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— by Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes
Artist: G-Unit
Representing: Whatever 50 Cent mandates
Mixtape: G-Unit Radio Part 13: The Return of the Mixtape Millionaire
411: This is the mixtape we told you about awhile ago. Hip-hop's unstoppable army has barreled its way back to the streets. There is one major disappointment here, though. G-Unit's version of "300 Shots" with Mase on it is nowhere to be found (see "50 And Mase: The Pastor Isn't Officially G-Unit Yet, But A Song Is Already Out"). Instead, you get a version with just the G-Unit, M.O.P. and Mobb Deep. Whoo Kid offered little explanation via his publicist. "It was a mistake" that the version with Mase is not on the mixtape — "Nothing more, nothing less," he said.
Joints To Check For:
- "Return of the Murda" by Whoo Kid featuring Mase Murda. Speaking of Pastor Betha, he's jumping right into beef with his freestyle over 50's "Gatman and Robbin" beat. He only calls out Loon, but it appears Mase is spitting indirectly at more people than his onetime groupmate and friend. "Put you n---as in the industry," he raps. "Gave you n---as a flow, now you acting finicky." Loon has since responded elsewhere through the mixtape circuit with two Mase disses of his own, "You Not a Ryda" and "You Heard."
- "Just Gimme Mine," "They Takin' Pictures" and "Shorty Wanna Gangsta N---a" by Young Buck. We just haven't heard enough of Buck this year. He proclaims to be back, though, with three freestyles. Buck raps about everything from the hip-hop police taking flicks of him, robbing people and taking the next man's woman.
- "Glitter N Glass" by Mobb Deep and "Be Dead" by Prodigy featuring Tony Yayo. P. has definitely been standing out lately with his word game ("Your mixtape action/ Won't even make it past the Triborough Bridge/ N---a, why you still rappin'?"). But please, Prodigy, drop that new Southern twang you've been adopting ("50 Cent, he's the new top dawwwg,"). The Dunn language and vernacular is what propelled you to fan-favorite status.
Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week
- Chops/ Bun B/ DJ Lt. Dan's It's Going Down Vol. 2
- All Star Trybe's Lay It Down
- AZ's A.W.O.L.
- Wiz Hoffa and Mz. Hoffa's Mr. & Mrs. Hov
- DJ Bazarro's It's a New Era Vol. 1
- DJ Clue's Fidel Cashflow
- DJ Jelly and Mr. Assault's Blood Money Part 2,
Cookout Jams Pt. 4, Dedication: Salute to Our Troops and Girls Gone Wild!!! Part 3
- DJ KG's DJ KG Presents Kanye West Live
'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar
- Little Brother - "Lovin' It"
- Nas - "Death Anniversary"
- Nas featuring Lauryn Hill - "Not the One"
- Juelz Santana featuring Cam'ron - "Welcome to My Damn Block"
- Paul Wall featuring T.I. - "So Many Diamonds"
Celebrity Favs
When Kanye West parties, he has a few key records he needs in rotation. West is partial to Three 6 Mafia and Smitty. "There's a couple of records that when they come on, that's all I want to hear," he said a couple of weeks ago in Miami. "I'm gonna burn my own copy of 'Stay Fly' in case the DJ don't have it. 'Stay flyyyyyyyyyy!' I wanna hear 'Diamonds on my neck/D-D-Diamonds on my neck.' When them joints come on, it's over with. And of course 'Gold Digger' rocks."
The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground
Lil' Wayne is engulfed in efforts to help out the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, but still he must press on with his career. His record label just released "Fireman," the first single from his upcoming Tha Carter 2, and Weezy didn't try to get complex with it. "[I rap] three 16-[bar verses] and a four-bar hook," he said recently in Miami.
Musically, Wayne is going to be all over the place. Besides Tha Carter 2, he just finished a song with Juelz Santana and Young Jeezy for Santana's next LP, and Wayne is going to be appearing on singles by Trina, Avant, Ms. Dynamite, J.R. Writer, Young City, 112 and the Inc.'s Lloyd.
Even though the original Tha Carter LP wasn't a multiplatinum success, Wayne solidified himself as one of the best doing it on the mic these days. Since no one is sleeping on his follow-up, what does he have in his arsenal? "I promise I got 'em," said Wayne, who's working with the likes of Mobb Deep's Havoc, the Heatmakers and newcomer Develop. "I put my foot, my whole ankle, my calves, everything in this. It's crazy." As an added bonus, Wayne is including a mixtape of 10-12 songs. "It's gonna be songs that wasn't fit to go on the album; no hooks, no singing, just straight spittin'," he explained. Before the album and its accompanying mixtape, Weezy is going to drop the follow-up to his Prefix tape. That mixtape is going to be titled The Suffix, and DJ Drama may have a hand in it. ...
DJ/producer/radio host Clinton Sparks needs to find the five best promoters in the country because he wants to spin for the cause. Sparks said that like the rest of the country, it horrified him to watch Gulf Coast residents struggling through the Hurricane Katrina tragedy.
"I wanted to play my part as a DJ," he said. "I was here aggravated. I couldn't do much to help the victims, but I wanted to help."
Sparks just started his own campaign called Dare to Care. The campaign will consist of Sparks spinning at no less than five different parties or club nights anywhere in the country. During those functions, he'll waive his DJ fee, bring giveaways from different companies and invite celebrities to participate. In return, Sparks wants the party or club promoters to donate all the proceeds to the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
"I'll bring different celebrities to different dates once we get the dates coordinated, " he explained. "But everybody I reached out to so far says they are with it. It could be David Banner to Lil' Mo to Juelz Santana to Ludacris, N.O.R.E. — people like that."
Sparks is looking to field calls from promoters now and hopes to raise $10,000 to $20,000 per event. Dare to Care will culminate with a major event after the first five dates. Sparks said he wants this party to last 12 hours, and DJs Jazzy Jeff and Mark Ronson are on his wish list to participate.
Dare to Care's first party is set for September 20 in Washington, D.C., at the 1223 nightclub.
"If you have the power to do something, you'd be a jackass not to," he said. ...
OK, so back to Loon and Mase. The two have a history too long to go through here, but just know that as late as two months ago, things were all good between the two former friends and group members. They even did a song together. The tension recently started after Loon's appearance on Miss Jones' Hot 97 morning show. He was asked what he thought about Mase signing with G-Unit.
"I was basically like, 'That's my dude, but if dude feels G-Unit can save him from ridicule — which can definitely be a reality in the future — good luck,' " he explained. "I wasn't throwing shots or nothing."
Not too long after, Loon said he was surprised to hear through the grapevine that Mase has a song out dissing him.
"I was like, 'What?' he said. "This is a dude that knows better. Maybe with new company around, he got some new jolts of courage."
For a full-length feature on the role of mixtapes in the music industry, check out "Mixtapes: The Other Music Industry."
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Photo: MTV News
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