HipHope.com

Freeway Rick Ross the ex-gangsta drug lord who did his time and has recently tried to sue Rick Ross in Federal court regarding the use of his name.  The Feds didn’t like the fact that he got his name from illegal activities and threw his case out.  Now Freeway is going to to sue the Boss in California state court with a new team of lawyers, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP.  Apparently Freeway’s new lawyers feel they have a great chance on the state level because they’re suing Def Jam, Rick Ross and threatened to sue the new label he signed with, Warner Brothers, if they put out any new music.  Props to Freeway for not taking it to the streets, because I’m sure he still has some friends that wouldn’t be so diplomatic with Rick Ross in the streets.

I’m not going to say much on this situation because it’s stupid sad.  Nate Dogg died on Marc 15th, papers were drawn up to foreclose on one of his houses on March 17th because he was behind $5,924.  WTF?!?  First of all the debt was only $6,000 (let’s just round up $76), second of all, damn you couldn’t even let the man be dead for more than two days before you start taking his sh!t?!?  I really want to find out what scumbag (hey that word is in the dictionary it didn’t even underline red) mortgage company did this so I can warn you what company NOT to get a loan from.

DJ Megatr0n was shot dead near his home in Staten Island around 2am on Monday March 28th.  One shot to the torso of the 32 year old man from 106th and park fame.  Police have no witnesses, motive or any type of clue as to why he was shot.  Hope we don’t have another Biggie/Tupac fiasco where the killer is never found.  As sad and cynical as the song by KRS 1 is, “If you wanna get away with murder, kill a rapper,” there rings some truth to that.  Peace to Megatron, Corey McGriff, and his family.  His mother giving statements to the news was rightfully distraught.

Eminem had a leak of a record this week with a verse saying he sold more albums than Jay Z and Kanye West.  The single “I Get Money” was leaked over the internet sometime last weekend.  Check out this verse from the song.  “They keep on saying the same rappers are the best, Jay-Z and Kanye West/ Maybe they’re just trying to distract you from the fact that I’m coming back/ Or maybe it’s cause I ain’t black/ Maybe it’s because of that/ Maybe it’s because I’m the highest selling artist in rap.”  They say it wasn’t meant to be a dis to Kanye and Jay, but I don’t know, you particularly call someones name out and say you sell more records then them sounds like a dis to me….

Just when Hip Hop is getting sad and depressing here comes come good old fashion realness.  Hip Hop lately has been plagued with falseness.  False breasts, rhymes, battles, rumors, record sales or whatever else is going on.  M1 is coming out with a new album soon, it’s been a while since we heard anything from from them.  2009′s Pulse of the People album was OK, but not great, but we’re used to getting great music from them.  From the sound of the first single played during the video, looks good for them!  Information Age by Dead Prez coming soon….

ABC News reports that Rapper Rhymefest is trying to run for Chicago City council.  He seems very serious and passionate about running for office.  Besides a youthful following in Chicago, he also has the support of the Chicago Teachers Union.  Problem is he has a criminal record and that may hamper his running for office.  Also if he may not get elected if he keeps sticking his tongue out at press conferences. He says he wants to make Chicago a better, safer place to stay.  Yeah I hear what he’s talking about because Chicago has so many murders, I moved there for better opportunities as far as work and moved back to NYC to be safer.  But on the real though, no one really cares because a lot of people outside of Chicago don’t even know who Rhymefest is.  We at HipHope.com wish him the best of luck….

We’ve been away for a while, there’s been a lot going on in the Hip Hop world. Music coming out, artists dying, in jail, new beefs and more going on since we were away. All that is over and we’re back for good this time. Showcasing artists, bring news, music, politics all related to Hip Hop on the real.  We’re also adding a new feature strictly for the kids where we will give you music that you can play for your kids that teaches also.  Big props to Wycleff, Queen Latifah, Swizz Beats, Jimmy Fallon, Common, REM, Patti Labelle, Stevie Wonder, Lena Horne and all the artists that give there time to entertain and educate children.

Kool G Rap is now teaching rapping, he released a book entitled, How To Rap: The Art And Science Of The Hip Hop MC.  Sounds like a great idea and no better person to teach than him.  Back from the early 80′s through the 90′s

Kool G Rap blazed the mic and was listened from West Coast, Down South and East Coast back when the coast wars were going on. Check the video for his song On The Run was considered a classic in the art of story telling.  HipHopDx.com has an extensive interview with him on their website.  It’s informative and long, you may have to come back to read the whole thing.  So this could set a trend and get Hip Hop taught in school since it’s part of our culture more than anything.  Listen to the lyrics in this track, it’s wonderful MCing (wow, I just made a new Hip Hop phrase, Wonderful MCing!)  I love it in this video when he says, “Wake up stupid we gotta go!”  Check it, let me know what you think….

Gucci Mane is doing a lot from Jail these days.  He recorded an album (well at least one song from jail) and n0w he fires his manager Debora Antey and left Mizay Entertainment.  He also cut loose his promoter Johnnie Campbell and Hitt Afta Hitt Enterprises.  He is also leaving So Icey Entertainment label and launching his own label, 1017 Brick Squad Records Inc.  He told AllHipHop.com, “The rest of 2010 is going to be real major. I’m taking control of all of my business properties and keeping the focus on my career, my music and my artists. All the pieces to the puzzle are finally in place and once I get home it’s Gucci time.”  He is now being managed by First Avenue Management, with David Bolno, Managing Director at Nigro, Karlin, Segal & Feldstein as the manager of his business affairs. CAA will now handle his show bookings.  Seems like Gucci is cleaning up his act all together as I have the same confidence he’ll clean up his act as he is released from jail.  Well this is the second time in a month that Debora Antey has been fired, she was also fired by Nicki Minaj for not getting her paperwork in order to go on tour with Rihanna.

Chicago is basically bringing in martial law by bringing in the National Guard to help curb the violence.  If you read an earlier post regarding Chicago violence that I wrote, you will get an understanding of what the Chicago community is going through (41-people-shot-in-50-hours-in-chicago).  Chicago must stop the violence, they’re not calling it martial law, but it sure sounds like it to me.  Maybe martial law without the curfew.  Sad world we’re living in.

The long and ongoing wrongful death lawsuit has been dismissed against the City of Los Angeles.  A lawyer for the Biggie estate, Bradley C. Gage claims the dismissal of this case can prompt arrests in the ’97 shooting of Biggie Smalls.  The case was dismissed on April 5th, 2010 after the Biggie’s estate and the city said the case can be opened at a later date.  The wrongful death lawsuit included allegations that the LAPD had something to do with the murder of Mr Smalls.  Biggie, who’s birth name was Christopher Wallace, was 24 when he died and at the pinnacle of his career when he was gunned down in March 1997 after returning from a party.  The lawsuit first filed in 2002, was declared a mistrial in 2005 after the city was found to withhold evidence of LAPD documents.  Family members say that this case isn’t about money it’s about finding out the truth behind his murder.  I don’t know but it seems like if it was someone else the killer would’ve been tracked down, found, arrested and tried already.  Like KRS 1 said, if you wanna get away with murder, kill a rapper.

David Ortiz from the Boston Red Sox has a club in the Dominican Republic called the 40/40 club.  Everyone knows Jay Z has clubs in NY, Atlantic City and Las Vegas named the 40/40 Club.   The lawsuit claims that Ortiz cannot claim ignorance to the name because he’s been a guest at the 40/40 Club before,  Jay Z is suing for $5 million.  This lawsuit shouldn’t hold water because first of all 40/40 club is originally used for baseball players who hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in one season.  So should Major League Baseball sue Jay Z for using the 40/40 Club as a name too.  It just doesn’t make sense, Jay Z has been known for his business sense but this is taking it a bit too far.  What the heck is Ortiz using the name 40/40 Club for his business any way, he never stole 40 bases in his life?!?

Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu has been Hip Hop’s sweetheart for a very long time.  Her weirdness, beauty and soulful voice is somethingwe couldn’t resist.  But Feb 2008 was a terrible year for Ms Badu.  After not coming out with any new music since Sept 2003, she comes out with the album New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War.  Until then Badu has been known for many things, making a wack album was not one of them.  But after listening to New Amerykah Pt 1 it was terrible.  Only two good songs on the whole album, not really an album more like an EP.  I was disgusted because I’m the biggest Erykah Badu fan in the world.  I even tried to listen to the album over and over to see if it would grow on me.  Nope!  But now here comes her new album New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh out March 30th, 2010.  Ahhhh a refreshing Badu is back again with her soulful Hip Hop inspired music.  She’s sounding a little Billie Holiday-ish on the album.  Very very nice!  The first track 20 Feet Tall is like a 3 minute intro to the album.  Window Seat the second track on the album is very soulful almost jazzy.  Agitation I guess is like another intro with some hot instrumentals.  But the banger on this EP is the song Turn Me Away (Get Munny) is crazy!  With Jr Mafia’s Get Money sample with a soulful music and Erykah’s Billie Holiday-sounding self is off the chain.  The next track Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long is another hot Hip Hop inspired soulful Erykah song.   Umm Hmm is another nice Badu track, sounds very Mama’s Gun like.  Love is like a funk track, nothing special, it’s just OK.  You Loving Me (Session) is Eryka’s attempt at comedy I guess, I didn’t find it very funny, I’ll let you hear it for yourself.  Fall In Love (Your Funeral) is another great song by Badu being very honest about falling in love with her.  Another Biggie sample in here, singing “There’s gonna be some slow singing, flower bringing if her burglar alarm starts ringing.”  Yeah no doubt look at Andre and Common!  Incense Feat. Kirsten Agnesta is some soulful bugged out

New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh

mostly instrumental high Badu song.  Out of My Mind Just In Time is a weird outro that you would expect from Badu.  All in all I give this album like an 85% out of 100.  I would’ve gotten a 95 or 100 if it was a full album.  Almost a classic like Mamas Gun but not enough, get it for only $10.  If you’re in NYC you can probably get it for like $6 or $8 in the village.  Check out her video for Window Seat, the path she walks is the path JFK got shot, the X is where he was shot at. The video was shot Guerrilla style, in one take with no extras.  So the people in the video were just chillin’, LOL!  Damn look at the fat ass on Badu, damn she’s fine than a muh fhuqua!

OK Badu said she was making a statement against “groupthink.”  Groupthink is a way of thinking, those who use the groupthinking ideology try to limit or eliminate conflict from a discussion without properly analyzing the opinions and ideas that were presented over the course of the conversation.  Boy oh boy, there’s going to be some highly mad people behind this video.

Wow, California is trying to legalize marijuana!  In November California’s ballot will have the legalization of Marijuana. Wow, that’s crazy, but Stephen Gutwillig California director of the Drug Policy Alliance is pushing for this.  People are getting tired of wasting police resources, wasting money on the underground that could go directly to the economy.  Stephen needed 434,000 valid signatures to get the ballot, he got over 694,000.  There’s a lot of pros and cons for the legalization of Marijuana like impaired driving going up would be a con, more money into the economy would be a pro.  Less money wasted criminalizing marijuana etc.  But here’s the bad part about Cali legalizing Marijuana as a state.  The FBI, DEA, US Marshals and other federal law enforcement offices can still arrest you because it’s still illegal federally.  Wow, be careful even if it is legalized.

2009 Grammy Awards brings now Kanye West Drama, but other controversies steamed from Kanye West.  Before I say this let me remind you Beyonce won 6 awards for the evening.  When Taylor Swift’s Fearless beat Beyonce’s I Am…Sasha Fierce for album of the year, Twitter and Facebook were blowing up regarding this.  Everyone was online chatting about how Kanye West made Swift famous and she would’ve never won that award if not for him.  I’m sorry to burst people’s bubble, but Swift was famous way before Kanye made an ass of himself at the Video awards.  She just wasn’t famous to us, I don’t know what it is about Country music, I hardly know anyone (white friends included) who say that they like Country music, but that music has been burning the charts up for years.  Granted it’s taken a back seat to Hip Hop in the last several years, but I remember back in the 90′s Garth Brooks had three albums in the Billboard top 200 albums at one time.  So this is nothing new, plus Beyonce won 6 damn Grammys, just because she didn’t win album of the year people weren’t satisfied it’s a shame.  What’s even more of a shame is that Kanye West’s ignorance at the video awards is still taking shine away from artists.  But all in all the Grammy Awards were boring and they played the same music we heard all year over and over, just like all the award shows.  They should think about getting creative on these shows because they’re putting me to sleep.  One great thing about the Grammys this year, Mos Def was nominated for best rap album for his album The Estatic.

Beyonce and Swift both did good at the Grammys, so what's the problem?!?