June, 2008

Jay-Z top billin' performance at the Glastonbury Festival, 2008

[Part two below]

Jay-Z answered his detractors in commendable fashion at the Glastonbury Music Festival in Britain on Saturday.

The rapper took to the stage – with a guitar over his shoulder – and sang a rendition of Oasis’ hit song “Wonder Wall.” Noel Gallagher of Oasis, a rock band from the UK, has opposed the rapper headlining the huge event since it was announced in February of 2008.

Jay-Z was greeted with cheers from Glastonbury festival-goers, who sang “Wonder Wall” with the Brooklyn-bred rapper. He quickly spun into his rock flavoured “99 Problems,” which lyrics boast “I got 99 problems, but a b***h ain’t one.”

Beyonce Knowles, Jay-Z’s wife, attended the event and was noticeably excited as she watched her spouse perform, according to sources with AllHipHop.com.

“The world should be all about mixing culture,” Jay-Z said to UK radio personality Tim Westwood. “Hip-hop is music in its art form. It should be accepted and respected. It’s all the same thing, it’s just coming from a different perspective.”

Normally, Glastonbury caters to rock music, but organizers recruited Jay-Z in an effort to attract a younger demographic. Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher was the most vocal critic and said, "I'm not having Hip-Hop at Glastonbury. It's wrong."

However, throughout the festival, expressed a very different sentiment towards Jay-Z than Gallagher.

Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro, another headliner, paid tribute to their Hip-Hop counterpart. The band played a version of Jay-Z’s hit “99 Problems.”

The Gossip's Beth Ditto praised Jay-Z’s presence for elevating the festival, despite slow ticket sales.

"I'm so jealous of you, camping to see Jay-Z," Ditto said during The Gossip’s show. "Seriously, I'm so f**king jealous. Jay-Z: guilty of making this festival good."

The Glastonbury Festival is held on Worthy Farm near Glastonbury in Somerset, England over 800 acres. The festival began in 1970 with about 1,500 people.

The festival nearly sold out, moving about 142,500 tickets.

By Charlie Rem [Allhiphop.com]

Shout out to [WSHH] and [Allhiphop.com]

Detroit's Obie Trice has left Shady Records after eight years and two albums, AllHipHop.com has confirmed today (Jun 30).

He is currently working on his third album, while solidifying a new situation for his own imprint.

Obie and Shady were moving in different directions,” the 30-year-old rapper’s manager Terry Wilson tells AllHipHop.com. “But he still has a great relationship with Shady Records. He has some big plans for his World Wide Hustle label.”

Currently recording his third album while solidifying his label situation, Trice has released a track explaining his decision to leave the label with which he attained a considerable amount of respect and success.

While a source at Shady confirms the split is amicable, the new song, “The Giant,” indicates that Obie’s complaints may have been with parent company Interscope.

“I murdered e’ything when I wore the Shady logo,” he spits after announcing there’s no more Shady.
“O is a mogul/Low on the totem pole ‘cause Interscope’s loco/Now I’m gettin’ mo’ dough.”

Following a personal introduction to Eminem via D12’s Bizarre, Obie Trice joined the Shady Records family in 2000 and was introduced to listeners outside of Detroit on the supergroup's 2001 début Devil’s Night.

His own RIAA-certified gold début Cheers came two years later, with a follow up, Second Round’ s On Me released in 2006.

Continuing with the theme of his two previous releases, Trice’s third album is tentatively titled Bottoms Up.

By Tai Saint-Louis [Allhiphop.com]

The Game meets Blink 182's drummer, Travis Barker on the new "Dope Boys" cut.

Crossing borders into the world of rock festivals, Jay-Z staged one of the strongest hip-hop performances in recent years as he tore down detractors and told the gods of rock, "I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one!"

Mr. Carter ended the bullshit saga between himself and Oasis' Noel Gallagher who detested the appearance of Jigga and hip-hop at the predominately rock line-up at the British Glastonbury festival. Guitar strapped, BK Marcy swagger, Jigga Man entered the festival stage with a smirking rendition of Oasis' gem, "Wonder Wall". The crowd not only accepted him but joined him in the Gallagher hook. Peep game.

For more on this saga... [CLICK HERE]

Jigga takes his BK swagger onto the UK's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross show during the Glastonbury trip. [Part one & two]

After over 20 years of being the backbone of the legendary EPMD, DJ Scratch has announced a shocking split from the group.

In an exclusive interview with Allhiphop.com, Scratch detailed the circumstances that have led to the current rift and why he will not be participating in any form, on the group's forthcoming album and shows.

"I had been finding out through my peoples that Erick [Sermon] and Parrish [Smith] have been doing shows and recording an album without me," Scratch explained to AllHipHop.com. "Then I'm getting emails from fans telling me that Erick said on stage I'm not there because ‘I'm missing flights.’ And I'm like 'c'mon E that's not f**king cool.' I've never missed a flight in my whole career."

As with many groups, Scratch stated his absence from the group’s reunion stems from money issues.

"Erick doesn't want to split the money three ways," DJ Scratch claimed. “And that's fine, but be a man about it. We're supposed to be a crew. Don't lie and make me seem incompetent and disrespectful to the fans."

EPMD is one of the most consistent groups in Hip-Hop history, with five successive gold selling albums from 1988-1997, and such classic singles as "It's My Thing," So Wat Cha Sayin'," "Rampage," and "Crossover."

Fans know this is not the first time the group has had a public dispute, as the collective split on acrimonious terms in 1993.

According to Scratch, despite a reunion those tensions remain unresolved.

"I'm cool with both of them [but] with the first breakup, Parrish was the problem and now after the reunion, Eric's the problem. They don't like each other but with any group [when] the members don't get along, you just don't see that s**t. When you're on stage you're not supposed to show that s**t because you're there for the fans."

EPMD's new album will have no cutting, scratching, or production contributions from DJ Scratch, who since his days in the group has produced for a number of artists, including 50 Cent, Jay-Z, DMX, Talib Kweli, The Roots and numerous others.

Since the other members have not made an announcement, Scratch feels it is only fair to the fans and his reputation to clarify the situation.

"If the album came out and I 'm not on there, the obvious question will be 'where's Scratch?" he reasoned. "I think the reason they've not said anything is they know the fans wouldn't be f**king with them like that without me. It's like Run DMC without Jam Master Jay, we're a three member group. Eric has the money issue, but I don't think he realizes he'd make more money together than apart."

Still, despite the alleged professional betrayal Scratch, is open to working with Smith and Sermon in the future.

"This is only permanent if they want it to be that way," Scratch said diplomatically. "I make more money on my own than with EPMD. I came back with them for Hip-Hop and the fans, money isn't an issue for me."

In the meantime, Scratch will being doing a collaboration album with fellow boardsmith DJ Premier.

He'll also be producing on upcoming albums from Busta Rhymes and LL Cool J.

The legendary DJ host a live chat tonight at 10PM Eastern time through his website www.djscratch.com

Aticle by Ismael AbduSalaam Allhiphop.com

Peep Afrika Islam reppin the Zulu Nation. Ice-T dropped this set before Soulja Boy was sack-swimmin'! (Circa 1989-'90) Peep the high powered.

Infamous music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight has officially lost ownership of Death Row Records, as he lost his appeal against a ruling forcing him to sell off all assets from the defunct label.

Knight, who first filed for bankruptcy in 2006 following the company's downfall, was ordered by a California judge in May to liquidate the label at an auction this month. He was in court Tuesday arguing against the order, but his motion was denied and the sale pressed on. The auction included the rights to the label’s back catalogue, which contains such classics as Dr. Dre's The Chronic, and various tracks from Snoop Dogg and the late Hip-Hop legend Tupac Shakur.

The highest bid in the auction came from Global Music Group owner Susan Berg, who bid $24 million for the lot, according to TMZ.

X Clan member, Brother J comes back in to the scene with a powerful scope on the U.S. penal system. The tune features the great saxophone of Christian Scott and directed by Wraithe for Kinetik Cinematrix. This comes by way of the latest album, "Return From Mecca" 2008.

The man of red carpet, Kanye West vehemently expresses his anger over the reception and scheduling problems at the recent Tennessee Bonnaroo music festival [June 15] on his web blog.

"This Bonnaroo thing is the worst insult I've ever had in my life," West wrote. "This is the most offended I've ever been ... this is the maddest I ever will be."

Read more here - [KanyeUniversity.com]

Rapper Snoop Dogg recently left the recording studio, recording tracks for Dr. Dre's highly anticipated album, Detox.

"That record is real it's coming," Snoop Dogg said during an interview today (June 25) on Big Boy's Neighbourhood. "You know me, I was starting to doubt it myself and then I went up in there and he played so much music for me it knocked my head off."

Snoop Dogg confirmed the fabled, decade-long project was finished and that the Doctor was selecting tracks for the album.

"I see what he got them waiting for, it's on and poppin," Snoop Dogg said. "He got records, he got heat."

Dr. Dre will also sit in the producer's seat for Snoop Dogg's upcoming album.

"Yea he's doing my next album. I got the title and everything," Snoop confirmed without revealing the album's title.

In related news, Snoop recently released a country-themed video for his single "My Medicine," which features a westernized Snoop alongside Willie Nelson, Julianne Hough, Brad Paisley and others.

The song is taken from Snoop Dogg's latest album Ego Trippin'.

By Roman Wolfe [Allhiphop]

Hey Soulja Boy, don't choke on it, take your time... Chew before you swallow. Original Gangster rolling hard thirty years on! Peep game.

Photo by Perou/Camera Press/Retna

From SPIN magazine, God's Son is interviewed over the last financial year and last album to latest project.

You gotta give Nas points for trying. After a year in which he caught flak from Bill O'Reilly for participating in a benefit, saw his nemesis turned label boss Jay-Z leave Def Jam, and shot a failed reality show with his wife Kelis, the 34-year-old Nasir Jones lost his long, contentious struggle to name his ninth album Nigger, replacing the title at the last minute. Presiding over a listening session at New York's Electric Lady studios, he's insistent that the controversy and its anticlimax were never intended to be a Molotov cocktail thrown for publicity's sake, but rather a creative rebirth from one of hip-hop's most consistent artists. [Read more]

Peep behind the scenes to the "Be A Nigger Too" video shoot.

Latest joint from the new album - "Hero"

(Issue #105) T.I. makes a huge run in the industry, putting out another major studio album, signing a three picture deal and offering his family life to MTV on a platter. All before he is sent to serve a sentence for multiple charges of machine gun possession. T.I took time out to pose and Q&A with XXL.