Jul
11
I know many people don’t truly know that much about Blu. And being one, if not THE best lyricists coming out of California its odd that his background is such a mystery. Although, its in my personal opinion that much of his life experiences is detailed in his music. Fortunately, we’re in a world of curious people, and when people want to know something, they find out. So, for all the people out there who are fans of Blu’s music, and would like to know a little bit more about him, this interview is for you. The Sound of Young America on NPR sat down with Blu and the interview is pretty interesting and in depth. Give it a listen!
“The Sound of Young America” on NPR Interviews Blu “CLICK TO LISTEN”
Shouts out to Jesse Thorn over @ MaximumFun.org
Jul
4
From his freestyles to the Sonic The Hedgehog inspired persona it’s safe to say Charles Hamilton definitely has a lot of people talking. But being that he hasn’t done too many interviews, there are a lot of questions that have yet to be answered about this kid. Well, The Smoking Section got a chance to chop it up with the new Interscope wonder in order to help answer some of the questions that we have regarding Mr. Hamilton. They speak on everything from his new upcoming projects, his musical abilities, the Kanye/Game freestyle cypher, and of course his Pink Polo.
TSS: You kind of popped on the scene with the freestyle with The Game and Kanye. Where did that come from?
Charles Hamilton: Here’s what happened: Me and Kanye were in the studio in L.A. We were talking, you know, shooting the breeze. Game comes out of nowhere. I’m not really a Game fan. He’s cool. I’m more of a G-Unit fan. He comes out of nowhere and him and Kanye are talking about some cipher they had outside of Niketown. And I was like “what’s good with a cipher right now, nigga?!” So then we started spittin’. It was going on for, I swear to God, an hour before the camera even came in. So by the time ya’ll niggas saw me rappin, at this point I had gotten all the “ooo’s” and “ahh’s” and Kanye had said some iller shit before that. And Game said some…Game shit before that.
So when she came with the camera I was like “fuck it” I already proved my point to the niggas in here so I’m just gonna start throwing words around. I was just having fun. It was a blast to kick it with them niggas. They helped me get my buzz up. Me and Kanye had a joke like “Album of the year next year, you’re gonna have some comp nigga.” He laughed like “Good, I’m glad there’s somebody as passionate as me.” Kanye heard some of the album.
TSS: What he say about it?
Charles Hamilton: To tell the truth, Kanye and I are cool and at the same time we are also now competition. I know he won’t say it was the craziest shit on earth but I know he’ll give me my props.
TSS: So what was the hottest line in the cipher?
Charles Hamilton: Niggas ain’t catch how I blacked on Game. I said “15 minutes of fame/nigga ya hour’s up” because he did that 300 bar freestyle. And Kanye said “this nigga talk about cars but he got the same one/me?/I got the movie shit, Batman, James Bond.” Then The Game was talking about “something, something, something share my drama/Kanye…something-something, so we can share my mamma.” I don’t know. Actually I wasn’t paying much attention to Game.
To read the rest of this interview, check out The Smoking Section!
Exactly.
Jun
26
In a faltering industry where people are being let go left and right, there aren’t many jobs that can certify you a position of importance, and even these are dependent on your consistency. Songwriting is one of those jobs in the music industry that will ALWAYS have a place, and ALWAYS be important. Adonis Shropshire is one of those longstanding names in the music industry that can pretty much always certify you a solid song, if not a HIT. AllHipHop.com sat down with Adonis and discussed how he got started and his methods amongst other things….here’s an excerpt:
AHHA: Because you’ve been writing for a long time do you have a particular ritual? Do you write stuff down as soon as you think about it or do you write stuff for certain artists?
Adonis: I usually try to write stuff specifically for artists. Because you know how they say you can have a great song and put it on the wrong artist and it’ll come off as though it’s a wack song? Then you can have a wack song, and put in the right artist and it’ll come of like it’s a great song. It’s all about the timing and placement, so I try to cater stuff directly for each artist. I make sure that I maximize the potential of each song that I play.
[When writing] it’s not necessarily a ritual or anything like that. It’s rare that I’m not in the studio with an artist but the times that I’m not, what I’ll do is buy all their albums on iTunes and just listen to every album. For a couple of days, I’ll listen to every album, every song and pick the hits out and try to make a song that would be in the next evolution.
AHHA: Kind of taking it to the next level?
Adonis: Exactly.
Read rest of interview @ Allhiphop.com
Jun
20
I know a lot of people have questions regarding the recent signing of Pacific Division, but until that official press release drops these boys are going to continue to be tight lipped about their situation. But HipHopDX got a chance to talk to Like and he sheds a little light on how he feels about their new success.
“The deal is a good relief factor for us,” said Like. “It lets us know we have been doing the right thing…hard work pays off at the end of the day, and our day isn’t over, it’s just begun. The name of the album to look forward to is Grown Kid Syndrome. No other details to the album as of now, but we will be realeasing two mini projects before that, one called Summer League Tryouts and the other is called Role Players.” BeYoung added, “The deal we received was an exceptional one and the attention and respect we’ll be getting from the label is definitely a plus in this.” The third member of the trio, Mibbs, closed in saying, “I feel good about signing because I can perform on a platform that can help us gain recognition to the world on a much faster pace than on our own.”
Pacific Division has previously released the Sealed For Freshness Blend Tape, and garnered buzz from their videos, including “Fat Boys” and “Women Problems” [click to view]. The group has also received endorsements from ?uestlove, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell.
Exactly.
BONUS VIDEO: Pacific Division performing Paper at the Key Club
Official show footage coming soon….we hope.
Jun
20
I know many of you don’t know who Mr. DJ is by name, yet I’m pretty sure everyone has heard his work….unless you’ve lived under a ROCK for the past decade. He’s 1/3 of the production team Earthtone III, which also includes Big Boi and Andre3000 of……um, Outkast. Currently he’s in the process of working on Common’s upcoming album “Invincible Summer”. Word has it that the project will be helmed by him and The Neptunes solely. AllHipHop.com sat down with him and discussed his longevity in the music game, the perks of success without fame, and working with Common. Here’s an excerpt:
AllHipHop.com: Fourteen years as a producer and most people probably wouldn’t recognize your production name, let alone what you look like. You’ve said before that “longevity is a lot better than being famous.” Do you feel like not being “famous” helped you achieve longevity?
Mr. DJ: That’s yet to be seen. I do understand that it may inevitably be the time people recognize who I am, and I hope that it doesn’t curse me or change the way things go. But I don’t think it will, cause it’s all about the person and how you handle it. I do understand that in order to achieve the level I’m trying to achieve, you do kind of have to step out a bit. So it’s a catch-22. But I hope it doesn’t affect my longevity.
I do think that being behind the scenes has preserved my sexy, if you will (Laughs). It preserved it, because you don’t burn out as fast. When the spotlight’s on you that means people are watching you, and just as soon as your tap-dance starts to slow down then the lights turn on. If nobody even sees me, the curtain is still closed and you just hear me tapping back there, then you’re still waiting on the curtain to open. So I hope it doesn’t jinx me.
AllHipHop.com: You can get away with a lot more if nobody recognizes your face.
Mr. DJ: Yeah man, exactly. I can go to the grocery store, I can go to the mall, I can drop my kids off and not have a problem. I’ve watched things change for Big and Dre in that aspect, and I just hope that I can somehow make it all happen together.
BONUS:
Read rest of interview @ AllHipHop.com
Jun
19
20/20: Okayplayer TV Catches Up With J*Davey
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OKP TV links up with J*Davey backstage at their Key Club show with Pac Div. Known for their high energy shows, J*Davey speaks on the creative process and what it takes for them to perform the way they do. They also talk about their new double EP titled The Beauty In Distortion/Land Of The Lost which drops on July 1st.
Shouts to Inverse Hip Hop & Gregthedude for this video!
Exactly.
Jun
18
I saw Adele live a few weeks ago and rediscovered how talented she is. I say rediscovered because I first made that discovery after hearing her album. Seeing her live is why I believe she’s one of the best if not THE best female vocalist out right now. Not only that, her personality is very engaging, witty, innocent, humble & youthful. In the interview she speaks about how she got into music and explains the meaning behind her debut single “Chasing Pavements”. She’s fly.
Exactly..: Billboard.com
Jun
16
20/20: The Sauce Interviews Lupe Fiasco
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The Sauce sits down with Lupe as he discusses being Grammy nominated for Best Urban Alternative Performance, why he went with the title The Cool for his sophomore release and various other things. Give it a go!
Exactly
Jun
11
20/20: HipHopGame.com Interviews No ID
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No I.D. is one of those producers that is mentioned in the same breath as Primo and Pete Rock, but his body of work isn’t as well known as their. Another well known fact is that he’s Kanye’s mentor and played a big part in molding Kanye into the producer he is. I came across this interview over @ HipHopGame.com and its pretty in depth and interesting. He speaks on working with Jermaine Dupri, and why he chooses to stay out of the limelight amongst other things. Here’s an excerpt:
Read rest of interview @ HipHopGame.com
Jun
6
20/20: Big Tigger Interviews Lil’ Wayne
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Big Tigger interviews Lil’ Wayne on topics like why he considers himself the best rapper alive, whether the Hot Boyz are coming back, and his lady rumors. Pretty interesting and humorous, check it out!
Exactly!