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Fire Starter: Tony Yayo
G-Unit Energy God, Predicate Felon, rapper with a cocky flow — we know Tony Yayo for being all of the above. So why are we placing him as a Fire Starter this week? Well, because he's on the come-up in another field: DJing. Yeah, ones and twos. He and Superstar Jay just put together a mixtape on which Yayo is blending songs. Are you paying attention? We said Tony Yayo is doing blends.
One of the highlights from the mixtape is when Yayo mixes the vocals from Ne-Yo's "Can We Chill" with the beat from Cypress Hill's "How I Can Just Kill a Man." Now this is something Yayo didn't just pick up; we have come across witnesses who saw him hosting and spinning at Queens house parties back in the mid- to late 90s.
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Mixtape Monday: 50 Cent Helps LL Cool J Recover From 'Weak' Album; Busta Rhymes' Hypeman Is Staying Put
— by Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes
Artists: Flipmode Squad
Representing: NYC
Mixtape: The Full Course Meal
411: The best hypeman in the past 10 years ditching arguably the best live performer in rap right now? After an Internet interview last week with Rampage, rumors have abounded that Spliff Star left Busta Rhymes' Flipmode Squad. Ramp said himself, Spliff, Rah Digga and Baby Cham were starting a new camp called the Famous Millionaires Squad.
Insert the sound effect for the buzzer signaling a wrong answer. Ehhhhhn. Not only is Spliff still performing with Bust, the two are making music together as the Flipmode Squad.
"I don't know what the f--- Rampage is talking about," Spliff said last week. "I know me, Rampage, Rah Digga and Baby Cham, everybody is doing their side things. Spliff Star is Flipmode though. Because not only is Busta my CEO and the boss of the sh--, that's my brother. I'm not about all that 'Busta ain't down.' I'm down with everything Busta does, just like he's down with everything I do. ... And all that Rampage said about Busta and the cops, all that is bullsh--. ... Besides that, me and Busta are still rocking. I'm a loyal cat. Robin won't leave Batman. Me and Busta are Batman and Robin."
Busta e-mailed us a statement about the project: "Flipmode is the next movement."
While Busta works on his next Aftermath release, Spliff is recording his independent debut, About Time. "Busta be acting like he don't got a deal," Spliff said, noting Rhymes' hunger. "He works hard. His album is crazy now, man. Him and Pharrell just did a monster. We just did a show last night in Denver — us, Chamillionaire and E-40. After the show, Busta and E-40 was in a hotel working on Pro Tools, and they have a banger. And guess who produced it? 40's son Droopie. No samples either.
"Later on, I have a street album coming called Contraband, which is on my own label, Paper Route Records. That's coming out on Flipmode/ Paper Route," he continued.
Queens' own Superstar Jay just finished the new Flipmode mixtape called The Full Course Meal. "Well, Flipmode is me, Busta and Wreak the Villain," Spliff Star added about the street CD. "We have all original beats on there. It's strictly hot street sh--."
"It's five tracks with Busta, another five with Spliff and five with Wreak the Villain," Jay elaborated.
Jay, who also dropped the mixtape I Own the Streets, is putting together his May album, Why Not. He says it will be a sample-free LP but promises to have dope tracks nonetheless. "You're going to have G-Unit on there, Kool G Rap, LL, Diplomats. A whole lot of people, man. Trey Songz."
Joints To Check For:
- "Step Up" by Busta Rhymes. "Busta took it back on a J Dilla beat," Jay said. "He used a beat Dilla gave him, and he did a Greg Nice flow: 'Bus-ssta Rhymes on the M.I.C., see!' He's having fun with it. He's actually doing an all-J Dilla mixtape soon, rapping over all-J Dilla beats. On this song, he's talking about how nice he is on the mic. You know Busta, he goes crazy with it."
- "All Hail" by Busta Rhymes. "It's a real street beat," Jay described. "He gets real gritty. Busta also introduced his new artist Wreak the Villain. Wreak comes from Long Island, and I knew Wreak from a legendary store called Long Island Central Station. On the record, they're showing skills. ... I love working with Busta. Just to be at the caliber Busta is at, he's still in tune with the streets. He's willing to put that work in. He wants to be relevant in the rap game as well as the mixtape game. You meet artists of his caliber who don't really care about the mixtape game. It's crazy because one moment Busta is calling you asking what he's gotta do to get the streets hot. He's like, 'Who's the hottest? What I gotta do to be the hottest?' "
- "Walk With Me" by Freeway (featuring Busta Rhymes). "That joint is crazy," Jay said. "They are all going in on it. The lineup is crazy. You think about when Roc-A-Fella was going against D-Block, now they're combining. You just heard the Styles and [Beanie Sigel] records, now you hear Jada and Free on this song. Then you have Busta Rhymes in the circumference, you would never think that would happen."
Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week
- JR Writer - Writer's BLock 5
- DJ Scope - Street Certified Fourteen
- Evil Empire - Evil Empire Presents: Be South 18 ... Living the Fast Life
- DJ 31 Degreez Presents the Diplomats - Stronger Than Ever
- Chinese Assassin - The Revenge
- Cutmaster C - True Stories, Volume 9
'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar
- DJ Drama (featuring Outkast and Marsha Ambrosia) - "The Art of Story Telling Part 4"
- DJ Drama (featuring Pharrell Williams and the Clipse) - "Cheers"
- Talib Kweli (featuring Ne-Yo and Jean Grae) - "Hot Thing" remix
- Chamillionaire (featuring Paul Wall, Slim Thug, UGK, Mike Jones, Pimp C, Lil' Keke, Trae, Z-Ro and Bun B) - "Won't Let You Down" (Texas Takeover Version)
Celebrity Faves
Statik Selektah just released his first album, which was chock-full of collaborations with Styles P, Q-Tip, Terminology, Cassidy, Freeway, Joel Ortiz, Kool G Rap, Sheek Louch, Jadakiss, Uncle Murder ... you get it, right? There are a bunch of posse cuts.
Double-S tells us two of his favorite collabos of all time are "The What" by Notorious B.I.G. and Method Man and the underground blaster "The Enemy," which featured the uptown connection of Fat Joe and Big L.
" 'The What' was the rebirth of East Coast hip-hop right there," Statik said. "It came at a time when Dr. Dre and Snoop were killin' it and Biggie and Meth came and did the back-and-forth [delivery] just as ill if not better! That type of energy is what I tried to reproduce on my album. Then 'The Enemy' is as raw as it gets. Two of New York's finest over a DJ Premier beat. We need more rap music like this. It was an instant classic."
The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground
You can just picture it now: Rod Stewart's "Forever Young" blasting out of Fat Joe's Phantom Rolls as Crack drives down Ocean Drive, waving to his fans.
Fat Joe says he feels as youthful as ever. "I'm 14 years [into my career], and the girls still think I'm handsome," Fat Joe said during a recent stay in New York. Mr. Crack had his usual grin that shines like glitter and a few of them sparkly things on his neck and wrists. The Terror Squad Don says life in the rap is great.
"Truthfully, I feel mad young," he said. "I don't feel my age. I'm so current, and I'm in the streets. I never got old. I don't know what 'played-out' is."
Joe was only in NY for a short stay; he had to hurry back to Miami where he was getting ready to film the video for "I Won't Tell" with J. Holiday. The song is the first official single from Joe's next LP, The Elephant in the Room.
"This new single I got with J. Holiday is my grown-and-sexy, young-boy-fresh look," Joe said. "I always wanted a Biggie 'One More Chance'; something they play in the club that was hard but smoothed out. ... Mad people are coming through [for the video shoot]: Lil' Kim, Juelz [Santana], the LOX, Busta, Weezy, Birdman, [Rick] Ross, T-Pain, everybody! ... We on some unity right now. We ain't with that bullsh--."
Although the love for Joe has always been evident (his very first video, for "Flow Joe," was cameo-heavy), Crack says he's being slept on by some fans and media.
"With hip-hop music, I been in the game for 14 years," he said. "I've come with so many hits and been so consistent and got better and better, but I still see nobody bigs me up like, 'Joe's one of the hottest n---as.' Even though it's right in your face. The elephant is right in your face. Even though I keep hitting you with #1 hits. How could you ignore this? That's pretty much how I came up with the [album] title. When you think about some of your favorite rappers, a lot of n---as sell off of the hype of what they brought to the table before. A lot of our favorite rappers haven't had a hit in years. I keep coming. Real talk. I'm being real."
"I Won't Tell" is about cheating. On the record, Joe makes promises that he'll keep his mouth shut even though he is creeping with a woman who already has a man. The street joint from The Elephant is called "Crack House" and features Lil Wayne.
Swizz Beatz, Rick Ross, Cool & Dre, Street Runner, DJ Khaled and DJ Premier all pop up on the album. The DJ Premier track is called "Thank God for That White." "Primo gave me his hottest since 'Kick in the Door.' Remember I told you," Joe promised. Oh, and Diddy makes an appearance too. Let's not forget about him.
"I got Diddy," Joe laughed. "That might be the next single. I made Diddy sing my hook like he did on 'Last Night.' That joint is produced by Danja. That's that crossover-big smash-hit record."
The Elephant in the Room comes out March 11, but before that, Joe is making his first-ever mixtape. "I'mma do it in this next month," he said. "I'mma write mixtape material, do 12 joints for the mixtape, put a couple of unreleased joints on there and let it go. I never wanted to do a mixtape, but I'm going in."
The Bronx native also has his sights set on recording with new recruits O.Z. from Miami, H-Mob and the Leader, as well as his loyalists: Cool & Dre, DJ Khaled and Tony Sunshine.
"That's it," he said of the Squad's latest lineup. "That's the crew. Remy Ma, obviously, she's not down no more. The problem with her [is] we're hot. She don't wanna be down. Everything is a grind. I worked my whole career. I never woke up and was platinum. We all paid dues, we all grind. She figured it would be overnight success. She chose to go her way; we been killing them every since. She might have put the battery in our back to go on this run. As far as Armageddon and Prospect, Armageddon is always gonna be my brother for life. He's a cool dude. But I haven't been with them for a year, year and half. ... I still haven't heard an Armageddon mixtape or Prospect mixtape. Their work ethic is they don't want it. They good n---as, I'm not trying to sh-- on them, they good dudes, but for so many years, they don't wanna work or make music. I had to let them go." ...
"This record, I'm just pulling out my sword, dipping it in some melted vinyl, pulling it out and cutting everything in sight. Crazy!"
With talk like that, LL Cool J will have to deliver one of the most magnificent records of his career when Exit 13 finally drops next year.
"It's an incredible feeling" said Cool J, who proclaims this is the best album he's done in almost a decade. "And you know what? I have to give 50 props for that. If a guy calls you on the phone and says, 'You know what? Your last record was kinda slow and this was a little weak.' It was like, 'Yo, I just thought the record was slow, man, don't mess my LL up.' It's great. One of the most important things in making records, you can't think you know everything in music. I'm humble. I'm confident, but I'm humble.
"I don't mind having a conversation with a guy who seems to have his finger on the pulse and having a conversation with him and talking with him and seeing if he can push me a little bit and get my mojo back," he added. "I didn't feel I fell off, but I felt I was a little bit out of touch with the things I should be thinking about. I needed to get a little more focused and close to my people and closer to the street.
"It's more honest," he continued. "We haven't worked together for months now, but [50] helped me set the fun. I got loose, I've been really just in the lab, but he helped me set the tone. I had fun getting loose again. It was competitive, 'cause we made records together, records that may or may not make the album. All types of hidden records. He pushed me. Now my vertical is back and I can dunk on all of them. I'mma dunk on them so crazy."
Mixtape Monday heard some of the records recently. There's "Champion," which he boastfully describes as being "the apex of eroticism." He says the title is like "putting the pedal to the metal and escaping the nonsense and drama and going 100 miles an hour on the highway at night looking at the white lines as they blend together. It's vicious." On "Rock the Pole" he's being taken to the brink by a dancer.
"New York Gangsters" is the first song leaked from the LP. L plans to shoot a video for it soon. In it, he speaks about his aspirations as a shorty to be a drug dealer, but being swayed in a different direction.
"Me, personally, I get sick of all the elitist stuff that goes on," he continued of the album's subject matter. "For me, although I've done it from time to time, I think now we're getting to the place where [some rappers feel] if I don't tell you I'm better than you and richer than you then I'm not supposed to say nothing. ... I don't feel like I have to look down on all of my hip-hop fans. ... I've never heard Mick Jagger onstage, saying, 'I'm fabulously wealthy. ... More money, immediately.' I think it's time to connect with people on a more realistic level. People are blue-collar. Everybody is not rich. People get tired of you telling them you're better than them. Overall, it's too much now. Enough with the frontin' and flossing — just make a hot record." ...
"I never chose to talk about that because it just didn't strike me as something to talk about," he explained. "To be honest with you, the guys I grew up with in that life, we're quiet. Maybe they got caught and got famous later, but when it came to being around that type of society, it wasn't something to talk about. ... Now it's a way to flip it and say, 'Yes, I hung out with them, and yes, I even wanted to be involved,' but ultimately my man went to jail, and him going to jail allowed me to continue to pursue my music more relentlessly and make a decision to really focus on my music and career. It is possible to make a decision to not be in the life of dope pushin'. You can escape that life, take the same energy they use and apply it to something positive. This record is a great reminder of that fact.
DJ Drama's drama is done for now. Remember all that craziness when some obscure DJ was claiming legal rights to the name "DJ Drama"? Well, Dram has been able to work it out. He has legal rights to use the name "Drama," courtesy of the incarcerated former Atlantic Records artist (of "Left, Right, Left" fame) by the same name. Drama the rapper is letting Drama the DJ use the name on Gangsta Grillz: The Album, which comes out December 4.
Vintage From The Vault: Valuables That Have Been Found
It's as unbelievable as it was sad. We recently uncovered old footage of a 1996 Nas concert. Don't get it twisted, we were so excited to come across It Was Written-era Esco doing a show in New York. While viewing the show, though, we were shocked that it was stopped abruptly by radio host Ed Lover. Eddie Mack delivered some of the most sobering news ever to the audience: Tupac Shakur had just died. Here is how Ed remembered it:
"It was during a back-to-school concert at Nassau Coliseum. I don't remember who was on the bill, but I believe Nas was headlining. At the time I was working at Hot 97. I was driving to the concert and Angie [Martinez] was on the air crying because it was confirmed Tupac had died. When I arrived to the show, somebody on the side of the stage got Nas' attention, and he talked to me between two songs.
"I told him what was going on. He said, "I can't make the announcement, you make the announcement." I thought that was one of the most humane things an artist could have done for another artist. At the time there were rumors that Tupac would be dissing Nas on the Makaveli album, and 'Pac had said things about him that weren't the most flattering. Nas said, "This dude was an icon, and he just died. Let's make the announcement." For him to do that in the middle of the show, I thought that showed a lot of class."
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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Photo: MTV News
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