Finebeats

A recent Drake interview with XXl magazine has sparked controversy, after it appeared that Drake was taking a stab at DJ Drama’s ‘Gangsta Grillz’ mixtape series.

In a snippet published online, it shows Drake stating,

“I just find that boring, you know,people might want to hear it, but it’s just not something that I really want to give you. I’d rather just give you something that lasts a little longer than that ’cause those mixtapes never really last much longer than six months.”

But speaking with AllHipHop.com, Drake attempted to clear things up a little stating that he meant no disrespect at all,

“In no way did I intend to discredit the Gangsta Grillz brand,” Drake stated. “I have listened to many of Drama’s mixtapes and will continue to do so for years to come.”

Further clarifying his position on the matter Drake explained that he liked to hear completely new content, as opposed to hearing lyrics placed over existing beats, and how they put lyrics and hooks over entirely new beats.

Drake’s ‘Thank Me Later’ is expected to be released on June 15th.

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Things looked set up nicely for a chart battle between compton star Game and Canadian newcomer Drake, with both having June 15th set as release dates for their albums.

However Game’s R.E.D Album has been pushed back, whilst Drake’s looks set on course.

Before the R.E.D Album was pushed back, Game looked forward to the rivalry which would have followed,

Speaking to AllHipHop.com Game says,

“It’s all in the love of Hip-hop I’m a fan of Drake, It’s not even a competition its more like go out and get both albums because they’re both good.”

Although the Compton star did state that he felt that Drake would probably sell more at this time, due to his distinct vibe in the music world right now,

“Usually I say I will sell more but that ni**a’s buzz is very loud but we’ll see. One thing about it though I’m about to pound the streets so whoever is on his team better be ready because that’s the competition. 400 bars was just the beginning,” Game stated.

After just releasing his mixtape Game has enjoyed a consistant buzz around his recent work, on both street level and on the internet.

The Album is reported to be hitting us now on June 29th.

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Fans were held at bay by police on Wednesday as the Detroit star shot the video for his latest single ‘Not Afraid’.

Eminem took to the popular Market Street, New Jersey alongside long time friend Royce da 5′9″.

A strong security presence and police barricade held off hoards of fans as they turned out to support the star and some attempting to slip the superstar their own demos!

Dressed all in black Eminem walked up Market Street as he was filmed by cameras. Eminem waved at the fans from across the street to attempt to calm the melee surrounding the shoot. The streets were blocked off well into the afternoon as the video shoot took place.

It is thought that Eminem chose the street in New Jersey as it was a lower profile location opposed to neighboring New York City.

It is thus far unclear as to when the video will be released , but the album itself ‘Recovery’ is due to be released on June 22nd .

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There has been much talk of late surrounding the currently incarcerated Lil Wayne and Cash Money as a label, with regards to unpaid royalties.

Now Producer Bangladesh has spoken out on the topic of unpaid royalties surrounding the Grammy winning track ‘A Millie’, claiming that he is now having to sue Cash Money just to see a dollar of the money. Read the rest of this entry »

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Following his exit from Shady Records, many may have thought that this would be the end for Obie Trice and certainly the demise of his friendship with Eminem. Anyone who may have thought this would certainly have been justified, however they would be wrong on both accounts.

Friday May 7th will see Obie Trice his new label ‘Black Market Entertainment’ at Detroit Restaurant Via Nove. The launch will see appearances from Hip Hop’s elite including Eminem himself, Dr Dre, Akon, Royce Da 5′9″, D12, Trick Trick and more..

Speaking via a statement Obie says,

“Recognition for Detroit artist is a must, and Black Market Entertainment will be a conduit,”

As well as the label launch, the landscape for Obie’s future is looking up, with Obie’s follow up to ‘Second Round’s On Me’ in the form of the long awaited ‘Bottoms Up’. Obie has inked a deal with Universal for the album and has secured the services of Eminem to appear on the album, laying rest to the rumours that there is tension between the pair since Obie’s departure from Shady Records.

Details are still fairly sparce so we will update as soon as anything further becomes available.

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Last Wednesday saw Lil Wayne receive a very high profile visitor, whilst incarcerated at the Rikers Island facility.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is reported to have jumped on the bus just like all the other visitors, to visit the incarcerated New Orleans star, and is said to have spent around an hour with Wayne in a pre-approved visit.

Wayne has 8 months left to serve on his sentence for weapons possession, and despite his incarceration is still constantly in the news at the moment, with most recent reports claiming that a prison guard was recent fired from the Rikers Island Facility for attempting to gain unauthorised access to him. (full story here )

For all die hard Lil Wayne fans there are regular updates and response to fan mail as well as a countdown clock until his release at www.weezythanxyou.com

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Eminem has officially arrived again in his comeback bid, with his latest single ‘I’m not afraid” showing the Detroit megastar back to his best, and now a flood of controversy once again surrounding Eminem.

In the past Eminem has come under fire from many different groups and individuals alike, from angry parents to the homosexual community, however this time Eminem appears to have upset the sports community !

The controversy has been sparked after lyrics from Eminem’s latest freestyle offering ‘Despicable’ showed Eminem taking a stab at Pittsburgh Steeler Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and the recent highly publicized accusations of sexual assault.

In the freestyle Eminem Rhymes ,

“Fuck that/I’d rather turn this club into a bar-room brawl/Get rowdy as Roethlisberger and a bathroom stall,”

Sports writers and fans have acted angrily to the stab and have yet again put Eminem in the controvercy circle again !

However hiphopdx.com did report an amusing quote on the matter,

‘ESPN Blogger James Walker, who covers the division in which the Steelers reside, posed an interesting question on the matter: “Can Roethlisberger battle rap? That would be interesting to see,” he wrote, ultimately picking Eminem to win the imaginary battle. “To reference an old LeBron James line, Roethlisberger battling Eminem on the mic is like Soulja Boy trying to battle Jay-Z. It’s not a good look.”

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A guard formerly of Rikers Island, the facility holding rapper Lil Wayne, has threatened legal action after she was fired for allegedly spying on Lil Wayne.

Officials from Rikers Island, have claimed that Amelia Negron entered into the section of the prison that houses the rap megastar without the correct authorization to do so.

However Negron has denied the charges stating to the New York Daily News.

“I don’t even like rap. I like rock and alternative music and didn’t know much about him when they said I tried to see him. None of it’s true,”

Amelia Negron admitted entering the section which houses Wayne but categorically denies that it was to gain access to the rap star,

“The door to the area was unlocked, and so I went in to say hello, and that officer said, ‘Hey, you can’t be here. We’ve got a celeb here.’ I said, ‘Okay, no problem,’ turned around and left.” She states,

She has also stated that afterwards she was threatened,

“I did nothing wrong, but I was threatened with criminal charges, transfers, suspensions.”

The corrections Department have maintained that the firing was justified, although Negron is currently consulting lawyers on legal action, and it is expected that she will sue.

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Due to the promises not just from Marshall Mathers himself, but from many close to him as well, about the standard and quality of Eminem’s newest work, it is suprising to say the least that the full details surrounding the album are still very sparce.

It has however been revealed that Eminem will be releasing his new single ‘Not Afraid’ on radio and internet this Friday. With the album expected to be released on June 22nd.

There has been very little in terms of information so far about the album and indeed the single alike, the single is reportedly produced by Jim Jonsin, who although is not widely known, has worked with artists such as The Game and Usher. MTV News spoke with Jim Jonsin who explained about how Eminem has expanded his ideas on his production and the way he works,

“He was open to ideas,” Jonsin said to MTV speaking of Recovery. “He was real respectful to my craft. He let me do what I do. He asked me ideas on some of the lyrics. We had ideas for lyric changes. Certain words may or may not work on radio. We talked about that. He had a setup outside of the room to do production, but I’d rather be in the room where he was at, and he was cool with that. And I knocked out a couple of joints in there while he was in there with me. He was pretty open and he let me do my thing. He did his thing. It was a pretty good experience.”

As soon as any further information becomes available on Recovery and ‘Not Afraid’ we will update.

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As the world of Hip Hop has been morning the loss of legend Guru, DJ Premier has discussed his last visit to see Guru in hospital,

“When I saw Guru, it just really fucked me up. I wore a Gang Starr shirt, first of all, just for the energy, and jus so he knew that’s forever with us. Forever” He stated.

After much speculation over the letter that Guru is said to have written to his family friends and fans, Dj Premier who was mentioned in this letter in less than favourable circumstances, gave his opinion on whether Guru could have written the letter,

“From what I was hearing – him waking up, and writing and tweeting…there’s no way! There’s no way! We saw him – he looked so gone! And if you love him, and you’re care of him, why in the fuck did his nails look longer than a fucking ruler? [And he had a] clump afro. I’ve taken care of people in the hospital. You can wash their head, you can clean their nails up, clean their feet. His feet were swollen, and his toenails were really disgusting. So because of that, it really fucked me up”

Big Shug, an original member of Gangstarr spoke of Guru and revealed how their name Gangstarr was created,

“I wanted to be called ‘Gangsters’ because I was a really street dude back then, but Guru said…it might be a little scary because they were scared of Hip Hop [since it was] was still new. So I said ‘Okay, well…since I represent the gang…and you were kinda like a star because you were educated, a cleaner dude in that regard, we could be ‘Gang Starr.’ And he said, ‘That’s dope. We could be ‘Gang Starr.’”

Shug also explained the Gangstarr symbol stating,

“When you see the original star and the chain, that’s what it represented. The star is Guru shining – intelligent, educated – and the chain stood for me being like a gang representative.”

As a final statement, Big Shug spoke affectionately of Guru and made it clear what a great he really was,

“I’ll always respect and treasure Keith, Guru. When we started out…he didn’t rap. He was just an educated brother. I really taught him…until he really got it. And we always said…if one of us made it, we’d come back and get the other. So he stayed true to his word on that part. And because of that, I was able to see the world, and see things I never saw.”

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