Earlier this year, Saba dropped off his new album Few Good Things. The stellar effort brought in collaborations with G Herbo and Krayzie Bone. Now Saba has his eyes on another collaboration with No I.D.
Appearing on Apple Music 1 with Ebro Darden, Sabab talked about the Few Good Things album before revealing he received 120 beats from legendary producer No I.D. for a future project.
“So, when I got up with him, he told me he did 120. He was like, ‘A two-week span,’” Saba said. “‘I got 120. How many of them you want me to send you?’ And I was like, ‘Bro, I’m about to go on tour. Send me all 120.’ I didn’t expect him to actually do it, but he did it, and with the intent of just… I’m just having fun, mixtape style, just writing to as many of them… My goal is 10. I want to leave tour with 10, but I’m already at six, and we’ve been on tour for like a week, so I don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll see how many, but it’s definitely… It’s something to come.”
A collaboration between the two Chicago natives would be epic, Saba added that No I.D. was one of the first to hear the Few Good Things album:
I played the album for No I.D. before it was finalized. I’m just like, “Hey, these are the songs I’m working on. I’m about to finish it up. This is the album.” I had 10 records that I played for him, and he gave me some notes, and they was really solid…one thing that he pointed out, he was like, “You did all of the musical shit, but I’ve been to your show before, and you had motherfuckers out there moshing, doing all type of other crazy shit that you didn’t do yet on this album. You need to do that.” And to me, that was like just a oversight, where it was something I didn’t even think about. It was like some legend advice to me…But to me, the most important thing he said, he was like, “You need a new closer.” He was like, “If you play… When you tour this album, without these new records, you’re going to still be closing with the big song from your last album.” He was like, “You can’t do that.” And I was like, “That’s something I didn’t even think about.” And it was the best…it put the battery in my back and got me back to work, and I went home, and “Survivor’s Guilt” was the first beat that I made.
You can see the entire conversation between Saba and Ebro here.
Juicy J is known for his trippy videos, and today he’s back with a new one in which he dresses up as NBA player James Harden, complete with a beard. “Step Back,” which features fellow Memphis rapper Duke Deuce dressed in Grizzlies garb, drops just before the Grizzlies advance to the next round of the playoffs.
Hopefully, the video can bring luck to both the Grizzlies and the Philadelphia 76ers as they both dropped game 1 of their second-round series. You can see the new video below.
Tekashi 6ix9ine finally got touched. The rapper’s boasted of how he can roam the streets untouched but during a visit to a nightclub in Miami, someone clocked him in the back. 6ix9ine denied that he was harmed and said there were no previous issues that led up to that moment.
Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images
TMZ recently caught up with a man who goes by @ItzMrBHN on social media. After going viral with the clip, he explained that he doesn’t feel any regrets about swinging on 6ix9ine.
“It was definitely the right thing to do,” he said. “Hopefully, that humbled him a little bit because now he’s trying to pass out money and all that, trying to make everybody in the streets and so on [to show] he has sympathy in his heart and all that. Nah, you not that type of person.”
He said that he has an issue with 6ix9ine trying to bully people, which he admitted to experiencing first-hand that night. He explained that 6ix9ine was antagonizing him and his friends in their section over the course of the night. He explained that Tekashi was filming them in their section and calling them names on his IG story.
“His security pushed me all the way out the way. Just pushed me. So it kind of pissed me off. And you know, I’ve had issues with this security before,” he explained. “As I’m standing there, another security just walks by and just steps on my shoes. Steps on my shoes and slight elbow over again,” he added, which led him to punching 6ix9ine.
Yo Gotti has signed R&B artist Lehla Samia to his legendary CMG record company in collaboration with Interscope Records, making her the first woman to join the imprint’s ranks and heralding CMG’s growth into the R&B genre.
“I’m proud to welcome Lehla to the CMG family,” Gotti said. “She has an incredible voice, she’s creatively gifted and she’s been putting in the work to develop into the next R&B superstar. I’ve always said that CMG is more than just hip-hop label – we have our focus on building the biggest and most versatile force in the music industry. Signing Lehla is the latest example of that goal.”
The 22-year-old singer gained a large online following after making covers and remixes of popular R&B songs and posting them to social media under the moniker “LehMixes.” While juggling nursing school, Lehla gained a following after her TikTok flips of Queen Naija’s “Butterflies” and Coi Leray’s “No More Parties” went viral.
The covers and remixes helped the Delaware native get over 1.2 million followers on TikTok and 14 million likes to date. Most notably, Gotti was taken with Lehla’s dramatic vocals, prompting the CMG CEO to fly the emerging star to Miami for a studio session that would forever transform her life and career path.
“Signing with Gotti and joining the CMG team is a dream come true,” Lehla said. “I’ve been grinding for this opportunity for a minute and I’m really excited about this new chapter in my career. I can’t wait to share my story with the world and deliver that pure R&B sound for my old and new fans.”
Moneybagg Yo, 42 Dugg, EST Gee, Mozzy, Blac Youngsta, Blocboy JB, Lil Poppa, Big Boogie, and 10Percent are just a few of the hip-hop artists who have signed to CMG.
Who could see the Black Ink brand becoming this large? Ceasar Emanuel could. Shops across the country, one of the most popular franchises on reality TV, and now, a tattoo battle pitting the Black elite from across the country in a competitive arena are just a few of the achievements that have come from the grind of his hard work.
The aforementioned tattoo competition is a part of the current seasons of Black Ink Crew and Black Ink Crew Compton. Both casts, and the Chicago crew, convened in Atlanta for the battle. Iron sharpening iron.
During his visit to Atlanta for the battle, Ceasar spoke with The Source on just how massive this battle is, reflecting on the success of Black Ink, and more.
What led to the creation of this battle?
Ceasar: Short version is as a Black man coming up in this industry. Y’all seen me on TV basically for 10 seasons. But a lot of people don’t know the backstory and what we have to deal with outside of just being on TV in this tattoo industry. A lot of people don’t understand as a Black tattoo artist, how difficult it is to be industry. A lot of times you see these competition shows and it doesn’t represent us. They’ll put us on there with crazy talent, but we won’t even be able to get out the second round. So this right here is to set a certain tone. People know us for what goes on in the shop. Our ratchetness, but nobody knows that we really artists. We really feed our family off what we do before we got on TV. We are artists. This competition is not just a competition to do it, but this is a competition to really show the world that we’re very skillful people.
You mentioned 10 seasons. A lot of people don’t get that, especially Black people. Being the focal point of this series, how do you manage to keep it a must-watch?
I can’t say necessarily humble, but me not getting a big head. And that’s because of people around me. Ted is around to keep me humble. When I start on too much, people are there to bring me down. But then when I start being on my low, there are people to tell me to pick up your chin. A lot of people need that. Ted’s been around 10 years on TV, been sitting on the couch where he’s been the most important person to me.
Even 10 seasons going, people can sit here and be like, “I could really relate with Caesar.” I was in a shop across the street from the projects and that’s where we made it from. So I think a lot of people mess with the show because they seen the struggle. They been day ones. They seen how we couldn’t even afford to have lights on. And then we got to hit. It’s almost like, one of those American dream stories.
Before this, I was barely able to afford Chinese food, so it is a whole different thing. It’s also a responsibility. I remember going to LA Fitness and a lady asked me, “does anyone ever tell you that you look like Ceasar from Black Ink?” and I respond all the time. She then just started talking about me and I really don’t really look at myself like how this lady who blending my juices does. She’s calling me an inspiration and stuff like that. So I really just try to stay humble and out of trouble to set an example in this situation.
New York, Chicago, AND Compton are all in the same building?! Ceaser’s GOTTA be up to something.
In this competition, it’s you, Ryan, iamCompton, and all of your shops. It’s a bond but you can tell everybody feels they are the best. When it comes to getting ready for this competition, how did you prep your team? What strategy did you have? What words did you give them? Because you Ceasar, you can’t come in here and host the joint and lose
Can’t lose. But at the end of the day, everybody gonna understand this is family, right? So I don’t want anybody to sit there and get into a fistfight over this. But like I told my people, “yo, y’all better turn up.” This is your time to shine. We got this big stage, this big platform we want to show out for, not just us, but for the culture. This ain’t about your individual glory. This is about glory as a community. We all understand the bigger picture in this. But a lot of us want to battle anyway.
How often would you want to replicate this? You got a handful of artists here but around the nation, it’s so many more.
That’s when, we just started something that basically can keep going, almost like a battle rap thing. I could go to every city and I could put people up against each other. And that’s what the showcase is to show other people’s skill. I feel like this next level is really a showcase in talent. Not just people who work in Black Ink, but minority tattoo artists everywhere.
You’re a busy man. You run shops everywhere. How do you keep your actual tattoo skills sharp?
I’ll be honest with you, bro. I’m completely honest with you. I tattoo on the low. When people would sit there and be posting they tattoos, you probably won’t see me posting a lot of my tattoos because I’m sitting there working on my craft. Plus tattooing is almost therapeutic to me. So most of the time I’ll be tattooing in the middle of the night and nobody knows it. I don’t take a lot of clients because I like doing big jobs. So I only take up like probably 15 clients for the year but those are like big pieces. Like bodysuits and whatnot. That’s how I hone my skills. I’m not really showing the picture until I finish the whole bodysuit.
The one thing I’ve learned from an OG, if you the biggest earner in your shop, you doing it wrong. The problem I always used to have, especially in my first three shops, is I was the main earner and I kept putting myself first instead of putting my employees first and I had to learn that. So a lot of times I pull myself back from tattooing and being booked out. Cause at the end of the day, bro, I’m 42 years old. I probably got like probably seven more years of tattoo left than me. Yeah. I got, I’m gonna have to leave it for these young bucks sooner or later you feel me? I’m gonna be in there, but you know, I’m gonna go from a player to a coach.
The different shops. You had to move to Brooklyn and it was kind of like a homecoming store, but people often talk about Brooklyn’s change. It’s gentrifying. Everything is switching up. So you have this Black tattoo shop in the middle of a gentrifying Brooklyn and you are about to be a staple. How does that feel?
It feels different. A lot of people don’t know. I started in Brooklyn. A lot of people don’t know I started in that same neighborhood. For me to basically leave Brooklyn and come back when basically Bedstuy is being stripped of everything that made it Bedstuy. It feels good to come back and show them like, yo, we ain’t gotta leave our hoods to other people. We ain’t gotta leave. We could take over our own neighborhood. We could own these stores. A lot of people just get so they get so uncomfortable on sitting and being an entrepreneur. They rather work a nine to five, knowing that they’re gonna give their money at the end of the week. They don’t really gotta hustle as much as an entrepreneur. Well, they don’t know, they hustle more than entrepreneurs.
When I came back, it was to yo, you don’t necessarily have to leave your hood to be comfortable. You could buy your hood back and stay there. I always felt our biggest problem was always yo, as soon as I get some money, I’m outta here. We never once sat there and say, once I get some money, I’m buying back my block. Most of the time people leave they hood cause they’re not comfortable. I’m more comfortable in my hood. So I always came with that idea one day, there’s going to be a franchise to be a symbol for those who have watched me for 10 years and grew with me and who can walk up on me like I’m their cousin. Cause a lot of these people went through the struggle with me and I didn’t even know it. Even with the kids, some been watching me since second grade. They in high school now and they’ll tell me scenes from like season two. Like wow. It is almost like a cult feeling. We really got into the culture and I’m just blessed because when we came on, it was just so many great reality shows on and we ain’t have the fancy cars. We didn’t have the big names. We got Harlem.
How much do you miss the old shop?
A lot. A lot. A lot. I ain’t gonna lie. When we lost 113, I cried because I always felt like it was my responsibility to keep that shop. We all grew up in it. Our memories is just embedded in that shop. Like we had the most fun, broke in that shop. And we went from broke, basically project kids to who we are now in that shop. But it was nothing I could do. It hurt me the worst cause it was a greedy landlord that wouldn’t let up. You go from rent being $5,000. So you wanna charge us $25,000 a month. Who is doing that for something that’s less than a thousand square feet? And that burnt my soul because even if I just left it just, not even as a working tattoo shot, but basically got a museum for Black Ink to see where we started. I wanted that and it was just taken away from me. If you go past it now it’s not even open. Nobody’s taking it because everybody know what it is. The community won’t let anybody take it. Somebody try to move in that right now. They gonna shut it down. The community misses me. And I did so much for that community. I miss it.
When you first saw this battle arena set up, how did you feel?
I’m be truthful with you. I’m be a man with you. I had to hold back my tears because a lot of people don’t know the struggle to get here. It took us 10 years to get here. For us to go from where we was and how people looked at us like we was the black sheep from day one. People saying we don’t represent our culture, the struggles of trying to open up shops. And they sit here talking about, “oh they’re on TV. All they do is fighting.” And this, that and the third. Now we finally got something for us. Now it’s fair game.
I know it’s in your head. What’s the next step for the takeover?
The tour. Yeah, the tour. I’m going straight to conventions. After that, it’s going to be like a music festival. I’m going to make it almost like a Black Woodstock. It’s so much more to the Black Ink culture than just tattooing.
The pandemic hit at an unfortunate time for the Compton leg of the Black Ink Crew franchise. As viewers were able to get introduced to the cast of Compcon artists, a halt in production, and the entire world, delayed more of the stories the shop led by iamCompton.
Now, Black Ink Crew: Compton is back in season two, allowing us to learn more about the hottest Black artists on the nation’s west coast. iamCompton led that group to Atlanta to take on their counterparts from the Chicago and New York Shops.
While on hand in Atlanta, iamCompton spoke with The SOURCE about owning the first tattoo shop in Compton, gearing up for the “Battle of the Tattoo Titans,” and more.
As a fan of Black Ink, I feel like the pandemic screwed me over. Just as we got introduced to you all, the story got cut short. How was it being a shop owner and continuing business right after the initial stages of opening the shop and then the pandemic?
Honestly, it was a struggle as a first-time shop owner. Trying to do something in Compton, being the first tattoo shop ever in Compton. It was a lot of pressure on me. And then when the pandemic hit, it was like, oh man, I got this far and now I got to somehow keep it above water. I just took it one day at a time and thank God that I’m here now.
Do you feel there is a never-ending set of roadblocks and challenges?
Oh for sure. Obstacles come left and right through life it’s it is a rollercoaster, but I’ll never stop. Might ease out for a while but that’s, that’s part of life going through those hurdles.
What have you learned about yourself as a person, but also a business owner, and then a tattoo artist?
Don’t take nothing personal. It’s just business. Don’t mix emotions with business.
When you got here to Atlanta and saw the setup for the competition. How did you feel?
That was exciting. I was like, oh, hold up. We important [laughs]. Y’all took the time out to do something for us. You get kind of numb when you been working for a long time and tattooing a lot of people or to see somebody spend $1,500 on a pair of shoes or $5,000 on a bag, but they didn’t want to pay for $500 tattoo at the most. It throws you off and you feel like you are not doing enough and it’s a difficult job. Now, everything changed and now people appreciate it a little more for art. And even the things like the NFTs and stuff, the artists being more appreciated, more valuable. And that’s what I felt walking out like, oh, y’all value us. So it was excitement, a good feeling.
When you first heard about this battle and everything coming together for it, placing you in the same arena with the other two shops and on this grand stage, what was your initial thoughts?
I thought it was dope. I thought it was a great idea. I’ve been waiting to be a part of something cool like that. I didn’t know what it was, but that was it. You can take this all over the world and have fun with it. It’s the culture and it’s a part of my brand. I done dreamed about this environment, not knowing it, you know what I’m saying? I can do what I love.
This is a family environment, but at the same time, there’s a level of competitiveness that comes into it. How did you prepare yourself and your team for this?
I think they got a lot of competitive nature. I wasn’t concerned about them competing, but as far as coming and being prepared and having everything you need on a spot and then like do this right now and figure it out. You got this amount of time with the pressure for cameras and, and stuff like that. It’s difficult. But we deal with that anyway. So I think it’s dope. It’s all fun. It’s all up. At the same time, you can display your talent. They get to show their skills under pressure and see what obstacles they overcome at the end of the day. We all get a chance to use the platform to show people what we do.
Reflecting back on season one, was there a big lesson you would take a way from it?
I think I would have did the tattoo shop thing a couple of years before the show. It’s still cool that I did it the way I did it. Cause I showed the process of starting and building it from scratch. You got to see the struggles and then there you gonna be at two years from now.
You’re competing against Ryan and Ceasar. You are a boss in your own right. How do you feel coming into it? Do you look at yourself as the underdog or the upstart that is taking on the guys who have had more TV time?
Honestly, when I played football I learned to focus on your assignment and what you are supposed to do. Now me, one on one, I play receiver I’m on that island. It’s a DB trying to stop me. I’m not even worried about you. I’m calm. I know my assignment. I know what I need to do. As long as I can get to the zone, I’m good. Take your time. Be patient, keep calm. Do the assignment, get in the zone. Once you in that zone, your talent going to speak. Your art is going to speak. And this is what we do.
You art ranges from tattooing to music. Where do you draw the inspiration for your music?
I’m speaking on situations that I’m been through. I seen my life flash before my eyes and I’ve been robbed and woke up to some gun in my face. I done seen life from a different perspective. So all of this is fun. I just take it one day at a time.
On this day in 1993, the legendary Wu-Tang Clan began their reign as one of the most powerful and influential rap groups in history by releasing their debut single, “Protect Ya Neck.” With this track, Wu-Tang took the rap game by storm with a style unheard and an attitude unseen. “Protect Ya Neck” set a tone in Hip Hop that shifted the genre toward a more hardcore, rugged sound.
Originally recorded in a different order with a completely different beat, group member RZA took the liberty to reconstruct the song in post-production to the goliath that we all know and love. According to him, all he needed was the vocals of the group. The original beat used was just a placeholder used to get the verses. RZA’s unique style also incorporated the kung-fu film dialogue and fought scenes throughout the track. This unique style of production became a trend for Wu-Tang Clan.
To clarify any confusion about who is who on the song, the order of verses is as follows: Inspectah Deck, Raekwon, Method Man, U-God, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Ghostface Killah, RZA, & GZA. The single was first released independently through Wu-Tang Records and had “After the Laughter Comes Tears” as the B-side. Loud Records later re-released it with “Method Man” as the B-side. It sold 10,000 copies.
Ceaser’s GOTTA be up to something. 
