andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

In an interview with CBC radio’s Q, Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) discussed the current state of hip hop, and how it needs to progress through maturity.

“There’s been this reluctance to mature in hip hop and when you do that, you leave the audience very narrow. My whole thing is to expand the audience and the genre of music in any way, because music is music,” he said.

Jay-Z’s rise to success came a long time before his music began to mature. The artist has released platinum albums throughout the 90’s and early 21st century, and with his latest album, “The Blueprint III”, Carter surpassed Elvis Pressley’s record for total number one singles by a solo artist.

READ MORE »

Last night MTV’s expert panel capped off their top ten “Hottest MC’s” with long-time heavyweight Jay-Z coming out on top. The controversial list was compiled by Hip Hop critics and enthusiasts, and for the first time included the opinion of fans across North America. The criteria: lyrics, flow, impact, buzz, sales and intangibles.

The final list: 1. Jay-Z, 2. Lil Wayne, 3. Drake, 4. Kanye West, 5. Rick Ross, 6. Gucci Mane, 7. Young Jeezy, 8. Fabolous, 9. 50 cent, 10. Raekwon

A few names are mysteriously absent from the list, most notably, Eminem. The rapper should not only have appeared on the list, he should have been in the top five. His recent album wasn’t his best of all time but its popularity continues to grow, and his verse on Drake’s new ‘Forever’ remix was the best on the track.

Kid Cudi’s name has spread like wildfire in the music industry, and TI continues to maintain his popularity; yet neither of them appear on the list.

READ MORE »

MTV has compiled their list of the top ten, “Hottest MC’s in the Game,” and they’re releasing each name one by one.
The criteria for the top 10 list are: lyrics, flow, impact, buzz, sales and intangibles. MTV has put together an expert panel of their most educated hip hop critics to rate the current talent and success of today’s top hip hop artists.
Number 10 on the list is Wu-tang Clan member Raekwon (aka Raekwon the chef). While Raekwon’s public exposure has never been particularly high, he is one of the most talented artists in the music industry. His album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.. Part II, released September 8, 2009, was critically acclaimed by all major music and hip hop outlets; debuting at number four on the Billboard 200. This was his fourth solo album along with the numerous Wu Tang albums to which he was an integral asset. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Part II reaches back to those Wu tang roots with raw hip hop verses and classic beats (produced by hip-hop giants RZA, Dr Dre, The Alchemist and Eric Sermon and many others).

Number 9 on the list was hip-hop heavyweight 50 cent. While he hasn’t released an official album since Curtis in 2007, 50 released one of the most impressive mix-tapes of the year, War Angel. The mix-tape showed fans that 50 is still first and foremost dedicated to his musical craft. Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson is in the process right now of completing his fourth studio album, “Before I Self Destruct”. The album was scheduled to be released in late 2008, but instead was re-worked and improved for the new release date of November 17. Like Raekwon, Jackson has the top producers in the music industry working on his album including Dr Dre, Timbaland and Eminem, to name a few.If the recently released track Flight 187 is any indicator of the style of this new album, Jackson’s fans will be pleased. The song has a classic 50 cent flow with a relaxed yet cold-blooded tone.

READ MORE »

Weezer will include a track featuring hip-hop star Lil Wayne on their new album, MTV News reports.

Raditude, scheduled to debut on November 3rd, is the seventh studio album by the rock group, and front man Rivers Cuomo said it was a chance, “to do something totally different.”

If you’re familiar with Weezer’s edgy, upbeat rock sound, urban music is far from characteristic of their style. Cuomo told MTV News that he wrote the song, titled “Can’t Stop Partying,” with music industry dynamo Jermaine Dupri. “It was a real challenge for me, taking his ideas, which are very slick, R&B party [ideas], and giving it some kind of edge, some darkness, making it work with rock, making it work with Weezer,” said Cuomo.

But Lil Wayne is no stranger to Rock. He appeared on Fallout Boy’s last album, and is continuing to pursue his own solo rock-inspired project named Rebirth. Experience, though, doesn’t necessarily imply success. His rock endeavours have been praised for their daring ingenuity, but not necessarily their sound. Ingenuity is one thing that the music pair share though, so it will be interesting to hear the final product of their collaboration.

READ MORE »

What do GLC, Ludacris and Macy Gray have in common? They’re all featured artists on “True to the Game,” an album that celebrates everyone who played in the Negro Baseball Leagues and helped set an example for African Americans of today.

Rapper GLC (short for Gangsta L. Crisis) has the track “Big Screen” on the CD and he describes “jumping at the opportunity” once he received a phone call to be a part of the album. But he isn’t alone on the track. Non other than Kanye West is featured on his song, which would be a pretty big deal for any artist but not for GLC. The man clearly has some connections having met West growing up as a teen in Chicago.

The two were introduced to each other through a mutual friend in the early ’90s and became pals. “Back then we was trying to rap. We were young, super young but still had these dreams and these ambitions,” GLC tells andPOP.

These ambitions led the two to grow as rappers and West landed on the worldwide stage. The rapper remained supportive of his friend and eventually was asked to collaborate on the track “Spaceship” off West’s “The College Dropout” album, giving him an official introduction to Hip-Hoppers around the globe.

READ MORE »

A new hip-hop music game is set for release this upcoming summer. “Scratch: The Ultimate DJ” is an interactive video game in which the player is the DJ spinning the hip-hop tracks.

The setlist for the music game will include songs from Kanye West, Beastie Boys, The Black Eyed Peas, Eric B. and Rakim, Run DMN, Nelly, The Gorillaz and more, reports MTV News.

“Scratch: The Ultimate DJ” is slated for release this summer on “next-generation” consoles. The full press release, as posted on mtvnews.com, says that the game is an interactive experience for fans of hip-hop. It was developed by 7 Studios and features “60 original and licensed tracks from the most popular hip-hop and R&B artists”.

The press release also included the setlist, which includes:


· Flashing Lights- Kanye West

· Intergalactic- Beastie Boys
· Let’s Get it Started- The Black Eyed Peas

·Slacker- Tech N9ne

·Don’t Sweat the Technique – Eric B. and Rakim

Additional music from artists:


· Run DMC
· The Gorillaz

· Nelly
· Deltron 3030

It went on to say that, in addition to a heavy-hitting setlist, “Scratch: The Ultimate DJ” features distinctive urban environments, an array of customizable DJ personalities and a turntable style controller created by Numark, one of the leading manufacturers of DJ equipment. For more information on this innovative video game, visit the official website at www.scratchvideogame.com.

“The Fat Boys are back, and you know they can never be whack!!!”

This rhyme was printed on a media release announcing the momentous comeback of The Fat Boys to the music scene.

The group, originally formed in 1982, has decided to make a comeback in 2009. This will be the first track that Prince Markie Dee and Kool Rock-Ski have recorded together in 20 years. Their biggest hit in the past was a collaboration with the Beach Boys on a cover of The Surfaris’ “Wipe Out” on 1987’s Crushin’.

The Fat Boys have released seven studio albums, all of which garnered platinum results by selling a million copies in the U.S.

They are working hard to get noticed in the music world again, recently working with Philadelphia MC/producer Elijah to record “Unity”. According to chartattack.com, an album, tour, reality television show to find a third Fat Boy and a daytime children’s cartoon are in the works. The site also reveals The Fat Boys’ deal with InGrooves and Cleopatra Records to re-record “Wipeout” and “Human Beatbox.”

The Fat Boys will be missing a huge presence in their group without founding member Darren Robinson. Robinson, known as ‘The Human Beat Box’, pioneered the act of beat-boxing. He died of a heart attack in 1995 at the age of 28. Reports put Robinson at 450 pounds at his time of death.

Imagine an event bringing together “la creme de la creme” of Hip Hop.

What about the 2008 VH1 Hip Hop Honors?

The event, which is to be held Monday night, 10pm, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, will include inducted artists such as Slick Rick, the late Issac Hayes, Too Short, De la Soul, Cypress Hill and Naughty by Nature.

During the rehearsals last Wednesday and Thursday, fellow hip-hop heavyweights Big Boi, Wyclef Jean and Public Enemy came out to practice alongside newcomers like Estelle and the Gym Class Heroes.

“We’re here to be a part of something historical,” Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy told MTV News. “It’s like the all-star game of hip-hop.”

This is the fifth class of legends to be nominated; past honorees include Snoop Dogg, the Wu-Tang Clan, Run-DMC and Rakim.

Kanye West, 50 Cent, P. Diddy, Lil John and Missy Elliott.

What do these celebrity Hip-Hop artists all have in common?

Well for one thing, they all have bling.

Kanye’s diamond studded black Jesus pendant, 50’s diamond link bracelet, Diddy’s diamond and platinum bracelet, Lil John’s 12 pound “Crunk Ain’t Dead” diamond pendant and Missy’s signature black-diamond-and-gold-mini-turntable pendant.

The other thing, is that they are all going to be auctioning off these star studded pieces of jewelry at the Hip-Hop’s Crown Jewels auction from the contemporary art auction house Philips de Pury & Company, March 5, in New York.

The sale, which was originally scheduled for October 1, was pushed back due to the overwhelming interest in the catalog, according to a spokesperson.

One of the main items of the event, Lil John’s diamond pendant, holds the Guinness Word Record for the largest diamond pendant, holding more than 3,700 diamonds in it.

Now imagine flashing that around the neighborhood.

Canadian hip hop artists are rallying to get a more ethnically diverse group of people onto the national bone marrow registry.

It’s a cause that doesn’t have much publicity or media attention but the hip hop community is hoping to change that.

Jesse Plunkett, founder of Hip Hop Canada, was motivated by a friend’s death from leukemia and says when he learned that the majority of donors on the bone marrow registry were not visible minorities, he was concerned that Canadian ethnic communities were potentially losing out on treatment options.

Plunkett enlisted the help of Canadian Blood Services to try to reach a larger group of donors. The concern was spread through online communities and generated so much buzz that two free concerts to raise more awareness have been scheduled.

The concerts will be held in Vancouver and Toronto.