Hip-Hop Live Tour: Rakim, Ghostface, Brother Ali (November 2, 2007 AHH.com)

http://allhiphop.com/stories/reviewsmusic/archive/2007/11/02/18827153.aspx

November 2, 2007
By, N'neka Hite

Hip-Hop is dead is a catchphrase with too much of a shelf life, but one mid-west rhyme sayer and two rap legends came to LA and proved that slogan wrong. Ghostface Killah, Rakim, and Brother Ali, put on a Hip-Hop show with a live band. All three artists touched the crowd with performances alongside The Rhythm Roots Allstars kicking off their19 city tour at House of Blues in Hollywood Monday night (Oct. 29) and in Long Beach, CA on Halloween night (Oct. 31) at The Vault. Both spots were packed to full capacity, representing true Hip-Hop as the crowd spit bars over the music played by the 10-piece ensemble.

Minneapolis bred Brother Ali opened the tour with his set of thought provoking tracks but gave all respect to the legend that he says influenced his lyrics, Rakim. “He’s one of the greatest MC’s that ever did this,” Brother Ali said. While Ali garnered his share of love, the crowd went bananas over the tours headliners.

The following performance by Ghostface Killah, whose new album Big Dough Rehab is forthcoming, gave the crowd that ill NY flavor with hits both throwback and new. After a heartfelt tribute to O.D.B., Ghost brought a bevy of beauties onstage with him to complete his set with hits like “Back Like That” and “Nutmeg” performing the last two songs like a live music video.

Rakim brought the most heartfelt performance. You could see that the crowd definitely missed what he brings to the mic. His forthcoming effort Seventh Seal due early next year was not mentioned during this show. Not having an album since 1999 and onstage without a crew, he gave concertgoers a nostalgic excursion through the lyrical dimensions in Hip-Hop. Ra spit throwback classics like, “I Aint’ No Joke,” “Microphone Fiend,” and “Follow The Leader” showing that the truth in music never dies.

The show was complete and lacked nothing. Coming to a city near you true Hip-Hop heads can witness further evidence that Hip-Hop lives.


You can check out concert footage online at www.flow.tv

The Best of E-40 Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow: The Videos (August 15, 2007 AHH.com)

Publish Wednesday, August 15, 2007
http://allhiphop.com/stories/reviewsdvd/archive/2007/08/15/18421723.aspx

By, N'neka Hite

If music videos could outline the evolution of a true west coast star from slangin’ mixtapes out of the trunk to making hot R&B chicks like Cassie go star-struck, the DVD, The Best of E-40 Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow: The Videos (Jive/Legacy) defies the theory that rappers don’t grow. Beginning with a blast through the past the DVD rounds out the set of fifteen gangsta, rhyme-spittin’, ebonics laced mini-movies that for the longest time only 40-water could decode is a light weight masterpiece.

Bay Area heavyweight E-40 takes us back beginning in 1994 with joints like “Captain Save A Hoe”, “Carlos Rossi”, and “Sprinkle Me”, featuring Suga-T. Watching the DVD is like watching music video documentary. You see the initial videos that sparked the buzz that is still a flutter with Flashin’. The guns, mayhem, and gangster themed videos like “Sideways,” featuring B-Legit and Mac Shon, show just how far the game has gone in a different direction.

Many may attribute E-40’s success to the constant creativity in his delivery and saucy lyrics, and that is apparent when witnessing the evolution of a true Hip-Hop superstar. The vibe of his music throughout the years remains consistent. Even the throwback hit “Automatic” featuring Fabolous struck a chord and just when you though 40 couldn’t get any hotter you see the true essence of creativity with his more current contributions, most of which unfortunately are left off of the DVD.

In a career that has spanned over ten years one would only ask why did they cutoff the videos at 2004 when some his hottest tunes (i.e. “Tell Me When To Go”) came immediately afterwards? Nevertheless, The Little Richard of rap music does it again for his loyal fans. The Best of E-40: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: The Videos serves as Hip-Hop history worth seeing.

BET Awards (King-mag.com July 2007)

BET Awards ‘07 Wrap Up

A recap of the winners, losers, and legends who graced Los Angeles’s Shrine Auditiorium for BET’s 7th annual awards show.
Story by N’neka Hite

The BET Awards ‘07 show at the Shrine Auditorium, hosted by actress/comedienne Monique, was a night of elegance and celebration for classic talent as both Beyonce and Oscar Award Winner actress Jennifer Hudson left the building with two trophies.

Hudson, who had never previously been nominated for a BET Award, was named Best New Artist and Best Female Actress. She also opened the show with an explosive performance. Joined by one of the original Dreamgirls, Jennifer Holliday, the two belted out their signature song, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”, which set the pace for an all out hot night.

BET favorite Beyonce´ ran the nominations board with six for her chart-topping album B-Day. She was named Best Female R&B Artist and her hit song “Irreplaceable” snagged the award for Video of the Year where she thanked Best Male R&B Artist, Ne-Yo, for “writing such an amazing song.”

The self-proclaimed King of the South, T.I. was in attendance with his lady Tiny and gave the crowd a mind twisting performance of his hit single, “Big Things Poppin’”. Earlier in the week, T.I. came under fire for getting in a fight with Chaka Zulu, the manager of fellow Atlanta rapper Ludacris, who was also nominated in the same category. As part of T.I.’s acceptance speech for winning Best Hip Hop Artist, the two-time BET award winner apologized for his actions. Kirk Franklin took home the award for Best Gospel Artist for the second year in a row. Ludacris and Mary J. Blige won for Best Song Collaboration for the emotional hit, “Runaway Love,” and the Best Group was awarded to the absent Gnarls Barkley.

Crowd favorite Birdman and Lil Wayne accepted the Viewers’ Choice Award and Lebron James was named athlete of the year.

The night was filled with surprises as Diana Ross was honored her children and serenaded with a jazzy performance by Erykah Badu, Chaka Khan, and Stevie Wonder, when she received the Lifetime Achievement Award. She gave a warm thanks to Berry Gordy, also in attendance, for giving her her start and being behind a career a label that spans over 50 years.

The tone picked back up with a high-energy performance by Ciara and Beyonce surprised the crowd when she was joined by Kelly, Eve, Michelle and even little sister Solange in a sexy soirée. Also in attendance were Alicia Keyes, Gladys Knight, and Ashanti, who announced her new album, which will be dropping later this year.

The underrated award-winning actor Don Cheadle humbly accepted his Humanitarian Award for his dedication to the genocide taking place in Darfur. “I hope to make everybody proud,” Cheadle said. “It’s going to take many years of service before I think I will be deserving of this.”

Outside of the Shrine Auditiorium, some of the Los Angeles streets were shut down when hip-hop heavyweight Curtis Jackson shut down the stage and the streets, turning them into an amusement park. Inside, emotional tributes to the late Gerald Levert, who was paid tribute to by his father, and James Brown, which closed the show with a reunion of Public Enemy, gave the audience a reason to smile and cry.
The BET Awards 07’ will air an encore telecast on Friday, June 29 from 8-11 p.m. ET/PT.

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Jamie Foxx Presents: America's Funniest Comics, V. 1 (May 18, 2007 AHH.com)

It may not be Def Comedy Jam, but Oscar winning comedian/actor/singer Jamie Foxx has taken his love for stand-up comedy and given today’s up-and-coming comedic talent a hell of a shot. Live from Laffapaolooza Jamie Foxx presents, America’s Funniest Comics, Vol 1 (Universal Music & Video Distribution). A first in a series of four DVD’s to be released this year, the flick displays some of today’s finest Comic taking center stage during Atlanta’s annual Urban International Comedy Arts Festival. From start to finish you are guaranteed to at least chuckle your way through the 90-minute stand-up soirée, which by the way is hosted by Cedric The Entertainer.

The always-original, fully animated Cedric warms the show up describing a sushi soul food restaurant he’d visited in the A that served catfish rolls. After a brief appearance from Jamie, the show begins.

For all of you BET Comic View lovers fret not; this DVD brings back some old favorites that rocked the Comic View stage for years. DeRay Davis was insanely funny giving his perspective on the nagging black woman. By far this has to be the funniest part of the show. Among the known comics you get a taste of the new. NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” finalist, Roz G delivers a hilarious set where she teaches prostitutes how to construct a resume. A surprisingly funny Bill Burr rips his set with talks on Terell Owens and the secretive use of the infamous N-bomb among whites (when no blacks are around).

What was expected and never came was at least a short touch of the art form from Foxx. But being true to passing the torch, he got his Russell Simmons on, and allowed the new to shine. While can’t say it was the funniest stand-up DVD, the comics offer analogies that make you think about them after you’re done laughing. Look at it this way, there are still three DVD’s to go.

Danity Kane (King-mag.com April 2007)

Girls, Girls, Girls, Girls, Girls

The ladies of Danity Kane are probably the finest girl group out right now, which explains all the male groupies and why they all want to be in KING like their girl D.Woods.

MTV’s Making the Band series produced Danity Kane, Diddy’s foray into the pop world. The sexy quintent of Dawn, Aubrey, Andrea, D. Woods, and Shannon are as different as they are fine. With the group’s self-entitled debut album certified platinum, and touring with Christina Aguilera, the ladies are elevating beyond eye candy towards pop princesses. But who’s to say they can’t be both? - Story by N’neka Hite

King-mag.com: So what’s life like on tour for you ladies?
Dawn: The tour is fantastic, we’re really excited. We’ve gotten really great responses from the crowd and it’s just getting better and better.

That’s such a PC answer. Tell us the good stuff. Like, do male groupies have a shot with any of you?
Dawn: It’s funny because when you in it—you don’t think guys would be groupies. You get the little cute romantic things [or] you get the harsher things like, ‘Please girl let me touch yo booty.’ The grabbing thing is on and poppin’.

Sounds like those boys need a woman in their life.
Aubrey: Guys and girls. I got Dawn into trouble because this one woman was like way too annoying snapping pictures of us like a mile a minute. She was touching us and then she’s like, “who are you guys?” I was like you’ve been taking pictures of us all night and you don’t know who we are? So I told her that we were all from HBO’s Real Sex.
Dawn: And of course she comes by me and starts to try to feel me up. Not hot!

King-mag.com: Whew, it sounds like it’s going down at the DK after sets. Shannon, how do you deal with the groupies, being married and all?
Shannon: I go out with my girls, we go out and we have fun together. When am I going to be able to do this again, you know?

Speaking of DK doing big things, what do you ladies think about D. Woods’ being featured solo in the new issue of King, I can hear the breakup rumors already.
Shannon: There was break-up rumors sparked the day we were made as a band, you’re never going to ever overcome that. People are going to have their opinions. The beautiful thing about this group is that we’re so diverse, and so different in our looks and in our cultures that we want to span out. If each of us gets things specifically offered to us, the group is always really supportive of that. It doesn’t matter if it’s for one, two, three, four, or five; it’s getting the groups name out there. D. Woods is known because of Danity Kane.

Dawn: I think it’s beautiful for her to represent for the group. I think its really exciting and I cant wait to see the spread and I cant wait to see everybody’s faces when they see how gorgeous she really is, I mean, she’s a beautiful girl. I can’t wait for the day that the entire group can shoot.
Aubrey: For real. Let’s get the white girls on the cover of KING.

Whoa now, baby steps. I’m sure one day KING will be down to have a five-some with you girls. D. Woods, were you having a good time even though it was just you?
D. Woods: I had a good time. We got done really quickly. The photographer [and] I worked together really well. I think he was going for more like a high fashion like artsy type of shoot, and I’m a artsy type of girl so it just came together really well.

So no one gets jealous of seeing one group member by herself?
Shannon: You know, we want ‘Drea to be on the cover of Latina magazine – she represents that for us. We want Dawn to be on KING. You know, and I—and Shannon will be in Good Housekeeping. We support each other in doing that, cause that’s what makes this group so unique because of the fact that we can do that; and also if KING Magazine wants D and that’s who they want, none of us in the group ever want to take away the opportunity from another girl and if it were offered to us then we all would do it.

Skateboards2Scrapers (January 2007 AHH.com)

Skateboards 2 Scrapers

Artist: The Pack
Title: Skateboards 2 Scrapers
Rating:
Reviewed by: Ms. Hite



The New West is on the brink of resurrection and the Bay Area is the main driving force behind all the noise. In the sticky green city of Berkley there were four teens creepin' on a come up when veteran rapper and Bay Area King, Too Short got wind of the group's rhythmic flows and mesmerizing beats. He took no time making them official. The Pack AKA The Wolf Pack morphed into the cyber world via Myspace with their cult classic "Vans." The song seeped into local nightspots and Hip-Hop heads soaked it up. With its super syrupy beat and melodic catchy flow, the group's producer Young L cooked up a recipe for success. After 50,000 myspace hits, Lil Uno, Young L, Lil B, and Stunna found a spot on Hip-Hop's map and in turn have released Skateboards 2 Scrapers.

Listening to the Pack's debut effort one recognizes right away that track-to-track these heads value their skateboards and Vans like a gangster rapper edifies his chronic. With "Vans" the group seemed destined to make noise in the world of new Hip-Pop, but Skateboards 2 Scrapers does little to live up to the single's hype. After the hit single passes the following tracks are doused with repeated references to the age old shoe boasting nothing more than a reinvented style that we’ve seen time and time again. The Pack took an entire EP to make it known that they don’t respect Nikes and if you do you’re not "cool." The synopsis of the groups core focus is women, shoes, and skateboards. Which makes for a youthfully boring listen.

The lyrics definitely have an age stamp on them, with songs like "Ride My Bike" loosely based on sex you begin to question whether or not they should be speaking on doing the grown folk. They also show their being influenced by the material side of Hip-Hop on the bumpinh "Shinin'," spitting, "B*tch I'm shinin'/Somebody's watchin' me/Wrist color piss, I'm stuntin' in this bitch/I’m single handcuff your bitch."

The Pack does attempt to offer spice and variety in their sound. With the Luke-like track "Candy," they prepare the heavily saturated Dirty South market for a taste of the new West sound that dares to go against the gangster rap norm. They flow hard on the unique bass driven beat and try hard to offer the listener something new.

While none of the tracks measure up to the uniqueness of Young L’s “Vans,” the remix featuring Too Short brings the noise, maybe just a bit too late. The biggest challenge in accepting The Pack as true Hip-Hop essentials would be the ability to get used to the each members flow. This won't prove to be much of a challenge because the tracks tend to sound so similar. All and all Skateboards 2 Scrapers does offer The Pack plenty of room for improvement.

Trife in the Valley

By, MadBrooke
Trife In the Valley: San Fernando Valley’s finest suits up for the battle between truth and materialism in hip-hop.

Thirty-minutes north of South Los Angeles lies one of Cali’s grittiest suburbs. Panorama City’s golden child Triflon (yep like your lazy brother who doesn’t want to get off of moms couch), is a devout lyricist who is turning a high-school pastime into major bread. But don’t let the name fool you; it’s an acronym for, [Truth Reveals Itself Fully Leaving Others Non Existent.] Inspired by truth and an obligation to represent realness, the 26-year-old hustler-turned-rapper is putting his town on the map with plans to leave a legacy behind that will make way for a new breed of rapper from someplace other than LA.

California’s San Fernando Valley is viewed from afar as an “upper class” suburb of Los Angeles. Tourist attractions like Magic Mountain and plush homes mask the slums with crime rates that rank higher than some of toughest streets on the West Coast. “The 818, its still LA,” Triflon explains. “But we don’t get that same respect. Everybody don’t know that its really hoods out that way. They think that it’s the suburbs; niggas out there ballin’ and livin’ rich.” Unfortunately that is not the case. With a rash of shootings and murders, what was once a highly desired location developed into a hotbed for crime. Yet out of the rubble Trife has emerged with a team strong enough to make a significant influence on lyricists worldwide. The rapper admits he’s never been shot or stabbed, but the streets he grew up in were Just Like Compton. “I used to gang bang. At the time I was young, I was thinking its all about the hood, its all about the homies. Riding on people I don’t even know. Getting rode on by people I don’t even know, over colors, the gang, or the streets that we don’t even own [I realized] we brainwashed.”

Taking a positive turn in his life by jumping on what people have been pushing him to pursue since the lyrical cyphers he rocked back in high school Tife is keeping it grass roots. His mixed tape, West Coast Movement Volume 1, is circulating the streets; and get this; he’s giving them away. His independent deal with One on One Distribution (also responsible for Game’s Stop Snitching DVD) plan to light the torch that is predicted to set the west coast rap scene ablaze. The album will feature tracks produced by Drone and Rob Ray.

Redefining street life is what inspires the 26-year old black-on-black lyricist to go against the traditional hip-hop agenda. “[I] Put the real feel back into music and take away from materialistic things,” Trife says. “Rappers now, just talk about rims and jewelry. They talk about all these things more than what’s really goin’ on. Everybody in the world aint rich, so everybody in the world can’t relate to that fairy tale stuff you see on TV.”

Now, a seven-year rap veteran, Trife has parted ways from his original group The Street Chief’s, to work on a solo career. His forthcoming album, In Position for Victory is scheduled to drop in February 2007. “I’m getting in position to take over the game,” he says explaining the title of the album. “Not just 818, not just California, I’m talking about the world, I’m getting in a position for victory.”

Trife credits Pac as one of his biggest influences. “I feel like Tupac was real. He speaks for us, the streets. Like Hurricane Katrina for instance, after all that happened I didn’t see not one rapper from New Orleans speak on it. They went back to talking about jewelry and cars.” Sparking the mind that will change the world was one thing Pac believed he was capable of and in an effort to accentuate the positive, Trife wants his love for the streets to seep through his West Coast inspired bars and lyrically douse fans with a taste of his truth. Tracks like “Black Pain” display his ability to convey a more political style that stands to evoke controversy and at the same time educate.

Rappers like DMX and Mase expressed their belief that they possess an inner gift which would offer lyrics in the form of a god-given message, but Trife, who attends church every Sunday to maintain focus, is trying his hand in the rap game first. “If I wasn’t a rapper I’d be a teacher. I think that’s what I was put here to do, teach in some kind of way. If it aint rappin’, it would be teachin’. If it aint teachin’ it would be preachin’.”

Even though he is candid about his thug mentality, Triflon shies away from dissing other rappers on tracks. He is looking to change the direction of artists to come after him. After feeling the pain from the violent deaths of his two uncles, he wants his raps to unify instead of creating beef. “I aint into them hip hop games,” he says with a confident smirk. “That’s for clowns. Beefin—if you want to beef, come to the streets with that beef.”

Buffy The Body (True Magazine Dec. 2006)

Fly Girl
By, Ms. Hite

In the hood the name Buffie “The Body” Carruth gets more buzz than the Secretary of State. She gracefully bowed out of the dancing game when she made her exit from ATL’s Magic City only to bless hip-hop with the best bootie in the business. The 5’7 Athens, Ga. bread stunna sports a body that’s thicker than a Snicker. Weighing in at 157 lbs., most of it proportioned to her backside, her chocolate frame is much to be desired. I don’t know if its those Waffle House grits that built out her 34-28-45 combination, but there is no wonder why both men and women are in awe over her asset. “In public women are real, they take to me," Buffie gushes. “They’ll come up they’ll hug [me] take pictures. Sometimes women be like, ‘oh my god,’ you know, they act like niggas suppose to act.”

E-40 said it best when he spit, “Her ass big enough to sit a cup on her bootie,” but Buffie says you’ve got to have a line better than that to keep her interest. “I like the quiet shy type guys. A guy who don’t even say anything about my butt. Just pretend like it aint even there.”

At a time she was most recognized for her contributions to the music video game. But now the young lady who remains tight lipped about her age is open and warm about more important details of her life. There is no question that her upcoming 2007 calendar will be a collector’s item. Her current ad campaign for Azure Company’s sets the stage for Buffie as she represents the world of hip hop in their Fall/Winter Campaign; a campaign that no doubt will have jeans flying off of the shelf. In addition, her websites buffiethebody.com and myspace.com/buffiethebodydotcom get more hits than the last chronic roach.

“In the beginning they thought I was just black stripper with a big ass,” Buffie tells True. “[I] had my little two seconds of fame and I going to be out of here. It’s going on two years now and I’ve elevated from just being a video girl.” The sex goddess has come a long way putting the saying, ‘once a stripper always a stripper’ to rest. She currently pens her own advice column for Black Men’s Magazine on sex and relationships. Giving advise on sex may just be her strong suit. When we asked her where was the weirdest place she had a sexual experience at she answered, “In the hospital bathroom.” What may be an uncomfortable position for most women was less of a challenge for Buffie given that her favorite spot to get busy is on the kitchen counter.

Hosting parties state to state makes up for a huge portion of the “So Seductive” beauties revenue. Although she brings the party, she says she prefers a more intimate lifestyle. “I don’t step foot in a club now unless I’m hosting a party because I’m not a club person,” she says seriously. “The crowd and the smoke and the drinking and the niggas getting on your damn nerves. I prefer to go to nice restaurant sit down and eat go walking downtown. I’m not a party person at all.”
For many it may hard to believe a woman with a body like Buffies doesn’t take advantage of the extra Crystal poppin’ and top grade party favors. She doesn’t drink or smoke and although according to her, almost every rapper has put in a bid, she has politely declined opting to push forward with real estate plans and movie ventures of her own.

Earlier this year she verbally battled it out with shock jock DJ Charlamagne Tha God in an interview that was leaked to the web. At the time would seem the diva took the wrong route by lashing out at the DJ. Instead, the interview propelled her into another realm of superstardom. “Believe it or not I was mad when that interview happened. Even thought a lot of people already knew who I was, the interview really helped,” she says. “I didn’t know he was going to put it on the internet, but it ended up being a good thing because I got more jobs and more people wanted to interview me. Different cities were calling me up like, yeah we heard the interview, we want to interview you.”

Those other cities aren’t the only ones catching the vapors. Brotha’s from the fly girls past are beginning to resurface. “Its funny because every nigga I’ve fucked with has a least emailed me, they don’t have my number, but they’ll email me like, ‘remember me [I’m] such and such…I be like yeah, I remember you, and?" Letting them down easy comes natural for her, but she doesn’t want guys to be too shy in stepping to her. “I don’t know, it feel like guys are more intimidated to talk to me now because they look at me like a celebrity. I think guys would talk to me more before I got famous than now. They feel like they don’t have a snowball chance in hell to get at me. So they’re like, ‘aint no sense in even trying to holla, I know its probably fifty-five niggas trying to holla. Probably ten boyfriends, I aint going to even try, I’m just going to be cool.’ Then a lot of people hear the interview and they think, ‘damn she got a fucked up attitude, there’s no telling what she’s going to say to me if I say something to her.’" Laughing it off she can charge it all to the Hollywood illusion. From radio to television to print, you’ve got to ask the question, what do she don’t do. As Buffie’s star continues to rise, we are lucky to witness the face of the industry evolving.

Buffy The Body (My Version 1st draft True Mag. Dec 2006) Q&A

Fly Girl
By, Ms. Hite

Her name is more known in the hood than the Secretary of State, Buffie “the Body” Carruth sent tongues wagging earlier this year when she verbally served a local shock jock DJ Charlamagne Tha God. Since the interview was leaked the internet, the 5’7 Athens, GA stunna watched her popularity soar. Her website www.buffiethebody.com and myspace.com/buffiethebodydotcom, gets more hits than the last chronic roach. Buffie has come a long way since stripping at ATL’s famous Magic City. At her latest photo shoot she actually modeled with her clothes on. With a body that defies reason, she signed on to be the face for Azzure Company’s fall campaign. Taking the modeling industry by storm with her upcoming 2007 calendar and penning an advice column in Black Men’s Magazine you have to ask, what do she don’t do? Buffie talks with True about sex, men, and her body.

True Magazine: I didn’t know that you were a writer.

Buffie: [Yes] the column is for Black Men’s Magazine. Its on sex, love and relationships.

True: Oh yeah? What’s the weirdest place you’ve had sex at?

BTB: In the hospital bathroom.

True: Who were you visiting in the hospital?

BTB: It was a guy friend of mine; it was something with his appendix.

True: What’s your favorite [sexual] position?

BTB: On my back. No, on the kitchen counter.

True: As far as the industry, has any rappers hit on you?

BTB: Every one I’ve come in contact with…most of them anyway.

True: You must meet a lot of guys hosting parties state to state.

BTB: I just started hosting parties in Chicago. I don’t step foot in a club now unless I’m hosting a party. I’m not a club
person. I host my parties then head back to my hotel room. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke and I don’t hang out.

True: Really? Why not?

BTB: The crowd, the smoke, the drinking and the niggas getting on ya damn nerves. I prefer to go to nice restaurant, sit down and eat. Go walking downtown, that’s the type of person I am. I’m not a party person at all.

True: What kind of guys do you normally go for?

BTB: I like the quiet shy type. A guy who doesn’t say anything about my butt.
[He] just pretends it isn’t even there. They can compliment on anything besides my ass. For a guy to get my attention he has to have good conversation. If his conversation is off the chain, he might have me messed up before he do anything. Its not always about how he looks, its about how he makes me feel, they type of attention he shows me. If he can get through that, then shit he doing good. But I hear one phrase more than anything.

True: What’s that?

BTB: “Damn you look way better in person!” I’m like; damn do I look that fucked up in the magazines. [Laughs]

True: My brother saw you at the Magic Show this year and he said, “Buffie was there, she was the most beautiful girl I’ve seen in my life, she didn’t even look real.” I guess you were taking a picture with somebody and right before they snapped the shot the dude tried to grab your ass and you were like, “oh hell no muthafucka get the fuck off!”

BTB: I was being me, if somebody touches my ass, I’m going to knock the hell out of you. That’s just my personality. I’ve always been like that.

True: I feel you. So the radio interview on the web when the DJ hated on you real bad, how did you feel about that?

BTB: Believe it or not I was mad when that interview happened, even thought a lot of people already knew who I was, the interview really helped. I didn’t know he was going to put it on the internet, but he did. Somebody said, “You know that interview is on the internet.” I was like, “oh naw’ [laughing]. But, it ended up being a good thing because I got more jobs and more people wanted to interview me. Different cities were calling me up like, yeah we heard the interview, we want to interview you. A lot of people still email me now [talking about] “that bitch nigga, how he…” [laughing]

True: Yeah? [Laughing]

BTB: I didn’t think it was a good situation at all, but it ended up working in both our favor. He got another job working with Wendy Williams and of course it helped me out because people who didn’t know me before know me now.

True: Tell me about old boyfriends, has any of them come back around since your new found celebrity status?

BTB: Its funny because every nigga I’ve fucked with has a least emailed me, they don’t have my number, but they’ll email me like, ‘remember me [I’m] such and such…I be like yeah, I remember you, and? I don’t know, it feel like guys are more intimidated to talk to me now because they look at me like a celebrity so, I think guys would talk to me more before I got famous than now. They feel like they don’t have a snowball chance in hell to get at me. So they’re like, ‘aint no sense in even trying to holla, I know its probably fifty-five niggas trying to holla. Probably ten boyfriends, I aint going to even try, I’m just going to be cool.’ Then a lot of people hear the interview and they think, ‘damn she got a fucked up attitude, there’s no telling what she’s going to say to me if I say something to her.’ [Laughs]

Big Fase Hunned (King Mag.com-October 2006)

Brother’s Keeper
Photography: Rukiya Hite Story: N'neka Hite


The Game has had more beefs than Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, but the one with his real blood brother, Big Fase 100 is one he doesn’t want to digest. Why is the Game so quiet about this family feud? Big Fase 100 gives KING-Mag.com the answers.

When KING Magazine caught up with the Game in the November issue, he was more than willing to open up about his feelings towards G-Unit, Dr. Dre and his career. But when it came to the beef with his older brother, Big Fase Hunned, the man who helped raise him in the streets and the rap industry, the Game was mum.

In an exclusive interview with KING-MAG.com, Big Fase Hunned finally decides to give his side of he and his brother’s falling out. If anything, the tattoo of an excerpt from The Bible’s book of Genesis 4:6, (“My Brother’s Keeper”) located on Big Fase’s neck is a testament to the magnitude of their sibling rivalry. “I look at my tattoo’s as trophies,” says Fase. “All my tattoos mean something. I never had to cover nothing up and I never will.” Now with a new independent label, Brazil Street Records, Big Fase Hunned is ready to clear the air on what went down between he and the Game and why he is wiping his hands clean of old blood.

King-mag.com: When did things go bad between you and your brother?

Big Fase: I went on a seven week tour with Game and he told me I would earn $2,000 dollars a show. He’s getting probably $30k at the time, I’m not tripping. That’s cool with me. I don’t care what you make. So I’ll say it was about, it was a seven week tour. We had about five shows a week, I figure I probbally come home with about $50-$60 thousand dollars. I came home with about $12 thousand dollars.

King-mag: But it ain’t all about the Benjamins, right?

[In Vegas] I left him an email saying basically, ‘Respect to me is everything to me and you don’t just lose respect for somebody unless they give you a reason to. I don’t see a lot of respect from you anymore or the people that we surround ourselves with. So before I am disrespected by you, I will just go home and be who I am…I don’t have to be a part of your show no more.’

King-mag: And what he did he say in response?

The response I got was, “Have a safe trip.” Regardless to that long ass shit I sent, saying about respect, and all this heartfelt shit, all I got was, ‘Have a safe trip’. So I flew my ass home and basically I’ve been here ever since.

King-mag: What was your official position with him?

Nobody had a position. Basically every time I got at him about that it would be like, “Man Black Wall Street is something we building, we not rushing…and you bound to be the president of this company.” I mean the nigga could have easily dumped me off to anybody at the height of his shit and say, here give my brother a job.

King-mag: When was the last time you talked to the Game?

He supposedly started some shit called Bad Seed Entertainment. I got a good six—eight little niggas I fuck with on this rap shit. One of their names was Bad Seed, so he catches [my former artist] Life at his store, snatched his Black Wall Street chain off him, and beat the shit out of him. Game finds out the chain got took and out of a good eight months of never comin’ back to Brazil Street, Game hit my corner. Jayceon would have hit the corner for my kid’s birthdays, Christmas, something like that. But because he’s “The Game” and he’s stuck in this rap shit, he hit this corner comin’ over here to smash and get the chain back. He approaches me with his hand out. I crossed my arms and I said, “It’s a lot that needs to be said before I can do that.” That sent our conversation into oblivion because he didn’t really want to talk—he felt like “The Game” had been disrespected.

King-mag: What about accusations Game made that some of the Black Wall Street employees were taking advantage of him by misusing his website and trying to make money behind his back?

We started the website before my brother knew anything about computers. [We thought] Aftermath got you sittin’ there, we can make this website called BlackWallStreet.com and we can pump you up with mixtapes, develop fan base, sell merchandise, things of that nature. That’s what we did, me and G-Ride started that. We had a clothing deal set up for the G-Unot shit, as crazy as it sounds. [We] were sitting here alone one day, when my boy knocked on the door and showed us sketches of G-Unot shit, all hooked up. Game told the dude to holler at G-Ride and go. A couple months later Game is in NY and he emails me talking about, ‘I’m up in this store and this man asks me about G-Unot clothes. I tell him it’s not even in production yet and he gives me a catalog.’ He started on some, ‘G-Unot is my company and Black Wall Street is my company what are yall trying to do? Yall tryin’ to rob me?’ So he smashed that deal down. I have never been able to middleman a single thing off this nigga name without having to sit around and ask for something. I aint the type of nigga to just sit around and ask for a handout. I need to earn my keep.

King-mag: The new single, “One Blood” is hot right now. How do you feel about his success and growth as an artist?

Cool song. I mean my brother is one of the best artists out there; I’ll give him that. I watched something where he said the shit was not about gang bangin’ “One Blood” was basically about family. Well nigga, it’s not about Blood, cause you’re not really one and its not about family because you don’t know nothing about that. I feel like the Taylor family, my dads name, it’s a good family but its been through a lot. With his success he had the power to change the direction our family was headed in and he didn’t do nothing but make shit more fucked up. That’s basically what he did with my neighborhood too. He’s got niggas basically hypnotized with this money.

King-mag: How did you feel when you heard about the truce he called with 50 Cent?

It solidified my thoughts that I lost my brother to this rap shit. Jayceon was searching for who he was and at the same time he has not found who he is in life. He was able to run into a nice sum of money with this rap thing and create a character that he has, from my estimation, got trapped in and forgot the other side of. When he wakes up he’s the Game, when he goes to sleep he’s the Game. It’s no more Jayceon. That’s why it would be relevant for him to want to squash a beef with a 50 Cent rather than his father, his brother, or his sister.

Kng-mag: You’ve started your own company. I noticed the logo is similar to the Black Wall Street logo.

Brazil and Wilmington is the movement but the company is Brazil Street Records. Big Fase Hunned my name, the studio equipment, the artists that were left, the street itself was something that [Game] put on the bottom of his shoe. This has always been my home, not his. I went a step further with the B, because I do have it tattooed on my skin and being the first person to actually do that; besides him, I just felt like I just could. It is nothing he created.

King-mag: And now you’re holding an auction on MySpace to get rid of all of your Black Wall Street paraphernalia.

What he’s saying in everything I’m reading is, ‘I don’t have a brother.’ Before I did the Allhiphop.com interview he sent a young kid to come get my chain and my car. So those things are worthless to me. So lets give a MySpace auction with these things he tried to pull back from me. The car, all that shit means nothing to me. The Black Wall Street chain I’ve got put up. I won’t wear the pendent at all. It’s like a high school football trophy, but you’re thirty years old and you look back at it and smile. But it’s hard to smile at it now. If I want to smile at something I’ll smile at the tattoo that I can’t take off.

For feedback and comments visit the URL: http://king-mag.com/online/?p=1641

Katt Williams (King-mag.com September 2006)

The King-Mag.com Q&A
Comedian Katt Williams keeps it pimpin’ all the way to the bank

Story: N'neka Hite

Ever since his debut role as a pimp named Money Mike in Friday After Next, comedian Katt Williams has been smacking the competition silly. On September 16, HBO is airing his one-hour stand up special, The Pimp Chronicles Pt. 1, along with an upcoming guest appearance on the return of Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam. There’s also movie roles (the upcoming Norbit with Eddie Murphy), a hip-hop album on Diplomat Records and his re-occurring role on MTV’s Nick Cannon Presents Wild N’ Out. But Katt’s most important job is being a father to eight kids, seven of them adopted. Taking a break from his current tour, Katt chats with King-Mag.com while backstage. No one said pimpin’ was easy.

KING-MAG.com: So you’re on tour right now?

Katt Williams: I’m 106-cities into my tour right now. We just signed a 4.6 million dollar deal with Live Nation to do another hundred [cities].

King-mag: Damn, that’s a lot of cities. Has there ever been a tour stop where your game wasn’t tight?

It was Detroit’s Fox Theater. We sell out the Fox. It’s two shows. I’m not used to doing two shows a night. I’m only used to doing one show. We do the first show and the show is bananas. Back stage after the show, , somebody hands me a blunt, which I never do when I’m working. [Then] it’s time to get ready for the second show. I’m too high. I go out there and fuck off my whole set. I’m telling like the second half of jokes. doing the end of the joke first. It’s all out of sequence. I’m like 20 minutes in, and I tell the audience, okay, well, I think I’ve been up here too long. And walk off stage.

King-mag: Now we heard you come from a family of Black Panthers, is that true?

Yeah, my father was.

King-mag: Dope!

Its not really dope.

King-mag: It seemed to work for ‘Pac, why not you?

It affected [my father’s] life. I guess its dope now, to say, yeah your father was a Black Panther. But even that whole bio thing that everybody reads from, I’ve been really trying to get that nixed cause its got too much of my personal information on it that doesn’t matter. Like, I left home as a teenager.

King-mag: Speaking of fathers, you’ve got some babies don’t you?

Yeah, I’ve got eight.

King-mag: What did they do for your birthday? [Ed Note: Katt recently celebrated his birthday on September 2]

They know I like strawberry shortcake. So their whole thing was to make me strawberry shortcake for my birthday. You’ve got eight kids trying to make the same cake, fortunately it’s strawberry shortcake. They didn’t really even have to cook. They just cut the cake in half and laid it in. Then you see where they got tired and just start throwing the whole strawberry in with the green part left on it. Somebody had accidentally took a bite out of one and threw it in there.

King-mag: Tell me about the HBO special The Pimp Chronicles Part 1.

For a comic there’s nothing bigger for you, not stand up wise. The one-hour special is [stand-up comedy’s] Holy Grail. There have only been 10 black comics in history to have a HBO one hour special, so to be added to that list is amazing.

King-mag: An accomplishment indeed, but let’s talk about your album. I know you and the Game teamed up against the Young Gunz to clap back for a diss track they made about you. Are you going to have any heat on the album like that?

I only have one diss song and it’s aimed at comedians. To be honest with you, the Young Gunz thing, it really just hurt my feelings, because I had actually just bought the dudes album. I just went in [the studio] and freestyled it. Then I saw the Game a couple days later and he asked me what I’d done in the studio. I told him. Come to find out his sentiments echoed mine.

King-mag: Wild ‘N Out is in its third season. What guest did you have the most fun with?

Charley Murphy was crazy. Like ending all his raps like, “I’ll take your leg off and stab you in the chest with it.” Everybody is looking at Charley, because Charley ain’t smiling. Wayne Brady was crazy. [Off air] Wayne Brady picked everybody on our team one by one and I promise you he did a minimum of ten minutes on every person.

King-mag: Let me find out Wayne Brady can go 100 bars. From where did you pick up your game? Anyone put you on

I learned a lot about Hollywood working at the carnival. Shit is not what you think it is. I would watch these 18-wheelers come in with the stuffed animals, and find out they was paying one thousand dollars for a whole 18-wheeler full of stuffed animals. People spent twenty, forty, fifty, dollars to get this one stuffed animal that cost all of twelve cents. As a kid, it really sobered me up to the fact that sometimes things are really a game.

URL: http://king-mag.com/online/?p=1453

The Making of a Rap Superstar (True Mag. October 2006)

The Making of a Rap Superstar
By, N’neka Hite


Who knew shopping for a pair of sneakers one day would get up and coming rapper J. Peso off of the streets, and placed on one of hip hop’s largest selling tours along side Jay Z. The Queens Bridge lyricist bumped into rap icon DMX and the rest is history. “(We met) In Harlem a shoe store, I was just politicking and told him [DMX] that his music touched my life. He snatched me up and every since than its been pop’n.”

From hanging with the Ruff Ryders on the Hard Knocks Life Tour, to starring in his own reality show, The Making of a Rap Superstar, “John” J Peso is coming to a hood near you to resurrect hip hop and explode into the world of entertainment. “I don’t see myself as an regular artist. 50's at the top so I want that. I’m not going to be no Bleek,” Peso promises.

When he was young, both parents abandoned him leaving him with no place to sleep but park benches. While most kids were complaining about eating their broccoli, Peso was on the streets fending for himself. His struggle to survive on his own and pain from rejection are what he says inspires his lyrics. Songs like “Feel the Pain” reveal tales of love vengeance, and deceit. “Everything you go through is about power from negative and positive energy,” he says. The losses he’s suffered influenced the title of his debut album From Nothing to Something, soon to be released on Def Jam. He has hooked up with Grammy Award Winning Producer David Foster who brought much success to artists like Macy Gray and Smokey Robinson.

In an attempt to bless the game with a not-soon-forgotten album, J Peso spits rhymes that he believes will transcend hip-poppy verses and recycled hooks. “I don’t give you a punch line every six bars.” If success is based on looks he may just have something. The emcee is a huge hit on myspace with the girls dropping messages asking for autographed paraphernalia vying to re-up on eBay. But does he have what it takes, or will he just be another rapper singing to the ladies, and pushing jewelry? “I don’t like that bubble gum stuff,” he says. “I’d rather speak about real shit. I got songs that say I have it. I haven’t borrowed stuff.”

J Pesos versatility appears to be as much of a blessing as his rags to riches life story. Heavy hitters in the rap game have welcomed him with open arms, and Hollywood has also taken interest. He has worked with artists like Method Man and the Pussycat Dolls. During his stay in Los Angeles he landed a role on the television show Princess of Malibu that was initially scripted for Lil Wayne.

Rising from the bottom to the top has been a constant struggle in his life. But J Peso looks forward to the long hike on the way to the top of the rap game. Even with his confidence, he is not afraid to return to his roots and like one of his inspirations, the late Tupac, New York’s golden child doesn’t see himself staying too far away from where he came from. “I’m in love the streets, I love the hood. I can care less where I go in the next two years, I will love the streets and always come back to the streets.”

Big Tuck (True Magazine October 2006)

Dallas Ryda
By, N'neka Hite

Dallas has given birth to an artist the size of Texas. Rapper, composer, producer, and musician Big Tuck has created a $7 million buzz that is wreaking havoc throughout the south. Now, T-Town Records is ready to share their musical empire with the world introducing “scrunk,” an innovative new sound to the otherwise stagnated state of hip-hop.

Big Tuck’s major label debut, The Absolute Truth, is scheduled to drop 10/24/06.
He describes the upcoming album as, “a new southern sound, energetic, hoodish, and the truth.” Inking a multi-artist deal with Universal got the ball rolling; but the South-Dallas stunner admits the album wasn’t complete when the deal was sealed.

“When we was signed they (Universal) thought it was already done but it really took about three to four months,”[to complete] he said.

Big Tuck is the first member of the group, DSR (The Dirty South Rydaz) to release an album under the new deal. He was put on by George Lopez, CEO of DSR and T-Town Music, who is responsible for introducing some of the Lone Star States hottest artists like Lil Flip and Mike Jones. After recognizing his own eye for talent, Lopez put it to use creating his own group.

DSR is made up of six members; Tum Tum, Fat B, Double T, Big Tite, and Lil Ronnie. The group collectively put a dent in the independent market selling mixed tapes resulting in huge numbers.

“Every month we would drop something and make it happen,” Big Tuck tells True Magazine. “We would go into the studio in one day and make a hot mix tape. You know, we were a group so everyone always had something to say.”

Tucks love for the arts of began in elementary school. “I’ve been doing music since the 4th grade, music is my life. I was a musician first, and then I did the poetry thing and stepped up to the rap thing. Since then, I’ve been doing it.”
His musical talent and interest in poetry, flourished into a full scholarship to the University of Arkansas where he earned a degree in Mass Communications and Music. His resume includes composing and writing for black college marching bands.

Big Tuck, like many recent grads, couldn’t find his place in corporate America so he took it to the streets. He began hustling slangin’ rhymes like weight.
Following in the footsteps of No Limit and Cash Money Records, independent labels that DSR credits as inspirations, the group created a huge following on the underground circuit. They spit out 32-mixed cd’s in six years. In 2004 Big Tuck released Purple Hulk, which sold over 100,000 units independently. It was then that the group grabbed the attention of heavy hitting labels like Sony and Interscope.

“They started getting on us like what are they doing? We had a lot of majors on the table but we ended up going with Universal for $7 million,” says Tuck. “They wanted to come get money with us.”

Although Tuck has been outspoken about Dallas radio stations ignoring local acts, his new single, "Tussle", featuring Slim Thug and Tum Tum is making noise on the airwaves and the video is blowing up on the internet. It will be the first release off of the forthcoming album.

The Absolute Truth features, Paul Wall, Bun B, Cool & Dre, Erykah Badu, Slim Thug, Chamillionaire, and Juke.