The Hip-Hop Herald 11.05.09: Everybody Hates Jay

Posted by Patrick Robinson on 11.05.2009

This week, yet ANOTHER Lil Wayne lawsuit, Beanie Sigel lashes out at Jay-Z, 50 Cent comments on his upcoming album and movie, Kay Slay talks the industry, beef and his album, Soulja Boy's plans for the rest of the year and Game reveals details on The R.E.D. Album!

I think the potency of the common cold is something that is greatly underestimated by mankind, and if you don't believe that, then you can believe me because I was stupid enough to eat half a burrito my sister didn't finish when she had a cold. "I won't get sick" is exactly what I said and yeah…I got sick.

Anyway I would like to be able to say I spent most of this week recovering but that would be a lie as well, real life tends to suck like that. On with the show though, I'm feeling quite a bit better over yesterday so I think I'll be right until my next stupid mistake. Perhaps I'll like a door handle next time.

The News

Top Story

Beanie Sigel Takes On Jay-Z


Everyone LOVES Jay-Z!

In a move that seemed to come out of nowhere, Beanie Sigel has released "What You Talkin Bout (Average Cat)" a diss aimed at Jay-Z. Released in the early hours of Friday, October 30 "What You Talkin Bout" premiered on DJ Kay Slay's radio show on HOT97.

In the song Sigel seems to air out his grievances regarding Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records and he even alleges that Jay-Z had him kicked out by police at Jay-Z's September 11 concert at Madison Square Garden this year.

"The rapper Shawn called the police on me / cause I was front row at the Blueprint 3 / S*** I just wanted to see him MC / And reminisce on when we was the R.O.C. / But he called all the C.O.P's, not only that, he brought out the F.E.D's / So that's telling me ‘F You Sieg,' / So F you too and F Bleek three," Sigel raps on "What You Talkin Bout."

I'd be interested to find out who is more hated by people within the hip-hop industry, the police or Jay-Z because seriously, how many people have gone at him this year alone? Does Jay really deserve all the criticism he gets? As you'll see, Sigel's claim is a result of Jay's label involvement as are most of the attacks thrown his way and really, if you believed everything you read, you'd picture Jay as sitting behind a desk with the office covered in flames, holding a pitchfork while eating a baby and defecating on the latest album release.

Following the release of the song Sigel spoke with 100.3 The Beat's Charlamagne Tha God to make a few clarifications. In his interview with Charlamagne, Sigel explained that he felt that he was called out on Jay Z's Blueprint 3 and that while on Roc-A-Fella, State Property never really got that "push" needed to propel their careers on the label.

"Jay in another place and I understand that. He did what he did as far as signing people to Roc-A-Fella Records, you did that," Sigel explained to Charlamagne. "But as far as the push that people coulda got that really could have did things, you didn't do that."

I don't know about that, Memphis Bleek actually managed to get 4 albums out under Jay when if he'd been in any other situation, chances are people would have forgotten about him after the second one. You know, all you have to do is substitute ‘Jay' with ‘WWE' and you've got an almost identical criticism with the WWE product today as well.

During a recent press conference, a reporter spoke to Jay-Z about Beanie Sigel's complaints. Specifically, the reporter from M.O.B. Magazine asked about "What You Talkin' 'Bout". A video of the comments hit the net, showing Jay's reply via DimeWars.

"He has a lot to complain about," Jay said to some laughter before providing more of his thoughts on the diss.

"Beanie Sigel, at the time, and you can look it up if you'd like, let's just be honest, was driving two Bentleys," he noted. "With his momma in the sticks and selling 800,000 records. I don't know. What more can you do for somebody at that point? At some point, you have to look in the mirror and look at yourself."

Jay is completely right in this case. I mean, how much MORE can you do for a guy who's driving a Bentley and almost going Platinum? The ‘Jay-Z' association can only take you so far before it's on YOU to do something about furthering your career.

On Sigel's point that he wasn't pushed, Jay went forward, noting that Beans had a lot without going platinum.

"Beanie Sigel had a record deal, a record label and a clothing line and never went platinum. Ever. I don't know, in the history of Rap, if anyone has ever done so much with so little. What more can you do for a person at that point?"

Memphis Bleek reacted to the diss track by posting on his Twitter account (yay).

"Just waking up my phone going crazy over this segiel s***," he said, before adding that it surprised him. "I just seen son at power house wasn't nothing now it's something..... I'm lost on that.... Guess that's how the rap game work."

You think he'd know how to spell ‘Sigel' by now.

"F*** bleek 3 haaa that's a good one," he joked.

"And for the rec....I can't diss that's my n*** we gotta get up an chop it up that's all...He know me that's all I could say."

Other rappers reacted on Twitter to the incident.

Just Blaze, who played a prominent role in Roc-A-Fella Records' legacy and has contributed to all of Sigel's album simply tweeted, "first the fat boys break up… can't believe what I'm listening to."

And once the track had found its way onto the internet, less than an hour after its radio debut, Fabolous was among the first to distribute a link to the audio via Twitter. Fab's thoughts on the topic are representative of what most fans and artists, including Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s Lil' Cease have expressed.

"To me it's disappointing," Fab stated. "I hate [to see] family fight.. But I don't know either side of the story. So I'm neutral & enjoyin' the music, as u should. I hate hip hop family splits & beef's... I jus love hip hop unity but I guess people grow apart too…but when u do, do u gotta s**t on or diss the people who were ur family?"

State Property's Young Chris offered a simple "No Comment."

Discussions on Twitter grew more vigorous once Beanie Sigel discussed his motives with Charlemagne Tha God on Philadelphia's 100.3 The Beat on Friday morning.

Yet while many considered his statements a shocking revelation of the inner workings of Roc-A-Fella Records, for one rapper, it struck an all too familiar chord.

"After Hearing Beanie's story, people can stop wondering what happened with us and Dip Set/Roc-a-Fella," said Mayhem of the London-based group S.A.S. "They have you around to benefit them! Makes me feel better that it ain't jus us. Damn, is 50 the only guy in the East Coast that made his whole team rich?"

WAIT. Didn't Young Buck have money problems? Hasn't Banks signed with an independent label? And nobody cares about Tony Yayo I imagine, but hasn't he basically admitted his self worth by proclaiming himself as 50's "tax write-off"? I'm not too sure about today's state of affairs within the Wu-Tang Clan, but RZA sure as hell made everyone in the group a household name.

As for the numerous artists who have previously beefed with Jay-Z, only one has responded.
In the midst of promoting his forthcoming fourth solo LP The R.E.D. Album, The Game slipped in his two cents, writing "& Yeah I'm ridin wit Beans no matter what Rae think!!!"

I've missed something here, but what's Raekwon got to do with this? Or are we talking about a different Rae? Forgive the ignorance please.

Anyway, more on this as it emerges.

Shyne Returns Home

After his release from prison, Shyne has "temporarily accepted deportation" and finally landed in his birth country of Belize after spending nine years in a maximum security prison in New York for his involvement in an infamous nightclub shooting in 1999. After finishing his sentence on Oct. 6, Hot 97's Angie Martinez revealed (after talking to the rapper privately) that he would be deported to his country of origin.

He was welcomed by family members including his father, Prime Minister of Belize, Dean Barrow, and mother Imeon Myvett. Also accompanying him was Harvard professor Charles Ogletree, who will be helping Shyne fight against the immigration case.

I actually had no idea he was the son of the Prime Minister of Belize until I read it a week or so ago.

"Shyne is home," said the rapper's uncle, Michael Finnegan, who is also Belize's Minister of Housing. "He wants to say how happy he is to be home and to be a free man. He would love to have a conversation with the media, but because he was legally advised by Professor Ogletree, he must not speak to the media because he doesn't want to prejudice his situation with the US government or with the Belize government."

While Shyne fights the deportation decision, he will reportedly be working on his as-of-yet untitled album, to be released on Def Jam.

I'll be interested to hear what he has to say on the matter when he's finally allowed to. It will also be interesting to see how it impacts his next album. I imagine a 9 year spell in jail has to have a fairly large impact on a person.

50 Cent Talks Album Leak, Beanie/Jay And Movie



50 Cent latest album, Before I Self Destruct prematurely hit the internet - just under a month before its intended November 23 release recently.

According to digitalmusicnews.com, the album is marked as the "International Version," though it contains all of the album's expected tracks. The quality reportedly would indicate that it is from a streamed source, rather than the CD itself.

To try and combat this, in an interview with the Gomez Brothers, 50 revealed that the album will be released a week earlier therefore changing the release date to November 16.

"I'm pushing the record up. It'll be out on the 16th. I'm expecting it to do good because of the response I've heard on the web…I feel good that it was leaked in its entirety, in sequence. So people can hear my vision," 50 Cent explained in his interview.

I'll admit I've been listening to it and there are a couple of tracks that are actually worth repeat listens.

50 Cent also shared his thoughts on the recently aired out issues between Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel.

"That whole s*** is a mess," said 50 Cent. "I understand where his frustration comes from, because there was a point where— He would've had a serious check."

During an interview at Philadelphia's Power 99FM on November 3, 50 addressed a number of controversial feuds currently taking place in Hip-Hop.

50 stopped by Miss Jones' morning show and discussed Jay-Z's feud with Philly artist Beanie Sigel, Jay-Z and Rick Ross.

50 Cent confirmed Sigel's allegations on "Average Cat" that he almost signed Sigel to his G-Unit Records, which at one point, was to jointly market a project by former Roc-A-Fella artist Freeway.

"He [Beanie Sigel] would have got at least $800,000 at that point to come over," 50 Cent told Miss Jones. "Jay was telling him that he didn't want to lose him. I think Jay and Puffy had these feelings toward me at one point I believe."

During an interview with Charlamagne Tha God, Beanie Sigel revealed that he was close to signing a deal with G-Unit, but the deal was blocked by Jay-Z. 50 Cent confirmed this and also stated that he ran into the same issues when he attempted to bring estranged Bad Boy artist Mase into the G-Unit fold.

"They didn't want to lose anything to me, while their energy was going on. Puff didn't want to sign the Mase deal and Jay didn't want to do that," 50 Cent told Miss Jones.

50 Cent has wasted no time replying to Rick Ross' "Baby By Me" remix which hit the Internet yesterday dissing G-Unit.

"I've never seen a bigger fraud in Hip-Hop. He Just did a remix to Baby by Me. It'll count as a spin for my record. He's an idiot. I'd be upset if my baby's momma was out there. He's broke. His last album sold 300,000 copies. His last record [Triple C's Custom Cars and Cycles ] just like sold 4,000 records."

Well there's that whole sales problem argument again.

Aside from giving his thoughts on the Beanie Sigel/Jay-Z situation, 50 Cent also gave his sales prediction for Rick Ross and Triple C's debut album Custom Cars & Cycles in another radio interview.

"They can break ten [thousand copies] if they buy some," said 50 Cent in an interview with DJ Ekin. "They can buy some. I don't know [all their names]. We know the police officer. We know the one that got knocked out. We know the kid from the Bronx. He's the tough one, right? The other guy, he wasn't sure if he wanted dreads or he wanted a flat top."

Triple C and Rick Ross' Custom Cars & Cycles was released on Tuesday, October 26.

In other news, Interscope Records released a statement revealing 50 Cent will be screening his latest film, also titled Before I Self Destruct, on the following dates:

2-Nov Boston
3-Nov Philadelphia
4-Nov DC
5-Nov NYC
7-Nov Atlanta
9-Nov Chicago
10-Nov San Francisco
11-Nov Los Angeles
12-Nov Houston
13-Nov Dallas

The film stars 50, and is "about an inner city youth raised by a hardworking single mother. When his dream of becoming a basketball player fails to materialize after his mother is tragically gunned down, Clarence (played by [50]) is consumed by revenge and takes up a life of crime in order to support his younger brother."

Why does this sound like Get Rich Or Die Tryin', the movie, with basketball instead of hip-hop and minor tweaks?

Fans can log onto movietickets.com/50 to download tickets to the release. It also seems that even 50 was affected by these economic times, as he revealed to The London Telegraph that he now has to sell some old diamonds before buying new ones.

"The credit crunch has hit rap," revealed 50. "I buy diamonds on a very regular basis, but now I am selling my old stuff before I get something new. These are times when you learn about the value of money," added 50, who says he's lost "a few million."

Well perhaps instead of buying new diamonds on a regular basis, you could SAVE YOUR MONEY and avoid losing a few million? How's that sound?

Rae, Meth And Ghost Album Release Date Set

With fans salivating over the project being put together by Method Man, Ghostface Killah, and Raekwon, it will come as great news to know the album is still on schedule to be released this winter.

Despite no confirmed album title or track listing, the collaboration album is tentatively scheduled for a December 22 release date.

Not much to add here by me except HELL YES! I now have the first thing on my Christmas list.

Details On Rebirth Emerge



In the latest issue of Billboard magazine, Lil Wayne gave details on his upcoming double-disc album Rebirth.

Wayne, who will also be featured on the cover of the magazine, said that the second disc will include mostly songs from Young Money. He also said that the leaked tracks caused him to rethink the direction on the album.

"I had to add new cuts because a lot of things leaked, making people think they had an idea of what I was doing with Rebirth and what it would sound like. And I hated that because I never want anybody to think they know what I'm doing until I present it. So what I did was make it totally different. I flipped it."

Despite Birdman's assurances back in April that the project would not be a Rock album Weezy revealed that, like it or not, the album will have heavy rock influences.

I'm calling it now, "Lil Wayne - Rebirth Reggae Album". One day we will find out what the album actually sounds like considering neither Birdman nor Wayne can decide what it will. Most likely that time will come approximately 5 days before the official release date when the product leaks.

"Yes, the album is still rock. I play guitar on 80% of the songs and there's a lot of rock influences and rock beats. I also have Travis Barker on the album. But I don't want people to think I'm trying to do something I can't do...When people hear me say rock, they may get scared like 'Oh, God. What's he going to do?' When I said I was doing a rock album, it was about doing a freedom thing. This album isn't Hip Hop. When I do my Carter albums, I know I've got to rap, I know I've got to spit. I know the words I've got to say and the subjects I've got to talk about. I also know the things I shouldn't say, the things I shouldn't talk about. There's none of those limits on this album. I say what I want, how I want. That's what this album is: a freedom album. And rock is the avenue that gives you that freedom. I'm just having fun that's all. Trust me: People will like these songs. It's my job to make them love them, but I know for a fact they'll like them."

He already elaborated for an entire verse his ‘relationship' with his ‘daddy', Birdman on a "We Takin' Over" freestyle off Da Drought 2 so what has he got left to say? The word ‘rape' 10 times in one second? (100 points to anyone who gets that reference)

Although Rebirth has been long-delayed, Wayne has confirmed a mid December release.

You know, just for a laugh, when I'm under the Christmas tree after a little to drink and eat, I shall open Rebirth because I will have put it there myself.

Kay Slay Talks Album, Industry And Beef



Just a quick note before we get into it, the interview excerpts are a bit long, but trust me, it's worth the read. Slay gives excellent insight into his own album, as well as how beef is affecting hip-hop and more.

Mixtape and radio deejay Kay Slay wants the world to know that his contribution to Hip Hop extends beyond just manning the ones and twos.

"[My album's title] comes from the fact that I'm more than just that," Kay Slay said recently regarding his fourth album, More Than Just A DJ (due December 8th). "A lot of times we get stamped with the title of what are main job is, but it be a lot of other things that's going on behind the scenes people don't know about…I deejay at parties, I also host big events, I'm a publisher of a magazine [Straight Stuntin], I A&R'd for [Shaquille O'Neal's Deja34 label on] Ray J's [All I Feel] project, I got two different radio shows ["Streetsweeper Radio" on Sirius' Shade 45 and "The Drama Hour" on New York's HOT 97 FM], I do projects in the communities - I bring basketball tournaments in the hood, games for the kids, dances and everything. I do a whole lot more [than just deejay and] sometimes people need to recognize what's going on with people rather that just labeling them one thing. I'm more than just a deejay. I been here over 31 years, man. I had to progress some. Damn! Give me my props, dog."

The strange thing is that Kay Slay isn't rapping and I'm not sure as to the extent of his producing on the album either. The title would make sense in the context he's claiming if he was in a position like DJ Quik, in that he raps and produces (and does a good job of both), but Kay Slay doesn't exactly do either that much so it's kind of weird.

While clearing samples, as well as personally arranging the appearances of all 62 artists featured on More Than Just A DJ, has proved daunting (and forced the album's release date to be pushed back a few times now), Slay is firmly committed to doing what's needed and putting his all into his commercial projects, especially given the current state of the street-based business that brought him to the masses a decade ago with the debut of his Street Sweepers series. While Slay revealed that tapes helmed by him for Jim Jones and Tony Yayo are forthcoming, he also conceded that street releases are no longer his focus.

"I mean, I ain't really even f***** into that no more," said Slay of the mixtape game. "I might drop one every three months just to give away, and people can be abreast that I'm still here, and make some exclusive records and let ‘em out through that. But as far as pioneering that s*** anymore, I'm past that. That game nasty, man… I [can] just do what [everybody else does and] throw the s*** on the Internet…The game just, it's messed up now."

I was just thinking that after the Papoose wave died down, we weren't seeing that many Kay Slay tapes on the net. I disagree with the last bit a little. Yes the hip-hop game isn't what it used to be, but so many rappers these days that came up in the same time as Kay Slay did are now embracing alternative methods of marketing themselves, their product and even their label. It just surprises me a little that Kay Slay hasn't embraced modern methods of marketing in hip-hop more readily. I applaud him for sticking to his guns, but there unfortunately comes a time when you have to embrace the new way or become obsolete. I DON'T mean embracing ridiculous notions such as beefing over Twitter or YouTube however.

Although Kay Slay cannot more casually arrange artist appearances for his proper albums the way he could for a mixtape, one artist Slay didn't have to deal with any headaches in getting for his new project was Drake. Unfortunately, the Young Money emcee was unable to record anything new for the album.

"I was trying to get him and Busta [Rhymes] on [a] joint," Slay revealed. "[But] what happened, [Drake] was so heavy on the road and moving around, and then he hurt his leg. And so it was getting down to crunch time [to complete my album], so his peoples - Gee [Roberson] and them was like, ‘Yo, well look, this record [that] just leaked [‘The Winner'], we don't know how it leaked, but would you mind taking this [for your album]?' I'm not gonna be stupid and not take the record knowing that I might not catch [Drake] because of his situation. So I was like, ‘Hell yeah I'll take that record.' And people liked it and was spinning it already, so I'm like, ‘Hell yeah.'"

While Drake's track has been available since this past July, there are plenty of previously unheard selections on More Than Just A DJ including what Slay described as a hard, street joint, "See The Light." The song features AZ, Raekwon and Ghostface and was produced by DJ Green Lantern. Slay deliberately reached out to AZ to add a rapper who could hold his own on the track with Rae and Ghost.

"That's a lot of people [that] claim that got love for the culture, but if they did it would show in their ways, actions and deeds," he said of his industry peers who have turned their backs on less commercially-viable legends like Sosa. "And I'm just one person that if I know somebody got a talent, if they willing to participate in my projects, then I'ma give ‘em an opportunity."

Kay Slay annoys me at times with his constant adlibs on the mixtapes, something I HOPE he won't be doing much of on this album, but what I do like him for is that he is very in-touch with the hip-hop scene despite not being as public in recent times. I mean, I bet half the people reading this jumped a little reading that there will be a track featuring AZ, Raekwon and Ghost on the album because you KNOW it's going to be quality. Can you see DJ Khaled doing something like that? Nope.

One artist who Slay appears to have tried to give an opportunity to is Plies. According to Slay, he provided a platform for the self-proclaimed "goon" rapper to get some shine in the early stages of his career via Slay's radio broadcast. Recently, Slay further extended his hand to the Florida native and offered Plies a slot on the first single from More Than Just A DJ, "Blockstars." Plies recorded his verse for the track (which also features Busta Rhymes, Jim Jones and Ray J) but subsequently failed to show for the song's video shoot, forcing Slay to replace Plies on the record with Yo Gotti.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened to Slay, who six years ago was stood up for the video shoot for his then first single from his first official album, 2003's Streetsweeper Vol. 1.

"I mean, I ain't got no problems with him, but I just choose not to deal with him [for] my own personal reasons," Slay replied when asked about his current relationship with Nas a half-dozen years after he failed to show for the "Too Much For Me" shoot. "Like, it's just, he coulda did so much for me by helping me the way I helped him. And he chose not to, so - My main thing is, first time bitten second time shy. You got me the first time, you won't get me again."

Although adamant that he won't be bitten again like he claims to have been by Nas and Plies, Slay still appears to be freely offering a spotlight for artists that he believes are deserved of the shine, including Saigon, Joell Ortiz, Jae Millz and Streetsweepers Entertainment signee Big Lou who all appear on the Street Radio (Jimi Kendrix and J. Math) produced track, "God Forgive Me."

In addition to AZ, Rae, Jae, Ghost, Sai and Joell, M.O.P., Maino, Papoose and 50 Cent (for "50/50 Chance" unless the Dr. Dre-produced "Dreamin'" is cleared in enough time to be included on the album), an assortment of big names from New York can be heard on Kay Slay's latest offering. But More Than Just A DJ is not an all New York City affair. Slay sought out diverse talent from every region of the country. Bay Area notables San Quinn and Mistah F.A.B. can be heard on the same collective along with L.A. natives Glasses Malone and Jay Rock, who share album space with Lil Boosie and OJ Da Juiceman.

Well…at least it's not the inexplicably popular Gucci Mane.

"These brothers remind me of a lot of the brothers in New York that's not getting the burn that they deserve, even in their hometown on the radio," said Slay. "They get a little burn, they get their props and everything…I've always been the cat that f***ed with the underdogs. It's always been my M.O., so me having knowledge on who they are in their hometown I just try to make it my business to help broaden their fan base a little more through my project. That's what I do, man."

But it's not just the underdogs that Slay reaches out to help. Recently, he managed to do the once unthinkable and unite onetime bitter rivals G-Unit and D-Block on wax, with members of each powerhouse crew agreeing to appear on the remix to More Than Just A DJ album cut "You Heard Of Us." The ally of both camps claims the seemingly difficult-to-arrange union of Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, Styles P and Sheek Louch (alongside Papoose and Bun B) on the same track was just a few phone calls away.

"When I was doing this remix I said, ‘Man, it'd be hot if I could just get them all on a joint,'" recalled Slay. "And so I just picked up the phone, man, and said this is what I'm doing. When [Styles P and Sheek Louch] asked me who was on the record I didn't lie! I told ‘em, I said, ‘Yo, on some G s***, I'm not even tryin' to sneak, I got Yayo on there, and I got Banks finishing that.' And [Sheek Louch] was like, ‘Alright, s*** we f*** with them and it's all good now. Send me the beat.' And then I remember Styles asking me [about who was going to be on the remix] and me telling him, and that was that. When I told Yayo I'm putting [D-Block on the track] he was like, ‘Alright cool.' And Yayo bigged ‘em up in his part of the verse. So it was all love, man."

Why this kind of mediation between beefing rappers can't happen more often is beyond me. I imagine there would be quite a few people out there who would simply throw all the verses together without telling either party that their rivals were on the track and they'd all look stupid because of it. Props to Slay for doing the right thing.

Slay knows that his next challenge will be to get the heads of G-Unit and D-Block, 50 Cent and Jadakiss, to join forces for a track.

"They'll work together," he promised. "They already resolved their differences. But you know it's just gotta start somewhere. That [remix for "You Heard Of Us"] was like a icebreaker [between their camps]."

The self-crowned "Drama King," who was once notoriously known for fanning the flames of beef between Jay-Z and Nas during their historic war on wax (Slay was the first to play "Ether" on air), and who just premiered Beanie Sigel's surprising shot at Hov, now insists that he is beyond basing his career in beef, and that's why former foes like G-Unit and D-Block trust that appearing together on a Kay Slay track won't become the launching pad to direct bombs at one another.

"At the end of the day, cats know I'm not trying to do nothing to create any other situation," said Slay. "If anything, believe it or not, I be the one that be wanting to try to dead the nonsense so we could all have a better day."

The thing I like about his honesty is that he knows that he is in a position that anybody else would have been in. If Beanie Sigel came to you and said that he had a diss track against Jay, you'd play it because it's going to generate talk. Jay is a big enough man to know that Slay is not at fault here, so there won't be any hard feelings there.

His own well-publicized personal and professional squabbles with the likes of the aforementioned Nas, DJ Clue (the two famously got into an on-air, expletive-laced argument in 2003 regarding who held NYC's mixtape crown at the time), and Jermaine Dupri (who Slay took issue with over J.D.'s "the deejay is dead" comment last year) have led many to see Slay as nothing more than a reckless fire starter with no justifiable reasoning for his take-no-s*** approach to the Rap game.

"Anybody could have [disagreements] with one another," he reminded. "Me and Clue is cool than a muthaf***a. We had our discrepancies. Me and J.D., I guess we ain't never really seen eye-to-eye with a couple of situations, but I don't personally hate him. And as everybody know, Nas I mean, s***, the way I was ride or die with him, in the situation when I needed him to just come do the video to a record he did on my album he wouldn't show up. So, I wasn't wrong at all. Everybody know I wasn't wrong in that situation. It's just me standing up for myself in situations and not taking no s***, letting nobody run over me. That's all that is. You can't tell a man not to be a man."

Speaking of DJ Clue, where is he these days? I remember he'd always get remixes of popular tracks playing literally a week after the original had aired.

More Than Just A DJ is due in stores and online December 8th from E1 Entertainment.

I wasn't too sure if I was going to check this out or not, but based off this interview, I may actually buy it. Seriously, an album based off the names above can only be ‘good' at worst, and ‘crazyinsaneawesomesauce' at best.

MORE Legal Issues For Lil Wayne

Florida native Thomas Marasciullo filed a copyright infringement suit on Friday October 30 against Lil Wayne and Birdman, reports the Associated Press.

Marasciullo claims that Cash Money Records had him speak on several "'Italian-styled' spoken word recordings" in 2006, which were subsequently used without pay or permission on the rappers' joint 2006 album Like Father, Like Son, and Birdman's 2007 album, 5 (Star) Stunna.

You know what track I'm liking for an unknown reason at the moment? "Always Strapped". Seriously no idea why…

Marasciullo claims to have written, recorded and copyrighted the tracks "Loyalty" and "Respect" from Like Father Like Son. In all, the lawsuit claims his recordings were used in four tracks on Like Father, Like Son, and five from 5 (Star) Stunna.

"Marasciullo discovered his work had been used when his daughter discovered his 'Respect' while trying buy a ring-tone version of the Aretha Franklin classic by the same name," according to the report. "His son also became entangled in the case when he was fired from a recording engineer job at Cash Money Records after the father started demanding payment, according to the lawsuit."

Wayne needs to rethink his "Best Rapper Alive" claim and change it to "Most Sued Rapper Alive".

DMX Speaks On Profits



DMX had a lot to stay about the inner workings of the music industry in a recent interview with SoundsLikeFire.com. In the interview, DMX gave his thoughts on artist profits and why artists aren't making as much as they should.

"The highest paid artist gets like 26 cents off a dollar. And they sell your s*** for $20. I can't use my own music without getting your permission," asked DMX in the interview.

Actually this probably isn't too far off. Back in…2002, I think I read an interview with Nelly where he was saying that he got about 17 cents off the dollar with Universal after Nellyville dropped and someone actually asked him how much money he was earning off the album. If you think about it though, that's (in X's example) is actually 26% royalties which, say the album pulls in 1 million units, at $20 each, that's $20 million. 26% of that is $5.2 million which is a decent amount of money I'd say.

DMX continued to speak on money and the music industry in his interview

"I wrote it. Paid a n***a for the beat. I paid your for loaning me the money," DMX added. "I paid you back your money, now we splitting because you owed me the money but you own my s***. I don't owe you a motherf***ing thing. Why is you holding on to my s***? And that's standard. Get the f*** outta here man."

Though X does have a valid point here too. Just remember Industry Rule #4080 and you'll be fine.

Soulja Boy Working On Chris Brown And Rihanna Albums



Soulja Boy recently revealed that he has contributed to the upcoming albums from former couple Rihanna & Chris Brown. Soulja Boy divulged to MTV that his input towards Rihanna's forthcoming album Rated R was a last minute call.

"It was like, 'Yo, I need you to do something for Rihanna's album. You got 11 hours. Go," said Soulja Boy. "It was like, 'What?'"

Who made that phone call and can we perhaps prevent them from reproducing? Dumbest. Idea. Ever.

Apart from me eating that burrito.

According to Soulja Boy, there was no pressure doing the collaboration with Chris Brown. The duo worked on a song titled "She's Bad" which will appear on Brown's upcoming album Graffiti.

"My approach to it was, if me and Chris Brown ever did a song together it got to be the best song ever," (according to psychotic teenage girls across the world) Soulja Boy explained. "When people hear it, it gotta be automatic, be in all the kids' heads, all the girls definitely gotta love it, all the females gotta love it. That was my approach to it. I was just thinking, 'What is the slickest lines I could say to a female to make them fall in love with this record?"

OH MY GOSH KILL ME NOW. Seriously, all Soulja Boy and Chris Brown need to do is get Sammie on the hook. I'm fairly certain he's not busy at the moment because NOBODY I know that liked "Kiss Me Thru The Phone" could tell me one line by Soulja Boy, but could damn near quote the entire hook (not that it is terribly complex…) without me asking to. And would often do so just to see me get agitated by it.

Rihanna's Rated R will hit stores on November 23rd while Brown's Graffiti will hit stores on December 15th.

R.E.D. Album Details Emerge


Think R.E.D. people!

Game revealed via his Twitter on November 3 that Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. will be appearing on his upcoming fourth solo effort, The R.E.D. Album.

"Just got Cuba Gooding Jr. cleared for The R.E.D. Album. You gotta wait to see what role he played in this R.E.D movie," wrote Game. The R.E.D. Album is slated for release on December 8th. The set will feature appearances from Chris Brown, Gucci Mane and Akon. Just Blaze, Pharrell, Cool & Dre, Timbaland and Polow Da Don are among the producers who have contributed to the album.

Originally scheduled for an earlier release date, Game made the announcement early Tuesday afternoon November 3 via his Twitter page, where he has been actively promoting the project since early October.

"Album is Officially pushed back, says Interscope so that I can finish wit Dre without having to rush him, myself or the album. Think R.E.D,".

He had warned followers of the possibility of a changed date on Friday (October 30), when he advised them not "be to fast to lock in [his] Dec. 8 release date."

Last week, Game revealed the first three songs from The R.E.D. Album, the title which he has stated represents his "rededication" to Hip-Hop, rather than a gang reference. The official single, "Big Money" surfaced on Thursday October 29 and is produced by Cool & Dre. On the same day, Game also debuted his street single "Krazy," featuring Gucci Mane which was produced by Timbaland, who also appears on the record.

Other confirmed contributors to the album include Chris Brown, Akon, Polow Da Don, and Jim Jonsin, who produced the song "Better Days," which was also released last week.
The Game has also revealed that in preparation for the album, he will release four new mixtapes before the end of the year.

I'm happy to get new Game material, but as always, I question the decision to churn out so much material in such a short time. I feel that you would eventually have to run out of things to say without repeating yourself. Either way, I'll check them all out, but I think the more rappers that embrace the ‘less is more' mantra, the better. We don't need Lil Wayne Mixtape Syndrome to run wild on people.

Sales Figures

Michael Jackson's This Is It came in at Number 1 this week, which probably shouldn't be a surprise to anybody, with 374,000 copies sold. Other debuts this week saw Tech N9ne's K.O.D. sell 30,000 copies and took the Number 14 spot on the charts. Brian McKnight's Evolution Of A Man sold 24,000 copies, Triple C's debut effort came in at Number 146 with 12,000 copies of Custom Cars & Cycles sold. Swollen Members' Armed To The Teeth sold 3,500 copies and not far behind was Z-Ro's Cocaine, charting just one place beneath.

Blueprint 3 continues to perform well with another 41,000 copies being sold this week taking Jay to 1,200,000 for his latest effort. The New Boyz' Skinny Jeanz & A Mic sold 3,300 copies this week for a total of 35,000 and rounding out this week is Raekwon with a further 3,000 copies sold giving Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II a total of 130,000.

The Signoff

And once again, it's time to say goodbye from me, I will catch you all on Saturday pending my good health, but I feel like I'll be fine for then.

Oh I finished Def Jam: Icon today and I have to say, there is nothing more satisfying in the world than beating the hell out of a rapper you hate, with one you love. Case in point, I think I took extreme pleasure in destroying Lil Jon as Ghostface Killah today. Truly, truly, enjoyable.