New Music: Music (Full Effex feat. Paybac, FrankyRose & Cobby)

Full Effex just dropped a new mixtape (Signal of Distress), and this is one of my favorites off the tape. This one got Full Effex featuring another dope rapper, Paybac, and singers, FrankyRose & Cobby. The song is titled Music. Give it a listen below.

Diddy Disses Jay Z

People keep saying Hip Hop is meant to be competitive; I don't know about that. If so, then it stops being a form of art in my books, because art is not birthed out of competition. What I see in Hip Hop is the fact that because majority of its very successful artist have always been braggadocio with their lyrics, it makes it look like Hip Hop should always be competitive. And also, the fact that most black people (who make up majority of artists in Hip Hop) envy any of their black brothers who happens to be getting ahead of them, makes the subject of competition seem normal in Hip Hop. I wont say that is the case with Diddy, but I know he directed the lines below to Jay Z because he feels some sort of way about Jay.





"Fuck you wanna talk about?
Fucking jewelries and Bentley's and Hublot's. And fucking art that niggas ain't got on their fucking walls."
(Diddy's lyrics off his Interlude on Rick Ross's Nobody song.)








Jay Z and Hublot Watches have a partnership for a special edition watches- Shawn Carter By Hublot, so Diddy is most likely talking to Jay Z with this line. And of cos, Jay Z made Picasso Baby, a song about art he doesn't have on his wall. This is definitely a slick shot at Jay Z. It was perfectly done so that only few people will catch it, but rappers always catch stuff like that, so I know Jay got it. Jay Z also raps a lot about Warhols and Basquiats...art he most definitely doesn't have on his wall.

Nas Says Hip Hop Is Alive

I remember Nas and his 'Hip Hop is Dead' campaign from 2006...8 years has passed and Nas believes Hip Hop is alive and well. Well, I also thought Hip Hop was going the wrong direction with all the snap music that became main stream in the mid 2000's, but I think things have improved greatly in the last couple of years. Last year was a great year for hiphop- Pusha T, Jay Z, J Cole, Kanye West, and Drake all dropped dope albums.


Peep what Nas had to say about Hip in 2014, during a recent interview with Bossip.



"It's going where it's supposed to be going in 2014. It's going in a great direction, Mac Miller is my man. Who's killing it now? Drake.Kendrick. J. Cole. It's a couple good fellas out there that I'm feeling." 










Well, I don't know about Mac Miller, cos I haven't really given his music a chance, but the other people he mentioned are doing great things for Hip Hop.

Scott Storch Speaks on Working With Fat Joe Again

There was a time beat-maker/producer, Scott Storch was making constant bangers with rappers. From Fat Joe's Lean Back, to Ja Rule's Clap Back, to Lil Kim's Lighters Up. He was associated with countless hit songs in the mid 2000's. But I think the person he made the most number of hits with was Fat Joe...Joe actually thought up the plan of making Storch blow up by shouting his name out on tracks, which made people check for him more. Unfortunately, Joe and Scott ain't where they used to be in the music scene. Scott Storch went from millionaire beat-maker in the mid 2000's, to a drug addict that lost everything he had. And Fat Joe just hasn't been able to keep up with the times lately. In a recent interview, Scott Storch spoke on getting into the studio with Fat Joe again.

"One of the things that I'm really looking forward to is getting back and working with my brother Fat Joe. I just talked to him over the [winter] holiday and he's anxious and excited to get back in and we're both in a good place now. I always have good luck with Joe. Lightning has struck quite a few times in the same place -- Joe's got a great ear [for music] too." ("Mikey T The Movie Star")

Dr. Dre Says He Never Listens to His Music After They are Released

The legendary producer/rapper that has helped out more rappers than can be counted says he doesn't listen to his music after they leave the lab. Hmm! Interesting. Read what he had to say about this below...and also about his process of music making.





"I’ve gone seventy-nine hours without sleep, creating. When that flow is going, it’s almost like a high. You don’t want it to stop. You don’t want to go to sleep for fear of missing something...I don’t even listen to the records after they come out. It’s outlawed in my house. My wife and my kids can’t play any of my music around me. Once it comes out, for me, it’s just business. Numbers."




That's interesting.There are non-fiction books I have written that I never read after they were published on Amazon, but I always like to read my fiction books after I am done with them. Maybe cos I write for my pleasure as much as for the pleasure of external readers. Anyway, maybe Dre is into so much that he doesn't want to be caught living in the past. Once he bangs-out a beat, or a song, it is off to the next one.

Drake Is Tired Of All The Emotional Jabs

It seems all the jokes on blogs and social media sites of Drake being too emotional is really getting to him. In a recent interview on Q Radio, while speaking on his latest album (Nothing Was The Same) he delved into the matter of the constant comments people make of him being too emotional.











"There's a victorious sentiment behind it, you know? I think the most important thing to understand about this record is the sentiment. I'm 26, working as hard as I possibly can with my friends that I grew up with, making my family happy. I'm so sick of people saying that I'm lonely and emotional, associating me with this longing for a woman. I hate that, man. It bothers me so much, because I do make music that feels something but I'm actually not that guy in real life. I'm a happy person. I make my music for the purpose of driving at nighttime." 






Hmm! I don't know, but his songs really do sound pretty personal. What can I say...It is obvious Drake is a pretty emotional person, and operating in a genre of music where anything that is not about being the alpha male is considered weak and unwanted, so Drake will always be made fun off. He needs to just ignore the talk, and focus on making music. He would only make it worse by speaking on the issue. As long as his albums keep selling millions, which means he has real life fans. He needs not worry about people that have no life outside the WWW.

R&B Is Dead

I can boldly say that, in 2013, R&B genre of music is dead. A couple of years ago, some rappers were all over the campaign that Hip Hop is Dead. I don't think Hip Hop ever died, it just evolved. Things can't stay the same forever. I am a big lover of rap music, and even I don't think Hip Hop ever died. Taken, I really didn't like the whole trap music dominance of the 2000s, but those rappers still had the elements of hip hop (Dance, Rap...) in their music. But with R&B, you have singers like Usher and Ne-Yo, who people see as flag bearers of R&B making euro-pop music.





Nowadays, I can't even differentiate between all of Ne-Yo's new hits; they all sound the same. Since he made that song with Pitbull, it has been no-going-back for him. He might currently sell huge with singles, but his album sales have dwindled. I remember his album that had Miss Independence, I think it's called Year Of The Gentleman; that was a pure R&B album. He had different sounds on their, but it was still straight up R&B. And you have Usher, who got a diamond plaque from doing straight up R&B music (with the Confessions album), now doing the electro/pop sound. These are some of the people that the masses associate with R&B, so if they are nolonger doing that, or have totally fused it with euro pop sound to make something else, then there is no more R&B. It's good people like Trey Songz are still repping that real R&B tho.







I think people like Frank Ocean and Miguel, and maybe The Weekend are even making purer R&B than some of the people that were here before them. Thank God for people like that, and Thank God for people like Brandy, R.Kelly, Kelly Rowland and Keyshia Cole that still make good R&B music. But the problem is that their album sales keep dwindling. Beyonce is still selling big, but that's just one person. And she has a crazy fanbase that will stand with her through whatever experimenting she does with music. Back in the 90s, and even early 20002, R&B songs rocked the parties, but now it is either rap songs, or electro-pop songs. You hardly hear R&B songs on radio anymore. Even Chris Brown is guilty of the whole electro-pop thing right now.







Maybe I should say R&B is dead in mainstream, cos there are still some people making pure R&B- Melanie Fiona, Jhene Aiko and the likes, but they are just in the background. I have a feeling things will turn around again. It might not be like it was in the 90s, but it will be better than it currently is. People like Miguel and Frank Ocean will bring R&B back to the mainstream.

Michelle Obama Speaks On Music She Listens To

I know Barack Obama has spoken about having a bunch of Jay-Z songs on his Ipod, now Michelle Obama has let the world know what she listens to. She said she gets a lot of pointers on music from her daughters.





"They don't really listen to us," Michelle said when asked if she gives her kids musical suggestions. "They try to hip us to stuff, you know, I learned about Elle Varner because ofMalia and they like Frank Ocean, we are Beyoncé devotes. But there's some music that they'll tell us, 'I think the music is too rough for you.' I'm like, 'Really?' ... They don't allow us to just listen to anything. They're looking out for our well-being." ("Late Night with Jimmy Fallon") 








It's cool to see Frank Ocean getting some love.

Q-Tip Signs To Kanye's G.O.O.D Music Label

It's official, legendary producer, Q-Tip has signed to Kanye West's G.O.O.D Music label...check out his statement on the issue below-



"I'm excited to be a part of the great iconic Def Jam label," said Q-Tip. "I'm humbled to be a part of such a storied history. To reconnect with Barry Weiss is a great thing. As far as G.O.O.D. Music, I'm excited to solidify my working relationship with Kanye, and I look forward to all the opportunities that lie ahead in our partnership. I will do my best to present the most cutting edge music I can." (Statement)


I think that is a great connection...great minds equals great music.