50 Cent Changes his Tone...is a Lil Wayne Fan

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Kanye West and the Spinning Recording Studio

Spinning Studio from kwest on Vimeo.

Check out the cool new video of Kanye West in the spinning recording studio

Nas was dissing Jay on Jay's "Success" track!

It turns out as people have guessed, Nas was dissing Jay-Z on his own song. Read more about the interview here:

http://www.liveagl.com/blog/?p=368

He also speaks on if he thinks he's the "best" rapper out, and how he feels that he can relate to Jay-Z's verse on "Success", so he feels that Jay-Z can relate to his verse as well.

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Is Lil Wayne trying to be the next 2Pac?

Many people I know either love or hate 2Pac. He is a very polarizing figure because of his opinions and personality, so of course people will take sides on the topics of controversy he brought up. Many see 2Pac as a great person, speaking for the underprivledged who had no voice of their own. Others see Pac as a bad guy who glorified thug life and violence for the black community. Some people also point out the fact that he was a studio gangster, and a backup dancer to the Digital Underground before he became Mr. Thug Life at Death Row Records.

However, 2Pac became VERY controversial after his first shooting and after his affiliation grew with Death Row. Prior to this, he never claimed any gang sets or anything, but he was starting to affiliate himself with Suge Knight and bloods. This put his life in danger and when he started living like a real G, he got killed for it.

Lil Wayne is starting to do the same thing; he is affiliating himself with bloods and is living more dangerously than before. The difference is with Wayne, his music doesn't touch people the same way 2Pac's did. 2Pac always had a message for you, like each verse was written like a poem, where Wayne's songs can sometimes have a message, but are held together by his one liners, punchlines, and quotables.

Wayne continues his 2Pac emulation by doing an insane amount of music. Before 2Pac's death, he was in the studio nonstop to make material and get out of his contract with Death Row so he could go indie. Lil Wayne makes a huge amount of material to make himself hot on mixtapes, something that wasn't as prevalent in 2Pac's time.

Many people these days make comparisons to Wayne and his addictions to drugs, saying that he may die soon if he continues on this self destructive path. Tupac Shakur was killed involuntarily, where Wayne might be killing himself slowly. However, the way people may twist it, they may make Wayne out to be a martyr the same way 2Pac was.

Obviously Lil Wayne wasn't as outspoken and controversial as 2Pac about the ghetto and civil rights, but in terms of music, Lil Wayne is the hottest right now. Hopefully Lil Wayne will turn his drug problem around and be able to live a long productive life. It's not worth putting your own life in danger to emulate a legend who is dead and can't even enjoy the status they achieved.

JAY-Z SIGNS $150 MILLION DEAL WITH LIVENATION

This video is from Reuters and talks about Jay-Z's new record deal with LiveNation that is reported to be $150 million. Jay-Z definitely won on this deal because no other label could offer this much. However, it's a risk and a big one for LiveNation, who along with Jay, is experimenting with a new model to earn money through music. Seeing that record sales are doing bad and iTunes is the biggest seller of music, people question whether LiveNation's approach with Jay-Z is the right way to do it. They say maybe things should go digital, while LiveNation does more with live shows and merchandise.

JERMAINE DUPRI STARTS "TAG RECORDS" FOR TAG BODY SPRAY

JD claims that his goal is to promote artists "10 times more" than other labels without having artists have a required set of record sales to get promoted. This has apparently NEVER been done in the music industry and he's working with Tag body spray to do this.

There will be album releases and tours along with Tag body spray commercials with the music featuring this artist.

This isn't just Jermaine Dupri and Tag, but Island Def Jam is involved as well. He claims that Def Jam is the "best record label in the world".

Cashis and the New West Movement

You may or may not have heard about him....but Cashis is one of Shady Records' newest talents that has yet to be unleashed on the hip hop industry. He is a very talented rapper who claims The O.C. but has some claims of being from Chicago as well.

Cashis has recently been working on various mixtape material, if you want to check it out go to Datpiff.com and do a search for Cashis. He's a pretty good lyricist and obviously Eminem sees something in him to invest time and a record contract into Cashis.

Cashis has been on the mixtape grind as of late and has been doing collaborations with various artists like G Unit, 50 Cent, Hot Rod, Dirty Blacc, Nate Dogg, Mistah Fab, and more. He's currently doing smaller time shows in various parts of the country for his Bogish Boy tours.

According to Cashis, he has worked on many songs with Eminem for his upcoming album and has also worked on songs for Eminem's new album. This is exciting to see, because the only commercial release with Cashis to date is "You Don't Know" from the Re-Up compilation album (featured Eminem, 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, and Cashis).

He is part of what he calls the "New West Movement" and his goal is to bring the West Coast back to the mainstream popularity that it once held when 2Pac was "king of the west". People who feel the same way and are trying hard to bring the West Coast back are The Game, Bishop Lamont, and a huge group of west coast artists.

With a bright future ahead of him, Cashis needs to take advantage of the Shady Records connection to build himself up into a million dollar asset for Shady Records and really bring the West Coast back.

Will Detox ever come out?

The creator of The Chronic and 2001, Dr. Dre, has been having us on hold for the past several YEARS as we wait for his upcoming album Detox. With the popular concensus that both The Chronic and 2001 are HIP HOP CLASSICS, it's gonna be a difficult task for Dr. Dre to match, if not surpass the quality and popularity of his first 2 albums (not including Aftermath compilation here).

Let's face it. Dre has set the bar extremely high, and he's had a lot of his Aftermath roster come and go in the time he's been working on this album. He's even had time to go from a chubby producer to a buff dude on the MTV awards. He's got all the time in the world to do these things which take a lot of time, but he's still not done with Detox.

This really makes you wonder if he's even going to drop the CD at all. If we never got the album, I wouldn't be surprised, but at the same time, if Dre releases it and it isn't up to standard...Dre basically lost. If he was to quit today, his last album was 2001 and he ended on a good note. If Detox is worse than 2001, then he ended on a bad note.

Hopefully this classic in the making will come out soon. Even Snoop Dogg is pissed and wants it to come out. Hurry up Dre!!

50 Cent and his New Plan

50 Cent has made it known that he's displeased with the way Interscope has handled his projects, both for his own solo album and the G Unit solo/group albums. It seemed that in the beginning when 50 was the newly signed star, Eminem and Dre did everything for him to make sure he succeeded. I mean they were getting paid off him, so it's only right.

Fast forward to today, 50 Cent is still Interscope's biggest star, even to the point where it seems 50's presence on the label is hindering other artists from getting their shine. With the current drought in sales, the label doesn't seem to be willing to throw a lot of moeny into a project that has no guarantee of selling. 50 Cent and G Unit actually have zero guarantee of making a lot of sales because grimy NY gangsta rap isn't what's in.

Look around. You got Soulja Boy, you got the trap style music from Jeezy, you got Lil Wayne, you got a lot of southern clubby music going around. That's whats actually selling, especially in the ringtone market. G Unit makes gangsta hits that don't appeal to radio stations.

So what is 50 Cent gonna do? You know if anyone can come up with a way around it, it's Curtis Jackson.

It seems as if 50 Cent is setting up his whole operation online now, with the mixtape distribution through the internet to get buzz. He's back to mixtape grind mode like he was during his early years with Shady records. Instead of letting the label help push and using their dollars, he uses internet promotion which is much cheaper and he's catapulted himself high in internet traffic because of his celebrity status. It seems to be a great way to build buzz for his upcoming G Unit album huh?

YOUNG BUCK - IT'S NOT OK

http://realtalkny.rawkus.com/2008/04/topic/topic/beef/young-buck-its-not-ok/

Brand new Young Buck song, talkin a bunch of real topics. Really cool track, be sure to check it out. Is he talkin about the 50 Cent situation? At least he's smart enough to not talk badly about 50...look what happened to Game.

RANSOM VIDEO - LOVE TO HATE ME

Carter 3 Pushed Back! New release date June 10!

What the hell is the hold up? The Carter 3 was slated for being released May 15, but now apparently it has been pushed back to June.

Wayne is the king right now and his name is buzzing, so he should know what he's doing, but he should watch it because his popularity could dwindle in the next month. Not likely, but possible.

If we recall, Carter 2 dropped in 2005. It went Platinum and Carter 1 went Gold.

Wayne's goal is to try to make music on this album that will stick with you forever, and this is why he's taking his time with the album. He wants to put songs that he did collabs with people he respects and admires, not ones his label set up.

Hopefully this doesn't kill Wayne's buzz, but I guess it's keeping the word "Carter 3" in our minds.

Stay tuned for more updates on C3.

Is Lil Wayne swagger jacking Biggie and Nas on the Carter 3?

I don't know if you have seen the Carter 3 proposed album cover, of Lil Wayne as a baby in a suit with the tatoos on his face, but it kinda reminds me of a combination between the Biggie Ready to Die cover and the Nas Illmatic cover. This isn't the first time people said Lil Wayne swagger jacked on his album covers.

Here is the cover's that Lil Wayne apparently swagger jacked, along with the cover that Amazon.com says is his.
I'll let you decide on this one. How about we look at the Carter 2?



Yep.

How will G Unit's Record Sales be Affected by Young Buck's Departure?

G Unit has recently kicked Young Buck, the southern representative of the group, out because of a few greasy things Buck said concerning 50 Cent in some interviews. Buck was complaining about money, saying things weren't as good between himself and 50 as they used to be, and basically trying to sound like a man about it while subliminally complaining.

50 then took shots in interviews stating that Buck was out for attention and that he was like his "little brother", belittling Buck to sound like he was immature compared to the Boss man.

Remember when Game tried to get Young Buck to leave the group when Game got kicked out? Did you ever think it would come to this?

It really makes you wonder what's gonna happen, is Buck gonna reunite with Game and put together some real good music? Is Buck going back to Cash Money since he's trying to rebuild ties with Lil Wayne? Is Young Buck going to have success with the Outlawz (yes Pac's group) and his newly formed label Cashville Records?

There's a lot of question marks in Young Buck's future. I've even heard rumors that Young Buck owes 50 Cent and a bunch of other people money...that sounds like trouble especially when you lost your spot in one of the hottest rap groups in the industry right now. And 50 Cent isn't the type to show mercy and let someone back in. He did it with Game and look what happened there.

Since G Unit as a group is basically the core squad of NY rappers, we can say that G Unit is back to normal. They will do fine. BUT we must take into consideration with current record sales, East Coast rappers flop on a regular basis. New York rap isn't what hot anymore and the South is where it's at, hell, even Fat Joe moved there remember?

So now that Young Buck, arguably one of G Unit's biggest asset's is tossed out of the group, how will record sales shift for G Unit? No effect? Negatively? Will the south NOT buy G Unit cd's anymore because they aren't represented?

50 Really needs to retool G Unit outside the core group, because dudes like Spider Loc and Mazaradi Fox aren't the types of guys that can carry your label. Outside of 50, Lloyd Banks is the only spitter on that label worth mentioning. Yayo is wack, even though he's been going a little harder with the rhyming lately.

Keep an eye open for news concerning Young Buck and 50 Cent/G Unit....things can get real interesting real fast.

So is Jay-Z retired again?

Congratulations to Jay-Z and Beyonce for finally getting married after several years, now the two can finally settle down and enjoy their wealth and life of prestige. This raises a question with me however...

Is Jay-Z retiring again?

We all know he signed that deal with LiveNation to do shows and what not, but you see a lot of retired rockers go on tour still even though they don't actually drop albums.

Jay-Z is still one of the best, if not the best rappers out there, and it would be a shame to have him step out out contention. However, it's respectable and understandable that he would want to spend his time with his new wife.

With American Gangster proving that he's still got it, and to a lesser extent Kingdom Come, Jay-Z is still lyrically on point. The flow hasn't deteriorated in any way and he can still put out several albums worth of good stuff. If you're still good at it, don't quit.

What if Eminem was a mixtape rapper?

It seems to me that Eminem is an underachieving and extremely talented rapper. This is painfully obvious when you see his "business success" when you compare him to a far inferior emcee such as 50 Cent. I'm not hating on 50 either, 50 is a good emcee and very underrated, but Eminem has a status and respect that many legends in the game have taken notice.

When asked in a recent interview about 50 Cent and why he puts out mixtapes, he mentioned that Eminem thinks hes crazy for doing so. Eminem believes that if you put out mixtapes, its detrimental to your album sales and will cut out profits.

Sorry Mr. Mathers, but not everyone has to work as little as you to sell records.

Eminem put out that trash album Encore and it blew up. Slim Shady doesn't even have to try anymore to compile an album, he just has to put his name on it and it will go platinum because White America LOVES THIS MAN.

With talent like Eminem's, you can see that his business sense isn't the best. 50 Cent made himself a huge business leader and icon with a fraction of the pure talent. That says a lot about both of them; 50 Cent is a hustler and Eminem just flat out isnt.

If Eminem worked hard to secure business ventures and put out material to keep his name hot, the sky would be the limit. He would go from being in a position lower than 50 Cent to contending with Jay-Z for richest rapper.

What if Eminem put out mixtape material? You know that a lot of mixtape material now isn't the best, but it's for mixtapes. It's hot street material that you love to listen to, and what if Marshall actually applied himself to drop that so that his name would still be relevant? You have a lot of people now questioning his skills saying that he fell off...

If Em put out like 2-3 mixtapes a year with material comparable to Lil Wayne, you wouldn't have any more arguments about who the best rapper alive is...Eminem would probably destroy Wayne, and I'm a HUGE Wayne fan (no homo).

We can only hope that Eminem's upcoming CD will be worth the wait and that he finally realized putting out crap like Encore is insulting to the fans.

What Happens to Hip Hop After the Carter 3 drops?

Many of you probably haven't even thought about it because over the past year, Lil Wayne has been in the public eye with his numerous mixtape releases. He doesn't even release the mixtapes directly, but mixtape DJ's have been latching onto his fame and success to release recycled Lil Wayne tapes. Weezy F. Baby has done a great job getting our attention for over a year now and we've pretty much taken for granted that he's one of the hottest, if not the hottest rapper out (no homo).

We noticed that Jim Jones last year was on a bunch of remixes, then kinda faded out gently with a slight increase in activity with the release of Harlem American Gangster. Jim was MUCH more visible in the past but has taken a back seat to regroup and come out again later. Kanye West was starting to make some noise and did the whole gimmicky 50 Cent Beef to fuel album sales, then after his album dropped he's kinda quiet. 50 Cent also did the same thing, kinda got quiet, but is back to building up for his G Unit album with all these mixtapes coming out on his website.

So The Carter 3 is coming out next month and we can only assume that Wayne is going to fall back for a little bit and make the public miss him. If he keeps dropping material AFTER Carter 3 immediately, there is really no value in the album.

This raises the question though, after C3 drops, who the hell is going to take over the rap game? My guess is 50 Cent, he's hungry again and knows how to work the mixtape scene in his favor. With T.I. on his recent collection of work, it's not out of the question to guess he might put out some mixtapes as well, but probably not at the level of Wayne to be at the center of attention. Could it be some previously unknown rapper to emerge as the next king of the mixtape scene?

Only time can tell.

Where did T.I.P. Go? T.I. and his new flow...

It seems lately that after T.I. got off the hook for the most part on that huge weapons charge he was smacked with earlier this year, and after only getting a year in prison and some community service, we're seeing a brand new T.I.

Clifford Harris used to be a real badass, and you could tell progressively he was getting more and more gangsta with each CD released. Especially with T.I. vs. T.I.P., you could hear T.I.'s anger and roughness in his flows.

Seems though that the bad side of T.I. is starting to take a back seat, since he has to save face and show the judge that he's on his best behavior. He went back to writing down his lyrics and his flow is a lot different, more controlled and lyrical instead of angry and thugged out.

With a bunch of new remixes that T.I. has hopped on, it's good to see a refreshing new (or old depending on how you look at it..) style. Apparently "Paper Trail" is supposed to be a different kind of album, comparable to Tupac's "Me Against The World". We can only wait til "Paper Trail" is officially released, but with T.I.'s new style, we can't say that he's changed for the worse.