Tag: Hip Hop

Jay-Z Becomes Hip-Hop’s First Billionaire [PEEP]

When JAY-Z said, “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man,” he wasn’t playing. Hov officially became hip-hop’s first-ever billionaire today according to Forbes.

The business-minded rapper has steadily built an empire for himself that includes real estate, a lucrative art collection, liquor companies, his music catalog of course, and more. Back in 2007 Hovito also sold his then clothing line Rocawear to Iconix for $204-million and has ownership and stakes in several other businesses.

Forbes calculated that Jay’s assets include $310-million from his Armand de Brignac champagne, $220-million for cash and investments in several companies, $100-million from his D’Ussé cognac with Bacardi, $100-million from TIDAL, $75-million from Roc Nation, $75-million from his music catalog, which he owns the masters to, $70-million from his art collection, and $50-million from real estate, including a $26-million East Hampton mansion and a $88-million Bel-Air estate.

Hov did say on “Family Feud,” we gon’ reach a billi’ first” and he did. Congrats!

TWITTER: @IAMBNYCE
INSTAGRAM: CONTENT.PAPI

 

We Crown Our 2018 Hip-Hop MVP, Rookie Of The Year, Comeback Player & More On “Peace To 2018” [PEEP]

Justin Credible, DJ Sourmilk, and myself got together to wrap up the year that was in hip-hop with our “Peace To 2018” end of the year podcast.

For about 90 minutes we shoot from the hip with big 2018 moments in hip-hop, crown our hip-hop MVP, Rookie of the Year, Male/Female Artist, Comeback Player, Biggest Troll, Producer of the Year, Video of the Year, and more.

Watch and listen below.

TWITTER: @IAMBNYCE
INSTAGRAM: CONTENT.PAPI

SXSW Link Up: Latasha Talks SXSW Experience, Women Rising In Hip-Hop & More [WATCH]

If you’re not familiar with up-and-coming female rapper LATASHA yet, you best get familiar real quick. The Brooklyn rapper has been buzzing and trending upwards. I linked up with her at SXSW and we talked about her new project she’s working on, her SXSW experience, growing up in Brooklyn, the culture, women rising in hip-hop, and more.

Watch below.

TWITTER: @IAMBNYCE
INSTAGRAM: CONTENT.PAPI

The L.A. Leakers Podcast Episode 17: “Peace To 2017” [STREAM]

It was definitely a big year for hip-hop in 2017 with the culture running the masses. A lot of dope music put out and awesome moments that will live engraved in the memory’s of many. We are a piece of the culture and really pushed it forward this year with our platform. With that said, we had to look back on the amazing year and talk about it.

Justin Credible, Sourmilk, and myself sat down and had a conversation about 2017, where we shared our picks for top album, top artists, biggest winners, and a lot more. We start off by giving a lengthy intro (LOL), anchored by yours truly.

We hope you enjoy it and share it with someone you know. Happy holidays and the best to you and yours in 2018 from your L.A. LEAKERS!

“PEACE TO 2017”!

Stream below.

@IAMBNYCE

Hip-Hop / R&B Overthrow Rock As Most Popular Genre In America [PEEP]

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For years Rock-N-Roll music has been the most dominant genre of music in the United States. With all the recent advancements, the combination of hip-hop and R&B have dethroned rock for the first time in history, as the most popular genre in the US.

In a semi-annual report published by Nielsen Music, which calculates consumer activity, hip-hop makes up for 25.1-percent of music consumption. Rock followed with a close 23-percent. This marks the first time hip-hop and R&B have exceeded rock’s numbers since Nielsen began keeping track of America’s music consumption.

Most of hip-hop and R&B’s revenue has come from streaming this year. The study shows that 29-percent of all “on-demand” streams come from hip-hop and R&B music, while rock dominates album sales in the country with 40-percent of revenue coming from album sales.

With Apple Music continuing to align themselves with notable hip-hop and R&B acts that have worldwide stardom and TIDAL being ran by hip-hop royalty, Jay-Z, the chances of this trend continuing are quite definitive. Album sales in this day and age continue to decline, as streaming is taking over and will only get bigger in the Internet era.

Kendrick Lamar already has the biggest album of the first half with ‘DAMN.’, which killed shit with record-breaking streaming numbers. Ed Sheeran’s ‘divide’, Drake’s ‘More Life’, Bruno Mars’ ’24k Magic’ and Migos’ ‘Culture’ follow the mega-album.

@IAMBNYCE

 

XXL 2016 Freshman Class List

XXL revealed their Freshman Class of 2016 and it included some names that have been making a lot of noise.

Previous names that have made the cut in the past include J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Chance The Rapper Ab-Soul and many others.

Here’s the this year’s selections for the 9th annual list:

  • Anderson .Paak (Oxnard, CA)
  • 21 Savage (Atlanta, GA)
  • Kodak Black (Pompano Beach, FL)
  • Lil Uzi Vert (Philadelphia, PA)
  • Lil Dicky (Cheltenham Township, PA)
  • Dave East (Harlem, NY)
  • Denzel Curry (Carol City, FL)
  • Desiigner (Brooklyn, NY)
  • G Herbo (Chicago, IL)
  • Lil Yachty (Atlanta, GA) – was the 10th pick, selected by the fans

The issue hits newsstands June 28th which is also the same day as the Freshman concert in New York City.

Here’s a video of BTS footage from the photo shoot.

 

@IamBNyce

 

L.A. Leakers Rewind: June 5th – June 11th

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BEYONCE’S LEMONADE GOES PLATINUM

When Beyonce dropped ‘Lemonade’ earlier this year fans everywhere were in a frenzy as the album dropped via an HBO special. The album was officially given a platinum certification earlier this week.

The platinum plaque is the sixth for Beyonce, whom originally released the album exclusively on TIDAL.

‘Lemonade’ encompasses hits “Formation,” “Freedom” featuring Kendrick Lamar and “6 Inch” featuring The Weeknd.

Big ups to Bey on the accomplishment.

FUTURE EARNS FIRST PLATINUM PLAQUE

Beyonce wasn’t the only one to grab a platinum plaque this week, Future snagged up his first platinum certification as well for ‘Dirty Sprite 2.’

Although DS2 got a platinum certification, Future still has never had a platinum which is strange when you consider some of the hits he’s put out.

Bigs ups to Future and the whole FreeBandz team on the accomplishment.

 

BIG SEAN ALBUM COMING

Big Sean announced this week that he will be releasing his follow up album to ‘Dark Sky Paradise’ in a few weeks.

‘Dark Sky Paradise’ was a tremendous success for Sean, who came out and said that his upcoming album is his “best work so far.”

Sean Don also teased the upcoming album earlier this year via Twitter.

Hopefully we see very soon. Sooner than later.

FRENCH MONTANA ALBUM AND DRAKE COLLAB COMING

A few weeks ago a video of French and Drake surfaced on Instagram. The collaboration apparently is a single that will be featured on Frenchie’s upcoming ‘Mac N Cheese 4.’

The expected release for the album is August 19th but you can pre-order it on iTunes HERE.

https://twitter.com/FrencHMonTanA/status/738713154079838208

The album will have 14 tracks and features from Kanye West, Drake, Kodak Black and more to be announced.

Watch the video for “Lockjaw” featuring Kodak Black off ‘Mac N Cheese 4’ below.

DJ KHALED SHOOTS STAR-STUDDED VIDEO

DJ Khaled has been teasing a song with Jay-Z and Future on his SnapChat for a few weeks now.

Well, the single has yet to be released, but apparently the video was already shot with a lot of familiar faces in it.

Can you name everyone in the pic? Hopefully the song drops on Khaled’s next ‘We The Best’ radio show on Apple Music.

@IamBNyce

 

L.A. Leakers Rewind: Apr. 17th – Apr. 23rd

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PRINCE DEAD AT 57
It was a sad week for fans of music with the news of Prince’s death after reports circulated that his body was found inside his Minnesota compound Thursday.

As of now it is unclear if his death is related to the same illness that required an emergency landing in Illinois while he was touring in April.

One thing that is for certain is the “Purple Rain” singer left behind an amazing catalog that few artists past or present could match.

In the hip-hop world his presence was heavy and many shared reactions to the icon’s death via Twitter:


https://twitter.com/joeyBADASS/status/723196498238795776
We know Prince was a music genius, check out a few songs that featured Prince samples:
’03 Bonnie & Clyde – Jay-Z & Beyonce
2 Live & Die In LA – 2-Pac
Heartz of Men – 2-Pac
Big Brother – Kanye West
Diamonds & Girls – Lil Wayne & Curren$y

Rest easy.

CHYNA PASSES AWAY
Former pro-wrestler Joan Laurer also known as Chyna, was found dead at her Redondo Beach apartment Wednesday. She was 45.

Chyna graduated from the University of Tampa before joining the WWF (World Wrestling Federation), where she became the only undefeated female fighter in WWF history.

Growing up watching the WWF I remember watching her go heads up with anybody that stepped to her.

R.I.P.

NICKI MINAJ COVERS TIME MAGAZINE

This past week TIME magazine rolled out their yearly 100 most influential people covers. Nicki Minaj was honored with being on one of the covers.

Lil Weezy wrote the introduction for Nicki’s cover with reflections of all her accomplishments and recounted his first impression of the diva.

Read what he said below:

You know, in New York they used to have these street DVDs. It just so happened that I appeared in one, and when I looked at the finished product, Nicki Minaj was on a part of the DVD. I was like, “Woooooow!” She was just being Nicki without the glitz and glamour. When I heard the first two and four bars, it wasn’t even about her rapping better than any female rapper. It was about, man, she’s rapping better than other rappers—period.

I always wanted more for my artists and saw Nicki’s potential from the first moment I laid eyes on her. She’s reached far beyond everything I would have imagined. Man, she’s so influential and doing all the right things. She’s an icon, a boss and a role model to all these young girls out here on how to do it the right way. Her work ethic speaks volumes and has yielded these results. The scary thing is she’s still going. Ha! Nicki Minaj will go down as one of the best to do it in the history of music.

Congrats, Ms. Minaj.

KHALED JOINS FORMATION WORLD TOUR

Major tour ALERT! The SnapChat Don Dada, Dj Khaled, announced that he is going on tour with Beyonce for her Formation world tour this summer as the opening act.

We already know how BIG Beyonce is worldwide! Going on the biggest tour of the summer will give Khaled a major boost, as he is getting ready to release his ninth studio album titled ‘Major Key.’

He took to his Instagram to show his appreciation and gratitude:

Today I proudly announce a major milestone in my career. Today’s announcement is a major accomplishment in my life. In other words it’s a major achievement alert!!!! I am proud to announce that I, DJ Khaled will be on tour with the icon, Beyoncé!!!!! Fan luv, when I tell you that prayer is the so powerful, please believe me. I want to thank the incomparable icon Beyoncé for this tremendous opportunity of a lifetime. Your music is the soundtrack to so many people’s lives across the globe. Your legacy is a blueprint for the young generation to follow and strive to be. You are the true definition of a superstar. Thank you so much for inviting me on your stage. I promise you this! I’m gonna rip it down so legendary!!!!!! When I was a kid THEY told me no when I wanted to DJ and perform in the club! So guess what, I did!!! OPEN FOR BEYONCÉ!!!!!! Fan luv we did it! We made on the stage with the Queen. Get ready to feel passion pain success and tears of joy in a STADIUM NEAR YOU!!!!! Miami, see you soon!!! I’ll be on stage with Beyoncé on April 27th and then I’ll be on the road to more success. Thank you again Beyoncé for making this dream come true for me. I will never stop fan luv. Bless up!! @wethebestmusic @epicrecords @rocnation #djkhaled #MAJOR-My album soon come!

The Formation world tour will kick off in Khaled’s hometown of Miami on April 27.

YG & DJ MUSTARD SQUASH BEEF

It’s nice to see that YG and DJ Mustard are back to playing nice with eachother.

These two came in the game together and are like brothers, so naturally they will always have their ups and downs.

DJ Mustard brought out YG at Coachella week 1 to perform his new single “Fuck Donald Trump,” in addition to other hits.

Check out the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clN9W4oFLlM

Let’s hope they can stay cool and keep blessing the people with those hits they’re known to make together!

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce

L.A. Leakers Indie Pick Of The Week : Nav

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Toronto’s urban music scene has been a hotbed for talent the past couple years. Boasting with a hearty lineup consisting of Drake, The Weeknd, Tory Lanez, Belly, and others have made the “6ix Side” a force to be reckoned with.

This week’s indie pick, Nav, hails from Toronto and is looking to follow in the footsteps of his fellow Canadian contributors. Repping “The Rex” section of the 6ix, Nav is making strides by not only repping for the city, but also putting out quality music, while handling both the production and writing.

Nav couples 808 drums that blast on the weakest speaker system and provides revealing lyrics that lucidly take you on a ride with the producer/rapper/singer. Nav has also shown he has profound vocals and thunder through a track. It’s easy to see why Nav is next out of the talent-filled pool Toronto has become.

On the recently-released “On My Own” single, Nav melodically talks about his trust issues, shutting down record labels, Xanax trips, and doing “this on my own” and not “needing no help.” Listen to the full track below:

Nav has made his dreamy symphony and thumping production his trademark. The instrumentals coupled with his style of flowing, represent his artistry well.

His delivery has drawn comparisons to Texas rapper Post Malone. Aficionados have @’d Post showing love for the Nav’s “Myself” and “TTD (Ten Toes Down)” singles.

Listen to “Myself” below and tell me what you think in the comments section.

Nav was unfortunately unavailable for comment. Aside from his talents, there isn’t too many details to provide about Nav. One thing for certain is that he’s an explosive talent and WILL develop into a worldwide star.

Nav is next! Don’t sleep and don’t forget who put you on.

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce

Tim Westwood Drops Exclusive Phife Dawg Freestyle

Today Tim Westwood dropped an exclusive, throwback freestyle from the late, Phife Dawg.

The freestyle was recorded back in 1999 and highlights the kind of spitter Phife was. On the freestyle you will also hear Wildchild and Madlib.

Rest In Beats, Phife a.k.a. Phife Diggy a.k.a. the 5-foot Assassin.

“Everywhere I go they say, “yo that kid is nice…who that kid again” what, Phife.”

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce

L.A. Leakers Indie Pick Of The Week: Duckie MrPoetry

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When you think of the Bahamas you think beautiful beaches, tranquillity, blue skies and azure water. One thing that may not cross your mind is hip-hop music.

This week’s Indie Pick of the Week, Duckie MrPoetry looks to change that and ultimately put his hometown of the Bahamas on the map, for more than a touristy vacation spot which it is primarily known for.

Duckie acknowledges the music that dominates on the islands is “Rake n’ Scrape” which he loves but doesn’t believe the genre will ever meet “international standards,” so he turned to rapping.

The tropical feel of the “Rake n’ Scrape” is what draws the islanders to the music with its cowbells, steel drums and goat skin drums giving that natural, soothing sound.

One of the struggles the pool of Bahamian artists that try to rap deal with, is the social judgement from the people that results in “civil confusion” because they feel these young artists are trying to bite the American culture and not staying true to their own.

“Telling a person born In the Bahamas that because his records [are] hip hop it isn’t traditional “hip hop” music that basically defines what goes on over here,” he said. “Its hard to be heard but then it’s so beautiful to live here sometimes I forget about all the messed up stuff happening around me and just put them experiences in my music to hopefully share to the world.”

Sharing his experiences is what his music is all about. You may not hear him rap about buying bottles at the club, riding foreign cars or gang activity because he doesn’t do that, he’s more about the social issues and experiences he deals with.

“I have to build up my Home Music culture so our artists can benefit from their work like artists anywhere else in the world,” he said. “I bet the only thing people know is “Baha Men” who let the dogs out, that watered down crap don’t represent a inch of what the Bahamas is.”

On his track “F.B.H.” off his week-old project, ‘The Two-Four Tape’ he airs out some of his frustrations he deals with spitting the words, “Niggaz playing bullshit pause, stop/but I spit hot nigga jaw drop/DJs playing bullshit, y’all stop/rappers need to stop talking what y’all not.”

Listen to the Jahlil Beats produced song here:

https://soundcloud.com/duckiemrpoetry/fbh-remix-duckie-mrpoetry

Duckie knows his journey to make it big will take a little longer and be harder due to where he’s located and the minimal support his people put forward.

“The respect level for artists in the Bahamas is at an all-time low, nobody purchases music (AT ALL), Nobody supports their’s home,” he said. “But the very second a foreign act is booked everyone there, and even the artists over here who we claim we “love” aren’t shown any support.

Even with minimal support Duckie will be relentless in his attempts to make it on a global scale. He’s aware he’ll have to be innovative in his attempts to capture the following it takes to make it and nothing or no one will stop him.

“I performed all over my hometown had everyone singing words to my songs, but I never made that deep connection with the people,” he said. “Been a fighter and still fighting, I have “Believe Achieve” tattooed on my right forearm sleeve tattoo and i live and die by those words, I BELIEVE that I will get where i want to be one day, but it wont be easy.”

Listen to Duckie’s full project below:

https://soundcloud.com/duckiemrpoetry/sets/the-two-four-tape-x-duckie-mrpoetry

“Mudda Sick!” Follow Duckie on the socials to keep up on his moves, @DuckieMrPoetry.

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce

L.A. Leakers Rewind: Mar. 13th – Mar. 19th

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UNTITLED UNMASTERED TOPS CHARTS

Kendrick Lamar just can’t miss and his recent project, ‘Untitled Unmastered’ ranking number 1 on the Billboard 200 Charts just further proves his dominance in the rap game.

Despite dropping the project the same week as Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz dropped their EP and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis released theirs respectively. Kendrick was still able to outsell the duos, that’s a one man wrecking crew.

The 7-time Grammy winner has sold over 175,000 units putting him back on that top spot. Around this time last year K. Dot was holding the top crown for his sophomore album, ‘To Pimp A Butterfly.’

Salute, King Kendrick.


JADAKISS AND FABOLOUS DROPPING JOINT MIXTAPE

Jada and Fab are known to spit vicious lyrics with some mean punchlines and this week the two confirmed that they will be releasing a joint mixtape titled, ‘Freddy Vs. Jason.’

Both New York MCs have appeared on tracks like Young Jeezy’s “OJ” together in addition to others.

There is no release date set as of now but be on the lookout for the mixtape to drop soon as Fab hinted on his Instagram account.

DESIIGNER SHADES FUTURE

A few weeks ago footage of Future taking subliminal shots at Desiinger surfaced on the Internet. This past week Desiigner got some redemption at the Atlanta rapper while he performed at SXSW.

Desiigner made it clear to the crowd that he is not a knockoff or imitation of Future and then proceeded to drop his newest song, “Pluto.”

If you recall “Pluto” is also the name of Future’s first album.

The whole situation is weird especially considering the fact that both rappers sound almost alike.

Check out the videos and Desiigner’s new song, “Pluto.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp7aGPq8uds

RIHANNA TO BE HONORED

Rihanna will be honored with the Rock Star Award at this year’s BET’s Black Girls Rock which will be premiering April 5.

The annual awards gala recognizes the accomplishments of black women in the music and television industry.

Others that will be honored along with Rih are R&B icon Gladys Knight, producer and writer Shonda Rhimes amongst others.

RIh shared her appreciation on her Twitter account:

You go, girl!

MICHELLE OBAMA DEBUTS SONG

The First Lady of the United States released a song as part of her #62MillionGirls campaign, which was created to raise funds to get young girls across the world educated.

The song, “This Is For My Girls” was unveiled Wednesday as part of Barack Obama’s keynote at SXSW.

Although Michelle doesn’t drop any vocals on the song, you will hear Missy Elliot, Janelle Monae, Zendaya, Kelly Clarkson and Lea Michelle all featured on the song.

“This Is For My Girls” is available for purchase on iTunes. All proceeds will go to the Peace Corps Let Girls Learn Fund. Listen to the snippet:

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @beeroxx90

L.A. Leakers Indie Pick Of The Week : Aaron Cohen

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A true abrasive MC that spits vicious, blunt thoughts over progressive, psychedelic sounds isn’t easy to find in today’s hip-hop industry.

This week’s Indie Pick of the Week, Aaron Cohen, possesses that aggressive, dark format with vocals that exude his gut-wrenching visions and lyrics that would make the average man cringe.

Cohen, has been “seriously” making music for roughly four years. As a kid he listened to a lot of rap and hip-hop music and recalls the one day he began to write his own lyrics.

“I just kind of became obsessed with putting lyrics over music. Whether it’s rapping or singing or whatever, if I hear an instrumental that I like, I just automatically start making up a song to go with it,” he said in an email. “Before that I was rapping, but just for fun, messing around with my friends.”

Cohen was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, but moved to New York City after he graduated from high school. It was in NYC where he began to go “hard” with the rapping and started putting out projects with clothing line, Mishka and Mass Appeal.

The road to success hasn’t been an easy one for Cohen, whom has been dead broke, apartment-less and jobless. Through all the adversity he has continued to stay motivated and continued to work on his craft as an artist.

“I would never complain about any of that stuff because I made a choice to enter a difficult field. I get to do what I love everyday and it’s starting to progress into something bigger than most people thought it would,” he said.

Living in New York City has really opened his eye to different realms of motivation and inspired him to go even harder in the booth.

“There’s a lot of different cultures meshed together, a lot of influences to draw from,” he said. “I have to be walking or moving when I work. I’ve been like that since I was a kid, my brain doesn’t work when I’m sitting still.”

Staying on the move is definitely something he does. He recently returned to the states after doing a promo run in France for his forthcoming EP, “Off the Ground,” which is slated to be released in March.

“My next EP, entitled “Off The Ground” is the best music I’ve made by far,” he said. “I really took my time with this project and let the sound develop naturally. Kemal produced the whole thing, so it’s got a more cohesive feel than any of my previous work.”

He credits his producer, Kemal, for being patient with him, as he says he’s very picky when it comes to beats and likes one of every hundred beats he listens to.

“Kemal cooked up some serious fire for this project, trust me,” he exclaimed. “The songs are a mix of really aggressive production and melodic hooks. The project really represents where I am right now as a person, a blend of hunger and gratitude.”

Melodic is what makes his sound different from other rappers in his opinion. He feels that Kemal’s progressive production and his strong lyrics is a knockout combination that is rare these days.

His newest single, “Psychic,” was released this week via Mishka Clothing.

Listen to it here:

The single is about staying focused, specifically on the vision in his mind, while blocking out negativity from the outside world to fully visualize his destiny.

“I just heard the beat and to me it sounded like, “get out of my face, I’m in my zone contemplating shit,” he said. 

When asked who he would work with, if he could work with anybody in the industry, he mentioned Kanye West, as a producer and a rapper.

“Very few things have had a bigger impact on me than music from artists I love,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what’s next in my life, but I know if my music keeps getting better, things are going to be good.”

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @beeroxx90