May 2007 Archives

Although The Game has made comments about retiring from the rap game in the past- most notably when he stated that if Doctor’s Advocate didn’t sell a million in its first week (which it didn’t), he would take up a president position at Interscope -more reports have surfaced that Chuck Taylor may plan on retiring soon, and this time he sounds a bit more serious.

At a shoot for the fourth installment of QD3’s “Beef” DVD series, the rapper made hints that his next album may be his last.

With Snoop and The Game awaiting trial on separate felony charges, yet another hip hop artist (and I’m using that description very loosely in this case) from the West Coast had court last week, and will be in the courtroom again on June 28th for his pre-trial hearing.

For this week’s installment of “Remembering a West Coast Classic”, we’re taking you back. Wayyyyyy back...

In 1990, gang violence was making headlines like never before, and while pop rap was running the charts on the West Coast, gangster rap was prominent and in the beginning stages of picking up the steam that eventually carried it through the next decade and into the new millenium.

And guess who doesn't find it funny...

Apparently everybody wants to talk about this Game track floating around called “My B**ch”, on which he disses 50, Jigga and Suge knight.

Unfortunately, I don’t.

The concept is clever and the lyrics are well-written, and it’s a good beat, but people want to start up on some drama queen gossip s**t like it’s a revelation that Game came out with another diss track (whether it was leaked or not). I don’t really have any interest in discussing this any further, but for anyone who wants to go ahead and get their little sewing circle on, feel free.

Overall, there isn’t s**t to write about today, other than two mildly interesting bits of information. Sorry if you’re bored by the lack of exciting news in the world of West Coast hip hop, but um... so am I. That said, here are the aforementioned two bits of info...

So yesterday (Tuesday) I got an email about a Central Cali remix of DJ Khaled’s “We Takin’ Over”, which originally featured Akon, Rick Ross, TI, Baby, Fat Joe and Lil Wayne. This time around, howewver, the lyrics would be provided by Fresno emcees Planet Asia, Diego Redd, Shake Da Mayor, and 17-year-old prospect Fashawn.

And yes, I said Fresno.

Late last week, G-Unit’s West Coast representative Spider Loc finally dropped the video for the remix of “Blutiful World” featuring Papa Smurf and Piper. There was a lot of drama (drive-by’s, chin-checking, etc.) that accompanied the shoot (for the section that was shot to go along with Smurf’s verse on the remix, and for the footage that goes along with Piper’s part), but in the end, I gotta give it up for Spider Loc- he came with a pretty dope video.

Check it out for yourself...

Hopefully everyone had a good weekend. Now it’s time to get back to the grind by starting the week the same way we always do: with a West Coast Classic.

Although militantly political rappers were running amok during the early nineties, there was one rapper who came out of San Francisco and made some major waves in 1990 with the release of his debut album, The Devil Made Me Do It.

That rapper was, of course, Paris and today’s Classic is the title song from that album.

So hopefully everybody enjoyed the Juice interview that was posted over the last two days; if not, I won't be losing any sleep over it. Although he definitely has the confidence and swagger that’s required of a rapper, he was actually a pretty humble dude, not to mention the fact that he was pretty f**king personable for someone who has the immense career opportunities that he has lurking on the horizon. And to top it off, he was nothing but professional about setting up the interview, and about being prepared and punctual for it. All in all, he was a cool ass dude, and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to interview him.

Yesterday, we brought you part 1 of the interview with The Black Wall Street's self-procalimed "New Breath of the West Coast," Juice. Today, we conclude the interview as Juice speaks on beef, Hot Rod, Arizona, and his mixtape (which, in a new development, has apparently drawn the attention of the RIAA after mom and pop stores and internet retailers pre-ordered over 250,000 copies).

Read on...

Although it is unclear just how involved the only other rapper in The Game's Black Wall Street stable of talent (Bay Area heavyweight Ya Boy) will be in the camp's future, Phoenix Arizona's Juice has made it clear that he has taken the reigns as the "heir to to the BWS dynasty". With the release of a promising mixtape and a DVD on the horizon, a rep in his home state and a steadily-growing buzz throughout the rest of the country, and a full length in the works, things have never looked better.

Last week, this rising star took a moment to catch up with SOHH Left Coast and get everybody up to speed on what he's got going on right now and more importantly, to anser the question... who is Juice?

Being that yesterday was Mother’s Day, it’s only right that the West Coast Classic today is a joint that is arguably one of the best songs a rapper has ever written for his mom. Today we’re going to take a second to remember “Dear Mama”, from one of the most widely recognized artists to ever emerge out of the West Coast rap scene. That artist of course, is 2pac.

Today we have a guest blog from the homie Brillyancestar. For anyone else interested in submitting a guest blog, hit me up with a pitch on the SOHH Left Coast myspace page at www.myspace.com/sohhleftcoast. I'll be posting a guest blog from a reader once a month from here on out.

Make sure you tune in next week; I'll be posting part one of an interview with Juice from Black Wall Street on Tuesday. Until then, have a good weekend.

-80

It’s been a little while that I’ve been sitting on this Snoop compilation that dropped on April 24th, but I’ve had the time to listen to it a few times and today I’m finally ready to give you the review.

When it comes to talking about DJs that are doing big things on the West Coast, you’d be seriously remiss to leave out DJ Strong. Besides having done mixtapes with everyone from Ice Cube to The Dogg Pound to E-40 to Lil Eazy E, he’s also one of the co-founders of HipHopWest on Pico Blvd and is constantly on the cutting edge when it comes to dropping new West Coast tracks on his Cali Untouchables Radio show with DJ Warrior (which you can check out Tuesday nights at 11:00 PST on Sirius HipHopNation channel 40).

SOHH Left Coast recently took a moment to talk with Strong about a few things, including what he’s up to these days, who he thinks will be next artist from the West Coast to blow up, and his opinion on the recent RIAA raid on DJ Drama.

I don’t know what it’s going to take for heads to finally catch on to Planet Asia, but hopefully this will be the year.

It’s been 7 years since he released the criminally slept-on How The West Was One with Rasco (as Cali Agents), and less than one year since he recruited Evidence to produce The Medicine, and now the Fresno MC is gearing up to drop The Jewelry Box Sessions: The Album.

Hopefully everybody had a good Cinco de Mayo weekend. Apparently I had too much of a good time, because I’m still recovering on Sunday night...

Some of you might have picked up the hint in Friday’s blog about what today’s West Coast Classic was going to be. And if you didn’t pick it up, today we’re taking a moment to remember “La Raza” by Kid Frost, from his 1990 album Hispanic Causing Panic.

Tattoo and Mr. Roarke. And no, Tattoo (RIP, little homie) wasn't Mexican.

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo (which is tomorrow), we’re gonna run through some of my favorite Mexicans of all time. This list is limited to Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the entertainment business; unfortunately, I don’t have the time to conduct the history lesson that would be necessary to give props to all of those throughout history that deserve it,

Let’s get rolling...

As some of you may or may not know, West Coast Mafia don C-Bo recently signed to Young Buck’s Cashville Records and even more recently, 2Pac’s former proteges Tha Outlawz signed with the label as well.

Kind of strange, considering that C-Bo was dissing G-unit like a year ago, but people make up, and people make money.

Young Buck swooped up his newest signees for his current U.S. Tour; while it has already been underway for a couple weeks, the tour will be making its second West Coast stop (after Monday’s show in Seattle) tonight in Hollywood.

Since I already took care of clearing up all of this blogola gossip bullshit on Friday, today I’m going to wrap this little series up by addressing another issue that frequently rears its ugly head on the message boards of SOHH.

A couple months back, SOHH Left Coast brought you a Traxamillion interview right after the Bay Area producer released his debut album The Slapp Addict featuring guest verses from Turf Talk, Dem Hoodstarz, The Jacka, Too Short, E-40, Mistah F.A.B., Zion I Killa Keise, Keak Da Sneak, San Quinn, The Team, The Pack, Clyde Carson and Husalah.

Today, SOHH Left Coast is proud to be the first to bring you the brand new video for Trax’s new single “From The Hood,” featuring The Jacka, San Quinn and Husalah. And keep an eye out for cameos from DJ Vlad, Cellski, DJ Backside, J-Stalin and Demolition Men.