Tag Archives: label

Lil Wayne Swears Off One-Hit Wonders In Young Money

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

At the taping of his ‘Unplugged,’ the YM boss explains his strategies for Lil Twist, Cory Gunz and Shanell. By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway Lil Wanyne Photo: MTV News Through the years, Lil Wayne developed as an artist. The one-time neophyte of Cash Money records has grown from a slick-talking corn-rolled kid to the multi-platinum face of the label. Now, 12 years after releasing his 1999 solo debut, Wayne heads his own Young Money label, and as he explained to Sway after taping his “MTV2 Presents: Lil Wayne Unplugged,” he’s serious about the careful artistic development of all of his signees. “I’m not gonna shove him in your face right now and make him a one-hit wonder,” Wayne said of his “6 Foot, 7 Foot” collaborator Cory Gunz . “He’s nowhere near ready. He’s gonna do this the way artists should do it, the way Drake did it. “I’m not gonna make a one-hit wonder,” Wayne repeated emphatically. “That’s not what I do.” Lil Twist, who is currently finding increasing success with his latest single, “Love Affair,” will not be a flash in the pan either, according to Weezy. “Twist is ready. Twist is a well-developed artist, and it’s about to be Twist’s turn.” The 18-year-old Dallas rapper joined the Young Money fold as a minor, but rather than have him go for the usually successful, cutesy route, Wayne chose to wait. “That’s why I didn’t shove Twist in nobody’s face. I could’ve been like, ‘This is our young artist’; the young, cute little artist of the label with all the adults,” he said. “I could’ve did that, but no, we’re gonna do this right. I didn’t want to put him out and have him as a kid star, and sometimes you don’t know what to do after that. So now he’s 18, he’s a teenager, and I don’t even have to look at the kid-star thing.” Young Money plans to release Twist’s debut album Don’t Get It Twisted later this year. Wayne expresses a similar amount of confidence in his alternative R&B female artist Shanell. “Shannell is past ready. Actually she came into the game ready,” Wayne said beaming with pride. “That was no developing; that’s a superstar, that’s a very talented woman. It’s just that you have to properly handle her situation the right way, ’cause you don’t want nobody to miss the point, and the point is, that is a very talented woman, and that’s what I want everybody to see.” Don’t miss “MTV2 Presents: Lil Wayne Unplugged,” premiering Sunday, June 12, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on MTV2, MTV and MTV.com. Related Videos Lil Wayne Goes ‘Unplugged’ Related Artists Lil Wayne

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Bow Wow In The Studio With Lil Wayne Working On 8th Album [VIDEO]

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

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For a moment we weren’t sure if Bow Wow was still apart of Cash Money. We thought he may have been dropped from the label like friend Omarion. Bow hooked up with mentor/boss Wayne to finally start working on his eight album “Underrated.” Birdman Denies Rumors Of Bow Wow Being Dropped From Cash Money Bow Wow Dropped From Cash Money?

Bow Wow In The Studio With Lil Wayne Working On 8th Album [VIDEO]

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YG Says L.A. Is ‘Feeling’ His New Single ‘Patty Cake’

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘It’s a club banger, but it sounds different than ‘Toot It and Boot It,’ ‘ rookie rapper tells MTV News. By Jayson Rodriguez YG Photo: MTV News YG scored a big hit with “Toot It and Boot It” and found an even larger audience once 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg joined the Los Angeles native for the remix . But the newly minted XXL cover star — he’s joined by 10 other upstarts for the magazine’s annual Freshman issue — intended to impress with much more than his breakout number. His track “Patty Cake” has been gaining air play. “I got another song on the radio on [L.A.’s] Power 106. It’s a club banger, but it sounds different than ‘Toot It and Boot It,’ ” YG told MTV News. “I’m just waiting on the label to get behind it. Everybody in L.A. is feeling it. “I got some songs. I got some hits,” he added. “I just got to get my label behind me. I’m all the way on the West Coast. So they gotta feel it, they got to get the buzz. So I got to go through the same thing I did with ‘Toot It and Boot It.’ ” Currently, the inked-up rapper is working on his next mixtape, the forthcoming Just Re’d Up, featuring guest spots by Chris Brown, Tyga and Nipsey Hussle, among others, and hosted by DJ Ill Will and DJ Mustard. Mustard doubles as YG’s personal DJ and one of his producers; he helmed the boards for “Patty Cake.” With “Patty Cake,” YG said he’s trying to get the club cracking once again. “To me, it’s something the ladies and the dudes want to hear when they get in the club,” he explained. ” ‘Cause it’s gonna get the girls dancing. And that’s what I like to see when I get in the club.” Are you excited for new music from YG? Let us know in the comments!

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Bow Wow Dropped From Cash Money?

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

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Bow Wow signed to Cash Money Records back in 2009, but it looks like the canine rapper might have been dropped from the label without releasing an album with them. All mentions of Bow Wow have been removed from Cash Money’s website, a move that we know Universal makes only after an artist has been notified that they have been dropped from the label. H8teradeblog.com says that an official announcement will be made within the week. RELATED: It’s Official: Bow Wow Is Going To Be A Dad RELATED: Bow Wow Says He Wasn’t Suicidal [VIDEO] RELATED: Bow Wow Wishes For Death On Twitter

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Lupe Fiasco Told By Label “Don’t Rap Too Deep”

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

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Lupe describes being held hostage by Atlantic, says next album is done Lupe Fiasco struggled to release his third album on Atlantic Records. It took over three years and picketing from fans before Lupe followed up his gold-selling The Cool . Despite platinum singles, gold plaques and Grammy Awards, the Chicago native said his budget was cut and he was stiffled creatively. “I was specifically told” — Fiasco chuckled — “‘Don’t rap too deep on this record.’” He laughed some more, telling the Chicago Sun-Times . “That was a specific order from the top. ‘You’re rapping too fast or too slow, or it’s too complex.’ … There are consequences and combat that comes from that process and the eventual compromise. With me, though, I’m not writing about someone else. I’m writing about me. This is my life. It’s very personal for me. So for somebody to kind of put their fingers in that and play with that, it becomes more damaging.” “I am a hostage,” Fiasco continued. “I gave them what they wanted. If I didn’t, at the end of the day the album wasn’t coming out.” The potentially good news for fans is that Lupe was busy recording his next album The Great American Rap Album while he was working on Lasers . He hopes to have that out before the end of 2011.

Lupe Fiasco Told By Label “Don’t Rap Too Deep”

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Alex Da Kid Talks About Skylar Grey’s Debut Album

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘I Need a Doctor’ singer’s project will be first release on producer’s new label, he tells ‘RapFix Live.’ By Jayson Rodriguez, with reporting by Sway Calloway Alex Da Kid in a Skpe interview Thursday Photo: MTV News Alex Da Kid and Skylar Grey have a proven track record, from their work together on Eminem’s chart-topper “Love the Way You Lie” and current hits “Words I Never Said” by Lupe Fiasco and “I Need a Doctor” by Dr. Dre. Now the duo — he, a producer and she, a songwriter — are teaming up to work on Grey’s debut album. The still-untitled project will be the first release on the British import’s new label. “I’m working on Skylar’s project, and I’m really excited about that,” he said during Thursday’s (February 24) Dr. Dre edition of “RapFix Live.” “She’s the first artist signed to my label. I’m just wrapping up my label situation right now, and that’s my main focus.” Alex Da Kid also has credits working with B.o.B and Paramore (“Airplanes”), Nicki Minaj (“Massive Attack”) and T.I. (“Castle Walls”); Grey penned the chorus for each track. “It’s just a creative experience being in the studio with different people,” Grey said of the pair’s work . “I’m not from the hip-hop world, but I think that’s what works for the sound that we got: the combination of the alternative chorus mixed with the hip-hop verses.” Although he has hopes to work across various genres and has been in the studio with artists as varied as Rob Thomas and Rihanna, ADK said he wants to make sure he doesn’t spread himself too thin. “I definitely want to take one thing at a time,” he said. “I don’t want to overload and work with everyone and dilute my sound. I want to fully focus on everything that I do. So that’s the next thing on the list.” What do you think of Alex and Skylar’s collabos so far? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos RapFix Live: Dr. Dre’s ‘I Need A Doctor’ Premiere Related Artists Skylar Grey

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Rumor Control: Ciara Says She Didn’t Get Dropped, She’s Tryna Drop The Label

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Inspired by her Amazon Princess Grammy dress, Ciara woke up this morning and decided to put her label on blast. She wanted to make one thing clear to her non-album-purchasing-a** fans: her label isn’t breaking up with her, she’s breaking up with THEM! This is what she posted via Facebook earlier: To my fans: This week the net has been a buzz of the rumor that I have been dropped from my label. At this point that rumor is false.. It is true that I have asked and I pray that my label will release me. I have had some great times and success with my label, but sometimes like all great things, its at that point where I feel we don’t share the same views on who I am as a artist. The past two albums have been very frustrating for me. At times there were songs I chose to lead a project and I was ignored! This project, I even tried to get Gimmie Dat started I spent tens of thousands of my own money only to hear the radio pds tell me my label didn’t want the song played. I even spent more than one hundred thousand dollars out of my pocket on the video to bring my vision to it and still no label support. I do understand that some labels are not financially supporting their artists and I have become one of them. You, my fans, know that I strive to do my best to deliver to you the best songs and creative vision I possibly can. I’m dedicated to my music, performance and to my fans! I’ve tried to be a team player with the label only to have compromised what I truly believed.. And was not given the right opportunity to promote and inform my fans of the release of this album..I have so much of me as a artist I still want to give to the world and my fans. A release would allow me to go be creative with people who care and understand me as a artist. In a short time, I will be able to bring to you a new music energy and a visual excitement! Thank you so much for standing by me through the good, bad, and the confusion. I love you all. Love Ciara Poor thang! Guess she never heard what A Tribe Called Quest said about record company people.

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Rumor Control: Ciara Says She Didn’t Get Dropped, She’s Tryna Drop The Label

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David Banner Says T.I. Has Always Battled ‘Adversity’

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on David Banner Says T.I. Has Always Battled ‘Adversity’

Mississippi rapper says Tip is ‘probably one of the strongest dudes that I ever met’ during ‘RapFix Live’ interview. By Mawuse Ziegbe, with reporting by Sway Calloway David Banner Photo: Jonathan Goldner/ MTV News According to David Banner, T.I. is gonna get back up from his latest drama . During the latest installment of MTV News’ “RapFix Live,” the Mississippi MC’s sit-down was preceded by an exclusive interview with Tip about his music and how the trials of the past year have influenced his work. Banner, who is friends with T.I. and crafted his bouncy Trap Muzik single “Rubber Band Man,” said he’s more concerned with how the ATL spitter’s family is dealing with the superstar’s sentence, and remains confident Tip will snap back from his latest setback. “T.I.’s probably one of the strongest dudes that I ever met. Since the first day I met him, he was the shortest dude in the room but had his chest poked out the furthest [and] always kept his head up,” he said. Banner noted Tip’s resilience both as an artist and a businessman, one who engineered a fruitful deal with Atlantic after his debut outing with Arista went south. “Even when his first situation went down with the label, he totally pulled [himself] off the label and started back over again,” he remarked. “He’s been one person who’s been up against adversity all of his life.” Banner further commented that regardless of T.I.’s status as the King of the South, CEO of Grand Hustle or trap-music kingpin, behind the fame, he’s a fallible, flawed, flesh-and-blood human being — just like everyone else. “Everybody expects entertainers to raise [their] family. One thing that he said that really struck me is that we’re still men; there’s still certain repercussions as black men in America with everybody’s eyes being on you. From the streets to business, we’re still men, we’re not gods. We’re not perfect,” Banner continued. “The thing that America has done, every mistake that a young black man makes — and not that he couldn’t have made better decisions — but in life, period, everybody that’s behind these cameras that’s on the Internet or whatever, look at the mistakes you make every day in life. If you made one or two mistakes, and then every time you make one or two mistakes, everybody is on you, that’s a lot of pressure as a person.” What do you think of David Banner’s comments about T.I.? Let us know in the comments. Related Videos ‘RapFix Live’ With David Banner, 9th Wonder Related Artists David Banner

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Jay-Z Calls Jay Electronica ‘A Student Of The Game’

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Jay-Z Calls Jay Electronica ‘A Student Of The Game’

While promoting his new book, ‘Decoded,’ Hov talks up latest Roc Nation signee. By Kyle Anderson, with reporting by Sway Calloway Jay-Z Photo: MTV News Last week, Jay-Z added another MC to his Roc Nation label roster when he signed New Orleans-born rapper Jay Electronica . Electronica has been building major buzz over the past year thanks to tracks like “Exhibit A” and “Exhibit C,” both of which became Internet sensations. While Electronica’s approach to rap is quite different from Jay-Z’s (relying on more esoteric production styles and vastly different flows), the label boss says that what drew him to his latest charge was his drive and passion for hip-hop. “It’s obvious that he really genuinely loves it and is a student of rap and the game,” he said of Jay Electronica during a conversation with Sway about Hova’s new book “Decoded,” which hits stores on Tuesday (November 16). “You can’t write those sort of songs or come to that sort of conclusion without having a deep love for what you’re doing and a deep understanding and a deep drive.” Jay Electronica has clearly left an impression on Jay-Z, as the latter had a similar level of awe in his words when he introduced Electronica as his label’s newest member during an event at New York’s the Box on Friday night. “My whole goal is to reintroduce magic to hip-hop,” Jigga said of Electronica. “We watched this wizard do his thing. Y’all supported him. And he’s an official Roc Nation signee.” Electronica is the latest member of the Roc Nation empire that includes Jay himself, R&B superstar Rihanna and junior next big thing Willow Smith. Ready to take advantage of the announcement’s buzz, Electronica immediately released two new tracks, “The Announcement” over the weekend and “Shiny Suit Theory” featuring Jay-Z on Monday. Do you think Jay Electronica is a good fit on Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos Jay-Z’s ‘Decoded’: A Closer Look Related Photos Jay-Z “Decoded” Book Release And Conversation In NYC Related Artists Jay-Z Jay Electronica

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Fantasia Already Back To Promoting New Album

Posted on August 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

After apparent suicide attempt, singer will make appearances on ‘GMA,’ ‘106 & Park,’ ‘Regis and Kelly’ and more next week. By Jocelyn Vena Fantasia Photo: Bennett Raglin/WireImage After she reportedly tried to commit suicide by overdosing on medication, Fantasia was released from the hospital last week. Now, with her third album, Back To Me, set for release on August 24, the singer is ready to begin promoting the LP, according to her label, J Records. In a press release, the label said that the singer has a “renewed commitment to her music and her fans” since the incident. “I can’t thank my fans enough for their prayers and support during such a challenging time. It has given me the motivation to get back to work and honor the commitments I made to promote Back To Me,” Fantasia said in a statement. “I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this album and I pray that everyone enjoys it as much as I do.” Fantasia’s busy schedule will include stops at “Good Morning America” (August 24), “Lopez Tonight”(August 25), “106 & Park” (September 8), “Live With Regis and Kelly” (September 9) and “The Wendy Williams Show” (September 10). Currently, her single “Bittersweet” sits at #10 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. For her album, Fantasia worked with a number of hitmakers, including Ne-Yo, Claude Kelly and Chuck Harmony as well as Rico Love and Jim Jonsin. The good news comes just a week after the season-three “American Idol” victor was rushed to the hospital after she was found in a North Carolina home. “She has been lifted up by the outpouring of love and support from her fans,” Barrino’s manager, Brian Dickens, said in a statement to MTV News. “She is more committed than ever to her daughter and her work because they are her heart, her soul and inspiration.” Are you glad to hear Fantasia is ready to promote her album? Let us know in the comments. Related Videos Reactions To Fantasia’s Overdose Related Photos Fantasia’s Career In Photos Related Artists Fantasia

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