Hip Hop News Source

Twerk has been added to Britain’s Oxford Dictionary as a verb. Oxford Dictionary’s Katherine Connor Martin recently addressed the origin of the word, which has been used in music for years.

“There are many theories about the origin of this word, and since it arose in oral use, we may never know the answer for sure,” Martin said to the Associated Press. “We think the most likely theory is that it is an alteration of work, because that word has a history of being used in similar ways, with dancers being encouraged to ‘work it.’ The ‘t’ could be a result of blending with another word such as twist or twitch.”

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Twerk will be added to the dictionary along with selfie, digital detox and Bitocoin.

The definition, according to AP, is to “dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance.”

Twerking has been in the news of late for several reasons. This month, Juicy J offered a $50,000 scholarship for the best student who can twerk and Miley Cyrus made headlines after twerking at the MTV Video Music Awards. Juicy J also crowned Cyrus “the best twerker hands down” following the performance, which can be seen below.

Eminem released his latest song, “Berzerk,” the lead single off of his upcoming album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2. The track, which was released today (August 26), was unveiled on Eminem’s official website.

“The art of the MCing mixed with da Vinci and MC Ren / And I don’t mean Stimpy’s friend, bitch,” Eminem rhymes on the track. “Been Public Enemy since you thought P.E. was gym, bitch.”

While the lines quoted above feature references to N.W.A.’s MC Ren and Public Enemy, Eminem also names other celebrities on the track.

“They say that love is powerful as cough syrup and styrofoam,” Eminem says on the song. “All I know is I fell asleep and woke up in that Monte Carlo / With the ugly Kardashian / Lamar, oh sorry, yo, we done both set the bar low.”

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The song, which also mentions Kevin Federline and Future, can be heard below. It was released along with a video that features a boom box. Eminem only appears at the start of the clip to place a tape inside of the deck. He then walks away and lets the song begin.

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Stylist Michael Raphael is suing his former employer Young Money rapper Drake for $76,490 according to TMZ. Raphael claims Drake owes him $39,583 in consulting fees which included styling, photography, and graphic design for Drake’s OVO.

The remaining $37,000 in the lawsuit is to cover other expenses Raphael spent on Drake’s behalf. Raphael says Drake was supposed to reimburse him for hotel bills, plane tickets, rental of a Toronto apartment, and shopping costs like a $1,162 Nike bill and $1,483 spent at Diesel.

Raphael is the owner of the Rest Store boutique in New York City. He was hired by Drake in August of 2012 to consult the entertainer on styling choices which included his American Music Awards appearance in November and the A$AP Rocky “F*ckin’ Problems” video shoot.

Raphael states that Drake paid him for his services from August to November, but he never received payment for his work in December. The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.

MGK recently spoke about Macklemore’s success following Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ prominent presense at yesterday’s MTV Video Music Awards (August 25).

“He played the game,” MGK said in an interview with Hot 97. “He’s a game player. You know what I’m saying? I make my own rules.”

MGK also commented on his status in Hip Hop when asked about feeling under-appreciated as a White rapper.

“I don’t even put color on it,” MGK said. “I feel I’m under-appreciated in Hip Hop period. You know what I’m saying? I’m better than Black, White.”

After speaking about race in Hip Hop, MGK also spoke about Miley Cyrus’ twerking.

“Come on man,” MGK said. “I’ve seen White girls in the hood twerking like that since I was 14. Let’s not…like, America needs to stop acting so sweet man. This is crazy.”

In June 2013, MGK spoke with HipHopDX about his status as a rapper and his aspirations for the future of his legacy.

“Ultimately, I want to be the voice of my demographic and this generation,” MGK said. “And I want to do that without selling my soul or having to die to prove my point.”

Rappers take heed. Anything you say in a song can, and will, be used against you in the court of law. After Virginia rapper Antwain “Twain Gotti” Steward lyrics led to his arrest in a double homicide case in July, rapper Deyundrea “Khali” Holmes’ conviction on first-degree robbery and murder in Nevada was upheld by the state’s Supreme Court.

Court News Service reports Holmes was found guilty of the charges after prosecutors claimed raps he wrote while waiting for extradition to Nevada were confessions to the crimes. Holmes, along with his accomplice, Max Reed, were accused of killing Kevin “Mo” Nelson after robbing the alleged drug dealer and record studio owner of jewelry in 2003.

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“His assailant tore off Nelson’s shirt and chain necklace, pistol-whipped him, and then tried to drag Nelson from the parking lot into the studio without success. Frustrated, Nelson’s assailant removed his ski mask and said, ‘I’m going to shoot this f*cking guy,’ which he did. Nelson staggered, then fell and died,” stated the ruling. Nelson was found with his pockets “bunny-eared” or turned inside out.

Holmes penned a song called “Drug Deala” while incarcerated in California. Part of the writings included the following lyrics:

But now I’m uh big dog, my static is real large. Uh neighborhood superstar. Man I push uh hard line. My attitude shitty n*gga. You don’t want to test this. I catching slipping at the club and jack you for your necklace. F*ck parking lot pimping. Man I’m parking lot jacking, running through your pockets with uh ski mask on straight laughing.

Holmes defense team argued that the lyrics were just unoriginal and clichéd artistic expression and should not be used a factual evidence. His lawyers believed the lyrics also prejudiced the jury against the defendant. The Nevada Supreme Court upheld the conviction in a 2-1 decision stating that the rap lyrics were admissible evidence in the case.

“It is one thing to exclude defendant-authored fictional accounts, be they rap lyrics or some other form of artistic expression, when offered to show a propensity for violence,” wrote Chief Justice Kristina Pickering in the majority opinion. “It is quite another when the defendant-authored writing incorporates details of the crime charged.”

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After having a major year with the breakout success of their hit single “Thrift Shop” and the follow-up “Can’t Hold Us,” Macklemore and Ryan Lewis hit the stage at MTV’s Video Music Awards to perform their song “Same Love.”

Originally released in 2012, “Same Love” saw a resurgence in popularity earlier this year with the growing fame of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. The song, a cut off of the duo’s album “The Heist,” supports marriage equality, written in light of a Washington referendum legalizing same-sex marriage. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis gave an emotional performance of “Same Love” with Mary Lambert at the VMAs, after being introduced by A$AP Rocky. Jennifer Hudson made a surprise appearance, joining the trio for the end of the song.

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The Seattle rappers had a big night at the VMAs, holding the title for the most nominations of the night, tied with Justin Timberlake. The duo was up six awards: Video of the Year for “Thrift Shop,” Best Hip-Hop Video, Best Direction, Best Editing, and Best Cinematography for “Can’t Hold Us,” and Best Video with a Social Message for “Same Love.”

The 2013 VMAs featured some major big-name performers. In addition to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love,” the awards show also included performances by Kanye West, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, and Lady Gaga.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis beat out the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and more to win the VMA for “Best Hip Hop Video” at today’s (August 25) MTV Video Music Awards. The pair secured the award for “Best Hip Hop Video” thanks to their “Can’t Hold Us”music video, which was shot on six different continents.

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Pop superstar Lady Gaga spoke on the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards red carpet moments ago (August 25). The onetime Akon protege-turned-Pop icon confirmed an unusual collaboration in the works. After working with label-mates Kendrick Lamar last year on “Bitch, Don’t Kill Mt Vibe LG Remix” and Wale on 2009’s “Chillin’,” Gaga confirmed to Sway Calloway that she will work with Oakland, California Hip Hop pioneer Too Short.

Sparse on details, Gaga simply mentioned the onetime Jive Records star’s name when asked about collaborations. Gaga’s third solo album, Artpop, is planned for release later this year.

Outside of the Hip Hop genre, Too Short has worked with Parliament Funkadelic, Avant and TQ.

 

In a rare television appearance on the “Kris Jenner Show,” rapper Kanye West finally shed some light on his increased encounters with the paparazzi. The Yeezuscrafter made note of the fact that the paparazzi are only present “to make money off of you” and credited that purpose as the reason why he’s hardly ever pictured smiling.

Kanye also addressed what he feels is the “emotional bullying” done by paparazzi and compared their antics to that of a high school bully.

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“It’s hard to smile when you know that people—for one thing, they’re around you only to make money off of you,” Kanye revealed. “If you’re around people that are only there to make money off of you, you already feel like, ‘Wait a second, these aren’t your friends.’ So, if you’re around your friends, your friends make you smile. If you’re around someone—like think about if when you were in high school. If there was someone that came up to you every day to take your money. To get in your pocket. There’s nothing they can say to you that makes it better. It’s almost worse when they say something positive.”

“The thing that makes me more happy than anything is to not see them,” he continued. “So, if you see them obviously I’m not gonna smile. And it becomes a bit of like an emotional bullying. Someone taunting you as you’re getting on an airplane or taunting you as you’re just going to get yogurt.”

Despite the rapper’s larger than life persona both on-stage and in his music, he confessed to being a shy individual during his nearly hour-long interview with Kris Jenner, the mother of Kim Kardashian.

“People would never understand that,” said Kanye, in regards to his timidness. “When I’m on stage or when I’ve like finished a new album, I can talk about the album and say ‘Hey, I love this album. I think it’s the best thing.’ But when I’m just walking down the street I’m a bit more shy and nervous. And people don’t really—it doesn’t come off when I’m rapping. When I’m rapping, I’m in my place like I’m on the court or something or I’m in the ring. And that’s where I’m my most powerful.”

During his appearance on the “Kris Jenner Show,” Kanye also spoke on his relationship with Kardashian and revealed a picture of their daughter, North West.

Ironically, Kanye’s appearance on the talk show comes shortly after the rapper was named in a lawsuitfiled by Los Angeles videographer Daniel Ramos following a physical altercation at LAX.

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Behold..the child of Yeezus. During his highly anticipated interview on his step mother Kris Jenner’s talk show Kris, the reclusive West unveiled the first picture of his and Kim Kardashian’s newborn daughter, North West.

On the show, Kanye said he decided to reveal the picture onKris to stop all the commotion and because he “thought it would be really cool on her grandmother’s season finale” to do the reveal.

The number of people that have beefed with Jay Z is extensive and well-known. But in 2013, Jay Z has been confronted with perhaps his most unlikely foe—superstar sports agent Scott Boras.

Boras was the former agent of New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, whom Jay-Z signed to his Roc Nation Sports agency this past spring.

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Adding insult to injury, Jay Z commented on the matter on Magna Carta Holy Grail’s “Crown,” spitting, “Scott Boras, you over baby / Robinson Cano, you coming with me.”

The Wall Street Journal profiled the back-and-forth between the two men.

Hov had an interview with Power 105.1 previously where he said sports agents had gotten lazy. “They get an artist, right, however they acquire the artist—I mean the athlete—they get them and they knock on the same doors,” said Hov. “They go to Nike, they do the contract and they sit back. So they’ve been sitting around for 20, 30 years just not doing anything. So me coming in, that’s a problem for them. Now they have to go to work.”

In response, Boras suggested that Jay Z’s sentiment proved he doesn’t know the agency game. “Anyone who thinks playing the game of baseball is like being an artist knows nothing about the game of baseball,” Boras said. “I don’t worry about others, because you know what, in the end, as always, there are few survivors in [the agency] game. This game is something that when you come, and you look, and you don’t see—when you don’t see, you’re not here long.”

Boras further explained his stance. “The reality of it is those deals have shrunk,” he said. “The executives of companies want more time from the player. They want him to get up at 7 a.m. and do an ad after arriving home at 3 o’clock in the morning? I don’t want a player doing that. I want him at the field at 3 p.m. and rested.”

The longtime agent also made a quip about Jay Z’s professionalism. “When your agent wears a Yankee hat,” he said, “how seriously are they going to take you?”

Scott Boras’ other clients include Prince Fielder, Alex Rodriguez, Stephen Strasburg, Jayson Werth and Barry Zito. Roc Nation Sports also has an NBA player in Oklahoma City Thunder’s  Kevin Durant and NFL player in the New York Jets’ Geno Smith among its clients.

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This morning (August 22), outside of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a tour was stopped believed to be belonging to Def Jam Records star 2 Chainz. Local station NewsOn6.com reports that the driver of the tour bus was arrested after suspicion and search for drugs.

The Playaz Circle rapper was in town, as part of Lil Wayne & T.I.’s America’s Most Wanted Tour on Wednesday night (August 21).

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The report indicates that the bus’ passengers initially refused to cooperate with police. “The bus doors were locked, however, and the passengers on board refused to open them. Police had the tour bus towed to the training facility at 850 North Portland until officers could obtain a warrant to search the bus,” wrote NewsOn6.

Seven people cited for refusing police entry were reportedly detained.

In April of this year, the Atlanta, Georgia native was acquitted for a February drug arrest in Maryland.

2 Chainz is expected to perform, along with collaborators Drake and Kanye West, at this weekend’s MTV Video Music Awards, which is taking place in Brooklyn, New York.

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A new lawsuit has been filed against popular producers T-Pain and DJ Khaled, as well as rappers Rick Ross, Pitbull and Cash Money Records, and dozens of other publishing companies and record labels affiliated with the producers.

A lawsuit has been filed by Paul Batiste, who represents The Batiste Brothers band, a popular jazz ensemble that was founded in 1976, in New Orleans.

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The lawsuit, which was filed in United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana last week, accuses dozens of producers, rappers and record labels of stealing The Batiste Family’s music and illegally incorporating it into their own, without permission or compensation.

The 118-page lawsuit specifically names T-Pain, DJ Khaled, Pitbull, Rick Ross, Ace Hood and Cash Money as defendants, who have released “an immense number of songs infringing upon Plaintiff’s catalog.”

The lawsuit claims popular songs like”Blame It,” and “Booty Wurk” by T-Pain and “All I Do Is Win,” by DJ Khaled were taken from various songs created by The Batiste Family.

The group, which has been a major influence on the New Orleans jazz scene, is popular in Louisiana and even has its own school and a marching band named after them.

The lawsuit names dozens and dozens of songs produced by the aforementioned, that allegedly illegally incorporate The Batiste Family’s music.

“Defendants have blatantly poached beats, lyrics, melodies and chords from Plaintiff’s songs,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit claims that “many of the Defendants songs have been released multiple times, in multiple versions and that each release constitutes an independent act of copyright infringement.”

The lawsuit claims damages are believed to be in excess of $100,000,000.

In addition to the rappers and producers, numerous publishing companies owned by the defendants, as well as a number of record labels including Def Jam and RCA/Jive, are named in the lawsuit.

Batiste is seeking a full accounting, award of actual damages, as well as profits and a permanent injunction to prevent the defendants from using any more infringing material without permission.

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San Francisco, California emcee San Quinn and Tupac Shakur both lived in Northern California in the early 1990s. Rap contemporaries, Quinn reportedly opened for Shakur and Digital Underground in 1989. However, in a new interview with Prezident’s Bejda’s The Murder Master Music Show of UGS Radio, San Quinn spoke for the first time about a violent clash with the then-budding superstar.

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“I never got to meet [Tupac],” admitted Quinn. “We jumped him and got into a fight with him. We was trying to get him. Richie Rich got into it with him in 1992 at the Stone Theater on Broadway and we ran up on him.” Interestingly enough, ‘Pac and Richie Rich, who was an early Priority Records star with 415, would collaborate in the years to come on 1996’s “Ain’t Hard 2 Find,” “Ratha Be Ya Nigga” and later, “Niggaz Done Changed.” San continued, “We caught up with him and I was only about 14. It was like a little chuck-fest. We ended up taking one of Tupac’s rings. He lost it because he was swinging the mic stand.”

Quinn, who collaborated extensively with Messy Marv and Keak Da Sneak, recalled, “He was swinging on us with the mic stand and his ring came off. He hit a couple of us but we got him and tripped him, but they head out the back door. That is my fondest memory of Tupac Shakur. My nigga Jermaine Brown—rest in peace; he died back in 1998—but he was the one that ended up with the ring. This is the first time I told that story to anybody on air. Niggas know about it because me, JT [Tha Bigga Figga and Rappin’] 4-Tay we was there! We was thick. There ar people you can ask that can vouch for that story.”

In 2011, Quinn released Can’t Take The Ghetto Out A Nigga on Prominent House Records.

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Following his emergence into the world of Hip Hop several years ago thanks to the release of several well-received mixtapes, Carolina rapper J. Cole has gone on to maintain a successful music career, but according to the Roc Nation artist, that success may not have come if his complexion was different.

While speaking with BET.com, Cole spoke on issues pertaining to complexion in black America when asked about his decision to include both dark-skinned and light-skinned women in his music videos.

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“That brainwashing that tells us that light skin is better, it’s subconsciously in us, whether we know it or not… still pursuing light skin women. There are some women out there that are like, ‘I don’t even like light skin men’ and that’s fine,” said the Born Sinner rapper. “But Barack Obama would not be President if he were dark skin. You know what I mean? That’s just the truth. I might not be as successful as I am now if I was dark skin. I’m not saying that for sure, I’m still as talented as I am and Obama is still as smart as he is, but it’s just a sad truth.”

Cole also addressed his own experience with racism as he shared the details of a recent incident he feels was the result of racial profiling and commented on the experience being one someone white wouldn’t “have to go through.”

“That’s something that I feel like somebody my age that’s white doesn’t have to go through, especially in New York City. On the other hand, every time I’m on the plane in first class — this is a lesser evil but it still represents their mind state — I promise you, 60 percent of the time somebody asks me what basketball team do I play for or do I rap,” said Cole.

Although J. Cole’s success can be attributed to his work as both a rapper and producer, he says choosing to produce his own records was one of the biggest risks he’s taken in his career.

“Producing all my own songs and refusing to go to the hot producer. That’s the biggest risk I’ve taken so far,” Cole revealed. “Constantly taking that risk by not going to whoever is hot and still be as far as I am. It’s a blessing but it’s also been a huge risk because I’m not using the current hip hop sound. Whoever does the beats for people; I didn’t go run to them. Of course I will now because I want to now, I’m tired of having to make the beats from scratch. Up to this point, that’s been my biggest risk I’ve taken, deciding to do it all on my own, production wise.”

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Scott Storch was robbed by gunpoint today in front of his New York City hotel, according to reports.

The hit making producer says he was robbed upon arrival to the metropolitan city, according to TMZ.

Storch was confronted by two men that demanded his money and possessions as he tried to get into his vehicle. One of them reportedly said, “Give us all your jewelry and cash or you’re dead.”

Storch had a briefcase that contained roughly five thousand dollars and expensive jewelry valued at over $100k.

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The assailants also demanded that Storch’s driver give them the keys to the car so that the pair could not drive away after they were robbed.

The robbers never used their firearms.

Storch says he tried to chase the men, but they escaped.

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