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Fire Starter:
Gino Green Global
It's not 999, or even an upside-down 666. That logo you're about to start seeing everywhere is "ggg." Founded a couple of years ago by brothers Prince and Anthony Mayol and their partner Norman Wells, New York clothing line Gino Green Global is getting great looks in the streets. Artist such as Chris Brown, Papoose, Dem Franchize Boyz and Remy Ma and radio personalities like DJ Kay Slay and Ed Lover have been seen rocking the line on TV, onstage, at parties and so forth.
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— Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes
Artists: DJ Smallz, DJ Kay Slay and DJ Green Lantern
Representing: Wherever your heart's at
Mixtapes: Southern Smoke 26: Welcome Back 2 A-Town (Smallz) and On My New York Sh-- (Lantern and Slay)
411: Are we in the midst of a hip-hop civil war? Not in the least. It's just that certain artists are feeling very mouthy about their hometown pride. You have Busta yelling "New York!" at the top of his lungs, and of course no one is going to yell "A-Town!" (or anything else for that matter) louder than Lil Jon. Heavyweights spinners from the North and South are putting product out this week with heat from their areas.
Joints To Check For:
- "Gangsta, Gangsta" by Lil Scrappy (Southern Smoke 26). "Scrappy's new album is coming crazy," says Lil Jon. "His first single is 'Gangsta, Gangsta.' It's like some 2006 N.W.A meets crunk. The song's video is coming soon. I have a concept for the video that's over the top. His imaging is over the top. He's sounding good. I think people are going to be amazed."
- "Banned From New York" freestyle by Remy Martin (On My New York Sh--). "I took the theme of the mixtape On My New York Sh-- and I wanted to personify it," Remy said of her freestyle. "And that's how I came up with the 'Banned From New York' freestyle. The whole rhyme I'm explaining how and why I'm the Queen of New York and how no one deserves that title more than me. The reason I picked Nore's 'Banned From TV' beat is because it represents how New York was back [when it came out in '98]. All the hottest rappers from all areas of New York were on it."
- "Rep Yo Click" by Freeway featuring Red Cafe and Lil Jon (Southern Smoke 26). "I did that for him awhile ago," Jon, who produced the record, said of the song. "I guess it's recirculating because he has some new mixtapes out. But I did that [beat] like three or four years ago. I haven't heard it since we did it."
Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week
- DJ 007 & DJ Kwest's Reggaeton vs. Hip-Hop 2
- DJ Ampz, Ludacris and the DTP Family's Who Is DJ Ampz Pt. 5
- Mick Boogie and Rick Ross' Rick the Ruler: The Port of Miami Prequel
- DJ Burn One/ DJ Funky & Big Kuntry's Cocaine
- DJ Drama and Lil Wayne's Dedication 2
- Nomadic Trackz's Back to the Beat
- DJ Rukiz's Babymaker #7 and That Was My Sh--, Volume 2
- DJ Whoo Kid and Sam Scrafo's The Corner
Click here for more of Mixtape Monday ...
'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar
- Paula DeAnda featuring Baby Bash - "Doin' Too Much"
- DJ Khaled featuring Kanye West, Consequence and John Legend - "Grammy Family"
- Mistah F.A.B. - "Don't Know"
- The Roots - "Don't Feel Right"
- Rick Ross featuring Jay-Z and Young Jeezy - "Hustlin' " remix
- Shawnna featuring Smoke - "Damn"
Celebrity Faves
New Edition member and real estate broker extraordinaire Ron DeVoe says he'll take the props and the money. He appreciates Nick Cannon sampling Bell Biv DeVoe for "Dime Piece" and Bow Wow incorporating a sample of New Edition's "I'm Leaving You Again" for his "Like You." "It's a blessing, man," DeVoe said. "It shows that people are paying attention, and based on them using our records, it feels good to be able to pick up a check over and above the checks we got for putting out the original records. It feels like they're showing love to a group that are pioneers in the industry."
The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground
Mr. N.W.A is pushing N.W.G. Ice Cube recently collaborated with the company Urban World for the new mixtape N---az With Guns. "It's a concept. I think this is the fourth year N---az With Guns has run," said Cube, who is featured on the mixtape's cover via a "XXX: State of the Union" photo. "It's an antiviolence mixtape and it's talking about some of the people who were down with the civil-rights movement. It's basically telling people to put the guns down and have fun with the music. It's a message that's right up my alley."
Cube is currently on tour with the Clipse and Tha Dogg Pound. "It's fun," he said recently before a show at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York. "I'm having a ball. The last time we toured was the Up in Smoke Tour. Now, to be able to go back out and light up the country again, we're having a ball." (Click here for photos from the show.)
While Cube was performing at the club, Lil Jon stayed in the background next to the DJ at the turntables, until it was time to perform "Real N---a Roll Call." Jon is the producer of Cube's next single, "Go to Church," which features Snoop Dogg. "I didn't want to have a lot of cameos, but [Snoop], I definitely wanted," Cube said. "['Go to Church'] is just one of them fun songs, a club banger, get the crowd crunk. It's cool to get a little bit of South in there with the West Coast."
Cube's independent album Laugh Now, Cry Later has already spawned "Why We Thugs" and "Child Support," and other records you can expect are "The Game Lord" on which he raps, "In South Central Los Angeles, grandmamas smoke cannabis/ Granddaughters wanna dance and sh--/ Her own mama can't stand the bitch."
Laugh Now, Cry Later comes out June 6. Cube, the Clipse and Tha Dogg Pound are on tour until the beginning of June, and the rap legend said he's going to do some spot dates through the summer. Besides the N---az With Guns mixtape, Cube can also be found hosting DJ Strong and DJ Warrior's Cali Untouchable Radio 11.
Danger Mouse teamed up with MF Doom for an album, and he more recently hooked up with Cee-Lo for the Gnarls Barkley project. Next on his hit list is Roots lyrical savant Black Thought. "We're in the middle of working on some material right now," Thought recently revealed. "We got together a few months ago, before the whole Gnarls Barkley thing took off the way it did. So I'm not sure of how that's gonna affect our project, but it's still in the works."
Thought said he's not really sure of the album's direction yet. "You can never call it with Danger Mouse," the Philadelphia showman smiled. "I would call it a meeting of the minds. It would not be like me, Black Thought from the Roots, and Danger Mouse the producer — it's us taking on two personas. I guess you get the gist of what he's doing with the Gnarls Barkley and with the Doom record. It's nothing like those two records, but in the same realm. We don't have a working [album] title, we don't even have titles for the songs. It's very much a work in progress, but I'm feeling what it is."
Obie Trice's Second Round's on Me is on tap for later this summer, but in the meantime he'll be dropping a yet-to-be-titled mixtape. "It's new material," he said. "I've got a lot of songs I didn't use for the album I'mma throw on there. There's a few tracks I'm freestyling over other people's music. We've got some Shady collaborations with some of the new Shady cats that just got signed: Bobby Creekwater, Cashis. Plus Stat Quo. I'm keeping it moving."
Last but not least, Fat Albert is rapping. Yup. Comedian/actor Kenan Thompson has just finished recording a mixtape with Icadon called Rap on Comedy. We just heard a song off of it, called "Das Him" and produced by Vinnie Idol. Not only is Thompson rapping, he's repping College Park, Georgia.
For more on the role of mixtapes in the music industry, check out the feature "Mixtapes: The Other Music Industry."
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Photo: MTV News
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MTV Overdrive
