I spotted this on Hypebeast and thought it was interesting enough. Of course, naturally, Washington DC isn’t on this site. At least not yet:
Thanks to the power of Google Maps, The Rap Map highlights many landmarks and points of interest regarding the world of Hip-Hop. Points to check out range from the humble beginnings of rappers to spots to restaurants frequented by big-time artists. The Rap Map spans across Hip-Hop hotspots across the United States including the obvious ones in New York City and Los Angeles. Other cities include Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Miami and New Orleans. Check out The Rap Map here.
Hip-hop singer Wyclef Jean says he is not abandoning his presidential bid just yet and will send a lawyer to a Haitian court to appeal a decision rejecting his candidacy.
Speaking to The Associated Press from his home in Croix des Bouquets, Jean says lawyers will go to a Haitian court Monday to appeal with the national electoral dispute office.
Jean told the AP on Sunday that he has a document “which shows everything is correct” and that he and his aides “feel that what is going on here has everything to do with Haitian politics.”
Jean’s candidacy was rejected by the country’s elections board Friday night, presumably because he did not meet residency requirements.
I’m taking President Obama’s stance. Everyone has the right to worship where they please, but you do have to question the wisdom of it when you look at the reaction that it caused. I’m Muslim, so I understand the importance of practicing the faith. But that is something that is sensitive to Americans. I don’t trust polls, but there was such an overwhelming sentiment that maybe it’s not the best of idea. I think the people who are building it should take that under consideration. Would they be setting themselves up for vandals? Because now it’s become a target. But on the other side, I think it’s a great opportunity because Islam is in the forefront. This mosque situation is a good chance to spread what Islam is really about.
R&B singer Faith Evans was arrested late Saturday after she was stopped at a drunken driving checkpoint near Marina del Rey, according to police.
The Grammy Award-winning songstress was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor drunken driving at 10:40 p.m. at a checkpoint at Washington and Lincoln boulevards, according to Officer Cleon Joseph of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Evans, 37, is the widow of rapper Christopher Wallace, also known as Notorious B.I.G. She won a Grammy in 1998 for the song, “I’ll Be Missing You.â€
In 2004, Evans and her current husband, record company executive Todd Russaw, were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine after a traffic stop near Atlanta and spent 13 weeks in rehab.
Evans, a mother of four, has lived in Venice Beach and is reportedly launching a comeback after a five-year hiatus. Upcoming projects includes a reality series “It’s All About Faith†and an album due in October. She was supposed to be shooting a video in Venice Beach on Sunday, according to bossip.com.
If you watched Drake’s Ustream last night, you’ll (possibly) remember that he reached out to Wiz Khalifa to join him on his Light Dreams & Nightmares tour…well, he now has his answer:
Just the fact of cuz even extending his hand and me being on his radar is tight, to me. It just lets me know that I’m doin’ what I need to be doin’ as far as stayin’ relevant and stayin’ poppin’. But I think to keep me poppin and keep me relevant I gotta stay buildin’ on top of what I’m doin’ and what I been doin’. No disrespect to cuz or anybody else who might wanna see me do some more collaborative things, but to keep buildin’ and keep my brand as strong as what it is, I gotta keep focusin’ on what it is. This is my first tour that I got comin’ up, the Waken Baken tour, I gotta at least kick thatoff and make that it what it is so we can do ten more.
…I’m real happy for Drake and real proud of Drake…I was lookin’ on the internet and that made $10 million this year. So maybe when I make $10 Million than we can tour…we can do like some special dates or some surprise guest type thing, but I need 10 mill too Drake (laughing).
I really want to meet him and chop it up with him…I wanna meet him, chop it up, smoke one with him and who knows what could happen. But its all positive right now.
Recorded exclusively for MTV, this mini compilation is made up of five records, with some new tracks such as ‘Party People’ and ‘Help Me’. Meanwhile, the tentative release date for Nothing is currently set for a 9/7 release.
A little birdie has informed me that you might want to look out for a certain song by a certain somebody to be released Friday…Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album coming soon.
This is pretty cool: apparently John Legend’s nephews broke one of his Grammys, so he casually tweeted about hoping for a replacement…fortunate for him, they do. And they did, as you can see above in his (re)presented by Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow.
Update: Not that you care, but he did put up a pic of the broken award…
Apparantly, Kanye went smack at Drake’s favorite producer over their similarity in sound (as Noah “40” Shebib told VIBE). Was this before or after his recent good guy transformation? Spotted on Rap Radar:
“I can’t even be mad at him,†says 40 [short for working 40 Days and 40 Nights…Noah’s ark, get it?) “Because the last CD I listened to before I started working on So Far Gone was 808s & Heartbreak.â€
“At this point in time, the only rappers I have any interest in working with outside of Drake are Wayne and Jay,†40 says flatly. “I think Drake has been so instrumental in creating that sound that I have a commitment to him. If he doesn’t want me to give it away, I won’t.â€
Curious to know if Kanye will respond to this…and the fact that Mr. West has admitted to borrowing sounds before (RZA with ‘Heartless’ and Dr. Dre with ‘This Can’t Be Life’ are two example), well…I don’t know. I’m not a producer…
This project is definitely a lot shorter than I though it would be…I’m really not feeling this trend going on. Every track on here better have high replay value.
1. Diamonds On My Pinky 2. No Denying (Channel 3) 3. Slow Down 4. Be With You (feat. Ludacris) 5. Stutter (feat. Anthony Hamilton) 6. Hip Hop (feat. Marz) 7. Something Is Wrong (feat. Lisa Ivey) 8. Silly (feat. Erykah Badu) 9. Strange
Everyone reading this: when you get a chance, please go over to TeamYee and show support for Wale’s artists, Fat Trel and Black Cobain. If you’ve never heard of them or aren’t familiar enough with them (or, for those in DC, if you’ve been living under a rock), they have plenty of information, pics, and music on them for you to check out and make your judgement. This is no American Idol shit but still great exposure nonetheless. Support DC Hip-Hop.
Wha? Serious? Was this in the making? I spotted this at 2dopeboyz:
After 16 years, Fat Beats has announced the closing of the legendary label’s two remaining retail locations in New York and Los Angeles. Fat Beats will celebrate the legacies of the stores, which are scheduled to close in early September (New York: September 4th, Los Angeles: September 18th) by throwing a series of blow-out sales and tribute parties open to the public during their last weeks. Fans can check http://www.fatbeats.com/ for updates.
Read more after the jump.
Fat Beats’ longest running and most famed location is at 406 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan. Since the 1994 opening of Fat Beats’ flagship retail location, hip-hop fans have traveled far and wide to visit the iconic store. With locations soon following in Los Angeles (7600 Melrose Ave.), Atlanta, Amsterdam, and Tokyo, the record stores were a place to experience hip-hop culture and its legacy, which became a global phenomenon. “The closing of Fat Beats is just like one of my friends passing away. They promoted vinyl at its highest degree for the culture of good music and that makes it more difficult to say goodbye,†says DJ Premier.
The announcement of the closings is a reflection of the woes that have been plaguing the industry for years. Global chain HMV closed their last US location in 2004. Tower Records shuttered in 2006. Last year saw the close of the last Virgin Megastore, and the story is no different in 2010. For Fat Beats, maintaining two stores well into 2010 is a testament to the stores’ importance to the music and to fans and consumers continuing to support independent hip-hop.
While news of the stores’ closing marks the end of an era, the future is not doom and gloom. Digital sales continue to increase industry-wide; for Fat Beats, currently operating a profitable and growing online retail store, this has provided a boon to business as fans continue to order mp3s, vinyl, and CDs from FatBeats.com. Although digital sales continue to grow, executives at Fat Beats understand the importance of independent retail stores and are planning to re-open a brick and mortar hip-hop lifestyle location sometime in the near future.
The future looks just as bright for Fat Beats Distribution and the label. Fat Beats Distribution, which has been renamed FB Distribution, continues to strike noteworthy distribution deals with independent and major labels worldwide and is now working with different genres of alternative music. Fat Beats Records will continue to release notable albums from their own impressive roster of artists including ILL BILL, TruMaster/KRS-One, Black Milk, Trinity, Sha Stimuli, Q-Unique, and more. Fat Beats owner and President Joe Abajian says, “This is the start of a new era for Fat Beats. We’re adapting to meet the needs of our demographic by revamping and improving our existing systems. While our website, which stocks everything available in our retail stores, continues to do very well, we’re still exploring our options for alternate retail locations in the future. We’re proud of our legacy and will continue to re-invent ourselves.
So if you’ve been living under a rock, you may not know that Kanye has not only joined Twitter, but has since taken a huge liking to the apocalypse kid Justin Bieber on Twitter, to the point that they went back and forth over a possible collab including Raekwon. While I saw this as total nonsense, it turns out that it’s in fact true, as The Chef explains to XXL during a phone interview:
“It’s definitely gonna happen. When you got these kinda talents merging together to do something exciting, I think it’s something that’s gonna make the fans check it out. I’m big fans of both of these guys. I think, at the end of the day, shorty is a sensation. And [for him] to acknowledge me it makes me feel good that the young generation is checkin’ me out like that. And at the same time it gives me a position to play a big brother in the game. He wants my assistance or whatever he can get it. I respect him, I like his style.â€
“Yeezy called me and we gon’ make it pop. At the end of the day we’re all doing our thing in the game and for them to even just have a conversation and just put my name in it it feels good. It feels good to respect what I do and I respect what they do. And we gon’ make a hit. Justin got his own fan base and Me and Yeezy got our own fan base and we gon’ make it happen. We gon’ make a good record.â€
