Producer extraordinaire The Alchemist talked to VladTV about getting started in the music game, what his official affiliation with Eminem is, and why he doesn't envision himself as a true DJ.
After parting ways with The Whooliganz in the early 90's, the Cali native focused on his producing and lyrical efforts, which led him to work with Dilated Peoples, Mobb Deep and eventually Eminem. Alchemist cleared up speculation of his official role over at Shady records as the rapper's DJ. He also says he isn't signed to Shady Records like many others have assumed.
During his start, the producer says he was immensely in the Hip Hop culture. From break-dancing to rapping, he says he decided to stick with DJ'ing.
Jhonnie Blaze of Love & Hip Hop: New York recently chopped it up with The Durtty Boyz about transitioning from being a stripper to a reality television star, past beef with "saggy boobies" Erica Mena, upcoming EP and mixtape, looking up to Sade, denies relationship with Rich Homie Quan.
The Weeknd helped to close out day two of The Coachella Music and Arts Festival on Saturday, April, 11th. Here's his full set courtesy of MrWorldPremiere. Hope you enjoy it.
Tune in at 1 p.m. Central on Sunday, April 12, for day three of the live YouTube stream of the 2015 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California.
Artists hitting the stage today include David Guetta, St. Vincent and many more.
Here's the official lineup for all three YouTube channels.
Sunday, April 12
Channel 1: Circa Survive, Mac DeMarco, Marina & the Diamonds, Jason's World and Kaskade
Channel 2: MØ, Sturgill Simpson, St. Lucia, Tycho, Vance Joy, The Cribs, Stromae, St. Vincent, Fitz & the Tantrums and Panda Bear
Channel 3: The Orwells, RAC, What So Not, Martin Solevig, Madeon, New World Punx, David Guetta, Kygo and Jamie xx
Acclaimed battle rapper Hollow Da Don pays tribute to the late, great DJ Screw of Houston with his new music video for "The Screw." The slowed and chopped track was produced by Ricky Fountain.
Wu Tang Clan veteran emcees Ghostface Killah and Raekwon The Chef took the crowd at the 2015 Coachella Music and Arts Festival on ride through their many hits on Friday, April 10. Check out their set below.
Modern Family star Sofia Vergara lands on the cover of the May 2015 cover of Vanity Fair. The sexy 42-year old actress posed for a shoot with photographer Annie Liebovitz. She also sat down for an interview with Lili Anolik (which you can check out here).
Before you head over to VF to read the interview, peep Sofia's behind the scenes video and photos below.
Diggy Simmons releases another new joint for his fans. This one is entitled "Can't Relate" and features the one and only Yo Gotti. Check it out up top and let us know in the comment section below if you're digging Diggy's latest.
Vic Mensa teams up once again with Kanye West for a new banger entitled "U Mad." The song was produced by DJ Phelps, Smoke Ono and Stefan Ponce. Give it a listen up top.
It's that time of the week and once again Fabolous doesn't disappoint. The Brooklyn, New York emcee grabs the instrumental to Mobb Deep's epic 1999 hit record, "Quiet Storm," and updates it.
An 18-year-old inmate in the psychiatric ward at Lower Buckeye Jail in Phoenix wondered into a restricted area. Two officers respond and tell him to go back to his cell. Without warning the unidentified inmate starts swinging on 15-year veteran Scott Beaty, hitting him in the face, knocking him to the ground.
The other officer begins to taser to the inmate, but it has no effect. The prisoner continues to throw hard punches, alternating from one officer to the other. Eventually Beaty was knocked unconscious.
Eight other officers soon respond to the scene and finally subdue the inmate, who was not injured.
The Daily Mail reports that three officer were taken to the hospital. Two had been knocked out.
Scott Beaty will need reconstructive surgery to his face after being brutally beaten by an inmate
Beaty is intensive case with brain bleeding and broken facial bones. He will need reconstructive surgery.
Super producer/singerThe-Dreamis preparing to release a new EP entitledCrown. Today he unveils the cover and tracklist. The lone feature on the seven-track project comes courtesy ofT.I.
CROWN TRACKLISTING
1. “Prime” 2. “That’s My Shit” (feat T.I.) 3. “All I Need” 4. “Fruition” 5. “Throw It Back” 6. “Cedes Benz”
Lil Wayne is not happy with the fact that Young Thug is dropping Tha Carter VI before he even has the chance to release Tha Carter V. During a recent concert Weezy told the crowd in attendance how he feels about Thugger and his album cover for Tha Carter VI.
"Y'all let him know I said fuck him," Wayne told the crowd. "Before I can go any further I want y'all to do me a favor. Stop listening to songs of niggas that pose naked on their album cover."
2 Chainz, Nicki MinajandChris Brownwill be at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas forJay Z'sbigManny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. after party. If you're interested in attending and want to hang out with the heavy hitters in the V.I.P. section it will cost you$50,000, reportsTMZ.
There will be no shortage of of the rich and famous in town for the May 2nd fight that's being held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Expect Jay's bash to be packed from wall to wall.
There are also tickets for the event that won't hurt your bank account. Women can get in for$30, while men will have to pay$100.
Meek Mill is facing a possible $250,000 lawsuit by a car company who claims the rapper has damaged their reputation by publicly trashing them on Instagram.
According to TMZ, Euro Sports owner Gene Morales says when Meek's manager went to pick up a Rolls Royce Ghost. Because there was $15,000 still owed on it, Morales refused to hand over the keys until the balance was paid in full.
Eventually the two parties settled on an $8,000 payment to squash the problem.
Meek later made an Instagram post calling Euro Sports thieves and advised his followers not to do business with them.
Morales now wants the IG post taken down, an apology and $250K for the damage to his company's reputation. If that doesn't happen he will file a lawsuit against the Philly rapper.
TheReverend Al Sharptonwon't be a fixture in the coverage surroundingWalter Scott's April 4th shooting death by white police officer North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager.
According to The New York Daily News, Sharpton was asked to stay away from Scott's funeral by his family.
“The Reverend Al has called and expressed his support and condolences,” said family attorney Chris Stewart. “The family is very appreciative. The funeral is only going to be close family members."
Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager (left) shot and killed Walter Scott during a traffic stop
“They are in mourning and we would never come unless they asked,” Sharpton told The News. “We're willing to be helpful to the family but only when needed.”
Although the Scott has requested that he stay away, Sharpton said he will be in Charleston on Sunday.
"I have been invited to preach in North Charleston, SC, on Sunday and to help lead a healing prayer vigil that afternoon by local clergy who have worked on this case from the beginning."
Slager has been fired from the Charleston Police Department and charged with murder for shooting Scott in the back while he fled.
Do you think Al Sharpton needs to be involved in this case?
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (Associated Press) — Questions persist about the shooting death of a black South Carolina motorist after the release of dashboard video of a traffic stop that led to a white officer being charged with murder.
The dash cam footage released by state police on Thursday showed North Charleston Officer Michael Thomas Slager pulling over motorist Walter Scott for a broken brake light last weekend.
Saturday's traffic stop opens routinely as Scott is stopped in a used Mercedes-Benz he had bought days earlier, footage from the patrol car showed. The white officer is seen walking toward the driver's window, requesting Scott's license and registration. Slager then returns to his cruiser.
The video also shows Scott beginning to get out of the car, his right hand raised above his head. He then quickly gets back into the car and closes the door. After Slager goes back to his patrol car, minutes later, Scott jumps from his car and runs. Slager chases him.
What's missing is what happens from the time the two men run out of the frame of dashboard video to the time picked up in a bystander's cellphone video a few hundred yards away. The cellphone footage starts with Scott getting to his feet and running away, then Slager firing eight shots at the man's back.
The dashboard camera is in stark contrast to the cellphone footage of the later moments of the encounter. On the dash cam video, Slager never touches his gun during the stop. He also makes no unreasonable demands or threats.
"It is possible for something to happen in that gap to significantly raise the officer's perception of risk," Seth Stoughton, a former police officer and criminal law professor at the University of South Carolina.
Police and Slager's first lawyer initially said the officer fired in self-defense during a scuffle over his department-issued Taser. Within days of Saturday's encounter, the eyewitness video surfaced and immediately changed perceptions of what had happened, leading authorities to charge Slager with murder and fire him from the police force he'd worked on for five years.
There is almost nothing in Slager's police personnel file to suggest that his superiors considered him a rogue officer capable of murdering a man during a traffic stop. In the community he served, however, people say this reflects what's wrong with policing today: Officers nearly always get the last word when citizens complain.
"We've had through the years numerous similar complaints, and they all seem to be taken lightly and dismissed without any obvious investigation," the Rev. Joseph Darby, vice president of the Charleston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Thursday.
The mostly black neighborhood where the shooting took place is far from unique, said Melvin Tucker, a former FBI agent and police chief in four southern cities who often testifies in police misconduct cases.
Nationwide, training that pushes pre-emptive action, military experience that creates a warzone mindset, and legal system favoring police in misconduct cases all lead to scenarios where officers see the people they serve as enemies, he said.
"It's not just training. It's not just unreasonable fear. It's not just the warrior mentality. It's not just court decisions that almost encourage the use of it. It is not just race," Tucker said. "It is all of that."
As a steady crowd left flowers, stuffed animals, notes and protest signs in the empty lot where Scott was shot, many said police in South Carolina's third-largest city routinely dismiss complaints of petty brutality and harassment, even when eyewitnesses can attest to police misbehavior. The result, they say, is that officers are regarded with a mixture of distrust and fear.
Both Slager, 33, and Scott, 55, were U.S. Coast Guard veterans. Slager had one complaint in his personnel file of excessive force that was ultimately dismissed. Scott had been jailed repeatedly for failing to pay child support. But neither man had a record of violence. Slager consistently earned positive reviews in his five years with the North Charleston Police.
Slager's attorney, Andy Savage, said Thursday that he's conducting his own investigation, and that it's "far too early for us to be saying what we think."
The officer is being held without bond pending an Aug. 21 hearing on a charge of murder that could put him in prison for 30 years to life if convicted.
Slager's file includes a single excessive use-of-force complaint, from 2013: A man said Slager used his stun gun against him without reason. But Slager was exonerated and the case closed, even though witnesses told The Associated Press that investigators never followed up with them. Police say they are now looking at that case again amid questions by the man Tased and eyewitnesses who said authorities never questioned them about it.
"It's almost impossible to get an agency to do an impartial internal affairs investigation. First of all the investigators doing it are co-workers of the person being investigated. Number two, there's always the tendency on the part of the departments to believe the officers," Tucker said.
___
Biesecker reported from Raleigh, North Carolina. Associated Press writer Mitch Weiss in North Charleston, South Carolina, and Jonathan Drew in Raleigh, contributed to this report.
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