NAS REFUSES TO WORK WITH JAY-Z

It has been rumored that NAS refused an offer from JAY-Z to drop a verse on 'EMPIRE STATE OF MIND', a track on jay's BLUE PRINT3, that also feautures ALICIA KEYS.
Nas was even asked during a recent interview about the issue and he avoided the question by saying 'what's the next question'.
Now, i would like to educate people a little. Nas had a song titled NEW YORK STATE OF MIND on his first album ILLMATIC, back in 94. Then he had the part 2 of that song on his third album I AM(99). About 3 years ago, he did the part 3 of the song with ALICIA KEYS. So when you have JAY-Z making a track called empire state of mind, which is basically talking about new york, and feautures alicia keys, how do you think nas would feel.
Empire state of mind is a knock off nas's new york state of mind, point blank period.

50CENT AND FAT JOE AT IT AGAIN.

On monday, 28th of sept, it was reported that 50cent was rushed to the hospital after he had collapsed while listening to the new fat joe album, j.o.s.e 2. The doctor later confirmed that 50 had a problem with his auditory cortex, the part of the brain that has to do with processing sound. Blah! Blah! If you don't get it, none of that happened, he was just trying to diss joe.
Fat Joe responded to that today, saying 50 should get off his dick.
I wonder where 50 got that album, cos it does not drop till oct 6.

THE FUTURE OF HIPHOP.

When NAS made the statement 'HIPHOP IS DEAD', i felt his plìght, but i didn't totally agree with him. I would say rap, an element of hiphop, is dead.
I don't know what they call what they are doing now, but it's definitely not 100% rap. When i first heard of KID CUDI, i heard he was a rapper, but i am yet to really hear him rap. I heard day n nite, his first single and i didn't know what to call his style of music. Then i heard him on 'welcome to heartbreaks', a track on KANYE'S 808's n HEARTBRAKES album, and he was singing.
I think hiphop is evolving, and the college kids are taking over, with their father being kanye.
DRAKE, kid cudi, CHARLES HAMILTON, J.COLE, WALE, this are some of the young and new breed of hiphop artists.
People are tired of all the gangsta stories; the drug dealer story telling is played out. T.I, YOUNG JEEZY and the likes can only save them selves for so long. HIPHOP is definitely not ruled by the south any longer.

NAS BEING OFFERED THE POSITION OF PRESIDENT OF DEF JAM.

I remember around the time jay-z was the president of def jam, there was an interview of nas where he said it in passing that he had been offered precidency position at atlantic records, and he turned it down. I have never known nas to pay too much attention to the business side off music. He would out-rap your favourite rapper's favourite rapper, but when it comes to the commercial aspect of rap, he is lay-back.
I'm really surprised that he is actually thinking it through and he said he mìght just take the position.
He said he felt he could actually do a lot for hip hop rìght now.
I think he is right. And i think this would also make nas sit up with his career and market his albums much better. I mean, the guy is really dope but he rarely drops third singles for his albums, that's if he dropped a second single in the first place.

NAS BEING OFFERED THE POSITION OF PRESIDENT OF DEF JAM.

I remember around the time jay-z was the president of def jam, there was an interview of nas where he said it in passing that he had been offered precidency position at atlantic records, and he turned it down. I have never known nas to pay too much attention to the business side off music. He would out-rap your favourite rapper's favourite rapper, but when it comes to the commercial aspect of rap, he is lay-back.
I'm really surprised that he is actually thinking it through and he said he mìght just take the position.
He said he felt he could actually do a lot for hip hop rìght now.
I think he is right. And i think this would also make nas sit up with his career and market his albums much better. I mean, the guy is really dope but he rarely drops third singles for his albums, that's if he dropped a second single in the first place.

LIL WAYNE AND YOUNG MONEY STRATEGY.

LIL WAYNE is doing the best thing he could ever do right now, promoting his group, YOUNG MONEY. This formular has worked for many rappers in the past. It worked for jay-z with the roca-fela rap group (memphis bleek, beenie siegel, amil, young gunz, freeway, and jay himself). It worked for 50 cent with the g-unit group(tony yayo, lloyd banks, young buck, the game, and 50 cent himself.)

The way this formula works is that, it allows the lead member, the rapper that put the rap group together to stay relevant, without dropping albums every now and then. As long as he has a group album out, or any of the members of his rap group have an album out, he can always jump on a song and spit a verse on it. Then he would appear in the video. This way he wouldn't have to burn himself out. This is the best formula for any rapper trying to stay relevant for a long time. And he would also be giving those rappers an opportunity to shine off his success, that way,nobody looses.

I would like to use 50 cents career as an example. He dropped his debut album, "get rich or die trying", in early 2003, he had all the buzz in the world. He dropped like 5 to 6 singles from the album, that means like 5 to 6 videos. Then when he felt he had to move on to the next project, and felt it was not time for a new album, he could not get a rap budget for a new album in the same year, he decided to work on his group, g-unit. The rap group then, consisted of lloyd banks, young buck, and him. Tony yayo was still in jail at the time, although he was on two songs on the album, that had been previously recorded before he went to jail.

This worked in an incredible way, because he still had the buzz as the hottest new rapper, and this was just an extention of it. He dropped it the same year as his first, 2003, towards the end of the year, and the album sold over 3 million copies. Then in 2004, lloyd banks dropped his album, which kept the g-unit flame burning. And in 2005, new comer and new member of the group, the game, dropped his debut album, "the documentary", which further cemented the reign of the g-unit super group. The album spawned 2 mega chart busters, that were collaborations between 50 and game. The group kept waxing strong until the 50 cent game beef started off later that year.

That is that on 50, back to lil wayne and the young money group. As i said, wayne has made the best decision by following this lane. And why i feel he is going to wax stronger with this group is because he has the right elements. "Drake", one of the rappers in the group, is the hottest new rapper out right now. That would keep the group always in the media, and give them enough buzz to stay in everybody's conversation for some time to come. Then you got "jae millz", an incredible rapper, incredible freestyler(in fact, one of the best). I have been following this dude's career for many years now as an unsigned hype. Mac got the swagger, and gudda is just the icing on the cake. I cannot forget "nicki minaj", the sexy first lady. I have not heard her rap, but i know wayne could not have signed her for no reason, because he definately still receives advise from "baby".

I think if wayne concentrates on the young money rap group, and also drake's career, he is going to be in the media eye for at least another 3 years, guaranteed.
I wish him the best, and i hope he is still rocking in 2012.

DUO PRODUCERS- COOL N DRE SAY GAME RECORDED 7 SONGS ON THE FIRST NIGHT OF RECORDING HIS UPCOMING ALBUM, THE RED ALBUM.

I was so excited when i read this off sohh.com. Dre of cool n dre said they went over to L.A to work on game's red album, and on the first nìght they laced him like 7-8 beats, and gave him ideas for recording the songs.
They say they'r chilling the next day after they've given game all the armour in their arsenal, and he calls them up and he's like; 'yo, what else have you got'.
They were surprised that he had damn near recorded 7-8 songs. A verse hear, two verses there, a complete song over there.
Now, talk about work ethics. They've always had that chemistry, right from his first album when they laced the beat for the smash hit, 'hate it or love it'. They have been inseperable ever since.
If you are a GAME fan, you know the wait is going to be worth it.
I just hope he has a collaboration with nas on the album. They have both had collaborations on their last two studio albums: NAS(hiphop is dead and untitled album), GAME(doctor's advocate and L.A.X album.) Those are two of my best rappers.

THIS WEEK ON THE CHATS.

Yeah! Another week has ended, in the album chat world, and we would be looking at rap albums that made it on the chart.

Jay was number last week, and he is number one this week. He debuted last week with his latest album, blueprint 3, which sold a total of 476,100 thousand copies. And this week, he moves a total of 298,000, bringing him to a total of 774,000 copies sold in just two weeks in stores.

Kid cudi, kanye west's protege, and rapper, debuts on the chats this week with his debut album, "man on the moon", which sold over 104,000 copies. Not bad for a new comme. He would probably do better with the next album.

The other notable rapper on the charts is drake, with the re-release of his ground breaking mixtape/album/ep, "so far gone. H moved a total of 74,000 copies. Not bad for a re-release.

JAY-Z SAYS NOBODY IS SCARED OF 50CENT.

Is it me or has jay-z been talking too much this past few weeks ago. Just a couple of weeks ago, he was talking about rapper, jim jones and his taste in women. Accussing the fellow new york rapper of tending to appeal to the younger audience in hiphop by making songs that are trendy to them. He asked if jones is trying to get teenage chics now, thereby making a song like 'na na na na na na'.
Now, he is jumping in defence of KANYE WEST, concerning a comment 5ocent made about the kanye west/TAYLOR SWIFT INCIDENCE, where 50 says; 'let kanye try and disrupt me when i'm collecting an award and watch me black his eye in front of the whole world'.
Jay said in an interview that he admitts kanye was wrong, but that nobody is scared of 50cent. I have not read anywhere where kanye responds to 50, so why should jay jump on that. Kanye is a man.
I'm begining to think jay is just doing all this for publicity. He is doing all the interviews and reckless talking to stay in the media eye. And in process, move more units.

WHAT' UP WITH MASE (PART 2).

Mase never seems to amaze me and i kind of wonder if he has a plan or he just does not know what he is doing.
A couple of weeks ago, i read an interview of TONY YAYO where he talked about the incidence that took place at a certain award show in 2005, where FAT JOE got on stage and made the comment; 'i'm feeling extra safe tonìght. Thanks to the G-UNIT crew and all the security they've provided'.
Affected by the mockery, mase was quoted by yayo saying; 'i wish i had my knife with me, i would've stabbed fat joe'.
When i heard that, i wondered what an ambassador for GOD would be doing walking around with a knife on him.
I think mase is really confused.
He is now in talks with former boss, p.diddy, to get back on the bad boy roaster and drop another album. He never did complete his contractual agreement with puffy, and that was what 50cent was trying to do. Trying to buy mase out of the contract, and when he and diddy could not reach an agreement, mase was left hanging.
I hope mase get's his focus back soon.

WHAT'S UP WITH MASE? (PART 1).

I have been trying to figure out MASE for a while now and i just don't get the dude. He became a devoted christian in 1999 and left his sinful ways, after being signed to p.diddy's bad boy record label from 1996-1999, when he retired. He dropped two albums, harlem world(97) and double-up(99), during his stint with puffy. Then in 1999 he retired from rap and became 'pastor mase'.
He dissapeared from the rap scene and became a full time preacher. He even had a christian show on a christian cable channel airing for a period of time.
In 2004, mase re-surfaced with another rap album under bad boy records. Although he didn't rap with profanity, it definately wasn't a christian rap cd.
From then on, i started wondering what was up with the dude. Then he was signed to 50cent's label, g-unit, a group/clique/label. A group that had been known to be pro-violence. He even made a diss song directed at loön, a rapper on the bad boy roster, acquising him of stealing his flow.

KANYE WEST/TAYLOR SWIFT INCIDENCE PROBABLY A PUBLICITY STUNT.

I'm reading comments from bloggers on various hiphop sites and most people are saying the KANYE WEST/TAYLOR SWIFT INCIDENCE WAS A PUBLICITY STUNT. I don't know how true that is, but i want to weigh on all the opinions; someone said the stunt was to get people to talk about kanye, thereby talk about JAY-Z, who just recently dropped his album, blueprint3. I think the rumour i believe is the one about it being a publicity stunt for taylor swift's career boost. I think i can ride with that one, because before that incidence, i didn't know who the hell taylor swift was. And i'm sure a lot of other people too didn't know who she was till kanye embarrassed her on stage. That embarrassment turned out to be a good thing, because people all over the world are actually going out to buy her c.d. Go to youtube if you need evidence, n see how many thousands have checked out her videos since that incidence.
What i feel is, that day was a gift and a curse for her. Kanye definately did her good and made her a household name.

NAS AND KELIS ARE BACK TOGETHER.

I bet if you over-head some one say NAS AND KELIS ARE BACK TOGETHER, you would probably not take the person seriously. Well, nobody is certain what is running through the ex married couple's heads right now, but i can take a guess that are thinking of taking another short at it for the baby's sake.
It's hard to believe when a couple of months ago, KELIS filed for divorce from husband NAS, stating the reason being inreconcillable differences.
And when the judge ruled in favor of kelis and had nas to pay a total of $44k monthly for spousal and child support, everybody thought that was the end for this lovely couple.
Pictures of them together attending various New York City events have landed the internet. Pictures that showed them acting couply and laughing.
RUSSELL SIMMONS, founder of Def Jam commented on the couple:
'I am happy kelis is out with the baby and nas. It made my heart happy! I know i speak for all GG(GLOBAL GRIND, his blog) when i say we wish them happiness'
I wish them happiness as well.

RAP CD'S YOU SHOULD TRY AND GET THIS SEASON.

A lot of rap cd's have dropped within the last couple of months, and i would do a quick run down on the ones i think you shoukld get, and why i think you should get them.

Relapse- Eminem.
Yeah, i think if you have always loved em's lyrically delivery and skills, then you need to get this one. He is on point with the delivery, except maybe crack a bottle, the rest of the songs have em displaying skills that show why a lot of rappers don't want to be on the same song with him.
Although he is still talking about the same fictional "i will kill you" bullshit, if you look past that, and you have accepted em that way, then you should get this album.

Deeper Than Rap- Rick Ross.
Hate him all you want, he probably has the best rap album for the year. Forget sales, or his back ground story, or past story, ross has a masterpiece with this album.
It is truly deeper than rap, because the stories are so amazing, and the beats are on point, from start to finish. I think every rap head, old or new, underground listener or mainstream listiner should get this album.

The last kiss- Jadakiss.
I am a jada fan, and his previously released albums have always lacked one element or the other. With this one, he nailed it.
From the start, from the first track, he is going hard. He killed every rapper he featured on the album(asides from maybe nas), and if not for a song or two, i would have concidered this a classic rap album.
I was not at all bored while listenign to the cd, and didn't skip any track. I was shocked when i got to the last track before i knew it.

Blueprint 3- Jay-z.
I know jay is rich, and influential, and can pull some strings here and there, but you have to live all of that behind and listen to this album.
He came correct on it. From the first track on the album, i knew i was going to be satisfied.
The beats are on point, which is typical of any jay album. Jay shares his mind his mind on a lot of issues, and my personal favorite is "a star is born", where he talks about the success of other rappers in the game. I thought i would never catch jay doing a song like this, but i was surprised.

LIL MAMA CRASHES JAY-Z AND ALICIA KEYS PERFORMANCE AT THE VMA'S.

During the MTV VMA performance of JAY-Z AND ALICIA KEYS, LIL MAMA jumps onstage just before the end of the performance and starts dancing beside jay and alicia. The thing is that she was not scheduled to come up stage, she just did it on her own free will.
It had been laughing had, cos jay tries to swat her off, by tapping her slightly on the leg, and she didn't get it. And then she now does the same stand position that jay and alicia do when the song ends.

It was so funny. I am sure jay went into the changing room and cried on how she ruined his performance. I am just kidding, but you know how jay likes to feel like a god. He has the ego the size of a football field. I ain't hating on jay, i just don't like some of SHAWN CARTER'S moves at times.

50 CENT DISSES LIL WAYNE AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY.

I just saw a video on youtube.com where 50 CENT was being interviewed at Howard university and he dissed LIL WAYNE, directly. I mean he mentions the dudes name, no subliminal.
I mean, i didn't believe a day would come when i would actually listen and agree with what 50 had to say, but i have to ride with him on this one.
He was talking about a rapper that has so many amazing punch-lines in a song, and yet he(the rapper) does not make sense, over all. Audience, students from the crowd started mumbling lil wayne's name. Then he faces them and ask, "did i hear you say lil wayne"? And then he agrees that he was talking about wayne, and the whole audience applauded him in agreement.

He later went in hard on wayne, saying all the gangsta stories wayne be rapping can't be factual, since he practically grew up on t.v. What he meant was that, since wayne had been in the industry since he was 15, rapping with hot boys, when did he get the time to be on the streets and do all what he claims to have done. You get it?

I totally agree with 50 on this one. I kept telling people that wayne lost focus after his carter 2 album. People be calling carter 3 a classic, that is so annoying. He started paying more attention to punchlines & metarphors, than actually making a good song with a theme. Then he amplified that his annoying delivery voice. That seem to bring him more fan base, and more money, but you don't last with something like that. It is only a fad, and people would get tired of it pretty soon.

I wish wayne all the best, and i hope he listens to what 50 said, and not take it as 50 hating on him.

KANYE WEST APOLOGISES TO TAYLOR SWIFT

After yesterday's display at the vma's, KANYE WEST has apologized to taylor swift. He had interrupted her when she was giving thank you's for winning the category for best female video for her single,"you belong with me", kanye stomps up on stage and grabs the mic away from her, claiming that beyonce's video for "single ladies", which was nominated in the same category deserved the award.

Below is kanye's apology;

"I'M SOOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM," Yeezy wrote. "I SPOKE TO HER MOTHER RIGHT AFTER AND SHE SAID THE SAME THING MY MOTHER WOULD'VE SAID SHE IS VERY TALENTED! I LIKE THE LYRICS ABOUT BEING A CHEERLEADER AND SHE'S IN THE BLEACHERS! ................... I'M IN THE WRONG FOR GOING ON STAGE AND TAKING AWAY FROM HER MOMENT!...............BEYONCE'S VIDEO WAS THE BEST OF THIS DECADE!!!! I'M SORRY TO MY FANS IF I LET YOU GUYS DOWN!!!! I'M SORRY TO MY FRIENDS AT MTV. I WILL APOLOGIZE TO TAYLOR 2MRW. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!!! EVERYBODY WANNA BOOOO ME BUT I'M A FAN OF REAL POP CULTURE!!! NO DISRESPECT BUT WE WATCHIN' THE SHOW AT THE CRIB RIGHT NOW CAUSE .. WELL YOU KNOW!!!!! I'M STILL HAPPY FOR TAYLOR!!!! BOOOYAAWWWW!!!! YOU ARE VERY VERY TALENTED!!!! I GAVE MY AWARDS TO OUTKAST WHEN THEY DESERVED IT OVER ME... THAT'S WHAT IT IS!!!!!!!!! I'M NOT CRAZY YALL, IM JUST REAL. SORRY FOR THAT!!! I REALLY FEEL BAD FOR TAYLOR AND I'M SINCERELY SORRY!!! MUCH RESPECT." (You Heard That New)

KANYE WEST IS A RACIST AND A DISGRACE O THE BLACK RACE.

The MTV video awards was held last night, and when TAYLOR SWIFT came up to collect her award for an award that had beyonce being nominated in the same category, KANYE WEST came up onstage and grabbed the mic from her, being on about how BEYONCE had a better video, how beyonce had the best video in the whole world. This only shows how racist he is, and i am African, and i really appreciate the taylor swift video.
Even if kanye didn't agree with the fact that the organisers thought she deserved the video, was that the best way to voice your dis-approval? Stamping on the stage like an animal. Like a Gorilla that escaped from its cage. That is why the white race would always look down on black people, becasuse of instances like this.
I do not care if beyonce is married to your best friend, you just embarrassed both jay and b.

WHY SHOULD RAPPERS USE GHOST WRITTERS?

I ask that question again, WHY SHOULD RAPPERS USE GHOST WRITERS? If rapping is an art of music that have to do with you expressing yourself, then why do you need somone else to help you write how you feel. This defeats the whole purpose of being a rapper. You might as well be an r&b artist who's career depends on her/his voice and the way he/she can use it.
It is just so absurd and alarming to hear about the rate at which rappers use ghosst writer, and own up to the fact that they do use ghost writers. KANYE WEST has CONSEQUECE and RHYMEFEST writing for him, a fact he did not deny. How sure are we that he even writes any of his songs. No wonder i heard a song done by consequence recently and i thought it was kanye rapping. First i thought consequence was trying to sound like kanye, then i thought deeper, and i came up with the conclusion that this is probably consequence's original style. And because he has been writing for kanye so long, we are used to hearing kanye sound like that. Who knows how many other ghost writers he might have.
I just don't think that is proper, becasue when i think of a rapper, i think of someone that can write rhymes right there on the spot on any topic if he is caught off-guard and asked to flow. Is the rapper then going to start looking for his ghost writer. Or am i the one getting it wrong? Is this the new form that rap is taking?
I heard LIL WAYNE also uses a couple of ghost writers. The thing is, these ghost writers just have to study the rapper's rhyme pattern, and the subject matter you would normally talk about, and then they use their gift to create differenet other verses for the artist. That means someone like wayne could have about 10 different ghost writers, so anytime he is called upon to do a feature on another person's song, the ghost writer just gets the theme of the song, and have the verse written for wayne. I think that is cheating.

I recently heard ludacris rhyme a song that he wrote for dr dre's upcoming album, detox, and it made me feel sick to the stomach. The respect i had for dr dre is slowly flying out of the window. That means all he does is make beats, and then different writers write the verses and the hooks of the songs. He just raps out what they have already prepared for him, that is really cheasy.
Then SNOOP DOGG admitted that he used ghost writers through-out his last album, ego-tripping. How can a legendary rapper like snoop beusing ghost writers. What example is he trying to set for the up and coming rappers?



I just feel using ghost writers defeats the purpose of calling them rappers. I would stop listenign to rap the day i hear that someone like nas has ghost writers. He is just to unique with his rhyme scheme to have a ghost writer.

BEEF BETWEEN FABOLOUS AND T-PAIN HAS BEEN SQUASHED.

After fabolous took upon himself to defend jay-z over some comments that t-pain made about him at a club, and started posting negative stuff about pain on his twitter page, the feud has been resolved.

Read below.

In response to a recent interview by Jay-Z, singer T-Pain has clarified the reasons for the recent disparaging words about the mogul at a Las Vegas show.



Last week, rapper Fabolous via Twitter and a video displayed T-Pain saying “f**k Jay-Z” and chastising the emcee as “old” and out of touch with today’s music scene.



In an interview on Ed Lover’s Morning Show, T-Pain explained his ire came from what he perceived as Jay-Z’s disrespect to him earlier this summer at NY’s Summer Jam.



“This isn’t the first time I’ve said it,” T-Pain stated. “I called Jay and said yo, can you come out during my set at the stadium and do the ‘DOA’ song? It would be a big look for me and you. I embraced the song…at the time he said he was triple-booked in Switzerland. I’m ready to go on after a Jeezy set and they said ‘hold on because Jay-Z is about to come out.’ I said well Jay-Z’s in Switzerland, and they’re like no he’s not he’s right there. I look and then there’s Jay-Z. That’s one thing.”



While some may perceive the issue is trivial, T-Pain argues the situation was exacerbated once the pair got on stage together for “D.O.A.”



“Then the line in the song where he says ‘I don’t need nobody smiling at this’ he pointed at me,” T-Pain revealed. “And at the end of the song when I tried to shake his hand he said ‘good riddance.’”



In related news, Fabolous called into the Angie Martinez Show yesterday (September 9) and revealed that he and T-Pain had squashed their beef, which began after the “f**k Jay-Z” comments.



Fabolous tweeted a number of disparaging remarks aimed at T-Pain, who is a featured producer on Fab’s new album Loso’s Way.



Fabolous made comments about T-Pain after hearing disparaging remarks about Jay-Z during T-Pain’s set at a club in Las Vegas last week.



He also mistakenly responded to a phony Twitter account that read “f**k Jay-Z and f**k Fabolous.



“He was doing his set and then in between each song, he just would go in on Jay. And I was like I can’t be from Brooklyn and just listen to this, I just felt like I had to say something



“He text me and said to call him and I called him. I apologized really because I kinda jumped out the window a little bit and didn’t check into it before I knew what I was doing, so I apologized for that. And he explaining the whole thing with Jay, how he felt like Jay was coming at him a little bit.”

HERE ARE SOME REVIEWS FROM NORMAL PEOPLE ON THE NEW JAY-Z ALBUM, BLUEPRINT 3.

Yeah! I have not heard the full album, but i like to listen to what people have to say, normal, everyday people, not professional writers.
Below are the views of some randomly selected people.

I am a true fan of Jay Z. I fall asleep to Reasonable Doubt everyday on the train. The old jay, the hungry jay, the one who so vividly described exactly what the life of a "hustler" entails from emotions to hard decisions. Now comes the latest from Mr. Shawn Carter, and it represents growth. He experiments. He speaks about relevant issues. He shows growth. He's got enough skills to ride any beat.

I read a lot of people stating OB4CL pt. 2 is a great album. It's not. It doesn't show Rae or Wu's growth. It's a continuation of OB4CL.

BP3 shows Jay Z's growth as an artist. I respect that.


Ok, here it goes. I've been listening to hip hop longer than most of you kids can imagine. I am not a professional reviwer per say, but I know my stuff. With that said, I've been listening to Jay-Z at the start of the Reasonable Doubt (CLASSIC!!). I've grown with all of his albums, and this one stuck a very bad note with me!!

When you are in hip hop, you are describing your life and struggles to the world, with great lyricism and great beats. This album barely get either one. Kanye's beats were great and so was the InKredibles, but that was it. Timbaland is not the king!! His beats are the worst, well, I take that back, that crown goes to Swizz Beats. You stink!! Stop using a sample and making the same beat for everyone!! The Neptunes gave Jay a half-made beat! Now with samples, why would you sample a track that was used in the movie Napoleon Dynamite (Track 15)?? Booo!!! Mr. Carter was too busy being an "artist," not a lyricist or street guy. Now I understand that he has "grown" up and moved from that lifestyle, but when your beats and rhymes reflect an "artist's" world and not the street rhymer, you have sold out.

Beats: C- (only thanks to Kanye) Too artsy, futuristic, not hip-hop!!

Mr. Carter, your rhymes are talking about a lifestyle that NONE of us will ever live!! I don't care if people hate you or what you can buy that we will never see!! Talk about what is real to everyone. People are going to hate those that have accomplished something in this world. But I don't care about your problems. Relate to me, the common person!! I understand as you grow, your rhymes change and become more grown, but these suck!!

Rhymes: D We know you are hated and what you can buy, ENOUGH!!

Conclusion: I want my money back Shawn Carter. You disappointed me. Now I am a true fan and most people will say to grow with you and understand, but this album is ridiculous and it is not to be bought. I don't endorse bootlegging of any sort, but......People, don't waste your money. Listen to the individual tracks and then by those that you like, not this whole album. It was disappointing.

If you're looking for another album like the original Blueprint or Black Album then listen to them. This is different. That's what Hov is stressing.
If you enjoyed Kingdom Come then you can appreciate this album. Not that it's a part 2 to Kingdom Come but it's another step towards the future for Hov. He's not concerned with the same things anymore & this album reflects that.
It's not for everyone. If you enjoy half of what's out these days then it's probably not for you. Just listen to it with an open mind.

Here it is. After a year of rumors, months of push backs and weeks of single leaks it finally happened. Jay-Z has finally given us the third installment of his Blueprint series. A lot of hype surrounded this album (just like every Jay-Z album since the first Blueprint), because Jay is very secretive about his work. A lot has happened since we last heard from J-Hova. He married his longtime girlfriend Beyonce and he resigned as President of Def Jam to form Roc-Nation.

Those expecting "American Gangster" will be highly disappointed. Like Kanye West & Common, Jay-Z is being very experimental and trying new things. The vibe of this album is futuristic. Jay experiments with uptempo beats and a faster than normal rhyme style. Similar to what Common did on his last release. It works on the Kid Cudi assisted "Already Home" but not for "Off That" ft. Drake. "D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune) has a perfect blend of jazz and hip hop. "Run This Town", has Rihanna screaming all over the song. Its almost unbearable if it wasn't for Kanye's verse at the end. J-Hova puts all doubters in check with "On To The Next". I was surprised it was produced by Swiss Beats, who sounds new and refreshed. (Not recycled like a lot of his beats lately) He slows things down on "Venus VS Mars", which is about the difference between men and women. Rarely do the experiments on this album work. But if there is one thing Jay-Z has over most rappers today is delivery. Nobody can touch Jay on a lyrical level. If you can get past some of the beats and listen to what he's saying on songs like "Thank You". You will see that he still got it.

"Blueprint 3" was pushed back from its original release dated back in February because Jay decided he wanted an "Auto Tune" free album. I would have loved to hear the songs that were scrapped like "Swagga Like Us 2" and "History". Jay has a tendency to follow up classic albums with mediocre albums (In My Lifetime Vol 1 & Vol 3, Kingdom Come) And no matter what he puts out, he still has that same swag, that same bravado that nobody else has. You either love him or hate him. (Even though he gave the haters new ammo on this one)

Longevity in hip hop is rare. Rappers either come and go or they stay around too long and see their careers fade away. The problem with longevity is when you stay around long enough, you see the same people who were once fans turn into enemies. People hate on success, the more successful you become the more people try to bring you down. Like Batman in "The Dark Knight", if you stay long enough the people will turn you into the enemy. Jay -Z is in this cycle now. With "Blueprint 3", Jay is not reinventing himself, he's trying something new. This is definitely not a street album, but don't doubt him. If you think Jay doesn't have it anymore, trust me he will come back and prove you wrong.


I hope this reviews have been insightful and helpful in some way.

FABOLOUS AIRS OUT T-PAIN

A couple of days ago, t-pain was d'jing at a club, that fabolous happened to be in and fab heard t-pain making negative remarks to his former label mate, and boss, jay-z ,and fab decided to tweet about it. He hit up his twitter page and let the whole world know about it.
Then later on, jay went on a show and addressed the issue, saying that he was not talking about t-pain when he made the D.O.A(DEATH OF AUTO-TUNE) song.

"I made it very clear I wasn't talking about him [on 'Death of Auto-tune']," Jay explained. "I think he's talented, I don't think he needs auto-tune to sell records but if that's his prerogative -- Everybody has a birthday. They don't have much else to say, they can't attack my credentials as an artist or my lyrics as an emcee."

That's what jay had to say. Then later on, pain went on a rampage on twitter attacking fab and jay-z. Then now, fab feels he has to take the battle up, and this is what he had to say:

Jus heard Tpain says F*ck JayZ & F*ck Fabolous too over Twitter... Ok, now me & my twiggas/Street Twitter Ditta Dam must go in on him! After D.O.A., #tpainbetter not be mad, UPS is hiring!! #tpainbetter not meet me in Brooklyn. #tpainbetter give Mr. Monopoly back his top hats!! #tpainbetter stay his a** outta the sun for the rest of his life!! #tpainbetter stop playin for JayZ buys every autotune machine in the world & end his career...#uknowhowiknowuregay cuz u do a song wit Lil Wayne & change ur name to T-Wayne...eeeel #tpainbetter audition to be a California Raisin.. He's done! #tpainbetter stop singin in the fan... that aint talent we can all do that..#tpainbetter apologize & blame it on the al-a-a-al-a-al-cohol #tpainbetter thank me.. he's #1 TT.. the only place his name gonna b #1 for a lonnnggggggg time!#tpainbetter chill cuz i will air this n*gga via twitter...F.Y.I. This is not a beef.. jus Twitter fun. someone retweeted that Tpain said F*ck Me on twitter & truthfully i dont know if he said or not...Ok so i jus got word that it wasnt Tpain's twitter page who said F*ck Fabolous..a fake page, w/ 900 followers.. oooops, d*mn i went in LOL But thats jus a taste of what u'll get if u f*ck wit me via twitter, Back to my Twitter chillin..."


Let me give you a better look at the picture, this is what t-pain said at the club:


"But Jay-Z is 59 years old, I don't think he has the right to say if it's dead," Pain said to a crowd. "That's just me, that's just me. Because I didn't come here to preach, I didn't come here to have a sermon. I came here to have fun, now ladies and gentlemen, I will give you the full right and the ability to kick my a** if you see Jay-Z do this -- Now I just want to clarify, are there any Jay-Z fans in the crowd -- but you don't see me saying rap is dead. Even though it is because all the rappers are trying to do T-Pain."


I am a big fabolous fan, but please fab should get off jay's dick. He has been dick ridding jay for a very very long time. Jay can fight his own battles. Why did fab even have to tweet about the t-pain stuff in the first place? That's a bitch move if you ask me.
I just want to know why everybody be beefing recently.

WHAT DIRECTION IS HIPHOP GOING.

I am heart-broken when i read hiphop sites, watch hiphop videos, and see where hiphop is gravitating to. Everybody is just trying out the next man's formular to success. It's a crazy band wagon effect thing going on in hiphop right now. And the legends are not being left out.
Now a days, rappers talk more on interviews and on the internet than they make music. They get into fueds just to be relevant. They talk about other rappers just so they could be heard. Where is this genre that i love so much heading to?

When you see 40 year old rappers talking about beating each other up in the streets becasue they believe that is what would give them recognition, you start to think if they are still in hiphop to make music or just to cause chaos.
When a veteran like raekwon would stoop so low as to get into an alctercation with a rapper from another generation, joe budden, weeks before his album is about to drop, just to get him some buzz, then you know hiphop as nas said, is really dead.
Now it's so pathetic that everybody is now using the beef formular. You could imagine, mc shan, a rapper from the 80's, probably in his fourties, talking about slapping joe budden if he see's him in the streets. Benzino running his mouth about slaughter house(rap group consisting joe budden, joel ortizt, crooked 1, and royce da 5'9), saying they are over-rated. Those guys are probably the only ones trying to save hiphop right now(buddens bullshit aside).
Nas has always been ahead of his time. When he said hiphop was dead, a lot of people dissagreed with him and started beefs with him. But look at the state it is in right now. It is worse than dead.
Now you have rappers like drake being celebrated before he earned the title, just because a couple of top-short label heads, and certified rappers co-signed him. The kid does not even have an album out. No doubt, he is good, but not increadible. But with all the media hype and propaganda, and visual cancer, he has become a house-hold name. And even if a royce, or a cassidy, or a jadakiss puts out a dope album, it would never be as good as the album drake would drop because it is already planted in the minds of people that he is the best.
It's just a handful of rappers that can still do what they do, the way they want to do it, without minding to add all the gimicks and wack formulars for selling album; you can say t.i, young jeezy, jay-z, jadakiss, rick ross, the game and nas.
50 cent has been pushing his album back for months now, because he knows he is not going to do the type of numbers he is known to do. If you make good rap music, then you should not bother about what you are going to sell in your first week. But if you are only making music just for the money, and you just want to give the public what they want, regardless of whether or not it would be compromising your standards, then your case is a sorry one.
You have a rapper like tony yayo, who's career is done, and now he has nothing else to do but go on interviews and constantly make bad comments about other rappers. Is that still a rapper or a commentator?

I pray that real hiphop comes back to stay

TRACKLIST OF NAS AND DAMIAN MARLEY'S "DISTANT RELATIVES" REVEALED.

Nas and damian marley first worked together on "road to zion", a song that appeared on damian marley's 2005 album, "welcome to jamrock", and the collaboration was magnificent. It was like the two were born to record together.
Now they have been working on an entire album together which is going to be titled "distant relatives", and they plan to use any money generated from it to help the poor in africa and jaimaica.
The tracklisting just hit the internet and it shows that guest appearances would include Lil Wayne, and K'Naan.

Below is "TRACKLIST OF NAS AND DAMIAN MARLEY'S "DISTANT RELATIVES" REVEALED:

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"As We Enter"	Nasir Jones, Damian Marley, Mulatu Astatke	2:58
2.	"Tribes at War" (featuring K'naan)	Jones, Marley, Keinan Warsame	4:30
3.	"Strong Will Continue"	Jones, Marley	6:02
4.	"Leaders" (featuring Stephen Marley)	Jones, Marley, Stephen Marley	4:20
5.	"Friends"	Jones, Marley	4:49
6.	"Count Your Blessings"	Jones, Marley	4:24
7.	"Dispear"	Jones, Marley	5:53
8.	"Land of Promise" (featuring Dennis Brown)	Jones, Marley, Dennis Brown	3:54
9.	"In His Own Words" (featuring Stephen Marley)	Jones, D. Marley, S. Marley	5:00
10.	"Nah Mean"	Jones, Marley	4:09
11.	"Patience"	Jones, Marley, Amadou Bajayoko, Mariam Doumbia	5:46
12.	"My Generation" (featuring Joss Stone & Lil Wayne)	Jones, Marley, Dwayne Carter	4:00
13.	"Africa Must Wake Up" (featuring K'naan)	Jones, Marley, Warsame	6:41

DMX SAYS JAY-Z MADE HIM LEAVE DEF-JAM.

I can remember back in 2000 when dmx gave props to jay-z in his smash single "what's my name, saying "...running around yapping like they be holding figures as big as jigga's". For someone with ego as big has dmx, you would not expect him to be giving props to another raper, that might be in competition with him, but he did that. And i concluded that they had a good relationship. And the fact tey had been on tour together(back stage store in 1999) gave me more explanation for the props.
As the years went bye, stopped hearing about the two together, and stopped hearing the two on the same songs together, eventhough they still remained label mates on def-jam records.
Now, after years of keeping silent, dmx finally gives us some insight on what went wrong with their once good relationship.


Below are some words from dmx:

"I f*cks with him and had respect for him -- until he became the president of Def Jam and I ain't gonna say too much more about it, but you know what it is. There's a difference between doing wrong and being wrong. There's a difference between doing wrong and 'being' wrong, at one point you were 'being' wrong. N*ggas can't do it like we could, n*ggas couldn't do it like we could. N*ggas weren't able to -- we're artists. Jay is a talented motherf*cker. Don't misunderstand me. He is talented but he has no heart behind it. There's no soul behind it. It's motivated by money...But I still maintain the respect, because our birthday is in the same month and you know, we have history. But I lost it when he became president of Def Jam, that's why I left Def Jam...When you became the president, you hit me 'yo dog, the inmates is running the building!!!' You know what that mean, your mans is in charge...That's what it is, we good,' 'cause we had history. And then you go do that. You come down, listen to my sh*t -- we ready. Then you go on vacation. N*ggas take a picture of you with chancletas on. That's what you leave the hood for, son? That's why you walk out on your man for, son? Flip-flops? Serious? You serious? Real talk son, I respected you. I'm in my feelings about that. I'm hurt. I ain't ever talk about that."

Now, what do you think? I don't know what to say, but i have been hearing to much about the fact that jay cares more about money than friendship, or anything else. Damom dash(former friend and business associate) said so, camron said so, jazo said so, now dmx is telling us the same. Maybe it is true that jigga loves money more than anything, maybe that's why he has lots and lots of it. He said it in his song, "jocking jay-z", that he keeps talking money because he loves money.
But i do not think that jay was in anyway insrumental to the downfall of dmx's career. He should not have expected that jay would just endorse any music he made because they were former buddie, he has to make some good music which would speak for him. I think dmx started falling in his career when he started getting addicted to drugs, and started getting into trouble all the time, going to jail and all that.
He needs to sit up and face the music more squrely, then he would be able to make a good comeback.

JAY-Z SAYS GAME IS NOT ON HIS LEVEL.

In the not yet released october issue of xxl magazine jay says game is not on his level. In an interview featured in the magazine, jay-z said he would not reply the game's disses towards him. He said the only rappers on his level are eminem and nas.

I understand what he means by the statement that game is not on his level, but he still got to defend himself. We all know game is not on his level, but we also know that game is a beast when it comes to beefing. Is jay playing safe.
Atleast, canibus had not been in the game for that a year when he dissed ll cool j, and ll responded. So i thinj jay should respond.

JAY-Z'S BLUEPRINT 3 LANDS ON INTERNET.

Exactly 11 days to its official release, JAY-Z'S BLUEPRINT 3 LANDS ON THE INTERNET, and has people talking. A lot of blogs are saying it's a classic. I already knew it was going to be a classic from all the material i had been hearing and the fact that Kanye would be working on the whole album with jay.
But i can't say much on it till i listen, because i know a lot of people are on jay's dick right now, and would say anything good about him to get attention, or because they feel that is what they should do so that nobody would hate their opinion.

Below is what a blogger had to say about the album:

"Jay-Z's new album Blueprint III has leaked online," blogger Gyant wrote today. "And its AMAZING. I can't even believe how great a masterpiece it is. Writing a review on it now. writing feverishly. Review below. And there I was about to get into yet another entertainment blog when I felt a twinge up my spine, and I knew instantly that Jay-z's new Blueprint III album had leaked on to the net. After a few simple google clicks I found the hip-hop pot of gold. And though I won't be posting the link[s] to any illegal downloads, I can give you all review from a music lover's point of view." (Gyant Unplugged)

I didn't get any point from what the above person wrote. He sounds like a person just riding the tides, saying what he expects people want to hear. He did not mention any lines from any song, or single out any song.
I am not a great jay fan, but i knew he was on point on this one, because of all the recent songs, and featuring i had heard from him. But i can't still comment on the album as a whole until i hear. And trust me, i will be 100% real.

Below is what jay himself had to say:

"I may be the most bootlegged artist in history," he said in an interview after learning the news. "It's a preview. I'm excited for people to hear the album. I'm very proud of the work I've down, so enjoy it...My pager is actually ringing right now, so people are probably calling me and telling me they pretty much like it. I can tell by the way my pager rings if a song is good or not. It's really going crazy right now." (MTV).

Let's just wait and see. The album drops official on Sept 11, 7 years ago, the blueprint 1 also dropped on that day.