By Complex Magazine
Good luck getting a hold of 2 Chainz this week. As he prepares to release his highly anticipated solo debut album, Based on a T.R.U. Story, he’s looking forward to what he anticipates will be, “One of the best weeks of my life.” That may be true—or “truuuu” as the man who once went by Tity Boi would say—but he can also expect it to be one of his busiest.
2 Chainz is in full album launch mode, and with that comes a host of responsibilities and obligations. When we caught up with him late last week he was holed up in a Baltimore hotel with less than an hour to answer questions before rolling to a radio interview, followed by a signing at the urban apparel store DTLR. That night, he made an appearance about the city’s Club Dubai, and it may have been under the guise of leisure, but it was also another cog in the 2 Chainz promo machine.
Chainz won the rap world over with hilarious punchlines and street anthems, and Complex has been riding with him every step of the way. When he appeared on our G.O.O.D. Music cover he was grinding hard as hell and he has only stepped it up since then. The results are self-evident. 2 Chainz has entered the consciousness of the mainstream and he welcomes it. Now he’s about to be tested at the highest level. “I I don’t feel like I peaked out,” he explains. “I still got room to grow.”
This time around, 2 Chainz is not going to let anything stand in his way. “It took me my whole life to put this together,” he says. “So with the anticipation, I don’t think I’m letting anybody down.”
All the hard work that comes with the current amount of pressure doesn’t phase Chainz one bit. He’s always been about that work. That’s how he got back to a place of promise after his frustrated efforts as part of the duo Playaz Circle. This time around, he’s not going to let anything stand in his way. “It took me my whole life to put this together,” he says. “So with the anticipation, I don’t think I’m letting anybody down.” We spoke with Tauheed Epps himself about how he maintained focus when his rap career seemed to be on the skids (he bought a Porsche), what he’s learned from Lil Wayne and Drake, and why he’s not worried about falling off.
Drake has time and time again expressed his love for the princess of R&B, Aaliyah. Check out Aaliyah’s new track he helped produce for her and of course he kicked a few bars on it.
R&B crooner Trey Songz today unwrapped new promotional single ‘Hail Mary’.
Already previewed in snippet form, the Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy assisted cut featured on the singer’s fifth studio album, the aptly titled ‘Chapter V’ (due August 19th).
With his “lane” at its most competitive (see: Chris Brown, Usher), can Songz serve up something that’ll help him pull ahead of the pack? Find out after the jump…
Yesterday, R&B crooner Trey Songz premiered the visuals to his new single, “Simply Amazing.” The track is featured on his upcoming album, “Chapter V,” which will release on August 21.
By Vibe Magazine 
Three Six Mafia’s one-time first Queen of Rhyme is telling you dudes exactly what you do wrong when you are all laid up with these crazy connected chicks. Living legend rapper, 8 Ball (of 8 Ball & MJG) chimes in and further explains the code to keep around sneaky sexy mamas. Brooklyn’s bad boy Maino adds his 16-bars to the mix as he goes in on the rock them to sleep theme.
By Spin Magazine
Just before Kendrick Lamar took off for Chicago’s Pitchfork festival, where Lady Gaga popped up solely to see his set, the Interscope signee unleashed a sludgy new single off his forthcoming debut good kid, m.A.A.d. city. Produced by T-Minus (whose recent work includes tracks on T.I., Rick Ross, and Slaughterhouse’s new LPs), “Swimming Pools (Drank)” liberally combines sonic ooze and boozy lyrics with the brilliant, rapid-fire flow that helped earn his section.80 the No. 6 spot on our Best Rap Albums of 2011 list. As the murky backing track implies, this isn’t necessarily a jaunty take on a nonstop summer party — you’ll want to check out his summery collab with Dr. Dre earlier this year to grab a bit more of that vibe. good kid, m.A.A.d. city drops October 2 via Interscope/Top Dawg/Aftermath.
There’s a new jack on the horizon – pun intended – and based on the six-track mixtape, Alex Jacke recently released, this soul singer is in a league of his own.
Playful, truth-filled lyrics, solid production, an undoubtedly unique vocal ability, and a great story, Jacke proves he has the potential to cement his name into the minds of music lovers worldwide with D.F.M, amassing audiences the size of Usher Raymond’s stadium tours.
When you listen to Jacke’s music, it all makes sense.
In 2010, Alex Jacke left Morehouse College during his junior year, and hopped on a plane to Los Angeles to begin working on something he believed in more than anything else – his music. He linked up with Laney Stewart (brother of Tricky Stewart, hitmaker and producer for many of The-Dream’s most popular tracks), who executive produced the project.
LISTEN: “One Thing”
In May, the Los Angeles-bred singer released his lead single, “One Thing”, and it even landed in the Music section. It spread like wildfire on social networks like Twitter and Tumblr. And though Jacke is relatively unknown, the singer has managed to build a following of loyal and influential fans who invest in and share h
Nelly Furtado has just unveiled the official video for “Spirit Indestructible,” the Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins produced second single and title track from her upcoming album. The video was shot on beautiful Grouse Mountain in Vancouver, and captures the song’s empowering and spiritual message. The clip follows up the inspirational lyric video, which featured footage from Spencer West’s climb up Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness and financial support for clean water projects in Africa. “Spirit Indestructible” is taken from the upcoming album The Spirit Indestructible (Interscope) available Sept 18th
The Spirit Indestructible is Furtado’s first English-language studio album since 2006’s double-platinum Loose, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, was certified multi-platinum in 32 countries, and sold 10 million copies worldwide. Loose also spawned three hit singles, including the No. 1’s “Promiscuous” and “Say It Right,” both of which earned Furtado Grammy Award nominations.
Rapper K. Prime is back with another vid installment! This time, he decided to take on Meek Mill’s ”Amen” but with a little twist…a Muslim American twist. Peep K. Prime’s “AMEEN”, as he gives a real life perspective of him growing up as a Muslim American.
Word on the street is that Brandy Norwood’s career maybe making a comeback. Her latest project is slated to come out this summer (2012). According to that grape juice Brandy received plenty of buzz for her inclusion on ‘It All Belongs To Me’, ‘The Boy is Mine’ and now the artist is preparing for her solo album. This week Brandy will be shooting a video with Chris Brown for their single that debuted in May Put It Down. This is apparently only the beginning to her resurrection. Fans can also look forward to appearance in Tyler Perry’s ‘The Marriage Counselor’ coming out March 2013.
Brandy’s performance during the 2012 BET Awards was a reintroduction of herself. She came out of her long hiatus and rocked the staged in a tribute to the Whitney Houston. She performed “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” leaving it all on the stage. Her performance left Soulja Boy in tears, and millions of others wondering where Brandy went all this time. I wonder what Beyonce formerly her creative director thought while she was killing the stage.
Brandy was one of the rising stars of the 1990′s, she seemed primed to be amongst the most successful artists of the 2000′s.Brandy’s timeline is rather mysterious with no rhyme or reason to the hault in her career or the decline in record sales. She was one of the rising stars of the 1990′s, we only wondered what she would give us 2000′s. However, our expectations were short lived, with the release of ‘Full Moon’ LP in 2002 her career went on a decline. Her impact on the charts diminished with each release.
Despite achieving critical success with her ‘Afrodisiac‘ and ‘Human’ albums, both records represent the lowest sales in Brandy’s entire career. Her latest project sold a little over 200k units since it’s release on December 5th, 2008. Although, Brandy made several major promotional appearances. It seems that regardless of how good her material may be or how hard she tries to promote it, the general public hasn’t paid attention, and now they are beginning to after her proven comeback at the Awards.
Theophilus London has just released a new mixtape entitled Rose Island Vol. 1. The new mixtape boasts some impressive guest spots from A$AP Rocky and Big Boi, with additional assistance from Sade and Marvin Gaye.
50 Cent has just released his much anticipated Free Album “Murder by Numbers.” There are just 10 tracks on this list but none-the-less the production is definitely on point. 50 starts the album off with “My Crown” as he lets it be known that even though he may have been on “vacation” for a bit, he is still known as The King of New York. with the help of producers like Focus, Hit-Boy, Havoc of Mobb Deep and DJ Pain 1, this album is honestly something Hip Hop heads should be excited for. However, with any new album a much needed critique is needed.
In a typical 50 Cent fashion he loses points for his inconsistency and weak features (Kidd Kidd… seriously Fif?). He still has his trash talking moments on “Be My Bitch” where he is trying to convince his girlfriend at trying her hand at seducing another woman. “Murder by Numbers” finds 50 Cent still over singing his hooks especially in “Definition of Sexy”, a tool he criticized Ja Rule for earlier in his career. Not to mention that the hooks are extremely repetitive as we have hear him on his previous recordings. There is a feature with Hayes on a song entitled “Business Mind” that is really good. Other then that “Murder By Numbers” is not that impressive.
Azealia Banks’ ‘Neptune‘ is straight from her forthcoming mix tape ‘Fantasea‘.
Featuring Brit- Rap Royal Shystie, the mind blowing jam awaits your first listen below…
F.Stokes sound is a mixture of eclectic, hip-hop and rhythmic poetry. The Chi Town native is an internationally acclaimed rapper, poet and wordsmith he is referred to by many as the American Poet. His latest project is “Love Always,” the album is a chronological journey through the last 5 years of Stokes life.
He has performed in premiere venues throughout the world. F.Stokes stage presence is simply captivating; attracting and engaging crowds of all demographics and backgrounds, by mixing provocatively cutting lyrics, with superb stage-presence and crowd engagement.
His content is elevated and has been described as “aspirational and optimistic”. He has performed in venues ranging from intimate art galleries in the historical neighborhood of Chelsea in New York City, to the world renowned Elysee Montmartre in Paris, France. Stokes tailors a unique show set that equally utilizes performance spaces of all builds.
He will be touring the Tri State area this summer during the following dates:
7.25.12
A WOUNDED WARRIOR BENEFIT
TEANECK, NJ
MEXICALI LIVE
8.2.12
WITH BIG DADDY KANE
NEWARK, NJ
NJPAC
8.10.12
TRIPLE FAT GOOSE EVENT
NEW YORK, NY
SANTOS PARTY HOUSE
Thomas Wesley Pentz better known by the stage name Diplo is the brain child of the annual Mad Decent Block Party. The Philadelphia native has collaborated with M.I.A to create the Jamaican dancehall project Major Lazer. Some of Diplo’s other credits include working with namesakes such as Beyonce, No Doubt and Usher
The ever expanding, incredibly successful and now two country expedition that is the MAD DECENT BLOCK PARTY, this year presented by PUMA®, will continue it’s ascent to outdoor festival extravaganza takeover with 5 parties across North America this summer! The party comes to New York on August 5th ! The Blocks Party once again is planning on tearing through the USA and Canada with stops in Toronto, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Diplo’s Mad Decent is teaming up with sportslifestyle brand Puma to provide a full day of musical performances with FREE admission, the best local food and drinks, and tons of fun onsite activities for attendees of all ages!
With over 40 thousand attendees last year alone,Mad Decent and Puma are bringing even bigger and better surprises to the masses this year including the PUMA Social Truck® where fans will be able to customize Mad Decent t-shirts and play ping-pong and foosball. Each block party event will feature unique lineups and surprise guests appearing in each city from the Mad Decent family and more. The block party tour kicks off this year on Saturday July 28th in the first ever stop in Toronto and concludes in Mad Decent’s home town of Los Angeles on August 25th. Stay tuned for more details and lineups to be revealed in weeks to come!
Willie Taylor said “I am very excited to have collaborated with my cousin Jeremih on this summer-banger and as the official first release from my upcoming mixtape,” says Willie. “It was all about creating that sexy R&B vibe and getting the ladies into that “picture-taking-mood, while spicing things up“
As the first major star to join the roster of the newly revitalized Motown Records, multi-platinum, three-time Grammy Award-winning artist NE-YO moves into the next phase of his career with “Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself),” the new single pick from his new album, R.E.D., arriving in-stores on September 18th. “Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself),” launches globally today and officially impacts at Pop and Rhythm radio in the weeks ahead .
R&B stalwart R. Kelly serves up a taste of reality with his latest effort ‘Feelin’ Single’.
The hottest R&B artist in the game Trey Songz, has released a new summer anthem entitled “Bitches and the Drinks” feat self proclaimed King of the South, T.I. This is the second single from his heavily anticipated 5th studio album ” Chapter 5″ due to be released on August 21, 2012. In the song Trey insists that the only reason he even stepped out was the drinks and the women. The beat is flawless and Trey harmonizes perfectly while telling the women to put their glasses up. T.I. spits a ferocious verse reminding listeners why he is arguably one of the best rappers in Hip-Hop.
