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While Rihanna works on a new album in LA, she took a little time out to bond with her baby cousin, whom she calls her niece, Majesty. She took to Twitter and shared some intimate photos of the two, including one that's gotten quite a bit of attention because the pop superstar is topless while holding the newborn.
Check out the family bonding above.
Source: theybf.com
Karrine Steffans, also known as "Superhead" has been hanging out a with a few old friends lately. After being seen with Lil Wayne recently, Steffans rolled around Los Angeles with ATL rapper Soulja Boy, and posted a pic and short vid of them cuddled up in the back of a truck together.
See the video and flick of the pair together above.
Rap veteran Ice-T has lived a very colorful life. During his career as a rapper, actor and Body Count frontman, he has seen it all. So how much of the information about his rich history is accurate on Wikipedia?
The good folks at Loudwire interviewed Ice-T for their latest edition of ‘Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?’
In the clip, Ice-T talks about his early childhood, his gang affiliation and his past criminal activities.
So below are five things we’ve learned after Ice-T set the record straight.
1. Ice-T’s real name is Tracey Lauren Marrow.
His middle name Lauren is pronounced the same way as fashion designer Ralph Lauren.
2. Ice-T is gang affiliated.
The ‘O.G.’ rapper never joined a gang but befriended many of the gang leaders and shot-callers, which gave him more juice with the gang members.
3. Ice-T was once jailed in the military for theft of an infantry rug.
It’s a long and complicated story, but Ice was able to escape a long prison sentence and continue his military service.
4. Ice-T was an unsuccessful pimp who made only $40 a day.
“They say pimpin’ ain’t easy, I’ll make it more simple, pimpin’ is difficult,” he quips.
5. Ice-T once appeared at Wrestlemania.
The legendary rapper escorted legendary WWE wrestler Charles “The Godfather” Wright to the ring while performing, ironically, ‘Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy.’ “That was a great moment in my life. Wrestlemainia is big” he said.
We didn’t list of all of the fun facts from his past. So watch the video above and learn more about Ice-T’s history.
And in case you missed it, watch Ice-T insult some video game geeks below.
Watch Ice-T Appears in Arcade Sushi’s ’5×5′ Series
If you spit, and want to get some recognition in hip-hop, why not go at one of rap’s biggest artist? Los Angeles-based rapper Madd Mary did just that with the song and video for ‘Eff Iggy,’ a clear diss to one of rap’s focal points at the moment, Iggy Azalea.
In the visual, Madd Mary, who once caught the attention of Def Jam and is the cousin of producer Dallas Austin, pretends to kidnap the blonde rapper and assault her repeatedly with a bunch of sharp objects.
However, what’s most impressive is Mary’s verses, as she proves with just about every line that she’s a lyrical force to be reckoned with.
“Revoke your ghetto passes, your honorary blackness / Classless practically begging to get that ass kicked… Thinking you got permission to rock/Cause you sucking south n—- off and listen to Pac / Soon as you popped the britches you was itching to drop/Sickening to watch how the media christened you hot,” spits the natural born MC.
In addition, OJ the Producer uses a throwback soul sample, with loud, knocking drums, which is the perfect musical bedding for Mary to spit venom over. However, she’ll probably need an official hit under her belt before an artist of Iggy’s stature responds. But the ‘Fancy’ rapper better be careful because it doesn’t look like this under-the-radar spitter will back down from a lyrical challenge anytime soon.
Former Hi-Five singer Russell Neal is in police custody after he told authorities about his dead wife’s body inside his apartment and then asked for a lawyer.
According to ABC13 News, Houston police discovered a woman’s lifeless body in the living room. She was pronounced dead due to blunt force trauma.
Police say that Neal drove to probable cause court in downtown Houston Wednesday night (July 2) and told deputies that his wife was dead following an argument. He refused to provide any more details and then asked for an attorney.
Neighbors are wondering why Neal didn’t call 911 first before heading to court and asking for a lawyer.
“Apparently a guilty conscience, a guilty conscience, a crime of passion,” suggested neighbor Keenon Shufford. “You just never know. I think he just probably lost it.”
Neighbors say that Neal lived with his wife and two children at the apartment and kept to themselves. According to police, the children are with family and friends.
“There is a lot of death going on,” said another neighbor, Althea Russell. “We just should keep praying for the family if anything especially if they have kids. Hopefully, the kids are OK.”
No charges have been filed against Neal yet. Authorities say that he hasn’t been cooperative since requesting an attorney.
One of the coolest things about New Balance is that they have two manufacturing plants, one here and one abroad. The latter just whipped up a New Balance 576 release that pays special tribute to the youth movements of both Mods and Punks and it is truly something special.
For this drop the silhouette is decked out in two very expressive colorways with perfect execution. The punks are given a black leather upper with plaid trim and red and green accents while the mods are treated to olive nubuck and a beige fur lining. However if a mere glance isn’t enough to help you figure out which is which then look no further than the tongue’s that bear the style each colorway portrays.
This is a really awesome pack which gives a nod to a deep cultural movement and does a great job in summing it up. If you’d like to identify yourself as mod or punk you can do so by rolling over to mita and filling your shopping cart with the pair that speaks to you.
[Via mita]
Don’t let his good looks fool you — Oakland’s own G-Eazy is a spitter.
On the heels of the release of his chart-topping major label debut, ‘These Things Happen,’ G-Eazy kicks an exclusive verse for our 16 Bars video series. The self-styled “rap Johnny Cash” proves that though he can play the role of a relatable everyman on some songs, his ability to talk trash on the mic is on par with the best in the rap game: “You can have your songs where you’re a relatable, ordinary person that people identify with but then you’ve [also] just gotta have that invincible, superhero, cool guy ‘I’m talkin’ s–t, I can do what the f–k I wanna do and that’s just who I am’ [attitude]. So you’ve just gotta have both sides.”
Watch G-Eazy spit in the video above then talk about his approach to freestyling, his grind to the top and his love for the craft of rapping in the interview video just below.
NEXT: Watch Logic's 16 Bars Freestyle
It may have been a huge smash for her this year, but now she’s getting sued for it. Pop star Katy Perry is being taken to court by rappers Lecrae and Flame for allegedly stealing the beat from their song ‘Joyful Noise’ and using it in her chart-topping hit ‘Dark Horse.’
According to TMZ, they believe Perry, Juicy J, Dr. Luke and Max Martin, who are named in the lawsuit as defendants, stole the 1998 track, presented it as their own and additionally ruined the message of the song by creating a video considered to be sacrilegious by some for its use of witchcraft, idols and black magic.
“And by any measure, the devoutly religious message of ‘Joyful Nose’ has been irreparably tarnished by its association with the witchcraft, paganism, black magic and Illuminati imagery evoked by the same music in ‘Dark Horse,’” reads the suit. “Indeed, the music video of ‘Dark Horse’ generated widespread accusations of blasphemy and an online petition signed by more than 60,000 demanding removal of an offensive religious image from the video.”
So far Perry hasn’t made any comments on the suit. Will this matter be brought before a judge or settled out of court? Only time will tell.
Listen to both songs below and let us know if you think they sound the same.
Watch Katy Perry’s ‘Dark Horse’ Video
Watch Flame and Lecrae’s ‘Joyful Noise’ Video
Benzino sat down with VladTV and explained the meaning behind the tattoo tears under his left eye.
The Hip-Hop Weekly CEO says that while everyone has their own meaning behind getting tattooed tears, his stand for struggle, pain and the passing of his friends, including one who passed away in his arms. He also mentions having witnessed some crazy things in his life all the way from the late '70s to today.
Check out the interview above.
In today's #TBT clip, ATL's Young Jeezy sat down with VladTV to discuss his relationship with Big Meech, the currently incarcerated leader of the now infamous "BMF" crew, with whom Jeezy was affiliated early in his career.
Jeezy revealed that Meech, even after being locked up, is always in good spirits and refuses to let his circumstances dictate his happiness.
The Snowman then got into one of the craziest moments he had with Meech, which included him renting a plane and flying 300 people from Atlanta to Cancun, Mexico.
Get the full story above.
For Lil Wayne‘s ‘Weezy Wednesdays’ series, he’s choosing to give his daughter Reginae some shine by debuting the new video for her song ‘Mind Goin’ Crazy.’
“This week it’s all about my daughter though, so shout out to all the Reginators out there,” he proudly states. “I know y’all saw her do her thing at the awards. She repped us, you dig. I want y’all to know that’s she’s officially stamped as a Young Money artist.”
Wayne also said the name of his daughter’s upcoming album will be called, ‘Become A Reginator.’
The song is pretty much about female empowerment, as the 16-year-old talks about buying her own stuff, and not relying on a man. “Shop around by myself, buying things by myself / Bring out the bags all myself, can’t forget the diamonds I deserve,” she sings.
The visuals are comprised of bright colors and youthful energy, as Reginae dances, sings, raps and positions herself as a female boss, despite the fact that she’s still of high school age.
It’ll be interesting to see if she makes a big splash with this release, especially since she’s been trying to establish a singing career for quite some time. But with an impressive 38,000 YouTube hits in under 24 hours, some might say she’s well on her way to carving out a lane of success for herself.
The 1996 unsolved murder of Tupac Shakur is examined in a segment of National Geographic Channel’s upcoming documentary, ‘The ’90s: The Last Great Decade?’
In a brief clip, which premiered exclusively on Rolling Stone, Outlawz member Malcolm Greenridge and ’2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted’ video director Gobi Rahimi discuss the last six days the late rapper was in the hospital before he ultimately died from gunshot wounds.
The pair also talk about why Shakur’s murder remains unsolved for almost 20 years.
“Law enforcement around the country weren’t big Tupac fans,” says Greenridge. “I’m absolutely positive they know what happened. This is America. We found Bin Laden.”
But veteran talk show host Arsenio Hall believes race is one of the main factors as to why Shakur’s murder hasn’t been solved.
“I believe that if Justin Bieber had gotten shot in Tupac’s car, we’d know more,” he said.
National Geographic’s ‘The ’90s: The Last Great Decade?‘ is a six-hour documentary that will air on July 6 through 8 at 9PM ET. Among the panel of guests talking about events from the decade include Ice Cube, Vanilla Ice, Courtney Love and veteran journalist Brian Williams.
Since the BET Awards aired this past Sunday, several media outlets have covered Nicki Minaj's "shady" acceptance speech, with several reporting that she was taking shots at Iggy Azalea, accusing the first lady of Grand Hustle of having a ghostwriter.
Nicki took to Twitter this morning to address the controversy and explain exactly why she chose to call out rappers who don't write their own bars, particularly female MC's.
Minaj started off by saying that the media put words in her mouth and that the speech was about encouraging women writers, and that she loves women like Lauryn Hill & Missy Elliott because she knows they write their own material.
She then says that she's congratulated Iggy on her success publicly before, and that she should be very proud of herself, but that she will continue to motivate women to write.
Check out the tweets above. Did the media put words in her mouth about Iggy or is this a PR move? Sound off below.
The streets demanded, and Cam’ron listened. Earlier this week, as June turned to July, Harlem’s hometown hero delivered the first installment in his new series, ‘First of the Month.’
No, it’s not a government check, but it’s the next best thing: a new five-track EP from Killa Cam at the start of every month, plus a 30-minute episode in his accompanying web series, which he describes as a sort-of sequel to his classic hood flick, ‘Killa Season.’
The premiere episode is, well, hilarious as you’d expect (you’ll need a membership on The Red City to watch it), while ‘First of the Month Vol. 1′ brings us three solo Cam tracks, plus two collaborations with old Dipset affiliates Sen City and Un Kasa.
In fact, you might as well dust off that pink mink you’ve been hiding in your wardrobe for the last decade because the gang are (almost) back together in the video for ‘Put It In The Sky,’ the latest set of visuals off Cam’s EP. Jimmy Jones, Hell Rell and the rest of the background cast join Killa and Kasa in an abandoned warehouse in this delightfully low-budget production.
Watch the video for ‘Put It In The Sky’ above and stream ‘First of the Month Vol. 1′ EP below. The project is available to purchase on iTunes.
Listen to Cam’ron’s ‘First of the Month Vol. 1′ EP
While Erica Mena is more known for her bangin' body & reality TV drama, the Bronx native recently shocked many of her fans by giving the Commencement speech at New York's Unity Center for Urban Technologies. Mena was asked to speak by the senior class vice president who said "the student body can relate to [Erica's] story full-heartedly."
Erica addressed the fact that she never received her diploma, but has been inspired by the students and faculty at the Unity Center for Urban Tech.
"As you go through life, you're going to make mistakes, but it's not the mistake that counts, its how you bounce back! I'm not proud at the route I chose, but because of it I can stand before you today and deliver these words of wisdom. Learn from my story and remember life is what you make it. Where you're from does not determine where you're going. You are the creator of your destiny."
Check out flicks of Mena at the ceremony and signing copies of her new book for students.
Source: bossip.com
Karrine Steffans, also known as "Superhead" has been hanging out a with a few old friends lately. After being seen with Lil Wayne recently, Steffans rolled around Los Angeles with ATL rapper Soulja Boy, and posted a pic and short vid of them cuddled up in the back of a truck together.
See the video and flick of the pair together above.
Earlier this week, Busta Rhymes dropped one of the most exciting rap songs of the summer. ‘Calm Down‘ is a six-minute lyrical onslaught between Bussa-Buss and the diabolical Slim Shady (aka Eminem). It’s simply a phenomenal track with its House of Pain horn sample anchoring the beat.
However, a rapper is now claiming that the song may not be completely original. Genesis LXG has made a shocking claim that the horn-looping beat was stolen from him.
On Monday (June 30), the Brooklyn rhymer went on Twitter to show his followers the similarities in the production. He tweeted:
Genesis LXG later questioned if the song’s producer, Scoop Deville, jacked the beat or if it was a coincidence. The rhymer also noted that he recorded his song back in March.
Upon listening to both tracks, we believe Genesis LXG has a legitimate gripe. Clearly, both songs feature the same horn sample from House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around.’ And, quite honestly, they both sound fantastic.
Nevertheless, given Scoop Deville’s impressive production credits, the California producer doesn’t have to steal beats to get ahead.
So is this simply a musical coincidence?
Neither Eminem, Busta Rhymes or Scoop Deville have responded to Genesis’ accusations of beat jacking.
However, House of Pain frontman Everlast acknowledged that the song was done a long time ago and that he just did a verse for the remix. He tweeted:
We agree.
What do you think? Is this a case of a beat jack or a mere coincidence? Tell us in the comments below.
Listen to Genesis LXG’s ‘House of Pain’ Feat. Thanos
Listen to Busta Rhymes’ ‘Calm Down’ Feat. Eminem
The numbers are in for this week’s Billboard charts, which saw several new releases, as well as a few surprises, from the rap world. Arguably one of the most anticipated albums of the year, Ab-Soul‘s ‘These Days…,’ suffered a slight disappointment having debuted at No. 11, just missing out on a top 10 spot.
The Black Lip Pastor’s sophomore album sold 22,000 copies in its first week. Despite more than quadrupling the first week tally of his previous album, ‘Control System’ (5,300), this pales in comparison to his TDE label mates Kendrick Lamar and ScHoolboy Q, who each moved more than 130,000 first-week units with ‘good kid, m.A.A.d city’ and ‘Oxymoron,’ respectively.
Fellow independent rapper G-Eazy, on the other hand, enjoyed a very strong first week on the charts as his third LP, ‘These Things Happen,’ debuted at No. 3 after selling 46,000 copies. Considering he had no radio single, big name co-sign or major label support, that’s a huge accomplishment for an artist who largely exists on the fringes of the rap sphere.
Elsewhere, the long-awaited debut album from RiFF RaFF, ‘Neon Icon,’ entered the chart at No. 22 having sold a modest 11,000 copies. As for that coveted No. 1 spot, this week’s honors go to the boy from Britain, Ed Sheeran, whose sophomore set, ‘x,’ shifted a huge 210,000 units. His 2011 debut ‘+’ peaked at No. 5 on the U.S. chart with first-week sales of 42,000.
Trey Songz‘s chart-climbing hit ‘Na Na’ is catchy, so much so that even Jimmy Kimmel wants to know what it’s about. The singer hit ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ to translate the seductive number in a funny skit.
“Is the song about your Na Na?” Jimmy asks, referring to Trey’s grandma.
“Oh, Na Na. Look what you done started,” Trey starts.
“OK. It appears that with ‘Na Na,’ things are headed in a sexual direction,” Jimmy explains. “I question why you behave inappropriately, even though I am aroused,” he continues.
Trey can hardly keep himself from cracking up during the funny interplay.
Later in the show, Trey performs the track as well as his single ‘Foreign.’ The cuts are from his new album ‘Trigga,’ which hit stores this week.
Watch Trey Songz Perform ‘Na Na’ on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’
Watch Trey Songz Perform ‘Foreign’ on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’
Former R&B buddies Elle Varner and K. Michelle have allegedly ended their friendship, and Varner, the more low-key of the two, spoke briefly about Michelle and cleared up any rumors in regards to her writing a certain hit track for the "Refill" singer.
In a quick red carpet interview with The Jasmine Brand, Varner says the whole situation is "unfortunate," and says she's not going to feed into the negativity.
"That's unfortunate that she feels the way that she feels...I don't, I never have and that's something–I can't; I don't do drama."
She also explained the photo of her and Meek Mill hugged up at dinner - the photo K. Michelle allegedly took subliminal shots at - saying, "people be smiling in the pictures not knowing they getting dissed in the caption. HA! You definitely need a REFILL as thirsty as you are. Jokes on you and you didn't even know it!"
Elle says the photo got blown out of proportion, and that she and Meek simply hadn't seen each other since she jokingly "curved" him online. The new photo of Elle hugging Meek included the caption "#Nocurvezone.
K. Michelle has also claimed to have written Elle Varner's song, "Cold Case" which Elle claims is a lie.
"I wrote "Cold Case" by the way...no one else did... me solely."
Check out Varner's response to K. Michelle's shade, her claim she wrote "Cold Case," and pics of them in better times above.
Source: TheJasmineBrand
Kendrick Lamar leads a relatively drama free life, but it seems he may have encountered his first major (non-rap) battle in the public eye. The "good kid" is being sued over sampling issues for one of his tracks off of his independently distributed album, "Section.80."
According to reports, UK company Woolfsongs Limited is suing Lamar for an unspecified amount over his song "Keisha's Song (Her Pain)." They claim that The Alan Parsons Project's "Old and Wise" song was sampled without clearance, and attempts to resolve the issue with Lamar back in April were not addressed. Seeing as how "Section.80" was an actual album and not just a mixtape, they want their cut.
The lawsuit also demands music marketplaces such as iTunes, Spotify, etc. stop selling the track.
Source: allhiphop.com
Not much to add to this show description:
From Run-DMC to Kanye West, Soul Brother No. 1 been the go to guy to to make classic material. On top of that, how many countless producers he inspired, from legends like J Dilla and Kanye West to innovators like Madlib? #NeverForget the rap giants he helped birth, like NaS, and the Notorious B.I.G. Pete talks being raised by mentor/family member, the late, great Heavy D, and being encouraged to rap by Grand Puba, the true soul that went into producing “They Reminisce Over You”, and the uncredited classic hits you know but didn’t know was a Pete Rock production. Another session of Rap History is in effect, pull up a seat and learn about your culture.