Trim Returns, Speaks On Forthcoming Project ‘Crisis’

April 24, 2014 JUKEBOXDC Staff Interviews 1 Comment  

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Roll Deep’s Trim has delighted Grime and Hip-Hop fans all over with his return to the game, and he recently spoke with Noisey on what the folks can expect. You can read it in full here; a few excerpts are below.

Noisey: You’ve said a few times that Crisis will have no features and no choruses. Is that you drawing a line in the sand between you and what other UK rappers tend to do when they make albums?
Trim: Yeah I’ve basically been pushed in a corner. And instead of being noticed for my actual skills, people have got a perception of me: that I’m difficult to work with, that I don’t love my job, that I haven’t worked or work hard enough. So I thought I’d give ‘em more reason to not care, by making an album they can’t sing along to, so they can only notice the skills. But I’m also releasing music in between singles to prove I can do choruses and features (Vol13, Vol14, and Nangest EP Part 2 with Roach are all out before my album)

There’s been rumours over the last few years about when your record’s coming out and who’s releasing it. What went wrong with Rinse? And are you happy to now be doing it fully independently?
What happened at Rinse was that they’re just a small label and didn’t care about me enough. Certain acts pay the bills and to jeopardise that to take a chance on me wasn’t gonna happen. I wasn’t gonna wait for their acts to stop progressing for them to then use me. So we agreed to release me from the contract. I’ve currently started my own label, we’ll be bringing my singles and mixtape out on Secluded Area Of Music. I’m in talks with a couple of labels but doubt any will wanna release this album! So looks independent!

When James Blake interviewed you on his Radio 1 show earlier this year, you described yourself as “a product that hasn’t been bought yet” – is Crisis going to be the most sellable version of Trim yet?
I dunno if it will be most sellable product, I hope it will be. But the album crisis is about me and how this game picks you up and puts you down, uses you, plays with you and your emotions. How the people in it always want you to think less of yourself, toying with us as we commit and put our life on the line.

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Timbaland, Swizz Beatz & No I.D. To Work On Nas’ New Album

April 24, 2014 JUKEBOXDC Staff Interviews No Comments  

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Nas sat down with NPR during the 20 anniversary celebration of his debut album Illmatic. During the interview, he says that he has begun work on his next album with Swizz Beatz & No I.D. Nas also added that he hopes to finish the album with Timbaland.

“I started working with, I want to say a year and a half ago. I think it was the same year I dropped my last album, Life is Good. I started with Tim and it felt really powerful; it felt like it was really powerful. And I stepped back from it. Tim’s like, “What are you doing?” and I’m like, “I just need a minute to like — I just need a minute to take it all in, just live a little and enjoy day-by-day stuff and daily stuff I’m doing.” It’s just — I didn’t want to go back in the studio that quick. I felt like I needed to be inspired.”

‘I talked to Swizz, and we went through joints. And No I.D. and Timbaland, you know. This the only interview I’ma talk about it. Cause I know once this comes out, people might ask me about the record and, man, I just want to finish it and get it done.”

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Pharoahe Monch On ‘The Combat Jack Show’

April 22, 2014 JUKEBOXDC Staff Interviews No Comments  

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Pharoahe Monch has been a favorite MC of mine for a long time so it only makes sense that we deliver his best interview in existence. In support of his brilliant album ‘P.T.S.D.’ we had an in studio listening session as Monch gave us his most personal interview to date. Who knew he used to carry them blammers? Who knew he was fed a deadly drug cocktail that took him to the edge of insanity? Who knew he was a heavy DipSet fan? Or liked 2 Chainz? What other MC admits getting murked on his own song? I really enjoyed this session. I hope you do too. Stand the fuck up!

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August Alsina On ‘Sway In The Morning’; Speaks On ‘106 & Park’ Incident

April 17, 2014 JUKEBOXDC Staff Interviews No Comments  

August Alsina is making his rounds to talk about his new album in stores, Testimony, and made a stop to Sway in the Morning to do just that — and more.

Starting off the conversation about his sex life, August opened up about how it hasn’t increased, but he does occasionally receive fellatio when brushing his teeth in the morning.

August also addressed the BET 106 & Park incident and made it clear that he didn’t like how he was “portrayed as the bad guy” and explained his side of the story.

“Certain things you can’t hide. I’m not gonna let anyone rob me of my honesty, no matter where I am in my life.”

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RZA & Raekwon Are At Each Other’s Necks Again

April 17, 2014 JUKEBOXDC Staff Interviews 1 Comment  

During his promo run for Brick Mansions, RZA spoke to Vlad TV about Raekwon not (as of yet) contributing to the upcoming Wu-Tang album A Better Tomorrow, and why he thinks that is (above).

Naturally, the Chef has responded pretty harshly in a recent Rolling Stone interview….the best excerpts of that are below:

What do you think of “Keep Watch”?
I hate it. I hate it. I don’t hate shit, but I hate that fuckin’ record. It ain’t the gunpowder that my brother is spitting; it’s the production. And I ain’t shitting on the producer because he’s one of our soldiers. But if it ain’t where it need to be… It’s 20 years later. We talkin ’bout a whole new generation is sitting here representin’ and making fiery shit and you telling me that we comin out with some mediocre shit? That ain’t part of our plan.

It almost sounds like you’re on strike.
It’s the same as being an athlete. I don’t give a fuck if it’s Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant. They will not touch the floor if their managers or lawyers are saying, “Listen, shit ain’t right.” So therefore, I’m in a limbo situation. So yeah, you’re right. I am on strike. It ain’t the fact that I don’t want to be there. Because of course I want to be there. But if we’re there, we gotta do the best everything. We gotta work 10 times harder, because that’s what I’m signing in for. I’m not about listening to somebody that’s not an artist telling me what the fuck they think is hot.

As far as the RZA, I respect him, I love him – the love ain’t gonna go anywhere – but you’re not in the music world no more. So to me, you need to take a backseat and respect the n—as that is playing the game. I’m always out in the field and finding out what’s going on with the new. Period.

Do you think part of it is the expectations put upon the group after 20 years?
We created something that wound up being so big, it has to sit on a certain kind of podium. It has to be sitting up there shining. It can’t be sitting up there with bullet holes and all this bullshit on it. I love my fans. I would never give them something that I feel is not a hit or a win. We made decisions together when it came to making great music. Today, I don’t know where RZA’s mind is at. I don’t know if he looks at himself as being a top producer. But you’re not the top producer no more. You’re definitely one of the best, but you’re not one of the best today.

We said with this album right here, let’s go use some of the relationships with the producers and artists that we know and let’s make something that the fans can be like, “Goddamn.” You don’t go out there and put somebody on the fucking record that nobody never heard of. That’s an insult to us. I’m just sitting back in the bleachers just watching shit. There’s no animosity with me and my brothers. My issue is with fuckin’ management. And whoever sits in that chair, RZA and Devine, that’s they shit that they have to deal with. You’re not going to bury my career with your dumb moves.

Was there talk about working with other producers?
There definitely were conversations about this like, “Let’s make this a colorful album with some of the hottest producers in the game.” Motherfuckers love and respect us enough where it’s like, “If you call me, it would be an honor to be involved with it.” But RZA, you’re the guy that can do that and I don’t understand why he’s not doing that. We want to continue to hold that belt the way it’s supposed to be held.

Did you ever think about leaving the group?
[Pauses] I would never leave the group. Before, I would say to myself, “It can be fixed.” We’ve done so much work together as a family that I would never turn my back on that. But if my business ain’t right, then it’s causing me to do what my heart is telling me to do.

On a scale of 0-10, what are the odds that you end up on A Better Tomorrow?
We at a two right now. It’s like climbing up a fuckin’ mountain if you got on slippers.

It’s sad. It hurts. It’s all about the fans. It’s all about them saying, “This is my favorite fuckin’ hip-hop group in the world.” I have a job to do for them. And I would never let my fans down and make something I feel is mediocre just to say I made it. That’s not Raekwon.

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Suge Knight Claims That Kendrick Lamar & The Game Have “Two Of The Worst Deals” In The Industry

April 16, 2014 JUKEBOXDC Staff Interviews 1 Comment  

From BET:

In the second installment of BET.com’s exclusive interview with record executive Suge Knight, the former Death Row Records CEO clarifies comments he made about Kendrick Lamar and Game having two of the worst deals in the industry, during his recent appearance on the Arsenio Hall Show.

“[All I was saying was] it’s not fair for two n****s from Compton to be gettin’ f****d, and it’s not good for me to have knowledge and not pass it on to them,” said Suge. “It wasn’t about putting them as men down or as artists down, it was about putting the person who’s in control down, saying ‘How are you f****ng over these dudes from Compton when they’re making a difference for your company?'”

Suge also dropped knowledge on how record labels have changed their deal structure in recent years to include a significant portion of the money from artists’ live shows.

“Not only do these companies get the royalties and the publishing, if [the artist] do a show and $100,000 come in, the manager gets 20 percent, now it’s $80,000. Kendrick gets half, the record company gets half, which is ridiculous,” Suge pointed out.
“If you can’t live off your tour money how can you survive by being a slave [to the record contract],” Suge questioned. “Prince was able to survive being a slave because he was able to tour. If Prince had a deal like these new guys, where the record company gets half of your tour money, Prince would’ve been f****d.”

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DEBUNKED: Nas Did Not Ghostwrite ‘Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It’ For Will Smith

April 16, 2014 JUKEBOXDC Staff Interviews No Comments  

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I really thought he wrote that track, too. The below excerpt is taken from Nas’ pretty lengthy Q&A for Reddit’s Ask Me Anything series, of which — if you have time to spend lost in the entire session — you can enjoy here (where he also reveals wanting to work with Bishop Nehru, having a crush on Sofia Vergara, asking Jay Electronica to drop his album and more).

How did you end up (allegedly) ghostwriting for Will Smith?
Alright, let’s clear this up once and for all. I hung out with Will in the studio. And watched him write it. It was a fun studio session, and I said a line or two or three to him. It wasn’t that serious. Will Smith wrote that song. But seriously, I watched him have fun making that record on his own, and Will is a true MC.

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