Hip Hop Herald 08.22.12: Rihanna Talks Chris Brown, Drake and Brown Sued, Juvenille Arrested, More
Posted by Bill Wannop on 08.22.2012
News and thoughts on Rihanna discussing her enduring love for Chris Brown, Drake and Chris Brown being sued for $16 million over their bar brawl, Juvenile getting arrested, MC Eiht going after Ryan Lochte over trademark issues and more!
Welcome one and all to the Hip Hop Herald. The column will deal with anything related to hip hop whether it be underground, mainstream, or the new-age pop infused rap (you know the stuff Timberlake and Timbaland make). We will cover news, opinions, release dates as well as feature some music and of course videos.
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Even after a brutal beating at the hands of Chris Brown in 2009, Rihanna has stated that she may still be in love with Brown.
"We've been working on our friendship again," said Rihanna in an interview on Oprah Winfrey's "Oprah's Next Chapter" series. "Now we're very, very close friends. We built a trust again, and that's it."
"We love each other, and we probably always will," added the Pop star. "That's not something you can shut off if you've ever been in love."
Rihanna was explicitly asked whether she was in a romantic relationship with Brown. "No. He's in a relationship of his own. I'm single. But we've maintained a close friendship since the restraining order's been dropped. We've just worked on it little by little. And it has not been easy. It's not easy."
"It's awkward. It's awkward because I still love him. My stomach drops. I have to maintain this poker face and not let it get to the outer part of me. I have to maintain that and suppress it."
"I think he was the love of my life," said Rihanna of Brown.
This is a somewhat troubling situation for Rihanna and something I think that many victims of abuse find themselves in. They know what their partner did was wrong and that they don't deserve the treatment, but they still are in love with their abuser and keep going back to him. It is likely that she will believe him when she says that he has changed.
What is even more difficult for Rihanna is that she is in the public eye. Everything she does will be criticized. I am sure that her PR people have told her to stay as far away from Brown and for the most part she has done this. She has however been getting closer and closer to him recently, and I feel it is likely they will get back together.
Drake and Chris Brown Sued for $16 Million While the controversy seems to have died down, Drake and Chris brown likely will not get off unscathed from their night club brawl two months ago. It has been revealed that the two artists are being sued for $16 million.
Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. has filed suit against Drake and Brown for the fight that ensued between them and their entourages. The suit reads that that the two artists "shared a grudge against [each] other arising out of their romantic relationships with the same woman [Rihanna]," which prompted them to "fight violently with each other" after encountering each other in the club.
The suit continues on to indicate that "each arrived with his own small army of bodyguards [and] 'security' personnel...consisting of at least 15 heavily built men trained and/or experienced in hand-to-hand and weapons combat." It then alleges that upon order of Brown and Drake, "their two posses had at each other, throwing highball glasses laden with alcohol, shattering the handles of bottles of spirits to use as makeshift knives, and even throwing full bottles at each other."
Entertainment Enterprises is also suing W.i.P. and its affiliate club Greenhouse for $4 million, as the negative press ruined a licensing deal that the firm and nightclub had negotiated prior to the fight.
This lawsuit is the first of many from clubbers that night including Tony Parker who suffered an eye injury. While I can see some club patrons getting some compensation for injuries they sustained, including Tony Parker, I really cannot see Entertainment Enterprises getting very much from the lawsuit, at least nowhere near the $16 million they are asking for. I do hope that Drake and Brown do get hit with some lefty fines or settlements, in order to discourage them as well as other artists from engaging in similar behavior and thinking that they are above the law or there are no consequences for their actions.
MC Eiht vs. Ryan Lochte
In what is a bizarre situation, MC Eiht is reportatly going after Ryan Lochte to try and prevent him from attempting to register a trademark for the phrase jeah'.
"Why try and trademark something his ass didn't even create? I am mad that he isn't giving me proper recognition for taking my saying," explained the West Coast veteran. "He is just disrespectful."
Eiht has already sent a cease and desist letter to Lochte, however, Lochte claims that he created the term by deriving it from Young Jeezy's use of "chea," and states that his phrase means something "good."
Lochte's manager tells TMZ, "Ryan has beeen using JEAH for years...This is the first time I have heard of this claim by MC Eiht."
This is a funny story, but is something that is happening more and more in that artists/entertainers/athlete are trying to trademark anything and everything. It is likely that Lochte is trying to trademark the phase so that he can implement it on clothing and apparel that bear his likeness. This is unfortunate for MC Eiht in that even if he did create the phase if he did not file the specific copyrights and trademarks for it in relation to whatever Lochte is intending to use it for he may be out of luck.
Juvenille Arrested
Rapper Juvenile found himself in custody last week as he was involved in a fight outside his hotel after performing with Lil Wayne earlier that evening. No real information has been attained about what the fight was about, or who the other party was, however, Miami police have confirmed that Juvenile was taken to prison. Well at least this incident gives Juvenile some much needed press .
Release Dates & Album Updates This week we get a fair share of album updates, first coming from the collaborative Wu-Tang Clan and D-Block album, Wu-Block. Ghostface and Sheek Lonch announced that the album will be released on October 9th. The album does have the potential to be an underground classic, but it also has a lot to live up to for fans. I expect nothing short of a great album as the groups have similar lyrical styles, so hopefully we are not all disappointed.
DMX finally gave an update on his constantly delayed release, now slated for a September 11th release date, revealing the tracklist to the project titled, Undisputed.
1. Intro Look Without Seein'
2. I Don't Dance featuring Machine Gun Kelly
3. Slippin Away
4. I'm Back
5. Keep Your Head Up
6. Time To Get Paid featuring Notorious B.I.G.
7. I Got Your Back
8. Frankenstein
9. No Love
10. Cold World
11. I Get Scared
12. Have You Eva
13. Fire
14. Sucker For You
15. Who's F*ckin You
The tracklisting really does not get me too excited, as there really are no guests except for a Notorious BIG collab and a track with MGK. Both those tracks seem somewhat strange to me, but I will have to listen to the album before I make a final judgment.
Murs, who seems to release a new album weekly, has revealed the tracklisting to the collab project between himself and Fashawn, titled This Generation:
1. Just Begun
2. 64' Impala
3. Reina De Barrio (Ghetto Queen) Feat. Adrian
4. Stone Cold
5. Yellow Tape Feat. Krondon
6. Peace Treaty
7. And It Goes
8. Slash Gordan
9. Heartbreaks & Handcuffs
10. This Generation Feat. Adrian
11. Future Love
12. The Other Side
I have a love/hate relationship with Murs in that he is great in the right environment, but far too often he release music that is not very good. I have recently got into Fashawn and really hope that this album is on the love side of my Murs collection.
Apathy has two albums planned for release on September 11, The Alien Tongue and Fire Walk With Me. The first album is a collection of Apathy's first recordings, and features unheard songs as well as instrumentals all recorded from 1994-1998, with the track list as follows:
01. Galaxy Rays (feat. Open Mic) 1994
02. Mic Warz (feat. Naptron, Open Mic & Eternia) 1997
03. Alien Invasion (feat. Open Mic & Naptron) 1997
04. Dark Holy Chronicles (feat. Open Mic & Naptron) 1997
05. Mentalogical (feat. Eternia & Open Mic) 1997
06. East Coast Stompin (feat. Dallas & K-Squared) 1996
07. Lyrical Terrorist (feat. Louie Montalvo & Mr. Mayday) 1995
08. The Chosen (feat. Dark Seid & Eternia) 1997
09. The Big Hurt [Unreleased Demo Version] (feat. Punchline, Wordsworth, AL, Wiseguy & Gaston) 1997
10. Voices In My Head (feat. Eternia) 1997
11. We Get Down [Unreleased Demo Version] 1997
12. Adam & Eve (feat. Eternia) 1997
13. Fire In The Sky 1997
14. Head Nod Body Move (feat. Open Mic) 1998
15. Tell Me Why (feat. Open Mic) 1998
16. Triumph Freestyle (feat. Eternia) 1997
17. Enemy #1 Freestyle (feat. Eternia) 1997
18. Last Days Freestyle 1997
19. Open Mic [Unreleased Instrumental] 1999
20. Secret Society [Unreleased Instrumental] 1998
21. A Real Emcee [Unreleased Instrumental] 1998
22. Study In Secrecy [Unreleased Instrumental] 1996
23. Launch [Unreleased Instrumental] 1998
24. The Alien Tongue [Unreleased Instrumental] 1996
25. Nights Like These[Unreleased Instrumental] 1996
26. Meanwhile On Mount Olympus [Unreleased Instrumental] 1997
The second album, Fire Walk With Me, features unheard tracks, freestyles and remixes from recent years with the tracklisting as follows:
DISC 1
01. Most Murderous Music
02. Regeneration Remix (feat. Nas)
03. Swagger Like Ap
04. Love Locked Freestyle
05. Jockin' A.P.
06. Times Up Freestyle
07. Zombies (feat. Blacastan)
08. Water To Wine (feat. King Syze & Chris Webby)
09. Really Real People
10. You Must Be My Karma (feat. Blacastan)
11. Santogold Freestyle
12. And Now (feat. Vinnie Paz & King Syze)
13. Back On The Scene Freestyle
14. My Life (feat. Optimus Prime of The Autobotz)
15. Protek Yo Nutz (feat. Milez Grimez)
16. O'Doyle Rules (feat. Diabolic, Paradime, Joe Scudda, Rob Kelly, Ryu & Mac Lethal)
17. We're Gonna Kill You
DISC 2
01. If You Forgot My Name (feat. Royce Da 5'9)
02. Liquid Swords Tribute Pt. 1
03. Monster (feat. Chris Webby)
04. Speak The Truth
05. Tell Me (feat. Motive & Celph Titled)
06. Deeper Cover Freestyle
07. Messin With Ya Mind Freestyle
08. If I Died Today (feat. B-Real & Young De)
09. Word To The 23rd Freestyle
10. Dancin' On Ya Grave Remix (feat. Xzibit, Paul Wall, Ryu, Murs & Scoop Deville)
11. Conquer, Kill Shit (feat. Savage Souls)
12. Wretches Remix
13. Stop Look & Listen Freestyle
14. Wonderful X-Mas Time
15. I'm Goin To Hell
16. You Look Like You Come From The 80's
17. Be A Better Man (feat. Bishop Lamont & Blue Raspberry)
Both releases look great and are sure to have some serious head nodding songs on there. It is a great way to tide fans over until the new Demigodz album, Killmatic is released in January. Apathy and Celph Titled are also releasing a joint album, Will Sing For Vengence in 2013 as well as they are releasing the scrapped Styles of Beyond project Reseda Beach on October 31.
The rest of the dates can be seen below with new additions underlined, and anticipated albums in red!
August 21
DJ Khaled Kiss The Ring
Brother Ali - Mourning In America & Dreaming In Color
Busta Rhymes Year of the Dragon
August 28
Slaughterhouse - welcome to: Our House
DMX Undisputed
Madchild (Swollen Members) - Dope Sick
Stu Bangaz & Eric Vanderslice - Diggaz With Attitude (D.W.a.)
September 4
T.I. - Trouble Man
Blu and Exile - Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them
Chino XL RICANstruction
September 11
Saigon - Bread and Circuses
Ludacris Ludaversal Apathy The Alien Tongue Apathy Fire Walk With Me
September 18
Skyzoo - A Dream Deferred
DJ Drama - Quality Street Music
Ne-Yo - R.E.D.
Kreayshawn - Somethin' Bout Kreay
Wiz Khalifa - O.N.I.F.C.
G.O.O.D. Music - Cruel Summer
Tech N9ne - E.B.A.H.
September 25
Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1
Murs & Fashawn - This Generation
October 2
Bobby V - Dusk Till Dawn
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, m.A.A.d City
October 9
MGK Lace Up
Wu-Block Wu-Block
October 23 Vinnie Paz - God Of The Serengeti
October 31 Styles of Beyond Reseda Beach
November 13
50 Cent Street King Immortal
Other Recent Announcements
Asher Roth Is This Too Orange [TBD]
R.A. the Rugged Man Legends Never Die [Mid 2012]
Inspectah Deck and 7L & Esoteric CZARFACE [Mid 2012]
Cee Lo Everybody's Brother [2012]
Goodie Mob Age Against the Machine [2012]
Kool G Rap & Necro The Godfathers [2012]
Demigodz Killmatic [January 2013]
While the controversy seems to have died down, Drake and Chris brown likely will not get off unscathed from their night club brawl two months ago. It has been revealed that the two artists are being sued for $16 million. 
This week we get a fair share of album updates, first coming from the collaborative Wu-Tang Clan and D-Block album, Wu-Block. Ghostface and Sheek Lonch announced that the album will be released on October 9th. The album does have the potential to be an underground classic, but it also has a lot to live up to for fans. I expect nothing short of a great album as the groups have similar lyrical styles, so hopefully we are not all disappointed. 
