‘We wouldn’t do a Black Moon album without that,’ Buckshot tells Mixtape Daily of Da Beatminerz touch. By Rob Markman Black Moon Photo: MTV News Behind the Beats: Da Beatminerz In 1993, Brooklyn rap trio Black Moon made their debut and stood right alongside New York rap titans like Nas, Method Man and the Notorious B.I.G. With boom-bap singles like “Who Got Da Props?” and “I Got Cha Opin (Remix),” Buckshot, 5ft. and DJ Evil Dee were torchbearers for East Coast hip-hop. After a six-year hiatus, the group would go on to release their second album, 1999’s War Zone, and their third LP, Total Eclipse, in 2003. Now that the group has once again joined together for the 2011 Rock the Bells tour , many fans are wondering if there will be another reunion album in the works. The answer is yes, but things may take a while. “There’s only one thing holding up the album: me,” admitted Evil Dee, who pulls double duty as the group’s DJ and producer. “I’m trying to make the perfect beat, but we finally got some joints. Other than that, Buck and 5, they’re constantly like, ‘E, wassup? E, wassup?’ you know? And I’m a man and I’mma admit that, but I’ll say it like this — in two weeks we start recording.” DJ Evil Dee along with Mr. Walt make up Da Beatminerz, and together they cooked up all of the music for Black Moon’s first two albums. For the next reunion album, titled Dark Side of the Moon, Da Beatminerz plan to handle production again. “We wouldn’t do a Black Moon album without that,” Buckshot told Mixtape Daily before their Rock the Bells set in New York City. “[It will be] me and Mr. Walt, and I might have to introduce some new Beatminerz to the scene,” Dee confirmed of his participation on the production end. “But it’s gonna be a Beatminerz-produced album, fully produced by Beatminerz.” For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines . Related Artists DJ Evil Dee Black Moon
Mos Def has announced that he will be retiring his name in 2011 and changing it to Yasiin. M os says he will not be offended if you walk up to him and call him by his original rap name because it is the name he has built for years. At least he didn’t change it to “Swag” like Diddy! It should be noted that Mos Def is a Muslim so the name change may have had something to do with his religion. Erykah Badu & Lauryn Hill “Rock The Bells” [PHOTOS] Mos Def Signs To Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music Mos Def’s Wife Takes It Off
Gary, Indiana’s own Gangsta Gibbs will swing through on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com. By Rob Markman Freddie Gibbs Photo: Roger Kisby/ Getty Images The real is back! On Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET, “RapFix Live” returns with Freddie Gibbs , who will hit the couch to discuss everything from coming up in Gary, Indiana, to signing with Young Jeezy’s CTE label to his upcoming project Cold Day in Hell. While rap has diversified its cast of characters to include MCs from all walks of life, Gibbs has remained unapologetically gangster . Originally signed by Interscope in 2005, Gangsta Gibbs struggled to get the label to see his vision and was eventually released from his deal in October 2007. But in 2009, Freddie proved that there was room for his brand of music. With his The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs and midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik, Gibbs made fans take notice. His grind paid off, and in 2010, Freddie earned himself a spot on XXL magazine’s 2010 Freshmen cover. He went on to drop the independent release Str8 Killa No Filla on Decon Records. In April, the Midwest MC made his biggest move yet when he inked with Young Jeezy’s CTE (Corporate Thugz Entertainment). Since the signing, the pair have released quite a few songs, including their hustle ode “Run DMC,” “Do It for You” and “Rough,” a song off of the Snowman’s latest mixtape, The Real Is Back 2. “RapFix Live” will also bring you backstage at the Rock the Bells tour stop in New York City this past weekend. On Saturday, Nas, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Slaughterhouse and Mobb Deep all performed, and “RFL” has all the exclusives for you as well as our regular Get in the Game and Weekend Rotation segments. Catch Freddie Gibbs on “RapFix Live” Wednesday, September 7, at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com! Related Artists Freddie Gibbs
‘We got a lot of music ready to go,’ Prodigy tells MTV News of upcoming self-titled LP. By Rob Markman Mobb Deep Photo: MTV News Mobb Deep are free agents no longer. On Friday, the Queens, New York, rap duo announced their new deal with Sony’s RED Distribution. Under the terms, RED will distribute Havoc and Prodigy’s Infamous Records, where they’ll drop their self-titled album (their ninth), with Infamous Records functioning much like an independent. “The way we structured it is as a distribution deal basically, so we run our own label, Infamous, and we gotta do the daily ins and outs of everything. We gotta handle all the record company business and they get it in the stores for us, basically,” Prodigy told MTV News backstage at Rock the Bells in New York City on Saturday. “It’s been a long time coming,” Havoc added. “We’ve been in the game for a minute and the object of the game is to control your own business.” While allowing the veteran street-hop group to be their own bosses, the deal with Sony also puts Mobb Deep closer to their legacy. After the duo dropped their debut album on 4th and B’way in 1993, the Mobb signed with Loud Records, the Steve Rifkind-helmed label eventually absorbed by Sony. “Sony RED is a good company; they basically own our catalog anyway because when Loud sold the company, they sold it to Sony,” Prodigy clarified. “So they own all of our albums, basically. When we sat down with them, they basically were like, ‘We’d love to do this, we got your catalog anyway.’ ” For their upcoming LP Mobb Deep, the group aims to continue to build on that catalog, which already features such highly regarded albums as Murda Muzik and The Infamous, M-O-B-B’s sophomore album. The pair performed their second LP in full during Rock the Bells. Although the deal was just announced, P revealed that he and Hav have been working on the album since he was released from jail in March for gun possession. “Right now, it’s just a monumental thing for us, you know, it’s been a long time coming. We’re excited about it. We got a lot of music ready to go, we’ve been working on this Mobb album since I got home,” P said. “Everything is just up to par, the production — from Hav’s production to our lyrics to all the ideas from videos to everything — we’re just really ready to go and get things started.” As of now, there is no official release date for the Mobb Deep album. Related Artists Mobb Deep
‘I’ll tell you, I never met anyone with more talent than that lady,’ legendary crooner tells MTV News. By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Jim Cantiello Lady Gaga Photo: Getty Images Lady Gaga isn’t afraid to go jazzy, as fans that saw her version of “Yo
‘Sometimes people get stuck off of one style I got,’ Raekwon tells MTV News about 1995’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. … By Rob Markman Raekwon Photo: MTV News For Raekwon , the success of his 1995 classic debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx … , is a double-edged sword. While the Wu-Tang Clansman celebrated and performed songs from his first album on Saturday at Rock the Bells in New York, he admitted to MTV News that sometimes the OB4CL admiration distracts from his other work. “It is a gift and a curse, because sometimes people get stuck off of one style I got, and that’s cool if that’s what you love,” Rae said backstage at Rock the Bells before he and Ghostface performed Cuban Linx … for thousands of fans. “I mean, I wanna be loved regardless by the fans because they help me pay my bills and allow me to still be here, but as long as you know what I’m capable of.” The Chef got his start as a member of Wu-Tang Clan in 1993, but after dropping the much-celebrated Cuban Linx…, Raekwon was held as one of New York’s biggest rap draws, right along with the Notorious B.I.G., Nas and Method Man. Since then, Rae dropped Immobilarity in 1999 and The Lex Diamond Story four years after that. In 2009, the Staten Island MC returned with Only Built 4 Cuban Linx … Pt. II , and last year he released his fifth solo album, Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang . Still, having such highly regarded debut can be a lot to deal with at times. “Of course I get tired of people dwelling on that, but at the same time, that’s me, that made me a Martin Luther King rap n—a, that put me in a certain box. So if that’s what you know me by, as long as you know me from the get-down side,” he said. “Other than that, all I can do is keep climbing and keep growing and that’s all I been doing.” In true Chef fashion, Raekwon used food to draw his perfect analogy, comparing his albums to prime cuts of meat. “Every now and then, it do feel like, ‘Yo, check this out, leave that steak alone, that sirloin, and f— with New York steak or this rib eye or somethin’.” On August 1, Rae celebrated the 16-year anniversary of the Purple Tape and spoke with RapFix about its impact. “I knew I had a classic when I formulated with these nine members in this group,” he said of his camaraderie with the Wu. “Everything at that time that we was making, we was so sharp, it was supervisual already.” Related Artists Raekwon
‘Sometimes people get stuck off of one style I got,’ Raekwon tells MTV News about 1995’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. … By Rob Markman Raekwon Photo: MTV News For Raekwon , the success of his 1995 classic debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx … , is a double-edged sword. While the Wu-Tang Clansman celebrated and performed songs from his first album on Saturday at Rock the Bells in New York, he admitted to MTV News that sometimes the OB4CL admiration distracts from his other work. “It is a gift and a curse, because sometimes people get stuck off of one style I got, and that’s cool if that’s what you love,” Rae said backstage at Rock the Bells before he and Ghostface performed Cuban Linx … for thousands of fans. “I mean, I wanna be loved regardless by the fans because they help me pay my bills and allow me to still be here, but as long as you know what I’m capable of.” The Chef got his start as a member of Wu-Tang Clan in 1993, but after dropping the much-celebrated Cuban Linx…, Raekwon was held as one of New York’s biggest rap draws, right along with the Notorious B.I.G., Nas and Method Man. Since then, Rae dropped Immobilarity in 1999 and The Lex Diamond Story four years after that. In 2009, the Staten Island MC returned with Only Built 4 Cuban Linx … Pt. II , and last year he released his fifth solo album, Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang . Still, having such highly regarded debut can be a lot to deal with at times. “Of course I get tired of people dwelling on that, but at the same time, that’s me, that made me a Martin Luther King rap n—a, that put me in a certain box. So if that’s what you know me by, as long as you know me from the get-down side,” he said. “Other than that, all I can do is keep climbing and keep growing and that’s all I been doing.” In true Chef fashion, Raekwon used food to draw his perfect analogy, comparing his albums to prime cuts of meat. “Every now and then, it do feel like, ‘Yo, check this out, leave that steak alone, that sirloin, and f— with New York steak or this rib eye or somethin’.” On August 1, Rae celebrated the 16-year anniversary of the Purple Tape and spoke with RapFix about its impact. “I knew I had a classic when I formulated with these nine members in this group,” he said of his camaraderie with the Wu. “Everything at that time that we was making, we was so sharp, it was supervisual already.” Related Artists Raekwon
Mobb Deep, Slaughterhouse, Erykah Badu and more revisit classic material for a day of hip-hop celebration on New York stop. By Rob Markman Nas at Rock The Bells Photo: MTV News NEW YORK — Thousands of rap fans gathered in hip-hop’s birth city for a daylong celebration of the genre’s classics. Nas , Lauryn Hill , Erykah Badu and Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon and Ghostface Killah all performed at the Rock the Bells 2011 festival on Governor’s Island in New York City on Saturday (September 3). The musical tour was comprised of four stages, including the main Rock the Bells stage, the Wu-inspired 36 Chambers stage and the underground-themed Paid Dues stage. More than 20 acts, including Mobb Deep, Slaughterhouse, Black Moon, Big K.R.I.T., the Immortal Technique and GZA, performed, with some dedicating their sets to their own classic albums; others devoted their shows to just a gang of fan-favorites. The festivities kicked off at approximately 2 p.m. ET, and started off slow. Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA fumbled through his 1995 sophomore album, Liquid Swords, as concertgoers ping-ponged back and forth between stages. Cypress Hill ran through selections from their Black Sunday LP. Marijuana anthems like “I Wanna Get High” and “Hits From the Bong” set the tone for a smoke-filled set that mixed equal parts rap, rock and Latin soul. Mobb Deep didn’t disappoint. Although they were advertised to perform only their 1995 breakout album, The Infamous, the Queens, New York, duo did so much more. In addition to tracks like “Shook Ones Pt. II,” “Survival of the Fittest” and “Give Up the Goods,” the Mobb dove into their catalog of street bangers, including “G.O.D. Pt. III” and “Quiet Storm,” as well. MTV Jams’ 2011 Fab 5 inductee Big K.R.I.T. found his set overlapping with that of the Mobb’s Havoc and Prodigy, but he was still able to draw a sizable crowd on the Paid Dues stage. The gatherers bounced energetically to Southern-fried selections like “Glass House” and “Country Sh–,” proving that it wasn’t just a day for rap veterans. After drawing fan criticism about her previous live shows, Lauryn Hill promised at the beginning of her set to perform the songs from her The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill album as they were recorded. Unfortunately, the plan was thrown out the window pretty quickly as she rapped to a ridiculously sped-up version of “Lost Ones.” In fact, many of Ms. Hill’s classics were performed quite differently from how fans may have remembered. Still, she did thrill audiences with almost-flawless renditions of “Doo Wop (That Thing)” and “To Zion.” There was also a Fugees reunion of sorts when Pras joined his former partner to rock “Ready or Not,” but the warring Wyclef was nowhere to be found. Before Hill could finish her set, Raekwon and Ghostface took to the 36 Chambers stage on the other side of the field. They opened with “Striving for Perfection,” the opening skit from Rae’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx … , and then tore into “Incarcerated Scarfaces,” “Criminology” and “Ice Cream.” It was a ’90s-era dream come true, but unfortunately hip-hop’s faithful were forced to choose, because halfway through Rae and Ghost’s set, the night’s headliner Nas, started his show on the main stage. At around 10:30 p.m., the crowd gathered at Nas’ stage, which was decorated with props made to mirror his native Queensbridge, New York, housing project. There was a backdrop with buildings, a real lamppost, project benches and a gate that stood as the entrance. It was 17 years ago that Nasir Jones dropped his highly regarded debut, Illmatic, and on Saturday night he maneuvered through the 10-track masterpiece starting with its opener, “Genesis.” With DJ Premier backing him, Nas rapped the words to “N.Y. State of Mind” and “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” with a ferocity that recalled the young MC in 1994. Nas did, at times, depart from the Illmatic theme, treating his day-one fans to something special. First, he brought out MC Serch to perform their 1992 underground banger “Back to the Grill.” Next up, he invited Joe Fatal, Akinyele and Large Professor to do “Live at the Barbeque,” the 1991 song that gave Nas his rap debut. From there, it was a full-on party as the Braveheart MC did his new single “Nasty,” invited Lauryn back out for their collabo “If I Ruled the World” and closed with the hyped-up “Made Ya Look.” Before he left closed out the night, Nas shouted, “I love you New York City,” and it was apparent that NYC loves him back. Did you catch the Rock the Bells tour this year? Tell us your thoughts! Related Artists Nas Wu-Tang Clan Raekwon The Fugees Lauryn Hill
Band shares stage with Foo Fighters, Wiz Khalifa, others at 2011 mtvU Woodies, airing live at midnight Wednesday. By Matt Harper, with reporting by James Montgomery Sleigh Bells with James Montgomery in Austin, Texas Photo: Matt Harper/MTV News AUSTIN, Texas — With a list of performers that includes not only Wiz Khalifa and insane L.A. rap collective Odd Future but the freakin’ Foo Fighters too, the 2011 mtvU Woodie Awards are shaping up to be a can’t-miss show. So much so that you’ve got to feel sorry for some of the other acts on the bill … they’ve really got to step it up. Luckily, one of those acts, Brooklyn bashers Sleigh Bells , are up to the task. Or at least they sound like they are. Because when MTV News caught up with the dynamic duo on Tuesday during Woodies rehearsals, they were more than willing to reveal the details of their big performance. “I’m coming down on wires,” guitarist/producer Derek E. Miller laughed. “Yes, Derek is flying around, he’s wearing a unitard,” singer Alexis Krauss added. Of course, when we mentioned we had some doubts about the wire work (and the unitard), the Bells quickly recanted. But they weren’t about to say what their performance would actually feature. “There’s definitely some surprises,” Krauss said, playing it coy. “We haven’t said anything about it so I don’t really want to say anything more than we’ve said … if that made any sense.” Not really, but hey … If all goes according to plan, Krauss and Miller won’t just be hitting the stage for their secretive performance, they might be making an acceptance speech too. They’re nominated for the Breaking Woodie award — up against the likes of Local Natives, Wavves, Dev and Two Door Cinema Club — and win or lose, they’re planning on making the night memorable. “Obviously it would feel good to win,” Krauss said, diplomatically. “It would be fun, but if we don’t, it’s OK …” “[If we lose,] then I’m just gonna burn the place down,” Miller laughed. The 2011 mtvU Woodie Awards will air live on MTV, MTV2 and mtvU on Wednesday, March 16, at midnight (ET/PT) from the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. For more information — and to vote for the winner of the “Breaking Woodie” award — check out Woodies.MTV.com . Related Photos Woodie Awards 2011: Behind The Scenes Related Artists Sleigh Bells
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