20-year old Harlem, New York rapper Azealia Banks has inked a deal with Universal Records. It's the second deal for Banks who signed her first recording contract at age 16 with London based XL Records. That deal quickly soured when she and the company's President, Richard Russell didn't see eye to eye on the direction she wanted to take her career in.
"It was almost the day I signed to XL that they started checking out," she told BBC earlier this month. "There were a good seven to eight months where I was just sending them texts and no-one would say anything or pick up the phone or respond to my emails. Nothing. And it started to ruin me. So I started harassing Richard. Like, 'Dude, I'm going to chop your neck off. Answer my emails!' So I was like, this is not what I worked so hard my entire life to do - to be rejected by some English guy in West Bumblefrickin' nowhere London, telling me I'm amateur or something like that. So I just said, 'Screw you!'"
The split from XL was just what the young mc needed. She went on to drop the video to "212." The song/video got the attention of many in the industry. Banks got co-signs from the likes of Kanye West, Kelly Rowland and Gwyneth Paltrow. West was said to be interested in signing her to his G.O.O.D Music imprint, but in the end she decided Universal was the right place for her.
"God dealt me a really f*cked up hand at birth. Half the sh*t I've been through & successfully gotten through would blow some of your minds," she wrote on the social networking site. "God just dealt me a new hand today. I reaaaaaaaaaaallllly good hand."
A full Ruff Ryders reunion tour could be headed to a city near you within the next several months according to DMX.
Dark Man X spoke with TMZ and said the tour would consist of himself, Eve, The Lox, Swizz Beatz, Drag-On and Murda Mook. Ruff Ryders CEO Waah Dean is reportedly already booking show dates at various venues across the country.
All parties have agreed to the tour except The Lox and Eve, but X says that's a mere formality which will be worked out once he gets in touch with them.
"We are all family and we're going to come back stronger than when we left," X said. "It's going to take the nation by storm."
Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa aka Mac and Devin are "Smokin On" some of that good greenery in this brand new video promoting their soundtrack Mack and Devin Go to High School. Juicy J joins in on the fun as well.
50 Cent made an appearance at the International Consumer Electronics Show inLas Vegas to show off and promote his new SMS Audio headphone line. 50 brought along some special guests including Floyd Mayweather and DJ Pauly D. Check out the footage and madness as fans go crazy over SMS Audio.
Yo Gotti showed his support for incarcerated rapper Lil Boosie when he went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to visit his family.
"We gotta keep that Free Boosie campaign going," Gotti said. "Coming from the streets you understand in life that could be anybody. That could be me or anyone in a situation like he is. We just down here trying to help him out. Get with his people and do what we can do while he in a situation like that. Basically that's what it is."
After visiting with Boosie's family Gotti performed a concert at The Palace in Baton Rouge.
Hip Hop icon and veteran actor LL Cool J has been named the host of the 54th annual Grammy Awards show the Recording Academy announced Wednesday (January 18). LL has hosted Grammy nominations concert since its first live broadcast in 2008, but this is the first time in seven years the actual show will have a host. Queen Latifah was the last to perform the duties in 2005.
"I'm thrilled to be a part of music's biggest night," said the two-time Grammy winner. "I will always have fond memories of my first Grammy Awards and to now be hosting the Grammy show, in the company of so many other incredible artists, is a dream come true."
Kanye West leads all nominees with seven nods including Song of the Year for "All of the Lights." West is also nominated twice in the category of Best Rap Album for his solo disc 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,' and 'Watch The Throne' with Jay-Z.
Adele, Bruno Mars and The Foo Fighters are close behind West with six nominations each.
Performers on the night include Nicki Minaj, Jason Aldean and Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, The Foo Fighters and Kelly Clarkson.
The show will be held on February 12 in Los Angeles, and broadcast live on CBS.
Check out the full list of nominees in the top categories below.
Record of the Year: "Rolling in the Deep," Adele; "Holocene," Bon Iver; "Grenade," Bruno Mars; "The Cave," Mumford & Sons; "Firework," Katy Perry.
Album of the Year: "21," Adele; "Wasting Light," Foo Fighters; "Born This Way," Lady Gaga; "Doo-Wops & Hooligans," Bruno Mars; "Loud," Rihanna.
Song of the Year: "All of the Lights," Jeff Bhasker, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter and Kanye West, songwriters (performed by Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Fergie); "The Cave," Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford and Country Winston, songwriters (Mumford & Sons); "Grenade," Brody Brown, Claude Kelly, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Bruno Mars and Andrew Wyatt, songwriters (Bruno Mars); "Holocene," Justin Vernon, songwriter (Bon Iver); "Rolling in the Deep," Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth, songwriters (Adele).
New Artist: The Band Perry, Bon Iver, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj, Skrillex.
Pop Vocal Album: "21," Adele; "The Lady Killer," Cee Lo Green; "Born This Way," Lady Gaga; "Doo-Wops & Hooligans," Bruno Mars; "Loud," Rihanna.
Rock Album: "Rock 'n' Roll Party Honoring Les Paul," Jeff Beck; "Wasting Light," Foo Fighters; "Come Around Sundown," Kings of Leon; "I'm With You," Red Hot Chili Peppers; "The Whole Love," Wilco.
R&B Album: "F.A.M.E.," Chris Brown; "Second Chance," El DeBarge; "Love Letter," R. Kelly; "Pieces of Me," Ledisi; "Kelly," Kelly Price.
Rap Album: "Watch the Throne," Jay-Z and Kanye West; "Tha Carter IV," Lil Wayne; "Lasers," Lupe Fiasco; "Pink Friday," Nicki Minaj; "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," Kanye West.
Country Album: "My Kinda Party," Jason Aldean; "Chief," Eric Church; "Own the Night," Lady Antebellum; "Red River Blue," Blake Shelton; "Here for a Good Time," George Strait; "Speak Now," Taylor Swift.
Latin Pop, Rock or Urban Album: "Entren Los Que Quieran," Calle 13; "Entre La Ciudad y El Mar," Gustavo Galindo; "Nuestra," La Vida BohGeme; "Not So Commercial," Los Amigos Invisibles; "Drama y Luz," ManDa.
Jazz Vocal Album: "`Round Midnight," Karrin Allyson; "The Mosaic Project," Terri Lyne Carrington & Various Artists; "The Gate," Kurt Elling; "American Road," Tierney Sutton (Band); "The Music of Randy Newman," Roseanna Vitro.
Contemporary Classical Composition: "Elmer Gantry," RobertAldridge and Herschel Garfein; "The Ghosts of Alhambra," George Crumb; "String Quartet No. 3," Jefferson Friedman; "Lonely Motel-Music from Slide," Steven Mackey; "Piano Concerto No. 2," Poul Ruders.
DJ Whoo Kid came up to Thisis50 and spoke with Young Jack Thriller on a few stories that went down in his life. In this video, Whoo Kid talks about getting chased by Suge Knight.
Jay-Z's got 99 problems and his clothing line is one of them.
Hov just fired 28 of the 56 member staff at his once hugely successful Rocawear Clothing company according to the New York Post.
The massive lay off was due to "economic reasons" according to documents filed with the New York State Department of Labor. The bad economy has hurt a lot of businesses, but according to a source Jay just doesn't seem interested in the company any more. He rarely shows up in the office.
“It’s kind of like he’s given up on the brand,” the source told the Post.
Rocawear was founded in 1999 by Jay and Dame Dash. In 2005 Dash sold his share of the company back to Jay-Z and other silent partners for $30 million.
"They gave me $30 million and 75% of Team Roc. I’m real happy with the deal. I got $22.5 million in cash and the rest in companies (like State Property, Team Roc, Pro-Keds and other entities)," Dash told AllHipHop at the time.
Less than two years later Jay-Z sold the company to Iconix Brand Group for $204 million in cash. As part of the deal Jay remained a shareholder and in charge of product development, marketing and licensing.
Although he still retains an interest in the company, his contractual obligations have expired and he reportedly has refused to promote the brand as sales have steadily decreased.
“Jay-Z doesn’t do anything without getting paid a lot of money — a lot more than Rocawear is generating,” an insider told the New York Post.
The massive layoff came on January 6, one day before Jay's wife Beyonce gave birth to their first child.
Thousands of websites, including some of the most popular, are going dark today to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act, a bill which is designed to thwart copyright infringement but that Web experts warn could threaten the functionality of the Internet.
Encyclopedia giant Wikipedia, popular news-sharing site reddit, browser pioneer Mozilla, photo-sharing favorite Twitpic and even ICanHazCheezburger.com are blocking access to content throughout Wednesday, symbolizing what the bill may allow content creators to do to sites they accuse of copyright infringement. Other websites, including Google, are expressing solidarity with the protests by featuring anti-SOPA content on home pages.
The online protests are being joined by a physical demonstration in New York City, where thousands of representatives from the city's tech industry plan to demonstrate outside the offices of Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), co-sponsors of the Senate version of SOPA, beginning at 12:30 p.m. As pressure has mounted, both have expressed willingness to compromise.
SOPA would give both the government and major corporations the power to shut down entire websites accused of copyright infringement with neither a trial nor a traditional court hearing. The legislation is aggressively backed by Hollywood movie studios and major record labels, along with several major news providers, including Fox News and NBC-Universal, which have largely shied away from coverage of the bill.
The burst of opposition to SOPA and its Senate companion, Protect IP (or PIPA, for short), has caught many lawmakers, who thought they were endorsing a fairly non-controversial anti-piracy bill with strong corporate support, off guard. Senate co-sponsors of the bill regrouped on Tuesday, huddling in the Capitol with major industry backers of the bill.
In December, HuffPost reported that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a Protect IP co-sponsor with deep ties to both Hollywood and the technology industry, thought disputes between two of her most prominent corporate constituencies had been worked out. After that story ran, Feinstein attempted to broker a compromise, calling both tech companies and film studios.
Walt Disney Co. President and CEO Bob Iger declined the invitation on behalf of content providers. "Hollywood did not feel that a meeting with Silicon Valley would be productive at this time," said a spokesperson. The meeting took place with only tech companies present. Feinstein, once a reliable vote for the existing version of Protect IP, is now working hard to amend the bill, according to Senate Democratic aides.
But finding common ground is more difficult in this case than in most intra-corporate squabbles, because the two sides -- or powerful elements within them, at least -- have largely irreconcilable world views. One senior Senate aide said that the technology side consistently refuses to specify precise changes they want to the bill. Indeed, improving the bill would be counterproductive if the ultimate goal is killing it outright -- which it certainly is for many elements of the anti-SOPA coalition.
"That's a high-stakes risk," said the senior aide, "because if they don't have 41 votes, then what?"
By pitting nearly the entire tech industry against corporate Capitol Hill insiders from Hollywood, SOPA has prompted a tremendous wave of lobbying in Washington, accompanied by a flood of campaign contributions ahead of the 2012 elections. More than 1,000 lobbyists are currently registered to juice lawmakers on the bill.
The proposed legislation has startled tech experts and free speech advocates, who warn that the anti-piracy tactics envisioned by the bill would bring about widespread censorship of legitimate content and hamper important cybersecurity measures.
"The solutions are draconian. There’s a bill that would require [Internet service providers] to remove URLs from the Web, which is also known as censorship last time I checked," said Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt during a November speech.
The online blackout protests are rankling the Motion Picture Association of America, a lobbying group for the five biggest American film studios, which has lost significant support for its favorite bill in Washington over the past few months. MPAA Chairman Chris Dodd, a former Democratic senator from Connecticut and close friend of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), ripped the blackout in a Tuesday blog post, which tech advocates view as evidence that Hollywood is threatened by the effort.
"Some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns," wrote Dodd , who represents News Corp., Time-Warner, Sony and Disney. "It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today."
"This is a signal that Hollywood is really rattled by these protests and worried about where this bill is heading," said Josh Levy, Internet campaign director for FreePress.org, a nonprofit media watchdog group.
Cassidy is preparing the release of his Apply Pressure 3 mixtape. The latest leak off of it is "You So Phony." The hustla doesn't name names, but he goes in on fakes, snakes and snitches within the industry.
If you follow Ryan Leslie on youtube you have seen him create songs from scratch in the studio before for artists like Cassie. Leslie takes a slightly different approach in his latest video. He creates a new song "5 Minute Freshen Up" from scratch, playing all of the instruments himself including the piano, organ, bass guitar, tambourine and drums.
After the song is complete he invites a Twitter follower to the studio to come check it out. She then invites several of her friends and it turns into an impromptu party.
As we previously reported, Jim Jones teamed up with Dan Tan and Parish Nation to launch Protocol, an outerwear clothing line. An extension of that is his own "Vampire Life" gear which will be available January 20th.
Here we get a behind the scenes look at Capo getting his hands dirty in the factory where the clothes are being manufactured.
Peep the video below as well as pics of Jim, Trav and Sean Kingston rocking some of the gear.
Hit up the Vampire Life Twitter and Facebook pages for information on how to purchase.
After a disappointing end to the X-Factor season where he placed seventh, Brian Bradley has good reason to be happy today.
Ending weeks of speculation and rumors MTV is confirming that the 15-year old who raps under the name, The Astronomical Kid, has inked a deal with L.A. Reid at Epic Records. Reid was Astro's mentor on the show.
In an interview with VladTV earlier this month Astro talked about what having Reid in his corner meant to him.
"He's a great man. He let's me be me and that's what I respect," Astro said of Reid. "I feel like if I didn't have L.A. as a mentor I probably would have went insane."
Astro will appear on "RapFix Live" today at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com to talk about his new deal.
The Elite Money Empire catches up with Brick Squad Monopoly rapper Yung Joey for an in depth interview.
Joey speaks about being down with Brick Squad from day one, but it wasn't until recently that he put his entire focus into being an artist. Joey also talks about his career goals and lays down a dirt bike challenge to Meek Mill, plus a lot more. Check it out below.
Season 2 of Love and Hip Hop is drawing to a close. The 9th episode just aired and the producers showed they have great taste in music. G-Note recording artist Hot Rod's single "Dance With Me" is featured at the 49:30 mark right before a big confrontation between Kimbella and Erica Mena.
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