Meek Mill – Work (Full, Sans Rick Ross Verse)
I know everyone has been waiting for this one. Enjoy this tagged version with a second Meek Mill verse in the meantime.
Freddie Gibbs x Statik Selektah x Daz – Rap Money
The project (which was completed in 24 hours over Ustream) is dropping midnight. Check out the tracklisting after the jump.
1. Intro ft. Slaine
2. Lord Giveth Lord Taketh Away
3. Rap Money ft. Daz
4. Affiliated ft. Reks & PUSH! Montana
5. Wild Style ft. Termanology & Fred The Godson
6. Already ft. Trae Tha Truth
7. Keep it Warm For Ya ft. Smoke Dza & Chace Infinite
RZA x Rev. William Burke – Robbery
Did not know #WuWednesday was still in effect, but complain I will not. Produced by RZA.
Buju Banton Sentenced To 10 Years
From SeattlePI:
A federal judge sentenced Grammy-winning reggae singer Buju Banton to 10 years in prison Thursday, the lowest sentence legally allowed for his role in a large cocaine trafficking deal in 2009.
The 38-year-old Jamaican recording artist got a break when U.S. District Judge James S. Moody threw out a gun conviction, which would have added another five years to the minimum sentence. Banton’s attorney, David Markus, said with time already served and good behavior, he could be out in six years.
Read more after the jump.
In a statement he wrote after the sentencing, Banton — whose given name is Mark Myrie — thanked family, fans and supporters from around the world who flooded the court file with letters of support.
“The days that lie ahead are filled with despair, but I have courage and grace and I’m hopeful, and that is sufficient to carry me through,” he said in the statement, which was read by Markus. “The man is not dead. Don’t call him a ghost.”
Banton, dressed in gray jail scrubs and shackled at the ankles, did not speak in court and did not react when Moody announced the sentence. The tall, thin, dreadlocked singer blew a kiss and waved to his subdued supporters as he was led away.
In his Caribbean homeland of Jamaica, radio stations played his songs nonstop Thursday, including “Not an Easy Road” and “Untold Stories.”
Jamaican disc jockey Bunny Goodison said the husky-voiced singer, who has long been a top star in his homeland with his brash reggae-rap hybrid of dancehall music and a more traditional reggae sound, was “the best at what he did during the last 20 years.”
“The loss of Buju for 10 years will be a tremendous blow to the industry,” Goodison said in Jamaica’s capital, Kingston. “The quality of his music and the message of his songs, which often dealt with the essence of being black, was unparalleled during his time.”
A jury found Banton guilty in February of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense and using a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking offense. Moody threw out the gun charge, acknowledging that Banton had no idea others involved in the conspiracy were carrying guns, which was the basis for the charge. He was not convicted of carrying a weapon himself.
Markus contended that Banton deserved a lower sentence because of his limited participation in the drug buy, his charitable work in Jamaica and his otherwise clean record.
But prosecutor James Preston argued for a longer term, contending that the cocaine deal would not have gone down without Banton’s participation. Moody agreed that Banton’s participation was key to the deal but declined to increase the sentence.
Preston acknowledged it was a sad day for Banton’s fans but noted the distinction between the joyful reggae artist Buju Banton and the drug dealer Mark Myrie.
“He has brought this sadness to these people,” Preston said in court, acknowledging Banton’s supporters who filled the gallery. Preston declined to comment afterward.
Preston argued during trial that Banton portrayed himself as a broker of drug deals in several conversations with a confidential informant. Preston said Banton thought he was getting involved in a “no-risk” deal in which he would introduce a friend to a confidential informant and then collect money from drug transactions.
Prosecutors acknowledged that Banton did not put any money into the drug deal nor did he ever profit from it. Markus characterized his client as “a big talker” who admitted to trying to impress the confidential informant but wasn’t involved in any drug deal.
Much of the case hinged on meetings and phone calls that were video- and audiotaped by the informant, who was working with the Drug Enforcement Administration — and who made $50,000 in commission after the bust.
In one video, Banton could be seen tasting cocaine in a Sarasota warehouse on Dec. 8, 2009. But he was not present during the actual drug deal on Dec. 10 that led two others to be arrested. Those two men later pleaded guilty.
Banton testified that the informant badgered him after they met on a trans-Atlantic flight in July 2009 and insisted they meet to set up a cocaine purchase. He said he was so uninterested in the informant’s proposals that after they met twice, Banton didn’t return the man’s phone calls for months.
Markus said he plans to appeal.
“This fight is not over,” Markus said. “We will keep fighting for him. Mark Myrie is my brother, and I’m going to keep fighting until they tell me to stop.”
Among the dozens of letters of support in the court file were those from several of Banton’s 15 children wrote, a Jamaican government official, an NBA player, other reggae artists and actor Danny Glover, who called Banton a “role model, philanthropist and spiritual leader in the community.”
“Your honor, Mark Myrie is not a drug dealer,” Glover wrote. “Society would not benefit from his incarceration.”
Banton’s oldest son, also named Mark Myrie, wrote that his father “puts hard work, sweat and tears into his music and that is what (he) ‘puts on the table,’ it has never been drugs….The situation is just an example of our mere imperfections as people, being at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Banton remains wildly popular in Jamaica, and his trial — his second over the drug accusations — was packed with supporters that included other well-known reggae artists. The first trial ended in a mistrial last year after the jury deadlocked.
Shortly before his conviction in February, he won a Grammy for best reggae album for his work entitled “Before the Dawn.”
Lil’ Wayne Is Not A Fan Of ‘Dear Anne’
From XXL:
A couple of weeks ago, Wayne’s collaboration with Swizz Beatz titled “Dear Anne (Stan Part 2)†hit the internet and found the charismatic Miami transplant pledging devotion to his number one fan. And while Weezy says he’s heard accolades from his real life fans as well as his Young Money camp, Lil Tunechi isn’t sold that the song will make the cut for his August 29 release Tha Carter IV.
“That was actually a record for Tha Carter III that just leaked,†Wayne told XXL last week in Miami’s Hit Factory. “It leaked out and everybody’s thinking that it’s going on Tha Carter IV ’cause I was actually gonna put it on Tha Carter IV . But I had been listening to it and didn’t like it. I don’t like it ‘cause the song, all the verses are old. And me being a perfectionist, I hate going with old verses.â€
Wayne’s right hand man Mack Maine and manager Cortez Bryant have expressed different sentiments. “Mack and Tez and them, they love it,†he said. “They be like ‘Man, you trippin, you killed it.’ I be like, ‘Did you hear what I just said? I don’t wanna do that anymore.’ But I heard that the ‘Anne’ song has been getting buzzed up and everybody’s buzzin’ about it so it might end up one of those you might have to put on the album, you know what I mean. But I ain’t trippin’ on it like that; I don’t like the song. I love the beat; I love the idea. I don’t like my execution. I don’t like what I did, I don’t like how I delivered on it. The idea that I had for it, I didn’t accomplish that, what I thought I was gonna do. ‘Cause I was tryna make it a situation song. And I just don’t like it.â€
Black Cobain – Dear Summer Freestyle
A new freestyle from Cobizzy. If you haven’t downloaded Younggiftedandblack make sure you do that.

Monica Dropping New Album In October
From Rap-Up:
Monica is giving birth to New Life this fall. The R&B singer has announced a delivery date for her 7th studio album.
The follow-up to the Grammy-nominated Still Standing, which entered at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart last year, is tentatively slated for an October 4 release. It will include production from Missy Elliott and Polow Da Don, with the first single due in as soon as two weeks.
“The label [J Records] has asked me, do I want to take an October 4 date,†Monica told fans during a Ustream session. “Over the next month I’ll decide because as of right now, we’re pressing up the new single and trying to get some clearances which are very difficult, so if anything changes it will only be because of that. We’re working on it and I’m thinking that I will keep that October 4 date.â€
The mother of two, who wed Lakers player Shannon Brown last year, is in a happy place and that reflects in her new music. “You get to hear some different flavors, but it’s definitely R&B,†she shared. “I think when you’re in a happy place, you’re able to do your job a lot easier.â€
Once again, she will be sharing her life experiences on the album. “I talk about a lot of different subjects, whether it’s love, heartache, happiness, family,†she added. “The music will be a lot like Still Standing in the sense that it’s real and really about things that I’ve experienced, but it also from a very mature place. The greatest thing that happened to me is to learn forgiveness and acceptance. In this state of mind it’s easy for me to make music about where I’ve been and where I’m going and do it in a positive manner.â€
A tour is also in the works, but Monica did not disclose further details.
Missy Elliott Has Graves’ Disease
From SFGate:
Hip-hop star Missy Elliott has revealed she has been quietly suffering with a major autoimmune disease.
In 2008 the “Work It” hit maker was diagnosed with Graves’ disease — a disorder that affects the thyroid — and she admits the symptoms came on so fast, she almost lost her ability to do everyday things like drive and write.
She tells People magazine, “I was (driving and) trying to put my foot on the brake, but my leg was jumping. I couldn’t keep the brake down and almost crashed. … I couldn’t write because my nervous system was so bad — I couldn’t even use a pen.”
And after suffering a slew of other side effects, including hair loss and mood swings, Elliott turned to radiation, which ultimately improved her condition.
She adds, “I’m 30 pounds lighter because I’ve been exercising. My thyroid is functioning, so I haven’t had to take medication in about nine months. (But) you live with it for the rest of your life.”
1 Year Strong, With Many More To Come…
Hello,
I certainly don’t write as much as I’d like to on this here website of ours anymore (that will change), but for those who are reading this, I would really like to say thank you to those that showed real support to our movement (there are so many to shoutout, I’d much rather say thanks in this manner rather than leave out anyone).
This was never meant to be more than a blog….one that basically provides any and every thing that had to do with Hip-Hop. It wasn’t really until Jamoris‘ inclusion of a camera where things really began to expand into a full-fledged website. Yes, I know, it’s still a blog (hell, it’s still Blogger for that matter), but you’d be hard-pressed to find too many other “blogs” that provide everything that we do at the quality that we do. Among the things that have been added:
– Video production and editing: It’s crazy how a simple meeting with the homie Debo (who we currently look forward to seeing again) turned into a pretty dope relationship with The Board Administration. Our first video came from this — a fairly low-quality, extremely lengthy behind the scenes video for Black Cobain‘s ‘Air Force’ featuring Fat Trel & Tre. The videos had their flaws but did get (and are continuing to get) better as we improved our craft, to the point where we began to make actual music videos (Fat Trel gets the first nod there for his ‘Freeze Me’ freestyle, which was done in my kitchen at what may have been 4 in the morning). We’re even winning awards for documentaries now (shoutout to Tony Lewis Jr. and CommunPR)
– Interviews: The Board Administration gave us our firsts here as well, and since then we have been able to interview successful local artists like Phil Ade, RAtheMC and the number one artist Wale to (other) popular artists like Miguel, CyHi Tha Prynce, Big K.R.I.T. & even legends like Raekwon. Special thanks goes out to Samantha Luck for being a MAJOR part of this as a great interviewer as well as an great writer and journalist.
– VICE: This was Jamoris’ idea. And it works, whether I feel it had anything to do with Hip-Hop or not (and it does in a way, as far as the culture is concerned). Truth be told, there shouldn’t be too many complaints about working with beautiful women to begin with (haha).
– Mixtapes: This is actually a fairly unknown aspect of JUKEBOX:DC that was around from the beginning. I always liked to make these Hip-Hop mixes filled with songs that make you think more than anything, which is why I decided to call the series Streetz Reflexionz (or SRV — V as in Volume — for short). Hopefully some post-website supporters enjoy these, as all of the songs i chose for them were pretty important to me.
These are only a few additions, and there will be more, including more interviews, videos, editorials and mixtapes (by the way, SRV4 will be here shortly). We will also be moving into throwing Hip-Hop events, as well, so look out for those. Hopefully, with the help of others (George, Carrie, Eric, Corey and many more), there should be no stopping us as we continue to move forward.
Last but not least, I have to give a shoutout to D’Wayne & 3Nity Entertainment, whom we are now building with full time, so definitely lookout for them. The movement has only gotten better.
–Jon