Fabolous and Ne-Yo
Photo: BET

Behind The Beats: Play N Skillz

Do we really have to run down Play N Skillz' history for you again? We put you up on those fellas awhile back when we hit Dallas. The two-time Grammy winners aren't just doing music (Bun B, Nipsey Hussle, Ray J and a few others who'll you'll hear about soon are on their plate), they are making business moves.

"We wanna formally announce our new deal with the big brother Steve Rifkind and Gaby Acevedo," Play said. "Play N Skillz G4 Muzik, just did a nice situation over there with SRC/Universal."

"Play N Skillz have been trendsetters for a long time," SRC founder and chariman Steve Rifkind SRC in a statement. "The music that they make is incredible, and their innate knack for finding great talent is very impressive."

The guys are definitely looking for local talent in their hometown of Dallas but are open to signing groups from all over. "Were trying to take it more of a mainstream situation than concentrate on a regional situation," Play explained.

His brother Skillz added: "We're just going to do it so big. The first act is Dallas: His name is Inertia."

Next Wave of Flav

On Inertia: "The Dallas music has exploded in the last couple of months. It got crazier with Duro and everybody. With him, it's a little different. It's not dance; it's not 'D-Town Boogie.' It's more Flo Rida meets Ludacris meets Twista. We're trying to go that direction with Inertia and our new situation. His show, the homie is dead-on energy. I'm talking about Busta Rhymes energy. That's lacking today. That's one of the things that drew us to him." - Play

"Inertia is just a phenomenal artist to lead off with." - Skillz.

On Nelly: "We been in with Nelly the last couple of months. We been working with the big bro very tough, and his new album is out the box. He has a record with Akon called 'Angel Eyes.' He just killed it." - Play

On T-Pain: "His new album is crazy. I thought Play was crazy. The whole studio was jumping off." - Skillz.

"T-Pain is something different. We went in the studio, he had spotlights in there, porn everywhere, and all his cars parked outside: a Phantom, Ferrari and a hearse with a coffin that came out with speakers." - Play

Five-Star Stellar Hits

» Chamillionaire - "Ridin' "
» Lil Wayne (featuring T-Pain) - "Got Money"
» Lil' Flip - "Sunshine" and "Game Over"

Hottest Streak Thus Far

From 2007 to now, they've won two Grammy Awards.

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground

Remember way back when we told you about a potential super duo made up of Fabolous and Ne-Yo? Well, it looks like the two have still been talking about making that project happen and bringing in a third member: Ryan Leslie.

"We're talking about a triple-team collaboration that's really gonna hurt the game," Leslie told us recently in New York. "Your boy Fab, the boy Ne-Yo and yours truly on the board. It's really gonna put a hurting on everybody."

"This guy is a creative genius," Fab said of Leslie. "I told y'all we was working."

Loso and Leslie said the trio are open to collaborating with others on the project. "The table is open," Leslie said. "If you're bringing something to the table, you can break bread."

"You just gotta bring some good food to the table," Fab co-signed.

"It's about conceptualizing," Ryan added about how the LP will shape up. "It's not gonna be a project that's thrown together. It's gonna be a real roundtable, and we're gonna talk about really putting something in the atmosphere that contributes something that's never been done before."

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

• Mixtape Daily: Fabolous, Raekwon, Drake, Jay-Z And More

• Fabolous
• Ryan Leslie
• Ne-Yo

Jadakiss performs at New York's Highline Ballroom
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — Jason "Jadakiss" Phillips couldn't have picked a better venue to show his skills on Wednesday night than the Highline Ballroom. Though it's in a trendy Meatpacking District hotel, it's also next to a large housing project.

Undoubtedly, the people in the PJs have been some of the Yonkers rapper's main supporters during his almost 15-year career. That 'hood love is what keeps him afloat. Heck, he's given away way more songs on the mixtape circuit than he's sold with two group albums and three solo LPs (including The Last Kiss, which dropped on Tuesday). Jada gets some mainstream recognition here and there, and the respect he has from his peers is reserved for a select mic-elite few. He's rocked with the best of them: Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Eminem, Nas, Snoop Dogg, DMX, all the way to Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne. Jada's charisma is such that even people with whom he's had bitter feuds — 50 Cent, Beanie Sigel, Diddy, DJ Green Lantern — have turned the other cheek and reconciled any differences.

And then there's his lyrical talent. At Wednesday's show, one young woman was reciting Kiss' words so vehemently, you could envision empty Dutch Masters boxes lying at her feet, the smell of chicken patties in the air and the sounds of car engines as they drive by. "Just something about my sh--, you'll never figure out./ It's hot, it's burning my mouth, that's why I spit it out."

You couldn't tell this fan she wasn't standing in front of a corner store in a rap cipher but rather crammed into a ballroom for a show put on by MySpace.

Jada started with a very blunt fan favorite "F--- You," one of the highlights from the LOX's We Are the Streets LP. LL Cool Kiss excited the fans, who put their fingers in the air for the bullying chorus, "Only my man's blood is sacred, c---sucker, f--- you."

Like many of Kiss' most popular records, this one didn't exactly become a radio darling. But that's not where you listen to him. You buy the CD, or cop the mixtape, and you play it in the car. You listen to every acidic line on your headphones while riding the bus or taking that walk across campus. Because trust, you will be replaying songs to make sure you hear every line correctly. You can't do that while listening to the radio.

Jadakiss continued with "Put Ya Hands Up," and the spectators raised the roof. The gunpowder-fueled "Show Discipline" and a Jada verse from the "Made You Look" remix followed.

"Money, Power, and Respect," "All for the Love" and "Wild Out" came next. Kiss has verses. He could do it all night.

Shortly after "Knock Yourself Out," Jada brought out Ryan Leslie for the singer's brokenhearted love jam "How It Was Supposed to Be," on which the "Black Babe Ruth" guest-stars. Sheek Louch came out for self-explanatory banger "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye" and their crew anthem "Mighty D-Block (2 Gunz Up)."

Ruff Ryder family member Swizz Beatz made a short appearance while Kiss took a break. The producer performed a medley of his own records, such as "It's Me Bitches" before Jada returned for his new Swizz song "Who's Real."

The last surprise was Busta Rhymes, who was accompanied by Spliff Star. All three guys performed "Conglomerate," the next single from Busta's B.O.M.B. LP.

"It's my pleasure to say that Jadakiss is not just one of my favorite MCs," Bus boasted. "But we're officially giving Jadakiss a new nickname for tonight. He's the new 'Hitman' for New York."

Jada enforced his rep, going with no beat to end The Last Kiss' "Pain and Torture." "Get my insight from an OG with a good job and all that/ But he loves sniffin'/ Sh-- talker, playboy British Walker/ Rappers be home like, 'God, please get him off us.' "

Other records Kiss played from his new album were "Things I've Been Through," which samples Luther Vandross, and "What If." The latter features Nas, but Mr. Esco was back in California.

Jada's show ended with the Grammy-nominated "Why."

• Jadakiss
• Busta Rhymes
• Ryan Leslie
• Swizz Beatz
• Sheek Louch

Fabolous
Photo: Bennett Raglin/ WireImage

Artist: Chamillionaire

Representing: Houston

Mixtape: Mixtape Messiah 4

411: King Koopa isn't going to stop with just three. Chamillionaire's Mixtape Messiah 4 will arrive on August 27.

"I think the other ones are so critically acclaimed by fans, I wanna keep that competiveness up with myself," he told us in Houston, where he was waiting to record a freestyle with Killer Mike. "They'll compare this one to the other Mixtape Messiahs. Mixtape Messiah 1 is probably my biggest one thus far. It came out of nowhere. At that time, I had the beef with Mike Jones, and it was a triple-disc CD. Nobody did that. It was real shock value. I'm gonna keep on competing with myself. I might not drop a triple disc; it's a double disc this time. But it's two CDs full of nothing but new material."

Koopa describes this CD as a return to full-throttle rawness with hard punch lines.

"Sometimes I say punch lines to myself and be like, 'This punch line is trying a little too hard,' " he said. "But I know my fans like that. So I'mma give it to them. A lot of fans that like me, like me because I used to take whoever's beat was hot and even beats that weren't hot, that were classic. Let's get it."

You'll be able to get a hard copy of this mixtape in the streets, unlike the last MM.

"I released a part three not too long ago," the Houston native said. "We did the digital [release]. A lot of people were hesitant to put out music a little while ago in the mixtape game. I seen a lot of DJs stop dropping mixtapes. I put mine out online for free. I think it says a lot, though, when you're taking the time to press it up and doing the actual CD. It needs to be physically in the street and hit them nooks and crannies. There's spots where the big artists don't go, but that's where I'm gonna go. We gonna start off slow and go with it."

But fans won't get too long to let this CD marinate, because Mixtape Messiah 5 is coming soon. Chamillionaire has been talking to a slew of DJs — from Drama to Cannon to Whoo Kid — about possibly collaborating with them on the next tape.

Then he'll drop his third album.

"I been working on it for a minute, since The Ultimate Victory," the Grammy winner revealed. "That's crazy, because a lot of my fans think I been on vacation."

Chamillionaire has over 30 records in the can for the still-untitled official project.

Joints To Check For

"Roll Call Reloaded." "On a couple of the other Mixtape Messiah records, I did a roll call, and it's a fire drill of all the other rappers," he said. "I call it a fire drill because we run down a list of everybody that's hot, and I'm gonna exactly rap their styles just to be creative. I start off with Jeezy, then I do Jim Jones, I do Rich Boy, Game, Jay-Z. I do E-40, Lil Weezy, Rick Ross. I had to cut the record because I did a whole bunch of people. I took a B.G. beat and just repped that. This is just one thing to show creativity."

"Internet Nerd's Revenge." "The online thing is real big right now," Cham said. "Even though I'm dropping this in the streets ... I see rappers online, and it matters what's said online. You go to MTVNews.com and see what they saying on Mixtape Monday. Fans complain about everything. They complain about Weezy when he does right, when he do wrong. Same thing with Kanye and everybody. Me and my boys went to all these Web sites, and we took a whole list of everything everybody said bad about Chamillionaire. I did a rap like I'm the person sitting at the computer typing and saying bad stuff about Chamilllionaire. It's some little kid that's on the Internet. He's young; he's getting all this stuff he's saying about me. His mother comes in and asks him, 'Did you take your medication? Are you on those porno sites again?' I'm rapping like I'm him in his voice."

"Go Hard." "I heard this beat that the Clipse did," Chamillionaire told us. "I don't know what album it's on. I really mess with the Clipse too. I remember saying, 'Who did this beat?' It was just knocking. I told my DJ to send the instrumental and said, 'I'm about to rip this.' No purpose, just a whole bunch of punch lines, bringing a little aggressiveness to the mixtape. People might have seen me in my last video dressed like a white man, they might have got it twisted. We're bringing it back to the streets."

Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week

» DJ Fade and Grafh - Burn 'Em Down
» Hevehitta, Scarface and UGK - Southern Royalty
» Crooked I - The Block Obama
» DJ Smallz and Smoke - One Day at a Time
» DJ Woogie and DJ Outlaw - SSK Sh*t Vol. 1
» DJ Drama, Gucci Mane and Yo Gotti - Definition of a G

'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar

» Young Jeezy (featuring Nas) - "My President"
» Mariah Carey (featuring LL Cool J and Ghostface) - "I'll Be Lovin U Long Time" remix
» Wale and State Property - "Cyphr"
» D-Block - "Cocaine Music"

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground

Loso, in case you didn't know so. You know the tear that Manny Ramirez has been on since he was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the L.A. Dodgers? Well, Fabolous has been that times three. All of his guest appearances lately have been pristine. "I'm so NY, like the folks who make PlayStation," he raps on the "Hi Hater" remix. "Yeah, I'm back fresh off the hate-cation/ I let the hatas take a break/ Now I'mma let it out the bag like Jake the Snake."

What's the best verse out of his recent run of cameos that include work with Red Cafe, Mariah Carey and Ryan Leslie? "All of 'em," he said. "Anybody who knows me know I love to step out to the collabo world. Best verse? That's a hard one. I go in different lanes. I give it my all wherever I step up."

Last weekend Fab was in New York with Swizz Beatz. The two came down to Ryan Leslie's video shoot for "Addiction." Yeah, we know Ryan shot a video for the song a few weeks back, but hey, when you have a record that big, you're allowed to make two.

"We're cookin' now," Fab said, standing between Swizzy and Ryan. "You might be looking at two of the producers on that Loso's Way coming this Thanksgiving. We're letting the world know we're coming now."

Swizz Beatz had his own news to let out the bag on the video set: Look for him to run officially with "That Oprah," his ode to making cake.

"The record started off a freestyle, then the traction went real major," Mr. Beatz said, describing the cut that takes the soundscape from Coldplay's #1 song "Viva la Vida." "Being that I've got a relationship with Coldplay already — I've worked with them awhile back — I was like, 'I wanna turn it into a real record.' I took care of the legal side. I'm about to shoot a video to that. Plus, that's where I wanna be at musically anyway. The remix is gonna be crack."

Swizz's second album is due out in the coming months.

"As far as the new album, it's major," the super-producer added. "I don't know the title yet. It's showing a different side. We had the One Man Band that was a lot more hype, a lot more all over the place. This album we got Mary J. Blige on the album. John Legend did my intro. We're just exploring a whole other side of my movement." ...

There has been a Lil' Flip sighting, ladies and gentlemen. A Lil' Flip sighting! Flip touched the town recently in Houston while the Ozone Awards were in his city. We actually chopped it up with him right after Rick Ross and DJ Khaled performed.

"I been grinding, getting my label situation right," Flip said, posted against the wall in a corridor of the performance venue, the Warehouse. "I told myself, 'I'mma go back to the old Flip,' doing a whole bunch of music with a bunch of independent cats. I feel a lot of people underrate me. Right? So, the other day, I did a freestyle like an hour long, an hour straight. Stay tuned. You gonna see my freestyle so I can get in that 'Guinness Book of World Records.' If somebody ties to beat that hour, I'mma hit them with two hours. I got 30 mixtapes coming out. They all got the title 'King': King of Texas, I'm The King of Houston. It's just gonna be a whole bunch of 'Kings.' I'm grinding and still doing my XM radio show."

With regard to his album's release date, the Cloverleaf King says forget leprechauns, he's trying to rub shoulders with Santa Claus.

"The next one is Ahead of My Time," he explained of his long-delayed official release. "That one's been done. Every time I drop an album, I wanna do a December release. Every time it gets pushed back, I never get to get none of the Christmas money. I'mma come in December with the real album.

"The album is already done, but I'mma keep recording," he continued. "Since the label dropped the ball, we're shooting a real video for the 'Fly Boy.' That's the name of my clothes, my group and all that. The first single is called 'Deep in the South.' It samples Jay-Z. It looks like that's the only way I'mma get a song with [him]."

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

• Mixtape Monday Video: Chamillionaire, Fabolous, Lil' Flip & More

• Fabolous
• Swizz Beatz
• Ryan Leslie
• Chamillionaire

Ryan Leslie
Photo: MTV News

You may not be familiar with Ryan Leslie's face, but you're probably familiar with some of the songs he helped make into hits.

The 29-year-old writer/producer has worked with artists such as Cassie, Beyoncé and Danity Kane. Now he's ready to take his act out from behind the scenes and prove that he can make hits for himself too.

"I've always heard that an overnight success takes 10 years, so this whole thing that's happening right now is like a whirlwind for me," he told MTV News. "For the people to be responding to the music that I'm making, with me actually performing it, is really overwhelming, and it's good."

Earlier this summer, Leslie showed everyone what he was made of when the video for his song "Diamond Girl" hit YouTube. Now he is looking forward to the release of his debut album, Ryan Leslie, out September 16.

"I feel like I'm sitting at the door of an opportunity to really contribute something to the music marketplace and to the landscape of pop culture and the future."

The first single, "Addiction," isn't as licentious as the name suggests. For Leslie, his addiction is making music, not partying.

" 'Addiction' came about one night after I'd gone to several different spots in New York City. One night after doing that, that energy and excitement was in me, and instead of going home, I went straight to the studio, man," he said.

"I don't drink or smoke, so the way that I creatively express myself is to get right in the studio," he continued. "I wanted to create a track that captured that frenetic energy and electricity that I had experienced that night."

Leslie shot the video for "Addiction" with Fabolous, who collaborated with him on the song. Leslie is already in talks to produce the rapper's next album.

"We ain't gonna reveal it right now, but he came to me with a concept. He was talking about change and the election and everything," Ryan said. "But this concept album that he's talking about right here is really gonna change the way people listen to hip-hop."

Fabolous hopes that his concept helps prove that hip-hop is not dead but rather a thriving musical form.

"A lot of people were saying that hip-hop is dead, but I never really felt hip-hop is dead," he said. "It's really how you strategically set up your albums. With me, I feel like I have new ways to touch my fanbase this time, and every year there's new ways."

But for right now, the spotlight is on Leslie, who's hoping that music fans get addicted to him this time around.

"At the end of the day, 'Addiction' is about anything that makes you feel that type of way," he said. "And it could be a relationship, but for me it's music."

• Ryan Leslie's 'Diamond' Debut

• Ryan Leslie

Ryan Leslie
Photo: Paul Hawthorne/ Getty Images

Ryan Leslie signed his recording contact three years ago when he was an unknown artist looking for his big break. Leslie figured he'd have plenty of time to work on his debut album with no outside distractions.

The problem was, his label didn't consider him a priority at the time and so he sat on the shelf. The problem now, however, is that as a producer, Leslie is responsible for molding Cassie from a print model into an international star with her breakout "Me & U"; has crafted additional hits for New Edition, Donnell Jones and others; and takes daily meetings with labels to see who will house his company, Next Selection.

Now executives at Universal Records are pushing for his solo debut, which is currently untitled and expected to be released this spring. The first single, "The Way That You Move Girl!," recently leaked to radio.

"I definitely am [busier]," Leslie said of his recent success. "I'm finding ways to better manage my time and really maximize all the opportunities that are happening. It's only once in someone's career when the type of magic that just happens, happens. And your future really depends on your ability to make the most out of that opportunity and really do something explosive. So in order for me to do that, I have to [learn to] multitask. I just did ['American Idol' runner-up] Katharine McPhee's record, I'm signing acts, I'm developing acts."

Though he's worked with an eclectic string of pop acts as a producer, Leslie said he wanted to pattern his career more after soul singers like Prince and Stevie Wonder. Leslie said it's their artistic vision and control of their music that he has found most inspiring — particularly Wonder, who Leslie discovered as a teen prodigy attending Harvard.

"I wanted to chase his career," he said. "I realized the people that really inspired me are the people who kind of do it all, people that can do everything — write, produce and arrange records. I really do it to an extreme because I've always been an overachiever. I sing all the backgrounds, engineer the songs, mix the songs; the whole Cassie album was done in just one room by me."

Leslie was tight-lipped about collaborations on his upcoming album, but the producer admitted he's still discovering what type of artist he is. Although most of his hits are sparse and commercially viable, Leslie hopes all his time in the studio will result in music that's outside the box, yet still conventional.

"'I'm not gonna turn my back on the commercial success," he said. "But I wanna do music that's progressive, that's kind of cross-genre, beyond genre-specific and multidimensional and allows me to express and put into words and music just the incredible things that have happened to me in my life.

"Me as an artist is me kind of figuring out the best way to express myself using the tools that I have," Leslie continued. "So you may find — as crazy as Prince's music is and as crazy as Stevie Wonder's music was and continues to be — that's what you'll really find when you're working with someone that's 100 percent self-contained. There's no boundaries, no limits."

• Ryan Leslie
• Cassie
• Prince
• Stevie Wonder

Wale, Keri Hilson, The-Dream, More At A BET/Grey Goose Party

• Christina Milian
• Kristinia DeBarge
• Wale
• The-Dream
• Ryan Leslie