No sleep 'til Brooklyn. During rush hour, it takes about 90 minutes to get from Manhattan to BK, but horrendous traffic couldn't deter stars current and past from the Def Jam label from traveling to the world's most popular borough for VH1's sixth annual "Hip-Hop Honors." Right in the heart of Crooklyn at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the red carpet for the event was filled with heat (literally — it felt like it was about 120 degrees) and love.
KRS-One must have hugged former Def Jam franchise player DMX on the carpet. The Blastmaster said a definitive "Him!" and pointed to X when asked who was one of the artists that defined the label over the years.
Meanwhile, there's clearly no more bad blood between Ashanti and Ja Rule, as she smiled brightly when talking about performing with her former Murder Inc. labelmate.
Ludacris arrived with Player's Circle and Titi Boy took home the award for flashiest bling with a iced-out 747 hanging off of his chest.
As the carpet came to a close, Method Man ran into Kid Rock and the compliments went flying. Meanwhile, Fabolous said hello to fellow BK native Foxy Brown. Inside, Foxy and Onyx's Sticky Fingaz exchanged numbers before going to their seats.
Check out the rest of our "VH1 Hip-Hop Honors" photo gallery, featuring Ludacris, Kid Rock, Ghostface, Chuck D, Trey Songz and Flavor Flav! And be sure to check out the show, which airs on VH1 on Tuesday, October 13 at 9 p.m.!
They had New Kids on the Block earlier this summer and Toby Keith and the Dave Matthews Band in a couple of months, but on Monday night (July 27), Lil Wayne will be the star attraction at the Toyota Pavilion in Scranton, PA (as the sign on the photo reads).
But on Sunday night, as the MTV News crew came to the venue, we received one surprising rule: "Look out for the snakes, dog!" advised the head of security on the "Young Money Presents: The America's Most Wanted Music Festival." Apparently some reptiles had slithered in the outdoor backstage area at the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain.
Scranton is home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (MLB's Bronx Bombers Triple A team) and not exactly the hip-hop capital of the globe, but one of the biggest MCs on the planet has been in town all week. Yes, Lil Wayne, Weezy F. Baby himself has been in Scranton all week rehearsing for his new tour with Young Jeezy, Soulja Boy, Jeremih and Drake.
The Toyota Pavilion is said to hold around 16,000 people — 6,000 seats under a canopy-like top (which also covers the stage) and 10,000 on the lawn that runs up a hill.
When MTV showed up earlier this afternoon, Weezy wasn't due to arrive until about 8:30 p.m., while Drake was said to be coming 30 minutes after that. The always sexy Nicki Minaj was already backstage getting ready to rehearse and Jeezy and Soulja Boy weren't due to rehearse their sets until Monday morning.
T-Pain's managers, Rocco Valdes and Mike Blumstein of Chase Entertainment, obviously know how to get that mullah. They got their start working in the studio at Slip-N-Slide Records with producer Jim Johnson. One day, the duo were in a parking lot and heard T-Pain's demo through record promoter T.J. Chapman and sought out the singer. Now, in addition to Pain, they help guide the careers of new artists A.B., Sophia Fresh, Young Cash and Sophia Del Carmen, as well as producers Catalyst, All-Star and Detail (who wrote and produced Ray J's "Sexy Can I"). One of their favorite places to break bread? Miami, of course. The pair tell us the spots in Miami that you can get some great business done.
Best Places in Miami to Cut a Deal
» Tootsie's: "Everyone knows Tootsie's," says Valdes. "I've been everywhere, and it's the best strip club in the United States. You take a client to Tootsie's and get a table and throw beautiful women over them all night, and the deal is done."
» Philippe at the Gansevoort South Hotel: "Good food and drinks and beautiful women," Blumstein advises. "It gives people a feel of Miami and is a great place to get someone drunk and negotiate better terms. This is for the more reserved clients."
» Nobu: "Can't go wrong with this spot because this is a lot of people's favorite restaurant," Valdes adds. "Easy deal closer."
Read more...
I've written about Busta Rhymes shows in the past. You've read my praise of his and Spliff Star's showmanship time and time again. I always throw in there that he's one of the greatest, if not the greatest, pure live performer in hip-hop ever.
The energy doesn't stop. They make you jump, scream, dance ... everything a commanding MC is supposed to do. The greatest thing about Mr. Rhymes and Street Colonel Spliff (please don't forget Spliff when you talk about a Bus stage show — Spliff is more than a hype man) is that no two shows are the same. They switch it up every time I seen them. Every single time? Amazing. So often I've gone to rap concerts where I can tell you what the rapper is going to do before his own DJ can. They don't switch formats. But Bus? True MC. He changes the show up.
Last night in Manhattan, at Santos Party House, we all had a ball: Bus, Spliff, me and all the fans. Read more...
It's all love in Bucktown, USA. Fabolous didn’t go at Maino. I repeat, Fabolous did not go at Maino. Some fans were wondering if Fab's line in the song "Hottest in the Hood" was a jab at fellow Brooklynite Maino. Nah — Fab was just trying to get creative, comparing the diamond cuts in his watch to Maino's famous facial scar. I had a chance to chop it up with Loso on the set of his video "Throw It in the Bag."
Shout-out to Maino for being the real cat he's always been and not listening to the instigators, and big-up to Fab for doing what a lot of hip-hop artists out there are either too scared to do or are not talented enough to do: rap. Loso is still coming with it, being creative with his bars and keeping the listeners on their toes. Let's make this the year of the spitters, shall we hip-hop artists and fans? I'm a journalist, but appreciate — I love some real dope lyrics.
So whoever is out there rhyming — let's put some time and effort into it. Fab is consistent, and you always have to look out for people such as Ludacris, Busta, Tip and Kanye. Wayne is a problem, Drake is leap-frogging a lot of the newcomers, Eminem and Jay are coming back. Jadakiss and Rick Ross are heavy in the street right now. Game is a given. Nas never disappoints. Hip-hop should have a few nice looks this year.
Drake the Great? This cat is really catching fire quick. A lot of the fans and other rappers are tapping him as the next super MC. You know what that means, right? It only makes Lil Wayne bigger. Weezy has been trying forever to build up his Young Money family, and although Drake's contractual obligations to Wayne have not been fully disclosed, we all know that Weezy F. Baby has given Drizzy his most major co-sign.
Weezy and Drake are sounding priceless together on tracks right about now. They're two of my favorite MCs to hear spar with each other on the track. "Successful" (also featuring Trey Songz) could be a hit if they push that button, and that "Ignant Sh--" freestyle (over the beat from Jay-Z's "Ignorant Sh--") is definitely still one of my favorite joints right now ("I'm so high I can vomit on a comet"). Props to the DJs for finally playing it on the mixshows. Wayne's verse is merciless: "I'll take probation/ I don't want the T.I. and Vick vacation."
Check out Drake in Mixtape Daily after the jump. Read more...
We'd like to send prayers and condolences to the entire team and staff of the Dallas Cowboys. On Saturday, a monumental storm — with winds reported as fast as 64 miles per hour — hit the beautiful Cowboys practice facility in Irving, Texas during a training session for the team's rookies. The building collapsed, injuring 12, including scouting assistant Rich Behm, who was permanently paralyzed, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Just this February, the MTV News cameras traveled to that very practice facility as part of our Dallas Week shoots. As a faithful New York Giants fan, I joked with my friends that I was going into "enemy territory." The Boys and the G-Men have one of the top rivalries of their division, and all of football, period. But when we were there, the Cowboys staff — especially Scott Agulnek in public relations — immediately made fellow Giant fan Nick Neofitidis (our camera man), Senior Producer Rahman Dukes and me feel right at home. They were gracious, forthcoming and couldn't have been more welcoming. We went to the weight room, the TV studio, the locker room and ultimately the practice field that was hit so hard by the storm. Read more...
Nothing like taking in a game on an easy Sunday afternoon. T.I. was at Atlanta's Philips Arena and witnessed a royal trouncing of the Miami Heat today by the hometown Hawks. The game wasn’t even close after the first quarter as the ATL Birdmen crushed Dwayne Wade and M.I.A. 91-78.
After the game, a couple of the players came up to Tip, who was sitting–near the court, and accepted an enthusiastic congratulations from the Grammy winner. Tip is due to go to prison some time this month. He’s been working on a follow-up LP to his classic 2008 Paper Trail, as well as spending quality with his family. A re-release of Paper Trail with bonus tracks is due soon.
As for the Hawks, they face one of Jay-Z’s good friends in the second round: LeBron James. James lead the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It's not the biggest surprise on the world, but DJ Khaled is predicting that Rick Ross' Deeper Than Rap will be the primo album in the land come tomorrow.
Khaled also spilled the beans that his Miami friend is already working on Deeper Than Rap's follow-up. "I'm probably not supposed to tell you," Khaled joked while on the set of Ace Hood's "Overtime" video. Khaled worked closely with Ross on Deeper Than Rap, serving as the project's A&R, and hinted that fans can expect more of the same from the Boss' next opus.
Meanwhile, Khaled will continue to work with a plethora of other Def Jam artists. (He's the president of Def Jam South and has his own label, We the Best, which Ace is signed to.) Look for Khaled to be sliding beats to acts such as Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Fabolous and new singer Cherlise.
Rick Ross has made Kanye West a believer. The Miami rap kingpin is still awaiting his first-week numbers to find out if Deeper Than Rap will be his third consecutive album to debut at #1 one. However, as the fans hit stores and critics critique the opus, Ross has one very vocal supporter: Kanye West, who raved about Deeper Than Rap on his blog last night.
"Rick's album is the sh--," Kanye boasted. "He made an album I can play in my apartment, which is the highest honor I can give any piece of music. TV on the Radio, Feist, Pink Floyd and the new Rick Ross album!"
Of course ,West is not completely objective about the project. Kanye is one of the stars of album highlight "Maybach Music 2," which also features T-Pain and Lil Wayne.
"Marrrrrrrr-tinnnnnn, Louie the King Junior," West raps on the song, calling out his newest nickname. "Starrrrrrrr-tinnnnnnn all that stuntin' is gon' ruin ya/ If B.I. was alive, he probably have a two-tone/ With the Grey Poupon, anything 'Ye poop on/ Will explode, 'cause I am the sh--, and this is my commode/ Uh-oh there they go/ Talking 'bout how ya boy clothes extra tight/ I just remembered that my limelight extra bright."
Kanye is still promoting his own #1 album, 808s and Heartbreak. He recently released the video for the third single, "Amazing," with Young Jeezy. The song is also used in a commercial for the NBA postseason.
