In the recent issue of XXL magazine, XXL lists their Top 100 Hip-Hop Web Sites. For once, we made the list! But it is a Top 100 list… who DIDN’T make the list? I ain’t mad, this is a great look. XXL learned from Vibe’s mistake and decided to NOT rank their list. What’s the point of a list again? Sorry… again, not mad. Thanks XXL!
Hit the jump for the full list…
Edit: This list supposedly had been leaked by some dude name Animal. If so, props to him. More importantly, XXL is commenting on each one of the sites on their list here. Thanks for the heads up Ivan!
This is what XXL has to say about KevinNottingham.com:
Underground rap shit.
Wow, is that what we are? I’d love to hear comments about that!
Dirty South hip-hop trio (??? that’s what the announcement read) CunninLynguists have announced dates for their Strange Journey U.S. Tour in support of their upcoming release, Strange Journey Volume Two.
After a hugely successful European run spanning 10 countries this past spring, the U.S. portion of the Strange Journey Tour will extend for 5 weeks with fellow road warriors Grieves along with DJ/producer Budo, Los Angeles-based artist and frequent QN5 collaborator Tunji as well as Sweden’s own international hip-hop icons Looptroop Rockers, who will be taking part in their first-ever full U.S. tour.
Featuring strategic guest spots from all over the map, the release Strange Journey Volume Two picks up where Part One left off — chronicling the life of the weary traveling musician with cuts like the sleepy Seattle lament “Close Your Eyes”, featuring Geologic of Blue Scholars, Grieves and Macklemore and the Cali banger “Running Wild” featuring Evidence of Dilated Peoples and Bay Area rap legend E-40. Other guests include Sean Price, Tonedeff, Freddie Gibbs, Poison Pen and production from J-Zone and Blue Sky Black Death.
DJ Hero has announced its massive 93-song in-game track list — which boasts Beastie Boys blended with Foo Fighters and 50 Cent vs. David Bowie.
Now Rolling Stone has exclusively revealed the track lists for Eminem and Jay-Z’s Renegade compilations that will accompany the DJ Hero: Renegade Edition of the game (the Renegade compilations aren’t playable tracks, but “Best Of” CDs).
Jay-Z’s Renegade collection is the first “Best Of” comp of Jigga’s career — though there’s reportedly talk of another coming in November — so Jay-Z sticks to the hits. Eminem, however, opts for deeper cuts and rarities from his arsenal, including a brand new song called “Taking My Ball” that will be featured exclusively on the DJ Hero Renegade disc. Both emcees hand-selected their respective track lists.
Check em after the cut… I can’t WAIT for this game!
Seems like these days, all you really need to get a buzz is a nice co-sign. Backed by Jay-Z, J. Cole is the next hottest thing to come out of Roc Nation. Currently on the road with Jay and busy working on his debut album, J. Cole drops this new track, “Lights Please.” Hit the jump for the clean version, courtesy of the label, as well as his tour dates…
Sorry for the lack of updates lately… I’ve been out of commission with the H1N1 the past few days. But I had to throw this up that I just read over at XXL. Apparently, Jay-Z said in the new issue of NME, that Michael Jackson sang backup vocals on “Girls, Girls, Girls.”
“He was on my song ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’, singing these background vocals and I didn’t even put his name on it.”
Though the comments over at XXL are calling bullshit, I don’t think it’s too far fetched. Jay-Z laid a verse down on MJ’s “You Rock My World” which was done around the same time as The Blueprint and the two icons also shared a stage during 2001’s Summer Jam.
I went back and listened to the song and though the background vocals sample Tom Brock’s “There’s Nothing In This World That Can Stop Me From Loving You,” it is quite possible that MJ laid some vocals on top of the sample. If it is indeed the case, this puts a whole new spin on the Blueprint classic and will forever change the way we listen to the song. Listen and decide for yourself after the cut…
I’ve been offline most of the day and just heard the terrible news. 2009 has been an awful year in regards to losing legends. According to DJ Premier, Mr. Magic died this morning from an apparent heart attack.
For those that don’t know, Mr. Magic was a hip hop pioneer. He launched the first ever rap radio aired on a major station in 1983 with DJ Marley Marl… The Rap Attack.
In anticipation of the November 10th release of their newest Prince Paul-produced effort, Montezuma’s Revenge, Oakland, California hip-hop crew Souls Of Mischief are gearing up to set out on the “Montezuma’s Revenge World Tour ‘09,” a tour consisting of 35 dates over one and a half months throughout the US, Europe, and Asia. They will perform for 19 dates here in the US and 16 in Europe with stops at Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Berlin, to name a few.
To celebrate the group’s forthcoming tour and to help tide fans over until the November 10th release of Montezuma’s Revenge, Souls Of Mischief is also pleased to release a new track, “LaLaLa,” which serve’s as the album’s closer. Over a drum-heavy, guitar and vocal sample-laden beat, Souls Of Mischief take turns showing off the multi-syllabic flows, witty similes, and smooth lyrics that have made the crew a household name for over 13 years, as A-Plus raps, “You know A-Plus, he’s nuts like a cashew / Cuts like a head coach and busts like a gat do.”
Hit the cut for tour dates and to download “LaLaLa”…
Procter & Gamble’s TAG brand is proud to announce the “Signature Series,” a collaboration with hip-hop legend Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, basketball superstar Carmelo Anthony and professional skateboarder and MTV personality Rob Dyrdek. The Signature Series includes three cologne quality scents featuring images of each celebrity on the packaging. The scents are Get Yours from Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Stay Up from Carmelo Anthony, and Make Moves from Rob Dyrdek. To kick off this new partnership, each celebrity will participate in the “TAG Signature Series Charity Challenge”, a national election-style battle between Ludacris, Carmelo and Rob to raise money for their individual charitable foundations by encouraging consumers to purchase their TAG Signature Series scents. Each celebrity’s charitable foundation will receive ten percent of the net realized sales of their product during the Charity Challenge promotion period. The celebrity with the highest net realized sales during the Charity Challenge period will receive an additional $25,000 donation for their foundation.
Blitz The Ambassador composed the score for the PBS documentary Bronx Princess which airs tonight at 10 p.m. EST. The film spotlights a Bronx-bred teenager, Rocky Otoo, who leaves her mother in New York City to reunite with her father, a chief in her native Ghana. Make sure to cop Stereotype if you have not already, it’s one of the best albums of the year!
DJ Muggs announced on the Soul Assassins site that he has just finished a new album with former Non-Phixion member Ill Bill. Muggs has released three critically acclaimed collaboration albums with GZA, Sick Jacken & Planet Asia. Now, the producer preps a new release with Ill Bill which also features guest appearances from Raekwon, B-Real & Sick Jakcen. Muggs has already had a busy year with the Soul Assassins album Intermission and the recording of a new Cypress Hill album Rise Up. Check out the direct quote from Muggs after the jump.
Twitter is blowing up right now with the recent news of DJ Roc Raida passing away from apparent surgery complications. From what I understand, the X-ecutioners DJ was undergoing spinal surgery due to an accident he was in a few weeks ago. No more information is available at this time. Roc Raida was, and always will be, one of the best. Rest in peace…
Edit: Roc Raida’s family just released this official statement:
Anthony Williams p/k to the world as The Legendary Grand Master Roc Raida has passed away unexpectedly today Sept 19 2009. He is survived by his wife, 3 lovely daughters, mother and friends. Raida was recently in an mixed martial arts accident, something that he has been practicing for several years. Although he had under gone 2 surgeries with great success, was released to an inpatient physical therapy facility and was in great spirits the past few days. This morning he started to have complications and passed. The family asks for privacy at this time.
Yesterday we told you that Nobody Famous got his song “Electric” placed on the new CW show The Beautiful Life, which premiered last night. Of course, I was super pumped about this as it is the first ever placement from an artist on HiPNOTT Records. I wasn’t expecting more than a few seconds in the background of a scene, but it turns out that they damn near played the whole song!
“Electric” is from Nobody Famous‘ album Order Up! Volume 3: Chicken and Waffles and is available on iTunes, Amazon and other online retailers.
We just got some very exciting news and I hope all of you will join me in congratulating Nobody Famous, whose song “Electric,” has been placed in a television show on the CW network. “Electric” is the second single from the HiPNOTT Records‘ release Order Up! Volume 3 and features Dasha and Jerell Perry. We put the single out over a month ago and you can download it here.
The name of the television show it will be on is The Beautiful Life and premieres tonight at 9pm Eastern Time on the CW. From the looks of the trailer above, this will probably be the only time I watch the show… lol, that is unless they place any more of our music.
I’ll try to get a clip of the show to post later this week. Please leave a comment congratulating Nobody Famous!
I can honestly say that this whole situation has finally come to a close. We heard the allegations less than a week ago, and we got statements from both Lil Fame and M.O.P.’s manager. Now the victim of this whole fiasco, Philly producer Kil, is releasing his own statement wrapping up this whole ordeal. Check it out after the cut…
Just got this statement in my inbox this morning from M.O.P. manager, Laze. Compared to Lil Fame’s statement, this one seemed a little more PC. The problem I have with the statement, is that Laze seems to dance around the subject. He starts off by saying that he’s dispelling a “rumor.” Fact is, there was no rumor. This shit actually happened, no matter whose fault it was. Maybe the “rumor” he speaks of is the accusation being pointed at Lil Fame. Lil Fame had previously put the blame on Laze, however Laze comes back and says it was a “clerical error” in the credits processes. Hit the jump for the full statement… and if you’re in the dark about what happened, read the original story here.
Oh, and a little good news that came out of this, we actually got Lil Fame and Kil on the phone together over the weekend. Not sure what was said, but the fact that Lil Fame agreed to call Kil says a lot.
