http://www.sixshot.com/ Hip-Hop and Music News info@sixshot.com (sixshot.com)Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:01:32 PDTFuzzyRSS 1.0.1http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.sixshot.com/newsfeed/logo.gif http://www.sixshot.com/ http://www.sixshot.com/articles/15570/Saturday afternoon, rapper Game officially announced his return to Aftermath Records. The announcement, made via the Compton star rapper's Twitter page (@IHateGame), comes after pictures and statements already confirming Game's musical reunion with one of his early mentors, Dr. Dre. Claiming, "It's funny how things come full circle R.E.D.", Game linked to a photograph of him wearing four Aftermath medallions on chain necklaces.  R.E.D. is the title of Game's spring album, which may now carry the Aftermath logo. Having released his multi-platinum debut, The Documentary on G-Unit/Aftermath/Interscope in 2005, the Black Wall Street founder would later release his two subsequent releases 2006's The Doctor's Advocate and 2008's L.A.X. on Geffen Records. Geffen, a sister-label to Interscope in the IGA (Interscope-Geffen-A&M) family. Many believed these actions were due to tension between Game and 50 Cent, Dr. Dre and even Interscope head Jimmy Iovine. By returning to Aftermath, Game joins Eminem, 50 Cent, as well as two newer artists Slim Da Mobster and Hayes.  Sixshot.com info@sixshot.comhttp://www.sixshot.com/articles/15570/#commentsMon, 08 Feb 2010 04:25:42 PDT http://www.sixshot.com/articles/15564/Off the heels of his Grammy performance of “Forever” with Eminem, Lil Wayne, Drake and Travis Barker, XXLMag  had the chance to chop it up with The Alchemist about Em’s highly anticipated new disc, Relapse 2. While the disc does not have a release date as of press time, ALC says Em is hard at work in the studio with DJ Khalil. The West Coast beatsmith has had a big year, producing standout joints for Drake (“Fear”), Clipse (“Kinda Like a Big Deal”) and Slaughterhouse (“Cuckoo”). “Khalil—who I think is like the best producer right now to me—he had been sending records to Em for a while that wasn’t like, they weren’t like clicking in,” Alchemist told XXL. “Em knew he was dope but they haven’t found the right one. And I think they found a couple joints now… the joints they have are crazy. I can’t say 100 percent [that he made the album], but I have heard at least two joints Khalil did and they’re fuckin’ stupid.” Al, who serves as the Detroit lyricist’s tour DJ, revealed that he has yet to score a beat on Em’s project. “I’m starting to be around Em and the camp more,” he said, “especially finishing these albums. Factor in Em’s sober now, it’s like that’s my man, we chop it up a lot more now…it’s like little by little I’m figuring out what I have to do to create a sound that would be Alchemist/Eminem. I didn’t get it yet.” One person that Em has been working a lot with is Just Blaze. Al gave XXL insight into their chemistry: “He clicked with Em,” he said. “It was really amazing, too. They really vibed and made some music, beyond like Just just sending him beats, it was nothing like that…I think it’s a perfect meshing of the two…If you could imagine what they could bring to the table at this point, it’s pretty close and maybe a little more.” In fact, in ALC’s opinion, the whole album is a level above the first Relapse. “He’s doing things lyrically on this album that he hasn’t done before,” he shared. “The punchline game is really back.”Sixshot.com info@sixshot.comhttp://www.sixshot.com/articles/15564/#commentsSat, 06 Feb 2010 15:09:03 PDT http://www.sixshot.com/articles/15557/A judge has sentenced popular rapper Soulja Boy to a year of probation over an October 2009 incident in Henry County, Georgia. The rapper was among a group of about 40 people who were shooting a video in an abandon house. When police officers arrived to investigate complaints in the area, the group of people assembled fled on foot. Soulja Boy, born DeAndre Cortez Way, was arrested and sent to the Henry County Jail, but was quickly bonded out. The rapper admitted to the charges in court earlier this week and was sentenced to 12 months probation and given a $1,000 fine. The arrest hasn’t slowed Soulja Boy down over the past year. He is currently working on a book titled Teenage Millionaire, he recently wrapped up shooting on two movies with actor Nick Cannon and is producing tracks on Kanye West’s new album. Sixshot.com info@sixshot.comhttp://www.sixshot.com/articles/15557/#commentsFri, 05 Feb 2010 08:03:56 PDT http://www.sixshot.com/articles/15556/After more than three years, the case is closed in the deadly shooting involving a member of rapper T.I.'s entourage. Padron Thomas, the final defendant in the slaying of Philant Johnson, was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison on convictions for voluntary manslaughter and weapons charges. His sentence was much shorter than the 66-year term imposed in December on his brother, Hosea Thomas. Prosecutors said the brothers got into a dispute at Club Ritz in Roselawn with the rapper and his associates. That dispute turned into a fight that spilled out of the club and onto Interstate 75, where police said Hosea Thomas opened fire and shot four people, killing one. Prosecutors said Padron Thomas admitted to driving the vehicle while his brother fired the gun, and they said his testimony helped close the case. "I think when you're asked to testify against your brother, when you feel compelled to testify against your brother," said defense attorney William Gallagher. "I think it's a pretty moving experience for everybody."Sixshot.com info@sixshot.comhttp://www.sixshot.com/articles/15556/#commentsFri, 05 Feb 2010 04:55:06 PDT http://www.sixshot.com/articles/15552/ Eve is part of a U.S. Senate investigation into the illicit laundering of millions of foreign dollars by her former boyfriend, Teodorin Nguema Obiang. Obiang is the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of oil rich Equatorial Guinea, a small West African country. Investigators claim Obiang laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in corrupt oil money and gas reserves to fund a lavish lifestyle that included a $30 million Malibu estate, multiple exotic cars, and a down payment Gulfstream jet. Senate investigators are looking into a number of Obiang’s business associates and business ventures, including Sweet Pink Inc., which was reportedly launched in honor of his then girlfriend, Eve. While they were dating, Obiang allegedly paid Microsoft founder Paul Allen $700,000 to rent his Yacht so he and Eve could take a romantic Christmas cruise. Two lawyers are testifying before the Senate today (February 4). They are accused of orchestrating most of the deals and laundering another $100 million through Citibank and Wachovia. Sixshot.com info@sixshot.comhttp://www.sixshot.com/articles/15552/#commentsThu, 04 Feb 2010 12:40:19 PDT http://www.sixshot.com/articles/15551/Eminem has responded to rumors sparked by a tabloid report that stated he had reunited and fathered a new child with his ex-wife, Kim Mathers. Star Magazine claimed that Eminem and Kim Mathers had reunited for a third time and were expecting a child. "Contrary to false rumors spread by unreliable tabloids, Marshall and Kim Mathers are not romantically reunited in any way, nor are they expecting a child together,” a representative for Eminem said in a statement. “They are a divorced couple who share custody of their daughter and maintain a friendly relationship." Eminem, born Marshall Mathers, originally married Kim in 1999. The couple divorced in 2001, during the success of the rapper’s Marshall Mathers LP, which contained the scathing diss track “Kim,” which accused her of being unfaithful. "I would rather have a baby through my penis than get married again," Eminem told Rolling Stone in 2002. In January of 2006, the couple remarried in a lavish ceremony, only to be divorced for a second time, just three months later. Sixshot.com info@sixshot.comhttp://www.sixshot.com/articles/15551/#commentsThu, 04 Feb 2010 12:23:10 PDT http://www.sixshot.com/articles/15549/Jay-Z is suing investment firm Highland Capital Management for $3.7m over a 2007 loan to help him build a hotel in Manhattan. The rapper says that when the value of the land he had bought fell, he tried to give it back to Highland to avoid repossession. Jay-Z says the company dragged its heels costing him millions in interest. Highland said it would defend itself against the "meritless" claims, saying the loan remained in default. The new building was to have been called the J Hotel. Jay-Z also claims that Highland improperly diverted funds from a reserve account he had set up to cover any environmental problems. "This action arises out of the efforts by defendants to bleed additional funds from the plaintiff," the rapper's lawyers stated in legal documents. "Defendants embarked on a bad faith course of conduct." Jay-Z is seeking the damages, as well as a declaration allowing the land to be given back to Highland. Sixshot.com info@sixshot.comhttp://www.sixshot.com/articles/15549/#commentsThu, 04 Feb 2010 12:18:48 PDT http://www.sixshot.com/articles/15548/Lil Wayne has talked about his forthcoming prison sentence and claimed he’s looking forward to it. The rapper will head to jail for a year in the next few months after being convicted of gun possession in late 2009. He told Rolling Stone magazine: “I didn't know I was gonna be going to jail, This happened at the height of my career! Nobody knows the future."This is not something you get no advice on," he continued. "This is Lil Wayne going to jail. Nobody I can talk to can tell me what that's like. I just say I'm looking forward to it.” Getting philosophical over his conviction Weezy continued: “I look at things as 'Everything is meant to be,' I know it's an experience that I need to have if God's putting me through it. “So I don't look at it as wrong, I just ... I damn sure don't look at it as right, that's all.” His sentence stems from an arrest in New York in 2007. Lil Wayne recently released his Rebirth ‘rock’ album and is likely to put out another previously recorded album whilst in prison.Sixshot.com info@sixshot.comhttp://www.sixshot.com/articles/15548/#commentsThu, 04 Feb 2010 12:15:21 PDT http://www.sixshot.com/articles/15545/Swizz Beatz is coming off the heels of producing the epic charity song "Haiti Mon Amour (Stranded)" for Jay-Z, Rihanna and U2's Bono and The Edge, but he said he has something even bigger up his sleeve. James Cameron, look out. Swizz has an upcoming film project he said will knock Avatar right off its box-office throne. "It's so major," Swizz told MTV News. "It gives me chills. Just ... I can't [reveal more details]. That one is so big. I need the ink to dry." Swizz was confident enough to predict that the movie would be a colossal blockbuster. "I'm working on scoring a movie bigger than Avatar, " he said of Cameron's epic, which became the highest-grossing movie of all time last week. "It's life-changing to the world. The message is life-changing. The concept is life-changing. The sound is gonna be life-changing. This is another thing that put me in a zone to step my whole game up. I can't be involved in these major projects with a sound that's not justifying why I'm on those projects." Swizz said this project is part of his plan to use a more "worldly sound" in his production. "It's forcing me to take everything to the next level," Swizz said. "Even though my mind was already there, God just blessed me with a gift to go with that. It's like training in the gym. You're training for a fight or you're training to be in shape. There's a goal in why you're training. Musically, while I'm training myself, I have goals. My goal is to make the sound for this movie as big as the movie. ... Matter of fact, bigger than the movie. I want this sound that me and the director, what we're connecting with, to be the driving force of the movie. When people hear this sound, they think of the movie and it puts them in a positive zone. It's a real big responsibility, and it's about discipline. 2010 equals positive energy. The discipline of having positive energy is very hard — especially when you live in a negative world." Sixshot.com info@sixshot.comhttp://www.sixshot.com/articles/15545/#commentsWed, 03 Feb 2010 10:49:14 PDT http://www.sixshot.com/articles/15544/In lieu of label politics and the current overall state of the music industry, Chamillionaire has decided to drop a new 18-track mixtape entitled Major Pain. Despite a previous declaration not to make any further tapes, Chamillionaire realized that mixtapes serve to give him the creative freedom denied him in a structured, major label environment. “I felt it was time to take it back to the original grind that made these major companies pay attention in the first place,” Chamillionaire said in a statement. “I don't think there is any reason why any artist with real knowledge of independent hustle, should sit and wait for any major system to work for them, but, because I am signed to a major recording label, there are still a lot of things that I would like to be able to do, that I'm not really allowed to do. Politics in this business often stand between a creative mind and the grind but I'm gonna try my best to feed my fans without getting into too much trouble.” Part of that independent hustle will be a long-awaited reunion with early collaborator Paul Wall. The duo released several popular albums early in their careers, such as the Source Award nominated Get Ya Mind Correct. Their first appearance will be in Austin, Texas as headliners on March 17 for the South By Southwest tour. Other emcees slated to appear include Trae the Truth, Dorrough, and Chalie Boy. As with mixtapes, Chamillionaire postulates that touring is not only an essential revenue stream for artists, but a reliable tool to promote new music. "The lack of marketing and promo budgets in a weak economy isn't going keep me from touring to different cities and releasing music to fans that still demand it, “he explained. “That’s why I decided to start the Major Pain series and tour with Paul. It's what the fans want.” Fans can order Major Pain directly at www.chamillionaire.com. Sixshot.com info@sixshot.comhttp://www.sixshot.com/articles/15544/#commentsWed, 03 Feb 2010 10:45:33 PDT