Since Prodigy's release from prison in March, he and his Mobb Deep partner Havoc have been banging out hits at a hectic pace in preparation for the release of their upcoming EP, Black Cocaine.
The duo have recorded tracks with Nas, Tony Yayo, Waka Flocka, French Montana, LEP Bogus Boys, Jay Electronica and more.
One of the more surprising collaborations is a song they have recorded with Officer Ricky.
"When I came back [from prison] we made sure we did a lot of those [collaborations]. We got a joint with Rick Ross that we did. Got a joint with Gunplay, Rick Ross' artist. And just different people that people might not have expected us to do some sh*t like that," P said.
Prodigy mentions that the 3-year bid he did has made him even more hungry.
"I'm a little more hungry because I know how it feels to have my family, my career and everything snatched from me. So now I appreciate it even more."
Soulja Boy was released from a Temple, Georgia jail yesterday (October 17) after posting a $10,000 bond.
The rapper and four other men were arrested at around 2:15 a.m. yesterday morning after a routine traffic stop. Cops says they smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the Escalade they were riding in. A subsequent search turned up 5 ounces of weed, guns and $40,000 in cash.
TMZ is reporting that the drugs, money and one gun were found inside a briefcase that belongs to Soulja.
Soulja, real name, DeAndre Cortez Way, 21, Dontay Lamar Bates, 27, Camron Wagner, 22, James Raymond Smith, 35, and Gregory Latimore, 56, were all charged with felony possession of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
As he left jail Soulja told his fans who had gathered outside that he loved them and that he was innocent.
"I got love for all yall, I'm innocent," Soulja said before being driven away.
The Atlanta rapper didn't waste time getting back to work. He hit up Twitter after his release to promote his new dvd Soulja Boy: The Movie, which was released yesterday. He also thanked his fans again for their support.
"Thank you and i'm sorry. love you forever, seeing your letters and you standing outside that jail made me feel the love. my fans r the best," he wrote. "They locked my ceo up, but i'm the ceo... f*ck. I missed 10 interviews today for my new movie! to those companies i'm sorry! you can see I had a lil situation. the show must go on."
Music fans of artist ranging from Weezer to Wu Tang now have a new band to add to their library of Awesomeness. Clinton Sparks, Jacob Kasher and Phil Shaouy have formed UGHmerica, who's sound is a hybrid of punk rock, hip-hop & pop music. The Trio & their NoSwag movement are premiering their debut single & video today.
Comprised of three music notables who have already written and produced multi platinum records for other artist like Kesha, Akon & Lady Gaga to Pitbull, Lil'Wayne & Ludacris, are now set to do the same for themselves w/ the creation of UGHmerica. UGHmerica is Clinton Sparks (writer, producer, vocals), Jacob Kasher (writer, MC) & Phil Shaouy (writer, producer, vocals).
UGHmerica is an idea that represents the people, those unafraid to be themselves and walk their own path. Whether it be fashion, attitude or in this case musically, Sparks, Kasher and Shaouy who all share the same passion for both Hip Hop & Rock, are making the music that speaks to those who subscribe to their same theory of life.
They chose the first single, "No Swag," because it defines who the band is and what it stands for. UGHmerica embraces the fact that they may not be the coolest, best looking or richest kids in school but are ok with not fitting in to what society deems as "cool." They have created a No Swag movement to promote individuality and remind people not to be so caught up in what other people think of them.
Fans can expect a solid introduction to the new group with the release of the "No Swag" music video. The video is within a six-minute short movie that establishes the personalities and roles of each member of UGHmerica. It is influenced by some of the most iconic movies from the 80's such as Weird Science and Back to the Future. It provides a humorous parody of the cool vs. not cool with a modern day spin. The moral of the video for UGHmerica is to promote being comfortable in your own skin and not caring about conforming to what others deem cool.
Young Chris is getting ready to release his new mixtape, The Revival. Red hot producer Cardiak will handle the production duties on the project which is expected to drop on Halloween.
Lea on the set of her music video for "November Skies (11-11-11)"
G-note's leading lady, Lea, just released her new single "November Skies (11-11-11)" a few days ago and the song is already getting great reviews.
The ballad was written by producer Ken Lewis, a music industry veteran who has worked with Kanye West, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber and Usher to name a few.
Lewis is especially pleased with the work he did with Lea. The producer sees big things in the Latin singer's future.
Ken Lewis
"The song that I did with Lea Quezada, November Skies' that’s out next month, might be my number one," Lewis told HipHopDX during an interview that was published Saturday (October 15). "Me and my production partner Brent Kolatalo did all of the music, and I wrote 100% of the top line. When you’re pitching songs as a songwriter, trying to get an artist to fall in love with your songs, you always want the 'Oh my god' response. You want someone to hear what you did and say, 'Oh my god, I must do that,' Lewis explained. "I brought the song to Dre McKenzie, the A&R for G-Unit, and got the 'Oh my God' response. He sent it to Lea, and said Lea lost her mind over it and loved it. Lea has one of the best voices I’ve ever worked with, girl is amazing. Six days later, she’s at my studio cutting the record, and she absolutely sung the hell out of it. This is a record that, the range is epic. When you hear it, you’re going to be like, 'Holy sh*t.' It’s one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written, I think Lea is a super dope artist, she sang the top of it, and I wrote 100 percent of the top line. There are all these elements about it that are very near and dear to my heart that would put it high on the list, if not on top of the list. That’s the direction I’m going in my career right now: I want to write songs that connect with people the way that song connected with Lea, and hopefully, the way that Leah’s version of that song connects with the world. That’s my mission right now."
The video for "November Skies (11-11-11)" will be dropping in the very near future.
When Chris Brown hopped into this year's BET Cyphers, he showed how far he's come in the short amount of time that he's been rapping.
In a new interview with Fuse TV, Breezy breaks down why he decided to test his mic skills.
"I think it's more acceptable. It's kind of like in the 80's when everybody was trying out the rap thing," Chris said. "Everybody was doing it, but they were dancing and incorporating everything. You had MC Hammer and so many other people who used hip-hop and dance. That was kind of the essence of hip-hop, b-boying, the whole street art. Everything kind of incorporated into one."
Chris also said that fans these days are more accepting of artists trying new things.
"Kids these days, they don't have a one-track mind," Breezy explained. "They don't like just one thing... they like everything, so that makes them who they are. I think that's what it is with me. A lot of different genres--a lot of different things I bring to my music. That's why I wanna do rap. That's why I wanna do any other kind of song I can do. It's just one of those things that's more acceptable now."
Harry Belafonte was scheduled to appear on a Bakersfield, California, television station Friday (October 14) to promote his new memoir, My Song, but things didn't exactly go according to plan.
Anchor Leyla Santiago introduced the "Day O" singer by talking about his new book and HBO documentary, when the cameras cut to the 84-year old singer he was fast asleep.
“Harry, wake up! Harry?” Santiago exclaimed. “Wake up, wake up! This is your wake-up call Harry! Okay, I’ll tell you what, he’s meditating. He’s taking a little nap.”
Soulja Boy was arrested in Temple, GA early this morning after a routine traffic stop turned into a narcotics bust.
TMZ is reporting that the 21-year old rapper was arrested along with 4 other men when Temple police found a substantial amount of cash and weed said to worth $70,000.
Guns were also found in the car. At this point it's unclear whether or not any of the men had licenses to carry.
Soulja is still being held in Carrol County Jail while police continue their investigation.
Video footage of a two-year old baby girl being struck by vehicles in two separate hit-and-runs, then ignored by bystanders as she lay critically injured has caused an uproar in China around the world.
Many are calling into question the morality of a society where at least 18 people could either drive or walk by an injured child and not render aid.
The incident happened last week outside of a market in Foshan, a city in China's Guangdong Province.
In the footage captured by CCTV, two-year old Wang Yue is seen wondering aimlessly into the street. Moments later a van hits her, then stops momentarily before the driver continues on. The rear wheels of the vehicle roll over the helpless child.
Several minutes later another vehicle hits the child. Again, the driver doesn't stop to help or even get out of his vehicle.
Finally after at least ten minutes one woman stopped to help.
58-year-old Chen Xianmei was scavenging when she saw the child and pulled her to the side of the road before calling for help.
"Blood was coming out her nose and mouth," Chen told local reporters. "I didn't understand why no one else had carried her from the street."
The young girl's mom shows up to claim her and rushes her to the hospital where she is now listed in critical condition.
"I'm still so worried," the child's father, Wang Chichang told CNN. "I feel helpless and angry. Had one passer-by stopped to help earlier, this whole thing wouldn't have been so tragic."
The father was said to be busy running his hardware shop in the Foshan market, while his wife was hanging laundry. Neither noticed their daughter had wandered off until it was too late.
Eminem and Lil Wayne have been dubbed Gods of Rock by GQ magazine. The two rap superstars join Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards on the cover of the November issue.
This special issue dubbed 'The Survivors' pays tribute to "The greatest living music masters. Through career lulls, prison terms, ugly addictions, and industry earthquakes."
Eminem talks to the magazine about his drug addiction and recovery.
"Five or six songs leaked from the original version of Encore," Em told GQ. "So I had to go in and make new songs to replace them. In my head, I was pissed off: 'Oh well. Songs leaked. F*ck it. I'm just going to take a bunch of f*cking pills and go in there and have a party with myself.' I'm sure the more pills I took, the goofier I got."
After a five year hiatus, the Detroit rapper, now clean and sober, bounced back strong with the releases of 2009's Relapse and 2010's Recovery.
"I've realized that the way I am helps with the music. Sporadic thoughts will pop into my head and I'll have to go write something down, and the next thing you know, I've written a whole song in an hour," Em said in the magazine. "But sometimes it sucks, and I wish I was wired like a regular person and could go have a f*ckin' drink. But that's the biggest thing about addiction: When you realize that you cannot — for f*ck's sake, you can not — f*ck around with nothing ever again."
This special issue of GQ which is available October 25 will also come with a photo portfolio shot by photographer Mark Seliger.
Peep the full list of artists featured below.
Erykah Badu
Metallica and Lou Reed
Beck
My Morning Jacket
The Black Keys
New York Dolls
Jimmy Cliff
Lee "Scratch" Perry
Dungeon Family
Robert Plant
Brandon Flowers
Iggy Pop
Debbie Harry
Raekwon
PJ Harvey
Keith Richards
Lil Wayne
Alex Turner
Nick Lowe
TV on the Radio
Stephen Malkmus
Jack White
Eminem
Starting today (October 18) GQ.com will have special interviews with these artists.
DJ Premier is always the man behind the turntables at the BET cyphers. He also has some input on the artists that appear.
The super producer recently revealed he had to put the brakes on one artist's would-be performance after it was revealed he wouldn't be writing his own lyrics.
"Justin Bieber asked if he could do the cypher and everybody was worried that might mess up the integrity of BET," Preem said. "I was like yo, as long as he got a dope rhyme, let him spit. But then we heard he wants Luda to write his rhyme. I was like oh no, no, no, no. If you ain't writing your own rhyme, you can't do it, so Justin, you gotta take a backseat. Write your own rhymes, honey."
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