T.I’s "Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head" Album Review

This is T.I’s 8th album, and it is great to still feel the energy in him on this one. "Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head" dropped on December 18; The passion is still there, amidst all the troubles, and even with him doing the Hollywood thing, and having a reality TV show with his wife and kids, he still resumes his role as the “ rubber-band-man”. As much as rappers can call this being real, and staying true to one’s self, I think this is the little chink in the armour of this album. More on that later.

The album starts off with the intro, “The Introduction”, which sees T.I giving the best of his skills. T.I’s greatest gift on the mic has always been the ability to ride the beat beautifully, and yet pass his message through. Through his multi-syllabic rhyme pattern (one of the reasons why he is one of Eminem’s favourite), and his signature south-side accent, he holds you steady through the full length of the track. The second track, “G Season” is a track assisted by another rapper that has his greatest skill in lyrical delivery/flow, Meek Mill; the chemistry is definitely there on this song, and a reminder that Meek was once signed to T.I’s Grand Hustle Records.  The third track, “Trap Back Jumpin”  takes you back to T.I’s Trap Muzik days. He hits us with fast and intelligently woven lines like-

 You can play with them niggaz, not me okay? Them other niggaz suckas, I'm a G okay?

T.I. K-I-N-G, okay? Just respect that shit and you'll be okay

 T.I picked the perfect time in the album to switch up his style a little, and then came “Ball”; The Lil Wayne assisted club banger that is sure to get you off your seat. The album goes mellow after that with “Sorry”, which features Andre 3,000. And at the beginning of “Can You Learn” with R.Kelly, T.I has a skit that explains how he got caught with all those firearms in 2007. From here on, T.I takes us on a roller-coaster ride; one high tempo song, followed by a low tempo song.  He got very experimental with the sing-song style on Cruisin’. And it really came out well. It helped show the T.I that is not all aggressive and hardcore. As I said, there is one high, followed by a low. “Cruisin” is the low, “Addresses” is the high. On “Adresses”, he definitely is going at a rapper...maybe Gucci Mane, if not, it is sure is someone from his city- ATL.

As I said in the beginning, even-though Trouble Man is meant to be about his troubled years, he is doing more of glorifying his past, than just narrating his story. And then, he has pockets of songs here and there where he really sticks to what the theme of the album is. Songs like “Wonderful” feat Akon, “Guns & Roses” feat. Pink, “Hallelujah”, and “Can You Learn” feat. R.Kelly get the message through. He definitely brought his "A" Game all through the album in terms of delivery and lyrics. Maybe a little re-arranging of the tracks on the album would make it a 5/5, but I will give it a strong 4.

You can check out the album here- T.I- Trouble Man

Hip-Hop Family Tree...Connecting the Dots

In this article, I plan to school the young Hip-Hop listeners that don't know that some of their favourite rappers have roots to some older rappers. This is really about connecting the dots with some of the rappers popping right now, and the older rap legends. Let's start with Kendrick Lamar- he has stated Kurupt, Ice Cube, Tupac, Eminem, Nas, and Lil Wayne as some of his influences. He signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records last year. Let's switch up from here- back in the 80s, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, The D.O.C, MC Ren, Eazy-E were in a rap group called N.W.A, which more or less opened the door for Gangsta Rap.

After the group broke up, they all went their separate ways and did their thing. Eazy-E did his solo thing, and also went on to sign, Bonethugz-N-Harmony, one of the most commercially successful rap groups in Hip Hop history.  Ice Cube went on to do his thing, and also form another rap group, Westside Connection with Mac 10 and WC. He also helped female rapper, Yo-Yo start her career. Dr. Dre went on to find Snoop Dogg, and their chemistry together gave birth to G Funk sound on the west. Dre also helped with Tupac's career. After falling out with Pac and Death Row Records, he went on to work with Nas, and put together a rap group; The Firm, back in 1996. The group consisted of Nas, AZ, Foxy Brown, and Cormega...Mega was later replaced with Nature.





You can see that Dr. Dre really has a legendary track-record. The Firm didn't do so well commercially, so the group was dismantled. And Dre went solo for a while, helping rappers and R&B acts with his legendary production, but never really working fully with anyone. And then he signed Eminem in 1998, and things have been popping for him since then. Eminem released his debut album in 1999, and The Slim Shady LP went on to sell 4 million copies. Eminem's second album, The Marshall Marthers LP was released the following year and sold 1.76 million copies in its first week...and went on to sell 10 million copies in the U.S. Eminem and Dr. Dre jointly signed 50 Cent to Shady Aftermath in 2002, and Dre, created another rap phenomenon. Dre also went on to sign Compton rapper, The Game to Aftermath records in 2003...and now, he has Kendrick.





50 Cent carried on tradition, and developed his own artists, Tony Yayo, Young Buck and Lloyd Banks who were also very successful at a point. Lets go to the East Coast- Jay-Z was once a protege of Big Daddy Kane in the early 90s, but Jay has gone on to birth a hundred other Jay-Z's. More rappers follow Jay-Z's footsteps than any other rapper in Hip-Hop history. Lets examine his family tree- he went from being with Jaz-O (in the late 80s), to being Big Daddy Kane's protege in the early 90s, to forming his own label (Rocafella Records) with Damon Dash and Kareem Biggs , to signing Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel, and Kanye West. Kanye West went on to sign Kid Cudi, John Legend, Common, Pusha T, Big Sean, and 2 Chainz. And he definitely influenced a lot of the rappers on the scene currently...Drake has stated Kanye as an influence many times.






So, you see that every rapper has roots connected to older rappers one way or the other. Who else is popping right now, Lil Wayne? Although from the south, he has stated many times that he was heavily influenced by Jay-Z. Who else?  During an interview, when Lupe was asked where he got the "fiasco" in his name from and he said he was heavily influenced by Nas, and liked the title of one of The Firm's (nas's group back in the mid 90s) songs titled Firm Fiasco, so he just picked the name from there. Nas got a lil bit of Rakim and also a lil bit of Slick Rick (the greatest story teller rapper) in him...Jay-Z got a lil bit of Big Daddy Kane in him. Raekwon, Big Pun, Mobb Deep, Nas, Jay-Z, Eminem, Big L and Fat Joe were all influenced by Kool G Rap. Eminem is one of the the greatest rappers in hip hop history, but he too has rappers he was influenced by. Ice T, Beastie Boys, Redman, LL Cool J, Esham and Master Ace influenced Em's style...all these names came directly from Eminem's mouth at one point or the other.





Every rapper has one influence or two; And, if you don't understand some old school rappers, note that they might be your favourite rapper's favourite rapper. Hip-Hop has evolved through the last three decades, but it is cool to note the fore-fathers, and how they have influenced the rappers of today.

MC Eiht Speaks On Collaboration With Kendrick Lamar

West coast rap legend, MC Eiht recently spoke on how he ended up on Kendrick Lamar's "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" album. He was featured on the M.A.A.D City track, and I have to say that that is one of the best songs on that whole album. The story telling, and creativity on the song is classic. For those that don't know him, he is from the early 90s, and he did some cool acting back in the days too...Menace 2 Society. It is great that Kendrick would get him on that album, it really gives Kendrick a good look in the eyes of fans of old school west coast rap. At 45, MC Eiht did a great job on the track.



Read up on how Kendrick Lamar got MC Eiht on "M.A.A.D City"



"Well, Kendrick’s the young generation. And I wasn’t really up on the young generation with Rap, because of the style and the direction they were headed—no realism in the music. So I wasn’t too keen on a lot of these newcomers. 

But, Kendrick reached out to me, through family members. So I thought from just that was respect. He coulda went and got anybody. C’mon, let’s face it, him being on Aftermath and affiliated with Dr. Dre, he coulda went and got Snoop, he coulda went and got Game or Quik or whoever. So, for him to come to me, I just felt [that respect]. 

When I talked to him about the direction of where he was trying to go with the song, and how he was saying his album was basically telling the story of his life in Compton, it was a perfect match. He was like, “When I thought about the song, and I thought about growing up in the city, the first thing people said was you need to get with Eiht. He’s a perfect storyteller. He ain’t never strayed off the path of realism in his records. He’s always represented Compton in that type of light.” So, we got in the studio, and he explained it to me, and then I just came up with my verse. And, it happened to be one of the best songs on his album. 

I appreciated that he came to me. ‘Cause, like I said, he coulda went anywhere but he came here. That was a significant stamp. Because, with him claiming Compton and saying I’m coming from Compton, people look at our type of music as [connected]. (hiphopdx.com)

It was a good look. It worked out good for both of us.

The Many Enemies Of Rick Ross

Yes, he was a correctional officer...yes, maybe he didn't sell that amount of cocaine he claims in his songs, yes, he is using someone else's name; but he definitely must be doing something right for him to still be around and be successful. The amount of enemies he has is really a testament to his success. If he wasn't successful, Freeway Ricky Ross would definitely not be taking him to court for the use of his name. If he was a broke rapper, 50 Cent wouldn't even have time to tweet about him every now and then. Regarding the fact that an attempt on Rick Ross's life was made on his birthday, Monday January 27, I would like to take time to examine his enemies.











His number one enemy right now is Freeway Ricky Ross, who Rick Ross got his name from. It is not unusual for rappers to adapt names of ex drug lords, or dead gangsters. 50 Cent borrowed his from a notorious thief of the 80s; Nore, Yo Gotti, Scarface, etc all use borrowed names. I think Freeway Ricky Ross has a genuine reason to go after Ross the rapper for using his name, but he is making it seem like Rick Ross used his name, and Poof! Money started falling out the sky. If that's the case, then Freeway of the old Rocafella Records would also be rich, because he also used Freeway Ricky Ross's name and identity. And for those that don't know the deal, Freeway Ricky Ross is an ex-drug lord from the 80s who is suing Rick Ross for using his name and identity to become a successful rapper.






Young Jeezy is another one of Rick Ross's enemies. But his case is just out of pure envy. Sorry to all the Young Jeezy fans out there, but this is the truth. What caused the beef? Ross made a song titled BMF (Blowing Money Fast), which also stands for Black Mafia Family. In the song, Ross shouted out Big Meach, the head of BMF. Jeezy had been associated with the Black Mafia Family in the past, and felt Ross had no right making a song about them, so he dropped his own version, dissing Rick Ross on it. And the funny thing is that, in the long run, Big Meach himself, and some other members of BMF said they had no problem with Ross shouting out- "I think I'm Big Meech..." They even went ahead to say that it was Jeezy they really had a problem with.





50 Cent is another enemy of Ross. Okay, maybe Ross started this by throwing some lines at 50 back in 2009 on his Mafia Music song. Ross claimed that 50 Cent looked at him somehow at an award show; maybe that is too childish to go at someone, but if you are dealing with 50, it definitely ain't childish. Remember 50 kicked Game out of G-Unit cos, during an unplanned for interview, Game was asked if he would like to work with Jadakiss and Nas in the future, and he said he would love to. He was also the one that started beefing with Fat Joe and Jadakiss cos they innocently made a song with Jarule. In fact, 50 has been known to start up trouble where there seemed to be none, so he really shouldn't be offended if someone goes at him. So, he and Ross went back and forth. 50 came with the comedy thing, and exposing Ross's past, Ross just stuck to making good music, and we know how that turned out.







The Gangsters Disciple are on Ross's ass right now cos they feel he doesn't have the right to say some things in his songs based on the life he lives, and cos they feel he used their star-like logo in his Black Bahmitzvah mixtape that is similar to their logo. There are videos on Youtube where they warn him not to come to North Carolina, or suffer the consequences. They want him to make some payments and so so, but I think that is not even a good enough reason for extortion.





And the last but not the list on the list of Rick Ross enemies are the one million and one bloggers online. Men! The level of hate Ross gets from Jeezy and 50 Cent fans online is pretty alarming. Every Ross story usually have like 200 comments, and about 190 of the comments are hate comments.  But they are not really the issue right now, we are trying to find out who would hate Ross so much as to want him dead. I know Suge Knight is in a way associated with Freeway Ricky Ross, and he doesn't like Ross one bit. And I remember an interview where Freeway Ricky said that Suge had one time asked him if he could deal with the Rick Ross situation the gangsta way, and that he had to stop Suge from going on. My theory is this- Suge really has nothing working for him at this time and i think he definitely could have organized this... I mean, not with the intention of killing Ross, but of just scaring him...like sending a warning shot. Ross's Phantom didn't have any bullet holes in it, so it definitely was just a warning shot.






So, why do all these people hate Rick Ross so much- the answer is that it annoys them that he can be so successful doing what they feel is fake. Okay, let me examine this. Jeezy and 50 Cent fans always say this in all their attacks against Rick Ross- "How can Rick Ross be untop if none of his albums ever go plat?" That is a serious question, and I am going to use it against them. It is not possible for a gold selling rapper to have the kind of money Ross has. I am not saying he is as rich as 50 Cent...far from that. But he is currently worth $50 million, his Miami home cost him $5 million, he owns a Maybach 62, a Lamborghini Murcielago, Ferrari 458 Italia, 2 Rolls Royce Phantoms and a dozen other cars. Selling Gold definitely doesn't afford you the luxury of living this kind of life, so he definitely must be a real business man. He never really claimed to be a nickel and dime drug dealer, he always claimed to be a Boss.

Rap Albums On Billboard Chart

Below are the top selling rap albums on the Billboard chart this week. The numbers that appear first represent what the album sold this week, while the numbers in bracket represent total sales so far of the album.

*A$AP Rocky- Long Live A$AP- 38,000 (177,000)

*Macklemore & Ryan Lewis- The Heist- 19,000 (292,000)

*Kendrick Lamar- "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City"- 18,000 (675,000)

*T.I- Trouble Man: Heavy Is Head- 15,000 (346,000)

*Wiz Khalifa- O.N.I.F.C- 8,300 (298,000)

*2 Chainz- Based On A T.R.U Story- 6,000 (515,000)

*Chief Keef- Finally Rich- 5,300 (111,000)

*Game- Jesus Piece- 5,300 (182,000)

*Future- Pluto- 3,700 (262,000)

*Big Boi- Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumours- 1,900 (61,000)

Tony Yayo Says- "G-Unit Was Better When We Were Broke"

G-Unit member, Tony Yayo says the Unit was better when they were broke. Hmm! That sounds funny to me. Maybe, he means their relationship was better when they were broke, but no one should want to remain without money in any venture they embark on.




Read his words below-

"You know what's crazy? It's like when we didn't have any money, things were better," explained the man who 50 Cent once said was taken care of in his will in an interview with MTV News. "When everybody got money, it's like things just went downhill, so it's like, I dunno, egos," he surmised.

Though Fif recently shot down the idea of a reunion, Yayo viewed it more positively. "I would love to see a G-Unit reunion. I would love to see me, Banks and 50 definitely onstage."

Yayo remained adamant that not having wealth was extremely pertinent to G-Unit's early unity. "When we were broke, and we didn't have a pot to piss in, we were all callin' each other's phones and that's the thing that just upsets me the most, and it makes me just want to say, 'Fuck Rap.'" he said.

"Loyalty is my biggest thing. 50 helped all of us eat. We all had mansions; we all had Bentleys; so if Fif is in a bad mood or feels a certain way that day, you just eat that. You learn to judge your friends for who they are."

I think the problem is that 50 Cent built his empire in a way that his associates would be dependent on him for everything, and it didn't give them chance to grow on their own (that's why Game would never have lasted in G-Unit anyway). So, now that he is tired of doing everything for them, and they are not really built to do their own solo thing successfully, he sees them as baggage. 50 cent has gone on air several times in the last couple of months to blast Yayo and Lloyd Banks for their laziness, so it is obvious he is really frustrated with the fact that they are not as successful as they could be...and this has affected their relationship. But I am sure, if Yayo especially goes on and does his independent grind successfully, he would be back on good terms with them. 

And for those that don't know, G-Unit started off with just Tony Yayo, 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks; Young Buck joined the team when Yayo was in jail, and The Game's deal with G-Unit was more like a partnership with 50 and Dre. Game was directly signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records, and they believed that Game could rise higher in the music industry riding the buzz G-Unit had at the time.

Freeway Ricky Ross Speaks On Rick Ross Shooting

Early Monday morning, Rick Ross was a target of a drive-by shooting, but he managed to get away from the shooter, which ended up in him crashing his Rolls Royce into a near-by building. Ex-drug dealer, Freeway Ricky Ross whose name Ross has been using had this to say about the incidence-









"I'm not surprised that it happened given recent ongoings, when someone doesn't understand the street rules they get confused and incidents like this can take place," he said. "I'm still dealing with ongoing litigation about something as basic as using my name and identity, that should have been dealt with properly a long time ago. We covered it in more depth in the Power of the Name Rick Ross piece." "Freeway" Ricky Ross plans to take the rapper and Warner Bros. Records to court this August in the continuing fight over his name. He previously explained that the Maybach Music Group leader has "exploited and misused [his name] since he went to prison" and "made millions off [of it]." (HHDX)






Ross definitely has many enemies...50 Cent, the real Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, and a million and one bloggers...but no man should wish death on another man over trivial things like the use of a name, or painting pictures with his raps of a life he might not have lived.

Top 10 R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Below are the top 10 R&B/Hip-Hop songs on Billboard chart this week-

10. All Gold Everything- Trinidad James

9.  Adorn- Miguel

8.  Clique- Kanye West, Jay-Z, Big Sean

7.  I'm Different- 2 Chainz

6.  Swimming Pools (Drank)- Kendrick Lamar

5.  Fuckin Problems- A$AP Rocky

4.  Girl On Fire- Alicia Keys feat. Nicki Minaj

3.  Diamonds- Rihanna

2.  Suite & Tie- Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z

1.  Thrift Shop- Maclemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz

Kendrick Lamar Speaks On Rappers That Influenced Him

A lot of the up and coming rappers of this time were influenced by older rappers from the 90s and the early 2000s, and Kendrick Lamar is no exception. Below is who and who he says influenced his rap style-



"I'm probably more West Coast influenced," he said. "[I'm] a little bit Kurupt, 'Pac, and some content of [Ice] Cube…I think it's really just the West Coast influence, truthfully. I come up under Dre and under Snoop. Just listening to them over the years, it's really just that melodic feel that I could never escape."








Personally, if you would ask me, I would say Kendrick is more of a mix of Andre 3,000, Eminem and Lil Wayne...maybe you can add a little Kurupt in there, and a lil Nas for story-telling skills, but he doesn't sound anything like Ice Cube to me. He might just have been trying to big-up his coast.

Nas Possibly Planning Business With Facebook Founder (Mark Zuckerberg)

According to Steve Stoute, who was Nas's manager for most part of the 90s and early 2000s, Nas would always pass-up any ad or business that would make him extra popular. That was then, right now, Nas has fully embraced the business world. He has made some major business moves in the last couple of years. And, over the weekend, he was seen having dinner with Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook Founder) and Ben Horowitz (Billionaire Venture Capitalist)...they definitely must be talking some type of business.







Read 50 Cent's Thisis50 website's take on the event-

The dinner table talk between the three has yet to surface, however, one can assume if your eating with billionaires that money is sure to come up.


All outsiders can do at this point is speculate that Nas may be preparing to have some involvement in Facebook, the social media site that Mark owns and that Ben made a nice investment in through his big league firm Andreessen Horowitz.


Not to mention, this is not Ben's first encounter with Nas. The investor posted a picture with the rapper at Rap Genius function last July. According to YBF, the hip-hop lyric decoder site is a focus to Ben's firm. To top it off he is known to have a cool repertoire with Jay-Zand Steve Stoute.

Rick Ross Escapes Drive-By Shooting On Birthday

Breaking news out right now is that Rick Ross was almost assassinated drive-by style this morning. He had been out celebrating his 37th birthday, and on his way back home in his Rolls Royce, a car drove up and fired shots at Ross's car. The driver of his Phantom had to swerve to avoid the multiple shots, and ended up crashing into a building. I know he has made a few enemies. The GD's (Gangsters Disciples) threatened his life in a video that went viral online a couple of months ago. And the real Rick Ross (the ex drug dealer Ross borrowed his name from) has always said that he has had to stop street guys from getting involved in their legal issue.

Fort Lauderdale Police are investigating after a shooting led to a Rolls Royce crashing into an apartment building Monday morning.

Police officials say shots were fired around 5 a.m. in the area of Southeast 15th Avenue and E. Las Olas Boulevard

The Rolls Royce was traveling eastbound on Las Olas when another vehicle opened fire on it, police said.

When the Rolls tried to get away, it crashed into the building at 311 Southeast 15th Avenue. Neither of the two people inside were injured, police said.

Police are still looking for the gunman or gunmen.

The names of the victims inside the Rolls weren't being released because they're in fear for their lives, police said. Witnesses said rapper Rick Ross was inside the Rolls. (NBC Miami Reports)

So, who was responsible for this? The GD's? Or some of the real Rick Ross's associates? This might have just been a warning shot. They probably didn't plan to take his life. I know he won the case against the real Rick Ross last year...Freeway Rick Ross had taken Rick Ross the rapper to court for using his name and lifestyle to become a successful rapper. He feels he deserves a cut from all the millions Ross is making from using his name. Success definitely breeds enemies.

Top 10 Rap Songs On Billboard Chart

Below are the top 10 rap songs on Billboard chart this week-




10. No Worries- Lil wayne feat. Detail

9.  All Gold Everything- Trinidad James

8.  Clique- Kanye West, Jay-Z, Big Sean

7.  Gangnam Style- PSY

6.  I'm Different- 2 Chainz

5.  Swimming Pools (Drank)- Kendrick Lamar

4.  Don't Stop The Party- Pitbull feat. TJR

3.  Fuckin Problems- A$AP Rocky

2.  I Cry- Flo Rida

1.  Thrift Shop- Macklemore and Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz

Chris Brown And Frank Ocean In A Fight Outside L.A Studio

Yesterday night, Chris Brown and Frank Ocean got into a fight while Breezy was about living a studio in L.A. They had some not so cool words for each other on twitter a couple of years back, so this should not come as a shocker. Read the more on the story below-




Chris Brown was involved in an all-out brawl with Frank Ocean Sunday night, and sources connected with Chris insist Ocean started it.

Chris was at Westlake Studio in the L.A. area listening to one of the artists he represents.  The sources say as Chris went to leave, Frank Ocean and his crew blocked Chris from leaving. The sources say Frank said, "This is my studio, this is my parking spot."

We're told Chris went to shake Frank's hand ... and that's when one of Frank's people attacked Chris.  Sources connected with Chris say one of Chris' friends jumped in front and hit Frank's friend.

Sources connected with Chris say Frank then came at Chris ... Chris pushed him away and they started brawling. (tmz.com)


And below is a tweet from Frank Ocean speaking on the fight-

I will keep you updated as more news on this comes in.

A Burna Boy Interview

Okay, I didn't conduct the interview. lol! A friend of a friend of my brother brought this magazine titled The Scene to my house and I saw the interesting interview in there, and decided to put it up here. Hope you enjoy the read. By the way, if you don't know, Burna Boy was the hottest new artist in Nigeria last year. His mellow style caught everyone off-guard...very different from the normal dance-hall style that is the common sound here.









Check out the interview below. "Q" stands for Question, and "A" stands for Answer.


Q- Tell us about the name "Burna Boy"

A- Where the name came from? Basically, I like cartoon super heroes, I just thought to go with a more comic kind of name. You know there is Spiderman, Superman and all that with their super powers. So, I'm Burna Boy and my power is music.

Q- What inspires your musical style?

A- My environment. I try to defer myself; I try to set the trends instead of following it. My genre of music is afro-fusion. I call it that because I fuse a lot of genre's into one and deliver my message.

Q- How has your popularity over the last few months been for you?

A- It has been great for me; I wont say I didn't expect it because I worked hard for it. You can only work so hard, but God is the only one that guarantees anything, that's why I give all praise to him. It has been great.

Q- What's your real name?

A- My name is Damini Ogulu

Q- Where are you from?

A- I come from Port Harcourt, River state. The south side of Nigeria, I'm repping PH.

Q- Tell us about your background.

A- I basically grew up in Port Harcourt; was born in Port Harcourt, went to a primary school in Port Harcourt, I then moved to Lagos for secondary education: then I went to London for a long period of time.

Q- What inspired you to go into music?

A- I've always wanted to do music, even back to my primary school days, my mates would be singing nursery rhymes and I'll stand on the table singing "Hip-Hop Hurray." So, it has been in me for a long time to do music.

Q- How do you relate with your fans?

A- I try to relate with them as much as I can. I try to get their views through social media. I connect as much as I can with my fans every day.

Q- What should your fans be expecting from you soon?

A- The video of my new single, Tonight. The album will also be out soon, a few other videos will drop. Just expect a takeover.

Q- If you had the opportunity to work with any foreign artiste, who would it be?

A- I have a long list, but I'll just mention five and they are: Stevie Wonder, then Colly Buzz, Meek Mill, Kendrick Lamar, Adele, definitely Adele.

Q- What are your favourite things you do in your spare time?

A- I like to hangout, see the view, and just try to get that inspiration. Other than that, I play basketball.

Q- Describe your ideal girl.

A- I don't believe their is any such thing as an ideal girl.

Q- Your favourite song at the moment?

A- Adele's song in the new 007 Skyfall movie, Adam Levine...

Q- Where are your favourite spots in Lagos?

A- I like the beach a lot, Oniru and Elegushi.

Q- What inspires the way you dress, why yours is different?

A- I try to set my own trends, I don't want to go on stage and everyone would be like they have seen someone wearing the same clothes somewhere else. So, I dress in a way no one else will want to dress.

Q- Do you write your own lyrics?

A- Of cos I do. The funny thing is that I don't really write on paper. I just go to the boot and just drop. It is like an angel just dropped a message and asked me to deliver it. It's crazy.

Q- When it comes to beats and producing, is there anything in particular that you can change?

A- I would be cool to get the high Usher kind of voice thing but other than, I would not change my voice.

Q- What do you think about Nigerian music now?

A- Honestly, I don't really know what is going on because I am not current with stuff from the music industry, but from what I can remember, the hype has been crazy...everybody has been gingered. You can actually tell from the music that there is a lot going on there.

Q- Would you like to work with any Nigerian artiste?

A- I have worked with a few artistes already, but I feel collaborations should be done for one reason or the other. Either you have it from the foundation, or he can offer amazing sounds. I have had the privilege of working with Shank, Sauce Kid, etc and it has been crazy.

Some Hip Hop Facts You Might Not Know

Yep! It's Saturday again, and below are 11 Hip-Hop facts you might not know.







11.  Fat Joe booked Biggie's first paid show in the Bronx back in the early 90s.

10.  Big Pun was the first Latin rapper to go multi-platinum.












9.  Royce Da 5'9 ghost-wrote "The Message" for Dr. Dre on his Chronic 2001 album; Dre's second album, which dropped in 1999.









11. Sisqo had always been rumoured to be Gay, but the stories weren't confirmed until his well-built boyfriend came to see him backstage after a show in 2000, and they ended up in a lip-lock. Lil Kim narrated the story recently, saying- “Man, I seen some weird shit in this game. One of the illest shit I’ve ever seen was when Sisqo was taken out of Missy’s dressing room by a gladiator gay dude. We all saw them kissing. Sisqo didn’t give a fuck, he made out with his macho man boyfriend in front of everybody.

If we had IPhones back then, these Nicca’s would be finished.”

10. Tupac's track, Me & My Girlfriend, which was about a gun, was inspired by Nas's "I Gave You Power" song. According to Young Noble of the Outlawz, Tupac heard ‘I Gave You Power’ in a studio out in North Hollywood in the Summer of 1996 and was amazed at the creativity and power of the track, and was inspired to make "Me & My Girlfriend."

7.  Ludacris still drives his old 1992 Acura Legend because it helps him go to public places without being noticed.



5.  Tupac had sex with all the girls in his "How Do You Want It" video. He even said that he almost fainted.




4.  The late Big Pun was a star athlete in his youth. After he got rich off the streets, he wanted to enjoy the life he had missed out, and started eating too much till he became obese.








3.  KRS One decided to become a rapper after he was picked on and dissed by a rapper while he was watching a rap battle. He felt so bad that the rapper had used his torn up jeans in his battle rap, and from that day, he put his heart into becoming a rapper.







2.  For the 27 years Dr. Dre has been in the music industry, he has only spent 2 weeks out of the studio: he literally lives in the studio...TRUE STORY.




1.  Tupac has released more albums after his death than while alive- he released 4 while alive, and 6 posthumous.

Rihanna Goes Double Platinum Globally With Her "Unapologetic" Album

Two months after releasing her 7th album, Unapologetic, and it has already sold over 2 million copies worldwide. I guess her 777 tour paid off. Around the time the album dropped back in November last year, she embarked on a world tour, touching 7 cities around North America and Europe- she kicked off the tour in Mexico City (Mexico), and then flew over to Toronto (Canada) the next day, and then Stockholm (Sweden), and then Paris (France), Berlin (Germany), London (UK), and ended the tour in New York City (U.S). 7 cities in 7 days for her 7th album.

She pretty much has given her life to music the last couple of years, so I don't care about her personal life, and all the bullshit people talk about. I just appreciate her music. Please note that the album has sold 610,000 copies in the U.S, but is globally at 2,058,000 sold.

First Week Global Sales Of A$AP Rocky's "Long Live A$AP Album

A$AP Rocky dropped his first official studio album last week Tuesday, and after a full week in stores legally, it sold 139,000 copies in the U.S. This was considered a great achievement cos the album had already leaked online since early December. But, what I consider a greater achievement is him selling 168,000 copies Globally, making Long Live A$AP the number one album in the world this week. This must mean he really has a worldwide following, cos rappers rarely sell internationally.


Congrats to A$AP and his crew, his grind really paid off. And he must have some really loyal fans. Check out the tracklist of the album below-

01. Long Live A$AP -Produced by Jim Jonsin for Rebel Rock & Rico Love for Division1  and Co-Produced by Finatik & Zac for Rebel Rock & Frank Romano for Rebel Rock & LORD FLACKO
02. Goldie-Produced by Hit-Boy for Hit-Boy Music, Inc.
03. PMW (All I Really Need) feat. Schoolboy Q- Produced by T-Minus, Co-Produced by Nikhil Seetharam
04. LVL- Produced by Clams Casino
05. Hell feat. Santigold- Produced by Clams Casino
06. Pain feat. OverDoz- Produced by Soufien 3000
07. F**kin’ Problems feat. Drake, 2 Chainz & Kendrick Lamar- Produced by Noah “40” Shebib & C. Papi for Evdon Music, Inc.
08 .Wild For The Night feat. Skrillex- Produced by Birdy Nam Nam & Skrillex - Remixed by Skrillex & LORD FLACKO
09. 1Train feat. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson & Big K.R.I.T.- Produced by Hit-Boy for Hit-Boy Music/Very Good Beats
10. Fashion Killa-Produced by Hector Delgado, Friendzone & LORD FLACKO
11. Phoenix-Produced by Danger Mouse
12. Suddenly- Produced by LORD FLACKO, Hector Delgado & A$AP Ty Beats

DELUXE EDITION TRACKS

13. Jodye- Produced by Joey Fatts & LORD FLACKO
14. Ghetto Symphony feat. Gunplay & A$AP Ferg- Produced by V Don for Hebrew Hustle, Inc. & LORD FLACKO
Additional Production by Jonathan “MP” Williams for ReeLife Music
15. Angels- Produced by Amsterdam for Square Off Music
16. I Come Apart feat. Florence Welch- Produced by Emile Haynie & Amanda Ghost