Nas to perform on “Empire State of Mind” remix?

When Jay-Z was thinking of the concept of his eleventh album, The Blueprint 3, he wanted to make a song that told about where he was from. At the same time, he wanted to pay homage to that old and new. He decided to create a song about his native New York City. He chose the title, “Empire State of Mind,” as a play on the Nas’ song, “N.Y. State of Mind.”

The initial track listing for The Blueprint 3 had Nas as the single’s featured guest. However, once the real album came, there was no verse from Nas. Instead, the song was more of a rap ballad and Alicia Keys performed that. When he was asked about being on this song, Nas said that he had never been asked by Jay-Z to appear on the single.

That was nearly two months ago, when the biggest buzz that the song had was the interruption from Lil Mama. In the short time since then, the song has risen to become Jay-Z’s first single to top the Billboard Hot 100. Currently, the song is in its second week at the top. Now that Jay-Z has finally conquered the mountain, it is time to remix the song.

On Alicia Keys’ album, there is already an “Empire State of Mind, Part 2” that features a new verse from Jay-Z and more vocals from Alicia Keys. Now, it is time for Jay-Z to do things right and recruit some fellow New York rappers and pay more homage to the city. There are already rumors circulating of Jay recording a remix with Nas and making it into a single.

DMX is working hard on New Album

It has been three years since DMX last released an album. Things have changed in that time span. At the time, he had just left his longtime recording home of Def Jam and his feud with former colleague, Jay-Z, was still new. He had planned to release his next album in 2007, but things never lined up quite right.

Like many other artists who attempted to release an album in late 2007, DMX was pushed back. He used the time off to record such tracks as “Already.” Despite the warm reception, no one from X’s label pushed the song and the album never had a solid release date in 2008, either. Coming into this year, DMX was rather quiet.

Starting with his reunion with the Ruff Ryders on Jadakiss’ “Who’s Real (remix),” DMX has a new dedication to the game. Swizz Beatz, the executive producer of DMX’s upcoming album said that X as currently at his lyrical peak. As long as he has worked with DMX, he has never done it the way he is doing it now.

For this new album, DMX is working with Jadakiss, The L.O.X., Eve, Drag-On, the Ruff Ryders, and Ja Rule. Production on the album will be coming from Swizz Beatz and Irv Gotti. There is no set release date for this new album, but it will be released before the end of 2010.

Lil Wayne’s “Rebirth” track listing and Album Cover

After many delays and false starts, Lil Wayne’s seventh studio album is finally coming. To prove this, today the album cover has been leaked. Along with the album’s cover comes the track listing of the album. These tracks have not physically leaked to the internet, but the titles have.

While the collaborators have been named, it is still unclear exactly what tracks they will appear on. As a confirmation to all of the rumors, the album will indeed be a rock album. Most of the beats will be rock-oriented, but Wayne will rap on some tracks. The only song remaining from the original Rebirth album is “Prom Queen.”

Aside from the lead single, none of these new tracks have been heard outside of Lil Wayne’s camp. It is unclear if any of these songs will be promoted as singles to push the album. Compared to his last album, Rebirth seems like it was rushed together just to make sure that Wayne released something in 2009.

Track listing:

1. “American Star”
2. “Prom Queen”
3. “Ground Zero”
4. “Da Da Da”
5. “Paradise”
6. “Get A Life”
7. “On Fire”
8. “Drop The World”
9. “Runnin”
10. “One Way Trip”
11. “Knockout”
12. “The Price Is Wrong”

After being set for a December 15 release date, the album was pushed back for another week, now set at December 22. That release date will not be changing, Rebirth will be released on Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Records.

Beanie Sigel talks 50 Cent and G-Unit Records

Back in 2005, when 50 Cent was actively pursuing new artists for his G-Unit label, Beanie Sigel had plans of leaving Roc-A-Fella Records and moving over. This move was blocked by Jay-Z and actually serves as one of the reasons that Beanie Sigel is now at odds with Jay. Neither Beans nor Jay are currently signed to Roc-A-Fella.

Last month, Beanie Sigel made it clear that he and Jay-Z were no longer on the same side. Not long after this, he began dissing Jay-Z. It did not take long for Beanie Sigel to unite with 50 Cent. Since that time, he and 50 have been sending many disses to Jay-Z. While he is not signed to G-Unit, Beanie Sigel is definitely an associate of the label.

Once Beanie Sigel united with 50 Cent, it was assumed that he had signed with his label. That was when 50 came out to deny those rumors. He went on to mention that Sig had almost signed with the label in 2005. Now, Beanie Sigel has spoken on his relationship with 50 Cent, saying that it is much stronger than the one that he had shared with Jay-Z.

He went on to say that he is not signed to any record label. Beanie Sigel is a free agent, just the way that he wants to be. Saying that he is free to do whatever, Sigel is interested in signing with the label. Already, he maintains relationships with such G-Unit artists as Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks.

While he has not signed to the label yet, the near future may see Beanie Sigel sign to G-Unit Records.

Jim Jones talks Beanie Sigel vs. Jay-Z

It seems that almost everyone has given their opinion the feud between Beanie Sigel and Jay-Z. One person that has yet to speak on the situation is Jim Jones. For nearly five years, Jones has been feuding with Jay-Z. Because of his issues with Jay, Jones has been dissed by Beanie Sigel, but now those two are enemies.

Jim Jones said that Beanie Sigel is only dissing Jay-Z for attention. He said that the Philadelphia rapper has a right to be upset over whatever happened during his time there. At the same time, Jones said that Beans should have been smarter with his decisions while he was under Hov’s wing.

Given the way rappers tend to do now, Jim Jones said that he realizes the best way for a rapper to draw attention is to dig into another rapper. Right now, the top target is Jay-Z. In the past, Jim Jones has drawn attention by going in on Jay-Z. Jones said of all of the people to try and stir the pot with Jay, Beans would be the best, seeing how he was in the same camp with him.

Jones said that he feels that Sigel is upset because he feels that the Roc should still be together and that his Jay-Z disses are his way of venting.

50 Cent plans to continue Rick Ross feud

As soon as the New Year bells rang, Rick Ross ended almost a year of speculation about his feelings towards 50 Cent. He released “Mafia Music,” which directly dissed 50 Cent. At the time, 50 Cent was trying to bait Lil Wayne into a feud. Immediately, his attention shifted to Rick Ross.

However, as the year went on, the diss records stopped being exchanged as frequently. At one point, Rick Ross had even declared himself the winner in the feud between the two. Ross had even thought about dissing Eminem. Once he ruled that out, he reached out to Dr. Dre for a collaboration.

50 Cent, on the other hand, shifted back into his feud with Game and teamed up with Beanie Sigel to go at Jay-Z. In the meantime, Rick Ross began promoting his group, the Triple C’s. Most people thought that the feud between the two rappers was forgotten. Recently, 50 Cent took some pictures with one of Ross’ sons, a definite low-blow.

Since that time, 50 Cent has been criticized for the picture. He said that Rick Ross made things personal, first, and he is only doing what is right. Recently, 50 was asked about his feud with the Miami rapper. In response, 50 said that he had no plans of ending the feud anytime soon. For starters, he said that the feud was great for hip hop.

Unlike other rappers, 50 Cent said that he just cannot ignore rap beef. He said that when a rapper disses him, he is going to respond to it. 50 Cent said that especially when he could go at a rapper and end his career, he is not going to simply ignore him. 50 said that he could end Ross’ career and make a portfolio of the dead bodies to let future challengers know not to come at him if they are not ready.

Apparently, there is no truce in sight between 50 Cent and Rick Ross. As it stands, neither rapper is willing to back down from the other.

Lil Boosie wants rehab instead of prison

A few weeks ago, Hip Hop Vibe reported that Lil Boosie was sentenced to four years in prison. This came because he violated his probation when he was caught with marijuana. Now, the Louisiana rapper is expected to begin his prison sentence. He is set to spend two years behind bars and two under house arrest.

Now that he is set to begin his prison sentence, Lil Boosie is saying that he has a terrible addiction to marijuana. Because of that, he feels that he should be in rehab, as opposed to going to prison. He feels that he will receive better treatment in rehab, thus less likely to break the law again.

The reason that Boosie has stated this is because he was caught with drugs. He said that if this is a drug-related issue, he must need to go to rehab, as opposed to prison. Having drugs in one’s possession constitutes as a felony, which means prison time is possible. Apparently, Lil Boosie is stretching for something that will not lead to him going to prison.

No matter what happens, Lil Boosie is expected to release his next album sometime in 2010. He said that he has a lot of new music coming.

Mase talks Beanie Sigel vs. Jay-Z

The recent feud between former associates has the hip hop world buzzing. A lot of people have spoken on the situation. Now, Mase has delivered his opinion on the feud. Not too many people know that Mase and Jay-Z briefly feuded from 1996 until 1997, but they ended on friendly terms.

Most other rappers speaking on the feud have said that it is a shame that two people as close as Beanie Sigel and Jay-Z were to be feuding. Others have said that Beanie Sigel has no right to go at Jay-Z like this because of what he did for Beans and because of his legacy. Despite Beans teaming with 50 Cent, Mase still said that there was no way that Sigel could win.

According to Mase, Beanie Sigel can send all of the disses that he wants to Jay-Z, nothing is going to happen. He said that because Jay is one of rap’s biggest stars, right now. He has the support of urban radio and of such networks as BET and MTV. Mase said that until Beanie Sigel is able to get a hit single, he is going to lose to Jay no matter how hard-hitting his disses were.

What Mase said makes a lot of sense and was probably something that a lot of other people were already thinking. Honestly, without a popular single on the radio, Beanie Sigel is going to fizzle away and no one is going to listen to what he has to say. As of right now, Beans is just another unhappy and unproven rapper, along the lines of Peedi Crack.

Jadakiss leaves Roc-A-Fella Records, reunites with Ruff Ryders

In 2007, Jadakiss was convinced to sign with Roc-A-Fella Records to release his new album, at the time, he was still feuding with 50 Cent and he was trying to block his album from being released. At the time, Roc-A-Fella was still a vibrant label with a heavy roster of stars. The label was celebrating releases from Kanye West and Jay-Z.

When the next year arrived, the label geared up for yet another year of releases. The label did receive some releases, just not the way that was expected. Jay-Z dropped himself from Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam. Then, the rest of the label, aside from Jadakiss and Kanye West left. Out of nowhere, the label went from around fifteen artists to two.

By the time Jadakiss released his album, there was no buzz surrounding the album. He moved to Roc-A-Fella for the chance to work with their roster of talent to boost his music. But, once he began making music, they left. Not long after the release of The Last Kiss, Jadakiss reunited with his crew, the Ruff Ryders.

Now, it has been revealed that Jadakiss has left Roc-A-Fella Records to reunite with the Ruff Ryders label. In the near future, a new project will be coming from The L.O.X. and Jadakiss is expected to soon collaborate with DMX and Eve, both of which are working on new albums. Swizz Beatz has described all of the new music coming from the crew as classic.

While his time at the Roc could have been spent better, Jada did spend some time with the old crew. Perhaps, it just wasn’t meant to be. Instead of staying on a sinking label, Jadakiss has decided to go back with what worked and reunite with his old crew. A new Ruff Ryder album is expected sometime in 2010.

Snoop Dogg talks Gang Relations and New Album

It has been long established that Snoop Dogg is gang-affiliated. As long as he has been in the game, he has let it be known that he is a Crip. Despite his gang affiliation, Snoop has been a longtime symbol for peace in hip hop. Many people do not know this, but he was a key factor in ending the feud between Murder Inc. and Shady/Aftermath.

Snoop Dogg is openly a Crip and he constantly displays this in his records, but he is also very good friends with Blood rapper, Game. He says it is simply the fact that he has so much clout in the streets and respect from everyone that he is allowed to do this. Snoop is not the only rapper to ever claim to be in a gang.

For the past few years, more and more rappers and black teens, alike, have been claiming gang affiliations. To all of these people, Snoop Dogg has sent a fair warning, do not come to California. He said that these rappers from other places, claiming to be Crips, have gotten into trouble when they had to face the real Crips and the same for those claiming to be Bloods.

Snoop Dogg said that any rapper that comes out to California has to first call him up so that he can secure things for them. He said that some rappers have come out to L.A. in the past without reaching out to him and they ran into trouble. Snoop said that the respect that these people of the streets have for him makes them not bother anyone that he is cool with.

While anyone coming into L.A. has to reach out to him, he said that there are certain people that he reaches out to before he goes places. He said that if he has plans of coming to New York, he first calls certain people to see if it is cool for him to come. If they say “it’s cool,” he comes, if not, he stays in his place.

Snoop Dogg later went on to talk about his new album, Malice n Wonderland. He said that he is confident that the album will be a classic. Snoop said that he completed the album, already, and he is now waiting to release it. In addition to discussing the new album, he promised it in stores on December 8, 2009 on Doggystyle Records, Priority Records, and Capitol Records.