By: Trees Absolutely the greatest thing going right now in underground hip hop entertainment.. Esoteric's Pterovision is back with Episode #2. How long before the imitators come out the woodwork? Watch this NOW.
Del on Def Jux? 11th Hour Delayed Till '08. Tour News etc.
9/27/07
By: Trees "What?" That was my reaction when I got this press release in my mailbox earlier today: "The aptly named The 11th Hour marks Del's first solo release in almost 7 years. Having experienced his fair share of life's trials and tribulations over the course of his long and successful career, Del explained the reason for the album title. "You can't fully control all the different variables that come into play in your life. Something is bound to be faulty and set you back," says Del. He explains, "I've spent the last couple of years dealing with drama in my life, touring the country several times over, and diving deep into studying music theory." Fans can celebrate the fruits of Del's labor of love with the release of The 11th Hour in early '08.
For The 11th Hour, Del has partnered with legendary New York based indie hip-hop label Definitive Jux, with the backing of the label he helped create, Hiero Imperium."
So Del is now on Def Jux with approval from Hiero Imperium. There is obviously some business motives behind the agreement, but one has to wonder why Del didn't put his full faith in Hiero to get the job done.
BTW, for information on Del's 11th Hour Tourdates, hit up: Del's MySpace
By: Marty Caballero After breaking sales records last week, Kanye West and 50 Cent should find this week's charts as nothing less than a huge let down. Kanye's Graduation suffered a 76% drop in sales, moving 226,000 copies after blowing the roof off at 957,000 last week. 50 didn't fare much better, as Curtis's all-or-nothing plan of hemmoraging the airwaves with no less than 5 singles with videos before it dropped has left the album without much space to grow. After scanning 691,100 last week, Fif comes in with only 143,000 units sold in the past 7 days--a 79% decline. To put this in perspective, Get Rich or Die Tryin' sold 872,000 in its first week and 359,000 copies over a month later. At this rate, Curtis will probably come in at somewhere in between 1.1 million total sales--the opening week for The Massacre. If I worked for a label, I'd be dumping a loaf in my suit pants. Things done changed, for real.
By: Trees Stones Throw posted a "response" to the DOOM rumors on their website late last night. Here it is verbatim:
"SEP 26, 2007 – Every day for the past month we've been hit up by people wanting explanations, statements, clarifications, and declarations about MF DOOM. Is he lip synching? (No. Listen to the videos on Youtube.) Is he an impostor? (No, but he did lose some pounds.) Is he in the hospital? (No, he's in his studio ... or if not there, you can find him in the pub with the grub stain.)
Reached earlier this morning at his home in Georgia, an alive and well MF DOOM issued this statement: "What up? I'm dead."
DOOM was in Los Angeles recently and recorded a few verses at The Bomb Shelter studio, where Madvillain, Quasimoto, YNQ, and Madlib classics have been made. Among the new joints recorded was one with him and Guilty Simpson over J Dilla's "Mash" and another over Dilla's "Lightworks". "Mash's Revenge" will be released on the album "B-Ball Zombie War" on October 2. "
Ok. Cool, glad to know you're alive and well DOOM. Also, thanks to Pharoahe Monch for having a moment of silence at DOOM's Central Park No-Show for what appears to be, apparently no reason at all. Really, we're glad we sent our thoughts and prayers to an MC who's agent is spewing lies about life-threatening heart conditions and respiratory problems, when in all reality.. you're in the Bomb Shelter making music. Why not just say you had to go to your sisters wedding, or you got stuck in traffic, or you had to battle Galactus in a outerspace for universal supremacy...
By: Marty Caballero In a stunning development, Dr. Dre's magnum opus Detox has been delayed again. That's right, Doc told the LA Times that he's gonna have to push the album back into 2008. I know, I'm as shocked as all of you. But what's this about a new Eminem album…?
"We'll be trying to get his thing done and work on a few things on my own project," Dre said in regards to wrapping up Eminem's as-yet-titled album. "I was really hoping to have (Detox) out this year, but it's going to have to be pushed back a while because of some other things I've got to work on," he continued as he said that he's only two or three songs away from finishing it.
By: Marty Caballero Before he started blowing up worldwide, DJ Statik Selektah was making sure everyone in the Bean knew how to spell his name right. Now, after dropping a slew of banging tapes, Statik is prepping an album that, in short, looks ILL. Features include Termanology (6 tracks!), DJ Premier, Kool G Rap, Slum Village, Joell Ortiz, Large Professor, Jadakiss, Esoteric, Alchemist, Evidence, Styles P, Q-Tip and many more, as if that weren't enough. The collaborations between Cormega and Royce Da 5'9" ("Back Against the Wall") and Cassidy and Freeway (!) should be worth the price alone. Spell My Name Right: The Album drops November 6 on Showoff/Brick Records.
By: Trees Seriously. If anyone knows where he is, or what his condition is: email me. M.F. DOOM was scheduled to play a show in Central Park over the weekend (no small honor) but his agent reported to the promoters early in the morning that, and I quote the promoter directly, "He was hospitalized early Sat morning due to respiratory and heart complications. His agent was unable to go into any more details and we are just hoping for DOOM's full and speedy recovery." So DOOM is in the hospital? If this is true obviously our thoughts and prayers go out to him. But regardless, this is definitely the latest development in a long line of weird and erratic behavior from the Supervillain. The big homey, Ben Westhoff over @ the Village Voice chronicled the recent string of weird behavior in an excellent article that I suggest you all read (click here). But seriously, if someone from DOOM's camp wants to shoot us a line and give us an update on his condition, I think all of his fans want to know if he is okay or not.
Keith Murray Robbed In South Africa – Reward For Stolen Laptop
9/24/07
By: Trees Rapper Keith Murray, who is currently in South Africa working on his next album with local artists, was robbed last Tuesday 9/18/07 and is offering a 50,000 reward the safe return of his laptop. According to reports on BallerStatus and local South African paper The Pretoria News, Murray is now without "the last 12 years of his work" stored on the Apple Laptop. The paper reports that two armed men stormed into the Cube recording studios in Parkview, South Africa at around 10 p.m., holding up Murray and several other individuals with him. Two men reportedly took four laptops, cellphones and cash. Two accomplices waited outside on guard while the robbery was going down, and reportedly mocked and taunted the artist as they were leaving. Hey Keith, why the f*ck would you travel to South Africa with 12 years worth of material on your laptop??
*Yawn* Jay-Z and LL Cool J Stage Beef For Record Sales
9/24/07
By: Trees LL Cool J's got an album coming out on Def Jam. Jay-Zs got another album coming out on Def Jam. What better way to sell records, (or at least get your name mentioned on a bunch of websites) than to stage a beef with your boss. By now you know the story, Jay-Z "fired a warning shot" at LL in the "I Get Money" Forbes Remix. His exact quote that set off LL: "I'm Already The Goat, Next Stop Is The Billy". Well Todd didn't take to kindly to the venom spewed from the mouth of the dude that signs his royalty checks and fired back at the Jiggaman on Blok TV (Def Jam Fly By Night Shell Company?). In the recent YouTube clip LL alludes to the "verse" that Jay-Z spit stating: "I'm happy that this moment has come to this… it's about to get real funny… I don't even know why you did that to yourself, instead of doing that verse; you should've been doing your job." Open letter to LL: It's hard not to hate on you; you've made a lot of hot hip hop records, but you've also made a lot of trash R&B. Just come correct on this next one please because no one's buying this beef.
By: Marty Caballero Shit was all good just a week ago; now Hova just fucked it all up. S. Dot has announced that he will release a NEW ALBUM this November entitled American Gangster. Some of you may have heard about the film (starring Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington) that chronicles the life of Frank Lucas, a fictional heroin dealer in 1970s Harlem that was inspired by the true story of Nicky "Mr. Untouchable" Barnes. However, the album is not a direct soundtrack to the film; apparently Hov saw the film and was so inspired, he hit the studio to make his own soundtrack. All I can say is WOW. According to sources, the first single will be called "Blue Magic" and the only confirmed producer is Pharrell (radio rip here). The album drops November 6, four days after the movie hits theatres.
By: Marty Caballero For some reason, this piece of news doesn't surprise me as much as it probably should. Just over a year after inking a $1.5 million deal with Jive Records (that's bigger than 50's deal with Shady- think about it people), Papoose has been released by the label. No word on whether some or all of his recordings for Jive will be eventually released...all we got outta that one was a tepid Dr. Dre club joint. You can hear Pap's man Kay Slay talk about the deal here and he sounds pretty happy about it. Good luck, Pap!
By: Marty Caballero Is it just a coincidence that fists start flying when albums are dropping? You be the judge, but there's no doubt that Prodigy caught a fair one courtesy of Saigon during a performance at SOB's in New York last night. Giddy was an unscheduled guest performer at the show, and everything appeared to be peace while he performed his single "C'mon Baby." Next up was the Mobb, and the altercation occurred while clearing the stage. Apparently Saigon was still sour after Pee invited him to "suck his dick" in an interview awhile back and decided to bring the beef to his front door like Domino's. As usual, someone had a camera and put it on YouTube, and you can see Saigon punching Pee twice before he bailed outta there in a hurry. We bear no ill will towards either here at UGHH.com--they sell mad CDs, kid--so judge for yourself. Peep two versions of the video (version 1 and 2) and Saigon's MySpace blog about the fight.
By: Trees The results are in- Kanye West: 957,000 | 50 Cent: 691,000. Those are the total albums purchased during the first week of sales for both artists. The numbers are staggering for several reasons.
1)The total for West's "Graduation" is the largest by any album since 50 Cent's "The Massacre" opened with 1.1 million copies in March 2005. West's own August 2005 album, "Late Registration," was the last album to surpass 800,000 copies when it began with 860,000.
2)West's new album ranks 15th among all sales weeks since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking in 1991. The double punch provided by "Graduation" and "Curtis" also marks just the second time in that era that two albums have bowed in the same week with totals surpassing 600,000 copies. The last such occasion was in September 1991, when Guns N' Roses' "Use Your Illusion II" led The Billboard 200 with 770,000 copies in the same week that the band's companion album "Use Your Illusion I" bowed at No. 2 with 685,000, a pair of numbers now beaten by West and 50's totals
3)"Graduation" also rings up the largest week yet by a digital album download, starting with 133,000, beating the prior record of 102,000, set earlier this year by Maroon 5's "It Won't Be Soon Before Long."
Kanye & 50- officially putting rap back on top of this industry.
Hell Razah Teams With Blue Sky Black Death For New LP
9/19/07
By: Trees (Babygrande Press Release) Blue Sky Black Death, the critically acclaimed production duo of Kingston & Young God, unveil their highly-anticipated sophomore album, Hell Razah: Razah's Ladder, featuring Wu-Tang Clan/Sunz of Man affiliate Hell Razah. The album streets October 23rd, 2007 courtesy of Babygrande Records.
Hell Razah: Razah's Ladder is a shot of adrenaline into the world of producer/emcee concept/ collaboration albums. With 2006's critically acclaimed Blue Sky Black Death presents: The Holocaust (which exclusively featured Wu-Tang affiliate Holocaust), Blue Sky Black Death made inroads with indie hip-hop heads for their brooding and nuanced production complementing Holocaust's fragmented lyricism. "Hell Razah: Razah's Ladder" suitably expands upon Blue Sky Black Death's penchant for pairing tasteful instrumental hip-hop with renowned underground emcees.
To date, Blue Sky Black Death have collaborated with and/or produced for the likes of Guru (Gang Starr), Sabac Red (Non-Phixion), Jus Allah, Wise Intelligent (Poor Righteous Teachers), Rob Sonic, Virtuoso, Chief Kamachi, Holocaust, A-Plus and Pep Love (Hieroglyphics), Mikah-9 (Freestyle Fellowship), Awol, amongst many others, while Hell Razah is experiencing an elevated profile from his recent '07 release "Renaissance Child."
"Hell Razah: Razah's Ladder" features Hell Razah on all tracks, while ILL Bill, Sabac Red, Crooked I, Prodigal Sunn and more contribute verses. With production exclusively by Blue Sky Black Death, "Hell Razah: Razah's Ladder" is an unprecedented collaboration between independent hip-hop's most promising up and coming talent.
By: Marty Caballero As Duck Down revs up for the release of the hotly-anticipated Special Teamz debut LP, two of the labels flagship artists are also planning their auspicious return to the game. Smif N Wessun's new disc The Album is slated to hit stores on October 23, anchored by the single "Stomp Thru" featuring Rock and Joell Ortiz. Interestingly enough, the Bucktown vets recorded much of the album outside of the U.S. in Sweden, working with producers Ken Ring and Collen & Webb to develop their updated sound. The track list for The Album is as follows:
1. See The Light (produced by Ken Ring and Collen & Webb) 2. Gotta Say it f/Chuckii Star (produced by Ken Ring and Collen & Webb) 3. Trouble (produced by Ken Ring and Collen & Webb) 4. K.I.M. 200 f/Loudmouf Choir 5. P.N.C. For Life (produced by Ken Ring & Rune Rotter) 6. Gangsta Prayer f/Million Styles (produced by Ken Ring & RuneRotter) 7. Stomp Thru f/Rock and Joell Ortiz (produced by Ken Ring and Collen & Webb) 8. Who Gonna Save Us (produced by Ken Ring & Tommy Tee) 9. Still Fighting (produced by Ken Ring and Collen & Webb) 10. Yeah (produced by Ken Ring & Tommy Tee) 11. Movie (produced by Ken Ring & Tommy Tee) 12. Can't Stop (produced by Ken Ring & Soul Theory) 13. Can't Feel My Face f/Loudmouf Choir (produced by Ken Ring & Tommy Tee) 14. Still Here (produced by Ken Ring and Collen & Webb)
By: Marty Caballero Many of our readers are probably already familiar with the Jena 6 case going on in Jena, Louisiana, thanks to the hip hop artists who are raising awareness of this troubling incident. Twista, Killer Mike and Sean Paul (from Youngbloodz) are among the numerous artists scheduled to perform as part of the "Let Freedom Ring Weekend" in Birmingham, Alabama that begins on Friday, September 28.
The Jena 6 refers to six African-American students who are now standing trial on charges ranging from aggravated second-degree battery to attempted murder, stemming from a series of incidents at Jena High School. In late August of last year, a small group of black students sat underneath a tree on the "traditionally white" side of the school. The next day three nooses were found hanging from the tree. Over the next months, racial tensions ran high and violent incidents were frequent, including an attack on a black student by several white students at an off-campus party. Soon after, a white student was assaulted by several black students at Jena High. Within an hour, six black students were under arrest, facing charges of attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder, both carrying maximum sentences of life in prison. Some charges against certain defendants have since been reduced, but the case remains a lightning rod in the press and has served as a call for action by aforementioned hip hop artists, as well as Mos Def, David Banner and others. One defendant, 17-year old Mychal Bell, has already been convicted and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years incarceration.
The "Let Freedom Ring Weekend" includes a peace rally and the "Jena 6 Empowerment Concert," which will take place on Saturday, September 29 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center at 6 pm.
By: Marty Caballero Just as Peanut Butter Wolf is set to drop the NBA 2K8 affiliated CD, EA Sports has assembled its own team of hip hop stars to provide the music for NBA Live 08. The roster leans towards classic acts like Wyclef Jean, DJ Jazzy Jeff & CL Smooth ("All I Know"), Marley Marl and KRS-One with current hitmakers like Stephen Marley, Timbaland ("The Way I Are") and Eve ("Tambourine") thrown in the mix. No word on weather a stand-alone disc will be released, but all the music can be heard when NBA Live 08 ( Gilbert Arenas certified, kid) drops on October 2.
By: Marty Caballero Those Adult Swim guys are growing on me fast. First, they certify Stones Throw's super-official Chrome Children disc from early this year. Then, they give MF Doom his own TV show. Now they got Ghostface Killah headlining a 12-campus tour with Witchdoctor ( Dungeon Family) in October. Still, I don't think they can top getting Boston Mayor Tom Menino's panties in a twist after the Aqua Teen Hunger Force ad campaign turned the Bean into paranoid-city for a day. Cheers, gentlemen.
Tour schedule for Ghostface Killah and Witchdoctor's Adult Swim's Hip Hop Tour: 10/01/07: State University of New York, Albany, N.Y. 10/03/07: University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H. 10/05/07: Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. 10/06/07: Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va. 10/07/07: University of Maryland, College Park, Md. 10/09/07: American University, Washington, DC 10/10/07: Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Ga. 10/11/07: University of Central Florida, Orlando, Fla. 10/14/07: University of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla. 10/16/07: UCLA, Los Angeles, Calif. 10/17/07: Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz. 10/19/07: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N.M.
By: Marty Caballero After blessing heads with The Brick: Bodega Chronicles earlier this year, Joell Ortiz is back with another mix tape sure to make some noise in NY and beyond. The untitled disc will be helmed by Boston's Statik Selektah and DJ Green Lantern as a precursor to his in-production Aftermath Records debut. Confirmed appearances are in for Sheek Louch, Kool G Rap, Fat Joe, and Nate Dogg, with Green and Scott Storch on the boards. BK stand up!
By: Marty Caballero Fat Joe has got to be the hip hop version of A-Rod--the guy who puts up the big numbers in the regular season but can't get it done when it counts in the playoffs. After having smash hits like "Lean Back," "Make it Rain" and "What's Love" wasted on albums that brick, Don Cartagena try to put it all together one again on his eigth solo LP, The Elephant in the Room, set for early 2008 release on Imperial Records. Expect Scott Storch, Cool and Dre, DJ Khaled, Danjahandz and The Runners to help with production, plus a little P. Diddy, Rick Ross and Fabolous on the mic. Good luck this time around, Joe.
By: Marty Caballero XXL Magazine's producer-oriented spin-off monthly Scratch has been officially K.O'd. Issue #20 (featuring 50 Cent and new buddy Timbaland-- Dre's replacement??--on the cover) will be the last in the short history of the mag. R.I.P.
