It’s way too early to say 50 Cent is “back.” What can be said is he sounds a lot better than he has in some time. Not long ago, he hit a new low with the atrocious “I’m On It.” The near universal clowning of that track appears to have 50 taking his craft seriously. This song, like “Love, Hate, Love,” has 50 channeling the sound that was prevalent on his legendary mixtape run. We’ll see if he can keep this going.
Los Angeles, CA — Manny Pacquaio will show solidarity with Hip-Hop culture by having Miami emcee Rick Ross walk him to the ring for his May 7 showdown with Shane Mosley.
Ross confirmed the news yesterday via his Twitter account. Both men became acquainted with each other after participating in Nike’s 2010 ”Boom” commercial campaign. Last week, Pacquiao’s lifelong friend and assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez endorsed Ross’ Maybach Music brand via a Youtube video.
Ross has engaged in public feuds with both Floyd Mayweather, Pacquiao’s main rival, and Mayweather’s close friend 50 Cent over perceived slights in Ross’ “Mafia Music.” 50 has publicly supported Mayweather in several fights, most notably accompanying him to the ring for his record-breaking 2007 showdown with Oscar De La Hoya.
High-profile boxers have sought out rap figures to enhance their ring walks since the mid 90′s, including Naseem Hamed (Diddy), Roy Jones Jr (Method Man and Redman), Cory Spinks (Nelly) and Mike Tyson (Tupac Shakur).
May 7 will mark the first time Pacquiao has done a ring walk with a rapper. At press time, neither Pacquiao nor Ross have disclosed what music will be used.
“Take that, take that”
Is Sean Combs the best businessman Hip-Hop has ever seen? The culture and Diddy himself are young enough where it’s still an open debate. The Bad Boy CEO has notched another accolade for his case by being named the wealthiest man in Hip-Hop with a net worth of $475 million.
Forbes’ findings factored in all of the artist’s public businesses and deals. Diddy was able to reclaim the spot from Jay-Z on the strength of his 50-50 joint venture with Diageo for Ciroc vodka, Sean John clothing and Bad Boy label. Jay-Z bows in this year at #2 with $450 million.
The entire top five and original Forbes article are listed below.
The Forbes Five: Hip-Hop’s Wealthiest Artists
1. Sean “Diddy” Combs $475 Million
2. Jay-Z $450 Million
3. Dr. Dre $125 Million
4/5 (Tie) 50 Cent and Bryan “Birdman” Williams $100 Million
If he doesn’t, 50 is sure trying his best to get it. Yesterday marked the second freestyle in less than a week from the G Unit mogul, whose hoping his next album will get his name back out there for music and not what his latest sophomoric Twitter beef is. The first joint, “Old 2003 Ferrari,” had the signature name-dropping and cavalier attitude that made 50 a mixtape phenom in the early 2000s. His latest joint, “When It All Goes Down,” has the adopted southern drawl that’s colored a lot of his albums, including his most successful, Get Rich or Die Tryin’.
Since about 2007-2008, 50 Cent has been stagnant creatively. It’s not entirely his fault. Artists with his type of style tend to not have long shelf lives. Luckily for him, he’s one of the select few artists that’s truly used his music success to make his name a brand, and it solidified business opportunities in film, marketing and clothing. The marketplace has totally shifted from gangsta rap, and he finds himself in the “creative space” LL Cool J was in the late 80s; considered old news and corny. The question is, does 50 Cent have a Mama Said Knock Out comeback album in him?
He’ll have to admit the old formula is just that, an outdated model. Everyone knows 50 is a multi-millionaire, and the street aura that enthralled many initial fans has long since dulled. While not as talented as Notorious B.I.G. or Jay-Z, 50 could take heed from an LP like Life After Death, where Biggie revamped his content to focus on the struggles that came with his new lifestyle and wealth instead of attempting to completely relive, as 50 would phrase, the “harsh realities” of his previous life (Ready to Die).
50 Cent will always be one of Hip-Hop’s most memorable characters. It remains to be seen if he has the ability for another run that ensures he’s also remembered as an artist.
50 CENT “WHEN IT ALL GOES DOWN”
50 CENT “OLD 2003 FERRARI”
Friends 50 Cent and Floyd Mayweather have announced their first joint business venture together on an upcoming action film named Tomorrow Today.
This project will combine two companies: 50 Cent’s Cheetah Films, and Mayweather Films. Last year, Cheetah Films made headlines after signing a deal with Lions Gate for 200 million.With the sizable budget, 50 Cent expects this film to surpass all over his previous efforts.
“The first time it was different is because there was no budget,” 50 explained to Hit Fix. “In this actual situation I can use my juice card…I don’t want to disclose the content of the actual film this early…[Hip-Hop's portrayal in film today] is fair. There’s a portion of the culture that reflects those images they create. It’s not the entire Hip-Hop culture, it’s not everyone’s future. When you talk Hip-Hop artists and film, people don’t generally think Will Smith, or Queen Latifah, Mark Wahlberg [and] LL Cool J. There’s a lot of artists that have made the transition from music into film and have done it in a way that they’ve developed a cache around their brand and the material they’ve created.”
Both Mayweather and 50 declined to give any specific details on the project outside of 50 handling the screenplay and directorial duties. At press time, a tentative release date was not announced.
D12 member Denaun Porter (Kon Artis) has built a solid brand through his production work under the name Mr. Porter. Over the years, his crafted joints for 50 Cent (“P.I.M.P.”), Eminem (Infinite album, “On Fire”), D12 (“Good Die Young”), Keyshia Cole (“Trifflin’”), Little Brother (“Extra Hard”), and others . But what fans didn’t know is back in 2008, he submitted a full tape’s worth of beats to Nas, in hopes of landing a placement on the Queensbridge emcee’s controversial Nigger album, which was later released as Untitled.
Yesterday (January 11), Porter dropped the nine tracks he submitted, complete with themes he felt would tie into Nas’s social commentary. Porter delved deeply into the project in hopes of rebounding from the painful losses he felt from the deaths of Proof and J Dilla.
How many people got a problem with the word NIGGA? So the reason I asked is, ’round the time Nas album was titled, I was submitting beats for it,” Porter wrote on Twitter. “This was also a good start to jump back into the game because after the tragedy of Proof and Dilla I wasn’t fucking with music. So while coming outta depression I made a beat cd for the Nigga album.”
“When I submit music to artist, I do an album worth of songs the way I hear the album and they pick what they like (yea it’s my OCD way of submitting music). Anyway, I’m gonna share that album with my fans and friends this morning. God sent snow today so since u niggas aint goin’ no where. Enjoy these beats that never saw the Nigga album.”
The tracklist and download link are listed below. On some joints I can hear why Nas would pass on them. But there’s definitely some heat that Nas could have used over a track like “World Go Round.” Case in point, check this sample beat.
MR. PORTER “EMOTIONS”
1. N*gga Intro
2. Beautiful Thang
3. Emotions 1
4. How Can I Leave Her
5. Emotions 2
6. Money
7. Smoking Gun
8. What Can I
9. N*gga Outro
“They said 50 sang too much/And Em got soft/And they said Dre fell the fuck off…”
If this is the last all-star collaboration of 2010, the year is going out on a good note. This song made the rumor mill rounds on Twitter a few days ago courtesy of mixtape dj Big Mike, and it turns out his claims of this song’s existence were right on point.
The title is a gateway to offer commentary on the importance of lyrics in today’s Hip-Hop. Eminem, one of the few who’s managed to become a superstar with technical wizardry, playfully bemoans how today’s young listener’s don’t possess attention spans beyond the chorus (“The whole formula switched/Because we don’t know anymore what’s a hit…How do we adapt and get TRL votes/When 13 year olds control the remotes?”). Em’s verse is very quick, and posits more questions than answers for Jay-Z to reflect on.
As expected, Jay takes a business approach. The “bang bang/chain” flow and content sells. He directly addresses the listeners, and states “it takes two to tango.” Right there, the Roc Nation CEO is making it clear that no one’s hands are “clean” in this situation: from the labels, to rappers, and even the actual fans who continue buying the product (“I guess you’re to blame, too/ I just found an angle..”). After painting Hip-Hop message board critics as naive, virgin teens, he views the philosophical divide as a choice between “the chat room or the house in Malibu.” For Jay-Z, his decision is easy.
Dr. Dre only gives a few quick bars, but the good doctor has some nice lines about veteran rappers continuing the standard of excellence set in previous generations. When it comes to passing the torch, Dre doesn’t see anyone ready to pick up the mantle (“The torch is going to burn out before it gets passed…gambling every time we put a record out…”). There is a light-hearted moment after this verse where Em takes his hand at the irritating, R&B choruses that are dominating the radio at this time.
50 Cent doesn’t tackle the subject as well as his peers. The most he can muster is a few nonsense bars to continue the motif that lyrics have lower importance over melody (“Just give me my check/ and I’ll be on my way”). Ca$his and Stat Quo hold their own with these heavyweights. For topics, they focus on bringing Shady/Aftermath to the forefront as the new generation of artists.
Not a bad track at all, and one that’ll have the hardcore internet fans talking, especially about the bars in their direction. In the end, these guys are in the record business, and as much as they may care for their art, the main goal for them will always be the looped Eminem words that close out the track, “Now get out there and sell some God damn records!”
EMINEM X JAY-Z X DR. DRE X 50 CENT X CA$HIS X STAT QUO “SYLLABLES”
Feel like taking a trip back to 2002 and 2003? Just hop on the Twitter pages of Ja Rule and 50 Cent to see both acting like it’s still the early 2000s. As you read earlier, Ja Rule will be headed to prison for a two-year sentence on gun possession charges. 50 Cent couldn’t help but take a few swipes at his former nemesis, sarcastically claiming he’d look out for him in jail. Rule fired back by talking about who got the better of the physical encounters between the G-Unit and Murder Inc. camps (we all know who came out ahead musically). It’s ironic when you think about Ja’s statement. Murder Inc was considered by many the studio gangsters, or “wankstas” as 50 put it back then. But when it came to physical fights, it was usually Murder Inc that came out ahead (50 being stabbed at the Hit Factory, Proof getting jumped, etc). Nonetheless, don’t expect these two to ever patch things up like Nas and Jay-Z. 50 and Ja’s issues go well beyond music.
Thank God Twitter wasn’t around during the Pac-Biggie and East-West beef era.
Tomorrow (November 22) is the release date for Lloyd Banks’ Hunger For More 2. Here is the final installment of his “On the Road to HFM2″ series, which includes some behind the scenes footage on Banks in Los Angeles, and a December 2009 visit to Nigeria. The clip is also a snippet teaser to a full-length On the Road to HFM2 documentary dropping November 24 at 7 PM ET on ustream.tv/lloydbanks. Peep a quick cameo from Fabolous, and DJ Whoo Kid exposing one of Banks’ “medical issues” when traveling overseas.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem
Soulja Boy knows that improving his lyrical skill is essential to longevity in Hip-Hop. However, the 20-year-old rapper is also promising not to deceive fans with pretentious music as he works torwards that goal.
Since beginning his career as a 17-year-old, Soulja Boy’s music has been the source of derisive comments for older rappers such as GZA, Ice-T and Snoop Dogg. Some fans have cited him as the poster boy for the degradation of lyrical skill in modern Hip-Hop.
Before, Soulja simply ignored those criticisms, or responded back by ridiculing his older peers as out of touch or bitter. But now as he approaches manhood and continues maturing as a musician, Soulja Boy has come to see some truth in his critic’s words. Recently, he told VIBE magazine that he studied Nas’ Hip Hop Is Dead album, after previously chastising his older peer for declaring that statement. Improving is one thing, but Soulja Boy doesn’t believe his fans or critics would respect him if he attempted to do a complete 180 with his style and content.
“At this point in my career, I don’t want to be something that I’m not, or give off an image that I’m not,” Soulja Boy told Beats, Boxing & Mayhem. “I came in the game as a 17-year-old kid who produced and made his own music. I definitely want to be respected as a lyricist, but I don’t want to portray like I came into Hip-Hop to be 100% pushing to be the best lyricist, spit the deepest messages, give kids knowledge to help them and all that.”
In the latest XXL magazine, Soulja Boy reiterated his point by stating he didn’t want to be “super duper lyrical” like Lupe Fiasco, resulting in “niggas not knowing what the fuck I’m talking about.” The quote inspired an old-school styled answer record from Fiasco in “Super Lupe Rap,” a lyrically dense and intricate song that laid out the different creative approaches to music between the two.
While Lupe regularly uses his music to provoke discussion on abstract concepts and social issues, Soulja Boy views himself as an artist whose primary focus is innocent fun. But he concedes that party music doesn’t have to have less technical proficiency, which is something he’s learned by collaborating with older emcees.
“I just came in to have fun,” Soulja Boy affirmed. “Now that I’m growing up, now I’m just starting to transition, as I’m rapping with bigger artists like Kanye and 50, to be respected as a lyricist. “
Soulja Boy’s next album, The DeAndre Way, will be released on November 30.
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The most you can ask of any artist is that they attempt to get the most out of their talent. Soulja Boy appears to be doing just that by trying to improve his technical skills.
Soulja Boy understands nursery rhymes won’t fly for much longer with him. At 17, people could argue he was just a kid, although he was a year older than LL when he made Radio, and the same age as Nas when he made Illmatic. As someone born in 1990 who’s view of a classic album is 50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’, how can you really blame him if no one ever exposed him to the greats? He’s basically learning on the job, as evidenced by the fact the first Nas album he’s really delved into is Hip Hop Is Dead. To put things in further perspective, albums like Stillmatic and Blueprint came out when he was roughly 11 years old
In the meantime, Soulja shouldn’t be disrespectful to those who’ve studied and practiced their entire lives on their lyrical skills, like a Lupe Fiasco. Soulja may not have meant it that way, but I completely understand why Lupe dropped that answer record. Soulja came off as very dismissive of Lupe and others like him, whether intentional or not. As a writer, it would be like me reading a fellow journalist stating, “I want to be a better writer, but not on some super duper I love Hip-Hop and boxing forever like Ismael AbduSalaam with long ass articles.” Soulja must keep in mind that while he has one objective, some of his peers are striving for a deeper grasp of themselves and the world around them through music.
All things considered, I think Soulja Boy is on the right track. He doesn’t have to switch his content up. Some of the greatest Hip-Hop albums are full of nothing but debauchery and random tales of low morals. You can also see that in many movies, folk songs, and poetry that is considered classic. So while Soulja Boy doesn’t have to be so much concerned about turning into Chuck D, he does need to be aware that it’s not acceptable for him to be sounding on the mic like he just enrolled in pre-school.
We’ll see what improvements Soulja Boy shows on November 30 when the new album drops.
