This Week's Main Pick

Street Kings: Tony Yayo and DJ Drama

Holding It Down For: The Whole Mixtape Game

Mixtape: Gangsta Grillz: Gangsta Paradise

Real Spit: DJ Drama and the G-Unit have been talking about collaborating since before 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo were [article id="1585813"]working on their T.O.S. album[/article]. A full group Gangsta Grillz hasn't solidified yet, but Dram did get a chance to lock in with one-third of the Queens music murderers.

"You hear my mixtapes on ThisIs50.com and you hear them with DJ Whoo Kid," Yayo explained. "I wanted to go out of my element this time. It was like, 'Who should I go to? DJ Drama.' Atlanta is poppin', New York City's poppin', everywhere is poppin' -- but I had to go to Gangsta Grillz. [Mastermind DJ Drama] paved the way for a lot of artists. He's the hottest DJ to go to. Shout out to Whoo Kid, but I did this one with Drama this time."

"My relationship with G-Unit has always been quite a good one," Drama said. "It's always been love, always been respect. I've always been a fan of their music and their mixtapes. The mixtape game wouldn't be what it is without Yayo, Fif, Banks, Whoo Kid, G-Unit. For me to come up and do my thing with Gangsta Grillz and us to unify -- it's perfect. The streets been wanting this for a while. Yayo hit me, I said it's perfect."

The Talk of New York says he titled the tape after a slang term in his neighborhood.

"That's the name of Queens -- shout to Southside Jamaica," Yayo explained. "Shout to Willie the Kid and La the Darkman. The video is crazy. Real recognize real. I've been dropping a lot of mixtapes on my own, learning from 50. I think I'm starting to get the game mastered. It takes some time. Swine Flu, Swine Flu 2: Tha Pandemic, Public Enemies. Now I got Gangsta Paradise. Reason I call it Gangsta Paradise is because the gangstas in Queens call it 'gangsta's paradise.' Brooklyn is the jungle."

Yayo and Dram are hopeful that they can knock out a full G-Unit Gangsta Grillz once 50 finishes filming his latest movie.

Joints to Check For

» "Cut Throat Sh--." "I got a lot of down South beats. I got a lot Master P joints on there," Yayo explained. "Mystikal, UGK -- I got 'Swamp N---a' on there. I wanted to try something different. I know a lot of n---as are not thinking to rhyme off of 'Swamp N---a' by Master P."

» "Drama." "I thought it was perfect [for Yayo to use Southern beats]," Drama said. "Somebody like Yayo -- I know he knows how to put a good tape together. Sometimes you gotta walk artists through it, help them with beat selection. When he sent it to me, I was like, 'This is genius.' It's a lot of quality Southern beats on there. It's not just hit records, it's the dope records -- through the years, the timeless records."

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