Art Thief....

On Christmas a new Lupe Fiasco track was leaked via internet. Lupe has released a letter regaurding the unauthorized release off his upcoming & much anticipated album "Lasers."

My advice on it all...don't risk a virus looking for the leak but you should invest your download time in his latest released mixtape entitled "Enemy of the State: A Love Story" if you haven't heard it already. Bong.

(Peep Lupe's Letter Here...)

Lupe’s Letter…To Whom It May Concern,

La De Soul: 20 years of De La Soul Mixtape

As promised, here is the Mick Boogie x Terry Urban x Lemar & Dauley De La Soul tribute mixtape, Le Da Soul: 20 Years of De La Soul. Witness the remaking of De La Soul classic after classic from the likes of Phife, Camp Lo, Skillz, Talib Kweli, Kardinal Offishall, U-N-I, Tanya Morgan, and more. Follow me after the jump for the 20 remakes, one for every year of De La.

Download The Mixtape Here....

http://usershare.net/d67qmp0izewc

Micheal Jackson x DJ Jazzy Jeff x UNDRCRWN

DJ Jazzy Jeff teamed up with clothing line, UNDRCRWN, for He's The King , I'm The DJ. The mix is a combination of popular favorites and rare gems from the King of Pop.

"Seeing Sounds"

The ever expanding career of Skateboard P is expanding again....Pharrell is scoring a movie. No details yet on the project but I'll keep you in tune.

"Hip Hop is Off of Vacation"

What do you get when you take arguably the best rapper alive & pair him with the arguably the best DJ/producer alive?
Hip-Hip Icons Jay-Z & DJ Premier have teamed up to drop a project this summer. The project will be entitled, “Premier Issue vol. 7: Hova Edition” and is set to release July 4th. Hip Hop is coming back...Keep an ear to the street for "Can't Cheat Death" the first joint off the forthcoming project.

"Dope Girl"

Originally from Kansas City, Kansas, Monáe was first featured on the Purple Ribbon All-Star's Compilation Got Purp? Volume 2 in 2005. Her song "Lettin' Go," from this album became a cult hit and a fan favorite. Her next major feature was on OutKast's movie soundtrack for Idlewild, where she is featured on the songs "Call The Law" and "In Your Dreams." She was also featured in the video for the single "Morris Brown," with Big Boi and Scar.

The Wondaland Arts Society was founded by the Wolfmasters Nate "Rocket" Wonder, Chuck Lightning, and Delvin Franklin along with manager George "Rico" Rodriguez, Mitch Mitchowski, and Janelle Monáe herself. Other artists on The Wondaland Arts Society include the Afro-punk group Deep Cotton.

Escaping from the underworld of her hometown, Monáe attended the American Musical Academy in New York City where she studied musical theatre and planned to pursue a career on the stages of Broadway. But feeling stifled by the lack of dynamic roles for black women on Broadway, Monáe decided to relocate to Atlanta, Georgia to pursue her dream of changing the world through her music. Monáe made her debut in Atlanta in the Fall of 2003. At the time, she was enrolled in Georgia Perimeter College and studied Science. She performed at various events in the Atlanta University Center. Her first solo project "The Audition" consisted of raw acoustic production from fellow AUC group BOF (Best of Friends) and from Nate "Rocket" Wonder and Chuck Lightning of Wondaland Productions.

Monáe originally planned on releasing "Metropolis" in four separate parts, or "suites". The first "suite" of Metropolis, titled "The Chase" was released in August 2007 via her label, the Wondaland Arts Society. The first single from Suite I of Metropolis, "Violet Stars Happy Hunting" has since become an internet sensation and is an underground hit.

The album was initially only available via her website and live performances, as well as iTunes and other mp3 download sites. In late 2007, Janelle Monáe signed with Sean "Diddy" Combs' label, Bad Boy Records, who have since re-releasaed "Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition)" on August 12, 2008. The "Many Moons" video premiered on BET's 106 and Park on September 25, 2008. The song was recently nominated for a Grammy Award in the urban/alternative category. Monáe planned on releasing a full length album in January 2009, though the record has not yet seen a release.

"Musical Freedom"

At some point all good things come to an end...Def Jam's right to Jay-Z's upcoming "Blueprint 3" included. Thats right Hov has flown the Def Jam coop, spending a reported $5million to buy out the remainder of his contract.

"I can honestly say, working with Doug Morris and LA Reid has been a unique and fulfilling experience and I respect them immensely," Jay said in an interview. "I've been in the family for almost my entire career. Doug and I spoke directly and had one of the most unique 'negotiations' ever. Doug won the toss but, we both won in the end...I thank him for allowing me to be a completely independent artist. Not every artist can say they own or are given the opportunity to own all of their music." (Rap Radar)

Music Homework...

New Dead Prez Droppin' June 23rd.

"If You Don't Know...Now You Know"

Donuts Anyone?

Very few producers can say they've attributed as much to the art of Hip-Hop as J Dilla. The funny thing is, every other producer who can say that, you already know their name.

James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974–February 10, 2006), better known as J Dilla, or Jay Dee, was an American hip hop producer and MC, who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip-hop scene in Detroit, Michigan. He began his career as "Jay Dee" but used the name "J Dilla" from 2001 on. Many critics believe J Dilla's work to have had a major influence on his peers, and that he embodied the neo soul sound, playing a defining yet understated role during the sub-genre's rise (roughly from the mid-90s to the early 2000s). J Dilla was often dubbed "your favorite producer's favorite producer", and was highly regarded by mainstream artists and producers such as Common, Kanye West, A Tribe Called Quest, Just Blaze, Busta Rhymes, Pharrell Williams,and ?uestlove

"The Mighty Mos"

Mr. Flaco Bey better known by the masses as Mos Def has unleashes a new single from his upcoming LP, The Ecstatic. The inspiration behind this samba, jazz-funk melodic piece came about during his recent expedition across South America. It wasn’t until his trip to Brazil, where he managed to stumble upon this compelling track from Brazilian band, Banda Black Rio. The song, Casa Forte, was then given to his producers DJ Preservation to sample. The two managed to chop up the track and formulate this exquisite instrumental, which then was laced by an effortless spitfire of lyrics from Mos Def himself. The Ecstatic is slated for a release on June 09, 2009.

Also keep your eyes peeled for The "Boogie Man" Adidas x Mos

Lupe's End?

The Nominees for the Urban Music Awards (USA) 2009 were announced today and Lupe is up for an award in the category: Best HipHop Act 2009 But, will Lupe's 3rd Album titled "LUPEND" really be his final or is he another Jordan in 45? Either way be sure to stay tuned for more info on the story of argueably "one of the best lyricist of our generation."

The UMA's will be held on July 17th 2009 in New York City. They will be webcasted live to millions of viewers worldwide and the televised show will also be syndicated for broadcast via 12 channels across the USA, Africa, the Caribbean and Europe.

Wanna Get Rich? (Date a rapper & write a book.)

The upcoming tell-all book, Tia's Diary: Deeper Than Rap, from the mother of Rick Ross' son, has hit the Internet with its prologue that introduces fans to her relationship with the Miami rapper.

Tia Kemp: "The reason I felt that it would be interesting to write a book is because I have had a very big struggle in my life," Tia said in an interview. "I grew up without a father, my mom was a single parent and it was very hard for her to raise six kids on her own. Being the oldest, I experienced a lot of things growing up, a lot of challenges in life that I went through. I got married young, I had two kids and after that I ended up getting in a another relationship...When I met Ross he wasn't a celebrity. There are a lot of things that I experienced in my life before I met Ross that was overwhelming or outrageous or just crazy. And there are a lot of things that we went through that I thought would be very interesting for people out in the world to hear." (XXL Mag)

"I Got 99 Problems but my Kicks ain't 1"

It's not as if I can just ignore the release of arguably Nike's most sought after shoe since Jordan retired, The Air Yeezy. I mean....it's Kanye x Nike (LoL) but for $700 is this pair of shoes worth it? In the opinion of the sneaker junkies thats a no-brainer, however, to the regular person with a fondness for gymshoes this seems a bit extreme. Both sides have a valid stance on the situation but for the true collector these are more than just shoes, they are art.

The Air Yeezy was developed from a strong relationship between West and Nike. Partnering with Nike Creative Director, Mark Smith, Kanye was taken through the product creation process, the same way athletes have with Nike Design for the past 37 years. This creative partnership of Smith and West’s talents as designers yielded a unique Nike Sportswear sneaker worth the wait. “Kanye is a truly creative talent,” said Smith. “He’s a natural designer—partnerships like this always enhance the creative experience and the end product.” West agrees that the partnership with Nike has been exciting. “Nike is such an important brand to me,” said West. “Whether you are on the court, in the street, in the club, at school, Nike represents excellence, the standard in design. Growing up, we looked forward to the release of new Nike’s the way we would an album by our favorite artist. So the opportunity to collaborate on a design with Mark Smith and Nike Design has been a dream come true, and a great experience.”

Asher Roth: The Great White Hope?

Asher Paul Roth is not from any hood, project or turf but the Morrisville, Pennsylvania born Roth is currently signed to a joint venture between Scooter Braun's Schoolboy Music and Steve Rifkind’s SRC Records. His first professional release was in June 2008 when the DJ Drama and Don Cannon helmed "The Greenhouse Effect" mixtape was released for free via Roth’s website. Roth was featured on the cover of XXL magazine’s annual Top 10 Freshmen: Hip-Hop’s Class ’09 issue. Roth's debut album, Asleep in the Bread Aisle, was released April 20, 2009 to critical acclaim & a heards of drunken college students.

Roth's lyrics characteristically center around what has been called "middle-class minutiae." Roth's song "I Love College" is about partying with alcohol and marijuana, but includes innocuous lyrics such as "I can get pizza a dollar a slice" that have been identified as "far from threatening".
Roth has earned many comparisons to Eminem. So much so that he devoted a track on his album to the famed rapper, entitled "As I Em." About the comparison, Roth told Complex magazine:
Him and I are different artists. I think the music’s going to portray that as time goes on. The comparisons are just…it’s cool to be compared to Em, but he’s one of the number one selling artists of all time. I’d rather be compared to him than pretty much anybody else. I think content and everything we rap about is completely different. We’re different artists. We just happened to be under the same genre.
When asked about the comparison, Roth told Hiphopdx.com, "I think it's too easy. 'A white emcee with a sense of humor and a political side? Oh, let’s compare him to Em!' ... I have nothing but respect for him though; he made it possible for me to be here, he opened the doors, but we come from an entirely different inspiration." Also in a song entitled "Silly Boy" produced by Don Cannon he raps "That Eminem comparison is barely accurate/My rapping is as passionate, but lacks the psychopath of it". Roth has professed that Mos Def, The Roots, The Notorious B.I.G., and OutKast are some of his main hip-hop influences.

All & all...Asher Roth is a welcome addition to the already immensely diverse hip-hop culture. It's like seeing Robin Thicke's rapping lil' brother, lol. I give his album a thumbs up.