Author: hhns

50 Cent reveals the names of the artists he’s worked with for free, says it was more so about the art than the money.

Queens rapper 50 Cent’s conversation with Nick Huff Barili during their SXSW interview series quickly turned into a discussion on capitalism, specifically conscious capitalism, in the series’ latest installment.

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50 Cent, who has gone on to make quite the impact in the business world thanks to deals with Vitaminwater and SMS Audio, addressed the effect big business could have on the world’s poverty. The rapper turned businessman even spoke on his desire to promote conscious capitalism, a form of business that takes environemental and social issues into consideration, with his various business ventures.

“According to World Bank numbers, 10 percent of business would alleviate all [the strain] of poverty,” 50 Cent revealed. “The only place you would find that much money is in business itself. So, I decided to promote conscious capitalism at that point and I said I want my ventures moving forward to have automatic—it’s like creating a business that you have a partner that doesn’t exist, but that partner is an actual cause. It’s against hunger, hunger’s not a third-world issue. It’s a world issue. Within America you have one in six American’s going hungry. You got kids out there that’s surviving based on school lunch.”

50 Cent later spoke on a few of his unexpected musical collaborations and shared that a handful of those collabs, including ones with R&B singer Jeremih and rapper YG were done for free due to a lack of budget.

“I work with artists on a song by song basis. Because I’m in a position where I’m not having a problem financially I can decide to do it just based on the art and the music,” he explained. “So, you’ll see me do and it’ll be strange. I’ll work with an artist on their first song. Like ‘Toot It And Boot It’ with YG, or ‘Buzzin’ with Mann, or I did ‘Down On Me’ with Jeremih. Those records were for free. They didn’t have it in the budget to pay what I would charge.”

Previous topics discussed during 50 Cent’s interview series with SXSW include the decline of album sales, his relationship with Floyd Mayweather, and more.

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J. Cole has been compared to Nas in the past and even embraced such comparisons with the cover artfor his “Villematic” song back in 2010. However,  Nas might have been a little let down by the precocious upstart’s single “Work Out” from his debut album Cole World: The Sideline Story.

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On his The Realness show, Peter Rosenberg informed Ebro that J. Cole may have a song on his new album Born Sinner entitled “I Disappointed Nas” about his reaction’s to Nas’ alleged criticism.

Check out the clip below:

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Kanye West to bring “New Slaves” video projections to Atlanta, Philadelphia, Oslo, Cannes, and a number of other cities this weekend.

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In an announcement made this afternoon (May 24) via Twitter, Chicago wordsmith Kanye West revealed the locations of “New Slaves” video projections that will take place throughout this weekend in 24 different cities around the world.

Among the cities in the United States that will be treated to projections from the rapper are Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Diego, and Austin.

The G.O.O.D. Music emcee first premiered “New Slaves” last weekend when the music video for theYeezus song was projected onto 66 buildings in cities across the globe. Kanye also debuted anotherYeezus track, titled “Black Skinhead,” during his appearance on “Saturday Night Live” that same weekend.

Kanye West’s Tweet announcing this weekend’s projections can be found below and for a full list of locations, visit KanyeWest.com.

KANYE WEST        ✔ @kanyewest

Busta Rhymes, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Birdman, Lil Wayne and Paris Hilton all now have something in common. They are all apart of the Cash Money Records Family.

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The socialite-turned-singer has signed to the iconic label, according to Rap-Up.com.

Paris told Roger Friedman of Showbiz 411 the big news.

The report says, “But the big news: this nightfly who is really a successful businesswoman is recording her second album of music right now. It will be issued by CashMoney Records and will feature many hip hop acts such as Lil Wayne. Paris told me Afrojack is producing it, and she hopes to have it out this summer.”

“This is a lot different than my first album. It’s really going to be house music,” Paris said.

The name of the album has not been announced. Her 2006 debut was Paris.

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French Montana says he was surprised his relationship with Uncle Luke turned sour.

French Montana caught heat from 50 Cent for featuring a string of artists on his songs, but the Bad Boy artist says that he doesn’t always plan his collaborations. They often happen organically, as he says was the case with his breakthrough hit “Pop That,” which featured Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne.

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“I just played it for Drake and Ross and them ’cause they was around,” French Montana says in an interview with The Breakfast Club. “We was going on tour and all of that. They jumped on it. If somebody’s with me in the studio, we all getting high and drunk, I’m not not going to tell you to get in the booth and record. That’s how we make music. Once that happens, I’m not going to take you off. So that’s how it happens. I’m just cool with everybody.”

Montana has, however, had a string of notable beefs with a string of artists, including Uncle Luke, who was sampled on “Pop That.” The relationship started off well before it disintegrated, according to French Montana. “I don’t know what it is with him,” says French Montana, who brought Uncle Luke out at the 2012 BET Awards and says he invited Uncle Luke to the “Pop That” video shoot, but that the Miami pioneer didn’t show. Luke also later claimed that French Montana owed him money for using his voice on “Pop That.” “I don’t know,” says French Montana, who adds that Luke would have sued him by now if he could have. “I guess he’s trying to get a buzz or something.”

Montana’s own buzz remains high, as he released Excuse My French, his debut studio album, yesterday (May 21).

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Fat Joe blames his tax woes on “guys who are supposed to have Harvard degrees.”

Though some artists brush off their legal issues, Fat Joeis acutely aware of just how serious his are.

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After pleading guilty to tax evasion in December, the Bronx rapper didn’t dance around the issue when discussing it with MTV’s “RapFix Live.”

“I can’t really explain that ’cause I got a real court case going on, like facing jail time. But I guess after June 24. Hopefully, it goes well,” said Joe.

Ultimately, Joe took responsibility for having to pay the money, but didn’t accept the blame for not paying the taxes on time. “At the end of the day, I’m paying all the money back that’s owed — actually I have and I’ma just go like a man, stand up,” he said, before qualifying, “You gotta understand we hire guys who are supposed have Harvard degrees to take care of us.”

Joe explained that artists typically hire others to manage their finances, which is how artists can end up in trouble. “All the time you see artists, the first thing they did to you when you caught money was introduce you to a bunch of fancy guys with bow ties who are gonna take care of your money and all that and then you always see an artist or a celebrity or somebody like that goin’ down for it and these guys never go down for it.”

Joey Crack faces up to two years in prison for failing to pay income taxes for the years 2007 and 2008, amounting to roughly $700,000.

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“The Myers family is a close-knit family and always will be. Just the way Heavy liked it,” says Eulahlee Myers, mother of Dwight Myers better known as legendary rapper Heavy D.

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Earlier this week reports began to circulate that Heavy’s brother, Floyd Myers, was seeking to take control of the rapper’s entire estate, but according Eulahlee, all of Heavy’s assets are going to his surviving daughter Xea.

In a statement issued to AllHipHop.com, Ms. Meyer says that 13-year-old Xea will obtain all money collected from her father’s social security, pension, and future royalties. Xea will also get all of Heavy’s personal belongings that are currently being held in storage.

As far as Floyd’s involvement with the estate, Eulahlee explains that the petition filed in the Los Angeles court in his name was to sell a condominium that both Heavy and Floyd owned together. A California law requires that this action be taken by a probate when a property owner passes.

Ms. Myers goes on to say:

Heavy’s Estate needs to be managed. It cannot be self-managed or self-administered and it has to be Court approved. Open bills, unfinished business, taxes and day to day decisions including future plans for his daughter all need be done. This management needs someone who is capable, smart, honest and close to this family.

The family all wanted Floyd as that person to represent Dwight’s estate. This decision was made by Heavy’s mother Eulahlee, Heavy’s father Cliff and Heavy’s sister Portia. The family has a great relationship with Xea and her mother and are “all” working diligently to raise Xea the way Heavy intended.

Heavy D passed away in November of 2011 at the age of 44.

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Eminem and Eight Mile Style LLC suing Facebook due to what they believe was the social networking site’s unlawful use of the Eminem and D12 record “Under The Influence.”

The popular social networking site Facebook has been hit with a lawsuit from Eminem and his publishing company Eight Mile Style LLC due to what is believed to be the unlawful use of the Detroit rapper and D12’s collaboration “Under The Influence.”

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According to AllHipHop.com, the lawsuit states that Facebook posted a Wieden + Kennedy ad, which promoted their new Facebook Home app and in the ad the music used is believed to be “Under The Influence.” An altered version of the ad was then released, but according to the lawsuit the edit was then taken as Facebook’s acknowledgement of the unapproved use of Eminem and D12’s song.

“The alteration of the Airplane advertisement was an admission that Facebook knew it had infringed on the Eminem/D12 Composition,” states the lawsuit.

Ironically, Eminem’s lawsuit states that Facebook and Wieden + Kennedy’s response to the cease and desist order, which was initially placed, called out Dr. Dre although the mega-producer did not produce or have any involvement with “Under The Influence.”

“Counsel falsely and wrongfully alleged that Andre Young, professionally known as Dr. Dre, composed ‘Under the Influence,’” read the lawsuit. “Yet, a simple Internet search of the Eminem/D12 Composition would have revealed that ‘Under the Influence’ was composed by Marshall Mathers, III, and members of D12, including Denaun Porter, Von Carlisle, Ondre Moore, R. Arthur Johnson, and DeShaun Holton. Dr. Dre likewise did not produce ‘Under the Influence.’”

At this time, Eminem and Eight Mile Style LLC are suing Facebook and the company that created the ad for $150,000 per infringement.

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Teenage rapper Chief Keef was arrested for disorderly conduct in Dekalb County, Georgia. According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, Keef was busted for allegedly smoking weed at a fancy hotel.

The 17-year-old rapper tweeted soon after his release:

Jus Got Out Of Dekalb County jail In Atlanta Mad As f**k.”

The forthcoming book from the BMF co-founder is due in early 2014.

YMCMB Cash Money Content is set to publish 48 Laws Of The Street The Blueprint by BMF founder Big Meech and New York Times Bestselling author Jaquavis Coleman, according to hiphopsince1987.com.

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The book is due in early 2014 and is likely modeled, at least in part, off of Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power book, which was released in 2000. In 2009, 50 Cent wrote The 50th Law with Greene.

Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory is the co-founder of BMF, a/k/a Black Mafia Family, a criminal operation that was based in Detroit and distributed cocaine throughout the United States. BMF was affiliated with Young Jeezy and launched BMF Entertainment as a recording home for rapper Bleu DaVinci. In 2005, several members of BMF were indicted and in 2008 Big Meech and his brother Terry a/k/a “Southwest T” each were sentenced to 30 years to life for their role in BMF and another 20 years for money laundering.

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Is J. Cole moving the release dateof his new album, Born Sinner, up a week to drop the same day as Kanye West’s latest project, Yeezus, foolhardy or a smart play? No matter your opinion, the Roc Nation rapper is confident he made the right decision.

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Cole said competing with Yeezy for the hard earned cash of fans on Tuesday, January 18 was a matter of not becoming an afterthough a week later. “”I’m not going to sit [here]… I worked too hard to come a week later after Kanye West drops an amazing album,” Cole told Billboard‘s The Juice blog. “It’d be like, ‘Oh and J.Cole dropped too, a week later.’ Nah. I’m going to go see him on that date. He’s the greatest. So it’s like, I’m a competitor by nature so it was instant, it wasn’t even a thought.”

But, don’t think the “Power Trip” rapper is snoozing on Mr. West’s talents. He said, “At the same time, let’s not forget this is Kanye West. He bets 100, 1,000, whatever the perfect is. His track record is flawless. I’m only expecting an incredible album from him. But I know what I have.””

Will you be copping both Kanye West and J. Cole’s albums on June 18 or just one or the other? Let us know in the comments.

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Macklemore refers to Hip Hop as being an “ego-driven, testosterone-filled, machismo melting pot of culture” while discussing the “cycle” of the genre.

Seattle duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have received quite a number of critiques thanks to their genre-crossing The Heist single “Thrift Shop,” and during a recent interview with XXLMag.com the pair had the opportunity to address their critics directly.

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While commenting on an article penned by New York Times writer Jon Caramanica titled “A Hip-Hop Moment, But Is It Authentic: Macklemore’s ‘Thrift Shop’ and Baauer’s ‘Harlem Shake’,” Macklemore defended “Thrift Shop” and revealed that the song is merely a “great record” that just so happened to make the crossover into pop.

“I think that the dude who wrote that probably hasn’t listened to the whole album. When a song like ‘Thrift Shop’ becomes a part of popular culture and soccer moms are bumping it and 5-year-olds are singing, ‘This is fucking awesome,’ it’s really easy to go in with a scalpel and dissect it and scrutinize the shit out of it,” Macklemore explained. “If it was somebody else who made the song, I’d probably do the same thing, particularly if it was two white dudes. But I still think ‘Thrift Shop’ is a really great record. I think that the beat’s slapping, I think that I’m rapping my ass off, and I think that it has a really catchy chorus, and those things came together and made a record that crossed over to pop.”

Ryan Lewis also tackled the topic of authenticity in Hip Hop during the interview as he referenced Kanye West and the Chicago rapper’s ability to constantly reinvent his music.

“Or on the flip side of that is looking to make what is current,” said Lewis. “That’s why I think somebody like Kanye is absolutely phenomenal, because he continues to come out with something that nobody else has and he redefines what the standard is to an acceptable hip-hop beat or an acceptable cadence or subject matter. It’s the reason why he is a trailblazer in the genre.”

“When you see people who have longevity in this industry, it’s people who reinvented themselves. Jay-Z, although Reasonable Doubt is one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, Jay-Z hasn’t made 15 Reasonable Doubts. Some people wish that he would, but people evolve, artists evolve, and music evolves,” Macklemore added.

Released in August 2012, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” music video has gone on to receive a little over 300 million views on YouTube and the single alone played a vital role in sales of The Heist.

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Mannie Fresh explains how he and West have different work practices. Fresh adds that his work with Mystikal will “mysteriously come out.”

Mannie Fresh has known Kanye West a long time, even before West became a bona fide producer nearly a decade ago. “He actually came to Cash Money looking for a deal,” Mannie Fresh says in an interview with DJ Vlad. “I’ve been knowing him since then.”

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Fresh and West met when West was working with rapper Mikkey Halsted, whom Cash Money eventually signed. At the time, West was without production equipment, so Fresh says he lent the Chicagoan his. “This was my first introduction to him,” says Fresh, who considers West one of the great producers. “The only thing I could say is that it was a blessing because he came back and looked back. Without knowing him, I just felt like he was a good dude and lent him some equipment or whatever to do what he had to do and he never forgot about it.”

Earlier this year, Fresh signed a song deal with West.

Though they are both producers, Fresh says that he and West have different work practices. “I’m better at being in a studio with somebody than sending them beats,” as West often does, Fresh says. “That’s just not really my thing, but everybody’s so used to that, so that’s the standard. I’m more of like, ‘Hey, dude, let me get in the studio and let’s see what we come up with.'”

As for his work with Mystikal, Fresh says that the material the two recorded will not come out on Mystikal’s forthcoming Young Money Records album, but that they will “mysteriously come out.”

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Kendrick Lamar is one of the hottest young emcees in Hip-Hop today, but the Black Hippy member still looks to some of the old heads in the game for inspiration.

K-Dot sat down with MTV’s Sway Calloway recently and revealed he appreciates the way Kanye West rolled out his new single “New Slaves.”

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Rather than releasing a traditional music video or even premiering the track on radio or online, West projected a video of the song onto 66 buildings around the world.

“That whole marketing scheme is crazy,” said Kendrick. “It’s very inspiring. After a while you get to a point in Hip-Hop where certain tactics get watered down. How much music can you release on the Internet to get it hot? How many singles can you put out? How many videos can you possibly do?”

Over the weekend rumors began to swirl that Kanye’s upcoming 6th solo album will be titled Yeezus. While some may see this as a controversial name for the performer’s LP, Kendrick co-signs Kanye’s creative license as an artist.

“That’s that creative Kanye genius stuff out the box,” says Kendrick. “It’s art. It’s Hip-Hop. Whatever way is his way of being creative and getting his message across through that album, that’s the culture. Period. So, I can’t wait to hear it.”

Watch endrick’s MTV interview below.

The Internet has been swirling with rumors that Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is pregnant with she and Jay-Z’s second child. While everyone was hedging their bets on possible names (Red Mango?), her husband has confirmed that his wife is in fact not pregnant. This news will either excite or disappoint fans who were looking to become the new baby’s godparent.

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According to Hot 97, Jay-Z sent an email to Ebro, the  New York City radio station’s Program Director. In the message, Jay-Z addressed the pregnancy rumors, which circulated everywhere – including E! News. “It’s not true,” Jay-Z declared before throwing some shade at the publications who fed the rumor mill. “The news is worse than blogs.”

Many will be confused by this information, as Beyoncé was previously photographed in New York City at the MET Gala looking potentially with child in her gown. Other photos accentuated what looked like a growing baby bump. In addition, her overseas tour date cancellation in Antwerp, Belgium due to dehydration and exhaustion only fed what appeared to be a likely assumption that the superstar singer was pregnant with baby number two.

The Carters’ daughter, Blue Ivy, celebrated her first birthday earlier this year on January 7.

While there doesn’t appear to be another Carter heir just yet, if this news holds true, U.S. fans will be pleased to know that means the Mrs. Carter Tour will be in full force for the Summer.

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