Roc-A-Fella Records

Today In Hip Hop History: Kanye West Dropped His ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ LP 14 Years Ago

by
tumblr d9e96da5cd215d00fff208cef3791708 88c47fb8 1280

tumblr d9e96da5cd215d00fff208cef3791708 88c47fb8 1280

On this day in 2010, famed producer Kanye West released his fifth full length studio album entitled My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy on the Def Jam Recordings/Roc-A-Fella imprint.

West delivered the album of the decade in 2010. From its composition, multiple album covers, a short film, ballerinas, the infamous red suit, and more, Ye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy would set an almost unreachable precedent for artists of all genres that would succeed the first decade of the new millennium.

Album Conception

He distanced himself from the world and returned to what made us all fall in love with his genius. Ye hid away in Hawaii, working on MBDTF, inviting artists to the island to join his reemergence into the culture’s good graces. Ye would go on record saying My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the first album he decided to write down all of his raps because his mission was perfection. His career depended on it.

According to Rory Farrell, who interned at Def Jam during this time, West entered the label’s office, fully dressed in a black suit, with the intention of playing the album, but was unimpressed with what they were wearing. West gave Def Jam an ultimatum: dress better or no album. It was ultimately a privilege. He returned the next day with the album. At this time, “Runaway” was 16 minutes long, but would be condensed to 9:08.

West released a number of covers for the album. The most thought-provoking was deemed controversial and rejected by a number of retail stores. Can’t a man sit on a couch with his phoenix? Oh, the days of physical album copies.

BET AWARDS & VMAS Return

Kanye West opened the 2010 BET Awards atop of a mountain to perform, “Power.” This was his first public performance since the infamous VMA mic grab. Decked out in an all-red suit with an oversized sphinx chain, West was back.

Two months later he would close the 2010 VMAs and debut “Runaway,” a tribute to douchbags, that would see the return of The Clipse’ Pusha T.

GOOD Fridays & Runaway Film

West launched a weekly free music series to support the album, leading up to the album’s release. 3 of the songs from the series would appear on MBDTF, including “Monster” with an incomparable verse from Nicki Minaj.

West would turn “Runaway” into a 35-minute short film featuring supermodel, Selita Ebanks. The film explored the beauty of a phoenix, attempting to live in society. The album would serve as the soundtrack to the film and part of the film would serve as “Runaway’s” music video.

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Kanye West Dropped His ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ LP 14 Years Ago appeared first on .

Dame Dash Says Drake Ghosted a $6M Bid for His Third of Roc-A-Fella Records

by
Dame Dash Says He Was Hyped to Hear His Name on "Ether"

Damon Dash is giving details on the auction of his stake in Roc-A-Fella Records. No one showed up for the auction, and the state of New York ended up making the bid for $1,000,000. But there was a potential buyer: Drake.

Drake has been buying up hip-hop history for a while and has focused on the third of the Roc. Dash stated that at one point, Drake bid for $6 million. “Drake put in a bid for $6 million, but then he disappeared.”

You can hear it from Dash below.

The post Dame Dash Says Drake Ghosted a $6M Bid for His Third of Roc-A-Fella Records appeared first on .

Today In Hip-Hop History: Jay-Z Dropped His ‘American Gangster’ Soundtrack 17 Years Ago

by
tumblr 4b41fd4a2a74b9905959ebd21c3ee691 aa7cf1c2 640

tumblr 4b41fd4a2a74b9905959ebd21c3ee691 aa7cf1c2 640

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.

What was your favorite song from the album?

The post Today In Hip-Hop History: Jay-Z Dropped His ‘American Gangster’ Soundtrack 17 Years Ago appeared first on .

Today In Hip-Hop History: Jay-Z Dropped His ‘The Dynasty: Roc La Familia’ LP 24 Years Ago

by
tumblr 9f8b9a03896eeb8735ac5a27732bd54e 46b6a27e 2048

tumblr 9f8b9a03896eeb8735ac5a27732bd54e 46b6a27e 2048

On this date at the turn of the millennium, Jay-Z and his Rocafella cohorts released the only crew album of his career, The Dynasty: Roc La Familia.

Along with Memphis Bleek and the State Property clan from Philly, including Peedi Crack, Beanie Sigel, Oschino, Sparks, Freeway, and others, Hov brought the supergroup energy to this album that was seen as the pinnacle of Jay’s career; right before his Blueprint metamorphosis, which was the beginning of the mogul he is today.

Even with all of the star power on the album, there were still some stand-out tracks on the LP exclusively released on the infamous Rocafella imprint, including the Neptunes-produced ‘I Just Want To Love U(Give It To Me)”, the controversial “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” featuring the trouble-ridden R. Kelly and the old Kanye-produced “This Can’t Be Life” featuring Beanie and Geto Boys’ Scarface. With additional production from the likes of Just Blaze, Rockwilder, Rick Rock, and others, this album is one of Jigga’s standout projects of his illustrious career.

Salute to Jay, Biggs, Dame, Bleek, and the rest of the Roc for this piece of Hip-Hop History!!

The post Today In Hip-Hop History: Jay-Z Dropped His ‘The Dynasty: Roc La Familia’ LP 24 Years Ago appeared first on .

Today In Hip Hop History: Jay-Z Dropped His Third LP ‘Vol.2…Hard Knock Life’ 26 Years Ago

by
tumblr 9873f93d49b789528eac7df4122efe57 8ae6aaad 1280

tumblr 9873f93d49b789528eac7df4122efe57 8ae6aaad 1280

On this date in 1998, Jay-Z and his Roc cohorts dropped his third album Vol.2…Hard Knock Life on their independent Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam imprint.

Recorded in some of NYC’s most coveted studio spaces, Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life featured some of the games best producers, including Jermaine Dupri, Swizz Beatz, and Timbaland, Hov’s third album was the proof that Jigga had found the formula to produce the most successful full-length project of his career at that time.

Debuting at number 1 on the Billboard 200 and selling 350K in its first week, Vol.2 …Hard Knock Life was certified 5x platinum within two years of its release, setting Hov’s album bar so hight that it won a Golden Phonograph for Best Rap Album at the 41st Grammy Awards. Some of the top singles from the 14 track gem include “Nigga What, Nigga Who(Originator 99)”, “Hard Knock Life,” “Can I Get A…” and “Money Ain’t A Thang” featuring Jermaine Dupri.

Salute to Jigga, Dame, Biggs, Memphis Bleek, Sauce Money, and the rest of the Roc for putting out such a timeless piece of Hip Hop history!

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Jay-Z Dropped His Third LP ‘Vol.2…Hard Knock Life’ 26 Years Ago first appeared on .

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Jay-Z Dropped His Third LP ‘Vol.2…Hard Knock Life’ 26 Years Ago appeared first on .

Can Dame Dash Actually Sell His Share Of Jay-Z’s ‘Reasonable Doubt?’

by
Dame Dash The Prince Of Detroit Premiere 2024 (1024x437)
Getty Image

For years, Dame Dash has led both a public and legal battle with his former business partner Jay-Z. Recently, Dame claimed to have made headway in offloading a piece of hip-hop history.

According to Dame Dash, his plan to sell his share of Jay-Z’s highly acclaimed debut album, Reasonable Doubt. During a recent appearance on America Nu Network (viewable here), Dame even claimed that Drake expressed interest in purchasing his stake. However, there appears to be some confusion over who actually owns the shares. Continue below for more information.

Can Dame Dash Actually Sell His Share Of Jay-Z’s ‘Reasonable Doubt?’

Based on an investigative piece conducted by Rolling Stone‘s Andre Gee (viewable here), Dame Dash doesn’t appear to be the rightful owner of the stake. Technically speaking, Dame Dash can not sell his stakes. According to the outlet, in order to “satisfy an $823K judgment” in his Josh Webber and Muddy Waters Films lawsuit, Dame was ordered to turn over his shares of Roc-A-Fella Inc (which own stake in Jay-Z’s album) over to the US Marshals.

Now, Christopher Brown, the attorney of Webber seemingly controls the stakes as in an effort to recoup the judgment on behalf of his client. So, it appears that the reports of an auction supposedly held on August 29 might have been true. But, Dame Dash having a deciding factor is allegedly a fallacy.

Today in Hip-Hop History: Jay-Z Dropped Debut Album ‘Reasonable Doubt’ 28 Years Ago

by
reasonable doubt paid for in cashjpg

On June 25, 1996, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Dame Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke embarked on a creative journey that has morphed into a billion-dollar movement today with the release of the Reasonable Doubt LP.

Released courtesy of their independent Roc-A-Fella imprint, Jay’s premier album was promoted and sanctioned by the streets, with previews of the album via sampler cassettes hitting the streets in the winter of 1995. The album’s first single, “Ain’t No Nigga”, featuring a then-teenage Foxy Brown, was the introduction of “Jigga” to the industry that would eventually put him in the pole position of the rap game.

Other unforgettable tracks from one of the prototype LPs of the “mafia rap” era include, “Dead Presidents II,” “Can’t Knock The Hustle,” which features Mary J. Blige, “Brooklyn’s Finest” with the late Notorious B.I.G. and the introduction of Marcy young gun Memphis Bleek on “Coming Of Age”.

All-star production from the likes of DJ Premier, Irv Gotti, Ski and Clark Kent propelled the album along with Jay’s common street ethics surgically placed melodically on the beats.

Salute to Jay, Biggs, Dame, Pain In Da Ass and the rest of the old Roc-A-Fella staff for this timeless classic!

The post Today in Hip-Hop History: Jay-Z Dropped Debut Album ‘Reasonable Doubt’ 28 Years Ago first appeared on The Source.

The post Today in Hip-Hop History: Jay-Z Dropped Debut Album ‘Reasonable Doubt’ 28 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

[WATCH] Dame Dash Said He Almost Started Rapping On Roc-A-Fella Due To The Label Being “In Trouble”

by
Dame Dash Launches his Streaming Service

In an exclusive interview on the Moguls in the Making podcast earlier this week, former Roc-A-Fella Records label head Dame Dash revealed that he almost became a rapper when his independent imprint was at risk of folding before the success of the UGK/Jay-Z single “Big Pimpin’”.

Dash claims that he almost grabbed the mic himself during the production of the song and claims that the song was about him and his lifestyle and not Jay-Z.

“In that moment, Roc-A-Fella was in trouble and if that ‘Big Pimpin” didn’t work, I was gon’ start rapping. [I don’t got bars, but] I would have just did it for the company.”

Dash also delved into the beef between Ja-Z and Nas, saying that he had “no fear” of violence between the two crews despite the bitter rivalry between the two.

“There was no fear of us getting hurt when it came to Nas. I’m telling you right now, there was no fear of any violence when it came to that,” he said. “There was no fear when it came to us of any battle that we had when it came to violence. We were never worried about that.”

He also added, “Now, ‘Pac and Biggie, n-ggas got killed. But n-ggas get killed in Hip Hop now. They be battling and then they end up dead. It’s a little more serious now.”

The post [WATCH] Dame Dash Said He Almost Started Rapping On Roc-A-Fella Due To The Label Being “In Trouble” first appeared on The Source.

The post [WATCH] Dame Dash Said He Almost Started Rapping On Roc-A-Fella Due To The Label Being “In Trouble” appeared first on The Source.

Today in Hip Hop History: The Diplomats Released Their Debut Album ‘Diplomatic Immunity’ 21 Years Ago

by
Dipset

On this date in 2003, Cam’ron’s crew from Harlem, The Diplomats, dropped their debut album Diplomatic Immunity on the Roc A Fella Records/Def Jam imprint during the pivotal time when Dame Dash appointed Cam’ron as the President of Roc-A-Fella Records.

Coming on the heels of the release of Cam’s Come Home With Me LP, Diplomatic Immunity introduced the entire Dipset squad, including Juelz Santana, Jim Jones, Freekey Zeekey, Un Kasa, and Hell Rell. With production from the likes of Heatmakerz, DR Period, and a then virtually unknown Kanye West, the trailblazing sound of old soul samples pushed Dipset to the forefront of the creative curve of Hip Hop, which offered the Blood-affiliated crew from Uptown an almost cult-like following. Rell was incarcerated by the time the album was available for purchase.

The album was saturated with longstanding hits such as “I Really Mean It,” the infectious “Dipset Anthem,” the female-friendly “Hey Ma,” and the Master P assisted “Bout It Bout It…Part I “. Commercially, the album was considered average, debuting at #8 on the Billboard 200 and selling 92,000 copies in its first week, but the album was certified Gold by the RIAA in 2005.

Salute to Cam, Juelz, Jim Jones, Freekey, and Hell Rell for this classic piece of Hip Hop history!

The post Today in Hip Hop History: The Diplomats Released Their Debut Album ‘Diplomatic Immunity’ 21 Years Ago first appeared on The Source.

The post Today in Hip Hop History: The Diplomats Released Their Debut Album ‘Diplomatic Immunity’ 21 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Happy 50th Birthday To Philly Legend Beanie Sigel!

by
beanie

Born on this date in 1974 in the City of Brotherly Love, Dwight Grant, aka Beanie Sigel, aka Beans, morphed into an icon in the Philly Hip Hop scene as the leader of the now-defunct Roc-A-Fella Records’ State Property. Even with all of his legal troubles and the untimely split of the Roc, Beanie is still regarded as one of the best emcees of his era and one of the very few who lives what he speaks in the booth.

With six solo albums, three State Property collabos, and four silver screen blockbuster appearances, it’s difficult to argue that Beans has not had a successful career. Anyone who could hold Hova’s attention for more than one album has some obvious skills to match his street bravado.

Happy born day to Beans and many more in the future!

The post Happy 50th Birthday To Philly Legend Beanie Sigel! first appeared on The Source.

The post Happy 50th Birthday To Philly Legend Beanie Sigel! appeared first on The Source.