Raekwon Not Touring with Wu-Tang Clan, Another Freestyle from Style P,and the Beastie Boys Are Officially Over

Wu Tang Clan’s A Better Tomorrow was a huge flop. There’s no denying that.

​Image Credit: massappeal.com

Raekwon thinks he knows why the collective’s sixth album failed to connect with audiences, despite heavy promotion and the past success Wu Tang has accumulated throughout their legendary career.

“That album felt kinda bored,” Raekwon told NME. “And that’s not just my opinion. The music was just too soft. Too humble. I felt like the album could have been better. I voiced my opinion, like, ‘Yo, let’s give them some real shit.’ The album was driven more to RZA’s expectations. He was coming from one way. We was wanting to try something new.”

He added that he won’t be touring with Wu-Tang this year, but it's not because of any beef.

“I ain’t going on the road with Wu-Tang this year. Fans will think it’s beef in the group, but it’s all management,” The Chef said. “I didn’t know shit about the tour. They just assume I’m good to be there and put it all together, but by then I got obligations, a fucking schedule. It’s frustrating, ‘cos I’d love to be there.”

Instead, Raekwon will be promoting his solo album Fly International Luxurious Art, which is scheduled to drop on April 28th.

​Image Credit: defpenradio.com

Style P has been chiming out multiple freestyles over the past couple of weeks. He's back again, this time with a freestyle over Drake's "Energy" beat from If You're Reading This It's Too Late.

Click here to hear the latest from Styles P The Ghost!

​Image Credit: Ebet Roberts/Redferns

In an interview with GQ, [former] Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz confirmed what many had already suspected: The Beastie Boys are no more.

According to Horovitz (Ad-Rock), the band died with founder Adam Yauch (MCA), who passed in 2012 of thyroid cancer.

Are the Beastie Boys done?

“We’re done. Oh yeah. Adam Yauch started the band. It’s not like a thing where we could continue without him.”

Never contemplated it?

“No.”

"It's probably just taken me time to sit and think and try to figure out what I do next or who I am now or, you know, all of that stuff," he said. "Because since high school, I was in this band. And you know, it's one thing when you're in a band in high school, but then to have it last for so long -- that's who I am and what I did forever. And so now I'm just trying to figure it out."

For Horovitz, it's more than just a band breaking up, it's losing a brother.

"Adam was one of my best friends; I saw him more than I saw my whole family," he said. "You know, me, Adam, and Mike were together every day, recording, touring, as friends. And so: huge hole. The other part of it is the being able to afford to just sit around and think, because I think it's good that I can have time to sort of figure out how to get through it all.

"You can never prepare yourself for this," he added.

Yauch, a.k.a. MCA, was diagnosed with cancer in 2009. He co-founded the Beastie Boys with Mike “Mike D” Diamond and Horovitz in 1979.

Christine O'Connor

@christineeeeO

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: The Lox SHUT DOWN BB Kings with Special Guest Dej Loaf!

by: Dana P. (E.I.C.)

Hip Hop ShortStop has got some EXCLUSIVE footage of The Lox performing at BB Kings last month in New York City! Jadakiss, Styles P & Sheek Louch put on a show that was the absolute BEST we've seen them perform yet! The energy was surreal & the crowd was definitely full of true hip hop heads singing along to every song, as The Lox went onto perform an entire HOUR of non stop new joints & hella classics! 

EXCLUSIVE BACKSTAGE FOOTAGE:: The Lox & French Montana take over "Fools Gold Day Off" in Brooklyn, New York!

Remy Ma, Lil Cease, Chinx, Jadakiss, Styles P, & French Montana.

by: Dana P. (E.I.C.)

On Monday Sept 1st, 2014; my assistant and I attended the "Days Off" outdoor event at 50 Kent, in WIlliamsburg Brooklyn. Two of the "big names" scheduled to perform were The Lox, and French Montana. The lineup was STACKED with underground artists, before the The Lox, French Montana and friends took the stage.

It wasn't until about 8pm that we were actually able to get in through VIP & get our backstage access. Unfortuneatly, we missed most of the artists performances, as well as many surprise appearances from none other then Remy Ma! We also missed Cam'ron & Bobby Shmurda's performances.

Images: Brittany Jackson; Executive Assistant

We were JUST in time to catch The Lox take the stage! (Note: Styles P agreed to do an interview for us after the show outside the venue, however, all exits were final, so if we left to do the interview, we wouldnt have been able to catch the rest of the show. There's always next time tho!). Styles, Jada, and Sheek took over the 50 Kent stage for nearly an hour. They did a Tupac tribute at the end of their set, then went onto do a Biggie tribute. Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s own Lil Cease was on stage for the Biggie tribute. They gave Cease a HUGE shout out, & brought him up. The crowd was giving their fellow Brooklyn native nothing but love!

French Montana took the stage next, and so did we! Chinx joined French to perform their hit, "Feelings." Bobby Shmurda also came back on stage to join French on his remix of "Hot N***a," and they tore it up for sure! These guys REALLY know how to put on a show. The crowd was SO live & the energy was just TOO real! 

I did get to meet French, but couldn't get a pic. Very nice guy. He was actually next to me for a little bit in between sets, sweating on me! Hahah! Lil Cease was on stage with us for French's set as well, singing alone to all his songs & having an awesome time! I also had an absolutely AMAZING moment on stage, as it was more then an honor to meet a living legend. I had to do a double take for a moment, just to make sure, and it was who I thought it was. Straight from Queens, Mr. Abstract himself, Q-Tip!

I was WAY too pumped to meet this guy right here! And OH how adorable he looked! We tried to get him for an interview, unfortuneatly, he was unable to. 

Overall, amazing show. Great crowd. Super live, crazy energy. An absolute incredible experience. Fools Gold really did an OUTSTANDING job putting this show together.

Collaborations Hip-Hop Deserved

(Image: offthecorner.net)

Hip-hop music is a beautiful torture sometimes. As much as the genre makes people from around the world understand the struggles of people from different areas of the country, sometimes as hip-hop fans, we're robbed of the opportunity to get what we want from the artists we love. I know I know, I sound selfish because hip-hop has given us so much already. But hip-hop artist love giving fans teasers with collaborations that are so amazing that it makes us as fans fiend for more. So I started thinking about what collaboration I’ve always wanted to hear. And it’s unfortunate to think about it because they’ll likely never happen. But it’s still fun to think about who I want to see make an album together as a duo. So I came up with a short list. And I think hip-hop would have been both blessed and spoiled from these albums had they been created by these genius tandems.

South Bronx…South South Bronx…

One of my favorite lyricists of all time is Boricua legend Big Punisher from the Terror Squad. The man’s bars and lyrics were out of this world, and verse for verse Pun could match anyone in my opinion. Every bar Pun spit in his debut album Capital Punishment was delivered with the precision of a surgeon. Anyone who got on a track with Pun knew it was survival of the illest. He had the perfect flow, and his breath control for a man of his size were only matched by that of the late great Notorious B.I.G. Pun was the co-leader of TS along side fellow Bronx Native Fat Joe. People don’t ever seem to rate Joe highly when it comes to best MC’s ever out of New York, but if you go back and listen to Jealous Ones Envy and Don Cartegena, it’s evident Fat Joe’s rhyme ability can’t be questioned. Between Joe’s gritty NYC style, and Puns penchant for destroying any beat he got on, a collaboration album between the two would have been special for NYC and hip-hop in general. Unfortunately the rap game lost Big Pun in 2000, and the dream I had of this happening ended then. But I think had these two done an album together, that collaboration would have been special.

Straight From The 213…

“And Imma snatch your ass from the backside and show you how Death Row pull off that hoopride/ Now you might not understand me/Cause I’m a rob you in Compton and blast you in Miami” – Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. The 1990’s run that Death Row records had with its core three rappers of Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg is legendary. Snoop was a young upstart with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove to the rap world. Dr. Dre was a young veteran that knew how to get the best out of every artist he ever worked with. Whenever Snoop and Dre were in the studio together it was instant magic. From Nothing But A G Thang to Still D.R.E., the two west coast legends never let fans down when they worked together. I wish we could get a Dre and Snoop album, and since both rappers are still in the studio, it’s always a possibility. But at this point I think it’s more of a pipe dream. Dre has been teasing us with a new solo album for the better part of a decade, and Snoop isn’t the Snoop of old. I would still listen to an album with those two on it, but it’s anyone’s guess what it would actually sound like now. Missed opportunity in the 90’s for both Death Row and hip-hops fans in general.

It’s Panero and Kiss...Two-Thirds of A Brick…

Is there a better tag-team partnership in rap more fun to listen to than Stylez P and Jadakiss from the LOX? The sheer brashness, bravado, grit, and bars that come when these two get on a track together is jaw dropping. You remember the “Fiesta” remix freestyle they put out in the early 2000’s? I still listen to that regularly. To be honest I listen to all the LOX stuff regularly, but there’s nothing better than listening to Kiss and Stylez go back and forth. Every time I listen to Banned From TV I can’t help but think why on Earth did these two never put out any material together as just a duo. Maybe they never did it out of respect for Sheek Louch. Or maybe they just never thought about a Kiss and Stylez album. I know I have been thinking about it for years, and if they dropped that album tomorrow I would be the first to cop it. C’mon LOX, give us a new LOX album and then hit us with the Kiss and Stylez album. We’re here waiting.

From Marcy To Hollywood And Back Again…Back Again…

“It doesn’t matter if I was never signed to the Roc/ because me and Jay we were both signed to the Block” – Sauce Money. Why did Jay-Z never see it fit to sign Sauce Money to Roc-A-Fella records I don’t know, but early in his career, Jay and Sauce Money were absolutely lights out when they jumped on a track together. They’ve both said they are really close friends, and during Jay’s first two albums Sauce Money was there for all of the recordings. Sauce Money is even featured on Jigga’s classic debut album Reasonable Doubt. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the best track from Reasonable Doubt was “Bring it on” featuring Sauce Money and Jaz-O. Sauce said the reason the track came out so legendary was because each rapper knew they had to outdo the other or at least try to keep up, and that’s what fueled their bars. That track is my favorite from Reasonable Doubt, and that was the genesis of my thought that Jay and Sauce Money needed an album together. But between Jay building Roc-A-Fella, and his obsession to make Memphis Bleek the next great rapper, Jay lost sight of his partnership with Sauce Money. It’s unfortunate because I think Sauce would have been the best rapper on Roc-A-Fella after Hov himself. I have no idea if they would have ever done an album together, but we would have had more Jay and Sauce money records. What could have been. “Sigh”

Life’s A Bitch And Then You Die…

Last but definitely not least on my list of dream album collaborations is the legendary Nasir Jones, and the legendarily underappreciated AZ. Is there anything in rap history more calming and insightful than listening to Nas and AZ on a track together. It’s poetry listening to those two. There are no punch lines, no happy raps, no non-sense Tom Foolery when those two get together. The masses become more intelligent when listening to these two MC’s together. They don’t try to outdo each other, nor does it ever seem as if either is trying to be great on the track; it just comes out that way. It’s two brothers on the same track with the intelligence of Harvard Professors. An album with Nas and AZ seemed like nothing more than mere formality in the 90’s. I was sure it was coming sooner than later, and I’m pretty sure the hip-hop world thought so as well. But 20 years after Nas’ debut classic illmatic, there’s still no album. And at this point it’s safe to say hip-hop will never see anything more than random collaborations between the two lyrical titans. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be, and maybe as intelligent as these two are they knew their combined talents would not mesh for an entire album. We needed and still need more from these two, but since it may never happen, we must just enjoy the few records they’ve given us.

Those are the albums that I would have loved to see. Luckily I was able to get a Royce Da 5’9 and Eminem album in my lifetime and for that I’m grateful. I’m not holding my breath for any of the duo’s above (not counting Pun because that’s an impossibility) but who knows. Maybe, just maybe hip-hop can get one of these albums in these rappers lifetimes. Fingers crossed.

By: Frantz Paul