Rap Wires Archive

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T.I. Echoes Jay-Z’s Support For President Obama’s Stance on Same-Sex Marriage

– May 17, 2012Posted in: Rap Wires

Like Jay-Z, T.I. is in full support of President Obama’s stance on same-sex marriage. The King made that perfectly clear during a visit with New York City’s Hot 97 morning show on Thursday (May 17).

“To be absolutely honest with you, I don’t care,” Tip said. “Okay, I mean…I don’t see what the big deal is, and why some people are so against it.” T.I. further explained his train of thought: “Why would you be so against it if it doesn’t affect you, or your lifestyle? You know what Im saying? I’m not in their world, it doesn’t affect me if they did or didn’t.”

Strongly supportive of the cause, the “Live Your Life” MC added:  “I don’t care enough, one way or another. It something does affect you, you should not take a strong position against it.”

As XXL previously reported, Jay-Z first cosigned with Commander-in-Chief Barack Obama’s stance on same sex marriage in a recent sitdown interview with CNN.

“I mean, I always thought of it as something that’s still holding the country back,” said Hov about certain states still not allowing gay marriage. “What people do in their own homes is their business. You choose to love whoever you love. That’s their business. It’s no different than discriminating against Blacks. It’s discrimination plain and simple.”

When asked Jay was asked if he thought President Obama would lost out on votes because of his views on gay marriage, Hov referenced the bigger picture. “I think it’s the right thing to do, so whether it costs him votes or not, again it’s really not about votes,” he responded. “It’s about…people. So, whether it costs him votes or not, I think it’s the right thing to do as a human being.”

During Thursday’s interview, T.I. also pleaded the fifth when asked about the rumors circulating that Tiny is expecting another child. Instead, the King chose to plug in promo for Season 2 of his hit VH1 show, T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle and his upcoming album, entitled, Trouble Man, which is scheduled to drop on September 4. —Christian Bonoan

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Rocsi and Terrence J to Leave BET’s 106 & Park?

– May 17, 2012Posted in: Rap Wires

Since 2000, BET’s 106 & Park has been the go-to program for hip-hop’s main video countdown. With screaming teenage fans, live interviews and performances and its Freestyle Friday rap battle competition, 106 has been a force for over a decade.

Well, the hit show may be losing its two hosts. According to the New York Post, 106 & Park’s hosts, both Rocsi Diaz and Terrence J, will be leaving the show to pursue acting.

On Thursday (May 17), the NY Post reported that Diaz has her sights on Hollywood and is leaving the BET show after nearly seven years to move to California and pursue acting. The Post continued by reporting that she scored a role in an upcoming project starring Lynn Whitfield. The New York City tabloid went on to state that Terrence J too would be leaving the show to pursue acting.

If the Post’s report is true, it will mark quite an end to the hosts’ run on 106. Rocsi and Terrence became hosts of the show in 2006 after winning the BET New Faces Contest.

The duo, especially Terrence, was known for perhaps being more playful and catering to the younger crowd than the previous hosts, A.J. Calloway and Marie “Free” Wright, who hosted the countdown show from 2000-2005. From there, Big Tigger (formerly the host of Rap City) and Julissa Bermudez co-hosted the show till the end of the 2005-06 season, before Terrence and Rocsi took over, interviewing a laundry list of rappers and R&B artists through the years and turning in memorable moments in the process.—Mark Lelinwalla

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Attention MCs: Enter Corona Extra and XXL’s The Ready or Not Rap Battle Now

– May 17, 2012Posted in: Rap Wires

Last Monday (May 7, 2012), Corona Extra and XXL launched The Ready or Not Rap Battle— a contest where the winner will receive a write up in XXL magazine and their track posted in the Bangers section of XXLMag.com.

For consideration in the tournament style competition, fans can start by submitting their best recorded 30 to 60 second freestyle via the XXL Ready or Not iPhone App, by emailing your freestyle to rapbattle@xxlmag.com or by calling into and recording a freestyle at 212-462-9618 (long distance charges may apply). Deadline for submissions will be May 25.

From May 25th to June 3rd, members of the XXL staff will be judging each track submission and then select the top 16 entrants (“Finalists”), based on their creativity (50%) and lyrical skills (50%). From June 4 – June 22 the battles will take place and selected MCs will compete against each other in a single-elimination format, via telephone than featured on XXLMag.com for the public’s voting.

The winner of the competition will be announced on June 25. See XXLBattle.com for further details and good luck to all contestants entering The Corona and XXL Ready or Not Rap Battle.—XXL Staff

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Sap Talks Producing Game’s Next Single “F.I.V.E.,” Featuring Lil Wayne & Chris Brown

– May 17, 2012Posted in: Rap Wires

Sap may be best known for having crafted the beat for Mac Miller’s breakout “Donald Trump” (the first words on the track are a shoutout from the 2011 XXL Freshman: “Ayo, Sap, what’s good bruh?”), but the producer is quickly positioning himself to become more of a household name.

“I actually produced this record for Game called ‘F.I.V.E.,’ featuring Chris Brown and Lil Wayne,” the Delaware based producer revealed to XXLMag.com. “That should be dropping anytime now. Supposedly it’ dropping Memorial Day Weekend, but I’m not sure.” The track is on pace to be the first new music released from Game’s upcoming album, which the California native announced to XXLMag.com would be called F.I.V.E.: Fear Is Victory’s Evolution back in March.

Sap thinks it’s a sound that should be familiar to fans. “It’s definitely got an East Coast style a little bit—it kind of reminds you of how that ‘Real’ joint is,” he continued, comparing the production on the upcoming single with a joint that he did on Meek Mill’s recent Dreamchasers 2 mixtape. “It’s not a South beat. It’s more of an up tempo beat, but it’s not a club record. It’s more of a traditional hip-hop beat, like a hard sample. It’s Game’s style but it’s still something you can hear Wayne on, too.”

The collaboration came about because of the young producer’s relationship with Cool & Dre. “I was just sending Cool & Dre music, and next thing you know they was like, ‘Keep sending beats, keep sending beats,’” Sap recalled. “They’re executive producing the F.I.V.E. album. And next thing you know, Cool called me and he was like, ‘Man, Game has this record called ‘F.I.V.E.’ It’s crazy. It got Chris Brown and Wayne on it, Wayne killed it.’ And then he was like, ‘It’s on your beat.’ And I was like, ‘Wow.’”

In addition to his work with Meek and Game, Sap said that fans should be on the lookout for a collaboration with Kendrick Lamar, as well. —Adam Fleischer (@AdamXXL)

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Five Things Lil B Could’ve Done To Protect His Buzz

– May 17, 2012Posted in: Rap Wires

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Actor Michael K. Williams Talks Portraying Ol’ Dirty Bastard in Biopic

– May 17, 2012Posted in: Rap Wires

Old Dirty Bastard Signs to Roc-A-Fella

In his first lead role, Michael K. Williams will not be returning to the 36 chambers entirely when he plays the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard in the biopic, Dirty White Boy.

“There was a lot of things that us, in the public eye, us as his fan base, we didn’t know what he was going through right there in front of our face,” Williams recently told New York City’s Power 105 radio dial. “It wasn’t just drugs; he struggled deeply with mental illness.”

In March, it was confirmed that Williams would play ODB, a few months after both Eddie Griffin and Tracy Morgan expressed interest in the part. What’s more, many presumed that Dirty White Boy would resemble The Notorious B.I.G.’s, Notorious, and chronicle the deceased rapper’s entire life, but that is not the case.

“It’s only going to focus on the last two years of his life, when he was released from prison up until the day he died,” Williams clarified about the ODB biopic. “People don’t know why they were his worst years. There was some mental health issues. When he died, he was actually on the come up. He had a lot of hope for his life, man. He was getting his stuff together. You know what I mean?

“It was just unfortunate he had a little bit of that white girl in him, and he had a pain in his leg and asked for a painkiller,” he said. “When he should’ve have just took an Aleve, somebody gave him some horse tranquilizer, and it short-circuited his heart. But, it wasn’t like he was on a binge. You know dude was really excited about his future.”

Still, other portions of his life are to be highlighted in the film as well, and Williams has already envisioned a desired impact.

“His home life, what we don’t know, is what I want to bring,” Williams voiced. “Nobody knows that story. Everybody pretty much knows how he got to Wu-Tang. There’s going to be elements to that in there, but the relationship between him and his manager Jared [Weisfield], how that came to be – You know? There’s a lot of that story that we just don’t know.”

As of right now, no other members of the Wu-Tang Clan are confirmed to contribute to the film, yet there are things in the works to make it happen and RZA’s support seems likely, which Williams finds essential to the making of the biopic.

“It’s very important to the quality of film, to the realness of the film,” Williams said in regards to the RZA’s involvement. “We’re going to capture the last time that all of them were on stage together as a family, and to do that, we need all hands on deck. We don’t want no actors portraying any of the Wu-Tang; we want the real brothers.”—Christopher Minaya

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XXL Quick Hitters: Iggy Azalea, L.E.P. Bogus Boys and Nicki Minaj

– May 16, 2012Posted in: Rap Wires

NEWS HEADLINES THAT MATTER TO THE HIP-HOP COMMUNITY…

IGGY AZALEA: T.I. Says She’s A Free Agent

“Iggy is a free agent,” Tip told MTV’s Hip Hop POV. “Right now she is a Grand Hustle artist.” What does this mean for her deal with Interscope? [MTV]
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L.E.P. Bogus Boys Added To Drake’s Tour

The Chi-town duo must be feeling like they’re in paradise. That’s because, they’ve been added to Drizzy’s Club Paradise Tour, as they made the news official on their Facebook account Wednesday (May 16). [L.E.P. Bogus Boys]

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Nicki Minaj Drops “Right By My Side” Video

The Young Money princess releases her latest clip, this one featuring R&B sensation Chris Brown. [YouTube]

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50 Cent in Hospital With Stomach Virus

– May 16, 2012Posted in: Rap Wires

The news grew as Twitter buzz on Wednesday (May 16), until 50 Cent confirmed it himself.

“I’m in the hospital but my gangsta grillz LOST TAPE is done so it will be out on time,” the G-Unit general tweeted on Wednesday evening, accompanied by a TwitPic of him laying solemnly on a hospital bed and wearing a hospital gown.

“I don’t want to go into surgery @FloydMayweather call my phone why your phone off,” 50 added moments later in a tweet toward his best friend, boxer Floyd Mayweather.

Although 50 didn’t disclose his ailment, DJ Drama confirmed to XXLMag.com that ’Fif was suffering from a “stomach virus.”

“First they wanted to keep it quiet, but he’s not a quiet guy,” said Drama about 50, who is collaborating with Dram to put out his The Lost Tape Gangsta Grillz mixtape on May 22. “He should be cool. It’s nothing that serious. We still gonna do our promo run stuff [Thursday].”

50 even joked that working hard with Drama caused his ailment, as he tweeted:

“Do not do a @djdrama gangsta grillz this is all I get. Ain’t this a b*tch. I give 15 tracks you give me this.”

That tweet was accompanied with a sarcastic pic of 50 once again laying in a hospital bed, but this time carrying three stuffed animals: a giraffe, lion and elephant.

But like Drama said, 50 looks like he’ll make a full recovery. Moments after writing about his hospital stay, the Queens native got back to his hustling spirit, as he tweeted about his record with Kidd Kidd called, “Niggas Be Schemin.”

The original release date of 50’s The Lost Tape was May 15, but he had to push it back one week to Tuesday, May 22, where it still stands now.—Mark Lelinwalla with additional reporting by Calvin Stovall

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Akinyele Opens Strip Club in Las Vegas

– May 16, 2012Posted in: Rap Wires

By now, it’s nothing new to hear about rappers funding new businesses. But perhaps there isn’t an MC and business that go hand-in-hand better than Akinyele and a strip club.

The popular 1990s rapper, who penned the ultra-raunchy “Put It In Your Mouth” track back in 1996, has opened up his very own strip club, LollyPops, which is located in Las Vegas right behind the famed Mandalay Bay.

“It doesn’t suck,” Akinyele told XXLMag.com about the strip joint. “If you love what you do, you’ll feel like you never worked a day in your life. I’m in love with what I do.”

Akinyele had a soft opening to Lollypops last month, but had great success with its official opening May 5th, the night of the Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto fight.

“We’re open 24 hours,” he added about the club based in the heart of Sin City. “We’re making a lot of money. It’s a lot of fun.”

Akinyele long made a career, spitting sexually-charged rhymes and frequenting strip clubs, so it makes sense for him to open his own adult club.

Sexually-explicit lyrics aside, Akinyele was known as a serious MC, one who was heavy on metaphors and slick with wordplay, having held his own alongside Nas, Joe Fatal and Large Professor on Main Source’s classic cut, “Live at the Barbeque.”

“They always used to tell me, ‘Ak, you’re such a good rapper, such a metaphorical rapper…it’s a shame that you only talk about sex,” Ak continued. “But that’s what I love to do. And look at me now…I’m making money.”

Akinyele dropped his first album, Vagina Diner, back in 1993. His last album, Anakonda, was released in 2001.—Mark Lelinwalla

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Bust-A-Cap: Omarion Gets A “Maybach O” Tattoo

– May 16, 2012Posted in: Rap Wires

After a dramatic announcement declaring his allegiance to Maybach Music Group earlier this month, the former front man of B2K, and self-proclaimed, “Luke Skywalker,” sealed the deal with ink—literally. During a recent video interview with Karen Civil, Omarion boldly displayed his “Maybach O” tattoo on his left hand. Although, it may seem as an ultimate form of adulation for his newfound team, XXL just wants to remind Omarion that tattoos are permanent, while record deals aren’t. Please share your best caption in the comments section below.

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