Mixtape Monday: Jim Jones Drops His Own Gangsta; Jail Doesn't Scare Tony Yayo

• "Intro." "Yeah, the intro of the mixtape features Dame Dash," Jim smiled. "The title of this mixtape is a bit controversial. Shout out to [Roc-A-Fella co-founders] Dame and [Kareem] 'Biggs' [Burke]. They gave us our first big start as the Diplomats. Dame feels the same way I do about American gangsters, if you snitch, you're not an American gangster. Understand me. That's what we're doing it for.



• "2 Blocks." "Actually, that was [co-written]," Byrd Gang flagship member Max B said. "[Originally] I said, 'Two glocks.' Jim said, 'You should change it to "two blocks." ' So really, he co-wrote that chorus with me. ... I got an old soul. ... I don't listen to rap, like, a lot, I listen to [New York pop radio station] KTU 103.5 and all that type of stuff. ... That's where it comes from. I just try to put a little melody on the music. Music is always gonna sell more than rap."



• "Byrd Gang Money." "Shout to [his new guy] NOE, he put the good wave on the hook down," Jones said. "We about to come out with the [Byrd Gang] album, hopefully end of January. We put out some strong music."



Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week
• Various artists - "Cheddar: Ozone Weekend Special Edition - Ozone Awards Uncut"
• Big Mike, DJ Scream and Don Cannon - Diamond (of Crime Mob)
• King Smij - Down South Part 16
• DJ E.F.X. - Got Hits, Volume 2
• DJ Dephtone/ Brisco - The Product 2
• J. Period and Game Rebellion - Searching for Rick Rubin



'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar
• USDA (featuring Boo, 211 and Roccett) - "Corporate Thuggin" remix
• Ice Cube - "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It"
• G-Unit - "Feels So Good"
• Jay-Z - "Sweet" and "I Know"
• Royce Da 5'9" - "Rewind"
• The-Dream - "Fast Car"


Celebrity Faves



	Denzel Washington

His man. Denzel Washington threw up the Roc-A-Fella records sign at a recent press event for "American Gangster." Sitting next to Russell Crowe, Zelly said he wasn't aware that Jay was doing an "American Gangster" album but nonetheless wanted to show everybody he loves the Jiggaman. "The Roc!" he yelled.

But the Academy Award winner is clearly a big fan of the late '60s/ early '70s music actually featured in the movie.

"That's my era!" he smiled. "Absolutely. [I listened to] everything that was playing back then. Hearing a lot of it again was great. I still listen to it. It's great music."

Washington told us the story behind his character Frank Lucas' "my man" catchphrase in the movie. "I just started saying it and [director] Ridley [Scott] took a liking to it," he said. "[There's] something interesting about smiling at somebody before you knock 'em off."

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground



	Lil Jon

Last we heard from Lil Jon, he was telling anyone within yelling distance that crunk ain't dead. Then the rowdy producer's long-in-the works Crunk Rock somehow landed in limbo land, joining the likes of Dr. Dre's Detox. But according to Jon, the project is still coming along and slated to be released sometime in 2008. He told MTV News that he's finished with the "rock" half of the album and just has to finish the rap elements of it.

"It's probably really like 65 percent, maybe 70 percent done," Jon explained. "I'm still tweaking and coming up with other ideas and other collaborations I want to get done. [But] I'm back and forth so much now from Atlanta to L.A.; I'm trying to get more of the rap tracks down. Half of the album is going to be fusion rap and rock stuff, and half of it is going to be the stuff they normally know me from."

In between putting tracks together, Jon actually took a break from recording, he said, and started DJing again. He just got back from spinning in Australia, and over the summer he had gigs at Las Vegas rock club Body English. These spin-doctor escapades resulted in him and DJ Spider putting out two Rock Box mixtapes: The first is rock-oriented, featuring Guns N' Roses, Joan Jett and Nirvana, while the second includes New Wave acts like Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Gary Numan.

"I'm starting to have fun again," Jon said. "It became a job, because I was so busy, I had so much going on. I had to support too many acts; I had to get so many records done. But now it's slowed down. I took a break, and now I'm having fun again. That's why I started DJing again — it got me back to my core. I needed to do something to help relieve the stress. I love going to the club. I love to party. And when I was a DJ and started, I loved to make people dance. That's what I'm getting back to."

Jon recently finished recording a track with Pitbull for his upcoming album, November 27's The Boatlife, and he said his BME acts — Lil Scrappy, E-40 and a new artist, Korean pop singer Min — are all in the studio. Aside from music, Jon has spent his time in L.A. getting into the cartoon world. He's developed his own series, "A-Town," which will feature comedian Katt Williams in the first episode. Jon said Comedy Central had expressed interest before, but currently he's leaning toward launching the series on Will Ferrell's FunnyorDie.com video Web site. The producer is also scheduled to voice Santa Claus on the Christmas special of Andre 3000's Cartoon Network show, "Class of 3000."

"I guess having a distinct voice, you can get some work in Hollywood," he laughed. ...



	Tony Yayo

Last week, 50 Cent and the G-Unit released the video for their new single "Feels So Good." It's the first visual from their December 18 LP, Shoot to Kill.

"That describes the aggressiveness," Tony Yayo told us recently. "A lot of people out there sleep on the Unit, but the Unit is back. You be hearing a lot of rumors, people feel certain ways, but we're over 30 million sold as a whole. I been hearing a lot of people sleeping. The hip-hop eras change; down South is winning. We're like the only ones holding it down for New York."

Yayo said the album wasn't done as of yet, but so far "the standout tracks is the tracks with Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. Those are my favorites. It's fun again."


The conversation about music abruptly transferred to legal talk. Yayo is due to stand trial on assault charges January 10 for allegedly smacking the son of Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond. Henchman manages Game and Gucci Mane among others.

"I'm not guilty either," Yayo said, unsolicited. "I'm going to court. I'm out on bail. I swear to my kids, I didn't smack that kid."

Yayo is optimistic that the trial will go his way.

"I don't smack kids," he insisted. "It kinda hurt my feelings [when] the Daily News and everybody said bad things about me. I have a criminal record already, so the system looks at me like, 'This guy's been to jail before, and he's a problem.' I'm not that type of guy."

If he is convicted, jail wouldn't be new to Yayo.

"I been to jail before," he said. "I been in a cell. I had a shower and toilet. ... I don't wanna go to jail, but hey, life is life. ... My mom's crib got shot 21 times. I didn't cry to the public about it. I don't know who did it. A lot of people don't like G-Unit, a lot of people do." ...



	Playaz Circle

"You n---as barely dressing, I got thousands piling/ That's that salad dressing, I'm on my thousandth island."

Playaz Circle's Tity Boi and Dolla are finally getting a shot, now that the Atlanta duo's street monster "Duffle Bag Boy" is bubbling like boiled water in a Pyrex pot.

" 'Duffle Bag Boyz,' that's us," Dolla said. "That's what we're known as in our 'hood. The whole Playaz Circle thing, when we started out, [the label] was telling us what to do. We had the deal. 'Do this song; do that song.' 'OK, we gonna go do that.' It ain't work, so me and Tit went back to the lab like, 'We finnin' to do what we do. Y'all gonna have to get with us now. We did it y'all way.' "

"We still listen," Tity added. "We're still under the umbrella, but we got our own way of thinking, our own way of life. We set our own trends.

"I never felt we were on the priority radar with them, although the streets of the A been waiting," continued Tity, whom you've seen with Ludacris since the Word of Mouf album days. "How we rock in the A is well-respected. Weezy did that [song] off the strength of us being the Duffle Bag Boyz and off our mixtapes. He would always tell us, 'Y'all should be in the game. You guys are relevant. You got some music.' We got half an album with Wayne, so getting him on the album wasn't hard. I just said, 'Give me a hood.' "

"We are respected with our rap peers, people like Raekwon," Dolla offered. "We just left 8ball and MJG's birthday party. We get love across the board."

Tity said his group's moniker has nothing to do with mackin' or pimpin'.

"We had Playaz Circle during the Goodie Mob era — Outkast, Wu-Tang, when things really had substance. 'Playaz' is an acronym for 'Preparing Legal Assets for Years, From A to Z."

Their album Supply & Demand dropped in late October and features Ludacris, Shawnna and, of course, Lil Wayne. "Duffle Bag Boy" was originally intended to be one of the lead cuts from the Disturbing Tha Peace compilation Strength in Numbers, but once the record picked up, Dolla and Tity were not going to let their window of opportunity close. ...



	Chingy

Let's keep it DTP, shall we? Right before T.I. went to prison, he and Ludacris seemed to quash all the bad blood between them ... again. T.I. jumped onstage with Luda during a pre-BET Hip Hop Awards party at Atlanta's Velvet Room. With Tip's arrest, the story of peacemaking kind of went under the radar, so we decided to ask a person who was there to speak about it.

"It shocked people," Chingy told us. "I was on the side chilling in VIP. [Tip] walked up with a hood on. Nobody knew who he was. Then he came up there, and 'Cris pulled his hood off. People was rocking to it. People loved it. T.I. hugged 'Cris and was like, 'It ain't all about this stupid stuff. We gonna celebrate success.' It was positive energy."

Good thing the last time they saw each other was positive too. Although we're not sure when it was recorded, Tip does take some slight subliminal jabs at Luda on "Do U Potna," a freestyle over Rocko's "Umma Do Me." Young Jeezy and Big Kuntry also appear on the song. Tip clarifies on the track — which just popped up on DJ Scream and MLK's Respect the Hustle mixtape — that his views didn't reflect those of his co-stars.

"Money, you say you get, 30 mil in six years?/ Forbes put me down for 20, that was this year/ ... Between you and me, that apology was for BET, not for DTP/ I'm doing me."

But while T.I. is lightly jabbing at Luda, Chingy told us that he had some beef-squelching to do a while ago. He and Nelly settled their differences and even went onstage with each other.

"We did that before," Chingy smiled. "I attended a couple of his events. In Vegas, [during NBA] All-Star Weekend, we performed together. He sang Tyrese's part on 'Pulling Me Back.' We had fun. We been at a lot of events together having fun. People don't understand that's what it's about. That's what it needs to be about. It's all about fun."

Chingy is slated to release his next album on December 11. It's called Hate It or Love It and coming out on Disturbing Tha Peace. Ching says it was a no-brainer getting back with Luda and company after he found out that the lawyer who'd advised him that DTP was engaging in shady business practices and being less than truthful.

"I kinda didn't believe it, but I was confused," Chingy admits. "But come to find out, the lawyer was phony. He wasn't even an entertainment lawyer. He was experimenting and he messed up some business relationships and friendships. I had to fire his ass."

In any event, the damage was repaired and Ching has been working with his former camp once again. LT Moe produced the majority of the album. Cool & Dre also have contributed. The first single is "Fly Like Me," which features Amerie.

For other artists featured in Mixtape Mondays, check out Mixtape Mondays Headlines.

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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