Kendrick Lamar is riding high with the release of his To Pimp a Butterfly album. The Compton native covers the latest issue of Mass Appeal and chops it up with writer Gabriel Alvarez about a number of topics including the full title of the album hidden inside the CD booklet.
A kid on the Internet pointed out that Section.80 is outlined like a book; good kid, m.A.A.d city like a film; and To Pimp A Butterfly like a poem.Is that how you see it and was that planned?
Yeah, definitely. [There]’s actually a sketch of braille that’s added to the title hidden inside the [CD] booklet that I don’t think nobody has caught yet. You can actually feel the bump lines. But if you can see it, which is the irony of it, you can break down the actual full title of the album.
Rico Love recruits Taylor Gang boss Wiz Khalifa and superstar singer Usher for the remix to his blazing new single entitled "Somebody Else." Take a listen up top and let us know what you think in the comment section below.
Scarface a.k.a. Facemob of The Geto Boys has been in New York City for various interviews. One of the stops was by Shade 45 for a visit with Tony Touch. Check out his Toca Tuesdays Freestyle below.
It's 2015 and the problems between the police and the urban community seem to be getting worse and the divide between the haves and the have nots has widened.
In a 1994 interview Tupac Shakur talked about the problems plaguing society and what motivated him to make hard hitting music.
If you didn't know this interview was over two decades old you would think it was a present day activist giving you a glimpse into a world of hopelessness many find themselves living in.
"You have to be logical," Tupac said. "If I know in this hotel room they have food every day. And I'm knocking on the door every day to eat. And they open the door and let me see the party. Let me see them throwing salami...throwing food around, but they're telling me there's no food in here.
Every day, I'm standing outside trying to sing my way in. 'We are hungry please let us in.' After about a week that song's 'gon change to, "We hungry, we need some food.' After two or three weeks it's like, 'Gimme some food or we're breaking down the door!' After a year you're just like, 'I'm picking the lock coming through the door blasting,' Pac continued. "It's like you're hungry, you done reached your level, you don't want anymore. We asked ten years ago. We was asking with the [Black] Panthers. We was asking with the civil rights movement. Those people that were asking are now all dead and in jail. Now what do you think we're gonna do? And we shouldn't be angry? And My raps that I'm rapping to my community shouldn't be filled with rage? They shouldn't be filled with the same atrocities that they gave to me? And the media don't talk about it, so in my raps I have to talk about it."
Nelly is switching up gears on his fans. The 40-year old is crossing over to country music for his eighth album, according to his manager, J. Erving of Atom Factory.
"He's a free agent on the label side now, and is working on a country-based "Heartland" EP, which should be really interesting," said J. Erving told Billboard. "He may be one of the first hip-hop artists to jump into that space in an authentic way with Florida Georgia Line and Tim McGraw, so we think he has an opportunity to grow that base even more."
You looking forward to hearing a country album from Nelly?
The streets were on fire in Baltimore, Maryland on Monday, April 27, as looters caused mayhem, but one mother taught her son a lesson he won't soon forget.
After seeing her son on the streets in the midst of the chaos, dressed in black from head to toe, looking for trouble, the mother grabbed him and slapped him around as CNN television cameras rolled.
Watch below.
**UPDATE** April 30
16-year old Michael Singleton learned a couple of valuable lessons earlier this week when he received the whipping seen around the world.
The teenager now has a better appreciation of how much his mother, Tonya Graham, loves him and has a clearer picture of how he wants to live his life.
“I understand how much my mother really cares about me. I just got to try to do better," Singleton told ABC News.
Michael's mother is known in the community as a person who is not going to stand for nonsense.
"All my friends know my mother. Every time they see her they’re like, 'Tonya coming.' Oh, yeah she’s coming. Everybody better get straight," he said.
"To see him down there, doing what he was doing, we're not doing that," Graham said. "I'm not angry with him anymore. As long as I have breath in my body, you will not be on the streets, selling drugs, you just not going to live like that.”
Cleveland, Ohio native, Smoove Gotti, has made the fact that his grind is relentless very well-known in the recent months. With over 10 videos that have gone viral over the internet & a Vevo account that has raked in over 100,000+ views, it's safe to say that his work ethic is that of what makes Ohio artists so unqiuely special.
Gotti's latest release, "No Money," featuring legendary emcees, 8Ball & MJG, aims to restore the classic feel back into this Hip-Hop music. He picked up 2 heavily impacting contributors towards the culture to emphasize the need for this type of vintage music to be felt yet again.
His new video, "Faded," further reiterates Smoove Gotti's restoration of definitive feeling into the art of Hip-Hop. Peep as he takes you through a series of organic clips & as he lets you into a bit of his lifestyle & tells you what it's like to truly be "Faded".
Also, take a spin at his latest mixtape offering, "My DNA Level C"here.
BALTIMORE (Associated Press) — Rioters plunged part of Baltimore into chaos Monday, torching a pharmacy, setting police cars ablaze and throwing bricks at officers hours after thousands mourned the man who died from a severe spinal injury he suffered in police custody.
The governor declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard to restore order. A weeklong, daily curfew was imposed beginning Tuesday from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., the mayor said. At least 15 officers were hurt, and some two dozen people were arrested. Two officers remained hospitalized, police said.
Officers wearing helmets and wielding shields occasionally used pepper spray to keep the rioters back. For the most part, though, they relied on line formations to keep protesters at bay.
Monday's riot was the latest flare-up over the mysterious death of Freddie Gray, whose fatal encounter with officers came amid the national debate over police use of force, especially when black suspects are involved. Gray was African-American. Police have declined to specify the races of the six officers involved in his arrest, all of whom have been suspended with pay while they are under investigation.
Freddie Gray
Emergency officials were constantly thwarted as they tried to restore calm. Firefighters trying to put out a blaze at a CVS store were hindered by someone who sliced holes in a hose connected to a fire hydrant, spraying water all over the street and nearby buildings.
The smell of burned rubber wafted in the air in one neighborhood where youths were looting a liquor store. Police stood still nearby as people drank looted alcohol. Glass and trash littered the streets, and small fires were scattered about. One person from a church tried to shout something from a megaphone as two cars burned.
"Too many people have spent generations building up this city for it to be destroyed by thugs, who in a very senseless way, are trying to tear down what so many have fought for, tearing down businesses, tearing down and destroying property, things that we know will impact our community for years," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a lifelong resident of the city.
Gray's family was shocked by the violence and was lying low; instead, they hoped to organize a peace march later in the week, said family attorney Billy Murphy. He said they did not know the riot was going to happen and urged calm.
"They don't want this movement nationally to be marred by violence," he said. "It makes no sense."
Police urged parents to locate their children and bring them home. Many of those on the streets appeared to be African-American youths, wearing backpacks and khaki pants that are a part of many public school uniforms.
The riot broke out just as high school let out, and at a key city bus depot for student commuters around Mondawmin Mall, a shopping area northwest of downtown Baltimore. It shifted about a mile away later to the heart of an older shopping district and near where Gray first encountered police. Both commercial areas are in African-American neighborhoods.
Later in the day, people began looting clothing and other items from stores at the mall, which became unprotected as police moved away from the area. About three dozen officers returned, trying to arrest looters but driving many away by firing pellet guns and rubber bullets.
Downtown Baltimore, the Inner Harbor tourist attractions and the city's baseball and football stadiums are nearly 4 miles away. While the violence had not yet reached City Hall and the Camden Yards area, the Orioles canceled Monday's game for safety precautions.
Many who had never met Gray gathered earlier in the day in a Baltimore church to bid him farewell and press for more accountability among law enforcement.
The 2,500-capacity New Shiloh Baptist church was filled with mourners. But even the funeral could not ease mounting tensions.
Police said in a news release sent while the funeral was underway that the department had received a "credible threat" that three notoriously violent gangs are now working together to "take out" law enforcement officers.
A small group of mourners started lining up about two hours ahead of Monday's funeral. Placed atop Gray's body was a white pillow with a screened picture of him. A projector aimed at two screens on the walls showed the words "Black Lives Matter & All Lives Matter."
The service lasted nearly two hours, with dignitaries in attendance including former Maryland representative and NAACP leader Kweisi Mfume and current Maryland Rep. John Sarbanes.
Erica Garner, 24, the daughter of Eric Garner, attended Gray's funeral. She said she came after seeing video of Gray's arrest, which she said reminded her of her father's shouts that he could not breathe when he was being arrested on a New York City street. Garner died during the confrontation.
"It's like there is no accountability, no justice," she said. "It's like we're back in the '50s, back in the Martin Luther King days. When is our day to be free going to come?"
With the Rev. Jesse Jackson sitting behind him, the Rev. Jamal Bryant gave a rousing and spirited eulogy for Freddie Gray, a message that received a standing ovation from the crowded church.
Bryant said Gray's death would spur further protests, and he urged those in the audience to join.
"Freddie's death is not in vain," Bryant said. "After this day, we're going to keep on marching. After this day, we're going to keep demanding justice."
Gray was arrested after making eye contact with officers and then running away, police said. He was held down, handcuffed and loaded into a van without a seat belt. Leg cuffs were put on him when he became irate inside.
He asked for medical help several times even before being put in the van, but paramedics were not called until after a 30-minute ride. Police have acknowledged he should have received medical attention on the spot where he was arrested, but they have not said how his spine was injured.
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Associated Press writers Juliet Linderman and Jeff Horwitz contributed to this report.
After publicly professing her love for estranged husband Wiz Khalifa a couple of weeks ago and stating that she wanted to put their marriage back together, Amber Rose, appears to have already moved on with Machine Gun Kelly.
According toTMZ, MGK was at baggage claim today to meet Rose when she arrived. The Cleveland rapper grabbed a handful of Amber's buttocks, helped her with her luggage and the two walked away hand-in-hand.
The timing is strange because MGK and Wiz a hit single together entitled "Mind of a Stoner," which has racked up over 51 million YouTube views since being released last February.
Somehow I have the feeling Wiz is somewhere smoking a joint not giving a damn.
Future Hendrix is a man on his grind heavy as of late. He's been providing new visuals at a rapid pace. Today he gives FADER the green light to premiere his latest entitled "Trap Niggas." Peep it below.
SHOOTA DROPS A NEW MIXTAPE PRESENTED BY @NinosCornerCALLED "DRUG MUSIC" MAKE SURE TO CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO DOWNLOAD AND SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS OR LISTEN BELOW. THIS MIXTAPE HAS SOMETHING FOR A EVERYONE A STRONG FLOW AND SOME FIRE BEATS MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW SHOOTA ON TWITTER @ShootaRDM
Boozie Badazz stopped by The Breakfast Club to chop it up.
He discussed why he moved from Baton Rouge to Atlanta, Plies getting body slammed, freezing his sperm to assure he'll have twins, Webbie getting baptized, his seven kids, being on The Barter 6, getting IG hookups from the females, influencing East Coast artists like Bobby Shmurda, being an inspiration to the hood, Touchdown 2 Cause Hell and more.
After a long delay Raekwon finally delivers his Fly International Luxurious Art album. The project will be released on Tuesday, April 28, but you can stream the entire thing up top.
Features include French Montana, Ghostface Killah, 2 Chainz, Snoop Dogg, Melanie Fiona, Rick Ross, Estelle and Liz Rodriguez.
1. Intro (Prod. by Jerry Wonda) 2. 4 In the Morning Ft. Ghostface Killah ( Prod. by Scram Jones) 3. I Got Money Ft. A$ap Rocky ( Prod. by S1 aka Symbolic One) 4. Wall to Wall Ft. French Montana & Busta Rhymes (Prod. by She da God, co-prod Snaz) 5. Heated Nights (Prod. by Frank G) 6. F.I.L.A. World Ft. 2 Chainz (Prod. by Scram Jones) 7. 1,2 1,2 Ft. Snoop Dogg ( Prod. by Scoop Deville) 8. Live to die (Prod. by S1 aka Symbolic One) 9. Soundboy Kill it Ft. Melanie Fiona & Assassin (Prod. by Jerry Wonda) 10. Revory (Wraith) Ft. Rick Ro$$, Ghostface KIllah (Prod by Bluerocks) 11. All About You Ft. Estelle ( Prod. by Jerry Wonda) 12. Nautilus (Prod. by Scram Jones) 13. Worst Enemy Ft. Liz Rodriguez ( Prod. by Matt Burnett)
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