Fresh Pair — starring legendary sonic architect Just Blaze and sneaker-customizer-to-the-GOATs, Katty Customs –is back in the studio, mixing up their sneaker magic for hip-hop’s finest. In the chair this time is Harlem rapper and actor Dave East, who took to his custom sneaker like a kid on Christmas.
East is known for his widely varied career — including a legendary run of mixtapes that is longer than most rapper’s whole careers, all released before his debut album — and impeccable sense of style, so Katty and Just had quite a challenge for themselves going into this one. Luckily, the team knocked it out of the park, gifting East a sneaker inspired by Nike’s game-changing multi-layered “What The Dunk?”
Like the What The Dunk, this custom sneaker features a wild-teetering-toward-chaotic mix of panels and colors. But unlike the original, this one tells the deeply personal story of Dave East. From panel to panel, East’s story unfolds like a comic book, touching on his b-ball origins, fallen friends, and entrepreneurial pursuits. We’ll hold off on divulging too many details here, but if you’re looking for a teaser here it is: East talks briefly about his project with Snoop, his relationship with the late Nipsey Hussle, his decision to portray Method Man in Wu-Tang: An American Saga, and which of his albums is the most personal to him.
N.O.R.E. says he was a bit disappointed to see JAY-Z sit down with Gayle King for their recent interview at the Brooklyn Public Library. Speaking with Talib Kweli for a chat on People’s Party, N.O.R.E. explained that he would’ve liked him to have done the interview with Joe Budden, Drink Champs, or another spot.
“I love JAY-Z,” he began. “He sat down with Gayle King, it’s a great relationship … would I rather him sit with the People’s Party? Would I rather him sit with Joe Budden’s podcast or Drink Champs or Million Dollaz Worth of Game? Of course. Because we’re finally in the space of us owning our own everything, and podcasts is help for that.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 13: Roc Nation CEO, Desiree Perez and Jay-Z attend The Book of HOV: A TRIBUTE EXHIBITION HONORING JAY-Z at Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library on July 13, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation)
During his conversation with King, JAY-Z spoke about a wide range of topics from throughout his career, including his favorite albums, the viral “$500,000 or a dinner with JAY-Z” debate, and more. When asked about what he’s focused on nowadays, the legendary rapper explained: “I think what matters most is, today, is, being a beacon and helping out … my culture. People of color. I think I pull the most satisfaction from that. Like making music earlier was, like — my first love. I could sit there for hours. It consumed me. Just finding words and figuring out words and how to say this and different ways to say that and different pockets and melodies and how to write this song.” Check out N.O.R.E.’s conversation on People’s Party below.
N.O.R.E. Speaks With Talib Kweli
Elsewhere in N.O.R.E.’s interview, he discussed working with Pharrell, his Drink Champs podcast, and more. Be on the lookout for further updates on further updates on N.O.R.E. and JAY-Z on HotNewHipHop.
Some West Coast legends stopped by The People’s Party With Talib Kweli this week. Ice Cube, E-40, and Too Short, of supergroup Mount Westmore (which also includes Snoop Dogg), made an appearance on the web series, on which, they discussed who could parallel them on the opposite side of the country.
On Ice Cube’s Mount Rushmore of East Coast rappers are Jay-Z and Nas. E-40 noted that he would also include Busta Rhymes in the allotted four, citing his innovative craft.
Short admitted that he would switch up his picks every single time, however, would always include “Hip-Hop Hooray” hitmakers Naughty By Nature in his selection.
While each of them had different picks for East Coast GOATs, 40 maintained that the current Mount Rushmore of West Coast rapper is indisputable.
“I haven’t seen not one person argue about us being Mount Westmore,” E-40 said. “Young or old, you can’t.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Cube, Short, and 40 spoke about another West Coast legend — Tupac — and what he meant to them. 40 recalled Pac shouting him out on one of his earlier albums, before 40 had blown up.
“If he f*cked with you, he f*cked with you,” said 40. “He was uplifting to females and the urban community as well.”
You can watch the full episode and hear all of their picks above.
Ice Cube reflected on meeting 2Pac during a recent appearance on Talib Kweli‘s People’s Party podcast. Appearing alongside E-40 and Too $hort, Cube remarked that 2Pac once said he wanted to make music like N.W.A.
Cube says that he met 2Pac while the late star was still a member of Digital Underground.
“He would always tell me like, you know, ‘This Digital shit is cool, man, but I want to do records like y’all,’” Cube said. “‘Cause where I live at, shit is fucked up. You know what I’m saying? I want to talk about how the shit is.’”
LAS VEGAS, NV – MAY 06: Rapper Ice Cube attends Daylight Beach Club at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on May 6, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images for Daylight Beach Club)
From there, Cube recalled seeing 2Pac’s career continue to take off until he became one of the most iconic hip-hop artists of all time.
“I was like ok ‘Pac is starting to move up from just being in the background to actually doing some songs then he went solo,” Cube added. “He was like, man I’m going to do my own thing. I still fuck with Digital but I’ma do my own thing.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, I can do the music I want to do.”
2Pac ended up leaving Digital Underground in 1991, the same year he dropped his debut album, 2Pacalypse Now. Over the next several years, he became one of the best-selling musical artists of all time.
Ice Cube recently released a new album with E-40 and Too $hort as members of Mount Westmore. The trio, along with Snoop Dogg, dropped Snoop, Cube, 40, $hort back on December 9, 2022.
Check out Ice Cube’s appearance on People’s Party alongside E-40 and Too $hort below.
Uproxx has a new show and in honor of its first guest, New York rap icon Jadakiss, we’re taking a look at some of the mixtape legend’s finest contributions to hip-hop’s ever-grown canon of gritty street classics. In the debut episode of Fresh Pair, hosts Just Blaze and Katty Customs sit down with Kiss to discuss his one-of-a-kind rap legacy, get his top five best rap voices in hip-hop, and show off a unique pair of custom sneakers inspired by his influential 25-year career. From his 1994 debut as a member of The Lox to a successful solo career to his recent star showings on Verzuz, Jadakiss has become one of rap’s most revered figures for his humor, wit, and Yonkers-bred charisma, as well as some of the hardest verses ever to grace a DAT tape. Here are just 20 of his absolute best.
Have you seen Jadakiss on Uproxx’s Fresh Pair? Check it out below!
20. “You Make Me Wanna” Feat. Mariah Carey
Over the years, Jadakiss has become best known as a rugged spitter, but he can make songs “for the ladies,” too. As was the custom in his early 2000s heyday, Jada’s R&B collabs proved to be as effective as his battle raps.
19.”Jadakiss Interlude” With DJ Khaled
What better testament to the long shadow Jadakiss casts over the rap world than having his own interlude on DJ Khaled’s God Did in which all he does is rap his ass off, no chorus, no hook, no fancy concept — just bars?
18. “Why” Feat. Anthony Hamilton
Jada’s first — and to date, only — foray into so-called “conscious rap” helped bring down the wall that separated the mainstream from socially aware hip-hop in the early 2000s. Part of the reason is due to the smart framing of “Why.” Rather than preaching at listeners, he invited them into the conversation, simply asking questions — instead of a local organizers’ meeting, “Why” sounds more like a barbershop conversation. Still, even as he wonders at the various shortcomings of society, he finds time to remind listeners why they tuned in to begin with: “Why is Jadakiss as hard as it gets?”
17. “Hot Sauce To Go”
The perfect track to display Jada’s penchant for picking unconventional beats, this Kiss Of Death smooth groover might not be a universal favorite, but it’s hard to deny the salsa flair of its Neptunes-produced beat. Pharrell provides a signature falsetto hook, while Kiss loses his normally gruff demeanor to show he can two-step when it’s time to. While he’s usually mean-mugging and threatening on tracks, this time, he’s ready to party.
16. “Put Ya Hands Up”
Like “We Gonna Make It,” “Put Ya Hands Up” originates from his solo debut album, Kiss Tha Game Goodbye. The third single from the album, it’s a gritty showcase for his head-spinning wordplay, which at the time, was still mind-blowingly novel at the mainstream level. “And y’all scared I can tell,” he boasts. “And I’ma get Bucks like Milwaukee cause like Sam I Can-sell.” In the future, this sort of intricate double entendre would be commonplace, especially on the battle rap circuit, but in 2001, it was like poetry in motion, ahead of its time.
15. “By Your Side”
Although it’s more emotive than some of his earlier material, this standout from Jada’s 2004 album Kiss Of Death still matches with his rugged sensibilities courtesy of a hard-hitting beat by Baby Grand. Weaving a narrative ode to both friends and foes in the streets, Kiss also weaves his flow between the catchy vocal sample, as usual demonstrating that his lyrical talents are up to just about any challenge — even those he imposes on himself.
14. “F*** You” With The Lox
Sidebar: We Are The Streets, The Lox’s 1999 Ruff Ryders debut, has the most hilariously literal album cover of all time. That aside, Jada’s verse here sets things off with a bang as the crew declares the mission statement for the second phase of their careers. “Yo, everybody’s a snake / That’s why I try to keep the grass cut / So I can see ’em when they coming / Then I heat they ass up.”
13. “Knock Yourself Out”
Jada’s debut solo single, produced by The Neptunes, introduced him to the world at large — who until then, only really knew Jadakiss from his features and work with The Lox. Here was his chance to prove that he could offer up more than just fire 16s, one at a time. He passed that test with flying colors with “Knock Yourself Out.” He also, weirdly enough, wore a paper towel wrapped around his head like a bandana in the video, ensuring that rap fans would keep discussing it over twenty years later by memes struggling to decipher that inscrutable decision.
12. “Rite Where U Stand” With Gang Starr
Appearing on Gang Starr’s 2003 album The Ownerz, this track paired Jada with one of his greatest influences and proved he could hang with the pioneers as well as he could his contemporaries. He was also unafraid to use his music to speak on his various industry woes after getting stuck in a less-than-favorable contract with Interscope — another way he blazed a trail for future generations of artists.
11. “New York” With Ja Rule and Fat Joe
In the midst of Ja Rule’s ongoing feud with 50 Cent — which is still going, by the way — the beleaguered Ja released an absolute gem in 2004, recruiting two of New York City’s most respected voices for backup. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to save him in the court of public opinion, but “New York” was a blessed byproduct of the battle that remains an example of the power of a collaboration between icons. Also, “I’m in the hood like them little motorcycles” is still one of the greatest things anyone has ever said on a beat.
10. “John Blaze” With Fat Joe, Big Pun & Raekwon
One of a long line of posse cuts on which Jada has stolen the show, his achievement here is made all the more impressive by the lineup. Fat Joe is in full Diggin’ In The Crates mode on this track from 1998’s Don Cartagena, Big Pun packs his verse with dizzying multisyllabic rhyme patterns, Raekwon spits a cool verse, and Nas is Nas. But counting up the quote-ables? Jadakiss goes hard.
9. “Made You Look Remix”
Whatever they were smoking in the studio when they made this should be preserved and distributed to every rapper’s home address weekly. No one would ever drop a dud verse again. Jada came as close as he ever has to living up to his boast that he’s the “top five, dead or alive” with this verse from the remix of Nas’ 2003 megahit.
8. “Blackout” With DMX, Jay-Z & The Lox
An absolute monster of a track, “Blackout” landed on the rap scene like a mortar round. In late 1998, DMX was hot off his smash debut It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot and no one could have anticipated that he’d follow up with another one in Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood. Then, to throw gas on the fire, the Dark Man threw one of the hottest up-and-coming trios in the business on a track with Jay-Z. Naturally, Jadakiss is the match that lights the flame, opening the track with the boast that “n****s throw us on the album, try to boost they sales.” For what it’s worth, it looks like it worked; DMX legendarily became the first rapper to drop two No. 1 albums in the same calendar year.
7. “It’s All About The Benjamins” Feat. Puff Daddy & Lil Kim
Listen, totally aside from the fact that Jada comes in hot with one of the hardest verses on Puff Daddy and the Family’s 1997 album No Way Out, this is actually Jada’s track from the jump by virtue of the fact that he penned Puff’s verse, despite not being totally sure his new boss could pull it off. The rest was history.
6. “Money, Power & Respect” Feat. DMX & Lil Kim
The title track from The Lox’s 1998 debut album, it’s a surprisingly philosophical breakdown of life’s necessities — at least, by The Lox’s standards. I don’t know that they ever read Max Weber’s three-component theory of stratification, but even if they weren’t perusing the sociology section of their local library in their leisure time, they still manage to explain it pretty well to the layman. Jada’s anchor verse sums up exactly why he’s so beloved in the streets: “Nothin’ but the hotness whenever we drop this / Monotonous for y’all to keep hatin’ ’cause y’all never gon’ stop us.”
5. “Gov’t Cheese” Feat. Millyz, Nino Man & DeJ Loaf
A standout from Jada’s most recent album, 2020’s Ignatius, “Gov’t Cheese” depicts an older, wiser Jadakiss getting reflective about all the hard-won knowledge he’s gained from 20+ plus years in the streets and out of them. “Sneakers too tight, you had to wear ’em without soles,” he reminisces. “Sleepin’ with a sweatsuit on ’cause the house cold.” He doesn’t just bring problems, though; he also explains his solutions. “Had to open my mind for me to free it.”
4. “24 Hrs To Live” With Mase, The Lox, Black Rob & DMX
Mase’s 1997 Bad Boy Records debut Harlem World is criminally underrated and this posse cut is one of its highest highs. Asking a simple question, we get six different perspectives ranging from relatable (Jada, Styles) to absolutely unhinged (DMX). Who among us wouldn’t want to go out as fresh as Jada says he would?
3. “Time’s Up” Feat. Nate Dogg
The lead single from Kiss Of Death finds the Yonkers native eschewing clever concepts or heady themes for a straightforward, fist-clenching bar fest. Driven by a thundering, piano-centered loop devised by Scott Storch, “Time’s Up” is a showcase for some of Jada’s most memorable punchlines, including the fan-favorite: “F*ck riding the beat, n**** / I parallel park on the track.”
2. “Who Shot Ya Freestyle”
When The Lox went up against The Diplomats in a Verzuz hits battle last year, the Yonkers crew had already won handily by the time their DJ threw the instrumental to The Notorious B.I.G.’s controversial 1994 hit. Jada’s performance became the victory cigar. The response to the mixtape favorite was so immediate and powerful, the song won an official release on DSPs.
1. “We Gonna Make It” Feat. Styles P
A classic in every sense of the word, “We Gonna Make It” begins with one of the most beloved opening lines in hip-hop: “F*ck. The. Frail sh*t.” The Alchemist pulls out all the stops on the beat, which samples “My Music” by Samuel Jonathan Johnson. The instrumental has a controversial backstory as well, ending up in the hands of West Coast rapper Ras Kass after both Nas and Jay-Z passed on it, but Kiss has the most recognizable version, owing a great deal to the dynamic back-and-forth flows of Jada and his Lox bandmate Styles P. It wasn’t the first time they demonstrated this chemistry and it wasn’t the last, but for a generation of rap fans, it’s easily the best.
While Jadakiss has long been considered one of hip-hop’s most underrated figures, he’s also got one of the genre’s most recognizable voices. His gravely tone has graced some of rap’s most beloved hits for nearly three decades, as demonstrated by his standout performance in The Lox’s Verzuz battle with The Diplomats, and he’s still a favorite go-to for a feature verse for contemporary artists who need his signature sound to bring some New York grit to their own work.
In the upcoming debut episode of Uproxx’s newest show, Fresh Pair, Jadakiss breaks down his own top five voices in hip-hop with hosts Just Blaze and Katty Customs. It’s a fascinating look into one of the most underrated facets of rap success from one of the most successful but underrated artists in the business.
“Nobody never asked me who I think got the top five or top three or any kind of voices,” he exclaims before settling into deep thought. “It took me a while… [to learn] how somebody’s voice can add on to what they bring to the table.”
He cites a few classic MCs as influences to his own unmistakable tone, but we won’t spoil it here. You can check out his answers in the video above and catch the full episode of Fresh Pair on Wednesday 9/28 at 3 pm ET / 12 pm PT.
There is an old adage that the ‘”eyes are windows to the soul,” but in Uproxx’s new show, Fresh Pair, it’s a person’s sneakers that offer a true glimpse into who they are. Launching September 28 at 12pm PT/ 3pm ET, the show stars sneaker customizer to the stars Katty Customs and hip-hop super producerJust Blaze. Each week, the duo sits down with your favorite celebrities and presents them with iconic one-of-one sneakers inspired by their respective careers, lives, and journeys.
Throughout the debut season, Katty and Just will be joined by legends like Jadakiss, TI, The Game, El P, Jim Jones, Styles P, will.i.am and more for a set of in-depth interviews that go beyond sneakers and deep in their careers. But this isn’t your typical sneaker show. Each bespoke design — dreamed up by Just and Katty — serves as an exploration of what makes these legends truly great and inspires each guest to open up and share previously unknown anecdotes and stories.
Attendees at Monday’s Fresh Pair launch party at will.i.am’s FYI House in Hollywood got a taste of what to expect with a special screening of Will’s episode, which, in addition to a truly dope and futuristic pair of kicks that perfectly captures will.i.am’s aesthetic, included gems like how the Black Eyed Peas got their start, an explanation of Will’s early beat-making, and sage advice he received from Prince, as well as how the iconic chant from Usher’s “OMG” came to be.
Some of the celebrities in attendance included Cordae, Trinidad, apl.de.ap, Sauve, Rap Sh!t‘s Victoria Richards, multi-hyphenate talent Jarry Lee, Grammy award-nominated graphic designers Brian Roettinger and Julian Gross, streetwear icon Jeff Staple, and many more with celebrities and influencers rubbing shoulders and dancing to the sounds of Jurassic 5’s DJ Nu-Mark who kept things moving by spinning classic cuts all night long.
Sponsors for the event included Fresh Pair‘s NFT partner Wagmi Beach, key sponsors D’Ussé VSOP and Filthy, and Salt & Straw, Kettle One Botanical, Liquid Death, Heartbeat Hot Sauce, and Sabali Graphics. After you check out the trailer, be sure to dive into these photos from the premiere, shot by event co-sponsor TOSTI Photography’s David Tosti.
Earlier this year, Kanye West‘s three-part docu-series, Jeen-Yuhs, premiered on Netflix. The docu-series spans over 20 years of his career, including his time collaborating with producer Just Blaze at Roc-A-Fella records. At one point in the documentary, Ye calls Blaze his best friend and his archenemy.
On an episode of Uproxx’s The People’s Party With Talib Kweli podcast, Blaze spoke with the host, revealing that he understands where the comments came from.
“I can see why he would look at it as the ‘archnemesis’ thing,” Blaze said to Kweli. “I guess it kinda was that, ’cause a lot of archnemeses…a lot of times they’re actually guys that are friends. Most of the classic super-villain/superhero stories, there’s a friendship there.”
Blaze continued, saying, “Some people like to spin the narrative, ‘Oh, they were super competitive, they were out there duking it out,’ I never, I honestly never looked at it like that. Like, he would call me to ask me, ‘Yo, how did you get your horns to sound like this on this record, I’m trying to figure that out,’ right?”
Elsewhere in the episode, Blaze revealed that he and West haven’t spoken in a while, not out of bad blood, but rather due to going separate paths. Though in 2021, West accused Blaze of copying his production style, though Blaze remained peaceful on the matter.
Steven “A$AP Yams” Rodriguez was a powerful element in the rise of the A$AP Mob. His music helped usher in a new wave of East Coast rap that took the planet by storm. To get a sense of his lasting impact at the time of this article, his single “Yamborghini High feat Juicy J” currently has more than 141 million views on YouTube. But in the middle of the truly meteoric rise of the A$AP Mob, tragedy struck. A$AP Yams died suddenly on January 18, 2015, after an accidental fentanyl overdose. The hip-hop world was shaken to its core at the death of this 26-year-old rising star. Yam’s death was part of a growing trend inside the entertainment world and mainstream America, where fentanyl overdoses were fast on the rise.
Taking a broader view, fentanyl overdoses have spiked in the country at an alarming rate over the past decade. Musicians, college kids, and even cops are not safe from the rapid death toll the drug has claimed across all American demographics. According to the DEA website, as little as 2 milligrams can kill you. The death rate increases when those small amounts are mixed with other drugs. Rolling Stone recently did a feature on how many celebrities — Prince, Tom Petty, Lil Peep, etc. — have fallen victim to having very small doses of fentanyl laced with other drugs. Two students at Ohio State University just died after an accidental overdose from buying fake Adderall pills. San Jose State University football star turned Police Officer, Dejon Packer recently died in his home from “fentanyl toxicity.”
No one is safe from this drug. Full stop.
In response to the devasting toll caused by fentanyl, A$AP Yams’ mother, Tatianna Paulino founded the Always Strive and Prosper Foundation (It follows the A$AP moniker, the acronym created by Yams). Darryl Phillips joined her in actualizing her vision. Serving as Executive Director in the non-profit they spread awareness to the streets on how to avoid the deadly impact of drugs, focusing on fentanyl. We spoke with Tatiana and Darryl about Yams’ music, A$AP Yams Day, and their mission to heal the hood.
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Can you tell me why the Always Strive And Prosper Foundation was created and what your goals are with it for young people?
Darryl Phillips: The foundation was created really as a a commemorative, but also a meaningful mission brought together by Tatiana Paulino, A$AP Yams, mom. She wanted to be able to help one family or, you know, an individual person, whoever. If we could kind of help in any way to not experience some of the mourning that she was going through. It kind of started as something that we just were talking about. Then we got together in a community room up in Riverdale, in the Bronx and just started discussing what we saw as issues.
From there we tried to figure out we could deal with substance abuse.. But really it was just about this woman here [Yam’s mom] wanting to be able to help other families and other people to not go through the same pain.
Sometimes when a rapper dies, in the expansion of public awareness, the humanity of the individual can be lost. Can you tell us who he was to you before the rest of the world got to know him?
Tatianna Paulino: Well, I don’t even know how to describe that. It’s like, he was my kid. He was my friend. He was my son and he was everything for me before he was A$AP. He was my kid.
He made a lot of jokes. So for me in the house, it was like having a comedian around all of the time. You know, having a great time, having dinner with him. He was hilarious. So I miss all the family time that we had together.
Now, do you remember the day or even the moment you decided you were gonna create a foundation?
Paulino: The same time he passed away. I wanted to do something to help other parents and other families with the problem that I’m going through at the moment. Because it’s really hard. He was helping a lot of people in the music business, we can help another family. I said, “We have to do the foundation. We have to keep his legacy alive.”
ASAP Yams Foundation
Do either of you have advice for parents who may be concerned about their kids abusing drugs or being exposed to these environments? What is your advice to them?
Phillips: I think the advice is to try and have a conversation [with your kids]. To always be able to instill something about truth with your children, with your kids, your brothers, your family members. Speak to each other in a way that involves care and some kind of trust.
I had a conversation at a friend’s house once and you know, we’re talking about drug use and just how it was impacting community lives. He’s like “Well, you know, my son is not really around friends that are into that.” The son chimed in and said, “No, actually they are.” The dad was shocked.
Then provide extracurricular things. Like “Hey, do you know, what is it that you wanna do? And how can I help you do that with art, basketball, chess- you know? Ask how you can support their personal vision of themselves.
Paulino: I think as parents, we have to be open-minded. Try to get information, to see what’s really going out there. Because sometimes we are behind, because of our age.
Can you talk about A$AP Yams Day? What happens at those events?
Phillips: It was something where we were asking the mob, can we do something? A$AP Rocky was kind of always carrying a flag for that, as well. He wanted to make sure it was something that was really commemorative. It’s a concert that involves not really random artists, but up-and-coming artists.
The first year [Jan 18, 2019] seemed to be the coldest day of the year. It was marking the day that he passed. It was a who’s who of artists. But we also had up and comers take the stage as well.
The Weeknd, Kendrick, Tyler [the Creator], there has been such a host of people that have come to support it. And now we can incubate programs to do little events that we could outside the concert to develop the community. You know, I think every day is A$AP Yams Day.
ASAP Yams Foundation
Do you have any messages for the artists that promote, you know, the high drug lifestyle these days? They really do seem to have the ears of the teens and kids.
Phillips: We can’t blame the kids ever. Us being old school, we always understood that even when it was in NWA was a reflection of what we were going through in our community. We were experiencing every day going outside, the injustice that was over us. We had a generation of kids that grew up living with their grandparents. Not even their parents. So I think we have to look at the overall larger picture, which is the drug war. We have to look at the pharmaceutical companies that are really pushing the agenda [of how these drugs are made so available to teenagers]. From Purdue [an international pharmaceutical company responsible for many opioid deaths] and many others.
Follow the money on all that.I can’t blame the artists. We have to try and see what we can do to counter it or to figure out how to abate it in some way.
Tatianna, can you tell me some of the other upcoming events, your organization will be hosting?
Paulino: So we have a back-to-school event usually involving a basketball tournament. We have a show in Harlem and it’s going on in the lower east side. We have a toy and coat drive that we do as well. That’s around the Christmas holidays. It was just really us giving them scarves, brand new toys, and other people coming to donate stuff for the kids. We try and keep these quarterly events alive as well. We are always working to figure out other ways to support other people doing other events also.
Phillips: So Michael K. Williams was a friend of mine. He knew of our organization as well. And when he passed, you know, we were able to contribute. We’d like to do something, I think a little bit outta state. I’m going to talk to some people about A$AP Yams events in LA and on the west coast.
For more information and support on upcoming events, issues with fentanyl, and other addiction issues please contact the Always Strive and Prosper Foundation and on IG @asapfoundation.
Niko Is has linked up with Talib Kweli, MidaZ the Beast, A.L. Punchline, and Wordsworth for a lyrical, hard-hitting, classic hip-hop posse cut titled “Live From The Blue Note.” Take “classic” with a grain of salt though, while this harkens back to a golden age of hip-hop group cuts, “Live” is anything but traditional. The video is shot in a moody black and white and sees the MCs trading dense lyrical verses over an eerie minor-key piano motif which acts as the song’s sole rhythm track.
The sparse and eerie track’s minimal arrangement allows the natural musicality of the words and the rhythms of each MC’s flow to really shine — every member of the crew excels at filling gaps and nailing their punchlines. Kweli, in particular, has a fiery verse that boils with a steady intensity (including lines that dance around his recent public conflict with Ye).
“See the grifters dressing like they’re post-apocalyptic fly fishers, you get the picture when I frame and capture, I’m the famous rapper posing as a backpacker…” and “your mental state seems to be in a defensive place, your fans must’ve got the Corona and lost their sense of taste.”
Or you know, maybe he’s talking about some other bridge-burning headline-making rapper who talked publicly about posing as a backpacker.
Despite the song’s brooding vibe and length (it’s past the six-minute mark, with no drums in sight!) it never drags for a second. There’s a steady heat boiling on high as this collective of mic masters push one another and trade layered bars. It never feels out of step with the rhythm of current or classic hip-hop (there’s definitely some Mobb Deep energy in play).
Watch the video for “Live From The Blue Note,” above, the song is set to appear on Niko Is’ upcoming LP with Juni Ali, Young Viejos.
