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— by Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes and Corey Moss
Producer: Smack
Representing: Brooklyn, New York
DVDs: "Smack" DVD: Volumes 9, 10 and 11
411: Smack is putting out a DVD and mixtape through Koch Records soon, but in the interim, his DVDs continue to be one of the most copped products in the streets. He doesn't usually drop three DVDs at once, but as he was delivering volume nine to his vendors, he was getting calls from cats on the street that 10 and 11 were being bootlegged. Behind the eight ball, he had no choice but to put the other two out. Game, Webbie, Fabolous, Young Jeezy, Redman, Tony Yayo, Young Buck and David Banner are just some of the artists who appear in these three editions.
Joints To Check For:
- Redman segment in #9. You hear the criticism from time to time about how comical these rappers look on the DVDs, pulling out their guns on camera. Well look no further than the Redman segment on volume nine. The Funk Doc is surrounded by a horde of dudes that are ready to show and prove that they're gangstas. Unfortunately, the guys are so overzealous about justifying their hard-core sensibilities that they come off looking like satire — one dude even licks the barrel of his firearm. Fortunately Red and Smack hook up and do a street video for "Gilla House Check," which relies on Red's gun-free performance.
- Street videos in #10. You gotta love that Juelz Santana knows about the necessity of supply and demand. The young Dip Set member already funded his own video for the new street scorcher "Shotta." Elsewhere, we finally get to see the visuals for Saigon and Kool G Rap's "The Letter P" track.
- G-Unit segments in #11. Young Buck gives his take on the Game saga, but the most interesting part of Smack's talk with the G-Unit is the introduction of Spider Loc. We get to hear about his origins and actually see him perform a track.
Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week
- Jae Millz's Back 2 the Future
- Spitkicker & Smokin' Needles' The Best of Tribe Called Quest Vol. 1 (mixed by DJ Rasta Root)
- Tru Life's New New York: The Movement
- DJ Pudgee P's Ransom Note Pt. 3
- DJ Dutty Laundry's - The Game
'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar
- Notorious B.I.G. featuring Jagged Edge, Diddy and Nelly - "Nasty Girl"
- GZA featuring Ras Kass - "Lyrical Swords"
- Pharrell - "She's My Angel"
- Sizzla - "Ultimate Hustler"
- Maino - "Disgrace to B.I.G.'s Memory"
- Kool G Rap featuring Bun B - "I'm a Real O.G."
- Cam'ron - "Do Your Thing"
Celebrity Favs
NBA all-star Allen Iverson says he has his own label, Crew Thick Records, and is putting out the first release the first quarter of 2006. While he pumps records from his company in his headphones — especially DX — he also has love for plenty of other MCs.
"I listen to B.I.G., Redman, Jadakiss, [Beanie] Sigel. I'm listening to Jeezy right now. A lot of different dudes."
The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground
Kanye West has enough money to keep even the most trifling of gold diggers happy, so you can imagine that it's nothing for him to shell out whatever asking price his album's guest stars demand. So how much were Game's vocals on "Crack Music" worth to Ye? Turns out West only paid a buck for them.
"When 'Crack Music' was developed, I walked into the studio," Game said of the track, which was originally a song West was going to give to Diddy. "Diddy was in there with Kanye and they had the beat going. Kanye had verses already and was trying to figure out the hook. First they came out with 'That's that crack music,' then 'That's that black music.' I kept saying it and Kanye was like, 'Game, why don't you go in [the booth] and say that?' I did it and forgot about it."
Game said he had to mentally backtrack after West's lawyers reached out to his lawyers and asked how much he wanted for his appearance. "I was like, 'Damn, I'm only on the hook for two words, man. He can have that,' " Game continued. "We didn't charge him nothing, but [in music] you can't charge him nothing, so we ended up charging him $1. So hopefully Kanye would look out and I can get a beat for about 50 cent — no pun intended." ...
As you read on MTVNews.com last week (see "Nas: Major Figure"), Nas is considering a new label home, and one that he's looking at is Atlantic, home of such acts as Lil' Kim and Fat Joe. Nas says if he does go over there, he'll "change their world."
"They don't have an artist like me," he said. "Someone like me could spread their wings to a new horizon and bring a credibility to their whole label. I can guarantee them large sales and large credibility. Whatever they need I can guarantee it for them. I can make it feel like a real rap movement over there. Any place I go, I'm bringing a whole universe with me. That's bigger than 10 of your best on the roster of whatever label I go to."
Everyone knows one of the biggest men on the mixtape scene is DJ Kay Slay. There was a time when he and Nas were real cool, but the two had a falling-out a couple of years ago when Nas wouldn't appear in one of Slay's videos. Well, the two might actually be on the road to patching things up. Slay's artist Papoose appears on the new Nas mixtape, Living Legend, and Esco says he and Mr. "Smack Your Favorite DJ" have spoken recently.
"Actually me and Slay had a small conversation that's leading to a bigger conversation and that's all I gotta say," Nas explained.
One person the fans have heard reconnect with Nas is Lauryn Hill. Hill sings the hook on Nas' mixtape track "It Wasn't You." But no, the two didn't hook up for a follow-up to "If I Ruled the World." The song is actually the piece-work production of DJ Dirty Harry, who married Hill and Nas' vocals. In fact, Nas said he heard the song for the first time when it was released on a mixtape.
"I just gave him vocals," Nas said. "You know what, it's all good. That's definitely a nice bullet to put in the arsenal of what's to come." ...
The bond between Jay-Z and Linkin Park is not just a monetary alliance. They are real cool. So when the group's MC, Mike Shinoda, needed a drop from Young Hov for his mixtape, all he had to do was send a text message. "I hit him with a text, 'Man, can you give me something for the mixtape?' Next thing I know, I checked my phone [and Jay sent a drop]."
Shinoda, who records under the name Fort Minor for his solo endeavors, is putting out the LP Rising Tied on November 22. But next week, he'll release a mixtape he did with Green Lantern.
"I first met Green when we were out on tour, just hanging out — this was pre-Collision Course," Shinoda explained. "He hit me with a couple of his Shady [Records] mixtapes and I was like, 'Thanks man, I got the first one and I've wanted to get these.' We swapped numbers and he was the first person I called. He did a real good job."
Shinoda's mixtape is called Fort Minor: We Major.
"I told [Green] he had to come up with the title so he came up with We Major, from the Kanye song. But I thought that was an excellent idea doing the "minor" and "major."
Lupe Fiasco, Ghostface, Styles of Beyond and Juelz Santana all appear on the mixtape.
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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