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I couldn’t believe what I was hearing after the high school basketball game I had been covering was over.
“Yo man, you J-Zone?” the point guard asked me before I could ask him about his 19 point, 8 assist performance.
I asked him to repeat his question. Not to flatter myself, but to make sure I’d heard him correctly. My ears weren’t bullshittin’.
“Ummm,” I stammered.
“Dude,” he cut me off. “The YouTube videos of you chillin’ in the drive-thru at White Castle and licking whipped cream off those foam titties are classic!”
I was part shocked that someone born after 1985 knew who I was by face, part embarrassed that my attempts to be professional as a sports reporter were trumped by being known as the Onion Ring and Titty Man, and part flattered that an obscure and pseudo-famous rap guy like myself was even remembered years after my modest music career had gone kaput. I guess that’s what happens to the quasi-successful middle ground rap man who’s teetering the top of a fence that separates two universes – he eventually falls over to the “real” job side. And it fucks up folks who fail to realize he wasn’t that famous in the first place.
Levels of statusFirst, we have the megastar. When the musical careers of 50 Cent, Lil’ Wayne, and Kanye West come to a halt, there’s an ice cube’s chance under a fat girl’s ass that they would ever work nine-to-five jobs. Imagine Wayne attempting to pass a piss test to become a second grade teacher and kissing Birdman on the mouth for good luck before taking the ATS-W exam. What about Kanye raking up $11 an hour to re-rack returned U.S. Polo Association shirts at Sears?Full Excerpt Here
When the musical endeavors of megastars no longer hold any weight, they’ve already become big enough entities to make a living via movies, their own lines of wife-beater shirts, and unscheduled appearances at events where they break Moet bottles over the heads of artists who are hot at the moment for pay. They’d never dare step into a nine-to-five; it just doesn’t compute after that much time on top. If you’re naturally crazy or irresponsible enough to never stand a chance in the world of day jobs, God usually grants you success in entertainment so you won’t starve to death.
Brown Bag AllStars member the Audible Doctor has been “Stayin’ Busy” this year working on his solo projects, Brown Bag projects and producing for tracks for various artists. To hold the fans over until the upcoming releases are finished he’s decided to drop a remix project featuring some of the artists he’s currently working with. Today we bring you the first leak off the project, a remix of Magestik Legend’s “Feel What I Feel”. The full “2011: Year Of The Audible Doctor Remix” project is set to drop later this year and will feature remixes from The Brown Bag AllStars, Von Pea, Homeboy Sandman, YC The Cynic, Blacastan, Boog Brown, Trek Life, Magestik Legend & more!
Action Bronson talks about his home borough having the best rappers ever, his means to flip his rap money for culinary wishes, and more. The comical figure also talks about his latest project, Dr. Lecter, his very relaxed wardrobe selections, and his upcoming collaboration with Statik Selektah.
Buckshot, Smif N Wessun, Promise & Double-O, of Kidz In The Hall, dedicated their time to create this amazing original song, "Run To Remember," Double-O produced the new track. In recognition of Dru Ha running an organizing the NYC Marathon for Alzheimer's which is father battled for 10years and in his fathers honor hes running the run to remember. To this date Dru Ha has raised $10,000 in donations
In part 2 of our interview, we talk with Young Guru about the success of J. Cole. We ask him how he feels about the sales of the album, after most people counted Cole out for a lack of a radio hit. We also talk about fan loyalty, the labels approach to digital music sales, and we ask if Watch The Throne's sale strategy hurt the sales in the long run.
TRU: You’ve been in the game longer than almost anybody else, what were your most memorable recording experiences?
Tragedy: The most memorable? I’d have to say; Chuck D, Nas and Big Pun. Those are like the three most memorable to me. The reason why Nas was one of the most memorable was the time we did this song together called ‘Calm Down.’ Everybody gave their energy and came a certain way on the song and killed it, I killed it, Nore killed it, but when Nas came he did a short story that was so graphic… He did a story in 16 bars. Most people would’ve taken a whole song to do a story. But he did the story like he wrote an essay, he wrote and spat a lyrical essay in 16 bars. An essay has an introduction, a subject matter and a conclusion. He gave you the story, he gave you the intro, the subject matter and he closed it. That was crazy how he did that. He killed that shit. That was one of the phenomenal joints to me.
TRU: Your older music often has a very confrontational, in-your-face attitude. While it still is confrontational, your new album makes it seem like you’ve grown beyond that a bit, it has more of a victorious feeling to it.
Tragedy: That’s exactly what it is, I see myself as really victorious. When you come out of the world’s largest projects -96 buildings, 6 blocks- and you grow up and was raised te way I was raised in the struggle here in so-called America, you’re battle-tested. I was definitely battle-tested throughout my life when I grew up. And I’m constantly being tested, the test hasn’t ended, but just reflecting back on everything and looking where I’m at now and seeing the direction my life is moving into, I know that I’m victorious. I am victorious.
Nottz is continuing to work hard with his group, D.M.P. The latest leak from the Virginia based group is entitled, “Angry Birds”, and this time they go in on out of control women–who similar to the game of the same name, will drive you nuts! D.M.P. is putting the finishing touches on their upcoming project, in the meantime, expect them to be releasing more music and visuals in the near future!!!!Samplin' Angry Birds? Only Nottz could make this work...
DX: On "316 Wayz," you have a line about building schools in Africa. You write so much non-fiction in your verses. Tell me about this...
Murs: [Pauses] My wife and I traveled to Ethiopia. I asked my fans to donate too. The first step to building a school is building a well. We started building a well. Now we're investing. We're trying to build a school [through] Project 61. My wife and I went out kinda of volunteering at orphanages and there's also a leprosy colony by Addis Ababa. There's no clean water source and there's no school. Now, my wife and I are helping send kids to school from that colony and Shashamane, which is the big Rastafarian community. We're buying clothes, Christmas presents, some computers, helping.
A mash up of Gil Scott-Heron (R.I.P.) numbers and Wu-Tang a cappellas. A concept initiated by “graphic designer Logan Walters’ fascination with vintage Blue Note covers.” Also involved in this project is Gerald Watson and DC’sDJ 2-Tone Jones.
