andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

In life (and in the hip-hop industry especially), there’s an unwritten code: as you approach the veteran years of your career, you’re expected to lose a step in your game.

Twista did not get that memo.

In fact, with 18 years of experience in the business so far, the Chicago hip-hop legend doesn’t see a career decline anytime soon. Nope, on the contrary. He says that some of his best work is yet to come.

Think about that for a moment.

This is coming from the guy who’s had two of his past six studio albums go platinum and crack the top ten list on the U.S. Billboard top 200, collaborations with some of the music industry’s finest talent including Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Mariah Carey, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, T.I, and Akon, and not to mention, this is also the former Guinness World Record holder for the fastest rapper in the world.

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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.

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It is with great pleasure that I have been asked to write a feature on one of my favourite new bands, Sounds Like BS.  Hitting the Toronto scene in 2008, the pop-rap duo has garnered an impressively large and loyal fan base.  BS has just released “3″, their third full-length album, online as a pay-what-you-can digital download.

Incidentally, I am one half of Sounds Like BS, but do not let that discredit my praise for this (my) band.

Over the past seven months, ‘B’ and ‘S’ (our alter-egos), have written, recorded, mixed and produced the album completely on our own.  “3″ is a ten-track dance party, filled with pop, rap, rock, and a lot of auto-tune.  Themes that are explored include partying, ladies, drinking, partying, how awesome we are, and so forth (WARNING: [im]mature language). We emulated and exaggerated pop music as intensely as we could, and the result is… well, you tell me.  Our goal was to create  an album of hits, and I’d like to think we succeeded.  Have a listen, take a look, and it won’t take very long to get what BS is all about.

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Last year, actor Joaquin Phoenix claimed he would retire from acting. Now he says he’s an aspiring rapper, but is it all a hoax? Not according to Phoenix’s rep.

“The transition from one career to another is never seamless. It should come as no surprise to anyone that Joaquin came from a musical family, in addition to winning a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Johnny Cash,” the actors rep Susan Patricola wrote in an email to MTV News. “He intends on exploring his musical interests despite speculative, negative or positive reactions.”

But according to a source, the “Walk The Line” actor’s rap career is nothing but a hoax, “He said, ‘It’s a put-on. I’m going to pretend to have a meltdown and change careers, and Casey is going to film it,’” said the source to Entertainment Weekly.

It has been reported that Casey Affleck is making a documentary of the actor’s transition to a career in music. Affleck was spotted at Phoenix’s debut performance on January 16 in Las Vegas.

Rapper JAY-Z is being sued by a woman who used to work as a waitress at his New York nightclub 40/40 – for allegedly failing to pay employees the minimum wage.

Celeste Williams has filed a lawsuit in which she accuses Jay-Z – real name Shawn Carter – and the company that owns the club, Twenty Ones Inc, of not paying staff the tips left for them by customers.

The suit claims a percentage of tips were kept from staff and accuses the club of “willfully failing and refusing to pay them at the legally required minimum wage” since it opened in 2003.

Williams is seeking unspecified damages and claims around 100 staff were treated in the same manner.

40/40 spokesman Ron Berkowitz says, “The allegations are false.”

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Too $hort “Blow The Whistle” Audio Streams

Windows Media:
Clean:
Windows Media 64k
Windows Media 96k
Dirty
Windows Media 64k
Windows Media 96k

Real Audio:
Clean:
Real 64k
Real 96k
Dirty:
Real 64k
Real 96k

“That track was on fire,” one of the callers to a Phoenix hip-hop station said after hearing Mad Philosopher?s newest track, “Hey.”

New York born and raised, currently residing in Phoenix, Mad Philosopher (real name: Shane Pollock) is no newcomer to the spotlight. Being a published novelist at 16 and selling two films to HBO by the time he was 19, the home-schooled ?kid? has his sights on conquering the music world.

?The easiest way to describe my music is hip-pop,” he says. Pollock?s music is a blend of up-tempo rap without any profanity, big hip-hop drums and a little bit of rock, all with a pop feel.

Shane released his first album, “Never Peak,” independently two and a half years ago and had a three-month tour (the ?Judgement Round?) in France, performing in some of the biggest nightclubs. He was the next artist to perform in the VIP Room in St. Tropez after a P. Diddy concert.

He is now gearing up to make his major push stateside. ?The music is fun, commercial and clubby. I just want to make records that have a lot of energy, a good vibe, and are positive.?

Shane is off to Las Vegas and Texas to record new material, and will then return to Los Angeles to work some more. He soon plans to shoot his first music video, which he hopes to film in Paris.

“The music is at a point where I feel good enough to share it with the world.”

Rapper Cam’ron is recovering in the hospital after being shot and wounded early Sunday morning. The ?Oh Boy? artist was leaving Washington, D.C. club H20 in his blue Lamborghini when men tried to carjack him, according to the rapper?s representatives.

An unknown number of men approached Cam?ron at about 2:10 a.m. Sunday morning and demanded that he turn over his car. When the rapper refused, the men fired shots into the car, hitting him once in each arm, said Lynn Hobson, a spokeswoman for Cam?ron?s label, Diplomat Records.

The star is now said to be resting and doing fine at Howard University Hospital. Cam?ron is currently promoting his new movie and album, both titled “Killa Season,” due in February.

Obie Trice was on Jimmy Kimmel Thursday night to promote his album. Kimmel asked Trice, out of all the countries he had visited, which was his favourite.
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“London,” said the rapper.
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Kimmel didn’t know that to say.
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“I mean Europe,” Trice said, breaking the silence.

“You’re getting closer,” Kimmel said, before throwing to break.
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You thought allegedly videotaping sexual activities with a minor was the stupidest thing a hip-hop artist ever did? Well, it is, but this is still stupid.