Loop Diggin' Thursdays, News & Rants 07.06.06
Posted by Phil Watts, Jr on 07.06.2006
"WHO'S GOT THE HARDEST MC STYLE EVER CREATED?!"
"Ok, it's time to bring these rap cats from Fantasy Isle
I bring it to these fake niggas with a quick and a smile
You know my sti-tyle,
America's most feared entertainer
Yeah from New York to Cali, I'm called an acid rainer
While you frontin like ballin, son I stays in the mix
Same bullets in your burner since '76
Act like you can't tell, sh*t be live as hell
Bustin so much shots, When my shells hit the ground it sound like 'Rock the Bells'
Call me Bumpy Knuckles cuz my hands be swell
From knockin niggas out from the lies they tell
Oh well, I bet you feel me all up in ya chest
I make the saucest nigga catch a body blame it on stress
And if he snitch, I bail him out and murder his bitch
And then sedate her with my four pound clap, Shit's only rap
But I'm livin like that
So when while niggas be talkin dogs, and walkin like cats
Niggas mouths were gettin way too fat
But O.C. & big Fi-Doxxx, we 'bout to bring it back...
We keep money under ground but you can't get none
Cuz if you step into my round, you be one dead son
We get love where niggas be scared to come
And we got a whole lot to give, but you don't want none!!"
Even though Freddie Foxxx has been making records for nearly 20 years, jumping from label to label, working with various crews from BDP to the Flava Unit, it was his appearance on O.C.'s JEWELS album that really got me thinking that this man definitely had a future in this business. I've been checking for him ever since, from his Gangstarr and MOP colabs, to his solo albums, most notably, INDUSTRY SHAKEDOWN. I've even bought that John Cena album just because Bumpy was in it! One thing that has clearly been shown since that album is his unwavering drive to NEVER get screwed by another record company again ("If you can't rob me in the streets, there ain't no way I'm gonna let you rob me in no bitch-ass record industry!")
Freddie Foxxx, a.k.a. Bumpy Knuckles, has a new 37 track mixtape called STREET TRIUMPH which is about to drop any minute now. This joint is to set people up for the release of his next official album, AMERICAN BLACK MAN. Just recently, Bumpy was interviewed by the fine people at Hip-Hop Game. Let me tell you something. Bumpy ALWAYS does some damn good interviews because he drops lots of jewels in every one of them:
"...If you're not willing to sacrifice some of you time, your energy, your strength, your creative thoughts to make yourself better, then you're not doing what we call ARTISTRY. My first exprience in the majors was not a good one for me and I refuse to relive that. I dedicated myself to putting that out and no living that life. You don't talk what you don't live because that's fake. I wanted to do my own distribution deals and everything else. Not everyone is built for that fight. I'd rather have the dignity and honor of not sending someone else's kids to college while mine are stuck in the hood when they grow up."
Not only does he talk about the industry, he speaks on his working relationship with Pete Rock and Premier and the many others he's worked with over the years, the trend of rappers only targeting the 16-21 year-old crowd, and his workout regiment. You definitely need to check it out. It's a great read.
By the way, check out Hip-Hop Game's audio section, too. Lots of goodies over there.
***
"Yeah, we do have that album coming out...As a matter of fact it's called THE FORMULA. It's gonna be a good album, but it ain't gonna be topics that will make a lot of people happy."
Buckshot, the frontman of Black Moon and co-head of Duck Down Records, was interviewed by AllHipHop.com about the upcoming follow-up to CHEMISTRY, his colab with 9th Wonder.
"The Formula is the truth, and the truth hurts, but the truth will set you free...But, if you're in bondage, anything that sets you free will hurt at first. If you've got cuffs on and you're struggling to get those cuffs off, first you've got to go through some pain before you get those s**t's off..."
"...I want to be like Frankenstein creating a monster. If you know the true story of Frankenstein, he wasn't a monster. That's a real deep analogy-people just didn't understand him. That's the reason why The Formula is gonna be ill, it's gonna be based on the monster that people created."
That's all well and good...thing is, there was one problem with the last album that we all hope doesn't get repeated here. Many people, even Buckshot's and 9th's biggest supporters, have all felt that the album was RUSHED. Many thought that Buck was sleep-walking through the whole album while 9th's beats felt like throwaways. When Buckshot revealed that, yes, that album was indeed made in about a week's time, that didn't help matters much either. Me? I though that the album was pretty dope, but more could've been done (plus those chorus singers made my ears bleed), not to mention that Buck doesn't nearly have the chemistry with 9th that he had with Evil D. THE FORMULA is slated for spring of 2007...so please, guys--you have PLENTY OF TIME. No need to rush, okay?
***
Fat Joe was on MTV talking about his upcoming album, entitled, ME, MYSELF, & I. To say he was enthusiastic about it would be an understatement. In fact, he damn near had an ORGASM:
"THIS IS GONNA BE THE MOST PHENOMENAL ALBUM IN PLANET EARTH!! MY ALBUM IS CRAZY! IT'S OVER! BET THE KITCHEN SINK ON ME! BET IT, RUN OUT, SPEND YOUR LIFE SAVINGS! IT'S ON AND POPPIN'! IT'S CRAZY! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S COMING OUT CRAZY LIKE THAT!!!!"
Now, in order for this album to be "THE MOST PHENOMENAL ALBUM ON PLANET EARTH", he'd have to realize that he had been rolling with one of the illest collective of beatmakers for over 16 years (DITC), and finally decide to let them hook it up again. Sadly, that's not the case, as he's choosing to working with people like Scott Storch (still making attempts at another "Lean Back"), and a colab with The Game (no doubt continuing that stupid feud with 50 Cent that people have long since stopped caring about...last year.) After all, that game plan worked so well during the past few years, right? Right?! Oh, and Remy Ma is still with him, too. Yay.
***
According to SOHH.com, Sony plans on making a new posthumous Big Pun album. Problem is, Jellybean Benitez owns most of the songs and refuses to cooperate. "Sony owns Big Pun as an artist, but Jellybean owns the publishing rights to many of the songs," a source told the Daily News. "Sony wants to do another album, but [Benitez] hasn't returned calls. He's playing the game."
Now, I don't think too much of Jellybean Benitez, since he's largely responsible for giving us the disease named Madonna (he produced many of her biggest hits in the 80's). However, I hope he sticks to his guns and continues to keep those Big Pun songs away from Sony. I don't even want to think about what they would do with the songs once they get them. One thing I don't want to hear is another posthumous album with a shitload of 'Hot' guests and with accapellas being forced on to 'Hot' beats from 'Hot' producers. That abortion called Biggie's DUETS album (and that horrible Eminem-produced 2-Pac album) should be enough to get everyone to abandon these kind of albums altogether.
***
Method Man is not a happy man. He is not very happy with his deal with Def Jam ever since the non-existent promotion of his TICAL 0 album. Meth showed up on a video interview with THE BREAKDOWN TV to air out his grievances:
"Whatever happened to artist development? They'll take a Ne-Yo, they'll take a Rihanna and develop them. They don't do that with us rappers. You know why? They look at us as fast food."
"I don't have anything against The Roots or Nas. But, there's a lot of hungry muthafuckas out there that deserve those slots. The Roots had a deal, Nas had a deal and still has a deal. Jay, stop sitting in that office, b. Go out there and find those talents. N***as is mad at you, b. Stop signing all these established acts...
So, Jigga was wrong for signing the Roots and Nas when there are more young hungry muthafuckas out there. News flash, Meth: if them young hungry muthafuckas did get Def Jam deals and more promotion, that will put YOU even further in the back burner...and you would complain about THAT, too. Plus, The Roots got jerked many times by Geffen, which is way they sought out Def Jam in the first place. Yes, I don't care too much for Ne-Yo and Rihanna either, but Def Jam has been signing R&B artists since the days of ORAN 'JUICE' JONES, so it's nothing new.
Instead of Meth whining and complaining about Jigga not doing enough, he needs to take that same energy and show some HUNGER in his records. Meth is pretty much the Craig Mack of Wu-Tang. When they first came out, he was seen as THE STAR of the roster...then Rae, Ghost and ODB all stole his shine, and he never got it back. As dope as TICAL was, it always lagged behind most other Wu albums as far as quality goes. His follow-ups were all forgetable, and he wonders why people don't follow him as much as they used to. Those shitty sitcoms and movies don't help. So Meth, QUIT YOUR BITCHING AND GET BACK TO THE LAB!!!
