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2016 XXL Freshman Anderson. Paak stopped by the Shade 45 studios recently to kick it with Tony Touch. Check out his way-too-brief freestyle over the J. Dilla-produced Slum Village classic, "Players."

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Nas teams up with Erykah Badue for a new song titled "This Bitter Land" This is taken from the soundtrack to the upcoming film, "The Land."

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With all the situations going on within the Black community Mitchy Slick's & the WKYK 1st round draft pick "Eddie MMack" addresses the question of the day "What happened to the #Unity?" press play an listen to Eddie MMack's thoughts on the issues then answer the question or give him your thoughts via Twitter @EddieMack59

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Joey Bada$$ is currently on the road with his Pro Era crew before heading back out in September to open for SchoolBoy Q's "Blank Face Tour."

Today he dropped off a video for "Devastated" featuring live concert footage from various venues.

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/Devastated
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/DevastatedAmazon
Apple Music: http://smarturl.it/DevastatedAppleMusic
Spotify: http://smarturl.it/DevastatedSpotify
Google Play: http://smarturl.it/DevastatedGooglePlay

Shot and directed by Dee Knows 
Song produced by Adam Pallin, Kirk Knight, & Powers Pleasant

Follow Joey Bada$$ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/joeyBADASS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fckingbadass 
Instagram: http://instagram.com/joeybadass
Spotify: http://spoti.fi/1yvtlm7

Follow Pro Era 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/proera
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/ProgressiveEra
Tumblr: http://proera.tumblr.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/proera47 
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/proeraradio
Website: http://theproera.com
Shop - http://shop.theproera.com/
Shop - http://shop.thesmokersclub.com

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Juicy J drops a new music video off of his "Lit In Ceylon" mixtape. This one is for the TM88-produced song titled "Old School." Directed by Ted Cadillac.

Grab "Lit in Ceylon" now from Datpiff http://www.datpiff.com/Juicy-J-Lit-In-Ceylon-mixtape.793038.html.

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Unbeknownst to many, Jas Prince was responsible for discovering and catapulting Drake's rap career after finding him on MySpace. By the time Jas reached out to the OVO rapper, he already had success as an actor on the Canadian television drama series, Degrassi and began to circulate as a lyricist. Although Jas comes from a music based family and has a Rap-A-Lot affiliation through his father J Prince, Jas opens up to DJ Vlad that Drake was uncertain of his promises. "I was like, 'I'm [going to] make you famous' and he was like 'I hear that a lot.'" Even though Drake appeared pessimistic about Jas' capabilities, he decided to work with him regardless.

In this interview Jas talks about J Prince and Lil Wayne not feeling the Canadian's sound, but explains once he gave him exclusive beats and let Weezy listen to him a second time during a random drive, He immediately wanted to work with him the next day.

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BALTIMORE (AP) — Prosecutors dropped the remaining charges Wednesday against three Baltimore police officers awaiting trial in the death of Freddie Gray, bringing an end to the case without a conviction.

Gray was a 25-year-old black man whose neck was broken while he was handcuffed and shackled but left unrestrained in the back of a police van in April 2015. His death added fuel to the growing Black Lives Matter movement, set off massive protests in the city and led to the worst riots the city had seen in decades.

The decision by prosecutors comes after a judge had already acquitted three of the six officers charged in the case, including the van driver who the state considered the most responsible and another officer who was the highest-ranking of the group.

A fourth officer had his case heard by a jury, but the panel deadlocked and the judge declared a mistrial.

On Wednesday, instead of a pretrial hearing for Officer Garrett Miller — who had faced assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment charges — Chief Deputy State's Attorney Michael Schatzow told the judge that prosecutors were dropping the charges against Miller and the rest of the officers.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys quickly left the courtroom without commenting, but both sides planned news conferences later Wednesday.

After Gray's death, the U.S. Justice Department launched a patterns and practice investigation into allegations of widespread abuse and unlawful arrests by the Baltimore Police Department. The results have not been released.

Prosecutors had said Gray was illegally arrested after he ran away from a bike patrol officer and the officers failed to buckle Gray into a seat belt or call a medic when he indicated he wanted to go to a hospital.

State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby wasted little time in announcing charges after Gray's death — one day after receiving the police department's investigation while a tense city was still under curfew — and she did not shy from the spotlight. She posed for magazine photos, sat for TV interviews and even appeared onstage at a Prince concert in Gray's honor.

The city's troubles forced Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to fire her reform-minded police chief and abandon her re-election campaign. Homicides skyrocketed at a rate unseen in decades.

Many feared that the acquittals could prompt more protests and unrest, but that never panned out.

The Gray case hasn't fit quite so neatly into the narrative of white authorities imposing unfair justice on minorities.

Three of the officers charged are white and three are black. The victim, judge, top prosecutor and mayor are African-American. At the time of Gray's death, so was the police chief.

No reputations hinged on the case's outcome as much as Mosby and her husband, Nick Mosby, a councilman for Baltimore's west side who announced his mayoral candidacy shortly after Rawlings-Blake pulled out.

Marilyn Mosby spoke so forcefully when she announced the charges against the officers in May that defense attorneys argued she should recuse herself for bias.

Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby

Gray's family received a $6.4 million settlement from the city.

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Here's part 2 of 50 Cent's hilarious interview with the Drink Champs (N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN).

The business mogul talks about Vivica A. Fox eating his ass, his relationship with Chelsea Handler, A$AP Rocky Twitter issue, new artists increasingly becoming one hit wonders, sophisticated pettiness, Hot 97's Ebro saying he ruined New York hip hop, Effen Vodka deal, Steve Stoute, finding it weird when Diddy offered to take him shopping, not believing Chris Lighty killed himself, enjoying working with Dr. Dre and much more.

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Waka Flocka Flame and producer Sizzle of 808 Mafia drop off a new mixtape titled "LeBron Flocka James 4." Stream it up top and grab a free copy from Datpiff http://www.datpiff.com/Waka-Flocka-Sizzle-Lebron-Flocka-James-4-mixtape.796084.html

LeBron Flocka Fames 4 Tracklist.

1.Real Nigga No Flex 
2.Ball Hard
3.How You Say
4.One Eyed Shooter
5.FlockaSizzle Freestyle
6.Get Whacked
7.All I Know
8.Workin' Wit A Check
9.What's A Party
10.Ain't Shit Sweet
11.New Year
12.Timeline
13.Chill Baby
14.Hype
15.Outro

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My name is Champz. I'm a 27 year old lyricist/songwriter from Long Island NY. This is my new song called "I'm A Bad Man". I really wanted to showcase my lyrical dominance over this beat, produced by Doug G. I use versatile rhyme schemes and fast paced lyrical artillery to get the point across. I decided to call this song "I'm A Bad Man" bcuz I want it to draw people in to show them I really have something and I belong in this industry.


Website - Champz516.weebly.com

Twitter - @Champz516

Instagram - @champz516

Facebook Artist Page - @Champz516

Full Soundcloud Profile - https://soundcloud.com/champz516/im-a-bad-man-prod-by-doug-g

Michael Rushden returns with the release of his jaw dropping new album “Use Your Illusion III”. The album which features some great Chiptune production by Michael’s frequent collaborator Lord Diamonds sticks to it’s NES Zapper Guns from start to finish. Each track comes to life with Michael’s hysterically ignorant yet often descriptive wordplay. Topics on the album range from hard partying at a college dorm (Dazed & Amused) to driving around in a mystical vehicle near the La Brea Tar Pit (Ford Flintstone). As any Michael Rushden fan should expect, the fun doesn’t stop until the very end. If you’re into unapologetic, next level, balls out comedy hip-hop, Michael Rushden is the badass dude you’ve been looking for. 

You can purchase Use Your Illusion III now from the link below:

http://msclvr.co/useyourillusioniii

Facebook:
http://facebook.com/michaelrushdenpart2

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/michaelrushden

Instagram:
http://instagram.com/michaelrushden

Youtube:
https://youtube.com/michaelrushden

The powers that be at MTV really like Beyonce's "Lemonade."

The Houston native's visual album has her ahead of the pack with 11 nominations for the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards.

Bey is up for both Video of the Year ("Formation") and Best Female Video ("Hold Up")

Adele has the second most nominations with an impressive 8 nods.

Drake picked up 6 noms. Ariana Grande and Rihanna are not far behind with 5 and 4 respectively.

Fans can do their part by voting at vma.mtv.vom.

The 2016 MTV Video Music Awards will air live from Madison Square Garden on Sunday, August 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Check out the full list of nominees below.

Video of the Year:

Adele – “Hello”

Beyoncé – “Formation”

Drake – “Hotline Bling”

Justin Bieber – “Sorry”

Kanye West – “Famous”  

Best Female Video:

Adele – “Hello”

Beyoncé – “Hold Up”

Sia – “Cheap Thrills”

Ariana Grande – “Into You”

Rihanna ft. Drake – “Work” (short version)

Best Male Video:

Drake – “Hotline Bling”

Bryson Tiller – “Don’t”

Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – “This Is What You Came For”

Kanye West – “Famous”

The Weeknd – “Can’t Feel My Face”

Best Collaboration: 

Beyoncé ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Freedom”

Fifth Harmony ft. Ty Dolla $ign – “Work From Home”

Ariana Grande ft. Lil Wayne – “Let Me Love You”

Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna – “This Is What You Came For”

Rihanna ft. Drake – “Work” (short version)

Best Hip Hop Video: 

Drake – “Hotline Bling”

Desiigner – “Panda”

Bryson Tiller – “Don’t”

Chance The Rapper – “Angels”

2 Chainz – “Watch Out”

Best Pop Video: 

Adele – “Hello”

Beyoncé – “Formation”

Justin Bieber – “Sorry”

Alessia Cara – “Wild Things”

Ariana Grande – “Into You”

Best Rock Video: 

All Time Low – “Missing You”

Coldplay – “Adventure Of A Lifetime”

Fall Out Boy ft. Demi Lovato – “Irresistible”

twenty one pilots – “Heathens”

Panic! At The Disco – “Victorious”

Best Electronic Video: 

Calvin Harris & Disciples – “How Deep Is Your Love”

99 Souls ft. Destiny’s Child & Brandy – “The Girl Is Mine”

Mike Posner – “I Took A Pill In Ibiza”

Afrojack – “SummerThing!”

The Chainsmokers ft. Daya – “Don’t Let Me Down”

Breakthrough Long Form Video:

Florence + The Machine – The Odyssey

Beyoncé – Lemonade

Justin Bieber – PURPOSE: The Movement

Chris Brown – Royalty

Troye Sivan – Blue Neighbourhood Trilogy

Best New Artist: 

Bryson Tiller

Desiigner

Zara Larsson

Lukas Graham

DNCE

PROFESSIONAL CATEGORIES

Best Art Direction: 

Beyoncé – “Hold Up”

Fergie – “M.I.L.F. $”

Drake – “Hotline Bling”

David Bowie – “Blackstar”

Adele – “Hello”

Best Choreography: 

Beyoncé – “Formation”

Missy Elliott ft. Pharrell – “WTF (Where They From)”

Beyoncé – “Sorry”

FKA Twigs – “M3LL155X”

Florence + The Machine – “Delilah”

Best Direction: 

Beyoncé – “Formation”

Coldplay – “Up&Up”

Adele – “Hello”

David Bowie – “Lazarus”

Tame Impala – “The Less I Know The Better”

Best Cinematography:

Beyoncé – “Formation”

Adele – “Hello”

David Bowie – “Lazarus”

Alesso – “I Wanna Know”

Ariana Grande – “Into You”

Best Editing:

Beyoncé – “Formation”

Adele – “Hello”

Fergie – “M.I.L.F. $”

David Bowie – “Lazarus”

Ariana Grande – “Into You”

Best Visual Effects:

Coldplay – “Up&Up”

FKA Twigs – “M3LL155X”

Adele – “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)”

The Weeknd – “Can’t Feel My Face”

Zayn – “PILLOWTALK”

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G-Eazy was the musical guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Monday, July 25. He performed his single "Drifting" with help from Tory Lanez.

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RZA of the Wu Tang Clan and Interpol's Paul Banks are Banks & Steelz. The duo are preparing to release a new album titled "Anything But Words" on August 26. Today they drop off an official music video for the song "Giant" from the project.

Pre-order now at http://banksandsteelz.com. Stream "Giant" now: Apple Music http://smarturl.it/giant.apple | Spotify http://smarturl.it/giant.spotify | Tidalhttp://smarturl.it/giant.tidal. 

Pre-order the album now: iTunes http://smarturl.it/abw.itunes | Amazon http://smarturl.it/abw.amazon | Google Playhttp://smarturl.it/abw.google

Follow the latest at:
http://banksandsteelz.com
http://twitter.com/banksandsteelz
http://instagram.com/banksandsteelz
http://facebook.com/banksandsteelz
http://banksandsteelz.tumblr.com

Director: Wendy Morgan

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SAGAMIHARA, Japan (AP) — A young Japanese man went on a stabbing rampage Tuesday at a facility for the mentally disabled where he had been fired, officials said, killing 19 people months after he gave a letter to Parliament outlining the bloody plan and saying all disabled people should be put to death.

When he was done, Kanagawa prefectural authorities said, 26-year-old Satoshi Uematsu had left dead or injured nearly a third of the almost 150 patients at the facility in a matter of 40 minutes in the early Tuesday attack. It is Japan's deadliest mass killing in decades. The fire department said 25 were wounded, 20 of them seriously.

A Facebook picture of Satoshi Uematsu

Security camera footage played on TV news programs showed a man driving up in a black car and carrying several knives to the Tsukui Yamayuri-en facility in Sagamihara, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Tokyo. The man broke in by shattering a window at 2:10 a.m., according to a prefectural health official, and then set about slashing the patients' throats.

Sagamihara fire department official Kunio Takano said the attacker killed 10 women and nine men. The youngest was 19, the oldest 70.

Details of the attack, including whether the victims were asleep or otherwise helpless, were not immediately known. Kanagawa prefecture welfare division official Tatsuhisa Hirosue said many details weren't clear because those who might know were still being questioned by police.

The suspect calmly turned himself in about two hours after the attack, police said.

Uematsu had worked at Tsukui Yamayuri-en, which means mountain lily garden, from 2012 until February, when he was let go. He knew the staffing would be down to just a handful in the wee hours of the morning, Japanese media reports said.

The facility employs more than 200 people, including part-timers, with nine of them working the night of the attack, Hirosue said. All those killed were patients.

"They were working at night and got questioned by police after witnessing graphic violence, making them a little emotionally unstable now," he said.

Not much is known yet about his background, but Uematsu once dreamed of becoming a teacher. In two group photos posted on his Facebook, he looks happy, smiling widely with other young men.

"It was so much fun today. Thank you, all. Now I am 23, but please be friends forever," a 2013 post says.

But somewhere along the way, things went terribly awry.

In February, Uematsu tried to hand deliver a letter to Parliament's lower house speaker that revealed his dark turmoil. It demanded that all disabled people be put to death through "a world that allows for mercy killing," Kyodo news agency and TBS TV reported. The Parliament office also confirmed the letter.

Uematsu boasted in the letter that he had the ability to kill 470 disabled people in what he called was "a revolution," and outlined an attack on two facilities, after which he said he will turn himself in. He also asked he be judged innocent on grounds of insanity, be given 500 million yen ($5 million) in aid and plastic surgery so he could lead a normal life afterward.

"My reasoning is that I may be able to revitalize the world economy and I thought it may be possible to prevent World War III," the letter says.

The letter was delivered before Uematsu's last day of work at the facility, but it was unclear whether the letter played a role in his firing, or even if his superiors had known about it.

The letter included Uematsu's name, address and telephone number, and reports of his threats were relayed to local police where Uematsu lived, Kyodo said.

Kanagawa Gov. Yuji Kuroiwa apologized for having failed to act on the warning signs.

Some people in the area said they were shocked that Uematsu is accused, and described him as polite and upstanding.

Akihiro Hasegawa, who lived next door to Uematsu, said he heard Uematsu had gotten in trouble with the facility, initially over sporting a tattoo, often frowned upon in mainstream Japanese society because of its association with criminal groups.

"He was just an ordinary young fellow," he said.

Yasuyuki Deguchi, a criminologist, said Uematsu's alleged actions were typical of someone who bears a grudge and seeks revenge, because it appeared he planned out the attack, and then he turned himself in to police.

"Accomplishing his goal was all he wanted," Deguchi said on TV Asahi.

Michael Gillan Peckitt, a lecturer in clinical philosophy at Osaka University in central Japan, and an expert on disabled people's issues in Japan, said the attack speaks more about Uematsu than the treatment of the disabled in Japan.

"It highlights the need for an early-intervention system in the Japanese mental health system. Someone doesn't get to that state without some symptoms of mental illness," he said.

Mass killings are rare in Japan. Because of the country's extremely strict gun-control laws, any attacker usually resorts to stabbings. In 2008, seven people were killed by a man who slammed a truck into a crowd of people in central Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district and then stabbed passers-by.

In 2001, a man killed eight children and injured 13 others in a knife attack at an elementary school in the city of Osaka. The incident shocked Japan and led to increased security at schools.

This month, a man stabbed four people at a library in northeastern Japan, allegedly over their mishandling of his questions. No one was killed.

___

Kageyama reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writers Satoshi Sugiyama and Ken Moritsugu in Tokyo contributed to this report.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/yuri-kageyama

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Check out Gucci Mane's new music video for "Richest Nigga in the Room." This is off of his new album, "Everybody Looking," available now on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/everybody-looking/id1135576036

Follow Gucci
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/laflare1017
Twitter - https://twitter.com/gucci1017
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/guccimane
Website - http://guccimaneonline.com/

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Dr. Dre was handcuffed and briefly detained by police in Malibu, California following a bizarre confrontation with another man.

TMZ reports that the music legend arrived at his home Monday, July 25, only to find a car blocking his driveway. 

When Dre asked the driver to move things got tense.

The motorist moved his vehicle out of the way, before telling Dre that he had just pulled off of Pacific Coast Highway and ended up in front of the rap mogul's home while he was doing something.

He then started yelling and cursing. prompting Dre to pull out his phone to record video of what was happening.

The driver mistook the phone for a firearm and reportedly said, "Here we go again, another black guy with a gun," before calling the police.

When Los Angeles County Sheriffs arrived on the scene they put Dre in handcuffs while he was searched. No gun was found, so they let him go. 

However, the driver wasn't satisfied and insisted on making a citizen's arrest. He filled out a report that will be forwarded to the District Attorney, who will decide if there is a case.

**UPDATE** June 28

TMZ reports that the L.A. County District Attorney has rejected the case citing insufficient evidence.

Sources close to Dre believed this would be the outcome all along because the entire situation was "ridiculous."

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There isn't single rapper that's going to outwork Big T, who has been on a tear as of late. His latest effort is a freestyle over DJ Khaled's single, "I Got the Keys."

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After a brief hiatus West Coast spitter 2Eleven is back on the scene with a new single titled "Understand Me." The song features Sean Mack and was produced by Cypress Moreno.

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