abso

Join the grown and sexy crowd every Friday and Saturday in Downtown, Manhattan's newly established AER Lounge, located at 409 West 13th Street btwn 9th & 10th Ave in the Meat Packing District. This is a 21+ event.

Ladies on guestlist are free until 1am. . Guys reduced on guestlist until 1am. Also,
single and group of guys must be accompanied by females or be prepared to bottle service.
Please say "DONNY" at the door for free/reduced admission

Dress code: Trendy & Chic (No Athletic wear, no boots, no hats, no exceptions)

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Uneducated, ghetto, young, and non-conversing minds need not continue after this point. It'd be hard for you to comprehend anyways.

One of the only hip-hop acts I even care to follow up on nowadays, Harlem's Immortal Technique, is back--back, that is, at giving us one more reason to hate the U.S government. And finally, Technique touched on the dilemma many would-be protestors face: Speak out against the ills of George Bush, his entire administration, and the remainder of the shady U.S gov and be tagged as a reckless, ruthless American terrorist will no moral values, or stay shut and not speak at all.

Ask Rizoh. This week has been pure Crack.

Strike 10, Hov. Philly's Omillo Sparks is on the outs and ready for paybacks. According to the Philly rapper, Hov stopped him from releasing his album, Payback, from being released... and then dropped him like a dirty condom. But because he's Jay-Z, nobody cares about how many times he does his IDJ artists wrong. Needless to say, nobody cares about a dropped Roc-A-Fella artist that nobody even knew existed (ahem). But regardless of who cares and who doesn't, he's getting some shit off his back:

Ummm...

Now you know the Urban Music Awards is full of shit if Papoose and Nas are both up for Artist of the Year -- yeah...simultaneously. I understand the procedure following the compilation of nominees is operated strictly by the streets, but the way they assemble their nominees just don't make any sense. No disrespect, 'cause Papoose will always be one of my former favs, but he hasn't done a got damn thing in the last year. Nas? He's done more in the past few months than most rappers have done their whole career. So where's the competition? I would've expected Jay up there before Papoose, who, by the way, hasn't even dropped any kind of street single, fiyah mixtape, no nothin. So who's over there pulling strings?

...and Nas, and Wu-Tang, and Eric B & Rakim-- the lyrical one.

Rolling Stone compiled a list of their top twenty-five artists out of New York City. Out of those twenty-five, nine hip-hop artists/groups made it on the list:

Via Defsounds:

"You gonna love it. I'm tellin you, you gonna love it. It's crazy hot. It's better than Get Rich and The Massacre. Im excited I can't wait for my record to come out so everybody can listen to it.”

DJ Precise at XBAR:

Join DJ Precise this Friday at The Bronx's XBAR, located on Fordham at Major Deegan. Doors open at 10pm, 18+ for the ladies, 21+ for gents. No sneakers allowed, dress code will be inforced. For more information, click this link, or call 646-645-9389.

No.

"Payola has always been thick in the game. I don't think it's going anywhere. Radio Stations will continue to take money from whatever artists that need the exposure, no matter if they're indie or not. The same with Record Labels dishin out money to radio stations and television stations to get their songs/videos played. It will never change. From what I've heard about the Monie Love/Young Jeezy Situation, [it's been speculated that] the radio station fired Monie because it screwed up their situation with Jeezy's people who were payin [The Beat 100.3] to play his music so she was fired on account of that. The same thing with D4L paying BET to play their video Laffy Taffy. So Payola is alive and well, it will never go away."-- MZ Entertainment, The Source.com Forum

The 'hood nigga in the bodega... yeah yeah yeah we've seen it all before. (Pic snagged from Eskay).

"This album got that early New York feeling, cause we've been shying away from what we do [lately]," Ortiz said. "I'm a nice MC, not a rapper, an MC. I know what's missing and I'm trying to start something here...I don't know how to sellout, dude. When you're lyrical like I am, you gotta be nice and say something. I just want people to say I'm consistent, that I broke down barriers... It's my turn. They better put their rain jackets on 'cause it's about to be a storm." --Joell Ortiz, SOHH exclusive

Just when the nonbelievers thought Nas was winding down, he re-ups once again.

This is something I would never expect.

Via email:

"March 1, 2007

The image of Brooklyn rapper, MAINO now towers the streets of downtown Brooklyn in the form of a billboard. MAINO can be seen on a giant sized billboard at the notoriously known Brooklyn shopping corner of Fulton Street at Flatbush Avenue sporting the latest designs from clothing company STASH HOUSE: the new clothing line from the makers of AKADEMIKS. The new advertising campaign reflects some of hip hop's biggest names, including Jadakiss, Kay Slay, Jae Millz and DJ Drama representing the company's tagline "Stack Paper, Say Nothing."

It has now officially been ten years since the Notorious B.I.G has departed from his family members and friends, and the now fallen world of hip-hop. And in these past ten years, a lot has happened to the music that was once good ol' hip-hop; but who knows... maybe rap wouldn't be any better than it is now had he still been around. Remember, like every other genre, hip-hop will one day die, and the beginning of its end had to start at some point. But one would never know. One can only assert.

Last year, SOHH got together with Junior Mafia, Lord Finesse, Fat Joe, and others to honor the 9-year anniversary of Biggie's death. Here are some of the clips that caught my eye:

Latina Poets Festival 2007

To view click here

Tonight at 8pm join 12 Latin honeys at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre as they hit up the mic with their most dexterous wordplay.

Location: 304 West 47th Street between 8th & 9th Avenues in Manhattan.

Popular poets such as Sandra Maria Esteves and La Bruja are slated to perform tonight. For more information call 212-354-1293

Hold dat.

I was walking through Harlem's City College campus and saw the Februrary 2007 issue of City College's The Paper [article "Barron Stands up for Students, Tells CUNY: "BRING IT!"]. Although I may be a month late and a dollar short, I think it's important that the notoriously biased NY Daily News-- who subliminally glorifies unjust cop shootings and other ill-mannered propaganda-- should know that their silly attempt to shut down and humiliate the college's regulations and exercise of student rights FAILED.

Where is dead prez when you need them? Didn't they say something about running up on these fools in City Hall?

According to numerous sources, with the push from Councilmember Leroy Comrie, the state of New York has officially banned the word "nigga." I'd like to see these niggas take action against 8 million niggas in New York City for using the word "nigga" during their conversation with a bunch of other niggas. Not gonna happen. When (literally) a million loud-talking niggas are simultaneously getting out of school at 3pm... finish the sentence.

To most who don't know his role, Hot 97's Mister Cee (also home of Biggie's former turntable sidekick DJ Enuff), is one of the invisible figures underlying the launch of Biggie's beginning career. Ten years after the release of Cee's first Biggie mixtape, Biggie's Greatest Hits, Cee is back and in full effect with a re-up entitled The Best of Biggie 10th Anniversary Mixtape.

Cee told MTV's Mixtape Monday:

...but he's on his way to hell. And he's taking New York City with him.

HHNLive has obtained and published a press release from the Musically Immune Monotonous Smurf's camp:

Someone told me that my relentless lashing and finger-pointing suggests that I am, in some way, trying to save hip-hop. But no matter who it is I accuse of ruining the art, and no matter how many times, the facts still remain: payola, capitalists, greed. At this point, one's opinion of who is killing hip-hop are only words that last long enough to go through one ear and out the other; the powers that be have become way too strong.

So now, Davey D, the infamous hip-hop journalist who's been doing this for a long time, gives us some commentary with this article, "Why Commerce is Killing the True Spirit of Hip-hop." And for those who might not be familiar, this is the dude that spit his knowledge on "BEEF I" (and other hip-hop documentaries as well). Check it out:

Like Beyonce and "Sasha," Cam'ron has "Cam'run."

I gotta hold down my Uptown niggas to the fullest. But you see what I mean when I say these Diplomat dudes are always saying or doing something stupid? In a recent interview with Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show, Cam started running off at the mouth:

"Why is he [Hov] calling him [Juan Perez] OG? You don't call somebody younger than you OG," Cam sneered. "You don't know him. Juan, keep that gaffle up, I'm proud of you boy. You smart, he's from Harlem, he real smart and I know what he's doing."