June 20th, 2017, the legendary emcee, 1/2 of The Infamous Mobb Deep, out of Queensbridge, New York has passed away due to complications caused sickle cell anemia crisis. News broken by a Instagram post from Nas.
At 42 years young, Prodigy made his mark as one of the grimiest street rappers hiphop has ever witnessed. Let’s take a look back and appreciate some of his career.
“I break bread, ribs, 100$ bills. Peel on Ducatis and other 4wheels. Write a book full of medicine and generate mills. Your the album, only for more sales.”
He actually wrote a book called My Infamous Life, plus a prison cookbook called My Infamous Prison Cookbook. Below is Prodigy speaking on wack/fake rappers before heading to jail exclaiming, “stop rapping and go paint a fucking house!”
Prodigy beefed with Pac, Nas, and Jay Z in their primes, and then signed to G-Unit in theirs. Here he is killing it with Curren$y.
Always loved this beat. Alchemist is the truth.
I heard from my homie BassRob that Prodigy wrote in his book about the time he first met Alchemist. On that day he said, “ah Feds think they’re slick, disguising as producers now,” because he was white, LOL. Prodigy probably tested him like make a beat right now, and when Alchemist chopped some fire Prodigy probably thought to himself, “Feds did their homework. I’ll take the beat but make sure I don’t incriminate myself on it,” LOL.
The following excerpt is my homie Justin Jermaine chiming in on Prodigy’s death.
“I don’t even know how to start this shit. Bandana fuckin’ P. His music, especially his solo work, was dear to me. He was the voice of the gritty underdog, the relentless fighter, the lamb who bumped heads with the goats and the flock of countless rappers in between. You can ask Nas and Hov, P held his own with no fucks given. His beef with 2Pac is documented on the greatest diss track of all time, I ain’t bullshittin’ you.
My nigga P was a fighter bruh. Before he had to fight half of the rap industry (lol), he got his scars and toughness from scuffling with sickle cell anima. Listen to “You Can Never Feel My Pain”, where he explains his bout with sickle cell, and how it made him the non-sociable asshole who wanted to punch you in your face just for living (he doesn’t say that in the song ha). I discovered that song around the time I was dealing with an illness myself, and that track was a tear jerker.
I felt like P was an underdog who spoke for underdogs such as myself. Whenever I heard a hot new Prodigy verse or song, it felt like a win for the home team. I rooted for that nigga because he was representing me in a sense. And it never hurts to have a representative when you feel voiceless.
Raw, unique, independent thinkers who are ahead of their time. He touched on a gang of social issues a lot of y’all are just being “awaken” to now.
I embraced his solo discography, everything from the HNIC series to the Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson EP (hold this one close to my heart), Return of the Mac, etc. He left us with enough work to hold his legacy down for ages. He helped teach niggas the Dun Language so I gotta hold it down.
I really got into Prodigy as a solo artist when he was released from Jail. It’s something about seeing black men come home from jail that makes me cheerful, like it’s a holiday. I still remember the image of him in the snow with the cigar in his mouth.
I had to shorten this because it’s so much I wanna say. I don’t wanna give y’all an essay so I’ll leave you with 5 P songs I love.
Mel, you took me to see Raekwon, Ghost and Mobb Deep at the HOB, and that shit meant the world to hear them Mobb Deep joints. Recently, Prodigy performed his HNIC album with a live band in NYC and I swear I was plotting on a way to see u.
Justin also left us with a couple groovy Prodigy mixes.
Screwed..
Check out the mixes. If you have any stories or songs please leave them in the comments. Even though he’s not here physically, let’s keep Prodigy’s spirit alive.
Not guilty! I didn’t know much about the Freddie Gibbs case except he was being charged for rape overseas. He seemed like a solid dude prior so I didn’t buy it to begin with, but when he opened up about the charge I had to check it out. The interview was done with XXL and the excerpt is below.
“XXL: Take us through July 6, 2015. What happened?
Freddie Gibbs: Pretty much on that day, July 6, 2015, I had a show in Vienna, Austria. A regular night, I did my show, people [were] backstage, the show went well. There were a lot of people backstage, DJs, other artists, females, of course. People were drinking, people were smoking, a normal backstage. When [the girls] came back [to the hotel], they were with the homies and I went up to my room and I went to sleep. Whatever happened past that I don’t know because I wasn’t up for it. Apparently the girls came to one of the homies’ room and they had sex.
The next day they filed a report on my homie. The Austrian Police contacted my booking agency a week later and they let me know that my friend was [accused of ] sexual assault. I was like, “Wow, what does this mean?” and they said, “If he comes back here, he’ll be arrested.” So I let [my homie] know [he was being accused]. At this time, I wasn’t even involved in this [case]. I wasn’t named in any allegations whatsoever. This is the first report [the women] made, [and it’s] the day after it happened. My name wasn’t in it because, clearly, I wasn’t even around and nothing physical went down. Only time I saw these females was backstage, arriving to the hotel and that’s it.
So with the allegations, I just told [my homie] that he might want to handle this. “I don’t know how serious it is to you. But I’m telling you as a friend, I don’t think you want to walk around with this rape charge hanging over your head in whatever country.” He’s American, a cat from the streets. He’s not going to go back to Austria. He was only there because I was there. My guess is [the two women] got frustrated with the fact that they weren’t going to make an end to this case. The girls got some kind of rape activist lawyer in their country. I think I arrived in Europe for my next tour on May 18, 2016, and the day after that the girls went to the police and said, “I had a flashback that Freddie Gibbs was involved in this rape, too.” They had a dream that I was also involved. Basically I got indicted for a so-called flashback, a dream and that was [what] it was.
Did your friend come tell you he just had sex with the women?
I didn’t believe him. I was like, “C’mon my nigga, you bullshittin’.” But apparently he did, the fucking physical evidence was there. Both these women, he had sex with them. Did he rape them? I don’t know. I can’t say if he did or he didn’t.
Did he know how old they were?
I can’t say that either. I don’t know what he knew or [was] thinking at the time. I knew I wasn’t fucking with these women, whether they were old enough or not for me. I don’t need to fuck no women backstage at my show that I don’t know. That’s been a rule that I’ve been playing by for years. When it came to them, like I said, it wasn’t for me.
In reports they said the other accused person was your security guard, was that guy your security guard?
They said that but it definitely wasn’t a security guard, I don’t have security guards. It was just the homie.
The day after of the incident in July 2015, the two women went to the police and filed a report on your friend. You got word through your agency a week later and told your boy. When you came back to perform again, 10 months later in May 2016, the two women went to the police again to change their story?
I was there May 18 and I believe they changed their story [to police] May 20, if I’m not mistaken. If there were any issues with anything with me, as soon as I got to Europe, I would have been arrested. I had no issues whatsoever. I wasn’t involved in this case at all.
So they went to the police in May and you were arrested in June?
Correct. That’s when they were able to catch up to me or something, I guess. I was on my tour but I wasn’t notified of anything of that nature, it was just, “[We] got your Black ass.” I was doing a show in Paris the night before, and I drove to Toulouse, France, South of France. As soon as I got to my hotel room, there’s like 20 police officers, plain clothes, I think even the damn bellboy was a cop. Niggas selling newspapers on the corner pulled out a gun. I just got snatched up. I still had my bookbag on my back. It was crazy. They just snatched me up into the police car and they initially said that it was an American matter. Like about five or six hours later, they came to my cell and said I’ve been arrested for sexual assault. I just laughed and was like, “Let’s get the bail because I know this is bullshit.” They said it’s not going to be a bail and I’m going to sit here until it’s figured out and I might be extradited to Austria.
What was the treatment like for you?
It was horrible. I’m a Black American. Every country has racism and things of that nature so I can’t put the racist label over an entire country. But it definitely had that stigma. “This where Adolf Hitler was born,” that’s all that was running through my head. Everybody in Austria is not a racist, but it was definitely a lot of racists in my situation.
You were arrested in Toulouse, France. What was the treatment like there?
It was horrible too. Those French policemen are some bitch-ass niggas. They were trying to make a nigga rap and shit like that, rap and get food. It was all on the news and everybody has a TV in their cell. So every night, I’m on the news, “A Black American rapes two White girls.” They put me in a cell block full of rapists, muthafuckas that rape their own wives and their own daughters. I don’t deserve to be in this shit. It was just a fucked-up experience. I don’t want to be amongst those muthafuckas. They really rape people. That ain’t in my DNA at all.
Who did you call first when you got arrested?
Shit, I didn’t really get to use the phone for a while. Probably like first week I was there they didn’t let me use the phone. Luckily my road manager Max Robin, he coordinated everything, got with Lambo, [my manager Ben Lambert], got with Erica and everything. They put my lawyer team together. Between Max and Lambo, they handled all of that and Erica and my lawyer [Theodore Simon], they got the foreign lawyers that I needed in France, because I had to fight the extraction to Austria and I had to fight for my bail to get released in France. I couldn’t really make any calls. The calls I made were to Lambo, my mom and my baby mama, that’s about it. Just to let them know that I was breathing. I couldn’t really coordinate anything. I thought I was about to get out because I still had dates on my tour. But the jail system doesn’t work like that overseas. Like, over there you’re guilty until proven different.
The coverage of this case was vastly different in the States than overseas. It was immensely bigger overseas while it was sporadic news coverage here. What was that like for you being public enemy No. 1?
Yeah, I was definitely public enemy No. 1 in Europe when this case was going down. People eat what they serve. It was crazy. It was a heart-breaking situation to be accused of something like that. It’s a scar on my name. Even beating the case still, I still got to fight to let people know this isn’t part of my character. I had nothing at all to do with this. People that really fuck with me and really know me, they knew off the top that this is bullshit. But you still got people out there like, “He might beat that shit and pay his way out of it” or some shit like that. Nah, I got totally acquitted. I literally never hugged these women. I was totally blindsided. We had no physical contact whatsoever. I don’t even think there was even a handshake. If you can go off that and charge somebody with rape, that’s crazy.
The stipulations and charges for shit overseas are different. They wanted to give me 10 years in prison for this. I remember one day they came to my cell and asked me, “Do you want to go home?” I said, “Fuck yeah, I want to go home. I miss my daughter, muthafucka. I’m in here for another muthafucka, for some shit I had nothing to do with. I got a daughter, my nigga.” These niggas came into my cell and said, “You got 10 years on the table, admit this shit today and we’ll give you three.” So I said, “Y’all want me to lie on myself and take three years in prison, away from my child, than fight for my freedom? Go talk to my lawyer.”
This was in Austria or France?
This was in Austria.
When you posted bail in France, what went through your mind? You had to check in with police three times a week. That had to be debilitating.
I felt like I was on a fucking leash. Every week I had to check in with them. I don’t have a passport. I’m spending all this money on apartments out there. I had to stay in certain apartments in certain areas where they can make sure where I’m at. I definitely wanted to get it over with. Something in my head was thinking and praying that this will get dropped or maybe the French government would say [they] can’t extradite me on this bullshit. But my lawyers were like, “We’re going to have to fight this head on.”
What was the prosecution’s argument? What actual evidence were they presenting?
The only evidence against me was a phony statement. There was no physical evidence against me. There were no witnesses who said I had sex with these girls or dealt with these girls in any type of matter. The girls claimed that someone drugged their drinks. I’m like, “Y’all ain’t even got good weed over there, where am I going to find a goddamn date rape drug?” I don’t even know what a date rape drug look like. I never had that in my possession whatsoever.
[The women] claimed they blacked out and they didn’t know how they got from backstage at the concert to the hotel. But it was clearly documented by the hotel cameras that they walked in under their own power. Nobody was stumbling or anything. From my recollection, I don’t even remember the girls being sloppy drunk. They weren’t incoherent or falling over the place. They were totally in control of their action. Then another person that was in the hotel claimed during the night the girls came in his room as well. This is another muthafucka who wasn’t even with us. He came to court and said the girls came into his room and had drinks. And they went downstairs after they left the hotel and they asked the receptionist for his phone number. He testified that in court. All of this behavior, to me, it’s not parallel with someone who got raped. Strolling around the hotel, going in random muthafuckas rooms. It was all totally bullshit.
Who was with you during the time you were locked up overseas and this entire process?
Max was there the whole time pretty much, and Erica came and she brought my daughter. My mom came too. It was pretty much me and them and the lawyers. It was times when I was by myself, and that was really difficult. Like I said, just getting up to go get food was fucked up.
The language barrier had to make it difficult, right?
Not just the language barrier but just the fuckin’ psychological aspect that I can’t talk to people on the street. Fuck the language barrier, like, people speak a little English and I could get around, but I feel like I couldn’t engage in any conversation because I’m on bail for rape. Imagine how that made me feel. I don’t want to talk to nobody. How the fuck I strike a conversation?
How did you tell your girl about your situation?
She knew I didn’t do that shit so it wasn’t even a question. She solid. She super solid. She knows I’m guilty of a lot of things but definitely not any shit like that. It was never a question in her mind, and I love her for that. She never ever thought that l was lying. I never got that ridicule at all from her.
What was going on when you were being extradited?
Yeah, that shit was bullshit. We had an arrangement with the Austrian government. We paid France a big-ass bill and we were like, “Can we pay bail in advance so when I get there, there’s no issues?” I’m coming in and going in to my hotel and waiting for the trial to start. And they were like, “Cool.” My lawyers made that agreement with the Austrian government so I wouldn’t have to go to jail when I get there. I can just do the trial, present all the evidence and knock it out the park because it was all bullshit. That was my thinking. Like, “Alright, I’m going to have to be there for a couple of months, but fuck it, I’ll get this off my name and be cleared and I have no fucking choice.”
So, we made that agreement with them and they sent two punk-ass cops to come and get me. They were all nice to me, getting me coffee and making it seem like it was all good. Like, they felt some kind of sympathy for me. We get to Austria kind of late in the night and I was like, “Damn, how are we going to handle this? It’s almost midnight?” So we pulled up to the prison [and] I knew these muthafuckas are about to go back on the agreement we made. Lo and behold they said, “It’s the weekend, you’re going to have to stay here for at least the weekend.”
I’m like, “What the fuck?” Sunday comes around and I go see the judge. Not the judge I made the agreement with and sent the money to already but a different judge. The [original] judge went on vacation when I was in transit. The new judge said, “Tell me your side of the story.” I let him know pretty much everything I’m telling you and he was flat out like, “I don’t believe you, so I think I’m going to leave you in investigative custody.” Basically, I had to sit jail in Vienna for another month until the first judge that I made the agreement [with] came back from vacation. That was very discouraging because if they can do this, I’m done. They definitely going to sentence me for some bullshit. I’m in their clutches.
Did you ever think, I could lose? I could go to jail for 10 years?
Correct, because I definitely wasn’t going to lie on myself and take the three years. I was going to fight it to the end.
That moment in jail, what was that like? Did you meet anyone that stuck out? Make any friends?
That was probably the roughest time I was there during that time in Austria. I felt like the guards are a little more racist. The whole set-up was kind of racist.
Did you get attacked or anything?
Fuck no, I wasn’t getting a lot of attacks, but it was definitely a lot of threats. I was in the section with the rapists and shit. So when we went out into the yards, everybody that was in their cell would be yelling all kinds of shit, definitely a lot of racial slurs. But nothing I’m not used to in America, though. It was still a fucked-up situation. I don’t care about you calling me no muthafuckin’ nigger but don’t call me no muthafuckin’ rapist at all. I don’t want that shit attached to my name whatsoever. That was the killer part, that’s what hurt me the most—and just not seeing my daughter.
I was feeling like the U.S. Embassy ain’t do shit for me. They cared more about their relationship with Austria than they did for an American citizen that’s been falsely accused. I’m being held captive for some bullshit. Any fucking real judge or lawyer can look at this case and tell it was bullshit. The case should be easily dismissed. The U.S. Embassy were just like, “Ah, we just making sure you’re alive and breathing.” They didn’t give a fuck. I feel like if I was a White American male in that situation, I’m out. I probably never would have got locked up or extradited and that’s the honest truth. [The] U.S. Embassy did not assist me any way. They brought me two bullshit books. I read them though because I didn’t have anything else to read. And, the books Erica was bringing, they didn’t let her bring those in: Korans, Black books, and things of that nature. All the Black literature that she was bringing, they wouldn’t let me get it.
How did you get updated on stuff?
I would get calls. After a while I started using the phone because at first they weren’t even letting me put my own money to use the phone. I call home probably like once or twice a week. When I got on bail I was really able to get things in order. In that situation, thank God I got a good job. If you didn’t have money, those 10 years right in your face would have been over with. It was one guy that I was in Austria jail with, I [will] never forget him and he was African. My experience with the African cats in there, a lot of them didn’t really…I felt weird. They didn’t really fuck with me. They didn’t really connect with me. Some of them did because they knew who I was, but the overall thing with them was, “You an American nigga, we don’t fuck with you.” That shit struck me as weird. I was like, “Damn man, we all over here in this bullshit.” But they weren’t fucking with me also because I was on the rapist side. Like, “You a Black American and a rapist, get the fuck out of here.”
But there was one guy that did, his name was Love. He introduced me to Dr. [Rudolf ] Mayer, one of my lawyers in Austria who [helped] put the case together against the girls and the prosecution and they made it work for me. Thanks to them and what they did because it was a long journey coming home. Longer than what some people think. I literally had 11 lawyers working on this case all in conjunction. I lost a lot of things, a lot of time from my family, luckily I didn’t lose my name. I see a lot of people glorify cats that got rape stuff attached to them. To me that shit ain’t cool. This is probably the worst thing someone can accuse you of in my book.
The videos of you in Austria court, you look so isolated.
It was literally me against the world. Their courtroom is set up different. It’s not like a stand and a judge. It’s like four judges and your legal team, and you’re sitting in the middle of this semicircle right there the whole time during trial, not understanding a word, so I got to keep looking at my lawyer facial expressions. The girls tried to sell this story so crazy, they didn’t appear in the courtroom. I had to see them via on a Goddamn screen in another room. They claimed that they were too afraid to face me because I intimidated them. They were on a video conference. They didn’t even have the guts to come in the courtroom and confront me. When they did that I knew I was going to win this shit. “It was all bullshit.”
The courtroom looked packed.
It was the prosecution, the judges, my legal team and a whole bunch of people.It was a big case in that country. That’s why they tried to hang my Black ass, because it was a big thing. It was election year coming up for a lot of muthafuckas there, so of course they want shit like this, a high-profile case and put a nigga on his ass for some shit he didn’t do. Especially since they felt they weren’t going to ever get the other guy, they thought, let’s get me. I’m the one with the bread. Then we can sue him in civil court and take everything he got. That was the move in their mind. But when the case got presented, we had so many witnesses in our favor. We had so much evidence in our favor. I’m taking selfies of myself in my room at the time that the incident allegedly happened, I was time-stamped. We gave this shit to the prosecution months ago, but they said, “We don’t give a fuck.” We had this evidence: the cameras in the fucking hotel. I’m in my room by myself, why the fuck is it this big witch hunt? It was totally racially and financially motivated.
They used your lyrics in court too, right?
Correct, they used my lyrics in court. Of course I got some sexually suggestive lyrics. The things I rap about are definitely not for everyone’s ear, but it ain’t no rape shit in my lyrics. I won’t say no names but I hear shit recently rapping about rape and shit. And muthafuckas bumping it like it’s cool. That shit ain’t cool.
Was there a jury for the trial?
The four judges were making the whole decision. It wasn’t a jury. So that’s another fucked-up part about it. But maybe I’m glad it wasn’t a jury because how the fuck is it going to be a Goddamn jury of my peers in Austria? I’m going to fucking lose. It’s going to be a bunch of old White people sitting in front of me like, “Get his ass.”
Talk about the day you got acquitted.
It was awesome. I walked in the courtroom with my head held high and I walked out the courtroom with my head held high ’cause I know I didn’t do shit. The whole time, it was a four-hour trial, I knew I was winning the whole time. It’s like, when Floyd Mayweather is cruising in a fight, that’s how I felt the whole time. My lawyer kept winking at me and like, “Yeah, we’re good.” So basically, they just wasted four months of my muthafuckin’ life for this and I’m about to slam-dunk in y’all faces. It was a great feeling. I was going home, my daughter was there, Erica was there. It was great. It was just like, I’m about to go home. But that shit really took a lot out of me. When I got home I didn’t want to do anything. I didn’t want to be involved with this rap shit really because I felt like if some fans can do this shit to me, I’m just going to chill. The only thing I was craving was time with my daughter. That was all that I was craving when I was [locked up], spending time with my daughter, and when I got back that’s all that I did.
Did the hip-hop community support you?
Definitely, it was some people that supported me heavy. My boy BJ The Chicago Kid, he was hitting me all the time. Charlamagne Tha God was hitting me all the time, that’s the homie. There were some people that were throwing little bullshit comments, I saw that. It was even niggas that showed no support at all, muthafuckas that I worked with. It’s one bitch-ass nigga in particular, while I’m over there on fucking bail for this bullshit case, I’m going through it, my family going through it, this bitch-ass nigga asked me to post his muthafuckin album that was about to come out. He said, “Damn, bro, sorry to hear that. Can you post this?” He knows who the fuck I’m talking about. Shit like that let me know how certain muthafuckas don’t give a fuck. That was a fucked-up situation to be in with no love, but by God’s grace I did get love. I ain’t worried about the few muthafuckas that were saying some dumb shit. It’s just a funny story.
The two worst things you can label someone is a rapist and a racist. How has that affected your business?
I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hit me financially. It was a huge hit. I had 11 lawyers; you can do the math on that alone. [Laughs] I missed numerous amounts of shows and appearances and who knows what other opportunities. I felt like a lot of people were like, “Let’s see what happens with this shit before we stand by Freddie.” You had people that supported me that knew me and knew I didn’t do this shit. And, you had people who didn’t really know and they were scared to touch me. Even with all the evidence out there, everyone isn’t going to read the whole article, everybody isn’t going to read all the facts. All you have to do is put rape next to somebody’s name and it’s done. It affects everybody differently and it created a scar on my name that I had to patch up. Like I said, it’s young rappers with shit like that on their name and they don’t give a fuck and the hip-hop world don’t give a fuck, but not me. I got a daughter, I have nieces, I have sisters, I have a mother.
What have you been doing since you got home?
I just been chilling, I haven’t been doing shit [Laughs]. I just been chilling with my daughter. My daughter about to be two, I just been chilling with her and watching her develop and a lot of reading. I’m trying to do some work in the community now. I’ve been doing a lot of everything but rapping.”
Incredible how horrific people in this world can be. From the girls to the prison to the judicial system. It made me really think about all the people who aren’t Gibbs. All the people who didn’t have the money to get a good team together. All the people just rotting away because they had to charge someone for the crime. So they can close the books, can you believe it? “Good work Johnson,” this world is a joke.
Crushed Glass off Freddie’s latest project, You Only Live Twice, the project he made when he got out.
Immediately I began streaming Freddie’s music. I know it’s not much but I just wanted to do what I could to get him some revenue. We need to support each other. Locals, small businesses, independent artists, good people. Most importantly, support good people. We can change the world this way.
Go stream/buy You Only Live Twice, Pinata and whatever else on any medium you can! We’re with you Gibbs.
Justin Jermaine keeps blazing my speakers with his Chopped&Screwed music. Scroll down or check his soundcloud page and see for yourself.
Freddie Gibbs-20 Karat Jesus
TLC-How It Works
Syd-All About Me
Pusha T x JayZ-DDA
Sayomi Klan-Lil Hat
Marcus The Poet-The Big Picture
“If it wasn’t for DJ Screw, this track wouldn’t exist… “, more than likely sits in the description of his music.
What I like about Justin is that he touches tracks other DJ’s aren’t touching. He’s been introducing me to some new tunes since he began, which is very similar to DJ Screw. DJ Screw introduced his audience to new music, the only way they would hear those tracks were if they were on his cassettes. With each track released, Justin reassures that that is indeed his plan.
Last week, controversial artist Lil Yachty joined Joe Budden and DJ Akademics on Everyday Struggle, a morning show covering news and issues in hiphop and pop culture.
I watched the show in two parts. The first part being up to the point where the 360 deal was first mentioned.
Here are my thoughts up to this point.
Budden was too hot with his take. You can’t talk to a kid like that. It’s natural for them to tune you out and rebel with that approach. Budden has to understand that this is a new era. Rap has changed. This is something he can’t seem to fathom. This is something a lot of people can’t seem to fathom. But change is imminent whether good or bad.
Moving on.
I don’t want to hate on Yachty because he’s a kid. A kid living and enjoying life but I have never been a Yachty fan. I don’t like his music (Peek A Boo is hard though), and I especially didn’t like him dissing the past. I have no problem with him not growing up on that generation’s music but the disrespect was unnecessary. This is why I believe he’s a pawn. Yachty and Uzi.
It seemed like once Yachty discredited the past by dissing Tupac and praising Drake his endorsements came. I mean I only knew of the kid because of a viral tweet (One Night), and his Minnesota record.
Correct me if my timetable is wrong.
Once he was in the headlines saying Drake is better than Pac, he got his Sprite commercial with Lebron, Target endorsement, and became the creative designer for Nautica. Who gets these endorsements virtually out of nowhere? It’s like the industry rewarded him. I only knew of him from two accounts, a tweet and one record!
To believe my theory you have to believe that there is a higher power.
I believe because Pac was so anti-establishment and Drake is so willing to follow suit, that once Yachty said that he, possibly unknowingly, sparked a revisionist history. They would rather rid the history books of Pac because of what he stood for. This would further push rap from it’s true essence.
You must’ve heard it more than once that rap is not just music but a culture. It was a culture created when they took music classes out of the urban communities. It is a tale of struggle and survival. The pioneers fought for something bigger than just making money. They fought for their movement, their culture. This is why the “old heads”, are disgruntled on where rap is heading. It is absolutely more than music. It’s about preserving what hiphop stands for.
Before Yachty and Budden faced off, an article came out (via Pigs&Planes) about whether rappers should know the history. The author of that post didn’t think so. Another person quoted the tweet and said, “they only want you to know the history so you can make “old” music.” Both accounts are false. It is important to know the history of any craft. This is how you become a master, by being a student. It’s not to recreate something but rather to innovate. You take what’s been done and manipulate it to create something new. This particular method doesn’t have to be done but knowing the history certainly benefits more than hurts. And you preserve what hiphop stands for. Why are 80 year old men in suits dictating what’s hot and what’s not?
Yachty, Uzi and a lot of rappers are being led on by a bag. You dangle money, girls and fancy things in front of those that came from nothing? It’s hard to convince the artist that the label is the bad guy. They’re giving them everything. However, these kids are not aware of what they’re doing or how they’re being taken advantage of. This erasing the history narrative only profits the suits and not the culture. They’re trying to take what once belonged to those in urban America.
Don’t trust the bag, respect the culture.
The culture will have your back when the suits are done using you.
Cover for Teenage Emotions above. Yachty claimed this was all him and his team. They handle all the creative aspects. But like Budden, I also thought Yachty’s album cover was a label push. The gay/all lives matter agenda has been a constant narrative in the mainstream world.
Part 2.
After the midway point, when Yachty said he didn’t know what a 360 deal was? I was sick, I immediately thought someone is not looking out. Probably Coach K, an A&R and manager. I’m sure he took a nice cut for setting up that 360 deal. For those that don’t know what a 360 deal is, it means the label takes a cut from everything the artist makes. The label essentially feels, “we’re the ones investing in you, allowing you to live your dreams. We deserve a cut from all of your money.”
I was sick. From this point on, it feels like Budden really takes the father figure role. Yachty was talking about how well his brand is doing yet is in the shadows of his own business? How do you not know if you’re in a 360? If your team handles all the creative aspects why even be in a 360? Why let the suits take a cut of everything when y’all do everything? Yachty’s answers from this point became shorter and he seemed quieter. Like he just had a moment of realization.
Someone is taking advantage of this kid.
It gave me the same feeling as when Lyor Cohen slithered out the cut when Young Thug was on Sway In The Morning. Lyor plus a few more executives were babysitting Young Thug for 75% of the interview. Who is Lyor to tell Thug if he could play music and what music he could play? Yes, it’s the contract Thug signed but this leads me to; ARTISTS, OWN YOUR MUSIC.(@ 29min)
Labels should be partners, not employers.
If you make the art, you should be the owner not an employee.
As shown above, Yachty has since clarified that he is not in a 360 deal. But I’m not sure, I’m still skeptical. I’ll let you decide however. For Yachty’s sake, I hope he isn’t. I like the kid. I like his attitude. And though he said he didn’t care about how the old heads viewed him, the fact he always replies shows he does. To me that means his conscious is still in tact. You hear stories about how terrible the industry is, but the industry hasn’t taken that aspect of his away. Here’s to Yachty.
On April 8, 2016, Jerreau(of Fly Union) released a solo album titled, Never How You Plan. Extremely late to the party, I put myself onto this album about a month ago and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
I was doing my daily Youtube surf when I clicked on the video for Really Got It. Roughly a minute into the song, I said to myself, “Lebron? This track is hard,” and, “is that the dude from FlyU?”
The horns have a champion feel, and the drums touch your soul if you have a decent pair of speakers. “I’m everywhere I just didn’t get no pics up… You wanna style her, I wanna undress her.”
Jumping over to Tidal, I added Really GotIt to my favorites, and saw NHYPwas his only solo project. “Let me give this a spin.”
I forgot all about Jerreau and Fly Union. I was never a real fan but I respected the work they put out. I can’t say it enough, I love the underground/indie artist scene from 2009-12. It was in a good position, and the last time I heard these names.
Before I mentioned how this album came at the perfect time. I was in a rough spot, and going through a slump. This album gave me a lift. In the first photo, Jerreau speaks on the concept behind NHYP. I saw that for the first time when I started writing this post. I felt that listening to the album the first few days straight.
“I had to hustle, I had to stop fucking with y’all. I had to mature. I had to start saving more, so I had to start making more.”
A lot of lyrics, beats and vibes hit home. At times, it felt like the music was speaking to me. Where would we be without music huh?
On our first podcast, and our first venture from music, @donjonathanx and I (@_jackietran) discuss our thoughts on the Rockets, Celtics, Playoffs and MVP race as well as the vision of MJR. Take a listen below.
Disclaimer: I’m not a writer I just want to help spread cool underground acts.
N The Clouds = Boi Dru & Jay Kell, a rap duo here in Houston, TX. They headlined a show this past Friday at White Oak Music Hall that had one of the better crowds/acts at a local show in recent memory. Beautiful venue by the way.
Boi Dru far left, Jay Kell far right. Rap music always sounds better with live instrumentation. Check their latest track here, it has a Cali feel.
Erva has a very strong yet soothing voice. Not sure what was I expecting but I didn’t expect her music to sound like this. The rest of the tracks on her Soundcloud are similar. I don’t mean this in a negative way.
Rap artist Soup in the background filming Brady Watt on the bass. Two good acts that opened for N The Clouds.
Brady Watt is a producer and bass player who has worked on countless projects. What sticks out to me is his work with the BluRoc/Creative Control era. That might be my favorite era of underground music. I believe Dame Dash was producing Rocafella 2.0. Unfortunately, it never came into fruition how it should’ve.
21sec in, look who it is….. Brady Watt is a legend in my eyes. He worked on Curren$y’s Pilot Talk I and II, some personal classics.
This is my favorite track Soup performed at the show. No pun.
Soup is a rap artist from Compton, now in Houston. On a dark stage he tended to resemble Pusha T in appearance at times. He had a good bounce to himself and his music. Someone to look out for.
Check out the acts that performed at the show. All were solid. Show some love and support if you’re feeling the music.
Before you check that, check out a quick video where Chino stopped by to discuss a few of his influences.
Shot and edited by @mqbeatsvideo, Chino says the original idea was to host a Texas HoldEm card game for the video but plans fell through. Bummer. The video is still Chino’s best despite the unfortunate unfolding of the original idea. Below is Texas Hold.
Show some support if you’re feeling the music, leave a comment.
T-Shawn is from Dallas and currently a student at UH. A slight flex in introducing T-Shawn from his hype man, “T-Shawn has garnered a million hits on Spotify.” Not a bad feat, not a bad intro (Sway is the king of introductions).
I was impressed by T-Shawn’s stage presence. With a 30-40min set, he brought good energy and showmanship to the stage. A couple dancers in the background, a couple singers came out, there were beach balls and a sex doll being tossed around, a quick DJ show off (Juice da 5’5) and a little tootsie roll action, it definitely kept me entertained.
Videos are fresh. His sound is fresh. He makes feel good music, vibes.
Posted above are a couple tracks that are standout favorites of mine from T-Shawn. Check them out and also check out his latest project below.
Show some love if you feeling the kid, leave a comment. Preciate the time.
Not guilty! I didn’t know much about the 
