Game unites the stars for “The R.E.D. Album”

Never before has Game gone out for a new album. Each of his three albums has sold moderately and he has always worked with the same crew of people. But, with this new album, The R.E.D. Album, Game has something special. When doing the promotion for this album, Game said that this marks a new part of his career.

In preparation for this album, Game retired the “The” from his rap alias, simplifying his name to Game. This album was supposed to be the first one in which he would not mention Dr. Dre. But, as fate would have it, while working with Snoop Dogg, Game was invited to work with his former mentor. His collaboration with Snoop for this album led to Game having the opportunity to reunite with Dr. Dre.

The upcoming album from Dr. Dre, Detox, will feature an appearance or multiple appearances from Game. The chemistry that Game and Dr. Dre had was reminiscent of the old days. Because of that, Dr. Dre decided that he wanted to work on The R.E.D. Album. At the time, Game had just finished recording the album and he was set to release it on December 8. But, just to have the magic touch of Dre, the album was pushed back to February.

Because the new sound of The R.E.D. Album was so good, Dr. Dre agreed to executive produce the album. But, due to his obligations to other artists and to his own album, Dre was forced to wrap things up with Game’s album. For help, he called on Pharrell, his Interscope Records label-mate. Never before had Game worked with Pharrell, but his name had been mentioned on his second album.

When Game and Pharrell hit the studio, they also had great chemistry. Since Dr. Dre’s input became limited because of his work on Detox and Relapse 2, Game also brought Pharrell on as an executive producer for The R.E.D. Album. The chemistry between Game and Pharrell was so strong that Game decided that he should sign with Pharrell’s Star Trak Entertainment. The deal was official when Game tattooed the Star Trak logo on his head.

His work with Pharrell for this new album led to Justin Timberlake wanting to make an appearance on the album. Having been a longtime fan of Timberlake, Game was thrilled that he was willing to record for his album. Already, he had lined up collaborations from Gucci Mane and Chris Brown. His collaborations with those artists had already been leaked. But, Game had more collaborations that he wanted for the album.

Right before the announcement of his working with Justin Timberlake, he announced that he had been working with Nicki Minaj. Other collaborations on the album will be coming from Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, Ja Rule, Young Jeezy, Pharrell, Kanye West, Lady GaGa, Lil Wayne and Akon. The album will be the first in his career to feature so many big-names. In the past, he has worked with these artists, but never before on the same album.

With production also coming from Timbaland, Polow da Don, Kanye West, Cool & Dre, J. R. Rotem, and Drumma Boy, Game is gearing up to release a very entertaining album. On February 16, 2010, Game will finally release his fourth studio album, The R.E.D. Album. The album will be released on Star Trak Entertainment and Interscope Records.

50 Cent prepares video for “So Disrespectful”

For most of the year, 50 Cent has avoided feuding with other rappers. Aside from his early year feud with Rick Ross, 50 Cent had been the peacemaker. Not only did he officially put his issue with Jadakiss to rest, he also reached out to the rest of The L.O.X. His feud with Diddy ended in 2007, but he began making appearances with the Bad Boy CEO this year.

Not only did 50 Cent begin making appearances with his former rivals, he also offered the same type of deal to Cam’ron. He said that if Cam came to Queens they could end their feud. A bit skeptical about going to 50’s neighborhood, Cam wanted 50 to come to Harlem so that they could end their feud. In the end, their issues remain unresolved, but both rappers have said that they are willing to end their issues with 50 Cent.

When the fall season came in, former G-Unit group member, Game and Young Buck, apologized to 50 Cent. Seeing how friendly 50 Cent had been recently, many assumed that he would quickly reach out to his former foes. Instead, 50 Cent reverted back to his old form and he released a mixtape track that taunted his former allies. When his album, Before I Self Destruct, leaked, one notable track off of it was “So Disrespectful.”

The title of the track says it all, 50 Cent holds nothing back on this song. He begins the song with a diss to Jay-Z, then he moves on to Game, later Young Buck, B.G., and even the late Pimp C. There are also some lines on the song that say some questionable things about Dr. Dre. The song is something like a 2009 version of “Piggy Bank.” In a similar fashion to this song, that song took on Ja Rule, Jadakiss, Fat Joe, and Nas. This song takes on the other artists mentioned.

Now that the album has been released and the sales have not been where people expected them to be, 50 Cent has had to release more singles. Among the next singles that he has planned for an upcoming release will be “So Disrespectful.” Recently, 50 Cent promised that he would film a video for what will become his latest single.

Timbaland is done with Hip Hop

One of the biggest producers in hip hop is Timbaland. Some of the most notable hits in hip hop have been produced by Tim. Aside from his work on recent albums from Jay-Z and 50 Cent, Timbaland has been moving away from hip hop. From the late 1990s until 2006, Tim ran his own label, Beat Club, which specialized in hip hop music.

Later in the year, he shut down Beat Club and launched Mosely Music Group. This label specializes more in pop music and alternative hip hop. Ever since he launched this new label, Timbo has alienated his “Timbaland sound” in favor of pop and rock beats. Once the top producer in hip hop, the rare productions that he makes for hip hop artists have a “mainstream” sound.

Ever since he worked with Justin Timberlake on Future Sex/Love Sounds, the production style of Timbaland has changed. With his production on The Blueprint 3, Timbaland has been questioned. Then, when he released his most recent album, Shock Value 2, those same questions arose.

When he was asked about the sound of his new music, Timbaland said that he was moving out of hip hop. In 2003, he retired alongside Jay-Z and DMX. It is now obvious that was the year when he retired from doing hip hop. Timbaland never retired from making music. Starting next year, Timbaland hopes to be done with hip hop.

50 Cent questions Media Support of Game

When 50 Cent first challenged Dr. Dre, the hip hop media jumped all over him. They questioned the rapper for biting the hand that fed him. However, only months before 50 Cent ever said anything negative about Dr. Dre, he and Game were involved in an all-out war. The first three singles that Game released featured 50 Cent.

It has become well-known that 50 Cent helped Game record his debut album, The Documentary. There were songs featured on that album that 50 had been saving for his own release. In an effort to build a buzz around Game, he gave those songs to him. All that Game had to do was record his part of the song. Among those songs that 50 Cent had given to Game were “How We Do” and the 2005 hit “Hate It or Love It.”

Despite 50 Cent making the Game into a top ten artists, he still went against 50 Cent. Not only did 50 Cent give him tracks that he was using for his own album, he also wrote some of Game’s own lyrics. Then, he promoted his album, which led to it selling five million copies across the world. Even after 50 Cent did all of this, Game refused to side with 50 Cent when he began dissing Nas, Fat Joe, and Jadakiss.

After everything that 50 Cent had done for Game, he saw this as disrespectful and the two began a behind-the-scenes feud. Before the summer of 2005, Game took their issues public and he was kicked out of the G-Unit group. Then, 50 Cent dropped him from G-Unit Records and convinced Dr. Dre to drop him from Aftermath Entertainment. Given the fact that Game was still a very popular artist, he was able to sign a deal with Geffen Records.

When he signed to Geffen Records, Game recorded his second album and released it in 2006. On the album, Game says that he is not bitter, but he dedicates almost every track to dissing 50 Cent. Even when he did all of that, there was not a single outlet in hip hop media that called Game out for treating 50 Cent so bad. Instead, there were quite a few sites that sided with Game and his 2006 album was met with positive reviews.

Even as Game has returned to working with Dr. Dre, he is hailed as one of rap’s brightest stars and his albums are still met with positive reviews. He is frequently lampooned by SOHH for his constant mood swings, but they also lampoon 50 Cent. No one has yet to call out Game for the things that he said about his former boss. However, when 50 Cent went against Dr. Dre, everyone was ready to pounce upon him for going against the man that produced “Back Down.”

All that 50 Cent wants is for someone to question Game for going against the man that provided him with the biggest hits of his career, to date. Currently, Game is gearing up for the release of his fourth studio album, The R.E.D. Album. It will be released on February 16, 2009 on Star Trak and Interscope Records with input from Aftermath Entertainment.

Memphis Bleek speaks on feuds, Roc Nation, and “The Process”

Ten years in the game and Memphis Bleek is still being featured in the “whose got next” section in hip hop magazines. For unexplainable reasons, Memphis Bleek’s career never took off the way that it was poised to. Bleek is happy about that because he has had the opportunity to watch Jay-Z rise from being a local level drug dealer to the position that he is currently in. With all of the things that Jay has done for him, Bleek said that he cannot complain.

The Brooklyn rapper did speak on the fact that Jay-Z has done a lot for many other rappers, too, but when they did not take off, they complained. Memphis Bleek said that Jay-Z has done right by every artist that ever signed to Roc-A-Fella Records. He said that there is not a rapper who released an album on the label that does not currently own the rights to their album released on the label. Bleek did not mention names, but the name was obvious.

Ever since he has been in the game, Memphis Bleek has not gotten a fair shot. Most people feel that Jay-Z sits back and writes his lyrics, picks his beats, and picks his singles. This is something that Bleek denies. He said that every album that he has ever put out has been controlled by himself with input from Jay-Z. Bleek said that every single that he released to radio was his decision to release and that he writes his own rhymes.

This is not the first time that Memphis Bleek has said this; almost every interview leads to what most people think about him. It is widely-assumed that he is Jay-Z’s sidekick. On every one of his albums, Jay-Z is featured on two or three tracks and every album has come out on Roc-A-Fella Records. What people do not realize is that Roc-A-Fella Records is only the label that used to distribute Bleek’s music.

Dating back to 1998, Memphis Bleek has been the head of his own label, Get Low Records. He has signed plenty of acts to the label, over the years. The label had been distributed by Roc-A-Fella throughout his entire career. But, when Jay-Z left Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella, Memphis Bleek saw this as a chance to go out and build his career and his label. After being mistreated by Def Jam, in his opinion, Memphis Bleek sought after a better deal.

Memphis Bleek did acknowledge that he could have easily followed Jay-Z over to Roc Nation, but that would have left him in the same position that he was in at Roc-A-Fella Records. Bleek described the business of the game. He said that every rapper that gets signed to a label gets an advance that is really just a loan from the bank. Once the album is released, only a small portion of the profit goes to the artists, in between the other labels getting their share of the money.

This is something that Jay-Z has never had to go through. He was not only an artist, but the CEO of his own label. The deal that Jay-Z had going with Def Jam was a 50/50 venture. While the money that Bleek was making under Jay’s wing was great, he is after the big money. That is the reason that he chose not to sign with Roc Nation. The deal with the new label would not have advanced his career the way that going out on his own would have.

For his entire career, Memphis Bleek has been signed to a major record label. Over the past few years, it has become better for an artist to be independent. This is why Memphis Bleek chose to sign a deal with the independent record label, Mass Appeal Entertainment. The deal that Bleek has with Mass Appeal is identical to the one that Jay-Z had with Def Jam for all of those years. With the way that the major record labels are now, it is impossible to get a deal like that and this was realized by Memphis Bleek.

There is not another rapper in the game that has been doubted as much as Memphis Bleek. It is all because he came in with Jay-Z and his biggest hits came at the peak of Jay-Z’s career. No other rapper has as many doubters as Memphis Bleek. That is what Bleek loves and he plans to prove all of his doubters wrong with his fifth album. Bleek blames the lackluster reviews of his last album on trying to make an album that the people would love.

With The Process, it is going to be all about Memphis Bleek. He has described this album as telling of the entire process. This means him rising from the Marcy Projects to the peak of the Roc and the 2004 breakup. All of these stories will be told on this new album and he is not going to have any regrets about anything that he may say. On the album, though, Memphis Bleek said that he is going to stay away from diss records. He now feels that he is above that.

People have always looked at Memphis Bleek’s catalog of albums and they always say that either The Understanding or M.A.D.E. was his best album. Memphis Bleek has promised that when it is released, there will be no doubt that The Process will be hailed as the best album that he has ever created. Coming five years after his last album, The Process will be released in March 2010 on Get Low Records and Mass Appeal Entertainment.

40 Glocc disses Young Buck for 50 Cent feud

When Young Buck began feuding with 50 Cent, last spring, 50 Cent was shocked. He knew that they had been going through some issues, but he was the reason that Young Buck had a name for himself. Before 50 Cent came along, Buck was stuck in the background of old videos by B.G. and Lil Wayne. When 50 Cent came, Buck became a star.

Because of the fact that original G-Unit member, Tony Yayo, was in prison and unable to perform with 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks, Young Buck joined the group. He was prominently featured on the Beg For Mercy album and even had his own solo song. In 2004, 50 Cent had marketed Young Buck enough that he was a household name by the time he released his debut album.

The early days of G-Unit were the best days of G-Unit. As a group and a record label, they were unified and willing to take on any challenger. But, once The Game began his feud with 50 Cent, the popularity in the music from the camp began to decline. 50 Cent felt that they could keep their same style and stage a comeback. Young Buck felt that they needed to go in a different direction.

As a result, Young Buck and 50 Cent bumped heads when they began working on his second album. Once his album was finally released, Buck ended his feud with Jadakiss. At the time, Jadakiss was one of the biggest threats to G-Unit. There were photos around the internet that showed the two rappers smoking together. To 50 Cent, this was a sign of disrespect, seeing how much that he had done for Young Buck.

Before long, 50 Cent said that he held Young Buck in the same situation that he held The Game in before he was kicked out of the group and dropped from the label. Even after 50 Cent made those comments about Buck, he remained on the label and continued to make music. But, late in 2007, G-Unit went on a mixtape blitz. They released several mixtapes throughout 2007, but none of the mixtapes featured Young Buck.

After the release of his second album, Young Buck decided that he was going to start his own record label. For this label, he did not go to 50 Cent and G-Unit/Interscope, instead, he went out and created his own deal. Before the end of 2007, Young Buck had established Cashville Records. He signed himself to the label as a joint venture between G-Unit/Interscope. Buck said that he hoped to eventually leave G-Unit for this label.

Once Young Buck revealed this, many wanted to know 50 Cent’s opinion on Buck’s actions. At the time, he praised Young Buck for going after what he wanted. But, by 2008, the Cashville camp had become bitter enemies with 50 and G-Unit. In April of 2008, 50 Cent revealed that Young Buck was no longer a member of the G-Unit group in a similar fashion to that of Game. Unlike his rift with Game, 50 Cent did not drop Young Buck from G-Unit Records.

Immediately following his release from the G-Unit group, Young Buck began trading disses with 50 Cent. In a similar fashion to Game, Young Buck reached out to 50 Cent’s many enemies. He first re-aligned himself with The Game and performed on stage with Joe Budden. During the summer of 2008, he ended his feud with Lil Wayne and tried reaching out to Irv Gotti and Ja Rule.

When The Game went out and did all of this, 50 Cent became so enraged that he began dissing him even more than he had been before. Three years older and three years wiser, 50 Cent ignored all of these moves by Young Buck and the situation died down. In an effort to be released from the G-Unit label, Buck has been playing nice. He said that he no longer holds any hard feelings toward 50 Cent and that they could be a family once again. In response to that, 50 dissed him and his entire crew.

The things that 50 Cent did to Young Buck were not right, but Buck bit the hand that was feeding him. That is why a lot of people sided with 50 Cent in the feud. It appears that the artists on G-Unit Records that get no buzz or album release dates are the most loyal ones. One rapper on the label that has held 50 Cent down has been 40 Glocc. Every feud that 50 Cent has gotten into, regardless of the opponent, he has taken them on.

Recently, 40 Glocc has had some negative things to say about Plies, but he has taken a break from that to go at his label-mate. He feels that Young Buck has not been disciplined enough for his actions against his own crew. 40 Glocc questioned Buck’s status as a Crip and said that he should have been beaten on the West Coast by real Crips. 40 said that Buck should have been forced to take the beating, too.

In 40 Glocc’s opinion, Young Buck began to feel himself too much and he began to think that he should be the boss within G-Unit. 40 Glocc has been signed to G-Unit Records since 2005, but currently has no new music out. He is on the West Coast mixtape scene, but there are currently no plans of him releasing a debut album.

Mase to release a New Album Next Year

After the death of The Notorious B.I.G., Sean Combs quickly thrust Mase into the spotlight that was 1990s Bad Boy Records. In a matter of months, he went from a street rapper to the top of the hip hop world. At the peak of his popularity, Mase announced that he was retiring from rap.

Abruptly, Mase left New York City and he opened a church in Atlanta. For the next five years, Mase worked as a pastor. There were many doubters of Mase until his ministry became widespread. Mase worked hard as a pastor for five years until he decided to return to rap after talking with Nelly.

While he was promoting his album, Welcome Back, it was clear that he was involved in some sort of dispute with Sean Combs. Mase said that he would not appear on stage with Combs again until he got saved, too. But, the next year, Mase attempted to join G-Unit Records and made a cameo appearance in 50 Cent’s video. It was during this time that he retired from the ministry.

Since he had tried to leave Bad Boy, Combs froze Mase. He would not allow him to appear on music from other artists and he was not allowed to record a new album. This led to Mase fighting to get off of the label and a very public feud between Mase and Combs. A few months ago, the two men ended their feud and Sean Combs allowed Mase to work with other artists again.

In September, Sean Combs moved Bad Boy Records to Interscope for distribution. Under the terms of the deal, some acts signed under Atlantic, including Mase, ended up being moved over to Interscope. Now that he has the freedom to record music, Mase has been working hard.

Before the end of 2010, Mase hopes to release his currently untitled album on Bad Boy Records.

Fat Joe may move Terror Squad to Cash Money

When Fat Joe signed with Virgin Records, he did so because they promised not to interfere with him while he was in the recording process. His first two albums with the label were free of interference from the label and both albums had hits. However, with his most recent release, he and the label went through a dispute.

Once the album was finally released, Fat Joe made it no secret that he was upset with his label. It was then that the Bronx rapper declared himself a free agent. In the time since he announced the album and his displeasure, there have been rumors of places that he may sign to. Among those places are Def Jam, Murder Inc., and Cash Money.

Ever since he has been in the music industry, Fat Joe has been a member of a group that he called Terror Squad. In 1998, he turned the group into a record label of its own. Never before has Terror Squad been under an exclusive distribution deal. Usually, the roster of artists are spread out among various other labels. Fat Joe would work deals out with distribution labels for his artists.

For the past few years, though, Fat Joe has worked closely with Birdman and Lil Wayne. Currently, they are in the midst of a signing spree. The label has gone from being a simple imprint to the distributor of many other labels. Many artists who have been close to Birdman and Lil Wayne have ended up signing with either Cash Money or Young Money. This includes Bow Wow and probably Lloyd.

When Fat Joe signs to a new label, more than likely, that label will be Cash Money. Now that they put out music from other labels, Fat Joe may decide to work out an exclusive distribution deal with Cash Money for his own imprint label, Terror Squad.

Cam’ron may sign with Bad Boy/Interscope

For the past few years, it appears that Cam’ron has been on his own. His crew, which includes Jim Jones and Juelz Santana seem to have abandoned him. The deal that he had with his label was that the artists all belonged to different labels.

A few years ago, there was a lot of confusion between Cam, his label, and the artists on the label. In the midst of all of the confusion, he began feuding with 50 Cent. Surprisingly, his crew sided with 50 Cent. Following this, Cam’ron took a break from music.

Early in 2009, Cam’ron returned with a new album. He was still under his independent deal with Asylum Records and he had a new crew. During his time off, Cam dramatically matured. Realizing that hip hop is a business first, he ended his feud with Jay-Z and said that he was willing to make peace with 50 Cent.

Similar to the deal with Fat Joe and Virgin Records, Cam’ron is free to leave his label whenver he chooses to. Ever since Diddy moved Bay Boy Records away from Atlantic Records and over to Interscope Records, he has been on a signing spree. He also allowed Mase to work with other artists again. Mase is Cam’s friend turned enemy, then friend again.

Early in their careers, Cam’ron and Mase collaborated frequently. Along the way, they built a cult fan base. No one realized this before Diddy, with the help of Interscope Records, he is trying to get Cam’ron to record an album with Mase that would be released on his Bad Boy label through Interscope.

If this album is a success, Diddy will probably try to sign Cam’ron to his label. Already on the new Bad Boy he has The L.O.X., Red Cafe, and he is in talks to bring Ghostface, Method Man, and Raekwon to the label to release Wu Massacre.

Will Tupac finally be allowed to Die?

One of the most respected rappers to ever touch a microphone was Tupac Shakur. When he died, the hip hop community lost one of the biggest living legacies. Tupac had only begun to realize his full potential. The scary thing is, he was legendary back then and he had not even reached his tenth album. Sometimes, life throws an unexpected curveball and the death of Tupac right before his prime was one of those curveballs.

In the time since the death of Tupac Shakur, there have been reports of people seeing him alive and his vocals are repeatedly recycled. The deaths of Tupac and his foe, The Notorious B.I.G., have resulted in their record labels making major profits. Almost every year since his death, there has been a new album released in Tupac’s name. On his last album, Pac’s Life, it was clear that unreleased material from Tupac was running out.

There is only a matter of time before Tupac’s music begins to get watered-down. Since the music industry seems to only care about profits, they will probably recruit some of the most popular artists to rap and sing over those Tupac lyrics. That is what happened on the Pac’s Life album and it suffered because of that. Before they run out of music from Tupac, they will end up tarnishing his legacy.

In 2007, Sean Combs announced that he was going to retire The Notorious B.I.G. After all, it had been ten years since his death. His vocals had been used to create two new solo albums and his vocals had been used on tracks by other people. The last appearance that Tupac made on a record was in 2008 when he did the intro to Keyshia Cole’s “Playa Cards Right.” Frequently placing the acclaimed rapper on tracks with all of these artists is bringing down the value of his work.

It is incredibly difficult for people to accept the fact that Tupac is really dead. This is why the record labels constantly release new music from him. Also, this is the reason why people post videos on YouTube that claim to have Tupac in them. People do this to drive attention to their project and to make money. The fact of the matter is, there are only a few good rappers out and making music. Instead of developing artists the way that they used to, labels now choose to milk their stars dry and then release an album from Tupac.

These people obviously know that had Tupac Shakur been living, he would have never allowed his collaboration with The Notorious B.I.G. to be released to radio the way that it was. He would have never done a track with The Fugees. To add to that, the chances of him working with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg would have been slim. Right before his death, Tupac had fallen out with all of the former core of Death Row.

Those that knew him the most realize this and they need to speak up and allow the man to receive the rest that he could not attain on Earth.