Hard Knock TV: 50 Cent Says Hip-Hop is Pop Now (Video)

50 states that Hip Hop is now Pop. Hip Hop is about telling your own story, not replicating someone else’s story. “I think the best rappers are like battling each other. They come up with the wittiest lines—[the] coolest ways to insult a person you ever heard in your life,” 50 Cent explained. “But they can’t write a song to save they life…Em is one of the guys from that platform that made it to that point. [He’s] that strong of a writer. He means more to music culture than people give him credit for. Because Hip Hop culture is a black art form, it’s a black music. When they have a figure or you have someone that’s from a different ethnicity come in and he does it as well, if not better than everybody in it—it loses its color. And that’s why Hip Hop music is now Pop music…You gotta be careful or you’ll get your ass handed to you on a track man. He’ll get to you.”

During SXSW 2O13, Hard Knock TV’s Nick Huff Barili sat down with 50 Cent and chopped it up about a variety of subjects including Eminem, Rick Ross, Street King Immortal and how hip-hop has turned into pop. In part 2 of the interview, after the jump, 50 Cent discusses Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Get Rich or Die Tryin, Lil Wayne clones and more.

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Gilbere Forte – Anigma (Audio)

Anigma

It took our buddy and fellow L.A. Leaker Mando Fresko some convincing but he got ahold of a new(er) track from Gilbere Forte. Listen to the latest Raak-produced track off the Philly rapper’s upcoming project, PRAY, then click here to read Mando’s interview with Gilbere Forte.

PRAY drops May 15th.

BONUS: Another PRAY track, “Polaroids.” Produced by Grandtheft and Raak.

Off Tha’ Wall with Ab-Soul (Video)

Imagine Ab-Soul selling you a cell phone at the mall? Well, in Mass Appeal’s “Off Tha’ Wall” with Ab-Soul, Ab revealed that selling phones at the Mobile Solution was his worst job. Things have come along way for the TDE lyricist from Carson, California. Listen and watch to Ab share a few fun facts, like what his favorite munchies are, in the interview above.

Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (Album Stream)

daft punk

I’m going to give you two choices. You can either stream the album track by track on the audio players below or click here to stream on iTunes for free (not sure how long that will last). The choice is yours. Either way you’ll get a first listen of Daft Punk’s long-awaited album, Random Access Memories, and you can rub it in your friend’s faces – then feel sorry for them and share this link with them.

Random Access Memories comes out May 21st.

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Game ft. Lifestyle – Hit The J (Video)

She don’t want to hit the J but that’s not stopping Game and parter-in-crime Lifestyle as they continue puffing and passing along Mary Jane. Watch Game’s latest video for a somewhat aged track off his previous mixtape, California Republic.

Sidenote: Game recently announced that he’ll be releasing a new mixtape titled Operation Kill Everything. ‘Till then.

Mac Miller – Watching Movies (Audio)

If you haven’t heard Mac Miller’s new upcoming album is named Watching Movies With The Sound Off. Naturally, there had to be a track titled “Watching Movies.” Listen to Mac’s latest leak off WMWTSO which drops June 18th.

Talking about watching movies, MTV and Mac Miller teamed up for a new series where Mac watches movies with the sound off. Clever, right? So after the jump, Mac watches The Notebook with the sound off. Enjoy.

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Movies: Fruitvale Station (Trailer)

I know I don’t post many movie trailers on the blog but I am a huge fan of independent films and I’m a bigger fan of films that are based on a true story. So now I present to you — Fruitvale Station.

The film takes place at the Fruitvale rapid transit station in Oakland, California and revolves around the tragic story of 22-year-old Bay Area resident Oscar Grant. Following its debut at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Fruitvale Station will be heading into theaters this July.

Can you tell I’m not trying to give anything away? You can just google anyways. After all, it is based on true events.