Slaughterhouse
Photo: SH

NOTE: The 2009 Hottest MCs in the Game has been rescheduled for October — so that you, the fans, can have a seat at the table! The readers' poll now closes on September 21 — head here for more info and voting information.

The O.D.: A Mixtape Daily Exclusive

Please forgive us — no main pick on Monday, and now an abbreviated version of Don't Sleep.

Don't fret! We're going to be coming back so hard next week with Slaughterhouse. The four-man crew (Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, Crooked I and Royce Da 5'9") came through, and not only talked about their debut group LP in stores right now, but also weighed in our 2009 Hottest MCs in the Game list.

All four need to be included in the conversation, because of their ferocious lyricism and loyal following. But who do the fellas think should make the list besides themselves?

"I can't front — the young boy Drake is spitting," Joell Ortiz said. "I'm interested in seeing where he goes with his career. Just aside from singing, the dude can rap. I wanna see what he does too. Bun B too. Shout-out to Bun B."

Joe Budden was less forthcoming when talking about who he thought was superior on the mic.

"These n---as that's dope, they don't need the sh-- to be confirmed," he said. "They don't need my confirmation. They know they're dope. Stay in your lane. ... I ain't shouting nobody out. It's dope n---as out there. We're dope. It's other dope n---as out there. I ain't shouting n---as out though."

Joe eventually changed his mind, picking the same two guys Crooked I had mentioned just a few minutes before him: Eminem and Jay-Z.

"Jay and Em is still at the top, and that's it. Everybody else is trying to reach out. I love Blu. Blu, and I still love [Kool] G Rap. It's a million n---as to name. Jay right now, at his age, is still better than n---as. But when you write that hottest list, you're not gonna put Jay and Em at 1 and 2. You're not. Don't lie to me and say you are. Don't insult my intelligence. In 2009, you're not gonna put Jay and Em 1 and 2 on your list. You can bet me money.

"I like T.I., Fabolous, I just like dudes who can spit," Joe added. "I didn't look for too much else."

Don't Sleep: Necessary Notables

Mixtape: The Network

Headliner: Young Chris

Co-Starring: DJ Don Cannon

Key Collaborations: "Free Peedi" with Beanie Sigel and Tu Phace; "Last 2" with Beanie Sigel and Freeway; and "Hot Sh--" with Peedi Crakk, Black Thought, Tu Phace and Wale

Essential Info: "The labels are calling. We done created some bidding wars," Young Chris said last week, strolling in Times Square.

Chris is still down with Jay-Z. He wears his Roc-A-Fella chain faithfully, while awaiting a new deal to distribute his records.

"I ain't drop a mixtape since 30 Days, 30 Verses," Chris explained of his much-talked-about street release last year. "I ain't put out a tape all year. I needed to put something out. The 30 Days, 30 Verses held me over for a few months."

Chris' The Network just came out with DJ Don Cannon hosting.

"It stuck with me because of the Internet, and that's just me. I work with everybody," he said of the tape's title. "I'm a networking person. I started working on it immediately. The Asher Roth beat [for] 'Class of My Own,' shot a video to it. I did the Drake 'Successful' beat. Cool, put it out. Then I came, and I said, 'I want to do all originals.' I reached out to 9th Wonder. He sent me a few records. [So did] Chad West and Green Lantern."

Green produced "Superflyness." "I went to the studio with him, he liked my work ethic," Chris recalled. "I told him, 'Don't be biased. If you don't like it, I'll start from scratch.' Then I have 'Last 2,' one of my favorites on The Network. Freeway came through. We did a live stream in the studio. The whole world watched us do it — no pen, no pad. Two days later, I ran into Beanie Sigel. I told him, 'I need you to anchor it.' "

Other Heat This Week

» Yung Joc - Grind Flu (independent album)
» Nipsey Hussle - Bullets Ain't Got No Name, Vol. 3
» Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y - How Fly
» Various Artists - It's Always Gully in Philadelphia
» White Owl - White Owl Drop That 79

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground

Steve Rifkind must've been ... giving. The tenured record exec is making some well-known underground MCs earn a contract with his company SRC/Universal by letting the streets decide. Loud.com has been running a Streets Don't Lie record deal contest and voting ends at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday (August 12). Rifkin and company gave $500 to artists Mysonne, Big Lou, Fashawn, Snyp Life and The Jacka to shoot music videos. The videos were blasted on Loud.com as well as other hip-hop Web sites, with the final decision being left up to the fans — and it's still not too late to let get in on the action on Loud.com. And while you're in the voting mood, don't forget to head over to our poll and tell us who you think is the Hottest MC in the Game right now.

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

• Mixtape Daily Video: Drake Ghostface, Joe Budden, More

• Which Of These Artists Is The Hottest MC In The Game?

• Joe Budden
• Jay-Z
• Eminem

Raekwon
Photo: MTV News

Tension between the Wu-Tang Clan and Joe Budden reached a boiling point on Saturday at the San Manuel Amphitheatre in San Bernardino, California. According to Joe Budden and up-and-coming MC Mickey Factz, Raekwon the Chef and five of his friends assaulted Budden in his dressing room prior to performing at the Rock the Bells tour stop.

Budden and Factz were doing a live Internet stream from their dressing room when Raekwon came in.

"Them n---as came in here with a goal," Budden said during the webcast. "The goal was to catch the blog king slippin' and have the big 6-foot-4, 300 ... n---a punch me in my eye. I guess it makes me look soft? I don't really know. My thing is ... no comment man. Maybe the n---a watches Joe Budden TV. But I'm all right, I'm safe — still sexy, I think. Eye is a little swollen."

Budden was then seen asking a friend for some ice before continuing, "Them n---as came in here like this was Staten Island," he added. "Do they know where we are? I guess in Rae's mind, they gonna come in here, punch me in the face ... shake my hand, force an apology. Then they gonna go off of that and perform and do a show? Is that what's supposed to be taking place? I am a little confused by that."

Factz did a Web show of his own Sunday, detailing his account of the incident.

"We was just chillin' ... Rae came in on some peaceful sh-- at first, he dapped everybody," Factz explained. "He dapped Joe — he was dumb peaceful. He took a seat. When he took a seat, everything changed."

"What happened between Joe Budden and Raekwon is their business," said Chang Weisberg of Guerilla Union, one of the organizers of Rock the Bells. "They definitely did not want anything between them to impact the show and shared their regret that it could have had a negative outcome. In the end, I'm glad that cooler heads prevailed and that they were able to work out their differences and continue their participation with Rock the Bells. We are grateful for their efforts to keep things moving in a positive direction. It could have been very ugly and I'm proud of their willingness to put their differences aside and handle their business professionally."

However, Factz said the point of contention backstage was that the Chef was not too pleased with a video clip that he and Budden shot in Boston on July 18. In the vlog, Budden apologized to Method Man but warned any of Meth's affiliates not to speak his name. "I'm done talking about the entire Method Man/ Slaughterhouse/ Wu-Tang everything," Budden said. "Joe Budden is washing his hands from this point forward. If anyone of them n---as say my name in a negative light, the peace treaty is over and the no-comment movement is over.

"I'm no chump," he added. "It's not gonna continue to happen. Everybody else associated with that n---a, or just feels like my name should roll out their f---in' mouth the wrong way like I can't rap a f---in' circle around them, do it from this point on."

Budden was apologizing to Meth for comments he made several months ago regarding a Vibe article asking fans to vote for the best rapper alive — Budden took exception to not being in the top spot and singled out Meth, who placed higher on the list. The two went back and forth in interviews and earlier this summer, the Clan's Inspectah Deck jumped into the fold, dissing Budden on a track called "House N---a."

Ironically, both Budden and his Slaughterhouse crew were booked on Rock the Bells along with Raekwon and others. During a tour stop in mid-July, Deck came out as Rae's special guest and dissed Budden onstage.

"Number one homie — nobody ain't worried about nothing, man," Rae told us on July 17. "Everybody knows this is hip-hop. Keep it hip-hop. Nobody wants to throw their lives or their careers away for somebody who's not really near our legacy of what we built. [Budden] could never crush any buildings. He knows that. As far as Slaughterhouse — I know them, they are true-blue friends. This is a Joe Budden and Method Man altercation. Deck got involved, that's these three's altercation. For me, the Wu is not even thinking about it on that level — this is not that kinda party. Number one, it doesn't even match up.

"I already know what it is, because Joe Budden looked me in my face and apologized," Rae added, addressing a private meeting he and Budden had. "As a man, I look a n---a in his eyes and make sure you being genuine. I guess he feels that he has no beef with me. As far as Wu-Tang, we're not like how we used to be back then, as far as, like, jump up and do something negative. Cats caught cases like that. Nobody wanna be going through cases, get lawsuits and whatever. You can't sacrifice when you got children. If they gonna keep it on wax, MC to MC, if that's what they want to do, then take six paces and draw. As far as anything else, I feel nobody is a threat over there to me. I got Royce Da 5'9" calling me everyday trying to calm everything down."

During the New York tour stop at Jones Beach Theater on July 19, Budden and Method Man squashed their differences, but Factz and Budden say Rae was anything but calm on Saturday.

"I didn't even see the punch, I just heard it," Factz said in his vlog. "I was like, 'It looks like n----s is gonna be fighting today. I'm gonna be fighting a n---a I grew up listening to.' It was six of them. They was asking us questions. They was just on some 'Prove to us the video was done before Jones Beach.' Rae was in another zone, he didn't want to listen. I feel like that was a bad move on some real sh--. I did think that was a sucker move. Joe did not get knocked out — he barely felt it."

"My eye's swollen," Budden said in his live stream. "I don't think it will get black later. It wasn't my eye, it was the side of my eye. I think Rae didn't [punch me] himself. They were recording, they had a camera on. I don't think it would be the smart thing for him to do ... I didn't think it was a smart thing to do period. ... You guys think this was a tough-guy move? You guys think this was dope? I personally don't. I think it was a f----t move, personally. ... This is what happens when people lack common sense."

After the confrontation, Raekwon went on and performed his show. Slaughterhouse came out later on and took to the stage. Although Budden didn't mention it, his Slaughterhouse mate Crooked I referenced the incident. "Don't believe everything you see on the Internet," Crook said. "Nobody gonna disrespect one of my n----s on the muthaf---in' West Coast."

Raekwon could not be reached for comment at press time.

• Joe Budden
• Raekwon
• Wu-Tang Clan

Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man performs during the 2009 Rock the Bells at Jones Beach in Wantagh, New York on Sunday
Photo: Astrid Stawiarz/ Getty Images

WANTAGH, New York — It was musical, it was nostalgic, but most important, it was not violent. Guerilla Union held their annual Rock the Bells show Sunday at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater as part of the yearly tour. Going into the show, there had been heavy tension involving two of the acts, the Wu-Tang Clan and Slaughterhouse.

Slaughterhouse's Joe Budden had been involved in a back-and-forth with Method Man and Inspectah Deck for weeks. Although Deck and Meth were not officially on the Rock the Bells bill, it was no surprise when both appeared at Jones Beach to support RZA and Raekwon, who were slated to perform.

The Clan brought the ruckus, not the ignorance. They rocked the theater with a catalog of hits and didn't waste time dissing Slaughterhouse. At the end of the performance, Meth told the crowd no one in the rap game could touch him or his brothers.

	Nas, Wu-Tang, More 'Rock The Bells' At Jones Beach

"Can't nobody touch the legacy," Meth boasted. "Our track record speaks louder than any of them mutha----as."

Between the end of Wu's set and the beginning of Slaughterhouse's, Method Man and Joe Budden were seen walking together in the parking lot. The two took their time quashing the beef.

When Slaughterhouse, which also includes Royce da 5'9", Joell Ortiz and Crooked I, took the stage, they publicly announced the end of the short-term feud.

"It will never be a beef with Wu-Tang clan," Royce said. He then revealed the convo between Meth and Budden, saying the situation was "squashed."

But Rock the Bells wasn't just about them. Other performers included Big Boi, Common, Black Star, the Roots, Buckshot and headliners Nas and Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley.

Nas started his set with classics like "N.Y. State of Mind," then shared the stage with Jr. Gong. Nas kicked familiar verses (his rhymes off "The Message" and reggae-inspired hip-hop tracks like Shyne's "Bad Boyz"), and Jr. Gong came back doing his reggae chats over some of Nas' beats, including "Represent."

The rapper also brought out AZ for "Phone Tap" and "Life's a Bitch." Then he let D-Block have their own mini-set, highlighted by "Good Times," "Wild Out," "Who's Real" and Jadakiss' duet with Nas, "What If."

• Nas, Wu-Tang, More 'Rock The Bells' At Jones Beach

• Wu-Tang Clan
• Slaughterhouse
• Nas
• Joe Budden
• Damian Marley

T.I.
Photo: Getty Images/ Evan Agostini

"No one on the corner got swagger like these four guys." Lil Wayne was correct; it was an event, a milestone — Weezy, Jay-Z, Kanye West and T.I. on "Swagga Like Us."

The record brought together a cross section of cities on wax and four out of the top-10 MCs in the game. "No one on the corner got swagger like us." Hell yeah, M.I.A. — the track's producer Kanye West used her voice as a secret weapon, another musical firearm to go along with that sumo-heavy bass and marching-band drum line. It arrived out of nowhere (leaked several weeks before its strategically planned debut) and immediately became an anthem for sports teams and anybody in the club. The record also became a favorite of some MCs to freestyle on, trying to prove they too belonged on the all-star track.

"Swagger" might have been our Hip-Hop Song of the Year (an honor that went to Lil Wayne's "A Milli" instead) if the vision for the record were fully realized — there was no video and not even a proper live performance with all four of its stars. Still, it makes the top spot on our list of Underground Joints of '08 ("Swagga" was released as a single on iTunes prior to coming out on T.I.'s Paper Trail.) Here's a list of seven other songs you may have slept on but definitely need to have in heavy rotation.

Eight Essential Underground Joints of '08

1. T.I. and Jay-Z (featuring Lil Wayne and Kanye West) - "Swagga Like Us"
2. Joe Budden - "Who (Parts 1, 2 and 3)"
3. Jay-Z - "Jockin' Jay-Z"
4. Shawty Lo (featuring Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Lil Wayne and Plies) - "Dey Know" remix
5. Lil Wayne (featuring Jay-Z) - "Mr. Carter"
6. Big Boi (featuring Andre 3000 and Raekwon) - "Royal Flush"
7. The Game (featuring Nas) - "Letter to the King"
8. Nas - "Breathe"

Honorable Mentions

»Gucci Mane (featuring Yo Gotti and Yung Ralph) - "Bricks"
»Plies - "Ol' Lady"
»DJ Felli Fel (featuring Kanye West, Jermaine Dupri and Fabolous) - "Finer Things"
»Kid Cudi (featuring Jim Jones) - "Day 'N' Nite remix
»The Game - "Big Dreams"
»Fat Joe (featuring Lil Wayne) - "Crackhouse"
»Charles Hamilton, Asher Roth and B.O.B. - "Change Gone Come"
»Nas - "Testify"

• T.I.
• Big Boi
• Shawty Lo
• Joe Budden

Joe Budden
Photo: Ray Tamarra/Getty Images

Joe Budden and the Game finally made peace, and all it took was a phone call and a few text messages.

"I was asleep the other day, and I woke up to a text message saying, 'Big Joe, what up? This is Game,' " Budden said Wednesday (August 27). "I was like, 'Oh, somebody is playing on my phone again.' I hit him back with a bunch of question marks, and he hit me back with 'This is Game.' Still, I wasn't convinced yet. Then I started checking my messages, and apparently he was on [a New York radio] morning show and asking if anybody had my phone number and [said] he was trying to reach out to me. So I eventually called him. We had a great conversation, talked about a lot of things. He invited me to come to his show, come kick it. I took him up on it."

Joey Jump-Off jumped onstage with Game on Tuesday night during the Compton slugger's concert at New York's Irving Plaza.

Budden and Game were embroiled in a back-and-forth on the mixtape circuit in the mid-2000s, but that was never quite settled — at least, not in the public's eyes.

"Me and Game never really had an issue," Budden said. "It was more so a Joe Budden vs. G-Unit thing — which, at the time, [Game] happened to be a part of. So, I mean, it wasn't anything personal between myself and him. And it was so many years ago, and I think we both grown and gotten past all of that verbal bashing. I thought [Tuesday night's show] was great for hip-hop."

Budden and Game even appeared in a photo together during the height of the lyrical tension, but continued to dis each other.

"The picture was more so to say, 'We'll dead the beef, but we don't necessarily need to care for one another.' The situation last night was totally different. He showed me a whole lot of love. Him and his people. It was altogether a great experience. I was standing there [during the show] like a fan. Dude brought out Dana Dane, Kool Herc, Maino, who is like family to me. Rae and Ghost. I think all these people, who I am all cool with, were shocked to see me. But the energy in the building was great."

Joe performed "Pump It Up" and part of a record that had the whole Internet talking: "Who." In the song, he gives the fans evidence and suspects in search of the people responsible for the death of hip-hop. The record — close to 16 minutes in total — was broken down in three parts upon its initial release. Some have called it the hip-hop record of the year.

"I think so," Budden said, unabashed. "I think it's great."

Despite the track's length, the Jersey native said the song didn't take particularly long to write.

"Not too long," he divulged. "When you're writing something you're passionate about it, it doesn't take long," he said. "Three hours total. That was just the writing process. No, I'm lying. It might have been just four to five hours. The recording process was a whole separate issue."

"Who" was inspired by people asking Joe his opinion on the state of hip-hop, and he takes us through several eras in rap, name-dropping events like Game and Young Buck getting kicked out of the G-Unit, Lupe Fiasco forgetting lyrics during his A Tribe Called Quest tribute at the 2007 Hip-Hop Honors, Jay-Z becoming Def Jam president and KRS-One and Nelly's old beef.

"The funny thing is, my memory is normally horrible," he laughed. "I have a hard time remembering anything. But I wanted to make a timeline where certain events in hip-hop would act as photographs. Even when I said, 'Master P and them ugly-ass album covers,' it wasn't to say anything negative about that. But I think everybody in hip-hop remembers when, every other week, Master P was putting out an album with those funny-looking covers. I wanted to bring people back to a certain place and jog my memory as much as I could without going overboard. Remaining unbiased."

Budden's next album, Padded Room, comes out on Amalgam Digital on October 28. He'll be releasing at least one mixtape prior and says that collaborating with Game on a song or freestyle is a strong possibility.

"It's likely," he said. "You can never say."

• Joe Budden
• Game

Janet Jackson's <i>Discipline</i>
Photo: Island Def Jam

Fans of rap, R&B and soul have been shafted so far this year. Beyond the release of Jim Jones' Harlem's American Gangster last week, so far there really hasn't been much with which to get your groove on in 2008. But that's all about to change this week, as the urban floodgates open wide and usher in new tuneage from the likes of Janet Jackson, Shawty Lo, Joe Budden and more. Here's a look at what'll be shaking in the streets and banging in the clubs quicker than you can get your booty on the dance floor:

Discipline-ary Action: After peaking at #2 on the sales chart with her past two albums, Janet Jackson is hurting for her first #1 LP since 2001's All for You. While 2006's 20 Y.O. and 2004's Damita Jo dropped during busier months, her latest release faces very light competition, so she stands a good chance of nabbing the crown. Plus she's now part of Island Def Jam's powerhouse family and has producers like Ne-Yo, The-Dream, Missy Elliott, Rodney Jerkins and Jermaine Dupri on her side. "I want [fans] to forget about their worries, if any, for the 50 minutes and just dance and feel certain emotions that hopefully I'll take them through, and reminisce and just have a good time with it," Jackson told MTV News earlier this month about her 10th studio effort. Said fans should take note of the Discipline deluxe edition, which includes a bonus DVD loaded with videos, making-of footage, rehearsal clips and more.

Amerykahn Revolution: Janet faces some friendly competition this week from Erykah Badu, who barrels back into stores with her first outing in five years, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War). The timing of the new release is perfect, actually — the neo-soul trailblazer turns 37 on Tuesday (February 26), and the lead single, "Honey," is climbing on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Many of the blistering beats, including those on "Honey," come courtesy 9th Wonder, while Madlib and Bilal also lent Badu their skills.

Cheri on Top: Finishing up this week's batch of R&B releases is the debut disc from Bad Boy newcomer Cheri Dennis, In and Out of Love. Released exclusively on iTunes late last year, the album is finally hitting terrestrial stores this week — with guest spots from Jim Jones, Gorilla Zoe and Yung Joc, as well as production contributions from Rodney Jerkins and Ryan Leslie still intact. The 28-year-old singer broke out "I Love You" as the album's first single a looong time ago — we're talking late 2005 here — but the Diddy darling is crossing her fingers that "All I Wanna Do" and "Portrait of Love" make sure the forever-delayed In and Out of Love comes out on top.

Shawty Riding High: Speaking of debuts, one of the three big MCs who are cranking out releases this week is another rookie, Shawty Lo. The ATL freshman got some help from a fleet of other rising rappers, with Gucci Mane being the only big name among them, although Lo's D4L pals, Fabo and Stuntman, also provide some aid. But will that be enough to take Shawty Lo to great heights? Only time will tell ...

Tangled Webbie: Tangled among a slew of guest stars, that is! For his new one, Savage Life 2, the Trill Entertainment/ Asylum/ Atlantic spitter gets a boost from Bun B, Young Dro, Birdman, Mannie Fresh and Cypress Hill's B-Real, not to mention label comrades like Lil Boosie and Foxx. With his single "Independent" totally on fire right now — it was MTV Jams' first "Jam of the Week" pick this year, and has been in heavy rotation on BET — Webbie's hoping the follow-up track, "Missing You," will mean even more good things for this disc.

Ear Bud: Capping off this week's crew of rap talent is none other than Joe Budden, the Grammy-nominated rapper who has been awfully quiet on the studio-albums front since his eponymous debut dropped in 2003. Budden — who is in limbo with Def Jam — has been keeping busy on the mixtape circuit, though, and this week the third installment in his Mood Muzik series materializes courtesy new digital-retail store Amalgam Digital. "I think eventually ... you'll only be able to get music digitally," the New York native recently told Mixtape Monday. "I'd like to jump on that bandwagon. Since my hiatus, I've been big online, so this album is going online." Early birds interested in the release got a worm in the form of two exclusive bonus cuts, "Last Real N---a Left" and "My Life," but the standard release is littered with guest spots by Fabolous, Joell Ortiz and others.

Song Title of the Week:

"Love Me Dead" from Ludo's You're Awful, I Love You

Album Cover of the Week:

Erykah Badu's New Amerykah

Other Notables:

Goldfrapp's Seventh Tree
Almost a decade into their career, the London synth-pop duo are putting out their fourth studio disc, which was written and produced entirely by centrifugal forces Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory. Recorded at their own studio in the English countryside, the album follows 2005's Supernature — 1 million copies of which were sold worldwide — and is already getting strong buzz thanks to "A&E," a single that has been charting high across the pond. The special edition carries a bonus DVD with a documentary, interviews and more, while iTunes has a pair of extras: a live performance of "You Never Know" and "Clowns," an instrumental tune.

Rocket From the Crypt's R.I.P.
The always-creative punk-rockers went out in style when they called it quits — the band threw a 2005 Halloween shindig in its San Diego hometown and dressed up in voodoo gear to mark the end of its career. "After 18 years of massive rock hard success we felt we needed to take a stand and fight for the future of our children and our children's children's friends," ever-wry frontman John Reis joked in a statement. The set enshrining the band's last show also comes with a DVD, giving a little extra meaning to the set-closing song, "Come See Come Saw." But RFTC fans shouldn't lament too much — Reis is bouncing back with a like-minded project, the Night Marchers, and their See You in Magic debut drops April 22.

Son Lux's At War With Walls and Mazes
Ryan Lott is making quite the entrance with his project's debut — his name has already been tossed around thanks to remixes of Beirut and Castanets songs, and he got a financial boost when he won the Cleveland Arts Prize's Emerging Artist Award. The Indiana University grad, who is almost 30 years old, ties together everything from organs and violins to pianos and drums on his electro-chamber release, which has 11 one-word songs, including "Tell," "War," "Prologue" and — you guessed it — "Epilogue."

New Releases:

· A Whisper in the Noise - Dry Land (Exile on Mainstream)
· Afters - Never Going Back to OK (Columbia)
· Algebra - Purpose (Kedar)
· Avalon - Another Time, Another Place: Timeless Christian Classics (enhanced; Sparrow)
· Erykah Badu - New Amerykah: Part One (4th World War) (Motown) [Buy Now]
· Laura Barrett - Earth Sciences EP (Paper Bag)
· Beach House - Devotion (Carpark)
· Sir Richard Bishop - God Damn Religion (Locust)
· The Bridal Shop - From Seas (Magic Marker)
· Children 18:3 - Children 18:3 (Tooth & Nail)
· Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Revisited (with DVD; Zoë)
· Death Angel - Killing Season (two CDs; Nuclear Blast America)
· Cheri Dennis - In and Out of Love (Bad Boy/ Atlantic) [Buy Now]
· Toumani Diabaté - The Mandé Variations (World Circuit/ Nonesuch)
· Dirtbombs - We Have You Surrounded (In the Red)
· Earth - Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull (Southern Lord)
· Michael English - The Prodigal Comes Home (Curb)
· The Exit Stratgy - City of Microphones (One Percent)
· Experimental Aircraft - Third Transmission (Graveface)
· Fink - Distance and Time (Ninja Tune)
· Melody Gardot - Worrisome Heart (Verve)
· Ghostland Observatory - Robotique Majestique (Trashy Moped)
· Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree (special edition comes with DVD; Mute) [Buy Now]
· Tommy Guerrero - Return of the Bastard (Galaxia)
· Chris Hicks - Dog Eat Dog World (Shout! Factory)
· Missy Higgins - On a Clear Night (Reprise)
· High Kings - The High Kings (Manhattan)
· Honeyhoney - Loose Boots (EP; Ironworks)
· Janet Jackson - Discipline (deluxe edition comes with DVD; Island) [Buy Now]
Read: "Janet Jackson Shows Off Sense Of Discipline With New Album"
· Richard Julian - Sunday Morning in Saturday's Shoes (Manhattan)
· La Scala - The Harlequin EP (Highwheel)
· Danny Lerman - Meow Baby (Sugar Whiskey)
· Ludo - You're Awful, I Love You (Island)
· Sara Melson - Dirty Mind (Nettwerk)
· Tift Merritt - Another Country (Fantasy)
· Nine Pound Hammer - Sex, Drugs and Bill Monroe (Acetate)
· Dolly Parton - Backwoods Barbie (Dolly)
· Pegasuses-XL - The Antiphon (Ernest Jenning)
· Pillar - For the Love of the Game (Flicker)
· Power Pill Fist - Kogmaivog (Graveface)
· Psycho & the Birds - We've Moved (Happy Jack Rock)
· Punch Brothers - Punch (Nonesuch)
· Rocket From the Crypt - R.I.P. (with DVD; Vagrant) [Buy Now]
· Kurt Rosenwinkel - The Remedy: Live at the Village Vanguard (artistShare)
· Diane Schuur - Some Other Time (Concord)
· Shawty Lo - Units in the City (Asylum)
· Son Lux - At War With Walls and Mazes (Anticon)
· Spires That in the Sunset Rise - Curse the Traced Bird (Secret Eye)
· Suishou No Fune - Prayer for Chibi (two CDs; Holy Mountain)
· Sunny Day Sets Fire - Stranger/Remix EP (I Am Sound)
· Takeovers - Little Green Onion Man (EP; limited edition; Off)
· Tarja - My Winter Storm (deluxe edition comes with DVD; Fontana International)
· To-Mera - Delusions (Candlelight)
· Torae - Daily Conversation (Internal Affairs/ Select-O-Hits)
· Webbie - Savage Life 2 (Trill Entertainment/ Asylum/ Atlantic) [Buy Now]
· Trent Willmon - Broken In (Compadre)
· Lizz Wright - The Orchard (Verve Forecast)
· Raya Yarbrough - Raya Yarbrough (Telarc)
· David Yazbek - Evil Monkey Man (Ghostlight)
· Various artists - "Semi-Pro" soundtrack (Mew Line)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

· The Apples in Stereo - Discovery of a World Inside the Moon; Fun Trick Noisemaker; and Her Wallpaper Reverie (One Little Indian)
· Ashford & Simpson - Hits, Remixes & Rarities: The Warner Bros. Years (two CDs; Rhino)
· Patti Austin - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of Patti Austin - The Singles (1969-1986) (Rhino)
· Bloodstone - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of Bloodstone (Rhino)
· Boston - X2 (Boston/ Don't Look Back; Legacy)
· Mariah Carey - X2 (Daydream/ Music Box; Legacy)
· Johnny Cash - X2 (At San Quentin [The Complete 1969 Concert]/ Orange Blossom Special; Legacy)
· David Cassidy - Dance Party Remix (180 Music)
· Change - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of Change (Rhino)
· Harry Chapin - "Cat's in the Cradle" and Other Hits (Rhino)
· Kenny Chesney - X2 (I Will Stand/ Me and You; Legacy)
· Guy Clark - Old No. 1 and Texas Cookin' (DBK Works)
· Bing Crosby - When Irish Eyes Are Smiling (Varése Vintage)
· Celine Dion - X2 (Let's Talk About Love/ Celine Dion (Legacy)
· Earth, Wind & Fire - X2 (Gratitude/ That's the Way of the World: Alive in '75; Legacy)
· Aretha Franklin - The Very Best of Aretha Franklin: The '70s (Rhino)
· Hellhammer - Demon Entrails (two CDs; Century Media)
· The Highwaymen - Water of Life: A Celtic Collection (Varése Vintage)
· The Impressions - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of the Impressions (Rhino)
· Michael Jackson - X2 (Off the Wall/ Invincible; Legacy)
· Jefferson Starship - Timeless Classics Live (Rainman/ Shout! Factory)
· Billy Joel - X2 (Piano Man/ The Stranger; Legacy)
· Journey - X2 (Escape/Evolution; Legacy)
· Kleer - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of Kleer (Rhino)
· Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers (Rhino)
· Barry Manilow - X2 (This One's for You/ If I Should Love Again; Legacy)
· Willie Nelson - X2 (Red Headed Stranger/ To Lefty From Willie; Legacy)
· Roy Orbison - X2 (Crying/ In Dreams; Legacy)
· Dolly Parton - X2 (Jolene/ Coat of Many Colors; Legacy)
· Sam & Dave - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of Sam & Dave (Rhino)
· Santana - X2 (Santana/ Santana III; Legacy)
· Joe Tex - Greatest Hits: The Very Best of Joe Tex (Rhino)
· Randy Travis - Storms of Life (Rhino)
· Conway Twitty - It's Only Make Believe: The MGM Years (Mercury Nashville/ UMe)
· Luther Vandross - X2 (Never Too Much/ Songs; Legacy)
· Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble - X2 (Texas Flood/ In the Beginning; Legacy)
· Bobby Womack - The Best of Bobby Womack (Capitol/EMI)
· Various artists - Bedtime Beats: The Secret to Sleep (two CDs; Rhino)
· Various artists - Club Anthems (Water)
· Various artists - Dance Factory: Ultimate Dance Radio Hits Volume 1 (Toucan Cove)
· Various artists - Little Steven's Underground Garage Presents: The Coolest Songs in the World! Vol. 4 (Wicked Cool)
· Various artists - The Local Anesthetic (Smooch)
· Various artists - Stax Does the Beatles (Stax)

Music DVDs:

· High Kings - "Live in Dublin" (Manhattan)
· Paul McCartney - "Ecce Cor Meum" (EMI Classics)
· John McCormack - "The People's Tenor" (Kultur)
· Various artists - "Blue Note: A Story of Modern Jazz" (Euroarts)

Digital Releases:

· Joe Budden - Mood Muzik 3 (Amalgam Digital)
Read: Mixtape Monday: Lupe Fiasco Plans His Cool Viral Video; Joe Budden Compares Jay-Z To A 'Bully'

Coming Attractions:

March 4:
· Black Crowes - Warpaint (Silver Arrow/ Megaforce/ Sony)
· Flogging Molly - Float (Side One Dummy)
· Stephen Malkmus & Jicks - Real Emotional Trash (Matador)

March 11:
· Fat Joe - The Elephant in the Room (Virgin)
Read: "Fat Joe Nixes Planned Eddie Murphy Cover, Salutes 'Hood Spartans On '300' "
· Meshuggah - obZen (Nuclear Blast America)
· Rick Ross - Trilla (Def Jam)
Read: "Rick Ross Recruits Jay-Z, T-Pain, Lil Wayne To Help Him Thrill On Trilla"

March 18:
· Flo Rida - Mail on Sunday (Atlantic)
· Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III (Cash Money/ Universal)
Read: " Lil Wayne Wrapping Up LP, Writing For Dr. Dre -- But He's Got Mariah Carey On The Brain"
· Danity Kane - Welcome to the Dollhouse (Bad Boy)

• Janet Jackson
• Shawty Lo
• Joe Budden
• Erykah Badu

Lupe Fiasco
Photo: Atlantic

Artist: Joe Budden

Representing: Jerz

Mixtape: Mood Muzik 3: The Album

411: Lyrically, Joe Budden is the "Cloverfield" monster. He hasn't put out an album in four years, and every fan of abundantly heady bars should feel cheated. He is one of the best artists not getting a proper shot. He's one of the best, period. While in limbo with Def Jam, his Mood Muzik mixtape series has kept him afloat, and the third installment gets our overwhelming cosign as the first great street CD of 2008. (Hey, Malice and Pusha, what happened with the release of y'all's joint? We're waiting.)

Although a version of the MM3 that DJ On Point helped put together is out on the streets now, the real underground album is coming in February.

"It's being released digitally on Amalgam," Budden said a couple of weeks ago in Harlem. "I think eventually ... you'll only be able to get music digitally. I'd like to jump on that bandwagon. Since my hiatus, I've been big online, so this album is going online."

But Joe hasn't ruled out going back to a major label. Shady Records wouldn't be a bad spot, he said, but in the meantime, while he's finalizing his free agency, Budden is preparing to drop an official album called Padded Room later this year.

"The mood will be lighter," he said. "I progressively go back to that mainstream. We're about six songs in. The record right now that sticks out is 'I Couldn't Help It.' It talks about some situations I had with some rappers' wives. It's pretty self-explanatory."


Joints To Check For:

"Talk 2 Em." "The song started out in one place and ended someplace totally different," Budden said of the record, where he expounds on his frustration with Jay-Z. "That happens a lot on Mood Muzik. Like, the timing just changes from bar to bar. I'm not mad at Jay putting albums out, I'm mad at how other albums get treated. Me being on Def Jam and not releasing an album [in four years], I watched how other albums were treated. You didn't need to be an expert in music to see some things didn't make sense. To put an album in stores when a record only has 300 spins — it doesn't make sense. Start pitting your artists against each other on the same release date — it doesn't make sense. Somebody has to take the blame. Somebody does.

"I don't even attack Jay-Z," he continued. "I attack Shawn Carter, the man in the suit, the man behind the desk. When I come in to have a conversation with you in search of some kind of guidance or information and get a whole bunch of BS in response, there's no other way for an artist to respond. But the difficult part is that you're the greatest rapper. It's like the bully who comes to school, and because he can beat everybody up, he beats everybody up. So that was me saying, 'F you.' If it comes down to going bar for bar with you, I'll do that too. Whatever it takes to get some type of respect on this label, or off the label for that matter, I'm not afraid of you lyrically."

"Dear Diary." "It's weird," Jump Off Joey explained. "A lot of times on the record I can talk about things that I would not talk about off the record or outside the booth or even amongst family and friends. ... I have had some situations where people [who] were in my life ... were no longer in my life. I went back to talking about my child's mother and the situations me and her continuously have. I spoke to her yesterday, and she was like, 'Stop running around talking.' She didn't have a positive response to it. My baby's mom took me to court for talking about her on records. I had to change up how it was done.

"It's just me in the booth," Joe added. "Me and the mic, and I'm venting. Once I do that, I feel better."

"Warfare" (featuring Joell Ortiz). "[Ortiz] reminded me a lot of myself: young guy coming up, spitting extremely hard and just loves music," the Jersey MC said. "He reached out to me. It took us a little while to link up, but we finally did, and we had a great time making the record. ... We didn't want to do the whole thing where [you say], 'I wanna work with you. You MP3 something; I MP3 you something back.' ... We wanted to have a lyrical slugfest, and it sounds that way. ... Me and him are going to be doing a lot of things in the future."


Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week
» The Raw Report - Shawty Lo: The Real Bankhead Story
» DJ 2 Mello - Undercover RNB: First Look
» DJ Chuck T - Gone But Not Forgotten
» DJ Coolbreeze & Young Jeezy - White Christmas


'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar
» 50 Cent - "U Ain't Crazy"
» Trey Songz (featuring Lil Wayne) - "Can't Help But Wait" (remix)
» Swizz Beatz (featuring Drag-On) "Hard Knocks"
» CNN - "Hollywood" and "Sensual Seduction" (freestyle)
» Foxy Brown - "Star Cry" (Download a clip of the track here.)
» Re-Up Gang - "20K Money Making Brothers on the Corner"


Fire Starter: Va$htie
She's an Upstate New York girl, Albany to be exact, but the 23-year-old School of the Visual Arts alumna is as NYC as a MetroCard. And as downtown as Canal Street. Born Vashtie Kola, the upstart director's love of film began when her parents made her older brother and sister drag her along with them to the movies. After graduation, her passion eventually landed her a gig in the video and creative department of Def Jam. But her real big break came when she recently funded and directed a clip for the Kanye West/ Lupe Fiasco/ Pharrell Williams mixtape track "Us Placers." The Web video features mini-me versions of the three rap titans, replacing the original stars à la Biggie's "Sky Is the Limit." Next up for Vash is more script-writing and continuing her and her partner's successful 1992-theme parties — where the music is all about the last decade — as well as starting a line of accessories and clothing called Violet. "It's ultra-hard," she said of juggling her many endeavors. "But I'm sure it's satisfying in the end."


Celebrity Faves
Soulja Boy Tell'em might have raised a few eyebrows when he called Bow Wow a hardcore rapper in an interview recently. But the ATLien by way of Mississippi does have good taste when it comes to MCs, even ones he thinks aren't as hot as he is.

"I got two favorites; I say 50 and Kanye," SB said. "But right now, I say I like Lil Wayne a lot, but I wouldn't do a collaboration with him, 'cause he got too many."

Fif or 'Ye, on the other hand, he'd be down to work with. And rather than tell us which one he'd prefer, he offered a diplomatic solution: "Probably both of them," he said, laughing. "Soulja Boy featuring 50 Cent and Kanye." Watch out, world.


The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground
When your name is Uncle Murda and your manager's name is Hood, things just go down sometimes. It's just life. "That's how it be in the 'hood," Murda told MTV News about being shot in the head last week. "I was in East New York [Brooklyn], homicide central."

According to published reports, Murda was shot while he and a friend were sitting in a car late Tuesday night. An unidentified man approached the car and began shooting. The bullets shattered the car windows, Murda was hit in the shoulder, and a bullet grazed his head, the reports said. But his manager said it was the other way around: The bullet grazed Murda's shoulder and actually hit his head.

"He got a hard head," Hood said. "As he said, that's from all the years of not listening. His head got real hard over the years."

Even though the two shrug it off now, Murda did go to the hospital after getting popped. At first, he didn't know he was directly hit. It wasn't until Murda's friend told him to check his head that he realized what happened.

"Really, I didn't know I got hit," he said. "They said blood was on my face, but I was thinking that was glass from the car. I was feeling good. I'm up, I was running, doing what I do. I thought everything was good. Then the ambulance came over there, and somebody said, 'I think you got shot in the head.' My man was looking, and he seen a little rip in my hat looking like a hole. That's when I figured I might have a bullet in my head, but it was a cheap bullet."

When contacted by MTV News, police had no further information regarding the incident.

"Maybe it was someone I shot way, way back," Murda speculated.

"I don't know where it's from," Hood explained. "But it's definitely not from [beef with Papoose's crew]."

By Wednesday morning, Murda left the hospital — with the bullet still lodged in his head.

"They said the sh-- might fall out in two to three weeks," he said. "It's only on the surface; it didn't touch the skull or nothing like that."

Two days later, Murda went to the studio to record a track about what happened. He gave Mixtape Monday a sneak preview of it:

"People like, 'Murda, you got shot in the head'/ I said, 'Yeah, but it don't feel like it because I ain't dead'/ I got a bullet in my head, but I feel good/ But a bullet really in my head, I ain't frontin' like Suge/ I ain't trying to be like 'Pac or 50, I'm a G/ I think NYPD trying to kill me." ...

Sit with it, don't sleep on it. Lupe Fiasco's The Cool album is one of those LPs that will take multiple listens to get all its metaphors and bar juggling, the Chicago native insists.

"I think we got a solid body of work together," Lupe said recently in New York. He has a sold-out show at the Nokia Theater on February 2 (the night prior to the Super Bowl) as part of his tour (and he promised special guests such as CRS during the summer leg of his outing). "I think we got an album that people are gonna get. Initially, people enjoyed and loved it, but I think people are going to love it even more once it sits, because it's such a heavy body of work that you gotta break down. ... I think it's gonna re-evolve. It's gonna re-happen!"

Fiasco's follow-up video to "Superstar" is going to be a low-budget affair and head straight to cyberspace. After that, he said some exec at Atlantic records is going to sign off on a big check for the next clip.

"We're shooting a lot of videos," he promised. "The next viral record is gonna be 'Hip-Hop Saved My Life.' We're gonna leak that to [the Net]. The next main video is gonna be 'Paris, Tokyo.' Were planning a huge, big, kinda exotic, grandiose production for that. That'll probably come in February."...

"We Takin' Over," "Holla at Me," "Brown Paper Bag," "100 Million Dollars" — the Miami fraternity of Rick Ross, Cash Money Millionaires Baby and Lil Wayne and Terror Squadians Fat Joe and DJ Khaled might as well stop playing and just do a whole album together. They have collaborated on so many songs, it feels like they're a new supergroup.

"We just putting in work," Rick Ross laughed. "We're keeping the streets excited with good music."

Fat Joe gave a little more insight. All the guys are really great friends, he explained, and a lot of the songs we hear them on together are actually recorded with all the MCs present.

"We're in the same studio; me, Birdman, Weezy, Ross," Joe said. "We're in the same studio every day. People won't believe that. [Cash Money] is in studio A; I'm in studio B; Ross is in C every day. Every day, we're in the parking lot, talking sh--, joking. Weezy is doing some crazy sh--. That's real talk. That's rare too."

Of course, the studio in question is none other than Miami's Hit Factory, a place where you're likely to see Timbaland, Danjahandz, Mariah Carey and Missy Elliott lay down tracks as well.

Obviously with such a kinship, a lot of the songs that come from the ballin' circle of friends happen organically, but it doesn't mean that any of the rappers want to get outshined when recording.

"I have to go hard," Fat Joe said. "That's how I feel every time I go in, even with my best friends. I love Rick Ross; it's not really a competition, but I have to be hot. So when I rhyme with them, it's almost like, 'Yo, step your game up, because I'm stepping mine up,' and they usually do.

"Lil Wayne is too hard to control," Joe added with his trademark Bronx 'hood charm. "His flows are phenomenal. I've heard records for Tha Carter III. I don't know how human beings do this. I think he's incredible."

The next big collaboration is a movie called "H," which stars Ross and Baby.

"It's about some young dudes, man," said the Boss, who is hoping to release his DVD documentary "M.I. Yayo." "Ah, man, it's a movie. We're gonna start filming it this summer. It's gonna be something the streets are going to embrace. We're doing an album with it too. We're just feeding the streets."

Ross' Trilla drops on March 11, and soon after, he wants to get a tour going with Cash Money, Fat Joe, Flo Rida, Trick Daddy and Plies. Most of those guys appear on the new remix to "Speedin'." There's also a remix of "Speedin' " floating around with Chris Brown on the hook. ...

People may be surprised that a good bulk of Rick Ross' Trilla LP was produced by an underground trio of Tampa producers called the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. Composed of multi-instrumentalists Rook, Colione and Kenny "Barto" Bartolomei, JL landed four tracks on Ross' sophomore set, including "Maybach Music," featuring Jay-Z, and "Luxury Tax," with a lineup that features Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy and Trick Daddy.

"That joint is epic, [that's] an understatement," Kenny said of "Luxury Tax." "When you listen to it, you'll know. The track is crazy how it came out. It's awesome."

The fellas from J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League have previously landed tracks on albums by Mary J. Blige, Jeezy and Juelz Santana, but working with Ross was the first time they placed so many records on one project. Their music is operatic and soulful.

It started with "Maybach Music," the first track they did for Ross, according to Rook. The beat was made in their Tampa crib when they first met with Ross. Then, after the trio moved to Atlanta, the other records were cut. "Maybach Music" was still going through a few incarnations before they finally mixed it.

"Kenny is there singing [on the song]," Rook explained. "We got some crazy stuff going on that record. It took us a whole week [to make it originally], 'cause we went through five different versions for 'Maybach Music.' But it was worth it. It came out monstrous. It was like five different versions, five different intros. We switched up the verse a few times and had to switch up a few lines because it might have been too close to the sample. We had to totally revamp it to where it was musically right. When we went to mix it, we didn't even have Jay-Z's vocals. We had to wait for it, so we didn't even know how the track was gonna go."

"We had to arrange his verse and certain things with that verse with the instruments," Colione added. "We had to add new instruments. It was like a mixing/recording session. We had to put saxophones in it. We added pianos. It was hectic, but it came out dope."

"[Ross'] first album was like his Reasonable Doubt, and this new one is basically gonna be his Blueprint," Rook said.

"He's experimenting with music and different stuff that's pushing the envelope," Colione said.

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."

• Mixtape Monday Video: Joe Budden, Lupe Fiasco, B.G.

• Lupe Fiasco
• Joe Budden
• Jay-Z
• Rick Ross (Hip-Hop)
• Uncle Murda

Photo: DJ On Point

• Joe Budden
• Lupe Fiasco
• B.G.

Stack Bundles
Photo: Riot Squad

QUEENS, New York — One of the saddest things to fans mourning the loss of Stack Bundles is that the shining underground-hip-hop crowd-pleaser wasn't able to realize his potential as a mainstream great. On Monday morning (June 18), as people walked down Linden Boulevard on the way to the J. Foster Phillips Funeral Home, "barbershop talk" spilled over into the streets, including memories of how nice Stack was on the mic and how he should've been talked about in the same breath as rap's current household names — not as another MC to be mourned.

"He was like a Jay, 50 and Nas rolled into one," one man, sitting on the roof of a Ford Explorer, said to his friend. They were playing at full volume an old DJ Clue mixtape in which one of Stack's myriad of freestyles was a highlight. The DJ's voice echoed "Clue, Clue, Clue" as Bundles laced the ambience with punch lines.

Down the block was a white stretch Escalade with "R.I.P. Stack Bundles" written on the black tinted windows.

On Monday morning, DJ Clue was at the service with many of his Desert Storm partners, such as Skane Dollar and DJ Don Juan Demarco. Producers DJ Twins, Joe Budden and Brooklyn MC Maino also came out to join family, fans and other friends in giving Stack a final send-off with a viewing and a funeral.

In the casket, Stack wore a red T-shirt, sunglasses and jeans. Outside, "R.I.P. Stack Bundles" was painted on all types of tees, while others were decorated with pictures of Bundles.

"He looked like himself, they really did him right," one woman who said she is Stack's cousin, said to another after the viewing. Several dozen people were lined up in front of the funeral home to get in, while a couple of dozen more stayed across the street, looking on and playing music. Meanwhile, most of the family and friends had to weather getting through a back entrance that was just as jammed. It was at times very chaotic getting in — the place was packed so tight, in fact, that the front door had to be closed off.

Shortly before the services began, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana arrived in a caravan of cars. Jones wore a black T-shirt, while Santana was clad in a white tee and his trademark bandana, which he removed before entering the funeral home.

"Definitely a lot of supporters out there," Joe Budden said shortly after the funeral. "He was a great guy — great personality, very humble, just a character in his own right. He was very intelligent; book smart and street smart. It's a shame he's gone at such an early age. I'm sure God called him for a reason.

"I made it my business to go out there and show him respect," he continued. "A lot of people came out to show him respect. It was sad, though. I can't even lie: I was disappointed. I just feel bad. It could have been anybody [who was killed] — me, anybody. The fact that he never got the point he was striving to get to was a dream deferred. Damn."

Inside, the minister presiding over the services agreed that life is too short and encouraged the congregation to "tell the person next to you that you love them."

"You know why?" he asked. "We don't know when we might have the opportunity again."

Stack, born Rayquon Maurice Elliott, was killed on June 12 not far from his home in Queens' Far Rockaway neighborhood (see "Jim Jones Associate Stack Bundles Killed"). Police, who are investigating the death, said that the rapper was shot in the head and neck in the early morning as he entered his apartment building. He was 24.

He started to get his name buzzing thanks to DJ Clue's mixtapes, on which he rhymed with everyone from Joe Budden to Fabolous. More recently, Stack became a member of Jim Jones' Dipset ByrdGang, and besides Jones having major plans for him in his camp, Stack had his own crew: the Riot Squad.

Some questioned why Stack still loved the 'hood, but those who knew him said he refused to leave until he could bring everyone with him.

"The Stack Bundles that I knew, I'm 80 percent sure is different than the Stack anyone else knew besides maybe his family," Budden said. "The Stack I knew is very much like myself; he was open-minded and eager to learn. ... Everyone knows about his potential and talent and [swagger], but when I think of Stack and myself's relationship, I think of two young n---as from the urban area that would do any and everything to get out and take all of their people with them. The difference is, I'm old enough to differentiate when to [be in] the 'hood and when not to do it. I don't think Stack was old enough to make those same decisions."

"It's a wake-up call," said Maino, a frequent Stack collaborator. "What's unfortunate about the industry is you get famous before you get rich. Your face is on magazines and your face is on DVD [covers]. Everybody knows you. But you don't really have the money and means to get up and do what you want to do — for some people.

"The 'hood is going to be the 'hood," he added. "People are still hungry and envious over what they perceive to be success. ... When you in the 'hood, you could be doing a'ight, but if some people might feel you're sh---ing on the 'hood because you coming through in your Caddy truck or Benz. People be like, 'He thinks he's all that.' You trying to keep it real, but sometimes you can't keep it real in the 'hood, because it's a lot of ignorance that keeps going [on] there. ... It's certain things you can do, certain things you can't do. Stack's situation reconfirms that."

No arrests have been made in connection with Bundles' death.

"It's sad," said a stoic Lupe Fiasco as he exited the funeral service. "Product of the environment. But you know, honor him. Honor him always. Rest in peace, Stack Bundles."

• Joe Budden
• DJ Clue

Joe Budden (file)
Photo: Gregg Delman

Rapper Joe Budden was arrested in Queens, New York, Tuesday afternoon for driving with a suspended license.

According to a police spokesperson, officers pulled over Budden in a current model BMW around 3 p.m. for speeding on the Clearview Expressway. He was driving 76 mph in a 50 mph zone. Police then discovered that Budden was driving with a suspended license and arrested him.

Budden remained in jail overnight and was arraigned Wednesday morning (July 14) in Queens criminal court. He was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree and speeding, according to a spokesperson for the Queens district attorney. Budden paid a $300 fine and was released on his own recognizance.

The rapper recently ended a stint as host of New York's Hot 97 morning show and is currently putting the finishing touches on a new album due out in the fall.

• Joe Budden

Keri Hilson Hosts Her 'In A Perfect World' Album Release Party

• Keri Hilson
• Akon
• Red Cafe
• Joe Budden

• Joe Budden

MTV Exclusive: MC Battle Photos

• Method Man
• Ludacris
• Joe Budden

• Joe Budden

• Joe Budden
• Boomkat
• Justin Guarini
• Kelly Clarkson
• Michelle Branch