Told by the activists and leaders who live and breathe this movement for justice, Whose Streets? is an unflinching look at the Ferguson uprising. When unarmed teenager Michael Brown is killed by police and left lying in the street for hours, it marks a breaking point for the residents of St. Louis, Missouri. Grief, long-standing racial tensions and renewed anger bring residents together to hold vigil and protest this latest tragedy.
Empowered parents, artists, and teachers from around the country come together as freedom fighters. As the national guard descends on Ferguson with military grade weaponry, these young community members become the torchbearers of a new resistance.
Filmmakers Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis know this story because they are the story. Whose Streets? is a powerful battle cry from a generation fighting, not for their civil rights, but for the right to live.
50 Cent's new variety show "50 Central" will soon air on BET. Who could be better to tell you what to expect other than the man himself?
"50 Central's a platform that allows us to get all those hidden talents out in the open," says the "I Get Money" hit maker in a sneak peak. "Expect the unexpected. It's me having freedom. It's a different type of comedy. It's a little edgier than the things you might have seen in the past."
The show will feature hidden camera pranks, sketch comedy, musical guests, celebrity guests and more.
Watch a sneak peak in Stackerdecks below.
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J. Cole releases an official music video for "Neighbors" off of his "4 Your Eyez Only" album.
Here's the story behind the video as told by producer Elite:
The “Neighbors” story is crazy. Basically Cole rented out a house in North Carolina. It’s not for him; it’s like a safe haven/creative workspace for all the Dreamville artists and producers. We call it the Sheltuh, and a lot of the album was recorded there.. It’s basically a studio in a basement, in the woods. It’s also in the suburbs of a pretty wealthy neighborhood in North Carolina.
So you have, predominately, African-Americans coming in and out of this house. Ubers coming, and every once in awhile you’ll see a group of us outside on the porch smoking weed. So the neighbors started getting real paranoid. Apparently what happened was, we were all in Austin, Texas, for SXSW; thankfully no one was in the house when this went down. One of the neighbors told the police we were growing weed or selling drugs out of this house. And there was a huge investigation, like a million-dollar investigation. They flew helicopters over, sent an entire SWAT team armed with weapons, broke down the door and searched the whole house.
Thankfully nobody was in the house. Our engineer Juro “Mez” Davis had just stepped out for lunch and he came back and saw the SWAT team busting down the door. They go downstairs and all they see is a studio, and obviously they felt stupid. It’s just crazy ironic because out of anybody, they picked the wrong person. J. Cole is the last person to do anything like that. He’s out here doing extremely positive things for the community and for young artists. Because of obvious racism from the neighbors, the police were called and a raid took place.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — They may not have lost themselves in the music or the moment but a judge and nine lawyers in a New Zealand courtroom did listen politely to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" as a copyright trial involving the country's ruling political party began Monday.
The Detroit-based music publishers for Eminem are suing New Zealand's conservative National Party, alleging the rapper's acclaimed 2002 song was copied in the party's soundtrack for a TV ad aired during its successful 2014 election campaign. Titled "Eminem Esque," the track has the familiar urgent, pulsing beat of Eminem's song.
The party has previously said it purchased the track through an Australian-based supplier and doesn't believe it has infringed anyone's copyright.
In 2014, when the case was filed, lawmaker Steven Joyce said he thought the use of the song was "pretty legal," and that Eminem's team "are just having a crack and a bit of an eye for the main chance because it's an election campaign." That response was widely ridiculed, including by comedian John Oliver on his show "Last Week Tonight."
"Pretty legal? That's not a concept that exists. That's like being sort-of dead," Oliver joked on the show.
Spokespeople for both Joyce and the National Party said Monday they wouldn't be commenting while the case was before the court.
Garry Williams, the lawyer for Eminem's music publishers Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated, told the High Court in Wellington that the National Party had wanted a song that was edgy and modern but showed the party was dependable. He said the music fared better with focus groups than a classical piece.
He quoted from National Party emails, including one in which the song is described as an Eminem "sound-alike" and another in which an agent for the party wrote "I guess the question we're asking, if everyone thinks it's Eminem, and it's listed as Eminem Esque, how can we be confident that Eminem doesn't say we're ripping him off?"
Williams said the emails showed it was "utterly clear" the party knew it was using a copyrighted song.
Speaking outside the court, Joel Martin, a spokesman for Eminem's music publishers, said he was surprised the two sides hadn't reached a settlement before the case began and that going to trial against an entity like a governing political party was unusual and extraordinary.
"The bottom line is we would never have permitted the use of the song in any political advertisement," he said.
He said the political views of the National Party were not a factor: "We are Americans and we don't know about politics in New Zealand," he said.
The judge-only trial is expected to last about six days.
The inauguralFyre Festival was a disaster. Now, the two men responsible for it have legal issues to deal with because an attendee is trying to set up a $150 million class action lawsuit against them
As we previously reported, the "luxury music weekend" was the brainchild of Ja Rule and Billy McFarland. Guests who paid anywhere from $1000 to $100,000 to attend were promised first class accommodations and performances by Lil Yachty, Migos, G.O.O.D. Music, Major Lazer and Blink 182.
When guests started arriving on Thursday, April 27, they were greeted by "soggy tents, bad food and general disappointment verging on panic," according to the New York Times.
TMZ reports that attorney Mark Geragos has filed a lawsuit against McFarland and Ja, on behalf of a concertgoer who believes the entire event was nothing more than a get-rich-scam.
The suit claims that both men lied about the festival's amenities and safety. FEMA tents were the so-called luxury accommodations and wild animals could be seen scurrying about.
Some guests were left stranded on the private island in the Bahamas.
In addition, both Ja and McFarland are accused of warning some celebrity guests in advance not to come, knowing the event would not be up to par.
Rochester emcee Lil Eto and Harlem producer V Don recently sat down with DJ Thoro on Thisis50 to chop it up about their collaborative project titled "Omerta: The Film," how they met, the origin of their names and more.
We'd like to take the time out to send happy birthday wishes to the one and onlyLloyd Banks!
Rap's undisputed Punch Line King continues to stand tall over his contemporaries with sick wordplay and a delivery that seems to only get better as time goes by.
We encourage everyone to grab a glass of your favorite beverage and raise a toast to one of the original members of the mighty G-Unit crew.
Blackheart Adonis recently sat down with DJ Thoro and Thisis50 to talk about coming up in Waterbury, Connecticut, his favorite producer, favorite lyricist, putting his city on the map, being anti-skinny jeans, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, Lord Finesse, spits a freestyle and more.
Thisis50 and DJ Thoro welcomed Bay Music to the G-Unit office recently to chop it up about his new music, getting a co-sign from Tony Yayo, spits a freestyle and more.
TheLos Angeles Police Departmenthave beef with Compton rapperYGover a song he made that they claim is the inspiration for several home burglaries.
According to TMZ, two men accused of committing robberies in San Fernando Valley, were recently arrested and told cops that YG's song "Meet the Flockers" influenced them.
The lyrics could be looked at as a how-to guide to break into cribs. They also could just as easily be interpreted as a form of artistic expression.
"First, you find a house and scope it out / Find a Chinese neighborhood, cause they don't believe in bank accounts / Second, you find a crew and a driver, someone who ring the doorbell / And someone that ain't scared to do what it do / Third, you pull up at the spot / Park, watch, ring the doorbell and knock / Four, make sure nobody is home (knock knock)/ They gone, okay it's on / Don't be scared nigga you in now / If the police come you gonna find out who your friends now / That ain't them talking, that's your mind playing tricks on you / You're conscious cause you know you got nines with two clips on you," he raps on the song which is featured on his debut album, "My Krazy Life."
By now, YG is used to his music causing controversies. The Secret Service reportedly contacted his record label when he dropped the song "FDT (Fuck Donald Trump)" in 2016.
Carmen Bryan opened up to VladTV in an exclusive interview about being at the center of Jay Z and Nas' legendary beef. She explained that after breaking up with and moving away from Nas, she started dating Jay Z after first becoming friends.
During the conversation, Carmen shut down rumors that Memphis Bleek started the beef, as she said she feels bad for Bleek and blames Jay Z for ending his career. Carmen also revealed that she confronted both Jay Z and Nas about the beef, and you can hear more of what she had to say in the above video.
Fans of "King of Paper Chasing" will be happy to hear that the saga will continue with "King of Paper Chasing: Origins."
Starring Dwane DL Clark as Carte Blanche, Tahiry Jose as Yolanda and Tyrone "Joe Young" Clay as The Hitman. This is sure to ignite the continuation of the popular cult classic.
The screening is set for May 9th at a secret location in New York City, hosted by Power 105.1 radio personality Angela Yee.
As many East Coast hip hop heads know, this past week carries special significance for the legendary hardcore duo Mobb Deep. Last Tuesday marked the 22nd anniversary of The Infamous, an archetype of grimy 1990's New York hip hop. For the latest episode of "Open Space," Prodigy of Mobb Deep stopped by MASS APPEAL to talk about how important The Infamous really was; especially after Mobb Deep's not-so-stellar debut album, Juvenile Hell.
By focusing heavily on production, Prodigy and Havoc crafted the signature sound for which Mobb Deep is known. "The lifestyle that we were living, the lifestyle that we grew up in, the beats just naturally came out like some dark, sinister-sounding, shit," Prodigy added. "The lyrics were easy after that because the beats pulled the lyrics out of me."
Thankfully for Mobb Deep, this reinvention of their sound fared well, commercially and critically. The Infamous was certified Gold just two months after its release and remains one of the most revered albums in hip hop today.
Mass Appeal: Tell us about the making of The Infamous
Prodigy: When Juvenile Hell first came out it didn't do well. We were just learning how to make beats. We was young kids. We didn't really know what we was doing. Right around the time the album came out, Nas dropped Illmatic. It was just an incredible work of art. Sonically, lyrically, everything. It made us look at ourselves like, 'What the fuck is we doing?' Listening to a masterpiece this kid just made and we're with him every day. We didn't tell our story correctly and Nas, with Illmatic, helped us to realize that. So we was like, 'Yo, you know what? We gotta come correct, dawg. We gotta really dig deep and tell people who we are. Share your pain, your fears ... everything with the people. Then they'll resonate with it. We better than what we did,' And we was like, 'We ain't gon' get another chance after this. If we flop again it's over.' We regrouped, went in the crib ... mad [beer], mad weed and started grinding making beats.
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