The Hip-Hop Herald 05.07.09: Wayne And Birdman Sitting In A Tree...

Posted by Patrick Robinson on 05.07.2009

This week, a Jay-Z concert loses big money, Young Jeezy's concert is stopped because of the flu, 50 Cent is found innocent, Birdman digs a deeper hole for himself and Maino suffers a small breakdown. Plus: A discussion of Modern Day Classics, Eminem's latest work and a minor rant on Blu

This marks the first week that I haven't inadvertently deleted some of my own stuff! It's a good feeling to be honest, one backed up by the fact that I made a conscious effort to rip the CDs I've bought recently into iTunes. From 17 or whatever it was, I'm down to 1…although I've since bought another 5 so I suppose I'm not making a great deal of progress in the end. But hey, you don't come here for this first bit do you? I really only ramble on here to make sure I don't go completely crazy.

You know, one day I'll actually listen to all the music I have, watch every DVD I own, and get around to finishing those Wii games I've bought and have played approximately 30 minutes of. I'm constantly complaining about being broke when it comes to having to pay off the yearly car insurance, but it really is a self-imposed broke-ness that plagues me.

BAH.

Reader Feedback
(May be edited for spelling, grammar etc.)

"These tracklists don't mean shit until the album drops. Remember back when Encore was out they were saying DMX was gunna be on the album. And there was gunna be another Obie Trice song with just him and Eminem" - shaydee

Usually I don't trust tracklists I see on the net, but HipHopDX 9 times out of 10 get the right ones. As someone pointed out to me on our forums here, all the rumored collaborations, expected tracks (a D12 cut etc.) are probably going to appear on Relapse 2 due out at the end of the year. Something else someone brought up was the excessive leakage of material for Encore as well, an issue I've overlooked in recent times, plus Em's rhymebook was stolen as well I think.

Anyway, that really has nothing to do with anything at the moment, but basically, I think we can trust this tracklist for the time being. Speaking of rumored collaborations though, what about the T.I. one? I'm looking forward to that one especially.

"First off pretty much ALL rappers have Stans.

This week is Jay-Z. Now if you read my post the way I did, you'll probably think I'm an angry fan. I'm not. I usually don't whine as much as I did with the Eminem comments."

Nah I know where you're coming from 100% It's unbelievably annoying to listen to people prattle on like Rapper A or Rapper B are the greatest things to happen to hip-hop since Rakim when if you take a step back and look at the rapper properly, you'll realize that they're still a talented artist, but they have their flaws. I mean, even happily married couples acknowledge their partner's flaws; it's a fact of life.

"Anyway let's get start with Jay-Z:

The Good:
He's witty: Even on his worst album you can find at least 10 good quotes.

Top notch flow: I think that Jay-Z can rap to any beat. No matter what it is. If a producer sampled the Lion King song he'll make it a hit.

Marketing: Jay-Z strongest attribute ability to market himself. Of course he did run Roc-a-Fella with Dame Dash and ran Def Jam for a couple years. And now that he's a business man instead of a hustler he should be of the few rappers able to go platinum."

Jay's pretty quotable you're right, and I think that's helped by the fact that he has quite an impeccable flow. Well, if we forget about Kingdom Come and that horror that was "Show Me What You Got" (seriously, that was a pretty dope Blaze beat that Jay had no idea what to do with). Jay's strongest attribute in my opinion has always been his flow and the fact that he's used predominantly different ones for each album.

Now Jay-Z and business in hip-hop are two words that to me, are becoming synonymous with each other. As I've said many times, including outside ventures, Jay is probably the most commercially successful hip-hop artist of all time. Unfortunately for him, that's one major criticism that's been aimed his way many, many times by Def Jam artists who were under his care during his time as President there, in that he doesn't know how to market other artists apart from himself.

Truth be told, there is a fair amount of evidence for an argument as such, but since I didn't really know the internal workings of Def Jam, I'll refrain from passing judgment. Still, you're right about going Platinum. I think Jay is the only artist who's released more than…5 albums with every one of them going Platinum. Even the collaboration ‘album' with Linkin Park which amounted to a grand total of 6 songs went Platinum, and is probably one of the best examples you can use for Jay's cross-over ability and his own ability to market himself. Collision Course went Platinum in 8 different countries (different countries award Platinum at different levels, it's not all 1 million like it is in the United States), and Gold (same deal) in another 5.

"The Bad
He's not consistent AT ALL: He debuts with Reasonable Doubt, then his next 3 album are "meh". Then he releases Blueprint which is good (not classic "Girls, Girls, Girls" prevents that) and then releases Blueprint 2 which is probably his WORST album yet. Black Album was okay-ish his return album was wack and American Gangster is probably his third best album. That's 3 great albums out of 9. That's a pretty bad track record.

Like Em, Jay isn't a terrible rapper by any means but he is the second most overrated rapper ever.

And mind you every rapper I target I like, but they're not as great as people make them out to be, IMO." - Jesuszilla son of Godzilla

When it comes down to it, the main factor holding Jay back from G.O.A.T. discussions based solely on his discography is of course, his glaring inconsistency. He's got a certified Classic in Reasonable Doubt, but everything else is either ‘damn good', ‘above average' or ‘uh…' And THANK YOU for acknowledging "Girls, Girls, Girls" as most people conveniently overlook it when they proclaim its ‘Classic' status.

Agreed 100% on your last point too. I have a lot of love for rappers I criticize, mainly BECAUSE I have a great deal of respect for their skills, and it pisses me off to see them dicking around or lauding themselves as the G.O.A.T.

"The fact the Lil Wayne is as big and as popular as he is speaks volumes about the low intelligence of the music listening world. His raps don't make a fucking bit of sense, and why the fuck does he have to do his stupid laugh after everything he says on a track. ehh-ha! The only reason people are so high on him is because he has over-exposed himself to the point that everyone just assumes he is that great. I fucking can't stand him. Makes me sad to see what has become of rap since the Biggie and 2-Pac days." - BLACK

Ah don't lump EVERYONE into that category though hahaha. But I agree, for some reason, we've come to accept increasingly mediocre music as the new standard. It's like, albums that would have gotten 3 Mics or less in The Source, are now getting 3.5 – 4s in some unholy cases. Don't get me started on Lil Kim's album either, we'll be here all day.

The thing I like about some of Wayne's songs, is that very reason – they don't make any sense whatsoever, and it's funny because it SOUNDS like he's trying to be incredibly profound or brilliant, but comes off as someone writing a sentence in Microsoft Word, then hitting the Thesaurus button for every single word in that sentence. The result is something that once made sense, but is now unintelligible. I think my favorite Wayne tracks were on Da Drought 3 because no joke, combined with the total lack of coherency on some of them, he sounds high as a damn kite to boot. Freaking hilarious for all the wrong reasons.

Oh man, if you get sick of that laugh, if you haven't heard "Holla At Me" from DJ Khaled's first album, you'll want to strangle him after hearing it. He adlibs SOMETHING after EVERY SINGLE LINE he raps in his verse. Most of them amount to mushy sounding noises that a baby would make like ‘urk' or ‘weheh' or ‘yi' etc. Once I realized that, I can't listen to that song with a straight face anymore. Someone go YouTube it if you're bored because it'll provide a couple of minute's entertainment to say the least.


Still, my favorite ‘what-if' game to play is of course, ‘What If Biggie and Pac hadn't died?' That's definitely a topic for another day though. Or next week.

"Patrick- Bosko is a Singer/Producer/Songwriter. He has done stuff with Kanye, Big Boi, T.I., E-40, etc. etc... He Just put out a solo CD this month. It's a hot Hip-Hop/Soul mixture. I just bought & loved it! Found it on BoskoLive.com. He did this "talk box" version of "Love in this Club" that I read about in Fader Mag & heard on Myspace.com/Superproducerbosko. It's FIRE!!!" - Bosko Fan

Once again, my readers have proven to be the most helpful on 411Mania. I'll check out more of Bosko's work now I know who he is. I overplayed "Love In This Club" a little for myself, so I'll check it out at some point in the near future though.

"ay Pat i read every week. I don't know if you remember me from last summer, I gave you a link to some music me and my friend did. I have another link to some more music if you're interested

www.sendspace.com/file/4mlzdq
Snacks & Juice.

keep up the work, digit" - Joe

Awwwww crap Joe man I'm so sorry. I forgot all about that last year! I think that was when I had my wisdom teeth and extra tooth (for the last time, honest, WHO THE HELL HAS AN EXTRA TOOTH IN THEIR HEAD FOR NO APPARENT REASON AT ALL) out. Alright, next week, honest. And I can swear to that too, because pending coming down with swine flu, I have no other commitments or assignments due next week at least. I enjoyed the last lot you sent me, so I'll check this one out too.

"What's Mark Henry doing calling out Eminem!" - Andrew Barbarash

Legitimate LOL.

Ok, fun with Patrick and his bizarre take on hip-hop/WWE fantasy booking. Picture this, Mark Henry is standing in the ring looking pissed as Relapse has just gone Triple Platinum in a month and Eminem is on top of the world. Mark Henry starts out by holding up a copy of Relapse before and crushing it with his BRUTE STRENGTH, hopefully managing to cut himself in the process for added visual affect.

He then calls out Eminem claiming that Em doesn't know what it means to have a hard life. He doesn't appreciate people that claim to have a hard life, but then choose to exploit it for monetary gain. He represents a breed of people who have come up with adversity and overcome it instead of marketing it. We then see a clip of Mark Henry's "difficulties" which include the fact that he went by the name of "Sexual Chocolate", became involved with a transvestite, fathering a hand through Mae Young, his admission of being a sex addict, and that his first sexual experience was with his sister.

Fair go, Mark Henry has had a lot of shit thrown his way and hey, as terrible as my fantasy booking is, if you're a long time WWE fan, you can probably see something like this occurring one day. All we need is for The Smoking Gun to reveal Rick Ross illegitimate love child with a senior citizen that produced an off-spring of suspect appearance and we're on the way!

Poor Ross.

"Rick Ross beat 50? don't think so and now he calls out Eminem this guy is as dumb as he looks , fat fuck" - Guest #4417

Yeah, for real, I don't think the Ross / 50 beef ever really ended, it just appeared that both guys were kind of losing momentum and relatives to bring into the beef. Calling out Eminem? Well, the Eminem of today will probably let it slide unless it becomes personal, because I see Em as the kind of guy that's mellowed on that front during his time away from the game, though I could be wrong. If I AM wrong though, Ross is in for a HUGE surprise because Em is one of those guys that gets more aggressive the further he gets backed into a corner. Ross is a pretty big dude so that corner is going to come up pretty quickly too, no room in that ring.

Alright, I started listening to Da Drought 3 when I wrote that bit above, but it's getting kind of annoying now.

" "And now that I have typed something bad about Eminem. There will be people who say one of two things:

1. He's too sophisticated. No I understand his songs, all of them, he's not as good as people think."

I'm not going to sit here and tell people what to like as everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But statements like the one above drive me nuts. Who are you to tell me what I like is not as good as I think. All evidence points to your statement being wrong more so than me liking Eminem is wrong. Millions of records sold, an Oscar for his musical talent, yeah these are all achievements of someone who is "not as good as I think he is". If you don't like something fine, but don't sit there and act like your view on music is any more valid than my own or any one else's. Just state your opinion and move on. - Todd Vote

"@Todd Vote

Were you agreeing with me or disagreeing?

If you were disagreeing with me, then I gotta say...not once in my post did I undermined anyone's opinion or facts. I am however annoyed with the amount of Eminem love I see each and every day since he became popular. I love others opinions and I will never tell anyone not to like an artist I don't like. Hell I even admit that he's good just to me he's not what people make him out to be.

Now if were on the same page then I take back my comment." Jesuszilla

Yes I'm not sure if you guys were on the same page or not. Still, it comes down to the fact if you trust another's judgment or not, after all, why would we have reviews if people didn't trust another's opinion, or distrust it enough to check out an album with a negative review? In the end, I think you can learn to trust certain people's opinions. For instance, if my cousin told me that the new Busta Rhymes album was STRAIGHT FIRE I'd probably avoid Busta's album for a bit because my cousin also loves Miley Cyrus, so in my opinion, his opinion isn't one I'd trust on that matter. Likewise, when you come to a site like 411Mania (speaking of which, bookmark us if you haven't already, I have the Music Zone bookmarked in my Favorites on Firefox…easier than typing the whole address each time ya know). Oh yes my point, when you come to a site like 411Mania and there are a number of writers, you begin to trust their judgment on certain artists. Like if you saw a review for, oh I don't know, a Green Day album, and I gave it a 4.0, you probably wouldn't believe my opinion was an accurate assessment of the album's worth, given I only ever listen to hip-hop or R&B.

So whilst we have our own opinions and we respect other's opinions, our own opinions sometimes come out as assessments of an artist's worth or abilities – it's just part of the whole ‘opinion' factor.

My extended thoughts on Relapse later.

"Do you listen to any underground Hip Hop? If so I want to know what do you think about this LA rapper Blu?

I've been listening to him for 2 year now and I personally think he has the best flow in rap/Hip Hop right now?

If you listen to him I'd like to know what do you think."

Hmm, well it depends on your criteria of underground I guess, but I do listen to a fair amount of relatively unknown artists. Like you've done here with Blu, if you put a name up, I'll be able to tell you hahaha.

On Blu's flow…not sure I'd say best, but he's definitely up there. Some of the best flows in the game, who are still somewhat active would be AZ, Pharoahe Monch (he's still active to me dammit), Jadakiss, Eminem (not so much at the moment though) and yes I'll say it, Flo Rida has a demonic flow for party/club tracks. What makes Blu's flow so distinct is that it's got a decidedly old-school vibe to it.

"Below the Heavens" is one of the best albums of the new millennium. In ALL of music and I listen to A LOT of music."

Couldn't agree with you more. Everything about it practically screams ‘THROWBACK' about it. From Exile's very Premier-esque production, to Blu's flow and even his voice, sounds very much like someone I remember listening to recently who had albums out during the early 90s…it'll come to me in about 3 days or so hahaha.

On Exile's production, on Below The Heavens, it is simply put: divine. There are HEAPS of people who try and copy Premier's scratching style, but most of them fail in comparison to the ease and actual SENSE his scratches make. Like, Premier's scratches on a track actually make you know, a HOOK, whereas some scratches you hear are just random samples thrown together to make it sound ‘dope'. The only other Producer who I think has taken the same spirit of Premier, but added his own style to it would be Stoupe on Canibus' Rip The Jacker album. Seriously, that album is as good for the lyrics as it is as good for the Production.

"Agree with your way of judging a classic. By the way what do you call great modern albums? You mentioned BE (and I can name I few I think are modern masterpieces) what do you think of those albums."

Yeah the main issue that I see today is that if you use the criteria I discussed, most of these albums are lacking on the ‘Impact' front. You'll see many albums that have incredibly dope lyrics, tight production, accessibility to rival the Nintendo Wii's, but little to no impact on the genre as a whole. This is why I call these albums, Modern Day Classics, much like your title of Modern Masterpieces. It's a bit unfair to compare some of the albums from the Golden Era to albums like The Minstrel Show by Little Brother which, in my opinion is only lacking on the Impact criteria, as we've all said many times, hip-hop just isn't selling like it used to, and people aren't exploring these options like they would have done.

"And some modern masterpieces I would like your opinion on:

2004: College Dropout, Kanye brought a whole new style to mainstream Hip Hop."

I actually hated this for quite a long time, and hated Kanye with a passion too. I was getting pissed off that everyone was hailing this dude as the next best thing, when the album had too many skits, and that damn "Workout Plan" song. Regardless, when Late Registration dropped, I listened to it, all ready to hate…and was completely won over in a matter of minutes.

My opinion on College Dropout has since softened a little, I still have some issues with it such as the aforementioned skits, but along with "The New Workout Plan", "Breathe In, Breathe Out" I'm not a fan of either. I also still prefer Late Registration as I can pretty much listen to that from start to finish without having to skip a song. Still, College Dropout covers most of the bases I mentioned as criteria: Solid lyricism, outstanding production, everything had MEANING within the concept and build of the album, it's an album anyone can easily pick up and listen to (just leave your notions of Kanye's ego at the door), and I believe, it singlehandedly saved hip-hop from drowning in the fake thuggery that was 50 Cent and G-Unit which were getting very stale by that time.

Let's put it this way, if Kanye DIDN'T release College Dropout, we wouldn't have Be.

"2005: BE, One thing I always liked about Common is that he's easy to listen to and is very poetic."

One of my absolute favorite albums of all time. I can listen to this from start to finish, and only occasionally I'll skip "The Corner" if I don't feel like listening to it. Someone will probably say that should disqualify it for Classic status, but I disagree, because even a lot of albums that are widely regarded as Classic still have one song that you won't always want to listen to. Plus, it's personal preference. I first heard of Common in 2004 as he was coming off Electric Circus, so I was a little worried about this one, but believe me, when I listened to the title track, I was seriously sitting there for about 45 minutes hitting that Rewind button on my iPod. Before I ripped the CD into iTunes, the title track "Be", had over 250 plays, and I STILL listen to it very happily. A lot of people complain, myself included that it could have been longer, but then again, a lot of people, myself included feel that since it's so short, it makes you just want to keep listening again and again.

Simply put, if you HAVEN'T heard this album, you damn well have to within the next hour because if you are in any way a fan of Kanye's production, or easy-going lyrics about love (that DON'T sound corny), interesting story-telling, battle rap and just plain dope hip-hop, you should hear this.

Damn it's a good album, I even downloaded the instrumental version which is something I've never done before and haven't since.

"2006: Food & Liquor, I fucking LOVE this album. For me and a couple friends I know this is like a modern day Illmatic. In that our jaw drops every time we listen to it. I'm sure you noticed by now that I'm a HUGE fan of Mr. Fiasco and this is why. He's my Lil Wayne (except I have no problem noting his flaws)"

I really should listen to this again, but I kind of like The Cool more than this. Then again, I haven't listened to this since 2006 so I really do need to give it another go. Regardless, before the album came out, I was already building anticipation because of those mixtapes I was downloading. Lupe's lyricism is like a blend of Nas, Eminem and Pun: The pure best bits from each. He's got Nas' poetic ability to rap about anything and make it engaging, Em's wit and lyrical dexterity, and Pun's unprecedented skills with making a song instantly accessible. I feel that The Cool was a little more of a complex follow up, but I bought both of his albums the day they came out, something I don't do for many artists.

"2007: Below the Heavens, if you haven't listened to it, go on YouTube RIGHT NOW. His flow is fantastic the beats are a mix of classic 50s and 60s songs with Exile's own spin on it. Another album I love

And they say Hip Hop is dead...

Any way just want to know your thoughts on said albums as well"

I've said it many times, but I'll say it again, this is a damn good album. If you like this, you should also check out another album I've praised constantly in this column, Masters Of The Universe by Binary Star, one of the best albums released this decade that nobody bought. I think it sold even less copies than K-Fed's first album which is rather depressing when you think about it.

I got annoyed at Nas for saying that, although when he justified his action by saying that it was more of a warning rather than a proclamation, I didn't mind as much. When people say hip-hop is dead, it's putting a nail in the coffin of these artists who are out there on the grind, the REAL grind, not the Jeezy or Ross grind where all they do is wake up in their penthouse and stagger to the studio in a Cris' induced haze and start rapping. No these are the guys who are still trying to make that feel good hip-hop from the 90s with a 00s spin on things, paying homage to the greats instead of mocking them for their age, and NOT resorting to using auto-tune or ringtone pop rap as a gimmick to sell.

Saying hip-hop is dead is slapping those guys in the face with everything they've done so far as worthless, because dammit, what they've done is hip-hop too!

"Good column,

You know what I always wondered:

Does anyone relate to Eminem?

I have seen people say the current state of Hip Hop sucks because they can't relate to any rappers bragging about money, care, hos etc. But they love Eminem.

I don't know about ya'll but Em raps about serial killing, rape, his hate for his parents do people normally relate to this stuff? Even emotional ass teenagers?

The ex-wife thing I can see there are women I wish I could smack when I broke up with them (or vice verse), and love for his child is understandable. But that's a small fraction. "

I think some people can relate to the, issues with his parents, factor, and certainly the ex-wife issues are a very real problem in society, but for a large part, a lot of his raps aren't really relatable on a ground level, but what makes Em so popular is that he's able to put it in such a way that even those that probably can't relate can still find enjoyment out of his music.

It's hard to comment on that part of Em, because when it comes down to it, unless we've been in his position of being abused as a child and coming from a broken home, it's very hard for us to relate on that level. Certainly you can relate to the message in some songs such as "Sing For The Moment", and use that metaphor in an application to an obstacle in your own life, but others such as the ones about his mother, it'd be hard to. I mean, I have problems with my parents, every person does at some point or another, but not to the point where I'd rather see them dead you know?

"@The Rapper's Rapper

I found out about Blu last year and yes I must admit he's dope. I was reading where someone said Eminem is a personal rapper, well Blu is personal but unlike Em I can relate to him. Listen to "Show Me the Good Life" and find me a man who can't relate whether or not he's been through the situation (weird wording there huh?)"

The beauty of Blu's raps is exactly that. He's personal, without actually seeming like he's personal. He's simply rapping about his life, but since it's one that we can all find some common ground in, it becomes more personal for us.

"@Jesuszilla

While I don't think Em is bad, he has managed to capture audiences like never before. I do wonder if race have anything to do with it but since there's this stereotype of black people "blaming whitey" I tend to avoid this discussion because its inaccurate to my own personal philosophy." - Dab

" I knew it! I knew if I were to say something "bad" about Eminem someone would bring up either race or my lack of comprehension.

In this case it was race where one dude literally said something on the lines of "You mad cause Em is better than ALL of those n**** rappers" I didn't even bring up race it was SOLELY ABOUT EMINEM!! I'm starting to think some people are just insecure.

As you can tell I'm fucking pissed off. I'm sorry for the fucking rant but this Eminem shit is bullshit like the Lil Wayne craze...I need to relax" - Jesuszilla

Jesuszilla, don't worry dude, Dab was agreeing with you! What I take Dab is saying is that he believes that race IS a factor that some people use when it comes to Eminem, but HE personally doesn't believe it. Neither do I, as I stressed last week, if you're dope, you're dope. If you suck ass, you do indeed, suck ass, regardless of the color of your skin.

To relax, as someone who has worked in the health industry for six and a half years now, I suggest some easy listening such as Common or Warren G's first album.

"@Patrick

great analysis on what makes a classic album, I too have an issue with people calling anything classic and yeah it is annoying" - Dab

It just seems that people are too quick to throw out the term, ‘Classic' these days. It's like, if I took a crap, looped it, chopped and screwed it, then added T-Pain to the hook with his auto-tune, threw in some adlibs, and rapped about hustling, it'd be a classic. I have no problem acknowledging an album is excellent, and yes I will be the first to admit something is classic once it's had time to prove it! Some people think 5 years is long enough, but I don't, because 5 years isn't long enough to move out of a trend or really start to see one develop. A MEANINGFUL trend too, using technology to alter your voice isn't a good trend, it's freaking lazy.

The Rant

Just a quick one this week, mainly on my thoughts for Eminem's upcoming album.

Given we've now had 4 songs drop from the album, means we've essentially seen a quarter of what the album has to offer (20 songs, minus 4 skits = 16 tracks / 4 = 4, the singles we've heard so far).

I thought I'd give a quick rundown on each one before…actually Wikipedia says the drop date is May 15th. I thought albums dropped on Tuesdays? Oh never mind, it's being released on the 15th in Italy and the Netherlands, and on the 19th pretty much everywhere else. Why on earth is Italy and the Netherlands getting it before us?

Ok anyway, the singles.

"Crack A Bottle"

I liked the laidback nature of the track, I mean from the moment that bass line hits, you KNOW it's a Dre production and I think it was a good idea debuting this track first because he isn't using that accent that we've seen in "3am" and "We Made You". From my own experience, it sounds dope in the car. This one's going to be a favorite of mine, mainly because of my love for Dre's rapping (I know, weird isn't it but seriously, he's got one of the best rap voices in the game, he just needs to make sure he gets a good writer for him each time).

"We Made You"

Wasn't very high on this for ages after it dropped, but if you've been reading my column for a while now, you know what happens when I finally catch a video for a song I don't like on MTV. Yep, I love it now, even have it as a ringtone hahaha. Anyway, the main criticism is coming from the fact that he's seems to be doing what he did for "Ass Like That" and using an accent that gets particularly annoying after a while. The converse also happens in that it becomes more tolerable too, but then again, that might just be me. Still, it's to paraphrase Michael Cole, VINTAGE EMINEM in terms of poking random fun at different celebrities which is all good in my opinion. Someone else wrote that it sounds like he just picked up a gossip magazine from a stand and started rapping. Well, to be honest, how does it differ from say, "The Real Slim Shady" or "My Name Is" in terms of who he targeted? Back then he was rapping about Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, The Spice Girls, boy bands etc. These days those acts aren't that big, but for some reason, Kim Kardashian is. Plus, the fact that he mentions that infamous photo of him in a pink Alf shirt from when he was younger is gold in my books.

"3am"

This is much darker than what we've previously heard, and to be honest, it sounds like something he would have written during his Slim Shady LP days. And I know I've been working too long when I know what he's talking about when he mentions the different pills he's taking. The accent is back in a different way again, but more on that later. Still, this is one that I haven't really had much time to listen to, but the hook is incredibly catchy and I've been singing it off and on for a couple of days, much to the concern of people around me hahaha.

"Old Times' Sake"

I was a little puzzled by Dre's singing to start with, not something I ever thought I'd hear from him so that's taking a little getting used to. But the track is solid, the beat has a West Coast vibe to it (oh, I wonder why…), lyrically, he's still got it with the R. Kelly reference, however dated that is sadly. I wish they'd done a more in/out style like they've done in the past, but hey, it's just damn good to see them back in the studio again. I think the closest they've ever gotten to their full potential was "Guilty Conscience", but I'll be damned if they're not getting closer over time.

Now looking at the singles, we've gotten 4 very different ones in terms of content. We had the slow-burn party track, the VINTAGE EMINEM lead single, the more psychotic one, and now this which I suppose we call another party track. Although to be honest, I don't think Em's ever really done a CLUB song, it just so happens that many of Dre's beats have that application in them.

So with "Beautiful" set to come out next week, most people are expecting it to either be a tribute to Hailey or Proof, although if he goes a completely different route, I wouldn't be surprised either. Still, I kind of hoped the Proof tribute would have had the whole of D12 on it too, even Royce considering they put aside their differences before he died. Speaking of Royce, I hope there's an Eminem / Royce collaboration on Relapse 2 or I will want someone's money back.

With these accents just before we move on, it's interesting to note that virtually every message board I've come across is acknowledging them, which is good because it means it's not just me. What I WILL say though, is that I think it's kind of strange we're harping on it, given each Eminem release has had him use a different sound in terms of his voice. Listen to The Slim Shady LP, and then listen to Encore and tell me you can't hear a difference!

I guess the reason we're caught up on it this time round though, is because it's so profound in some cases and that it's coming off as a little forced at times. Regardless, I'm certainly not going to pass judgment on the product just yet, I'll wait until I've actually heard the WHOLE album.

And now, The News

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Jay-Z Concert Makes A Loss



Jay-Z's superstar presence was not enough to make a recent Arizona Stadium concert a success, as event promoters confirmed the show posted a loss of $917,000. The Last Smash Platinum Bash was organized by the Associated Students of the University Of Arizona (ASUA), who paid Jay-Z $750,000 to co-headline the event with Kelly Clarkson.

The strange pairing was not enough to entice potential concertgoers. Arizona Stadium, which is known for football, had not hosted a concert in 32 years.

Ok maybe it WAS THE STRANGE PAIRING that stopped people from going. Honestly, how many Jay-Z + Kelly Clarkson fans are there in the world?

According to estimates, the student union gave away over 4000 tickets in hopes of securing valuable marketing deals with newspapers and radio stations. Despite these issues, ASUA president Tommy Bruce blamed the failure on the Recession.

"Nobody predicted the economy would be the way it is now last May," he told the Arizona Daily Star. In total, the concert cost $1,420,000, while tickets and merchandise purchases only posted $503,502. The loss forced the ASUA to empty its $350,000 cash reserve to cover the debt.

According to the Arizona Daily Star, the Arizona University's bookstore will assist the ASUA in paying off the debt through another established emergency fund. As a consequence, the UA Bookstore organization will also lower its contributions to the student group by $570,000 over the next 5 years.

To be honest, this isn't a recession thing, it's a matter of poor choice of acts. If you'd paired Jay with some random rapper not named OJ Da Juiceman, the concert probably would have sold out. As it was, you'd get people NOT wanting to go because of Kelly Clarkson, and people NOT wanting to go because of Jay-Z.

In Other University News…

A major concert featuring Young Jeezy was canceled by officials at The University of Delaware on April 29 due to concerns of an outbreak of the highly contagious Swine Flu. The concert by Young Jeezy and upcoming rapper Drake was scheduled for 8:00 PM tomorrow at UD's Bob Carpenter Center.

Couldn't they have let it go on and you know…let Jeezy get infected?

UD President Patrick T. Harker announced that the concert, as well as a speaking engagement with noted journalist Gwen Ifill would be canceled, because 10 students on campus were suspected of having the deadly H5N1 avian influenza.

Ok I'm taking all this information from another website, but why are we talking about bird flu now?

"While the Centers for Disease Control have not yet confirmed any swine flu diagnoses, I have no doubt that these suspected cases are causing a great deal of concern among the entire campus community," University of Delaware President Patrick T. Harker said. "The University's first priority is the health and well-being of our students and employees. Therefore, we are working closely with the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) to safeguard student, staff, and faculty health."

Swine Influenza is a disease that affects the respiratory system of pigs. While humans are rarely infected with the strain, this strain appears to be easily transmitted from person to person. The World Health Organization announced last week that the world is on the brink of a pandemic and raised the global threat level to phase 5, the last step before a pandemic.

"The biggest question is this: how severe will the pandemic be, especially now at the start," WHO Director General Margaret Chan said. "Influenza pandemics must be taken seriously precisely because of their capacity to spread rapidly to every country in the world."

So far, 159 people have died from the disease worldwide, including one death in the United States, when a 23-month old Mexican boy died from the disease while visiting Houston, Texas.

"The biggest question, right now, is this: how severe will the pandemic be, especially now at the start?," Chan stated, adding that the organization has "reached out to influenza vaccine manufacturers that can contribute to the production of a pandemic vaccine."

Ah it's insane. At work, we sold over 700 of those masks in a week, when we usually sell about 10 in a month. We've got them coming in every day, and there's a couple of hundred on backorder. People are just going crazy! One guy came to the counter and asked to by 5. Then the woman standing next to him looked worried and asked to by 10. The woman standing behind HER then freaked out and bought another 10. For real, the fear is spreading faster than the disease itself at the moment.

In addition to Mexico and the United States, Austria (1), Canada (13), Germany (3), Israel (2), New Zealand (3), Spain (4) and the United Kingdom (5) have reported cases of the influenza. Students and fans who purchased tickets to see Young Jeezy and Drake can contact the University of Delaware box office for information of refunds.

Ah well, if my column mysteriously stops being posted, you'll know why.

Nas & Kelis Divorce



The marriage between Nas and Kelis is officially over. Vibe magazine reports that divorce papers were filed around 3:45 p.m. on April 30 by attorney Laura Wasser on behalf of Kelis. A representative denied initial reports that verbal abuse and infidelity were the reasons behind the filing.

"We request the media to respect her privacy during this very difficult time," a representative for Kelis said in a statement. The split concludes the romantic saga between Nas and Kelis that began when the pair first met in 2002 at a MTV Video Music Awards after party thrown by Diddy, then going with a P in front of his name.

The meeting at the after party resulted in a two year dating relationship that set the stage for Nas and Kelis' marriage. The couple officially tied the knot in a small ceremony in Atlanta on January 8, 2005.

Soon after, Nas and Kelis' personal union segued into their professional lives, as Nas appeared on Kelis' "In Public," a single from her 2003 album Tasty. Kelis made a cameo of her own with her featured role on Nas' Hip-Hop Is Dead album on the song "Not Going Back."

Despite their collaborations and personal fondness for each other, rumors of Kelis and Nas separating began surfacing on the Internet in March 2008. News of the couple's divorce arrives as Nas and Kelis prepare for the arrival of their first child together. Kelis is currently seven months pregnant with a son.

That's sad to hear, I thought they'd actually stick together. Usually this happens when you have people marrying into different industries, but since they're both in the music industry, I expected them to know what they'd be getting into in that respect.

More Details On KiD CuDi's Album

KiD CuDi recently announced the artists that are set to make guest appearances on his upcoming album. The rapper's debut, titled Man on The Moon: The Guardians is set to be released in August on Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music record label.

According to KiD CuDi, the album will feature guest appearances from G.O.O.D. Music artist and CEO Kanye West, Common, and Snoop Dogg who has been named as an influence on CuDi.

CuDi made the announcement earlier today on his music blog, and also stated that he wanted to work with UK artist Lily Allen and Andre 3000 of Outkast on the album, however both declined. CuDi has not released any other information about the album however.

About coming up with the idea for the album CuDi wrote : "It made me realize tho, Do I really want to go in on features? Sure I like these artists but this first album need [sic] to be more of wut [sic] I can do. I feel a lot of people still think it's a game, so I will forever feel like I have suttin [something] to prove."

Usually the first album goes one of two ways. The first is loading it with features to give the album that ‘Star Power' benefit, or the opposite direction by keeping them to a minimum to allow the artist to shine themselves. It usually comes down to how the label think the artist will fare on their own. Does he have that draw etc.

I actually caught a really mad remix of "Day N Nite" the other day too…can't remember for the life of me who remixed it though, and funnily enough, it was ON THE RADIO. I know, I know…in Australia of all places too.

LIES!



50 Cent was cleared this week of foul play in the May 2008 blaze that destroyed his $1.4 million Long Island mansion. 50 confirmed the verdict on his social networking site thisis50.com, stating the New York police department and insurance investigators determined there was "absolutely no proof or evidence" that 50 caused the fire.

50 Cent came under suspicion after his son's mother Shaniqua Tompkins accused him of committing arson. Just weeks prior to the fire, 50 Cent had a successfully secured an eviction of both Tompkins and his son. Although Tompkins and Marquise were present at the time of the still undetermined blaze, both were able to escape without serious injury. Last April, Tompkins filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court claiming that 50 Cent had promised her legal ownership of the home prior to closing. At the time, the property was estimated to be worth 2.4 million.

The fallout from this situation sparked a feud between 50 and Miami rapper Rick Ross, who ridiculed the Queens emcee over the arson allegations with the track "Mafia Music."

THAT'S HOW THAT WHOLE ASS-BACKWARDS SITUATION STARTED! Freaking hell, with the porno and taking people shopping, I actually forgot how the whole thing started. Bloody hell rap beef is dumb these days.

Anyway…LIES! 50 probably did some shenanigans…or not, but either way it's a silly situation.

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Cash Money Records CEO Bryan "Birdman/Baby" Williams took the "better late than never" approach to addressing the infamous photo of his mouth-to-mouth kiss with his label's breakout superstar Lil Wayne.

In a recent interview with radio DJ Tim Westwood, Birdman gave his thoughts on the love shown between unofficial father and son. Perhaps to his credit—and a move that will make many yell "pause"—Birdman did not back down when the topic popped up.

"That's my son," Birdman explained to Westwood and the listening audience. "If [Lil Wayne] was right here, I'd kiss him again. I kiss my daughter, my other son."

Ok, PAUSE!

So ok, I get that Birdman wants to kiss Wayne again, but "I kiss my daughter, MY OTHER SON" as well? Unless I'm reading that incorrectly, and he's saying that he has another son, I can't really be bothered checking Wikipedia, but if he's calling his daughter ‘his other son', that kind of sucks for her. That's the kind of Jerry Springer shit right there.

PLAY!

Ultimately, Birdman says the situation, which began when a photo of him kissing Lil Wayne surfaced on the Internet was blown out of proportion.

"I think people just took that too far," he added.

"I'd do it again, I'd do it tomorrow. That's my son man. I'd do it again, kill for him, ride for him, and die for him."

Look, I appreciate that he loves Wayne especially since he's bringing him all that Carter III money but a kiss on the lips generally suggests something more than normal parental love. Like, yes, I used to kiss my dad when I was a kid, you know, 7 years old kind of thing, but on the cheek, and certainly not on the lips. After I hit my teenage years, I shook his hand or gave him a hug you know, It's not a matter of people taking it too far to be honest, it's a matter of NOBODY DOES THAT!

Anyway, for any aspiring actors wondering how to perfectly capture an "OH WTF IS UP WITH THAT" face, click here. Just check the guy behind Birdman's face.

Maino Is Emotional

During a performance Saturday night at the White House club in Long Island, Maino had a very emotional moment onstage that he shared with his fans. In the YouTube clip, the Brooklyn emcee claims, "I am the face of New York City," while the crowd cheers him on. However, before Maino begins the lyrics to his latest single, "All The Above," he suddenly kneels down, fighting back tears.

I quite like that song too. Call it the Ace Hood syndrome, but I'm looking forward to Maino's album too.

Holding his microphone, Maino says, "Let me just get this out my system, I got a lot going on in my life now…Let me just say this; the police shot my friend and they telling me he might not walk again."

According to Hot 97's Miss Info, the friend whom Maino says was shot goes by the name of 80, and the incident had occurred about a month ago. Maino and 80 were reportedly very close, which was subsequently the cause of his grief. Despite this setback, Maino continued to perform on the road to promote his album If Tomorrow Comes.

Regaining strength and poise in the video, Maino announces to his show goers, "But this right here is victory. We unstoppable!"

Ah, I feel for the dude. It's a hard thing to have someone close to you go through something like that. I have personally lost a couple of friends over the years and it's something that you never really know how to deal with at the time. I commend the guy for soldering on and continuing his show, and for the people on message boards claiming that "real men don't cry", just wait until you lose a grandparent or parent. You'll know what it's like then.

Alfamega Exposed As An Informant

The Smoking Gun recently released documents showing that rapper Alfamega may have served as an informant and witness for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration during the ‘90s. The Atlanta-based rapper, who signed on to T.I.'s Grand Hustle record label (through Capitol/EMI Records) after serving a seven-year stint in prison until 2002, never revealed that he had agreed to cooperate with authorities in order to get less time in jail.

How the hell does The Smoking Gun find all this stuff? First it's Ross, then Akon, now Alfamega. Geeze they've got a better intelligence network than the CIA by the sounds of it.

"I came up in the first projects in the United States; I came up in Techwood Projects," he told Ballerstatus in an interview last November. "I was in and out of the system since I was nine years old. So, when we were younger, when we were in and out [of the system], it was a badge."

In 1995, Alfamega entered the system again, facing up to nine years for selling weapons to an undercover agent. According to court documents, he "agreed to cooperate with authorities" to help indict several individuals involved in drug trafficking in order to get his sentence reduced by 18 months.

T.I., was arrested on weapons charges in 2007 after a sting operation involving his bodyguard, and Alfamega at the scene of arrest. The rapper had been active in the on-again, off-again feud between Shawty Lo and T.I., as Alfamega was reportedly a lead participant in the fighting that happened at last year's Dirty Awards in Atlanta. Alfamega subsequently apologized to promoters and fans for his behavior.

Now people are pointing fingers at T.I., and before we start doing that, remember, he doesn't have anything to do with this story at hand. UNLESS the story of Alfa being an informant is true, in which case another theory has surfaced that he played a part in T.I.'s arrest. Interesting twist, but I'll wait until more information is released.

Other people are defending what he did, saying that when you've got your back up against the wall like that, you'll do anything to reduce your time in jail. Still, I've never been in that position so I'm not going to comment either way.

I kind of like the name Alfamega as a rap name though, sounds like a robot from Voltron or something hahaha.

Sales Figures

Rick Ross came in with an impressive second week, selling 51,100 copies bringing his total for Deeper Than Rap to 209,100. Asher Roth meanwhile heads towards six figures, with 23,100 copies of Asleep In The Bread Aisle with 88,600 sold all up. Keri Hilson sold just under 23,000 copies of In A Perfect World, bringing her total to 236,600. Jamie Foxx edges slowly towards a Platinum certification with 22,500 copies sold, and a total now of 885,300.

Elsewhere, Jadakiss sold 20,100 copies of The Last Kiss, which brings his total to 230,200. UGK's last album sold 8,800 copies (BUY THE ALBUM), giving them a total now of 137,000. Slim Thug creeps towards 100,000 with 5,000 copies sold this week, bringing his total now to just under 80,000. Finally, Gorilla Zoe's Don't Feed Da Animals sold close to 5,000 copies, and gives him a total now of 82,200.

Debuts this week included Mike Jones' latest album, with Voice selling 24,700 copies. The only other debut to make an impression this week was Tech N9ne's collaboration effort, Sickology 101: The Study Of Being Sick sold 21,400 copies, a debut inside the Top 20.

Before We Go…

Ha that test last week…that was a failure of unbelievably epic proportions. Mainly because I didn't have the correct table to use, but yeah, it helps in accounting when you have the right tools because otherwise what happens is you sit there with this blank expression on your face. There's no sense of panic because instead of actually knowing that you should know it, an unknown known if you will, it's a known, unknown, something I know I don't know.

Hmm, sufficiently confused yet? I am.

Catch you next week!