The Hip-Hop Herald 05.28.09: Cannon Calls It Quits

Posted by Patrick Robinson on 05.28.2009

This week, Nick Cannon decides to squash the beef, Suge Knight is planning a comeback, Slaughterhouse secure a record label, Kelis' Milkshake wasn't as good as we thought, the anti-Auto-tune album and Scott Storch is facing even more financial troubles! Plus: A sound-off on an A-Z of hip-hop and R&B artists!

A quick apology to all, but due to the unbelievable amounts of spam I'm getting, most of it is Russian featuring a picture of a fishing boat which I have to say is the most creative way of getting my bank details, if that is in fact what is being asked in the email, I've upped the spam protection filter on the below email address.

That being said, it will kill anything that smells remotely like spam (but still manages to let some dumb stuff through which is giving me an extreme anger rash) so if I don't reply to an email, it's not my fault! I can add Safe emails though, so don't worry about it happening more than once if it does. I doubt it will because the email I'm currently looking at has a picture of a car with cardboard taped to it in an attempt to make it look like a body kit which means the spam filter isn't exactly working overtime.

Another matter causing frustration this week was discovering my watch is going to cost $160 to repair given the parts have to come from Switzerland which is an obvious drawback when you think about it, when you buy a watch FROM Switzerland in the first place. Then again, even as it was dying (I thought it was the battery) it was still keeping impeccable time which just goes to show that nobody makes a watch like the Swiss.

Also I've come to the conclusion that Mims' "Move (If You Wanna)" is an obvious copy of Busta's "Touch It" and I'm kind of surprised I didn't put that together sooner. Call me slow, REALLY slow. Nice to meet you.

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

"Another rant Patrick,"

Always appreciated. I love a good rant.

"With the release of Eminem's new album, I gotta say, I'm very angry at the fans responses. No, not at the quality of the album, but I didn't realize so many people generalized Hip Hop like that.

Did you read comment of all the sites? I can sum them up pretty well:

"All rappers rap about it guns, cars, money, swag, women blah blah blah"

And I'm thinking (and responding to some) are you fucking kidding me? And after reading so much of it, I've come to the conclusion that people DO NOT WANT good Hip Hop. If so, they'd know that even with the bullshit on the radio there is A LOT OF GREAT ALBUMS in the last 4 years. My god, I've actually read people say "this is the best rap album in the last 4 years" again WTF? 2008 had a great summer and winter in terms of quality rap albums. Did anyone buy them? Did anyone listen? Or did these people turn on the radio say "Hip Hop is dead" and continue complaining about rap."

Hmm, 4 years back takes us to 2005 which, off the top of my head would include albums from Common, Kanye, Little Brother, AZ, Nas, Jay-Z, Canibus, MF Doom (and Danger Doom), GZA, Ghostface Killah, Method Man (I'm looking at a Wu-Tang album cover at the moment), Pharoahe Monch and Ice Cube and I'm certain I'm forgetting a lot of names there. Most of these albums, in my opinion anyway, were on par or better than Relapse.

When you say people don't want good hip-hop, I couldn't agree more in certain cases. I hear people or see them write about how hip-hop is crap, how it's not the same as it used to be, how the genre as a whole is DEAD etc. And you're right; it's an absolute cop-out answer when there's an abundance of excellent music out there IF YOU KNOW WHERE TO LOOK. Frankly, an excellent place to start looking is, funnily enough, Wikipedia or MySpace, or even the Review section of hip-hop dedicated websites. For example, when Aaron Cameron used to write here, I read a review he wrote on Canibus' Rip The Jacker where he gave it a 10, and to that point, I don't think he'd given a 10 out yet so I was pretty impressed. Needless to say I discovered one of my all time favorite artists that day, so when you frequently check a review section of a website or magazine that rarely goes over say an 8 or 4/5 suddenly give a 9.5 or 5/5, give the artist a go, you might be surprised.

Another way to find some great music is to mess around on Wikipedia, but I will warn you, don't try and do this when you have to go somewhere soon because I've often found myself looking up something on Wikipedia, then looking at the clock to realize that 2 hours have passed since I started. Honestly, you just get on a roll with clicking different articles you find within the original one you wanted. What I'm getting at, is that look up an artist you really like, and they usually have an ‘Associated Acts' section or an ‘Influences' bit somewhere in the article where you can sometimes discover a new artist similar to the one you like.

MySpace is another good place to start. If you look up an artist you like, assuming they have a page, check their Top Friends section and sometimes they have artists they support or who they're mentoring etc. listed. Sure they might be rookies, but it's fun to follow an artist from their beginnings as an unsigned hype to debuting on a major label.

The way I discovered Little Brother is actually an interesting chain. I was looking up an article on Jay's Black Album because I wanted to know how many remix versions there were, and I was scrolling down the page I noticed ‘9th Wonder' as the Producer of "Threat" as 9th Wonder was the name I was using on a game I was playing at the time. Anyway, I clicked there, then clicked on the Little Brother link and got lead to their page. Incidentally, I think both HipHopDX and another website I was visiting at the time had reviews up for Little Brother's The Minstrel Show, I went back and clicked on the review to find out they'd given it a 5/5. I downloaded the album and we took it from there.

"I've even read comments saying Relapse is better than 95% of Rap. When it clearly isn't. Over the last couple years we have had so many great albums, and a number of surprisingly good albums as well (I stand behind the fact Chamillionaire's Ultimate Victory was/is better than Graduation and Curtis when it was released a week later) We've had some great albums discussed and not discussed on this site The Cool, BE for mainstream examples, you heard Brother Ali's first album? Fantastic, the other 2 are a bit predictable but still good. And Madvillainy, MF DOOM and Madlib created a classic with that one (seriously rave reviews all around)."

Ah there we go; Lupe is a name I missed above. I think that Cham's Ultimate Victory was better than both those albums too, and had it not been released so close to them, and had at least the illusion of support from the label it would have fared much better commercially. When it's all said and done, I think Cham's unfortunately going to be like O.C. – incredibly talented, but horrifically unknown due to the artists surrounding him at the time. When you're coming up in an age where veterans such as Cube, Nas and Jay are STILL making hits, and (relative) newcomers like Kanye and Game are putting out excellent mainstream albums, it's hard to find room for a wordsmith like Cham.

I haven't heard Brother Ali's first album, but I have listened to The Undisputed Truth which seriously impressed me and was one of the reasons I started that blasted New Year's Resolution scheme which is on hold at the moment due to me having lost interest in some of the albums I mentioned on it at the beginning of the year. That and last week was kind of a hip-hop overload with Busta, Meth & Red and Eminem all coming out in the same week.

"I'm pissed off because there is SO MUCH good and great Hip Hop that people are ignoring it and I have to constantly remind and defend Hip Hop that it's not HALF as bad as people made it seem."

It's hardly as bad as people are making it out to be honestly. Even from a popularity standpoint, which despite creating some frustrating trends like T-Pain shows that the genre as a whole is alive and kicking from a commercial view, which basically means that it's still going to be a viable life choice for aspiring artists? The day when hip-hop albums stop selling altogether is the day we declare it dead.

"I'm sick and tired of these tired ass excuses on Hip Hop. What will it take for people to realize the Talib Kweli, Mos Def over the Plies and Rick Ross?"

To be fair, quite a few people do discover these artists and I am a perfect example of that. When I first got into hip-hop, it was because of N.W.A., but I soon drifted into more mainstream acts, with the notable inclusion of 50 Cent. Eventually though, after the glitz and glamour fade and you're left with an artist who can't correctly say ‘Scott Storch', you begin to search for other artists to listen to.

"Anyway, I got that off my chest. Relapse is growing on me even though I'm not fond of the subject matter. And Blackout 2 is dope. Busta's album isn't the 9 you gave it I'd say 7.5, Relapse about the same 7.5 (was 6.5) and Blackout 2 8.5 damn its dope" - Jesuszilla son of Godzilla

A lot of people have divided on Busta's, and I seem to be the extreme in giving it a 9, but the more I listen to it, I stand by my rating, although in all honesty, through my calculation scheme I had it at approximately 8.7 and decided to round it up as tend to give or take an extra 0.5 after I work out what it's at. Kudos for not calling me stupid or anything though!

The initial excitement of Relapse is beginning to wear off, and from the 8.0 I had it at last week, I see it dropping to between 7.0 and 8.0 depending on my mood at the time for future reference. I listened to it again on the weekend and I'm standing by original sentiments, with the exception that a couple of Dre's beats don't quite have the longevity of some of the ones he's done in the past, BUT I'm still maaaaaaaad looking forward to Detox.

" "LIL WAYNE AND SOULJA BOY???? I CAN'T WAIT!!!!"

Let the hate begin! I'll start it off for ya...

Ah who am I kidding I can't even complain anymore, I just don't care.

The Ross and Roids Connections was the funniest thing I read in the longest." - Dab

Ah Dab, you've reached that same level of apathy I have for Soulja Boy, but somewhat irritatingly the song I receive the most requests for to make into a ringtone is "Kiss Me Thru The Phone", which to be honest wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't seen the video where he emphatically nods his head like a bobble doll with every word he says…damn loose neck rappers.

"Yeah, Z-Ro and Trae have work under the A.B.N. title and it is good. I agree with Z-Ro being underrated, but sometimes he is depressing to listen to. I'm mean, c'mon Ro, cheer up a little. Love the column, keep up the good work." - Jeff Pegues

"Patrick, the name of the CD was in there man. The CD they put out was called "It Is What It Is". They go by the name A.B.N. or Assholes By Nature. I got mine from Amazon.com." - Jeremy

"Yeah but A.B.N. also has some work not on Amazon. The stuff my friend gave me was straight from old mixtapes." - Jeff Pegues

Yeah Z-Ro can be a little much if you're trying to find something to relax to, and I have a similar problem with Atmosphere too. Still, when the mood hits you, it's hard to deny certain types of music I've found.

Sorry about that Jeremy, I thought that was the name of an individual song! I'm in the process of getting their first album together, and It Is What It Is, and now that I've seen a picture of the cover on Wikipedia, I think I've actually seen It Is What It Is in one of my music shops I frequent. I'll have a better look when I drop in to one tomorrow night I think.

"Z-Ro count me as someone who thinks Z-Ro is underrated.

What didn't you like about Food & Liquor. I'm playing that album right now (just got done with Blackout 2, Diz Ix 4 my Smokers is prolly my favorite track so far its dope as hell)"

To be honest, I can't really pinpoint what it is I don't like about Food & Liquor. It's not that I don't like it as such, but I don't really give it repeat listens as much as I do The Cool, but that's kind of unfair I guess as I haven't really listened to Food & Liquor for more than a year I think. I think it was the general vibe, also the 12 minute Outro got annoying and that's always the last thing you listen to on an album, so that negativity I guess is hanging over a little.

" "What can Em do to Nick Cannon that's worse than Nick Cannon being Nick Cannon?"

I don't really get that. Nick Cannon is pretty successful and he's not really a joke. He was pretty cool back on Nickelodeon (yes I was a kid when he was on Nick) and while I diss MTV any chance I get (BET too) Wildin Out was pretty funny AND he had a number of dope rappers on his show."

I always found everyone BUT Cannon funny on Wildin Out, mainly because I felt he was always trying too hard for laughs. Plus I think when it came to the rap-off at the end, he was always going for cheap shots whereas most of the time, the others were being genuinely funny. I remember Kanye's appearance on that show and he killed it. He's successful, but this whole marriage to Mariah isn't sitting well with people like me who were in love with Mariah during their teen years, and the fact that Dave Chappelle Ethered him with one statement (and then he actually made an appearance on the show which was hilarious, but not how Dave's kid thought anyway) has made him a joke in the hip-hop world anyway.

It's the same kind of thing as Soulja Boy. Dude's been successful, but he's considered a joke to probably 90%, if not more of the hip-hop community.

"How is Diddy still rich? It seems like Bad Boy hasn't had a hit in 7 years. Was Making the Band that successful? Bad Boy has been wack since he let all the dope rappers go IMO."

Diddy is an evil genius when it comes to marketing, and probably graduated from the same school of "modern day business world hustling" that Jay did as their ventures outside of hip-hop are quite similar (although Jay's killing it right now…hotels?! Damn…). My friend and I used to say that you'd either end up dead, in jail or kicked off Bad Boy back in the early years of this decade. The main reason why is that he's able to translate his bands from Making The Band into a decent amount of success, and I can assume that their contracts give him an ass-load of money per CD sold. Danity Kane and Day26 have both been quite successful with their albums first albums debuting at Number 1 and going Gold I think. I'm pretty sure he also owns Biggie's master recordings, so he's getting royalties every time a Biggie record gets played, especially around March too I guess.

"I hope things turn around for DMX. He must have been arrested a record amount of times last year (anyone know exactly how much, I stopped at 53) his first 2 albums were great and until Grand Champion all his albums were dope."

It was damn ridiculous, especially as at one point I remember him getting arrested 5 times in 2 months, with 2 of those instances being within days of each other. Oh, and he got clocked by Speed Cameras TWICE on the same highway.

When it comes to thug rap, or street rap involving beating the crap out of someone, there is a very, very small list of people who I'd be genuinely scared of if they said they were coming for me. DMX is at the top of that list, along with Keith Murray and Freddie Foxxx, mainly cause those dudes are either crazy, big or a crazy-big combination that doesn't bear thinking about for too long.

"@Jesuszilla son of Godzilla:

I actually agree with a significant amount of the rant. Especially the stereotype created from it. For the record I defend and will always defend Hip Hop. Unless 100% of it is wack, which any fan knows will NEVER happen, I will defend it. To me whenever someone says all rappers rap about blah, blah, blah I think it's spitting in the face of the "real" rappers.

But let's be honest "real" or "intelligent" hip hop hasn't sold in 15 years. So should anyone really be surprised?" - The Rapper's Rapper

I got very angry when Nas made that ruckus about "Hip-hop is dead" and people misinterpreted the message. The way I saw it, is that it was a warning, hence him standing in front of the tombstone, that if things didn't change, hip-hop would die eventually. Needless to say, people took it as an ‘in the now' statement and it got blown out of proportion. The day that hip-hop becomes 100% wack and can't sell is the day that I use all my money to track down the artists that killed it and punch each of them in the nose.

"Flow is only one part of the rap -- it's only half the equation. If you have great flow, but have shitty, predictable content, then you are only half a rapper, which is exactly what Eminem is. I know lots of guys that sound good, but say absolutely nothing with their content. He has no excuse either, he's been around for years, and took a long break in between his albums. There is absolutely no evolution in his content, he's riffing on the same formula set-up on his first and second albums. It's appropriate that he spends his time ripping on Mariah Carey, because he basically is Mariah Carey... just riffing on the same formula that was popular on a couple of outings, with no new ideas to contribute. I'm not saying that many other rappers that have been around as long as he has are in a lot better of shape, but he took a long layoff and came back with more of the same, there is no new ground broken here. " - Guest #4044

You certainly have a point there, and I think that in today's hip-hop game, Flo Rida is a perfect example of an excellent (in a club song sense) flow with nothing much to say. Same with 50 Cent at times – dude has exhibited moments of brilliance with his flow, but rarely has anything remotely interesting to say. Still, by that admission though, you'd have to acknowledge, as you did in a way, that his first two albums WERE quite good because they did essentially break new ground in the hip-hop game. I mean, everyone had problems with their parents and partners, but I don't think I've ever heard a song like "Kim" in my life.

The problem is though, rappers rarely delve into new topics, particularly on a comeback album as they're attempting to capture the same audience they did with their previous album. Cube did it with Laugh Now, Cry Later, by still keeping a political edge to his raps. In a sense, if you have fairly unique content, the break helps because when you DO make a comeback, you get that sense of nostalgia, much like I did when I was listening to Blackout! 2.

The comparison to Mariah is kind of weird but true I suppose, although in R&B the topics are quite limited to relationships and love and the variations on each, whereas in hip-hop, you have better access to a wider variety of topics, but since so many rappers find a handful that work for them and stick with them, we rarely see rappers expressing a true diversity in subject matter.

Back to Eminem though, it's a common argument against him that he essentially does the same old thing, but we can't really single him out as every rapper to an extent is at fault of doing the same old thing after more than two albums. Still, if you're reading this #4044, I'd be interested to hear what you think of Relapse in terms of an ‘Out of 10' value.

"Joe Budden just fucked over the whole Slaughterhouse group does anybody think Royce, Crooked I, and Ortiz are gonna back him on this, consider this the death of Slaughterhouse's album and maybe even the group"

I don't think he's fully screwed them just yet. IF, and it's a big IF that deserves to be in size 67 font, he can keep his mouth shut from here out, except to possibly issue a statement along the lines of "I kind of overreacted in the heat of the moment", he doesn't even have to apologize, Meth would probably accept that. If he keeps running his mouth he's going to kill the group's momentum. If you think about it in micro terms, imagine Slaughterhouse's fans amount to 100 people. I'd be willing to say that at LEAST 50 of those people would be old Wu fans, so they'd side with Meth in a beef, with the other 50 then being divided into those that wouldn't care or those that would fully support Budden. Either way, it'll be a losing situation for Budden and the group if this progresses any further.

On the topic of Slaughterhouse though, for a full album, the only worry I have is that they're going to be outsourcing for a lot of their hooks. They can all write decent hooks if they put their mind to it, but I have an awful feeling that we'll be seeing a lot of guests for those purposes. Alternatively, if they go with Premier style production and use scratches for the hooks, they should be fine. I know Royce has done a lot of that in the past and with his current connection with the man himself, hopefully they can avoid having to get R&B singers or whatever we classify Max B as to help them out.

"I wonder if Nick Carey I mean Cannon is gonna take offense to Jay Rock's How To Rob 2009, "I Called up Nick Cannon and told him that Mariah is my bitch, yeah your name is on her back I can see it when I hit" "

Legitimate LOL of the week and we're making it official that Nick Cannon is now Nick Carey.

I'll have to check that Jay Rock track. I liked "All My Life" and I didn't realize he was the same guy on "Whatz Next" off Pac's Life and that line's pretty good. Then again, I figure Mr. Carey will ignore it giving it the old "oh who's this guy anyway, he hasn't made a Platinum album, he isn't married to one of the most successful female singers on the planet!" blah, blah, blah. On a strange note, I'm listening to "Dreams" off Little Brother's Getback album, and I think it uses the same sample as "All My Life".

"T.I. will be serving his sentence at the Forrest City Federal Correctional Complex's low security facility, located approximately 85 miles east of Little Rock and 45 miles west of Memphis, Tennessee,

You forget to mention that he is only serving 60 days in prison, but Alfamega is the only snitch on grand hustle right, i said it a few weeks ago and I'll say it again you can't spell snitch without T.I." - Ramirez

There's been some dispute as to how long he's actually going to be serving. I saw on a couple of sites it was reduced to 60 days, but then some sites posted an update that that was incorrect whilst others didn't. I'm assuming he's gonna be in there for the full year and a day though at this point.

The whole situation with Alfamega was kind of ironic, especially when T.I. kicked him off the label. I loved his justification too, that he wasn't honest and open about his past. But in a moment of conspiracy theory, picture that ‘Mega was working for the feds, snitched on T.I. with the gun charges, and then T.I. gives an anonymous tip that he was an informant, the info goes public, then kicks him off the label.

"The part about great hip hop being ignored is very true, and in a related side note, soon I'm going to pick up a few new albums. It's been a really long time since I bought any new CD's but on my list I have Eminem's relapse, Method Man and Red Man's Black Out 2, T.I.'s Paper Trail, and Nas' Untitled.

I think that's a pretty good list and I'm really looking forward to hearing them." - Mike

Untitled was one of the best albums of 2008 in my opinion and in a more mainstream sense, Paper Trail was up there too. Although honestly, if I see "Live Your Life" on MTV again, I'm going to break the TV as I swear I've seen that video 4 times in the past 2 days which makes no sense whatsoever as they've stopped playing "Dead And Gone". In other not new news, I hate MTV again.

"Em's CD is way better then the rap that has been out in the last few yrs. He has flow beat and crazy hooks who puts Em and Chamillionaire in the same paragraph must have just got out of rehab reject" - bobert

It's certainly good, but as I've mentioned earlier, it's not as good as it's been made out to be by the public at large. The sales projections have Relapse at around 600,000 though, which blows my vague 500,000+ away so he's certainly on track for a Platinum album once more, adding his name to the decreasing list of rappers able to go Platinum still.

"really disappointing
Mm kinda bitch you should've made cannon a joke, good luck my ass" - wOw

Yeah a part of me wanted to see Em throw a jab back and see this escalate into a full blown war of words, but then we'd have Nick Carey Stans coming out of nowhere saying he killed Em etc., when Em would literally have to put out something worse than "Puke" in order for that to happen.

"Relapse better than 95% of rap not exactly...
better than 98% of anything put out in approx last 10 yrs? hell yes!!!" - matt

Mmm 10 years is pushing it a bit I think. 10 years includes 2001, not to mention Internal Affairs, Stillmatic, Supreme Clientele and Like Water For Chocolate. Although with the sheer amount of crap that somehow manages to get released, 98% might not be such an unrealistic figure when you pit the QUALITY albums against the TERRIBLE albums over that time period. Ah…it's sad when you think that the names mentioned throughout this article may only possibly make 2% of the GOOD stuff released over the last 10 years.

The Rant

You know, nothing in the hip-hop world is pissing me off anymore than things such as albums getting pushed back, certain artists getting too much exposure etc. any more than usual.

SO, given I've been writing here for almost 2 years…ok well 1 year and 8 months I figure I'd sound off on some random artists that come up as I search my iTunes. Kind of like a ‘Getting To Know You' session a year and 7 months too late. We've talked about Pac, Nas and Jay in particular somewhat recently so no need to reiterate my stance on them again.

Aaliyah

Yep, we're off to a great start cause we're starting with a R&B singer. Anyway, not a day goes past that I wish she hadn't gotten on that plane because there's been a big-ass gap where she left that modern day R&B singers have had a hard time filling. I mean, she didn't need to be slutty or ¾ naked to sell records and made songs that were a good blend of hip-hop and R&B, and she was always experimenting with new sounds. Someone once asked me who I thought the next Aaliyah would be, mainly because I told them to stop asking me who I thought the next Rakim would be, and looking around now, it's kind of hard to pick someone with a clean cut image who makes a similar style of music. If I had to pick someone though, I think it would be Amerie, despite not having the level of fan base that Aaliyah did.

Black Star

Why do these guys refuse to make an album together again? Well I know they're not actually refusing to do so, but you know…WHEN IS IT HAPPENING THEN? Look, their solo careers have been alright, but honestly, they sounded the best when they were together on their self-titled debut. With Mos releasing a new album soon, hopefully he's gotten his head out of acting long enough to realize that the hip-hop community would happily punch random people in the fact if it meant a new Black Star album. MAKE IT WORK GUYS!

Cam'Ron

Cam is one of those guys I really like when he's ON, but when he's off, oh man is he off. Purple Haze was one of my favorite albums of 2004 and is probably the best one he's done so far. The only problem with Cam is that he tends to do some really dumb songs on each of his albums and that, in my opinion, is what has hurt him from reaching the upper echelons of hip-hop fame. The fact that he constantly uses skits on his albums doesn't help either. I can't actually think of a funny skit he's ever done. The other problem is that he has that annoying habit of rhyming random words for the sake of rhyming and sometimes they really make no sense whatsoever. Anyone remember a video I posted last year of a video of how Cam'Ron thought up his diss tracks? I had a quick look but I've deleted the video, but damn it was a funny video. The guy in it kept rhyming cornflake with cornflake and was using a baby doll as inspiration…

Cassidy

Much like Cam, Cassidy has a couple of really bad habits that keep killing his albums. He can't seem to decide if he wants to be a street rapper, a ladies' man, or a hustler, and that's with full knowledge that his debut album was made with the intent to express all three sides. The problem was that he never really made a good point of excelling in any of them until B.A.R.S., when he became much more comfortable in a street rapper guise. Plus that horrible, horrible double rhyming he does is NOT good as it's ‘part of his identity', it's just lazy.

Chingy

Whatever happened to Chingy?

Christina Milian

See Chingy, except I actually want Christina Milian to come back whereas I don't really mind if Chingy stays wherever he went.

Cormega

And dammit what happened to ‘Mega too? The Testament was an outstanding album that I think sold around 10 copies. Seriously, this is one of THE BEST albums that nobody has heard of, and I know I throw that around a lot, but it truly is an excellent blend of old-school and new-school vibes with top quality production throughout, despite not including any major names apart from Sha Money XL and Havoc, although Cormega does a couple of tracks himself too. I think the "One Love" response to the track of the same name on Illmatic is worth checking the album out alone. If you're a Nas fan, or an East Coast hip-hop fan and HAVEN'T heard this, you're doing yourself a serious disservice. Hunt it down NOW! Please.

DJ Quik

This man needs a new album as soon as possible. Trauma had some great tracks, and it's an excellent album to throw on to just cruise out to or chill at a party with and that's something I've loved about Quik's production style since I first heard it. Plus, I love the dude's attitude to rap where he really just raps about things that are relevant to him NOW in his daily life. Like he doesn't rap about gangs anymore simply because he's been removed from that life for years now. And bloody hell, I've just discovered that all my DJ Quik stuff got deleted when I did that accidental purge of 1500 songs. All I'm left with is Trauma cause I had those songs on CD. Now THIS is a perfect example of when buying CDs is a good thing.

DJ Rectangle

Anyone else familiar with his work? I honestly think he has arthritis the way he scratches records, plus the way he blends the tracks together makes his CDs excellent albums for parties when you just want to put something on and not have to worry about a random slow-jam song coming on and killing the mood.

Fabolous

The problem with Fab is that he never seems to be able to make a full album without getting lazy half way through. He's an excellent choice for a guest spot, but can't carry an album by himself and seems to call in all the guest spots he's done for his own album, and then you end up with From Nothin' To Somethin' where he only had one solo track apart from the Intro.

Fat Joe

Has the EXACT same problem as Fabolous except he doesn't even make it half way through the album as most everything he does is extremely half-assed making the entire product roughly a three quarter-ass effort at best. He certainly had ‘it' in him at the start of his career, but between the death of Pun and virtually everyone in Terror Squad getting pissed off at him or leaving the group, it's no wonder he doesn't put effort into anything he does now. Still, he's good for a couple of club songs at least.

G-Unit

I never thought I'd say this, but they need to bring that G G G G G-Unit thing back for old times' sake at least ONCE on their next album or collaboration track. Honestly, I think back in 2003, we were doing that at least once a day, but I guess after Dave Chappelle made fun of it, they stopped. Man, Dave Chappelle has a habit of killing things in hip-hop, mainly in a good way too. If only we could get him to do a melody of every single garbage rapper on the planet, hip-hop would suddenly look a lot healthier than it does now.

Speaking of G-Unit, what happened to them…Remember when the label had; Curly, Banks, Buck, Yayo, Game then M.O.P., Mobb Deep, Mase, Spider Loc, Hot Rod, Olivia and rumors of Lil Scrappy joining? They were the dominating label in hip-hop, and then they just dropped off due to the various issues, such as nobody wanting to promote their album. I remember when I heard Mobb Deep signed with 50, the first thing I said was that they'd be dead on the label after one album. I'd claim psychic powers but a blind, deaf and dumb person could have predicted that given everything on Interscope/Aftermath/Shady/G-Unit not named Dr. Dre, 50 Cent or Eminem joins the artist's equivalent of an elephant graveyard there.

Immortal Technique

Is probably at loss now that Bush has gone, given for a long time he was the target of most of his raps. Just kidding, but seriously, where has Tech gone? And unlike Chingy, I do actually care where he's gone.

J-Kwon

HAHAHAHAHAHA he made a new album that flew so under the radar I only knew about it because someone sent me a copy of his new song and then subsequently listened to it due to the need for a hearty laugh. Plus, he looks really weird now, well he looked weird to start with, but the album cover was pretty bad.

J. Holiday

I was going to review his latest album but never got around to doing it in time. Anyway, I did eventually listen to it and it was a significant improvement over his first album. He actually seemed content to just make R&B songs instead of Thug&B tracks that he did on his first album. Also his vocal power seems to have solidified more with Round 2 too. If you're looking for a decent contemporary R&B album, give his latest a listen. I see a positive future for J. Holiday.

Ja Rule

Now I was actually looking forward to The Mirror…back in NOVEMBER OF 2007! Now I really won't be terribly excited when it comes out unless he ditches his usual INC guest artists such as Cadillac Tah, Blackchild and whoever the other guy was, if there WAS another guy… Oh yeah, he needs to bring in artists like Young Buck and Game to piss Curly off because I would happily review that album and give it an extra 0.5-1 marks depending on how much I think it'll piss him off. Actually Ja uses too many useless skits too, that's something that's always annoyed me.

Jin

REMEMBER THIS GUY? Yes it needs all caps cause I have no idea what the last album Jin released was called. I remember being excited when I heard he signed with Ruff Ryders, cause they were doing quite well as a label at the time, but after his debut album which had some iffy songs came out, the momentum he'd been building filtered out. Plus with the collapse of Ruff Ryders he disappeared until he came out with The Emcee's Propaganda which is another great album nobody's heard. The production was an excellent homage to old-school production, and Jin is a student of hip-hop, so he adapted his lyrics and style to the production easily. It's just a shame he seems to have disappeared to the best of my knowledge (I'm currently unable to check Wikipedia for various reasons, hence my speculation on some of the artists here).

Kanye West

I actually like Kanye West. The ego needs a bit of a check, but putting that aside, few rappers are able to make an entertaining album like him these days. He deals with an everyman's approach to subject matter, then spices things up with his own Platinum Plus lifestyle and backs it with his own production which is rarely below better than average. I even liked 808s, as annoying as that was when I FINALLY got around to listening to it fully (it kept putting me to sleep, LITERALLY). I'm looking forward to anything new he's coming with and I do own all his albums so I'll probably buy any more he puts out based on his history alone.

KRS-One

I actually don't like KRS-One's music for the most part on the other hand. For some reason I can't ever get into his albums fully, much like the problem I have with A Tribe Called Quest. I'm certainly not commenting on his skills or impact, as I recognize the impact he's had on hip-hop, both good and bad, but for whatever reason, I've never really enjoyed his albums as much as others released around the same time.

Linkin Park

I don't think I've ever actually mentioned the fact that I like Linkin Park, so now's a good a time as any. Minute To Midnight was a disappointment for me as I enjoy Mike Shinoda's rapping and there wasn't much there. Probably due to him working on the Fort Minor album, which is another album I really liked, but now that they're working on the new Transformers soundtrack, and they've got a new album on the way, I think it'll be a return to their earlier sound.

Mario Vazquez

I can't remember which reality show this guy came from, but his self-titled debut album was actually a lot better than it had any right to be. He's a surprisingly solid singer and writer and he was given some quality beats. I know "Gallery" was floating around the airwaves here for ages, not sure what impact it had in the US, but if you haven't heard his album and feel like some easy listening R&B, give it a go.

N.W.A.

I have extremely fond memories of N.W.A. and immediately having written that sentence, I wonder how many people can say "fond memories of N.W.A." in all seriousness. Anyway, if you ever want to blame someone for my extreme hip-hop addiction and other related issues, look no further for the cause. "You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge…"

Obie Trice

Another candidate for "Where Are You Now" status, and another that I actually care to know the answer for. I think his debut album got largely overshadowed by another artist who came out at the same time. You may know him, he goes by the name 50 Cent for the most part, but we're content to call him Curly here because of his love for that Pimp Persona, complete with sus-looking lipstick. ANYWAY, Obie got unfairly shunted to the side I think, and his sophomore album was further proof that had Shady Records decided to hang their solo star around Obie's neck, they could well be in a very different (and probably better) position with their current roster than they are today. Here's to Obie's next album!

Organized Konfusion

I damn near crapped my pants when I heard they were talking about making an album, but this news seems to have died down significantly since I first heard about it. Pharoahe F'N Monch is quite simply, one of the best rappers alive today from a lyrical standpoint and Prince Po is very underrated when it comes to Producers. This is another case similar to Black Star where I would happily punch people for a new album.

Papoose

Remember he came out with that "What The F Is A Papoose" track? Well, he should probably change that to WHERE, because after that hectic $1 million deal with…Jive? Can't remember…anyway, after the deal fell through, he and Kayslay have gone to start a family somewhere quiet obviously, because I'm not even registering new mixtapes from him and someone is currently telling me he had a new one recently, his 20-something'th.

Rhymefest

Perhaps I should have titled this article the "Where Are They Now" edition because there's a lot of that happening at the moment. Rhymefest had a significant buzz both before and after the release of Blue Collar, but that seems to have died down heaps and he seems to have no active plans of releasing a new album anytime soon. Look, mixtapes are nice, and the one he did put out this year was nice, but I want a proper album with a major label budget for some Kanye beats! That's not too much to ask!!!

Royce Da 5'9"

I'm desperately hoping that Royce's upcoming album isn't on hold until the Slaughterhouse album comes out. Look I like the guys in Slaughterhouse, but Royce is a Top 10 or 20 depending if I ever organize that list properly of favorite rappers of mine, so he takes priority over the rest frankly. Plus since he's made amends with Em and D12, there's a chance for some Detroit goodness and we can get Bizarre to stop waving that flag and sit his flabby self down for a while and STOP RELEASING ALBUM BIZARRE! Uh, off topic rant there.

Static Major

I was really looking forward to his posthumous album, but that never eventuated. I'm hoping it hasn't been shelved because I'd love to hear a whole album of his own work. The only thing I have of his is a mixtape that mainly features his hook work on other albums, which is all well and good, except I have the original album for many of them.

The Game

When I mentioned before that it's kind of fun following an artist from their unsigned hype days to when they finally hit the big time, Game was the first artist I did that with. Not quite from the unsigned hype days, but I think the first time I heard him was on G-Unit Radio Pt. 5 (they should bring back that series too) on a quick freestyle track. After that I kind of went into madness and downloaded around 20 mixtapes he'd done and created more hype for his debut album than any lead single could have. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed and haven't been with the exception of about 5 tracks in total from his three official studio albums which is pretty impressive I'd say. Now that he's got a new album in the works, I'm quite content to wait if he puts enough time in it and stops outsourcing for his hooks. Less is more, or go the Premier route and employ a scratcher to do your hooks.

Trey Songz

On the other hand, Trey Day was an extreme disappointment for me. I bought I Gotta Make It off the strength of the single of the same name and wasn't disappointed as I felt he had a genuine passion and soul to his music. However, the second album ended up being more contemporary R&B and was frustrating to listen to knowing he had the capabilities of his debut album still in him.

Weird Al Yankovic

I think a lot of hip-hop fans are also Weird Al fans, given his affinity for doing hip-hop parodies and making them significantly better than the original tracks. I actually wrecked my first keyboard from half choking, half spitting up the drink I was drinking at the time listening to Straight Outta Lynwood. That album is worth purchase alone for "Confessions Part 3" and "Trapped In The Drive-Thru". Oh man, "Trapped In The Drive-Thru" is unbelievably funny, especially if you've heard "Trapped In The Closet", and I'm gonna assume everyone HAS, given that song had about 20 something parts to it and you couldn't escape the jokes for a good 2 years. Hell I'm still making "Trapped In The Closet" jokes…although that might be more of a slight on me than the song itself. I'm listening to "A Complicated Song" right now and the second verse is friggin hilarious.

Xzibit

I think Xzibit is a guy that has one more 10/10 album in him before he retires which he toyed with over the last few years sadly. I'm betting that the break from the game over the last 3 years will have done him good, and he won't be content with just Game and Cube being mentioned as the somewhat Saviors of the Coast, so he'll come hard on this album. Although I seriously want a sequel to "Concentrate" and I may be the only person to want a random monk chanting inspired track but dammit, I want a random monk chanting inspired track!

Well, there we go. An A-Z of sorts of my random thoughts and feelings on certain artists. I could have made the list a lot longer, but I'm getting up to the 12th page now so I figure it's time for the news!

The News

Top Story

Eminem News Bits



After unleashing a lengthy blog rant about Eminem over the lyrics to "Bagpipes From Baghdad," Nick Cannon says the mini feud with Em is officially over. In a brief sit down with Entertainment Weekly, Cannon sticks by every word he wrote, even if the majority of fans on the Internet don't agree.
"I felt like I said what I had to say," Cannon tells the publication. "I didn't take [the post] down, like, Oh, somebody instructed me to do it or anything like that. It was just one of those things, like, I said it."

Somebody DID take the post down from his website though.

The composed Cannon sounds far different than the one who called out Eminem over disrespect to his wife, Mariah Carey, women in general, and black women in particular.

"I feel that my relationship with my wife is one of the best things -- or the best thing -- that's ever happened to me, and it has nothing to do with celebrity or this industry. It's all about, you know, just love and finding love and being happy and respecting the union that it is."

At the end of the day, perhaps the only people to consider the brief war of words a "beef" were the media and some fans.

"I never even considered it as beef. It's not beef. It's just, Hey, I heard the record. I said what I had to say."

Look, when you write something like this (from the original post, thanks again Jeremy!):

"I'm taking full action on you Eminem. I don't know why no one has stood up to your bitch ass yet. But I guess it's going to take a corny, wack rapping, boy toy from Nickelodeon to set you straight. And trust, I am going to be relentless. Even though I got a lot of other obligations and occupations, you are my new full time job "homey"! As a matter of fact I think you going to bring my wack rhymes out of retirement! That's right haters; you can thank Eminem because I'm going to start rapping again!"

To me, that's a challenge or a desire to engage in beef.

In other news, Detox is once again, beginning to become more myth than reality. However, we can officially blame one MC for the delay: Eminem.

In a recent interview with DJ Semtex on BBC radio, Em himself took the heat for Detox's delay. "With Dre, Dre's got a lot of material for this record," Em told DJ Semtex.

While the working time period for Detox has been highly speculated, with the initial announcement of the album coming in the early part of the new millennium, Eminem says that Dre has been hard and work on the album for the past year. He also revealed that his latest album, Relapse, is the reason Detox will suffer further delays.

"He's recorded a lot of material. I think that more so than anything, before his album, he basically put aside, he was working on his record for a good time period, I would say probably a year, a year and some change straight, he was working on his record and he basically put that on hold once we got on the road with my record, which I'm extremely grateful for you know."

Detox still has no formal release date.

Well, at least he's working on it. What's the bet that Dre and Raekwon are in on a big joke together and release Detox and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II on the same day?

Suge Knight Coming Back



In an interview with HipHopStan.com, former Death Row Records CEO Marion "Suge" Knight claims he's "running the west." Despite an absence from record-making, his several run-ins with the courts removing his stake in Death Row, he says he's enjoying life, planning to be in some movies, and working on putting out new music.

In the interview, he lends some praise to a few up and coming artists: Glasses Malone, Nipsey Hussle and Warner Brothers artist Jay Rock, saying that he's sure they'll all do well and even commenting on veteran artists Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy, saying they've been putting out good music as of late.

Suge goes on to say that he's got a few artists he's working with that no one knows about yet, taking things "back to basics," and that it'll be a different side to the commercial hip-hop that's since taken over from the early '90s when west coast music was more prominent on the scene. Suge started up another record label of his own called Blackball Records. He's also currently searching for a network to pick up his reality show, Unfinished Business, which is mainly based on his days with Death Row and finding talent for his new record label.

You'd have to be desperate or stupid or an unfortunate combination of both to sign with Suge. I think it's been a proven fact that nothing good eventuates out of a deal with him unless you manage to get out early. Then again, trying to do that could turn you into the next 2Pac if you're not careful too. What happened to Petey Pablo after he signed with Suge?

Bubba Sparxxx Arrested

Bubba Sparxxx has been arrested at a Hooters restaurant for buying illegal drugs. Sparxxx was arrested in Clearwater, Florida after he tried to by drugs in the presence of an off duty police officer, according to tampabay.com.

An officer searched the rapper and found the narcotic Tranxene, which is legal if you have a prescription. The drug is generally used for individuals that suffer from anxiety. Sparxxx didn't have permission to use the drug, according to the report.

Sparxxx was arrested and booked on charges related to felony possession of a controlled substance. He was released on Monday on $2,000 bail.

If you're going to be arrested, I guess a Hooters restaurant is a good place as any, but honestly, when I'm at Hooters I'm not there thinking of buying drugs, this is what I'm thinking about.

Damn that's a beautiful sight.

Slaughterhouse Sign With E1

Slaughterhouse has found a recording home with E1 (formerly known as Koch Records) and houses a number of independent rap entities.

"We're working on it. It's a one-off [a one album deal]," Joe Budden said. "It's coming very soon."

No official release date has been announced, but insiders suggest it could be as early as July. Budden previously revealed that he's working on a solo album, The Great Escape, slated to hit stores later this year.

I think that's definitely the way to go. If you sign up for more than 1 album deals as a new group, particularly one as lyrical (read: not going to make ringtone hits) as they are, you're not likely to get much backing on subsequent albums from the label unless you can make something magical.

Budden said that they were open to doing tracks with other artists such as Chino XL.

"There have been a lot of people telling me that if you all don't do a song with Chino XL, y'all are buggin,' " Budden said, admitting that adding new members offers a new dynamic. "I don't know about adding a fifth member. We kind of got a camaraderie and a chemistry going where, if Slaughterhouse is somewhere, Slaughterhouse is somewhere and it's the four of us. Chino XL, I'm not mad at that. He's top notch."

Dammit imagine a song with the Slaughterhouse guys, Pharoahe Monch, GZA, Canibus, Chino XL, AZ and an old Big L verse…that would kill me. Like no joke, someone would come into my room, and I'd be slumped over the keyboard on my computer with the song still playing on repeat with parts of my brain having melted and fallen out of my ear and nose onto the floor.

So far, the Slaughterhouse album has not definite release date and the title hasn't been revealed either.

Well, when it comes, it'll come and I'll definitely check it out and review it right here, on 411mania.com! (Bookmark us, you know you want to)

Her Milkshake Isn't What It Used To Be



Nas has filed a response for Kelis' request for divorce and has asked the court to deny the singer any sort of spousal support. The claim was filed in Los Angeles court on Wednesday.

Kelis filed for divorce last month, claiming irreconcilable differences. Kelis is pregnant with the couple's first child. She is due in July. Both parents seek joint custody of the unborn child.

Nas and Kelis were married in 2003, but didn't go public until 2005, according to People magazine.

I doubt she'd get any to be honest. They've both had successful careers, and unless Kelis is worried that people won't buy her albums anymore because of this…then she's crazy because I doubt many people outside of NAS' fan base actually knew they were married. What with the tattoo on the arm and all. Better find the same removal guy Game uses given he seems to change tattoos every few months.

Dolla Laid To Rest

Dolla was buried in Atlanta Saturday afternoon, May 23 in a traditional Muslim ceremony, a friend of the young rapper said. Hundreds gathered at Word of Faith Love Center to pay their final respects to 21-year-old Roderick Anthony Burton Jr., affectionately called "Buck" by his friends and family.

In keeping with the Janazah ceremony used by the Muslim faith to pay homage to the dead, several friends and family were dressed in traditional white attire. Dolla's body was wrapped in a cream-colored sheet.

The funeral was held in keeping with Dolla's wishes. His cousin, rapper Scrapp DeLeon, told Atlanta CBS affiliate WGCL-TV that Dolla once told him that he did not fear death and when it came he wanted people to wear white and celebrate his life.

Scrapp was with his cousin at the time of the shooting that took his life on May 18. Atlanta-area music promoter Aubrey Berry, 23, has been charged with Dolla's murder and is currently being held on $5 million bond.

On Friday May 22, fans, friends and family gathered at Murray Brothers Funeral Home in Atlanta for Dolla's wake. Among those present were his Konvict Muzik label mate Ray Lavender, Smallville actor Sam Jones III, and O'neika El-Amin, who works closely with the Konvict family and had known Dolla since he was 16.

El-Amin said she was shocked by how beautiful the young man looked in preparation for his final resting place.

"I even Tweeted about it," said El-Amin, who shared with her followers at the time that "he looks like a Handsome Prince, wrapped in a white sheet & a beautiful garb on his head."

This is why I refuse to get a Twitter account because you TWEET stuff or you've TWEETED it in the past tense…doesn't that sound remarkably stupid to anyone else apart from me? It's like Facebook updates except with a lame name.

Roderick "Dolla" Burton was buried at Westview Cemetery in Atlanta.

If the album ever gets released and you like Dolla's music, make sure you buy a copy of the album because I imagine part of the proceeds at least will be going to Dolla's family. It's truly sad when someone has their life cut out from under them just as they were starting to make their dream come true.

Kanye Releasing A Book



Kanye West teamed up with marketer/philosopher J. Sakiya Sandifer last year to write a book of "Kanye-isms" called Thank You and You're Welcome. After selling it on his Web site, the multi-Grammy winner told MTV News the book hits stores July 7.

"He inspired the format of the book, because he wrote a book called 'Think, Think, Think and Think Again,' " West said Friday morning May 22 about Sandifer. "[He did] bullet points in bold graphics, and he expounded upon them...whereas books hide the main points chapters in. You have to read so much to get so much out of it. We wanted to make it simple for people who are non-readers, who don't feel like doing all that, and still get the point across."

One of Kanye's favorite philosophies in the book is "Get used to getting used."

"To use someone is necessary. What's negative is to misuse, overuse or abuse somebody," West said. "To use is necessary. If you can't get used, then you're useless."

"That really came from my entrepreneurial journey," Sandifer said. "I would complain when my phone wasn't ringing. 'No, I want to be used.' Being the resident philosopher, I put it in that context."

West and Sandifer call working together a "great collaboration." They've also collaborated on some of 'Ye's acceptance speeches and a line from "The Good Life"

" 'Having money's not everything; not having it is,' " Sandifer repeated of the line he came up with. "That's where the real problem is — when you don't have it."

While West and Sandifer might make another book, although it probably won't be a sequel to Thank You.

"It's just gonna be another collection of our ideas and theories," Sandifer said. "It's not gonna be like 'Thank You and You're Welcome Volume Two.' I think that would be limiting."

I'd be interested to read that book, mainly because I think Kanye has an interesting brain and it would be entertaining to see what he REALLY thinks of certain things.

In other Kanye related news, according to its producers, the upcoming Blueprint 3 album is sure to please. No I.D. has already noted that the album will be a full-fledged classic and now, Kanye West is adding to the comments he's already made about the CD.

"Jay is in control of everything in his domain," he told MTV. Even though he has previously claimed that the album was finished, he now says he is glad it wasn't released sooner.

"He's just been working on it, and it's gonna be amazing when he drops it. I think it's good he's taking his time to give people the best product possible and not being rushed by this fast-food, media-outlet, Internet, everything-is-getting-leaked, people-stealing your-songs-before-you-can-mix-them-and-put-them-online world we're living in right now."

Don't expect any Auto-Tune on this album. West thinks this will be an anti-Auto-Tune CD.

"We actually removed all the songs with Auto-Tune off of his album to make the point that this is an anti-Auto-Tune album, even though I released an album that has all Auto-Tune!" "It doesn't matter to me," he said of the decision. "It's music; it's just sonics. I like Auto-Tune so I do it, but you want the other thing — like you'll wear a suit to a wedding and gym shoes to a basketball game. I think it's a perfect moment for Jay to provide some gym shoes to a basketball game right now."

Jay is now my hero for the week for making an anti-auto-tune album. With artists like Red and Meth getting sucked into it, I'm extremely glad Jay didn't succumb too.

No word on when Jay will be providing the music though. Now that he's free from Def Jam, the album will likely be released through his label, Roc Nation. Still, details have not been released as yet.

Scott Storch In Deeper Financial Trouble

Scott Storch was recently ordered to pay actor/film producer Matt Sinnreich, $750,000 over a business dispute. A Miami-Dade jury ordered Storch to pay Sinnreich the money after the two agreed to begin a company in June 2007, according to the Miami Herald. The company's plans included signing and producing singer Sindy Espitia and Darrell "D Shep" Sheppard of Miami.

Sinnreich paid Storch $25,000 for 25 percent of the company, but claims in court documents that Storch "failed to form the corporation . . . and failed to return the $25,000."

Sinnreich's complaint alleged breach of contract and civil theft. When Storch failed to reply to the complaint, Judge Ronald Friedman granted Sinnreich's motion. Jurors recently decided the damages amounted to $750,000.

Although Storch was once worth an estimated $70 million, he has had numerous financial problems, including late child support payments, as well as owing $722,906.19 in taxes for his $10.5 million mansion.

He also had the cocaine addiction which probably wasn't helping things either. I honestly don't know how the legal system works when you can pull $750,000 worth of damages from an initial investment of $25,000. Surely you can't have forgone THAT much business resulting in THIRTY TIMES your initial capital.

Sales Figures

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Eminem took out the Number 1 spot this week, beating Green Day's album by over 400,000 copies. Relapse went Gold in this first week, selling 608,000 copies. One debut that did surprise me however was Meth and Red's Blackout! 2 selling 63,000 copies and coming in at Number 4 on the Billboard charts, which is approximately 18,000 MORE copies than Soulja Boy's album sold in its first week. And yes I am extremely happy about that because it proves to that little monster that the old folks can still sell. Other new albums this week saw Busta Rhymes Back On My B.S. come in at Number 6 with 59,000 copies sold, DJ Drama's Gangsta Grillz sold 18,000 copies and Freeway's Philadelphia Freeway 2 sold 5,200, a decent start considering Free's on an Independent label now. Likewise, Sheek Louch's Life On D-Block sold 4,300 copies, but then again, I have no idea if this was ac