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— by Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes and Corey Moss
Company: Dirty Money Records
DVD: "The Come Up Vol. 4"
Representing: The underground
411: You'll get to hear hip-hop personalities talk about being knocked out in the streets, aspiring MCs calling out established battle rappers and Ice-T laying down his pimpology and telling some women to kiss his bootie.
Joints To Check For
- Ice-T's segment: Ice is so unfiltered here. He speaks his mind about black women having something smart to say, how rap isn't as scary as it used to be and how he doesn't want to be a criminal now that he's making money legitimately. He even sings "We Are the World" while he's getting interviewed.
- G-Unit performance: If you can't wait for the Anger Management Tour, all you have to do is pop in the DVD. It's not a full-on concert, but you get to see Lloyd Banks and 50 Cent rock a crowd with a couple of hits off The Massacre and The Hunger for More.
- Sheek and Jadakiss' segments: The D-Block crew gets to wild out in the studio and in the streets. First Sheek, who just put out his anti-50 Cent song, "Clikety Clank," takes viewers into the D-Block studios to talk about his beef with 50 and shoot a no-budget video on the spot. Then Jada goes to the record store and buys a bunch of albums, including his nemesis 50 Cent's The Massacre. Kiss also challenges 50 to a million-dollar rap battle on pay-per-view.
Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week
- DJ Elev-8 & DJ Lennox's Mixtape Phenoms Vol.4
- DJ Kay Slay's R&B Kings 5 and Let the Games Begin Volume 4
- Rapid Ric's Whut It Dew #2 Hosted by Bun B
- DJ Scoob Doo's Lost in Yonkers Pt. 3
- True Life's The Hard Way
- DJ Shogun's VH1 Hip Hop Honors
'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar
- Boyz N Da Hood featuring T.I. & Game - "Dem Boys" remix
- Common - "Go," "Testify" and "Chi City"
- Mike Jones - "Back Then"
- Webbie featuring Bun B - "Give Me That"
Celebrity Favs
Floetry, the soulful duo who are working on their sophomore LP, Floeology, have a few ideas of who they would like to work with. "D'Angelo would be lovely," Natalie Stewart said. "Coldplay. We listen to a lot of music. We're from London so we don't have urban top 10 and rock top 10. We just have top 10. We listen to a whole lot of music."
Marsha Ambrosius, who appears on the Game's The Documentary, said she loved working with him and later Styles P on his upcoming Time Is Money. "I got on the hook by request from Dr. Dre," she said of the Game's "Start From Scratch." "I recorded it four months prior to his album being released and I loved it. I think he's one of the nicest newcomers to drop and be hot." The singer also loves the LOX and wanted to get with Styles on his anthem "I'm Black." "I jumped on the opportunity to get on the hook because it's empowerment," she explained. "It's about time someone stood up and said it again for this generation. Maybe everyone would feel good about themselves. It's a feel-good record. It's good to be a part of."
The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground
It seems too good to be true, but word coming out of Houston is that at the end of the year we may be hearing a group album that pairs two of hip-hop's most legendary MCs: Tupac Shakur and Scarface. The most notable collaboration between Pac and Face was "Smile," released shortly after Tupac's death. We just so happened to be out in H-Town last week (look for way more on our trip in the coming weeks) and got a chance to sit down with Scarface at the Rap-A-Lot offices. Face wasn't saying much, except that he is full or surprises and even surprises himself sometimes. Face did say he'll be working with H-Town MC Lil' Keke on a project but would not reveal how large in scope. When he's not on his ranch raising bulls, Face is going to be working on his next solo album that is dropping this year. ...
Man. It seemed like it would never happen, but Tha Dogg Pound are whole once again and Snoop Dogg says an album is on the way. "DPGC! It could be a problem," he said last Wednesday after his West Coast unity summit just outside L.A. "There's definitely going to be a record. DPGC is in full swing. Everybody is back. We got Daz [Dillinger] and Kurupt. We got Soopafly, we got the Lady of Rage, RBX, Bad Azz, myself, Nate Dogg, Warren G. Do I need to name some more?" Snoop said with his whole crew back on the same page, it's going to feel like their glory days of the early and mid-'90s. "Everybody is so excited, wanting to work with each other. This is what it's all about: having fun. When we got into this music game, it was about making music that made you have fun and made you money. And that's what time it is. It's time to take it to the basics."
The biggest animosity that was brewing within the crew was with Tha Dogg Pound's Kurupt and Daz. Daz accused Kurupt of being disloyal because of alignment with Suge Knight and Death Row. Kurupt said he was looking out for himself financially. They recently squashed everything and started back at square one. Fittingly, Daz and Kurupt met up at "The Happiest Place on Earth" to air out their differences. "I was going to Disneyland with my daughter and [Kurupt] happened to be there, so we discussed it over pizza," Daz explained. "Then I gave him Snoop's number and we kept the communication open. Snoop is quarterbacking the whole deal. We haven't recorded yet, we been recording in our dreams. I'm happy to be here. I love all my Dogg Pound homies." Daz said his album, Gangsta Crunk, is coming out May 31 via Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label. Meanwhile Snoop's other homey RBX is working on his solo LP and will have production by Young MC. Elsewhere, Eazy-E's son, Lil' E, is also in the lab working with the D.O.C. ...
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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