MTV News |
- Exclusive: 50 Cent Talks <i>War Angel LP,</i> Which Drops Next Week
- Lady Gaga Ditched NYU To Study The Art Of Fame
- Mary J. Blige Defends Auto-Tune: 'To Each His Own'
- Kris Allen 'Flattered' By Adam Lambert's Crush
- Jay-Z Hopes Kobe Bryant Wins Another NBA Championship Ring
- Pretty Ricky Fans, Others Flaunt Skills At Air Sex World Championships
- T-Pain Will Still Use Auto-Tune On New Album Despite Backlash
- Holly Montag Dishes About Heidi And Spencer On 'Celebrity'
- How Scott Storch's Cocaine Addiction Made Him Spend $30 Million In Six Months
- Akon, Lil Wayne And Others Introduce Miami's New Class Of MCs
| Exclusive: 50 Cent Talks <i>War Angel LP,</i> Which Drops Next Week Posted: 11 Jun 2009 06:35 AM PDT Fif tells Mixtape Daily that upcoming tape is 'the best body of work I put out in the mixtape circuit.'
The Overdose: A Mixtape Daily Exclusive Expect the unexpected. The game moves so quickly, and we're prepared for anything, so you should always look to us to document it. Two Mixtape Daily articles in one day? (Make sure you peep that Fire Starter!) Why not if the content's there?
We were prepping a real ill Behind the Beats to land Friday morning, but everything got put on pause when 50 Cent decided to phone in. The G-Unit General is putting out a project of all-new material called War Angel LP on Tuesday via ThisIs50.com. He says it's more like a street album than a mixtape. Fif -- who's in L.A. right now recording Before I Self Destruct with Timbaland and Polow Da Don — said he's throwing heat rocks all summer long, then dropping his official LP in September (dare we dream he drops the same day as Jay?). "I'm finnin' to get on the street, you already know what time it is," he said via cell. The tagline for the project is "Prepare for Total Destruction." "You know what it is, it's a conflict," Fif described. "The exact opposite. I didn't want to write Angel Demon. It's not the contrast between good and bad. But ... if someone's at war, I'm sure they're saying their prayers. They believe they have angels around them. What would you call an angel around a soldier at war?" A War Angel, of course. "That's why I titled it that," he added. "Creatively, this is not even a mixtape. That's why I put LP next to it. ... My core audience will understand it immediately, and it's written specifically for that." With such a potent title, some people are obviously expecting him to go at his last known enemy: Rick Ross. Fif said that's not the case. He's done with the Miami MC. "You're gonna see," he promised, before explaining why the beef with Ross is over. "I think if you don't identify when you've won a race, you'll continue to run victory laps until you've exhausted yourself. There's nothing else to win in the Rick Ross situation. There's nothing else to do to that guy from my perspective." So who will 50 be firing missiles at? "It's not a specific target, a specific person, I'm writing about," he clarified. "When you hear it, out of all the material I put on the street, you're gonna say that's the best body of work I put out in the mixtape circuit, period. The way the mood of music is right now, when they hear what this is, they'll say, 'That's what we needed.' " More 50 Cent underground releases will follow in just a few short weeks. "I have two other tapes to follow it," he revealed. "Fourth of July, Sincerely Southside Part 2 coming out with mostly '90s music on it. Timeless music, classic hit records. Then, after that, there's a G-Unit mixtape. It's actually untitled. I'll be finished with it in the next day or so." (Click here for an exclusive look at artwork for the release.) The War Angel LP track list, according to 50 Cent: 1. "I Line N---as" For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines. Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lady Gaga Ditched NYU To Study The Art Of Fame Posted: 12 Jun 2009 03:51 AM PDT 'I really felt New York was my teacher and that I needed to bite the bullet and go it alone,' she tells Elle.
Lady Gaga has managed to go from underground dance-music sensation to full on pop superstar, thanks to a slew of catchy hit singles, a renegade spirit and a fashion sense that has left everyone equally perplexed and interested. And before she made the transition to the pants-hating Gaga we all know and love, she was just a girl going to college trying to figure out the best strategy to get famous.
So what was her first move toward fame? Dropping out of school. "I loved NYU, but I thought I could teach myself about art better than the school could. I really felt New York was my teacher and that I needed to bite the bullet and go it alone," she said in the Women in Music issue of Elle magazine. "I wasn't interested in going to frat parties. ... I was really interested in the music scene and waitressing and cleaning toilets, or whatever the f--- it was I was doing." The other things she was interested in included "sex, pornography, art, fame, obsession, drugs and alcohol," all of which she used as inspiration for her album The Fame. "Why would anyone care to listen to me if I wasn't an expert in what I write about? And the album itself is the story of me and my friends and, again, our lives in New York — and you either want to know about it and be a part of it, or you don't," she said. "I am completely, 100 percent honest in what I do and who I am, and I've got nothing to hide." Related Videos | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mary J. Blige Defends Auto-Tune: 'To Each His Own' Posted: 11 Jun 2009 04:07 AM PDT 'Do what you do, because I do what I do,' says the singer, who uses the effect in her new single, 'The One.'
Mary J. Blige might have used Auto-Tune on her new single, "The One," but the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul says that isn't indicative of the rest of her upcoming album. "This whole album I've done is Mary," Blige said Thursday (June 11) as a guest on Angie Martinez's New York radio show. Blige said "The One" introduces the world to "Crazy Mary." "It was for effect," she said of using Auto-Tune. "I wanted 'Crazy Mary' to get her shine on. She couldn't get her shine with my regular voice. I used the effect. I used it as a telephone effect or reverb." Blige said she's indifferent to the whole Auto-Tune debate in the wake of Jay-Z's "D.O.A." "I won't say that it bothers me, because people do what they have to do," she told Martinez. "I can't pass judgment. Everyone else does what they do, and everyone has their own opinion. To each his own. Do what you do, because I do what I do." "The One" is the lead cut from Mary's upcoming LP, which is due in November. Drake raps on the song — look out for his reference to the game Jenga. "I'm actually a fan. Drake is incredible," she said of her track guest. "I met him at Summer Jam, very respectable. That was the first time I met him. Really nice kid. I love the record ['Best I Ever Had']. Every woman in the world should love that record. [He's] very innocent and humble. He's like, 'I'm just doing what I do and happy to be doing it.' " During the interview, Blige talked about the hard work she's put into her acting craft. She appears in the new Tyler Perry Film "I Can Do Bad by Myself," which is slated for September. Blige also talked about the now-infamous Internet footage of her stepdaughter punching Charles Hamilton in the jaw. Briana Latrise, who is Hamilton's ex-girlfriend, punched him in the face during a rap battle when the MC got a little too disrespectful. "I feel really bad," said Blige, who questioned why the incident was put on the Net. "It doesn't make me proud to see her doing things like that." Related Artists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kris Allen 'Flattered' By Adam Lambert's Crush Posted: 11 Jun 2009 02:25 AM PDT 'American Idol' champ thinks it's 'hilarious' that his onetime roommate finds him attractive.
Kris Allen won the affections of the "American Idol" voters and runner-up Adam Lambert, who recently dished about his crush on the season-eight champ. "I was like, 'Oh, sh--, they put me with the cute guy,' " Lambert told Rolling Stone of his roommate during the show. "Distracting! He's the one guy I found attractive in the whole group on the show: nice, nonchalant, pretty and totally my type — except that he has a wife. I mean, he's open-minded and liberal, but he's definitely 100 percent straight."
Well, it turns out Allen is cool with the attention. "I'm flattered," the "Idol" winner told People, "and think it's hilarious." Although Lambert and Allen are pals, Lambert recalled not finding the same type of friendship with worship leader Danny Gokey. "Danny is by the book, and the book is the Word," Lambert explained. "And I respect that. Just don't try to push it on me, and we're cool." Another "Idol" alum Lambert seems to have a hard time getting along with is Clay Aiken, whom he made some comments about in his Rolling Stone interview. "Right after the finale, I almost started talking about [my sexuality] to the reporters, but I thought, 'I'm going to wait for Rolling Stone, that will be cooler,' " he told the magazine about coming out. "I didn't want the Clay Aiken thing and celebrity-magazine bullsh--. I need to be able to explain myself in context. ... I find it very important to be in control of this situation. I feel like everyone has an opinion of me, and I want a chance to say, 'Well, do you want to hear how I really feel about this?' " Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Photos | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jay-Z Hopes Kobe Bryant Wins Another NBA Championship Ring Posted: 11 Jun 2009 01:14 AM PDT Hov says he can't 'condone' friend LeBron James' unsportsmanlike behavior.
Jay-Z has been spotted at several NBA playoff games during the postseason, and as game four of the finals comes around tonight, Hov says he's rooting for Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. "I wanna see Kobe win a ring, because a lot of times they say he [previously] won because of Shaq," Jay told Chicago radio station WGCI earlier this week as he called in to promote his upcoming tour with Ciara. Jay told the station that he's tired of people doubting that Bryant can bring home a championship without the man with whom he's won his three rings thus far, former Laker teammate Shaquille O'Neal. "I don't think that's fair to [Bryant]," Hov further explained. "He's arguably one of the top five [basketball players] ever. I wanna see him win a ring without Shaq so they can get off the guy's back." The Lakers are up two games to one in their best of seven championship series against Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. As NBA fans know, the Magic upset the team with the best regular season record, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in the semifinals. The Cavs are led by LeBron James, and in the wake of their loss to the Magic, James walked off the court without doing the customary handshake with the opposing players. James also dodged the press after the last game as well. This caused the NBA executives to hand down a fine. "I think it'll help him grow," Jay said of his close friend LeBron, with whom he's hosted the "Two Kings" dinner for the past three years. "It's not something I condone. I think as competitors, you owe the man the handshake. Someone beats you, they're better than you that day. Somebody can score more points than you but they can't change who you are. You owe it to that man to shake his hand and say, 'I'll get you next year.' [LeBron] is still a young man and he'll move on." Related Artists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pretty Ricky Fans, Others Flaunt Skills At Air Sex World Championships Posted: 11 Jun 2009 02:34 AM PDT Famous ottoman-molesting group Peer Pressure judge Atlanta round of second-annual competition.
We're not sure if it's due to the recession, the swine flu or the spring air, but there's a whole lot of humping going on these days. We're talking off-the-charts ... enough to make R. Kelly blush. First, Pretty Ricky lothario Spectacular set YouTube ablaze with a single pair of red bikini briefs and some serious pelvis popping. Then, he raised the temperature again with another video, this one showcasing his furniture-humping prowess (we still feel bad for that folding chair). Now, as if to show the world that Pretty Ricky members don't corner the market in this new art form, there's the second annual Air Sex World Championships. That's right. What originally began as a semi-monthly competition in Austin, Texas, has become a 16-city tour designed to seek out the greatest Air Sexer in the world. Competitors choose a clip of music, show up in whatever costume they've designed, and get to the grinding. They have judges and rules (including no nudity and no actual orgasms) and everything. This is all very real. The tour kicked off June 6 with a hometown hump-off in Austin. On Tuesday it hit Atlanta, and in a move that will forever live in the annals of competitive Air Sex, they invited Peer Pressure to kick off the competition. For those not in the know, Peer Pressure are one of the two biggest names in air humping. In 2007, they became Internet sensations thanks to a salacious series of YouTube clips in which they pummeled defenseless furniture with their pelvises, often to the strains of Pretty Ricky's "Late Night Special." They became embroiled in a feud with another group of furniture romancers, the Fantasy Boiz, and shortly thereafter, they basically disappeared from the face of the Earth. But Tuesday night they were back ... or at least two members of the group were. They drove in from their home town of Montgomery, Alabama, to open the evening's festivities with a dual ottoman hump (said ottoman was then autographed and given away in a raffle). Then they served as judges for the Air Sex competition, after which they disappeared into the night, perhaps to hit up a late-night furniture emporium or something. The Air Sex World Championships will hit New York City on Friday (June 12). No word on whether Peer Pressure will be along to hump something there, too, but we seriously doubt it. As founder Tim League points out, the Championships aren't really about celebrity, they're about something much greater. "Air Sex is sort of like Air Guitar," League said. "Except instead of pretending to play an invisible guitar on stage, contestants get up there and pretend to have sex with someone who isn't there." Very true. Is it getting hot in here, or what? Related Artists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T-Pain Will Still Use Auto-Tune On New Album Despite Backlash Posted: 11 Jun 2009 12:26 AM PDT 'Jay-Z said something ... I gotta do it now,' Pain says of continuing his use of Auto-Tune after Jay-Z's "D.O.A." song dropped.
T-Pain isn't budging from his Auto-Tune use in the wake of Jay-Z's new song, "D.O.A." In fact, the Tallahassee star is embracing song's message. The computer-aided singer recently revealed on Twitter that he plans to push up the release of his new album from next year to this November instead. "I'm droppin a new album called UBER," T-Pain wrote. "The album just got pushed up," Pain told MTV News on Sunday (June 7) during the Hot 97 Summer Jam concert. "It was gonna come out September next year. [The record label], they're making me come out November this year. It makes the label look straight. I was gonna chill, because it was so many people that do what I do — now Jay-Z done dropped the 'Death of Auto-Tune' and it's time for me to come back." And yes, Pain says he will be using the vocal enhancement style he re-popularized.
"Oh yeah," he said about whether he'll still use Auto-Tune. "Definitely now. Jay-Z said something ... I gotta do it now. It's nothing outta the ordinary, so I'm ready." Jay-Z's anti-Auto-Tune track debuted last week on New York radio station Hot 97 and immediately put the spotlight on T-Pain, the artist most recognized for using the program. But Jay singled out the "rappa turnt sanga," along with Kanye West and Lil Wayne as talents who aren't beholden to the pitch-correcting device. Shortly after his interview with MTV, T-Pain even appeared onstage with Jay when the Brooklyn wordsmith performed the song at Summer Jam. "I look and I see somebody to my right, and I swear I thought it was a fan coming up to me to hug me," Jay explained in a Hot 97 radio interview about T-Pain joining him. " 'Cause I didn't see who it was. I thought it was some cool, rock-star stuff. And then I saw him move again, and I looked back. I guess [T-Pain] wanted to get close to me." Jay called the moment "awkward, but cool" and told DJ Angie Martinez he wasn't sure if T-Pain would take offense to the song. For his part, T-Pain said he wasn't so sure either — he Tweeted, "I don't know if Hov was dissin me or not, but I would rather have him dissin me if that's what it takes to make good music." In the wake of "D.O.A." and the debate about Auto-Tune, T-Pain seems to want to capitalize on the moment. He even gave Jay props right back on the track. And while some of the offending Auto-Tune parties figure out what to do next, T-Pain is gonna put the final touches on Uber. " 'D.O.A.' is the best song I've heard in a couple years," T-Pain said on his Twitter page. "Watch me get back out here and do my thang." Related Artists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Holly Montag Dishes About Heidi And Spencer On 'Celebrity' Posted: 10 Jun 2009 10:26 PM PDT Sister to 'Hills' stars says of Heidi: 'She's like Velcro' with Spencer.
On Wednesday night, Holly Montag made her debut on "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!," and not only did she manage to earn her keep by bringing victory and food to the girls' team, she also managed to bring some insight into what it's like to be related to "Hills" stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, who left "Celebrity" earlier this week. For fans of the show who may not know who Holly Montag is, she introduced herself as, "I'm Holly Montag, you might know me from a little show called 'The Hills.' " The comment at first perplexed many of the celebrities, but before long Holly was making fast friends with the contestants, including Janice Dickinson, who described her as a "great girl." When asked about Speidi's relationship, Holly, who has been very public about her dislike for Spencer, described Heidi as "Velcro," adding that she "just latches on to somebody and they become her everything ... her world." Holly, who is Heidi's older sister and managed to bring drama to "The Hills" finale, didn't seem to be doing much drama-mongering in her first "Celebrity" episode. And she also won the heart of pro wrestler Torrie, after she beat the guys' team in the tiebreaking food challenge, who declared that she is "all about Holly." Fellow jungle newbie Daniel Baldwin, who joined the cast after the Speidi drama unfolded, added that he had high hopes for Holly. "I think Holly appears to be less high-maintenance than Heidi," Baldwin said. "Thank Jesus Christ almighty that she hasn't pulled out a spray bottle of shampoo!" Related Artists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How Scott Storch's Cocaine Addiction Made Him Spend $30 Million In Six Months Posted: 11 Jun 2009 12:29 AM PDT Miami hit producer is back after almost losing everything to drug addiction.
MIAMI — It almost seems impossible, but it's tragically true. Scott Storch squandered $30 million. Not only that, he did it in less than six months. "[It was] unlike anything I've ever seen in my entire life," the producer's manager, Derek Jackson, told MTV News of his friend of almost two decade's monumental fall. "Historical! It was historical without question." Storch's decline started in 2006, which was arguably his most successful year creatively and definitely his most fruitful year financially. He was one of the top producers in the business, having worked on hits by Beyoncé, 50 Cent, the Game, T.I., Chris Brown, Christina Aguilera, Dr. Dre, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Pink and many others. He had a long way to fall.
"Honestly, about three years ago, he got really shady," said Jackson, sitting just a few feet away from Storch at Miami's Hit Factory studios. "And that's the best term I could use. He went from what his normal vices were to suddenly becoming a person who was infatuated with the drug, and I saw it constantly." Storch's drug was cocaine. The abuse of the narcotic almost cost him his career — and his life. Earlier this year, he was arrested for grand theft auto for allegedly failing to return a Bentley he'd leased in 2006. And last year, Storch hit legal trouble after reportedly falling behind on both his child-support payments and his property taxes. "A lot of the work that we would do and how much we would do of it, that started to scale back. I have to say the magic month was August of 2006," Jackson continued. "I will never forget it. It will be something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. You know, '06 for us was the magic year; we hit Lotto. Everything worked. I mean, there was nothing that we did that did not work. I gotta honestly say, outside of my kids, it was the greatest year of my life. It was so many [hit records] I can't even tell you. That was the year he won [ASCAP's] Songwriter of the Year [award]. We broke records — lots of [chart] records we broke and he did them quick. It was just a wonderful year, but I think it was defined by that magic month of August. He ran into the Hollywood class — and when he went to Hollywood, all things changed." Most notably, Storch went on vacation. "It was the first time he took off in, I would say, the duration of his career. I've been with him since he was 17 years old. I found Scott [playing keyboards with] the Roots in 1992, so for the duration of that, he's always been a worker bee, that's just his spirit. But in August of 06', we took a month off. It was over. Never came back." Literally. Storch got addicted to drugs and just stopped caring about his career. "Scott, I have to be real because, once again, it's about a story that has to be told," Jackson said. "We made a lot of money — I mean a lot of money that year [2006]. And Scott — in all honesty — he was broke by January. It was the quickest [loss] of money that I've ever seen in my entire life." "The cost of the drug didn't effect my life," Storch weighed in. "It was the poor decisions I made, that were so poor financially, that caused me to go into this situation where I was forced to change my lifestyle ... forced to change a lot of things. "[I had] 15 to 20 cars at all times," he continued." That's not smart. I would take one of 15 half-million-dollar cars I owned and go to the mall and spend that much money. Stupid, stupid stuff. It's like it didn't make a difference. They were ego investments. I would have been great with three or four cars! I didn't need a 117-foot boat." "Cars!," Jackson explained of how Storch lost his fortune so quickly. "Private jets are expensive — please leave them alone if you can't afford them. Trips to the Riviera on a private jet is $250,000 one way. I'm talking about, it was a routine [with Scott]. Spending on others — if you can't take care of yourself, how you gonna take care of everybody else? And it got out of control." Storch weighed in, "I watched my own father, he went bankrupt and had problems with the IRS. He was living beyond his means, and I guess I was doing the same thing and not even realizing it." As much as he was making, Storch was spending double on drugs and overly luxurious living. He was out of control, and Jackson takes some of the blame for not intervening sooner. "I was an enabler, I was an enabler," Jackson admits. "And it wasn't until I got a phone call — rest in peace [former Def Jam Records President Shakir Stewart, who died of an apparent suicide last year]. My man, one of my closest and dearest friends in the music business, said, 'D, what are you doing? Scott has Janet Jackson sitting in his studio and it's going on five hours. Where is he at? What are you doing, D? What are you doing?' And I knew the routine started to become like that. We did it to a lot of people in '07. It's when it all went bad. We had people sit in the studio for upwards of 10 hours at a time. And I would never be real to [Scotty]. I guess I got to a point where I stopped caring. We made money, I watched him blow it, I didn't care anymore. But then I watched that phone call come from Shakir." Eventually Jackson would exhaust himself trying to get his friend to clean up, so he resigned as Storch's manager. Scott still didn't get point: His addiction had tapped his inspiration to make music. "It started affecting me where my own son would be like, 'Dad, what's up? When's the next hit record coming up?' " Storch recalled. "I didn't have a answer for him." It wasn't until 18 months later that Storch and Jackson would see each other again. Storch had decided he needed help. "[It was] probably in the worst state I've seen [anyone] in my life," Jackson said of Storch. "Somebody that you knew when they were young and full of zest and fire and excitable — the spirit that the kid had was incredible. But to come back to black eyes, bloodied and bowed and unlike the person you knew. To be quite frank, he was a junkie. He was a junkie. And it was unlike anything I had seen in him, ever. Ever." Jackson checked Storch into a rehab facility called Recovery First. Thomas Trevino, a mental health tech and a three-quarter-way manager at Recovery First has been working with Storch for the past few months.
"I can clearly remember the first day he came in," Trevino recalled. "The guy just looked like many others clients we've got: emotionally, physically and spiritually broken. Throughout the time, he resided in our in-patient program and he eventually graduated into an out-patient program; he was then taken into our three-quarter way house. "I have seen him change," Trevino continued. "I've seen his mind is totally opposite from day one. The guy couldn't even carry on a clear conversation when he first came in. And now I have been having the honor and privilege to come with him to the studio a couple times and check him out, see what he's doing. And it seems like he's back on track, man. He's a great inspiration for many out there who are trying to do this line of work — and at the same time he's a great inspiration for many drug addicts out there who want to stay clean and live this way of life." "It's just that type of deal," Storch — who is still under treatment — said of his fall and his climb back to the top. "I've lived it, done it. I've been around a lot of greats I seen in this industry that have problems, but the comeback can be that much greater. It's a well of creativity in my mind right now; it's not being hindered and being in love with the music again — seeing the day and taking advantage of the opportunities I've been afforded." Storch is back at work, and says he's better than ever. He's in the studio with the Game for three days, and next week goes to Orlando to work with Chris Brown. There's also a track in the works involving him, Quincy Jones and Jennifer Hudson, as well as Kat DeLuna's potential first single. Outside of music, he's been shooting a reality show and has guest appearances from the Kardashians. "This is God's work," Jackson opined. "So he has to respect that. I just hope that the people out there that watch this take the time to understand that even in the lowest of moments — because it was low for me, it took a year out of my life, it destroyed my life because I was so in tune to him — to always remember you can come back, you can clean your life up. You can be the same again. It's never too late. Never too late — never! So hopefully from this, people will understand that there's always a tomorrow." Related Videos Related Artists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Akon, Lil Wayne And Others Introduce Miami's New Class Of MCs Posted: 11 Jun 2009 03:51 AM PDT Gunplay, Brisco, Ball Greezy, Billy Blue and Ice Berg are getting co-signs from some of hip-hop's biggest names, in Mixtape Daily.
Let's do it bigger than we ever have this time, shall we? Since we're knee-deep in our five-day celebration of Miami, we decided to make Fire Starter extra-special this week and give you five MCs from the city to look out for. Everybody promises they're hot, and unlike some cities, these cats aren't hating on one another; they're showing unity.
"It's well-strategized and well-planed," Cash Money's Brisco explained. "We watched a lot of cats get up and make a lot of money. We're happy to get our time to shine. It feels good to have cats at that high caliber we can rhyme and spar with and take this music to a whole 'nother level from the 305." Fire Starter: Bound To Blow Gunplay is a "goon with an attitude," his homie Rick Ross said. "That's self-explanatory," the Carol City, Florida, native said of his moniker. "I'm just loose with it, man. I'm just trying to calm down thanks to the music industry. It saved me. It's the old ways, but new money. That's what I'm about: new money." The pursuit of that green has made Gunplay see he can't always be physical to solve problems, especially when you're dealing with executives in the music industry. "I know how to get business done," he promised. "At the same time, I know how to be me, which is street. I have to turn that on and off now, dealing with this industry, when I wanna get a check. I separate both worlds and try to get money." As a youngster, Gun's mother moved the family to Miramar, which is one county up from Carol City, but all of 'Play's friends, including Rick Ross, were in the two C's. "I bumped into Ross. We were doing the little rap stuff. We was taking it serious, we were hustling. But after time, people started going to prison, we just said to ourselves, 'We're gonna take music serious,' and we did. We're here now." OK, maybe Gun didn't take it as serious as Ross — you know, there's that line in "Magnificent": "I always had a vision, I would always tell my n---as, but ain't nobody listen." Trust, once Ross' "Hustlin' " hit, he was a believer. Gun got his bars up and definitely surprised many with his appearance on Deeper Than Rap's "Gunplay." "I had a lot of built-up tension," he said of his aggression on the track. "I tried to let it out in 16 [bars]. I was just letting you know what it really is. I didn't even know I was rhyming. It came out in my heart. It's for the streets. The street felt it. They wanna hear that from Gunplay. That's what I'm gonna give you." Gun's next step is alongside Ross for a full-length album: the Carol City Cartel LP. Then he has solo aspirations. "I'm emulating the great," Gun said. "I'm watching all his moves. I took notes. Three years in this game now, I'm seeing exactly how to be a boss from behind the scenes. Naturally, that's just gonna be what I' gonna be. It's gonna come natural." A Few Others You Should Definitely Be Aware Of Moniker: Brisco Nicknames: Mr. Grammy Nominated and the Opa-Locka Goon Affiliation: Poe Boy Entertainment (management) and Cash Money Records (recording home)
Big Things Promised: Brisco started out hustling, and before he gets to balling too hard, he's trying to be a hip-hop household name like his homies Lil Wayne and the Birdman. "I been around the world and ran through two passports," he told us. His favorite trip has to be to this past year's Grammy Awards. Featured on Lil Wayne's "La La," he got a nod for Weezy's Carter III. "I'm sharp and I'm ready," he promised. "The caliber of music we're doing is speaking for itself." Brisc's debut is called Street Medicine, and he's proud of his versatility. "I'm portraying something I really lived." Moniker: Ball Greezy Nicknames: Mr. Shone (as in act-shone!) and the Baby Mama's Favorite Affiliation: Ball is currently unsigned, but he's been getting big co-signs from Flo Rida, as well as Rick Ross, with whom he has several collaborations. Big Things Promised: Ball grew up being called "Ball Grim," but the homies gave him the name "Greezy" because he's "swift with everything." True to his name, his rise in the streets this past year has been moving pretty quickly. First came the banger "Shone," then he hit the circuit with "I'm the Sh--," featuring Brisco." "Juk Wit Me" followed, and now the clubs are eating up "Where They Do That At." BG believes teamwork makes the dream work.
"Everybody got their own circle, the big dogs," Ball said of his city's established stars and the new generation of MCs. "But down here, we got our own circle too. You're standing with the best. Dade County. We're beating down the streets. If you ain't hearing Brisc, you hearing [Ice Billion] Berg. If you ain't hearing Berg, you hearing [Billy] Blue. If you ain't hearing Blue, you hearing Ball. You hearing somebody. We're doing it." Moniker: Billy Blue Nickname: Mr. 36 Reasons Affiliation: Poe Boy Entertainment (management) and a joint production venture with Timbaland and Akon, through Interscope Records Big Things Promised: "It's about being you. Spitting what you lived," Blue said of his debut, which will be helmed by Timbo and 'Kon. "Telling people, 'I'm just like you. I'm an ordinary n---a. Had a 9-to-5. I sold drugs, went to jail, been on parole, [have] f---ed up baby mamas. I been through it like everybody in the world been through it. This world is ours. Let's make it happen.' " Billy is eager to have his fellow up-and-comers get shine as well. "We're the young generation bringing you what you ain't heard," he promised. "We're the kids of the streets. We were birthed on this concrete. ... We're the young generation that came out the crevice of the concrete. When you 'hood, you good. You know that." Moniker: Ice Berg Nickname: Billion Berg Affiliation: Trick Daddy's Dunk Ryders Big Things Promised: Berg got his first real taste of glory rapping on Trick's "F--- the Other Side." But, when you roll with an O.G., you have to come correct. "With him, it's pressure," Berg admitted. "That's the big homie. He's gonna put a lot of pressure on you, whether you're in the studio or not. I love him to death, though. I been around him three or four years now. You still get the heebie-jeebies working with him, but that's him. He's the legend." Look for Berg to drop after Trick releases his Finally Famous in the next couple of months. Until then, Billion has a string of mixtapes circulating through the underground. For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines. Related Videos Related Artists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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