News Snippets

Outkast set to release new album and also a movie:

Three years since the release of 5-time Grammy Award-winner OutKast's landmark #1double-CD Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, Antwan 'Big Boi' Patton and Andre'3000' Benjamin return this August with their first appearance together in a motion picture, and the most eagerly anticipated new album of their career, IdleWild , set for a August 22nd release on LaFace/Zomba Music Group.
The first single from the album titled "Mighty O" , finds Dre and Big Boi rhyming together on a track for the first time in six years, since OutKast's triple- platinum CD of 2000, Stankonia. "Mighty O" was co-written by Dre and Big Boi and produced by Organized Noize.
Three days after the release of the IdleWild album, Universal Pictures and HBO Films will open wide with Idlewild, a Mosaic Media Group and Forensic Films Production starring Antwan Patton and Andre Benjamin in their first movie together.
Set amidst the backdrop of a 1930s rural Georgia speakeasy known as The Church, the film follows its two lead characters, lifelong friends Percival (Dre), the club's piano player, and Rooster (Big Boi), the club's lead performer and manager, through intersecting stories of love and ambition, in a story fueled by non-stop action, music and showstopping dance numbers.
Idlewild was written and directed by award-winner Bryan Barber (making his feature film debut as a director), a prolific video director over the past four years and close collaborator with OutKast on "Hey Ya," "The WayYou Move," "The Whole World," and other clips.

Snoop Dogg back with a new project:

Snoop Dogg has lined up a plethora of acts to appear on his next studio album Blue Carpet Treatment.
The rapper has drafted in the help of Stevie Wonder, Pharell , Timbaland and Warren G amongst many others.
“I have so much good material, it's about (figuring out) what I'm going to use on my record."
Quizzed as to how he’s changed over the past ten years, he added: "Musically, now I'm more coming from the heart. Back then, when I started, I was more coming from the mind.
“Now it's a little bit more in-depth, there's a little bit more going on with myself as far as the role I play now, the wisdom that I have, the direction that I take and the direction that I give. You can hear that in the music I'm making."

Diddy on Hollywood Walk Of Fame:

Bad Boy Entertainment CEO Sean "Diddy" Combs will be honored with a star on the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame it was announced today (June 24) by organizers. Combs was one of 200 nominations entered for the prestigious award and was among the 23 finalists selected to be honored with a terrazzo and brass star on Hollywood Boulevard in 2007.

Jay-Z Boycotts Cristal Champagne at 40/40 Club:

In response to comments made by Frederic Rouzaud, the managing director of Louis Roderer Cristal, Jay-Z and his upscale sports lounge, The 40/40 Club, have announced that they will no longer be serving Cristal Champagne and Jay-Z will further help lead the boycott against Cristal Champagne in the world of hip-hop.Despite loyal patronage by Jay-Z, his clientele, and the entire hip-hop community, Rouzaud said in a special edition of The Economist magazine that the company observes its association with the rap world with "curiosity and serenity." Even though Jay and other rappers continually support the brand by including Cristal in their lyrics, as Jay did in his number 1 hit "Hard Knock Life," Rouzaud has labeled the name-checks as "unwelcome attention.""It has come to my attention that the managing director of Cristal, Frederic Rouzaud views the 'hip-hop' culture as "unwelcome attention." I view his comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products through any of my various brands including The 40/40 Club nor in my personal life," said Jay-Z.

Hip Hop News Snippets(19-06-06)

Queen Latifah On 'Life Support' :
Queen Latifah will star in the HBO original movie Life Support.Based on a true story, "Life Support" follows Ana Willis (Queen Latifah), an HIV-positive former addict who has become a wife and mother and is committed to educating people in the black community on how to protect them and not become infected with AIDS.

Mos Def Set To Star In 'Little Scarlet' :
Mos Def has been cast alongside acclaimed actor Jeffrey Wright in an upcoming adaptation of Walter Mosley’s popular novel “Little Scarlet.” In “Little Scarlett,” white cops hire private investigator Rawlins (Jeffrey Wright) in the wake of the racially-charged riots to investigate the murder of a Black woman, and his trigger-happy friend Mouse (Mos Def) comes to his aide.


Eminem To Play A Bounty Hunter In New Flick :
Eminem has agreed to appear in a new film as a bounty hunter, according to reports.
The rap star is understood to have agreed to appear in a movie adaptation of an old TV series.
Have Gun - Will Travel was originally broadcast in the 1950's and followed the antics of a gunfighter-for-hire.Apparently the programme will be updated for the 21st century and will see Eminem adopting the role of bounty hunter, perhaps in his hope city of Detroit.
There are also suggestions that Eminem, who has expressed a desire to pursue new projects in recent months, will score the soundtrack for the movie.

DMX Confirms Belly Sequel:
DMX recently confirmed that the sequel to Belly is in the works.Titled Beast , the sequel will follow on directly from the 1998 Hype Williams directed cult classic and will also feature Nas who co-wrote and co-starred in the original.

The Roots to Drop Game Theory August 29:
Philly group The Roots return after a two year hiatus to release their new album, Game Theory filled with 14 tracks that express their views on the state of the world. The album is due August 29.“There was too much going on that we couldn’t just sit back and not speak on it,” says lyricist Black Thought. Drummer ?uestlove describes the album as ”very mature, serious and very dark.”The band addresses everything from their uneasiness about society on, “It Don’t Feel Right,” to troops at war on “False Media” and government monitoring on “New World.” The band also honors their fallen friend and producer James Yancey a/k/a J-Dilla whose death from kidney failure in February devastated the Hip-Hop world. All tracks are wrapped around hard hitting beats and murky grooves deploying samples from Sly Stone, the Ohio Players and the Jackson 5 among others.

Busta Rhymes' Big Bang Expected To Top Charts:
Busta Rhymes new album The Big Bang hit stores on June 14 and after two days on the shelves, reports stated the rapper's 7th solo album is on pace to debut at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 album chart next week. The album, which critics are hailing as Rhymes' best work to date is on pace to sell over 250,000 copies during its first week on the shelves. The Big Bang features collaborations with Raekwon, Marsha Ambrosius of Floetry, Q-Tip, Missy Elliott and musical icons Stevie Wonder and the late Rick James. Busta has attributed the album's success to the creative freedom has was afforded on his new label, Aftermath/Interscope Records.

Common working on new album:
Rapper Common is presently working on the follow-up to his critically acclaimed album, BE, and the rapper says it's coming soon. "Finding Forever is out at the end of September. We're workin' on it daily. Production [comes from] from Kanye West, obviously [he's] producing' a lot of it. Kareem Riggins and J Dilla. It's special. We just tryin' to grow with the music," Common told AllHipHop.com. The Chicago rapper also stated that he's starring in a new film called Smoking Acres, which will be out January, 2007

And so is Rakim:
Legendary Hip-Hop wordsmith Rakim said that his third solo album The Seventh Seal would hit stores before the end of the summer during Mark Ecko's Save the Rhino's concert recently held in New York. The album will be released on his own label, after a much hyped collaboration with Hip-Hop super-producer Dr. Dre never saw the light of day. According to Rakim the album will feature several guest appearances, including a cameo appearance by Queens rapper Nas.

More to come later....

This week in hip hop vol. 1

Jay-Z celebrates 10-year anniversary:
Jay-Z will take the stage June 25 in New York to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his debut release, Reasonable Doubt, an album considered to be a hip-hop classic.
Jay-Z, the current president of Def Jam Records, will perform the songs from the disc in their entirety for the first time at New York's Radio City Music Hall.
"Reasonable Doubt" peaked at No. 23 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 1.4 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Jay-Z stopped releasing albums under his own name after 2003's The Black Album but has appeared as a guest on numerous tracks since then. Rumors persist that he's plotting a new studio project.

D-Block to release new DVD:
D-Block Records / KOCH Records announces the release of the "D-Block CD/DVD Mixtape," a new CD/DVD by one of New York's most respected cliques, D-Block. The label D-Block was created by Sheek Louch with lifelong friends, Styles P and Jadakiss,who are the three core members.

So much for news...now for some of the other features...

Upcoming artist of the week:
Lupe Fiasco.Doesn't sound like your typical mainstream rapper name.Well,Lupe is not your typical mainstream rapper.Hailing from the city of Chicago that gave us the legendary Common and the cocky yet talented Kanye West.You might have heard his verse on the "Touch the Sky" track on Kanye West's sophomore album "Late Registration".Lupe shows a combination of lyrical wisdom and street charisma that almost reminds one of the old Jay-Z from the "Reasonable Doubt" era.But Lupe's style is very unique.He rocks both street anthems as well as those introspective songs that make you rewind liek "Whoa!Did he just say that?"Although his album has been leaked on the net,he's gone back to the lab to record afresh instead of complaining about net piracy.One of the advantages of the leak has been that fans have been able to see what to expect.And what is that?Lines like these:
"He said it was something so appealing,
He couldn't fight the feeling,
Something about it,
He knew he couldn't doubt it,
He couldn't understand it,
Branded,just a first kick flick,he landed,
Labelled a misfit,abandoned,
His neighbours couldn't stand it,
So he was banished to the park,
Started in the morning,wouldn't stop till after dark,
When they said it's getting late in here,
So I'm sorry young man,there's no skating here,
And the way he rolled,
Just a rebel in the world with no place to go,
So come skate with me,
Just a rebel looking for a place to be"
With a delivery and mic charisma that matches his rhymes,Lupe Fiasco's new album could be the one to look out for this year.
Limewire downloads u must have:Muhammad Walks,Kick Push,Conflict Diamonds.

Throwback Track of the week: Wu Tang Clan-Protect Ya neck
An all time classic,the less said about this track the better.My words cannot possibly do justice to this all time great.All i can say is shut the fuck up and check this track out if you're ignorant enough to have not heard it yet.And if you have it,pump up the volume bitch!

Qoute of the Moment:
"Now tell me who's supposed to have your best intrests,
When shit ain't looking up,you start having less intrest,
Trying to leave the hood but the slugs keep coming,
Keep chasing the buck but the buck keep running,
I don't trust nobody,I don't love nobody,
I don't fuck with nobody but me,
I can't lose,moods will be funny,
And I never let my self down,
Why so?I don't expect much from me"-Joe budden

More to come next post....

Hip Hop News Snippets

Since this is the first..a lot of shit i'm posting here is kinda old but needs to be posted as it's significant anywayz....

Nas to put out new album in September:
Nas' September release, titled Hip-Hop is Dead, will be the first of two albums jointly marketed by Def Jam and Nas' previous label, Columbia. Nas and Def Jam president Jay-Z announced they'd deaded their beef at Jay-Z's "I Declare War" concert last October and in January the two furthered their relationship when Nas joined the Def Jam roster. With their partnership solidified Jay-Z has even raised the possibility that he might make a guest appearance on the new Nas release. Hip Hop is Dead will be Nas' follow-up to 2004's Streets Disciple which sold some 694,000 copies according to Nielsen Soundscan. Billboard.com has also reported that Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am is also scheduled to record with Nas for the new project.

And the Roots as well!:
In related news, The Roots are also preparing their new Def Jam debut Game Theory, which is scheduled to be released late Summer 2006. Their first single "Don't Feel Right" dropped earlier this month.

Method Man Gets Ready for 5th Album:
Method Man will make his comeback this summer with his fifth album, "4:21." The album drops July 18 and the lead single is "Say," which samples Lauryn Hill's cover of Bob Marley's "So Much Things To Say" from "MTV Unplugged."Guests include Fat Joe and Styles P as well as production from Wu-Tang Clan colleague RZA, Scott Storch and Dr. Dre.

Eminem back on mixtape scene:
DJ Whoo Kid has finished work on a new Shady Records mixtape . It's called "The Re-Up" and marks the return of Eminem. "Em's sh*t is gonna be ridiculous," Whoo Kid boasted last week. The return of the Emster and the whole Shady going hard. Everybody is on point. Obie , Stat Quo, all their artists. It's gonna be more of a hungry Shady, back to the grind. Plus me and Alchemist are putting it together, so it will be ridiculous." Besides freestyling off familiar beats, Alchemist gave the Shady squad some new tracks to rhyme over. "It's about what we pick to be on the mixtape," Whoo Kid added. "It will be extra songs I'll bootleg on something else later. But the fact that Em is coming back, I'm just happy to be a part of that."

Ice Cube lashes out at Oprah:
Ice Cube is the latest rapper to step up the offensive against unlikely beef recipient Oprah Winfrey, crying foul over the talk show hostess' alleged refusal to book hip-hop acts on her influential chatfest. The Are We There Yet? star followed in the footsteps of fellow rappers turned critics Ludacris and 50 Cent, telling FHM magazine that Stedman's better half has unfairly kept the arbiters of thug life off her airwaves. "I've been involved in three projects pitched to her, but I've never been asked to participate," the 36-year-old told the magazine in its July issue. "For Barbershop she had Cedric the Entertainer and Eve on, but I wasn't invited. Maybe she's got a problem with hip-hop. "She's had damn rapists, child molesters and lying authors on her show. And if I'm not a rags-to-riches story for her, who is?" Ice Cube's public denouncement of Winfrey—or at least her booking agents—is just the latest lashing out directed at the daytime queen. In an interview with the AP last month, 50 Cent voiced complaints that the Tony-bound 52-year-old took issue with rappers and thus rarely invited them on her show. "I think she caters to older white women," the "In Da Club" rapper said. "Oprah's audience is my audience's parents. So, I could care less about Oprah or her show." Of course, that could be because disagreeing with the queen of suburban housewives only ups Fiddy's street cred. "I'm actually better off having friction with her," he told the AP. If that's the case, he was likely less than pleased to receive a recent endorsement from Winfrey, who made a surprise appearance on New York hip-hop radio station earlier this month to talk to DJ Ed Lover about her reported lack of support for rap acts. "I listen to some hip-hop," the media queen said. "You know, I've been accused of not liking hip-hop, and that's just not true. I got a little 50 on my iPod. I really do. Love 'In Da Club'...Love that, and you know, love Jay-Z, love Kanye, love Mary J." Reports of a biased brouhaha first picked up steam in April, when Ludacris, born Chris Bridges, spoke out to GQ magazine about his treatment on the show last fall, when he was promoting the Oscar-winning Crash. "She edited out a lot of my comments while keeping her own in," he told the lad's mag. "Of course, it's her show, but we were doing a show on racial discrimination, and she gave me a hard time as a rapper when I came on there as an actor. "I don't see why people like Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle, who I am huge fans of, it's OK for them to go on Oprah. They speak the same language as I do, but they do it through comedy, so I guess that's acceptable."

LL Cool J to be honoured by ASCAP:
Hip-Hop legend LL Cool J will be honored at the 19th Annual Rhythm & Soul Music Awards, presented by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). The ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards are being held on June 26 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. This year's event, which is by invitation only, will recognize the songwriters and publishers of the most performed ASCAP songs on the 2005 R&B, hip-hop and rap charts. The evening will also include performances by several award-winning artists. LL Cool J, whose real name is James Todd Smith, will receive the ASCAP Golden Note Award, an honor given to songwriters and composers who have achieved extraordinary milestones. The Golden Note has been previously awarded to Sean "Diddy" Combs, Jermaine Dupri, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Jay-Z, Quincy Jones, Tom Petty, Jose Feliciano, Mark Snow and Stevie Wonder among others. Since 1985 when Def Jam made his album Radio their first release, LL has dropped nine platinum or better selling albums and eight gold singles. His albums Bigger and Deffer, Walking With a Panther, 14 Shots to the Dome, G.O.A.T. and 10 have been the source of such #1 hit singles as "I Need Love," "I'm That Type of Guy," "How I'm Comin'," and "Luv U Better." His 12th and latest album "Todd Smith" was recently certified gold. LL has already scored two Grammy Awards for singles "Mama Said Knock You Out" and the Boyz II Men duet "Hey Lover" as well as several MTV Video Music Awards, a NAACP Image Award and the Quincy Jones Award for Outstanding Career Achievements during the Soul Train Music Awards. "LL Cool J is one of the most important figures in the history of hip-hop. He has weathered all the trends in the rap world and is as commercially viable today as he was when he started out in 1985," ASCAP President and Chairman Marilyn Bergman said via statement. "We are very pleased to honor LL Cool J by adding his name to the very elite group of our Golden Note-winning songwriters and composers." The 2006 ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Music Awards will also feature a special presentation to ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year and "Top" awards will be presented for Publisher of the Year, Soundtrack of the Year, Reggae Artist of the Year, Ringtone of the Year, R&B/Hip-Hop Song, Rap Song and Gospel Song. As SOHH previously reported, ASCAP recently honored 50 Cent and Jermaine Dupri at ASCAP's Pop Music Awards. 50 won Songwriter of the Year and Dupri won Song of the Year for co-writing and producing the Mariah Carey song "We Belong Together."

Raekwon might be down with Aftermath:
We already knew that Raekwon and Busta Rhymes (and also Dr. Dre) worked very closely on Raekwon's 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2' album but according to WuTangCorp.com, it looks like The Chef has inked a deal with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment."Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II" will be a co-production between Aftermath and Wu-Tang. Whether this is the Wu Music Group or Wu-Tang Productions is not known yet.

More to come later.....

Welcome up in this bitch!

Well I been posting hip hop news and reciews on hip hop forums anyways so i thought i'd post some shit here too..Since as of now i'm doing this on my own,the news and reviews might not come as frequently as i'd like but i'll do my best.This blog will basically have hip hop news snippets,occasional interview excerpts of hip hop personalities as well as reviews of hip hop albums,both new releases and old classics.There will also be opinion columns on various aspects of hip hop as well as a weekly column called "This week in hip hop" posted every saturday night....ok..let's get this popping....