I do a hip-hop newsletter. This is the 3rd installment/issue. Enjoy.
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TheBALANCE
The New Hip-Hop Newsletter
by freshLACEace
July 15, 2009
"..real talk, this is hip-hop."
Once again I have returned with more news for your inboxes. Late last month, Drake announced that he would begin recording his debut album on June 1st. The album is titled “Thank Me Later” & currently has an expected release date around Christmas 2009, which in my damn opinion is way too long, considering that "So Far Gone" has been out for a while. We've got a lot of bootleg DJ's making mixtapes with his old songs. Cut it out. Lil’ Wayne and Jay-Z will reportedly be featured on the album as well, but Drake has alsostated that he would love to work with Kanye West for this album.Drake has made a lot of headlines with his most recent mixtape “So Far Gone” and has become one of the hottest newcomers in hip-hop in just months.
"I just gotta get this tour knocked out," Drake explained in aninterview. "I'm working on it right now though, I was actually just inthe studio with Pharrell. It's basically a 'laxed process for us andbasically So Far Gone worked so lets just try to do it again, lets actas if we were making a second disc for So Far Gone. Or picking up onthe places that I feel So Far Gone missed out on a couple things,taking away things people liked but didn't respond to as much as theydid say like a 'Best I Ever Had,' 'Uptown,' the joint with Lloyd. Therewere certain things on that record I unanimously know people loved,there are things people didn't necessarily understand. So I'm just basically trying to find the strongest point to So Far Gone and make analbum based off that."
I just sincerely hope that he doesn't pull a Lil Wayne & recycles lines. That would hurt my heart, hahaha.
Jay-Z has his name & hands in alotta pockets right now. People were a little bit confused when it was said Jay-Z signed with both Sony and Atlantic - so Hov clarified the situation for some people.
"Sony is Roc Nation. That's where Roc Nation's going through,"Jay-Z told Billboard.com.Jigga is working on the much-needed-for-the-game upcoming album, "Blueprint 3," due September 11th, 2009. Isn't that some shit?
"That's pretty much just for this specific album. Roc Nation -- we'reexperts in marketing and making records. But we do distribution deals," he says. "On this one, we're working directly with the Atlantic staff, which is Julie [Greenwald], Lyor [Cohen], Kevin [Liles] and Kyse [Mike Kyser]. For the rest of the Roc Nation artists, we did a distributiondeal with Sony."
Jay-Z also said he first approached Def Jam 4 years ago with the samedistribution idea.
"You have to figure, this is like four years ago,and to them it was just like, 'Are you crazy? No! Make a song!'" hesaid. "To me it was like, I've sold companies for huge amounts ofmoney. I'm an entrepreneur -- that's what I've been all my life. I can't just sit here and make records and not do anything else. Whywouldn't you want to do this with me? I felt under-utilized."
Jay-Z is looking to have Universal distribute "The Blueprint 3", which is damn near produced entirely by KanYe West. It was a rumor said that my man Ye & Timbo were going to be the only 2 producers creating this album, but KanYe & Jay-Z sounded better. I mean, come on - Ye wasn't even on "American Gangster".
"I'm ready, I got the foundation and I'm ready to blast off. I'mpretty much at the launching pad right now. I bought my album back, Ioverpaid for it because I believe at this point in my career, you know,I wanted to be totally independent and free. Def Jam and Universal did a beautiful thing, they let me pay, they overcharged me a little bit,but I appreciate all the years they put into my career...I'm working with Atlantic, they gonna distribute the album. They're doing a fantastic job and by the way, I get a chance to connect with the peopleI started my career with."
VA can either stand up or sit down because The Clipse's forthcoming "Til The Casket Drops" album will miss its anticipated summer release and land in stores this fall.
"Third album by The Clipse is entitled Till The Casket Drops,"Pusha T said in an interview. "It's coming out late September, as faras production on it, a majority of it is by The Neptunes... Til The Casket Drops is just what we say down in Virginia. It's usually inrelation to saying you saying you not gonna stop, the hustle ain'tgonna stop... Somedays [working with the Neptunes] is a tug-of-war. Somedays it's as simple as walking in the studio and hearing something crazy coming out the speakers. Other days you go back and forth and you fight over what you think is it and what you think is not. Everything is always good with the Neptunes, it's always something good. It's just a thing about 'can it be better'. I mean production by the Neptunes, features from Keri Hilson, Kanye West, Cam'ron, Pharrell. We just put together an amazing album and I'm really happy about that."
Now peep this extended list to the album - Timbaland, Scott Storch, P. Diddy and Danjahandz.Jesus Christ. I know all they know is drug talk, but you gotta give it to 'em - no one does cocaine & crack money talk better than them.. especially when they're involved in a 10 million dollar drug trafficking suit, headed by their manager. hahahaha!
Now here is some shit that I found to funny as hell because Chris Brown may have scared off some women by beating the dog shit out of his ex, Rihanna, but Kanye West's on-and-off girlfriend, Amber Rose, apparently isn't one of them.These two got caught tongue wrestling at the July 4th White Party thrown by Sean (Diddy) Combs and Ashton Kutcher in Beverly Hills. Chris Brown arrived at the party with, Teyana Taylor, an18-year-old cool ass, dope ass singer, but is said to have hooked up quickly with Rose. What kinda shit is that? lmao.
"Diddy announced the deejay would do a tribute to Michael Jackson,"said a guest. "Chris did an amazing impression of Michael's moonwalk.It wasn't long before he was dancing with Amber."
Later, as the party wound down, the two were cuddled up on a couch in the backyard of the Beverly Hills mansion.
"They were holding hands and making out in the shadows," said awitness. "She had her hand on his leg."
Teyana Taylor is said to have been irked by the amount of time Brown spent with Rose, but still accompanied him to an after-party at the club Guys.There, Brown again got upclose and personal with Rose, who is 26.
"They were kissing on the dance floor in front of Teyana," said awitness. "But he and Amber left separately."
Some wondered whether the flagrant display was a defiant message both to Rihanna and West. Rihanna dumped Brown, who last month pleaded guilty to assaulting the Grammy winner.Kanye has been running kinda hot and cold on Rose lately.Although he reportedly broke up with her last month, they came together at the BET Awards show, which still confused the hell out of me.
Check this link out:
http://nicekicks.com/images/kanye-west-louis-vuitton-prices-0.jpg
Kanye West finally has completed his Louis Vuitton kick line that I must add, are quite fresh. Since word broke a few months ago about a sneaker project done by Kanye West and Louis Vuitton info was scarce and kept under wraps. Photos finally surfaced of (most) of the lineup recently, but pricing has still been a bit of a mystery and a guessing game - until now.
A Nice Kicks reader sent me information about the upcoming Kanye West x Louis Vuitton shoes including the prices and the names of each model. The men’s collection consists of three models, the Louis Vuitton Don’s (most likely named after Ye, but also could be a shout to Don C, his manager), Jasper’s (named after Kanye’s barber), and the Mr. Hudson’s (named after the GOOD Music artist and 808 collaborator of the same name).
Well, they call her Miss Lewinski & every shorty I know quotes the hell outta her.Her name is Nicki Minaj. She's been in the decks of alotta clubs & listeners & is on tour with Lil Wayne & Drake on the Young Money Tour. Minaj recently spoke and discussed her reaction to learningof Kanye West's friend Amber Rose making sexual advances on her.
"I was very shocked," she said. "It was funny. She said it to mewhen we met in person so I was like, 'Whoa she's dead serious 'causeshe put it on Twitter.' I was just laughing like everybody elseprobably. I had to take it in a little bit... pause. She's a dope girl.She's real funny. She just took an interest to me. I guess that's agood thing when a bad b*tch likes you, you know?"
Since making a splash recreating Lil Kim's infamous bikini-squat posefor the cover of her 2008 mixtape Sucka Free, Minaj - a 24-year-old,multiracial (she is of African, Trinidadian and Indo-Asian descent)Queens-born rapper - has assumed the roles of Marilyn Monroe, ChakaKhan, Mickey Mouse and even Harry Potter's pal Hermione. Now Minaj, a protege of the rap impresario Lil Wayne, is drawing attention for hersearing new summer joint, Beam Me Up Scotty.
I've heard it. If you haven't heard it, its time for you to get it because it is fire. You can download a copy from my blogspot - inthedarksoul.blogspot.com
That's all I have time for this week. This is your boy Ace. I'm gone.
inthedarksoul.blogspot.com
rdavis.green@gmail.com
