On this date in 2004, Def Jam Records through the Roc-A-Fella imprint dropped the debut album of the uber-talented producer/emcee Kanye West properly entitled College Dropout.
The LP debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 441,000 copies during its first week. The five singles that achieved chart success and got him a Grammy award at the 47th Grammy Awards include “Through the Wire” and “Jesus Walks”. The singles “All Falls Down” and “Slow Jamz” charted within the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the Jamie Foxx and Twista feature also charted number one.
It is West’s best-selling album in the United States, with domestic sales of 3.4 million and worldwide over 4 million copies. It’s been listed among the greatest debut albums of all time and by Time and Rolling Stone as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Days after the Recording Industry honored West Coast Hip Hop pioneer Dr. Dre. former host of Fox’s Pump It Up Dee Barnes condemns the Grammys’ choice to honor Dr.Dre.
Barnes slammed the decision to honor the N.W.A. co-founder with the inaugural “Dr. Dre Global Impact Award” at the Black Music Collective honors ceremony. Barnes spoke to Rolling Stone about the decision saying, “Everybody wants to separate the art from the artist, and sometimes that’s just not possible…They named this award after an abuser.”
Shecontinued, “It wasn’t just a one or two-time thing; these are choices. The first time, it’s maybe a mistake. The second time, okay. The third time, it’s a choice. I’m not saying he is the same person now, though. I don’t know. I’m not around him anymore. I haven’t talked to him.” She even said, “They might as well call [the honor] the ‘Ike Turner Award.’”
Barnes’ gripe comes from an alleged assault by Dr. Dre back on January 27, 1991 when Dre encountered Barnes at a record release party in Hollywood. According to Barnes, he picked her up by her hair and “began slamming her head and the right side of her body repeatedly against a brick wall near the stairway” as his bodyguard held off the crowd with a gun. After Dre tried to throw her down the stairs and failed, he began kicking her in the ribs and hands. She escaped and ran into the women’s restroom.
Dre pleaded no contest to the assault. He was fined $2,500, placed on two years’ probation, and ordered to perform 240 hours of community service and produce an anti-violence public service announcement. The lawsuit was settled out of court.
Several news reports have confirmed that We The Best Music Group head honcho DJ Khaled has a major announcement during a press conference alongside Jay-Z’s Roc Nation team in Miami today(February 9).
“#FANLUV WORLDWIDE,” Khaled captioned the post. “PRESS CONFERENCE ALERT! SAVE THE DATE – FEB 9TH Tune in LIVE on my IG! More info coming soon. @wethebest @rocnation”
This announcement was made days after Khaled’s monumental performance of his Grammy-nominated single “GOD DID” alongside Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, John Legend, Rick Ross and Fridayy.
Hov admitted that he wasn’t sure if h would even perform his entire verse, telling TIDAL in an interview, “I thought about it, I was in my head and I just broke down and said, ‘You know, it’s a four-minute verse.’ Again, for the culture, for Hip Hop, we got to do that,” he said. “This ain’t your traditional song. … It’s not your traditional structure of what you think a song that would be nominated for Song of the Year would sound like. It’s not what you expect. And for the culture and for Hip Hop, we got to do that.”
In January, Roc Nation announced a partnership with DJ Khaled, Shyne and The Walt Disney Company that will oversee Khaled and Roc Nation’s production of one of four biographical projects.
According to former Bad Boy rapper Shyne, his new deal through the Disney-owned brands ESPN and Andscape will see the release of a documentary, a new biopic, a docu-series and his own autobiography.
“Very pleased, very grateful that I was able to close a deal with Walt Disney and their subsidiaries ESPN and Andscape to produce my bio-documentary, bio-motion picture and bio-TV series, as well as my memoir,” the Belizean politician said. “The documentary will be executive produced by DJ Khaled and Roc Nation. So stay tuned, we will begin production here in Belize in the Spring. And we look for a 2024 Summer release.”
Today’s press conference is scheduled for noon today.
Several reports hav confirmed that NFL legend and commentator Michael Irvin has been yanked from covering the 2023 Super Bowl following a woman’s unspecified complaint at the hotel where the former Cowboy was staying.
Irvin responded to the allegations on Dallas’ “Shan & RJ” show on 105.3 the Fan on Wednesday(February 8), saying, “Sunday night … when I came into the hotel, they asked what I did and I said, ‘I just went straight to the room,’” Irvin said. “But I guess I had met somebody in the lobby. Talked to somebody in the lobby for about a minute and then I went to my room. And then after I got up there, they said they had to move me in the hotel. I said, ‘Move me in the hotel for what?’”
Irvin went on saying, “They said, ‘Well, last night you walked in, you talked to somebody.’ I said, ‘I didn’t talk to anybody. I went straight to the room.’ And then they showed it on camera that I did talk to somebody. I talked to this girl for about a minute. I don’t know what — they didn’t show it to me. They told it to me. I didn’t see it. But that’s why they moved me, because I guess the girl said I said something to her within that minute that we talked, and so they moved me.”
The NFL Hall Of Famer remained adamant about his innocence, stating that there was no physical contact beyond a handshake.
Irvin is a famed sportscaster for ESPN and a football legend in his own right, with the Cowboys famed wide receiver being inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 2007.
TheSource.com will update this story as more details develop.
Jazz has again begun to find its way into mainstream Hip-Hop. With the success of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, more artists have started to incorporate the classic brass and string jazz sound. On this day in Hip Hop history, one of the first jazz-fusion Hip-Hop albums, Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) was released by Brooklyn-based trio Digable Planets in 1993.
Peaking at #81 on the Billboard 200, this successful debut introduced a fresh new element to the boom-bap scene in New York. With members hailing from all corners of the country (Butterfly from Seattle, Ladybug Mecca from Washington D.C., and Doodlebug from Philadelphia), Digable Planets was able to bring a unique flair to the conscious rap game. Although not as overtly political as the group follow up album, this project does touch on some controversial subjects such as abortion rights and artistic drug abuse. The album’s hit single “The Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” has become a Hip Hop classic. By peaking at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100, selling 500,000 copies in a year, and winning the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by Duo or Group, this single cemented its place in music history. The song is still used to this day in various advertisements, TV shows, and movies.
LisaRaye McCoy hit up the Breakfast Club to discuss past rumors addressing previous comments she made about her former ‘Single Ladies’ co-star Stacey Dash.
LisaRaye McCoy and Stacey Dash starred alongside each other in the Queen Latifah-produced show ‘Single Ladies,’ which aired on VH1 for three seasons and had a final fourth season on BET.
After the first season, Stacey Dash’s character, Val did not return for season 2. Although Stacey Dash said that family issues caused her exit from the show, LisaRaye previously revealed that an explosive verbal fight happened on set, which could be the real reason behind her leaving.
During her recent appearance on The Breakfast Club, LisaRaye was asked to recall a previous issue she had with Stacey Dash. According to LisaRaye, she did not try to fight the “Clueless” actress during their time working together.
LisaRaye shared, “No, I wasn’t really trying to fight her. I just wanted her to finish saying what she was trying to say. Because I really wanted to understand where that came from because it was [confusing]. It was 2–3 o’clock in the morning we all were tired, I’m like, I’m saying my line, you the one. So how can I help you.”
Breakfast Club co-host DJ Envy then interjected and called LisaRaye‘s comment untrue. He also jokingly suggested that she was going to fight Stacey Dash.
“That’s cap…You were going to beat her a**.”
LisaRaye then admitted that had the argument escalated, it may have gotten physical.
“Yes, there was a disagreement over a scene. And it really wasn’t with me. It was with the director. I think it was about 2 or 3 a.m., and we’d been shooting all damn day. Stacey tried to argue with the director about a line. And I’m like: ‘Girl, if you don’t say what the director wants you to say.’ It wasn’t that serious at first, but it went there.”
“It’s like 2:00 in the morning and we’re still at it. And she gets an attitude and she doesn’t say her line to me. So even the director was like, ‘Stacey, look at [LisaRaye’s character, Keisha] when you deliver that line and then leave.’ So, by the fourth or fifth take I’m thinking, ‘This is just a one-liner, like, girl, what’s the problem?’ And that’s what I say.”
“And she looks and rolls her eyes, but you know I don’t think nothing … but honey child, when I tell you when the director had to come out and speak to her, I had walked over to Stacey and said, ‘Just say the line,’ she put her finger in my face and said, ‘You can’t tell me anything.’”
LisaRaye then said people “could hear a pin drop on set” before adding that she “went Southside Chicago” on Stacey Dash.
“I just said, ‘Stacy, if you don’t take your motherf–king finger out my face…’ but that’s all I had to say because by that time she was taking her heels off and strutting to her dressing room,”
“and I was like hold on, ‘You got more to say? Because I can meet you in your dressing room! You want it, you can have it.’”
LisaRaye was then asked if she got Stacey Dash fired, to which she immediately replied,
A new video has surfaced from the day of the 2018 murder of South Florida rapper XXXXtentacion, where video footage shows the 20-year-old rapper withdrew $50,000 from his bank before he was a victim of an armed robbery that turned into a murder.
CBS reports that X “had originally sought to withdraw $250,000 from a Coconut Creek Bank of America but the branch didn’t have that much cash on hand.” His would-be killers were searching for people to rob in the area and XXXtentacion, whose real name is Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, happened to be one of their victims by chance.
“Their plan was to rob someone that day,” state attorney Pascale Achille told the jury. “They had firearms and masks and the capability to do it.”
She added, “Trayvon Newsome and Michael Boatwright began communicating” with the two others outside in the SUV,” Achile said. “They see he’s a celebrity.”
Multi-Grammy and Emmy-winning artist and producer RobertGlasper returns to Napa Valley this summer as the 2023 Artist in Residence at the second annual Blue Note Jazz Festival, taking place at The Silverado Resort in Napa Valley, July 28-30th. In 2022, Glasper curated and performed at the inaugural weekend—a collaboration inspired by his annual residency at the legendary New York jazz club, with headliners including Black Star, Snoop Dogg, Chaka Khan, Maxwell, Dinner Party, Madlib, Thundercat, Flying Lotus, JD & Domi Beck, Corinne Bailey Rae and special guest host Dave Chappelle.
The festival was glowingly covered in a VIBE cover story, proclaiming the experience was “years of musical history and our ancestors’ wildest dreams rolled into one.” The festival will be co-hosted by Chapelle again this year, with an array of special guests, which always includes legendary acts and upcoming voices.
Robert Glasper’s acclaimed Black Radio III album, hot off of winning the Grammy for Best R&B Album, is out now on Loma Vista Recordings and features a wide array of legendary guests including H.E.R., Jennifer Hudson, Common, Q-Tip, Ty Dolla $ign, Killer Mike, Big K.R.I.T, PJ Morton, Estelle, Meshell Ndegeocello, Bilal, BJ The Chicago Kid, Esperanza Spalding, India Arie, Lalah Hathaway, Alex Isley and more. In 2021, the album’s single won Best R&B Song for “Better Than I Imagined” with H.E.R. & Meshell Ndgeocello.
Critical accolades for Black Radio III over the past year include NPR’s 20 Best R&B Albums of 2022 and 50 Best Albums of 2022, as well as praise in OkayPlayer, UPROXX, Variety, ABC News’ Live Prime, SPIN and more. In October, Glasper returned to his legendary Blue Note residency, dubbed Robtober, at the iconic New York City jazz club with guest appearances from Thundercat, Common, Miguel, Lalah Hathaway, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, The Who/D’Angelo bassist Pino Palladino, Terrace Martin and more.
Last week, music mogul and the unofficial mayor of Houston, J. Prince, spoke on Takeoff and his relationship with Offset at the time of Takeoff’s untimely death on Gillie and Wallo’s A Million Dollaz Worth Of Game podcast. Offset contended that Prince’s opinions were offensive to Takeoff’s family, but the Rap-A-Lot mogul claims that Quavo and Takeoff’s family didn’t “really f*** with” Offset.
Prince took to IG today(February 8) to “warn” the Migos member, saying, “This clown Offset suffering from being a fake motherf**** disease. He wanna play victim now, but he was a volunteer when he spoke threats about me and my family name in his mouth about what he gonna do. ‘Why you didn’t call me to talk’ is the twist he wanna use. Tell lies in your woman ear, n****. I don’t have time to listen to weak s***. Now you wanna fake in front of a camera, trying to hide behind Takeoff’s mother when I’ve shown nothing but respect for her and [her] family. See, boy, you acting like you’re a part of a family that don’t really f*** with you because you’re a snake.”
“Now you don’t know me from a can of paint. Let me see if I can refresh your memory,” Prince continued. “Remember we talked when you got your a** whooped in Atlanta? You forgot? Remember when you called upon me and I came to LA and met with you because you was nervous about your wife performing because she had them issues about using the word ‘flu’? You forgot? Remember when you and Sauce Walka was beefing and you wanted me to stamp that bulls***? You forgot that too? I can go on, but I think you remember now.”
Prince then added what he alleges is the “real reason” why Offset didn’t join Quavo’s tribute to Takeoff at the Grammy Awards, adding, “See this is the reason I say blood make you kin and loyalty make you family because of motherf****** like you that have stuck a knife in the back of the ones you call your brother. Explain since you’re a real a** n****. Explain to the people the real reason why you weren’t on that stage at the Grammys with Quavo, who you call your brother, for the tribute. You ain’t man enough to do that because you what we call a tender d*** n****. Takeoff, Quavo, and the family wasn’t f***** with you for a while before his passing and still don’t f*** with you because you a rattlesnake n****. Quavo been letting you make it because he gotta good heart. It’s consequences when you f*** with me. I don’t have no heart for no snake, and I give you what you ask for. And by the way, I don’t think I’m no John Gotti. That ain’t who I looked up to. It’s no secret who my OG is — the flag you perpetrate with. Homie, you better go do what you do best. Write some rhymes and quit playing gangsta. I don’t want no trouble, peace.”
Blue Note Jazz Club, New York City’s iconic cultural institution, has joined in on celebrating Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary. Last night the club showcased some of the best of the genre with the second night of Talib Kweli’s four night run. Joined by DMC and Bob James, they performed some of Run DMC’s hits like “Rock Box” and “Walk This Way.” The night also featured a stirring performance of Bob James’ “Nautilus” (the most sampled song in Hip Hop), a surprise rendition of Mobb Deep’s classic “The Learning” from Havoc (Mobb Deep) himself, and an announced sit-in from New York rapper Buckshot. Hip-hop heavyweights RZA and Smif-N-Wessun were spotted in the crowd.
