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When it comes to hip-hop history, Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh have been holding it down in a major way with their People’s Party podcast. In the latest episode, the pair recently connected with DJ Clark Kent (who produced three tracks on Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt), who shared a few key insights about his early days working with Biggs, Dame Dash, and a still-hustling Jay-Z. 

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When asked about the process of convincing a young Jay-Z to give up hustling in favor of pursuing a rap career, Clark Kent has a chuckle. “Everybody who was a part of Roc-a-Fella in the very-very-very beginning overlapped,” he reflects, alluding to the two worlds of hip-hop and hustling. “Biggs overlapped, Dame overlapped. Jay overlapped. It’s just I’m out there going No. Make this rap shit. You have to understand, I had a job at a rap company very young. I was like no. We gotta do this instead.”

“I got there, and two days later I’m trying to find [Jaz-O] and Jay-Z,” he continues. “Like no, we gotta do this. Because they’re the first rappers I thought should have a record deal. I went looking for them, and it took a while to find them, but it was we need to be doing this. I just didn’t want to die, I didn’t want to go to jail. I wanted things to be going better. And I didn’t want them to go to jail.” 

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“They had actual true talent,” praises Clark. “I been around some people who rap, and I’m like yeah, I’m cool. I been around some people who sing, I’m like yeah, I’m cool. When I heard Jay and Jaz the first time, when we was all teenagers, I was like — that’s some other shit.” When Jasmin Leigh inquires about when the decision was made to stop hustling, Kent draws up a frame of reference. “I think right about the time Reasonable Doubt dropped. It was like oh shit, it’s working. The thing was, [Jay] was going to retire. I was the only one who knew he wasn’t retiring. He’s way too talented and it’s not going to be enough.” 

“He was doing way too well before rap,” he continues. “This rap thing was going to do fine, but it’s not going to do as well in the beginning. But it’s just way too easy for him. They all believed that it would just be one album, and we’d laugh at everyone. I’m the only one telling people around me ‘it’s not going to be one album.'” 

For more from DJ Clark Kent, including a bit of history about the creation of Jay and Big’s “Brooklyn’s Finest,” be sure to catch the full episode of Talib Kweli’s People’s Party below. 

Yesterday marked International Women’s Day and Megan Thee Stallion unveiled massive plans to commemorate the holiday. The rapper partnered with Fashion Nova, once again, to hand out another round of scholarships and grants worth $1M to young women as part of a new initiative called “Women On Top.” These scholarships and grants are meant to support “women entrepreneurs, female students, women-owned businesses, and women-focused charities.”

For the remainder of Women’s History Month, Fashion Nova Cares and Megan Thee Stallion will offer pre-selected recipients a grant of $25K or more. I’m excited to collaborate with Fashion Nova Cares on the Women on Top initiative and be part of giving $1 million to support women-led businesses and organizations,” Megan said in a statement. “These donations are life changing and will help women of all ages get one step closer to making their dreams a reality.”

She revealed that the first recipient of the first $25K is the YWCA in her hometown of Houston, TX who she recently agreed to help in the midst of the Texas winter freeze.

This is the latest scholarship fund Meg’s launched in her name. In October, she launched the Don’t Stop Scholarship Fund for women of color who are pursuing higher education. 

Shout out to Megan Thee Stallion for the dope initiative. Check out her announcement for the scholarship below. 

Female rap icon, Trina, posted a series of photos of her and Rick Ross in close quarters, at the “Rap Snacks” event celebrating Trina’s new line of chips with the hip-hop-facing company. 

In both photos and video, the two Florida rappers wear big flirty smiles, while Ross seemingly holds the Boss Lady in a loving grip. Trina captioned one of the photos “Biggest @richforever,” with a heart emoji.

The Florida native captioned another one of the photos “Family ..,” presumed to be shutting down the dating rumors before they started. However, fans still seemed to be quite excited about the potential pairing. 

One user commented, “Why y’all can’t just be together for the culture ya look so good together.” While another.  person commented, “Let me put my left foot in the game now #iykyk,” referencing their iconic collaboration “Told Y’all” that was featured in the All About The Benjamins film starring Ice Cube and Mike Epps. 

There’s no secret Ricky Rozay and Trina go way back and have been supportive of each other since Ross’ pre-fame days. In an interview from 2011, Trina expressed her deep admiration for the Maybach Music Group leader, saying he is no ordinary emcee. 

Back in the day, there were rumors that the two rappers dated. However, the “Aston Martin Music” rapper revealed the two never actually connected romantically, because he never made it out of the friend zone. 

At one point, they were labelmates, both having deals with Slip-N-Slide Records. Ross departed the label in the late 2000s, but their friendship  remains strong, as evident by these new photos.

While Trina claims it’s a family type of love, is there potential for a romance between the two? Let us know what you think in the comments.