Raekwon Speaks On Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang

Looks like they’re still going through with it….I just don’t feel right about it, but eh…from Keith Murphy, VIBE:

Coming off 2009’s critically acclaimed Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II, the long-in-the-making sequel to his 1995 landmark classic, Raekwon is not wasting anytime for a follow-up.

The super lyrical Wu-Tang Clan spitter is set to drop his new release Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang, which will hit stores in September. And according to Rae, the quick turnaround is all by design.

“Right now, being that everyone respected what I did on the last album, I don’t want to have people feeling that I’m going to be away again for a long period of time,” he told VIBE. “For me, I try to stay hands-on with my hardcore base of fans and let them know, ‘Yo, I’m not going to be doing those disappearing acts like that anymore.’”

Longtime fans can expect the prerequisite Staten Island contingent on Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang as well as a few surprises.

“Method Man, Ghostface, Inspectah Deck, and GZA all appear on the album,” Raekwon says of his Wu-tang brethren. “At the same time I got some other guys involved like [The Roots’] Black Thought—I love his talent. I think that when it comes to him delivering what level I wanted to go he was the perfect man. I also have Raheem DeVaughn who sounds like Curtis Mayfield over a Shaolin track.”

When it comes to the album’s sound, Rae describes Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang as dark yet energetic. But one notable name who will not be on the project is longtime Wu musical mastermind RZA. “RZA doesn’t have to be on every album,” Rae says. “I wanted to give some other producers a chance. It’s not about beef. We can stand on our own.”

PaperMag’s Drake Interview Leftovers

This is cool, PaperMag’s Jozen Cummings let loose some extras from the Drake interview they did, which I will intertwine with (hilarious) pics from Drake and Lil’ Wayne’s ‘Miss Me’ videoshoot, courtesy of The Hottest Ishh. Check out after the jump.

On his music, not his looks, drawing fans:
It’s funny — the thing that I hear the least is ‘Drake makes bad music.’ People always have something to say about the way I look or the way I dress. People nitpick at my physical appearance more than my music, which is fine with me because when I look in the mirror, I know I’m not an unattractive person.

On finding the time to return to acting:
I have an extreme desire to get back into acting and I’ve been in conversations non-stop about what kind of projects I’m going to pick, who I’d like to work with and things of that nature. I really have to gauge it off of how well this album does and what the demand is for Drake after this album, and I’ve gotta see how much time I can afford to take off before people hear from me again. If people love Thank Me Later, then I’m going to keep it going. As crazy as that sounds, and as vulnerable as that sounds because it sounds like people are deciding my fate, it’s just me being honest with you. If… it’s unanimous that they’re over [Thank Me Later], then yeah, maybe I’ll have a little bit more time to act before I go back in and make another album. But I’m pretty confident in the music that I made. I think music will be commanding my life for the next little bit, and hopefully I can find a month or two months to film a movie.

On playing Obama:
I hope somebody makes a movie about Obama’s life soon because I could play him. That’s the goal [laughs]. I watch all the addresses. Anytime I see him on TV, I don’t change the channel, I definitely pay attention and listen to the inflections of his voice. If you ask anyone who knows me, I’m pretty good at impressions. Slowly but surely, I’m not in the study mode because nobody’s called me about anything, but I just pay attention so when the day comes I’m not scrambling to learn how to speak like him. I want to be involved in great film projects. I don’t want to do the basketball movie that everyone does. I don’t want to do the typical black film that everyone expects. I think that I have enough experience to actually be involved in a real meaty project full of substance.

On why he’s not concerned about overexposure:
Overexposure would be me in every single video, me on Twitter every single day, me ..having my hand in all these pots because I feel I’m hot. That’s overexposure. Overexposure isn’t when people love you too much and are excited. I hate when people confuse the two. I actually say no way more than I say yes to opportunities are presented to me.

On keeping calm:
I wake up and I’m scared to flip my phone over because I don’t know what songs have leaked or what girl has said what about me. I don’t let it show because I care too much about the people around me and I need them to feel like I’m solid. No matter how much I may be going crazy inside, I always keep my composure for the sake of the people around me.

On negative blog commenters:
I definitely haven’t said this before, but I stopped going on a computer. I have a problem where if I go read a hundred positive things about me and there’s one guy in there who says ‘I hate Drake’ that’s the one I pay attention to. I think that’s a common problem. Negativity hurts us more than positivity helps us. I asked about 10 or 20 people around me, ‘When’s the last time you went on a website and commented on something, like a song dropped and you went on and said, ‘That song is hot’ or ‘That song is terrible?’ And everyone I asked around me, whose opinions I respect, the people I love, were like, ‘I’ve never done that before.’ And these are all level-headed, intelligent people whose opinion I respect, so I just started saying to myself, ‘It takes a certain type of individual to really participate in a group discussion about someone else, especially if they’re going super hard with consistent hate.

On how he honors his mentor, Andre 3000 from Outkast:
I have a shrine in my apartment dedicated to Andre. I took a door off a barn and had an artist take the lyrics from his verses [and put them] on this barn door. As soon as you walk into my apartment that’s the first thing you see.

Ayatollah – Reefer

Nice…Ayatollah is dropping his digital instrumental album, Cocoon, tomorrow on his Tollah Music imprint. Album tracklisting after the jump.

1. Gordon’s War
2. Casino
3. Getting To Know Me
4. Dig This
5. The Writers Bench
6. Bubble
7. Soul Power
8. WOW
9. Heaven Can’t Wait
10. Reefer
11. Lonely Girl
12. Rhyme Amazing
13. Growth
14. It
15. Black Ivory
16. You And I
17. When Tomorrow Comes
18. How Ya’ll Feel Out There

Shyne In Belize, XXL

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Shyne graces the cover of XXL next month, which hits stands August 10. MTV threw the cover and some excerpts up, which you can check out after the jump.


 

 
Expatriated rapper Shyne graces the September cover of XXL, and in the issue, the formerly jailed star talks about his gun case, Diddy and the decision he made more than 10 years ago that changed his life forever.
 
“In my life, when I make decisions to roll, I roll,” Shyne told the magazine about firing a gun while partying with Diddy and the mogul’s then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez at Club New York. “And I don’t give a f— what the consequences are. If I’ma defend myself, I’ma defend myself. If somebody tryna kill or hurt one of my partnas or my comrades, that’s with me, there is no, ‘Yo,’ or, ‘Damn, well, if I pull this sh– out, this is what’s gonna happen.’ No! I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna be laid up in no f—ing hospital with a tube runnin’ through me, hurtin’ and sufferin’. Pain is real. So you know what? I’m not doin’ that. You gon’ do that, mother—-er. You gon’ roll and say hi to Satan, not me. And that’s that.
 
“Your survival instincts tell you to protect and preserve, and you deal with whatever later,” he explained of his actions.
 
Shyne and Diddy were both charged in the December 1999 incident, and the two later went to trial separately with different legal representation. Diddy was aquitted, but Shyne was found guilty of first-degree assault, among other charges, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
 
After the trial, his relationship with the Bad Boy Records CEO soured. Shyne lashed out in interviews against his former mentor, claiming Diddy turned his back on him.
 
Though he’s still not in agreement with the way things were handled, Shyne appears more measured in his personal take on Diddy’s actions.
 
“You can always say, ‘Man, that ain’t the way to handle the situation,’ ” he told XXL. “Sure, I know in my soul that the situation was supposed to be handled in a different way. But it ain’t really a matter of disappointment or letdown, ’cause I never really … I grew up never having sh–, never having anybody. So I never was that dude to depend on a mother—-er. Obviously, the actions is not something that you condone or that you’re happy with. Not at all.”
 
After serving almost nine years of his prison sentence, the Brooklyn-bred rapper was deported to his native Belize. Since then, he has re-joined Def Jam’s roster. The rapper has only provided a small sampling of material in the months after inking with the label, including “Messiah,” in which he raps with a noticeably drawn-out flow, a variation from the tighter delivery he displayed during his Bad Boy days.
 
The Shyne interview is the first in a three-part series on the rapper set to run in forthcoming issues of XXL.

Jay-Z & DJ Green Lantern – Creative Control (Mixtape)

As mentioned before. Still waiting on an actual mixtape from these two, but it should hold anybody down in the meantime. Tracklist and download link after the jump.

1. Intro
2. Advantage Carter (Prod. By Green Lantern)
3. Welcome 2 Atlanta V103 Feat. Young Jeezy & DJ Greg Street
4. Jay’s Back ASAP
5. Live In London
6. Green Magic
7. Brooklyn Sound Boy
8. Child Abuse (Prod. By Green Lantern)
9. Jay-Z Speaks On Green Lantern
10. Flashy Life
11. Got Me On My Shit (Prod. By Green Lantern)
12. Pimp Stroll (Prod. By Green Lantern) Feat. Lil’ Wayne & Dante Hawkins
13. Conspiracy Theory Freestyle
14. Sweet (Prod. By Green Lantern)
15. Only 1 Hov Accapella
16. Can’t Knock Da Hustle (Green Mix)
17. Good Old Days (Green Mix) Feat. 2Pac & Styles P
18. Wishing On A Star (Green Mix) Feat. 50 Cent, Freeway & N.O.R.E.
19. Who You With (Green Mix)
20. H.O.V.A. (Green Mix)
21. My Nigga Jigga (Green Mix)
22. Stuck In This Life (Green Mix)
23. This Shit Right Here (Live @ American Gangster Tour)
24. Dirt Off Ya Shoulder (Crunk Mix) Feat. 50 Cent
25. Invasion Interlude
26. Home Of 9/11 (Prod. By Green Lantern) Feat. Cam’ron & Juelz Santana
27. Life Of Party (Prod. By Green Lantern)
28. Jay-Z Speaks w/ Green Lantern & Greg Street
29. Heart Of The City Feat. Dante Hawkins (Live From Dublin)
30. Beautiful Hustle Feat. 2Pac & Mary J. Blige
31. Fronting (Green Mix) Feat. Loyd Banks, Rah Digga & Memphis Bleek
32. Top Down (Prod. By Green Lantern) – Memphis Bleek
33. Barack Obama Speaks On Hip Hop
34. Lick A Shot (Yes We Can)
35. We Run This Feat. Lil’ Wayne & Rihanna
36. Marcy & They Shooting (Live In London) Feat. Nas (Bonus)

Download