On this date in 2007, Jay-Z released his American Gangster album, which also served as the soundtrack to the movie of the same name with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.
It was a conceptual album that was inspired by the film of the same name. The album spawned hits like “I Know”, “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)”, and “Blue Magic”. Guest features include Idris Elba, Lil Wayne, Beanie Sigel, and Nas. The album features production from Diddy, The Neptunes, Just Blaze, and The Hitmen.
American Gangster debuted at number one on Billboard 200, selling 425,861 copies in the first week. This album tied Jigga with Elvis Presley for second-most number one albums. It was a commercial success and viewed as a good follow-up from Hov’s 2006 album Kingdom Come.
Last week, several reports confirmed that Boot Camp Clik co-founder Buckshot Shorty was the victim of a vicious attack in his home borough of Brooklyn, resulting in the “Who Got The Props” rapper being hospitalized with serious injuries.
Today, the Boot Camp Clik put out a collective statement via social media with an update on Buck’s condition as well as a notice to have all videos of the unprovoked assault to be taken down.
There are still no suspects nor a motive for this attack. The assault occurred in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, where Buckshot, whose real name is Kenyatta Blake, is known to reside.
Buckshot Shorty’s acclaim comes with over three decades of history in Hip Hop since the launch of Black Moon’s 1993 debut album Enta Da Stage. This album spawned the career of several legendary notables in the culture including Smif N’ Wessun and Heltah Skeltah, one of whose members is the late Sean Price.
Drake is being criticized by ATL Hip-Hop pioneer Jermaine Dupri for not attending the historic LilWeezyAna Festival honoring Lil Wayne in New Orleans over the weekend.
Dupri let Drake feel the heat after the festival, but Drizzy was tied up courtside at the Toronto Raptors game.
Dupri wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “This is amazing !! Southern HipHop at its best,” before adding: “I cant believe drake missed that, couldn’t have been me.” The So So Def founder then added, “Pardon me for getting excited about the amazing show they just had, ima HipHop nigga and this was a moment.”
Dupri was referring to the monumental reunion of all the Hot Boys members, including Turk, B.G., Mannie Fresh, and Juvenile. This was the first time all Hot Boys were on stage together in over 25 years.
Cash Money head honcho Birdman and in-house producer Mannie Fresh joined the crew on stage to perform “I Need a Hot Girl,” sealing the Cash Money reunion after decades of feuding and legal issues.
To cap off the historic moment, Mayor LaToya Cantrell and NOLA rap legend Master P gave Weezy his own day and the key to the City of New Orleans.
On this date in 1996, Tupac Amaru Shakur posthumously released the final album of his illustrious career.
26 years ago today, just two months after the untimely murder of Tupac on the Las Vegas strip alongside Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight, the fifth and final album, Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, was released. Recognized as ‘Pac’s most influential body of work, the Killuminati album was not only his most controversial, but its concept still has many of his fans believing that ‘Pac is still alive. Besides his beef with Nas, Jay-Z, B.I.G., and almost any relevant New York rapper you can think of, the album hinges on the life of Makaveli, a play on the name of Italian writer and philosopher Nicollo Machiavelli, who is believed to have staged his own death.
The album was originally set to be dropped in March of 1997, but after Shakur was killed, Death Row boss Suge Knight released the album four months later. Ironically, Brooklyn rap rival Notorious B.I.G. was shot down in Los Angeles, California on March 9, 1997.
The album, recorded in 12 days in August 1996, hosted a list of timeless, classic singles including “Hail Mary”, “Me And My Girlfriend” and “Against All Odds”; all of which were remade by premiere artists after Shakur’s death. The 5X platinum album has been listed as one of the top-selling Hip Hop albums of all time.
Cornell Haynes Jr., aka Nelly, was born on this date in 1974. Today, the Country Grammar rapper turns 50.
Nelly has put out timeless hits such as “Country Grammar” and “Ride Wit Me,” which became radio darlings, cementing his rightful place on the charts. Not to mention, the STL native’s technical influence is also massively underrated. He is one of the first artists to bring the sing-rapping technique into the mainstream (yes, Bone Thugs did too), which helped influence newer artists after him. It’s possible that 808s-era Kanye West and peak-T-Pain would sound different without Nelly doing the singing sound before them. Drake, Ty Dolla $ign, Kid Cudi share these same attributes as they all come from the sound the “Hot In Herre” rapper helped establish.
Nelly managed to help establish a sound and had a massive cross-over appeal. The fact that he collaborated with peak-NSYNC made him a household name. Sooner than later, kids would sport cartoon band-aids on cheeks right below the eye, imitating the St. Louis legend. When it came to fashion, he was THE guy. Apple Bottoms became a popular brand in the early 2000s, started by the rapper, and later expanded to include women’s and girls’ clothing, perfume, and accessories. The brand was also name-dropped in several popular songs, some of which included: Twista’s “Overnight Celebrity,” MC Jin’s “36-24-36,”, T-Pain’s hook on Flo-Rida’s “Low,” DaCav5’s “Tetris,” and Eminem’s “Shake That.”
The man-made us want gold grills and convinced us through representation that country music was cool. Outside of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, the Midwest was not making sounds in mainstream rap. Although Kanye West arrived on the scene four years later, Nelly first helped bring light to an area full of potential. Artists like Chingy benefited greatly from Nelly’s success. Chingy opened up shows for Nelly at the beginning of his career, eventually putting him in front of Ludacris to sign up for DTP. St. Lunatic’s own, Murphy Lee, was also the only member of the group to earn a Gold album and single due to Nelly’s popularity.
His popularity is key to his success. With a classic album under his belt in Country Grammar, the project was certified Diamond. Nellyville went 6x multi-Platinum worldwide, the Sweat and Suit albums went Platinum and 3x multi-Platinum, respectively, and the Sweatsuit compilation went Gold.
On July 18 of this year, newlyweds Nelly and his wife Ashanti welcomed their first child, Kareem Kencaide.
On this day in Hip-Hop history, veteran MC Rakim released his debut solo LP, The 18th Letter. Coming off of the infamous split of Eric B. and Rakim and a five-year hiatus, this album was surprisingly thorough and left no room to doubt Rakim’s resilience in the ever-changing Hip-Hop world.
Although far removed from his heyday, Rakim delivered an LP that debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 and stayed true to the technique that made him rich. Tapping-producing legends DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Clark Kent(RIP), and Father Shaheed(RIP), Rakim produced a solid Golden Era album at a time when mafioso rap was taking New York by storm. Peaking only one spot beneath one of New York’s newest brightest stars, Jay-Z, this album proves that Rakim ages like wine regarding his lyrical mastery and microphone prowess.
The album also came with a second disc, The Book of Life, which was an Eric B & Rakim greatest hits album.
On this day in film history, Hype Williams’ 1998 masterpiece Belly was released in theaters. Starring New York legends Nas and DMX, Belly follows the life and times of Tommy Bunds (DMX) and Sincere (Nas). The two get by as run-of-the-mill professional criminals ducking and dodging their way to their idea of a better life. While DMX’s character is fine with continuing to stick-and-move and stack as much money as possible until it catches up with him, Nas’ role is looking to better himself and move his family ‘back to Africa’.
The film’s star-studded cast included Taral Hicks, T-Boz of TLC, Method Man, AZ, the late Louis Rankin, and Oliver “Power” Grant with cameos from Ghostface Killah and Sean Paul.
Although the movie may have been poorly received by critics across the board, this movie helped shape a generation. Hype Williams’ portrayal of this side of rap culture electrified not only those who were experiencing the themes of the film; but, it reached the millennials who were soon to take the reigns of pop culture. Films like Belly created an image that was directly emulated by the next generation of rappers. Without its influence and appeal the lifestyle led by artists like Jay-Z, Dip Set, and even A$AP Mob might have not have been as glamorized.
The film also spawned one of the greatest Hip Hop movie soundtracks of all time, featuring tracks from D’Angelo, Mya, Raekwon, N.O.R.E., Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Wu-Tang Clan, and the film’s stars. The soundtrack peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 and #2 Top R&B/Hip Hop chart making it one of the highest-charting Hip-Hop film soundtracks to date. The album’s sole single “Grand Finale” featuring Nas, DMX, Method Man, and Ja Rule peaked at #63 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop singles chart.
On this day in Hip Hop history, Brooklyn’s own living legend Jay-Z released his sophomore album In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. Debuting at #3 on the Billboard 200 and selling over a million copies within a year of it’s release, this album marked the beginning of the Roc La Familia Dynasty.
With this album, Jay-Z began to move away from the popular theme of mafioso rap that had taken New York by storm. He and his Roc-a-Fella cohorts brought in a new trend altogether, ushering in the Jiggy Era. With Jay-Z’s artistic maturity came a more seasoned swagger. Musically, Jay-Z operated with the demeanor of a kingpin. His deliver had an air of authority behind it and every bar laid down was extravagant yet rarely exaggerated. If Reasonable Doubt was a taste of his ability, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 is a true introduction to the MC the world would come to know and love.
Commercially, the album was quite a success. It boasts an extensive lineup of guest features including Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, Babyface, Blackstreet, Teddy Riley, Too $hort, and Puff Daddy to name a few. The production of the project was also a step up from his debut. Instead of sticking to the traditional New York one-rapper-one-DJ model, Hov outsourced the bulk of the production to Bad Boy‘s Hitmen, with DJ Premier and Ski still getting a few placements. By incorporating Puffy’s beat-making dream team, Jay was able to stay true to New York with his sound and take advantage of the Bad Boy hype without actually joining the team.
With the recent passing of both 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G., the battle for the top spot became a free-for-all with no clear leader. This project, however, made Jay-Z the front runner for the Hip Hop crown. It could be said that before this album their had yet to be a release on par with (or even close to) Life After Death and All Eyez on Me. This album game the rap game hope in a new messiah, Je-HOVA.
51 years ago today, rapper, actor, director, and producer Sticky Fingaz was born
On this day in Hip Hop history, Kirk Jones bka Sticky Fingaz was born in Brooklyn, New York. Known as the frontman for the trailblazing rap group Onyx and various appearances on screen and television, Sticky Fingaz has worked his way into being a distinguished part of hip hop culture.
With Onyx, Jones became a huge success. The group’s debut album Bacdafucup had huge commercial success and went multi-platinum. Since the multiplatinum debut, the group has released four other albums. Jones also released two albums as a solo artist titled Black Trash: The Autobiography of Kirk Jones and “Decade ‘…but wait it gets worse’” featuring artists such as Eminem, Raekwon, Redman, Canibus, and Omar Epps. He was also featured on Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP and Snoop Dogg’s No Limit Top Dogg.
As an actor, Jones has been very successful over the years. He has had roles in many movies that have played a big part in hip-hop culture and others that have become household names. For Sticky’s born day, we here at TheSource.com have compiled a list the top five roles that he has been casted in:
Eddie Mathematics: In 2004 Jones played prison kingpin Eddie Mathematics in the film Doing Hard Time starring Boris Kodjoe
Scientific: In 1995 Jones was cast as Scientific in the Spike Lee JointClockers about a street-level drug dealer who becomes entangled in a murder investigation.
Tyrone: In 2000, Jones was casted as Deebo’s sidekick Tyrone in cult classic Next Friday.
Blade: In 2006, Jones was cast as the lead, Blade, in the Spike Television rendition of the infamous Marvel antihero. The show ran 13 episodes.
Wink: In 2007, Jones was casted as Wink in the very popular video game ‘Def Jam: Icon’. His character had a huge role in the plot line of the video game’s story mode.
The Mind Squad would like to send a supreme posthumous born day salute to Albert “Prodigy” Johnson, the lyrical half of the “Infamous” Mobb Deep. In 2017, the Hip-Hop community lost Prodigy in what is recognized as a freak hospital accident, with reports stating that P passed after choking on an egg while hospitalized for his sickle cell condition.
Prodigy will forever be remembered as one of NYC’s powerhouses of the rap game, repping the Rotten Apple in feuds within the five boroughs (Jay-Z, Tru Life) and cross country (Tupac, Crooked I). With his QB partner Havoc, the Hempstead, Long Island native inherited the crown as the king of NYC crime rhyme from his elder Queens comrade Kool G. Rap and upheld his position for over two decades. P’s solo career was stellar in its own right, with his H.N.I.C. trilogy as one of the best solo efforts from an NYC artist who came from a group since Busta Rhymes.
Salute to Prodigy on what would’ve been his 50th birthday, and his contributions through his art and music will maintain his relevance in Hip-Hop forever. R.I.P.!
