Snoop Dogg recently sat down with Chuck Creekmur of AllHipHopTV to talk about his forthcoming album titled "Neva Left," which will be released on May 19th.
On the album's direction
I wanted to make a record that could represent who I've always been. Who I've been for the past 25 years and at the same time put a brand new twist on it. Musically, sonically and lyrically. And just do what I do best. Representing hip hop, the way that I represent hip hop.
On the KRS One and Too Short features
A lot of the old school artists and music ... it'll never die. It's all about how you present it. One thing we like to do is present music in a fashion to where it's musically first and it makes you feel good. Dynamically, you can't put a time or an era or period on it because it feels good right now. Anytime you play a record that feels good right now, it's gon' feel good later in life as well.
On the difference between his last album "Coolaid" and this one.
I believe that album was more about me creatively making a record that was about that moment. And really wasn't about me making a statement. It was just me throwing a record out that I felt good about, 'cause I wanted to do it.
This one is more about a statement to be made as far as ... I really wanted to go in and fine tune it. And make sure it was lyrically on point, the production was tight, the concept was on point. And that the record had a meaning. So, when people heard it and listened to it they knew what it was about as opposed to trying to figure it out.
On not being opposed to collaborating with other writers
I'm open to let other people get down with me 'cause that's how I got my start, writing for Dr. Dre. I'm never too big to say you can't write for me or present me something. But on the 'Neva Left' record I went in 100% by myself. 'Cause I felt like it was statement time. Sometimes you gotta go to war by yourself. That way, in case it don't work you get all the blame. And if it do work, you get all the blame.
On Tupac Shakur
We were like brothers. If you know anything about siblings. You argue, you fight, you love, you got each other's back and you do anything for each other. That's basically our relationship wrapped up in one big ball.
On where we're at as a country
Man, I don't know where we're at as a country. It's like [Trump] is running audibles at the line of scrimmage. What is his playbook? I'm sitting back watching like y'all. I don't want to offend nobody and say nothing the wrong way, but at the same time I'm confused.
Tyrese and Ludacris stopped by The Breakfast Club to talk about their new "Fate of the Furious," movie, Bill O'Reilly's troubles, Pepsi, women enhancing their bodies cosmetically, ancestry and more.
Can Joey Bada$$ do the seemingly impossible by suspending Hot 97's Megan Ryte inches from the floor, on a wall with just masking tape in 24 seconds? Let's find out in this episode of Breaking Records.
@80MinAssassin DJ Stylez delivers his second mixtape drop of the year 2017 peep all new and exclusive heat from some of your fav artists and some you may not have heard of yet , this is a certified banger! Peep it below
@80MinAssassin DJ Stylez delivers his first mixtape drop of the year 2017 peep all new and exclusive heat from some of your fav artists and some you may not have heard of yet , this is a certified banger! Peep it below
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — With a vicious choke, Daniel Cormier forced Anthony Johnson into submission and retirement.
Cormier's next title challenger?
Pick a fighter outside of the cage.
Cormier easily defeated "Rumble" Johnson for the second time in two years, using a rear naked choke to retain the light heavyweight championship in the main event of UFC 210 on Saturday night.
With tears in his eyes, Johnson announced his retirement inside the octagon, saying "it's time for me to do something else."
It's time for Cormier to figure out what's next — and he has options for a major fight later this year.
Cormier jawed with No. 4 ranked contender Jimi Manuwa immediately after the bout and then talked trash with perhaps the class — and considered, the uncrowned champ —of the division, Jon Jones.
"Jimi Manuwa, you don't want any of this," Cormier said. "Jon Jones, as a fighter, I respect you, but we don't see eye to eye."
Jones looked on from cageside and stretched his arms in approval as the sellout crowd of 17,110 went wild for the former champion. Three months from completing a yearlong doping ban, Jones said he was focused on reclaiming the light heavyweight title he's lost twice due to suspensions.
Cormier wanted nothing to do with Jones' posturing, saying, "don't talk to me about a guy who's ineligible. When you get your (act) together, I'll be here waiting to fight."
Cormier was awarded the light heavyweight belt only after Jones was stripped of it in early 2015, when he was suspended by the UFC following his involvement in a hit-and-run accident in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Jones had successfully defended his title eight times through 2013. But he's fought just three times over the past four years.
He had joked that he would confront Cormier in the cage but stayed in his seat and hung out with several members of the Buffalo Bills
"I'm not going in that cage. I'll leave that man alone. Let him enjoy his night," Jones said. "I want to talk to my business partners, talk to the UFC and see what they want to do."
After Cormier's interview was over, he started pointing at Jones, who was seated in the front row. Cormier began yelling at Jones, which was inaudible over the roar of the crowd. Jones looked up and smiled. Then Cormier said something and smiled, too, before walking back the other way.
Cormier's lone loss in a 19-fight MMA career came against Jones in 2015.
Cormier edged Johnson at UFC 187 in 2015 by submission, and he won with a rear naked choke in the second round at the KeyBank Center.
The 33-year-old Johnson said he was moving on an unspecified non-MMA venture.
"I'm tired of getting punched," he said.
Gegard Mousasi stopped Chris Weidman by TKO in the second round of a confusing conclusion to a middleweight bout.
Mousasi connected with two knees to the right side of Weidman's head that stunned the former champion and led to a stoppage. Mousasi had lifted Weidman and delivered one right knee to the head, a seemingly clean blow that clearly did some damage. Mousasi's second knee caused some of the confusion.
Referee Dan Miragliotta gave Weidman, who suffered his third straight loss, a 5-minute recovery period because he thought the fighter had both hands on the canvas, which would make the second knee illegal. Fighters can't deliver those knees when the opponent has two hands down.
Mousasi's first knee was clearly legal, though replays seemed inconclusive on Weidman's hand placement on the second knee. After an extended break and plenty of commotion, doctors checked on Weidman and the fight was stopped as a packed KeyBank Center drowned out the decision with boos.
UFC fans hadn't fully settled down for the main event from the mess of a finish in what had been a punishing Moursasi-Weidman bout.
Weidman yelled profanities as he looked at replays on the screen and believed he should have been won because of illegal kicks.
"Why did they even stop the fight if it was a legal hit?" Weidman asked.
Weidman lost his third straight bout following a run of 13 victories to open his career. The New York native apologized to fans who had rallied him with "USA" chants against the Dutch Mousasi.
"It's not the way I wanted to win. I wanted to continue to fight," Mousasi said. "I was just in the moment of the match. If he wants a rematch, he can have his rematch."
UFC was back in Buffalo for the first time since New York lifted its MMA ban and ran a card in the city for the first time since UFC 7 on Sept. 8, 1995, was headlined by Ken Shamrock and Oleg Taktarov's fight to a ridiculous 33-minute draw.
New York had shunned MMA almost since the company's inception and was gone for nearly 20 years once UFC 12 in 1997 was booted after the event was denied sanctioning rights. But New York hosted two big cards at Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center in the last five months and advance ticket sales were strong for Buffalo. UFC will run a card in July in Long Island at the renovated Nassau Coliseum.
Charles Oliveira, sent back to the 155-pound division because of a checkered history of missing weight in the 145-pound class, choked out Will Brooks at just 2:30 of the first round in the first bout of the main card. He made quick work in his first lightweight bout since 2011 of Brooks. Brooks buried his head in his hands and was crestfallen on a stool for several minutes after the bout before Oliveira popped over for some encouraging words.
Thiago Alves used a stunning left hook in the first round and battered Patrick Cote's face to point where it was bathed in blood in a unanimous decision victory. Cote (23-11) dropped his gloves and retired in the wake of the punishing defeat.
Cynthia Calvillo earned a submission win in a fight that was nearly scrapped over Pearl Gonzalez's breast implants. The state athletic commission cleared Gonzalez to fight after talking to her physician. Gonzalez might have wished the fight was called off when she gave up late in the third.
Buffalo Bills were seated cageside and Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas also was in the house.
UFC announced Urijah Faber will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in July during International Fight Week.
Soulja Boywon't face any jail time in connection with his arrest last year when cops found weapons in his home.
As we previously reported, someone turned the rapper in after seeing him flash guns on social media. When cops searched his Hollywood Hills, California crib on December 15, theyfound 2 firearms.
Big Soulja, born DeAndre Way, faced one charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and another for possession of an assault weapon, a Mini Draco AK-47 and a .45-caliber Glock 21.
The "Crank That" hit maker was also hit with a misdemeanor charge for receiving stolen property because the Glock had previously been stolen from a police cruiser.
According to TMZ, King Draco has pleaded no contest. In exchange he has to serve 5 years probation and complete 240 hours of community labor.
Soulja is also forbidden from owning any guns, even replicas.
He caught a break as far as his career is concerned. The judge will allow him to travel for work as long as it's cleared with his probation officer.
Ever the conscientious social critic, here Lord Jamar offers his take on lyricism versus charisma in hip-hop, rappers with alternative sources of income, using drugs in potentially dangerous situations, and what it means to have more than one chain. "Once is luck, twice is skill," Jamar says, "It's saying, 'I know how to get money.'"
East Side Atlanta rapper Tracy T teams up with DeJ Loaf on "Shinin Like My Rollie," from his recently released Millionaire Nightmares album. On the piano-driven production by long-time friend and collaborator Zaytoven, who Tracy started recording with in his early teens at the prolific producer's basement studio in Decatur, DeJ delivers a boastful verse of her own after adlibbing throughout Tracy's opening verse. Having first met at a private pool party that Nicki Minaj hosted in Vegas, Tracy and DeJ recorded the track at Tree Sounds Studio in Atlanta. The "Shinin Like My Rollie" video was directed by iNightlyfe and debuted today via Highsnobiety. After having released several projects under the MMG imprint, Millionaire Nightmares released independently with the launch of Tracy T's own MoneyBound label.
Roc Nation recording artist Belly is preparing to release a new project titled "Glorious" this summer. Check out the title track off of it above and cop it from iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/glorious/id1222009506
(Reuters) Russia warned on Friday that U.S. cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base could have "extremely serious" consequences, as President Donald Trump's first major foray into a foreign conflict opened up a rift between Moscow and Washington.
The warships USS Porter and USS Ross in the Mediterranean Sea launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at the Shayrat air base, which the Pentagon says was involved in a chemical weapons attack this week. (Graphic locator map on attack - tmsnrt.rs/2nm68H0)
It was Trump's biggest foreign policy decision since taking office in January and the kind of direct intervention in Syria's six-year-old civil war his predecessor Barack Obama avoided.
The strikes were in reaction to what Washington says was a poison gas attack by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that killed at least 70 people in rebel-held territory. Syria denies it carried out the attack.
They catapulted Washington into confrontation with Russia, which has advisers on the ground aiding its close ally Assad.
"We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the U.S. The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious,” Russia's deputy U.N. envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev charged that the U.S. strikes were one step away from clashing with Russia's military.
U.S. officials informed Russian forces ahead of the missile strikes and avoided hitting Russian personnel. (Graphic explaining kind of missile used in attack - tmsnrt.rs/2nkJYWa)
Satellite imagery suggests the base houses Russian special forces and helicopters, part of the Kremlin's effort to help Assad fight Islamic State and other militant groups.
Trump has frequently urged improved relations with Russia, strained under Obama over Syria, Ukraine and other issues, was hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday night when the attack occurred.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, in Florida with Trump, said on Friday the United States would announce additional sanctions on Syria in the near future but offered no specifics.
Russia's Defense Ministry responded to the attack by calling in the U.S. military attache in Moscow to say that at midnight Moscow time (5 p.m. EDT) it would close down a communications line used to avoid accidental clashes between Russian and U.S. forces in Syria, Interfax new agency said. U.S. warplanes frequently attack Islamic State militants in Syria and come close to Russian forces.
"PREPARED TO DO MORE"
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Friday the Trump administration was ready to take further steps if needed.
"We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary," she told the U.N. Security Council. "The United States will not stand by when chemical weapons are used. It is in our vital national security interest to prevent the spread and use of chemical weapons."
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who also was in Florida with Trump and is scheduled to go to Moscow next week, said he was disappointed but not surprised by the Russian reaction because it showed continued support for Assad.
Iran, which supports Assad and has been criticized by Trump, condemned the strike, with President Hassan Rouhani saying it would bring "only destruction and danger to the region and the globe."
U.S. officials called the intervention a "one-off" intended to deter future chemical weapons attacks and not an expansion of the U.S. role in the Syrian war.
U.S. allies from Asia, Europe and the Middle East expressed support for the attack, if sometimes cautiously.
The action is likely to be interpreted as a signal to Russia, and countries such as North Korea, China and Iran where Trump has faced foreign policy tests early in his presidency, of his willingness to use force.
The United States is now likely to be more aggressive in pursuing intelligence about Syria's suspected chemical weapons program. The Pentagon has also signaled interest in determining any Russian complicity.
"At a minimum, the Russians failed to rein in the Syrian regime activity," a senior U.S. military official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official also said the United States had been unable to determine if a Russian or Syrian aircraft bombed a hospital that was treating victims of the chemical attack.
Russia joined the war on Assad's behalf in 2015, turning the momentum in his favor. Although Moscow supports opposing sides in the war between Assad and rebels, the United States and Russia say they share a single main enemy, Islamic State.
Tillerson said the strike took out about 20 percent of the seventh wing of the Syrian air force and hit a fueling facility. The base's runway was still in use.
Assad's office said Syria would strike its enemies harder.
Damascus and Moscow denied Syrian forces were behind the gas attack but Western countries dismissed their explanation that chemicals leaked from a rebel weapons depot after an air strike.
The Syrian army said the U.S. attack killed six people and called it "blatant aggression" that made the United States a partner of "terrorist groups" including Islamic State. There was no independent confirmation of civilian casualties.
U.S. lawmakers from both parties on Friday backed Trump's action but demanded he spell out a broader strategy for dealing with the conflict and consult with Congress on any further action.
The U.N. Security Council had been negotiating a resolution, proposed by the United States, France and Britain on Tuesday, to condemn the gas attack and push the Syrian government to cooperate with international investigators.
Russia said the text was unacceptable and diplomats said it was unlikely to be put to a vote.
MOSCOW WANTS EXPLANATION
Russia expects Tillerson to explain Washington's stance when he visits Moscow next week, Interfax news agency cited a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman as saying.
Washington has long backed rebels fighting Assad in a multi-sided civil war that has killed more than 400,000 people and driven half of Syrians from their homes since 2011.
The United States has conducted air strikes against Islamic State, which controls territory in eastern and northern Syria, and a small number of U.S. troops are helping rebel militias.
Asked whether the strikes set back any efforts to work with Russia to defeat Islamic State, sometimes known as ISIS, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said:
"There can be a shared commitment to defeat ISIS and also agree that you can’t gas your own people.”
Tuesday's attack was the first time since 2013 that Syria was accused of using sarin, a banned nerve agent it was meant to have given up under a Russian-brokered, U.N.-enforced deal that persuaded Obama to call off air strikes four years ago. (Chart of cumulated reported deaths from chemical gases in Syria - tmsnrt.rs/2o5Xbz6)
Video depicted limp bodies and children choking while rescuers tried to wash off the poison gas. Russian state television blamed rebels and did not show footage of victims.
The U.S. strikes cheered Assad's enemies, after months when Western powers appeared to grow increasingly resigned to his staying in power. But opposition figures said an isolated assault was far from the decisive intervention they seek.
Neither the Trump administration nor its predecessor has laid out a policy aimed at ending the Syrian conflict.
(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Roberta Rampton and Patricia Zengerle in Washington, Steve Holland in Florida, Roselle Chen in New York and Denis Pinchuk in Moscow; Writing by Alistair Bell and Bill Trott; Editing by James Dalgleish and Lisa Shumaker)
Rochester, New York heavy spitters Rigz, Rob Gates, Maverick Montana, ILLANoise, Symph, Times Change, Mooch, together known as Da Cloth, stay ripping shit.
Peep game as they go in over Drake's "Free Smoke" instrumental.
Ar-Ab a.k.a. The Top Goon of Philly just dropped his "Protocol Volume 2" mixtape. One of the standout songs on it is the Dougie-produced scorcher titled "OBH the Mob." Peep it up top.
Snoop Dogg: I can't believe it's been 21 years since we actually got to hear Tupac, not the one clip on YouTube, not the hologram, Tupac Amaru Shakur the human being. Twenty-one years ago, Tupac Shakur was taken from all of us. He was only twenty-five years old, too. Dare me to say that he was gone too soon. When I sat down to gather my thoughts about my late and great, my homie and my brother there's one thought that kept coming back: Tupac was actually really good. While many remember him now as some kind of thugged out superhero, Tupac really was only good and he represented through his music like no one before. It's the fact that he never shied away from it. He wore it like a badge of honor. With an unapologetic voice, Pac embraced those contradictions that proved we ain't just a character out of someone else's story book. To be human is to be many things at once. Strong and bold. Hard headed and intellectual. Courageous and afraid. Loving and vengeful. Revolutionary and – oh, yeah I'm getting fucked up.
So, while we may be here to celebrate one of music's most prolific and outspoken artists as he's rightfully enshrined as one of the greatest musicians to ever do it, I'm here to make sure that Pac is remembered the way he would have wanted to be: a strong black man who stood up. Not somebody who acted like a rapper, but as a human. That's what made Tupac an amazing actor on the big screen in movies like, "Above the Rim" and "Juice." That's what made him so engaged with everything he ever did. Both before and after his death. That's what made Tupac the greatest rapper of all time.
But to me, Tupac was first and foremost a homeboy. We shared a whole lot in common. The way our journey started together. We were both born in the same [neighborhood in] '71. He released his first single track from his scorcher first album "2pacalypse Now" in late 1991. Not even a year later I would make my debut alongside Dr. Dre on the song, "G Thang." I finally got a chance to meet Pac in 1993 at a wrap party in L.A. And on that night, Pac passed me my first blunt. That's right, Tupac is the one that got Snoop Dogg smoking weed. I was a zig-zag man before that shit. We became very good friends quickly thereafter.
Then, in 1995, I told Suge Knight, I said, "Suge get Pac out of prison and have him come join our team at Death Row Records." He never had a team before. It was always just him. Now, with us it was like he joined the Lakers. Dre was the coach and me and Pac were the stars on the court making history every which side. We were young, rich, and rock stars but we were also young men black men with targets on our back. We were catching cases simultaneously. That's why when we got together we really were two of America's most wanted. He had just gotten out of jail. I had just beat my case. I get a white Rolls Royce with that creamy white interior and Pac, he went out and bought a black one with the same thing.
He put me up on a lot of brand shit like Gucci and Versace and shit I can't even pronounce. I got that penthouse suite on Wilshire, then two weeks later Pac got the one right across the hall from me. Neighbors, you dig? We had no peers besides one another. Just two black boys struggling to become men. I never shared this story before but it really speaks to our journey. I had just beat my case and Suge had taken us to South America to get away from all the drama and me and Pac was parasailing. You heard right. Snoop Dogg and Tupac parasailing together. You got to remember I had just beat my case and Pac had just got out of prison. Does anybody know what parasailing is? Because we damn sure didn't. Me and Pac were sitting on the edge of the boat with all this gear and shit on and all of sudden the boat pulls away and we start floating and slammed up into the water like boom. I don't know what was in there. Sharks, or octopus or whatever, I'm like, man.
It was crazy because not only did we think we're on top of the world at that time we actually were on top of the world. Floating around in style then all of sudden Pac started telling me about some movie idea he had about me being the main star. He was saying some shit. I wasn't paying attention because I was like, 'we're too high.' I mean the shit he was saying to me at that moment was different, though. He saw me as an actor. He saw more potential in me than I saw in myself and it's funny because after he passed away I started getting a lot of movie roles and all this stuff. Pac was looking out for us even after he was gone.
That's the thing with Pac. When he loves, he loves hard. Whether that was him loving black people, him loving his homies, him loving his record label, and of course him loving his beautiful and incredibly strong mother the late Afeni Shakur. Memories of Ms. Shakur are embedded in m mind. Right after I heard Tupac got shot I immediately flew to Vegas. I was so weak I damn near fell over and his mom came over to me and she grabbed me and she held up and she said, "Baby, you to to be strong." I went and sat next to him and I whispered to him telling him I love him and to hold on and he was going to be OK and even in that moment his mom was thinking more about me than herself and showed me how to love strongly. I mean it was amazing that his momma was so strong and loved so hard.
I realized that Pac was taught how to love at a very early age and through his music he shared the love with all of us and that's ultimately why we're here tonight. Pac's apart of history for a reason because he made history. He's hip hop history. He's American history and just like in school the more research you do on history the more information that you have. So do your research. I'm not talking about Pac the rapper, I'm not talking about Tupac the actor, I'm talking about Tupac the human being. So with that said, we'd all like to officially welcome Tupac Shakur to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
You will always be the best. You will live on forever. Legends always do. They can't take this away from you, homie. I love you, Tupac. Welcome to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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